After a while, the worms did leave and reformed into Harker 2.0.
Roland wasn't bleeding anymore, and he could hear clearly again. He saw that they were sitting on the ground, near a ruined store next to a gasoline station.
But instead of being thankful, he felt disgusted more than he ever did in his life.
"What's wrong with you!?" He yelled, still feeling squeamish as he felt the lingering sensation of those thousand crawlies inside him.
Harker 2.0 grinned. "You're welcome. And I just took a little peek, don't be so dramatic."
Roland glared at him, looking just as intimidating as Mina himself.
"What did you peek into?"
"Oh, just some parts of your brain. I don't know what memory I'm really searching for, but I'm just fine with anything at random." He started to grin wide. "But boy, I found a really good one."
He smiled. "Back in high school, there was a tradition for boys to compare how many letters, gifts and chocolates they received. Sure, it wasn't as much as what the girls receive. But that just makes it all the more special for them when a guy gets at least 5 love letters or a box of chocolates."
"The one who gets to have the most is crowned the Valentine King. Harker had always joked about what it would be like to win for fun. And in his last year, he did."
He leaned closer with a grin and Roland pushed him back. He just sneered and spoke in a hushed voice as if gossiping in secret.
"He won by a landslide, having tons of letters and chocolates from different women of every class fill up his locker. It flooded out the moment he opened it. You can imagine how surprised he was by how much people have affection for him, as he considered himself a low-key guy that not many would really notice back then. When he was still a nerd and didn't get into his delinquent act."
Roland stiffened as Harker 2.0 took his hands from his shoulder and pressed it between his own tightly.
"And all along, it was you who made it possible! The Valentine Kingmaker. Paying hundreds of women just to write him letters and gifts and chocolates that you brought yourself. Ain't you a real bro, Mr. Faust?"
Roland gritted his teeth. "That was a long time ago. And I just wanted Harker to feel special on Valentine's day. Because he felt that he would never experience receiving something during the day that corporations use to manipulate people into increasing their sales by commodifying 'love'."
"Ah, such manipulative corporations." Harker 2.0 clicked his tongue. "But isn't lying to your best friend by making him believe he was special also a form of manipulation?"
"It's a white lie." Roland insisted.
"Oh, yes. White lies. The good type of lies." The clone wiped the bloodstain that fell from Roland's eyes when they bled. "I wonder how many more white lies had you been telling your friend, Mr. Faust."
Roland did not respond. Instead, he took something from his pocket.
It was a lighter, and he flashed the flame over Harker 2.0's neck like a knife.
"Tell me what else you saw so I might not burn you."
Harker 2.0 visibly sweated from the flame. "N-No! Please…. Not the fire...…"
Then, he took the lighter and pinned Roland down!
He laughed for a good while, holding his head back as the man below him struggled. "Hahahaha! Did you really think I would be scared by a little fire like that? It's so adorable, I don't even know how someone he thought to be so smart could be so silly like that—"
It turned out that some of the gasoline that had tumbled down from the earthquake had spilled onto the store. It was flowing towards their direction, and once the lighter was thrown….
It ignited into a large explosion. Harker 2.0 had to move fast and lift the two bodies he was sent to protect again, and moved further away from the blazing store.
Once he had placed Roland and the unconscious Mina back down. He wore a slight look of annoyance.
"Alright then. I'd admit, that got me." He scowled. "But don't let it get into your head. You just got lucky that we landed near a gasoline station."
Roland smirked. "Look who's being silly right now. How adorable."
Harker 2.0 raised an eyebrow, and his scowl slowly turned into a smile.
"I'll tell you a secret too, as a fair trade. Whenever Harker and I merge again, he regains the memory that I carry. Which means he knows what I have been doing, and will know what happened right now."
Roland's eyes widened, and grabbed him by the collar.
"If you tell him anything, I will—"
"What? You can't hurt me, Roly-poly." The clone retorted.
Roland lets go, and stood up. Then…
He walked into the direction of the fire. "I can't hurt you, but I can hurt myself. Mr. Protector."
Harker 2.0's eyes widened, and tried to grab him. "Hey now, no need to be so drastic! You didn't even let me finish! Didn't you realize that if Harker learned my memories last night, he should have known how I clapped that fat ass!?"
Roland grimaced at the uncomfortable memory. He tried to wave it off and asked:
"How then? Because if he did know, he would have burned you himself."
He crossed his arms. "You can't possibly be a part of him. There's no way, you must be a part of Legion instead that got into him once he ate him."
"God, why is everyone always in denial here!?" Harker 2.0 rubbed his face. "Go on then. Neither of you are idiots, and yet you all just love to lie to yourselves. So go on and lie to yourself just like how you constantly lie to him. But I'm not here to school you, I'm here to make a proposal."
"What proposal?" Roland remained skeptical, ready to bolt towards the fire in case he pulled off something like that body-entering again.
"The reason why he doesn't remember is because I could choose to do this."
Harker 2.0 went to close his eyes….
And soon, several small black worms went out of his pores. He then opened his eyes, and grinned.
"Isn't that impressive?"
Roland scowled, about to ask what's so impressive with letting some parts of him go as he witnessed it already…..
But then his eyes widened in realization.
"Those….. Those are cells that hold memories, right?"
"Of course not. Cells in general don't really hold actual memories inside their tiny bodies." He said.
"But let's just say that my little friends are different. I am made up of things that can't make sense scientifically. Even if I am made by science. So the worms can hold memories, or even parts of consciousness and bodily function."
He let one pop out, and suddenly his legs collapsed like a deflated balloon. "See? It doesn't have to make sense to any logic at all. Only the power of control, of deciding what I am and what are parts of me."
"I know how to control myself, while Harker is still learning. If he was even half-decent, he would have been able to stop me by now and realize what I was doing. But no, that moron had too much of himself to be able to control it. I'm just a fragment, a slice of the pie, so I have less to control."
Roland found this unnerving, how this clone has so much power over his own form and yet chooses to play games.
It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, since at least he didn't use it for world domination or other more nefarious reasons. But his mischievous ways weren't good either.
Harker 2.0 finally revealed his purpose of telling him this:
"Once Harker and I merge again, I can access his memories too. And I could delete them as long as he's distracted enough. Anything you want…."
He pointed at the sleeping mermaid: "Even his memories of meeting Mina and falling for Joan, of becoming a demon lord and any of this happening. Then I could kill these girls for you. In exchange, I get to stay in his body and leave whenever I want, not bothering the two of you as you live your normal lives. How's that sound?"
Roland was aghast by this offer. "Why would I even want that?"
Harker 2.0 just chuckled and said in a sing-song voice: "You tell me. You can lie all you want, but the truth is clear as day. Roland Faust, you are—"
"No."
Roland picked Mina up, and headed for the direction of their hotel they were supposed to meet up on till morning. "He decides whether you stay or not after everything you've done. But if I were you, I'd get out of here as soon as I can before he finds you and turns you to ashes as you deserve."
He turned, his face determined.
"No matter how miserable I become, I'll never steal his happiness from him just so I can have my own."
New novel 𝓬hapters are published on (f)reeweb(n)ovel.com