013. Childhood Friend and Mother (2)
013. Childhood Friend and Mother (2)
"......With all that having happened, I was assigned to Krädel as its Commander."
I finished my story.
As if she'd been waiting for that moment, something touched my forehead.
A hand.
Laika's small, warm hand.
"You've had it rough."
Seueuk-seueuk, seueuk-seueuk.
"Laika'll praise you."
Tenderly.
She stroked my head.
And with a faint smile, Laika said something utterly ridiculous.
"Don't worry. Laika won't disappear like that or anything. Laika doesn't want to lose another Commander either, you know."
"Who said I'd let you disappear? We're short on hands as it is."
"Laika understands you're trying to forget an old comrade you'll never see again by joking like that. So make all the mean jokes you want. Just for today, Laika'll be a kind biodroid who lets you lean on her as much as you want."
Again, Laika was stroking me affectionately.
It felt like our usual roles had been reversed.
That didn't really matter, but there was one part of what Laika said that I had to correct.
"Saying I'll never see her again is wrong."
"Euhing?"
"I mean Sion. She's still alive."
I pulled a small terminal from my pocket.
It was the very signal device that had received Sion's rescue request, which I'd mentioned earlier.
The device was synchronized only with Sion's biometric data.
If Sion were dead, it shouldn't be picking up any signal at all.
But on the terminal in my hand, Sion's biosign was displayed, crystal-clear, status: 'Alive.'
"......How?"
Laika's eyes went round as she asked.
Unfortunately for her, I couldn't offer much of an explanation.
"I don't know either."
There was no way I could know.
How Sion could be alive after taking the brunt of wave after wave of Legion attacks head-on.
Even more inexplicable was that Sion's coordinates had moved.
After the rescue attempt had failed, her coordinates had gradually shifted northward, and three weeks later they'd reached their current location——Whitehead Point.
The northernmost tip of the Korean Peninsula, far beyond any human-occupied territory, scorched to ash by the Legions.
She had merely stopped moving there, but she was still alive.
I'd considered the possibility of hacking or signal hijacking.
But that didn't seem to be the case.
The signals were being transmitted manually at the intervals Sion and I had agreed upon.
In the end, only one thing was certain.
Sion was still alive.
Alive, and sending me a signal saying, 'Come find me.'
As her commander, once I'd received that request, I had no choice but to go rescue her no matter what.
So calling her an 'old comrade I can never see again' was inaccurate.
"......Well, actually seeing her again is going to be insanely difficult, I admit."
As I'd said, Sion's current location was far beyond even the front lines.
She was in unmistakable Legion territory, an area where not even military operations were conducted.
Without extraordinary resolve and preparation, reaching her would be impossible.
Had Laika understood all of that?
Quietly, she asked.
"So the reason you're holding out at Krädel......."
"......Yeah."
I admitted it honestly.
That the reason I was fighting tooth and nail here was ultimately to go meet Sion.
I had to get the base functional to earn mission pay, and I had to earn mission pay to scrape together the war chest I'd need to go find Sion.
I mean, in reality I was barely managing to keep Laika herself afloat.
In any case, that was the long-term objective.
I added, almost like a sigh.
"Now you get it. I'm not exactly rehabilitating you out of the goodness of my heart. I'm helping you based on strict market logic, a calculated bet that you'll be useful to me later."
"Yeah. I get it."
"Then do your best not to get disposed of."
"Yeah. And also...... put your worries to rest."
Laika, still on my lap, made the promise with surprising gravity.
"I'll make sure you can save her, Commander. Your precious person."
Would she be able to keep that promise?
There was no need to ask for verbal confirmation.
One more night and I'd be able to see what that resolve actually amounted to.
And I'd also learn whether she could stand on the battlefield again.
***
The next morning, Laika arrived at the simulation room right on time.
"Did you sleep well?"
"Yep~ Slept so well it's a problem~"
Beneath her deliberately relaxed tone lurked unmistakable tension.
But there was no sign that she intended to run away or avoid anything.
It was the justified bravado of someone ready for a fight.
Seeing that, I silently worked the console and launched the training program.
[Welcome, Commander Han Si-hu.]
[Launching training program.]
[Program: Ally Injury Response Training Program - Level 1]
Immediately after that message appeared, Laika climbed into the simulation pod.
And so did I.
I followed Laika into the pod.
Ah, naturally, I wasn't about to fight.
Instead, I was there to play the role of the 'ally' who gets injured.
"......Are you really going to be okay?"
Laika asked worriedly.
"Simulation training isn't like some simple VR game, you know?"
"You think I don't know that?"
Combat simulation was a kind of 'alternate reality' created using phase technology.
Inside it, participants experienced all five senses—including pain—with complete realism.
......In other words, if you got hit, it hurt just the same.
In that sense, much to my regret, I was playing the role of the casualty.
When enemies appeared, I would automatically be tagged 'Injured' and subjected to excruciating pain.
But I didn't necessarily have to play such a painful role. If I'd wanted, the computer could have stood in for the injured ally.
However, participating in person would heighten Laika's immersion.
So I'd gritted my teeth and decided to take part.
"......Commander's surprisingly stubborn about weird things."
"You're plenty stubborn yourself."
I shot back as I started the program.
[Training Program Initiated]
A message window appeared.
In a few minutes, enemies would show up, I'd get injured, and my head would stop working.
While I still had the presence of mind, I gave Laika a final warning.
"Laika, if the enemy appears and I get injured, you can't just charge in and fight them head-on. This training program assumes there's a large hive nearby, so the enemy will keep receiving endless reinforcements.
"You can't wipe them all out. To clear the program, identify and suppress only the enemies that pose an immediate threat to the casualty, then withdraw from the area."
"......Okay. I'll keep that in mind."
"Good."
I looked around.
No enemies had spawned yet. Laika and I were simply patrolling an empty, deserted city block.
But a moment later.
"Laika."
"......Yeah."
It was starting.
Just before I could say as much—
The moment we emerged from the alley, a group of Legions waiting in ambush appeared and opened fire in a surprise attack.
A few of the armor-piercing rounds they sprayed wildly pierced my shoulder.
"Kh......!"
It hurt like hell. My vision blurring, I collapsed on the ground and looked up at Laika right beside me, who had frozen in place as if turned to stone.
Her shoulders were trembling faintly.
The hand gripping her shield was clenched so tight it was bone-white, and her other hand was spasming unnaturally.
They were exactly the same warning signs she'd shown just before losing control.
Simulation pod or not, the threat of Legions closing in before her eyes was more than enough to trigger Laika's trauma.
I tried to soothe her.
——You can do this.
——You've worked hard enough, you've trained enough.
——These are nothing.
——You just have to push forward.
But my mouth wouldn't open.
The searing pain tearing through my shoulder wouldn't let me speak.
Barely, just barely, all I could squeeze out was this.
"No need... to be afraid."
Immediately, a suppressed sigh burst from Laika's lips.
"Euhhaa......."
The look in Laika's eyes changed.
But they weren't tinged with that hollow madness from before.
Pain and fury, and a desperate will to overcome them.
Those things mingled, and Laika's eyes shone blue like the clear water I'd seen yesterday.
As if refusing to forgive or acknowledge Laika, more Legions lunged at me.
Then Laika—
"Right."
She seized her shield.
"There was no need to be afraid."
In the corner of my vision, every one of Laika's stats jumped up a tier.
And across Laika's body, in stark contrast to her sky-blue hair, a vivid red phase energy manifested.
Rampage.
But it wasn't the blind, berserk rampage from before.
Before, Rampage had controlled Laika. Now, she held control from activation through manifestation.
And so, wreathed in crimson phase, Laika was calmer and more focused than ever.
At the heart of that stillness.
Laika channeled her contained fury toward the most threatening targets.
"Eurraaaaaaaahh!"
Kwang! Kwang! Kwang! Brutal impacts, but with an exact rhythm.
Three Legions hit the ground in an instant.
Simultaneously, Laika deployed her shield into its defensive formation.
With one blow, she shoved back the onrushing Legion swarm, instantly securing a safe distance.
Then, with an "Eurayap!" she hoisted me over her shoulder with such ease it was almost embarrassing.
"Boooooook iiiiiit——!"
And with a self-encouraging battle cry, she began to flee.
The moment we reached the target point marked 'Safe Zone,' my vision went dark.
In the darkness, two people breathing heavily.
A message window spoke for them.
[Training Objective Achieved. Program Terminated.]
***
After finishing the final training session, I sent Laika back to the residential block.
I hadn't scheduled anything special for the afternoon.
Since she'd worked hard in training, I intended to let her rest for a half day, then officially deploy her on missions starting tomorrow.
Of course, just because Laika was resting didn't mean I could.
If anything, my workload had gone up.
On top of the base restoration work I'd been doing in my spare moments, I now had to find missions Laika could handle and coordinate the schedule.
To find suitable missions, I naturally needed to consult Laika's specs.
For that reason, I pulled up Laika's synced precision analysis results to check them again.
== ==
[Primary Stats]
- Endurance: B+ / A
- Strength: B / B+
- Agility: C- / C
- Phase Sensitivity: B+ / S
- Combat Proficiency (Overall): C+ / B+
* Shield Operation: A / A+
* Melee Strike (Shield): C / B
* Tactical Judgment: C- / C+
- Synch Rate (Primary Weapon: Practice Shield): 90%
== ==
Generally, she was excellent.
If I had to nitpick, it was that her Agility and Tactical Judgment were somewhat low at C-.
When those two stats were lacking, adaptability in unexpected situations suffered.
For that reason, I passed over patrol and escort missions entirely, since unexpected variables could arise.
It would be better to deploy her on missions where the battlefield environment was clearly understood, even if it meant facing somewhat stronger enemies.
So I chose:
(★☆☆☆☆) Extermination of multiple D-rank Legions near the coastal highway — Accepted —
(★★☆☆☆) Subjugation of C-rank Legions in the southwestern Trash Island — Accepted —
"This should be enough for now."
If I accepted them and didn't complete them, there would be a penalty.
It would be best to take on two to start with, then leave time for feedback.
I closed the mission list. There was no need to keep looking.
I was about to close the precision analysis page as well when I stopped short.
"......Hm."
I suddenly wondered about the Phase Resonance rate between Laika and me.
I thought we'd gotten pretty close. It must have gone up quite a bit.
And indeed it had.
[Phase Resonance Rate with Commander: 57%]
"It's gone up a lot."
But from here on, it probably wouldn't keep jumping up in sudden bursts.
With people, becoming acquaintances was easy; becoming friends was harder. And even after becoming friends, becoming best friends was harder still.
Well, that aside——
"Huh?"
A strange phrase had appeared at the very bottom of the screen.
[A new status abnormality has been detected in the analysis subject. View details?]
"......What's this?"
Her insomnia had disappeared after she started decorating and watching the fish tank during the day... hadn't it?
No, there had been times she was nodding off while watching the fish tank.
Had too many daytime naps caused her insomnia to relapse?
Puzzled, I pressed the [View] button.
A new indicator appeared at the bottom of the screen.
- Dependency Syndrome (NEW!)
"......What the hell is this now?"
Laika wasn't beside me to answer.