Chapter 248
“It’s not that we blindly shun moving robots. One or two is fine. No problem. But when things that look exactly the same and move exactly the same way, three, four, five… even reaching dozens or hundreds like that, from then on, you can’t help but get goosebumps at that unbearably uniform appearance. If this castle were owned by a human family, I could at least understand. But…”
She shivered as she watched the dolls moving in a way that evoked the uncanny valley. Perhaps Ms. Kali’s story was contagious, because even I, who hadn’t thought much of it, somehow got goosebumps on my arms.
“The Meredith Family is a Pure Raver Family, right?”
“Right. That’s the part I can’t understand. How can a Raver Family live in a castle like this? I don’t think I could last a single day. They say they do all their education within the family instead of a Raver School, so is it because of that? Even so, this goes against our, how should I put it, instincts…”
Was it for a similar reason to Ms. Kali?
Contrary to my vague expectation that many ravers would attend since it was a banquet hosted by a Raver Family, the people enjoying the banquet without a care were mostly humans.
The ravers were only those who seemed to be Meredith Family Members whispering among themselves, and a few outsiders pacing around uncomfortably like Ms. Kali.
The only Raver Noble Family, yet presenting an appearance that other ravers incomprehensible…
Suddenly, the words Ms. Kali said and the words Prezen Meredith said overlapped in my ears.
“Every Raver chooses their own name and gender as soon as they are born.”
“Prezen de Se Meredith… is not a name I chose.”
They say they choose their own name as soon as they are born, so if the name he currently has isn’t one he chose himself, then who on earth chose it for him?
“So is that why you’re avoiding that person, Prezen Meredith? Because the Meredith Family is creepy?”
At my question, Ms. Kali seemed to ponder for a moment before speaking.
“Yes, and no.”
“What does that mean?”
“The Meredith Family is creepy, but apart from that, that person Prezen himself is also a bit…”
When I asked for the reason, Ms. Kali asked me back instead.
“What did that person look like to you? A Ladam, or an Ever?”
“Uh…”
I was at a loss for words. Come to think of it, Prezen de Se Meredith didn’t have a clear gender distinction at first glance.
He didn’t express his individuality with colors like Bobby, nor did he have curves on his body like Ms. Kali… His voice was also somewhat faint and unclear, so he seemed to be somewhere in the ambiguous middle between a man and a woman.
“What did you think when you first saw that person? Didn’t he look like something?”
The thought I had when I first saw Prezen Meredith.
Like a ghost.
And… he looked similar to the dolls of the Mirror Castle.
After hearing from Ms. Kali about the characteristic of ravers' obsession with individuality, I think I know what that first impression meant.
Ravers obsess over individuality so as not to become featureless machines, robots.
But Prezen de Se Meredith looks exactly like the android dolls that in this castle alone exist in the hundreds.
It’s something a normal Raver would absolutely avoid.
Even his gender is hard to distinguish. A Raver should have a Main Estate to adhere strictly to their gender.
A Raver with a Faint Presence, where individuality is hard to find even with the closest scrutiny - how did that look in Ms. Kali’s eyes?
A person looking like a corpse? A suicidal person who looks like they’re about to die? A mutant that doesn’t even have the basics a person should rightfully possess?
Either way, she wouldn’t have felt a positive impression.
Thinking like that, I also felt very creeped out. I opened my mouth, trying to shake off the anxious feeling.
“Was Prezen Meredith… perhaps a doll before becoming a Raver?”
“Who knows. He could be, or he might not be. Either way, I don’t want to get close to him. Really.”
Ms. Kali’s indifferent reply.
As I looked at her sharp eyes and smooth metallic form, another question suddenly came to mind.
“Ms. Kali.”
“What?”
“If it’s not rude, could I ask you one thing?”
“What is it?”
“Ms. Kali, what kind of robot were you before you became a Raver?”
Perhaps it was a completely unexpected question this time, because Ms. Kali, who had been speaking fluently without hesitation, opened her scarlet eyes wide in surprise and stared at me, mouth shut.
It was a question that popped out impulsively. Was it a mistake?
Then again, since it was said that all ravers have a fear of their past as robots, maybe it was a question that poked at a sensitive spot, a trauma.
Having just met today, we hadn’t known each other for a long time, so maybe I crossed the line just because she treated me kindly.
“You…”
My heart ached at the sight of her glaring at me as if in shock. While I was thinking about how to apologize for this, I wondered whether I should bang my head against the wall.
Ms. Kali chuckled and said.
“You really are a sly guy. I suppose you did it without knowing, but… ha. What kind of robot was I originally? Are you curious? Should I tell you?”
“Uh… yes.”
As I nodded, the answer followed with a refreshing smile and a wink.
“It’s a secret.”
As expected of Kali Haywood, she was not an easy person to deal with.
* * *
My curiosity was somewhat resolved, and now it was time to work.
With the Team Leader’s surveillance gone, there would be no opportunity if not now.
I told Ms. Kali I was going to the restroom for a moment and left my seat.
She looked at me with suspicious eyes. But what could she do? I said I needed to take a dump.
Besides, it wasn’t a complete lie.
I was really going to the restroom.
However, it wasn’t just any restroom.
It was the men’s restroom for visitors facing the third corner of the glass pillar at the far left end of the banquet Hall’s main hall.
Feeling somewhat like a character in a spy movie, I nervously stepped inside the restroom.
It was large, clean, and fancy, but it didn’t have the peculiarity fitting for an Upper-Class Noble Family or a Pure Raver Family.
Then again, no matter how the times change, or how noble the people using it are, a restroom is a restroom.
Glancing over the toilet stalls, I saw, out of more than a dozen stalls, the sixth from the last emitting a red light indicating the door was locked.
It was exactly as I had been informed beforehand.
I took a deep breath, approached the sink, and washed my hands while awkwardly humming.
I moved my steps and entered the fifth stall right next to the sixth toilet stall, leaving the turn-to-use faucet, still used even in the 22nd century, running to keep the water flowing.
Sitting on the blue curved toilet lid with a flexible design, I just flushed the toilet twice, and then lightly tapped the wall of the next stall with the back of my hand three times. Thud, thud, thud.
As I did it, a hollow laugh came out.
Team Leader Hank’s suspicion towards me might actually be accurate. Anyone could see this is a dirty act of spying, the action I’m doing right now!
However, it wasn’t another corporation or Family, but the Iron-faced Family Head Eugene Schneider himself who ordered it.
Would that thorough Schneider Family Head entrust the mission trusting me alone? There’s no way.
He instructed me that if I performed the promised trigger at the rendezvous point in this way, I could make contact with a “helper” who would assist my mission here in the Mirror Castle.
He said that helper would have not only useful information but also equipment that would play a core role in carrying out the mission…
I waited for about 3 seconds, but there was no particular reaction. I somehow got anxious and darted my eyes around.
Did I do something wrong? Or did something happen to the helper in the meantime? I hadn’t heard anything about a case like this - .
Whoosh.
I heard the sound of water flushing from the next stall. It was the rendezvous signal. Just as I was feeling relieved, I heard the sound of feet stomping on the floor, once, twice.
If my memory is correct… it means they will give me information.
How are they going to pass the information?
If it were a movie, they would slide a memo through the gap between the floor and the stall door, but this restroom didn’t have gaps between the stalls.
Then the only remaining method is to speak. Just as I was thinking that and concentrating with my ear against the wall, my Cyberwatch suddenly rang.
…Oops, I guess I was thinking in too analog a way.
With a hollow laugh, I opened the text message sent from an unknown sender.
And at the same time, the smile completely drained from my face.
[J: In 1 hour, a terror attack is scheduled to take place here.]
What? A terror attack?
Here, in the Meredith Family’s Mirror Castle?
The word sent shivers down my spine. For so long, I had considered it completely unrelated to my life, yet living in Dusk City, I often found myself unexpectedly entangled with it.
I never dreamed the information would be of this kind!
I hurriedly came out of the toilet stall and looked at the next stall. Unlike before, it was shining with a green light. It meant it was empty.
There was definitely no sound or sign of anyone.
Surprised, I opened the door and it was as expected. The inside was completely empty with no one there.
What is this…
In my bewilderment, I ended up freezing in place.