024. Date (1)
024. Date (1)
[Unit Counseling Logs and Personal Records (Seo Se-rin)]
Counseling Records and Personal Evaluation Data - Laika
Recorder: Seo Se-rin (098817-03)
Recording Subject: Laika (Angela TYPE-15, Unique ID: H-AGL15-F370918)
Records Management Procedure: Superior Reporting & Internal Storage (Pursuant to Military Act Article 37, Clause 3 'Management and Recording of Military Biodroids')
Record 1.
Today I met Laika, the first member of my unit.
My first impression of Laika was... small, blue, and cute-looking.
She looked cute, but the way she tried so hard at everything was even cuter.
But she was clumsy, which made her even cuter.
...Since she's this cute, and since supplementary commissioned officers apparently can't receive new recruits until their first year is up, I've got to raise Laika well and make use of her somehow.
I'm a beginner, and so is Laika, so I'm not sure if we'll be able to manage it properly.
First, I brought her to the base and we checked the facilities together.
As for personal conversations... I couldn't really have one because Laika was too stiff and on edge.
Looking at the manual, there's something called precision analysis. I'll try that while chatting a bit. That's what I decided.
Coincidentally, today's my birthday too.
I deliberately didn't tell Laika.
Because it'd be weird to tell someone I just met, "Today's my birthday!" What would that be, asking a stranger for a present?
...Besides, I already received a gift.
Meaning, Laika's very existence is a gift to me!
Record 2.
Today we finished the precision analysis.
The device was so complicated that we both got hopelessly lost.
Honestly, even after doing it, I still don't really understand what's what...... I can grasp the stats because they're laid out like a game, but the parts are beyond me.
If I were a better-trained commander, I might've been able to teach her properly. Ugh.
All I can do is make up for what I lack in knowledge with effort.
Ah, we couldn't have a personal conversation today either.
Because of the precision analysis. As it turns out, that precision analysis thing involved sticking a catheter in a ridiculously embarrassing spot.
Thanks to that, after the precision analysis, neither of us was exactly in the mood for a personal conversation.......
Sob, sob. I should've studied more.
Record 3.
Today we finally had a conversation.
The catalyst was, absurdly, bungeoppang.
There was an older lady selling bungeoppang in front of the base, so I bought one bag, and Laika kept saying "just one more" until she ended up eating the whole thing by herself.
On the first day, she pretended not to be interested in food. Seems it was just posturing after all.
Anyway, from there, the walls between us came crumbling down and we ended up sharing all sorts of personal stories.
Ah, tomorrow is base reconnaissance. It's our first mission, so I've got to do my best.
Record 4.
The base reconnaissance went well.
Starting tomorrow, it seems we'll be able to deploy on garrison area missions in earnest.
Apparently, the idea is to farm and level up here, then move on to the high-level Battle Zone...... I wonder if we'll make it that far.
......Still, we've got to try. Laika is working so hard to keep up with me.
Earlier, I was fumbling around and Laika covered for every mistake I made. I felt so guilty I could've died.
As an apology, I bought her two bags of bungeoppang.
.......
.......
.......
Record 100.
This morning, we received notice that we're cleared to conduct Battle Zone missions.
Laika wasn't particularly happy.
......No, she was happy, but how should I put it? It felt like she was hiding something behind that happiness.
I can tell, because we've been together every single day for three months now.
So when I asked why her reaction was so ambiguous, Laika hesitantly answered.
—Well, when I looked into it, I learned that biodroids normally start Battle Zone missions around the two-month mark.
—I'm far past that point...... which means I'm inferior to the other biodroids.
—I was worried whether someone like me could properly protect Commander in the battle zones too...
Heh.
Laika really is cute, isn't she~
I thought for a moment about what I could say to keep this adorable Laika from worrying.
Then it suddenly dawned on me what I had written in the records on the first day, and I told her about it.
That the day I was assigned you just happened to be my birthday.
So your existence is, in and of itself, like a birthday gift to me.
So I told her she didn't need to get anxious about her abilities or performance.......
Laika seemed to perk up considerably.
I could tell because she promised, "I'll definitely prepare a birthday present next time!" — which meant she intended to survive until that day, still over eight months away.
Ah, I realized while recording that today is exactly the 100th record.
Meaning, it's already been 100 days since Laika and I started working together.
By the month, it's just over three months.
It might not be a particularly long time.
But that short stretch has been the most eventful time in my life.
It was probably the same for Laika.
So, let's keep going.
.......
.......
.......
Record 359.
Yesterday, an emergency mission came down from high command.
A mission... to scout a hive called Ice Shell, and recover the hive's data pack.
It was quite an unreasonable operation.
An unreasonable operation, but since it was organized as an emergency, we couldn't choose whether to accept it or not. It was automatically assigned, and failure would result in severe disciplinary action.
Even so, I wasn't worried. Because I had Laika.
Laika had already reached a B+ rank in her overall evaluation.
If we come back after finishing this mission too...... could she actually hit A-rank? Maybe not.
And... ah, I only realized after finishing all the operational planning, but the return date looked like it would be the day before my birthday.
Actually, I wasn't the one who noticed; Laika pointed it out. "Isn't tomorrow your birthday, Commander?"
As it turned out, she had apparently recorded it separately. Because she really wanted to prepare a birthday present this time.
So, while we were on the topic, Laika kept asking what I wanted as a birthday present... but I didn't tell her.
Because telling her something like that would turn it into a death flag.
No, seriously. Right before setting out on the most dangerous mission ever, you tell her what birthday present you wanted to receive once the mission is over... ← There's no way you survive pulling a stunt like that. Even someone not meant to die would get struck by lightning and die.
So I didn't tell her.
I'll tell you when we get back. You can give it to me then. That's how I wrapped it up.
Well, that was what I said in front of Laika.
But it should be fine to write it down here.
Actually, I feel like I have to write it down. They say this mission will take two nights and three days, and I think I'll forget by the time that much time passes.
It's nothing big, anyway.
For my birthday...... I want flowers.
Pretty blue flowers, the same color as Laika's eyes.
That much wouldn't be too much of a strain on Laika's paltry salary, right.
So.
I'm counting on you, Laika.
[ End of Document. ]
***
The next morning.
I called Laika out.
Laika hadn't exactly forgotten our rooftop conversation from yesterday...... she was pretending it hadn't happened. She must have thought the request was that unreasonable herself.
So while Laika grinned awkwardly and tried to talk about anything else, I said bluntly:
"I found it."
"Euhye?"
"I found it. The present Seo Se-rin wanted."
I showed her the document.
About fifteen minutes later.
Laika's reaction, after reading the entire document, was to throw her arms around me.
She held me tight and began to sniffle.
Of course, she didn't forget to pour out her overflowing feelings to me in between.
"...Thang you. Thang you so much. I'm so glad I could meet Commander. Laika will work really, really hard..."
"There, there."
"Sniff. From now on, if you ever need help, Commander, tell Laika. Laika will help with anything."
"Got it."
"Laika could even die if you told her to, Commander."
"Don't casually slip in oaths that sound kind of dangerous."
Roughly in that vein, I spent a long while soothing, coaxing, and patting Laika.
Thanks to that, even after her tears had stopped, Laika kept clinging to me. I carefully peeled her off and said.
"If you're done crying, get ready to go out."
"Euheng......?"
Laika lifted her head as if asking what I meant.
The kid asked without even thinking to hide her dazed expression.
"Going out all of a sudden...?"
What else?
"We've got to buy the present."
So we'd have it ready whenever we could deliver it.
***
We went out.
Our destination was the flower complex in Metropolis.
The reason for the trip: to buy a gift we might someday be able to deliver.
The type of gift: blue flowers.
We didn't have to think long about what kind of flower to get.
There weren't that many kinds of blue flowers to begin with, and one of the few immediately caught Laika's eye.
Forget-me-nots.
"Pretty."
Laika whispered, her eyes fixed on the forget-me-nots.
At that moment, Laika's sparkling eyes were exactly the same shade as the forget-me-nots just a handspan away.
And the well-known meaning of forget-me-nots was, of course, 'Forget me not.'
In this situation, where else would you find a more fitting flower than that?
The moment we considered forget-me-nots, the choice was settled.
The problem came next.
The question was what form we should buy the forget-me-nots in.
A gift usually means a bouquet.
But we couldn't deliver the gift right now.
We were buying them in advance for the day, sometime in the future, when we could finally go to Ice Shell.
So a bouquet that would wither within a few days was unsuitable.
A potted plant had the same problem.
Ultimately, after discussion, the form of the flower gift we chose was dried flowers.
We would dry a bunch of forget-me-nots and seal them inside protective laminate, then take them with us on the day we finally made it to Ice Shell.
That was what we decided.
But...
"...I want to buy seeds too."
As soon as we bought the dried flowers, Laika said.
"Seeds?"
"Yeah. I was thinking, how about going there and scattering them? Realistically... it'd be impossible to bring her remains back here."
That was true.
Ice Shell was an extreme region where blizzards raged constantly, and at the same time, a grand hive teeming with Legions in all directions.
Even if a day came when we could approach that place, safely transporting remains to the rear would be impossible.
Just like the dead biodroid we found on Trash Island last time, the limit would be burying them in a sunny spot nearby.
When the time came, Laika wanted to scatter a whole lot of forget-me-not seeds over Seo Se-rin's grave.
If the graveside became a huge field of forget-me-nots, it would make a modest but meaningful tribute.
......Well, thinking about it realistically, the weather there would be too cold for forget-me-nots to sprout.
But even so, it was fine.
Even if the seeds could never grow, the act of scattering them itself would hold meaning.
And who knows. Someday, Frost Phantom might be subjugated and the climate of the area might normalize.
Talk of subjugating Frost Phantom when we couldn't even approach Ice Shell might be completely unrealistic, but we were free to imagine and hope.
"Alright. Let's buy those too."
"Okay!"
In addition to the dried flowers, we bought a fistful of forget-me-not seeds.
"Shall we head back then~"
Laika murmured as if our business was finished.
But I shook my head.
"We're not going back."
"Euhye?"
Laika tilted her head as if asking what I meant.
I shrugged at Laika and asked:
"We came all this way to Metropolis. You think we're just going to buy flowers and leave?"
I, for one, had no such intention.
No, in the first place, if I'd only intended to buy flowers, I wouldn't have brought her all the way here. There are some flower shops in the black market near Krädel too.
"Then? Why did you bring me all the way to Metropolis?"
The answer was simple.
"To spend the day having fun and then go back."
"Eueue...?"
Laika was dumbfounded.
"Is it really okay to play around? We've still got one mission left."
Tut-tut. She clearly didn't know.
"It's an unwritten rule to play around before the final mission."
"What's that... whose unwritten rule is that..."
My own unwritten rule.
But I thought this principle was quite useful.
With only one mission left, another round of training wasn't going to change much. It would just create another chance for injury.
Also, as I'd found out through Alicia, there weren't any missions available to accept today anyway.
Meaning, even if we went back, there'd be nothing in particular to do.
I figured that in this situation, spending the day having fun and blowing off stress would help our next mission more than awkwardly cutting the outing short and heading back.
More than anything.
There was still one thing we needed to do in Metropolis.
If I had to be precise, the aforementioned stress relief was a secondary objective, and this was the main one.
But I decided not to mention that main objective to Laika.
Because if I told her now, she wouldn't be able to focus on having fun.
I'd tell her once everything was done.
So, I just concluded playfully.
"Anyway, let's just spend today having a cozy little date, just the two of us."
Naturally, the expression 'date' was 98% a joke.
And the Laika I knew would have given me a very relaxed answer in response to that kind of teasing joke.
Something like, 'Euhye~ Can't be helped, I suppose~ Shall I play along with Commander~'
I was certain that's what would happen.
But for some reason......
Contrary to my expectations, the actual Laika said nothing.
Instead, she simply let the gift bag she'd been holding at her fingertips drop to the ground with a soft thud.
Then Laika, forgetting even to pick up the precious bag, whispered shyly with her face burning red.
"Okay. Laika likes dates."
Hmm.
Perhaps my character interpretation of Laika had been slightly off, after all.
Though regretting it now was too late.