Chapter 112 – Masquerade Party (26)

“So… you’re alive?”

“Yeah!”

“So the person I’m talking to right now isn’t the ‘Gyosu Park made from Gyosu Park’s memories,’ but the real Gyosu Park?”

Glug— Glug—

“For the eighth time already, yes!”

“Then what’s with that arm? Don’t Type 3 mutants only appear on fresh corpses?”

“Yeah, but like I said already, I’m an exception—”

“Then you are a corpse!”

“For f—s sakes! I’d be better off talking to a deaf person!”

“Hey! It just doesn’t logically make sense! How could a normal, living body’s arm turn into a mutant?”

Thunk! Clatter!

The endless loop this conversation has been in for the past few minutes made Gyosu throw the Jerry can in frustration. It was the oil canister that had been attached to the luggage compartment at the back of the armored vehicle. After taking out the rest of the fuel in the armored car, they went around and sprayed it on all of the others, making sure each and every one of them was soaked in oil.

“P-pease… Pease don’t kiee uss…”

Ian kicked away the hand that was grabbing onto his leg. All he did was chase Sol’s vehicle here, but this place was already a bloody battlefield. He had a lot of questions to ask.

“We’ll get you checked up at the hospital later. See whether you’re dead or not. But why were you here anyway? That guy, the one with all of his teeth knocked out, is the guy from this morning, right? That Executive Department agent, Jack, or Sam, was it?”

Pssssshh—

“Yeah. What do you mean, why? I finished all of my official business, so I came and did some of my personal ones. Where else would the Executive Department go after losing? There were a few other candidates, but when I thought about it, if everything was blacked out like their original plan, then the other facilities, like the door systems and everything else, would be out of question, so I felt like the Executive Department would have either kept something open beforehand or prepared emergency equipment ready in their building to operate things. These guys killed my mom, so I came to kill them. Why are you here then?”

“Ah, this guy killed my wife and daughter.”

“I see.”

“I see.”

Both of their voices were much too calm compared to the weight of their conversation’s topic, and it made Ian let out a breathy laugh. It’s because he felt that the two of them had the exact same thoughts in mind.

“Revenge should be done as dryly as possible. Right?”

“Yeah, I guess. I did think of tying them up somewhere and carving chunks of their flesh out and shoving them into their mouths, but I felt like something would happen to my head if I did that. My mother’s dying wish was for me to survive, so how sad would she be if her child died of madness while avenging her? It is sort of a shame, but following the Wasteland rules, let’s take the path that is better for our mental health.”

“Aw, I didn’t think you’d say something so mature. You’re all grown up now. I’m just holding back because I still have a whole list of guys to kill and I don’t want to burn out before I get through all of them.”

“You always act so old when you’re not even that older than me. Aren’t we only about 11 years apart?”

“11 years in the Wastelands is close to a third of the average lifespan, you youngster.”

Dnk, d-dnk.

They sprayed close to four canisters of fuel, which should be enough.

The two men decided to take a breather between their foes, who were a bloody and greasy mess. The top of the armored car was less oily and higher than the surroundings, so it was a nice place to watch the Executive Department and Raptors from.

“That reminds me; I didn’t even do a memorial for my mom. And my dad’s too after my mom passed away.”

“Memorial? Look at this guy. And you’re always talking like you were the world’s best son.”

“It’s not like that. Even last year, just thinking of my parents made me look for my pistol. It’s only as of recently that I’ve been able to think properly of them.”

“The same goes for all Wasteland people, but you have one wacky life, Gyosu Park.”

“Not even compared to you. Why do you have so many people to kill? How many are there?”

“How many, you say…”

Taking out a fancy cigar he must have gotten from somewhere, Ian squirmed his way into the armored car and came back out with it lit. In his hand was a cigar lighter that was still red hot.

“I don’t know. Haven’t counted how many there are in the Raptors.”

“If it’s the entire Raptor Society… Dang, hell is gonna give you a certificate of honor for that one when you die.”

“Keheheh! That’s better than nothing!”

“Urghhh… This… can’t be… I can’t just… die like this…”

He was blankly staring at the smoke floating up when a voice close to a moan came down from below them. He knew that face. It was a name that was clearly written on the file that Lewis Batross, Gyosu’s old comrade, gave him. His name was…

“Theo? Are you Executive Director Theo Lisker?”

Splish!

Jumping down from the armored car, Gyosu approached the man who was attempting to crawl out of the garage. He planned to see just what made him so innocent.

Ksssssk— Ksssssk—

As if just making it out of this garage would save his life, he desperately crawled his way forward.

That is, until Gyosu crouched down in front of him and blocked his way.

“You want to live?”

Gyosu sincerely asked him. Even knowing that he wasn’t going to be spared, why did this man try so hard?

“Hah, Hagh! Gyosu Park… I see, it’s you. You ruined everything. That petty revenge, just because of the trivial reason that your old mother was precious to you, you ruined the greater vision!”

Clang!

The blade that Theo swung with the rest of his strength was easily stopped by Gyosu’s left hand. His attack felt more like a representation of his feelings, rather than one actually meant to kill him.

“The greater vision, you say… Aren’t you even embarrassed to say that? You betrayed the Dome in order to live because you guys lost the election. Sold out the Dome, and your conscience with it too.”

“Why don’t you realize that the election itself is wrong?”

Theo used the blade Gyosu was holding to support himself, then struggled to move his body and clung to Gyosu’s hand.

“You…! You should remember if you worked in the Executive Department in the past. That the Executive Department used to have permission to use the Exosuits!”

“Yeah. I’ve ridden an Exosuit a couple times too.”

“Yes, isn’t that normal? The original purpose of the Inspection Bureau was to search for and remove the dangers within the Dome, and the Executive Department was in charge of external risk factors! But now, how is it now? All of the authority to use the Exosuits has been handed over to the Inspection Bureau! And after losing most of our power, the Executive Department has been reduced to nothing more than an auxiliary organization that trains street fighting tactics to be used as a last resort!”

The man cried out to Gyosu almost as if he were actually spitting out blood.

“That oh-so-great democracy! Because the Dome had to take in all of the useless remnants of the past, they turned into a garbage organization where political power decides everything! Every time that Inspection Director’s venomous tongue coiled around the Council, the Exosuits, permission to test the latest tactical weapons, mission areas, and even the capacity limit! One by one, the Executive Departments’ authorities started to get handed over to the Inspection Bureau! And the useless Executive Director was unable to stop it! No, he didn’t even plan to stop it! Because it’s already been a long time since he built his private Dome on the outskirts using the bribes he received! Don’t you think it’s strange? Huh? Isn’t all of this strange to you?!”

The man who had been attempting to get up by grabbing onto Gyosu’s left hand slipped due to the oil covering his hands and tumbled back onto the floor. Tears flowed out of his blood and grease-covered eyes.

“The world has been destroyed, so shouldn’t the standards of morality also change? You have to throw away what you need to throw away in order to move forward! The Dome’s ideals are nothing more than a means for the higher-ups to use the residents as puppets for their own benefit! That’s why we betrayed them! Before the people living in this Dome were sucked to their last drop of blood! In order to survive in this world, we need to accept the Raptors, who have truly adapted to this post-apocalyptic world, and—”

“Wowww, this is new.”

“Seriously. They didn’t do anything dirty like this when I was still there. The Raptors must have been in a rush too.”

All the man was talking about at the brink of death was the debate of ideals. Isn’t this just that?

Clap clap clap.

Watching Theo continue his speech even in such an injured state, Gyosu cut him off and clapped for him. He was more amazed than mad now.

“Ideological edification… They’re like the North Koreans from the Old Times.”

“There were quite a few guys that declared war using propaganda when I was back in the Raptors as well. Saying something about a crimson army, a black army, and such. I thought they were just idiots, but looking at what’s happened, it must not have been a completely dumb idea.”

“I waited because I thought there might have been a reason, but it was nonsense that wasn’t even worth listening to. All I did was taint my eardrums. Eugh, disgusting. I’m gonna wash it out with the rainwater.”

“It’s not nonsense! We’ve always been doing this for the people—”

“The people. Hahah, wow. I was always cursing God, but he was here all along. You select the ‘people’ that need to live and sacrifice the ‘scraps’ that weren’t selected. Don’t you think what you’re saying is a little disgusting?”

“For the greater good, a small sacrifice always follows. Since the world has changed, I repeat, the standards of morality must also change—”

“The Underdome gangs you guys use. The guys that are basically living as slaves are addicted to the sprayable drugs, as are the canned debtors in the Shilling factory. When I was here, the Underdome was just a poor neighborhood. But when I saw it this time, it turned into some slum opium den, and from what I know, there are about 20% more residents in the Underdome than the Upper Dome. Even if you set the standards ve~ry generously, isn’t it a little too much to call the sacrifice of more than half the people a ‘small’ sacrifice?”

“Y-you can’t just get caught up in the numbers! Although what we do may seem wrong! In the far future! Looking into the far future when the Wasteland’s sands are gone, this is like a backfire to stop a bigger fire—mgmmmphh!”

Gyosu tore a tattered part from the left arm of his uniform and shoved it into the man’s mouth, which had been desperately blabbering on to survive.

“How sad. To think that my mom and Lewil died to a measly guy like this.”

He’d waited years for this moment, but he felt more emptiness than accomplishment.

“Revenge is like that. That’s why everyone always advises finishing it as calmly as possible, as if it’s just carrying out another duty.”

Dragggg—

Aghhhk! Reeeeee!

Just then, he saw Ian drag something big and loud out of the inner part of the garage as he responded to Gyosu’s comment.

“Calm? Do you happen to know the word hypocrite?”

“Of course. I’m incredibly logical right now. I’m logically trying to kill this guy.”

The man being dragged out was none other than Sol Amar, now with tears and snot covering his face.

“Eu, uaaaaahhhhh! P-please! Please spare me, General Ashfield! Think of all of the good times we spent together! Back when you taught me how to shoot! You said so back then!”

“Ahh, I remember. I said your recoil is stable because of your fat.”

“Yes! Yes yes! After hearing that, I clung on desperately to shooting! And how much time have we spent since then? As a member of the same pack and as the Swarm Alpha’s bodyguard! I assisted General Ashfield with my excellent marksmanship and always—”

Creaaak—

Thuunk!

“Ouchie!”

“Yeah, yeah. It wasn’t all that great of a memory, but I do share quite a bit of memories with you.”

“T-then…!”

Splashhh!

After taking the man out and beating him up to a pulp, Ian dragged him to the top of the broken armored car, shoved him back in through the hatch, and then sprayed the remainder of the leftover oil inside.

“Why’d you take him out if you were gonna put him back in?”

“I was just going to kill him, but I remembered something because I thought back to the old days.”

“What is it?”

Ian raised his head and let out his signature snicker, as if reminiscing about the old times, then spoke as he knocked on the armored car where Sol was trapped.

“Molly always baked the pork in the oven when she cooked.”

“N-no! What are you thinking of doing? L-let me out! Let me out! Please!”

From how strongly he reacted, he must have heard everything Ian said. Or he might have said it loudly on purpose.

“Oh, did you hear that? Darn, I heard meat from stressed animals had a bad texture.”

Splish, splish, clump, clump.

Passing the armored car, where he could hear thumping, and walking past where Theo let out suppressed groans to arrive at the garage entrance, he could hear the cool sound of rain that had been drowned out by other sounds inside.

Now, it was time to end it.

“Hey.”

“What.”

“Give me a cigarette.”

“You’re going to smoke it?”

“Not me.”

With his thumb, Gyosu pointed at the garage ringing with moans and bangs from the armored car and at Theo, who was desperately trying to crawl out of the garage covered in oil.

Ian’s face crumpled into a grimace.

“Those bastards? Why burn incense for trash like them?”

“I want to make sure they don’t get lost. Think of it as my warm consideration so they properly make their way to hell.”

“Damn it. These are high-quality cigars from the Raptors too…”

Even though he grumbled about it, Ian lit the cigar and handed it over without hesitation.

“Mmmmph! Grrph!”

At some point, Theo made it to the entrance of the garage. After exchanging his gaze between the lit cigar and his body covered in oil, he reached out his hands as if in a frenzy. Blood sprayed out from his fingertips, which no longer had fingernails on them.

“You didn’t need to come out and greet us. Anyway, it was nice meeting you, Mister Theo Lisker. I hope you live a little nicer in the afterlife, and this is apparently pretty high-end.”

Flick—

“MMMMMMRMPHHH!!”

“So make sure you share it with the others too.”

A cigar with the Raptor’s logo stamped on it flew towards the screaming Theo.

Theo’s eyes followed the object.

It flew past his shoulder and fell down after colliding with his arm. A small red ember flew out from the impact.

Flsssh!

“Grrrmmmmph! Mmmmmaaaaaghhh!”

The fire that instantly spread to his body, unsatisfied by what it already burned, slithered along the path he crawled from to the inner garage.

Fwooshh!

“Aaaaaghhhhhh!”

“Gaaaaahhh! F-firee! The fireeee!!!”

Thunk thunk thunk thunk!

“It’s hot! Hoooooooooot!!! Please get me out of here! Someone! Please! Aaaaaaghhhh!”

It was a hellish scene of people crying out as they got burned alive, along with the voice of a man in pain as the armored car he was trapped in slowly started to heat up from the flames.

‘They said revenge was pointless… but it isn’t all that bad.’

He did feel a little bit of hollowness, but it still felt nice to see them all in pain.

Gyosu, who was watching the scene from a distance in the rain, bowed twice towards the burning garage.

“…Was there a human sacrificial custom in Korea?”

“No… but I just did it as a sort of report since there’s a big incense and all, and now that a big deed is finally over too.”

“Keheheh, you’re a weird one.”

After getting up from the ground, Gyosu took turns to look at the Executive Department building now billowing with black smoke, the Dome’s bluish shield revealed by the raindrops, and the massive valley still letting out steam.

“It’s over.”

“Yeah. The event that a single wrong walk around the neighborhood started is finally over.”

Clunk, clunk, clunk!

Watching the Inspection Bureaus Exosuits hurriedly run in their direction after spotting the fire, Gyosu opened his mouth.

“Ian. You’re not in that bad of a condition, right?”

“I stopped a hole in my thigh with whipping cream. My face is covered in melted glass and sand shards from the artillery shots, and just from where it’s aching, I think there’s about six, seven shell fragments…”

“So what you’re saying is, you’re in a better condition than me, who ran through toxic gas without protection, was shocked by Zeus right next to it, and has an arm in this hell of a state. Right?”

“Uh… Mmm…”

Thud!

Seeing that Ian was unable to respond, Gyosu flopped right on the ground.

“You can explain the situation to them.”

“What? Hey! You’re the one who knows most of the overall situation! It’s clear as day that the Administration Branch is going to swarm us like bees for information!”

“You can knock out if you don’t want to.”

Gyosu closed his eyes as he listened to Ian and the Exosuits loudspeaker echo through his head with his fading consciousness. The showering raindrops landed on his heated body like soft velvet.

A week later…

Gyosu was lying in a hospital bed with bandages all over his body.

Plip. Plip.

A solution consisting of nutrients and all sorts of other drugs slowly flowed into his body through the IV.

Beep— Beep—

And wires from a machine that clearly looked very complicated were attached all over his body, and doctors with serious expressions frowned down at him as they compared the chart and the graph being printed in real time together.

The large special room was filled with equipment that seemed like almost all of the hospital’s state-of-the-art equipment was brought here, and so many doctors filled the seats in the room between these devices to the point there was no space left in the room itself.

If someone asked whether Gyosu was actually in that serious of a state to be receiving this special attention, the answer was…

… !

“For f—s sakes! Can we stop this already? Huh!”

Not necessarily.

After being brought to the hospital by the Inspection Bureau, the first thing Gyosu heard from the doctor after waking up in just two days was that he ‘was in a much better state than expected.’

======

“Oy, Doctor. How… is Gyosu?”

“Mmm… first of all, the most visible wound is the internal burns caused by the electric shock. Fortunately, the current flowed in through his hands and out through his toes. It isn’t too serious, so he’ll recover from it soon if he stays in our Dome’s recovery facility. We’re confirming whether the unusual material on his left hand helped.”

“Mmmmm… This is…”

“Aside from that?”

“Aside from that… He had some symptoms of poisoning, skin burns, chemical burns and abrasions inside the lungs, exhaustion, and some others, but unlike we expected, he did not show signs of an abnormally exceptional recovery rate. Ah, please don’t mind that.”

“I-Ian…I need…water…”

“No, keep talking. I was curious, too. That thing on his left hand, what is it?”

“We are also not sure as it’s a form we’ve also seen for the first time… But for now, we’re considering it a sort of Type 3 mutant. There is a vast variation of forms and traits between Type 3s, after all.”

“Type 3? Aren’t Type 3s mutants with a separate will?”

“I-I’m thirsty…Someone… water…”

“Actually, while Mister Gyosu Park was unconscious, the ‘thing’ tried to communicate with us. It conversed by writing on paper and played chess with us resea— ahem! Doctor’s saying it was bored. Since it definitely had a separate will of its own, we decided to classify it as a Type 3 mutant.”

“Hyde… so it was him after all…”

“Hyde? Do you happen to know something about it? Uh, it might be useful for the treatment, so if you write everything you know down—”

Crash!

“Water! Give me some water, cough! You bastards…!”

“T-the subject is rampaging! Security! Securityyyy!!!”

.

.

.

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======

Well, he did know this was going to happen the moment he came here. He already knew that the Dome was obsessed with new technology.

“S-Sir! Please calm down… The treatment isn’t over yet, so you need to stay…!”

“What do you mean it’s not over? I already heard you guys say that the treatments are done and I can go rest at home!”

“He… heard it?”

Whisper whisper!

Mumble mumble!

“No one has spoken about the patient’s condition next to him, correct?”

“We’re positive. I told you! It definitely had an effect not only on the arm but on the main host itself! It’s certain that he heard us with his outstanding hearing!”

“It’s… It’s revolutionary! The most innovative technology in order for mankind to survive in the Wastelands! To think that we’re able to see a hybrid of a human and a Type 3 mutant, a creature adapted ideally for the Wastelands!”

“Is there any way to keep him here? For just 3, no 5 years?”

“You’ve seen the records. How can we manage that monstrous strength…?”

“Shh! Mister Gyosu Park is listening!”

‘I heard everything, you bastards.’

They tried to be as quiet as possible, but it wasn’t just one or two people talking. It’d be harder for him to not hear when the entire cluster of researchers, or doctors, as they claim to be, are talking all at once.

How Gyosu learned of his current state wasn’t because of some special ability. On the fourth day he was here, a nurse who sneaked in at night told him. Saying they were a fan, whether the BDSM also accepted medical workers as well.

‘It looks like there’s a weird rumor spreading outside… but I can’t figure out a thing while I’m stuck in here.’

Since they were only quietly watching him for now and because he was also curious about his left arm, he patiently participated in the treatment experiment. Up until today.

Pluck, p-p-pluck!

“M-Mister Gyosu Park! The treatment isn’t over yet! If you go like this…”

“I don’t care anymore! I don’t want to stay another second in this cramped place. Hand over the research data you’ve collected up to now. And if you really need to, try officially requesting the BDSM later on.”

Rumbleeee!

“W-will you really come if we request for you?!”

“Then please come to our Department of Biotechnology!”

“No! What sort of absurdity is that? They said the creature called Hyde was born in GG! Of course he should come to our Department of Data Consciousness Exploration!”

“Don’t be foolish! It’s a new form of Type 3 mutant, so he should obviously come to our Department of New World Ecological Research!”

“Eeeeeek! How many major report papers do you have? I’m covered every month by the Bio G magazine…”

“Hah! Don’t be so full of yourself for getting on a piece of paper! Do you know just how many years I’ve been a professor at Harvard’s School of Biotechnology?”

“Shut up if you haven’t gotten a Nobel Prize!”

Aaaaahhh!

Crash! Bang!

“Uh… send me a message after you guys sort it out!”

Gyosu left the crowd of researchers that started to fight amongst themselves and slipped out of the hospital room.

For now, his plan was to go to the intensive care unit and see Vex.