Father.

Rolling the word around in my mouth, a laugh leaked out involuntarily. It was a laugh closer to a sneer.

It was absurd. I am not the type of person to be anyone's parent, nor did I ever intend to be. How could a man who spends his life on human experimentation ever be a good parent?

I looked down at you while you slept and thought. The fact that my genes, my blood, flow through you was nothing more or less than a simple curiosity to me.

Marriage was purely for experimental purposes, and the tenderness I showed during our married life was merely a process to observe 'reactions during experiments after forming an attachment.'

Of course, the experiments on her were postponed indefinitely, but I told myself that the essence of the experiment hadn't changed—only a variable had been added.

When she passed away first due to a chronic illness, I wasn't particularly surprised. She was a frail woman to begin with. It was a bit disappointing that she died before the experiments could even begin, but test subjects were scattered everywhere; I could just find another replacement.

However.

When the reality that I could never hear that voice again finally sank in.

That was a little...

I looked down at you again. You're sleeping soundly. You wouldn't be able to sleep so peacefully if you knew what kind of man your father was.

I poked your cheek with my finger. You frowned and turned your head slightly. Seeing that, I suppressed the corners of my mouth that tried to curl up despite myself.

...Hah.

This is just a variable. A mere variable.

A very annoying variable that keeps weighing on my mind.