Chapter 262: Concealment, Cover, Disguise, Transformation

"It's like a ghost if it's invisible, right?"

Players were gathered in the first conference room of the pantheon. Some seats were vacant, but there was a lot of interest in the topic being discussed, as it seemed they had found some clues.

The one speaking from the podium was Lunda.

"We don't know whether to call them ghosts, wraiths, phantoms, or something else, but the idea is to collectively refer to a species that is invisible to the eye."

Somewhat cute illustrations appeared on the screen, all imaginative depictions of ghosts, which the players knew weren’t particularly meaningful.

Sung-Woon then asked, "Are they incorporal? Or is it like an invisible person, where physical contact is possible?"

"If it's to be considered a species, it must have a physical body, but perhaps it could exist as a non-material being, don’t you think?"

"Like magic?"

"Right, like magic."

Sung-Woon crossed his arms and pondered.

"I'd rather we exclude magic."

"Why?"

"I don’t think it's being utilized properly, but I am, after all, the god of magic. If there were magical beings, they would be visible to me, even if not to other players."

"Maybe because there are too few of them...?"

"I wish that were the case. If they are that few, we wouldn't need to feel threatened. I'm not saying to completely discard the magical being hypothesis. Just that it should be a lower priority."

"Okay, hold on..."

Lunda paused, rubbing her temple and slyly opening one eye to look at those in the conference room who shared her opinion. Lunda was part of the so-called ghost species hypothesis group, suggesting that the species of the evil god Jeolyo, which the Pantheon had to find, could be a ghost or something similar. However, the suggestion to exclude magic seemed to weaken the support for the ghost hypothesis.

"Without magic, it's unexplainable. If it's not magical and doesn't physically exist, then it doesn't exist at all, right?"

"Seems so. If they can't be touched, they can't interfere with us. It's questionable whether they can even perceive us."

"Alright. I'll come back with revisions."

As Lunda stepped down, another player came up to the podium.

Without any pleasantries, the discussion started directly.

"If what we're looking for isn't in front of us, it's one of two things."

A humanoid figure began to speak. They were somewhat small and slender. Matte black cloths wrapped around them, and between these cloths, pale shadows seeped out.

HumanTracker, appearing like a shadow crudely depicted by an impressionist painter, said in a husky voice, "Concealment or disguise."

Sung-Woon nodded. "Go on."

HumanTracker seemed to have the support of two factions.

"You must know already, but concealment is about hiding. The problem is where they’re hiding. If we assume they’re already active and we haven't found them, there's only one place they could be hiding."

HumanTracker pointed to their head. "The head."

"The head.”

HumanTracker continued, "Ever read the manga Parasyte? No, it's not a question. I thought it would be an easy explanation because the aliens in that work resemble what I'm trying to explain. In this manga, the aliens eat peoples’ heads and then move around in their appearance."

Since the players seemed familiar with it, HumanTracker continued the explanation.

"It's not outlandish to imagine. We can find similar things nearby. We have creations like Gordius, right? Even if not creations, parasitism is one of the common survival strategies in biology. Therefore, assuming some species are a parasitic species isn't surprising. This hypothesis doesn't involve some non-entity like a ghost, or bring in the existence of magic."

Sung-Woon easily agreed.

Then, HumanTracker described a hypothetical parasitic species with illustrations. This species resembled the embryonic form shared by various species that had evolved past the embryo stage and started to take on vertebrate forms.

HumanTracker hypothesized that this was the complete mature form of the species. Once a host was chosen, the species would plant seeds through close contact like kissing, and these seeds would grow in the brain, increasing the species’ numbers.

“Interesting," Sung-Woon added. "But there seems to be a specific problem..."

Wisdom, who had been sitting quietly and not affiliated with any group, said, "If one individual plants seeds, does that mean this parasitic species is hermaphroditic?"

"I do think there’s the possibility that might not be the case, but..."

"Considering the relationships of many species, it's difficult to see successful seeding from a single interaction. To combine more than one set of genetic information, two members of the parasitic species and one host would be needed. And unless polyamory is normalized, in a civilized environment, that would be quite noticeable. We haven't observed such a culture yet."

"What if they are hermaphroditic?"

Sung-Woon replied, "In that case, things would be easier. I don't know much, but if a biological group has limited genetic diversity, diseases spread easily. If we only find a few of the parasitic species, we could potentially create a disease targeting the unrecognized members of that species."

Another god interjected, "Nebula, I don’t see that as realistic. The species in the Lost World aren’t just made for the game. They are quite sophisticated. They can survive independently if dropped into different ecosystems. I don't think they are hermaphroditic."

Unfazed, HumanTracker soon continued, "...Then let's talk about the second possibility. Disguise. If concealment is about hiding one's appearance, disguise is about wearing the skin of something else. It's not about the function but just mimicking the external appearance, so it doesn’t need to be limited to the head."

HumanTracker tapped their chest. "Right here, the body. If it's hard to be a parasitic species, then just wear the skin of another species."

"Wouldn't that look awkward?"

"If it's a species specialized in such an act, even if it's awkward, they should have the ability to appear natural. I got this idea from conspiracy theories."

HumanTracker waved their hand over the screen, and an illustration of a flat-faced reptilian species appeared.

Lunda muttered, "Lizardmen? ...No, not quite."

"They are called Reptilians," HumanTracker said. "The name isn't important, nor the appearance. What matters is that there was a conspiracy theory on Earth that ancient reptilian aliens controlled humanity from behind the scenes. These Reptilians would wear Human skin and blend into society. Some people even claimed that famous people were Reptilians and backed it up with ‘evidence’."

Wisdom said from the back, "I still find it hard to believe. Biologically and chemically, maintaining a guise with just skin seems challenging. Even if there's some other technology or mechanism for maintaining the skin, there’s also another problem, like size. If the disguised species grows too big or too small, they would have to keep switching bodies frequently, like hermit crabs changing shells."

"What if they were to maintain a constant size?"

"A baby and an adult of the same size? That’s physically impossible. Of course, some species, like the Kiwi do lay eggs as big as themselves. Then..."

Sung-Woon caught on and said, "...We should have found eggs by now. Even if they reproduce externally, if they are a threat to us, there should be breeding grounds somewhere. Of course, now that this has been mentioned, we might need to recheck potential locations, but I'm not very hopeful."

HumanTracker fell silent for a moment, "...You're right."

They turned and began to converse quietly with players who shared the same view.

Sung-Woon then looked around at the players and said, "Ghosts, parasites, disguises. All are valuable ideas, but none seem perfect. If there are no other opinions, I think we can end things here for today."

Players began to rise from their seats without a formal end being declared.

Just then, Eldar hesitantly raised their hand.

"Nebula, I have an idea that just came to me while listening..."

"Great."

"Can I speak from here? Standing there is a bit intimidating."

"By all means."

"It was suffocating as it felt like there were two Wisdoms."

"That's something you should’ve said when they're not around."

The players laughed.

Eldar said, "In my opinion, we almost have the answer today. It's neither concealment, cover, nor disguise."

"Then what?"

"It’s transformation."

"Transformation?"

Eldar explained, "Have you heard of Changelings?"

"It sounds familiar."

"A Changeling is a Fairy child that is swapped with a Human child, so the Fairy child grows up as a Human, and the Human child grows up among Fairies. It's called being changelinged.'"

"Is it an old tale?"

"It's a European folk tale. Simply put, I believe Fairies exist, and they have done changeling."

"Then we need a magical explanation."

"No, we don't need magic to explain it." Eldar projected an image above themself. "What I'm thinking of as Fairies are beings that can transform into any species. They are the origin of everything."

"Is that possible?"

"I think it is. Recently, it's been revealed that the genetic information of species in the Lost World isn't that different. There's some variation, but they must have shared a similar environment at some point."

This information was already somewhat revealed in the Lost World. It was unlikely that they all followed one evolutionary lineage, so it was thought that they must be related to ancient gods in some way, but there was biological evidence that all species had influenced each other in one ecosystem.

Sung-Woon said, "But the transformation part is hard to explain. They’re more unlikely an existence than the reptilian-like species capable of disguise HumanTracker talked about. There are species like Werewolves that change their skeletons, but that’s different."

"Not exactly. They don't transform during their growth phase, but during fertilization, that is, at the embryonic cell stage."

"Oh, then that species..."

Eldar nodded. "Yes. The Fairies I'm talking about are not a species with thumb-sized bodies and wings, but a species capable of breeding with all species. Therefore, they don't have a true form of their own but borrow the appearance of other species."

Sung-Woon thought for a moment.

"It's not the typical family structure of species we usually know. They wouldn't feel a sense of belonging to the species they take the form of."

In that case, they would naturally be absorbed into the respective species.

"Yes, so if this Fairy species is to be assumed, they must form relationships with other species. In the process, they would feel a sort of distinction. They would always be of a different species from their parents, and knowing that it should be impossible, they would gain their species identity in the process of reconciling with the fact."

Sung-Woon said, "In that process, they would realize that they belong to the species of the evil god Jeolyo."

"Yes."

"If such a species exists."

"Yes."

Nebula knew that the other players were listening intently. Eldar's idea seemed most plausible, and most players seemed to agree. Some players looked like they wanted to object, but there was no strong counterargument.

"How can we differentiate them?"

"Genetic testing. They might mimic genetics, but it would surely differ from normal species."

"They would surely be hard to detect."

The technology existed, but not the infrastructure to conduct a census of all species.

"What if we narrow it down?"

Eldar pressed their lips together and said hesitantly, "If a child was born between different species, it would be a big topic, but we haven't discovered any yet."

"Most would be female. Species that reproduce externally don't need to adhere to gender. But that only reduces it by half. Not enough."

"They are unlikely to be found in a single-parent household. Even if it's one household, they must belong to the same species. It would be noticeable."

"...Ah." Eldar said, "So most of these Fairies would be..."

***

At the Empire’s Intelligence Agency interrogation room, Ion realized that the place they had been brought to was not an interrogation room, but just an office.

No windows, a small table with a bright lamp, and just two chairs facing each other. The walls were rough gray, and the air felt stuffy. There was not enough information to determine the exact location.

Ramin, using a magnifying glass, dug through documents and said to Ion, "Based on information from the Pantheon, we investigated Lide Oboren. Lide Oboren had several characteristics that could classify her as a Fairy."

𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"Because she's female?"

"No." Ramin glanced at Ion. "Because she's an orphan. Fairies have no choice but to leave their children in care facilities. It's their fate to abandon them."

"...Oh."

"Further investigation into Lide's past suggested something suspicious enough to warrant a more precise genetic test. And according to the results of that test..." Ramin continued, "Lide is a fairy."