Chapter 199 - The Price of Happiness (2/2)

But not all felt the same way, especially not the first Specter to have been created by him.

In fact, the relationship between the First Specter and the Chairman was so volatile that many wondered why he had been offered such a tremendous honor first...

When the First Specter appeared out of a spatial tear into Reed's home at the bottom of the sea, he knew that trouble had come to visit him again. Nevertheless, he kept his feelings in check and greeted him as neutrally and curtly as he could manage.

There was no point in exchanging plesantries with the man in front of him, since they were both long past the stage where they could falsely act out a friendship. Their relationship was one of pure business and nothing more.

Reed needed his talents to keep the integrity of the Department in check, and the man needed his unique expertise and abilities for something in particular.

”How is she?” asked the First Specter.

”She's doing fine at the moment. I have not detected any abnormalities in her behavior or memory since we have moved on to the second stage. She has not responded to any of the mnemonic triggers in our conversations, though further testing is required before we can be assured that she is completely stable,” said Reed as he handed a holopad to the man.

The man took the holopad and before he said, ”And the extraction of her previous memories?”

”I've already gone back and retrieved them as promised. Up until the day of her... death,” said Reed before he added, ”They're ready to be inserted once we can safely confirm her mental stability and the compatibility with the artificial soul.”

Reed paused for a moment before he said, ”You do understand that if we do this... it won't be her, you know? It'll be a perfect copy, but it still won't be—”

A venomous face glared at him, forcing him to stop speaking. The twisted fury in the man's eyes held such a terrible poison within them that Reed doubted he would ever be forgiven.

In any case, Reed had promised to fulfill his wish, even if he detested the idea. To him, there was no replacement for her in his heart, nor any of the people he truly loved. They were all unique and irreplaceable to him, and even though he would weep, rage and curse Fate for taking them from him...

Reed would've never thought to create a replacement for them. He would've gone to any lengths to bring them back, rather than be content with a... simulacrum, no matter how beautiful or accurate it was.

But it was pointless to reflect about what he would've done, or whether it adhered to his morals or not. He was a man of his word and would grant the troubled soul his wish, even if it was something he did not want to do.

Everything he did was to give the people of Mulia what they had asked of him — to make Mulia a heaven for them, regardless of the cost.

After everything that had come to pass, all they had asked of him was to make the pain go away.

It was then that Reed finally understood how brittle their spirits actually were, how weak the people of Mulia were at heart.

They could have asked him for anything and he would have labored endlessly to grant it to them, but all they wanted was to be happy.

And why would they be? They had all been born and raised in a world of artificially constructed peace, the vast majority never having experienced the pain and suffering he had endured. In fact, their souls had not been tempered by great adversity, loss, or despair until very recently with the Twilight War.

They had no drive to change and were content living in their bird cage, so long as it was well defended.

Reed considered this great apathy for progress the worst curse that the Dreaming Council had created. They had coddled an entire world into a state of dependant babyhood...

A world that he was now responsible for.

The poor man in front of him was no different than the masses, desperately searching for a spark of happiness in the cold dark of a bottomless pit of despair.

...And as Reed had promised them, he would fulfill their wish.

With each passing day, week, and month, he felt himself transforming into something else. His precious humanity, which he had struggled so hard to keep, had begun to slip away.

He wondered if this, too, was a cost that would have to be paid in order to fulfill their wish.

But he would, nevertheless, make all of them happy... that much was for certain.