Chapter 258

“…… As I thought, you turned out to be an enemy……..”

Benedict looked at Abigail, at the eye of Lydia next to her, then at Ferris’s fox ears and tail, and said wearily.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Nope. I’m also surprised myself, but we can become friends with each other.”

“I can see that. As long as our interests are aligned, it is possible for both sides to cooperate.”

“You mean Yasmin.”

Rudra came out from behind them and looked at Sheridan. The red stain on his chest was growing larger, his eyes remained wide open, no longer moving.

“–Yes. The problem is that humans remain their prey. Perhaps if only we can change that…….”

“You said you and Sheridan are not blood-related.”

“Not directly.”

Benedict said, and his shoulders slumped.

“Then what kind?”

“Homunculus…… Yasmin called him such.”

A homunculus–an artificial human being created in a laboratory.

A perfect life form, similar but different from the artificial humanoid robots–androids–that mankind is pursuing. It is a concept from ancient alchemy. Abigail only knew the words.

“So, Sheridan is your…….”

“Using semen and Yasmin’s hair. A man’s desire is achieved through a test tube. Such twisted love. How sickening, right?”

“……”

Benedict gently closed Sheridan’s eyes and stared into the distance and began to mumble, trying to trace his memories.

“–I found Yasmin on a rainy day. I was driving to a front-line fort when I saw a young woman standing naked in the woods. Wet from the heavy rain, she looked like a spirit. I still remember clearly that I was mesmerized by her beauty. She’s the one, I think.”

“She looked completely human. Later testing also showed that her DNA was perfectly human. At first, she was diagnosed as being in a state of shock because she was unable to speak properly, but she identified herself to me as Yasmin using her lisp. She said she didn’t remember much about the past. She was placed in my lab under a form of partial memory loss.”

“Yasmin immediately showed her brilliance, revolutionizing the way we thought about things, one after another, she challenged our common sense with her unconventional ideas. No wonder. She combined alien knowledge with human technology, which she learned from me.”

“Eventually, Yasmin caught the attention of Penrose. Then she summoned Garnier. As it turned out, Garnier was a fresh golem, something akin to a cyborg as we know it, but it was not until much later that it was revealed. One day, when all was going well, she suddenly revealed her true identity. That woman is not very good with human nature, you see. She planned to use Garnier to take over Penrose by force and take over 88. But it didn’t work. Penrose is an alien exterminator by nature. No force can subdue him. She misjudged the scope of her target’s threat.”

“But then a miracle happened. When Yasmin’s attempts failed and she was about to be killed or taken by Penrose, I, who was present at the time, suggested that we should work together. Because one way or the other, our goals were the same.”

“After many twists and turns, they ended up fought together against the Elysium Republic in Miforsis. And I was dragged into this dangerous alliance.”

“So that’s how the artificial changeling device was invented.”

Abigail interjects, Benedict nods his head and continues.

“Before that, there was a lot of trial and error to reach that point. After abandoning the Talent Project, we first focused on the development of cyborg, relying on the golem technology that was used to create Garnier. However, without an alien body, the project simply failed. Humans are too weak, it was impossible to apply the same method for aliens to humans.”

“Next, we turned our attention to artificial life. The homunculus. Yasmin said it was one of the forbidden crafts in Miforsis, but I was too absorbed in the fact that we can create new technologies so quickly that I didn’t pay much attention to it. I should at least be aware then, that Yasmin was the kind of woman who was willing to throw away lives without a second thought.”

“Many lives born in test tubes did not develop properly and most of them failed. However, two homunculi eventually matured among them. One of them is Sheridan. In a sense, he was like a son to me……”

“Old man……”

Abigail couldn’t think of the right words to say.

“–Homunculus, however, yielded too few benefits. Only one in a hundred was able to successfully survived. Mass production was impossible because of the need for a technique called skill from Yasmin. And it seems that the environment of the earth was also a factor too, So they were useless as weapons……… Then we revamped the cyborg program again from the ground up, and switched to converting humans into strong warriors through the utilization of changelings.

“From this point on, as Miss Abigail heard. It was all a failure. And this is not the same as the failure of the cyborg. The translinger experiments were secretly conducted in 89 because of the shortage of test subjects and the difficulty of cleaning up the aftermath. It was around that time when the things that…… violate human ethics started to get out of hand. But Penrose can no longer go back.”

“How could the lieutenant general allow the sacrifice of so many citizens?”

“You cannot turn your back on the bargains, it’s a last-ditch effort.”

“Bargains……”

“Penrose and Yasmine had their one hand tied to the other and beating each other with the another. Yasmin want to do whatever she wanted with 88, and Penrose was controlling her by putting pressure on her. Without giving her the material, she would not be able to progress. And without her knowledge and skill, we won’t win the war.”

“……”

Abigail responded with a small sigh.

“Penrose, by himself, managed to control that dangerous woman rather well, despite the constant threat of assassination by Garnier. The man is a remarkable man. He rarely showed any weakness even to me, who knows everything on the inside. Penrose secretly protected people from Yasmin’s clutches, including Claudia, Rutherford, Torneo, Mclaren, journalists, and many other talented people that 88 needed – you too, Abigail.”

“So that’s what happened…….”

“As years of being on such a tightrope continued, human experimentation was carried out in secret at 89. Meanwhile, at 88, they continued to develop a stronger vessel.”

“Fox.”

“Fox was originally trained to withstand undergoing physical transformation into a cyborg, but it eventually became an organization that trained candidates for translinger, including drug strengthening. Nigel was the best candidate. She was frighteningly strong for a human. Not only did she have a naturally high metabolism, she also had an extraordinary speed of thought, sensory acuity, and intuition for making decisions on the fly. That is why Garnier nurtured her with great care.”

“Then why did he kill Nigel?”

Abigail asked, and Benedict gave her a bitter look.

“–I think, I understand why Garnier violated the order…….”

Benedict’s shaky voice and the uncanny look made Abigail feel uncomfortable.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Yasmin…… that woman is a monster. She is devoid of any emotion. Not friendship, affection, parental love. Even Dominic is just a backup for her. There is no attachment whatsoever.”

Abigail gasps.

“–No way, Dominic. so that man is also…….”

“Homunculi, on average, are no different from humans, but they have outstanding advantages balanced with significant weaknesses. Sheridan was small and weak with of smart and intelligent mind. On the contrary, Dominic is a little weak in the head, but his body is extremely strong.”

Benedict sighed heavily.

“–Miss Abigail. The best candidate for the Translinger based on physical strength alone, is Dominic. Nigel is second. But still, the chances of success were low. At the time, we knew that Nigel most certainly would fail…….”

“So Garnier knew that.”

“Do you know what happens to people who fail in the translinger process?”

Benedict, with a look of regret on his face, groaned bitterly.

“I’m sure Miss Abigail can understand why, without having to listen to Garnier’s words once you think about it. What kind of fate awaits those you love, and how will they end up? If you think about that–……”

The old man finished his cryptic confession and curled up with Sheridan in his arms.

Abigail thinks she is beginning to understand what Benedict is trying to convey.