Clinging to the Witch, Chasing Regrets
Clinging to Theia's side like a total mess of a mother-daughter duo... battered by winds that felt like they were ripping my face apart, I repented.
"Hwaaaang...!"
Following along with some half-assed plan from a human was dogshit hard. I recalled all the crap I'd pulled on Dorothy over time.
'Wanna play TRPG?' → Didn't even ask your opinion, just Netdive already.
'Just follow me! Let's run!' → Snatched a gun with zero explanation, then went full menhera meltdown solo.
'Get in the pod, Dorothy.' → Thought you'd just smile and be fine. Ugh, so cringe. First thing when I see Dorothy, I'm groveling on my knees.
Er... yeah. That is,
"Kyahaha! Hahahahaha!"
Theia cackling like a manic witch... if she actually succeeded in saving me, that is.
Her limp, soul-crushed slump had all been an act? She'd recovered her energy in no time and was scampering up the wall like a flying squirrel.
"The plan! Tell me what the damn plan is!"
"Ung...! First, we save Tiara!"
Fuck. That's just the goal, not a plan.
I pounded her body with my fists. Predictably, my puny punches—nothing like a merc—couldn't pierce her sleek bodysuit or even give a decent massage.
"Hah hah hah! Tiara, nitpicking every little thing like that? Not hacker-like at all."
"What's that supposed to mean, you otaku sis?"
Theia nimbly climbed the rain-soaked steel pipe and perched on the edge of the shattered concrete. Desperately avoiding looking down, I finally calmed a bit.
"First! We act! Cleanup later!"
"For real, so...! Hwaaaang!"
I'm sorry, Dorothy!
In my tumbling, vertigo-spinning vision, the only way to fight nausea was to lock eyes on Theia's face.
"Whyy~? Staring like that, you finally see how pretty sis is?"
"Blech."
Her white hair, backlit by the city's neon signs, glowed in unnatural hues.
"So mean!"
Still, those crescent-moon red eyes gleamed with such intensity—I'd never call this woman "mom" or "sis," not even on my deathbed.
Words really do plant seeds, huh. The rain made 'em sprout crazy fast.
A chilling vibe seeped from the message—like she'd kill me even if I called her "mom" instead of witch. Proper menhera mode activated; Mad Mom kept spamming updates.
"Oh, right. Mad Mom."
The concrete and cement floor cracked and heaved like Theia's smile had split it open. The moment the concealment veil shrouded our bodies...
"THE-IAAAAAAAA!"
A guttural roar pierced the air, and tentacles as thick as buildings sprouted everywhere. Instead of suckers like on an octopus, wriggling eyeballs clustered on them, scouring the battlefield like it was District 20.
-Ah, seriously... Mmff...! Isn't the Outernet's realism a bit much?-
First time I'd thought that. The faint fishy sea stench, the fluid dripping from rolling eyeballs—it all felt vivid.
But someone of Theia's caliber... a protagonist-level badass... she'd have a way, right?
I tried to just go with it as she dragged me along, but...
-Ah... haha... ha.
Theia just let out a troubled laugh and ducked behind the rooftop railing.
-Got a plan, right?
-Ughhh... Mad Mom breaking her seal wasn't in the plan.
Yeah, sure. Wasn't expecting much anyway.
Squeezing my eyes shut to heighten my senses, the city's cores twinkled like gentle starlight. And those massive tentacles? Little cores studded every inch.
-Wait, all those eyeballs are cores?
-Yup. All concealment detectors. No wonder she sniffed us out despite the veil...
I quickly scanned nearby stars, then seized cores two blocks away.
Hoo...!
My breath hit a fire alarm, triggering sprinklers. The building's fluorescents flickered. Rooftop door swung open; ventilation fans whirred to life building-wide.
"THE-IA?"
The tentacle eyes swept the building in arcs. Seizing the gap, I whispered urgently to Theia.
-Now!
-Nice one!
Theia scaled the building's exterior, inching toward the sky. No time for vertigo—I shut my eyes tight.
Kwaaaang...! Kwoom!
A few tentacles smashed the city with their colossal trunks. The embedded stars shifted color. Probably another function.
-Incoming! Other building!
-Whoaaa! Tiara, you're pretty good!
The tentacle near our climbing spot squinted its eyes. Kwaaaang! Kwoom!
"THEEEE-IA!!"
-She really likes you.
-I gave her the "Mad Mom" nickname. Originally "Master-Mind." Lame, right?
Mad Mom clearly hated her moniker. The sheer obsession to chase us to the death screamed it.
I huffed breath into the city till my head throbbed. Hydrants burst, traffic lights blinked, government offices blared alarms.
Shwaaaa!
Intruder alert!
"GRRR...! THEEE-IA!"
But stirring the city's stars did nothing to the tentacles. They ignored everything but detection cores.
Fine then—time to assist Theia's movement for real.
I nudged a nearby vent core where she was resting.
-Signal and I'll jump.
-What?
Grabbing a tarp, I blasted breath into the vent core. Hwooooong...!
The maxed-out fan roared wind. Pffft!
The tarp I held caught it, launching me and Theia airborne.
-Hahaha! Fun, you!
-Grab it! It's slippery!
Theia snatched the tarp, giggling wildly. Our makeshift hot-air balloon floated up—thud!—stuck to a taller skyscraper, then flapped away into the void.
On the skyscraper's sheer wall, in that cramped spot, Theia set me down.
-Haa-! Short break.
Barely room for two to sit. Too scared to look down, I buried my face in my knees, panting. Theia deployed the concealment veil.
"Gotta cool my head before punching through the ceiling."
Our rain-soaked, bedraggled states were fully exposed. Just hanging on her had drained me completely.
Lifting my head from between my knees, I saw Theia grinning with those sharp eyes.
"...Theia."
She stared right at me. Wet white hair and those arcing red eyes pierced straight through.
I'd flipped out when she learned Dorothy's secret, but... my damp, forcibly cooled brain detected clear goodwill in her fierce gaze.
It wasn't the look of someone eyeing a replacement sacrifice.
My gut and logic denied my earlier abuse toward her.
Still, my twisted lips spat pouty words.
"...You could've just waited for Mad Mom to devour my mind, then taken my empty body."
Vaccine material in my brain, Netdiver catalyst in my veins—both tied more to my shell than "me."
If Theia prioritized them, no need to dive Outernet for my soul. Just confirm the wasteland core hack for safe extraction.
"Mm."
Theia savored my whining tantrum. The adult who'd proven her goodwill with actions slowly chewed over my sticky distrust.
Then picked words for a mere kid like me.
"You did good."
"..."
"Tough job. Escaping the lab, adapting to cores, grinding compute power in Outernet..."
Theia gazed at me, hugging her knees just like I was.
Sniff.
I bowed my head. Hated facing her. Just... hated it.
"Hating life till suddenly something precious pops up unasked."
Theia patted my numb skull with rambling comfort.
"Then you struggle, but your dumbass mistakes grab your ankles."
"..."
"Haha! Me too. I..."
Turning slightly, Theia stared blankly at the sky.
"When someone else pulls the same dumb shit..."
Like she'd waited for my glance, she grinned, locking eyes.
"...Wanna watch from the sidelines, right?"
Never just kind, this one.
"So I fished you out. Wonder what dumb shit you'll pull next."
Some idiotic, regret-filled stunt to make me laugh—
"Got me expecting things. Couldn't help it."
She tacked on that excuse for diving Outernet after me.
Only then did I finally nod, accepting the stroke of her hand on my head.
Then—Kwaaaang! Kwoom!—tentacles thrashed, shaking the building. Her upturned eyes twitched.
Theia cupped the pattering rain in her palm...
Splash!
"Up now. Time to go."
Splashed my face.
"...Sniff. ...Got it. Let's, go."
No complaints—I rubbed my face and grabbed her waist.
"So, what's the exact plan?"
Emotions settled, I clung tight to her back. Theia scaled the skyscraper effortlessly, not even winded.
"The wasteland core you hacked and shut down."
Ugh. Scolding incoming...?
"It's the outer wall around Outernet... and the inner walls dividing its tiers."
"So... Mad Mom's rampage is because...?"
Theia shrugged—one of the few gestures possible with a backpack human.
Meaning my hack let Mad Mom smash through the glass floor and go berserk...
"Haa... Sorry..."
"You didn't know. Outernet having tiers is top secret."
My body stiffened at the familiar game term, but Theia ignored it. I'd frozen from vertigo too many times climbing.
"Our escape plan's inspired by that."
"How?"
Theia planted her foot on the skyscraper's peak. Gale-force winds. City sprawled below. Moonless, cloudy murk.
In this near-real space, one thing felt utterly alien.
"THEIAAAA-!"
The tentacle monster sensing us, slithering up the skyscraper wall.
"Like Mad Mom, we'll smash the floor."
Theia pointed skyward. Her fingertip bent back, blocked by something invisible.
"This is...?"
Hitched on her back, I reached out too.
Tok.
Like a map edge—something unseen barred the way.