Saikyou Series - Volume 2 S1chapter 8
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Volume 2 S1chapter 8

Jinrui

Saikyou no Jun'ai –

Nisioisin

p. 37-45

Immortal

youth is one of humanity’s dreams, but it will forever remain a

dream. It is an aspiration sought after since ancient times, and it

will never be more than an aspiration. There’s no such thing as a

human who doesn’t die—everyone dies. There are those whose long

lives beggar belief, and my fathers were apparently quite enamored

with them, but they were neither immortal nor forever young… well,

those people are a

fascinating topic for researchers to study, make no mistake. It’s a

topic that seemed to be of common interest to both Doctor Kitsuregawa

and my fathers, those deviant researchers. So, when Doctor

Kitsuregawa grew old and saw the end of his life approaching, he

decided to transfer his consciousness into someone else—is that it?

If that’s what was meant by a successful experiment, there are still

some unresolved questions. For instance, who exactly is this

Hotsure-chan, sitting in front of me right now? I’d surmised from her

age that she was his granddaughter, but no matter how much of a mad

scientist Doctor Kitsuregawa might have been, would he really use his

own granddaughter as an experimental subject? …He probably would.

After all, he even used his own consciousness in his research. No,

that’s not the issue; he wasn’t the kind of person who could build

honest family relations.h.i.+ps in the first place—that’s my prejudiced

opinion. What Hotsure-chan said earlier about never having a mom or

dad concerned me. Surely he didn’t kidnap an orphan to use as his

vessel, right? That’s a downright nauseating hypothesis, but

unfortunately that sort of thing is not unheard of in this world of

ours. Might even say it’s par for the course—there’s a similar

story to my own life. Recognizing that as “par for the course” is

a whole different problem, though. So, I decided to get things

cleared up—I’m grateful for all the surprises you prepared for me,

s.h.i.+megiwa-kun, but I think it’s about time the magician revealed his

secrets. I might look like an adult to you, but I’m not that mature.

If I get p.i.s.sed off, I wouldn’t hesitate to go on a rampage with no

thought for the consequences.

“H-hold

on, please, don’t destroy our house like that government building…

I’m going to explain everything, in order.”

s.h.i.+megiwa

replied hastily—I found it a bit strange that he was more worried

about the house than himself. However, as he spoke, I found myself

thinking the opposite of what I said—maybe I have

matured. Before, I might have smashed this table to pieces without

even providing a warning.

“You

were right… well, the rumors were right. Doctor Kitsuregawa had no

family. He might’ve had some a while ago, but when I met him, at

least, he didn’t have any family… certainly no grandchildren.”

Hmph.

He’s not so different from me in that regard. Well, Doctor

Kitsuregawa and I actually have a lot in common even beyond that (as

much as I hate to admit it). We don’t belong to any society or to any

organization; we live aloof from the world, without benefactors—did

I sympathize with him on those counts, or did I hate him for them…?

Let’s put that aside.

“It’s

not as if Doctor Kitsuregawa was a lonely old man, of course. There’s

a difference between being isolated and being above the rest.”

Being

isolated and being above the rest are the same thing.

“……”

Oh,

I don’t mean to be a wet blanket. Keep going. Use whatever phrasing

you like. This’ll probably come in handy when I write Doctor

Kitsuregawa’s biography.

“You’re

gonna write his biography? You, Jun Aikawa?”

Of

course not. Stop flaring up every time I crack a joke. So,

s.h.i.+megiwa-kun, if Doctor Kitsuregawa had no family at all—excuse

me, if he was above

having a family—then who’s this little girl? Where’d she hatch

from?

“'Hatch’,

huh… Odd way to put it.”

You’re

really particular about phrasing, aren’t you. Is language your

favorite subject at school?

“I

don’t go to school. What I meant by ‘odd’ was that it was oddly

accurate. I thought

you might’ve read my mind again; it startled me.”

Huh?

“Hotsure-sama

did indeed 'hatch'—from the inside of a flask.”

…From

the inside of a flask. I shouldn’t really be commended for being able

to understand the situation based on those words—I mean, it’s

Doctor Kitsuregawa who ought to be commended here. Although, no

matter how commendable he might be, it’s hard to say whether

he ought to be commended or not in this case; you’ve got to think

about ethics. Even I couldn’t avoid bringing that up.

“Jun

Aikawa. Do you know what a h.o.m.onculus is?”

I

didn’t answer right away, but yeah, I knew. The idea of homunculi is

from alchemy; they’re synthetic people, or rather, artificial

life—essentially, life created by humans. It’s one of the big

themes of alchemy, alongside immortality and the production of gold.

Of course, we’re not talking about the middle ages here, and in this

modern age of science, alchemy is no longer an academic discipline,

it’s a subject for entertainment.

“Not

necessarily. They say that at the forefront of modern science, it’s

become possible to make gold, right? So it shouldn’t be all that

astonis.h.i.+ng if immortality or h.o.m.onculi became reality either.”

I

guess it shouldn’t be surprising… But, s.h.i.+megiwa-kun. It’s

definitely surprising to hear you talk as if Doctor Kitsuregawa was

an alchemist, not a scientist, or even a chemist. As if he was an

entertainer—it’s hilarious. Like he was the last surviving

alchemist in the modern age… This isn’t a sci-fi novel, you know.

As if—I looked at Hotsure-chan—as if he really built a

h.o.m.onculus.

“Whatever

you believe is up to you. But the truth does not waver—I am an

artificial life form that Grandpa created, and I inherited Grandpa’s

intelligence and memories; I am the second generation Doctor

Kitsuregawa. The 'Closet’ s.p.a.cesuit that you wore was one of my

inventions.”

Hearing

her call that the unwavering truth wasn’t just surprising, it sent a

chill down my spine. After all, I’d flown out into a vacuum and run

wild in a s.p.a.cesuit designed by a five-year-old. …Speaking of

which, she looked five years old to me, but if she’s really a

h.o.m.onculus, then I can’t judge that based on her appearance. She’s no

“designer baby”, but maybe her age could have been set to

whatever he wanted… Well, I’m sure it wasn’t the old man’s

preference to have a little girl take over as him. That kind of

perversion would be a great deal more serious than a lolita complex.

“What’s

that? You’re curious about my age? I was created five years ago, and

I took Grandpa—Doctor Motsure Kitsuregawa—into my head one year

ago.”

So

she was exactly as old as I thought. And if she took over as Doctor

Kitsuregawa one year ago, that means that just about all of Doctor

Kitsuregawa’s recent achievements, including the Closet s.p.a.cesuit,

were made by this girl’s tiny hands… From what I’d heard, all sorts

of Doctor Kitsuregawa’s creations had been scandalizing society, not

just the s.p.a.cesuit… So all of those things were the work of a

five-year-old girl? That’d send a s.h.i.+ver through all my guts, not

just my spine. I know the new generation is supposed to be smart, but

this is a little too much.

“Doctor

Kitsuregawa made a h.o.m.onculus, and imparted to it his knowledge and

memories; it’s one manifestation of immortality, in a way… He

really was a genius.”

s.h.i.+megiwa

spoke as if boasting—I wonder if he idolized Doctor Kitsuregawa. I

wasn’t a.n.a.lyzing him using mind-reading since he seemed averse to it,

but his att.i.tude was rather mysterious to me. Even bearing his arm

mind, it’s understandable for a kid to admire an outlaw researcher

who’s deviated from society, but the idea of Doctor Kitsuregawa

turning into a little girl. …Well, it seemed as though s.h.i.+megiwa

thought of “Doctor Kitsuregawa” and “Hotsure-sama” as

different ent.i.ties. And although Hotsure-chan’s way of speaking was

much too intellectual for her age, it was very different from how I

remember Doctor Kitsuregawa—it would be hard to call her affable,

but she didn’t sound like a crotchety old misanthrope. I don’t

suppose a new body would’ve made the man have a change of heart,

would it…

“What

is it, Jun Aikawa? Do you still have questions?” Hotsure-chan said.

“Though, to be frank, my ident.i.ty has very little to do with this

commission.”

She

was making me out to be an idiot who was slow on the uptake, and I

can’t say that made me very happy, but from Hotsure-chan's—Doctor

Kitsuregawa's—point of view, it might be true. After all, her

explanations were bordering on cryptic to me. If I weren’t

concentrating, it’d be liable to go through one ear and out the

other, but to rephrase something she said, it was almost like she was

saying that the creation of a h.o.m.onculus and the transfer of memory

and knowledge weren’t  all that important to Doctor Kitsuregawa—even

though either of those would be a history-defining accomplishment

possibly even more unprecedented than the discovery of aliens. But

setting that aside, I’m not ready to move on to the details of the

commission just yet. I’m not satisfied. I’m a pretty curious girl,

you know. And I’m not good-natured enough to readily believe a

five-year-old kid when she says something like “I’m a h.o.m.onculus

and the second generation Doctor Kitsuregawa.”

“I

see. You’re wiser than I thought, humanity’s strongest. I’d thought

that this might not interest you, since strength and conceit have

some things in common.”

What?

Are you making fun of me?

“No,

I am praising you effusively… and it would be inconvenient to me if

this were not the case.”

Inconvenient?

Why would it be inconvenient to you if I was an idiot? Well, if I

asked her that now, then we’d have to start getting into the details

of the job, so I guess I’ll ask later. I haven’t decided whether to

take the job or not, after all. Jun Aikawa doesn’t have time to play

along with a child’s games (despite having had nothing to do just a

little while ago).

“I

said that what I inherited from Grandpa were memories and knowledge,

did I not? In other words, I have not inherited his disposition or

his personality—so the crotchety old man you were imagining… or

rather, as he was known to the world, is not part of what I

inherited.”

I

am myself, nothing more or less, she

said, not Doctor Motsure Kitsuregawa, but Hotsure Kitsuregawa. While

I couldn’t call her explanation easy to understand (after all,

there’s no precedent here), maybe this means that the transfer didn’t

go as far as the personality transference practiced by the Niounomiya

Circus. The data was transferred, but the operating system changed…

that’s a problematic example, of course.

“……If

you still do not understand, feel free to think of me as Doctor

Kitsuregawa’s apprentice—a beloved pupil who has been taught his

secrets and taken over his research. That should be easier to accept

than him transplanting his brain tissue into his granddaughter.”

You’re

right, but if that’s not the truth, then of course I can’t accept it.

And it’s hard to tell which is more inhumane, using your

granddaughter in an experiment or creating artificial life to do

it… Hotsure-chan.

“What?”

Well,

I get that you’re similar to Doctor Kitsuregawa but still a different

person; your reasoning is that simply receiving memories and

knowledge doesn’t make you the same person, right?

“Yes.

That is what I said.”

But

doesn’t that mean Doctor Kitsuregawa is dead, ultimately? As far as I

know, he had the skill to “transmit” a human’s personality, in

lots of ways… Why did Doctor Kitsuregawa transfer his memories and

knowledge to you but not his personality? You say you’re his

successor.

“Grandpa

said that his personality had started getting in the way. It had

grown old, and it was time to replace it.”

That’s

truly—how to put it… a philosophy that views personality as

nothing more than a physical object. Well, for argument’s sake, I can

understand how people might come to think of others in that way;

those who don’t accept the personality rights of other people are

present everywhere, in every time period. But this is his own

personality we’re talking about. Would anyone really think that the

personality that had accompanied them for nearly a hundred years had

“grown old and needed replacing”? Is it even possible? At the

very least, I couldn’t do it.

“What’s

wrong, Jun Aikawa? You’re smiling.”

I’m

at a loss for words. Doctor Kitsuregawa certainly lives up to his

reputation as a man you’d never want to get involved with, even if

you were just refusing to get involved—him and his delightfully

nasty insanity. He turned a h.o.m.onculus into his successor the same

way you might transfer contact data between phones.

“Grandpa

died soon after he pa.s.sed all of his research findings on to me; his

cause of death was old age, I suppose… But inside me, he still

lives. He will live on forever inside my head.”

It

was almost like she were saying “He will always live on in my

heart,” but this isn’t that kind of happy tale. If an ordinary

person were his successor, their nervous system would get fried, but

as you’d expect from a h.o.m.onculus raised from birth—no, from

nothing—by Doctor Kitsuregawa, she showed no signs of

self-doubt or hesitation. This is probably a pointless question, but

do you have any evidence that what you’re saying is true? If you

could just show me some evidence that you’re a h.o.m.onculus,

Hotsure-chan, I’d really appreciate it.

“Do

you think Grandpa would leave behind any evidence?”

She

made it sound like the perfect crime. Well, this isn’t the middle

ages; if you checked it against modern-day laws, you’d probably find

that almost all of Doctor Kitsuregawa’s research was criminal.

“It’s

up to you whether or not to believe us, Jun Aikawa. Either way, if

this is too far-fetched for you to accept, then you have no

chance of being able to fulfill our request.”

Why’s

the one asking me for something being all high-and-mighty? A

little girl shouldn’t be this stuck-up. She’s reminding me of

myself—makes me sick. But regardless of her age, telling me “You

have no chance of being able to fulfill our request” is too much,

even as a provocation. Okay, Hotsure Kitsuregawa. And Matsuri

s.h.i.+megiwa. I’ll believe your silly story. I feel a little bewildered,

but I’ll write this off as having been tricked, and I’ll go along

with it.

“You’ll

end up regretting this.”

I

just might, this time.