Chapter 109
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 109
Jin Gau's drill stopped.
Pop! Crunch!
With a sickening sound, my right prosthetic eye popped out of its socket.
Blood splattered everywhere. My face was drenched, as though I'd washed it in the stuff. My nervous system scrambled to adapt to a crackling, halved field of vision.
Clatter.
Jin Gau tossed my right prosthetic eye into the analyzer and checked the data.
He didn't even bother disconnecting the optic nerve first...
A throbbing pain pulsed through me. It felt like static was spreading across my brain.
Clank, clank.
The restraints locking down my limbs released.
I wiped away the blood streaming down like tears and looked at Jin Gau. My vision hadn't focused yet, so his figure was nothing but a blur.
"Luka, how did I look to you while I was extracting your eye? Did I look like something else?" Jin Gau asked, not even glancing my way.
"No. You looked the same as always, Director."
"You saw me as normal, even while I was tearing your eye out by force? Hmm. Then it's fine. It's not that there are no nervous system issues at all—but it means the primary cause is psychological."
I understood.
If my nervous system were broken and causing hallucinations, then Jin Gau's appearance should have been grotesquely distorted too. But he'd looked perfectly normal.
So he wasn't torturing me for no reason after all.
Whatever his methods, his competence was undeniable.
"So does that mean there's no problem?"
"I told you, it's not that there are no nervous system issues. Your nervous system is on the verge of being shredded, which is why you hallucinate at the slightest trigger. And the prosthetic eye itself has no issues either."
The graph on the analyzer where he'd tossed the prosthetic eye glowed entirely green.
"So my brain can still hold out for now."
"If you want to put a positive spin on it, yes."
"I tend to have a pretty positive outlook."
Jin Gau's shoulders shook with laughter. Behind me, I heard Ilay chuckle too.
"I'll tweak your prosthetic eye a bit before I put it back in."
"I'm fine with how it is now."
I didn't want someone else fiddling with it and changing how it worked. I had my own way of doing things.
"I'm going to optimize it to reduce the strain on your nervous system. An expert in Akies Victima doesn't need all those useless features. Better to simplify the prediction-related functions to cut out redundant information. This alone will make a big difference."
...When he put it that way, it made sense. An expert really was an expert. I nodded without arguing further.
"You know a lot about Akies Victima?"
"I was interested in it once. It's fascinating in many ways. Speaking of which, I've got a certain method in mind..." Jin Gau's smile widened.
"You want to use me for a clinical trial."
"Theoretically, there are no issues. Of course, no matter how thorough your preliminary reviews and simulations are, all sorts of problems crop up in practice. I'm not saying you absolutely have to use it."
Jin Gau handed me a sturdy plastic case. I cracked it open to check the contents. Inside was a glass vial filled with liquid and an injector gun. The vial was designed to load into the injector like a magazine.
"If you ever find yourself backed into a desperate corner, try it with a 'nothing to lose' mindset. If the results are good, be sure to let me know. I've included the manual."
The needle of the injector gun looked vicious. Even without having read the manual yet—without even knowing what it was for—I could see the needle was as long as my finger.
"I don't know what it is, but I hope I never have to use it."
"I hope so too."
Jin Gau lied smoothly, without so much as a blink. He was a strange man. Likable, yet someone I instinctively wanted to keep at arm's length.
Whirrr.
A mechanical arm descended from the ceiling and took over the re-implantation of the prosthetic eye. Forceps pried my eye socket wide open. Then micro-surgical tools began digging inside, starting the nervous system integration procedure.
There's no need for me to describe the details.
While I underwent the procedure, Ilay and Jin Gau talked about something else.
"I'll show you something interesting, Ilay. Since I owe you one."
Jin Gau tapped the wall. A section of it slid open, revealing a glass pane. Beyond the glass was a space large enough for a single person to lie down.
Skitter, scratch.
A bizarre cry, mixed with mechanical noises, echoed out. Through a stinging pain, I stared past the glass pane.
A rat?
It was a rat larger than a fist. But looking closer, it wasn't covered in fur—it was sheathed in hard, metallic skin.
Whir, whir.
The mechanical rat clawed at the glass the instant it saw Jin Gau.
A machine beast.
I remembered the beast-type machine beast Ilay had once captured alive. The rat in there was a far smaller machine beast. Its temperament seemed vicious in the extreme, hurling its body against the glass again and again.
Thud! Thud!
The mechanical rat pounded furiously at the pane. But the window didn't budge, and the rat, unable to contain its rage, scurried frantically in every direction.
"I've seen machine beasts far larger than this," Ilay said, his eyes empty of interest.
Jin Gau gave a slimy smile and brought up a hologram.
"Originally, this rat wasn't a machine beast. Nor did it have any cybernetic parts implanted."
"What?"
"It's a test subject that was exposed to Holystone energy over a long period. Its biological body mutated and turned into a machine."
A holographic video appeared on the glass pane. It showed a fast-forwarded recording of a white rat mutating over the course of several months.
First, the rat's fur and claws fell out. Soon its eyeballs bulged out grotesquely, and dark red entrails spilled from its anus, dragging along the floor. It looked as if it had contracted some horrific disease.
But the mutation was only just beginning.
The hairless skin hardened into metal. Where the eyeballs had been, lenses pushed outward from within. Its metallic claws curved like hooks, sharp enough to dig into the walls as it scurried around.
"Beyond the mechanization, the matter itself mutates. There are all kinds of bizarre forms. It's literally a monster. Even if you project the same amount of Holystone energy onto genetically identical subjects, they mutate into different forms."
Jin Gau played the other videos in sequence. One rat had mutated into a hulking mass of muscle. The monstrous thing tore an apex predator apart. Another rat had hardened like stone, petrifying completely until its life signs stopped altogether. For the vast majority, though, their skin simply melted away as if from disease.
"If we could artificially control this mutation, it would be quite fascinating."
Behind his glasses, Jin Gau's pupils gleamed with intensity. Beside him, Ilay watched the footage with an expression that was half interest, half disgust.
"Have you ever tested this mutation on humans?" Ilay asked, parting his lips. I wanted to ask the same thing.
Jin Gau kept his smile and didn't answer. Instead, he said only what he wanted to say.
"...So don't delve too deeply into the Arcane civilization and Holystones. Ilay Kartika, this is for your own good. I don't need to explain why I'm showing you such classified information, do I?"
"It means it's that dangerous."
"Only read about the Arcane civilization in books. Approaching it directly is not your place."
It was a warning aimed at Ilay, who harbored an excessive interest in the Arcane civilization.
Click, click.
Meanwhile, the implantation of my prosthetic eye was finished.
I squeezed an ampoule of artificial tears, letting the drops fall onto my stiff eye. The fluid washed away the blood and served as a lubricant.
"Thank you for everything, Director," I said, rising from the chair.
Jin Gau waved a hand with a smile.
"I hope you live a long life."
"I hope so too."
* * *
As Ilay and I left the 4th Research Institute, we spotted a familiar object—one that stirred up unpleasant emotions and memories.
Researchers, assisted by androids, were moving it deeper into the facility.
Rattle, rattle.
The thing loaded onto the cart was a circular capsule, large enough to comfortably fit three or four people. Even though it wasn't connected to a power source, a bluish light flowed along the circuits etched across its surface.
The teleportation device.
It was the artifact we'd seen in the basement of the Arcane Fortress.
Lillian Ramones had tried to use it to escape to Border City in the Bellato Federation. But it had been nothing more than a pipe dream. In the end, she'd met her death at Ilay's hands.
"...He really did practically plunder it from the other research institute. That man's drive and resourcefulness are truly something."
Ilay spoke bitterly, staring at the teleportation device for a long moment. Was that gaze driven by curiosity about the Arcane civilization, or by lingering feelings for Lillian? Perhaps both.
"You should drop your interest in the Arcane civilization too. You're the one who's going to become head of the Kartika family."
"I will, even if you don't tell me to. By the way... did you do it with Giselle?"
I choked on my own spit, even though I hadn't so much as touched a glass of water.
"Cough, cough. What the hell are you talking about, out of nowhere?"
"Hmm. So you haven't yet."
Ilay said it in a flat tone, like he was asking about the breakfast menu. His smirk was infuriating.
"You're seriously misunderstanding something—"
Ilay didn't even hear me out. He lightly tapped my chest with his fist, then leveled a finger at me.
"Don't live with regrets, Luka. No, actually—no matter what choice we make, we're bound to regret it in the end... but do your best anyway. I'm still regretting that I couldn't."
His words sounded almost profound, but in the end he was just saying we'd regret it either way.
"I'm not like you, dumbass."
We walked away from the research institute.
Even within the Upper District, the research complex was a top-tier facility. The scenery was pristine, the streets obsessively clean. Despite being outdoors, the high altitude meant the air was excellent.
At the complex's airfield, the aerial vehicle we'd arrived in came into view. By now I was used to traveling this way.
Seated inside the aerial vehicle, I looked down out the window. My gaze stretched far below, all the way to the horizon. At the very edge of my sight lay the Lower District.
Once, I too had looked up here from down there. Even now, some children would be gazing up with longing in their eyes. But they could never imagine.
...That even up here, you have to live trembling with anxiety.
I had clawed my way up here, believing that once I reached this place, all my worries and fears would vanish.
Yet the anxiety I carried was still alive and well. A monster named anxiety loomed over me, its eyes glowing blood-red.
As time passed, that monster fed on my life, growing fatter and more bloated. It kept its maw wide open, waiting for the moment I'd finally collapse.
"Luka. I'm going to become head of the Kartika family."
Ilay, sitting across from me, spoke. Until a moment ago he'd been handling family business through holograms. From the glimpses I caught, it looked like he'd already begun carrying out the duties of Family Head in all but name.
"No need to announce your goals to me now."
I replied half-heartedly. Ilay smiled, as if he'd expected nothing less.
"Becoming head of the Kartika family is only the beginning for me. I intend to seize real power."
"So what—you want to become one of the Empire's power players?"
"Power and violence are merely tools. But without them, I can't protect my will, let alone realize it. A will with no power behind it is easily broken and shattered. Just like you said—I was a sheltered noble young master. I mindlessly assumed everything would just work itself out. Because I'd never collided with an irresistible force, I looked down on the world. After all, I could have whatever I wanted."
Ilay was scratching the back of his hand. The artificial skin tore along his fingernail, fraying at the edges.
"With who you are now, it wouldn't be hard for you to leave the Empire and go anywhere, Ilay."
"I've accumulated karma. I've killed a lot of people for the sake of my desires. If I run away from here, even my sins will become meaningless. I don't want to be that kind of terrible person."
Ilay was drifting away from me. The Ilay I used to know had been a boy chasing absurd ideals, yearning for foreign lands.
Ever since Lillian Ramones's death, I'd found it hard to read what went on inside Ilay's head. It wasn't surprising. He and I were walking different paths now. Ilay didn't know the situation I was in either—which meant he'd understand my thoughts even less.
We were facing the end of our youth. From here on, we could no longer run from responsibility, duty, and karma.
"...Well. Good luck with that."
"If I've come this far, shouldn't you open up about something too?"
Ilay sighed and leaned back into his seat.
"Nothing much, other than the fact that the number of people trying to kill me keeps growing. The usual."
I shrugged. Ilay narrowed his eyes.
"Luka. I owe you. And I'm prepared to do whatever it takes to settle that debt."
"You don't owe me anything."
"If I say I do, then I do. So tell me before I change. I might end up in a place where your voice can't reach me. When that happens, I'll turn a blind eye, no matter what you ask of me."
I don't need your help.
I barely kept those words from escaping my throat. It wasn't for my own sake. I swallowed them for Ilay's. I had a feeling that if I spat them out, Ilay would change even faster.
No—to be precise, it would be closer to corruption.
"Fine."
At my half-hearted answer, Ilay only offered a faint smile.
"Thanks, Luka. As for me... I..."
Ilay's pupils trembled. His unfocused eyes seemed to be looking at something other than me.
"...I go on living, forgetting my dead subordinates. These days, I barely even think of them anymore."
Ilay mechanically pulled out a cigarette and put it to his lips.
Flick.
The cigarette caught fire. Beyond the smoke, the light returned to Ilay's eyes.
"Even on the day I killed Garcia with my own hands, I slept soundly and woke up refreshed, without a single nightmare. And that was a day when a lot of relatives I'd known for years died, too."
Ilay was talking about the day of the armed helicopter attack. I just listened in silence.
"What scares me even more is... if things keep going like this, I feel like I'd be the same even if you died. So don't die before me. I don't want to see my own rock bottom."
Ilay was becoming an Imperial Guardsman before I was.