Turning point (2)
Celestia naturally walked over to Nadia and started a conversation. Her gaze was fixed on the squabbling robots.
"What's going on?"
"They're just picking a fight out of jealousy."
"Jealousy...?"
"Yes. I told them I'd be making new gear with them instead of the power loader, and they've been like this ever since."
Nadia answered as she turned her head slightly. She felt a bit uncomfortable with the current situation. After all, Celestia had always made Nadia feel a bit awkward, especially because of what she'd said about Hyun-woo before.
Whether Celestia realized Nadia's feelings or not, she just giggled. That was when Carry was pinned to the wall by the combined assault of the two spider robots, who made a shaaak sound.
「(☍д⁰)」
Carry returned with a tearful face, like a little kid who'd just been beaten up by the neighborhood older boys. In terms of size, Carry had the advantage, but with all those legs distracting her, she'd ended up completely helpless.
While Nadia comforted Carry, who was sniffling, Celestia looked around.
"Looks like Roxy's already left."
"Oh, I heard he left at dawn."
Roxy's shuttle was still in the storage bay, but its most important pilot was nowhere to be seen. He'd taken the captured reconnaissance craft out to search the possible locations of the Archive. With his identification codes still active, he said he needed to move as much as possible while he could.
"I heard Roxy was pretty badly hurt too..."
Celestia muttered worriedly. Nadia was just as concerned about Roxy, but he'd already left, and it wasn't like they could ask him to come back now. The situation simply wasn't good enough for that.
Kyle, on the other hand, didn't seem to care much. "Roxy's the kind of guy who'd survive no matter where you throw him," he said. Not that he wasn't worried, he just didn't show it.
"But where's Hyun-woo? I thought he'd be with you."
Celestia's eyes were laced with concern. She looked the same as always, but the feeling was stronger. Judging by her question, she must not have stopped by the lounge to see him.
Nadia, picturing Hyun-woo still bedridden, replied,
"... He's probably still lying in bed. Once he let his guard down, everything he'd been holding in must've hit him at once."
Mentally, he'd woken up at his usual hour, but Hyun-woo couldn't move at all. Remembering the way he moaned as if the world were ending, Nadia spoke with a positive tone rather than a negative one.
"I'm sure he'll be fine soon."
"I'm hoping for the same thing... but is there something more?"
"You know that bud that's been sticking close to Hyun-woo? It was floating over him, glowing with a soft golden light. It didn't seem like just a coincidence. I think maybe it's helping him recover."
"Then he'll get better soon!"
Celestia's expression immediately brightened. The sudden thawing of winter and arrival of spring startled Nadia enough that she shivered slightly without realizing.
Celestia tried to make small talk—asking if Nadia had slept well, if she was sick anywhere, telling her to rest if she was tired, and asking what Carry's new friend was—just to keep the conversation going.
She wandered the storage bay for a while, chatting away, then paused, noticing Nadia's awkward expression. She added an embarrassed little wry smile.
"Sorry. I dragged the conversation out too long."
"No, it's fine..."
Nadia shook her head gently. She knew Celestia hadn't just come to pass the time.
Since almost the whole conversation was one-sided, Nadia was able to keep working on the robot arm she was building. She answered simply, but wasn't actually interrupted.
"I am trying to fix this habit of mine, but maybe it's because I scare easily—it's not easy."
"Scared? You, Celestia?"
Nadia stared in disbelief. In her memories, Celestia was always cold and confident—except when it came to Hyun-woo, when her emotions ran deep and she almost grew a tail out of nowhere. Sometimes Nadia wondered if Celestia had always been a beast-person.
"Of course! I'm a huge coward."
With a suspicious look, Celestia laughed awkwardly. Only for a moment, though—her expression immediately turned serious. In a low voice, she said,
"Nadia, remember last time? When you said you knew I had some trouble relating to Hyun-woo."
"... Yes."
"I couldn't bring myself to talk about it then. It's late, but I'll say it now."
Celestia didn't bother saying that even if Nadia had stopped her that time, she wouldn't have been able to talk about it. That no longer mattered. If she really wanted to say it, she could've done so at any point since.
"You don't have to worry anymore. That problem is gone now."
"Huh?"
Nadia tilted her head in confusion for a moment. Then, as she processed Celestia's words, her eyes went wide. Celestia continued calmly, as if expecting this reaction.
"I saw Oppa. In the Sun Reactor Chamber on Heaven's Sky Whale."
"But that was just an imitation—... No, it wasn't, was it."
In the middle of talking, Nadia realized the truth, then sighed. Her eyes shook, her tail went completely stiff, and her ears drooped so much they nearly folded over.
The base they'd seen on the Sky Whale had been a bud-type mutant. But Celestia had distinctly felt her brother's presence in it.
The words, "You've found someone you can trust," could only be spoken by her Oppa, Ian. No imitation could reproduce them.
"It's a long story. In a way, Hyun-woo's as good as my brother now."
"What do you mean...?"
"The original was disposed of three years ago. But the data remained. Lobelia created Hyun-woo based on that data, and put the discarded, mutating body from bud's cocoon inside. That's probably how she recreated the form so perfectly."
Recalling those final moments, Celestia steadied her breathing and told the story she'd kept to herself.
That she'd suspected from the moment she first saw Hyun-woo, that she'd dismissed her doubts after he failed Myosotis's authentication, only for them to flare up again in Heaven's underground lab—and, finally, that this was the one remaining trace. All of it.
Now that all her suspicions were proven true, Nadia couldn't close her mouth in shock.
"That Hyun-woo has Ian's memories..."
Nadia finally understood Hyun-woo's strange behavior. It always seemed odd how he'd clutch his head whenever he saw Celestia. Now it all made sense.
Suddenly, Nadia's eyes sharpened as she spoke.
"Celestia, are you by any chance—"
"There's nothing to worry about, Nadia."
Celestia cut her off, signaling she understood exactly what Nadia wanted to say.
"Hyun-woo absolutely has my brother's memories. But that doesn't mean I'm going to treat Hyun-woo as my brother. I'm not going to use him as a replacement. That would be wrong. My real brother died three years ago."
"..."
"But now... I've decided to accept it."
Celestia's expression looked relieved. There was sadness, but it felt more like the residual echo of past pain than any fresh wound.
Nadia clamped her mouth shut. What Celestia was telling her now was something she didn't really need to say out loud. It was such a deep and dark story.
"I realize this is probably pretty shocking. But I wanted to tell you. We said we'd protect him together, remember?"
"Ah..."
"I remember everything you said last time, Nadia. I agree with all of it."
Celestia felt the same as Nadia. They were both alive thanks to Hyun-woo, and he had become irreplaceable. In this moment, the two women shared the same feeling, each thinking of the same person.
"To be honest, I came to my senses thanks to you, Nadia. Because of what you said, I was able to reflect on myself. I'm so grateful for that."
"..."
"This might be a bit premature, but... After we escape Titan and get to Earth, would you—actually, would you come with me and Myosotis? I'll give you everything I have."
Celestia had proposed something similar before, but the circumstances and atmosphere were different now. Her desperate, sincere gaze was hard to ignore.
"... Hyun-woo's wishes are mine too. If he goes, I'll go."
Celestia smiled softly at the non-answer acceptance. Trying and failing to hide her wagging tail behind her, Nadia understood why Hyun-woo liked her so much.
Nadia cleared her throat and spoke.
"I guess it's lucky Roxy isn't around. If he heard what you just said, he'd be raising all sorts of weird flags again."
Celestia laughed quietly at Nadia's whisper. Feeling much lighter, she brought out something she'd prepared earlier.
Nadia cocked her head as she saw what appeared in her hands. Celestia had given her a smart pistol. Though its appearance was compact, its unexpected weight was clear.
"It's a present. Since you can't use the power loader for the next mission, you'll need new equipment. I was planning to give it to you anyway, so I hope you'll use it well."
"But..."
"Please accept it."
Celestia took Nadia's hands and wrapped them around the smart pistol. It was the symbol of her stubbornness, a weapon made with the resolve never to let go of her goal.
It was a foolish part of her past, yet also part of what she had already overcome. Celestia decided it made more sense to trust it to someone who could use it better.
"If it were up to me, I'd make you something completely new, but, well, the situation's not great."
"This is more than enough, no—too much, even."
"Thank you for saying so."
Celestia laughed along with Nadia's sheepish smile. Then she glanced at the ever-wagging tail, and cautiously asked,
"... Can I touch your tail, just once?"
"... Just for a second."
Nadia hesitated, then nodded. It felt a bit like she'd sold her tail for a pistol, but that wasn't the reason, so it didn't really matter. She wanted to comfort Celestia in her own way, too.
With her worries resolved, Nadia realized other problems were now creeping up. Celestia having made up her mind wasn't entirely good news for her.
She could share almost everything, but there was one thing she just didn't want to share. But for now, she decided to leave it be—cooperation was the priority.
"Wow—!"
For the first time, Celestia was allowed to touch Nadia's tail without protest, and she couldn't hide her joy. Up until now, she'd only ever tried to do it forcibly, but this time it was finally legal.
It didn't take long for Nadia to regret giving permission. "Stop...! Please stop...!" she ended up shouting.
***
"... What are you doing?"
"Can't you see? Watching you."
At my question, Licorice let out a blunt retort, as if wondering why I was asking the obvious. She was observing me as I lay in bed, groaning away.
Her intense stare made me so uncomfortable that I couldn't hold back any longer.
"Aren't you busy?"
"I am."
"Then go work. It doesn't feel like resting with you watching me like that."
My grumbling caused her to lean back a bit, but she returned to her original position just as quickly. I had no idea what she could possibly find so interesting about a face she saw every day.
"Lee Hyun-woo, you've worked out your problems, haven't you?"
"What, have you learned telepathy behind my back?"
"Telepathy, nothing. It's written all over your face. You don't have any discomforts now."
"Huh..."
Licorice continued to rattle off her observations, no matter how astonished I was.
"You're not uncomfortable anymore, but now something else is bugging you. It's a bit burdensome, but honestly you don't really mind. In fact, there's a part of you that kind of looks forward to it. And since nothing's changed between you and Woof-woof, if anyone, it'd be Celestia."
"Whoa..."
I looked at Licorice, who seemed to have changed jobs from hacker to fortune teller, unable to close my mouth. She scoffed at me.
"What happened?"
"Well... As you guessed, things between Celie and me have been redefined. That's all."
"Celie, huh?"
Licorice muttered, letting out a hollow laugh. Honestly, I had nothing to hide from her. I told her the rest of the story—the one I hadn't mentioned at the meeting, or rather, the one I couldn't tell.
Licorice listened with a serious face the entire time, finally letting out a deep sigh when I finished.
"I can't tell if I should be relieved or feel sorry that this finally blew up."
"The first. I overcame it, after all."
"Then that's good. But have you really made up your mind?"
As Licorice nodded her head while asking, her eyes suddenly sharpened. I flinched instinctively at the intensity.
"Made up my mind about what?"
"To go all the way with her. What about Woof-woof?"
"...?"
"You idiot..."
Seeing the look of confusion on my face, Licorice gave up and just stared at me, annoyed. I could guess what she was really asking.
But I didn't quite understand her logic. Why did it have to be a choice between the two of them? It's not like I was choosing; I didn't want to, and I had no confidence in doing so.
If anything, it was me who'd been chosen. If I insisted now that it had to be just one person, I'd probably get a Solomon's judgment and be split in two.
Unaware of my thoughts, Licorice kept cursing me, calling me names I'd never even heard before.
I held back a few times, but I was reaching my limit. The sense of injustice got the better of me, and I made a threat—not much of one, but a threat nonetheless.
"Don't get too comfortable just because I can't move right now. I could overpower you any time."
Licorice snorted as if to say, "Go ahead, try it."
So I decided not to hold back. Even though I couldn't move a finger, I had someone who could act in my place.
I sent a mental command to the bud, who'd been sharing recovery energy with me but was now resting a little ways away. I told it to press a button on the suit hanging nearby.
The bud grumbled about why it always had to do things for me while it was trying to rest, but it still did as I asked. With a loud whirr, it charged at Licorice—suit and all.
Licorice must've quickly realized what would happen next, because she immediately reached out but ended up tangled in the restraint device at the same time. She'd foreseen it, but her body couldn't keep up.
"Kya?!"
Licorice toppled over beside me, trussed up in the restraining device. Only briefly surprised, she soon turned an angry glare on me.
I'd always wondered what it was like for a fish to flop around. Now I knew all too well.
"Eeek...!"
Just as Licorice flailed and pinned me down, the lounge door slid open and Nadia entered.
Apparently, our squabbling had been loud enough for Nadia to hear from outside; she pricked up her ears, surveyed her tail—now a bit of a mess—and then looked back and forth between Licorice and me.
Her green eyes instantly lost their freshness. Then she looked at the pistol in her hand. "I can't believe I needed this already," she muttered.
***
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