Bare Hands for a God
Master fiddled with the computer for a moment before speaking. “There. I’ve restored the admin privileges. As long as you don’t connect directly again, no one can take control.”
“Thank you, Master.”
I felt a warm rush of happiness that Master trusted Maria. While dressing Maria’s still-sleeping body, I thought of Lyana. “Master, where is Lyana?”
“She got bored sitting in the lab and left. An android complaining about stiffness and going off to stretch—unbelievable.”
An android? It really was absurd. Still, watching Maria, who couldn’t stand being idle, I understood a little.
Master continued. “Elisha, practice the killing techniques needed to slay a god. You won’t be able to bring weapons inside, so you must be able to kill with your bare hands.”
“Understood.”
“It won’t only be the god. We have no idea what dangers await in the Underground City. You need to be able to handle emergencies yourself.”
“If it’s killing techniques, Lyana would know best, wouldn’t she? She was an agent, after all.”
Master’s expression brightened with realization. “Ah, right. I’d forgotten because that human acts like such a layabout, but she really was an agent. If she’s wandering the lab with nothing to do and causing trouble, she might as well teach you.”
“Can androids use remote communication?”
“Of course. Just a moment.”
Master picked up the communicator and tried to reach Lyana, but no matter how long the line rang, Lyana didn’t answer.
While I waited in vain, Maria woke and spoke. ‘Hmm? What’s going on? When did it end?’
‘A little while ago.’
‘Why didn’t you wake me?’
‘I tried, but you wouldn’t get up.’
‘Ah, Elisha can’t do it.’
Maria soon reclaimed control. Standing before the mirror on the lab wall, she examined her face and murmured in admiration. ‘Wow, human technology really is impressive. How did they make it look exactly the same?’
‘Do you like it?’
‘Of course I do. Sorry, Elisha, but I prefer this face.’
‘Yeah… I think it’s prettier now, too.’
It was bittersweet, but Maria was right. Watching her tie up her hair, I studied the reflection again: bright silver hair, striking features, blue lifeless eyes, a straight nose, and full lips curved in a subtle smile. The face radiated an elegant, decadent beauty. Sensing my gaze, Maria flashed a seductive smile as if showing off. In that moment, I felt a crushing sense of defeat before her.
‘Don’t be so discouraged, Elisha. You’re living inside my body too, after all.’
‘…Yeah.’
Maria’s sense of superiority washed over me. Still, there was no need to think negatively. Maria and I were in a symbiotic relationship. Since she handled the body far more perfectly than I ever could, it was only natural she held the reins.
“Elisha, I told Lyana to come straight back, so just wait. I have some business to attend to, so I’ll leave the lab in your care.”
“Yes, Master.”
Master left the lab, entrusting it to Maria. Oh, right—I needed to tell Maria that Master had returned the admin rights.
‘I convinced Master to give back the implant’s admin privileges.’
‘Really? Well done!’
‘Hehe, thank you.’
Maria’s genuine joy reached me, and I felt happy too. She really did like me.
“Now that I have admin rights, I should get to work.”
‘What kind of work?’
“Preparing for the possibility that Isabel tries to control the implant again.”
I didn’t understand. How was she going to do that? While I puzzled over it, Maria connected the implant to the lab computer and began typing.
“Originally, only one person could hold admin rights. I’m splitting it into two and keeping one for myself. That way, if Isabel orders something reckless with her admin rights, I can refuse.”
‘Do we really need to go that far? Master trusts Maria now. It won’t happen.’
“It’s not just Isabel. Implants are vulnerable to hacking. If someone hacks it, we’re finished. This is preparation for that, too.”
‘Oh, I see.’
I understood the reason, but not the method, so I simply watched Maria work in a daze. After operating the computer for a long time, Maria unplugged the cable from the back of her neck.
“Done. Now I have permanent admin rights too. One less thing to worry about.”
‘Wow, congratulations.’
“Elisha doesn’t get the rights, but that’s fine, right?”
‘I wouldn’t know how to use them anyway, so it doesn’t matter.’
Maria smiled in satisfaction. “Exactly. Elisha, I’ll let you play games on the implant when you’re bored.”
‘You can play games too?’
“There’s not enough spare space in the implant for offline games, but online ones are possible. Want to try?”
‘Yeah, I want to try.’
I’d seen mentions of online games on the internet now and then. Everyone seemed busy fighting each other, yet they were popular enough to have personal broadcasts. Players became characters in the game, hunting monsters or waging wars. If it was that fun, of course it was popular.
‘Oh, right—Master said to learn killing techniques from Lyana. We need to be able to kill the god with our bare hands.’
“Really? I’m not really into that sort of thing.”
‘Maria doesn’t like it?’
“Trading blows isn’t elegant. I prefer solving things with power other than brute force.”
‘Mmm…’
Even with such a strong body, Maria seemed to dislike fighting. In times like this, it was up to me—the angel—to step in.
‘Then I’ll do the fighting. I’m not good with words and I’m not that smart, either.’
“Thank you. Then Elisha takes combat, and I’ll handle everything else.”
Maria looked relieved and grateful at my words. She really must have hated fighting that much. Looking at her, her likes and dislikes were extremely clear—her dislike of serving others was another example.
“So you were here.”p>
Lyana’s voice came from behind us. Maria turned to see Lyana standing at the lab entrance.
“Isabel told me. You want me to teach you killing techniques?”
“Yes. We need to kill the target with our bare hands.”
“If it’s to kill a god, I’ll teach you.”
“Thank you.”
While Maria spoke with Lyana, I said, ‘Maria, ask her to tell us about our parents. She promised last time.’
‘Got it.’
Maria relayed my request. “You promised to tell us about our parents last time. Can you tell us now?”
“Oh. I was hoping you’d forgotten.”
Lyana had probably wished I would forget. Even an idiot like me wouldn’t forget something so important in just a few days.
“A promise is a promise. The egg donor is Helenya Dryvyq, the young lady of the Dryvyq family. She’s twenty-four. From a young age she was praised as the one who would lead the family, and she rose to become its heir.”
‘Wow! Our mom is amazing!’
‘When did “mother” become “mom”? Be quiet and listen.’
“As for her appearance… hmm? Did something happen in between? Her face has changed quite a bit.”
“Master gave me plastic surgery.”
“Now you resemble the lady more than the young miss. Anyway, you still look similar to before. You were shockingly alike, which was a bit much, but it’s better now.”
Lyana went on and on praising Mother. She was a leader of gentle temperament who excelled in both literary and martial arts, and she was working to address the severe wealth gap in Kansas. Wow, I really wanted to meet her in person.
“In any case, Lady Helenya is unmarried, so refrain from calling her ‘mother.’”
“Who is our father?”
Lyana, who had been chattering nonstop in praise of Mother, suddenly clamped her mouth shut and glanced around nervously before speaking. “You already know about Mother, don’t you? Just forget about the sperm donor…”
‘Of course not!’
“No. You promised, remember? Tell us quickly.”
“Ugh…”
After hesitating for a long time, he finally spoke. “The sperm donor is Liam Deckard.”
‘Liam? Lyana?’
“You’re our father?”
“More accurately, the original is. I’m just an android now.”
So it was top secret that Liam had provided the sperm? Wait, then we had two fathers?
‘Maria, does this mean we have two dads?’
‘One is a female android, so isn’t she our mom? No, wait—an android can’t be a biological parent in the first place.’
My head was starting to spin. But when the sperm was donated, Lyana had still been Liam…
“Enough. Let’s change the subject to killing techniques. The methods I know for killing someone without weapons are…”
Lyana, clearly unwilling to continue the previous topic, quickly shifted gears and began explaining.
‘Now it’s Elisha’s turn to listen and learn.’
‘Okay.’
Maria handed over control so I could learn directly.
“Throughout human history, wars—whether against monsters or other humans—have always developed with weapons as the basic premise. After the advancement of science, the tendency to fight only with weapons grew even stronger. Especially since most wars were against monsters, hand-to-hand combat techniques barely developed. But killing a person with bare hands is surprisingly simple. You just strike their vital points with strong force, quickly and accurately.”
She pointed to various spots on Maria’s body as she explained. “Most human vital points are located along the center of the body. The back of the head, the crown, the temples, the space between the eyebrows, the eyes, the jaw, the philtrum—there are already this many on the head alone. Below that: the neck, the bridge of the nose, the armpits, the center of the chest, the ribs, the solar plexus, the sides, the navel, the abdomen. For women, the lower abdomen; for men, the groin. There are quite a lot.”
“Humans are fragile.”
“That’s why armor and other protective gear exist—to guard the vital points. Thick muscles can offer some defense, but in the end, humans are still humans. A single proper strike to a vital point is enough to incapacitate someone.”
Lyana explained the vital points and then demonstrated ways to attack when an opponent tried to protect them.
“The most common defensive posture people take is raising both arms to cover the upper body while slightly hunching to protect the abdomen as well. They mainly guard the upper body, where the most vital points are. Now, take that stance.”
“Like this?”
Following her instructions, I raised both arms and hunched slightly. Lyana moved in slow motion while explaining. “In this case, you target the instep, ankle, knee, inner knee, inner thigh, or shin with a strong kick. It’s even better if you throw a punch to divert their attention. Disabling just one leg will break their posture and let you attack unilaterally.”
She demonstrated by throwing a left punch at the arm, twisting her waist, and kicking the knee.
“Alternatively, if attacking the lower body makes them hunch over, you can grab their head and drive your knee upward. But your opponent won’t be an idiot, so I’ll teach you other methods in case they dodge the lower-body attack.”
“Yes, Mom.”
“Wait—why am I ‘Mom’?”
Lyana looked extremely flustered. “Because the sperm donor is Liam. Since you’re female, you’re Mom!”
“No, I’m begging you—don’t call me Mom.”
“Then… Big Sister?”
“Haah… I suppose that’s better.”
Hehe. I finally had a family. Helenya Mom, Liam Dad, Lyana Big Sister. Having no past of my own, yet suddenly gaining both a family and a hometown, I felt something welling up in my chest.
While learning combat techniques from Lyana, the time for my promise with Kate drew near.
“Big Sister, I have another appointment, so I need to go.”
“We’ll continue next time. I’ll also teach you the traditional martial arts of the Dryvyq family.”
“Thank you!”
After greeting Lyana and leaving the lab, Maria reclaimed control.
‘Did you learn well?’
‘Yeah, it was really fun.’
‘Good. You need to master it. You have to protect my body.’
‘I’ll work hard.’
Maria’s encouragement made me feel like her guardian angel. The thought of protecting Maria sent a thrill through my mind and filled me with motivation.
‘Now we just go to Kate’s shop, right?’
‘Yeah. Oh, did you bring the latex suit?’
‘Do you think I’m Elisha? Of course I brought it.’
‘That’s Maria for you.’
Maria took the subway to Central Street. On a weekend, the street was packed with people—mostly tourists who had come to Eden for the weekend. And far more gazes were directed at Maria than when I had been in control of the body.
‘I never drew this many stares. Maria really attracts attention.’
‘That’s because your fashion, makeup, and even hairstyle were all lacking. Beautiful women naturally draw eyes.’
‘Yeah, yeah. Maria really is beautiful.’
Admitting that Maria was superior made my heart feel lighter. She really was a better fit as the body’s owner than I was. And the moment I acknowledged that, my head tingled again and I felt good.
‘Admitting that Maria is the superior owner makes me strangely happy.’
‘I’m following Isabel’s training method. The more you submit and follow me, the more pleasurable it will feel.’
Why was Maria doing this? I already liked her even without it.
‘Why are you doing this? You don’t have to—I already like Maria.’
‘Because I need to separate Elisha from Isabel. Angels swear absolute loyalty to whoever they make their submission oath to, right? As long as Isabel remains your Master, we can never be truly free of her.’
‘But Master is a good person. Do we really need to be free?’
‘Elisha, what did you say you should do for me?’
At Maria’s words, my head tingled once more and my consciousness grew hazy. Ah… Maria is…
‘I must sacrifice myself only for Maria.’
‘Yes. You must obey me—the one in a symbiotic relationship with you—not Isabel. We are a community of fate.’
‘Mmm…’
Another tingle, and the haze deepened. Ow, thinking is getting hard…
‘If I wanted, I could turn you into a puppet I control with ease, but I don’t want that. It would just make me a parasite. I prefer living in symbiosis with the adorable Elisha. So I want your submission to be voluntary. Will you do as I wish?’
‘Ugh… but Master is…’
The more I listened to Maria, the more my head hurt. Maria, please stop. My head hurts too much.
‘Ow, my head really hurts—stop.’
‘Not yet… All right. I don’t want to hurt Elisha. Let’s take it slow.’
‘Aah… ugh. Thank you.’
When Maria stopped at my request, the pain faded. In its place, a gentle pleasure bloomed, bringing with it gratitude toward Maria.
‘If we continue the training gradually like this, it should be fine. Rest until we reach Kate’s shop.’
Following Maria’s words, I did nothing and simply rested.