“The wound is deep.”
“You’re done for.”
Even still, Erica was heading for Rose and Sonia, knife in hand.
“Don’t be … stupid!” Rose spat, as if she were coughing up blood. But that was it. No. 2 saw Sonia collapse.
“Big sis … Sorry …”
Erica’s knife was tearing up Sonia’s throat. Rose fell on her knees beside them.
“It’s okay, Sonia.” Rose embraced her.
“And your actions were in vain.”
“Like we said, your sacrifices were meaningless.”
Rose stood up. She was most likely using up every bit of her strength—her knees were buckling wildly.
“I found … a reason to live.”
Rose slowly shuffled toward the girls.
“Do you two have a reason to … live?!”
Those were her last words. Rose succumbed before her sword could reach them.
“Why do you fight?”
“Why do you want to die?”
No. 2 felt murderous hatred toward the little girls. She wanted to slice them both open, slowly. This was the most animosity she’d ever felt toward a Mahcine.
“Shut up! Lowly extremities shouldn’t be asking questions!”
No. 4 jumped into action before No. 2.
“Can you beat us?”
“Why are you wasting your breath?”
“Why won’t you give up?”
“Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!”
No. 4 went berserk, swinging her sword wildly. She left herself open thanks to her raging attacks. It was the first time No. 2 had seen No. 4 so furious. No. 2 wanted to run in and act as support, but the Machines stalled her and kept her from doing so.
If only I were more powerful, thought No. 2. She wished she had the power to protect her comrades, from the bottom of her heart. But in reality she was painfully average—
No. 2 dodged the front legs and ran.
“No. 4, I’m coming! No. 4?”
No. 4 collapsed, all three of the infected androids bringing her down. No. 2 braced herself for them to attack her next, but it didn’t happen. The little girls beckoned to the three, and they withdrew from No. 4. Even the Machine, which had been attacking constantly, scrambled back beside the little red girls.
Perhaps they wanted to give No. 4 time to say her goodbyes. Or they wanted to see No. 2 cry over the body of No. 4 …
That didn’t matter now. No. 2 ran to No. 4, and held her heavily wounded body.
“No. 4! Hold on!”
“Sorry No. 2 … Was I … useless?”
“No you weren’t! I was … I was the one … who dragged everybody into this.”
No. 2 had suggested that they cooperate with the resistance. No. 16 had been against it, and No. 21 thought it wouldn’t make a difference. No. 4 hadn’t been supportive of the idea either. She must have agreed to it so No. 2 wouldn’t have to operate solo.
If the four of them had gone on to attempt the mission, their success rate would have been zero. The four of them would have died anyway.
But Rose and the others—they wouldn’t have had to die if they hadn’t fought alongside the four of them.
Because I begged them to join forces with us …
“It was my fault. Now everyone’s—”
“No, No. 2.” No. 4 gripped No. 2’s hand. Her hand felt so feeble. “We all chose to be here. Rose said so too, right? She found a … reason to live.”
That’s right. Rose’s last words.
And …
“I want you to find a reason to live.”
Those had also been Seed’s last words. A reason to live.
At the time No. 2 didn’t understand their meaning. Even now, she didn’t. If everyone had a different reason to live, maybe it was normal for her not to know her own. But...
“But … !”
“Thanks for giving me a reason to live.”
“No. 4 …”
Perhaps No. 4 had used all her strength to talk, because her grip loosened. No. 2 firmly held on to her hand.
“Is this self-sacrifice?”
“Is this a story of self-sacrifice?”
“I want to laugh.”
“It’s funny.”
The little red girls laughed. They were amused, after all. They were fascinated by what No. 4 would say with her dying breath, and how No. 2 would mourn her.
“This … this is …”
Her hand shook as it gripped her sword. No. 2 had to bite down to keep her anger from overflowing.
“Unforgivable …”
Right as she was about to rush the girls, No. 4 beat her to it again. Where she got the energy was a mystery, but she sprung up and swung her sword at the girls.
“Die!”
Just a little more. No. 4’s sword stopped just before it hit the little girls, who were still laughing. Erica and the other two had stepped in to protect them.
The knife that originally wounded No. 4 slashed her yet again. No. 4 fell without a sound, a comrade who had covered for No. 2 right until the very end.
“Unforgivable—I won’t forget this!”
No. 2 slashed at Shion. She too had been a comrade until the team breached the server room—until she had been possessed by the Machines and killed Sonia, Rose, and No. 4.
No. 2 split Shion’s skull in half. She felt a delayed pang of pain in her chest.
“We’re doing this because there’s nothing we can do!”
No. 2 recalled what Dahlia had said. So this is what she was talking about, she thought in the back of her mind.
She turned and mowed Erica down. Her half-crushed head went flying through the air. It felt like pieces of her own body were being torn off and flung across the room.
She leapt on Gerbera, switching to a backhanded grip, and used the momentum from her fall. She stuck the sword in Gerbera’s head, and pushed down. No. 2 felt something die inside of her.
Sorry, everyone …
She thought about when Anemone had pointed a gun at Lily. Rose had shouted, “Don’t go near her!”
“How horrible, it’s so sad.”
“What a horrible child; it’s so terrifying.”
Their voices. So repulsive. This had all happened because of them.
“Shut up!”
Everyone had died because of them …
She reared back and swung her sword with all her might. Machines got in the way. She slammed them out of the way. Her sword sliced their bodies easily, as if all her struggles before had been a dream. In one motion, she hurled them away and sliced the girl on the right.
“What?”
She’d definitely made contact. The girls were grinning. No. 2 stuck her sword through the girl on the left. They kept grinning.
“Why …”
No matter how much she slashed or thrust her sword she felt no pressure or resistance on the sword’s hilt, even though the little girls were definitely right there in front of her.
“You can’t kill us.”
“You can’t kill us.”
“Why?” she asked, her voice shivering. She couldn’t tell whether that was from fear or anger.
“My name is Terminal Alpha.”
“My name is Terminal Beta.”
“We are extremities.”
“We are manifestations of the network.”
“We are memories.”
“We are nothing more and nothing less.”
No. 2 couldn’t understand anything they said, but she realized now that a normal weapon would be ineffective. She looked around. If they were extremities, then they must actually exist in the server. If she destroyed the server room, wouldn’t the two them also be destroyed as a consequence?
“Are you planning on destroying this place?”
“Just you alone?”
Perhaps they had read her mind, or she had betrayed her emotions with her expression. Either way, it made her uncomfortable that they had guessed right. She tightly grasped her sword.
“You don’t know how many years that’ll take, you know?”
“You’d need as much energy as a fusion reactor, you know?”
Then all she’d have to do would be to let her own internal fusion reactor explode. Like No. 16 had done.
“That’s right. Your fusion reactor.”
“That thing that’s in it.”
“That’s right. If you scan it, you’ll know.”
“The bomb embedded within it.”
No. 2 clutched unconsciously at her chest. She had noticed that something was off. That something had been attached to the fusion reactor inside of her. But she hadn’t thought about it. It hadn’t crossed her mind to investigate the object. She had been manipulated so she wouldn’t think about it …
“When you all become nonfunctional in a certain location.”
“That bomb will go off.”
“The first condition is to arrive at the server room.”
“The second condition is to be nonfunctional.”
“When you all lose.”
“We lose our victory as well.”
The bomb had been embedded during manufacture. Command had overseen the manufacturing process. Which meant that …
“In conclusion, it was planned from the beginning.”
“This battle plan assumed a losing scenario.”
Now she knew why there were no reinforcements. If only one of them made it to this room, and then was killed, the server room would be destroyed.
“Don’t androids laugh, in times like this?”
“Don’t androids laugh, because they experience emotion?”
Their unpleasant laugh echoed around the room. She couldn’t forgive them. She wanted to kill them. But that wasn’t enough. That wasn’t enough retribution for her fallen comrades …
It was then that No. 2 heard a noise behind her. Glancing back, she saw No. 4 stand up. At first she was afraid that she had been infected, but that wasn’t the case.
“We’re … durable. Because we’re … new … models …”
No. 4 stood, taking labored breaths. Her footing was surprisingly stable, even though it was already incredible that she was still conscious.
“Go … No. 2. Leave this to me.”
No. 4 grinned. Her outstretched arms approached No. 2. Contrary to her weakened hands from before, No. 4 forcefully shoved No. 2 to the ground.
“Don’t! No. 4!”
No. 2 shrieked as she hit the ground. She needed to stop No. 4. If No. 4 died … if she was rendered nonfunctional in a certain location …
“No!”
A white explosion drowned out the little girls’ laughs, and No. 2’s scream.