105 Lord's Compilation 17: Copy

Short.

We, the Sixth Prince's senior staff stationed at Anoi Fortress, were baffled—watching through the magic mirror in the interrogation room as the prisoner before us.

Just moments ago, an emergency intrusion alert had sounded—enemy fleet had breached our defenses.

Coincidentally, the mercenary was out on a familiarization sortie with the cutting-edge warship, so they engaged immediately and were promptly shot down and captured.

All of the enemy fleet—crewed vessels—had been taken prisoner.

Yet everyone was utterly perplexed by this anomaly.

Let’s rewind a bit.

“So, this prisoner is a kidnapped Earthling, right?”

“Half right… and half wrong.”

The canine officer in charge of the interrogation answered, looking thoroughly confused.

I prodded the canine officer to continue, unimpressed by the incomprehensible response.

"According to the registered DNA, he's supposed to be Keith O'Brien, the first SF0 champion."

"So he's the real deal, then?"

The hunter's smirk faltered as the face of the man beside him flashed into view.

"No way."

"Yes, the man beside him has Keith O'Brien's DNA as well."

"What? Twin brothers?"

At that moment, I didn’t fully grasp what he meant.

Twins couldn’t have the same name. But the idea of two people sharing both DNA and name—something I couldn’t even imagine.

"No, they’re likely somatic clones."

"Ah, now that’s a tricky one..."

Me, my sister, and Kaede were triplets born from split embryos with customized DNA. But these two? They were cloned using somatic cell DNA, replacing the original zygote’s genetic code entirely.

They weren’t raised as separate personalities. They were made as copies of the original.

Same from a bioethics standpoint, maybe. But somatic clones? There’s still that industrial feel to them. You can’t scrub it clean.

No, actually—maybe we’re the designer children. On Earth, we’d be the kind of artificial things people recoil from.

But in the Empire? Fiddling with DNA isn’t that taboo.

To preserve the Emperor’s bloodline, to strengthen aging DNA with robust factors—half-beasts are just genetic experiment byproducts.

There’s still the stigma of being an experiment. But not the stigma of being genetically altered.

“So they were mass-produced as elite starship pilots, right?”

“Is that allowed in the Empire?”

“God no. It’s the most reviled act imaginable. You’re not treating people like people.”

I was clutching my head at the end of the Earth Recovery Operation.

"This is a problem. How the hell do you tell the real one from a clone? What if they send back a clone and say, 'Here’s the original'? What then…?"

"They’re only distinguishable because their memories are incomplete. A perfectly crafted clone? Impossible to tell apart."

"But that’s an obscenely expensive process. The question is—does the original person even warrant that kind of effort?"

True. If you’re just using a clone like Keith, returning the real one isn’t really a loss.

The issue is the older sister. A woman with the Emperor’s bloodline? That’s worth the trouble.

"Damn. So what about the other two?"

"She and she are clones of Emma Campbell, the second-generation SF02 champion. The other one was too, but she’s dead now."

"This combination? Looks like a textbook case of a Prince’s target—kidnapped for a reason."

"So their DNA was the target, huh?"

Was it because of their skills as a pilot—or because of their Personal Ship’s equipment?

No, their ship being equipped with a G-Bullet was likely due to the sister’s DNA enhancing the vessel.

Until they got their hands on the sister’s DNA—something new they could use—these people were probably used for combat enhancement. Once their equipment value dropped, they’d be repurposed as pilots, their bodies just another resource.

Can’t let people treat lives like that.

"So what do we do with them? Can’t send them back to Earth as Earthlings. Can’t just hand them over to the enemy."

"That’s the thing—what bound them was something like brainwashing."

"So if we break the brainwashing, they’d be on our side?"

"They’re basically four years old, really. It’s all about how they’re raised."

"Body’s all grown up, but the mind’s stuck at four..."

"Yeah. Just the combat tech transferred—otherwise, she's still a kid."

So why’d you make the外观 age so close to the actual person? You’re not seriously telling me you originally had someone else in mind, are you?

The mystery only deepened.

So everyone was just staring, utterly bewildered.

"Yeah. Kaede was five too. With genuine Imperial tech, they might’ve taught her something proper."

They’ll entrust it to the True Empire.

I’d rather keep you off the battlefield until you can choose your own future—on your own.

With real Imperial tech, maybe I could rewind my body all the way back to my actual age.

Still, those mercenaries are strong.

A skill level surpassing that of an SFO champion...

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