Ch.68[Episode 68] Operation: S.P.Y

Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica had just met an enthusiastic fan.

Near the Black Group headquarters, there was a young lamb wandering about.

“I was sure he was my brother…”

Dr. Banshee, who had just left the Black Group’s secret laboratory, messed up her fluffy, wool-like hair, expressing her complicated thoughts that were as tangled as her hair.

Had she been wrong? Was it just her imagination?

Dr. Banshee forgot to breathe as she poured out questions about her hypothesis, then let out a deep sigh.

Sir Dominic. From Feralant. A knight who was once a conscript.

Same name as her brother, same hometown as her brother, same conscript background as her brother. And the same emerald eyes as herself.

All evidence pointed to Sir Dominic being her brother, but the case had returned to square one because of a woman who had intervened.

“Nothing I can do. I’ll have to start searching from the beginning again…”

Dr. Banshee soon stopped thinking about Sir Dominic.

The more she thought about it, the more complicated it became, with no sign of reaching a conclusion.

Instead, Dr. Banshee walked toward a place she frequently visited to clear her messy thoughts.

Bar Old World Blues.

Whenever she had a headache, Dr. Banshee visited this place.

This futuristic bar, covered in cyberpunk-style neon signs and metal materials, was the most comfortable sanctuary for Dr. Banshee, who was fascinated by scientific technology.

“Bartender, I’m here. The usual, please.”

“Ah, you’re here.”

“We’ve been waiting for you.”

Dr. Banshee heard the familiar voice she usually heard, along with a deep female voice that had a similar vibe to the bartender.

Perhaps they hired a new employee? Dr. Banshee sat in her usual seat right in front of the bartender.

“Here’s your strawberry milk.”

“And a teddy bear coaster too.”

The bartenders brought out the things she liked one by one.

Strawberry milk. Teddy bear coaster.

Although Dr. Banshee was an adult and could drink alcohol, she grumbled that she couldn’t understand what taste people found in alcohol.

While Dr. Banshee was grumbling, she heard the door open with a ding behind her.

“We’ve been waiting for you.”

“You’re here.”

The bartenders greeted the incoming customer as usual.

Dr. Banshee thought, there must be a lot of customers today. This used to be a place only I knew about. She sipped her strawberry milk through the straw that came with it.

“The usual, please.”

A rather youthful voice. Dr. Banshee slightly turned her head to look at the person sitting next to her.

Short, curly brown hair that was completely tangled.

“Here’s your chocolate milk.”

“And a dinosaur coaster too.”

My goodness. There’s actually someone who comes to a bar and orders chocolate milk.

Dr. Banshee smirked at this peculiar person and continued drinking her strawberry milk.

And then silence fell over the bar.

Only old jazz from the jukebox circulated inside the bar.

In the silence, the bartenders began cleaning cups and plates.

Elegant movements that couldn’t be said to be better than one another.

Dr. Banshee carefully observed the bartender’s hands and thought they were truly beautiful hands.

“It’s been a while since you’ve come with such a troubled face.”

The male bartender, who had finished cleaning the cups, adjusted his bow tie and stroked his rough beard as he spoke.

“Did something happen?”

The female bartender, who had placed the shining plates on the shelf, carefully smoothed out the wrinkled part of her vest and asked.

“Well-“

“I-“

Why are you interrupting when I’m trying to speak?

Dr. Banshee stopped talking and looked at the person next to her who had cut in.

The person next to her also turned their head, thinking Dr. Banshee had interrupted them.

“…Brother?”

“…Sister?”

A girl with messy, curly, long brown hair, like a sheep whose wool hadn’t been sheared.

And a boy with equally unruly, curly, short brown hair, like a sheep that had returned after wandering in the forest for a long time.

Though their genders were different, their auras were remarkably similar.

“No, my brother’s hair was straighter.”

“My sister always preferred short hair.”

They looked at each other, thinking of their siblings, but soon dismissed the possibility.

The male bartender, who was watching them with a gentle smile, said:

“There’s a parallel world event this week.”

And the female bartender, who placed a pudding next to each of them, said:

“Meeting another version of yourself isn’t strange.”

“Parallel world?”

“Event?”

The boy and girl expressed their confusion simultaneously.

The neon sign behind them flickered on.

Dr. Banshee suddenly realized that she had turned off event notifications while doing her research.

Hurriedly taking out her card to check the announcements, Dr. Banshee felt the puzzle pieces in her mind start to fit together like fireworks exploding.

“Yes… that’s it…! The person next to Sir Dominic was a parallel world Sir Dominic! This means there’s still a possibility!”

“Right. I see. The person next to Sir Dominica wasn’t a sibling but another Sir Dominica. The possibility was always there!”

The boy and girl spoke simultaneously again.

And finding each other disruptive, they turned their heads sharply to face each other with frowns.

“Hey, parallel world me. I’m trying to think here, could you be quiet?”

“My name is Phantom. Dr. Phantom. Why don’t you be quiet, parallel world me?”

They began to argue while looking at each other.

Perhaps it was a rising hatred for their own kind?

Or were they projecting their latent self-hatred onto each other?

It was impossible to tell yet.

“Please calm down. How sad would it be to get stressed in a place you came to for peace of mind?”

“Here’s another round on the house. Sugar is like a lubricant that helps your brain work smoothly.”

The bartenders skillfully calmed them down.

Not only were they long-time regulars, but the bartenders, having dealt with many people, knew exactly how to soothe them in this situation.

Dr. Banshee and Dr. Phantom sucked up their strawberry milk and chocolate milk through their straws.

Only after drinking about half did they calm down somewhat and sigh simultaneously.

“Hey, Phantom. If that person is really my brother, what should I say?”

“At least you’re a younger sister, so you could act cute, Banshee. But what should a grown man like me say?”

Was it the sugar affecting their brains?

Having realized they were each other’s parallel world selves, they began asking productive questions instead of engaging in inefficient arguments.

They considered the possibility that Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica might be the family members they had been separated from as children.

If they really were their siblings, they would be happy.

But after being separated for so long, what should they say when they meet again?

Just thinking about it made them both feel breathless.

“Bartender. Can you give us some advice?”

“Yes. Bartenders are wise, so maybe you can enlighten us.”

Having reached a mental block, they both sought advice from the bartenders.

“Well.”

The male bartender scratched his cheek.

“I hesitate to interfere in another family’s affairs, but—”

The female bartender took away the empty cups and said:

“Shouldn’t the priority be confirming if they’re family when you meet, rather than planning what greeting to use?”

The male bartender took the cups and placed them in the sink.

“When you genuinely reunite after a long time, your mind often goes blank, and all your plans fall apart.”

The female bartender picked up new cups from under the bar.

“If you truly feel happy to see them…”

“Wouldn’t it be best to say what naturally comes from your heart?”

The bartenders’ advice was something anyone could give, but their trustworthy deep voices added credibility to their words.

“Words that naturally come from the heart…”

“First confirm if it’s really them when we meet…”

Both were doctors, and in the current situation, they thought of the most similar terms.

Theory and experiment.

‘Theory’ – thinking, agonizing, and predicting new facts.

And ‘experiment’ – actually carrying out those predictions to find results.

No matter how perfect a theory is, variables in experiments can render it useless.

And no matter how perfect an experiment is, without theory, it can lose direction.

They had only established theories so far, without conducting experiments.

Now they needed to find variables and errors through experimentation.

Dr. Banshee and Dr. Phantom felt their minds clear.

“Thank you, bartender.”

“Always helpful.”

They both stood up simultaneously and placed Credits, including a tip, on the table.

After thanking the bartenders, they opened the door and went outside.

With their theory clearly established, all that remained was to conduct the experiment as soon as possible.

Banshee and Phantom ran toward the Black Group’s secret laboratory.

The doctors, lacking in communication skills due to their long research, were too timid to talk directly, so they planned to approach through Code Back Zero, who had at least encountered Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica.

And Zero was at the research facility.

The bartenders cleaned up the space the doctors had left, wearing gentle smiles.

Hoping the doctors’ experiment would end well.