2001 The Children of Bottle

by Ryohgo Narita

  “Well, now. What’s going to become of us?”

  Maiza asked the question calmly, as if he was more than used to this sort of situation.

  “It’s fine, no worries. He won’t shoot us on sight.”

  Elmer was still sitting down in the bed of the truck, stroking the sleeping Fil’s head and smiling.

  “…So keep your knife where it is for now.”

  “Understood.”

  Maiza’s hand left his hip, and he waited for the security guard to make his move. However, a few seconds later, they heard a door open at the front of the vehicle. The guard’s eyes cut to the door momentarily—and then, as if nothing had happened, he turned his back on them.

  As if it had taken the place of the retreating security guard, they heard a dark, solemn voice that seemed filled with condensed fatigue.

  “So you’re Elmer’s companion, then?”

  When Maiza glanced in the direction of the voice, an old man with a large build was standing there. He held a pair of goggles and a mask, which he had likely just removed, and it was clear that this was the individual who’d been driving.

  The old man looked into the bed of the truck and saw Elmer—who’d raised a hand and was smiling—and the girl who slept beside him. At the sight of Fil’s face, relaxed in sleep, the old man exhaled heavily. He wore a complicated expression.

  Then he turned to Maiza and introduced himself, but…

  When Maiza heard the old man’s name, the temperature of his expression cooled rapidly.

  “I am Bilt Quates. I’m responsible for this forest. That said, I go by a different name in the official family register.”

  Sensing the increasing noise around me, the me who’d accompanied Master Elmer wakes up.

  It wasn’t the time when I usually slept, but, either because I’d worn myself out with excitement or because the swaying bed of the truck had rocked me, I’d been fast asleep.

  I’m still in the bed of the truck, and the view out the back is familiar.

  I have clear memories here. This is where I always came to die.

  Master Quates is standing in front of Master Maiza. How many years has it been since I last saw him? The person who kills me, then brings me back to life. He never told me anything more, and for my part, I never felt like asking him. However, with the mood I’m in now, I might be able to talk to him about all sorts of things.

  I’m feeling very good today, and most important of all, Master Elmer and Master Maiza are with me.

  Still…

  Why does Master Maiza look so stern?

  I’ve never seen him that way before.

  At the idea that something bad might be about to happen, a slight unease begins churning in my heart.

  Now I think I understand why Master Elmer is so particular about smiles.

  When Master Maiza looks like that, it makes me nervous, too.

  Please smile, Master Maiza. Please smile…

  “So yeah, to put it bluntly, that man is a descendant of old Szilard… Although I hear he never met him.”

  As they walked through the storehouse, Elmer delivered a matter-of-fact explanation.

  “Their faces look similar, don’t they? I tell ya, the first time I snuck into the truck and came here, it made me jump. Well, I was plenty startled when the guards surrounded me and beat me up, too, but anyways.”

  “……”

  Ordinarily, Maiza would have met Elmer’s banter with a forced smile, but now he didn’t even seem to hear it. He just gravely followed the old man.

  However, Elmer wasn’t the least bit deterred, and he kept blabbing away with a tongue that was even more loquacious than it had been a moment ago.

  “C’mon, Maiza, don’t look so scary. This old guy…well, ‘old guy,’ sure, but we’re older than he is. Anyway, he’s got nothing to do with Szilard anymore. He’s a commendable fellow who’s devoted his life to carrying out his parents’ wishes, even though it’s not work he personally wanted to do.”

  “Work?”

  Maiza’s voice surged with a severity he would normally never have shown.

  “…You mean isolating people who know nothing in the middle of the woods?”

  “Calm down. You’re scaring Fil.”

  When Maiza came back to himself with a jolt and widened his field of vision, he saw Fil, following them as if she were hiding behind Elmer, wearing a vaguely frightened expression.

  “…I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t apologize. If you’re going to say you’re sorry, just smile for her the way you always do. That’ll make Fil feel better, too.”

  Elmer grinned and thumped the girl on the back, and the sight seemed to help Maiza regain his composure. He gave a somewhat awkward, slightly troubled smile.

  As if responding to it, the old man who’d introduced himself as Bilt began to speak.

  “Where should I start…?”

  Bilt Quates. He was a descendant of Szilard Quates, the man who’d once gained immortality along with Maiza and eaten many of their companions onboard the ship.

  Bilt’s grandfather had been one of Szilard’s descendants and his capable assistant.

  Not content with an immortal body, Szilard had begun working to create a homunculus in order to fulfill his own thirst for knowledge.

  It was said that perfect homunculi were miniature people raised in flasks, and that in exchange for having all the knowledge in the universe, they were unable to live outside these flasks.

  Realizing that some of the knowledge he’d eaten contained information regarding homunculi, Szilard had intensified his research, seeking perfect knowledge.

  However, even if he did have eternity, it would have been too inefficient for him to continue his research alone. To that end, he’d had his own descendant and other competent assistants pursue a variety of research.

  That said, he never let another alchemist research his own immortality. He’d used chemists with no knowledge of alchemy to compound his liquor as well, not even allowing his own scion to take part in the work.

  Bilt’s grandfather had worked under this untrusting man, and one day, based on a theory Szilard had given him, he had succeeded in creating a type of homunculus. He had used Szilard’s immortal cells as a catalyst, and the homunculus was immortal as well…but it had sorely lacked the all-important “perfect knowledge.”

  “After that, they made and got rid of several similar specimens, and apparently, in the end, old Szilard made a female homunculus called Ennis or Eris or something. I say ‘in the end’ because…shortly after that, he dropped out of touch completely.

  “My grandfather had originally conducted his research in America, but he took that opportunity to return to this country, where the Quates family resided. Then, using Szilard’s connections and the property the Quates family still had—well, that would be this land. At any rate, my grandfather made use of those, moved to this region, and continued his research independently.

  “Then, for the sake of a certain plan, he threw away all his assets and started development work in the forest. That plan was an experiment regarding homunculi.”

  Their research had been conducted in order to discover two things: a perfect homunculus and immortality.

  To that end, they’d created two varieties of homunculus. Both had been created using a solution known as “the failure” as a base.

  It had been a flawed immortality elixir: It granted an imperfect immortality, one that could not stop aging.

  This had held a hint regarding the homunculi they made. The elixir brought about immortality by fusing the cells with something in another dimension: To borrow the vocabulary of magic, the immortality resulted from being “possessed” by some sort of colony that regenerated infinitely. Szilard had understood this and had directed his research accordingly. Another world—there was no telling whether it was a multiverse or some completely different element. Because a being known as a “demon” was apparently involved, someone had floated the wild theory
that it was a demon realm.

  However…simply understanding this hadn’t helped them make any progress in the homunculus research, and once Szilard was gone, their work had reached a total impasse. Even so, as they continued the research on their own, they’d come to a realization. That “someplace else” that acted as the foundation for immortal bodies… Would it be possible to make the minds of sentient beings in that place possess multiple bodies on this side?

  They’d pursued that line of research, and as a result, they had created two types of imperfect homunculi.

  One type was male, and it grew just as humans did. The other was female and did not grow, but it had a short life span. At the end of their research, they’d managed to keep it from getting older than a certain age, but only in terms of appearance. In exchange, its life was drastically shortened…and in order to compensate for that flaw, they constantly kept five bodies “live.”

  “In other words, that’s Fil.”

  In very sophisticated tones, Elmer stated that fact as if he were giving the answer to a quiz question.

  Arriving at a certain door, Bilt began to punch a code number into the electronic keypad beside it. As they waited, Elmer continued his explanation, calmly adding his own theories as he went.

  “When one body ‘aged’—or, well, there was no change in its appearance, but anyway—when its health failed and it seemed close to death, Fil was supposed to return to this laboratory. They’d estimated the rough times for that on this end of things as well.”

  As if to confirm this, Maiza looked at Fil, but she only gave a small nod. She didn’t seem to feel any particular emotion about it.

  Patting her head lightly, Elmer went on.

  “Have you ever played video games? If you compare it to that, it’s like working two controllers by yourself, playing two roles on your own. Then, if one character dies, you keep playing with the other character, and while you’re doing that, you hit Continue. For example: You know how subway entrances are scattered all over the place aboveground, but underground, they’re all connected? In this case, the aboveground entrances are these kids’ bodies, and underground—in other words, in that other world—their minds are all connected.”

  Just as Elmer finished speaking, the door in front of the four of them opened with a motorized whirr.

  What they saw inside was…

  “…I thought things like this only existed in movies or comic books.”

  Maiza was looking at a row of enormous tanks, each of which could easily hold a human being. Most were empty, but several were filled with an aqueous solution, and he realized that each of these had a mass of some sort floating inside it.

  “This is…”

  They were shaped like human children. Their bodies were curled up, and they looked like fetuses in the womb. The fleshy tube that stretched from each one’s bellybutton ran down to the bottom of the tank, where it disappeared into something that resembled reddish-brown mud.

  Maiza examined the body carefully—and although he’d half expected it, his face clouded slightly.

  The face of the girl floating in the tank bore a strong resemblance to Fil’s.

  “They aren’t clones, see, so they don’t have the same faces. Even so, due to the environment and the human cells used as a catalyst, they end up looking as similar as sisters. Anyway, when a body dies, it’s put through a special treatment process inside this tank and turns into a clump of flesh like the one at the bottom. I’d really rather not use the word with regard to people, but it’s what you’d call recycling.”

  When Elmer had explained that much, Bilt produced a small glass bottle.

  “This is the ‘water’ that serves as a catalyst to link their wills.”

  The bottle held a clear liquid. As far as appearances went, it was almost impossible to tell it apart from tap water.

  “…It looks like plain water to me.”

  “The stuff that made our bodies like this looked like plain liquor, didn’t it? Even if it was the failed version, it was the basis for creating this, so it’s only natural, no?”

  “You do have a point.”

  After Elmer and Maiza’s exchange had ended, Bilt went on with his tale.

  “When ‘empty’ bodies absorb this water, they are possessed… Even if we only give them a single drop. In other words, the girls’ memories and experiences accumulate in this. In that sense, it might be safe to say that this water is their true form.”

  “True form? Then you mean this water has a will, too?”

  In response to Maiza’s question, Elmer spoke up from the side. He seemed to be itching to say something; his eyes were even livelier than usual:

  “No, the water doesn’t have a will. It doesn’t have a brain to think with, or nerves to feel with, or flesh or lips or ears or eyes. To use another game analogy, the water’s more like save data. Once it pours information into the bodies—the ‘characters’—they start to move. It makes them able to feel things, and to think. If it has a human brain, it gains the same capacity for thought as humans have.”

  As he thought about what that meant, Maiza fell silent. When Elmer saw this, he regarded the older man, seeing right through him.

  “From our perspective, it’s probably a really smart being. After all, it can use five human brains at once, or maybe even more. I wonder what would happen if it was released from our restrictions and showed up as whatever it actually looks like over there. Would it think in a completely different way from what we’re used to? …Or maybe it’s not actually sentient at all, and it’s just operating on some survival program like your average insect. Maybe it learns human words and speaks simply in order to survive. That was a possibility, too, but…”

  When he’d said as much, Elmer patted Fil—who’d been listening silently behind him—on the shoulder. She didn’t appear to have followed the conversation completely and seemed perplexed about a few things. She’d probably had trouble understanding once he’d started in with the game analogies. Of course, since she had absolutely no knowledge of video games, expecting her to understand from what she’d heard would have been unreasonable.

  Elmer smiled warmly at her, then turned back to Maiza and continued, “But I don’t think it’s like that—or, honestly, I don’t think it matters either way. No matter what sort of being she was over there, she’s herself. She’s a little clumsy about life, but at heart, she’s kind, and she’s always thinking about other people. Right, Maiza?”

  In response to that question, Maiza also looked into Fil’s eyes and smiled.

  “Agreed.”

  For a little while, Maiza examined the tanks. Then he spoke to Bilt, his expression intent.

  “All right… Why did you show this to me? What do you want me to do?”

  It was Elmer who answered the question.

  “It’s simple: Mr. Bilt doesn’t have a whole lot longer to live. Well, I mean, from our perspective. Anyway, once he dies, this experiment will be over. There’s nobody to pass it on to, and he wants to end it, anyway. In that case, although there’ll be lots of confusion, he can just let the villagers go and that’ll be that, but… Before he does it, at the very least, he says he wants to save Fil.”

  Picking up where Elmer had left off, Bilt began to tell his side of the story, a bit guiltily.

  “I was always uneasy about the fact that my father and grandfather had thrown themselves into this terrible research with no hesitation whatsoever… No, I’m not saying Fil is terrible. I hear they made two groups of homunculi in the pursuit of ‘perfect knowledge.’ If they had them live forever, changing bodies as they went, they thought they’d accumulate experience and knowledge, and that in the end, they might be very close to homunculi in the true sense of the word. Based on that idea, they attempted to create a real homunculus. And so, to that end, my grandfather and father began a terrible experiment, backed by their abundant property and the connections our ancestor—Szilard—had made within the government.”

 
; Almost as if he was frightened of his own sins, Bilt began trembling violently.

  “In exchange for sizable debts and similar things, they ‘bought’ a large number of people. Many of them had children who had just been born! Then they forced them to become ‘residents’ of this isolated space. In some cases, they seem to have used other methods, more direct than money… However, I wasn’t there. When this village was created, I was still a very young child.”

  Maiza simply accepted the old man’s long confession in silence. However, when he saw that the man had stopped talking for a moment, he asked a question in a grave, quiet voice.

  “…Why did they go to the trouble of establishing that village?”

  “It’s a simulation.”

  Elmer fielded that question frankly, although Maiza’s face was dark.

  “They probably didn’t want to toss the homunculi they’d created out into the world just like that. First, I bet they wanted to let them acquire a certain amount of knowledge in a ‘miniature garden’ that they had complete control over, and to study their growth processes when they interacted with people.”

  “Just for that? They wouldn’t have needed to make an entire village… Couldn’t they have managed without resorting to human trafficking?”

  “They were probably nervous. They wanted to keep it all to themselves. Yeah, if the ‘liquor of immortality’ hadn’t been involved, I bet things would have turned out differently, but, well, apparently everyone who gets involved with immortality goes a little crazy. Long story short: Mr. Bilt’s dad and granddad didn’t want any information about the liquor of immortality to get out. In other words, they weren’t planning to let a single person who was involved in this research leave.”

  Ignoring Elmer’s masochistic smile, Bilt resumed his monologue, looking even more downcast.

  “I always thought I needed to put an end to this, but…I was afraid; I couldn’t do it! When I think that I’ll have to atone for this horrible sin by myself, now that both my father and grandfather are dead… But until five years ago, when Elmer stowed away in my truck and came here—until he told me what the village was like—I never dreamed Fil was being treated that way! When she came here at the end of her lives, I didn’t notice any sign of that sort of thing… If I’d asked, she might have told me, but I didn’t even do that. Out of guilt over what I was doing, I intentionally avoided the child. It may do no good for me to say something like this at this late date, but at least, at the very least, I want this girl to be happy… If nothing else, I wanted to atone for that.”