The biomechanical facility had calmed down like a bear in hibernation with the death of Arthur Vale. The machines had stopped, while the mutants had become mindless as if overflowing with animal instincts, and had started to wander around aimlessly. Most of the mutants in this facility were much dumber compared to the ones outside. The mutants we had encountered outside had shown at least some sign of free will or decision-making. After all, the thing that had noticed I was a human and had brought us to the city was a mutant. Probably, the mutants here had been further dumbed down to make them work better. Just like in most capitalist systems...
With Vale's death, the mutants here seemed to have lost everything. I would have liked to see them as living beings or to take care of them, but when I noticed they were starting to tear each other apart as well, at Rose's insistence, we began to drive them out of the facility and destroy those who wouldn't leave, and that's when we noticed something.
There was a mutant. He was wearing torn clothes, had his hands clasped over his head as if in prayer, and had appeared one day at the door of the facility. According to him, this mutant was one of the ones who had escaped outside the city. He had more free will than the others. This mutant had a tribe outside the city and wanted us to leave the care of all the mutants to them.
It only took us a few hours to go to the cave where the mutant lived. We had passed through a valley and followed a dirty river for a while, then climbed a small hill. His tribe lived with him in a huge cave along the wall on top of the hill. The name given to this mutant leader was The Stained One. The reason for this was the red stains on his hairless and almost perfectly human-like body. His tribe welcomed us as if we were saviors. Not only mutants, but Xerols and Zarons, and many other creatures as well, had realized that the man named Arthur Vale had exploited them and had taken refuge here. They had been branded as infidels for years and had hidden here from Vale's mutants.
What The Stained One wanted from us was simple. This mutant tribe, which had been suffering from hunger for years, wanted the mutants. If there were any who were sane and useful, they wanted to add them to the tribe. If there were mutants who were too dysfunctional to be useful, they would use them as food. At least for the Xerols and other creatures, this was a truly necessary food source. Although Epra opposed it, seeing the mutants' cannibalism as a shameful ritual for his race, we didn't have much of a choice. We started a great migration. A migration full of mutants from the science facility to that cave... The leader of this migration was Jose, who was riding a giant mutant.
As for Jose... Jose had lost his cleaning robot body, but he had obtained a new one. My robot friend, who had been acting like a human for a very long time, finally had a human-like body. We had placed him in the body of a dead mutant. He had chosen the mutant body he would inhabit himself. For some reason, he had first thought of choosing a female-like mutant, but after Rose's angry objections, Jose's mind had changed.
Jose was now a robot with skin on the outside and metal parts on the inside. Was he better than the cleaning robot? I think definitely not... I found him more sincere and beautiful in his cleaning robot appearance. Now, he looked like an artificial, frightening human. According to Jose, his new body was a very nice new toy that allowed him to make facial expressions.
The good thing about his new mutant-robot body was this. He didn't just need to take energy from electricity. The mutants' gene for producing energy from the nutrients they ate had also passed to Jose. Now Jose could also obtain energy by eating food. As soon as he obtained this feature, he had consumed almost a warehouse full of provisions.
After the war was over, Rose built a tomb as a monument to her sister. This tomb was built in a place in the garden of the science facility that was still full of beautiful flowers. I had seen Rose crying at the head of the tomb, and this had torn me apart. Sometimes I also went to the tomb to clear my head and remember Diana. It could be said that I was also trying to confess my sins.
After a few days of running around, Rose had fallen asleep. According to Rose, she had been trying to curb her sleeplessness for so long that she wouldn't be able to open any mind-tunnels for a long time. Maybe she would never be able to open a mind-tunnel again.
Rose was not sad that she might lose this feature. She had not needed her mind-weaver abilities much in her life. She had said that she trusted her gun and her muscles more. She had used her mind-weaver powers in the last few events, and this situation had exhausted her so much that she had drunk a special tea for her race before sleeping so that she would not have any dreams. Rose had fallen into a deep sleep that would not last less than a week.
Epra was growing more restless with each passing day. I had made a deal with him. He was going to introduce me as the king to his master. That's why he wanted to bring me before his master as soon as possible.
This Dermovox, who knew not much else besides war, was working out on the machines in an old gym in the facility while we were doing our last tasks on this planet. He was not using the machines; he was using the machines as weights. Sometimes I caught him praying. The prayers he was saying were about how beautiful death, blood, and many other things were. I didn't care much...
I was thinking of blowing up the science facility or burning it to ashes. That's why I called Jose to me before I blew up the facility. I started to rummage through all the archives in this science facility with Jose.
"You won't believe what I found, sir..." Jose said and handed me a piece of paper.
"What is this, Jose?" After reading the writings on the paper I held, I looked at Jose out of the corner of my eye to understand if what I read was real. "These..."
"These are the shopping records of a man named Lee, a former member of the team... They're almost a century old."
"This man bought a dozen Volems, is that right? Did he buy them from John Crowrift?"
"I don't know... We can't be sure if he knew that the control of this facility was in Crowrift's hands."
"What planet is this?" I asked, pointing to the writing at the bottom of the paper.
"If we wanted to leave this planet today and if the spaceships Arthur Vale made are as efficient as they are thought to be, it would take months to get there..."
"Then our next clue is this... We have to go to this planet, Jose. But... Damn it, that Dermovox won't leave us alone! We have to deal with him first."
Jose raised his finger, which was a laser gun, into the air. "Should I take care of it, sir?"
"Not like that, Jose! The Dermovox is just a promise we have to keep! It will cost us a few months at most! Then we'll continue on our way."
"Of course, sir..."
"So, did you find any sufficient computers here, Jose? A good computer where we can simulate these personalities and get something out of them..."
"No, sir... Actually, there is a main computer, but with it, we can only simulate one personality. I don't think it has enough life left to handle the other personalities."
"We only have a chance to analyze one personality?"
"Yes, sir. If you want, I can analyze a personality for you right away."
"Can you list the names again?"
"Of course, sir... We have 19 personalities. They are, in order, Lee, Hanna, Ismail, Bunny, Oscar, Po, Joe, Marcin, Jenny, Dante, Oliver, Rudy, Yorleny, Polly, Edgard, Raiden, Maria, Arthur, Gary..."
"Marcin is my father; I wonder what happened to him. Maybe we can find some information about him. I know Jenny is my mother. I see Yorleny all the time. Edgard is me anyway... But maybe I can learn some secret information about my own past while analyzing Edgard. Arthur is me too... Actually, the most logical thing here would be to invest in the future and research Lee or Po, right?"
"Absolutely, sir..."
I thought for a while and made my decision. "Analyze Raiden, Jose..." I said.
"Are you sure, sir?"
"Yes, Jose..."
Jose came into the room with a bunch of hologram papers in his hand while I was lying down and drinking lemonade after a fresh shower.
"Raiden's analysis is finished, sir..."
I took one of the hologram papers in my hand and started to read aloud. "Raiden, the monster of CLAUDIS IX... A serial killer. Arrogant and does not hesitate to use whatever weapon he gets his hands on. Jose... Whose sentences are these?"
"Sir, these are your own words that you used to want to train the database back in the day..."
I continued to read. As if I was reading every sentence, I could imagine myself sitting in front of a screen, uttering these sentences. "When I first saw him, I wondered what such a cold-blooded killer was doing in our team. Then I started to understand his abilities. Heroism or ethics didn't matter to him at all. All he wanted to do was to kill. Especially when he saw someone stronger than himself, this urge to kill was the only thing that completely consumed him. He liked to kill people and drink wine from their skulls, and if an enemy woman fell into his hands, he would bring them home, hang them on a wall with a hook, and feed them to his metal piranhas. He himself, I don't know how to say this, but he was a misogynist. This was quite normal for a man who was tortured as a sex object by his mother and sold at a young age while on CLAUDIS IX."
"Sir... If you don't want to continue reading, I can continue."
I gestured with my hand for Jose to stop. As I read these texts, I felt pity for Rose's admiration for her childhood hero. Rose... She didn't know that her hero was such a pervert. I continued to read.
"After the Maria incident, our paths had not crossed for a long time. I continued my life with Arthur Vale. Then one day, I was told to follow an experiment on CLAUDIS IX. That day, I came across Raiden once again.
Raiden had created the mind-weavers by stealing some genetic remains he had obtained from the Titan mission. The mind-weavers; young and beautiful-looking, telepathic mutants who could enter people's minds... The methods he used to create them were beyond horrific. He used the women he had collected from the streets as test subjects; he did experiments on them without anesthesia, as if he enjoyed their suffering. As if this was not enough, most of the experiments he did caused microbes that could damage human genetics.
These researches of Raiden had triggered a disease that was wandering in the streets of CLAUDIS IX. This genetic disease was triggered by drugs and caused the user's skin to rot. Most people thought this disease was caused by drugs, but it was Raiden who caused this disease. Raiden was poisoning the streets' water to find women suitable for his experiments. If there were women who had not fallen ill and had not reacted with the drugs, he continued his experiments on them.
When the mission came to me, I knew I had to camouflage myself. No one was supposed to know that Edgard Grom was alive. That's why I made a costume for myself and changed my disguise.
I knew I had to reject Raiden's experiments, but... But I wanted them to progress. Because the experiments he did could also be useful for me in the future. Telepathic human-like creatures could be used in my war with the Republic. I told him I would agree to his continuing his experiments on two conditions.
First, he would secretly share the results of the experiment with me. Second, he would make a special mind-weaver for me. Who that mind-weaver is or where he is, doesn't matter in this story. I don't think it would affect Raiden's personality simulation. With the remains I took from Raiden's body and everything else, I hope you can complete Raiden's personality, Jose."
"What do you think, sir?"
"Damn it!" I said and threw the hologram paper aside. After the hologram paper closed, I turned to Jose. "As I understand it, Raiden was not the hero Rose thought he was. So what could I have done with the genetic results of the mind-weavers?" I asked.
"I have a guess, sir... If you want, follow me. I'll show you..."
We were in that room where the bleeding eyes looked at me. One of Vale's biggest sins, the woman named Flora, had fallen into an eternal sleep with the closing of the facility. Her years of painful captivity had come to an end. Despite her blood-filled and organ-spattered body and her torn facial skin, she had a peaceful look. Death had saved her. We had thought of carrying her from there and placing her in a graveyard, but some bacteria and gases in the room where the woman named Flora was, were not things to be touched. Those bacteria ensured the mutations of the mutant in the womb, while the gases usually prevented the formation of some tissues that were unwanted but evolutionarily present in humans. The room had to be disinfected for a few weeks beforehand. That's why there were multiple dead, unmovable mutant corpses at Flora's feet.
I leaned my hand on the glass and asked Jose. "Why are we here, Jose?"
"I've been thinking about one thing since the beginning, sir. How could the mutants share simple voice commands with each other so sharply? How could Arthur Vale tell the mutants what to do with just a few words? Or most importantly, Diana could perform a social mind control by entering the minds of the mutants?"
"Get to the point, Jose."
"What I'm trying to say is that each of the mutants is mentally coded; they can understand the meaning underlying the words spoken by the speakers at a telepathic depth. The reason for this is that they have mind-weaver genetics."
I pointed to the dead woman lying on the other side of the glass and said: "So Flora is a mind-weaver?"
"Yes... I'm sure she's a half-mind-weaver, sir. They must have played with her genetics and done countless experiments on her. That's why the mutants she gave birth to were born with a telepathic perception of words."
"This... This is a very painful situation."
"Is that so, Mehmet?" A hand tapped the glass. When I looked at the owner of the hand, I saw him once again. The persistent hallucination that had not stopped playing with my mind recently, John Crowrift...
"You again?" I said angrily.
"Yes, sir..." said Jose.
"I'm the only one who sees this f*cking man, right?" I said, pointing at John Crowrift.
"There's no one there, sir. Your brain might have suffered some damage from coming out of the mind-tunnel all of a sudden? Who do you see..."
"John Crowrift..."
"Ah..." He sighed deeply. "...it's so nice to see the miracle I created one last time before I leave here..."
"You meant the freak of nature I created, I guess..."
"It's not like every miracle has to be flowery and insect-y, is it? I knew we needed a human when we were building this facility. It's quite difficult to find someone who remains one hundred percent human these days. Flora was an employee of Unify. Her disappearance in a Unify facility wouldn't attract anyone's attention. Besides, Flora wanted to be a mother, didn't she?" He said with a mocking tone: "She had as many children as she wanted before she died."
"Why are you telling me all this?"
"Would you like me to help, sir?" said Jose.
I gestured with my hand for Jose to be silent. "What kind of plan do you have again, John?"
"A plan? I'm not the one who should have a plan here, Mehmet. Why? Because I have a plan and it's working perfectly right now. You're the one who needs a plan! If you want to destroy me, you need more than a Dermovox, a robot, and a half-mind-weaver." He opened his hands to the sides and saluted the cell where Flora was. "This is a factory, Mehmet! Imagine the power you can have thanks to this place... An army full of biomechanical creatures and a biomechanical space fleet... Power... This is power! And for such power, you have everything in your hands."
"What do you mean, everything in my hands?"
"Rose... She's a mind-weaver, isn't she? Besides, she keeps saying she wants to have children. Why should she be important to you? After all, what's important is your hatred for me, isn't it?"
"I can't do that to her..."
John Crowrift drew a circle around me. Then he touched my shoulder and whispered into my ear: "She doesn't need to know anything. If you can trap her in the mind-tunnel, she won't need to know anything that's going on outside... She will be in an eternal realm of dreams, while outside, hell awaits her."