Ch.236Work Record #033 – Fear What Hides in the Darkness (10)

“Would you like to see it for some extra motivation? It’s fine to show this to freelancers who’ve cooperated in mutant hunting as much as you have. It would be inefficient for Belwether not to trust its own certified freelancers.”

I feel a burning sensation in my throat at the fact that I’m a freelancer Belwether shouldn’t trust. Without showing any outward reaction, I nod. A message appears on the translucent UI indicating that information sharing permissions have been granted.

As a Belwether-certified freelancer, I would have already had some level of security clearance. However, being an outsider who could work with rival companies, I would have needed internal authorization.

I just obtained that internal authorization. I access the database and face the information held by the Anti-Mutant Department. Most of it consists of research materials and statistical data. I decide to set the statistics aside for now.

Most of it was about mutant crime rates, simply comparing mutant crime rates to average crime rates. Statistics used as grounds for killing people should never be this simplistic.

That’s because death is an irreversible act. At the very least, when we held Jaina responsible for the terrorist attack, we excluded all members with alibis for that day, so that was more detailed than this.

Among them, the most notable was information about the proportion of mutants relative to the population. Since statistics first began to be recorded in the 2070s, it had consistently remained in the mid-2 percent range.

Is it even possible to maintain this level? Perhaps the military corporations’ attempts to exterminate mutants are somehow suppressing the naturally increasing population.

I move on to the research materials. I start reading the information at the top, essentially available to anyone in the Anti-Mutant Department. The reason why mutants must be hunted. This is what I want.

‘Mutants are uncontrollable variables. Strictly speaking, they are variables for which control methods have been lost. They were created as a type of biological weapon at the Kativik Research Base in Quebec, U.S. territory during the war period…’

‘They can be considered the worst product of the war intelligence of the nationalists who started that war. Most mutants that cause abnormal stimuli are failed specimens with inevitable functional defects…’

‘Even the mutants classified by the nationalists as their only successful creation—those with the ability to transmit and receive electrical signals, enabling long-distance communication without auxiliary tools—were exterminated at the laboratory due to cardiac abnormalities.’

If this is about mutants like Nadia… they weren’t exterminated. Nadia was somehow surviving in Los Angeles. Untainted, thanks to someone’s dedication.

‘Belwether has determined that test subjects scheduled for disposal used their “abilities” to execute a large-scale escape, hiding in society and reproducing, which poses a significant threat to social safety.’

If they escaped, it would have been around the end of that war. These test subjects were part of the remnants of that war’s technology; they might have thought they would be slaughtered like lab rats if they remained passive.

Was there any information about mutant production among what I received from Mila? After scanning the list before deleting it… there was nothing about mutants. Which side has the error?

Probably Mila’s side. She clearly said that the recording device was severely damaged when she went down to the high-radiation zone to fix the power plant malfunction. The information must have been lost then.

Even Belwether’s information isn’t complete. And clearly… it was Fitts & Morrison that hunted mutants under the pretext of eradicating the legacy of that war.

Even considering that the two companies weren’t such bitter rivals, their reasons are similar. There was no basis to assume they were simply blaming the nationalists.

I know that their examples were based on somewhat reliable information. There was Nadia. And Fitts & Morrison also had a peculiar connection to the nationalists.

They were… a company under the nationalists when they waged that war. They were a company that made and researched weapons for the nationalists, I’ve heard. It wouldn’t be strange if they knew more.

Fitts & Morrison probably didn’t create the mutants. When I learned about the rival company Fitts & Morrison at Belwether, I remember being taught that their main field was optics.

Of course, Fitts & Morrison would have been included in the great purge plan to end that war. I learned that Fitts & Morrison gained independence from the nationalists during the chaos immediately after the war.

Then is Fitts & Morrison’s reason for hunting also a sense of duty? A sense of mission that those who know can’t just stand by and watch with wide eyes? Even so… they’re not killing escaped mutants.

At best, they would be second-generation, possibly even third-generation. No matter how much they were weapons created by the nationalists, the hybrids born from the mixture of those weapons and humans are the mutants they hunt.

I think I now understand why Nadia is a mutant and Valentina is not. It didn’t manifest in Valentina. But then… aren’t they trying to kill the blood relatives of mutants too?

For complete extermination, they would need to kill all blood relatives of mutants indiscriminately, but at least Belwether wasn’t engaging in such madness. I never thought I’d consider this a relief.

In the first place, family relationships among mutants are often seriously unclear, making it extremely difficult to track them properly. Separating sugar that’s been dissolved in coffee is incredibly difficult.

I check another research result. Facing human experiment results, especially those written by an organization I once belonged to, is not easy. But I decided to read it.

‘Mutants can basically control their abilities. Even mutants with iris abnormalities can stop transmitting abnormal stimuli through natural and reflexive responses…’

‘However, individual differences clearly exist. In the case of 211 test subjects, when adrenal stimulants were administered, they showed almost no ability to control their powers, and in the case of subject 013…’

Adrenal stimulants make even normal humans go crazy. I’ve heard that even the usually gentle Riley would charge at enemies like a madman after being injected with adrenal stimulants.

Even ordinary people often fail to exercise normal judgment when administered such drugs; I didn’t think mutants would be any different.

‘The final experimental results showed that approximately 2.4% of all mutants could not control their abilities even without external stimuli, and about 47% could not control their abilities under the influence of external stimuli.’

Certainly, using abilities recklessly while under the influence of drugs would be more dangerous than firing a gun while intoxicated… but it was clear that the experimental results were somewhat artificial.

If the vaguely termed “external stimuli” were drugs at the level of adrenal stimulants, it would be particularly artificial, but they weren’t revealing all the detailed aspects of the experiment. This is motivational material.

Even with those figures, wouldn’t it be much more efficient to simply send a notice stating “security teams may execute at will if a situation appears to be one where ability control is impossible”? That alone would be terrifying enough.

Someone who understands the danger of these abilities might agree with such measures. People who want to kill others are as rare as those who want to be killed by others. For mutants, both are terrible.

The ratio was neither too small nor too large. The figure of 2.4% is certainly a slim probability, but not unrealistically slim. 47% is high considering the drug addicts in this city.

Making the 47% avoid external stimuli, or at least avoid them voluntarily, would be difficult but possible. However, Belwether didn’t know how to distinguish the 2.4% from the remaining 97.6%.

While Belwether seems to view the entire 47% as a risk group, to me only the 2.4% appears to be a risk group. I check the manual to see how Belwether explains this.

The reason 47% is considered a risk group is that even relatively everyday emotional fluctuations can trigger mutant abilities. The manual seems to have been revised recently. Even Pablo’s story was included.

Is it a “relatively everyday” emotional fluctuation when someone you loved reports you to people who will certainly kill you, or is it devastating betrayal?

Did Pablo, who experienced this “relatively everyday” emotional fluctuation, fail to control his abilities? Or did he meticulously use his abilities to escape and survive?

In the first place, Pablo tried to take revenge on his wife who had ruined his life right up until he was forced to escape. That doesn’t seem like the behavior of someone responding to everyday emotional fluctuations.

I had to admit one thing. Belwether was very successfully making mutants appear monstrous. They seem like biological weapons from that war era that explode at the slightest emotional disturbance, something that obviously should be hunted.

I checked other research results as well, but this is meant to reassure the Anti-Mutant Department. There were also research results on the performance of visors with anti-mutant film. The protective function was excellent.

Why did Belwether make this choice? I don’t think I can think objectively because I know Mr. Günter. All that comes to mind now are Mr. Günter’s personal reasons.

He lost everything in that war. He lost his beloved family and the ability to love someone. He lost his faith in the nation and the very way to trust others. Everything was burned to ashes.

For an ordinary person, that would have been the end, but Mr. Günter… was reborn from the flames that had completely incinerated his life. He became someone who no longer hesitated to make the sounds of a beast.

He didn’t roll around on the ground unsightly to extinguish the fire. Rather, he set an even bigger fire. He completely burned the world and its paradigm with that flame and opened a new era. Belwether is a testament to that.

To those with dreams, he showed them how to achieve them, and to those seeking guidance, he must have appeared like a sage descending from the mountain with overflowing wisdom after a period of seclusion.

He seemed to have let go of hatred at first glance. Efficiency became the new paradigm, and he must pride himself on the fact that this paradigm is better than the many notions that ruined his life.

But that’s not the end. He still harbored a terribly great hatred for that war. Is it possible that he’s simply venting that hatred on mutants, the products of that war?

I couldn’t say it’s impossible. We appear to be more rational than anyone else, but in fact, we are more emotional than anyone. Emotion is a dog. Sometimes a fierce dog. In contrast, reason is a leash.

Even if the leash isn’t stronger than the dog, you can still put a leash on the dog. However, if the owner doesn’t bother to put on the leash, the leash cannot bind the dog by itself.

We are people who run with dogs. We don’t tie up our dogs. We don’t grip the leash handle tightly and struggle to hold back the dog that wants to run, planting our feet firmly on the ground.

It’s a free and good sight, but dogs occasionally bite people. It’s not just that dogs bite people. The owner who was running freely might lose the dog and get lost somewhere unknown.

That’s exactly what I learned from Marcus Cavendish. I won’t deny that I felt a sense of kinship with him… but that’s all.

I hoped Mr. Günter wasn’t like that, but I couldn’t be certain. All I know now is that from the perspective of someone who has actually hunted, Belwether’s reasons seem inadequate.

I decided to draw that conclusion. Perhaps I’m reserving judgment because it’s Mr. Günter, whom I respect and perhaps… regard as a father figure. I had to admit it. It’s not an easy thing. I’m not even sure if I should do it.

But for the musical chairs strategy, I had to. Fortunately, my next job is escorting a VIP for Panacea MediTech, so I can talk to Panacea MediTech people without drawing Belwether’s ire.

I pushed the virtual screen I had been staring at until my eyes were strained toward the support manager. I let out a deep sigh. Pretending that my eyes were simply tired, I said:

“Could I at least say that with this foundation, you could have normalized the Anti-Mutant Department? It seems efficient.”

“I appreciate the kind words, but it’s not perfect yet. I’m concerned that we still don’t have enough data to convince everyone by fully disclosing the information. Could you help collect more data?”

My method was the opposite of what he called ‘data collection.’ I handled things by killing all noticeable mutants. I decided to make a natural excuse.

“I’d like to help, but I have another assignment starting next week. Panacea MediTech, which created me, has booked a request. It’s a VIP escort mission. I don’t know who the VIP is yet, but…”

“Not all Panacea MediTech-related work is related to mutants, so don’t worry. I heard they’re collaborating with the entertainment sector this time… For someone of your caliber, is it Polaris?”

I had met Polaris before. I hadn’t met her before. I had met her in Detroit. I even received a kiss once. When she came to Detroit, I was in the middle of escort duty.

It felt like I was increasingly playing a game of pretend, but I decided not to worry about it. It seemed like I could just go with never having met her. Whether Polaris would notice that or not, I wasn’t sure.

“Probably Polaris. I don’t know how she’s survived so long in that industry.”

The support manager gave a rather good-natured smile at my words. Lifting the corners of his mouth, he told me. It was content I already knew, but I had to pretend I didn’t know at all.

“Polaris is pretty indeed. Her smiling eyes are mesmerizing, her voice is beautiful… her singing is enchanting, but that’s not all of her value. If you escort her, you’ll understand what I mean, so I’ll keep it brief.”

‘Right. When you see Polaris simultaneously commanding mega-corporate security team leaders, you have to feign surprise out of courtesy, and I’m spending three hours a day worrying about how to study that without being detected.’

I swallowed those words. I already felt a headache coming on at the thought of him asking “Have you met Polaris before?” so I didn’t need to add to it.