๐๐ก๐๐ฉ๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐๐: ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐จ๐ ๐๐๐๐ซ๐ฌ (5)
Under the sky-blue ceiling’s sun-like lighting, a garden of fruit trees, flowers, and grass sprawled underneath.
Butterflies, ants, bees, and other creatures, sensing the impending danger, scattered frantically in one direction.
๐๐๐๐. . .๐๐๐๐. . .๐๐๐๐. . .
Blood dripped from above onto the winding cobblestone path below.
The contrast of the blood against the garden was startling.
“Kahk. . .!
Seven thin tentacles, each impaling a corpse, stretched out towards Kreion.
These tentacles had pierced through the hearts of two Darwin Foundation personnel and five privates and then exited through their crowns.
The bullet holes marking Kreion’s black armor smoked, then began to repair themselves. Simultaneously, the seven tentacles that had impaled the seven victims retracted and were absorbed into Kreion’s body.
With trembling hands, Haber picked up the bloodstained energy rifle that had fallen to the ground.
“Futile resistance.”
As Haber raised his energy rifle, Kreion nonchalantly removed the faceplate of his black armor.
When Haber saw his face, he found himself unable to aim the muzzle at him.
Then, there was only a chilling silence.
A few steps behind Haber stood a terrified, pale woman.
She was a woman with sickly pale skin, unkempt white hair, and blood-red eyes.
The clothes she wore were the same uniform that the experimental subjects wore when Kreion had yet to be named.
“What is that?”
“. . .An experimental subject.”
“I can see that it’s not human. What kind of experimental subject is it?”
“She is the next ruler from the chimeraz project.”
At that statement, Kreion’s eyes twitched.
“Disgusting. You humans. Do you still not understand what should not be done?”
“Young Master. . .”
Haber swallowed once, correcting his form of address.
“You wouldn’t understand. You and your kind will never understand us.”
Because he was not human.
“I’ve spent a lifetime with your kind, and I still don’t understand. I don’t understand why you do the things you do. Why you always do things that are incomprehensible.”
Because he was human.
They were different species.
Was it impossible for them to coexist from the beginning?
Inequality bred atrocities, hatred bred hostility, and the mistakes of one side acted as the trigger that led to this situation. Even if not this time, perhaps it was inevitable that it would happen someday.
“Why didn’t you run away? You had plenty of time.”
“So that’s why you didn’t use the virus?”
“I didn’t use the virus because I wanted to test my children’s fighting skills. . . What I mean is, after I escaped from this facility, why didn’t you stop this?”
“I couldn’t stop it.”
“Then why?”
Kreion’s voice was quietly furious.
“. . .I’m human.”
๐น๐น๐น๐น๐น๐น
Haber had an unusual dream ever since he was a high school student.
His homeroom teacher called him to the faculty office during the twilight hours after school.
“Haber. You’re the only one who hasn’t written down your dream for the future. Do you really not have anything you want to do?”
“I have a dream, but I’m not sure what kind of major I should pursue or what kind of job I should get. I don’t think it’s time to decide yet.”
“What is your dream?”
“To be a right-hand man.”
The teacher listened, intrigued.
“A right-hand man?”
“I’m not cut out to be a leader.”
“Why not?”
“Rather than becoming successful and becoming a great person myself, I want to be the right-hand man of a great person.”
“What do your parents think?”
“I haven’t told them yet.”
“Hmm. . . Are they still busy these days?”
“They both work, but the energy station keeps running at a deficit. So they’re even busier now because they’re doing other jobs on the side.”
“I see. . . Well then, what do you think about learning from your parents by working with them since you want to be a right-hand man?”
“It doesn’t matter what kind of job it is. But my parents. . .they wouldn’t be the kind of leaders I could serve under. Haha.”
“You’re strangely firm in your indecisiveness.”
“And to be honest, I don’t think my parents would be happy for me to inherit the energy station. It’s hard work.”
Most students would typically become experts in a particular field, do what they liked or what they were good at, pursue their dreams with popularity, fame, or money, or, if that didn’t work out, compromise with reality.
However, Haber didn’t seem to want to decide on anything specific and simply wanted to become the perfect right-hand man.
“It’s difficult when a student as good as you is like this. If you had prepared for this in advance, I could have written something suitable for you and the teachers could have helped you with your career path. If you decide too late, you’ll be at a disadvantage. The others have already decided and are running full speed ahead.”
“I’m sorry. Haha. . . I guess I’m a bit indecisive.”
In an uncomfortable situation, Haber would naturally smile, point out his own shortcomings, and seek harmony with the other person.
No one could hate someone with such a personality and attitude.
‘๐๐ฆ’๐ด ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ต ๐ด๐ต๐ถ๐ฅ๐บ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ, ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฑ๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ค๐ญ๐ข๐ด๐ด๐ฎ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต๐ด ๐ข๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด. . . ๐๐ต’๐ด ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ’๐ด ๐ข๐ญ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐บ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ค๐ช๐ฆ๐ต๐บ. . .’
The teacher was an adult, and adults were better at seeing the competence of children.
“Haber. What did you get when you took the aptitude test last time?”
“Passive observer. It came out as astronomy, business administration, and education.”
“I think half of that is wrong.”
“What?”
“You’re a natural ‘secretary.’ That’s what you are.”
“Secretary. . .”
It was such a simple and clear dream, so why hadn’t he realized it until now?
“Let’s write down ‘secretary’ as your dream for the future for now. We’ll talk about majoring in that field later. Is that okay?”
“Yes. . . Thank you.”
At that time, the teacher’s advice,
the advice of a teacher called a mentor, became a compass for Haber’s life.
Once he knew where he was going, he ran without hesitation. He decided on his career path, worked hard accordingly, and earned his degree. In his late twenties, he got a job at a pharmaceutical company on the planet Nemea as a secretary to one of the executives there.
Four more years passed, and just as he was about to become the head secretary, the pharmaceutical company he worked for was absorbed by the Darwin Foundation, and most of the executives were laid off. To make matters worse, his parents’ energy station went bankrupt that same year.
However, fortunately in the midst of all this misfortune, Haber had built a personal relationship with the company’s president over the course of four years. This was thanks to the fact that he had good relationships with everyone in general.
At that time, the president of the pharmaceutical company introduced Haber to a new job at the Darwin Foundation.
He thought he would be serving one of the high-ranking figures in the Darwin Foundation, but what awaited him was the chimeraz project.
The director he met through his connections, Francis Darwin, gave Haber a choice.
Under the sky-blue ceiling’s sun-like lighting, among the fruit trees, flowers, and grass,
in this garden teeming with life, Haber received the offer.
“There are other positions available.”
“What happens if I choose a different position instead of participating in the project?”
“You’ll continue to do what you’ve been doing. It’s just that we’ll have to find another secretary who’s less capable than Mr. Haber.”
The job of a secretary was not as stable as one might think. Because if one lacked experience, the fate of the secretary would depend on the fate of the person they served.
So unless the person they served was a truly great person, it seemed like the dream they had achieved would eventually be lost.
“What will you do, Mr. Haber?”
The Darwin Foundation weaponized life.
Every day, dozens, hundreds of lives were killed, designed, and born according to human intentions.
The completed lifeforms became bioweapons and were sent to kill others in different groups. That was what the Darwin Foundation did.
To say that he felt no aversion would be a lie.
But Haber lied to himself.
That he felt no aversion. That this was the right thing to do.
That this was the path to pursuing his dream.
He couldn’t bring himself to give up the opportunity that had come knocking on his door.
“You’ve already decided on Subject 412 as the ruler, haven’t you? All the learning and testing is just groundwork for Subject 412’s growth.”
“That’s right. And I couldn’t find a more suitable secretary than Mr. Haber. Your personality, your skills, your way of speaking. There’s not a single thing that’s lacking.”
The opportunity, disguised as an offer, pushed him forward.
It was a blatant opportunity. He kept thinking that this was an opportunity that he couldn’t afford to miss.
“You want to be my secretary?”
“Yes. Young Master.”
Subject 412 seemed innocent to Haber. Of course, that thought vanished whenever he saw Subject 412 ruling over his pack and slaughtering artificial humans.
Still, Subject 412 seemed like a young man who had been raised with special education.
Even though he was a dangerous experimental subject, he seemed like just a person.
And so, he grew attached.
“How was your lesson today, Young Master?”
“I learned a lot.”
That wasn’t right.
“Even if you’re uncomfortable, you need to wear clothes.”
“The same thing every time. Don’t you get tired of it?”
That wasn’t right.
“Young Master will definitely defeat the other experimental subjects and become the ruler.”
“Of course.”
That wasn’t right.
“You’re not an artificial human? Why are you telling me this now?”
“Haha. I thought Young Master thought of me as a person.”
“It’s strange to see you after only seeing humanoid teachers. . . You’re a real human being.”
“Yes. Haha.”
That wasn’t right.
“Can you arrange for Subject 412 to meet his mother before the preliminary selection begins?”
“That wasn’t part of the original plan. . . It’s a bit difficult.”
“Even so, if you let them meet, it will work as a form of compensation for Subject 412. Then Subject 412 will be able to show a better performance in the preliminary selection.”
“Even if Mr. Haber says so, with our authority. . . Oh, why don’t you suggest it to the chief? If it’s Mr. Haber’s words, he might listen.”
That wasn’t right.
It wasn’t for himself, but he began to sincerely root for Subject 412. As he watched him do well, he began to genuinely help him and Kreion.
“Mr. Haber. Something happened to the mother experimental subject.”
“What happened?”
“To put it simply, the tube that supplies nutrients stopped working. So I reported that she starved to death. . . Please keep this a secret from Kreion.”
“W-What. . . Can I really keep something so serious a secret?”
“The preliminary selection just ended yesterday. Now he has to get through the coming-of-age ceremony safely. Imagine if Kreion goes berserk.”
“But. . .”
“If something goes wrong, everything will be ruined.”
“Is there no way to save the mother experimental subject? Kreion could even revive dead creatures. . .”
“Only Kreion can do that. For now, our research team will do their best to find a way. Mr. Haber, please keep this a secret and make sure the coming-of-age ceremony goes smoothly.”
“I understand.”
That wasn’t right.
“It’s a shame that my mother wasn’t there to give me my name and bestow it upon me.”
That wasn’t right. That wasn’t right. That wasn’t right. That wasn’t right.
Somewhere, at some point, things went wrong.
“. . .You’re always like that. It’s always one-way communication.”
“If you have nothing more to say, get out of my room right now.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll be the final experimental subject, and you’ll rise in rank after me.”
“That’s enough. . . And thank you for letting me meet my mother the other day.”
“I’ll make sure you get what you want. So do your best to support me.”
“You’ve worked hard today, Haber.”
“It’s a dangerous time. Hurry up and go inside.”
“Haber. You’re a competent secretary, so I trust you to explain things to the Foundation.”
“What do you think I am?”
“You’re the human who has spent the most time with me.”
“So I trust that you won’t betray me.”
“You’re the only human I trust.”
When things were already going awry,
Kreion opened up his heart.
“Why didn’t you tell me? That my mother starved to death.”
“Answer me!!”
“I believed in humans. Because of you.”
“. . .Haber. You really are a despicable b*stard.”
“If I apologize like that, if I offer my life with that expression, what does that make everything I’ve done?”
“. . .I used my mother’s dead body as a hive.”
“You mean you used the being who gave birth to you as a resource. . .”
“You’ll live to see it.”
“I’ll be back. So you live until the end and take it all in with your own two eyes. When you’re consumed by bitter regret and despair at that moment, I’ll be the one to kill you, Haber.”
He saw it clearly. He regretted it. He despaired.
And now.
Kreion had become the enemy of humanity.
That’s why now.
He answers all the questions about his regrets and his choices in the current situation with words.
“. . .I’m a human being.”
I’m a human being, I’m a member of humanity, and you’re the enemy of humanity, no matter what.
๐๐ญ๐ช๐ค๐ฌ!
Haber aims his energy rifle at Kreion. The energy rifle automatically recognizes Kreion’s face and adjusts its aim. If he shoots him in the head like this, even Kreion will die or at the very least suffer a fatal wound.
He pushes aside the question of why Kreion is only exposing the face of his black armor to the back of his mind.
“Haber. Wait. . .”
Haber makes a choice.
The brain’s command to pull the trigger travels to his finger. At the moment when his finger moves and pulls the trigger halfway,
๐๐ฒ๐ถ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ. . .!
Kreion’s tentacles reacted first and pierced Haber’s chest.
Haber, with a hole in his chest, fell straight down and dropped the energy rifle.
Haber squeezed out his last bit of strength and barely managed to lift his head.
He wanted to see Kreion’s expression somehow.
“. . .You forced me to do this. You. . .”
It was fortunate. That he made that expression.
It wasn’t the expression that a being who had lost his mind would make.
“You didn’t become a. . . monster. . .”
Only then was Haber able to shed tears.
Because he had confirmed it with his own two eyes, he was finally able to let go.
“. . .Thank goodness. . .”
“What’s so thankful. . .”
The human Haber uttered words that the non-human Kreion could not understand, and he collapsed in the garden where it all began and breathed his last.
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