Side story 2.2: Reflection part 2/2
[Edited by Arthur300000 and ArchmageNaoki]
[Deathbricks thought of a new entry quote!]
I love Kuro. Actually, I love Kuro very much. She is so cute. She's a bit boyish but cute. I never thought that my idea of having a cute little sister would turn out this well. After my mother got sick and had to get surgery my dream of having a little sister collapsed. My mother became sterile due to the surgery, and due to the high price of it, it's destroyed our family’s savings.
I saw an advertisement in the magazine about adopting an outsider. Then I got an idea. What if I could acquire a cute little sister and improve my family's economic situation at the same time? Well, my pessimistic twin brother thought it was unlikely to happen, but everyone else agreed.
When I heard the news of the adoption, I jumped up with joy. It was faster than I expected. I hurry everyone because I really want to meet my cute little sister. What will my new sister look like? Will she like me? My head was already in the clouds while we traveled to the Institute. However, after Ms. Jessica Parker told us the shocking truth about the “Love Potion” thing that they injected into my new little sister I got really angry. Why did they do such a thing like this to her?! However I really want to go shopping with my new little sister. I have only two choices, which are to go back home with my new sister or not. The potion was already injected into her before we arrived so there’s nothing we can do about that. Of course, I choose to take her. If I don't, then another family will take away my new cute little sister from me. That’s unacceptable. As compensation, I will do my best to make her happy.
When I saw Kuro for the first time, she was a timid cute little girl. She was too cute! I couldn’t stop myself from hugging her tightly. However, she got scared of me to the point of peeing herself. I felt truly sorry for that, so I try really hard to keep a proper distance from her. However, I need something to keep myself stable enough to do that. I secretly took pictures of her. It’s really difficult. Her senses are very sharp. I need to buy a soundless shutter spy camera to take pictures of her secretly. And there goes all the money I had. I also want to put a spy camera in her room, but I promised myself not to. I’m not a bad person, you know?
I want to buy cuter clothes for Kuro, but I don't have any money left. On my next school assignment, I will try really hard to earn money for that. Oh, perhaps I could treat her to something delicious. That would be nice~. I love her facial expression when she eats delicious things. After I had got Kuro as my sister for a few days, I sold all my previous collections to my circle, and I use that money to order a custom-made Kuro figurine, Kuro hugging pillow, Kuro teacup, and other merchandises. I might be going a bit overboard here, but nothing beats my little sister right now. I also made some Kuro plushies by myself. It was quite hard to get it right, but I managed to do it after several attempts. If I sold Kuro’s merchandise, I would make a lot of money, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. She is mine. Only mine... My pessimistic twin brother was so worried about my collection, so he installed a very sophisticated lock on my room. He is always looking after us after knowing that.
What troubled me most is her love for me. I'm not sure if it's because of the drug or if it's her real feelings. Don’t get me wrong. I'm glad that she loves me. I am happy that I can hold her hand. I am glad that we can happily spend time together. However, deep down, I feel guilty. I try to persuade my family several times to tell Kuro the truth, but no one listened to me. They said it’s too dangerous. So we compromised that we will tell Kuro when she starts to suspect it. Moreover, she seems troubled about her restriction on her ID card. So when Outsider Management Institute asked for my family feedback, I gave her a favorable one. I hope they will revoke her restriction soon.
I am glad that she also joined the same class as mine. But when she was introduced to my class a lot of boys showed interest in her. So I couldn’t help myself but proclaimed that she was mine. It’s embarrassing, but I needed to do it. Please don’t leave me Kuro.
On the field assignment, I was quite lucky. I could use the sharing warmth excuse to cuddle with her to my heart’s content. Her sleeping face is also cute, so I took a lot of pictures. I'll have to change my hugging pillow picture later. She’s also very strong and saved us on many occasions, but I already knew that from after our sparring match with her that she is a very reliable and cute little girl.
Her singing is also adorable. Luckily I accidentally left my spy camera’s sound recorder on. I'll change my ringtone and alarm clock sound to that later. On the way back I was happily planning what I should spend some money on with her. We got a lot of money from this assignment, thanks to Kuro. So we decided to share a big part of our income to reduce our debt a bit. However, we won’t trouble Kuro because she's already helped us more than she needed to. Ah, just looking at her nowadays makes me feel so blissful. I really want to know about her life in her former world and her preferences, but when I asked her about those, she looked so sad. Thus I decided to watch over her just like this.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
When we arrived in the city the kids from around our neighborhood wanted to play with Kuro. A few of my previous vict-, ahem, a few girls I know were also in that group. I want to see her playing with children, so I help them a bit. I planned to stalk-, ahem, watch over them from far away, but my serious brother dragged me away. WHY?!
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“Subject O-256 is aware of the 'Love Potion’ protocol.” A man from Outsider Surveillance Department reported while I was training a recruit.
“Justin, how should we proceed on this matter?” I tested the recruit. I already gave him an overview of the procedures, so it’s a good time to test his wit.
“According to the rules, we have to subdue her then sue the family for breaching of contract. Following that, I don't know what would be next. No regulations described further, kill her or brainwash her maybe.” What a disappointing answer. He should already know how to read between the lines.
“Justin, have you ever seen any family sued by that charge?” He shook his head “ So, do you understand why we inject that drug into outsiders?” I ask him to think. Having a trainee figure out the answer by themselves is the best kind of education. This question is a critical point, so it’s better to use more time here.
“Having them love us, so they won’t harm us and help our society?... I think.” He began to deliberate when I stare at him. He only gave another disappointing answer. The quality of recruits these days are getting lower and lower.
*sigh* “You see, if that really happened we wouldn't need this institute. We would just manufacture those drugs and ask any police officer to shoot any outsiders on sight.” He looks downcast. Come on think! I waited until a while longer, and he still couldn't come up with anything, so I decided to give him a hint.
“Describe the most devastating incident that was caused by an Outsider and its cause.”
“Spring, 3259, An Outsider number O-67 proclaimed that he wanted to build an ultimate harem and began to abduct women and kill all men on sight. All the girls he abducted were brainwashed and given superpowers to fight against our army. Ten years later with coalition forces from multiple races, we successfully killed him and his army. The damage was devastating, a third of the population perished, more than half of the male population was killed during that war. Twenty major cities fell into ruin-” Justin gave a pointlessly lengthy answer.
“Stop! I know you are good at history. Now, give me the reason why subject O-67 has done that.” I hope he got it right this time. If he said because only the lust or the subject’s superpowers, I would fire him on the spot. He had deliberated for a while before he answered.
“According to several testimonies, he called people NPC’s which we understand from the later subject that means “Non-Player Character.”” Finally, he found a good starting point.
“Okay, keep going. Try to deduce back to why do we give outsiders a Love Potion injection." I encourage him.
“When he called the people NPCs that means he thought that he was still inside some kind of game or virtual reality. So when he didn't see us as real people, he could blatantly do anything without any effect on his conscience." I nodded, and he continued “Since he is not a psychologically sick person but rather the circumstances caused him to think that way, so conventional antipsychotic drug would not be effective. Thus, in order to make an outsider recognize us as a person we make them …. Love us?” So far so good, a bit missing the point at the end, though.
“As you said, we need to make those outsiders recognize us as real living people. When people believe that this world is just their imagination, they will hold onto their mind. They will believe that no matter what happened to their bodies their mind would still be intact. Subject O-13 and O-47, for example, they just killed themselves outright. What we need to do is shake their belief. We just need to make them notice that this world can affect their mind. So, when they realize that their minds aren’t their safe haven anymore, they come back to rely on reality. Of course, we could do other things, but love is the safest route we have. If the subject doesn't notice it, then it's all good. However, if the subject knows about this, this situation is also served as the subject’s last test. So what would you suggest how we handle this situation from this point on?" I turn his attention to the original question. He flipped the chart that contains subject O-256's data for a while and answers.
“Continue monitoring her behaviors and pretend that we didn't notice the breach of contract. If she peacefully complains to us, we will apologize. If she asks for the person responsible, we will give her a brainwashed death row prisoner as the scapegoat. If she asks more than that or went on a rampage, we will have to subdue her.” He answered quickly.
“Justin, your look is like an honest man, yet you are so shrewd. No, I’m just kidding. That’s what most people would do. You’re almost right. However, consider this, when they realized that we lied to them then they would distrust us. So the best way to handle things now is sincerity. More lies would make it worse. If she asked for the person responsible, I as the head scientist of this Institute would take full responsibility. That’s why we always have multiple substitutes. Remember, all secrets will eventually be exposed. Well, if it’s not then that's good, but before you lie, think about what you would do when the truth is revealed, and think out your next actions accordingly.” Even though I said that, the chance that the outsider would ask for my life alone is quite low. Because when people got something too easy, they don’t know its value. However, my end might eventually come one day. Luckily, I have a better substitute than this simpleton.