Rescue Fantasy (5)
"... She's not in good shape."
That was what Carrot said after examining Nadia's condition. He didn't offer anything positive. No, it was more correct to say he couldn't. Anyone could see at a glance that Nadia's condition was far from good.
"There was something embedded near her heart—did you know?"
"No."
I only knew that she had an indelible scar in that area. I didn't know anything had been implanted in her. Even the place that had treated her never said such a thing. Had they, I would have remembered.
"That's the cause. It's probably a circuit implanted inside her body. Technology like this is mostly obsolete outside military use, so it's my first time seeing such a device. Nobody gave you any advance notice?"
Military technology, he said. Did that mean Nadia's past was related to the military?
"... No."
I was devastated by my inability to give a proper answer. As I quietly wiped my face, Carrot looked at me sympathetically.
After returning to town, I immediately laid Nadia down on a bed. Thanks to notifying Carrot of the situation in advance, he was able to check her condition right away, and by some stroke of luck, she managed to survive the critical danger.
"Just by looking at you, I can tell you haven't slept."
"..."
I couldn't. I felt as if, the moment I took my eyes away, Nadia would disappear, flying off forever to a place where I could never see her again.
I spent a night that felt like eternity by Nadia's side. Nights that were always so short for me—yet last night felt excruciatingly long.
How arrogant I'd been. Who did I think I was—someone who only happened to have more strength than others, daring to think I could save someone? What a damned idiot, entertaining thoughts of being a savior.
Because of that arrogance. Because I deluded myself that as fellow madmen, we could console each other.
A delusion. Yes, it was all my delusion. I was not strong. I was someone too lacking to even save the partner right next to me. As I smoothed Nadia's sleeping hair, I asked,
"Carrot, tell me in detail about Nadia's condition. What exactly is going on, and what does she need? What's the absolute must-have to save her?"
"There are so many intertwined problems. It's hard to explain it all at once."
Carrot relayed the results of examining Nadia's body with a portable scanner.
"The external wounds from combat have stabilized somewhat thanks to advanced medication. So on the surface, there doesn't seem to be a serious problem. The problem is, it just seems that way."
"Then...."
"Yes, inside, she's a complete mess. Her broken bones won't heal properly. Earlier, I mentioned that implanted circuit has overheated, putting the entire burden on her body. On top of that, there's the rebound from Big Hand—so it's fair to say she's barely alive."
"..."
"She needs something that can restore damaged tissue. Until then, I can't risk touching anything. Whether repairing or extracting the implanted circuit, it has to wait until after she's healed."
"... A bio-cell."
At my words, Carrot nodded heavily. Bio-cells were absolutely unavailable now. They'd long since vanished from store inventories.
"Maybe letting enough time pass is the only answer."
With injuries like this, Carrot explained, time is an absolute requirement for recovery. I slowly shook my head. Time passing doesn't solve everything. All that remains after time has gone is regret. At least, that's what I thought.
"So Carrot—did you resolve everything on your end? Did you find your path?"
"... No. I guess not enough time has passed yet."
"... Sorry."
I slipped up. Realizing I'd unjustly vented my frustration on Carrot, I quickly apologized. To have snapped at the person taking care of Nadia over something unrelated—no matter how frayed my nerves, I truly felt I was lacking as a person.
"Carrot, I can't wait. No, I won't wait."
The person I have to protect is still alive. I still haven't fulfilled my promise. That's why I must act. Where I must be right now isn't at Nadia's side endlessly waiting, but out searching for the answer to this problem.
Before I could act, I took a moment to compose myself.
'Is this the price I pay?'
Celestia once told me there's a limit to running from situations outwardly. When the time comes to make a decision, and I'm not prepared enough, the price will be steep.
Until now, claiming it was for Nadia, I'd avoided her past. I thought it considerate, but now I realize it was mere procrastination.
A problem I kept postponing had finally erupted in my face. I needed a bio-cell. Desperately.
"I'll find a way to get a bio-cell."
When I asked Carrot to look after Nadia and Eric until then, he nodded grimly as if to say not to state the obvious.
Nadia wasn't the only one who needed a bio-cell. Eric, who had a hole in his abdomen from an infected security robot's arm, needed one too.
The scanner revealed that a creep hadn't burrowed inside, but that didn't mean the gaping hole would simply heal. It was the same for Domestica, who had helped us in the cargo sector.
"Don't worry about those two—take care of yourself. Wasn't this ordeal brutal on you?"
"I'm fine."
"No, you're not. I can tell just by looking. If you already feel something wrong, it means a lot has already broken down. Maintaining balance before that happens is crucial. If you really can't sleep, I'll prescribe something for you."
"Medicine?"
"A sleep aid."
At first I thought it was unnecessary to take sleeping pills just because I missed a night of sleep, but reconsidered. There's no harm in having some—might as well accept.
When I took the sleeping pill, Carrot told me he'd figured out a new way to deal with ghouls using the sample we recently obtained, and that he'd send me a file later.
He was in the same boat—he hadn't gotten any real rest since coming to town. Carrot had been absorbed in research night and day, and now it looked like his efforts would bear fruit.
I welcomed any method to kill those monsters more efficiently. If anything, my negative feelings for them had only grown after this incident.
"Send it as soon as you organize it. After you get some rest, I mean."
"Bah, what's an old man holed up in the lab got to be tired about? The ones going into danger are you guys."
"... No, really. And about what I said earlier—I didn't mean it."
"I know. I understand. I'll send the data soon, so get some rest."
I bowed and left. Having been inside so long, going out felt almost like time travel. It was dark when I went in—and still dark when I came back out.
Just then, Licorice, who'd been pacing nervously by the door, approached as soon as she saw me.
"Licorice."
"I'm sorry."
A sudden, contextless apology. My eyes were so dry and tired I closed them slowly and opened them again. I meant to ask why she was apologizing, but what came out of my mouth was entirely different.
"Say you're glad, would you? We didn't manage to rescue the engineer, but we gathered enough refinery data that we can now do emergency refining on our side if needed."
We didn't just pass through the refinery. We extracted every bit of data we could from the console and transferred it to our wristbands. The wristband given by Engineer Chen before he took his own life also held considerable data.
"We also brought back plenty of refined blue crystal, so we don't need to worry about energy supply for a while. Plus, we drove back the pureblood supremacist forces once. So say you're glad."
"... I'm sorry."
"... There's nothing for you to apologize for."
"I underestimated them. I should have been wary ever since I saw them carrying the infection vector around. If they can deploy military power loaders like that, it stands to reason they could use other military equipment as well. This time, it was us who weren't prepared enough. That responsibility is mine."
I knew Licorice hadn't underestimated them. She was the one who'd been most wary about the pureblood supremacists. I genuinely believed she gave her all.
'Do you know a woman named Lobelia? She's a woman who handles the Titan like her own home.'
Just as I was about to say that, Cystus's words flashed through my mind. I faltered, simply gazing at the woman before me.
Licorice seemed anxious for some reason, fidgeting uncomfortably. I could see an indescribable emotion in the way she looked at me. The most obvious feeling was unease. She looked on edge, as if she feared I would get angry.
To my knowledge, the only person who could handle the Titan like their own home was Licorice, no one else. Rather than beat around the bush, I decided to ask directly.
After all, even if I tried to soften it, sharp-witted Licorice would sense something was off in an instant.
"Licorice, do you know the name Lobelia by any chance?"
"Lobelia? Ah, you mean the name that pureblood supremacist commander, Cystus or whatever, mentioned?"
Licorice said she'd actually looked into that name and adopted a serious expression. I thought she might know something after all, but no—the conclusion was that she couldn't find out.
"All records were erased. Expunged. Same as you."
"So there is something there."
"Right. There has to be. Especially if that name came up with the pureblood supremacists. For real answers, we'll need to go to the Archive."
Somewhere in Titan was the vessel of information—the Archive. Answers to my past and many mysteries were there. Only days before, I'd desperately wanted to go there, but now was not the time.
There were things more urgent than going to the Archive. I glanced down at Licorice, then stepped closer.
Honestly, it wasn't that I had no suspicions of Licorice. But now wasn't the time for doubt, but trust. That's what I believed.
Maybe creating discord was the pureblood supremacists' goal. I would only believe what I'd seen for myself. Not be swayed by others' words.
"Licorice, I need to go get a bio-cell. Help me."
"All right. So it comes to this. I'll prepare the way to the medical sector."
"Thank you."
With those words, my anxiety faded a little. There was only so much I could do on my own.
"But, we're not leaving right away. You know as well as I do—there's no point in heading to Heaven right this second. We need to be thoroughly prepared. Didn't you hear that Carrot succeeded in finding something?"
"Yes."
"At least get that much before you go. Who knows? It might save your life in a pinch."
"Okay."
"Good. That's my girl."
Licorice smiled faintly, as if relieved. Her smile was so fleeting that it vanished the moment I blinked.
She seemed to want to say something, but no matter how long I waited, she never opened her mouth. Even when I asked directly, she just shook her head after some hesitation.
After finishing my conversation with Licorice, I returned to my room. It was late, but I couldn't sleep at all. Feeling I'd never be able to rest in this state, I took one of the pills Carrot gave me and lay down.
Sleep swept over me like a lie. All the fatigue I'd been suppressing hit me at once.
***
A stimulus dropped into the still pool of my consciousness. A water droplet falling beneath the surface, then rippling upward as it bounced back.
Weak though it was, it was enough to rouse my sleeping awareness.
'.......'
I slowly opened my eyes. Technically, the dream version of me opened my eyes. The first thing I saw was the form of a person drifting inside a tank.
The body was stripped of skin, muscle, and bone—leaving behind only blood vessels. Like a membrane formed by a Creep, the blood vessels filled the interior like water plants. The eyes shifted direction in real time—the proof that this specimen was still alive.
It was a strange and terrifying sight. A person disassembled, all parts separated, unable to form a whole—it was a ghastly image. The wall of what resembled a laboratory was emblazoned with the insignia of the pureblood supremacists.
Strangely, though, I felt nothing. As if I'd been looking at the same scene for years.
Though I was seeing this in the first person, I felt a peculiar detachment, as if watching from a third-person vantage point. All I could do was watch as events flowed by. That was all I was allowed.
That was when I heard the clicking of heels—
"What do you think is the most fundamental thing that forms this world?"
A gentle, beguiling voice—yet one that created a peculiar, taut tension.
"That is transaction. You could say our society was built on deals. From barter onward, to trust and faith that are nothing but illusions—not even material. Everything can be weighed on a scale, even if what's at stake is your life."
The voice drew near—close enough to feel right in front of me. I couldn't see its owner.
As if shrouded in fog, or artificially blurred, the figure was unnaturally obscured from my view.
"Poor blue flower. You fell all the way here just for having good empathy. I'll say this, you have to hand it to the old folks for being vicious. Even if they hid their child, did they really have to bring about their downfall? Thanks to that, the warning got through—but look at the state you're in now."
She almost sounded pitying. "I" knew. The person before me was more dangerous than anyone.
Every word she spoke had thorns. She drew me in with intoxicating allure, but falling for that would lead only to a wretched death.
I'd seen many who failed to notice the base desire under the surface and died far more horribly than their fated end.
But I had no choice. Whatever I thought, she would eventually get what she wanted.
Her voice, stickier and more sickly sweet than usual, crept up on me.
"Shall we make a deal? I have what you need, and you have what I want. Let's trade. How about it? The most basic transaction. Once we swap what we want, it'll all be over—a simple trade."
"..."
My reply didn't come out clearly. Though I felt my mouth moving, as if I was speaking aloud, all I could hear was static.
But in the ensuing voice, I could sense she was pleased with my answer.
A hand reached out—to me, imprisoned in something that might've been a tank, or a cage.
"This is a contract. When the time comes, you must fulfill your contract with me, Lobelia. Understand? Prove your worth."
A flash of red hair caught at the edge of my lowered eyesight—and I was ejected from the dream.
When I awoke from the blurry dream, dawn hadn't even broken yet. My entire body was drenched in cold sweat.
I let out a long sigh, feeling a deep fatigue in every fiber of my being. I didn't remember the dream very well, but the sense of dread left behind filled my chest.
After wiping my face and steadying my nerves, I got up. I had to get moving as soon as possible to save Nadia.
"Carry, let's go. We're getting a bio-cell."
【(｀0´)】
Freshly repaired, Carry wore a solemn expression. He clicked his support arms together as if signaling he'd sweep away anything blocking our path.
And with that, Carry and I stepped out into the world.
-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
The dream sequence all but confirmed that Hyun-woo really is Celestia's brother, or at the very least, a clone of Celestia's brother, which could explain why he didn't the genetic marker, if Lobelia removed it in the process of cloning...
With the flash of red hair, Licorice is Lobelia.
Time to get bio-cells!