I am already checking Mr. 9S’s location data when he contacts me. I already know I have to be there.
… Yeah!
“Sorry to make you wait!”
“I haven’t even contacted you yet …”
The moment Ms. 2B and Mr. 9S appear right in front of me, I realize I have been using teleportation this whole time. That’s how important the lunar tears are. Flowers so important I would do anything to see them.
So I have been using magic this whole time. Powerful magic, but I hadn’t noticed one bit.
That’s right. This powerful magic originally belonged to … and this flower was …
“Emil? Are you okay?”
Mr. 9S’s worried voice snaps me back to reality.
“I remembered right now. I’m …”
“Huh?”
“No, thank you very much. Because of you I was able to remember something very important to me.”
“Something important?”
“Yes. A place that was very important to him.”
He had treasured these white flowers and his memories associated with them. I had forgotten all about him.
“To show my gratitude, I’ll take you to that place.”
I take out an old key. I forgot about this too, but I didn’t lose it. I kept it with me even though I didn’t know what it opened.
“This is a key to an elevator in the shopping center.”
Maybe it wasn’t a coincidence that I met Ms. 2B and Mr. 9S there, or that they had found a lunar tear there.
“I’m sorry, please go on without me. I want to stay here a bit longer.”
I am still in shock. I remembered so many things at once that I am confused. I need time to calm down and organize my thoughts.
It doesn’t take too long for me to organize my thoughts. Maybe I had already prepared myself for when I remembered, so I’d be able to do what I have to do.
The shopping center elevator runs just like it used to. The sound the compressor makes when the doors close and open, the erratic shaking, everything is the same.
Right as the doors open on the bottom floor, I hear Mr. 9S’s voice. Apparently the two of them had just arrived as well.
“Wow! There’s so many lunar tears!”
“What is this place?”
The two look around in shock. They probably hadn’t imagined a sea of white flowers blooming deep underneath the shopping mall.
“Thank you for coming here.”
Ms. 2B looks puzzled and says, “Emil, what is this place?”
“This was the place I wanted to protect. Well, to be more precise, the place the person I used to be wanted to protect.”
Mr. 9S tilted his head. “I don’t understand.”
They want to know more, so I start to talk. A story I thought I would never tell, the story of “us.”
“A long time ago, I was originally constructed as a weapon.”
“A weapon …”
Long before the aliens invaded Earth. Back when there were lots of humans. I, the person I was, was just a normal human child. Until I was modified into an experimental weapon.
“When the war against the aliens began, I cloned myself to increase our numbers.”
“Cloned yourself?”
“Yes, I’m one of the many Emils that were created at the time.”
That’s why the one that cloned himself was not me, but the person I used to be—the original Emil. He wanted to protect the Earth, no matter the sacrifice. He felt that way because it was where his friends, who were more important to him than his own self, lived.
“After cloning, I, or rather we, cooperated with one another to maintain our defense on the front lines. But as we multiplied into hundreds and even thousands, our memories grew faint.”
I hardly remember the time when the original Emil was human. I’ve just heard from the other Emils that he had existed in a different body. But the other Emil that told me that didn’t know about this place.
The original memories were scattered amongst us.
“The original Emil liked this place.”
This was where everything that was important to him existed. He re-created his friend’s cottage, planted flowers that were dear to his beloved, and relived his memories of the past …
“There were tough times and sad times, but memories of that journey were really treasured by the original.”
I didn’t experience it myself, but his memories—though faint and almost nonexistent now—live inside me now.
“And that original, where is he now?”
“I don’t know. There were too many of us to keep track.”
“I see …”
There were thousands and even tens of thousands of us, but most of us died in battle in order to protect the world that the original Emil had cherished and lived in with his friends.
“Thank you very much. Because of you I was able to remember something very important to me.”
I was scared to remember before, but now I’m glad I remember.
“If I have this memory, I’ll be able endure alone.”
Even if I’m alone, I’ll keep fighting my own battles. As long as I have this memory. That’s what I think.
✦ ✦ ✦
I spend the day after meeting Ms. 2B and Mr. 9S, and the day after that, just holed up in my home. I have some things I need to think through, alone.
After that, I spend some time running around the City Ruins and waiting for customers to arrive. But unfortunately, no one comes. Not even Ms. 2B and Mr. 9S.
I go to the shopping center too, but the two aren’t there.
A few days ago, I heard there was a big battle in the Flooded City. I hope nothing happened to them—no, I’m probably worrying too much. I haven’t known them long, but even during that short time I could see that they were growing ever stronger.
Maybe they moved far away. I want them to come visit me one time.
I want to say goodbye …