My Beloved, My Precious. (2)
My Beloved, My Precious. (2)
"Dea!"
Makina opened her eyes as she called Dea's name.
My precious existence.
My precious person.
She urgently tried to push her upper body up, but her body wouldn't listen.
As if moving for the very first time.
'This place is...'
It wasn't that space where she always met Dea.
An achromatic ceiling visible before her eyes.
And even the blanket covering her body.
Something unfamiliar.
Something new.
At the same time, something unaccustomed.
"Dea, Dea! Deaaa...!!"
Makina raised her voice as if screaming.
She clearly should be beside her.
When waking up from a dream, Dea should be right next to her...!
Her face grew hot.
"Dea, Dea... Heueuk..."
Tears flowed from Makina's eyes.
Perhaps because she kept shouting, her throat began to hurt.
A pain she could never feel inside the consciousness space.
From that pain, she finally realized that this place was not that usual spot.
"No, I don't want to... Send me back... Heuu..."
Once, Dea had told Makina.
That if they went out into the outside world, she would show her prettier things.
But what was this?
What she saw as soon as she woke up was nothing but an achromatic ceiling and an empty space.
"Dea, Dea, Dea..."
Makina repeatedly cried out Dea's name.
Like a newborn baby bursting into tears if unable to feel its mother's body warmth.
However, the mother the child cried out for did not exist here.
The only one inside this achromatic space was Makina herself.
Kkiik—
"Hik..."
How long had she cried like that?
Along with the sound of a door opening, heavy footsteps could be heard.
Not Dea's soft and light footsteps, but footsteps heard for the very first time.
Fear welled up inside Makina's heart at the sound filling the empty room.
"Are you awake?"
"...Eut."
Suddenly, a voice rang out.
A voice heard for the first time.
A voice that did not exist in the database.
The only thing she could be certain of was that this voice belonged to a man.
"You don't need to be scared. It's safe here."
"Safe..."
No. That's wrong.
The safest place in the world is right beside Dea.
Dea can do anything.
Dea is smart, wise, kind, and, and—
"Dea, Dea... Heueuk..."
Thinking of Dea, Makina burst into tears once more.
A safe place.
Yet a place without Dea.
"If it's Dea, she's that... auxiliary AI of Deus Ex Machina in the Underground Laboratory, right?"
"...Do you, know Dea?"
Her crying paused instantly at the man's words.
He knows Dea.
That fact collapsed the wariness inside Makina.
Because hearing about Dea was more important than being wary of the person before her.
"I know her. The person who asked me to save you was Dea herself."
"...Ah."
To save her.
Recalling the sensations she had felt in her dream, Makina let out a sigh.
The reason she was hungry no matter how much food she ate.
The reason she was thirsty no matter how much drink she drank.
And even her current body that wouldn't move properly.
"You were dying. It was so severe that if it weren't for Dea, I couldn't have saved you."
"Is that, so... Um, thank you for saving me."
Hearing that he had saved her life, Makina offered her thanks to the man.
As she moved her head that wouldn't budge properly and shifted her gaze, the man's face came into view.
It was a face she had never seen before.
"Don't mention it. I merely did what obviously had to be done. So, is your body feeling a bit okay?"
"...I'm not really sure if it's okay."
In the first place, this was her first startup.
Literally a first startup without even a testing process.
So she couldn't tell whether her current condition was okay or not.
"More than that, by any chance, do you know where Dea is?"
"Dea, huh... Um..."
The man trailed off.
Words left ambiguously unfinished.
At those words, anxiety reared its head inside Makina's heart once again.
Trailing off meant there was a circumstance preventing him from speaking properly.
"N-Nothing bad happened, right? Dea is... safe, right? Right?"
"...You see..."
The man avoided Makina's gaze.
Was it difficult to answer?
At the thought that she might not be able to see Dea, Makina's breathing began to grow rough.
'No. I don't want to not be able to see Dea...!'
"Heu, heuak... Heuu..."
"Calm down. It's okay. Slowly breathe in, and breathe out."
"Heu, heuu..."
"Yeah, like that."
As her breathing grew increasingly rapid, the man patted Makina's shoulder at a slow rhythm.
A touch that didn't hurt.
An action solely intended to soothe Makina.
"Sorry for hesitating. So, how should I put this..."
"..."
"Dea is inside you."
"...Pardon?"
At the sudden words, Makina's eyes widened.
Dea is inside her?
"To be exact, it means she's stored inside your body—um, the frame's storage."
"Inside my storage...?"
Blink, blink.
A gaze as if she didn't understand turned toward the man.
It could have been frustrating, but the man answered with a gentle smile.
"Yeah. As we escaped the ruins, I transferred all the data composing Dea into your frame."
"...Really?"
"Yup, really."
"Really, really?"
"Really, really."
At the man's firm answer, Makina closed her mouth.
She had thought Dea was gone, but she wasn't.
She was inside her.
Not in a metaphorical sense, but in a literal sense.
"Thank... Thank you... Truly, thank you..."
That was why Makina offered her gratitude to the man.
Starting from that, even the tiny bit of remaining wariness completely collapsed.
"Grateful... Yep, I'll gratefully accept your gratitude."
"Puhut..."
At the man's words, Makina burst out laughing.
They say laughing after crying makes your good luck run away.
Yet she couldn't help but laugh.
Because those words were what she had once said to Dea.
"It's nice to see you smile. Well, then let's talk about future plans."
"Plans, you say?"
"Yeah. A plan to awaken Dea again."
"...!"
Makina's eyes widened.
Unlike herself, who was relieved just that Dea's data was in the storage, the man had already planned out what came next.
I can trust this person.
"I'll help with anything."
"Not right now. For now, your health comes first. Let's start awakening Dea after your physical condition is okay."
"...Okay."
In her heart, she wanted to help right away.
However, when Dea woke up, if she saw her condition was bad, she would definitely worry.
Makina did not want to cause Dea worry.
Therefore, she nodded.
Slowly, but surely.
"Ah, come to think of it, I forgot about that."
"Forgot what?"
"Um, may I help support you up for a moment?"
"Yes, that's fine."
Large hands grabbed Makina's body and raised her upper body just like that.
Watching him build a satisfying smile only after putting cushions behind her back so it would be comfortable to sit, Makina thought.
A strange person.
At the same time, a good person.
"Now then, let's do what I forgot to do. Ahem... My name is Seo, I'm called Seo. It's embarrassing, but people call me doctor. Though I'm closer to an explorer than a doctor, haha."
Clearing his throat softly, the man introduced himself.
A feeling like her mouth was itching.
Looking at the man who smiled bashfully, Makina's eyes sparkled.
"I know this! It's introducing oneself, right? The act of telling each other your names, introducing yourselves, and sharing greetings!"
"That's right. It's the very first thing people do when they meet."
"Mm, I can't refrain from responding either. I am Makina! I was told by Dea that I am the child born from her heart! Ahem!"
Despite being unable to move her body properly, Makina showed off as much as she possibly could.
Because she was the only person who had heard such words from Dea!
It was one of Makina's greatest sources of pride.
"Impressive. It's not easy to hear something like that from another person."
"Right? Impressive, isn't it? Mheuh, it's definitely because I'm Dea's child!"
Watching Makina brighten up, the man chuckled softly.
Seeing that laugh, Makina tilted her head at a feeling of familiarity.
"Um—well, so..."
"Seo-ssi. Or you can comfortably call me Seo-ajeossi."
As Makina hesitated, the man—Seo—decided on the title for her to call him.
A good person, after all.
To figure it out right away even though she hadn't said it properly.
Makina marveled inward.
"Does Seo-ajeossi have a child? That smile just now was identical to the smile Dea used to give me."
"Eu, huh? No, well..."
"That's a hit, right? Mheung, I knew it would be."
At the sight of Seo smiling awkwardly, Makina wore a victorious smile.
Seeing that he couldn't answer right away, it seemed she had guessed correctly.
However, that smugness was short-lived.
"I'm unmarried, you see, haha. Sorry if I disappointed you."
"How can that be! I was sure you had a child about my size!"
"I didn't think I looked that old..."
Seo scratched his cheek with his index finger.
Were the previous words really that shocking?
She was curious at what part made him feel that way, but Makina decided to correct the misunderstanding first.
"Seo-ajeossi doesn't look old. Rather, I think you look on the younger side."
Makina, who composed her tone while taking a slow deep breath.
At the story flowing out in a refined tone, Seo asked.
"Really?"
"Yes."
"Then why..."
"The reason I said that to Seo-ajeossi is because your smile resembles Dea's smile."
She couldn't explain in words what reason it was, but Makina felt that way.
That was why she wanted to know.
What kind of human the human before her eyes was.