Chapter 124 Endless Reproduction
Repair the cabin.
The honey-brown short-haired omega was immersed in the repair fluid, closing his eyes and entering the "dream" of genetic memory recall. But now Su Xi has completely deviated from the main trunk of the "original genetic memory" and has been attracted by a special memory fragment, wandering on the wrong path of the side branch.
After passing through the pink gas vortex, the image in the mirror fragment became clearer. It was also an omega with red hair and blue eyes, and was about 70% similar to the current Marianna. But if you look closely at her appearance, it is exactly the same as the first queen of the current emperor Anthony, who has passed away, 'Laiya', but younger.
Su Xi's hand gently touched the fragments, and all the information about the origin and destination of this set of genetic fragments appeared in her mind at a glance.
It was exactly as expected. She was a replica of the first queen, Laya, a reproduction numbered LY368, and the first of the third batch of fertilized mothers. She was also——
Su Xi's expression became complicated for a moment.
'She' is the mother that gave birth to Fitzgerald.
In this interstellar age, it is no secret that the royal family relies on the integration of genetic engineering to continue the direct bloodline of Gerard. The natural reproduction method advocated by the royal family is nothing more than implanting embryos cultivated through genetic integration into the uterus of a natural person to complete the most important eight months of embryo development.
Therefore, after the gene fragments of these clones that are used for reproduction are removed and modified, their life span is only ten months. They die on the delivery table after completing their reproductive mission, which is their final outcome.
But the offspring numbered 'LY368' lived for sixteen years.
Su Xi extended her finger and immersed it in the mirror. The point she wanted to investigate was not LY368's experience, she only cared about one question.
So, is the reason for Fitz's current physical condition due to one-fifth of Queen Yuleya? Or is it the special experience of LY368 itself?
After all, under the 'LY368' gene chain node, there are more than a thousand identical successors, but all of them are failures.
This is what Su Xi wanted to find out.
*
In the mist of memory.
The life of the replica 'LY368' is like a mayfly, only a short sixteen years. This memory journey is not long, and the fragmented memories are scattered in space.
This is a journey from the end of life, going back to the beginning of life.
The first memory fragment is a flash of light before death.
In the hazy blood, the fragile omega wheelchair seemed to be eagerly waiting for something to come. But at this time, her vision was so weak that she could not see clearly except for distinguishing light and dark, and high-contrast color blocks, and could not see specific objects.
Su Xi relaxed her consciousness and entered into a memory link with LY368, a state of deep empathy.
Then, she noticed a vague figure approaching her, and then stopped three steps away. Five or six steps behind the figure, there were twos or threes of other figures squatting or standing there, their postures seemed lazy, but they were absolutely alert.
In the state of 'empathy', Su Xi understood 'LY368's' extremely complex emotions, guilt, nostalgia... and unmistakable joy.
Boom, boom, boom—'LY368's heart was beating violently, and she reached out her hand tremblingly towards the blurry figure.
"Come here, kid..." 'LY368' said with trembling lips, but her voice was so low that it was almost inaudible. If it weren't for the extraordinary hearing of the people opposite, they probably wouldn't have heard anything.
The figure was not tall, only a head taller than her who was sitting in the wheelchair, but the long sword on his back was almost as long as his body.
He did not move. Only the pheromones of a young child, which had not yet differentiated, quietly spread. There was no superfluous emotion in the pheromones, just like him who was examining 'her' now.
"Hey, Hall! Now that you're here, go ahead!" Behind the figure there was a bete girl with a high ponytail, who pushed him!
"Yeah, boss! We got paid, haha! Uh--" The joking voice was suddenly covered by his companion, "Chris... Uh! Why don't you let me speak?"
"You're stupid." The bete girl with a high ponytail said as she walked away muttering.
In this small garden surrounded by the fragrance of roses, there are only this omega in the wheelchair and the boy opposite him called Hall.
The atmosphere was silent for a while.
Finally, a figure called Hall came forward. As if infected by LY368's intense and tense mood, Su Xi's heart immediately lifted!
"Hello."
Su Xi heard his young and naive voice. Unlike the surprised and excited mentality of LY368 in the 'empathy' state, Su Xi felt a little surprised, but more of a desire to smile. It was really - I didn't expect Fitz to be so cute in his childhood.
"It's our first time meeting," Su Xi noticed that the omega in the memory link said very weakly, "I'm glad to finally... meet you."
In front of LY368's hazy vision, the boy called Hall took a step forward and spoke: "I'm not here for the reward from Holderman."
The boy said in a very serious tone: "It's to thank you in person."
"Thank me for what? Ahem..." The red-haired omega smiled half-heartedly before answering slowly.
"You took a risk to give birth to me."
"I—" The omega in the wheelchair seemed to want to say something, but was interrupted by a violent cough. She could only explain in a broken way why she wanted to see him one last time:
"Please, go back... go back to Yindu and take back... take back everything that belongs to you!"
"I have already... reported the coordinates... they will be here soon!"
Accompanied by the faint roar of propellers in the sky, accompanied by anxious shouts and curses from all around. Everything behind, within the range that Su Xi could perceive, those blurry and shaking images made it almost impossible to distinguish who was who and what happened specifically.
"Going back to Yindu?"
Su Xi only heard the young and naive voice, and finally replied: "No matter what your purpose is, I agree."
Then a hand reached out and slowly closed LY368's eyes. In her last perception, the palm of that young hand was filled with rough, thick silk.
In the last sight before closing her eyes, Su Xi saw the silver-haired, grey-eyed boy clearly. He pursed his lips slightly, with an expressionless look. What shocked Su Xi was that on that childish face, there was only indifference to life and death.
Immediately afterwards, Su Xi's eyes were plunged into darkness.
This fragment is over.
The moment Su Xi's consciousness withdrew from the memory fragments, the last picture of those indifferent gray eyes immediately collapsed into fine sand.
The pink smoke was getting thicker and thicker, and the countdown on my arm showed one minute and thirty seconds left.
Su Xi no longer hesitated and immediately ran to the next piece of debris.
*
The second memory fragment.
It was in a field of white roses on a barren planet. Wildfires were spreading, and mad tongues of flames were licking everything in sight. The snow-white petals were carried by the airflow brought by the scorching flames, floating in the sky mixed with black ash.
Su Xi, who briefly existed in the perspective of 'LY368', saw a silver-haired alpha with bronze skin rushing out of the sea of fire angrily, while feeling the burning pain on her back.
"Are you crazy?" he shouted angrily, and the water-based spiritual power instantly enveloped the omega whose back had been licked by the flames. A cool feeling came over him, and Su Xi sorted out his thoughts and entered a semi-connected state of observation.
"I'm not crazy," the red-haired omega's lips opened and closed slightly, and he said word by word, "Don't burn this damn thing! Why did you show up?!"
"I just want to escape from the lab and live a better and freer life after escaping!"
"Just like the three years we spent wandering, wouldn't it be better to find a planet with a moderate civilization and live a quiet life?" The red-haired, blue-eyed omega began to shed tears as he began to break down emotionally. "Instead of staying in such a harsh environment like we are now, improving our so-called abilities..."
The silver-haired alpha said nothing, but pulled her hand hard, leading her away from the sea of fire step by step. The alpha's strong mental force field perfectly shielded the damage caused by the flames.
"Holdman! You promised to take me away, and promised that I would be happy!"
"But what does this mean now?"
"Even if I get all the genes, I won't be with you until the end of your alpha life!"
The violent outburst of emotions in the memory video, the extreme repression of resentment and grievance, made Su Xi frown. She could only sigh and completely withdraw from the state of overlapping with this fragment of memory.
Standing outside the fragments of memory, Su Xi saw the tall alpha turned around in the wildfire of the sea of white roses. Although his appearance was slightly different, his temperament and expression were perfectly consistent with the silver-haired, blue-eyed 'Holdman' that Su Xi had met once.
However, although the Holdman in this fragment of memory looked irritable, he did not look half calm and half crazy as Su Xi had seen him before.
“就算被你的精神力喂養，我也結不出第二個脈輪！”記憶碎片中的紅發omega，拍掉霍德曼再次伸過來的手，後退了兩步，嘶聲竭力的喊道：“真的，你別費勁了，我受不了了！你把我一個人扔在這裏整整一年，日複一日的精神力訓練！枯燥、痛苦、又讓人絕望！”
“讓我這麽艱苦的活着！不如讓我如同其他編號的克隆體一樣，早點死了算了！”
“就這麽想死？”身材高大的alpha轉過身來，索性也不再拽她，任由她一邊痛哭一邊跌坐在地。
這個記憶碎片中的霍德曼，以一種異常冷酷的語調說着，“不行！你當初用信息素勾|引我帶你走的時候，我就決定了，我不死，你也必須得活着。”
“當你突破到第三個脈輪的時候，就有機會再延長端粒的活性，就有可能承受‘完全态基因溶液’的修複。”
霍德曼居高臨下的俯望她，耐心的重複着描繪過多次的美好前景，他雖然神色煩躁，但話語中卻依舊帶着說不清道不明的期望。
“我是omega，我只想在有限的生命中享受生活！”
紅發的omega神色脆弱的大哭，如同四五歲的幼兒。不過如果除去培養皿中的克隆體生長時間，只被灌輸了簡單的生活常識就來到外面世界的‘她’确實也不過只生活了四、五年而已。
“你确定？”
霍德曼臉色的神色晦暗，他一字一句說得極慢：“摘除的胚胎還在保育箱裏，你确定要重新回歸‘繁育者’的角色？”
“是的，”紅發omega碧眸含淚，一臉的哀求，“我不想再過這樣的生活了，送我回去吧。”
“你也能回歸帝國——”
“很好！”霍德曼捏緊了拳頭，一臉鐵青的從牙縫裏擠出兩個字。
兩人對話進行到這裏，記憶的碎片逐漸模糊不清，直到整個畫面成為靜止的灰白色。
蘇熙最後回望了一眼，那火海之中，站立的alpha與跌落在地的omega之間，淚眼相對的僵持。
直到這塊碎片崩塌成沙，散落在粉色的迷霧之中。
蘇熙微微嘆息。繼續沿着時間線穿行，繼續的追尋着其它的碎片。
*
第三個記憶碎片。
在長長的記憶回廊之中，紅發碧眼的omega在蘇熙的前方慌不擇路的跑着，後頸腺體上‘LY368’的編號，清晰得刺目。
仿佛有極為可怕的怪物追在她的身後。
這是一艘失事墜落在荒野星球的中等噸位的貨艦，此刻已經被一群半機械人全然占領，貨艙已經起火全燃。然而追逐着她的卻并不是那些機械人，而是荒星上噬血的野獸。
在她的身後不遠處，那些猙獰的野獸一個一個撬開貨箱，擊碎了無數的培養皿。培養皿中是一些發育年限不等的omega的複制體，有的四五歲模樣，有的甚至四十多歲。
但除了逃出培養皿的‘LY368’，她的同類都幾乎被野獸給啃噬幹淨了。在危機關頭覺醒了稀薄精神力的‘LY368’，踉踉跄跄的躲開了。
但現在的她已經沒有退路，身後是慢慢圍攏過來的荒星野獸，身前是擋住去路的廢棄舷窗，她挪不動這塊廢鐵，也無法從細小的縫隙中鑽出去。
滿面淚水的‘LY368’不由得迸發出極為絕望的精神力，‘誰能救救我！’
正當一只野獸流着口涎，準備猛撲過來的時候，斜後方卻閃過一道亮光——
猙獰的野獸被爆成了一團模糊的血霧。
‘LY368’愣愣的轉頭望過去，逆着光，身材高大的alpha吊兒郎當的走了過來，但當他看清眼前的這個omega時，也明顯愣住了。
“萊雅？”他不可置信的問，“你怎麽會在這裏？安東尼呢！”
‘LY368’眼裏閃過亮光，剛脫離培養皿并沒有五個小時的她并不能使用語言，但她發現自己的呼喚對方聽到——
‘求你，’她用精神力哀求着，‘救救我。’
而對于眼前這個alpha來說，能收到‘萊雅’的精神力呼救并不稀奇，雖然并不清楚前因後果，但略微的遲疑之後，他立刻明白了眼前這個人并不是被錯認的那個帝國皇後。
‘LY368’敏銳得如同動物般的直覺，讓她哆哆嗦嗦的撲了過去，omega的信息素本能的散發着強烈誘情的意味。
銀發alpha靈敏的alpha腺體當然也接受到了omega強烈的信息，他略挑眉，深感趣味的咧嘴笑了。
“不管你是不是萊雅本人，這确實是她的信息素，呵！尹都的烈焰玫瑰，你可清楚你現在釋放信息素——”alpha停頓了一下，騰出手來，極快的收拾了那些徘徊的荒星野獸，然後才慢慢的，別有深意的說：“是在勾引我标記你嗎？”
銀發alpha掰開了她纏繞到自己不放的手，一個巧勁就掐着對方的脖子，撩開頭發就看見了LY368這幾個醒目标志。
“是這樣嗎？”他喃喃的說，“要了我的基因，說是為了整合更加純淨的‘傑拉德’血脈——啧！看來兩位陛下的手筆越來越大了，真是糟糕啊……”
“是……勾引……标記……”‘LY368’不太懂眼前這個散發着強烈威勢的alpha具體在說什麽，她本能的重複着他的語言。
“呵！既然你這麽主動，那我就不客氣了，”他笑着磨磨牙，以一種非常随便的神情說，“記得我叫霍德曼。”
然後就一口咬了下去。
接下去的畫面就是一片朦胧的灰暗。蘇熙從旁觀的視角中，徹底的退了出去。第三塊記憶碎片在讀取後繼續的崩塌成沙。
蘇熙垂眸看了一眼手臂上的倒計時，還有一分二十秒。
時間不多了。
而此時，彌漫在她四周的粉色的煙霧，已經具象成粗壯的繩索，緊緊的試圖鎖住蘇熙的動作，不讓她再往前探尋真相——
而撤掉精神力屏障的蘇熙，也在一次又一次的記憶探索中，清晰的感受到了所謂‘被污染’是如何一種具體的感受。
‘基因污染’對她當前最大的影響，就是逐漸的失去對外界的感應，甚至蘇熙還敏銳的察覺到自己與熙光的同頻度越來越低，逐漸掉落到30%的數值。手臂上的倒計時也時不時的不再清晰的展現。
盡管這樣，在探索前面三個記憶碎片的同時，現實世界中也只過去了三分多種，在這段時間裏，她通過熙光借助‘天眼’監控系統，看到了島上監控中的所有畫面，
讓她也幾乎同一時間發現了那個久違的金發少年的模樣，發現了蕾拉阿薩伊及狐尾他們四人在浮空島上的行動。
她當然也聽見了他們的談話，聽見了他們商量如何避開島上開啓的‘死線’，一心想要探查到她的安危。心裏微微湧過一陣暖流。
于是，蘇熙停住了腳步。她選擇了騰出手來先處理現實世界中的事情。
借助與熙光的人機同頻，蘇熙在通訊器中，對阿薩伊他們說：“浮空島有變故，但不用擔心……給你們開放特別的身份标識……”
“來幽篁居，見面再……”
未等她說完最後一個字，記憶回溯世界中的蘇熙與現實世界的聯系，徹底斷掉了。
*
而這時，這個記憶回溯的‘夢境’中，詭異的煙霧越來越濃稠，甚至形成了一個小型的漩渦。
氣态的煙霧逐漸濃稠得形成了一種粘稠的半固态狀态，顏色也漸漸轉變成一種腥紅暗沉的赤紅色，漩渦的中心漸漸具現出了一條圓形的長柱，然後長柱中抽出四肢……在這樣逐漸的變化之中，勉強能辨認出這是一個曲線玲珑的女體。
“有感應了……”粉色煙霧狀人形的頭部，有一個空洞開開合合的發出聲音：“終于，抓到你了。”
呵呵的怪笑回蕩在這個虛無的空間，充滿了一種尖利的瘋狂，它鎖定了蘇熙的位置之後，粘稠的物質滴滴答答的如蛛網般凝聚又擴張，然後猛的着朝蘇熙撲了過去！
一種嘶啞難聽的聲音，斷斷續續的從它的口中發出：“一個基因被污染的omega……我倒想看看……是否還能……儲妃……”
眼看那些粘膩的觸角就要沾染到蘇熙身上了——
“被污染嗎？”
“你就是這麽控制你的那些複制體？”
蘇熙冷笑一聲，“這根本不是與克隆體之間的心靈感應吧，而是細胞的寄生與吞噬，那是——”
“屬于蟲族的能力啊。”