Chapter 76 Advancement.

Feeling refreshed after doing it with Shizuru, Sam headed for his lab ready to continue his research once again. The frustration and inferiority he felt the day before was long gone so he had no trouble putting on his lab coat.

"Alright then." He said once he was inside his domain. He placed the notebook he used that morning on the desc and turned to a certain device.

It was a VR headset. An industrial type that's used in labs and factories to perform virtual experiments, saving materials and lowering the risk of failure. For Sam it was the only option he had, but it was better than nothing. If his research produces some good results he could use them to apply for materials to perform real experiments, after which he could shoot for human trials as well.

Putting on the gloves used as controllers, Sam wore the headset and entered the virtual space. It wasnt much different from hisnl lab, mainly because he had adjusted the settings so it would lean more toward AR than VR. That way he wouldn't have to worry about running into things and falling.

He sat down on his chair and summoned a floating menu. He selected a few materials from it and began the work. An hour later the first object was created. It looked like a sphere the size of a baseball made of layers opon layers of intricately crafted circuits shaped like rings.

The strange object was one of the most essential components of a Valkyrie, the heart. Obviously it doesn't have anything to do with the human heart. It was the part responsible for creating the force field the Valkyries use in battle, one of the inventions Odin kept to himself despite humanity's plea for him to share his knowledge.

Sam had spent some of his free time recreating it from the blue prints, though he didn't know what to do with it up till now.

"Alright. Let's power it up and see…"

Summoning another floating menu he produced two thin cables and linked them to the sphere. Tapping them produced a small window from which one can adjust the output of the energy required for the experiment. Even though it was all virtual Sam couldn't help but be wary of what was about to happen. He entered the same numbers and adjusted the settings to simulate the nuclear battery powering the Valkyries, then, after taking a deep breath, he pressed the option to start the simulation.

He expected a red window to appear before him saying that the experiment had failed, however to his surprise it was a success.

The circuit patterns on the rings glowed a faint blue as they slowly spun around each other. A moment later a thin layer of light began to envelop the sphere.

"So this is how it looks without a shell…"

The force field could be controlled and molded to any shape, however when it's in its default setting it would go back to surround the sphere. The part responsible for controlling it is obviously the Valkyries' core. Their brain, in other words.

Using the informations stored there the force field could be molded to the shape of their shell or expanded to cover their weapons. But that didn't matter right now. Sam's focus was directed toward something else.

Turning the heart off he pushed it aside and summoned another object and began working on it.

Hours pass before he's able to finish it, however when he heard his alarm he placed the headset down and walked out of the lab.

He decided to not let his work get in the way of his lunch date with his girlfriend so he went to the cafeteria. Once he was done with his meal he went back and continued his work.

"They should be back any time now…"

When he checked the time Sam realized that the three Valkyries were about to return from their daily patrol leaving him with very little time to continue his work.

Deciding to keep going until they arrive he waved his hand pulling the heart he created earlier and began pealing its outer layer off.

,m "I hope this works…" he muttered.

Once he had removed the outer shell he brought the other objects he had been working on earlier. They were a number of rings that resembled the ones he had just tore off, however they had different patterns and circuits, and most importantly they weren't made of one solid material.

The new rings were created using nano machines he had designed himself. He built them after the ones he created to help cure Alice's disease which meant they were small enough to mess with the human DNA, however that wasn't the only thing they could be used for.

"Don't blow up, please…" saying that, Sam turned on the power once more and watched as the heart began to glow.

A moment later a small window appeared before him, however it wasn't the red one he was expecting.

"Yes!" He said, pumping hid fists.

It was a new menu that could be used to control the force field in ways that wouldn't normally be possible.

He entered a few numbers and moved the slides a little, watching how the force field responded. At first he caused it to expand and contract. That wasn't too different from what the normal heart is capable of, however for it to retain its spherical shape without having a shell to help it know where to go, it was quite the advancement.

"Let's try something else…"

Sam began playing around with the numbers and slides. He learned that it was now possible to divide the force field into different parts and control each individually. After experimenting with it a little he leaned back and looked at the heart, which was now covered in a thin layer of blue with three spheres of the same size spinning around it.

"This could be used as an additional weapon, but…"

It certainly adds to the number of tactics they could use, however it's not like the power increased. It wouldn't mean much when going against that talking Calamity.

Turning the simulation off Sam put the VR headset aside and allowed himself to relax. When he opened his eyes he saw the three Valkyries looking at him causing his heart to almost jump out of its place.

"Y-you're back! Why didn't you say anything!!!?" He yelled in surprise.

"Well, Doctor looked so focused just now." Nine said, wearing her usual heartwarming smile.

"And you no longer smell." Three said with a smirk.

"Doctor, you seem a lot more relaxed today." Five said. "Am I right to assume that you've made some advancements in your research?"

"Well, something like that." Sam said, barely able to stop himself from smiling.

It's true that his research was finally showing some results, however he couldn't be sure until he tries it on a real heart.

"Anyways, let's get done with your examination. I'm sure you have your own things to attend to, right?"

"I would like to see what Doctor is working on." Said Zero Five.

Seeing the ponytailed Valkyrie show interest in his work felt a bit strange. That said, Sam had no intention on telling anyone about his research. After all he was playing with a technology that's not supposed to be accessible to humans yet. He had no excuse to explain why he knows what he knows.

'First I will need to find a way to trick the Resistance into believing that I came up with the new heart on my own.' Sam thought. 'I can try and apply for the chance to study the hearts of Valkyries that fell in combat, but if I convince them that I'm able to reverse engineer Odin's technology who knows what kind of trouble I might find myself it.'

At the very least they would ask him to do the same with the rest of the Valkyries' components in the hopes of learning how to make one themselves. That would serve as a safe way of passing the Valkyries' blue prints to them, however he couldn't help feeling that it would be a bad idea.

"Maybe at some point in the future." Sam said. "Now, hurry up to your containers."

Zero Five looked visibly disappointed when he turned her down, however he couldn't do anything about it. He hadn't done anything to the three lately so he didn't need to edit his report. The examination didn't take long and the Valkyries left foun after leaving him to his research once again.

"Doctor."

Sadly that peace didn't last as Zero Five returned a few minutes later wearing her black uniform.

"Is something wrong, Zero Five?" Sam asked, wondering if she was going to ask him to show her his research again.

"No… it's nothing…" the Valkyrie said. "I just… I just wanted to come see Doctor."

"For what reason?"

"N-nothing!" She answered, her cheeks turning a little red. "I… it has been a while… I was just wondering when we will continue… the experiment…"