(MC POV)
After the girls were thoroughly satisfied, I decided to go check up on Brendan's progress.
I was hoping that there wouldn't be another me again this time but knowing my luck, there was a high chance that there was a group of them.
Making my way past the dungeon's entrance, I descended down the stairs that would lead me to where Brendan was carrying out his experiments.
The fact that this place was still intact and not blown up was good news I suppose, not that I don't trust Brendan to be able to handle it even if it did but I'd feel terrible if he got stuck cleaning such things up by himself again.
I pushed open the door to the room I knew Brendan would be in.
"Hey Brendan, just thought I'll check on--"
"DADDY!!"
Oh no…
I looked in the direction of where the voices came from, fully expecting to see more clones of me again.
Eh? There aren't any? Then who…
"Daddy! It's daddy! Daddy is here!"
"Daddy! Daddy came for us!"
"Hug us, daddy!"
"I want to cuddle daddy!"
"Ooohh~ Daddy~ This bird is already hot and ready for you~ Why don't you come embrace her?"
I blinked at the prisoners who were calling me daddy. They definitely don't look like me at all so I don't think it's a case of Brendan creating more of me.
But they were exhibiting the same sort of desire the other me had back then.
Also, I had chosen to tacitly ignore Feng Jie who was busy shaking her hips at me to try and tempt me. The only reason why she hasn't tried to pounce on me was because Shiori and Akari were sitting in front of her and glaring at her.
I turned to give Brendan a questioning glance and he scratched his cheek sheepishly.
"Master, this is… Well… Where do I even begin?"
"Why don't you start with the results of the tests?" I suggested.
"Ah, in that case, the potion works in restoring memories, be it suppressed or erased. All of them managed to regain their memories regardless of how much of it was erased."
"And what's the bad news?"
Brendan pursed his lips, "Those who drank the potion after having more than half of their memories erased… Turned into that."
I turned back to the prisoners who were still clamouring at me, "Right… Hmmm… Any reason why they turn into that?"
Brendan picked up the bottle that was filled with Origin, "I have a few guesses but… Mainly I believe it has to do with this, Master."
"Well, I figured it would be the Origin liquid, but what of it?"
"Master… I have a theory that this 'Origin' thing is called that because it's the origin of something. As Master was the one who made this, the people who drank it believe Master to be their creator, or rather, where they originated from. Thus they see Master as their parent figure. This is all just a hypothesis of mine though."
What?
Woah, hold on a moment there.
Ok, the fact that Brendan figured out what Origin was by himself was something I didn't expect. What's more, his hypothesis actually makes a lot of sense too so I do believe he is correct.
I know Origin was the beginning of everything, so if that was introduced to the people who took it, they might believe themselves to be 'originating' from something else and see that as their 'beginning'. Thus, the 'daddy'.
I crossed my arms under my chest, "So… There's a high chance that I would get brainwashed by whoever I get the Origin liquid from?"
"It is a possibility but… It's Master after all. I don't think such a thing is possible on Master."
Not you too, Brendan… Just saying because it's me doesn't mean anything, you know?
"If Master Lin wishes for another daughter, I wouldn't mind volunteering for that position you know? Or if you just want to roleplay, that's fine with me too~" Feng Jie giggled.
"Shameless chicken…" Akari growled.
Both Brendan and I simply ignored the Phoenix.
"Is it possible to remove this status though?" I asked.
"I've tried removing their memories again but even with that removed, they still recognised Master as their 'daddy' even without any other memories for some reason."
I pondered for a bit, "Then perhaps… We'll need to find out which part of their mind is making them recognise me as such."
Brendan grimaced, "I'm not sure Master… I believe that would involve messing with their psyche and I'm not exactly well versed in that topic… Perhaps Master should give that a try?"
"Hmmm… Makes sense. Alright then."
I rolled up my sleeves and approached the ones who were affected by the Origin liquid, inspecting them one by one.
They tried to reach out for me but the chains that tied their wrists prevented them from getting closer, but that did not dissuade them from trying anyway.
I wonder…
"Stay," I ordered.
The prisoners immediately stayed still, looking at me with a mix of anticipation and ecstasy.
I stood in front of one of the women and reached out my hand, placing it on top of the prisoner's head.
She purred and started rubbing her head against my hand in an attempt to get a head pat while the other prisoners looked at her in obvious envy.
Concentrating on her mind, I sifted through her memories in an attempt to find out what had altered her mind.
I saw her birth, her own parents, her childhood, her growing up phase, then the actions she took in an attempt to betray Luna to gain more power for herself, then being tied up here with Brendan feeding her the potion, and then…
Huh…
I watched everything go back in reverse like she was just regaining all these memories again.
But unexpectedly, the memories did not stop at her birth but went even further beyond that.
She was now in a sea of stars, her body merely a fragment of light floating within it.
All around her were similar fragments of light, floating aimlessly within the space.
It felt as though she had been here for an eternity when something shifted and all the balls of light began to revolve around a specific place.
Out of nowhere, an egg-shaped ball of light appeared and the other smaller balls of light seemed extremely excited to see it, revolving around it even faster.
The top of the egg seemed to crack open a tiny bit and a blinding flash of light filled the space.
The next scene I saw was her own memories of being born again and the rest replayed like normal.
I let go of the woman and she mewled at me in disappointment.
Ok, now this brings even more questions…
From what that old lady showed me before, I knew that egg thing was basically Origin. I don't know what those fragments of light were but it was obvious that Origin was indeed the thing that brought about her existence.
Or at least, it looked like it did.
For all I know this potion might just be some trippy drug or something that alters the person's mind.
Well… I guess it's time to go find someone who would most probably have the answers.
Muon!
