Chapter 203
Chapter 203
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 203
Chapter Title: The Mage of Mages (23)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
****
Administrative Division. Research Facility.
Beep- Beep- Beep- Beep-
"Mini. How's it going over there?"
"Ugh, don't even ask. With refugees flooding into places without proper facilities, hygiene levels have plummeted. We're in a frenzy preparing countermeasures for potential dysentery or cholera outbreaks. On top of that, the radiation zones are spreading faster than expected, contaminating aquifers, so we need to prep water filtration too. And then there's the research on 'that' sample... I could use two bodies and still fall short."
"Same story everywhere. Wartime administration means no more coffee, and we're pulling all-nighters almost every day. At this rate, we'll all drop dead from overwork and spawn something like 'Abominations Obsessed with Research.'"
"Pfft! That makes sense. Everyone's heads are filled with nothing but 'I wanna go home-'"
"Right? Once we start keeling over like that, even the community folks won't be able to whine, 'White-collar bastards are living the sweet life, sucking honey while frontline troops get munched by mutants that don't just eat people but pick their favorite cuts, and all they do is huddle in their offices scribbling away.'"
Crunch!
Administrative researcher Tesin took a big bite of his calorie bar and let out a sigh.
It felt like being thrown back to the early days of the apocalypse five years ago. People were doing anything and everything to survive, breeding mutual distrust everywhere, and now they had to deal with mutants swarming in from outside too. Watching this, it was inevitable to sink into nihilism, wondering, 'What was the point of all our efforts over these five years?'
'No. Things aren't exactly the same.'
Beep- Beep- Beep- Beep-
Tesin looked up at the massive entity holding them in the lab even during lunch hour.
One of the Administrative Division's top priorities: the sample. A Type 3 mutant still alive and presumed to retain human consciousness.
Thump thump- Thump thump-
Even from this distance, its two enormous hearts beat with such force that the sound reached them. Watching the ECG machine spike with each pulsation stirred something akin to awe in his chest. It was a reverence felt as a human, and as a man.
As part of his research—and as a fan—Tesin diligently watched Professor Park's play recordings, splitting his sleep to keep up. He knew from studying him up close: while a backup data soul often substituted for consciousness, if the main body had fully mutated and lost human awareness, connecting to it would have been impossible.
Estimates from the recovered Orpheus fragments pegged the 'intact Orpheus' output as powerful enough to instantly suicide every lifeform in four or five zones.
Yet the man slumbering before his eyes had endured all that condensed power right up to the moment he contacted and destroyed Orpheus's core—and still managed to preserve some semblance of his humanity.
'Just what kind of person was he to remain human even as every cell in his body rebuilt itself at the genetic level? Is that even physically possible?'
And as a highly special case, he'd already been partially mutated, making him extremely vulnerable to Orpheus's waves.
Tesin and the other researchers, reviewing survivor bodycam footage, were left speechless at the sight of the black monster advancing toward the altar.
Afterward, more researchers started coming here to rest when nothing much was happening.
He hadn't planned to meet his intake-mate Minea here, but that was why.
"It's like fire-gazing, sort of. He's burning so fiercely."
"That too. As a scholar, that's unproven mystical territory. Something transcending theory and physics. If someone proves the existence of souls, this guy right here would be Exhibit A."
"...Be honest, Tesin. You joined that weird Professor Park fan club, didn't you?"
"I-It’s not weird! I-I stumbled into it by chance, but it turned out to be a decent chat room where surprisingly normal people hang out—"
Beeeep! Beeeeep!
Just as he was about to preach the virtues of the [No Gods, No Demons, But Professor Park Exists] chat room to a skeptical Minea.
The myriad gauges tracking the mutant's status went haywire, drawing nearby researchers over.
Boom!
"Tesin, Minea! What the hell happened! What did you touch...!"
"Ah, we didn't do anything! We were just monitoring and eating—"
"Save the excuses! Status— what's going on!"
Before they could respond, the director stormed in with a grim face, barking orders. Minea stammered out what they'd observed under his intense glare.
"W-Well, the heart rate spiked dramatically, small movements detected at the extremities..."
"Don't beat around the bush!"
"Brain activity has surged!"
Beeeep! Beeeeep! Beeeeep!
The old researcher glared at Minea once more with a furrowed brow, then scanned the tangled gauges, breaking into a cold sweat. The hearts were racing like engines at max output. The cerebrum had no business activating now.
"This is bad... This is bad...! Cause— any cause identified?"
Tap tap. Tap tap tap!
"F-Found it! I found it, but..."
"But what!"
"Uh... Nothing from our end. An unidentified signal came through the connector from inside GG. Seems like it stimulated the brain."
"Damn it. That insane game! What the hell is going on! Can we monitor the player in real-time!"
"With no actual player logged in, it's like sleep mode—we can only extract data synced and stored in the connector!"
"This bullshit!!!"
Crash!
Unable to pinpoint the cause, the director shoved a tool cart aside and stormed off somewhere.
Tesin couldn't comprehend the biotech division chief's increasingly distorted expression.
"Director? Increased brain activity... isn't that good news? Maybe the Professor's consciousness will recover faster than planned..."
Bang! Crash!
"That's for a regular vegetative state! You that clueless about the subject? Body maintenance is handled by the sub-personality called 'Hyde'! Active brain means the cerebrum is stirring! Which means 'Hyde,' operating between the cerebellum and brainstem, has vacated the premises!"
Rumble!
The director violently cleared a corner of the lab piled with junk, then dragged out a dusty red box onto a cart.
"Then... don't tell me..."
"Yeah! With the weird thing forcing the body to move gone, all functions will shut down soon!"
Beeeep, Bip! Beeeeee-----
At that moment, a piercing tone cut through the chaotic lab, freezing everyone as if on cue.
Twitch twitch twitch-
The heart, pounding hard enough to hear, now dangled limply in spasms.
Screeech!
"Snap out of it! Grab a tub of gelatin pads! You! Get the cords! Rip out maintenance lines, whatever—hurry! And you there! Bring the portable hydraulic wrench for open cardiac massage!"
Splurt!
While Administrative engineers rolled in heavy gear to massage the torso-sized heart, the director tore open the packaging of the item he'd fetched.
"Defibrillator...?"
"Close enough! It was being developed as a cyborg anti-personnel weapon—high-voltage shock device!"
"Connected!"
Zzzzap!
Back in lazier times, this junk he'd jokingly prototyped over drinks with the engineering chief.
The arc discharge arcing dangerously between the handle-mounted electrodes screamed "not for humans," but there was no time to nitpick.
"Hit it with 6000V right now! Charge!"
Whiiiirrr-
Crack-!
Thump.
"N-No response!"
"I know!"
The director gnashed his teeth at the faintly twitching heart. He'd already dumped the max safe voltage for humans.
But the subject was an unknown organism. A Type 3 mutant, the era's ultimate mystery, producing its own ultra-durable tissues.
The director decided to trust the Professor's body, which had absorbed the box core's leaking energy and still held its form.
"...You there. Pry off the top panel and rip out all the limiters!"
"Raising voltage further risks irreversible electrical burns!"
"Don't spout common sense in front of a heart the size of your torso! I slapped pads on myself in case it arcs! Shut up and crank the output!"
"Ch-Charge! 8000V!"
"Step back! You'll get shocked!"
Zzzzzap!
Thump!
"Damn it! Crank it higher! No scorch marks! Bring the gene sequencer and keep massaging that idle heart! Get oxygen to the brain somehow! Do everything you can!"
"I-I'll head to the ward for any needed meds!"
Tesin kicked off his slippers and bolted barefoot to the ward. Suddenly, his eyes caught an open door to a room as he gathered armfuls of injectables and drugs.
Scratch scratch scratch-
A single drone camera with its red broadcast light on, hovering over a woman focused on her task in bed.
The nameplate at the room's entrance read 'Dana Elysia Hyacinth.' Known as the Professor's lover.
'...If we fail to restore the Professor's bodily functions...'
Thinking it might be the last chance, Tesin knocked on the room door.
Moments later, footsteps racing toward the research wing doubled.
****
Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock.
No matter how he moved, it wouldn't fade: the sound of dripping water.
Grrreeeak-
The familiar old sofa groaned in protest.
And then.
[Hey. Long time no see?]
The 'fake' him heard a voice he thought gone forever.
Splash, splash, splash.
The jet-black monster rose from the old sofa and approached with that familiar voice.
[Brother, father, friend. Kinda nostalgic seeing you like this, huh? You're inside the monster your consciousness spawned. And I'm inside the monster I built on mutant cell foundations—with you taking root in it.]
Crack.
Hyde scratched his left finger joints, wrinkling his nose at the blood-scent wafting from the monster.
[But what the hell is with that look? Where's the badass Professor Park charging the box that day? Who's this sniveling pathetic loser? Honestly, that day, watching your fraying mind condense to one sentence, I even thought, 'Damn, I'll never catch up to this guy.']
'...That's the gap between a being with a soul and one made of mere data and memories.'
Rumble-
Flash!
In the silent darkness, a white bolt cleaved through and struck down.
[Pfft! Dude, that was funny just now. Another being? Data and memories? Even accounting for mutant cells stimulating negative emotions, and your state teetering on existential philosophy—ain't that a bit too retarded? Original this, fake that—where the hell is it anyway.]
Squeeze, squish-
Hyde's sharp fingertip stabbed the Professor's chest.
[The guy I'm talking to right now—if not Professor Park, who? Gotta have a body to be real, no body makes you fake? You saying I'm hurt? I've only ever had consciousness. So was I never real from the start? Then what am I now? Doesn't that sound contradictory to you? You're smart, man! Think logically—]
'...That's why you wouldn't get it. The despair of realizing what I thought was mine wasn't, and I'm a worthless copy replicable with one click.'
[...Can't reason with you. Professor Park was always wary of mutant cells in his head. What a spectacle.]
Rumble!
Crack-boom!
Hyde sighed at the lightning striking from the far reaches of consciousness.
[Sigh. Whatever. No time anyway—let's cut the chit-chat.]
'No... time?'
[Yeah, dude. No clue what dragged me here, but without me, you're a corpse. That lightning? Proof they're busting ass outside to keep your body alive. And you had to drag busy people into this.]
'Right... Come to think of it, you were the one keeping that body going?'
Rumble!
The defibrillator's shock jolted the body, white lightning illuminating the two bared-toothed monsters.
Crunch crunch, crack! Pop!
Hiss- Crunch! Graaah!
The jet-black monster's muscles swelled to their limit, screaming.
The dark red monster's body steamed vaporized blood like mist, crouching forward as if to pounce.
[Let's make it quick. Learned from someone I know well: crazy bastards need crazy meds.]
'Kill you and trap you here... means the one outside dies too.'
[Ha! Just learned to handle a body and...]
Rumble!
Red and yellow eyes burned with fighting spirit and madness. Blood-smeared fangs and white tusks bared differing grins.
As lightning from consciousness's edge lit them once more.
[Who the hell's killing whooooooo!!!!]
'I'll! Kill! You! Eradicate everything not me! Reclaim pure existence as myself!!!'
Thud!
"Graaaaaaaaah!!!!!!"
"Grrrrraaaaaah!!!"
Boom!
Against the backdrop of lightning crashing into the black space,
The monster born from twisted self clashed with the monster forged by overcoming twisted self.
****