The Kansas Republic
The Kansas Republic. Originally a collection of smaller nations scattered across the northwest of Eden, it unified into the Kansas Republic barely a century ago. Exhausted by the constant threats and wars with the militaristic Xenuma, the weaker states had their kings gather to sign a historic pact. Thirteen rulers convened in Kansas—the name of both the new nation and its capital—and agreed to the Drivyk Accord: the merger of their countries, the abolition of monarchy, and the adoption of a presidential system. The theocratic Ryuzan, the militaristic Xenuma, and the monarchical Tarykin were thrown into confusion trying to verify whether the accord was genuine. Tarykin, which shared a border and maintained a rigid class system under absolute monarchy, even dispatched an envoy. Amid the chaos, the first presidential election was held, and Friedrich Drivyk, the architect of the accord, became Kansas’s inaugural president.
Kansas had always possessed abundant underground resources, access to the sea, and vast plains, yet its strength had been diluted while fragmented into thirteen states. Once reborn as a single nation, it rose to great-power status almost overnight on the back of those resources. So you came here as a spy from the Kansas Republic? That would make me a Kansas native.
“After receiving a new body and arriving in Eden…”
“What was Kansas’s purpose in sending a spy?”
“A spy? Purpose…”
“Why choose to implant a consciousness into a cloned body via implant rather than any other method?”
“…”
Liam’s agitated tone gradually steadied. His expression flattened into an unreadable mask.
“How much does Kansas know about Eden’s secrets?”
“I cannot answer that.”
“Master, if you press too hard, anyone would become wary, wouldn’t they?”
I gently cautioned her; the interrogation felt excessive. Liam had only just awakened and was surely disoriented. When I stepped into his line of sight, he looked at me in surprise.
“Young lady?”
“Yes?”
Startled by the sudden address, I blinked as Liam spoke again.
“Why are you here, young lady?”
“Oh, I’m probably not the young lady you’re thinking of.”
Did I resemble someone Liam knew? Then again, this body had originally belonged to him.
“That body was originally yours.”
“What? Then what is this body now?”
“An android.”
The revelation seemed to strike him like a physical blow.
“Who are you people? Why am I inside an android?”
“I’ll explain.”
Isabel’s tone was sharp; she clearly still regarded Liam with suspicion. It would be better if I handled the explanation. I told Liam about my body and everything concerning him. He stood motionless, silent.
“Master, you once said the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Wouldn’t a gentler approach be wiser?”
“Hah… You’re right. I said that, yet here I am, more tense than anyone.”
We decided to give Liam time to collect his thoughts. While Isabel and I checked the results of the muscle modification, Liam seemed to have organized his mind.
“What is your objective? I’ll decide after hearing it.”
Isabel glanced between Liam and me before answering.
“Very well. Elisha should know by now as well. My goal is to kill the so-called god of Eden and erase its darkness.”
“Kill the god?”
“Yes.”
So the target I had been given was Eden’s god? Was that even possible?
“I mentioned before that an underground city exists beneath Eden. Unspeakable atrocities occur there, far worse than anything on the surface. I never saw it myself, but a colleague gathered testimonies from people who were discarded. One of those witnesses was my family.”
So Isabel had lost her family. When she spoke of them, her expression turned demonic. The underground city she described was hell itself. People forcibly confined there underwent every conceivable inhuman experiment and were used as resources for Eden. Weapons development and research continued regardless of whether test subjects lived or died. There were factories where monsters were bred by crossbreeding with humans, people whose living bodies were fused with monsters to create chimeras, and every manner of cruel act performed to satisfy the desires of the wealthy from every nation. Arenas, the Human-Horse Arena, monster-breeding shows, mass gang rapes, the Dairy Cow Factory—every vile deed was carried out in secret beneath Eden’s pristine mask.
“But there is no physical evidence. Everyone who testified is dead, and without proof we cannot make it public. As long as the god remains, backed by the powerful of every nation, any evidence we present will simply get us eliminated.”
“So you intend to kill the god.”
“We must kill the god and simultaneously spread the evidence from the underground city along with a list of those involved. We already have collaborators in each nation; once we secure the materials, we can distribute them.”
“Killing the god is one thing, but how will you gather evidence from the underground city?”
The place was kept so secret that no one on the surface even knew of its existence. How could we collect proof?
“You were created for that purpose, Elisha—to gather the evidence and to kill the god.”
“Me?”
“Angels are trusted commodities in Eden. They can go anywhere on the surface, even into the temple. All you need to do is enter the temple, meet the god, and kill him.”
“Surprisingly simple. So that’s why I was modified into this body—to please the god.”
Presumably the plan was to gain the god’s favor, secure a private audience, and strike then. It was relatively straightforward, provided one could win his interest.
“The underground city is the real problem. Only those chosen by Eden may enter, and they are subjected to powerful brainwashing; their loyalty is absolute.”
Isabel said she was still searching for a way into the underground city. I would simply have to wait. Still, I should do my own research as well.
“That is our objective. Now tell us about yourself.”
“Since you’ve told me everything, I suppose if things go wrong I’ll die here. Very well. My mission is to uncover Eden’s secrets anyway, so I’ll cooperate.”
Liam appeared to have decided to ally with us after hearing our goals. He spoke in a grave voice.
“I am an agent of the K.F.S.A., the Kansas Federal Security Agency. The intelligence bureau dispatched agents to Eden both to expose its secrets and to steal its technology. No matter how much money we poured in, we could never match Eden’s technological progress; we needed to discover why and, if possible, extract the technology itself. Yet every agent we sent in eventually went silent. When we recovered those who had lost contact, we found them under powerful brainwashing. I was the one who found a way to evade it and carried out the mission.”
“So your ultimate goal is to steal Eden’s technology?”
“If possible, we intend to discover and absorb the secret behind their overwhelmingly rapid advancement.”
If Kansas was thinking along those lines, other nations were probably sending spies as well, openly or otherwise. K.F.S.A.… I felt like I had heard that name before.
“All right, Liam. Now that you know the secret behind Eden’s technological development, what do you think?”
“It’s absurd. Literally inhuman—worse than any monster.”
Liam and Isabel began exchanging information they each lacked, and the atmosphere between them grew cooperative. Oh, we had gained a professional agent as an ally. That felt reassuring.
“It would be difficult for agents who entered as Eden citizens, but we should be able to meet those who came on foreign visas. I can request support from the intelligence bureau.”
“Don’t make contact yet. Information could leak unnecessarily.”
External agents? Come to think of it, a guest had mentioned something similar before.
“Excuse me, a guest once mentioned the K.F.S.A. before leaving.”
“Really?”
“Yes. He left when I didn’t understand.”
“He came to check whether the operation had succeeded. In that case, he may have already reported it as a failure.”
Liam agreed to delay contact. If an agent presumed dead suddenly reached out, it would only arouse suspicion.
“May I ask something as well?”
“What is it?”
“You called me ‘young lady.’ Am I a clone of someone?”
At my question, Liam’s expression grew troubled. Even as an android, he let out a natural sigh.
“I must have been quite flustered to say something like that.”
“We’re comrades now, aren’t we? I’m really curious.”
Liam stared at me for a long moment, then let his gaze drift as though recalling someone.
“I was originally a retainer of the Drivyk family. The body you now inhabit was created with the cooperation of the Drivyk family’s young lady.”
“You cloned her?”
Isabel’s voice rose in surprise.
“Wait—Drivyk? That Drivyk?”
“Yes, the most prestigious family in Kansas. And it wasn’t a complete clone. They harvested an egg, performed artificial fertilization, and cultured the result. It is not the same person.”
Wow. Then that person was my mother? The egg donor made her my genetic mother, right?
“So she’s my mother? Wow! I have a mother too!”
“No, calling her your mother would be…”
“She provided the egg, so genetically we’re related, aren’t we?”
“Strictly speaking, yes, but she has never even seen your body. Moreover, the growth accelerator made your physical age similar to hers. You were clearly much smaller in height and build before—why have you grown to resemble her so closely? For a moment I truly thought you were her.”
He scanned my entire body again. My previous form must have been smaller than Mother’s. Then perhaps the change came from Father’s side?
“Master modified me. But do I really look that much like her? I’d like to meet her someday.”
“Do not call her your mother. She is not yet married; it would be awkward.”
“I’m just happy to know I have a mother.”
While I smiled in delight, Isabel asked sharply,
“Why would a member of the Drivyk bloodline provide her own egg?”
“This project was top secret. The head of the family was concerned about the corruption rampant in Kansas’s upper echelons. We couldn’t know which influential figure might leak Eden’s secrets.”
“So there were things you hadn’t mentioned.”
Hmm. While I half-listened to their complicated conversation, a thought occurred to me: if there was a mother who provided the egg, there must also be a father who provided the sperm. Who was my father?
“Liam, then who provided the sperm—my father?”
“Elisha, step outside for a moment.”
“What? Why, Master? I want to know who my parents are.”
“We’re discussing important matters. Don’t interrupt—stay outside. That’s an order.”
“Yes, Master.”
I tried to protest, but in the end I was sent out. All I wanted was to know my parents. Tch.
I left the operating room and waited idly in the adjacent room that housed the modification equipment. Ah, maybe there were photos of Mother on the internet? If she was the daughter of the Drivyk family and roughly my age, she would be in her late teens or early twenties. I should search. I accessed Kansas sites instead of Eden’s and tried various keywords. The few photos I found were mostly from public events; there were no personal pictures. I enlarged an image from an article showing the Drivyk family at an event and spotted a young woman in a dress, but the resolution was too poor to make out her face. The other photos were taken from a distance and equally degraded. Had they simply left them like this because they were unidentifiable anyway?
What are you doing?
I was looking for my mother.
Elisha’s mother? Weren’t you a clone?
Not a clone—an artificially fertilized and cultured body.
Wow, congratulations. You found your parents.
Thanks, Maria.
After giving up on the fruitless internet search, I sat blankly in a chair. Maria spoke.
Nothing to do right now?
No, Master told me to wait outside.
Then I’ll use it.
Maria, who had apparently learned how, began searching the internet through the implant. Oh, she was more adept than I was. And faster.
What are you looking for?
Information about the human world.
Isn’t the information in my brain enough?
Elisha’s brain is empty. Knowledge, memories, experience—everything is lacking. I have to fill it myself.
That’s mean.
After all, the only memories I possessed were the short experiences since waking in Eden and the knowledge forcibly implanted during angel training. I couldn’t help feeling a little resentful about my inadequate head. Information windows flashed past my eyes too quickly to read. Was Maria reading and discarding them all? Why such a difference when we shared the same body?
Aha, so humans have analyzed their genes like this. Useful.
You understand just by looking at that?
I’m a queen. Handling genes is instinctive for me.
Amazing.
No matter how I looked at it, Maria was impressive. Were all Abaddon Queens like this? If queens mastered biotechnology, progress would be tremendous. While Maria absorbed information, I simply sat there dazed; none of it made sense to me anyway. Ah, that part I understood.
Interested in exercise?
The exercise in your memories seems helpful for creating a healthy host, so I wanted to look into it more closely.
I’m already healthy, though?
We have to think about the children.
She really was a queen. Already concerned about the hosts for her offspring. So an Abaddon protecting its host included maintaining health. Would she force exercise on a host who hated it? Hehe.
Maria’s internet exploration ended with Isabel calling me back inside. When I returned to the operating room, Liam—now free of cables—sat waiting.
“Is the conversation over?”
“It is. From now on he’ll be disguised as a menial android used in the lab.”
“So he’s truly become our comrade. Liam, then—who is my father?”
“Still on about that?”
“I want to know my parents.”
“You’re stubborn. That’s different from the young lady.”
“Ah, tell me about Mother too.”
“This is troublesome.”
Liam gave Isabel a pleading look, but she lightly ignored it. Rolling his eyes, he tried to change the subject.
“More importantly, why is this android female?”
“Why?”
“I’m a man. It would be better if you changed it to a male model.”
“Huh?”
Because my body was female, I had naturally assumed Liam was female too—but he was male? More than that, how was I supposed to have known?
“Of course I didn’t know, so a female model is fine. My body is female, so I naturally assumed the owner of the memories was female. Why would I think male?”
“I suppose. But there was only one successfully cultured body, and it was female, so it couldn’t be helped. Can’t the android be changed?”
“That’s expensive. We don’t have the money to change it.”
“It certainly seems like a high-end product.”
Liam descended from the operating table and tested various movements. Watching him, Isabel spoke as though she had only just realized.
“Come to think of it, Liam is a man’s name. From now on I’ll call you Liana.”
“Why are you arbitrarily changing someone else’s name?”
“Think about it. Your memories were copied, right? Then the original must exist. We need to distinguish the two. And since the body is female, Liana.”
“You’re hitting a sore spot.”
Oh, now that I thought about it, he was right. The Liam whose memories had been copied and placed into a new body was the Liam standing before us—so there were two Liams?
“When I copied my memories and placed them in a new body, I was already prepared. I knew I might become a different person from my previous self. Since I intended to end this life once the mission was complete anyway, changing my name doesn’t matter.”
“You only have one life. You mustn’t die.”
“Don’t look at me with those eyes. A face that resembles the young lady, yet with dead eyes…”
“Ah, I’ll make sure you can’t die until you tell me about my parents!”
“Why the sudden threat?”
In the end, just before heading off to work, I managed—through a combination of threats and coaxing—to extract a promise that he would tell me about my parents.