Chapter 49: Elite Theory
Butcher Demon
âThe recon will be here as soon as the communication is lost. We donât have much time, so come.â
Abigail beckons me over.
I stand next to her, and she begins to operate a centrifuge-like device.
âFirst, you have to set this magic stone here.â
I put the magic stone I had removed from the control unit into the device. When it was done, she hurriedly went to another place. so I tag along.
âLetâs do the X-rays. Stand there.â
I did as I was told and stood.
After a while, âThatâs enoughâ I stood behind Abigail, and she groaned as she looked at the monitor.
âIâd like to get a CT scan of your head, but I canât do that here. Iâll take mine, can you press this button when I give you a signal?â
I did as I was told and pressed the button on her signal.
Abigail came back and groaned again.
I look at that same monitor, but to me, it looks identical ????
There was a beeping sound.
Abigail took the magic stone out of the device, put it back in the control terminal, sat down in the chair again, and started hmming at the monitor.
As I watched her from behind like an uncanny figure, she let out a small âohâ and brought out a mysterious gun-shaped device from the back of the room.
She pokes it at the control terminal. poke it on the side of my head. Then to her choker. Got it. She put the mysterious device on the table, crossed her arms, and took a deep breath.
â¦..Arenât you too good at this?
This is the first time I am not confused since I stepped into this facility. I gulped and swallowed my saliva.
âI kind of figured it out.â
Jeezâ¦â¦.
Abigail spun her chair around to face me, crossed her legs, and began to talk.
âFirst of all, this device is a crystallization of the . Telepath is the same kind of telekinesis magic. They also use it to communicate with human prisoners. I know what itâs like because Iâve been instructed by one myself. It allows them to communicate with each other across language barriers. For humans, itâs enviable magic. It seems like theyâre using it to transmit commands to you.
Abigail continued to poke at the control terminal on the desk with her finger.
âI mean, the device is not that important, itâs the telepath. Thatâs why I can give you commands without this device, and aliens who can use telepathic powers donât even need the device.â
ho-ho.
ãSo the reason weâre still hearing voices telling us to come home is because aliens are sending telepaths from the city?ã
Abigail nodded.
âProbably so. And there is a telepathic magic stone in your control terminal and in my choker. In order to telepathically talk to someone remotely, you have to match them with someone you want to talk to beforehand. In short, itâs like a radio right there.â
She pointed to a nearby radio station.
âItâs a receive-only device that plays back messages on a pre-matched channel.â
Well, thatâs easy to understand.
âAnd I think the bomb orders are being sent telepathically as well. I donât think anyone can give the detonation command. But thinking about it that way, thereâs not much point in taking the device or going around looking for the telepathic transmitter and destroying it. As long as the information on the pair of magic stones is still there, the transmitter side can be rebuilt at any time later, and aliens who can use telepathic magic can directly issue the detonation command if they want to. There is no way for you to be free except to remove the device.â
I knew it.
My throat rumbled involuntarily.
âGevaudan. Yesterday you said that since the command wasnât working on you, the device must actually be broken and not self-destructing right?â
If the command to the Butcher has a compulsion force and itâs not working on me, then the temporal control terminal itself might be broken.
In other words, the fact that Iâm afraid of a Brain Burn is just a precaution, and that my self-destruct mechanism may not be activated in the first place. Iâve been wondering that for a long time, and I asked Abigail about it yesterday.
âIâm glad youâre so careful, The device itself is not broken. The self-destruct mechanism is ready to be activated.â
That was a close one. Safe.
âIn the first place, the control terminalâs ability to control the Butcher is questionable. Itâs simply a mechanism that sends messages directly to your brain. In a sense, itâs only natural that youâre able to act freely against its commands.â
âThe other Butcherââ
âThe other Butcher is just doing as heâs told because heâs not capable of thinking for himself. Iâm sure. You, on the other hand, were able to act freely because you had your consciousness intact. Simple as that.â
Abigail shrugs her shoulders.
âIt makes sense that the Butcher has a tendency to run amok. Itâs just that there was never any compulsion to do so in the first place. If the Butcher misunderstands a command, or if heâs in an uncontrollable mood, heâll do something differently, as a matter of course.â
Really? â¦â¦I thought for sure that the Butcher was incapable of disobeying these commands, but it was as simple as that, the other Butchers were too stupid and just followed what they were told.
I unconsciously raised my head up. thatâs âWhat a messâ pose.
Abigail grasps my finger and continues.
âIâm really gladâ¦â¦you kept yourself and were so cautiousâ¦â¦.If you had acted so freely, I bet you would have been disposed of in a heartbeat. A butcher with ego is too dangerous.
ãI hope Ferris is okay.ã
I had exchanged names with the fox girl, Ferris.
âAs far as I can tell, Ferris is fine. If anything, sheâll act to protect you. Other than that, the aliens donât seem to have sensed you, do they?â
So Ferris is going to protect me? But if Abigail says so, then maybe so?
Abigail slowly sighed as I tilted my head and nodded.
âSo, my choker is a simple one with a telepathic receiver and a few beads of magic stones that look like explosives, but yours looks a little more complicated.â
Mmm-hmm.
âFirst of all, thereâs a lot of explosives. I guess itâs designed for the Butcher. And thereâs another kind of magic stone in the tip of the device, deep in your brain. I canât analyze the type of magic stone without removing it, butâ¦â¦Gevaudan, there was one thing that struck my mind after listening to you.â
ãWhatâs in your mind?ã
She nodded at my lines and continued.
âYou told me a story yesterday, didnât you? You told me that the Butcher wears a bag because its head pops off when it dies, but thatâs not the case. You said that the bag on the head is a high-performance helmet, right? Iâve heard that story from a human soldier too, about how the Butcherâs head always pops off when its dies.
Oh, shoot. That meatbag story is a joke from a human soldier. And itâs a joke from Fox. I accidentally bought it up.
I mean, arenât I talk a lot about myself while Iâm talking to Abigail?
Abigail continued as my heart began to beat faster and faster.
âItâs still just a theory, but the device on the side of your head is checking your heartbeat or brain waves. So when you die, it detects it and explodes. Even if you remove it by force, it will appear as if your heartbeat or brain waves have stopped and explode. And the sensor is the magic stone at the tip.â
That makes sense.
âI think itâs a brain wave. A heartbeat is just a change in blood flow or blood pressure, and blood pressure changes are very unstable. Itâs not a good way to check the Butcherâs survival during intense front-line combat. Also, the story that the Butcher rarely sleeps supports the possibility of brain waves. Sleeping weakens the brain waves, but if it doesnât sleep, they donât have to worry about that false trigger.
While I was absorbed in Abigailâs reasoning, she continued to speak enthusiastically.
âIf this theory is correct, there should be no problem in removing the self-destruct mechanism if we can trick or destroy the sensor stone at the tip of it. But considering that destroying it might cause it to self-destruct as a safety measure, thatâs the last resort. Weâd better figure out a way to trick the device.â
Tricking itâ¦â¦. How?
I rolled my head.
Abigail pushed the back of the chair and broke off.
hmmmâ¦
âAnd I think I got an idea how to do that, too.â
The Butcher turned his head and dropped his pen.
âThe controller may be watching Gevaudanâs brain waves, but itâs not watching every little detail. Thatâs too difficult. At best, It can only check that it can detect brain waves or not. Thatâs what Iâm seeing.
Yeah, yeah.
âWe donât know much about how telepaths work, but weâre pretty sure they interfere with brain waves. So, we can have a telepathic alien send a telepath to the magic stone on the end of the device and pull it out. That should fool the device. I suggest that we talk to you so that we can simulate your brain waves while weâre doing it, just in case.
Have the telepathic alien remove the device from the side of my headâ¦â¦.
ââ¦â¦Gevaudan. Remember me. You heard the unidentified telekinesis when you beat up the dragon girl at the girlâs school, right?â
I nodded.
âWas there a Terminal nearby?â
I shook my head.
âIt was the brown-skinned girl who was startled, not Ferris, when you mentally annoyed and mauled that voice, right?â
I nodded. Slightly surprised by Abigailâs choice of words.
âSheâs the one with the telepath. The brown-skinned girl can not only talk to you, she can also hear you. An alien who can talk directly to you.â
I clapped my hands. Bravo.
Abigail snorted with pride at the rare sight of the Butcher clapping.
âThank you. Iâm sure there are other telepaths out there, but sheâs the first candidate.â
ãHow do I get her?ã
She shrugged her shoulders at my simple question.
âWeâll figure that out. What I just said is just a theory. Thereâs still time for me to get all the equipment I can use from here, and then Iâll have to check out the rest at your base to be more certain. Iâd like to do some more experiments.â
ãThatâs great. Youâre a great detective, you know that?ã
I praised her honestly.
Abigail then rested her cheek and crossed her legs. She smiled a little and gave me a sharp look.
âSee? Did you find my story useful?â
â¦
âSo, letâs talk some more ? â
âYes maâam.
I had no choice but to nod my head.