Saikyou Series

JinruiSaikyou no Jun"ai –Nisioisin
p. 37-45

Immortalyouth is one of humanity’s dreams, but it will forever remain adream. It is an aspiration sought after since ancient times, and itwill never be more than an aspiration. There’s no such thing as ahuman who doesn’t die—everyone dies. There are those whose longlives beggar belief, and my fathers were apparently quite enamoredwith them, but they were neither immortal nor forever young… well,those people are afascinating topic for researchers to study, make no mistake. It’s atopic that seemed to be of common interest to both Doctor Kitsuregawaand my fathers, those deviant researchers. So, when DoctorKitsuregawa grew old and saw the end of his life approaching, hedecided to transfer his consciousness into someone else—is that it?If that’s what was meant by a successful experiment, there are stillsome unresolved questions. For instance, who exactly is thisHotsure-chan, sitting in front of me right now? I’d surmised from herage that she was his granddaughter, but no matter how much of a madscientist Doctor Kitsuregawa might have been, would he really use hisown granddaughter as an experimental subject? …He probably would.After all, he even used his own consciousness in his research. No,that’s not the issue; he wasn’t the kind of person who could buildhonest family relationships in the first place—that’s my prejudicedopinion. What Hotsure-chan said earlier about never having a mom ordad concerned me. Surely he didn’t kidnap an orphan to use as hisvessel, right? That’s a downright nauseating hypothesis, butunfortunately that sort of thing is not unheard of in this world ofours. Might even say it’s par for the course—there’s a similarstory to my own life. Recognizing that as “par for the course” isa whole different problem, though. So, I decided to get thingscleared up—I’m grateful for all the surprises you prepared for me,Shimegiwa-kun, but I think it’s about time the magician revealed hissecrets. I might look like an adult to you, but I’m not that mature.If I get p.i.s.sed off, I wouldn’t hesitate to go on a rampage with nothought for the consequences.

“H-holdon, please, don’t destroy our house like that government building…I’m going to explain everything, in order.”

Shimegiwareplied hastily—I found it a bit strange that he was more worriedabout the house than himself. However, as he spoke, I found myselfthinking the opposite of what I said—maybe I havematured. Before, I might have smashed this table to pieces withouteven providing a warning.

“Youwere right… well, the rumors were right. Doctor Kitsuregawa had nofamily. He might’ve had some a while ago, but when I met him, atleast, he didn’t have any family… certainly no grandchildren.”

Hmph.He’s not so different from me in that regard. Well, DoctorKitsuregawa and I actually have a lot in common even beyond that (asmuch as I hate to admit it). We don’t belong to any society or to anyorganization; we live aloof from the world, without benefactors—didI sympathize with him on those counts, or did I hate him for them…?Let’s put that aside.

“It’snot as if Doctor Kitsuregawa was a lonely old man, of course. There’sa difference between being isolated and being above the rest.”

Beingisolated and being above the rest are the same thing.

“……”

Oh,I don’t mean to be a wet blanket. Keep going. Use whatever phrasingyou like. This’ll probably come in handy when I write DoctorKitsuregawa’s biography.

“You’regonna write his biography? You, Jun Aikawa?”

Ofcourse not. Stop flaring up every time I crack a joke. So,Shimegiwa-kun, if Doctor Kitsuregawa had no family at all—excuseme, if he was abovehaving a family—then who’s this little girl? Where’d she hatchfrom?

“"Hatch’,huh… Odd way to put it.”

You’rereally particular about phrasing, aren’t you. Is language yourfavorite subject at school?

“Idon’t go to school. What I meant by ‘odd’ was that it was oddlyaccurate. I thoughtyou might’ve read my mind again; it startled me.”

Huh?

“Hotsure-samadid indeed "hatch"—from the inside of a flask.”

…Fromthe inside of a flask. I shouldn’t really be commended for being ableto understand the situation based on those words—I mean, it’sDoctor Kitsuregawa who ought to be commended here. Although, nomatter how commendable he might be, it’s hard to say whetherhe ought to be commended or not in this case; you’ve got to thinkabout ethics. Even I couldn’t avoid bringing that up.

“JunAikawa. Do you know what a h.o.m.onculus is?”

Ididn’t answer right away, but yeah, I knew. The idea of homunculi isfrom alchemy; they’re synthetic people, or rather, artificiallife—essentially, life created by humans. It’s one of the bigthemes of alchemy, alongside immortality and the production of gold.Of course, we’re not talking about the middle ages here, and in thismodern age of science, alchemy is no longer an academic discipline,it’s a subject for entertainment.

“Notnecessarily. They say that at the forefront of modern science, it’sbecome possible to make gold, right? So it shouldn’t be all thatastonishing if immortality or h.o.m.onculi became reality either.”

Iguess it shouldn’t be surprising… But, Shimegiwa-kun. It’sdefinitely surprising to hear you talk as if Doctor Kitsuregawa wasan alchemist, not a scientist, or even a chemist. As if he was anentertainer—it’s hilarious. Like he was the last survivingalchemist in the modern age… This isn’t a sci-fi novel, you know.As if—I looked at Hotsure-chan—as if he really built ah.o.m.onculus.

“Whateveryou believe is up to you. But the truth does not waver—I am anartificial life form that Grandpa created, and I inherited Grandpa’sintelligence and memories; I am the second generation DoctorKitsuregawa. The "Closet’ s.p.a.cesuit that you wore was one of myinventions.”

Hearingher call that the unwavering truth wasn’t just surprising, it sent achill down my spine. After all, I’d flown out into a vacuum and runwild in a s.p.a.cesuit designed by a five-year-old. …Speaking ofwhich, she looked five years old to me, but if she’s really ah.o.m.onculus, then I can’t judge that based on her appearance. She’s no“designer baby”, but maybe her age could have been set towhatever he wanted… Well, I’m sure it wasn’t the old man’spreference to have a little girl take over as him. That kind ofperversion would be a great deal more serious than a lolita complex.

“What’sthat? You’re curious about my age? I was created five years ago, andI took Grandpa—Doctor Motsure Kitsuregawa—into my head one yearago.”

Soshe was exactly as old as I thought. And if she took over as DoctorKitsuregawa one year ago, that means that just about all of DoctorKitsuregawa’s recent achievements, including the Closet s.p.a.cesuit,were made by this girl’s tiny hands… From what I’d heard, all sortsof Doctor Kitsuregawa’s creations had been scandalizing society, notjust the s.p.a.cesuit… So all of those things were the work of afive-year-old girl? That’d send a shiver through all my guts, notjust my spine. I know the new generation is supposed to be smart, butthis is a little too much.

“DoctorKitsuregawa made a h.o.m.onculus, and imparted to it his knowledge andmemories; it’s one manifestation of immortality, in a way… Hereally was a genius.”

Shimegiwaspoke as if boasting—I wonder if he idolized Doctor Kitsuregawa. Iwasn’t a.n.a.lyzing him using mind-reading since he seemed averse to it,but his att.i.tude was rather mysterious to me. Even bearing his armmind, it’s understandable for a kid to admire an outlaw researcherwho’s deviated from society, but the idea of Doctor Kitsuregawaturning into a little girl. …Well, it seemed as though Shimegiwathought of “Doctor Kitsuregawa” and “Hotsure-sama” asdifferent ent.i.ties. And although Hotsure-chan’s way of speaking wasmuch too intellectual for her age, it was very different from how Iremember Doctor Kitsuregawa—it would be hard to call her affable,but she didn’t sound like a crotchety old misanthrope. I don’tsuppose a new body would’ve made the man have a change of heart,would it…

“Whatis it, Jun Aikawa? Do you still have questions?” Hotsure-chan said.“Though, to be frank, my ident.i.ty has very little to do with thiscommission.”

Shewas making me out to be an idiot who was slow on the uptake, and Ican’t say that made me very happy, but from Hotsure-chan"s—DoctorKitsuregawa"s—point of view, it might be true. After all, herexplanations were bordering on cryptic to me. If I weren’tconcentrating, it’d be liable to go through one ear and out theother, but to rephrase something she said, it was almost like she wassaying that the creation of a h.o.m.onculus and the transfer of memoryand knowledge weren’t  all that important to Doctor Kitsuregawa—eventhough either of those would be a history-defining accomplishmentpossibly even more unprecedented than the discovery of aliens. Butsetting that aside, I’m not ready to move on to the details of thecommission just yet. I’m not satisfied. I’m a pretty curious girl,you know. And I’m not good-natured enough to readily believe afive-year-old kid when she says something like “I’m a h.o.m.onculusand the second generation Doctor Kitsuregawa.”

“Isee. You’re wiser than I thought, humanity’s strongest. I’d thoughtthat this might not interest you, since strength and conceit havesome things in common.”

What?Are you making fun of me?

“No,I am praising you effusively… and it would be inconvenient to me ifthis were not the case.”

Inconvenient?Why would it be inconvenient to you if I was an idiot? Well, if Iasked her that now, then we’d have to start getting into the detailsof the job, so I guess I’ll ask later. I haven’t decided whether totake the job or not, after all. Jun Aikawa doesn’t have time to playalong with a child’s games (despite having had nothing to do just alittle while ago).

“Isaid that what I inherited from Grandpa were memories and knowledge,did I not? In other words, I have not inherited his disposition orhis personality—so the crotchety old man you were imagining… orrather, as he was known to the world, is not part of what Iinherited.”

Iam myself, nothing more or less, shesaid, not Doctor Motsure Kitsuregawa, but Hotsure Kitsuregawa. WhileI couldn’t call her explanation easy to understand (after all,there’s no precedent here), maybe this means that the transfer didn’tgo as far as the personality transference practiced by the NiounomiyaCircus. The data was transferred, but the operating system changed…that’s a problematic example, of course.

“……Ifyou still do not understand, feel free to think of me as DoctorKitsuregawa’s apprentice—a beloved pupil who has been taught hissecrets and taken over his research. That should be easier to acceptthan him transplanting his brain tissue into his granddaughter.”

You’reright, but if that’s not the truth, then of course I can’t accept it.And it’s hard to tell which is more inhumane, using yourgranddaughter in an experiment or creating artificial life to doit… Hotsure-chan.

“What?”

Well,I get that you’re similar to Doctor Kitsuregawa but still a differentperson; your reasoning is that simply receiving memories andknowledge doesn’t make you the same person, right?

“Yes.That is what I said.”

Butdoesn’t that mean Doctor Kitsuregawa is dead, ultimately? As far as Iknow, he had the skill to “transmit” a human’s personality, inlots of ways… Why did Doctor Kitsuregawa transfer his memories andknowledge to you but not his personality? You say you’re hissuccessor.

“Grandpasaid that his personality had started getting in the way. It hadgrown old, and it was time to replace it.”

That’struly—how to put it… a philosophy that views personality asnothing more than a physical object. Well, for argument’s sake, I canunderstand how people might come to think of others in that way;those who don’t accept the personality rights of other people arepresent everywhere, in every time period. But this is his ownpersonality we’re talking about. Would anyone really think that thepersonality that had accompanied them for nearly a hundred years had“grown old and needed replacing”? Is it even possible? At thevery least, I couldn’t do it.

“What’swrong, Jun Aikawa? You’re smiling.”

I’mat a loss for words. Doctor Kitsuregawa certainly lives up to hisreputation as a man you’d never want to get involved with, even ifyou were just refusing to get involved—him and his delightfullynasty insanity. He turned a h.o.m.onculus into his successor the sameway you might transfer contact data between phones.

“Grandpadied soon after he pa.s.sed all of his research findings on to me; hiscause of death was old age, I suppose… But inside me, he stilllives. He will live on forever inside my head.”

Itwas almost like she were saying “He will always live on in myheart,” but this isn’t that kind of happy tale. If an ordinaryperson were his successor, their nervous system would get fried, butas you’d expect from a h.o.m.onculus raised from birth—no, fromnothing—by Doctor Kitsuregawa, she showed no signs ofself-doubt or hesitation. This is probably a pointless question, butdo you have any evidence that what you’re saying is true? If youcould just show me some evidence that you’re a h.o.m.onculus,Hotsure-chan, I’d really appreciate it.

“Doyou think Grandpa would leave behind any evidence?”

Shemade it sound like the perfect crime. Well, this isn’t the middleages; if you checked it against modern-day laws, you’d probably findthat almost all of Doctor Kitsuregawa’s research was criminal.

“It’sup to you whether or not to believe us, Jun Aikawa. Either way, ifthis is too far-fetched for you to accept, then you have nochance of being able to fulfill our request.”

Why’sthe one asking me for something being all high-and-mighty? Alittle girl shouldn’t be this stuck-up. She’s reminding me ofmyself—makes me sick. But regardless of her age, telling me “Youhave no chance of being able to fulfill our request” is too much,even as a provocation. Okay, Hotsure Kitsuregawa. And MatsuriShimegiwa. I’ll believe your silly story. I feel a little bewildered,but I’ll write this off as having been tricked, and I’ll go alongwith it.

“You’llend up regretting this.”

Ijust might, this time.