""...""
"..."
Walking silently through the white corridors of the facility, the twins staggered as they followed behind .
I had already removed their shackles as well as the shock collar that bound them, but seeing the girls were only able to move by leaning on each other, they appeared to have more than just a little trouble with it.
...It's going to take all bloody day at this rate.
"Okay, that's enough, you two."
Halting in their tracks as I suddenly rotated 180 degrees to face them, their quivering eyes locked onto .
"You're too damn slow. If things continue like this, dawn's going to break and things'll get a lot more botherso."
Trembling, they seed to feel as though I might just kill them here and now.
"What? Do you think I'm going to kill you both? For being a little slow?"
""...""
They nodded solemnly as they shrunk their bodies even more towards the ground.
"...I thought the two of you were smart, but are you in fact stupid? Why the hell would I do that?" When I told them I wouldn't kill them, they seed to calm down and look in the eyes as I continued.
"Listen. As it stands, you two are of use to , so I'm not going to kill you. The sa goes for that other brat, hear? Those who are useful are treated well. As for those who aren't, well, you've already witnessed their fate."
Then, I crouched down to their level, placing a hand on each of their heads.
"You are both now mine. That ans, as long as you perform well, you will be granted anything you desire, within reason, and if you underperform, you will be punished. Is that clear?"
It was a simple ga of carrot and stick. Incentivising the good performance and penalising the bad―it was the simplest and most efficient thod of controlling subordinates.
I waited as the twins glanced at each other for a few seconds, then back to .
"Um..."
"...We will try..."
"Our best..."
"...To be of use..."
"To you..."
"...So, please..."
""Take care of us...""
Taking my hands off their heads, I remarked with a frown, "Were you not listening to anything I said?"
""...""
"I take care of what's useful. That's all." I then rotated my body and pointed with a thumb to my back. "Now, one of you get on."
""...""
I couldn't see their faces, but for a second I thought I heard a collective sigh of relief.
"Um..."
"...Our nas..."
"I'm Sona..."
"...I'm Sana..."
I didn't recall asking about it, but they suddenly told their nas.
"I don't care. Get on."
""...Yes...""
Although it was spoken dejectedly, a certain level of trust could be sensed in the twins' reply.
Their previous words―telling their nas―then brought a certain thought to mind.
―Why nas are pure egotistical garbage curated by humans to grant themselves sothing they can call "their own".
Nas were a societal fabrication that didn't truly exist. For an easy example of this, just go take a look at any animal on the planet that isn't a human―none of them have nas.
If it's simple identification or to facilitate communication between people, there are a number of alternative ways to go about it. This is what animals do.
No creature on the planet gives itself or its offspring nas other than humans.
The purpose of a na was to clumsily assign each person a unique identity, which in itself isn't much more than a minor negative, but the effects of it are so much more disastrous.
A person's na not only effects their thoughts and rationale on a subconscious level, crippling one's ability to think objectively, both of themself and of others, but it also has more wide-range consequences such as influencing a person's worth, their career, and how they are perceived socially.
If a person is assigned a na at birth, that identity sticks with them for the rest of their lives, and whether they later on decide to legally change their na doesn't matter―if soone addresses a person by what they were once called, regardless of if it is legally their na or not, then what is the point of changing your na in the first place?
It's nothing more than a ridiculous social ritual to formally let others know that you did not like your previous na, and so you chose another one―as if nas are not all equally stupid to begin with.
A façade is what it is―an atrocious attempt to conceal that everyone is the sa underneath, regardless of their external alias.
Therefore, nas are an inane concept overall.
But, after all, the truth is aningless in front of illogical human obstinacy. Humans as a species love nothing more than to na and classify things as what they think it is or should be.
However, I refuse to acknowledge these crass assumptions of reality.
This is why I don't have a "real na".
===
***
===
After walking a few minutes with the two girls―Sona sitting on my shoulders and holding Sana within the embrace of my left arm―I finally arrived.
"Subject Chamber 1. Here we go."
Unlocking the door to our destination with one hand, I entered a place that was identical to where the twins were held.
This ti, however, I made sure to not turn the lights on and instead just asked the asurent of Truth which cell was the kid's and went straight to it.
Should have done that last ti, but oh well.
Upon reaching the correct cell, I called out, "Oi."
"Hu-huh...? W-woah, who're...?"
The blond boy with tan skin looked at hazily, as if he had just woken up. Imdiately realising I was not soone who worked here, he figured sothing strange was happening.
I cut to the chase.
"Emir, right? You're coming with ," Telling him what was going to happen, I opened his cell.
"What...?"
Sighing, I thought it was a bother to have to explain everything, but just as I opened my mouth, his deanour completely transford.
"Wait... Sona, Sana!? What're you doing he--MMPH-?!"
Before he could continue, I entered his cell and grabbed his face with my right hand, covering his mouth. "You want to grab everyone's attention? Shut up." Letting him go, he backed far away from and called out to the twins.
"...Sona, Sana, this bastard hasn't done anything to you, has he?"
Hearing his absurd words, I couldn't help but scoff.
This is precisely why I hated self-righteous morons like this; they never learn.
"I'm the bastard? Haha, boy, you don't seem to understand how lucky you are to even still be alive to complain right now. Girls, I apologise, but I'm starting to rethink what you were asking of earlier."
As I slowly began to pull out the Mark IV from within my coat, I continued.
"―I'm beginning to think I should just show him what the reality of the situation is, here--"
""No-!!""
The twins scread when I presented to Emir the end of the barrel, clutching my clothes in desperate contention as they tried to persuade .
"Don't do it..."
"...You promised..."
"He can be useful..."
"...Give him a chance..."
""Please...""
Smacking my lips, I lowered my arm and said to Emir, "Do you understand now? These girls will be upset if I were to harm you, so it'd be in your best interest to gratefully take the chance you've been given and shape up a bit."
Before he could respond, I added, "Oh, and by the way; instead of making baseless accusations of my actions and character next ti, try to use what diminutive brainpower you may have to determine what is an appropriate thing to say before you start spewing nonsense."
The boy watched carefully for a second as he cald himself. I caught his gaze scanning , flickering between the girls' bare necks, wrists and ankles, and then returning to et my eyes.
That's right. They weren't shackled anymore, were they? I even removed the shock collars that appeared to be suppressing their Supernatural Abilities.
How kind am I, huh?
"...I'm sorry. I was wrong," He bowed his head. "Thank you for saving these two. And... Sana, Sona... Thank you for bringing help to save ."
Satisfied with his corrected behaviour, I nodded.
"Alright then, looks like you understand. Now, enough with the pleasantries. You can walk on your own, can't you? Either way, I'm not carrying you, so you'd better follow closely as we leave."
I put the girls down briefly to remove Emir's restraints and he affird my statent.
"Yes, I can walk fine. However, I'm not so sure about so of the others--"
"'Others'?"
Crouched down, my hands, which were currently in the process of unlocking the shackles around his ankles, stopped moving.
"―What are you talking about, 'others'? There are no others."
"Wh-what?" Emir stamred. I straightened my back, stood up and stared at him eye-to-eye.
"Hey, kid, you seem to be mistaking sothing here. I'm not a saint nor a hero, got it? I'm not here to 'save' people; I'm here to collect a couple of tools I think might be useful. You and the twins are the only ones I'm taking out of here alive. Originally, it would've just been them, but because of their benevolence, you've been given an impossible opportunity.
If I were you, I'd accept it with grace."
Subsequently, taking out a tal cylinder from within my coat, I dropped it onto the floor.
"Girls, co here."
I picked the twins up as I did previously and carried them outside the cell before turning back to face the boy, who continued to stare dumbfoundedly into blank space, as if he couldn't believe what I had said.
My next sentence brought him out of his stupor rather fast, however, as the canister I dropped suddenly began steaming and emitting an unusual vapour.
"――That right there is modified mustard gas."
The three of them looked at confused. It seems that, because they've been raised in a research facility like this, they haven't been educated much on the likes of history.
"I won't bother going into the specifics of the short-term effects, because the one and only symptom of long-term exposure to this gas is death, and that is what everyone here will receive if they do not evacuate post-haste."
"""!!!"""
Fortunately, this underground facility had very poor ventilation. Whether it was because the place was maintained by a bunch of incompetents or so other reason, this lethal mist would stay down here and spread throughout the entire facility just long enough to take out every single person who couldn't evacuate in ti.
"What the... Why...? Yo-you... You're just as monstrous as the people running this place!"
I think I'll have to disagree with that one.
"Hmm, but you know, that isn't true at all. The only people here are the evil ones operating the facility and you, the test subjects whose pain, misery and suffering I've witnessed first-hand."
"So?! This is inhumane, exactly like the damned researchers!"
"If that's your argunt, then isn't it even more inhumane to leave them here, either to rot or to continue on their pitiful lives as test subjects who have no choice but to live every waking mont of their so-called "life" in agonising tornt? Humans commit the very sa actions to pigs and cows every day without so much as blinking an eye, so is this really any different?"
"That's livestock ant for food! Plus, leaving without doing anything is awful too! Obviously, the right thing to do is to help everyone get outta here so they won't be test subjects anymore! They're innocent! You can't just leave them or kill them, that's horrible!"
"And who are you to decide what the 'right' thing to do is? What you claim is 'right', is in fact not; it is rely what you want to do, but not the objective correctness."
All of this isn't sothing I'm saying as an excuse for killing all these "innocent people" due to sothing illogical like guilt, but rather a worldly truth that is often overlooked or dismissed by people simply because they are naïve, drowning in their own skewed sense of morals and what is 'right' or 'wrong'.
"You...!" Emir grit his teeth in frustration, his fists clenched into balls.
"Now, boy, the clock is ticking. As the girls have requested of , I've given you a chance to survive and a choice: Either leave these riff-raff and join us, or perish here with the rest of these worthless nobodies."
If there is anyone on this planet who knows what is 'right', it is .
If there is anyone on this planet who knows what is 'wrong', it is .
―And if there is anyone on this planet with the authority to define these, it is .
Reviews
All reviews (0)