Ch.345Twins (4)

After hearing PS-111’s words, I immediately headed to the modification factory where Isabelle was.

The modification factory was a facility created by combining unnecessary facilities like the medical room and the cargo hold. It was built to maintain and repair PS-111 and the MPS series.

I arrived at the modification factory after passing through a wide-open corridor.

Amidst the mess of wires, machine parts, biological blood and flesh scattered around, there was a being I had never seen before.

“It” was sleeping with numerous wires and cables connected to it, looking completely different from ordinary screamers. It didn’t even resemble PS-111, its creator.

First of all, the body shape was different.

While PS-111 and mutant screamers basically had a human head with a spider-like body and a scorpion tail, this thing was closer to a snake or centipede.

Its snake-like elongated body was covered with alloy, shining in chrome color. The length was about 8m. Since PS-111 is about 7m excluding the tail, you could say the twins have similar body lengths.

The segmented body gradually tapered toward the tail. A white blade was attached to the tip of the tail, which seemed to be transplanted from a Gallergorn’s claw sword.

Each segment had a pair of thin arms covered with alloy scales. Since they were made from Cult body parts, they all had different lengths and thicknesses. The only common feature was that each had four hook-shaped fingers.

Looking toward the front of the elongated body, I saw a familiar female face. Except for the closed eyes, it looked almost identical to PS-111’s face next to me.

With a snake or centipede body and a woman’s head, the appearance resembled the half-human, half-serpent creatures from mythology, like Medusa or Lamia.

In a way, that might be accurate. A being who lost her flesh after being cursed by a space demon and was reborn in a new body.

Coldblood ranker and PS-111’s twin sister, Isabelle.

She was sleeping inside an artificially created body.

“She hasn’t woken up since the transplant was completed?”

“Yes. I tried stimulating her with electrical signals, but she remains in that state.”

「What’s going on?」

A familiar wavelength came from behind.

Sky Mother, who heard me moving, came to the modification factory. Taking the form of a griffon beastkin, she was startled when she saw the sleeping Isabelle.

「Is that…?」

“Yes. It’s Isabelle’s new body.”

「…I hate to say this now, but doesn’t the shape look a bit off?」

“It was designed to survive in various environments. Simulation results confirmed its high strategic efficiency.”

She looked at me with eyes that clearly disagreed.

Honestly, I liked Isabelle’s new body. It did look sturdy, as PS-111 said.

‘It seems to be based on Ice Horror with features from various apex creatures mixed in.’

Judging by appearance, the body shape resembled an “Ice Horror,” while the numerous arms mimicked the “Ring of Agony.” They even attached a Gallergorn’s claw sword to the tail. I suspect they borrowed features from the strongest beings it had encountered.

‘The appearance is fine too.’

The neatly arranged metal scales were spotless, and the body was sleek and well-proportioned. The varying lengths of the arms bothered me a bit, but that could be adjusted later.

‘Well, that’s just my opinion, so it can’t be generalized.’

As Sky Mother’s reaction showed, not many women like snakes or centipedes. Even fewer would welcome their bodies transforming into centipede-like monsters. It’s true that Isabelle is unlikely to calmly accept her new body.

‘No, that’s not the issue right now.’

「What does she think? She’ll probably hate it.」

“We don’t know what Isabelle thinks yet. She’s not waking up from her sleep state.”

「…Could it be because of her body?」

“I don’t think so. She’s been in that state since she was transferred to the new body.”

「She hasn’t woken up at all?」

Only then did Sky Mother realize the seriousness of the situation.

‘We need to wake her up somehow.’

The reason I saved Isabelle by transferring her to a new body was to make her a companion who would continue to travel with us. Her ability to read information about others has limitless potential.

‘This continued state is not good.’

That centipede-like screamer body is something PS-111 created for the first time. There might be undiscovered errors or problems. The longer Isabelle sleeps, the bigger the problem becomes.

‘I can’t lose her after coming this far.’

“What about creating a new body and transferring her again?”

“Repeated brain transplants in a short period are dangerous. The failure rate is estimated at 72%, with a 67% chance of side effects even if successful.”

“What about drugs?”

“All drugs available on the Gigacracker have been tried.”

While the Gigacracker isn’t a warship, it’s a very important vessel for Megacorp, so it’s stocked with various drugs. Any medication not available here would require going to the solar system or a Megacorp space city-level structure.

As my concerns deepened, the griffon beastkin nudged me.

「Wait. It might not be a physical problem.」

“What do you mean?”

「Mental factors might be preventing her awakening.」

She looked at Isabelle with serious eyes.

「I’ve seen many patients who had successful surgeries but didn’t recover because they lost their will to live. This might be a similar case.」

“You think Isabelle wants to die? Would she really feel that way when she has a chance to be with the family she lost?”

「Until we summon Voltex One, let’s see. She deliberately sacrificed her life to avoid fighting us because of that bit… ahem, Alshas.」

“That’s true.”

「She still doesn’t know we won. So she might have given up everything.」

“You mean she gave up her life to avoid harming us?”

Sky Mother nodded.

‘Considering her personality, that’s a plausible theory.’

Isabelle saved 40 of her kin left by her sister even while living as a slave, showing her deep feelings for family. She would try to avoid opposing her sister due to a contract gone wrong. She might have thought that if she died and disappeared, everything would be simply resolved.

‘A mental issue.’

If that’s why she’s not waking up, things get complicated.

‘It means we need to use psychic power techniques for mind control.’

Only two of us here have mental domination abilities: me and Alshas.

‘Alshas is out of the question.’

He’s gone mad because of PS-111. There’s no guarantee he’ll properly follow my orders. Even if I tried after infecting him with a parasite, the risk would be too great.

Implanting a parasite in Isabelle’s screamer head is also problematic. Enhanced parasites eat away at the host’s brain and replace it. What I need is a “companion who thinks independently,” not a slave under parasite control.

‘What should I do?’

I looked down at Isabelle with her eyes closed.

With a face identical to PS-111’s, she looked very peaceful. As if asking not to be awakened.

Beside the sleeping screamer were No. 26 and Adhigh. Curious, Adhigh circled around, poking Isabelle’s arms with his front paws. No. 26 approached her face and caressed the surface with its tentacles.

「Feeling」「Unique」「Hurt child」「Similar」

「I grew big by eating a lot of friend’s family too.」

「Hurt child」「Family」「Looks」「Different」「But」「Feeling」「Same」

‘There must be a way… wait?’

Watching the three of them, a memory suddenly came to mind.

Previously, when mutant screamers invaded the dragon’s nest, Adhigh’s kin were killed. His mother Ham Oort helped him when he was filled with self-loathing for failing to protect the group.

‘And No. 26 was there too.’

I remember seeing No. 26 sitting between Adhigh and Ham Oort, connecting them with its tentacles. The two didn’t exchange any words, just remained silent.

‘Adhigh recovered right the next day.’

I didn’t think much of it then, but why am I remembering it now?

‘Come to think of it, No. 26 also consoled Adhigh when he disliked Ham Oort.’

Objectively, No. 26 can hardly be considered eloquent. While it’s true that it has intelligence far exceeding ordinary sea demons, it’s not human. Its way of understanding and conveying certain concepts is very different.

Persuading a completely different species would not be easy. It must have used some means unknown to me.

‘An ability that directly affects the mind.’

Coincidentally, No. 26 is our best psychic power user. While I have the advantage in destructive power and output, it far exceeds me in precision and delicacy. It can even read others’ emotions using psychic power.

[Can you sense Isabelle’s thoughts?]

「Yes.」

[Can you check what she’s thinking right now?]

At my request, No. 26 placed its tentacles on Isabelle’s forehead. The tentacles glowed a pale purple, and its body color kept changing.

「She says she’s scared and lonely. But she wants to be alone.」

[Why?]

「I’m not sure. She just says she needs to be alone.」

It seemed able to read emotions but had difficulty explaining them properly.

If Sky Mother’s hypothesis is correct, Isabelle’s emotions would be too complex for it to understand.

I asked an important question to No. 26 after it removed its tentacles.

[You helped Adhigh and Ham Oort before, right?]

「Before?」

[When Adhigh’s family members died]

「Right」「Small adult」「I」「Helped」

No. 26 wiggled its tentacles as if remembering Adhigh’s thoughts.

「Yes! I helped before.」

[Can you do the same thing for me?]

「Does big baby want to reconcile with friend’s family too?」

[Yes]

“I request it as well.”

PS-111 interjected between us.

“My sister maintains deep intimacy with my original. My presence has an 82% chance of helping with persuasion.”

[Can both of you do it?]

「Don’t know. But I’ll try!」

With No. 26’s permission, PS-111 lay down next to Isabelle’s head. With identical faces facing each other, it looked like looking in a mirror.

As I tried to join between them, Sky Mother sent me a thought wave.

「AMorph.」

[Yes?]

「I don’t know how you’ll connect with her, but if you can communicate…」

She said with glowing amber eyes:

「Just tell her this: she’s come this far, so please don’t give up now.」

[I will]

That’s actually what I want to say. I’ve gone to considerable trouble to save her. I intend to get my due reward for all this effort.

To do that, I need to bring her out from inside that head somehow.

「Shall we go?」

As I brought my central head close to Isabelle and PS-111, No. 26 came to the center. Three thin tentacles emerged from its pink body, moving eerily.

No. 26’s tentacles touched the monster tentacles attached to the back of my head. Its tentacles gently intertwined with my tentacle cluster.

Is this how it feels when a lover gently kisses your neck?

Just as I was thinking it felt ticklish and strange, the sensation in my body quickly disappeared. The feeling was similar to when I linked with the nest. My mind and senses traveled through the monster tentacles into No. 26’s body. Passing through its body and reaching Isabelle’s forehead, everything went dark.

When I opened my eyes again, there was a city before me.

‘Where is this?’

I thought I had come to reality like when I saw visions, but that wasn’t the case. The ivory-colored buildings designed in geometric shapes were ones I had seen recently.

I’m now in the middle of a Cult metropolis.

‘Is this Isabelle’s memory?’

Looking down, I could see the small arms on my chest. Seeing that the heads on both sides were intact, it seemed I had entered her memory in my AMorph adult form.

‘Though I seem to have shrunk a bit.’

I, who normally tower over most buildings, now had to look up at them. When I tried to swing my tail over the pavement blocks, it had no effect.

‘Is it because this is someone else’s memory?’

After a quick check, I looked around. It was definitely a metropolis, but strangely, there were no Cult members in sight.

‘Where is PS-111?’

If we successfully entered Isabelle’s mental world, it must be somewhere around here.

As I was looking for it, I saw a group running between buildings. They were Coldbloods, a species with reptilian heads and humanoid bodies.

‘What should I do?’

After brief consideration, I decided to follow those Coldbloods first.

As I emerged between buildings to follow them, the scenery suddenly changed dramatically.

The intact metropolis had turned into ruins. Looking up at the sky, I could see various warships and the Imperial Mothership floating.

Bodies were scattered on the broken road. Upon closer inspection, they were the corpses of Coldbloods and Cult members wearing dragon scale armor.

‘…Could this be?’

After checking the faces of the corpses and looking up, I saw people fighting in the distance.

Two Cult members were fiercely fighting against one Coldblood.

I know who those two Cult members are. And I also know who’s fighting them.

‘The 18th ranker, Penelope.’

The memory I’m witnessing is from the day Isabelle’s twin sister died.