“Why do you know about all of this stuff? About the Nucleus, that emergency system…”
“Because I’m the Eliminator left behind by the Creator.”
A-Ka almost zapped his own fingers. “Wh-what?”
Heishi was still playing with the knife in his hand and not lifting his head. “I wasn’t named ‘Heishi.’ Heishi is what the adventurers who ventured into the Primeval Heart called the other laboratory they created.”
“Wait, you… You’ve remembered your own past?”
“No. This segment of memory isn’t from my own brain, but it was something that the records in the Primeval Heart told me. After all, I have no way of knowing about things that happened outside my chamber while I slumbered.”
“So, what’s your real name?”
“I don’t have one. You gave me the name Heishi, so you can call me that. My creators programmed me to eliminate all of the unexpected changes to the petri dish caused by unforeseen processes.”
“Then…how long have you lived for?”
“For longer than you think. Every five thousand years, I awaken once to check if the Primeval Heart has been disturbed.”
At this point, A-Ka had wholly forgotten about the chip; his eyes were locked only on Heishi. “So, your body is so well-built because you’re not human.”
“Not only that, I can understand pieces of knowledge that humans are unable to wrap their heads around. The only reason many of my memories were destroyed is because that group of human thieves sneaked into the Primeval Heart, smuggled me out, and cut the power source.”
A-Ka let out a sigh, and Heishi continued, “So, I had to spend almost three months putting together the broken pieces of my memories. After the power was cut, I nearly died from exhaustion in the middle of the ocean.”
“Do you remember what your Creator looked like?” A-Ka asked. “Why did he want to create the Astrolabe, a laboratory this large?”
“Focus on making your decoder,” Heishi said.
A-Ka could only lower his head, consulting a decoding manual as he began to study the symbols from the chip on the display screen. With this explanation, he finally understood why Heishi was so powerful, and it seemed like his abilities were not limited to just the ones he had displayed so far.
“Really, all that’s to say,” A-Ka said, trying his best to make his words lighthearted, “you need to be the one to start up that emergency system.”
Heishi didn’t respond.
“Does this mission have any life-threatening danger?” A-Ka asked.
The small knife slipped and cut into Heishi’s palm, and a little blood ran from the wound. A-Ka was startled, but before he could get up to examine the wound, it had already healed over. A-Ka picked up Heishi’s hand, pressed their fingers together, and lifted his eyes to meet Heishi’s gaze.
Heishi’s brows drew together. “Is that very important to you?”
A-Ka sat back down, putting together his data chip decoder. If Heishi died while destroying Father, the humans and the clones would be given a beautiful homeland—but was he willing to let Heishi die? What if it was A-Ka in Heishi’s shoes?
A-Ka pondered these questions as he began to decode the chip. He couldn’t resist asking, “What’s the actual start-up procedure?”
“I’m only in charge of surveillance, not activation,” Heishi said. “You’ve guessed wrong. Starting up the emergency system has nothing to do with me.”
With this, A-Ka let out the breath caught in his chest and nodded a little. Heishi seemed to notice, but he didn’t say anything. With a grin, A-Ka asked, “After Father is destroyed, will you keep sleeping? Or will you live on as a human?”
“The laboratory has already been destroyed, and you lost the sleeping chamber, so how can I keep sleeping?”
“Thank you,” A-Ka said, beaming. He could tell Heishi didn’t get it, so A-Ka said, “For helping us do all this. If you succeed at this mission, let’s live together. You can sleep in my bed.”
“But I haven’t decided to help. I’m only planning on handing the chip to Angus.”
“You will,” A-Ka said. “You like humans, and you don’t like the mechanical troops. I know that in your heart, you’re willing to help us.” He paused. “Say, when you go to start up the emergency system, can I come with you?”
Heishi didn’t even think about it before rejecting him. “You cannot.”
“But I can help you.”
Heishi said coldly, “That place is beneath the ground where Father stands. I cannot bring you there. What could you even do?”
A-Ka persisted. “When the time comes, you’ll know.”
Heishi let out a muffled grunt and stopped replying.
At that moment, A-Ka let out a real sigh of relief. He had put together the decoder, and he found that he really had gained a new ability: seeing all the components that made up a mechanical device. The sense seemed to extend to anything that wasn’t living and allowed him to disassemble something once, then gain the ability to assemble anything else that resembled it.
He stuck the chip in the card reader slot of the decoder, and the image of a person showed up on the holographic projector. It was an old man, the person whom they had met underground in his last breaths: Professor Callan.
His voice buzzed with static, and the image was blurry. As soon as Callan appeared, he opened his mouth. “Commanders of the clone regime, my descendants…”
A-Ka became nervous. Heishi got up and closed the door before standing with him in front of the table, staring at the projection.
“You haven’t watched it either?” A-Ka asked quietly.
Heishi shook his head so slowly it was almost imperceptible.
Electronic static continued to issue forth. “…I am your paternal originator, Callan…”
“He was one of the original four adventurers who entered the Primeval Heart,” Heishi said.
“I trust that you have already received my last communication and have sent out your troops to destroy the man-made god. My life is reaching its end, and I am unable to help you any further… No matter which commander is listening, please remember the words I am about to say next.
“When I was designing the blueprints for the first clones, I left behind a control mechanism. In your brains, there is a place where a disused implant chip is located. Father utilized this weakness by sending out radio waves to activate them. In the beginning, you might not be able to sense the existence of the chip, but with the influence of the radio waves, their control will strengthen and produce results…”
“Damn,” A-Ka muttered.
Heishi made a gesture, telling him to remain quiet.
A series of anatomical charts appeared on the holographic projection, which provided analyses on the weak points of the clones. Professor Callan then said, “You all must be careful. Father has planted spies within the clones. Humans will forever be your allies because they are not under any influence of Father’s. Now that you have received this message, you must ask them for aid.
“As for the location of the Astrolabe’s Nucleus, it is right underneath Father. Through the flow of pure energy, the Nucleus influences the entire land, and in these past years, Father’s communication pipelines have continually spread toward the Nucleus. In less than a hundred days, Father will complete the process of linking up with the Nucleus. At that time, it will forever gain control over this world of the Astrolabe.
“Go find the Son of God in the Heishi Laboratory. He has lived for ten thousand years, and he awakens once every five thousand. The predestined fate of the Son of God is to awaken once the world of the Astrolabe is on the verge of collapse. At that time, he will save the living inhabitants of the world.”