The End of Choice
The dry text on the holographic screen stabbed at my eyes. I'd scoured the Federation's vast medical database on a faint hope, but the response was always the same. 'Cause unknown.''No data.' It was only natural. Eve wasn't human. Even if she looked like a little girl on the outside, what filled her was a xenoform—the cosmic calamity. There was no way human medicine could diagnose her.
Irritated, I shut off the hologram. I'd already administered the antipyretic and applied the cooling pads. But Eve's temperature showed no sign of dropping, like a furnace of molten steel. All that was left was this arrogant slime's diagnosis.
"Hey, Nahibi."
I looked down at Nahibi sprawled across the floor and asked, "There has to be a reason why Eve, who was fine before, is sick now. Was it a bad energy absorption last time? What's going on?"
Nahibi flicked a tentacle lazily, as if annoyed.
[I don't know.]
"...You messing with me?"
My voice dropped low.
"When we headed to Garcia, you said Eve needed planetary energy, so we rerouted. But now she's worse off, and you know nothing about the symptoms? You don't even know why she's sick?"
[Ah, listen to the end before jumping to conclusions, you lowly human!]
Nahibi shot back with a grating wave of sound.
[I said I don't know the name of the illness. It's not an illness to begin with! Would a queen at the pinnacle of biology lose to mere germs?]
"Then what the hell is it if not an illness! Why is Eve suffering like that! There has to be a cause!"
[It's incomprehensible, but it's a vessel issue.]
Nahibi's red eyes stared straight into mine.
[The Eve I examined is a true queen. Her soul grows fuller the more time I spend with her, and she wields the unique abilities of queens without doubt. But...]
Its explanation was brutally clear.
[The energy she absorbed on Garcia Planet was far too vast for Eve to handle. That's the problem. She's a queen, yet her body lacks the strength to contain that power. It's like an old dam crumbling under a flood of water.]
Nahibi's words painted a clear picture of Eve's condition. The lab on X-41 Planet. Apex Industries. Those damn bastards must have broken her vessel through countless experiments.
[Do you have some idea?]
But spilling that now would just make Nahibi lose it... Not the time.
"So... is there a way to fix it?"
Nahibi eyed me with a strange look—pity, resentment, resignation all mixed in.
[The answer was given from the start.]
"?"
[The blessing from Elisia. And what you swallowed.]
My mind went blank for a moment.
"...That black stone-looking thing? The medicine Eve gave me?"
Nahibi sighed deeply at my reaction.
[Yes. I explained it then, didn't I? A treasure that 'reassembles an imperfect body' and breaks its limits.]
I remembered. Nahibi had said exactly that. It would shatter the frail flesh's limits and let one ascend to a higher existence.
[It was meant for Eve originally. Elisia knew. She knew this little sister carried energy she couldn't handle. So she gave the one medicine that could reinforce her body and prevent collapse.]
Then Nahibi's next words pierced my heart like a dagger.
[But Eve gave it to you.]
"...."
[She probably knew. Even knowing she'd suffer. Even knowing her body would break. All for a lowly human like you.]
My thoughts ground to a halt. Why had Eve given me that medicine? She knew her condition better than anyone...
'You gotta eat it to get strong.'
'You'll get super tough!'
Eve knew. Why Elisia gave it. What would happen without the black stone. Yet she'd handed it over without hesitation. Smiling. Hiding her life-or-death choice behind that innocent grin.
"...Ugh."
My stomach churned. This overflowing power in my body. The explosive energy surging through my veins. Knowing it was meant for Eve... I was a pathetic adult who couldn't even earn a child's trust.
Disgusting.
Ignoring Nahibi's calls, I bolted down the corridor like a madman. The door slid open to a room blanketed in white mucus. Panting, I staggered to the bed.
Eve was sleeping. Her face flushed red from fever. Her small chest heaving raggedly. Seeing her fragile state, my legs gave out, and I collapsed.
Why do you make me suffer like this?
My first thought was resentment. If she'd just taken the gift from the primordial queen as planned, none of this heartache...
I was angry. At myself. At Eve for treating her life so lightly.
Why did you do that? Why give it to me? Just eat it yourself. Get healthy and leave trash like me behind.
I'm weak. I'd lived alone my whole life, plunging into the hottest battlefields to find warmth in this cold world. But in the inferno of war, anything precious crumbles too easily. Flesh, mind, life—all of it.
Except for my childhood, I'd lived as a soldier. All I'd learned was an even colder world.
It was the warmth I'd finally grasped. Affection.
Yet instead of protecting it, I'd become a beast gnawing on a child's flesh to survive.
"You idiot..."
My throat choked; no voice came.
"What am I worth... A sick old man like me... You should live. You have to live, you dummy..."
Tears splashed onto Eve's cheek. This vital surge in my body felt like a curse. If I could, I'd rip open my gut, pull out the black stone, and feed it back to her.
But it was part of me now. Irretrievable.
I took Eve's hand and pressed my forehead to it. Guilt swallowed me whole.
Then—
"...Kal?"
A small voice. I jerked my head up in shock. Eve's eyes were open, looking at me. Glazed over, but filled with worry for me.
"...Why are you crying...?"
Eve weakly lifted her hand to wipe my eyes. That tiny touch broke me.
"Sorry... Eve, I'm sorry..."
I rubbed my face against her hand and sobbed.
"I... I took it. You're sick because of me. I'm the one who should die..."
Eve blinked at my confession, furrowing her brow as if piecing it together. Then she giggled softly.
"No..."
Eve stroked my hair.
"Kal... was weak."
"...What?"
"Kal... was hurting. Back hurt... knees hurt... couldn't sleep at night..."
Her voice faltered but pressed on.
"Eve's tough. Eve's... a queen. She can handle a little pain."
"But...!"
"No buts. I don't like Kal hurting."
Eve met my eyes squarely.
"Without Kal... Eve would be alone. If Kal's weak... who protects Eve? Nahibi's reliable, but who saved me before her? Who fought for me?"
Eve grinned.
"So... it was my investment."
Investment. The word from her mouth stunned me.
"Nahibi said it: legion's blade, shield, knight! Cool, right? Now Kal's super strong. So... he can protect Eve even better now?"
"...."
"That's enough. And 'cause you're family. I just... wanna be with Kal longer."
Eve's eyes drifted shut; her hand slipped down.
"So... don't cry. Protect me tough. Like a knight..."
Her steady breathing resumed. Eve sank back into deep sleep.
I sat there blankly for a long time. Tears stopped. Instead, something welled up from deep in my chest.
Not damp guilt anymore. It was debt. A heavy, sacred debt I'd never repay in my lifetime.
She'd invested her life in worthless me. Reforged this rusted blade.
Only one thing left to do.
Yeah.
I stood. Wiped my tears. Sorrow vanished from my eyes, leaving only cold killing intent.
I'll prove the worth of your investment.
I was no longer a weary retired soldier. I was family, forged by Eve. I'd advance as such.
My family was dying. If she wanted a blade, I'd swing. And protect.
I tucked Eve in, left the room, and headed to the cockpit. Nahibi coiled on the pilot's chair, flinching at my approach.
[...Oh.]
It met my eyes and snorted.
[Finally, eyes worth something. That sniveling mess earlier was disgusting.]
"Tell me the method."
I cut straight to it.
"How to save Eve. Anything. Tell me what to raid, what to do."
Nahibi grinned, pleased by my resolve.
[Good. Now we can talk.]
It drew a map in the air with a tentacle.
[Options abound. Drain energy from another queen to calm the vessel, or devour another star to force evolution. But... Eve can't handle either now. She'd die en route or burst from overload.]
"Then what?"
[She needs reinforcement, not strengthening. Patch the dam before pouring more water.]
Nahibi pointed at me.
[Can you kill for Eve?]
"Like that's new. My hands are plenty bloody."
[Even against humans?]
Humans. I'd killed plenty. Just recently, space pirates without hesitation.
What Nahibi meant was bigger. Fellow humans. The Federation warring against xenoforms. Whether I'd press on.
My answer:
"Yes."
[Good.]
Nahibi nodded approvingly.
[Not that we're storming the Federation yet—that'd be suicide, and I didn't serve Eve for that. To reinforce, we need energy first.]
"But you said her problem is energy overflow?"
[Not stellar energy. The way you humans acquire it—through ingestion.]
I recalled Eve devouring meat.
[Stellar energy boosts mind and authority. Ingested energy reinforces the body. And Eve needs body reinforcement now.]
Where to get massive energy via ingestion? I sat in the pilot's seat. Input coordinates without hesitation.
High-density carb synth-grains, combat-ration protein beans, livestock for the elite—a terraformed ag-world. The engines rumbled to life, preheating with a mighty roar.
"Hold on tight, Nahibi."
I gripped the controls, knuckles white.
I'd save Eve.
Even if it meant swinging the blade at humans.