Harker went on to infiltrate the bodyguard's side to gain information. He was the only one capable to do so, after all, while the others can join in with the scientists. It was also the duty of the bodyguards, as it turned out, to patrol the settlement at night.
That meant that he would have a chance to sneak into Victoria's tent and pry out information from here.
There would be two ways to do so. The simplest one would be to look for anything in her room that might be useful. The second was, of course, to get inside her head through the worms.
The second one was riskier, but had a higher success than the first one. Still, Harker decided that would be for his last resort in case he found nothing in her room. There's a lot more to explore too in Eden besides Victoria's tent, like the dining hall at the center of it all where everyone had their food at a very long table.
Some chose to lay picnic mats instead and enjoy the beauty of the garden among the cold winter wasteland. It reminded Harker awfully too much of Legion's tea party.
Thinking about it now, Legion also had the ability to manipulate someone's memory, or at least make them see hallucinations.
Harker hasn't mastered that yet, since he barely mastered his cloning ability. It must have something to do with the SS cells also manipulating and interacting the brain cells and affecting its functions.
To do something like that would require a lot more focus and willpower than what Harker had already achieved. But he was hopeful that with time, he will be able to master it.
What he does know to do right now was to gain memory from others and heal them through SS cells. He did that with the bodyguard, which he learned to be named Adam Fiero.
Adam Fiero was particularly disliked by everyone, even among his fellow bodyguards. He had quite an unlikable, condescending personality, and Harker had gleaned that he had a few arguments with one of the scientists.
That scientist would be the one Roland was inhabiting right now. Doctor Evan Sornione, who was a master in biology and geology.
It seemed that everyone knows Adam and Evan don't get along that well, so Harker would have to be careful when being spotted talking to Roland. Meanwhile, the other two girls, Mary and Petra Curry, were sisters that had specialized in creating a device that senses gems and precious minerals.
It was quite different from a metal detector as it could determine precious stones that are non-metallic as well and even determine what type it was.
At lunchtime, Roland was forced to sit with the scientists at the long dining table. It seemed to be reserved for those with the highest regard among the settlement, the 'leaders', if you will.
So all that's left for Harker to talk to were the girls.
He won't be able to approach Roland that easily anyway since the people they're disguised as hate each other. He could just share the information secretly through passing along the message to Mina and Joan, who's role they're playing were more in neutral terms with both Adam and Evan.
"The Malum must be a precious stone, then." Harker told Mina and Joan when they reconvene during lunch time at a picnic area. "But the question is why they're looking for it, and how they came to know it's here?"
"Are you going to Victoria's room later tonight then?" Mina asked.
"Yes, but I need to get her to come out. She's like Legion, so it's too dangerous to sneak in while she's inside." Harker said.
Joan nodded. "We'll take care of the distraction. How much time do you need?"
"15 minutes would be enough. Her room is small enough, though I also need a clue on where I should be looking exactly."
Another female scientist suddenly approached them as they discussed their plans in hushed whispers.
"Mary! Petra! Why didn't you guys sit with us?" She asked.
Joan easily acted as Petra with an easy smile. "We just noticed that Adam has this whole spot to himself so we decided to join him."
The woman frowned. "Of course he'll be alone. Adam's a—"
Her companion covered her mouth. "Are you sure you don't want to join us? We could compare the findings we had this morning, or just chat with us girls. How about you, Mary?"
Mina shook her head. "I'll stay where my sister stays."
She shrugged. "Alright then. Just…. There's always a free spot if you girls changed your mind."
They gave Harker another repulsed look, before going back to their group.
Joan raised an eyebrow. "What's up with them? What's wrong with this Adam?"
Harker sighed. "Apparently, he was once convicted 10 years in jail for sexual assault. I would rather pretend to be anyone else, but beggars can't be choosers, I suppose."
"Tsk, that explains it. But I can't believe Victoria would go so far to hire a former r*pist…." She trailed off.
Then, she shook her head. "Who am I kidding? We've grown so far apart that I don't really know her any more than I know all these strangers. Can't say I've known her that well back when we still lived together as a family, she never really considered me as such."
Harker remembered the last words of the Ice Giantesses, and can't help but have a feeling that's not really the case.
But that doesn't matter anymore. Victoria wouldn't really listen to Joan, and she was set on this path. Whatever the Malum was for, it can't be anything good with how she willingly sacrificed people into zombies and to Legion, even herself. Just to get this much power.
Harker knew how much greed for power could change someone.
He didn't experience it himself. He seemed to have been born with an innate desire to avoid taking too much power at all cost, and to be cautious of gaining too much until he started to be greedy for it.
A desire to be normal, to be simple. A desire to be human, not a god.
To be honest, he felt like being a god would be quite a miserable existence. Immortality, having to watch after your creations, the boredom of attaining everything that you don't really have anything to chase after anymore, no purpose….
You can choose to destroy the world and ruin lives just for fun. And then what?
You could choose to beautify the world to the peak of what you believe was perfection. And then what?
If he could achieve it all at the snap of a finger, changing the world the same way someone who can lucid dream can control his dreams….
Then it gets really dreadful real fast.
What makes pleasure sweet was pain, after all. The pains that you had to take to achieve it.
"Hey, where is Roland off to?" Joan pointed out, breaking Harker out of his mind-wandering again.
They saw him get out of the table, staggering. With Doctor Evan Sornione's unruly hair, he looked especially crazed in doing so. He started walking towards a nearby tree…..
And banged his head against it, yelling again and again.
"I won't eat it! I won't eat it! I'd rather die than have you deceive me!"
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