13 Chapter 13: The Clock Is Ticking

""...""

"..."

Walking silently through the white corridors of the facility, the twins staggered as they followed behind me.

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 me.

"You're too damn slow. If things continue like this, dawn's going to break and things'll get a lot more bothersome."

Trembling, they seemed 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 seemed to calm down and look me in the eyes as I continued.

"Listen. As it stands, you two are of use to me, so I'm not going to kill you. The same 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 means, 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 game of carrot and stick. Incentivising the good performance and penalising the bad―it was the simplest and most efficient method of controlling subordinates.

I waited as the twins glanced at each other for a few seconds, then back to me.

"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 names..."

"I'm Sona..."

"...I'm Sana..."

I didn't recall asking about it, but they suddenly told me their names.

"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 me their names―then brought a certain thought to mind.

―Why names are pure egotistical garbage curated by humans to grant themselves something they can call "their own".

Names 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 names.

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 names other than humans.

The purpose of a name 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 name 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 name at birth, that identity sticks with them for the rest of their lives, and whether they later on decide to legally change their name doesn't matter―if someone addresses a person by what they were once called, regardless of if it is legally their name or not, then what is the point of changing your name 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 name, and so you chose another one―as if names are not all equally stupid to begin with.

A façade is what it is―an atrocious attempt to conceal that everyone is the same underneath, regardless of their external alias.

Therefore, names are an inane concept overall.

But, after all, the truth is meaningless in front of illogical human obstinacy. Humans as a species love nothing more than to name 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 name".

===

***

===

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 time, however, I made sure to not turn the lights on and instead just asked the Measurement of Truth which cell was the kid's and went straight to it.

Should have done that last time, 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 me hazily, as if he had just woken up. Immediately realising I was not someone who worked here, he figured something strange was happening.

I cut to the chase.

"Emir, right? You're coming with me," 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 demeanour completely transformed.

"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 me 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 me 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 screamed when I presented to Emir the end of the barrel, clutching my clothes in desperate contention as they tried to persuade me.

"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 time, 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 me carefully for a second as he calmed himself. I caught his gaze scanning me, flickering between the girls' bare necks, wrists and ankles, and then returning to meet 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 me."

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 affirmed my statement.

"Yes, I can walk fine. However, I'm not so sure about some 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 stammered. I straightened my back, stood up and stared at him eye-to-eye.

"Hey, kid, you seem to be mistaking something 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 metal cylinder from within my coat, I dropped it onto the floor.

"Girls, come 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 me 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 some 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 time.

"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 argument, 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 moment of their so-called "life" in agonising torment? Humans commit the very same actions to pigs and cows every day without so much as blinking an eye, so is this really any different?"

"That's livestock meant 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 merely what you want to do, but not the objective correctness."

All of this isn't something I'm saying as an excuse for killing all these "innocent people" due to something 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 me, 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 me.

If there is anyone on this planet who knows what is 'wrong', it is me.

―And if there is anyone on this planet with the authority to define these, it is me.