A Garden of Lies
"Welcome. I've been waiting for you."
I looked at the beautiful woman with lavender hair who greeted me with a gentle smile. She sat at a tea table in the middle of a well-tended indoor garden, her posture prim and proper as she fidgeted slightly to show her delight. Warm sunlight filtered down from the high glass ceiling, though no sun could possibly be there. All around us stretched a neatly manicured garden that looked like something out of a painting. Every bit of it was her lie. I still couldn't believe it.
"..."
As I approached, I couldn't help noticing how especially full her chest looked today beneath the white dress. Only when I drew close enough to confirm that familiar volume did I realize whose appearance she was mimicking. I had already guessed it from the garden itself.
"It's a garden today. I always enjoy the time I spend with you, Counselor."
"...It's been a while since we last met."
I deliberately stripped most of the emotion from my voice so I wouldn't fall for that warm tone. Of course, she paid no attention to my dry greeting and simply continued her performance.
"Yes. I was worried you might have forgotten me. I even shed a few secret tears every night before bed..."
I really wanted to see you, Counselor.
"..."
That voice... knowing it was all a lie still didn't make it any easier to get used to. Strangely, she seemed unusually docile today. Normally she would have thrust that violent figure right in front of me and tried to seduce me first, yet now she simply stayed seated, smiling and looking at me.
...It wasn't because I was disappointed or anything.
"You're being quite well-behaved today."
"Would you have preferred me to be more forward?"
"No...! No, that's not it."
She spoke with such obedient willingness, as if she would do anything I wanted, then gave me a playful wink as though it had all been a joke. Her beauty was the kind that seized your heart and shook it, as if demanding you fall for her. Those eyes, sparkling with the same lavender hue as her hair, carried an almost mystical quality. When I looked away from them, my gaze fell on the black restraint device completely covering her pale neck. That was the single flaw marring her otherwise perfect beauty.
"Last time... right. I never got to thank you for the meal you prepared. It was delicious."
"Ah..."
"So I'd like to return the favor, even if it's late. Is there anything you want from me?"
She deliberately drew her shoulders inward and leaned forward slightly, exposing a deep cleavage as if she hadn't forgotten the hint of longing I'd shown earlier. For a brief moment I wavered at the sight of that seductive shape pressing softly against the table and the pale skin, but after spoiling Harpy so thoroughly earlier, I couldn't afford to be swayed again. I'd never be able to face the Team Leader afterward.
Pinching my own thigh to snap out of the trance, I placed the small box I'd received from the Team Leader on the table and pulled out the chair across from her.
"I can't think of anything right now, so I'll just take a seat first."
...Let's begin.
*
"According to all the detailed examinations, her body structure is clearly human."
I nodded at the Team Leader's words.
"She eats normally and bleeds when injured, after all."
"Yes. That's why I believe she's created a singularity with that body. It's only wearing a human shell; at its core, it's simply a mass of anomaly driven by the instinct to survive."
Like a sunflower turning toward the sun, her actions contained no moral dilemma or choice. That made her all the more terrifying.
"Therefore, it's highly likely she doesn't even possess a sense of self. In that case, counseling would be meaningless."
"Then what exactly... what am I supposed to do?"
If the Team Leader was right and all she had was the instinct to charm people and absorb their life force, then no amount of time or effort would make counseling worthwhile. The ideal words, actions, lovely expressions, and even her inner thoughts were nothing more than survival behavior refined by high intelligence to lure prey. Yet the Team Leader seemed to have a plan.
"What you need to do, Ung-ssi, is figure out her feeding conditions."
"But we've already confirmed that—"
"Yes, we've established that she absorbs vitality through false realization, but we need to find out if there are other methods she can use. Only then can we decide whether to move to the next stage or not."
That made sense. The purpose of counseling was to improve the subject's containment environment, not to reshape them into something friendly to people. But if her meals could only come at the cost of other people's lives, then there was no room for compromise from the start.
"I see. So the next stage is..."
"We'll conduct an experiment using your ability, Ung-ssi."
"An experiment with my ability? What should I do?"
"Even though she has high intelligence, she hasn't formed a sense of self yet. I believe that's because she always tries to match her appearance to other people's standards."
The Team Leader typed something on the terminal she was holding, then turned the screen toward me.
"So during counseling, while connected through your ability, you need to teach her independent emotions and thoughts. It might be easier to think of it as teaching your soon-to-be-born daughter."
"W-what..."
Joke aside, the idea of teaching her emotions and thoughts while connected through my ability sounded plausible. But the list that had just been typed into the memo on the terminal screen was...
1. Board games and entertainment — focus on independent interest. Expected to foster self through competition.
2. Romance movies — focus on emotional empathy. Expected to foster a friendly self toward humans.
3. Sex
"...That last one seems out of place."
She said it would be easier to think of it as teaching a daughter, yet she chose such an explicit word instead of something milder like "sexual relations" or "sleeping together." It was obviously to see my reaction. Unlike the other items, it also stood alone without any additional explanation.
"She's the one initiating the seduction anyway, so it shouldn't matter, right?"
"...Even so, doing that while our senses are connected would be too much for my sanity."
I'd already experienced the danger firsthand thanks to Harpy.
Board games or movies might be fine, but doing that while connected to her... that was out of the question for now.
"Oh? So it feels that good?"
"Yes... No, I mean no! Well, yes, but... anyway, that's not the important part right now."
The lingering aftereffects of that melting pleasure must have still been affecting me, because I'd absentmindedly answered "yes" before jumping in surprise and realizing I'd once again made a fool of myself in front of the Team Leader. It was my own fault for getting swayed, but seeing that mask of hers seemingly grinning made irritation rise anyway.
"It wasn't entirely a joke. If we can truly teach her a sense of self through your ability, it would be better for both sides if she's friendly rather than hostile."
"..."
"Don't be too tense. I won't force you if you really don't want to."
"Right..."
No matter how much I was in the prime of my youth, asking me to do it with something that only looked human but might not even be a living being was too much. Even though I'd already been rubbing against her and kissing her every time we met because she kept taking the form of an ideal woman and seducing me nonstop, I still couldn't help the vague fear and physiological revulsion.
"I only listed things I thought would be effective. If sex is too much of a burden, shall we start with board games first?"
I nodded weakly, then suddenly had a thought.
"Ah."
With some unknown confidence, I called out to the Team Leader who was about to head to the supply storage.
"Team Leader."
"Yes, go ahead."
"I don't know if it'll work yet, but if we're trying to teach her a sense of self, wouldn't we need this?"
It was something forbidden, so I needed the judgment and permission of the Management Team Leader.
"Hmm... I suppose so."
After listening to my suggestion, the Team Leader fell silent for a moment, lost in thought. Then she nodded lightly a few times and patted my shoulder.
It was permission.
"Very well. I'll trust your judgment, Ung-ssi."