Origin (16)
"Lee Hyun-woo, I heaven't heard anything about that strange script. It seems like you're the only one who knows. The others probably don't know either. If I don't know, that means the rest don't know as well."
Licorice said this as she gestured at Kyle to bring over some spare chairs. Normally, Alpha, who was by her side, would have done it, but Kyle handled the task this time. He dragged some chairs over from near the workbench with a scraping sound.
Kyle seemed interested in the story too, as he took a seat, momentarily forgetting his fatigue. I couldn't hide my confusion and anxiously darted my eyes around. Judging by the situation, it seemed the conversation would be a bit long.
"Alright, say it again. You said someone gave the monster a name?"
"... I don't know who gave it that name."
As I had suspected, there was a chance someone had given the monster a name, or perhaps it had carved its own name. Since we never witnessed anyone directly naming the creature, we couldn't rule out any possibility.
When I pointed this out, Licorice nodded in agreement to some extent. She crossed her legs. Her thin thighs overlapped.
"First, tell me exactly where that script was. I saw the thing up close through Alpha, but I didn't notice anything like that at the time."
"It was next to the neck, near the collarbone. Since it was engraved on the exoskeleton and not on tissue, there might still be traces left. If we had the upper exoskeleton here, we could check right away, but we don't have it now."
"I'm already having Alpha bring what's in Carrot's lab. Just wait a moment."
As Licorice said, after a brief wait, noise began to stir beyond the lab doors. The heavy, thumping footsteps belonged to the Alpha-series security robots.
Soon, the lab doors swung open. Six Alphas entered, carrying the shattered exoskeleton. Judging by the amount, they seemed to have brought everything we had collected.
They weren't the only ones. Carrot was with them, looking confused by the Alphas' sudden behavior while he was working.
"What's going on here? They even took everything I was holding."
"... Is that so?"
"There was no helping it. I gave the command even before Hyun-woo told me where he was."
Licorice was unfazed by my displeased gaze and even glared sharply at me, as if to scold me.
When I asked if it wouldn't have been better for us to just head to the lab ourselves if she intended to bring everything over anyway, she responded by asking if I didn't want her to bring it all here in the first place.
While I was wondering, 'Did I?' Licorice directed Alpha to bring a chair for Carrot.
"You're just in time, Carrot. It's better if you listen in too."
"To what?"
"About the monster's name."
"... Name?"
"Hyun-woo found out the monster's name."
"I'd like to hear the details."
Even Carrot took a seat. At this point, if I claimed it was a joke, I wouldn't leave this place alive. Thankfully, it wasn't a joke.
The commotion caused by the Alphas roused the other people in the lab. Their eyes, filled with curiosity and demanding an immediate explanation, all focused on me.
Kyle told his coworkers to take a break, sending them out of the lab. There weren't many, but with several leaving at once, the space felt rather empty.
I avoided looking elsewhere and went straight to the upper exoskeleton, feeling along it. Since the exoskeleton had withstood explosions and container shocks, the engraved script likely remained intact.
Feeling somewhat nervous, I quickly found the script that remained in my memory.
"Ah, here it is. The strange script."
"... Are you saying this is a script?"
Licorice and Carrot brought their faces closer to where I pointed. Kyle, also curious, peeked from behind, but, unable to get a good angle, eventually just watched from a distance.
"You can see it, right?"
"... Yeah, I can see it. But you managed to notice something this small in that situation?"
Looking again now, the script was indeed very tiny. I remembered it as being bigger at the time, perhaps because it had caught my eye so distinctly back then.
"Anyway, it's here."
"Hmm... To me, it just looks like a series of meaningless shapes. At least, it's not in any of my databases. Assuming it really is a script."
"Could you read this script again?"
Licorice gave a puzzled look, while Carrot scanned the area and projected it onto a hologram, magnifying it.
I looked at the script floating in the air and read it.
"Blue Eye. It reads as Blue Eye."
"Blue Eye... If that's a name, isn't it rather unfitting? The thing didn't look anything like blue eyes to me."
"It wasn't completely unfitting. When I blasted its upper body with the polar impactor, its core was exposed, and it looked like a blue eye."
I recalled the Blue Eye's core that I had smashed with my own hand. Usually, 'core' meant power source, but it also implied 'the essence'. If someone had named the monster, they probably did so after seeing that core.
Carrot stroked his chin and asked:
"Have you ever seen this kind of script before?"
"This is my first time."
"But you read it?"
"I know, that's what's strange. I can't really explain it... other than it just felt natural to read it."
I tried my best to explain, using every expression I could. But nothing else came to mind, so there was nothing more I could say.
"It's readable without conscious effort. Should I just crack open your skull? If you don't remember, maybe your lost memories are hiding something."
"... That's a joke, right?"
I laughed awkwardly.
"Alpha, grab Hyun-woo."
【Command confirmed.】
At Licorice's order, Alpha, who had been standing behind me, seized my shoulders as if he'd been waiting for the cue. I panicked, screaming that I'd die if they tried to open up my head.
"Hyun-woo, I'm serious right now. Think carefully and answer properly."
I had only acted playful to lighten the heavy mood, but Licorice's expression was unusually dark. Very much so. In all the time I'd known her, I'd never seen her like this.
"If you know this script, that practically means you're connected to the pureblood supremacist organization. This disaster—whose fault do you think it is? This isn't something to just ignore. About your past... are you sure you have no memories at all?"
She said this, putting her hand on my shoulder. Everyone here, except Kyle, already knew I'd lost my past memories, so they weren't shaken. Still, the atmosphere was grave.
Surprisingly, Kyle also showed little reaction. Lost in deep thought, he only groaned with an expression like something was on the tip of his memory.
'...'
Thinking it over, she was right. I shouldn't have known that script. After all, it was a script engraved on a monster.
Not just because it was on a monster, but because that creature was suspected to be a special entity called a 'Bud', and even that term "Bud" was coined by the pureblood supremacists.
So, knowing the script almost certainly implied a connection to the pureblood supremacist organization.
I'd wondered about my ability to read it, but hadn't taken it too seriously, foolishly assuming if I could read it, others could as well.
'... No, actually...'
I forced myself to break from the thought I'd been suppressing and spoke up.
"I really don't remember anything. If something came back to me, I would tell you first. Also, you know why I want to go to Earth, don't you?"
"Yes, I know. ... If only I'd known things would turn out like this, I'd have investigated your past more thoroughly."
Previously, the broker told me records were erased for a reason, and digging up my past wasn't a good idea—comparing it to opening Pandora's box.
"Wouldn't that be dangerous?"
"That's what I thought then. I didn't know it would come to this. And it's not like I didn't check at all. It's just that I found nothing."
She'd told me to leave it alone, but apparently Licorice had done some investigating on her own. Licorice, who controlled Titan like her own home, not finding any information meant this was linked to something even bigger.
At that moment, Kyle, who had been quietly staring at the hologram, timidly raised his hand.
"Um... I've seen this kind of script before."
"What? Where? Where did you see it?"
"I saw it at a base where pureblood supremacists gathered."
I'd half-expected it, but hearing it from such an unexpected source made me question my ears for a moment. But then I remembered Kyle's affiliation. Myosotis, which had contact with pureblood supremacists. Kyle belonged to Myosotis, so it wasn't strange.
And, as I anticipated, he continued. He had gone to a place where the pureblood supremacist group stayed in the past.
"... Alpha, hold Hyun-woo's arms properly. We'll have to open up his head."
"W-wait! Stop! Just wait...!"
"... Alpha, ease up."
"Tell us everything! Please explain in as much detail as possible!"
Freed, I shouted desperately. Celestia from Myosotis once revealed her identity, stating she only pretended to cooperate with the pureblood supremacists as needed, but wasn't one of them. She'd also been to their presumed main base by invitation.
I had been thinking of asking Celestia or Eric, and since Kyle was apparently present then, this worked out well.
"My memory's a bit hazy, so I can't recall it clearly, but I've been to a satellite that hadn't been officially named. It felt sort of like an ancient temple. I'd say it had a strong natural vibe. There were broken statues covered in moss, and each statue was holding a strange stone tablet."
Kyle gestured at the hologram screen to indicate the size of the tablets.
"Script similar to this was engraved on debris on the ground. But the group didn't seem to fully understand it either. They were trying to interpret it."
"And?"
"That's all I have."
When I joked about opening up Kyle's head if not mine, he paled and backed away. He added that Celestia or Eric probably knew more, but not too much more.
In the end, all we confirmed was that the script was indeed connected to the pureblood supremacist group, and that my lost past might have a link to their schemes.
'... I guess...'
I would have to look for my past. Rather than relying solely on the vague hope that things might come back to me if I went to Earth, I felt the need to actively pursue my history.
If those people were tangled up in my past, uncovering it would help me survive.
From the fact that I could recognize and understand a script no one else could, to the ever-increasing threat of mutants—the worries, irritation, frustration, helplessness, and anger all grew.
But worst of all was the headache. My head throbbed like something was squeezing it tightly. I thought my body had mostly recovered, but apparently not. Or maybe there was another reason.
Forcing the throbbing pain to one side, I turned my head toward Heaven, the mining base. Heaven, paradise, underground, hell, comrades, death, and monsters, monsters, monsters.
Maybe it was the overwhelming complexity of my thoughts, but something kept feeling just out of reach—like a memory I couldn't grasp. The ambiguity only made the headache worse.
Noticing my pallor, Carrot laid a hand on my shoulder.
"Don't lose your composure. That there's a connection is only circumstantial for now. Even if it turns out you are connected, it doesn't change who you are. Just being related doesn't make you the enemy. Take me, for instance."
Carrot, involved in the Immortality Experiment. He was a victim. Even though I'd never heard the full story, it was clear he hadn't chosen to house nanorobots inside his body.
I clenched and unclenched my fists slowly. A strength different from others. As I faced the fact I'd avoided, suspicion crept in. Was it because of the pureblood supremacist organization that I had this strength, that my recovery was unnaturally fast?
It didn't matter, even if it was. If not for this strength, I wouldn't have survived. Even if doubts lingered, there was no way I'd stop using my power now. I'd only use it more actively to hit the pureblood supremacists where it hurt.
Maybe it was just venting, but the very fact we were stuck in this situation was their doing. Thinking about all the lives they'd taken, in my heart I wanted to butcher them all with my own hands.
'... The best plan is to avoid direct confrontation.'
No matter how outdated gunpowder weapons were, their power was still formidable. I couldn't just hope to take a bullet lightly.
Carrot was researching ways to miniaturize the shield generator, but it was uncertain whether he'd succeed. There was just so much to do.
"I'll keep that in mind, Carrot."
"No need to be so serious. Just don't get too obsessed."
In any case, since there was no way to draw a conclusion at this point, we simply acknowledged the issue and set it aside for now. Before long, the gathering naturally dissolved.
-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
Hopefully we get details on Hyun-woo's past soon.
【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】