If You Don't Say It, I Won't Know. (7)
If You Don't Say It, I Won't Know. (7)
The work of extracting Dea's data did not last very long.
It was thanks to more than a dozen Bioroids, as well as Makina, moving around diligently.
"...What is the data corruption rate?"
"Looking at it positively, around 60%."
"...And looking at it negatively?"
"87%."
"..."
Seo fell silent at the specific numbers.
He had said he would rescue her, but in this state, it could hardly be called a rescue.
His head throbbed.
"Isn't there... any way?"
"Why are you asking me that?"
"Because if it's you, you'd be able to do something."
"..."
It was not a trust built on affection.
Because the person named Rachel would actually possess the ability to do so.
That was why he asked.
And, she did not deny it.
"I did research on that once in the past. Research on whether lost memories could be restored."
Rachel let out a small breath.
Not a sigh of resignation, but a sigh as if relieving an emotion boiling up from within.
"If we transplant the data of the artificial intelligence that child calls Dea into an artificial brain, perhaps her memories might return someday."
It was not a certainty.
For just because it was not impossible did not mean it was unconditionally possible.
However, even that was enough.
It was better to hold onto the hope that she would return someday rather than losing her.
"...I am sorry."
Rachel said.
An apology.
Words he had never heard from the person in front of him since the day he was born.
"...Don't apologize to me, apologize to Makina. And to Dea as well."
"...Alright."
With that conversation over, the two fell silent.
The gazes of the two were directed not at each other, but toward the place that used to be home.
Seo was curious about what Rachel was thinking, but he did not bother to ask.
An apology.
Because for that person, it held the exact same meaning as regret.
"Seo-ajeossi! Rachel-eonni!"
"Uh, uh-huh... Makina."
"I, I worked super hard! Dea should be safe at this rate, right? Right?!"
Makina shouted brightly.
The child's eyes were twinkling brightly with hope.
Seo did not want to extinguish the hope dwelling in Makina's eyes.
"Yeah, she'll be fine. For sure."
"Mhehe, I knew it!"
The feeling of the crown of her head touching his hand was soft.
The voice reaching his ears was also, truly—
"Ah, where are you going! Rachel-eonni!"
Makina shouted toward Rachel, who had turned around.
Did she like Rachel that much?
"Well..."
"Makina! My name is Makina!"
"Yes, Makina."
Rachel lifted the corner of her mouth slightly.
Although faint, it was a clear smile.
Seo could not help but be shocked upon seeing that sight.
To think that person was capable of making a smile like that.
'So she didn't hate kids...?'
Whenever she looked at me, she always scowled, so I thought she just hated children.
He felt as though his common sense up until now was shattering.
No, more like heaven and earth had been remade.
"I'm going to prepare a body for the child named Dea."
"R-Really?!"
"Yes."
"But isn't it expensive? I don't have that much money."
"It's fine, Makina. Think of it as a gift for becoming friends with your eonni."
She even called herself 'eonni' with her own mouth.
Of course, she certainly looked like an eonni in appearance.
No matter what technology she used, Rachel always maintained a youthful appearance.
But he didn't like it.
'...Eonni and friends?'
Even if she lacked a conscience, there should be a limit.
Seo clicked his tongue softly as he watched Makina jumping up and down in joy.
He felt like he would never be able to get along with that person.
***
Why was this child here?
"Hello, Rachel-eonni!"
"...Yes, nice to see you."
It was the very next day after she had ordered the attack on the child.
It was the moment she was adjusting a specially made Bioroid created for cleanup.
When she opened the door at the sound of a knock from outside, the child was standing there.
Perhaps she had known it from the moment she told her to come directly instead of saying come in.
That the child would visit this place.
"What brings you here?"
"I came to play! Because Rachel-eonni and I are friends!"
"...I see."
Flustered. Perplexed. Burdened.
However, it wasn't a bad feeling.
Because a child's innocence made one feel good just by looking at it.
"Come on in, Makina."
"Waaah! Thank you!"
Once permission was granted, the child entered the office with her eyes shining.
A room where an entire wall was made of glass.
The child opened her eyes wide at the sight visible beyond the glass.
"Huwaa... It's super cool!"
Stars fell over the night sky.
Eyes she had seen once before.
You back then had those kind of eyes too.
Rachel smiled bitterly.
'I thought I would never see them again.'
To think I would see them like this.
She was deeply moved.
"I'm glad you like it."
"Yes! It feels like I've become a giant! If I reach out like this, do you think I could pat everyone on the head?"
"..."
However, it did not end there.
At the child's words, Rachel caught her breath.
Déjà vu.
She tightly gripped her hand, which was trembling with longing, with her other hand.
'It feels like I've become a giant... If I reach out, do you think I could pat people?'
You back then were like that too.
You, who were losing your memories due to the side effects of the experiment.
You, who were growing smaller.
You, who smiled brightly looking at me.
Even so, you, who kept longing for that one person.
"Makina."
"Yes, Rachel-eonni!"
"By any chance, could we talk for a moment?"
"Of course!"
The child was bright.
Just like you back then.
Even though I was not in your memories, you greeted me with a beaming smile—
"Phew..."
She let out a sigh.
Her head was burning up.
Looking at the child who looked identical to her—Lily, she felt as if she were about to lose her sanity.
It felt as if she had really come back to life.
She had to calm her mind.
Otherwise, she would end up crying pathetically in front of the child.
"Makina. By any chance, have you ever heard the name Lily Elpida?"
"U-ng... Uuuuu-ng..."
Makina tilted her head.
Lily Elpida, Lily Elpida...
As if trying to find the five letters that might be in her memory, the child muttered repeatedly.
"I don't know..."
"...I see."
Her expectations had grown as much as the time spent waiting, and the disappointment at the moment that grand waiting disappeared was equally great.
However, Rachel did not show it.
Her life had been a series of disappointments, and today would remain as just one among those many disappointments.
It had long since become something she was accustomed to—being disappointed.
'Or perhaps... numbness.'
Rachel formed a bitter smile.
There was no way.
Lily's reincarnation.
Because that was impossible.
"Makina, I mean... um..."
Rachel chose her words carefully.
If it were the usual Rachel, she would have said something like, "Aren't you a weapon of war?"
However, the current Rachel was equipped with thoughtful consideration.
That was why a brief pause occurred as she spoke.
"Dea made me!"
"...If it's Dea, are you talking about that artificial intelligence child?"
"Yes!"
"That child... made you?"
"That's right!"
If that were true, the danger level of the artificial intelligence named Dea would be far higher than imagined.
The entity that created Deus Ex Machina.
If it could continuously mass-produce weapons like the child in front of her—
'—Get a grip.'
You know it's not like that, Rachel.
She scolded herself.
Whenever it concerned weapons from the Great War era, her thoughts were always swallowed up in this direction.
An unavoidable obsession born from having lost precious people during that era.
Rachel slowly caught her breath.
"They say Dea used to be human."
"...What?"
However, the words that followed were even more shocking.
An artificial intelligence that used to be human.
That human biological information could be converted into data to create an artificial intelligence?
It was unbelievable.
"And my current appearance is said to be the appearance of the person most precious to Dea."
"..."
The most precious person of the human who became an artificial intelligence.
She felt like she knew who that was.
There was no proof, but Rachel's heart was telling her.
That the artificial intelligence named Dea was definitely a being connected to Lily.
"Ah, come to think of it, there's a story Dea told me yesterday."
"...What kind of story was it?"
"It was a story about proposing while gifting lily flowers on her precious person's birthday!"
"..."
She was struck speechless by the child's words.
Because it was a story she had heard before.
"...Ah."
The twenty-seventh birthday.
The day she received lily flowers and a ring from the person she loved, and achieved love.
And, the day they became family.
Her face, smiling happily as she talked about it, rose vividly in her mind.
"What... have I done?"
Rachel's face turned pale.
Lily, who left messages for her husband through video every single day.
Lily, who said she missed her husband.
Lily, who kept saying she wanted to see that person even when her memories faded and he was no longer her husband.
Lily, who rejoiced while watching the saved videos, saying that love had finally been achieved.
"Ugh, urgh..."
Rachel covered her mouth.
Nausea burst forth from deep within.
Just what have you done, Rachel?
Just what have I...
"Rachel-eonni?! A-A-Are you okay?!"
"...Ugh."
Gaze filled with pure worry.
Receiving that gaze, Rachel curled her body up.
She did not deserve to receive concern.
Because she had even hidden the truth just because she didn't want to be hated by the child who looked identical to Lily.
"Lily... I'm sorry, Lily... Sob... It was all me. It was all because of me..."
"R-Rachel-eonni! Rachel-eonni!"
She heard the voice of the child calling her.
However, Rachel could not pull herself together.
Collapsing on the spot, she wept, begged for forgiveness, and confessed her sins.
"Don't... forgive me..."
Those last words.
The moment she uttered them, Rachel's consciousness cut out.