They had heard that the reconnaissance squadron, which had been deployed before them, had located the server. They hadn’t been notified of the reconnaissance squadron’s well-being since. So No. 2 had thought to herself that they had all died.
Total elimination was a phrase that would make anybody uncomfortable. Command most likely decided to keep the news a secret since it would affect morale. Of course, this was only No. 2’s hypothesis.
“What do you mean?” Anemone asked cynically. But No. 2 couldn’t just directly say, The previous squadron was probably totally eliminated, so we didn’t receive the details.
“That’s the important part too.”
Erica mumbled, from beside Anemone. Even Margaret, their sole supporter, was furrowing her brows.
What should I do … No. 2 panicked. She searched for words that would persuade them. But before she could find them, No. 16 burst out in fury.
“Whatever! This is a waste of time!”
“Wait! No. 16!”
No. 2 followed No. 16, who had started to storm off with big strides.
“Wait!”
No. 2 was ignored without a second thought. No. 16 strode farther and farther away at a disheartening pace.
“Wait, please!”
She ran and ran, finally catching up. She grabbed No. 16’s arm, but was quickly batted away. This time No. 2 ran in front of No. 16 to make her stop.
“I think if we explain just a little more, they’ll understand!”
No. 16 didn’t answer. It was No. 4 who answered in her stead. “For how impatient No. 16 is, she waited pretty long, don’t you think?”
What she said seemed to have irritated No. 16 even further. No. 16 glared back at No. 4.
No. 21 sighed.
“It’s no use.”
“No. 21? What do you mean?”
“If we can’t elicit their cooperation, we’ll have to carry out the mission ourselves.”
“What? But you just said that we’d definitely fail with only us …”
No. 21 was the one who had suggested they request a mission abort.
“We will probably fail. The difference in force between us and the Machines is clear. As such, I requested a mission abort.”
“Yes. So that’s why …”
“Anything other than a mission abort is the same to me. Everything else is a lost cause. Whatever we do is futile. Whether we work with them or not, the result will be the same.”
“That’s not true! If we join forces, we can succeed!”
“And your reasoning is?”
She didn’t want to jump to conclusions. If a possibility existed, even a small one, she wanted to bet on that.
“You see? There’s a sea of possibility awaiting you.”
Strangely enough, No. 2 recalled those words. That person couldn’t have known this situation would arise, but ever since that conversation the word “possibility” had taken on a deeper significance to No. 2.
Either way, “betting on a possibility” was probably not enough “reasoning” for No. 21. At the very least, she wouldn’t acknowledge it.
“You don’t have a reason, do you?”
No. 2 had nothing to say. “That settles it,” No. 16 said in a spitting tone of voice.
“But! Something like that!”
She had to stop them. Four people would amount to nothing. She didn’t want to die in vain. She wanted to avoid that at all costs.
“Wow, wow. Is this a falling-out?”
Dahlia was poking fun at them. Looking over her shoulder, No. 2 could tell the other members of the resistance shared Dahlia’s sentiment.
“Stop it, Dahlia. Rose wants to talk,” chided Gerbera. Next to her were Rose, and the other resistance members.
“W-what do you want?”
No. 2 braced herself, because she thought they would point their guns at her again. After all, Rose had kindly told them that they’d listen, only for No. 2’s squadron to ruin the conversation.
But Gerbera had said that Rose wanted to talk, instead of jumping straight into an attack. What talk? thought No. 2.
No. 2, who was at this point hurriedly trying to deduce the nature of this talk, was totally caught off guard by Rose’s words.
“We’ll accept your request. We’ll cooperate.”
“What?” yelped No. 4. No. 2 froze, her mouth open in shock.
“I told you we’ll help. Did you hear me?”
“Y-yes. I heard you.”
“I think it’s hopeless either way,” muttered No. 21 from the side.
“No. 21, don’t say that. Let’s bet on the possibility for now. Okay?”
No. 4 had articulated No. 2’s feelings.
Indeed, they had no reasoning that would satisfy No. 21. But Rose and her members had accepted them. They had trusted No. 2 … or so she wanted to think.
“Hmph,” No. 16 snorted.
“We’ll fight with you.”
“What kind of tone is that!”
“What?”
Margaret separated No. 16 and Dahlia, who were starting to argue yet again. Margaret looked gentle, but observing how Dahlia would unconditionally listen to her made No. 2 think otherwise.
“Are you all okay with that?”
Rose moved to the front of her group. “From now going forward, I prohibit all hostility toward these four individuals.”
It looked like Dahlia and Anemone scowled. But even though they looked like they wanted to say something, there were no rebuttals.
Erica, Shion, Gerbera, and Margaret wore somewhat tense expressions, and Lily and Sonia were openly displeased. Yet all the women nodded. They would follow their leader, putting any suspicion and discomfort aside.
That was how much trust they put in Rose. No. 1 had been a slightly different type of leader, but Rose was probably a good leader as well.
“We are comrades fighting for the same cause!”
“Comrades,” mumbled No. 2. What they wanted the most, in unfamiliar enemy territory—they had obtained just that. It was difficult to say that the others trusted them as of now, but their leader had promised they’d fight together. So it would probably go well.
They were going to succeed, no matter what …