My Children Swarm the Cosmos

𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐳 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 (4)

The fundamental drawback of a bioweapon is that it’s hard to control. In a nutshell, unlike an AI or a soldier, it doesn’t understand the orders of its superiors.

First of all, for a bioweapon to attack the enemy, it needs to instinctively possess aggression towards ‘creatures classified as different species’ and aggression towards their structures and objects.

That’s why, until now, Darwin Foundation has only thrown bioweapons at enemy bases where there are no allies, like a bomb.

Even bioweapons thrown like that are mostly attached with various mechanical parts of Darwin Foundation, so that they can be controlled by electronic signals to manipulate their actions.

If not for such environmental or mechanical methods, bioweapons could never be operated.

“That is, until Darwin Foundation’s chimeraz project gets underway.”

“There’s a surprising story hidden in there.”

A wealthy individual who came to sponsor Darwin Foundation today. An employee involved in the chimeraz project is coaxing him in a closed meeting room.

“It’s better to use bioweapons than mercenaries when dealing with slightly important tasks. The labor cost is low, and seeing these monsters run wild would discourage anyone from daring to touch your business.”

“But I’m not here to sponsor a small sum. If I sponsor the amount proposed, later on. . . . . .”

“Oh, is there no return? Of course there is. Once the chimeraz project is completed, there will be a ‘ruler’ that survives to the end.”

“Yes.”

“We’ll give you a slightly earlier number so that you can hire that ruler first.”

“Oh my, there’s a number? It seems like there are many others who covet that power, besides me.”

“There’s no war thanks to the UNF, but conflicts will never disappear. Moreover, now that we’ve even started diplomacy with extraterrestrial races, what weapon wouldn’t sell?”

“So that chimeraz project’s final pick. Ruler. . .?, what kind of role does that monster play on the battlefield? I heard that it has a human body.”

“A bioweapon is a human being. In other words, it needs to be controlled by an ally.”

“Right.”

“But as I said earlier, these monsters don’t understand human speech. Even if they did, they wouldn’t know why they should obey. They don’t even know how to distinguish between allies and enemies.”

“If we try to make them intelligent, the structure of their brains becomes too complex. . . If we try to make them human-like, they become artificial humans because of their DNA. . .”

“Yes. That’s why we’re saying that there needs to be a ‘bridge of command’ between these bioweapons and humans.”

“Is that bridge of connection those human-like monsters? The ones you call experimental subjects?”

“That’s right. Experimental subjects 1 to 500 can all hear and speak human language, learn like humans, and communicate with humans. Although there were 400 of them, they’re all dead now, leaving only four.”

“That part is similar to humanoids or artificial humans.”

“But at the same time. . . they can control bioweapons of the same race that have received their genetic material.”

“Same race?”

“They can control them if they’re of the same race, even if they look different.”

Those creatures live under the rule of a leader, as a single race.

“So you’ve realized collective consciousness without the aid of electronic devices, and you’ve even perfectly replicated the characteristics of an interspecies group.”

“I’m curious about the principle behind that.”

“It’s waves.”

“What kind of waves?”

“Waves themselves. If I were to explain it in terms of physics, it’s a band of electromagnetic waves. Chimeraz can communicate with each other using waves.”

“Can creatures do that?”

“It’s a similar principle to when different computers communicate after installing the same program.”

That’s why chimeraz made up of different creatures are referred to as a single race.

“Can’t someone hack the waves between experimental subjects and bioweapons?”

“Theoretically, it’s impossible.”

“Why?”

The employee gives a very simple answer.

“Because the waves used by chimeraz aren’t made up of a pattern of 0s and 1s.”

“But the waves can still be observed, right? It’s not like they have telepathic superpowers.”

“They can be observed, but meaningful information can’t be extracted to determine whether it’s the chimeraz’s waves, artificial waves, or natural waves.”

“Really?”

“Even if you miraculously manage to filter those waves, they can’t be decrypted. This isn’t a ‘language’, but a way of transmitting the collective consciousness’s ‘intention’, so no one can figure it out.”

That’s why not even Darwin Foundation knows what the chimeraz are talking about through their waves.

“It’s the perfect encryption method.”

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

A space with a thoroughly isolated dome structure.

A thick tube descending from the center of the high ceiling hangs down like an umbilical cord, providing organic matter.

Moving upward, a colossal bone juts out like a bony ridge on top of the winding cylindrical or conical gargantuan body.

Black thorns larger than a human being protrude from the red-brown skin layer, and red blood vessels are exposed on the skin layer, passing between the thorns. Overall, it’s a spiky, lumpy shape.

The height from the bottom to the top of that gargantuan body is about 34 meters. Its width, if you were to look at it straight on, is close to 26 meters.

If humans were to see just this appearance, they would probably describe it as the head of a parasite made of organic tissue or an alien xenomorph.

A creature created by Darwin Foundation through the chimeraz project.

The mother experimental subject that birthed a total of 500 experimental subjects.

‘𝘔𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳.’

I spread my arms wide and hugged my mother in her bosom. As I burrowed into her bosom like that, mother hid the thorns at the spot I touched underneath her skin layer.

‘𝘔𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘐’𝘮 𝘚𝘶𝘣𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 412.’

I send my waves to Mom. I can send waves no matter how far away I am, but mother can only send waves at this close distance, she says.

‘𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵.’

As I send my waves first, mother also responds with waves. A warm voice flows into my head.

━𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞. . . . . .𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧.

Mom’s response is different from usual. Normally, she would have ignored me or cursed at me.

‘𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘸?’

━𝐈’𝐦 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲. . .

It hurts my heart.

She must have finally stabilized after her pregnancy ended. She’s apologizing for how she treated her children terribly until now.

‘𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺.’

I understand.

I don’t know how the other experimental subjects reacted to mother’s terrible attitude, but I understand. I understand how much mother suffered and how stressed she was because of her pregnancy.

‘𝘋𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘐 𝘢𝘮?’

━𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝. . . 𝐈 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝.

‘𝘐’𝘮 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 5𝘵𝘩 𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴. 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘐’𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯, 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳.’

━𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧?

It seems like those b*stards from the Foundation didn’t provide mother with proper information.

‘𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴 401 𝘵𝘰 500 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥. 𝘜𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦.’

━. . .𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭?

‘𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘐 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦.’

Since mother is also a creature with emotions, when we share waves, we also share emotions.

━. . .

I sense unease from the waves connected to mother.

No, there’s something else besides unease. It’s an intangible feeling of my throat hurting and my chest feeling heavy.

Sorrow.

Guilt.

It seems like I’m feeling both of those things.

‘𝘐’𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘺. 𝘐’𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘻. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯, 𝘐 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘋𝘢𝘳𝘸𝘪𝘯 𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯’𝘴 𝘣𝘪𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘔𝘰𝘮.’

━. . . 𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲?

‘𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘦’𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵.’

Mother falls silent.

I sense something through the waves.

Resentment. . . Anger. . .

Anger?

Mother is angry. Why?

━𝐈 𝐬𝐞𝐞. . .

‘𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘩.’

It must be anger towards the Foundation humans who are separating mother and me. Or anger towards this stifling reality.

‘𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘐 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘻, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳. 𝘐’𝘭𝘭 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘭 𝘫𝘰𝘣 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴, 𝘐’𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵.’

━𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝. . . 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝. . . 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝.

‘𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘩. 𝘈𝘯𝘥. . .’

Words I couldn’t say before suddenly pop into my head.

‘𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘋𝘢𝘳𝘸𝘪𝘯 𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳? 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵.’

━. . . 𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐈 𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐨.

I’m not the chatty type.

I want to say anything to make mother feel better.

‘𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘐 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭. 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴.’

On the other hand, I want to be praised by mother. I want to cling to her more, in the face of mother’s affectionate appearance that I’m experiencing for the first time in my life.

‘𝘐 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘤 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘭. 𝘐𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘰𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵.’

At this moment,

I suddenly feel a sense of pressure from the fact that I won’t be able to meet her again until this project is complete.

‘𝘐𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘣𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺’𝘴 𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘴. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘮𝘶𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 5 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘢𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘴.’

In the end, the difference between me and the other experimental subjects lies in how much effort we put into what, and how efficiently.

It’s definitely not because I’m a superior species and can mutate and learn better than the other experimental subjects. It’s all my choice and the result of my effort.

I wish mother knew that. That I’ve worked this hard for our race and for mother.

━𝐌𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝. 𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲?

‘𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘩.’

This is also the first time mother has initiated a conversation with me.

I want to hear anything. If it’s coming from that affectionate and warm tone, I want to listen to anything.

━𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐬, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫. . .

Guilt.

An overwhelming sense of guilt washes over me from mother, as if it were crushing me.

━. . . 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐬, 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐞.

It’s okay.

‘𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘺? 𝘖𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴?’

━𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮. . . 𝐈𝐟 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧’𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐬. . .

‘𝘐𝘵 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘬𝘪𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘴𝘰 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳.’

I think mother is grateful to me. That’s how it feels.

But the next thing mother said was like a confession of the truth.

━𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧’𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐨. . . 𝐃𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭?

‘𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩.’

Mother created because of the chimeraz project.

Mother who gave birth to us because of the chimeraz project.

She must not have had any say in our birth and childbirth. That’s why mother must have had a harder time than us. She must have even resented our existence.

But it’s okay.

Mother loves me, just like she loves her children.

I love Mother, just like her children love her.

That’s enough. mother didn’t genuinely hate me.

━𝐈 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐛𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠. . . 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐰. . .

‘𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨.’

It’s all okay. I feel trust flowing from mother towards me as I convey my sincerity like that.

━𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬. . .

Hatred, disgust, anger, resentment, contempt, regret, killing intent, malice, vengeance, guilt, unease, impatience, anxiety, eagerness, this and that, all sorts of dark things seem to be pouring dark paint into my heart, more so than blood.

At that moment, unbearable things came rushing and flooding in.

━𝐌𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡.

At that time, the words mother said,

Were so different from what mother had sent to my heart that I couldn’t help but think it was a lie.

━𝐆𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐬.

‘𝘞𝘩𝘺? 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘴.’

From the very beginning, Darwin Foundation designed us to hate all living beings that weren’t our own kind.

But to get along with humans, who are especially hateful. Doesn’t that go against the purpose of my birth? Even if I were to just work with humans in human society, that’s fine, but to ‘get along’ with humans.

There must be some profound meaning behind mother’s words.

━. . . 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞.

Those were difficult words for me to understand.