But on the other hand, caring for each other must’ve made it hard to lose friends one after the other. The fact that they were like family must’ve made it harder to watch the dying breaths of their friends.
“Everyone …”
It seems they don’t remember me. Their groaning sounds like a wild animal’s. They are Emils that lost their minds.
“1t hurts, 1t hurts,” they say. I can hear cries for help too.“Etern1ty, 1t hurts … hurts …”
It’s been thousands of years since the alien ambush. The whole time these Emils have been fighting on the front lines. A mind-bogglingly long time.
“Why … us …”
An infinite amount of self-cloning. Which meant that they lost an infinite number of friends.
“I’m … I’m g01ng t0 destr0y everyth1ng!”
“No you can’t!”
“Th1s world … 1t’s useless!”
“Stop! Don’t do it!”
But my voice doesn’t reach them. I don’t have words to persuade them. No matter what I say, their suffering won’t end … I know that.
“Everyone stop!”
I am instantly repulsed by their attack. I stand no chance, when they have power that could compete with aliens. But I have to stop them.
I face them many times. But every time I am batted away. My body is bent, and loses its tires … I end up sideways on the sand, unable to move.
“Emil!”
I hear Ms. 2B’s voice.
“Are you okay?”
I see a worried Mr. 9S staring into my face. They probably noticed I was acting strangely and followed me here.
“Emil, what is that?”
“Those are … the products of my cloning. After several iterations of cloning and years of battle, they’ve lost their minds …”
My friends have great power but no sanity. There is no way I am going to let them be.
“I need to … put an end to this.”
“It’s okay! You should rest, Emil!”
The two of them leave me there and go to face the giant Emils. I don’t have the strength to stop them anymore. Eventually my hearing fades and I am on the verge of losing consciousness. I wonder if this is what dying feels like, I think aimlessly.
I can hear voices. The voices of my friends.
“We did our best. On rainy days, windy days, and stormy days.”
La la la, la la la, I hear singing.
“We kept fighting, even when our friends died.”
I gradually start to remember what the later, quieter Emils were like. They kept their mouths shut, because as soon as they started talking nothing but pent-up resentment would come out, and only worsened their situation …
“But this eternal war, this eternal pain, this eternal struggle, it screams at us! That there’s nothing in this world worth protecting! That this world has no meaning! That’s what we hear!”
A piercing laugh echoes around us. “Warning: Large amounts of incoming magic,” I hear Pod say.
“You … do you! Know! This pain! This sadness! This despair! Can you feel it?”
It is clear what they are going to do—release a giant amount of magic in one immense explosion and self-destruct, taking this cruel world along for the ride.
World? What about the world? What about this cruel world?
I suddenly remember someone’s voice. It was a cold and blunt voice, but kind—that person’s voice was very similar to Ms. 2B’s. I hear a calculated voice of a wise man too. A kind and mellow voice as well.
The original Emil’s memories are starting to resurface. His treasured memories. Memories of that journey.
“Still, this is wrong!” I scream. Even if my friends had lost their sanity, the very same memories must be buried deep inside them.
“No matter how much pain or agony that person had, he never gave up. She fought believing that one day she would overcome all of that! You have to keep going, even if it’s in vain! Isn’t that right, Kainé?”
I can’t attack or defend for my life, but I have to do this. I can’t give up.
“This is the world that person tried to protect!”
I feel my friends come to. Our memories are scattered, and faded, but there’s still some traces of … that person.
I gather all the magic within me to stop my friends from self-destructing. So I can make an effort until the very end.
It’s quiet. I only hear the sound of wind. It seems I’m still alive.
“I’m no … good. I remembered something that important at the … very last second.”
They are fake memories, but the pain of losing someone dear to me is real. I was running away from that this whole time. I tried to shut away my memories and forget them. But that made me forget things I wasn’t supposed to forget.
I can’t hear my friends anymore. It seems I was able to stop the explosion. Ms. 2B and Mr. 9S probably lent a hand as well.
“Ms. 2B and Mr. 9S … yu helped me until the very end …”
I see Ms. 2B shake her head in silence. Mr. 9S tells me, “You’ll get better if we fix you up.” They’re very kind people.
They lived through harsh and cruel battles almost every day. But you couldn’t tell. Why were people that lived through terrible battles so kind? That’s right, that person was kind too …
I can feel my consciousness slowly fading. My memories—or rather, memories that weren’t mine—gradually disappear.
It’s okay. This is fine. I am about to let everything go.
“Emil,” I hear a voice call out. It isn’t Ms. 2B or Mr. 9S, but a nostalgic voice. I look up in surprise. This was, this was …
Though my vision is hazy, I see a smiling person waving their hand. A floating book as well.
I see him … I actually see him again. The lunar tears have actually granted me my wish.
“Welcome back, Emil. Good work.”
I stand up, and head toward the person I yearned to see the most. All the while repeating the name I loved to say.