Chapter 286 ·Turning point (49)

Turning 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󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄂point (49)

The sudden declaration, "you're not human."

Faced with what sounded like a joke, I couldn't help but wear a dumbfounded expression.

When I looked at Carrot's face, he was deeply serious. It wasn't something he said lightly. In fact, he wasn't even looking at me. He was just looking at the data displayed on the terminal.

'Not human, huh...'

It wasn't as if I had no idea what he meant. After all, Lobelia had described Licorice as a doll she created, and I myself was an experimental subject forged by her hands.

I was made from data of the leader of the Pilgrims and Ian Myosotis. Licorice was created from things archived in the Archive, so she wasn't just a normal clone created by conventional means.

To some extent—no, I had been thinking along those lines, but hearing those words said outright still hit me like a blow to the head. It didn't cause a huge emotional upheaval, but I felt as if all the energy drained out of me.

For now, I put my questions aside and muttered,

"Then does that mean I'm not human either?"

He whipped his head around at my question, and when he saw my expression, this time it was Carrot who looked flustered.

"Ah, you are human. Sorry, I must have made myself confusing. You and that girl Licorice, you are certainly human. What I was talking about was your structure. From the cells making up your body, to the scope of abilities you can exercise—there are aspects that differ from what is generally understood as the human species."

"Well, that much..."

I knew what Carrot was getting at. The hurt expression I put on was just to attract his attention and to hear more details from him.

"From appearance, behavior, humanity, and biological responses, you cannot distinguish. Rather, there's no need to. You simply are people. But you, you clearly have powers that defy common sense—like supernatural power psychokinesis, and tremendous strength that can bend anything."

"... Licorice can use a similar strength too."

"Right, you saw her yourself. That's exactly the point I'm making."

Carrot knew that Licorice had wielded a dark, bloody strength. It wasn't just me who'd witnessed that scene—everyone present saw it, so the information soon reached Carrot's ears.

"I've been different from others from the start, so I can accept that. But what about Licorice? Knowing you, Carrot, if you'd known, you wouldn't have kept it a secret. Does this mean you only just figured it out...? Why only now? You never said anything like this after all those detailed scans."

"In that regard, I was 'fooled'. That's really the only way to put it."

"... Fooled?"

Even though I heard him clearly, I couldn't wrap my head around it and frowned. When I pressed for more explanation, Carrot pointed at the holographic screen he was still sharing with me.

"You saw the scan results, didn't you? The results were extremely unrealistic."

Not just illogical, but unrealistic. That was an unusually strong word coming from Carrot, so I paid close attention to what he said next.

"Generally, detailed scans involve internal imaging via machines, blood tests, and testing responses to various stimuli—you know this, I'm sure."

"Yes. I've done it a few times myself."

"The problem started from there. No matter how detailed the scan, there were expected results, so I thought her body was fine. But it wasn't. It was all dummy data. Unless you physically open up the body, you can't realize the problem."

Here's what Carrot meant. No matter how detailed, nobody would open someone up for a scan. At most, you'd draw blood. The rest is state checks via scanner. That's more than enough to catch even the smallest flaw.

Whenever Carrot scanned Licorice, the results came out fine. Or more precisely, he was deceived into believing they did. That's what Carrot was saying.

Micro discrepancies in biorhythms are unavoidable in daily human life. No two data points are identical. After all, a person is not a machine.

The meaning of Carrot's earlier "her body was fine" was that the scan fell within the expected range—showing the sort of state someone tired and plagued by nightmares might have.

Carrot provided the appropriate treatment for that, but looking back, it had all been meaningless, he muttered darkly.

"Licorice's internal structure is different. I really hate to put it like this, but she's no different from a doll. Not made of real flesh and blood, but of something that appears to be, programmed to behave like a person—crafted with incredibly detailed precision, like a doll."

Carrot said that when a stimulus was input, she was made to output an appropriate response depending on the set value. He told me that the cause of her fever was that a huge load had been placed on those circuits.

The cause of that overload could only be guessed, but Carrot was certain that the reason Licorice's body withstood such high fever was because of her structure.

"Conceptually, she's closer to a bio-android—or rather, a humanoid. That's why she could survive that fever."

"... So it wasn't just stimulants keeping her alive."

I thought her appearance was unchanged because her growth period ended, but it seemed instead it never changed after our first meeting simply for another reason. Being no different from a biocomputer, maybe that's why she could handle other robots so deftly.

"Of course. The human body is far more fragile than you think. No amount of training can make you withstand everything; there's a limit to what drugs can do. The fever she experienced was at a level where, for anyone not as physically robust as you, internal tissue would not just be damaged—they would die as a matter of course."

Carrot had hurried to check Licorice's status in order to handle her fever, and upon seeing the scan results, he'd had questions.

It was anything but normal, but the data was within the normal range. He could tell from that alone that Licorice was not ordinary.

Once he had doubts and conducted further examinations, the strangeness gradually came to light, and now here they were.

Licorice had the functions of a human, and the heart of one. But if you dug beneath the surface, her physical structure was nothing like that of an ordinary human.

According to Carrot, Licorice could use considerable strength—not as much as me, perhaps, but still quite strong. The reason she hadn't used it before was because of settings, as he had mentioned.

She could feel worn out because she has human functions. She could feel and express emotions because she had a human heart.

The reason Licorice had seemed relatively weak, and fundamentally distrustful of people, was because she was programmed that way by settings. Every one of those settings was the work of Lobelia. Realizing that, I let out a sigh.

"There's something in that girl's head. My guess is, it's similar to what you have in your heart. The pattern is quite similar. I can't say for certain whether it's the source of her supernatural power, like yours, or a core for controlling her behavior, since I can't check directly."

What was in her head wasn't the important thing right now. Surely, it was something made from what was in the Archive. The real issue was how to solve the problem binding Licorice.

The warp rejection reaction, and the suggestion not to escape the Titan—these had to be addressed in order to travel to Earth. I believed Carrot could fix them.

Even though our prospects of getting to Earth were getting bleaker, I couldn't just sit and do nothing. First, I had to solve that problem and move on to the next step. Just as everyone else was trying to do.

"Carrot, did you hear from Nadia about the warp rejection reaction and the suggestion?"

"... Yes, I heard."

Carrot said no more, looking pensive and cautious. Normally, he'd be someone I could trust, but now his face put me even more on edge. I wetted my lips and spoke up.

"... Are things okay now? That's why you have it on me, right? You can fix it, right? Or have you already fixed it?"

Even as I pressed him, Carrot didn't answer. Just as he'd said, I doubted anyone had died. But that didn't necessarily mean they were alive. There could be states that were neither.

I waited nervously for Carrot's reply. He hesitated, and just for a moment, his gaze flicked to the terminal. Frowning, he tapped the device a few times, and then suddenly stood up.

He began packing up in the middle of our conversation, and I couldn't hide my confusion.

"Uh, where are you going? If you're worried about my emotional response, just tell me. Not hearing it would make things worse for me right now."

"That's not it. You'll hear the rest directly from her. That's what she wants, and since she's just woken up..."

He got up. As I was processing those words, the door to the infirmary opened. The door slid aside, erasing the border between inside and out. In the doorway stood Licorice, being supported by the Beta Series. She was wearing a hospital gown rather than a suit; even that had a deactivated restraint device attached.

Licorice met my eyes and, as usual, let out a little "hmph" and slightly turned her head. But only for a moment—she sighed softly and approached me.

Her legs trembled with every step, a clear sign she still wasn't well. She could have used a wheelchair, but insisted on walking. She had even brushed off the help of the Beta Series.

I realized that, at least in this place, Licorice was trying to prove she was fine. Her gaze had been fixed on me from the second that door opened. In a way, that was very much like her.

At last, Licorice reached where I sat, on her own two feet, and plopped down in the chair Carrot had just vacated. She wiped the beads of sweat from her forehead, produced from just a bit of walking.

Carrot, having watched this, looked as if he wanted to say something but ended up only shaking his head. Even with her air of bravado, Licorice's eyes betrayed utter exhaustion, and even he seemed lost for words.

"I'll be next door taking care of the wounded, so if anything happens—or even if you just feel any physical problem—call me immediately. Just press the button attached to the bed, and I'll get a signal."

After pointing out the emergency call button, Carrot left the infirmary. When the door closed behind him, silence hung between Licorice and me.

The conversation had just been about Licorice, but now that I was face-to-face with her, it felt incredibly awkward. We exchanged meaningless glances for a moment until Licorice finally broke the silence.

Licorice leaned back in the chair, trying to cross her legs as she usually did—except her leg wouldn't cooperate and got stuck partway. Trying to look nonchalant, she tried again with more strength, but the result was the same.

Her eyebrows twitched in annoyance. Finally, grumbling under her breath, she picked up her own leg with her hand, put it in the position she wanted, then leaned deeply against the backrest.

"......."

What is she even doing? Seeing that, I couldn't help but wonder if I was the only one taking things seriously and just opened and closed my mouth silently. Before I could find words, Licorice scoffed at me and spoke first.

"I'm not dead, you know."

"... What?"

"I said, I'm not dead. Don't treat me like a corpse already. I'm still your captain, after all."

Waving a baton of unknown origin, Licorice tapped at the restraint device wearily as if its weight was too much for her, sighing at the effort.

"Forget everything else for now. Tell me about yourself. What happened?"

"That's not what's important right now—"

"It is. Because I want to hear it."

Licorice threatened that if I didn't answer, she wouldn't tell me what I wanted to know. That old rebellious streak I hadn't seen in a while had returned.

I didn't feel bad about it. Instead, before I realized, a small smile broke out. Seeing her like she used to be made me feel, for a moment, as if I'd returned to the time when everything was alright.

"You can see I'm lying here sick, right? My throat's not so great either, so this might take a while."

"All we've got right now is time. I've only just come to my senses, so take it slow. Tell me what happened from the moment I passed out until now."

"If I faint while talking, you'll be responsible."

"Sure, as a sign of solidarity I'll faint right next to you."

"Honestly..."

I chuckled, looking at Licorice's brazen attitude while organizing my thoughts. I'd just heard the gist from Carrot, so relaying it to Licorice wouldn't be difficult.

"So, here's what happened..."

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