The Genius of Cloning in the Academy City

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Yurik, a 32-year-old doctor and unemployed young man, realized he had been kidnapped when he came to his senses.

He was inwardly lamenting his situation.

‘Why me? I don’t have any money!’

Luck and misfortune are two sides of the same coin, and the saying that they accompany each other like twin sisters was not wrong at all.

The promise of a regular research position thrown at him by a mentor who had been nagging him since his undergraduate days was simply too alluring. To think that he could land a regular job at the research laboratory supervised by his former professor by just participating in a confidential project for a few months—what a dream come true!

So, who exactly is Doctor Sturgis? Even at his old age, he still leads the academic world. Based on my memories from his doctoral days, he was indeed a bit finicky as a supervisor, but he was an awe-inspiring scholar.

That such a distinguished person remembered this mediocre student and directly contacted Yurik to extend an offer while he was teaching made this situation feel unreal.

It would be crazy to refuse that.

Apparently, it was a confidential project conducted in collaboration with the industry, and they were short on personnel. After a brief training period of a few days, Yurik would be drafted immediately after signing a contract, although the working conditions were somewhat strict due to security issues. Nonetheless, the salary was decent, and the benefits were attractive. It was strange that the duration was a bit short, but he had no way of asking more about it due to the confidential nature of the project.

However, upon arriving home, he was suddenly struck by a blinding pain and lost consciousness, only to find himself in this predicament! His limbs were bound to a chair, and his eyes were covered.

‘Am I being robbed? A gang?’

He felt scared. Thoughts of recent crime news flooded back to him—the office worker who was killed by a burglar or the businessman who was buried alive by a partner after going missing due to a business dispute. The reality that he would become the protagonist of a story about heinous crimes he once thought were someone else’s business was surreal…

No way, would he die like this? He had just begun to see some light in life! Damn it! Please!

His moment of rational judgment melted away like snow, and fear quickly engulfed Yurik’s mind.

Someone, please save me!

“…Where am I? What’s going on? Help me! Is anyone there?”

He shouted wildly. If he didn’t scream like this, he felt his wildly racing heart might burst, and he couldn’t bear it. Above all, what he couldn’t stand was this darkness—pure darkness. He could see nothing. He could hear nothing.

Anyone would do. Please respond!

“…Shut up.”

And his wish was granted in the most ominous way. Hearing the hard, heavy modulated voice buzzing in his ears, Yurik realized something was wrong.

“I don’t know who you are, but I’ll pay you! I’ll even give you my account details and card PIN!”

“Shut up.”

The voice dismissed Yurik’s pleas instantly.

“I’ll be the one asking questions. Keep your mouth shut for now. If you understand, nod your head.”

Yurik did as instructed. The chilling metallic touch beside his neck recalled the slightest shred of reason buried beneath his fear.

Finally, the modulated inhuman voice began to pose questions.

***

“Are we doing this right?”

“Shh, quietly! Communicate through the network.”

Right now, we are in the middle of interrogating the captured individual. Before preparing for the interrogation, we had made several arrangements.

“The voice modulation effect is good, isn’t it? You should have seen that guy flinch when we spoke just now.”

“True, this is way more intimidating than if we interrogated him with our real voices.”

First, we obtained a voice modulation program to avoid revealing our identities. Now, Unit 46, in front of the laptop, speaks into the microphone, and a commanding, heavy tone is transmitted to the subject through the speaker. It’s far more threatening than a girl’s voice.

To apply psychological pressure, we put our heads together. We imitated the speech patterns of mobsters and thugs from film noir or crime dramas. It was to instill a sense of intimidation.

Of course, that wasn’t the only plan we prepared. “Yurik Pereira, age 32. He achieved one excellence award and one encouragement award in several competitions during his middle and high school years, as well as two nominations. He graduated from Harmonia University’s physics department and completed both his Master’s and Doctorate there in a row.”

“How do you know this…? What do you want from me…?”

“You have an old dog named Gordo? Shall we change the topic a bit—you often enjoy K’s chocolate cereal for breakfast, and your favorite beer brand is… Alpine.”

“…How do you know? Who are you?!”

The man listening to my remarks trembled and lost his composure, shouting almost like a scream. While it was a product of my own making, it was quite pitiful. If an unknown individual started reciting your personal information, you’d be scared too.

“That sounds like something the student council president would do…”

“I can’t deny that.”

While we kidnapped the man and brought him here, other Violets stealthily used his stolen phone and house keys to gather as much personal information as possible in a short amount of time. Luckily, his fingerprint recognition allowed us to secure internal information quickly.

Inside his opened house lay an old dog too weak to bark, wearing a collar, and the garbage can and graduation album from the bookshelf provided a rough deduction of what kind of person he was.

It wasn’t difficult to string all this information together with the right staging and environment to terrify the listener. Our acting might have been a bit awkward, but judging by the man’s reaction, he seemed oblivious.

“A bit sad, isn’t it? Let’s release him quickly after we’re done. We’re vicious corporate spies, got it?”

“Right, we’re nasty spies.”

Seeing the man sweat profusely and tremble as if about to faint was amusing. It was time to stop the intimidation and get to the main point.

“Who are you… Why are you doing this…?”

“Do you finally grasp the situation? Yurik, we know a lot about you. So it would be best for you to cooperate willingly. Whether you leave here unscathed depends on your honesty. Understand?”

“Yes! I understand! I’ll answer!”

“First, was there a time recently when you received any magical security measures or signed any confidentiality agreements with applied magic formulas?”

“You mean confidentiality security spells? No! Never! I swear! Please take the knife away from my neck!”

Though I checked everything when I stripped him earlier, I asked again just in case.

“Now, explain about the research project being conducted at Polaris Comprehensive Academy. What’s its purpose or direction?”

“…How do you know this… Ah, I’ll answer. I don’t know. I really don’t.”

Is he denying it? I slightly pressed the knife against Yurik’s neck.

“Don’t lie. We know very well. There must have been quite a few people curious about it.”

“I’m telling the truth! I asked too, but they said they wouldn’t explain anything until after the training period ended and the security agreement was signed. And we were told we’re just filler staff, so not everyone can know.”

Unit 3, observing from the side, handed Yurik a few flyers he had pulled from his bag, nodding along.

“That’s true; it says right here that the project’s objectives or direction are classified information that cannot be disclosed. From the nuance, it sounds like we’re only supposed to do what we’re told.”

“Hmm… Did we hit a dead end? This feels like it was impossible from the start.”

“It’s okay. There are still more questions to ask.”

Then came the next question.

“Share everything about what you know regarding the project.”

“Everything?”

“Everything.”

Yurik slowly opened his mouth to explain.

“Um, I heard it’s a collaboration plan supported by multiple corporations, and the academy is the main body. So security is quite important… There’s a particle accelerator underground that uses ether. I’m not sure how they set something like that up under the school…”

“A particle accelerator? Are you talking about that huge pipe underground?”

“Yes! Yes! That’s right! They say it’s essential for research on the second dimension and ether!”

So, the enormous pipe I saw last time was a particle accelerator.

“…They said the collaboration requires people from various fields. My professor suggested it directly…”

“Is there also research related to Awakened Ones?”

“Ah… Yes! That’s right. They explained that understanding the mechanism of how magical power acts on the brain or the manifestation of Awakened Ones’ abilities is important. However, they didn’t explain further.”

As testimonies were being recorded and filmed, we tried to organize the incoming information as best we could.

“Conducting a plan with many people confidentially and requiring diverse field knowledge.”

“Does it also deal with the abilities of Awakened Ones and related knowledge about the brain?”

Although I had been listening to him explain for a while, there was little substance.

“Hey, is that all?”

“I swear! I haven’t even been in the training for a few days yet, so I don’t know everything!”

Oh no, maybe we captured him a bit too early. We exchanged looks, unsure how to proceed, when Unit 1 sent a signal to get our act together, and we finally collected ourselves.

“…Excuse me? Are you done? Do you have any more questions?”

“Explain about Doctor Walter Sturgis. What’s your relationship with him?”

“Doctor Sturgis? He was my supervisor when I was in graduate school.”

The clones investigating the materials at Yurik’s house sent positive signals. I could see the name clearly engraved on his doctoral thesis.

We asked several more questions afterward, but there were no significant gains. He knew almost nothing about what we were inquiring, and even the bits he offered were superficial at best.

As it became evident that the interrogation was pointless, now half of the Violets started brainstorming where to release him and how to disguise our identities.

Unit 1, who had replaced the Violet on site, examined the bound Yurik. He was drenched in sweat, evidently from nerves.

With some time to spare, I compared his testimony with previous records and other transcripts. Was there anything else to ask?

Suddenly, I recalled a conversation that had taken place between the chairman and the doctor long ago.

‘…There’s no need for thanks. Doctor Sturgis, the ether wavelength and synchronization theory you proposed in your youth has greatly contributed to the great work.’

Unit 1 approached the microphone and sat down.

“Do you know what the ether wavelength-synchronization theory is?”

I recalled a previous discussion between the chairman and the doctor that was somewhat famous, but I couldn’t find any mentions of a theory with that name.

I searched academic journals and related papers, but the problematic Doctor Sturgis almost never mentioned the term. The similar words appeared only once or twice at most.

Initially, I thought perhaps the information had been purposefully erased, but it felt different. Had it just been conceived?

Throwing the question out without expectation, Yurik pondered for a moment before he finally spoke.

“…The ether wavelength-synchronization theory? I heard about it during my graduate studies.”

“Explain it.”

“It’s nothing special. My professor occasionally mentioned it to me or others. He said he was preparing something important, and it seemed like the concept he had been formulating since his younger days was finally starting to yield results. That was the name of the theory.”

“The name has never been mentioned once in the papers or presentations published by the doctor.”

“Is that so…? It’s not surprising. The professor said he wasn’t sure yet either. He mentioned that it was only theoretically possible in a natural state…”

“So what does that theory propose?”

I urged him in a threatening tone. I could see Yurik’s pallid face as he struggled to recall something.

“Ah… He only briefly explained it. Each Awakened One emits a unique wavelength of magical power, and the differences in this wavelength’s changes or characteristics distinguish between just an Awakened One and one who possesses a unique ability. So, if you can adjust and synchronize the ether wavelengths according to the person, you might be able to create the same unique ability.”

Ah, I see. I don’t really get it.

As we clasped our heads in confusion, it slowly became dawn outside.

While the silent Violets mulled it over, a cautious request came from one corner of the warehouse.

“Um, could you let me go now? I’ve told you everything you wanted me to…”

“What about him?”

“Let’s just put him to sleep. Let’s think it over for a bit…”

The Violets approached and poured a drink laced with sleeping pills into Yurik’s mouth. He hesitated for a moment but soon swallowed the water. A little later, he fell back to sleep.

“…We need to escape.”

After thinking I had escaped from the status of a test subject, I realized I still remained a test subject.

I thought I had gained freedom after escaping from the research facility.

I was mistaken. I had merely switched from one chalet to an even bigger one.

I knew it would collapse. Yet, I didn’t expect it to happen so soon.

If my hypothesis were correct, if my deductions were certain, this academy would soon come to ruin.

Polaris Comprehensive Academy would face its destruction in three months.

Maybe even sooner.

Whatever the case, it was doomed. I should prepare to pack my bags and flee.