Chapter 32 - Luminaries of Science (4)

The words “next time” were already beginning to worry me.

But the man paid no attention to my anxious expression. Once he had finished drawing my blood, he handed me a change of clothes. When I returned in what seemed to be lightweight workout clothes, Mühlen led me farther inside.

I was marveling at the size of the lab—I’d had no idea it was this big—when Mühlen stopped, and I stopped beside him. Without explanation, he led me into a separate glass-enclosed room containing an enormous machine.

At first glance, it looked like an amusement park ride that spun you around in circles. I was seated in its ominous chair, which even had a seat belt.

“What is this?”

No answer. The scientist personally fastened my seat belt, then plastered electrode patches all over my body.

“And what are these?”

Without answering, Mühlen stepped outside the transparent apparatus. The machine started without warning.

“Aaaaaaagh!”

The bastard had strapped me into a centrifuge!

“Aaaaaaaaaagh! Wait, wait a second!”

The lab whizzed past me. The machine had been fast from the start, and it only kept getting faster. Beside myself, I let loose a stream of silent recriminations.

Was one word of warning really so difficult? You could at least have given me a warning...

Mühlen didn’t let me off soon enough, either. The moment I was released from the chair, I collapsed onto the floor.

“I... I think I’m going to puke...”

[“Oh dear! The restroom is all the way to your left!”]

Martin spun in circles above my head.

Stop spinning...

Practically on all fours, I crawled to the restroom Martin directed me to. Fortunately, it was a normal, clean restroom. Empty, too.

BLEURGH.

After throwing up a little, I staggered back. Mühlen was staring down at my test results, his eyes blazing.

“What on earth was that...?”

Mühlen looked up as I stopped beside him. Instead of answering, he handed me something that looked like a motion-sensing game controller.

“Go stand over there.”

I was an idiot for expecting an answer. Still, I wouldn’t be strapped to anything this time, so it should be all right. Looking thoroughly haggard, I followed his instructions.

The lab was truly vast and bizarre. One area was full of plants, while another offered all sorts of games. I took my place in the gaming area.

This was something to look forward to.

[Temp It! Survival Is Up to You!]

Flashy lettering flew in from the corner of the monitor. Holding the remote-shaped controller, with sensors strapped around my thighs, I listened carefully to the tutorial.

It seemed to be a horrific hybrid of a rhythm game and an action game. Though I was still suffering from the aftereffects of the centrifuge, I gave it my all. The story and mechanics were simple, but progressing required using my whole body.

What kind of an unholy mess of a game was this?

I was twisting my whole body to keep a combo going when a monster sprang out and landed the first hit on me.

“Aagh!”

The gaming device sent an electric current into the spot where I’d been hit.

“What the hell is this?!”

“Incoming.”

“Agh!”

No sooner had Mühlen spoken than a stabbing pain shot through my thigh. On the screen, an enemy resembling a triceratops was goring my character.

I hastily kicked it off, but there was no time to relax. Enemies came pouring out in ridiculous numbers.

“Who the hell designed this level?!”

And whose sick idea was it to make the pain real?

Gritting my teeth, I swung my arms and legs. It didn’t actually require any great skill. All I had to do was swing my arms, bend backward, or duck at the right moment. I flailed my limbs like a madman.

It hurt enough to piss me off.

Still, I held out for quite a while. I survived another four raids. Even the raid levels were inconsistent in this shitty game. Swearing nonstop, I lasted long enough to see the boss.

Then it took me out in one hit.

“Aagh!”

A shock coursed through both hands and thighs. The pain was beyond anything I’d felt so far, and I dropped the controller.

“What the hell is this thing?!”

“Fascinating.”

Instead of giving me a straight answer, the mad scientist muttered that nonsense. His blue eyes flashed.

“Truly fascinating.”

This was all my fault. I should have taken my seniors at their word. I’d overestimated myself far too much.

My regrets came too late; the damage was done. After looking me over with wild eyes, John Mühlen dragged me somewhere else.

What excuse could I use to get out of here?

I felt as though I was being led to the slaughter. I was nauseous, my hands and thighs were tingling, and my body felt as heavy as if I’d run dozens of laps around the gym.

Enough was enough. Once today’s experiments were over, I’d tell him I couldn’t do this anymore. I was more exhausted than I’d been after going outside the core. Hollow-eyed, I walked through the empty lab.

“What time is it...?”

[“It’s ten thirty in the morning!”]

Martin answered brightly. The fact that it wasn’t even eleven yet crushed me. I resolved to escape at noon, no matter what. Since I’d given my word, I felt I should at least stick it out until lunchtime today.

I was led to a transparent cube. Just big enough for one adult man to sit inside, it contained a desk and chair. A pen and what looked like a test paper were neatly arranged on the desk.

“Just answer the questions within the time limit.”

Mühlen’s explanation was toneless. But I no longer trusted him, especially after he stepped outside and sealed the cube. If all I had to do was answer questions, why lock me in an airtight space?

I had nothing but bad feelings about this, but I didn’t resist. I’d agreed to do it, so I ought to see it through conscientiously.

The questions were a jumble of language, reasoning, general knowledge, mathematics, and more. Apparently this was an IQ test. I picked up the pen and began working through them one by one. He hadn’t told me exactly how long I had, so I couldn’t afford to slack off.

I answered the questions in silence—until I realized something strange was happening to the air.

“... What?”

Noticing an odd smell in the sealed space, I looked up.

“What’s that smell?”

No answer. It took several minutes of denial before I came to my senses. He was definitely pumping some strange gas into this space.

I could see John Mühlen standing outside the cube, calmly looking down at his tablet. That lunatic. I flung down my pen and jumped to my feet.

“Please let me out!”

I pounded on the transparent glass wall.

“Let me out, you fucking lunatic!”

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

CRACK!

The wall cracked as I hammered it with all my strength. Trying not to breathe in the suspicious-smelling gas, I smashed through the glass.

CRASH!

The glass shattered. At the same time, I pitched forward. The moment I drew in a great lungful of oxygen, my legs gave out. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t muster any strength in my limbs.

What the hell had that fucking mad scientist done to me...?

Even my vision was blurring. I tried to get up, but failed. Instead of helping me to my feet, John Mühlen merely gazed down at me, fascinated by my reaction.

It was hopeless. The man was just a crazy bastard.

Floundering on the glass shards, I reached toward the AI on the ceiling.

“Somebody... somebody help...”

[“Oh!”]

The round AI attached to the ceiling began spinning like a motor.

[“I must save a person! But can Hildebert Taleb be defined as human? What justification can be found for this experiment? Is it necessary to rescue Hildebert Taleb? Is Hildebert Taleb not a risk factor? If he is human, must he be rescued? If he is not human, must he not be rescued? What is a human? What distinguishes the human from the nonhuman?”]

... What had suddenly gotten into it?

Barely managing to raise my head, I stared blankly at the spinning AI. Martin spun faster and faster, until smoke began rising from it. I watched dumbly as the AI accelerated like a jet’s propeller.

Now it was spinning so fast that it looked motionless. If not for the tremendous noise, I wouldn’t even have known it was moving...

PSSSSSH.

With an enormous cloud of smoke, Martin shut down.

“... Fuck.”

Unbelievable. I stared at the dead AI in disbelief.

What was I supposed to do if even you checked out?

My vision grew even cloudier. The dizziness worsened, too. Whatever. I lowered my chin and slumped facedown on the floor. I’d just let myself pass out. Everything would be over when I woke up. He liked me this much; surely he wouldn’t kill me.

Giving up on everything, I closed my eyes.

And when I opened them, I saw a syringe.

“Agh!”

I reflexively screamed and sat bolt upright.

“What’s that?!”

“Medicine.”

Did he think that was what I meant?

Feeling my life was in danger, I took stock very quickly. I was still in the lab, lying on something like an operating table. I couldn’t believe it still wasn’t over.

Not even a day had passed. It wasn’t even evening. The midday sun cast its warm light over the vast space.

I’d have to hit him in the Adam’s apple and run.

Just as I thought it, someone seized Mühlen’s syringe-holding hand.

“Enough.”

That familiar low voice nearly brought me to tears. Yun gripped John Mühlen’s arm with a look of disbelief. Mühlen blinked slowly, then turned just as slowly toward him. My training officer didn’t let go.

My training officer’s appearance in that deserted lab felt like the Second Coming of the Messiah. After meeting John Mühlen’s blank gaze for a moment, Yun spoke.

“You’ll break a person if you use them like that.”

“I was gentle.”

“A person... will break if you use them like that.”

Yun enunciated patiently. I looked up at my training officer, my eyes brimming with tears. Yun looked like a normal person. More than normal—he looked like my savior.

I was a fool, my esteemed sir. You hadn’t been wrong about a single thing...

Mühlen regarded Yun with a thoughtful look, then lowered his hand. In a voice as deep as Yun’s, the scientist muttered,

“Then we’ll do the rest next time.”

“Next time?”

After pulling this shit, he thought there would be a next time?

“This is the last time.”

I stressed the words. Mühlen’s eyes widened in genuine surprise.

The fact that there wasn’t a trace of pretense in his eyes drove me even crazier. He was actually surprised by my answer. He genuinely hadn’t seen it coming.

The luminary of science and lunatic of the ages looked down at me and murmured,

“There are still so many experiments I want to try with you.”

“Please, spare me.”

Pleading desperately, I tugged on my training officer’s arm, then looked up at the cold man staring down at me without expression. Clutching one of his arms to my chest, I declared,

“I promise I’ll do better from now on. This is all because of my shortcomings. Please forgive your unworthy pupil.”

“Very well.”

Yun’s answer was dry.

“Now that’s the right attitude.”

Thanks to my training officer’s grace, I managed to escape the laboratory.

* * *

Having escaped that nightmarish lab, I naively believed it was all over. I spent the next week at ease under that delusion, happily enduring Yun’s punishing training. Even through a week of grueling drills and beatings, I rejoiced in the fact that my training officer was comparatively normal.

Until John Mühlen came to the old dormitory building the following Saturday.

I was sitting with Ami, Tom, and Heshy, playing a game. Ami spotted him first.

“Aaaaagh!”

CLATTER! CRASH!

As Ami’s character fell off a cliff, the joystick in her hands dropped to the floor. Her chair slid backward and toppled over.

Everything froze. Every gaze converged on one spot: the tall man standing motionless in the doorway.

Looking at him like this, he was quite handsome. Refined features, gray hair and blue eyes in beautiful harmony...

Ami broke out of her frozen state with another scream.

“Aaaaagh! I can see Mr. Mühlen right in front of me! A ghost! It’s a ghost! There’s no way that man would leave the science building!”

“Am I finally seeing ghosts, too?!”

Ami’s voice rang clear through Room 304.