No. 21’s fingers shook as she typed commands into the terminal. The progression was faster than she had expected.
“Aren’t you able to eliminate logic viruses? Can’t you do what you did to Lily, but this time for yourself …”
“I want to, but it seems the enemy is evolving. They’ve adapted to my patterns and are resistant to my hacking.”
“Right. If you could you would’ve done it a long time ago. I asked a dumb question. Sorry.”
“It’s fine,” No. 21 replied, her voice strained.
“I’m glad you stayed. Once the elevator gets to the bottom floor …”
“Yeah,” replied Anemone. “I’ll kill you.”
A sigh escaped from No. 21’s lips. It sounded like she was relieved or in great pain. Perhaps it was both.
Either way, it wouldn’t be long before No. 21 lost consciousness. First her sense of balance would deteriorate. If the tips of her fingers and toes were being affected already, it meant the infection had progressed pretty far.
The limited time remaining slowly whittled away. The elevator’s floor display wasn’t changing very quickly.
Anemone feared what would happen if she had to kill No. 21 before the elevator reached the server room. That fear irritated her.
“How much longer? Has it not arrived at the bottom floor?”
“Wait. A little longer. Just a little bit.”
No. 21’s fingers moved frantically. She was panting. She probably would’ve struggled to just sit up. At the same time, it was depressing that Anemone could decipher how far the virus had progressed. She had seen so many of her comrades die that she could tell the status of the victim from just their mannerisms and expressions.
“They made it.”
No. 21 let go of the terminal. Her hands ripped off her goggles. No. 21 slowly opened her eyes.
“Hey, those eyes …”
Anemone was speechless. No. 21’s eyes were both blood red. It was a symptom from the terminal stages of infection. It was a miracle she was operating the terminal in this state. It wouldn’t have been surprising if she had gone rampant minutes ago. She must have held it together via sheer willpower, to get No. 2 and the group to the server room.
“Please. While I’m still myself.”
Anemone leveled the gun at No. 21. She struggled to keep her hands steady.
“Any last words?”
No. 21’s mouth distorted into a smile. Or rather, she tried to smile.
“Who would you pass them on to, even if I had any?”
“I’ll hear you out. Even if I die right after this.”
“I’m glad I met you. These memories are real. Thank you.”
“Okay.”
“Come on, hurry!”
Anemone quietly pulled the trigger. A familiar pulse passed through her arm. No. 21 flew into the air. Anemone thought she could see a smile on her face. The matter that had previously been No. 21 fell to the floor with a thud.
“I’m coming soon …”
Lily, Dahlia, Margaret, and No. 16 were all dead. No. 21 had told her that an explosion induced by fusion reactors had occurred. The heat signature was just around the size of four exploding reactors. There must have been enemy reinforcements, and they were forced to self-destruct, she said.
It was unknown how many of Rose’s group would survive as well. There was a possibility that they were all already dead. In fact, that was more likely. There was no chance that the enemy would leave a server room that controlled the entire Asia-Pacific region unguarded.
Anemone pointed the gun at her own temple. All she had to do was pull the trigger. She could do it with her eyes closed. It was incredibly simple …
She couldn’t move. Her hand, which held the gun, was frozen in place. Her finger wouldn’t move to the trigger. She struggled to breathe. A cold sweat burst from her pores. Her vision wavered erratically … Her legs were shaking.
“Why?!”
She forcefully moved her arm, which felt as though it had a mind of its own. The gun dropped from her hand. She heard the gun fire. Anemone fell to her knees in defeat. She realized she had thrown away the gun, not dropped it.
Anemone had her hands on the ground and was gasping for air. She couldn’t breathe. It wasn’t cold, but she couldn’t stop herself from shaking.
“What a mess …”
To think she had killed so many comrades, yet was having second thoughts when it came to killing herself. Pull the trigger. That was the only thing she had to do. Just that.
“Shit!”
Anemone searched No. 21’s body for whatever weapons she might have been carrying. She remembered No. 21 sheepishly admitting she didn’t take part in battles very often. As a result, she wasn’t outfitted with anything particularly useful in battle. There was only the most standard equipment: a small-caliber pistol and a knife.
Anemone put No. 21’s pistol and knife on her belt. She scooped up her own gun and dashed out of the elevator hall.
If she couldn’t kill herself, she would let the Machines kill her. Of course, she wasn’t going down easily. She would take as many of them with her as she could.
“Hey you suckers! I’m here! Kill me if you can!” Anemone screamed as she rushed into a swarm of hostiles.