Etranger

Appendix 1> Biyeon’s Records: Nectar, Sages, and Magic Dragons

This memo was left by Biyeon after she last met with Senun to conduct a physical. It recorded her dialogue with Senun at that time. Through their dialogue, Biyeon was once again reminded of the utter inhumane position she and San were put in and their gruesome reality.

“Then, is it impossible to get rid of?” Biyeon asked.

“Yes, it’s a perfect ticking time bomb for all living beings,” Senun replied.

“What if I transfuse and exchange all the blood within my body?”

“That’s no use. It has already mutated at the cellular level. Unless you get rid of all the cells that have been created in your body, the fuel that the Nectar feeds on will constantly be produced. At a certain point of concentration, it’ll go through another mutation. And once it starts affecting your brain cells, it’ll mutate your entire being into something entirely different from you.”

“Then… is there no other option? For us?” San shouted in frustration.

Senun seriously replied, “Most of the cells have already undergone mutation. Furthermore, they’re already at the latter stages. I’ve never seen this level of pure Nectar before, either. It’s really something.”

“Wait… isn’t Nectar something that your dragon race has created?” Biyeon asked as she stared at Senun.

“Didn’t… you already know that?” Senun stuttered.

“Don’t deflect! We’re being serious.”

Senun clicked his tongue.

“As you already know, us sages don’t really have the propensity for creativity. However, it is correct that Nectar was something that sages had created long ago. However, it wasn’t something we intended to create from the start,” Senun explained. He then continued, “We researched all living organisms for tens of thousands of years. However, we never meddle i the natural evolution process. However, we did step in whenever we felt that a species was on the brink of extinction.”

“Then, are you saying that no living organism in this world has ever been extinct?”

“No, we were tasked by the Creator to make sure to protect ‘intelligent’ beings. We observed and maintained. Though, this limitation was also the biggest gripe among the sages.”

“Intelligent beings?”

“Humans are just one of many intelligent species. Until now, we’ve recorded thirty-six different intelligent species. We make sure that they do not go extinct.”

“Is intelligence so important?”

“It’s something that the Creator considered important. Also, the Creator is very serious when it comes to keeping promises. Doesn’t a species have to possess a certain level of intelligence to accept the Creator’s rules and create an agreement?” Senun answered as he smiled broadly. However, his words were cold and unfeeling.

“The Creator sure likes iron-clad agreements,” San muttered.

“Intelligent species are very special. They appear out of nowhere. In the past thousands of years, none have come from natural evolution. Intelligence can be seen as one form of mutation. It’s a sudden transformation, something as insignificant as a bug suddenly becomes enlightened and possesses intelligence.”

“…”

“Intelligent species pop out all at once in a period of a few thousand to tens of thousands of years. The chosen intelligent species, once they reach a certain level, are able to sign an agreement with the Creator and have their own episode.”

“Episode…”

“An episode only ends once a cataclysmic event, the end of days, happens. Once that happens, all the intelligent species are transferred to another area. The Creator doesn’t allow any past remnants to remain, so the intelligent species don’t know of what happened to previous generations or what happened in previous episodes.”

“Then, does Nectar have something to do with intelligent species?”

“Nectar was something that sages created due to a need. Initially, Nectar was created to assist with health recovery and anesthesia. It also allowed for sages to locate things. When a new episode starts, rather than the number of intelligent species, the overarching system itself evolves. Unfortunately, the evolution is so sudden that it overwhelms the sages, since there are too many things that need oversight and not enough sages.”

“You’re saying that Nectar was used to mark lesser intelligent species to be able to locate them? Then why has Nectar evolved to become something like that in Biyeon’s body? What happened?” San asked. His voice was filled with frustration and exasperation.

“Once Nectar was created, the sages tried to refine it over many years. In the process, the sages were able to gain a lot of information on existing species, and with additional knowledge, sages were able to monitor the overall ecosystem more efficiently. The side effects came afterward…”

Senun gulped. He occasionally looked up as if trying to recall what happened many, many years ago. It seemed that he recalled something that he didn’t want to recall just now. The main takeaway of what Senun said next was as followed:

The sages developed and refined Nectar. The sages wanted the Nectar to be able to act of its own accord. In other words, the sages wanted Nectar to possess intelligence.

Thus, over tens of thousands of years, Nectar constantly evolved. Many different experiments took place. Among the experiments were the implementation of Nectar on cross-inseminating species, on the mutation of species within controlled environments, and on species after they were just born. Furthermore, the focus of the experiments turned towards creating an ego for the Nectar. To give the Nectar and ego, the sages focused on implementing Nectar of intelligent species such as humans and spirits. Later on, through the assistance of the gods, the sages were able to create a stable structure for Nectar using a multi-dimensional protein. 

This creation gave way to an intelligent Nectar that could reside within living creatures while also freely analyzing, recovering, and communicating with its host. This led to sages creating the holy water that could forcibly multiply cells, the dragon’s medicine. This breakthrough also led the sages and Nectar down a road of a completely different path of creating intelligent species.

With this newfound understanding, sages spent tens of thousands of years inputting intelligence-related tools and knowledge into Nectar. Genetics, cell division, cell creation, mutation… experiments were conducted at the cellular level. To make sure the Nectar was rigorous and sturdy, it was inputted into the mitochondria, which allowed the Nectar to obtain an energy system and create its own system. This system allowed it to create a communication system and tool that could be used to control the Nectar itself. The sages were able to utilize this Nectar to control the Nectar’s host and have the Nectar recognize who was allowed to control it through an ego-recognition system. This allowed for ranged control over the subject and the option to terminate the subject from range. If need be, the sages could make the host commit suicide. Up to here, everything was good. Then, a few of the sages started putting Nectar into their own bodies…

“They used something that they shouldn’t have, that they were not allowed to use,” Biyeon said bitterly.

“The sages were submitting in front of their own creation?” San asked as he clicked his tongue.

“Yes… once anyone realized, it was already too late. The Nectar mutated the cells within sages and took over their nervous systems. In the end, the Nectar even mutated their brain cells. Once the brain cells were taken over and started multiplying, the sages underwent a complete species change. This change is still ongoing, even now… more than half of the sages have undergone this change, and it’ll only be a matter of time before dragons are overtaken. Siluone was the first that evolved through this process,” Senun said flatly.

“You’re saying an intelligence possessing Nectar took over the sages?” Biyeon asked.

“No, Nectar is still under the control of sages, so it’s more correct to state that sages have allowed the mutation to take place within them. The Nectar would take over one’s ego and create a recursive process, allowing itself to take over its host,” Senun answered.

“The ego was already taken over by the Nectar, so what’s the difference in whether it goes through the process of evolution/mutation or not?”

Senun looked at the two. His expression was thoroughly crumpled, unlike his expressionless face before.

“The ego is able to disconnect with the Creator and the previous agreement. The Nectar can verify its own existence separate from the one created and allowed by the Creator. Thus, it would be able to live in the Creator’s world as a free being and go against the rules set by the Creator. It becomes an outsider. Furthermore, we sages cannot coexist with those outsiders.”

“Then, wouldn’t the problem be solved if the sages just kill off the infected sages?” San asked. Senun shook his head. And in a cold voice, Senun said, “No, problems always come in waves. Once the sages mutated, another change happened, and a problem arose in the world.”

“A problem?”

Senun didn’t hide the discomfort he was feeling from Biyeon’s constant questioning. However, his calculative spirit had deduced that it was better to answer these humans’ questions.

“We saw something that we weren’t supposed to see.”

“Something you didn’t see before?”

“The Creator’s restricted area.”

“…”

“And we touched something we shouldn’t have touched.”

“Something you shouldn’t have touched?”

“We met the first human.”

“Satan?” Biyeon murmured quietly, almost to herself. Senun nodded his head.

“Surprisingly, the Nectar was able to call upon that being. Though, the Nectar wasn’t strong enough to completely take control over that being’s ego and consciousness… unfortunately.”

Senun’s eyes narrowed.

“Is Satan stronger than sages?”

“Probably the strongest…” Senun answered.

San let out a long sigh.

“I guess the problem just got larger from that point,” San stated.

“A lot larger. Satan is the being that names all things. She has the power to revive. She was able to revive several past living beings. She even revived those who were previously terminated through the termination deadline clause. Though, she wasn’t able to bring them back to their former power levels.”

“You’re speaking of the Fallen?”

“Yes. They’re the ones who bring judgement day. They’re the most powerful among the Original Beings. I don’t know how many of the Fallen were revived.”

“Are they also as powerful as Satan?”

“Yes. However, they haven’t recovered all their previous power levels. If they do recover to their previous levels, they’ll become unstoppable.”

Senun put the two bottles, which contained San and Biyeon’s bodily fluids, away and got up from his seat. Senun then said, “Let’s stop here for today. We don’t have much time. The Fallen and mutated sages are evolving even now. Furthermore, they’re spreading their mutation onto others… they’ve crossed over from individual mutations to group mutations. I need both of your help. Thank you for your cooperation.”

“One more question!” San said as he stopped Senun. Senun turned around to face San.

“You mentioned that you yourself was revived after being terminated. That means your existence isn’t completely terminated and vaporized… then what is terminated exactly?”

Senun slowly shook his head.

“The termination deadline clause is something that the Creator created. It cannot be broken or escaped from unless the Creator allows it. However, it is different from normal death, in other words, it’s different from hardware breaking down. One is still able to exist after being terminated… but it’s like the being cannot recognize itself. It’s hard to explain. Using the words from your world, it’s like a subprogram that has gone through and finished its process. Or data that has completed its use. The physical body remains, but unless the Creator allows, the world does not recognize the body. Until it is once again recognized, the body is stored somewhere.”

“Then why did Siluone put a termination deadline clause on Biyeon! She can’t even bring Biyeon back even if she wanted to!” San shouted out. San was growling as his chest heaved up and down.

“Because we’ve now found out how to revive!” Senun curtly replied.

“Shit!” San exclaimed.

“Once one is revived, one goes under Satan as a follower. The smart woman here probably understands what that means, right?” Senun said as he turned his eyes towards Biyeon.

“…”

Biyeon just looked forward with a dumbfounded expression. The missing pieces of a jigsaw puzzle were slowly filling the empty places within her mind. Biyeon looked at San and slowly shook her head. San crossed his arms and started laughing.

“Okay. It’s nice that it’s so simple and easy to understand. So, whatever we choose to do, it’ll be a dead-end, right? Death or termination. Siluone… such an untrustable, lizard-like bitch.”

Senun continued looking at the two with an expressionless face.

“If you don’t have any further questions, I’ll be taking off. I’ll see you both in about a month,” Senun stated.

“Do you want the same thing as Siluone?” Biyeon asked.

“No. I want what Siluone does not.”

“And what is that?”

“You two are the first beings that have not succumbed to the effects of Nectar. Though it’s not certain yet…”

“A vaccine?”

The word ‘vaccine’ came out of San and Biyeon’s mouths at the same time. Senun’s lips curved upward. These humans were quite interesting. With only a few words, they got to the main point. With a bright smile instead of a verbal response, Senun turned towards the door to leave.

“You must be busy as well. You’ll have to hurry if you want to collect all the info you want before I’m terminated…” Biyeon stated aloud as if she was voicing something insignificant. However, her words made Senun stop momentarily before continuing towards the exit. A response was circulating in his mouth, but he did not voice it.

‘It’s always been that way… for things that must be sacrificed… but, what if…?’

The first part of his thoughts was stopped within his mouth and the latter part stopped within his mind. Senun stiffly walked out of the room.

‘Siluone… you’ve misused the divine termination deadline clause… even all those who have previously died, those sages who have passed… nothing is safe anymore.’