“Heaved…”
Everything was wrapped up smoothly. Although there was a dangerous battle at the radio base, there were no casualties, and no issues arose during entry and exit.
While there was no problem with the operation itself, what I learned through it kept swirling around in my head all the way back.
Angeleque led us to move by her own car, and we first returned to SuA’s house. As soon as we got home, forgetting even to wash, I entered my room and lay on the bed.
In the dark room, I slowly lowered my arm from my forehead, covering my eyes. As my vision turned black, the thoughts in my mind became even clearer.
It’s certain that there are many things to do ahead. But where to start, how to proceed, I couldn’t get a feel for it.
I have never thought of myself as a strong person. Whenever I tried to solve problems alone, issues always arose, and I could count on one hand the number of times I succeeded starting alone.
I have often thought of myself as weak and incompetent. It’s not much different from the negative thoughts that enter the minds of most people when they hit a slump.
But today, I don’t think I’ve ever felt so powerless. Can I really do anything for the girlfriends who rely on me and look up to me?
Their love for me has given me a goal to strive for. They have become precious beings to each other, and after living only with a sense of vengeance, they gave me the goal of protecting those I care about.
What can I do for them, who have given me this goal?
What will happen if I report the data I hacked today to my superiors?
Spacystro aims to minimize damage to the planet during its invasion. While damage cannot be avoided under the pretext of invasion, they always try to minimize it.
One of these is minimizing human casualties. Among such Spacystros, the only life form that does not show mercy in execution is the Predator.
Since they cannot coexist with humans and live solely for predation, they prioritize extermination.
If the hyper-humans created were based on the Predator’s genes, and if Spacystro recognizes such hyper-humans as a kind of Predator, then the appearance of Earth’s invasion over the past 20 years will drastically change.
“Damn.”
The words that came out of my mouth were a curse, born from a frustrated heart. I realized better than anyone else that there is nowhere for the girlfriends to rely on within the Earth Defense Union while living with them.
That’s why I immediately accepted the suggestion to join Spacystro when it was proposed. I thought that if I joined Spacystro, where I had been affiliated for a long time without any problems, I would surely be able to live a better daily life.
If Spacystro were to view hyper-humans equally with Predators? Then there would be nowhere to rely on. Ultimately, the promise to stay together in a better place would become meaningless.
I thought that my negative thoughts had largely disappeared since I conducted this operation with the girlfriends and team leader. That was before I knew the horrifying details.
I lowered my arm resting on my eyes and looked at the ceiling with an empty gaze. How should I explain this content to the girlfriends?
Explaining in detail about the Predators and that the girlfriends were made based on Predator genes—how should I put that into words?
Wouldn’t thinking of myself as a monster rather than a human fighting to protect Earth be inevitable?
Even if the girlfriends have Predator genes inside them, their perception of me won’t change now. Just because I remain unchanged doesn’t mean the girlfriends are fine.
Can they really accept the fact that they contain a monster’s genes inside, despite being protected by Earth and unable to find a social position due to being treated like a monster?
Looking at the ceiling in the dark room was painful, so I closed my eyes. Looking at the void with open eyes and feeling darkness with closed eyes was also painful. Nothing could ease me, and even breathing was hard.
I wish I could fall asleep and not wake up.
No, I hope this is just a dream and I can spend happy days with the girlfriends when I wake up.
No, I’d prefer to meet them and live as an engineer in a hangar in space.
Isn’t going back in time the path to everyone’s happiness?
It was because of Spacystro’s invasion that the girlfriends became hyper-humans. The idea that one of the causes is me wouldn’t leave my head. Thinking that the girlfriends became hyper-humans because of me made everything feel like a nightmare.
I already knew that the reason hyper-humans were created was due to Spacystro’s invasion. I disliked the feeling of guilt from learning something I didn’t know.
“Brother, are you sleeping?”
Yubin’s voice came through the slightly opened door.
“No.”
I answered without looking at her, lying down. I could feel her gaze on me, and she entered the room quietly.
I caught a glimpse of Yubin in her pajamas.
It seemed like we agreed to sleep at SuA’s house together because we were all tired from a hard fight all night.
“Is something wrong? Are you hurt anywhere?”
“No, I’m fine. I’m just a bit tired.”
I wasn’t ready to talk about what I saw today immediately. Since I haven’t figured out the specifics yet, speaking rashly might confuse Yubin.
“Did you see something there?”
“…”
I couldn’t answer. I thought she might guess just from looking at me. My expression couldn’t manage whenever I read the data, and my face would distort if I stayed still.
“Brother.”
She sat beside my bed and gently brushed my bangs with her soft hand. This warm and kind hand was being ignored by the very people she protected.
And among those ignoring her were the people who created her. Is it because I know about the Predators? I found it hard to believe that they used Predators for experiments targeting humans.
“It’s okay to tell me if you’re having a hard time. We decided to go through this together.”
Hearing her words, something welled up in my chest. While we decided to go through this together, I couldn’t help but think I should do something for her first.
And now, feeling angry at myself for not being able to do anything right away and for being complacent saying there was enough time.
Although the situation is more serious than I thought, I unconsciously knew it was quite serious. I also somewhat expected that there would be a lifespan limit for hyper-humans’ abilities.
Why did I keep saying such comforting lies? What am I good at?
Yubin smiled at me. It was the friendly and warm smile she always showed me. If I couldn’t keep the smiles on everyone’s faces, including Yubin’s?
Slowly, I sat up and hugged the Yubin sitting next to me. She hugged me back, stroking my back with her hand.
“…Brother, are you crying?”
My eyes were hot. My lips and hands were trembling. My heart felt like it was pounding.
I cried silently while hugging Yubin.
“Who could make our brother suffer like this? Don’t worry, I’m here.”
As I was comforted with those words, tears flowed even more. The thought of not wanting to lose her became clearer and stronger.
The last time I cried was when I lost my parents. I lost the parents who came to meet me, and I shed tears endlessly.
I remembered the moment I lost the most precious person to me for the first time. Countless days passed, and finally, I gained another precious person I wanted to protect.
Maybe because of that experience? I didn’t want to go through the same experience again.
“Guh… Ah… Ah!”
A cry escaped my lips as I felt her usual body temperature.
“It’s okay. It’s okay.”
Without asking anything, she simply held me and stroked my back.
Yubin probably anticipated that there was bad news in the data I saw there.
She likely thinks the problem is more serious than expected.
Yet, she didn’t ask anything. Despite being involved, she didn’t ask any questions and just comforted me as I shed tears.
“Brother.”
Yubin’s voice was a little shaky. I relaxed my grip on her as I heard her quiet call.
When our faces met, I saw unshed tears in Yubin’s red eyes.
“Everything will be fine. It’s okay. I’m here.”
“Yes.”
She wiped away my tears as I nodded, and her hand stayed on my cheek, lifting my head.
“Because you’ve given me so much, I’ll give you everything I can. When you were in trouble, I protected you. Now, when you’re in trouble, I’ll protect you. It’s okay to cry when you need to.”
I am weak.
“And tell me everything that’s troubling you. It’s okay even if it’s not me. Tell Yellow, Green, Blue, Pink. Tell anyone. If it doesn’t work out, tell my team leaders. If you talk to someone, I will definitely find out and help you.”
I’ve always done this.
“Then we can be happy together.”
I couldn’t save my parents with my own strength, nor could I protect the path to the happiness of the person who gave me their heart.
Even when saving a foolish junior, I couldn’t accomplish anything alone.
I’ve thought about it many times. Negative thoughts kept coming.
But now, I need to realize that it’s not like that. I’ve always thought, “There’s no time to sit and ponder.”
While I was engulfed in negative thoughts and worrying, the worst-case scenarios I imagined could happen anytime.
“Yes. Let’s do that.”
There’s no reason to despair. Even though I learned things I couldn’t imagine, it’s just knowing something I didn’t know before.
I won’t face the approaching despair without knowing anything. It’s not important whether I can do anything or not. What matters is that imagining the worst-case scenario and finding a way forward is important.
Yubin, who has been watching me without knowing anything, will feel even greater unease. I can’t sit and wait. Yubin is here. Yura is here, Hayang is here, and SuA and Milky Way are here.
There are many people who help me besides my girlfriends.
Let’s do what we can.
What can I do now?
Strive to resolve the issues with the girlfriends.
That’s all I need to think about.
“A… What are you doing there?”
Pink, smiling widely, was about to enter A’s room when she encountered Siera standing in front of the door.
Siera leaned against the door, looking at Pink and putting her index finger in her mouth.
“Shh.”
Understanding that someone inside was talking, Pink decided to respect their time, regardless of whether she liked Siera or not.
The next morning, at dawn.
In the underground of the radio base, numerous personnel wearing safety gear were sorting out damaged robots.
“Don’t know who it is, but they sure did a thorough job?”
Gainesboro, with his long gray hair and black coat, was leisurely walking around the destroyed radio base as if it were his own home.
“Why is it making me laugh?”
“If something’s already happened, what else can you do but laugh?”
After scanning the base, Gainesboro approached the side of the man with black stubble and sighed with a forced laugh seeing the collapsed giant robot.
“It was made with such effort. What can we do?”
“Tsk.”
With a sarcastic tone, the man with black stubble clicked his tongue and tried to ignore him.
“If only we had more money, we could continue funding the hyper-human experiments instead of making robots.”
“You know well how much money goes into hyper-human experiments. Moreover, they’re still full of flaws.”
“Flaws… Wait and see. The robots made by Doctor An and the hyper-humans made by our Doctor An. Which one is better?”
Beside the man with black stubble, Gainesboro smirked confidently amidst the severely damaged radio base.
