Cat and Rose - Cat & Rose - Chapter 5 - To Our Motherland Far Away (1)

Chapter 5 – To Our Motherland Far Away (1)

Right then, Ling Yi was coincidentally passing by in the corridor. With his superhuman hearing, he naturally heard Lin Si and Seth’s conversation in complete clarity.

Clutching the doorframe, he yelled out, “Lin Si is evil!”

Lin Si turned to him, half-smiling, and thought, This little one’s getting braver and braver each day.

Upon seeing the expression he found most frightening, Ling Yi immediately scurried away.

Docking was a success, but the damage Area 6 had suffered was so great that its battered outer shell only appeared incompatible with the main hull.

After the cabin door opened, Zheng Shu walked over in haste steps and hugged Lin Si. “Welcome back.”

Lin Si said, “Level seven damage—you’ll probably be very busy soon.”

“Don’t worry about it—as long as you’re all safe and sound. The other members…” Zheng Shu swept his eyes over the several youths, counting their numbers. “Everyone has returned. It’s truly a miracle.”

An uneasy look flickered across Lin Si’s face. “…Actually, there’s one more.”

“Hm?”

“The little one in cabin 97 woke up.” Lin Si pressed the spot between his eyebrows. “He obtained a strong mutation and doesn’t remember anything. It’s quite troublesome. Right now it wouldn’t be appropriate to relocate him to the military, so I have to obtain guardianship from Süss.”

The moment his words fell, a scream could be heard from behind Zheng Shu.

“Lin!” The blonde female assistant rushed over and drew him into a hug. “God bless you!”

After she finished hugging Lin Si, she looked at Ling Yi.

“My cutie…little fairy…” She looked at Ling Yi, captivated. “I can’t believe you’ve woken up. We tried everything we could to stimulate you, but you never opened your eyes.”

Ling Yi looked at the overly passionate woman in front of him, a little stiff.

“I’ll go hand in the logbook.” Lin Si organised his files, then told his assistant: “Beattie, take him for a full-body test.”

“Okay.” Beattie grabbed Ling Yi’s hand. “Come with me, cutie.”

Ling Yi was still too unfamiliar with these people, hence even though he disliked him very much, he could only turn his eyes to Lin Si, the only person he was familiar with.

Lin Si ruffled his hair. “Listen to her. I’ll pick you up after the test.”

When the experiment result was a success, each subject must go through a number of detailed evaluations, from sensory acuity and muscle strength to nerve response speed, and even things not typically seen in regular tests such as neuron quantity.

Many of the tests required extremely difficult precision instruments. This was not Lin Si’s area, but rather the expertise of his assistant Beattie, hence all this time it hadn’t been conducted.

The many handover procedures were already quite tedious. After that, losses also had to be reported to Area 2, who were responsible for resource coordination, and the replacements for laboratory instruments, tools, and materials had to be applied for as well. In addition, Lin Si had to deal with the many well-wishes from his colleagues for his narrow escape from death. By the time he finished his work, Ling Yi was also brought out of the testing room by Beattie.

The little thing’s eyes were red from indignation. When he saw Lin Si, he pouted.

“She poked me…”

Now he no longer held a grudge and realised who his caretaker was at last. The test required a lot of probe insertion; compared to that, the previous blood draws were simply a quibble-worthy matter.

When Ling Yi looked hard at Lin Si and saw that Lin Si was not wearing a mean look, he even approached him at his own accord. After a few steps, the tears immediately fell—he broke free from Beattie’s hold, threw himself into Lin Si’s arms, and began to bawl.

As the child’s larynx was yet to fully develop, he heaved in sobs while hiccuping, “You…you gave me…t-to the…bad lady…”

At a loss whether to cry or laugh, Lin Si reached out and stroked Ling Yi’s spine, a little concerned he was gasping so hard that he would inhale himself in.

Beattie looked at him with affection. “Such a good boy.”

Then she immediately switched to a serious expression and relayed the test results to Lin Si. “Lin, the results are extremely shocking. Far beyond what we imagined. The military will go nuts over this.”

With a beep, the communicator on Lin Si’s wrist projected the test results in three-dimensional view, the pages rolling upwards automatically.

Even though he had made preparations before, there was still some data that exceeded LIn Si’s predictions.

“Some data was left blank. His cell shape had changed to the point where our machines couldn’t detect it,” Beattie said. “Lin, have you imagined where the limits of humans lie? If we can clone this mutation—”

“It’s difficult,” Lin Si said. “His mutation was completed almost instantly, and there had also been a strong adaptive reaction. There is no way for us to complete the modification in such a short period of time.”

To modify DNA was to dance in shackles on the tip of a needle. If the DNA chain broke down abnormally, the synthesis of proteins would stop—and if the supply of key enzymes exceeded the demand, cells would only die at rapid speed.

“If we keep the key sequence…” Lin Si frowned slightly. “But first, we’ll need the military to pass phase three of the limitless plan.”

“This is a work of art created by a black hole,” Beattie said, gazing admiringly at Ling Yi, “and yet he looks like a little angel.”

The aforementioned little angel was still sobbing and out of breath.

Beattie smiled and shook her head. “What’s his mental age? I can find Adelaide later and have him take a look.”

“There’s no need.” Lin Si patted Ling Yi on the back. “His genes haven’t stopped changing, and his mind’s been developing each day.”

“The military will definitely pass the phase three plan. We can see hope from this accidental mutation.”

“They won’t.” Lin Si’s tone was cool.

He removed Ling Yi from his hold. “I’ll be gone for a bit.”

Ling Yi shook his head vehemently. “I’m…I’m scared.”

Lin Si raised his eyebrows. “Did you hear what we were saying?”

Ling Yi nodded.

“You’re rather special,” said Lin Si, lifting his chin expressionlessly. “If you refuse injections, then the only thing left is dissection.”

The little thing was so frightened that he forgot to cry.

“Only the most inexperienced parents will scare their children like this.” Beattie smiled, shaking her head. “Come baby, I’ll take you to eat. None of us will hurt you.”

Ling Yi was pulled along by Beattie, turning around every three steps as he left.

Lin Si stayed where he was, still looking at the test data.

Ling Yi possessed unimaginable bodily functions. But he himself wasn’t aware of it, nor was he able to use it—apart from that time when he had just woken up and was in a disoriented state.

He needed a highly professional training regimen, but the military couldn’t be fully entrusted with it. They would only use him as a humanoid weapon and cultivate him into a monster. Area 6 would also need to conduct more in-depth research on his mutation…

Lin Si tapped the send button on the communicator. A notice popped up on the interface: “Marshal Süss of Area has received your message.” He tapped a few more times, closed the communicator, and walked towards the rainbow bridge leading to Area 3.

Lin Si arrived at the office of the highest in command in Area 3, knocked on the door twice, and heard a steady and powerful voice from the inside. “Come in.”

The owner of the voice, Marshal Süss, was fifty-seven years old. He had stiff iron-grey hair cropped short, rough and sharp features, a beard, and a strong build. At this moment, he was donned in a black military uniform, sitting behind a large desk and looking through the data.

He lifted his greyish blue eyes. “I’m happy that you’re able to return, but if you are still insisting on that foolish experiment, I advise you to get out immediately.”

“I’ve always been confused about one thing, Marshal,” Lin Si said steadily. “What was it that caused your prejudice towards ‘limitless’ all this time?”

“It’s not that I’m prejudiced.” Marshal Süss rapped the knuckle of his index finger against the table. “I hope for you to devote yourself to projects that have practical use to us, such as the Lundis force field of Area 1, or the Lucia system and the neuron machinery of Area 5. Lin Si, I’ve also been confused about this—why don’t you devote your focus to other areas?”

“We still don’t have any information about the destination planet. We only theorise that it is habitable, and we aren’t even certain if there exists any indigenous inhabitants,” Lin Si said. “Other areas can create weapons and develop materials for shelters, but Area 6 knows nothing about nuclear reactions nor machines, so we can only strengthen the human itself.”

Lin Si met Marshal Süss’ eyes. “Surviving there might be difficult, and there could also exist viruses that our immune system cannot cope with. Taking many steps back, the high-lethality weapons in Area 5 are also very difficult to use. Ordinary soldiers cannot maximise their effectiveness. Although I was away, the second batch of subjects should’ve served in the military for many days already. I don’t believe that you cannot see their superiority.”

“I acknowledge their excellence, but you must stop!” Marshal Süss’ tone grew harsher. “Other scientific research areas are all doing their part for our technological civilization, but you—you have overstepped the boundaries of ethics!”

He pointed at Lin Si’s test data. “You tell me—how can he still be considered human?”

“As opposed to limitless, I would actually prefer to study viruses, but it’s a shame that you’ve long since banned me from all virus-related projects,” he enunciated each word steadily. “You aren’t rejecting the development of human genetics, nor are you stubborn. You just don’t trust me. You always suspect that I’m secretly plotting an insurrection, trying to form an army of mutants, or trying to unleash a virus. Marshal, perhaps you worry too much. I’m just a doctor.”

“A doctor who once pointed a nuclear gun at the spaceship’s master controls?” The Marshal sneered. “Do you want me to show you the video recording from over a century ago?”

“But I let it go in the end and chose to be frozen,” said Lin Si. “I still believe that I am a qualified doctor. Even if the person lying on the operating table is my nemesis, I will not deliberately plunge the scalpel into their stomach.”

He continued. “I don’t need an approval letter for the phase three plan, but I must have the guardianship for this child.”

“He’s too dangerous,” said the Marshal.

“He’s not dangerous at all.”

“You want me to hand over his guardianship from the military to you, so you can continue to study his body, use his genes as a blueprint, and quietly carry out your phase three plan?” said the Marshal, his voice containing suppressed anger.

“I can at least raise him as a human being. The military will only cultivate him as a killing machine.”

“Forgive me, but I cannot trust you. You will instill in him hatred for the Voyager, and his destructive power is too great.”

“Why do I hate the Voyager?” Lin Si leaned towards the Marshal and enunciated each word. “Marshal, have you forgotten what you’ve done?”

“Be careful of what you say, Dr Lin.” Marshal Süss placed his hand on the black gun lying on his desk.

The sounds of hurried footsteps drew closer, and someone pushed open the office door. “How many times have I told you—you two are not allowed to meet alone without me!”

The one who arrived was Madam Chen, whose authority on the spaceship was equal to that of Marshal Süss. Her hair was slightly dishevelled after rushing here, and when she noticed the tense atmosphere as if a fight was about to break out, she said angrily, “It was the same last time. Can you two restrain your temper even a little?”

Lin Si straightened himself. “Marshal has prejudices towards me.”

The Marshal said, “My biggest mistake was giving approval to defrost him five years ago.”

Even the well-cultivated Madam Chen was at the end of her patience. “I hope you two can reconcile your misunderstandings and prejudices with each other in order to hold a peaceful discussion.”

“I’ve tried,” Lin Si said with a shrug. “I no longer hope for Marshal to give me permission for phase three of the experiment. I only wanted guardianship of an underage mutant to relieve my loneliness from not having a project to do, and yet he still thinks that I have malicious intentions.”

“Enough.” Madam Chen shook her head. “Süss, hand over the authority for this to me. Let me make the decisions. Lin Si, send the details over.”

“Thank you Madam.” When Lin Si opened his communicator, the first message that popped up was Beattie’s reply “Okay”. Above it was a message he had sent Beattie: “Tell Madam Chen I went to Area 3.”

The corners of his lips curved up in a faint smirk. He sent the details to Madam Chen, then said, “I’ll leave first, Madam. I can’t breathe the same air as Marshal for too long.”

Madam Chen nodded helplessly.

When Lin Si returned to his room, he discovered that Ling Yi had burrowed inside his blanket. For the past few days, this little one had been occupying his room, accompanied by Lucia, while Lin Si stayed in another. But now that Area 6’s personnel had all returned to their proper positions, there were no vacant rooms that could be allocated to Lin Si anymore.

Seeing him enter, Ling Yi buried his entire body beneath the blanket and rolled to one side of the bed.

LIn Si lifted the blanket.

Ling Yi shrank further inside.

Lin Si did not intend to play hide-and-seek with him, so he sat on the side and began to deal with the remaining affairs of Area 6.

After a while, Ling Yi peeked out of the quilt and looked at him curiously.

Intrigued by this little creature, Lin Si ignored him to see what he would do next.

Ling Yi stared for a good while, before finally opening his mouth and saying, “Beattie told me you were coming back to sleep with me.”

So he was trying to make space, Lin Si thought.

*

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