021. Gift (1)
021. Gift (1)
The next few days weren't exactly smooth sailing.
First of all, training Laika was a struggle.
That was because she kept whining about how strange her body felt.
"Euheng...... Commander, something feels weird about my body."
"Weird how?"
"You know, before, when I ran or something, the energy in my body felt like 'Paaat—! Paaaat——!' but now it feels like 'Pak! Pababababak! Pakpakpak!'"
It was a frustrating but strangely understandable explanation.
Apart from that, it wasn't something to worry about.
If anything, it was a perfectly normal sense of unfamiliarity. Replacing the sensor unit naturally made her senses more sensitive.
She would adapt soon, and once she did, it would actually be more comfortable.
"But besides that...... How do I put it? My legs feel like they're getting tangled every time I run? Or maybe I just get nervous whenever I run? Could Laika be broken or something?"
"That's also because the part governing agility changed. Don't worry about it and just train."
"Euheng...... You won't indulge Laika anymore...... You've changed, Commander...... You said you didn't dislike me...... You said you only had Laika...... Laika's depressed now......."
"Even your mood swings are a side effect of changing the sensor unit. That will also return to normal once you adapt, so don't worry."
And don't subtly twist my words. I never said you were the only one. I said you were the one I treasured most.
Anyway, that was the gist of it as I barely managed to train Laika in her ultra-sensitive, ultra-irritable state.
Maybe all that grueling training paid off. Once we actually entered the Battle Zone, Laika carried out her missions without any major incidents.
The newly learned <Phase Blood Absorption> also felt satisfactory.
I'd only gotten it to level 3 for the time being, but it already guaranteed enough propulsion for her to launch herself all the way back to base camp.
"Alright, we've arrived, so carry me on your back again."
......But Laika's whining continued.
Anyway, as a result of rolling and tumbling through the dirt for several more weeks like that.
Today, with roughly a week left until the disposal deadline.
Laika's mission performance points reached 95.
Missions in the Battle Zone usually give about 5 points each.
Meaning, if she cleared one more mission, she would meet the target.
With the goal right in front of her, Laika said,
"No big deal~ Chieet."
She let out a vague complaint.
"If it's no big deal, that's a relief."
"That's true, but somehow it doesn't feel real."
For reference, the conversation was taking place on the rooftop. Since there was a gap between missions, the two of us had been tidying up the cables on the rooftop and ended up just resting there.
Then, during our small talk, I asked Laika how she felt, with exemption from disposal right around the corner.
And Laika had just given me an answer along the lines of 'it doesn't feel real,' as I mentioned.
I was dumbfounded.
"Aren't you happy? We're talking about saving your life here."
"Weeell......."
Laika thought for a moment and then spoke.
"The problem is, there's no reward."
"Reward?"
There is a reward. Exemption from death.
It's a tremendous reward.
As I was thinking that, Laika countered with uncharacteristically sound logic.
"I mean~ it's not 'you did well, so here's a prize,' but more like 'since you seem useful, we won't kill you,' right? So there's nothing to be happy or unhappy about...... Actually, it might even piss me off a little."
She had a point, I thought.
What's more, I suddenly felt pissed off too.
I'd spent almost three months doing this shit just to keep my biodroid from being killed, and I still had to do it one more time——
So, with my empathy for Laika activating at 100%, I ended up making this suggestion without much thought.
"Then how about we decide on a reward among ourselves?"
Once I said it, I realized it was a mistake.
Though realizing it now was meaningless anyway.
Before I could take back my words, Laika's eyes sparkled as she asked.
"A rewaaard~? What kind? What kind? Ah! Will Laika be the one to decide?"
I only regretted it for a moment.
Seeing Laika suddenly light up, the exact opposite of how deflated she'd been moments before, made me stop caring.
It wasn't something that happened often.
Most of all, she'd worked really hard to keep up with me.
In the spirit of getting a promise that she'd keep working hard, providing some kind of reward wouldn't be bad.
The things Laika asked for were just things like bungeoppang anyway.
"Well, try telling me first."
I suppressed my rising anxiety and asked.
But once I actually gave her the chance, Laika started fumbling.
"Euum...... wait, wait...... let me think......."
"You could just ask me to buy you a bunch of bungeoppang like usual."
"Geez, Commander. You buy me that whenever I pester you. If it's a reward for over two months of hard work, I should ask for something way bigger."
I had spoiled her too much.
"What kind of big thing?"
"That's what I'm thinking about."
"You can just say whatever comes to mind. Even a wish you've always had."
"That's the problem. Nothing comes to mind. Laika doesn't have any wishes she's always had."
Laika began to whine as she said that.
"How should I put it. Laika has lived a life with virtually zero motivation until now."
That was true.
If any other Commander had been here instead of me, Laika would have been a week away from disposal by now.
She wouldn't have had any thoughts about what she wanted to do or have in the future.
She had only just begun thinking about those things.
"......Ah!"
"Did something come to mind?"
"Yeah. I want to go on a trip to Metropolis."
"To Metropolis?"
If she was going to travel anyway, wouldn't somewhere further be better? Metropolis was only an hour or two away by train.
"No. Metropolis is fine. I've never been there before."
"You've never been?"
"Yeah. Somehow I never had the chance."
Laika added quietly.
That she wanted to see it in person at least once.
"Well, if it's something like that......."
"And also, also."
Laika didn't stop there and began to chatter away.
"I want to buy pretty clothes. I want to put a new filter in the fish tank, pick a subject and study it properly, save up my salary and splurge, get a new recruit assigned to Krädel and teach them......"
I thought it would be unreasonable to grant that many wishes.
Besides, some of them were wishes beyond the scope of what I could do for her.
Somewhere along the way, the topic seemed to have shifted from 'a reward she wanted from me' to 'things she wanted to do once she escaped disposal.'
Nevertheless, I didn't bother to stop Laika.
Because Laika looked adorable with her eyes sparkling as she rattled off dreams that would take years to fulfill.
Because I genuinely felt glad that I had rehabilitated this kid.
Then, Laika suddenly summed things up like this.
"......Ah, and I want to try dating, too!"
"Dating?"
"Yeah, yeah. I've never dated anyone before."
Having said that, Laika asked me slyly.
"......Is that weird? Dating?"
I shook my head.
Military biodroids weren't forbidden from dating or having other personal relationships.
If anything, it was somewhat encouraged.
Romance could relieve stress and give them the energy to work hard.
Even so, I couldn't help but point something out at this point.
"But how exactly am I supposed to help with dating?"
There was nothing particularly odd about saying that.
If anything, it was a point I had to make.
Because a request to set her up on a date was clearly outside the range of wishes I could grant.
But how on earth did Laika take my words?
"......Eut."
Laika's face turned bright red.
She didn't stop there, hurriedly apologizing to me.
"Th, that's right. Laika said something...... weird. Sorry. Dating isn't really something I can ask you for, Commander.
"......U-unless I were dating you, Commander."
In many ways, it was a statement I didn't know how to handle.
Because of that, I missed my last chance to answer nonchalantly, and an awkward atmosphere hung between the two of us.
Talk about killing the mood.
"......."
"......."
We'd been cheerfully talking about her plans for the future only moments ago, which made the silence even more painful.
Laika was the first to crack under that painful silence.
She hurriedly asked, as if determined to warm the suddenly chilly atmosphere back up.
"Commander...... what do you think about...... a Commander dating a biodroid under his command......?"
That was a pretty strange way to warm things back up.
If anything, she'd made it hotter.
"Suddenly?"
"J, just. I was curious."
I answered with a sigh.
"I don't really care either way."
"Euh-heht?"
Laika tilted her head.
"It's okay?"
"Yeah. It's okay, why?"
Why did she ask back as if she couldn't believe it?
"But there are sometimes people who make an issue of it......."
"There are always a lot of people who meddle in other people's love lives. And if you say you're dating a biodroid, there are also a lot of people who hold pointless prejudices."
If I'm being honest, I myself don't look too favorably on people who date biodroids.
Because most of them bought biodroids and more or less forced them to become sex partners.
But not everyone is like that.
There were also plenty of men who dated biodroids as one thinking person to another.
And among commanders, plenty genuinely fell for a biodroid under their command and dated them.
Well, in that case, since it becomes a workplace romance, all sorts of complicated problems might arise.
From another perspective, I thought there were plenty of advantages too.
"I, I seee......."
Was it my imagination that Laika looked oddly happy as she answered?
Well, that didn't matter.
At this point, I felt the need to bring this horribly twisted conversation back to the main topic.
"So? Have you decided on the wish you want granted?"
"Yeah. I've decided."
"What is it? A trip to Metropolis after all? Or a dress?"
"Ah, it's not one of the things I just mentioned. Something new just came to mind. That is......."
Laika said that much, but couldn't continue.
She just silently stared at the distant scenery beyond the rooftop railing.
It was clear she was about to bring up something very difficult and important.
So I didn't rush her and waited.
Soon, as if she'd made up her mind, Laika finally spoke.
"Actually...... there's an item I want you to find."
"An item you want me to find?"
"Yeah. So......."
After organizing her thoughts for a moment, Laika continued.
"The mission at Ice Shell. Once it was over, I was going to give Seo Se-rin a present."
"A present?"
"Yeah. Because around the time that mission ended was her birthday."
Laika explained.
She'd promised Seo Se-rin a birthday present, but had never actually heard what Seo Se-rin wanted.
Because they had agreed to discuss it after they returned safely from the mission.
But as we know, the mission failed.
A failure caused by the Commander's death.
Therefore, Laika couldn't even find out what she had wanted as a birthday present.
"Honestly, I didn't even try to find out."
When she hadn't even been able to recover Seo Se-rin's remains, a present she could never deliver had seemed pointless.
She put it out of her mind and kept living.
She fell into despair and ran away.
That's how it had been until now.
"......But with you, Commander, I feel like maybe someday I could go there and deliver it."
She didn't know when that 'someday' would be.
Perhaps that day might never come.
Even so, she thought just finding out what the gift was and holding onto it would be enough.
"So you're saying you want me to find out. Exactly what Seo Se-rin wanted as a birthday present."
"Yeah. I think that would be the best reward for Laika."
After answering that, Laika paused, then smiled softly.
"Is it too unreasonable a request after all?"
Of course, it was an unreasonable request.
Because realistically, it was far too difficult to find out what a person who was no longer in this world had wanted as a birthday present a year ago.
So, as I stood there unable to give a clear answer, Laika softly took back her words.
"I'm sorry. I keep asking for things that put you in a difficult spot. This isn't something you can do for me either. I got carried away because it felt like you could do anything, Commander. So...... forget what I just said. Just taking Laika on a trip to Metropolis later would be enough."
"No, I......."
"Then let's go with that. Yeah, yeah. Laika will go back and train now."
Without waiting for my answer, Laika left the rooftop.
Until her small back completely disappeared from view, I stood there and thought.
No matter how much I thought about it, it was an unreasonable request.
But still, I should grant it.
Because that's what a Commander is.