Lost in Undine's Depths
"Kuhk..! Cough, cough!"
By the time I felt my consciousness fading once more inside Undine's body, it was already too late. When I opened my eyes again, I found myself coughing on the hard floor of the containment room, spitting out blue liquid from my mouth and nose. The sight of the spilled blue fluid writhing on the floor before slowly merging back together was something I'd seen before, but it still wasn't something I could get used to.
"Cough..! Hah, hah..."
My mind felt like it had flown away again. Just like when I'd fallen asleep in front of her, there was no warning whatsoever. The moment I closed and opened my eyes, chunks of my time had simply vanished. It was an incredibly unsettling feeling. She had said this reaction occurred when she delved deep inside me... Clearly, it had happened again. And for some reason, I felt completely drained, my thoughts sluggish and unfocused.
'It was delicious today.'
"Ah... Miss Undine..."
A gentle, warm voice reassured my anxious mind. But unlike the pleasant sense of exhaustion, this heavy lethargy weighing down my entire body made me wonder if something was wrong.
I barely managed to stand, but my legs trembled beneath me. It really did feel like Undine had devoured something from me... and quite a lot of it. Was this truly okay?
'It was really tasty today. But... you're quite tired, aren't you?'
"Tired... Yes, a little exhausted. But still..."
Kiiing.
Just as I was about to say that my shift wasn't over yet, the containment room door opened. The person who stepped inside was none other than the Team Leader.
"Team Leader...? Why are you here?"
"I was wondering why you hadn't come out. Your shift ended hours ago. The Founder and the Response Team Leader are waiting for you."
Already? How had so much time passed...? I thought the actual conversation I'd had with Undine had lasted only about thirty minutes at most, but the time displayed on the terminal the Team Leader showed me read 7 PM. Nearly five hours had gone by. Those two brief moments when I'd lost consciousness hadn't been brief at all.
"I warned you, didn't I? Not to get too deeply involved with Miss Undine's kindness."
".. Miss Undine didn't... cough, do anything harsh to me."
"Well, it might have felt pleasant for you, Woong, but put your clothes on first."
"Huh?"
The clothes I'd left on the floor were now in the Team Leader's hands.
...Right. I was completely naked. No wonder I'd felt a bit cold.
"..."
Ever since last weekend, I'd started becoming strangely conscious of the Team Leader's gaze. This was awkward.
"Miss Undine wouldn't be foolish enough to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs, but even she might struggle if a plump goose walked straight into her mouth."
"The goose..."
My head felt foggy. So... I was the goose? It was nice to be needed, but something about it felt... off.
"Of course, I trust Miss Undine as an important partner. But even she would find it troublesome if a well-fed goose offered itself up."
I wanted to argue that it wasn't like that, but my voice wouldn't come out properly through the crushing lethargy, as if I were submerged in deep water.
"Please be careful as well, Miss Undine. The Counselor is a valuable asset to our side."
Undine, still wearing a smile full of satisfaction, simply nodded obediently. She was waving her hand. Was she saying goodbye? Staring blankly at her, I let the Team Leader support me—whether it was assistance or escort, I couldn't tell—and made it outside.
"Just in case, I'd prefer it if you didn't attempt to connect with Miss Undine using your ability."
"That... why not?"
".. Even if Miss Undine divides into dozens of independent entities, she can later merge back into one without issue. Why do you think each ego can so easily discard the individuality they've gained without resistance?"
The question came back as another question. My mind wasn't working well right now...
"Hmm..."
If someone who looked exactly like me approached one day and said I was actually his clone and needed to return to my original state... could I calmly hand over my memories and disappear? Considering that we perceive life through sensory experiences and memories of time, having my autonomy stripped away would be no different from death.
But Miss Undine was different.
"Do you really think Miss Undine is selfish enough to force others to do what she herself dislikes?"
Miss Undine was staying in this deep underground containment room just because I'd asked. On top of that, she willingly helped heal the facility staff and even took care of disposing of tasteless waste. Far from being selfish, it made me think she could afford to be a little more selfish.
".. Of course not."
"Right? Unlike us, Miss Undine has no aversion whatsoever to the state of becoming one."
It wasn't wrong. It was simply different. Miss Undine believed that state was right and ideal.
But she'd also said she would never force it without the other party's consent. She truly respected others' will.
"Every existence has its own purpose. Miss Undine's purpose is the exclusion of the unnecessary and the purification of contamination. The fact that her gentle self has been added to this, allowing her to respect other beings just as much as she pursues her own purpose... is truly fortunate."
"It really is... fortunate."
If Miss Undine had moved purely on instinct to fulfill her purpose without caring about anything else... some kind of disaster could have happened long ago. But realizing that even that disaster was only from a human perspective like mine made it all the more terrifying now.
"If you touch Miss Undine's instincts, you might no longer be able to refuse her gentle suggestions and end up being led along. So please be careful, Woong."
My ability was to hear the voices in others' hearts and share their senses and emotions. Since I couldn't conveniently force only my own emotions onto others, the feelings they experienced also flowed into me. But if I were to come into contact with Miss Undine's instincts or her purpose of existence, I—who had never understood or accepted her ideal state until now—might end up changing my mind.
The fact that she was saying all this while supporting me... It was clear she'd come looking for me personally because she was worried I hadn't come out even though it was late.
".. Thank you for worrying about me, Team Leader."
She suddenly stopped walking. I, who had been leaning on her, had no choice but to stop as well and stumbled.
"Team Leader...?"
When I looked up at her mask with my drooping head, her gaze lingered on me for a moment before shifting toward the end of the hallway.
".. No, I just thought you were quite naive, Woong."
"Pardon?"
It didn't seem like something I deserved to hear, considering I'd been buried naked in Miss Undine's deep, large cleavage just moments ago, completely out of it. But apparently, that wasn't what she was talking about.
"As I mentioned before, the reason I care about your safety is ultimately because I need that ability for my own purposes."
The Team Leader had often made remarks that seemed to hope I'd dislike her, even during dinner last time, so this wasn't particularly surprising. But this time felt a little different...
"I know that. But—"
"Haa... What I'm saying is, there's no need for you to thank me."
Woong, you're... unnecessarily kind. Or, if you keep thanking people for every little thing, you'll end up saying thank you for being born. Normally she would have brushed it off as a joke, but the way she was seriously denying it now was clearly strange.
"..."
I still hoped it wasn't the case, but... this was...
"Team Leader... Are you perhaps embarrassed?"
Thud!
"Ugh?"
When the Team Leader roughly shook off my arm, I—who had nothing else to lean on—collapsed helplessly in the middle of the hallway. It hurt... Even while my head was foggy, the pain remained the same.
"Ow, ow, ow..."
"If you have the energy to joke around, you should be able to walk on your own now, right?"
Without even glancing at me, the Team Leader walked ahead down the hallway. Watching her retreating figure, I wanted to say that strong denial meant strong affirmation and observe her reaction at my leisure, but... unfortunately, I didn't have the energy for that.
Maybe because I was touching the floor... Suddenly, I felt incredibly sleepy...
I reached out my hand, asking her to wait a moment, but my vision shook violently before dropping downward.
"Huh...?"
Thud.