[LSB] Book 3 | Chapter 144: Questions (1)

no spoilers.

[Master Winters, shouldn’t you be taking it easy? You’ve only just woken up from your coma.]

“I think I’ve rested enough.”

[You should listen to the artificial entity, Shadow Blacksmith. Aside from your body, your mind is not yet fit for this.]

[Although I hesitate to question your decisions, they are right, Master.]

Almost three months had passed since the tragic death of Julian’s clone, and he had only just awakened from a prolonged neurostasis—a deep, induced sleep within a suspension gel that preserved and gradually improved his body until his mind was… ready to return.

His mana had actually fully replenished within the first week. A month later, the spirits within him woke up. The Avatar of Searadyn was the first to awaken, immediately regulating his body’s internal temperature more efficiently than even the neurostasis gel. When Exhalia followed, Julian’s color returned to him.

And yet, he didn’t wake.

He remained in stasis, resting under the most optimal conditions any living being could ask for. But when he finally did wake, he looked and felt worse than he ever did in his life.

He was carried to his room by Femty, the exosuit more like a cocoon that protected him from any harm. It was a… weird sight that unsettled the staff of Humanity Engineering. Victoria had left explicit instructions for them, after all. Instructions to assist Julian upon waking, but the only thing they could do was watch and make way, all staring at his face as if he were some sort of ghost—or perhaps the most appropriate term would be a god.

He locked himself in his private quarters for hours, speaking to no one except Ellie. After she left, Victoria and Erin came to see him, and they spoke for almost an entire day.

Julian asked questions. Erin, true to her word, gave all the answers she could.

Now, without a single hour of sleep since, Julian stood at the door of his old apartment, leaning slightly on his cane, palm resting against the cold metal. Next to him, a real estate agent lingered, trying to engage with him despite receiving nothing but quiet hums in return.

“Sir Winters… I saw your name on the file, but I didn’t really believe it was you who owned this property,” she said, nervously rubbing her hands together while inching ever so closer to him.

“Hmm.”

But once again, she was answered with a hum that she didn’t know the meaning of. Fortunately, or rather unfortunately for her, Femty was there to answer her.

[Master Winters no longer requires your assistance, Mrs. Lozada. You may leave. He will contact you if needed.]

“But I still need to explain a few—”

[No, you don’t. All the relevant documents and notes have been forwarded to me. I can brief him more thoroughly than you.]

“B—”

[Master Winters wishes to be alone.]

“I—”

[You may leave. There is—”

“Don’t be too rude. She’s just doing her job,” Julian murmured.

Finally, after being cut off multiple times by Femty, the realtor managed to hear Julian speak, and more than that, he addressed her directly. Unfortunately for her, he only repeated what Femty had already said.

“I’m sorry, but I’d like to be alone. You can go now. I’m sure you have other clients. Goodbye.”

“I don’t really have any—”

She didn’t even get the chance to finish her words before Julian opened the door and closed it firmly in her face, leaving her completely stunned in the hallway. 

“Wha…” She gasped, then lifted her hand and projected a holographic reflection of her face above her palm.

She narrowed her eyes to examine her face for any flaws. She spent hours applying makeup and enhancements to make herself presentable—no. Pretty, for Julian. But he didn’t even glance at her.

“What’s… wrong with him? Is he blind—oh.”

Her hand dropped instantly, and her face went slack as she remembered that Julian was indeed blind.

***

Inside the apartment, Julian ran his fingers along the familiar walls of the home he grew up in. With a quiet tap of his cane, he sent a ripple across the room, mapping its dimensions and layout through vibration.

Aside from a few new decorative touches and the absence of the bumpers and edge protectors Ellie had installed for his safety, not much had changed. According to Silvie, when she purchased it back, the unit had been fully repainted—but… well, there was no real way for Julian to confirm that.

[Master Winters, as your assistive AI, I must inform you that the woman outside was not, in fact, simply doing her job—she was making advances on you, despite her being married.]

“Hmm. Okay.”

He didn’t really give it any thought, brushing aside Femty’s words as he continued his slow walk through a place that felt both familiar and distant. Every step echoed with a memory, yet every wall whispered completely different now after all that Erin revealed to him.

“Can you play my conversation with Erin?”

[Would you like me to play it through the speakers?]

“Hmm.”

[Okay.]

Femty’s voice that whispered in Julian’s mind soon echoed throughout the entire house.

[Playing the authorized recording of your conversation with Erin.]

The recording began to play while he continued to explore the house, with Erin’s voice filling the air.

[Is Femty recording now?]

[Hmm.]

[Then, to answer your question—I… I’m afraid I do not know how to bring you back to Artemia. I assume the person who brought me here to your planet has long since passed.]

There was a certain tone in Erin’s voice, a sort of melancholy of remembrance. Julian didn’t interrupt and instead just listened.

[His name, if I recall correctly, was Adam.]

[...Hmm.]

[He was already old when I met him—at the twilight of his life. I’d been old much longer than he had, but… not wiser, I suppose. Hmn. Though to say I merely met him wouldn’t be right. I sought him out. I traveled far to find the strange man I’d heard of only through songs and whispers. They called him sa Valen Draka. Hah.]

Erin chuckled, though the sound was followed by a dry wheeze and a cough. Victoria’s voice could be heard murmuring in the background, but Erin quickly dismissed her before she continued telling her tales.

[Forgive me, Master Julian. My lungs are not what they used to be. Let me continue; I was quickly fascinated by him at first sight, and I believe so were many others.]

[Hmm?]

[Adam was a very special existence, perhaps more god than man. He could travel long distances in the blink of an eye, traversing from mountain to mountain with a snap of his fingers. And of course, he used that very same power to send me here on Earth thousands of years ago now. But his power alone was not what fascinated and attracted most Eldazens to him; it was the fact that he was ‘sa Valen Draka’, the Man who is Giant. The Giant Eldazen… but it wasn’t until later that I found out that he was no Eldazen at all…

…he was your ancestor, Master Julian.]

[How would you know that?]

[Because he was not sa Valen Draka, but sa Vala Shiren, the New Man—or more recently, what they have been called for the past hundred years, the Hyum… Adam was the ancestor of every living hyum roaming the lands of Artemia, the very first hyum.]

[Hmm.]

[Do you not have a follow-up question for that, Master Julian?]

[Not yet. My next question is completely different and might derail your story.]

[Very well, then I will skip the suspense now.]

Erin cleared her throat, the strain in her voice obvious from the recording—still, her words remained clear, and what she casually revealed next was even clearer.

[Adam was from Earth. He was born shortly after the Fourth World War of your world.]

[A… mutant?]

[Yes. That is correct, Master Julian. A mutant with the ability to travel across the stars, a gift that allowed him to bypass Artemia’s barrier.]

[He can create portals?]

[No, something different. He fades away, leaving only a trail of smoke in his wake—but his is a story already long done, and I have also long answered your first question. Adam was my way into this world, and he has long since perished. I have no way to bring you to Artemia.]

[Then—kh…]

[Master Julian! You are still unwell, perhaps we should…]

Julian heard himself breathing extremely heavily from the recording, and he tilted his head as the volume of the speakers turned loud.

“Femty, skip to the part when I asked my next question.”

[Very well.]

The audio skipped forward. The labored breaths faded, replaced by the steady, if still heavy, deep sound of Julian’s voice.

[Can you create another clone of me to send to Artemia?]

[I apologize again, I am afraid that I can’t. The technology doesn’t exist.]

[You’re Humanity Engineering.]

[I should have been clearer—genomic architecture of human and artemian is not programmable. We could create a new race if we want to, but Artemians are… different, as we are a species, a people with a direct, working relationship with our Creator. Our uniqueness does not lie in our physiology, but in something not yet explainable by science. Something metaphysical, something woven at the level of our very essence, our nature.]

[But you made my clone and many others.]

[The only trace of technology used in the clones of the Otherworld project is the bio-neural anchor implanted inside their brain and eyes, which we use to send signals and entire consciousness from one body to another. The clones themselves were not made with technology, Master Julian… but rather a skill. A unique skill, from my Unique class, Genomancer.]

[Hmm.]

[Of course, I can not take all the credit.]

Erin could be heard chuckling again from the speakers, [The technology is real. Humanity Engineering is home to the best minds I’ve known. They’ve learned from me—and I, from them. Even thousands of years ago, the Radiant Gates were only made possible through the brilliance of colleagues who’ve long since passed.]

[Did you know about my mother? How did my father bring her here?]

[I apologize, it would seem I am unable to answer all of your questions properly.] Erin’s disappointment was obvious enough to the point that it seeped out from the speakers.

[I only knew of your mother when she died, and it was in the way she died that I realized she was Artemian... and then I only proved that she truly was when you signed up for the Otherworld project and submitted your DNA to us.]

[That means you don’t know how my father brought her here?]

[I am afraid so.]

[Why didn’t you approach me right after they died if you discovered she was from Artemia?]

[Because I was afraid… of the daemons.]

[Hmm?]

[The creation of the Radiant Gates was not the reason why the daemons started to appear and wreak havoc on Earth more than a thousand years ago, Master Julian. It was because of me.]

[What?]

[...It was I who brought the daemons upon Earth.]

***

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Here we go, the start of Book 3... and we're already throwing bombs. Glad you guys are still here. Most left when I couldn't upload T_T, my fault entirely. lol. But let's do this!