If You Don't Say It, I Won't Know. (6)
If You Don't Say It, I Won't Know. (6)
"I don't know what's going on, but... thank you for saving me, Makina!"
Seo said to Makina, who was carrying him along.
If he had been just a little bit later, he wouldn't have been able to go rescue Makina.
...
Hold on.
"...Makina? By any chance, did a strange person come by the house?"
"Yes! A strange person wearing white clothes and a mask came by!"
"What did you do to that person, by any chance?"
"I knocked them down!"
Thank goodness.
Really, thank goodness.
Shedding tears while being carried above Makina's head was a bit of a funny sight, but Seo had no choice but to shed tears of relief.
Because to Seo, Makina and Dea were just like family.
"How is Dea? Is she okay?"
"She's in danger! That's why I came looking for you, Seo-ajeossi!"
At those words, Seo's expression hardened.
Could the database in the basement be damaged or something?
If that was the case, he felt he understood why Makina was hurrying so much.
"The storage containing Dea got hit by a beam fired by that strange person and broke! Luckily it's holding on, but..."
"She'll be fine, Makina. I'll figure something out."
"Yes, I believe in you, Seo-ajeossi."
She'll be fine.
It probably isn't damaged too badly.
While reassuring Makina, he agonized over how to safely extract Dea's data.
'Is the reason she didn't transfer the data to Makina's body because it was an impossible situation?'
His head throbbed.
What if the basement was destroyed even worse than he thought?
What if he couldn't transfer Dea's data?
He didn't want to see Makina's disappointed face.
And even more than that—
'—I don't want to lose Dea.'
The face that always smiled while looking at Makina.
The voice that scolded him.
The tone that softened whenever they talked.
Kindness. Gentleness. And the purity felt at the same time.
And even praying for him.
'Please be safe, Dea.'
Dea had already become an indispensable existence in Seo's life.
Just thinking that something might happen to Dea made his breathing rough.
However, he couldn't lose his head like this.
Because if he didn't pull himself together, he wouldn't be able to save her.
"We've arrived!"
"Got it!"
As soon as Makina set him down, he sprinted with all his might toward the house—no, the place that used to be the house.
Please, please, please...
"...Kugh."
The basement was a total mess.
Melted electric wires.
Mechanical devices sparking.
Servers full of holes.
Databases buried under rubble.
Not a single thing was intact.
"The transfer port is broken..."
Someone might say.
Why react like that over mere mechanical devices being broken?
But those weren't just mere mechanical devices.
Because inside there, Dea was contained.
"Think. Think, Seo. How can I—"
"Seo-ajeossi. I have a good idea."
"Makina...?"
After holding his head for a moment, Seo raised his head at Makina's subdued voice.
Makina's face was filled with utter seriousness.
"I will open my brain unit and attempt a physical connection to the database. If I do that, I can definitely store Dea's data."
"No. I can't allow that."
Doing something like that would put Makina in danger too.
What's more, Makina was a child in whom machinery and human were delicately fused.
The moment something went wrong, it would become irreversible.
"Please, I beg you. We can't just stand by and watch like this, Seo-ajeossi!"
"Still, no. I'll look for another way—"
"What if there is no other way?!"
Tears began to well up in Makina's eyes.
What if there was no method other than this?
What if, by not using this method, they lost Dea?
She didn't even want to imagine it.
She would rather die together with Dea than send Dea off alone.
"...I'll find a way, somehow."
Seo gritted his teeth at Makina's tears.
Why was her face coming to mind at a moment like this?
Your face, reaching out your hand while looking at Makina.
[ Omma ]
"Haa..."
What relationship do the woman in the photo and I have?
What relationship do the woman in the photo and Makina have?
What relationship do the woman in the photo and that person have?
And what relationship do that person and Makina have?
[ Would you like to connect the call? ]
Kkuk—
Ttururu— tturururu—
A dry, mechanical ringtone struck his ears.
To think he was calling for help from the person who turned his house into this state and destroyed the place where Dea was contained.
It wasn't even funny.
It wasn't even funny, but his instinct whispered that this was the most certain method.
[...To think you'd call after making a mess of my office.]
"Please help me."
[...]
"It's something you did, so please help me."
Seo said.
It was only right for the person who attacked the house to clean this up.
This was also Seo's own form of consideration.
It was also a sign of his intention to trust her one last time.
[Haa...]
Rachel's sigh could be heard.
A sigh filled with complex emotions.
Seo swallowed hard.
This was the turning point.
Would she grant his request, or would she not?
[Yes, I shall do that.]
"Yes, I shall do that."
The voices overlapped.
The voice coming from beyond the terminal was coming from right beside him.
"...Rachel-ssi."
Behind Rachel, several people were together.
Expressionless people wearing pure white suits.
They were Bioroids made by Biological Miracle.
"Did you follow right behind?"
"...After that child took you away, I followed immediately behind."
The Bioroids began moving in perfect order.
They pulled out mechanical devices and connected cables to the database.
To extract Dea's data contained inside.
"Seo-ajeossi... will Dea be safe?"
"She'll be fine."
Makina asked Seo.
The basement that had grown bustling.
Watching that scene, Seo nodded his head.
Because looking at that face, he couldn't bring himself to say no.
"Ah, now that I think of it, I have something I need to do!"
"Something you need to do...?"
Dododododo—
Raising both hands, Makina began running off somewhere.
That place was none other than where Rachel was.
"Hello!"
"...Hello, little lady."
"You're Seo-ajeossi's omma, right? Isn't that right?"
"..."
Seo panicked inside.
Of all people, to go right in front of her!
Does Makina know?
That the person in front of her is the one who turned the database containing Dea into that state?
"...No, I am not his omma."
"Eh, I was sure you were his omma!"
At Makina's words, Rachel's eyebrow twitched.
Was it just his imagination that she somehow seemed to hate hearing the word 'omma'?
"Um, well, thank you so much for helping..."
"..."
"Dea is... ah, Dea is someone like an omma to me. I think of her as my omma, but Dea told me not to call her omma... Of course, I am her child! A child Dea gave birth to with her heart!"
"...Are you upset because the person named Dea told you not to call her omma?"
Rachel bent down and knelt on one knee.
And then she asked Makina.
Whether she was upset that Dea had told her not to call her omma.
Is she saying that for my ears, by any chance?
Seo thought.
"No! Not at all!"
"May I ask why?"
"Because the title isn't what's important! It's a pity I can't call Dea omma, but since I think of Dea like an omma, it doesn't matter!"
"How admirable. Unlike a certain someone."
Rachel's hand patted the crown of Makina's head.
Makina began to smile brightly, as if that touch felt good.
Seeing the two of them, Seo... how should he put it, felt angry? Annoyed?
Anyway, it was something like that.
"Um... well, so...?"
"Rachel. Call me Rachel."
"Rachel, Rachel... Rachel-eonni?"
"..."
At Makina's single phrase, Rachel's movements froze.
With an expression that looked shocked, yet at the same time as if looking at something she missed.
"No, wait!"
"Seo-ajeossi?"
And Seo cut in between them.
Because in Makina's words was a word he could not possibly accept.
"I'm an ajeossi, so why is Rachel-ssi eonni?!"
"Dea told me never to call an older woman ajumma. That it's not polite."
"No, that... haah..."
Seo scratched his head roughly.
Yeah, titles really weren't what was important.
He never expected to realize that fact in this kind of way, though.
A sigh slipped out automatically.
Makina didn't seem to care whether Seo did that or not.
"Um, Rachel-eonni..."
"Speak."
"Dea... she'll be safe, right?"
"..."
Rachel could not answer.
The state of the storage containing the artificial intelligence's data was nearly half destroyed.
The damaged data could be restored as much as possible, but the lost data would be impossible to revive.
However—
"Yes, she'll be safe. Because I'll help."
"Thank you, Rachel-eonni! I will definitely repay this favor! Here!"
"...Ah?"
"Pinky swear promise!"
"...Uh, uh... yes, I shall do that."
Rachel intertwined her own pinky finger with the pinky finger extended in front of her.
A sudden surprise attack that took place before her head could judge properly.
By the time she came to her senses, she had already stamped it with her thumb.
"I'll help too!"
After finishing the promise.
Makina ran over to where the Bioroids were.
The sight of a child who looked to be about elementary school age lifting building debris piled on top of mechanical devices was quite astral.