Chapter 206: Chapter 202: Apate

[T/W: Gore. Child Abuse]"Test Content 1: Durability. Instructing Robots Now."

I stood in the corner of the room with an upturned gaze as the mechanical voice began speaking. The vast area devoid of any life but that child's was only occupied by some robots.''

The machines swerving on the ground released a claw from their frame. One of them wrapped around the child's body and raised it up.

"Commencing Test."

The claw pulled the child back.

I looked to the wall on my side, crossing my arms. And right then, a thwack rang out in the room.

Splats of blood landed on the wall. With a gurgling sound, the child slid down the wall and fell to the ground right next to me.

I could still see the child's face. It was quite a strange feeling.

The face caved in from the pressure, smeared with blood from all ends.

I didn't think I was being affected by that other person, though.

After all.

There was a time when I could see too.

The robots wheeled over the ground and another one with a white frame approached the child. Its eyes buzzed and a green ray of light emerged as it scanned the condition of the child.

"Transferring Data."

Sadists.

"Test Subject Apate's endurance and durability are esteemed to be 1.5 times that of normal Hunter children. Administering Potion."

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"Test Content 2: Acceptance and effect of magical potions on the body."

The robot pulled out a beaker filled with a red potion and poured the contents of the beaker down on the child bleeding from every orifice.

"Uwaaah!"

Screams, huh? I guess things were different the very first time.

"E-error! We're facing an error!"

I took in a deep breath and peeled my eyes open. My body wanted to turn away right now and stop watching, but I forced myself to.

I forced myself to watch as the skin of the child that seemed barely a few days old started bubbling open. Like a cancerous overgrowth, the skin and the muscles expanded in all directions and started bloating up.

"Preserving Consciousness. Engaging unit 155455. All hand on emergency measures."

Another robot approached the child that continued bloating up to a size that now reached half my height, and immediately stabbed an injection into its head. As if lobotomizing the child, the robot tore through its skull and reached its brain.

Even in this obviously artificial, illusionistic state, I felt the contents of my stomach rising and a deep sense of vomit coming around. But I persevered.

The child continued expanding largely as the robots backed away, but its eyes closed down.

And in a few seconds, the child blew up.

The room was filled with blobs of flesh all around as its body was turned into a living bomb. Life flesh confetti, the body that had expanded rapidly was all over the place.

"The consciousness has been preserved in unit 155455. I hereby declare Apate 1.0 to be a failure. Cause, too receptive to healing potions."

More robots flooded into the room as unit 155455 was forcefully called outside. The new robots started cleaning the place at once.

Heaving a large sigh, I sat down.

And then the next day.

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"Congratulations to all researchers. Today, we shall start tests with Apate 1.1. Unit 155455 is now transferring the data back into the test subject."

In the cradle.

Was an all new child.

An all new me.

"Hah…"

I scoffed. Thus began my days of watching myself. Days I had tried my best to bury deep within.

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"Congratulations to all researchers. Today, we shall start tests with Apate 1.7…"

Day after day, my knees jerked.

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Congratulations to all researchers. Today, we shall start tests with Apate 4.1…"

In a world where science had harmonized with magic of levels unseen before.

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Congratulations to all researchers. Today, we shall start tests with Apate 17.1. 3…"

I rolled my body in as the days passed, and my lips dried.

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Congratulations to all researchers. Today, we shall start tests with Apate 41.0…"

Where magic could heal one over and over. In this secret place funded by the worst of the world.

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Congratulations to all researchers. Today, we shall start tests with Apate 115.9.4… "

Over and over, where they could make something from just one thing over and over.

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Congratulations to all researchers…"

"The body of the Apate 155.4.5.1 is officially deemed a success."

An entire year passed

***

"Apate. What is 13 multiplied by 17."

"Uh… is it 221?"

"Correct. Next…"

The next phase of the test had begun.

After the physical body was ensured, its growth inside the same was to be fixed. Thankfully, the entire year of pulling out the same consciousness and developing it had not only given them a lot of research data to fix things on the body, but also a lot of research data to develop the mind.

And so, Apate was a natural all-star.

With my knees pressed into my chest and my hand wrapped around it, I looked at Apate with a slight smile. Living around with only robots was quite confusing, but in just one year, not only had it picked up English, but was also pretty good with math.

They could have embedded chips and whatnot in the body, but those would be impossible to fine-tune in all the gates and the spells that Apate was supposed to be subjected to.

Things looked bright for the researchers as more and more time passed.

Those researchers who had ruined many models of the body just for amusement after the stress of many failures were finally all happy.

Their brainwashing worked well too. No empathy for any other race, no need for many emotions. They thought it was all working well, after all, they couldn't pull out the mind again.

"Apate, what do you think of this family picture?"

"Nothing."

"Do you think this child resembles you?"

"No."

"What do you resemble then?"

"Nothing—Ack!"

"Negative. Apate, you are a human being. You have the same rights and same duties as a human being. You must protect your creators with utmost importance, is that clear?"

"Yes."

"What do you resemble?"

"I am a human being."

"Very good, Apate. You are going to be the strongest human being."

I felt my heart clenching at those words.

I knew well.

I knew very well. That this Apate too, was but a failure. From the very beginning, the consciousness these idiots had conceived was a failure.

Though, they had another failure coming right up.

As five years passed and my eyes grew heavy.

As five years passed and I felt a scraggly beard sticking out of my face and grime and blood surrounding my entire body as I sat in the corner.

As five years passed, the time for the child to finally cultivate a core came.

The failure announced itself.

"A… Apate unit 155.4.5.1…" The mechanical voice had lost its touch for the first time. "Is unable to sense Ki… T-this unit… is hereby deemed a failure…"

"Hahaha…" A chuckle left me without knowing. "Hahaha…. hahaha…. HAHAHA! Failure, stupid fucking failure! HAHAHA!"

That stupid child was looking around all confused.

It made me laugh even harder.

Even harder.

After five odd years, unit 155455 came around.

"HAHAHA!"

As the head of the child was cut off from its body.

I continued laughing.

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"Apate unit 155.4.5.2 is deemed a failure…"

Every.

"Apate unit 155.4.5.3 is deemed a failure…"

Five.

"Apate unit 155.4.5.4 is deemed a failure…"

Years.

"Apate unit 155.4.5.5…"

My laughs spread through this trash place.

"Is deemed a failure…"

"FUCK!" The sound from the speakers rang out. "I've been trying for twenty years!! THIS FUCKING BASTARD!"

"Sir, sir!"

The robots in the room haphazardly moved around.

Was it already this time?

The robots pulled out their claws and weapons and neared the child.

"Fuck fuck fuck! If only you were strong! If only you could be strong you son of a bitch!"

Over and over, the weapons and the robots swung down on the child.

I watched without letting a laugh seep out as the blood and flesh spread over again.

"Aren't you made from the strongest people!? The fucking top hero and top villain gave their DNA to make you! T-they already have a child you fucking bastard! Why aren't you strong? You're useless! USELESS!"

The weapons made not to hunt but to control now hammered down on the child.

"If only you were strong!"

Soon, the other researchers joined in too.

"If only you were strong!"

Swing.

"If only you were strong!"

And swing again.

"If only you were strong!"

Over.

"If only you were strong!"

And over.

"If only you were strong!"

"If only you were strong!"

"If only you were strong!""If only you were strong!""If only you were strong!"

Until the child convulsed.

And fell limp.

After twenty-one years, I placed my hands on the wall and lifted my body from the ground. It ached, but I had to move.

"Hah…" A laughed.

This time, though.

My laugh wasn't directed at the failure.

"THIS IS THE INTERNATIONAL HUNTER ORGANISATION! PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR RIGHT NOW!"

A loud bang resounded in the room as the wall I was near collapsed. Through the speakers came again the sounds of the intruders.

"For illegal human experimentation, you are all under arrest!"

The accursed sound of the people who had funded this very experimentation rang out.

In no time at all, they were moving around and breaking down everything. Stealing and destroying the hundreds of other samples in the place, the hundreds of other experiments in the place.

And so, they didn't notice.

A small robot running away with a brutally beaten-up child.