Arcadia Chapter 1.4

“…But can you see me?”

— Up.

He lifted his head and looked around the completely white ceiling, and a camera lens installed right in the corner caught his eye. A red light blinked regularly, as if to confirm that it was recording.

— Say hello. Hi?

“Hi, my ass…”

He had wondered what gave them the confidence to entrust him with this, but they were monitoring the inside in real-time. That’s why the call came at just the right time. Thinking he might as well wave, he whirled around and punched in the password, and a nasty laugh came from over the phone.

Van quickly went upstairs, brought back a towel, and took a deep breath under the pale lights. The phone was still pressed to his ear.

“This really isn’t contagious or anything, right? Like, I won’t get infected?”

— You won’t, so just do as you’re told.

The mechanical voice’s words dragged on slowly, as if growing tired of the sluggish argument. Van had a lot to say too. He had climbed the ladder to get a towel, only to be told to cut open the membrane confining that monster and take it out. When he asked if he couldn’t just poke a small hole to let it breathe, there was no answer again.

In the end, Van had no choice but to firmly put on the nitrile gloves he found while rummaging through the drawer and kneel in front of 07. It seemed to have lost some of its strength compared to before, as the hand pushing against the thin membrane was not as forceful as it was at first. It was a small relief that he couldn’t see its detailed form due to the opaque membrane.

“Wow…. In all my life…”

Van slowly reached out to 07. It was a size that would fill both his hands if he held it. The neck and shoulders holding the phone were already starting to ache stiffly. After some deliberation, he pressed his index finger firmly against the membrane. The elastic surface seemed tougher than it looked, and it didn’t pierce easily even when he used his nail.

“I’m cutting it now. I’m really going to cut it.”

The moment he placed the sharp tip of the knife at the edge of the membrane, a voice laced with amusement from the quiet other end of the phone called out the other’s name softly. It was a single syllable, so there was no unique accent to pick up on, but he felt a strange sense of déjà vu, and Van slightly withdrew the knife.

He thought there had been someone who called his name like that. In his wandering life, there were so many fleeting connections that he couldn’t immediately recall who it was. As he frowned and pondered, his train of thought was broken by the words that followed.

— Want to do something fun?

“I’m not having any fun right now.”

— If you kill it now, I’ll just give you half the pay.

“Kill it?”

He asked again, wondering if he had heard wrong. As if he had heard correctly, the mechanical voice lazily spoke the next words. The tone was light, making it hard to tell if it was a joke or if he was serious.

— If you save it, one million dollars. If you kill it, five hundred thousand dollars. What will you do?

“Are you kidding me? You told me not to kill it.”

Dumbfounded, he glared at the camera on the ceiling. He couldn’t understand what they were trying to do, it was like they were toying with him. One moment they were telling him not to look, the next to help, and now to decide whether to kill or save it.

— I’m giving you a chance. For your information, it’s at its weakest right now.

“It looks weak, you son of a bitch.”

Whatever was inside, it was hard to see something that couldn’t even break through a membrane on its own as a world-destroying monster. Having made up his mind, Van looked up at the camera and swallowed a smirk. There were always guys who tested loyalty in this way. And usually, those doubts led to him being put to the test.

— Well…. The choice is yours. So, will you kill it or save it?

“Of course…”

He raised the knife. The blade, which was quite sharp for an auxiliary knife, rested on the tough membrane.

“If I kill it here, it’s five hundred thousand? Without having to wait a year?”

— Yes. Immediately.

He laid the blade flat and pressed it against the center of the membrane. He could see a hazy object inside the mass, which was smaller than the length from his fingertips to his elbow. The moment he applied a little more force, two palms pushed against the membrane and approached. 07’s hands were smaller than Van’s fingers, and the blade was positioned exactly between 07’s two palms. If he pressed down as it was, it would reach the heart.

— Hurry.

Five hundred thousand. What could he do with five hundred thousand dollars? He could buy a house, or a kick-ass sports car would be nice. No. He could just pile it up and live a simple life, working leisurely, and that would be fun in its own way.

“Hmm…”

— Decide.

The small hand, feeling the membrane and pushing to find a way out, came close to the blade. Van, with his hand in a tight-fitting white glove, pressed down on the mass and instantly sliced the membrane open. He dropped the knife, which had done its job, to the side, and a sticky liquid spread across the white floor.

— …Congratulations.

The mechanically altered voice offered a congratulation of unknown meaning. Van put his hand through the opening in the membrane. The glove became soaked. He scooped up the tiny 07, which he was afraid to even touch, from between the opaque liquid and wrapped it in a towel.

— But why?

07 didn’t cry. As he gently wiped the transparent liquid from its face with the corner of the towel, its large eyes twitched and slowly opened. The newborn babies he had seen in photos were all wrinkled and reddish, but 07 was different. It was just small; even to Van, who knew nothing, it looked like it had skipped several months. After a few awkward blinks, 07 met the gaze of Van, who was looking down at it expressionlessly.

“To buy a nice house.”

Five hundred thousand dollars felt a little short for building a swimming pool and plating the walls with gold.

— It’s not because you couldn’t kill it because it’s a baby?

The guy who usually hung up without even listening to everything he had to say was carrying on a long conversation today. Van didn’t answer.

He could have killed it. But 07’s hands, visible through the opaque membrane, were too small, and its faintly struggling legs were too short. It looked so much like a human. It was also partly because he found it hard to believe the words of this unknown entity, but even if it were true that he would have been given the five hundred thousand….

As he bit his lip, 07’s clear gaze met his face. If this were a baby, it would have been a moment where it wouldn’t have been strange for it to burst into tears.

But contrary to his expectations, 07 opened its small mouth and puffed out its chubby cheeks to their fullest. Its large eyes curved, and a clear laugh, unique to babies, echoed through the quiet room. Startled by the sudden laughter, Van nearly dropped the baby and clutched the area around his thumping heart. Thump, thump. The mechanical voice ignored Van, who was whining that he thought his heart had stopped, and asked dryly.

— So…. What’s its name?

“Name?”

His body stiff, Van asked back blankly.

— You woke it up, you should give it a name.

“It’s not my kid, why should I?”

07, which had been constantly fidgeting, pulled both its arms out from where they were loosely wrapped in the towel. The destination of its outstretched hands was Van’s face.

— Because it’s important. Anything.

“You’re talking nonsense.”

How could ‘important’ and ‘anything’ be used together?

Even while trying his best to keep 07 at a distance to avoid contact, he had a feeling that if he didn’t give the damn thing a name, the mechanical voice would annoy him just like before. 07 kept reaching out its hands and kicking its legs. When it couldn’t achieve its goal, the smile slowly faded from its small face, and it looked like it was about to burst into tears any moment, making him feel anxious. There was only one word that came to mind right now.

“Arcadia. I’ll go with that. Hey, I think it’s going to cry? What do I do?”

— The meaning?

“I don’t know, you bastard! This really isn’t contagious, right? I’m not going to get sick?”

07’s expression, having received a thoughtless name, was gradually contorting, and Van’s face was also turning into a tearful one. The towel wrapped around the baby slowly slipped off due to its struggling. Van, who caught a glimpse of its exposed nakedness, opened his mouth.

“Hey…. It’s a boy.”

Van, trying not to drop the monster that, of all things, even had a gender, didn’t hear the voice murmuring softly.

— That’s a good name.

“I’m telling you, it’s a boy…”

It felt like it would break if he held it too tightly, and it felt like it would come after him if he put it on the floor, so Van, at a loss, held his arms up.

On December 6th, at the start of winter, the final specimen of the SUC project opened its eyes.

Even though it was a small body, holding it continuously made his tilted neck and arms gradually grow stiff. The mechanical voice, which sounded somewhat bored, quickly gave him instructions. With no tools to write them down, he was already getting confused and forgetful.

“Hey, wait. What? Again…”

— Keep recording.

The call abruptly ended.

“Heartless bastard…”

In the space where the mechanical voice had disappeared, only Van and the baby, which had started to whimper, were left in an awkward atmosphere. The baby, soaked in the sticky liquid, reached out its hands tirelessly. He could guess from its gestures that it wanted to be held, but Van leaned his upper body back in refusal.

“I don’t think we’re at that stage yet.”

He carefully expressed his opinion, but as expected, it didn’t seem to understand. Van stared blankly at 07, who was whining and conveying its wishes. With the mechanical voice rushing him to make decisions, and the unidentified creature constantly wriggling, he hadn’t had a chance to calmly assess the situation. Now that things had quieted down, he finally had the leisure to look at 07, who was in the form of a baby.

07, wiggling its clustered fingers, looked in every way like a human baby. There wasn’t a speck of danger. Its appearance was enough to soothe his heightened wariness, thanks to his sanity having returned.

After some thought, Van steeled himself and pulled his tingling arms closer. The small hand that had been flailing in the air touched his chin. As he awkwardly held the baby in his arms, the hand on his face slid down. Slick.

“Ugh…”

He roughly wiped the sticky liquid from his chin on his shoulder and stood up. The baby in his arms rolled its big eyes and then its scrunched-up face brightened. Soon, it started kicking its short limbs wildly and burst out laughing.

“Stay still, will you…!”

It was screaming and hitting him with its hands and feet, and Van had no idea why the baby was suddenly acting like this. It didn’t hurt, but he felt like he was about to drop it at any moment, so his already stiff shoulders tensed up. After fumbling around for a while, Van readjusted his hold on the baby and lowered his voice.

“Hey. Stay still.”

With his thin-gloved hand, he lightly tapped the tip of its nose, which was smaller than his fingernail. The baby, as if tickled, wrinkled its thumbnail-sized nose. Its wildly flailing limbs stopped abruptly, and after a few fumbling movements, the baby placed its hand on top of Van’s. A slightly high body temperature was transmitted from the hand, which was smaller than his finger, to the back of his hand. Van looked down at the now calm baby and chuckled.

“Let’s get you washed up now.”

Although he had roughly wiped it with a towel, Van had to take off his shirt because he was holding the baby, which was covered in sticky liquid. He unthinkingly shoved the removed gloves into his pants pocket and then realized his mistake. With that, he had ruined his pants as well. He was suddenly in a position where he had to wash up with it.

First, wash it. That was the first mission the mechanical voice had given him.

Van, who barely managed to hold the baby in one arm, finally looked around the inside of the glass wall. There was a small bathroom attached, which he hadn’t noticed from outside the glass wall, but it wasn’t a good environment for washing a baby. Having no choice, Van crawled out from inside the wall and, groaning, climbed the ladder, heading straight for the spacious bathroom on the first floor.

The baby, who had calmed down, let its body be held limply and wiggled its hands, which were neatly placed on its chest, before reaching for Van’s chin. Its short arm couldn’t reach his chin, and instead, its small fingers tapped his collarbone. Van, who had inadvertently allowed the contact, was very embarrassed.

“You’re really not contagious or anything, right…”

The baby kept touching him, and the area around his collarbone, where its hand had passed, was soaked and glistening with the lukewarm liquid. He tried his best to pull his head back to prevent its touch from reaching his face.

After some fumbling, Van laid the baby in the bathtub, took off his dirty clothes, and picked up the showerhead. As he sat on the edge of the tub adjusting the temperature, the baby turned over, crawled over, and lay down with its head on his instep.