Chapter 326
Chapter 326
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 326
Chapter Title: The Clone Sister
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Even in the areas mainly traversed by slaves, the quality of food in this fortress of affluent waters wasn't particularly lacking. From local planetary products like edible cacti and meat from desert beasts to fruits and vegetables imported from other planets. We gathered a variety of foods.
'Brings back old memories.'
Before my accident, my father would always take me along whenever he went shopping.
He enjoyed cooking, so before entering the grocery store, he'd always ask me what I wanted to eat. Having learned by watching him out of the corner of my eye, I even clumsily prepared meals for my mother, who often came home late.
'Those were happy times.'
But after my accident, everything changed completely. My parents' relationship soured terribly, and the only times I went out with my father were to the hospital.
Even after my body recovered, though Father occasionally cooked for me, I could no longer enjoy it purely like before.
｢You seem to know a lot about groceries?｣
Lost in thoughts of the past that suddenly surfaced, the sky mother spoke to me.
"Do I?"
｢Yeah. It's surprising for an Aimorph, who probably doesn't need to cook.｣
"They're both edible, so it's good to know."
｢……｣
"Just kidding."
I called it a joke, but her pumpkin-colored eyes, filled with suspicion, were still fixed on me. I lightly brushed off her gaze and watched as she placed a piece of meat into the backpack on my back.
"Sand Raptor meat."
"Thank you."
As MPS-05 began consuming the food, the backpack shook slightly.
While wandering around gathering food for the slaves, the promised time arrived before I knew it. We headed to the alley where I'd met Isabel yesterday.
Upon arriving at the alley, a short-statured Coldblood was waiting for us.
"I clearly told you to come at the same time as yesterday?"
"As you can see."
I lightly shook the hand holding the basket swollen plump with food.
｢I was late buying food for the slaves.｣
"I appreciate the thought, but…"
Isabel, about to say something to the sky mother, suddenly stopped mid-sentence. Her eyes locked onto the backpack on the sky mother's back and rapidly widened.
｢Isabel?｣
Instead of answering, she pointed at the backpack with her finger. Her eyes were bulging, her finger trembling. It was the reaction of someone who'd just seen a ghost.
"Th-that thing on your b-back…"
｢This?｣
The sky mother glanced at me with her eyes, asking if it was okay to show it now.
'I was planning to show it later anyway, so it should be fine.'
I nodded, and she set the backpack down on the ground. From inside crawled out a being with a woman's face equipped with metallic skeletal legs resembling spider limbs.
"Release. Comfort."
｢I brought it intentionally because we need to revise the plan. This is a lower terminal made from a Mutant Screamer's…｣
"S-sis…!"
｢Huh?｣
As the sky mother tried to explain, Isabel suddenly lunged forward. She hurriedly stepped back.
But Isabel wasn't aiming for her or me. She grabbed MPS-05, who had just emerged from the backpack.
"Ahh--aaah--"
Isabel was crying.
Coldbloods couldn't shed tears, but she expressed her sorrow and anguish with her entire body. The scales covering her turned deathly pale, and eerie wails no human could make poured from her mouth.
'What's going on with her?'
Even after experiencing all sorts of things, I couldn't understand the current situation.
｢Calling MPS-05 'sis'? No way?｣
The sky mother, initially as baffled as me, seemed to realize something from the reaction.
"Do you know why she's acting like that?"
｢...I heard from a clan member before. Among the famous rankers, there's a pair of twin sisters.｣
"Twins?"
Her words jogged my memory.
Jason had mentioned before that he missed the 22nd rank and only caught her colleague.
And PS-111's species wasn't human—it was Coldblood.
To be precise, a 'clone' of some Coldblood.
The being Isabel was hugging was a lower terminal of a Mutant Screamer made using that clone as material.
What did that imply?
'Isabel has a close relationship with PS-111's original.'
"Warning. Physical attack from another organism detected."
Even as I was lost in thought, MPS-05 kept struggling.
But Isabel wouldn't let go.
Her arms' scales had turned pale white, yet she clung tightly.
She looked like a child reclaiming a precious treasure.
Isabel poured out her grief-stricken emotions with her whole body.
Watching the pitifully sobbing little Coldblood, a question suddenly arose.
'How did she recognize it?'
While PS-111's original was indeed a Coldblood, its appearance was completely different. Aside from part of the brain, there was no element reminiscent of the original in the rest.
Moreover, MPS-05 was a lower terminal PS-111 had modeled after her own face. It was impossible to discern the original from seeing it.
'Even with x-ray vision, she couldn't tell.'
I'd seen PS-111 myself, but I couldn't identify which Coldblood her material came from. Only the model number and entity name appeared—no other info.
'Does she have some detection tech I don't know about?'
Looking back, there were already clues.
When I first met Isabel, she immediately recognized me as an Aimorph ranker. At the time, I didn't think it strange. After all, I was the only Aimorph hiding my body with a 'mimicry organ.'
But in hindsight, it was odd.
There were possibilities like a psychic-veiled Cult or a disguised human, etc. What reason was there to pinpoint me as an Aimorph unless she knew through some means?
"Help. Help."
MPS-05's voice snapped me out of my thoughts.
The one held by Isabel wriggled desperately. I hadn't implanted any combat traits into it. Though it scratched her scales with its metal claws, it only left faint scratches.
"……."
But that seemed effective. Isabel's wailing reaction changed. Her pale scales gradually regained their blue hue. Her heart and muscles stabilized.
Having calmed herself, Isabel set MPS-05 down. The little screamer hurriedly climbed onto my back with its metal legs and hid in the thick fur.
"…That thing."
The little Coldblood who had been watching spoke up.
"Where's my sister's original?"
"Original?"
"That's a machine cloned from my sister."
Her words confirmed it.
Isabel possessed detection means far superior to common scanning traits like x-ray vision. That's how she sensed what the MPS model truly was.
｢...Looks like this'll take a while.｣
At that moment, the sky mother interjected into the conversation.
｢Let's talk in the warehouse.｣
As she said, this wasn't a suitable place for a long talk.
Isabel's gaze lingered on the basket in my hand. After a moment, she nodded.
"Fine."
We moved to the warehouse where the Coldblood slaves were hiding, just like yesterday.
After arriving in the basement, we handed food to the praying slaves.
"We give thanks to the savior who bestows grace upon us."
Like yesterday, the slaves bowed to her. Though it wasn't the first or second time hearing thanks, Isabel seemed somewhat awkward.
We distributed the food to the slaves and went back up to the warehouse. After quickly tidying up, Isabel looked at me—or rather, MPS-05 hidden in my fur—and opened her mouth.
"Tell me now."
Both Isabel and the sky mother's gazes turned to me.
'What should I do?'
There was no doubt PS-111 was an important existence to her. If I played this right, I could extract more info from her—about rankers she knew, this world I didn't, and more.
Building a friendly relationship would also help later. It'd mean gaining an ally ranker with info-reading abilities.
'If only I could have that ability myself….'
If her ability stemmed from a trait, eating her would be worth considering. Sure, it'd ruin things with the sky mother, but the info-reading power was that tempting.
The problem was if it came from a trait or other ability, not a special trait. If it was some unknown trait or tech of hers, it'd be a headache.
Eating her under 'Emblem of the Hunt' would almost guarantee a trait, but no assurance it'd be the one I wanted. If I got something useless, it'd be a huge loss.
'Better to befriend her for now.'
After sorting my thoughts in that short time, I explained everything about PS-111 to Isabel.
When I met her, what she was, who was behind turning her into a Mutant Screamer, etc. I concisely summarized what I knew and passed it on.
Isabel listened silently from start to finish.
"…I thought it was strange."
As the long story ended, Isabel muttered absentmindedly.
"There was a weird code next to my sister's name."
｢Weird number?｣
"PS-111 and MPS-05. Looks like the P here is the first letter of my sister's name."
｢You mean those two are the twin rankers…｣
"Right. Me at 22nd and my sister Penelope at 18th. We're the twins."
As talk of her identity came up, the hidden MPS-05 cautiously crawled out. The main body back at the mansion was likely listening in too.
"Sis, so PS-111's listening too, right?"
"Yeah. She's in another location."
"I see. Do you know what happened to the real… real sister, not the clone?"
Instead of answering, I pulled out someone's genes latent in my body. A small cocoon on my back tore open, and out crawled a faceworm with a male Cult's face.
"You called for me?"
The faceworm of Jason, summoned after a long time, showed far more obedience than before. None of the belligerence from when we fought remained.
"That… no way?"
"Jason, the 10th-ranked Cult ranker. One of the guys chasing you."
"Ha."
Isabel let out a hollow laugh. Well, her mouth made the sound, but her eyes didn't smile at all.
"That damn arrogant Jason reduced to this. The world's full of surprises."
｢Isabel?｣
Isabel spat curses in a calm tone.
Her grudge must run deep; even to me, she only used derogatory terms, but curses flew right out for him. The sky mother also looked surprised by Isabel's intense reaction.
"There were others besides this bastard?"
"Only Cynthia died besides Jason. Haven't met the rest yet."
"You killed Cynthia?"
"Yeah."
Her antennae twitched at my words. She seemed as shocked by Cynthia's death as Jason's. Makes sense—with my experience fighting both once, Cynthia was trickier than Jason.
'Well, strictly speaking, I didn't catch her myself.'
I didn't mention No. 26 or Adhai.
"…So that's why, huh."