Yukooka Laboratory, XIII Laboratory. One of the most frequently used laboratories, mainly equipped for human modification.
Noon. There are currently three people in this room. Junko Yukioka, the principal of the institute, and the man who visited me today to volunteer for the experimental bench, laid on the bedside, plus a man whose neck to top is only buried in a planting pot.
The name of the man buried in the planting pot is Yi Akagi. He was once also the head of the largest wholesale organization, the Japanese Play Authority, in the back streets of Euthanasia City, but he fell into the grip of an organization that was sincere with Junko, trying to build a connection between the absorption of the organization and Junko, but failed, and as a result he was recognized as an adversary of Junko and turned into an experimental platform.
Even though I say it's been turned into an experimental bench, it's been turned into a human clock at first, and then into a raw neck plant pot, just treated like an interior inside the lab. The days of inability to move were painful for Yi, but I got the internet to peek, and I can do some game-like stuff, so I'm not bored.
Previously it was placed in the living room with another raw neck potted girl, who was also a talker, but recently it was two people who had been kept apart and turned over various rooms.
Currently Yi was just looking at the human body modification taking place in front of him. If I have a scratch on my forehead with my pruning hair, I am a man around twenty years of age with this lip. Before he was subjected to general anesthesia, hatred persisted in his eyes. Yi decided that it was a retrofit for revenge purposes.
"Is that a battle enhancement?
"Yeah, that's right."
To Yi's question, Junko answered as he stuffed the belly of the man on the sleeping table with strange things that could neither be planted nor gutted.
"I wish I could modify it for combat, too. Come on, I want to move."
"Reflect."
"No, I'm already reflecting..."
To the words of Junko, Yi becomes a sinister side.
"Don't you just regret it, not reflection?
"I don't regret it. I did what I could. Besides, I feel like my shoulder's loaded now."
There was no lie in Yi's words. I had plenty of time to look back at myself as I lived a seemingly incompetent plant pot life.
"It was a very straightforward day because of the sense of being inherited from my father and the obsessive notion of not being seen as a bonkers second generation. You don't know how I feel when I say it. I couldn't help but hate taking over that organization that I didn't even build. I couldn't help but feel sorry for him."
"If you're a normal person, you're gonna think you're lucky or something."
"If it's priceless crumbs, I guess so. I got the money and the power. But I didn't build it. I had my father's will, and I thought it would be filial to develop the organization more, and proof of my power as a person... Well, it's refreshing to lose it."
Seeing Yi speak with a face like a possession has fallen, Junko puts his hand on his mouth.
(Oh, thinking, thinking. Is this going to make it a little better for you?
I fucking laugh when I see how that Junko is.
At that time, the door opens and two people, True and Midori, enter the room.
"It's time to go. Is it still gonna take?
They were the two I came to call because Junko won't show up for lunch today, even though I was going to eat out.
"Excuse me. It's a little long. But all we have to do is pack this up and see if there's any rejection."
"How many soles?
Midori frowned when she saw what was packing in the incised man's belly. Somehow, but without interruption, I had the impression that I didn't like it.
It's a copy of "Arlaune."
Junko answers.
"Oh, my sister's been transplanting to the lab a lot."
I've heard the name of Arlaune before.
Although only urban legends tell on the surface street, a decade ago, the Great Monster plant, 120 metres long, which appeared in the Gulf of Tokyo, was also known as Arlaune. The story is that Mad Scientists from all over the world, including The Three Crazies, were happy to crusade this.
Further back in age, there are rumours that Japan and China were jointly studying extraterrestrial life forms before the U.S.-China War began and the Sino-Japanese national exchanges were cut off. The codename under which it was studied was also Arlaune.
"Do we encourage evolution as human thoughts are captured in our bodies?
"All I have is a copy and a copy I cultured from there, but hey"
"Do you have an original?
To Midori's inquiry, Junko spills a smile.
"I don't think he's surviving anywhere, do you? But the location is unknown. That research was frustrating before the war began. The original was brought up by someone. Cut it off, the techs on that research team took out a copy of Arlaune and ran away. I'm one of them."
"Why did that happen?
Yi asks.
"Well, that's because I expected the joint research to be forcibly interrupted. Then before they take up Arlaune and kick him out, they all run off with copies of Arlaune, thinking about doing it on their own. It's a natural flow."
"I don't get away or get out of the nettle instantly, I don't ask for anything in return, I do help, and even though I'm a gentleman who hangs out with other PT members till the end until I get my purpose item, it's terrible in real life. How can you be such a dual personality?
To a true penetration, Junko was leaking a dry laugh as he cheeked.
"Reproduction means worse performance than the original, right?
Midori asks.
"Yeah. We can culture copies from the original, but we can culture them from the copy because it's even less quality copies. I can clone a copy of Arlaune and make something that's no different than a copy, not a degraded copy, but this is pretty laborious, and the rejection is intense, too, right? I used to graft copies with an emphasis on the performance aspect, but lately I guess there's been little rejection in transplanting them."
"So, what happens when you transplant it?
I've seen the modified landscape many times before, but I didn't know what the transplant of Arlaune meant in itself, so I'm going to ask you a question.
"We are encouraged to evolve according to the wishes of the transplanted person. I've been feeling stuck with Arlaune's research lately. I'm changing my mind. Ideally, you don't have to borrow Arlaune's power if you can, but humans will be free to evolve and gain it. So, we're looking for ways to derive it from experiments with Arlaune."
"Is the original such a gruesome thing, too?
Truth asks.
"No, it felt like a mix of plants and humans. You had yourself, you had a conversation, didn't you? Feels like a real alien. She went ahead and became a research material, too. The only reason it's gross is because I only partially removed the organ to make it easy to transplant. There's no intelligence or soul in this copy or recopy of Arlaune, it's just an organ. Otherwise, I'm not gonna use it on the test bench."
It is Pure Son's policy not to use non-human organisms as laboratory benches to take their lives.
"I volunteered for the lab from myself, so why again?
"It was an ambiguous answer. Said it was for the quest for life. I didn't try to tell you any more."
In response to Midori's question, Junko shrugged his shoulder gently and answered.
"There was a kid in the copy who had a rare ego, but hey. They almost took that out, too. Well, come on up. You don't even seem to have a rejection."
He is a pure child who was chatting but had an incised abdominal suture.
Feel the vibration inside your chest pocket, Midori takes your phone out of your pocket and projects the display in mini size to see who you're dealing with.
(Dog owner? What do you want?)
The person on the phone was a friend of Midori's father, and when he was in the Megalodon of Thin Happiness, he was a church executive, a dog keeper, who had frequently faced each other from an early age.
"Heh, it's been a while. Did you go?
'It's been a long time. Uh, I want to make contact with Junko Yukioka. I need to ask you something. I was wondering if you could ask me out of your mouth.'
What can I do for you?
"I'm now chasing a serial killer called the Octopus Ripper. You know that. They're urging the survivors of those killed by the Yakuza demon to go to the Yukooka Laboratory and get power and get revenge. I'd also like to meet Junko Yukioka and talk to her about it."
Listen to the dog owner, Midori makes a difficult face. I think I'm going to protect confidentiality with Junko for once, and I don't think I'm going to teach anyone who doesn't know anything about a modified human being.
"For once, I'll talk to you. But don't expect it."
"Please."
Once he hung up the phone, Midori called Junko to go out and talked to him about the current phone call and the person named Dog Owner Ichi.
"Fine. I'll be free the afternoon after tomorrow. Even then."
"Thanks. I'll tell him."
Junko accepts, so Midori retrieves his phone again and hits the email.
"Modification of those who are after the Good Moon? And you knew there was someone who was trying to incite it to come here?
I alternate between the man with this lip on the bedside and Junko, and the truth asks.
"Hmm, I had no idea."
"You knew. Do you want to kill Mutsuki? No, you haven't given up on turning it into an experimental bench yet?
To Junko, who answers instantly with an uncontrolled smile, the truth becomes a little tight tone and asks further.
"Hmm, I don't mind killing you, but you're not going to be able to have a good fight, are you? It's not just the transplant of Arlaune, it's probably the power of paranormal."
"Do you know the person who's trying to kill Mutsuki? And by purposefully gathering the Avengers and giving them such instructions, he also knows where the Moon is. Otherwise, we won't even bother to collect the Avengers."
"I agree. Hey. Ma, True won't stop you from moving, but True wants to help Mutsuki? Isn't Mutsuki really resenting you?
Truth makes me feel like I'm being made fun of by Junko, who sounds like he's having fun.
"Before we all go out for dinner, you want to stroke my nerves and make some unpleasant air?
"... sorry"
To a true unexpected counterattack, Junko apologized with regret for turning off his grin.