Chapter 136

Chapter 136. Escape (6)

Meanwhile, deep underground, the four members of the Blue Rose team.

“We’ve arrived.”

“It just looks like a tunnel. It doesn’t seem like concrete, more like a natural cave.”

“Well, there’s only so much humans can build. Don’t you smell something strange, like metal? We’re probably entering the Mimics’ territory—”

Blue Rose-1 quickly turned his head.

“Remember this. There are four of us.”

“Four.”

“How many did you say?”

“Five.”

“It’s four, you idiot.”

“Six?”

Contrabass flicked his fingers.

This place is the Abyss. The headquarters of the Colorless Orchestra’s Seoul Branch, deep underground, the nest of underground monsters.

“Write it on your palm with a marker. There are four of us. Anything more than that is likely not us, and probably not human either.”

Mimics aren’t good at imitating humans. They stutter, can’t use tools, or have the wrong number of fingers or teeth.

Instead, they mentally influence people to reduce the sense of incongruity. That’s how Mimics survive. They gnaw away at groups like termites eating through wood.

But. Mimics can’t reproduce while transformed, so there must be something else. That something is this city. The origin of the Mimics.

It wasn’t something the Blue Roses could understand.

“That’s why the Foundation can’t exterminate the Mimics. And why you can still find Mimics in major cities.”

“So. What does that have to do with anything?”

Spade looked around.

“This is the city of Mimics.”

“Yeah.”

“What do Mimics originally look like?”

“I don’t know either.”

First, gather everyone, whether Mimic or human. Contrabass pulled out a gun and fired into the cave. The echo of the gunshot reverberated.

With a rustling sound, something noisily emerged from the cave. At least it had two legs.

Mimics came out of the cave.

Each had a different facial proportion, and the guns they copied were further copied, twisted strangely like an AI error……

“That’s……”

“They must have imitated each other because there weren’t enough humans. They copied poorly, and then copied the poor copies, so that’s how it turned out.”

Contrabass aimed his weapon and stared at the Mimics. There must be a human among them…… someone controlling the Mimics.

“Why are they wearing military uniforms?”

“Maybe soldiers live here.”

“They look similar to Foundation uniforms.”

Contrabass narrowed his eyes.

“Well…… the Colorless Orchestra is made up of Foundation employees who rebelled against the Foundation. So it’s only natural they’d act like the Foundation.”

Spring shone a flashlight, and the Mimics scattered like cockroaches when the strong light hit them.

Only one person remained.

“It seems the rumors were true. Congratulations on encountering the Colorless Orchestra, Blue Roses. It’s unfortunate we had to meet underground.”

The man standing among the Mimics looked relatively normal. Probably human.

“Come this way, Blue Roses.”

****

Even the Foundation couldn’t easily touch the Colorless Orchestra’s Korean headquarters. Though it’s just a building or two, it’s not easy to hide from the Foundation’s eyes.

Somewhere deep underground.

“I am the alto section leader of the Seoul Colorless Orchestra. Call me Asu. Don’t mind the Mimics. We use them as labor.”

“Ah.”

“These days, there aren’t many people in the Orchestra either. The organization’s resources are being used to expand in the Third World. But nothing changes. We are the Foundation’s enemies.”

Asu looked at the Blue Roses.

“We welcome anyone who can stand against the Foundation. We don’t plan to buy and sell people like those corporate scum, nor do we plan to imprison or kill like the Foundation……”

The Blue Roses didn’t let go of their weapons.

“Relax. There’s no one here who will harm you.”

“……”

The six of them moved to a suitable location. Surprisingly, there’s a decent building underground.

Asu flicked his fingers, and Mimics carried furniture around. Finally, the Mimics brought coffee cups and placed them on the table.

“Take a seat.”

The Blue Roses sat down nervously. Asu looked at the humanoid supernatural phenomena.

“So. You want to liberate Blue Rose-0? It might be difficult…… but not impossible. Jeju Island is far, though.”

“Hmm. Are you willing to cooperate?”

“Well, yes. Blue Rose-0 is one of the Foundation’s core assets, isn’t it? If we can subdue it, we’d welcome it anytime.”

Contrabass looked around.

The Mimics kept bringing snacks or coffee to the table. But you’re not supposed to eat underground.

“Spade. How many of us are there?”

“Six.”

“Are you sure? Didn’t you write it on your hand?”

“I definitely wrote— wait. It says four. Who’s the fake among us?”

Good question. The seven people sitting at the table looked at each other. Who’s real, and who’s fake?

Asu kept his mouth shut.

“First, let’s confirm who’s who. Say your names and see if there’s any sense of incongruity. I’m starting to forget too.”

Dozens of Mimics gathered. The effect of ignoring or confusing the number of people, overlapping……

Memories are being overwritten.

Blue Rose-1 cursed. This must be some kind of test. If the Blue Roses can’t resist the Orchestra’s abilities, they’re not worth accepting as allies.

It’s the Foundation’s way. Blending into an unspecified majority, losing faces, acting as part of the organization.

Responsibility decreases, guilt decreases, but there’s no way to make independent decisions. A cog in the machine. Literally mimicking the Foundation.

Using copycats.

Contrabass counted the heads of the people gathered. Definitely Asu, who’s not a Blue Rose. And those pretending to be Blue Roses…… how many?

Originally, there were seven Blue Roses.

There are eight people here. If we can just find the one Mimic that snuck into the group……

“I’m Blue Rose-1. Contrabass.”

“I’m Blue Rose-7. Black.”

“Blue Rose-9. Spring.”

“I’m Blue Rose-11. Spade.”

“I’m Blue Rose-4. Silver.”

“I’m Blue Rose-5. Paint.”

“I’m Blue Rose-12. Ptera.”

Silver sighed.

“I don’t know, it feels like there are way too many people. Weren’t there six of us from the start?”

“There were six from the start.”

****

It’s a mess. I can’t even remember how many Blue Roses there were originally.

Whether it’s the Orchestra’s ability, the Mimics’ ability, or a carefully laid trap. Anyway. There’s no way out.

Without knowing who among them is a Mimic, we can’t just kill them one by one. No, we don’t even know how many Mimics there are.

“Hmm. Mimics can’t speak properly. Should we make them say something complicated? Like ‘soy sauce factory director’……”

“Can you do that?”

“Uh, good point.”

Spade scratched his head.

“Think of a solution quickly, Spade. If this keeps up, we’ll have to kill them one by one. You’re the best at fighting cognitive disasters.”

The number of people gathered increased to ten. It might just be a minor annoyance. But since there are only ■ Blue Roses left, we can’t afford sacrifices.

Wait, how many Blue Roses were there originally?

The gathered Blue Roses murmured.

“Abilities. If you’re a Blue Rose, you should have abilities and unique traits. So we can just check that. Mimics can’t copy abilities.”

“Abilities, huh.”

Black thought for a moment, then swung his greatsword and cut down Asu of the Orchestra. Blood splattered on the concrete floor.

The Mimics all turned their heads.

In unison, like dolls.

“Kill the ones who turned their heads like dolls just now. They’re the Mimics.”

Mimics have combat power similar to ordinary people. They can’t even use weapons properly. Black quickly killed all the Mimics. The Mimics’ corpses turned to dust and scattered.

“Good. Now only the original five remain. Let’s finish what we started.”

The goal was to seek the Orchestra’s cooperation. If the Orchestra won’t cooperate, we’ll have to force them. We’ll respect that.

****

[Blue Rose Tracking]

[Author: Dr. Chloe]

[※ This is not a document written by Dr. Chloe herself, but a sort of transcript of her words. ※]

[First, using other Blue Roses for Same-Type Magic tracking seems like a good method. But it lacks firepower in terms of sorcery. They have Spade over there.]

[Blue Rose-11. Spade. A fairly powerful supernatural phenomenon, and while I don’t remember exactly what his ability is, it’s related to cognitive disasters.]

[Thinking about it, the reason I can’t remember might be related to Spade’s ability. I forgot what I was saying last time too.]

[Anyway, if I’m right, the Blue Roses will definitely target the Foundation. Specifically, they’ll go after the Director. They might also target Blue Rose-0, the source of their power.]

[The problem is, we don’t know where Blue Rose-0 is either. I don’t know how the Blue Roses would know something even we don’t.]

[Perhaps. Considering the power of Blue Rose-0, it might not be that hard. Or maybe it doesn’t matter.]

[Thank you for the opportunity.]