Heartless: ReUnion, Chapter 46 (Patreon)

46

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A brief moment passed.

“What?!” Both 9S and 2B responded, snapping to attention.

“Analysing.” Pod 042 spoke. “Pod 153, transferring data. Confirm information.”

“Confirmed.” The apparently named Pod 153 agreed. “Vitals signs detected. Organic lifeform with capacity for magic. Conclusion: Bioweapon, derived and cloned from Human stock.”

Emil’s face fell into a frown. “Clone..? Well, if it had been a day ago, I suppose that wouldn’t be wrong. But!” Purple light flared around both Pods, and they were instantly transported back to the sides of their partners. “Don’t be rude!”

Emil... tried to glare, but honestly, on his face, the look just made me want to pinch his cheeks. It was cute.

“Genetic information is invaluable.” Pod 042 stated, approaching again. He promptly bounced off of a wall of suddenly conjured transparent purple. “Please submit it for archival-”

“What kind of request is that?!” Emil summoned another two walls behind the original.

“Wait, hold on!” 9S practically hopped across the room. “You’re a bioweapon? That means you must have seen Humans, right?!”

Emil crossed his hands over his chest. “Bioweapon...” He frowned even harder.

“How quickly this all got out of hand.” I said, before snapping my fingers again.

A table appeared between the two lounges at the edges of the hole in the wall. The lounges themselves were replaced with wide couches, plush and comfortable regardless.

“Come, sit.” I gestured to the couch opposite of me. I, of course, was already in place, taking up about half of my own couch. “Let us deal with things in the manner of reasonable people.”

Emil looked at the barriers. After a moment, he let out a breath, and they vanished as he walked over to the couch and took the other half of my couch.

9S again practically leapt across the room. He sat down eagerly, only to realise that 2B was still standing. “Ma’am...” 9S started, but trailed off before he could actually make any requests. Regardless, 2B chose to accept the unspoken request, and followed up by taking a seat next to 9S, mirroring our own position.

The Pods did not sit, but they did position themselves over their partner’s shoulders.

“My thanks.” I said. “Now, you did not know it, but you have scratched at a scar with your choice of words.” I looked between them. “I will not blame you for your ignorance, but I will also not allow you to continue in it. In turn, I would ask that you enlighten us. Pod 042, why is it that you seek to acquire Emil’s genetic information?”

Man, that was not a question that I’d thought I’d be asking today.

There was a brief pause before Pod 042 answer. “Answer. Data on Human genetic information is incomplete. Any additional samples provide invaluable information for Human survival efforts.”

Emil’s head tilted to the side, and I felt his curiosity spark.

‘Survival’ was certainly a choice of a word. After all, Emil knew well that all Humans were meant to be dead.

But apparently, the Androids didn’t, while the Pods were desperate to acquire data. That’s an interesting little piece of information.

“Would you care if I explained your side of things, Emil?” I asked him before he could speak. I had some sneaking suspicions, after all.

Emil paused for a moment before he nodded. “It’s fine.” He said.

“My thanks.” I said, before turning back to the Androids and Pods. “Now then, you referred to Emil as a ‘Bioweapon’. Would you care to explain?”

“Explanation.” Pod 042’s arms shifted a bit. “Bioweapon. Defined as an artificial lifeform produced by Humanity to wield the power of magic against the Legion. All known examples are derived from modified versions of Human genetic information.”

“Artificial?” Emil was quiet as he spoke the word.

“I see.” I nodded. “A definition problem, then?” I glanced upwards for a moment. “And I would assume that your ‘Council Of Humanity’ has mandates for them?”

“Recovery of genetic information in the event that one is discovered.” Pod 042 explained.

“Of course.” I nodded again, calmly, right before I decided to toss out a live grenade. “Allow me to correct your misconception. Emil is a Human.”

Silence. Complete, absolute silence. They froze completely and utterly.

“What.” 2B said.

“WHAT?!” 9S jumped up from the couch. “No way! All Humans are on the moon!”

“The moon?” Emil’s head tilted to the side. “People did manage to survive, huh? That’s... good, really.” He shook his head after a moment. “Can I really say that I’m Human anymore, though?” He turned to me.

“Pondering the nature of your Humanity is one of the most Human things you can do.” I returned. “Aside from that? You were born a Human. You lived as a Human. You had two parents and a sibling. You lost your parents before you could know them, but you still had them. You did not receive your modifications until you were a teenager. That you were modified at all doesn’t change the truth of your nature. You’re Human in every way that matters, right down to the soul.” Soul-wise, it was basically some grafted-on extras. Not much had truly changed there.

“Really?” He asked, perking up a little.

“Yes. And if you don’t count as Human, then Humanity died out some time in the twenty second century after everybody got turned into Gestalts. You’re the only one that kept their original body at all.”

“Hold on, we can’t just skip past things!” 9S interrupted, waving his hands in front of him. “Humans- All- They’re on the moon!” He repeated, with more force. “If there was a Human running around on Earth, then somebody would have said something! Pod?!”

Pod 153... ‘whirred’. Like a gear clicking. There was no better explanation for it. “Records do not indicate the presence of any Human on the surface of the planet.” There was a brief pause. “Records do not indicate any contact with a being of Emil’s appearance.”

“Oh. Well, that’s... Uh, probably because I haven’t looked like this in a long while.” Emil’s face reddened a little, before purple light wrapped around his form. With a slight pop of air displacement, his shape switched, and his other form made a brief appearance. “Most of the time, I looked like this... Or things like this.” Emil sighed, before his Human form once again took primacy. “It was only...” He trailed off, realising that he didn’t know how long it had been.

“Nine or ten hours.” I said.

“Yeah, that. It was only that long ago- Wait, really?” He turned back to me. “It hasn’t even been half a day?”

“Things got very busy, very quickly.” A huge understatement, that.

Emil groaned, before he allowed himself to flop sideways on the couch. His hands came up to cover his face. “Half a day?” He asked, his voice slightly muffled by his own hands. He let out an anguished noise that I would have felt in my Soul if I still had one.

I reached over and patted him on the shoulder.

Then I looked over to 9S, whose was displaying a rather shocking amount of horror for how sudden it was. “But- that shape- that head! If you’re Human, then we- then we!”

“Whatever you’re thinking about, stop it.” I told him.

“We threatened a Human?!” He said, in a markedly panicked voice.

And there went 2B, with equal amount of sudden horror.

Extremely sudden.

“You found one of the copies that Emil made of himself.” I waved him off. “And trust me, ‘threatened’ is not the word to use. That would have required you to be a threat, and if the copy had actually engaged you in battle, you wouldn’t have walked away.”

That did assuage a bit of the horror... but not all of it.

“Information request.” Pod 042 spoke. “These copies resemble the original Emil’s transformed state?”

I nodded. “Always his head. Sometimes with additional body parts, in various configurations.”

“Amendment.” Pod 042 stated. “Beings with Emil’s appearance have been observed.” A small antenna on the Pod shifted, and a series of holographic images were promptly displayed in the air between us, forming a rotating cylinder of stills and videos.

Every single one showed an Emil clone. Emil himself shifted, hands moving out of the way.

“This is an unidentified magical weapon. The Army Of Humanity has observed multitudes of this weapon in conflict with Alien and Machine forces. Available combat records extend from the year 5500, and range geographically to every continent and major landmass on the planet’s surface.” The Pod produced a holographic planet, and marked each one of the presumed report locations.

“Those are my clones alright.” Emil murmured. “We fought everywhere... In the wind, the storm, the rain...”

After a brief pause, the Pod spoke again. “Correction. This was an unidentified magical weapon. Identity appended to database.”

“Thank you.” Emil shifted so that he was laying on his back. “Hah... My life hasn’t been this exciting since...” He trailed off, melancholy surging through his Heart.

Emil closed his eyes, breathed in, and breathed out equally slowly.

“Oh!” He opened his eyes, sitting up a little awkwardly as he met my eyes. “I remember what I wanted to ask before! You’re...” He trailed off, frowning before tilting his head to the side and looking me up and down. “Not a Gestalt?”

“No. I suppose I’m not too far away from the concept though.” If you squinted. A lot. And had one eye closed completely. “I’ve got a few bonuses in some areas, and some maluses in others.”

Emil nodded. “You’re Human as well, then.”

I had a bit less of a claim to Humanity than he did... But I’d already spoken about how pondering the nature of one’s Humanity was. “In the ways that matter.” I echoed what I’d said before.

9S’ jaw had dropped open. “Two Humans? And we met them?”

“That’s how you catch flies, you know?” I said, amused.

A brief moment of confusion, before his entire countenance lit up. “That was a figure of speech!”

Emil let out a slight laugh-cough, taken off guard by 9S’ enthusiasm.

“It was. You say it to people who are standing around with their mouths open for long times. Typically, it is a bit of friendly ribbing.” I tilted my head to the side. “Lost that one, have you?”

“I’ve never heard of it.” He said, and he seemed happy at the prospect. “Pod?”

“Significant supplies of Human literature and texts are available in my database. While this particular example is not lost knowledge, the database is far from complete.”

“There have been more figures of speech, turns of phrase, expressions, and proverbs lost to history than anyone can know. If there hadn’t been, archaeology would not have been such an extensive field.” I looked at the Pod. “But that is going quite far off track. I have a question for you, if you wouldn’t mind answering.”

“Of course!” 9S straightened immediately. The sheer suddenness of his eagerness to assist me was... almost startling.

Even the much more taciturn 2B felt it. She hadn’t said very much, but the moment that Emil was revealed as a Human, and then when I had... It was strong.

Pod 042 felt something like it too, though it was a bit less strong. Still potent, but... not as significant.

“I expect that there would be...” I paused for a moment as I considered my words. “Let’s say ‘some interest’ from the Council Of Humanity for our particular situations?”

9S nodded eagerly, but it was Pod 042 who actually answered. “Confirmed. The Council of Humanity will likely be intensely interested in Humans who operate on the Earth’s surface.”

“It would only be natural.” I nodded. “If you could do me a favour, would you please pass on a request for a meeting? It does not need to be in person of course, nor do I require one immediately, but I would like for it to happen.”

“Request acceptable.” Pod 042 agreed.

“More than acceptable!” 9S said with much more enthusiasm. “We’ll relay it straight to the Commander!”

“My thanks.” I bowed my head a bit.

“Can I ask a question?” He immediately followed it up, turning to Emil as he did.

“I think you just did.” Emil sounded a little amused. “But yes.”

9S nodded. “Why were you surprised that Humans are still alive?”