Gravity Fluctuation (15)
Tsk—
The door closed. Its outline blurred, and in front of that, Licorice's hand became distinct.
Her hand, which she'd unconsciously reached out to stop Lee Hyun-woo from leaving. She parted her lips as if to say something, then slowly lowered her hand.
'... It wasn't me who hacked the defense system.'
The words she hadn't managed to say lingered in her mouth. Alone in the darkened room—it was unlit—Licorice hugged her knees and buried her face in them.
She had pretended to be okay in front of Hyun-woo, but inside she was still a mess. Shards of emotion their life had upended and intrusive thoughts tangled inside her.
She vaguely remembered why she'd lost consciousness, and what had happened while she was out. Not completely, but enough to understand the sequence of events.
She recalled how at the moment she'd been about to lose everything due to her lack of ability, a voice had whispered to her. She remembered how that whisper had wrested control of her body and acted as it pleased, and that the voice sounded exactly like her.
"... Lobelia."
Licorice realized the identity of that voice instinctively. At first, she had been too confused to recognize it clearly, but now, with her mind cleared, she knew it for certain.
'I should have put more sociality in. No, should I have boosted her potential more? With her current ability, survival will still be hard.'
The tone was as if Lobelia herself had made Licorice. A subtly unsettling sense, as if she had chosen the ingredients for a doll.
'Mind if I borrow your body for a bit? You're my clone anyway, so surely that's fine. Think of it as repaying the favor of keeping you alive until now.'
The words that turned a vague suspicion into certainty.
Licorice mulled over the word 'clone'.
Clone meant a copy of the original—and it referred to Licorice herself.
Which meant Licorice was not the original.
Normally, her personality would have dismissed it as nonsense, but once the seed of anxiety took root, she couldn't ignore it.
The truth that she had no memories of her childhood, that her memory resumed only from a starting point someone else had decided, gave further weight to the suspicion.
'I did sometimes act in ways I couldn't remember.'
Meeting Hyun-woo for the first time, gathering forces at the central tower before the terror attack, that lingering sense of déjà vu in the town, the hacking getting done automatically, just like this time.
'Who am I?'
If she wasn't the original, was she Lobelia's clone just as she'd said? Or just simple bluffing?
If it were the latter, the vivid moment when she'd lost control of her body stood out too clearly. Even now, if she closed her eyes, that scene would replay.
But she couldn't outright choose the former either. More precisely, she didn't want to believe it. To accept would make it a reality, a confirmed truth.
"... I thought we had no connection at all."
When Lee Hyun-woo revealed Lobelia's existence and said that it had worn her shell to appear, all Licorice had felt was displeasure and resentment.
No connection at all. That's what she thought. But Licorice was more deeply linked to Lobelia than anyone.
That woman, Lobelia. The person who looked just like her.
'No, I'm the one who looks like her.'
It wasn't that Lobelia looked like her.
The sequence of events was off.
"... Then what am I?"
If Lobelia could handle the special entities called buds, was Licorice a monster? A traitor ready to hand control over to Lobelia at any time?
Licorice had just started to trust people a little and, based on that trust, tried to help them actively. Handing over all of the Alpha Series was proof of that.
But if it turned out that she was a clone of Lobelia, would anyone recognize the sincerity of her intentions?
Licorice being alive meant that all the information here could end up in Lobelia's hands. At any moment, control could be lost and she could act out unpredictably.
If that ever happened, the risk would skyrocket. Who knew what her body, seized by Lobelia, might do?
'... If I died, that would solve it, but that's just too scary.'
For a moment, Licorice felt a crushing loneliness. A sensation like she'd been left alone in the world crept up from her ankles, spreading to overtake her body. Separated from the frigid, storm-ridden outside world, she still felt chilled to the bone.
Then suddenly Licorice thought of someone—someone who wouldn't turn away, even if she broke down.
'Lee Hyun-woo.'
She could trust him. She decided to ignore the possibility that this too was a trick of Lobelia's. It didn't matter. She trusted the Lee Hyun-woo she had seen so far.
Subconsciously, she touched her lips where Hyun-woo's hand had been. He'd said she was coughing blood, but there were hardly any traces left. He must have cleaned her up while she was out of it.
As soon as Licorice recognized that memory, she felt an intense possessiveness. To think her life had been toyed with by the pureblood supremacists and Lobelia. It fit her all too well.
Relaxing from her curled-up posture, Licorice leaned back in her chair and looked up at the ceiling, murmuring.
"... I shouldn't have told him to leave."
She wanted to feel again that reassuring, solid embrace, the gaze tinged with concern. When she was with him, it felt like the emotional emptiness inside her was being filled.
Maybe that's why she'd gotten addicted. That's why she always found excuses to call him, why she fussed and tried to catch his eye.
'Can't I just call him?'
That thought popped up out of nowhere. And Hyun-woo, after all, had said he had something serious to tell her.
Now that she was feeling better, if she called and told him to say what he'd meant earlier, wouldn't he come running? He always had, after all.
"... No."
Hand poised over her bracelet to call him, Licorice hesitated—then quietly blamed herself and decided to wait. She remembered Hyun-woo's face as he left the room.
'He's hurt. Later... I'll call him later, or go myself.'
Licorice resolved that when they were both feeling better, then she would call or go see him.
'The Lobelia issue can wait for now. I just need to strengthen my ability more. Always wear a device that can restrain my body, just in case...'
Recalling the schematics for a restraining device, she waited for tomorrow, absently touching her lips.
***
"Unfortunately, there were no guards survivors. It seems everyone evacuated as soon as they got wind of the base coming under attack."
That was Kanna, who had returned late last night and came to the morning meeting bringing bad news from the start.
Everyone felt a wave of disappointment. Sensing it, Kanna cleared her throat and continued.
"No need to make those faces. We may have lost people, but not equipment. Apparently, they left in a hurry and a fair amount of supplies remain."
"Oh, what got left behind?"
"Spare power loaders and new-model security robots. And in pretty significant numbers. We'll be able to make good use of them."
"New-model security robots? They left those?"
Licorice, who had just been silently watching me since morning, finally showed interest in the robots.
"I found it strange too. Normally, military supplies are strictly prioritized for evacuation."
Kanna suggested that, judging from signs of combat at the small corps outpost, it was possible there had been traitors among the guards. She added she hadn't thoroughly checked but found no Creep at the outpost.
The absence of Creep was at least some good news. The next phase after sufficient contamination was always Creep infestation, and with none present, the chances of mutant creatures like ghouls were much lower.
"We plan to drop by the guard post to pick up the supplies, as soon as Roxy's shuttle is repaired."
"Kanna, it's not enough. Didn't you see what was in the underground warehouse yesterday? There's so much, not even a medium shuttle will do it. If we don't want to make tons of trips, we'll have to use the Griffin."
At a soldier's words, Kanna looked worried. I was surprised there was that much left.
If we needed the Griffin, that meant a huge amount. Not all power loaders and security robots, probably.
"Then we'll need more people. I'll go when we head out."
"Are you sure? I heard your injuries aren't fully healed yet."
"This much is nothing."
I shrugged to show I was fine. Hearing I'd be going, Nadia, who'd been half-asleep, bolted upright and shot her hand up. Her tail stood straight.
"I want to go too! You know how good I am at piloting power loaders? With me there, the work will go super quick—actually, super quick! Guaranteed!"
"Nadia, you too?"
Even if Griffin left, the Albatross repair work had to go on. We'd need people to defend the base too.
I had planned to leave Nadia at the base so she could respond quickly in her power loader if needed, but if she insisted, we'd have a power gap.
I glanced over—Nadia looked dead set on going. She had caught on to this, while literally just moments ago she was dozing.
"If Nadia joins, I'll take some from my team to bolster base defense. The base will be fine. The armored vehicle repairs are also finished."
Kanna laid out the plan and Nadia nodded, giving me a look that said, "See? Now it's settled."
"Alright, let's go together. It'll definitely make things easier."
"I want to go too."
"You, Licorice?"
"Why? Am I not allowed—no, I mean it'll be good for you if I come. There's probably a lock on those security robots. If I'm there, I can unlock them on the spot for you."
Licorice had started to respond sharply but quickly cut herself off and changed tack, speaking differently than usual.
She just barely suppressed saying, "Celestia could do it instantly, and even if it needed hacking, it could be done remotely."
Somehow, she felt saying that aloud would make things complicated.
'Guess she just wants some air.'
That's how I understood it. Until now, Licorice had stayed in the town or on the Griffin only. She was basically zero when it came to practical combat ability.
As I nodded, Licorice, uncharacteristically, clenched her fist excitedly. The unexpectedly cute gesture caught my gaze, and Licorice's ears burned red. She cleared her throat and looked away.
"Looks like our group is sorted."
Celestia summed up the conversation. The group heading to the guard post: Kanna plus one soldier, me, Nadia and Carry, Licorice. The rest would stay and focus on work at the temporary base.
"The metals sorting is still underway, right?"
"Yes. Top priority."
The graveyard's rails were stacked high with scrap metal. Kyle and the other workers were working hard to extract usable material effectively. It was a demanding, labor-intensive task since you had to check each piece by hand.
Eric murmured sadly.
"Kyle was so happy to have a power loader to make the work easier, but it looks like time for the red pill has come after all."
I could practically see Kyle's despair at losing the power loader for sorting. I could almost hear him crying, saying "You'll have to kill me before you go."
Nadia flinched. She pretended not to hear, instead rubbing her tail against my arm, resigned.
"We'll unlock the security robots we brought yesterday first, solve that, and as soon as enough metals are collected, switch to repair work. The rest can get picked up after the guards run."
"Right. They'll handle it even if we don't say anything."
Currently, we had lots to do but not enough people, so we were gradually tackling each task as best as we could. Thinking of all that still remained, I felt suffocated, but at least we'd put out the most urgent fires.
Being around military satellites and warships, apparently there was more usable metal than you'd expect. We'd brought a ton of supplies along when we took the Albatross from the specialty storage bay, so we weren't short on equipment.
It was thanks to that we had switched from tents to living containers. Not all, but even a few made life a lot better.
'The problem's the engine...'
Finding a main engine for the Albatross—being a huge military warship—was a real headache. The one part that'd been contaminated just had to be the main engine; without fixing that, the Albatross wouldn't be operational.
'We can't just make a new engine from scratch.'
I once mentioned it to Kyle and found out what it's like not to be treated as a real person. The look in his eyes was as if I were some kind of primitive man. How harsh.
Celestia clapped lightly for attention.
"Alright, everyone, let's get to work. We're all busy."
The exhausted crowd dispersed. Eric and Licorice headed to Kyle, and I, at Nadia's request, went to help her service the power loader.
Celestia seemed to be heading toward Carrot, moving with purpose to the Albatross. She turned and waved lightly at us.
Just before everyone split up, Licorice called after me as if she had something to say, then mumbled that it was nothing. I wondered why she was acting so strangely, but Nadia hurried me along and I couldn't ask.
We crossed the base to where the power loader was parked. Carry was already there, cleaning off the armor plates. It was like a new body, so Carry was taking extra care.
"Carry!"
「✧٩(ˊωˋ*)و✧」
"You got here quick! Did Kyle let you go without a fuss?"
「(⚆ _ ⚆)」
At the sight of us, Carry, so excited just a moment ago and waving its flight unit, instantly froze and looked away. Seemed like Carry had snuck out.
"It's fine, you did great. We were going to call you anyway. If Kyle complains later, we'll say it was at our request."
「♡⸜(˶˃ ᵕ ˂˶)⸝♡」
We helped Carry thoroughly clean the power loader. We cut away any plates melted by the Deathworm's acid and replaced them with new ones.
Luckily, thanks to the parts Kanna had brought, we didn't have to use makeshift armor plates anymore.
Who knows how long we worked at it—with a satisfying smile, Nadia wiped the sweat from her brow.
"Done! It's as good as new now!"
「(≧ᗜ≦)」
With the temporary supports removed and new parts installed, the whole machine looked much sleeker. The cockpit now even had a real windshield—like gaining another life.
"Still got the emergency eject?"
"Of course. Push one button, and part of the front armor blows off so Carry and I can get out."
"Nice."
Thumbs up, and Nadia grinned. She said there were still some fine adjustments, so I could relax. She climbed up via the loader's hand and perched by the cockpit.
I hummed absentmindedly, watching Nadia check the controls. Her fluffy tail hung out behind her for balance, swaying gently.
Left, right, curling up like a question mark, then suddenly freezing in place like it'd been flash-frozen. The temptations of that fox tail were too much. I reached out and grabbed it from behind.
The cockpit jolted—it happened almost instantly. Nadia, surprised by the sudden touch, nearly lost her balance. She turned around.
"H-Hyun-woo?"
"It just feels...stabilizing."
As I muttered with my face buried in her soft tail, Nadia flushed but didn't pull away. In fact, she shifted so I could hold it more comfortably.
The wave of softness that filled my arms turned my brain to mush. It was like being enveloped in a cloud.
'This is why I can't quit tails.'
Even yesterday, as I checked Nadia's wounds before bed, I got my fill—but it was always new. I could stay like this all day.
"... What are you doing?"
I looked up to find Licorice frowning, arms crossed, glaring askance at us.
I ducked back into Nadia's tail and replied, "Tail therapy."
"What kind of—ugh. Whatever. If you're done, get on the Griffin. We're leaving soon."
"Okay, I'll be quick. We're just finishing adjustments."
"And don't do that kind of thing out here in public!"
"Why? It's just touching a tail."
I protested, but all I got in return was a cold stare. She looked genuinely displeased, so regretfully, I let Nadia's tail slip away from my hands.
Its absence left me oddly empty. Maybe noticing my dejection, Nadia sneaked her tail around my arm. Sparks flew in Licorice's eyes, but Nadia didn't even blink.
"What? It's my tail, I'll give it to whoever I want. If you have a problem, why don't you come with a tail, too? Who knows, maybe Hyun-woo will rub it for you."
With utter dignity, Nadia faced Licorice—in this moment, she was as unyielding as a mountain.
"... Just don't be late to the meeting point."
Licorice turned and glanced behind her, mumbling. She brushed her hand at her own back, but, of course, found no tail. Some people just aren't born with one.
She trudged away looking lonely. It was a rather pitiful sight.
'What's up with her?'
Honestly, I didn't think much of it.
-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】