Chapter 192. The Transporter, No. 12 (2)
“Hello. I’m from Abraxas.”
One day, while my illness continued eating away at me little by little, a fat, bald man came to visit.
He introduced himself as a researcher from Abraxas and told me something unexpected.
“You sent us your genetic information recently in hopes of finding a treatment, correct?”
“Our research revealed that you possess an extremely unusual constitution.”
“If you wish, you can participate in a new project being conducted by Abraxas.”
Not long before that, I had heard that a military conglomerate called Abraxas was searching for people with unusual genetic traits.
Desperate enough to grasp at any straw, I had sent them my genetic information.
Apparently, that decision had paid off.
Then the man told me something even more unbelievable.
“We can cure your disease.”
“You’ll be able to swim again.”
For a moment, I thought I had misheard him.
They could cure me?
I could swim again?
It sounded impossible.
Sure enough, the man added a condition.
“There is one requirement.”
“You will have to abandon your current name and your current life completely.”
The Archon Project.
That was the name of the project he introduced.
Abraxas would cover every expense.
All I had to provide was my body.
Still, the man repeatedly warned me.
“If you participate in the Archon Project, you may never be able to return to your original form.”
“Would that still be acceptable?”
My original form?
A bitter laugh escaped me.
Why would I ever want to return to a body that could not even go to the bathroom without someone else’s help?
I did not care what I became.
If I could cure this disease, escape this cursed body, and cut freely through the water again, I would have sold my soul to the devil himself.
The man seemed to read that determination in my eyes.
A greedy smile spread across his face.
“Then you are now one of us.”
“No. 12.”
No. 12.
That became my new name.
I did not care what they called me.
Being able to swim again was enough.
Yes.
Just like the blue whale I had always admired.
[With this, all preparations are complete.]
Alpha looked strangely relieved on the monitor.
A deep, resonant song began vibrating through the entire base.
“Oooooooooh.”
It was No. 12’s voice.
Alpha smiled bitterly.
[Thank you, twelfth friend.]
[Without you, I could never have handled the enormous results of these calculations.]
[You kept pouring energy into my brain without rest so it could continue operating.]
[And you endured all the consequences yourself.]
No. 12’s sacrifice was indispensable to operating Abraxas’s marine base.
The facility required a tremendous amount of energy.
It also needed the ability to store and transport that energy.
No. 12 was handling all of it alone.
“Oooooooooh.”
His song echoed through the base once more.
There was something deeply mournful and sorrowful about it.
[Looks like you’re reaching your limit too.]
Alpha immediately understood what No. 12 was trying to say.
No matter how transcendent an Archon’s regenerative ability might be, they were still living creatures in the end.
No. 12 was supporting an enormous marine base by himself.
On top of that, he was directly supplying nutrients to Alpha, who had nothing left but her brain.
It was only natural that he would eventually reach his limit.
Even so, No. 12 did not resent Alpha for making him this way.
Instead, he only continued apologizing, as though he were the one who felt guilty.
[I’m fine.]
[We’re friends.]
Alpha spoke gently to her enormous companion beyond the monitor.
“Oooooooooh.”
The song continued.
Alpha quietly stared at the enormous cylinder beyond the screen.
Several complicated emotions crossed her face.
Then she spoke with desperate sincerity.
[Once we obtain the Wisdom of God, we’ll finally be free.]
[Please endure just a little longer until then.]
“Yukgap!”
“Yukgap! Where are you?!”
The moment Victoria left the patient room, she began searching for Yukgap.
But no matter how many times she called his name, he never appeared.
It was as though he had completely vanished in the brief time they were apart.
“Where did he go?”
Had he really left?
Victoria trembled alone as unease crept over her.
Then her smartphone suddenly rang.
“Who is it?”
Without thinking much about it, Victoria answered.
A familiar voice came through.
[Doctor Frankenstein?]
“Kevin?”
“What happened?”
It was Kevin, the Mercenary King, whom she had met several times before.
His voice sounded unusually urgent.
[This is an emergency.]
[Can you meet me right now?]
“Abraxas is behaving strangely.”
Kevin explained the situation in a grave voice.
“They’re selling off stock and buying weapons in enormous quantities.”
“At the same time, internet servers connected to Abraxas are being frozen.”
Sister Olga, who was standing nearby, summed it up in one sentence.
“It sounds as though they’re closing the castle gates and preparing for war.”
She had also rushed over the moment she received Kevin’s call.
Kevin nodded.
“Exactly.”
“This has put the entire world on alert.”
“A major military conglomerate is essentially preparing for war against the whole world.”
Victoria cautiously spoke.
“This is Alpha’s doing.”
Kevin immediately turned to her.
“Do you know something, Doctor Frankenstein?”
“Just call me Victoria.”
Victoria let out a faint sigh.
“Alpha told me something.”
“She said that after obtaining the Wisdom of God, she would destroy the world and recreate it.”
