Minoru woke up in the middle of the night. The cause was not any physiological need. He was stirred by a murmuring voice deep in his mind.
Are you awake, Minoru/us?
A wry smile spread across Minoru’s lips.
Raymond? What do you want at this hour?
It was important to note that Minoru didn’t recognize the voices in his mind as “Raymond/us.”
You don’t seem surprised, Raymond remarked. I thought this would be the first time talking within our collective consciousness.
It’s my first conversation with another parasite, but not my first time hearing voices, Minoru said.
That can’t be right, Raymond insisted.
Minoru chuckled softly at the confusion in the American teenager’s voice.
You thought telepathy couldn’t cross national borders, didn’t you?
Minoru didn’t mean this mockingly, but the lack of politeness in his telepathy, which differed starkly from how he spoke verbally, made Raymond misinterpret Minoru’s tone as condescending. This sort of misunderstanding didn’t usually happen among parasites with the same consciousness.
That’s where you’re wrong, Minoru continued. Telepathy can definitely cross borders. The fact that the will to merge interfered with me is proof of that. The issue is that when crossing borders, the consciousness can’t understand telepathy as meaningful words. Funny enough, human telepathy is a different story. This is just one of many of the limitations of our parasite abilities.
I had no idea… Raymond murmured.
My theory is that translation doesn’t work properly during transmission from the parasite’s core to its human host’s consciousness, Minoru explained.
Within their shared consciousness, both Raymond and Regulus were rendered speechless.
But that doesn’t matter right now, Minoru said. You’ve made contact with me on such a deep level. There must be something you want to talk to me about.
How do you know all that? Raymond sputtered. I thought you/we are the only parasite in Japan!
There’s one more, Minoru replied calmly. It’s completely sealed away right now, but sometimes it screams in agony when it’s being used in an experiment. I wish I could help it, but there’s a powerful barrier in my way.
Minoru was referring to the parasite in the Yotsuba family’s possession. Its seal, created from Yotsuba mental interference magic, was beyond even Minoru’s parasite-enhanced abilities. Besides, he didn’t even know where this parasite was being held.
Raymond and Regulus fell silent again. Minoru realized he had been greatly underestimated. Of course, the other two heard his thoughts.
Don’t get us wrong, a rushed voice interjected. It’s not that we think little of you/us.
It was Regulus speaking, but Raymond’s telepathic voice was also mixed in.
That’s okay. Minoru nodded. So what’s the matter?
Although Minoru could hear Raymond’s thoughts, he pressed the American teen to state them explicitly for formality’s sake.
We may have individual bodies, Raymond began, but we’re all one living entity. Our intentions should be unified.
Minoru neither agreed nor disagreed. He understood that Raymond and Regulus were this way, but he refused to join them. If he could not remain himself, he couldn’t turn Minami into a parasite. If he couldn’t use his parasite abilities to heal her, there was no meaning in becoming a parasite himself.
Minoru had no intention of denying Raymond and Regulus’s way of being. He simply refused to be included in the “we” and “us” that Raymond referred to.
We intend to eliminate Tatsuya Shiba, Raymond pressed. We need your/our will to be unified!
Suddenly, a wave of thoughts surged into Minoru’s mind. These weren’t just Raymond’s and Regulus’s thoughts. Although they were unaware of it, their minds were still connected with their teammates in the USNA. The collective consciousness of all the parasites at the Stars’ main base rushed in, bombarding Minoru’s psyche. Overt resistance would only lead to the dozens of whispers and unified thoughts overwhelming his consciousness.
Among the myriad thoughts, the most prevalent was the intent to eliminate Tatsuya Shiba. This made sense, given that the Stars had been informed of the strategic-class magician’s threat. Minoru used his strongest wish to face the overwhelming wave of thoughts and combat the collective intent that sought to consume him.
He did not want Minami, per se. Neither did he have any longing to claim Minami as his own. He only wished to save a girl in the same predicament as himself. It was this selfless desire to help someone in need that had led him to abandon his humanity. Because his motivation was for the sake of someone other than himself, he was able to fight off the temptations of the collective thoughts.
Personality was formed through learned behavior. It was shaped by how an individual regulated and channeled their core desires and impulses within their psyche. This process involved deciding what to forbid and what to allow, and it evolved through social and interpersonal interactions that either conformed to or resisted outside influences.
To cast off constraints and live as a being separate from humans driven by desires meant succumbing to those very temptations if they were at the core. It was precisely because Minoru’s motivation was for someone other than himself that he managed to preserve his sense of self.
It was an instantaneous battle that seemed to last for an eternity.
In the realm of the mind, time could not be measured. It was composed of points, rather than a continuous line. The mind could only process the concepts of “a long time” and “a single moment.”
At the end of the eternal mental struggle, Minoru continued to hold his ground.
Raymond, he said, I need you to help me. I’ll bring the girl here first. We can deal with Tatsuya after that.
Fine, Raymond replied. I/we will follow your will.
Minoru maintained his sense of self, but he wasn’t completely unaffected.
Humans, too, could be influenced after hearing the same thing hundreds of times. No matter how someone may deny it, their empathy gradually started to grow.
Even Minoru was not immune to such human weaknesses. He may have insisted on maintaining his identity despite losing his humanity, but he continued to carry his initial strengths and weaknesses.
We’ll get rid of Tatsuya after that, he said.
After being repeatedly bombarded with the demand to eliminate Tatsuya, Minoru’s consciousness was unwittingly guided toward a new goal.