The cabin fell silent again. Even Sidney's pen left the paper.
Everyone seemed to have been stuffed into that cramped cabin, drowning in fear as they listened to the warped, distorted voice outside the door.
It was Sidney who broke the silence.
"Its voice was exactly the same? It didn't change the wording?"
"Yes, it didn't change anything at all. Only the intonation was a little... awkward."
Sidney nodded. "It might not understand what it's saying. It may just be instinctively mimicking what its prey said before dying."
He took notes as he spoke.
But the soldier hesitated before speaking up. "My lord, I don't think that's necessarily the case."
"How so?" Sidney's pen stopped.
"When it passed the cabin door, I saw it. It hadn't completely turned into a monster yet."
"That was... that was a human face, full of terror, with half of it gnawed away. What remained of its mouth was still moving."
"It kept repeating that sentence..."
Sidney pressed his lips together.
"Are you saying these monsters might have the memories of the prey they've swallowed?"
"I, I don't know, Your Highness."
The cabin was silent for a while before someone suddenly spoke up. "Not necessarily. I heard it giving orders in His Highness's voice."
Everyone turned to look at once. A trace of surprise appeared in Sidney's eyes. "Holly?"
Indeed, it was Sidney's adjutant, Holly.
She nodded. "I heard it imitating your voice."
"Then how did you see through it... oh, it must have been inconsistent with the situation at the time."
"That's right. It ordered us to tally supply consumption..." Holly hesitated for a moment at that point.
"What is it?"
Sidney keenly picked up on something being off with her. They already knew each other extremely well, and Holly's subtle expression did not