A Bio-Weapon's Rhapsody

Chapter 312: Custody battle end.

The reactions to Ale's statement were varied as they were funny.Big Sister and Golem seemed to relax and nod, [Eleanore] for her part, seemed conflicted, she was not outright happy like the other two, but was not sad either.

She didn't display the right emotions even though she was greatly affected by this choice. For her part, Miriam Eversoul was the one who surprised the most everyone.

"I see." Miriam Eversoul said nodding, "I understand."

"Just like that?" Big Sister frowned, "Really?"

"I respect her independence and decision as much as I did respect your decision." Miriam Eversoul responded with a nod, "Besides, even if I had the intention to force something. I would be stopped."

"... oh, that's right." Big Sister said as realization hit her, "We could just ask Vulcanus. He also wants to keep Ale close to him... for some reason."

Golem nodded, as for [Eleanore]? She merely bit her lip and did not speak.

"He wants to what?" Miriam Eversoul said glaring at [Eleanore], "You did not tell me that Lena."

"It is... not.... important in the great... I..." [Eleanore] seemed to be struggling to answer.

Ale couldn't help but sigh at that sight.

"It is not what Miriam Eversoul meant." Ale in the end decided to throw a bone at [Eleanore], not because she wanted to help her, but more because she didn't want to leak that much information, she didn't want Miriam Eversoul's perception of Alexa to shift much if possible, "She meant more because who is our brother."

"[Truth]." [Eleanore]'s voice chimed from the side, with a weird overlapped voice behind her, as if to make it obvious that her words were important. The second voice under it sounded somewhat... mechanic? Artificial? It didn't sound human at the very least.

Was it how it always sounded? Was that how Alexa sounded when she spoke about certain... ?

How had they gotten away with that?

No wait, didn't other people speak like that too?

"Oh right, we had that option." Big Sister said as if she also just had realized that, "Then why did you even try to get Ale? Couldn't the big bad overlord fix this?"

"...Have you met him?" Miriam Eversoul said with a sigh, "That man does what he wants, how he wants when he wants."

"That sounds... annoying." Big Sister said with a confused look, "He is like that in private? Wasn't that a whole persona he built for shit and giggles?"

"Don't look at me," Ale said with a shrug, "I know him less than you do."

"You are the sister." Big Sister said with a weird smile, "Shouldn't you know him better, he did rescue you after all. Did he not?"

"... In a way..." Ale said with a conflicted expression.

"[...Truth]?" [Eleanore] said from the side.

"" Ale frowned as she focused her words on [Eleanore], she felt her Mana boil as it spread around her body, focused on her Core and then sent a shortwave at [Eleanore].

A second later Ale felt a confirmation and the mana wave was sent back at her, somehow that increased her Mana increase by five points from that.

"But yeah, Alexanders could be said to be the reason we got rescued." Ale said as she prepared all sort of half truths to explain that in case [Eleanore] still managed to use her power on them.

"..." "..." "..."

The other three people in the room seemed to wait for [Eleanore] to say something, but she did not move or speak, only sighed in defeat.

"I don't know." And said as much.

"Good." Ale nodded, "That is one of the worst possible Core Powers to have, and you should feel ashamed to even think you are entitled to know what other people think."

"... It isn't that bad." Big Sister said from the side, as if she wanted to defend [Eleanore].

"[False]." [Eleanore] for her part spoke.

"...Fine it sucks," Big Sister said with a grimace, "But I understand why it can be useful to have around."

"[Truth]." [Eleanore] smiled softly at that.

"Do not make me turn you unable to use your power near me." Ale said with a frown, "I understand that you aren't fully responsible for all the shit that came our way when we were just trying to get our bearings. And you can be said to be one of the reasons we managed to get this far. But that still does not absolve you of your terrible choices."

"...Okay." [Eleanore] said in a small voice.

"Anyway, the thing is. Alexanders does not care most of the time of what we do or how we do it." Ale said afterward, as if the whole [Eleanore] thing had been a side problem that didn't merit more thought, "From what I can infer thanks to the interactions we had with him after our escape... He will not meddle in what we do unless we are being forced to do something we don't want."

"Something you don't want?" Big Sister said worried, "What do you mean?"

"We don't really need the work." Ale stated plainly, "Not really, even if we didn't join Haephestus' Forge we could have managed to survive. Even if we didn't acclimate to human society, that was never a problem."

"I don't think you could get far without money for food... or clothes..." Big Sister pointed.

"Not necesarily." Golem was the one who spoke next, "The Core Powers she showcased the first time included means to change her clothing, so external clothing was not a necessity for her."

"Exactly. We don't need money to buy our clothes, nor do we need water to keep ourselves clean either." Ale said with a shrug, "We can make our own bedding in any place if needed, and... honestly, so long we get biomass we can survive in any environment."

"As thus, she does not need society to survive. The sewers have hostile fauna that she could have used to subsist." Golem said nodding in understanding, "I know that, as that was one of the options I was thinking to take if the gig with Haephestus' Forge fell flat."

"...That's harsh." Big Sister said shuddering, "No girl should live in that environment, it is not right."

"It wouldn't have bothered us, not really." Ale said with a weird smile, "Not the day one Alexa... or even the week one Alexandra..."

She of course wouldn't have cared either, not then at least.

"...She was special like that," Big Sister nodded as she spoke, "After the third day of girl's night though, she was unable to live like that."

Ale... guessed that was the truth, but she could not confirm nor deny the statement.

"And during all of that, Alexanders wouldn't have moved a finger to help us." Ale carried on with the original topic at hand, "Because that was what we would have chosen."

"He is that kind of man." Miriam Eversoul said nodding afterward, "Because that was what she did as a Saintsworths."

"Aren't the Saintsworths... these entitled rich bastards that look down on everyone else though?" Big Sister pointed, "I would have guessed that most live pampered lives looking down on us plebs."

"To some degree... that is correct." Miriam Eversoul said, "But you have not met many Saintsworths. Not many do."

"Most... Only know one or two." [Eleanore] finally spoke more than a singular word. "Alexanders Saintsworths, Thaddeus Saintsworths... and... Callista Saintsworths."

There was a new name that Ale didn't know there!

"...Oh, that's right." Big Sister said after hearing the names, "That can't be right. There are others right? Where are they?"

"The Saintsworths Clan is... special." Miriam Eversoul spoke with great care, looking around the room as if searching for something. "There are great clans even among the high society of this day, ancient families that carry traditions and duty. The Saintsworths... could be said to be one of those."

"What duty could those blonde assholes carry?" Big Sister asked in a mocking tone.

"To spread the fire that will light the beacon of civilization?" Ale said wondering aloud.

"Knowledge and Freedom." Miriam Eversoul answered, "The Saintsworths main branch seeks those two, and all their efforts are focused in those two things. All that they do is with those goals in mind."

"....That is bullshit." Big Sister said laughing, "Nope, I don't believe it, at all."

"I will concur with Skye." Golem said next, "The Saintsworths do not seem like people who would seek freedom, or knowledge."

"But they are." Ale spoke next as she touched the bracelet that Alexanders had given her, "What better way to hoard the knowledge of humanity if not by becoming the ones to own everything?"

She had seen the extensive database that she was able to access, and that was even with some knowledge barred from being available to her. It made some kind of sense, the key to open those locks was behind her providing new knowledge after all.

"Who can restrain you, if you own the police? The politics? The law?" Ale asked next, "If everyone works for you. Would you not be the one with the most freedom?"

"...Oh..." Big Sister said as the words fell on her, "So they were actually the bad guys huh."

"That is..." Miriam Eversoul tried to speak but was unable to, "The high council does want to rule the world for that yes. But not all the Saintsworths follow the same method."

"No?" Big Sister asked with suspicion in her eyes, "I find that hard to believe."

"Some Saintsworths seek the knowledge by themselves, becoming researchers and adventurers." Miriam Eversoul turned to Ale, "Others seek freedom by not using the assets of the clan, living independently from the clan and joining other factions."

So Ale was being labeled as one such example? That explained why after becoming a Saintsworths no one had tried to restrain her or make her live with the other Saintsworths.

"And then there is the big bad overlord." Big Sister said with some edge in her voice. "Under what premise does he fit?"

"...I don't know." Miriam Eversoul answered. Then turned to [Eleanore] and nodded at her.

"[Truth.]" [Eleanore] said with a sigh, "She truly does not know, there are no second meanings or half-truths."

And as if that was not enough, she elaborated on it further.

"I used to believe he was someone who wanted to rule the world." Miriam Eversoul spoke next about her own beliefs about Alexanders, "Then he gave me the key to all that he owned and dared me to find something that could ruin him. To this day I have not found anything of the sort."

Ale couldn't help but think as thus.

[Do you wish for us to provide her with the right information?]

And that was the first time Main Core had even suggested something that was against the interest of the Saintsworths... Or of Alexanders to be precise.

Ale still decided against it, because it was not right, Alexanders had helped them after all.

"Then he goes and does shit like this." Miriam Eversoul said pointing at Ale, "He told me that I could travel with her to ensure everything was going to go well, then shipped her through the transatlantic orbital flight, and didn't told me till thirty minutes ago. So I had to rush here."

Thirty minutes ago?

Ale was... still eating thirty minutes ago, was she not? How had he decided that?

"I used to think that Alexanders was from the Knowledge faction of the Saintsowrths. But now I think he may be of the Freedom side." Miriam Eversoul sighed, "Which means that trying to understand that madman is useless. At best he just wants to go at his pace, at worst he wants to ensure no one can tie him down."

"He is the CEO of the most powerful corporation in the world." Big Sister deadpanned, "There are not many things that can tie him down."

"He has no full control over the Saintsworths Conglomerate." Ale said from the side, "Most of the company is probably still under his Father and the high council, is it not?"

"Exactly." Miriam Eversoul nodded, "Your father controls around 40% of the assets of the company, 40% is under the high council and the remaining 20% is of Alexanders."

"Wait, wait, wait a god-forsaken second." Big Sister spoke quickly, "Are you telling me, the big bad overlord. The fricking [Calamity Dragon]... Doesn't even own his company?"

"He is the CEO." Miriam Eversoul said with a smirk of her own, "But the amount of assets he can mobilize is not as big as the people may think."

Ale had noticed that too, actually, the fact that the number of things that Alexanders moved or interacted with... seemed to be great, but they weren't that... impactful.

"Sure, almost every city he visits or building he goes around bends over to him." Miriam Eversoul shook her head as she spoke, "But the actual control he has, is not that great. Most can't notice it because while he owns only 20% of the Conglomerate compared to the high council that owns 40%. He is one person, while the high council is formed of 14 people."

"Oh... When you put it that way..." Big Sister nodded in understanding, "Still...."

"Even 20% is an impressive amount to control." Ale pointed from the side, "It may not sound like much, but that 20% is what allowed him to make Aquila."

"...How so?" Big Sister asked next, did they not tell them that?

"Aquila, the whole Research/University/Floating City project was funded by Alexanders personal pocket." Miriam Eversoul said, pointing at the brochure (Or pamphlet?) that she pulled out from her jacket, "This? This was made solely by Alexanders. The original project was supposed to be set up elsewhere, the council refused to give him money if he didn't make it in the spot they picked."

"Where did they want it?" Big Sister asked confused.

"In the artic." Ale answered, the realization came to Big Sister and Golem... Probably to [Eleanore] too, since they had data and plans that accounted for the city to be surrounded by ice after all, "But he moved the whole thing to the ocean using his own pocket money."

"...That's one hell of an amount of pocket money." Big Sister whistled as she said that, "He decided that his city would be better in the middle of the ocean, so he just forked the money to do it? That's not something a sane person does."

"That's a Saintsworths for you." Miriam Eversoul sighed as she stated that, "They are not sane, not a single one."

"Rude." Ale said from the side, "There must be more than one sane... somewhere."

Ale would not claim to be the sane one, and would refuse and refute it if someone said Alexa was the sane one.

...Honestly, she also didn't think there were sane Saintsworths around, but even if that was the truth, it was still rude to say it.