章 39: A Disobedient Replicant.
"Before you step forward into the future, you must first resolve your past."
While I was closing my eyes, Princess Reika lit candles around me and wafted an incense near my nose. It helped me sharpen my concentration until a place both familiar and strange to the current me was rebuilt from my memories.
"Tell me, Otherworlder… who are you and how did you live at the other world?"
With that question, that part of my memory was opened as if I reached out and burst through a locked door.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
"You are not born to live your life. Rather, you are here because someone needs you to live someone else's life."
These were the words implanted in my mind. A statement that… even before my own voice, I heard again and again inside of my mind.
"Subject 32-C, respond using your eyes."
"…"
"Excellent impulses. Good coordination. No detectable errors… Empty his suspension tube."
"Yes, sir."
How should I say this…? Rather than being born from the womb of a woman, I was born in a laboratory equipment. An apparatus that artificially multiplied my progenitor's cell into the body that I have now.
In the official way that it is called, I am what these people would call a "Replicant".
"Line up in there."
"…"
After I was released from my tube, I was dressed in a hospital gown and brought to a room where 5 other versions of me are lined up, silently waiting for orders as they watched me walk to the other end of the line with faces that are so similar to each other.
"Right now… all of you are just empty slates. Though we've given you the memories of your progenitor, those memories are locked until we can prove that you are the best that we can give to his family. Thus, I want you to remember this, you test subjects… If you fail to live up to what your deceased progenitor used to be, you will be eliminated from the selection process."
As for what this world is… most of the "me" in here was never able to know it. And if only I knew it before, I would just choose to be eliminated and given a proper end right here.
"Subject 32-C… Move to the study table now."
"…"
"Solve the puzzle between 3 to 4 minutes and at the right pattern that your instinct dictates."
Our daily lives here revolve around 5 different things. By the morning, we wash our bodies while reciting an old poem just like the person we were based on. After that, we go to a room that resembles a classroom and type the exact same letters that our progenitor used to type in his English typewriter. At midday while we are having our lunch, we will be paired to another group of replicated children who are said to be a copy of the sisters that our progenitor had. We will talk to them as if we are who our progenitors are, sometimes talking about children's anime or asking each other how our day went… the right answer for this question should be related to our affairs in the laboratory, but those who answered truthfully rather than a manufactured situation from the memories we are given are immediately removed and sent to… wherever we replicants should go if we fail the tests.
Before long, the 6 versions of our progenitor, including me, has lessened. Some failed to live up to his knowledge and interest in engineering and inventing things while some fell into an extraordinary sense of depression, a thing that, as said by the scientists overlooking our progress, is an error rooted from their failure to remove the memory of our progenitor's death from the memories they implanted to us.
Only me and one more remained…
"Hey, C."
"Yes, B?"
"I… don't want to continue anymore…"
"…"
"I don't even want to live anymore… We were born just to be the continuation of our progenitor's life. I… No… we are alive, aren't we?"
"I'm sorry… B."
"Huh?"
"I don't want to die. Not until I know what this world that we were brought to really is."
With the click of the buzzer that was given to me by the scientists, some security men came inside our room and pulled the other me out of the room while he shouted "Traitor! Traitor!".
Though I regret having to make them wail and fail… I have no choice… I don't want to die.
"Subject 32-C… You've managed to live up to your progenitor's mannerisms and skills. After 16 weeks of observation and training, we can now say that you are worthy to continue his life…"
"…"
"Starting from now on, you can now use his name to identify yourself… Your name is Miyazaki Hiro."
Miyazaki Hiro. He was 15 years old when he, his mother and two younger sisters met their end in a car crash at New Tokyo's Sagami Bridge incident. His father, Professor Miyazaki Akihiro, was a talented geneticist who immediately splurged his time, effort and money in creating a way to revive them.
Although cloning is illegal in the scientific community, he didn't care at all. He hid his research from the eyes of everyone and worked ceaselessly in order to see his family again. In a way, you can say that in his desire to see them again, he played god and didn't mind the fact that he has played with our lives.
However, he never achieved his desired results. With the equipment that he either stole or slapped together and the constant power interruptions in the place where he hid them, the results were always the same… groaning and mishappen organisms that cannot even be called a human being. They either died through internal organ failure or he had to kill them with his own hands to hide his mistakes.
There were however, someone who saw his work and wanted to dip his arm into it for his own agendas.
"Professor… I believe that this is a good deal."
"I… I will accept, on just one condition…"
"And that is?"
"Please… please prioritize the revival of my family."
His name is Miyazono Kaito. A billionaire businessman based on Japan. The reason for his desire to work with the man yearning for his family is simple.
"If I can clone millions of obedient and productive people, I don't have to hire these scummy slackers anymore."
Words like that really fit him. A businessman with no regards for ethics or humanity. A man concerned only with profit and withholding wages that he is willing to manufacture cheap and disposable workers… a thing that, as bitter and hurtful as it may sound, is true in all aspects…
"A new kind of slavery."
That brings us to the current time. When, together with my replicated mother and two other replicated sisters entered the last room that we had to go to before we can go to our creator's house and live on as if we haven't died at all.
"With this, you four will not remember anything that happened here… you will live on as who you should be. The wife and children of Professor Miyazaki."
Finally, I don't have to feel bad about what I did anymore. Once I get out of here, I'd be able to live on again without regrets.
"We're home!"
"Papa!!!"
When we parked the car into the garage and ran towards the man, his eyes teared up and he embraced all of us.
"Thank you… thank you…!"
"H-honey! What's gotten into you…?"
He must've been happy back then. Half a year after he lost all of them, we came knocking on his door as if none of those happened at all. As if throwing every doubt and awareness of their death out of the window, he received us as if we are his real family.
"Welcome back, Hiro!"
"Are you well now? You seriously scared us!"
"Ahaha! I'm alright now everyone. It's not like some accident will do me in!"
True to his friendly and charismatic personality, I acted like him since it was the only memories left to me after the time I spent in the laboratory's selection process was locked away.
I spoke like him, acted like him, studied like him and even made friends like him.
Through and through, I lived up to who my progenitor was. I may even have surpassed him at some point and made the name "Miyazaki Hiro" mine.
But after a year of living outside, a single event reminded me of the fact that we shouldn't exist in this world. As replicants of people that death already claimed, we shouldn't be here anymore.
"W-what…?"
I went home one day and saw that the place where our home stands was up in flames.
"It was your fault, Sensei! It was your fault!"
A man doused in petrol shouted as he was being pinned down by the police. I recognized him from the memories of Hiro. He was a research assistant of his father who also wanted his deceased daughter to be replicated, but because that is not in included in the deal between him and the businessman, he went mad and killed our parents in this fire.
"Mio… Yukari… Don't worry, Nii-chan is here."
My two sisters were left to me. I bought a home where we can live even after what happened to us. Mio, the older one, developed an excessive amount of attachment disorder after seeing our parent's deaths with her own eyes. For a few months, she kept herself in the confines of our home, not stepping out at all as she is reminded of the scary things that might happen to her. Even in her sleep, I had to tightly embrace her as her daily nightmares made her claw on her neck and face in fear, leaving it with light scars and scratches.
It was never an easy thing to handle. Even at school, many of the people who used to call me as their friend abandoned me in fear that what happened to me might happen to them as well. Only one person stayed with me, a guy that suffered in his own way and up to that point, is still fighting against the unfair destiny given to him by this rotten world.
We shared our experiences, spoke to each other about our plans in the future and after a while, we came to treat each other like we are real brothers. But before long, I received a scholarship grant to a special school, and I took it without any hesitation. After all, that is the place where the girl that Hiro loved and by extension, I also loved, is studying.
Life in that place wasn't easy. The lessons are advanced, the workload is inhumane, and we're looked down upon by our other batchmates who belongs to the better sections. But all of it, I endured to reunite with that girl again.
On one of my day offs, I went to my old school in order to talk to my friend and before I can even speak, he charged towards me and punched me on the face. I fell down and he didn't give me any chance to resist, he pummeled me endlessly until my face no longer had any place to be hit.
"Mio and Yukari… how dare you leave those children in the hands of that abusive woman!"
Apparently, my sisters went to him the night before, ignoring the heavy storm that passed by all in order to escape from the person that I left them with. But…
"What? Mio and Yukari are at home with mom and dad."
I wasn't aware back then… but it seemed like the artificial memories I've been given has gone haywire and thus, I had lapses in my memory that convinced me with my own words.
He gave me one last punch that knocked me out and when I woke up, a folder was on my bedside that contains a paper labeled as "Request for Guardianship". At that point, I knew that I should leave them to him… I cannot chase after the person that I love and be the protector of my sisters. As scummy and irresponsible as it may sound, that was my only decision.
I was able to reunite with her and we even promised to try to be the best version of ourselves for each other. But that night, I received a call from a friend that she and that girl was kidnapped by a bunch of our upperclassmen for a party called "Festival of Flesh".
To put it in the simplest of definitions, this party is a gathering for the fulfillment of hedonistic desires. Alcohol, drugs and sex… all of it can be fulfilled in this secret party held in the middle of nowhere.
As for why they were kidnapped, I'll just say that some of the ringleaders and guests in this party have the special yet disgusting taste of doing it with those that didn't consent for the act.
Of course, I knew what to do. I went there as soon as I can and broke them out of their jail cell. We were caught of course and was almost shot by a guard, but with a reflex, I was able to turn his gun towards him and made him shoot himself.
The party went down in flames, I spread fire throughout the place in order to make a distraction for our escape, but they were still on our tail.
Wounded and tired, I resolved to be the bait while my female friend and my girlfriend went away from the place. Only for a bullet to go through my girlfriend's chest and hit her beating heart.
"S-sorry… Hiro…"
"No, no!!!"
At that point, I remembered everything from the laboratory and understood that nothing matters anymore…
"Maya-chan… take her away and run."'
"B-but Hiro! You-"
It doesn't matter anymore…
"Bury her somewhere that no one will find. And you go hide too… until they get off your tail."
"Hiro… are you saying that-"
"Go already. I'll but you enough time to run."
It's time for me to end this cursed life.
"Miyazaki Hiro… or should I say, Subject 32-C."
"…"
"To think that all the efforts that we went through to create the perfect replicated human would go to waste… Himari-sama really was right. The only way for humanity to be truly free and assume the place of the gods is to remove all unnecessary self-awareness and morality."
These crazy technocrats who think that they can become the gods of the new world…
"Don't worry, replicant. We'll make sure that your name will forever be remembered as the name of a fool who won't accept the paradise we are making for humanity."
These people that shames those who don't follow their creed of hedonistic indulgence…
"We don't know where you hid your other replicant siblings… but when we catch them, we'll make sure to enjoy seeing them suffer for you and your father's insolence!"
And these people who enjoys seeing the suffering of other people simply for entertainment…
"All of you…"
""Huh?""
At least… I was able to give them one last thing to remember me by. I took the last thing that my father left with me. I thought it was only a simple flash drive, but now that I remembered my days at the laboratory, I was reminded of what its contents are.
"Good luck figuring out how to make more of us replicants when you don't have this anymore. Immortality through cloning? Eat crap, you hedonists! If I'm going to die, you're also going to die one day!"
On my hand, I crushed the flash drive that contained my creator's research data. The formula to create a cloned body that can be implanted with the memories of the deceased.
"You-"
After a few gunshots, I fell down to the ground and they attempted to take the storage drive in my hand but in one last act of defiance, I placed the crushed parts on my mouth and smiled at them mockingly.
"Hiro…"
I awoke three days later in a hospital morgue… awoke wasn't the right word to use… I was surely dead. My heart isn't beating and I'm not breathing anymore. But for some reason, I heard the voice of my friend named Rai talking to my lifeless corpse.
"That promise… I will fulfill it… Then, I will avenge you."
No… no need for that Rai…
Don't you have a mom and sis back at your home country that needs you? Taking care and hiding Mio and Yukari is already enough to me. You don't have to shoulder my personal promise anymore… just… live your own life.
I found myself wanting to live again. I knew that this was kind of a stupid irony as I only existed to live someone else's life, but as I found people to trust and people to love, I began wanting to live and live and live as if it was my own life that I am leading… it was kind of… intoxicating in a good way. I wanted to stay alive not for myself, but for those that want me to be a part of their lives.
"If only I can live again… Maybe I have a chance in a world that wouldn't be unfair to me."
That wish sounded like it came from your usual isekai protagonist who got hit by a truck.
"If only this, if only that…" those words was familiar to me. Being the bookish guy, I read some light novels and web novels like that where some 30-year-old guy that didn't have a girlfriend since birth or a random teenager who is sick of his world dies at an accident, summoned by a beautiful princess or did a favor by some goddess would send them to a magical world to be the hero that will save it from evil.
But that's not where I want to go. I've already had my fill of suffering against those that won't even bat an eye for me.
"I want to live again in a world where I can protect those that I love and those that will love me."
A life that is only mine. A life where I didn't have to pretend to be someone. A life where I can work for those that I hold dear to me.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
"Have you come to terms with your past?"
"…I am."
I spoke and opened my eyes to see Princess Reika smiling at me softly.
"Good. As an Otherworlder who wasn't summoned, it is important for you to clear the part that would normally be removed from the mind of those who are summoned."
"And that is?"
"By performing the Kagura Summoning dance, the only people that we can summon are those that no longer want to live at the other world and fits the description and demeanor that we placed in the prayer we offered. As such, those that are summoned won't ask to be sent back to their home worlds. Which is totally unlike the stray ones like you who got here without our call."
"I see…"
"For reference, the last lord of the Yukogahara clan, Yukogahara Akira, is a Stray Otherworlder who used his wits to pretend as one of the four children of the bandit clan and sat as Yukonami's formal lord for the last 10 years. When he discovered that I can summon people from his home world, he begged for me to let me return him there even though he's already a highly regarded person in here."
"The formal lord of Yukonami… so that's the reason why the scrolls with morse code are locked away at the room behind his bedchamber… he wrote it down with his knowledge from our former world."
"Indeed. He taught me how to write and read it and I translated several parts of Lady Ayaka's journal in those three scrolls to give him a proof that he is an Otherworlder if ever someone will "Stray In" at Yukonami again."
I thought about it for a while, and I sighed after remembering something.
"Iwasawa-dono?"
"It doesn't matter anymore…"
"-!"
I thought about those words when the girl I loved at my past life died on my arms.
"Iwasawa-dono… please don't do it…"
"…Calm down, Daigo-hime-sama… I didn't mean it in that way."
But now, those words mean something entirely different to me.
"It doesn't matter anymore. The past is the past and I who died fair and square back there has no reason to mind it anymore."
"Iwasawa-dono…"
"Say, Daigo-hime. Can you send an Otherworlder back to our home world?"
The priestess closed her eyes for a moment and shook her head lightly.
"Figures. It's almost always a one-way trip anyway."
I looked out of the massive window behind her table and stared at the round moon that is casting its bluish-white light on the still lively and bustling harbor city.
"Ever since I came here, I already became "Iwasawa Hiroshi". The travelling doctor, the messy country bumpkin and every children's big brother. And when I rose to power, I gained the title of the Master of Naka Harbor for making it the productive trade city that it is now. The Prime Noblesse Oblige for protecting my people against criminals just as a true noble should. The Leader of the Kiko Nobility for unifying the dispositions of the highborn families and removing discrimination amongst the population. The People's Innovator for creating the lights, machines and electric facilities that eased the lives of my people. And of course, The Lord of Kiko, the title that I didn't take but was given to me by my subjects."
I closed my eyes for a moment and remembered the face of the people that was important to me in my past life.
"If you guys can see me now, would you be happy for me?"
They cannot answer me, but in my mind, I knew that they would be happy to know that I am leading a happy life now.
"Since you've already resolved your own problems, Iwasawa-dono, I believe that it's only appropriate that I tell you the story of the first Otherworlder that crossed into this world."
As she said that, I sat down attentively and listened.
クリエイターの想い 
Ephraim_Chronia
Ephraim_Chronia Editor KEY here, everyone! This was such an existentially scary chapter! Imagine if you were born just to continue the life of someone else! That is too depressing! Regardless, that's all for now! Thanks!
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