Chapter 119: A Fleeting Spring Dream (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 119: A Fleeting Spring Dream (2)
When faced with an unbelievable reality, the first instinct is denial. It can’t be. There’s no way. This is just a guess.
However, the answer derived from the mountain of information I had gathered wouldn't vanish, no matter how hard I tried to push it out of my mind.
How could Luche have guessed that the Superhumans might be dead? Even without knowing that experiments were being conducted on children who hadn't reached puberty, one could reasonably deduce the "disappearance" of the Superhumans.
The information right in front of us and the resulting consequences were within the realm of logical deduction, provided one had enough data. However, Luche—believing that I, as the one assigned to monitor Team Hunter Killer, was investigating Superhumans specifically because of them—likely left the investigation entirely to me.
That was why Luche was only now arriving at the same conclusion: that the Superhumans might be dead.
But the most important thing wasn't that Luche had made that guess. It was that she had thought of it at the same time and in the same context as I had. The moment our thoughts aligned, it became impossible to deny my own theory.
It felt like witnessing an accident right before my eyes and trying to believe it hadn't happened.
"Surely... that can't be it. All those people..."
I forced the words of denial out of my mouth, shifting my gaze from Luche to the monitor.
Right. The idea that the Superhumans were dead was still just a theory. There was no definitive proof yet; it was merely a predicted conclusion based on the information available so far.
"Right? No matter how you look at it, there's no way that many people could have died, right?"
Death is an unavoidable reality for any living being. Time is not infinite; every life has an end. The death of a human is a natural occurrence.
I, too, have lived for quite a long time, but even I cannot escape death. It’s the same for everyone around me. Death is inevitable for all.
However, if the Superhumans were "dead," that death carried a completely different weight than a natural one. It was public knowledge that Superhumans were created beings.
If Superhumans created through experiments were dying, it meant there was a flaw in those experiments. And if they knew this and continued to create Superhumans for twenty years, it was no different from murder.
I had seen countless inhabitants of other planets face their end during our invasions. But Earth was the first planet to commit such an extreme act... No, the more I thought about it, the more the conclusion that the Superhumans were dead seemed like the only one.
Let’s look at an alternative. Suppose that, just as a living being's time is finite, a Superhuman's power is also finite and constantly consumed. Eventually, the person who was once a Superhuman loses that power.
And in the end, they return to being an ordinary person. If that was discovered three years after the first Superhumans appeared, it would explain why the rotation of Superhumans has continued until now.
"..."
I lowered my head at my own absurd thought. It didn't add up. First of all, there was no information anywhere regarding "replaced" Superhumans. Was it just missing from the database?
That was impossible. The Spacetro server database contained almost every piece of information regarding the events on Earth over the last twenty years. While classified matters were protected by a higher-level system, there was no way information about humans who had lost their Superhuman powers wouldn't be in the database.
"A?"
I heard Luche’s worried voice calling my name. I tried to look up, but a sudden throb of pain in my head forced me to keep it down.
"!"
"What’s wrong? Are you okay?"
At the short gasp that escaped me, Luche stood up from her chair and rushed to my side.
"Yes. I'm fine. Just a bit of a headache."
I waved her off to reassure her and sat her back down, then lifted my face, which was slick with cold sweat. My eyes drifted to the news article on the monitor.
Suddenly, I thought of Indigo. Did he know about this? Whether it was death or the loss of power, did he know that an "end" existed for Superhumans? Was that why he acted so radically?
His actions were absolutely unforgivable and incomprehensible, but they were worth reconsidering in light of this new theory. Perhaps this very issue was what had turned Indigo into the man he was.
"...What happened to the Superhumans?"
"What if... what if Superhuman power is consumable, and the people of Earth found a way to suppress that consumption or prolong the power?"
"If we knew how Superhuman power is generated, wouldn't we know the answer to that too?"
Superhuman power. On Earth, where technology was significantly inferior to Spacetro's, they had created a "New Humanity" capable of defeating Spacetro soldiers who had years of combat experience and training.
Even now, twenty years later, that power remained a mystery. Not a single clue about its origin had been found.
To understand the most fundamental truth about Superhumans, information about that power was essential.
Should I try to confirm it somehow?
The only thing I could do right now was ask my five girlfriends about their powers. Since Yubin was still keeping her identity as a Superhuman a secret, I could really only ask four of them, but even four would be enough to confirm some things. However, the way I broached the subject was crucial.
Since we started dating, I had tried to avoid the topic of Superhumans as much as possible. Partly because of the stress they carried, but also because I intentionally avoided the subject out of fear that a slip of the tongue might reveal my own identity.
Bringing it up again wouldn't be easy. These women had been experimented on since before puberty—some as early as preschool. To bring up the topic of Superhumans to them... Wait.
What if they confirmed that Superhuman power was limited, and they experimented on children before puberty to minimize the impact on their genes during the process?
It wasn't entirely implausible. The members of Team Hunter Killer alone had possessed their powers for at least fifteen years. If this was discovered during the early stages of Superhuman experimentation, and if we assume the time limit for an average adult was three years, the timeline fits.
The first replacement of Superhuman personnel began after three years, and they were rotated periodically until the children who were experimented on before puberty grew up and were deployed.
While there was no trace of the replaced Superhumans, if my current theory was correct, it would explain why they experimented on young children. A new answer had emerged: the end of a Superhuman might not be death.
The members of Team Hunter Killer might not die; they might just return to being ordinary humans.
If so, the information I needed to find was related to genetic experiments. I couldn't find anything about Superhumans in the Spacetro database. However, Spacetro had also conducted genetic experiments for a long time, resulting in the creation of Bioroids.
Spacetro was so proactive in genetic experimentation that certain fleets consisted entirely of scientists dedicated to various tests. Since genetic information was always required when invading different planets, it was a natural progression, and I was grateful that such experiments had existed.
Luche watched me intently as I typed "genetic experiments" and "Bioroid" into the database search bar. I let out a groan at the results on the monitor.
"Fuck."
The curse slipped out involuntarily. There were no results.
The general server database currently used by soldiers and officers only stored data from the twenty years spent on Earth. To find information from before that, I had to access the server at Fleet Command.
I leaned my head against my hand at the realization that I would eventually have to return to the ship.
"Why Bioroids?"
"I was trying to look into some things regarding experiments."
"It'll be incredibly difficult if you don't know the experimental framework for Superhumans."
Luche was right. Even if I went to Command and accessed the server, starting an investigation without knowing the framework would mean sifting through a vast ocean of information. I might die of old age before I found anything.
Luche, who didn't know the Earth Defense Union experimented on children before puberty, wouldn't realize that I already knew one piece of the puzzle.
"I was just curious."
"I see."
Luche accepted my vague excuse.
Among Spacetro's genetic experiments, there had to be some involving children. There was no way a civilization with a history far longer than Earth's wouldn't have conducted such tests.
However, to discuss that and find definitive information, I would have to report to Luche that the Earth Defense Union was experimenting on children.
But the moment I reported it, she would ask for the source of the information, and I couldn't think of a plausible lie. And if I reported the truth, I wouldn't be able to protect the members of Team Hunter Killer from the inevitable fallout.
Maybe I was overthinking it. A simple report might grant me access to the Fleet Command server, allowing me to find the information quickly.
...I was frustrated with myself for being so indecisive. I clenched my fist and struck my own head.
"What are you doing?!"
Luche, startled, jumped, but in my frustration, I didn't hear her. I hit my head several more times.
"Stop that. What's wrong? Is it because you're not feeling well?"
Luche grabbed my hand, her eyes filled with worry. Only then did my senses return. I leaned back in my chair, staring at the ceiling and letting out a long sigh.
"It's just the headache."
"Should I get you some medicine?"
"I'm fine. I'll be better after a little rest."
I spoke with a smile to make it seem like no big deal, but Luche continued to watch me with concern.
"If you're in pain, go inside and rest. Don't overdo it."
"You don't need to worry so much. I slack off enough usually; I should work when it's time to work."
Now was not the time for rest. After the shock of the "death" theory, the possibility that only their powers might vanish had occurred to me. A glimmer of hope had appeared, and I needed to investigate it.
"I'll do a bit more research and then head out."
"...Alright."
I wanted to put her at ease, but Luche remained worried. She watched me for a moment as I turned back to the monitor before returning to her own office.
The moment Luche entered her office and closed the door, she leaned against the wall and sighed.
As the leader of Team 3, the thing Luche had heard most from Seira, the leader of Team 4, was: "Don't let A do anything." If asked if she and Seira were on good terms, she would say no, but despite their relationship, she understood the intent behind Seira's words.
That was why, as his team leader, she had only given A minor tasks, and recently, the mission to monitor the members of Team Hunter Killer.
She had assigned him the surveillance, but Luche never actually expected to gain any significant information from it.
Gaining information through distant surveillance was no easy task, especially when dealing with the members of Team Hunter Killer, who felt thorough in every way and had limited windows for observation. She had assumed the mission would naturally become a long-term, low-effort assignment.
She thought it would be a long time before A actually did anything, but he had started searching for something much sooner than expected.
She didn't know what he was looking for, and she couldn't think of a way to stop him.
Even today, seeing him slumped over his desk, she had intended to tell him to stop the surveillance mission. But seeing the sheer tenacity in his eyes as he stared at the monitor, she couldn't bring herself to say it.
Luche agreed with Seira more than anyone that A shouldn't be involved in anything, but she also knew better than anyone that when A did work, he did it with passion.
Staring blankly into space, Luche pushed herself off the wall and sat at her desk. Looking at the blank monitor, she pictured A outside, likely still checking various documents.
When she finally snapped out of it, she saw her own reflection in the dark screen. Her face was clearly etched with worry.
"So this is the face I was making next to him."
She had felt that A was being unusually gentle to reassure her; anyone would have done the same seeing a face like this.
She tidied her slightly messy, dark grey hair and turned on the monitor to find a way to help. The screen flickered to life, but her hands stopped again as she thought of A, working away without even caring for his own aching body.
"Agh!"
With a frustrated cry, she ruffled the hair she had just tidied and leaned back in her chair.
Eventually, her hand reached for the desk drawer, and she pulled out a worn notebook.
As she flipped through the pages, an old, faded photograph appeared. In the photo, A was making a V-sign with a reluctant expression as if he didn't want to be photographed, and next to him was a girl with a black bob cut, smiling brightly and also making a V-sign.
"...Senior. What should I do?"
Luche whispered to the two people in the photo, then leaned back in her chair and let out another deep sigh.