Chapter 300
“Whether his first name was Meredith or his last name was Meredith is uncertain. What is important is that he is the family founder, and all subsequent Meredith People inherited his name and memories.”
“Memories?”
“Yes. How do you think I know all this? Do you think there is history data passed down within the family? Not a chance. Everything I am saying right now is forbidden knowledge that has been erased and deleted from this city.”
Prezen Meredith stared at me quietly as he spoke. That meaningful gaze seemed to ask, 'You’ve learned something you shouldn’t have, so what will you do now?'
If it were the original me, I would have been suddenly gripped by fear. But coming this far, I feel superior.
Forbidden knowledge? So what.
It’s not like this is the only secret of this city that I know anyway.
Perhaps because I had even clashed head-on with the chrome monster, it felt as if the fear circuits in my brain had been paralyzed.
“I’m not really curious about your Family History. What I’m curious about is what you’re trying to do. Beggar, are you really trying to summon an autonomous artificial intelligence to the Mirror Castle?”
At my blunt question, Prezen Meredith replied, looking awkward.
“It seems you have a slight misunderstanding. What could I possibly gain by summoning an autonomous artificial intelligence? I am neither a follower of New Mecha Communism nor a spy from the Outer Net. I have no connection to the Demons of the Net. I know what you are curious about, but… what I am about to do will not harm sir Aaron or the other Schneider Family Members. You do not need to go out of your way to try and stop me.”
It didn’t seem like a lie… which made it even stranger.
If he had no connection to the Net Demon, why did the Dusk Watch step in?
And didn’t he just say a moment ago that his denial of connection to an autonomous artificial intelligence wasn’t enough?
He said there was no need to try and stop him, but why did I feel like I absolutely had to?
My mind was a mess, but ultimately, what mattered was the safety of my companions. I continued to ask.
“Are you saying you won’t stop us from leaving the Mirror Castle?”
“Yes. I will not stop you. There is no reason to.”
At this point, I had received a definitive answer. But a problem remained.
Just not stopping us wasn’t enough. To use the family head’s escape shuttle, access rights were required, and Prezen Meredith held those rights.
Before I could even open my mouth, Prezen Meredith beat me to the punch.
“But I will not help you either. Please secure your own means of escape.”
…Right. I thought things were working out too easily.
I sighed and said.
“Didn’t we make a contract?”
I was just probing on the off chance.
The contract stating that the Meredith Family head would unofficially seek asylum with Schneider, and in return, provide the Schneider Family Members with a shuttle to escape together.
According to the contract, Prezen Meredith had to escape from here with us.
“I thought the contract had already become nominal. Well, fine. Do you want me to fulfill the contract? It is possible if you wish. This is unexpected.”
I expected him to bring up a breach of contract, but it was an unexpectedly agreeable response. The moment I heard it, I realized my mistake and reviewed what I had missed.
It only took a little thought to quickly realize it.
'The family head’s asylum… Ah, damn it.'
The very content of the contract - that the Meredith Family Head would seek asylum with Schneider - was the problem.
The Dusk Watch was on the verge of deciding the annihilation of Meredith, and in that situation, Schneider makes a contract to take in the Meredith Family head? The consequences would inevitably fall upon us.
Code Black was a truly sensitive issue.
Just by making an asylum contract with the Meredith Family head, it was entirely possible that the Dusk Watch would view Schneider as complicit demon worshippers and try to wipe them all out.
'Schneider is in a completely different weight class from Meredith, so they wouldn’t go down easily, but…'
Since I was currently acting as an escort for Schneider, I shouldn’t create such a situation in the first place.
No matter how urgent and important escaping the Mirror Castle was, I couldn’t just look at that one thing and drink from a poisoned chalice.
“I thought it was an overly advantageous contract for us even considering the circumstances…”
Did he know from the beginning that it would turn out like this, that the Schneider side would be the first to reject the contract?
I met Prezen Meredith’s whitish lens eyes.
I couldn’t tell what that Raver was thinking. But what I vaguely felt was…
“There is something he wants from me.”
That was why he hadn’t stopped me from coming this far, and why he was trying to explain Meredith’s history so kindly.
People do certain things when they want something from each other.
A fight, or a deal.
A fight had little chance of success. Even though I had a gun… wouldn’t Prezen Meredith have prepared for at least that much?
This place was the Meredith Family head’s territory.
If I were with Kali Haywood, maybe - no, even if we were together, trying to resolve this with force wouldn’t be a wise method.
In that case, the only thing left was a deal.
“Let’s make a deal.”
“Good.”
A prompt reply returned, as if he had been waiting for me to suggest it.
“You already know what I want.”
“I do.”
“What do you want from me?”
“Do not worry. It will not be a difficult request.”
Prezen Meredith smiled brightly and said.
“You just need to stay here and keep watching. That is all I desire.”
It was a severely lacking explanation.
“Watch? Watch what?”
“You will naturally find out as you watch.”
“…Let’s say that’s true. Do I have to watch until when?”
“Until it is over. Likewise, you will clearly know when it is over.”
Right, I hadn’t expected an easy-to-understand answer anyway. I shook my head and said.
“You’re saying I just have to stay still here? That’s what you want?”
“Yes. You can think of it as an artist’s nature.”
artist’s nature? Prezen Meredith looked at the self-portrait in the air and said, to my questioning look.
“They say true art must be completed in and of itself, independent of the audience. But wouldn’t it be a little sad if there was no one to witness the completion of the final posthumous work I will leave behind in The Mortal World?”
“Are you saying all of this is some kind of performance art?”
“Yes. You understood immediately. It is just easier to accept with an appropriate commentary. That, too, would be my role. Where were we? …Ah, we were talking about the progenitor’s memories.”
Prezen Meredith resumed his explanation all too naturally.
“Every member of the Meredith Family is born from dolls, under the design of the founder who was involved in the family’s establishment phase and the Megacorp behind him. This is because the Mirror Castle Dolls are all remains formed in the optimal shape to inherit the Founder’s Construct.”
The number of family members is exactly one hundred. It is maintained by filling in as many as are lost, and eliminating any excess. Every single one of them serves as a vault to hold the memory trace, the engram, of the founder, and their roles are determined by how many memories they inherit.”
“The one who inherits the most memories becomes the family head, and the one who receives the memories next in line becomes the successor. And everyone else is entirely expendable.”
“The most miserable are the family head candidates next in line after the successor. They are truly important resources, but because they harbor too many memories, it is awkward to simply force their loyalty through ordinary brainwashing methods like the other members. Therefore, do you know what solution Meredith found?”
Was it my imagination? From deep within those numb and blurry eyes, like those of a beautiful person and resembling dolls, a cold and sticky disgust directed at a specific target seemed to radiate.
“If you know about ravers, you must also know what individuality means to a Raver. The family erased our individuality. A set name, a set appearance, and a set pattern of behavior… They slowly obliterate our self-awareness by treating us like inanimate objects rather than people, tolerating not even the slightest deviation. It is a very gruesome and fatal act, like breaking the wings of a newborn bird.”
“I have wished for the downfall of this family for a very long time, truly since the earliest days. It is finally being realized today.”
Why he had an ambiguous gender and same appearance unlike other ravers, what it meant that he couldn’t choose his own name…
It was the moment when many of the questions regarding Prezen were answered.
I felt like I understood somewhat what Ms. Kali meant when she said Prezen was filled with “revenge against his own family”.
“Did you bring in the terrorists?”
I asked abruptly. Considering the hostility Prezen showed toward the family and the things he had done so far, it was a natural conclusion.
If not for an inside spy, the three terrorist groups wouldn’t have been able to invade the Mirror Castle so easily.
“That is correct. Though it is not something I did alone. If there is a Megacorp that designed Meredith, wouldn’t there naturally be a Megacorp that wants to tear Meredith down as well?”
“To me, the family was like a trapped universe I could never escape, but looking at it from a slight distance, it is ultimately nothing more than A Shrimp Caught in a Whale Fight. It is quite pathetic.”
After a brief silence, Prezen continued.
“The reason the Meredith Family was created and the reason I was created are largely the same. With the support of a Megacorp, this family has been researching one thing for a long time.”
“The fusion of Raver and artificial intelligence.”