08 Parent-Child Quarrel 1
She looks up at the sky.
Though blocked by the ceiling, the sensory data from the unit beneath her feet makes the scene beyond unmistakably clear.
“…You’ve come, haven’t you. Both of you.”
Feeling the presence of the two entities that have protected her, Mio murmurs with a sigh.
“Hmph. Didn’t expect humanoid forms… Did you summon them?”
Her voice is sharp, laced with suspicion.
A response tinged with hostility—any human who knew Mio would be surprised.
That word was foreign to Higashi Mio.
“—They’ve been watching me all along. Probably since eight years ago.”
Harold missed the likely proper noun.
Or rather, could such a sound even be spoken by a human? At the very least, it was a string of noises utterly unfamiliar to the ear.
"I’ve been listening to my own voice all along. That’s why it suddenly stopped—then you all rushed in. And since that person was no longer present, you came here."
"Hmm. Interesting. So they regarded him as their greatest guardian, then."
No reply. He looks up at the sky again.
Approaching.
A sense of rapid approach. Mio murmurs once more.
"If you weren’t coming, it would’ve ended without me knowing anything."
"Exactly… I hate to say it, but the other fleet won’t take our plan seriously."
Who would take the time-jump plan seriously upon hearing it?
Harold had struggled most with convincing the Second Fleet to believe in it.
"This lab is to be discarded. One cannot afford shortcuts. I hesitated to return to the Second Fleet, chose to work here instead…"
Harold shrugs his shoulders.
In the end, it was all for nothing.
"I'll be returning to Trishula ahead of you."
"…I am…"
"Hm?"
"Wouldn't you consider betrayal here?"
Jin is coming this way.
Harold seemed to have avoided a collision with him—but Mio cannot move yet.
Inside the cocoon, the core was undergoing reconstruction.
Rebuilding the body again, after having prematurely emerged in an incomplete state.
This process cannot be repeated.
Only minutes remain. Jin will arrive before then.
Why does Harold so confidently believe she will not flee to Jin’s side when that moment comes?
A thought occurs to Mio.
"You won’t betray me."
"Strange. Why do I believe that?"
"Simple. I've seen hundreds like you. Faces of those who long for the past. People like that don't betray."
Is that what I look like? Mio looks down.
The metallic cocoon reflects light, its surface curved.
Her own face, reflected there, appears distorted—unrecognizable.
That aside.
"...I'm not human."
"Right. I forget that sometimes when we talk."
If there's one thing I can thank Harold for,
it's being treated like a human.
Even if I know—deep down—that to him, humans and ASIDs are equally indifferent.
◆ ◆ ◆
Entering Ship 1 through the airlock.
Flight unimpeded, even through the city streets.
All civilians evacuated during the earlier defense around the communication tower.
No one will be caught in the crossfire—this is the only relief.
Passed by Jin's apartment building along the way.
It felt as though living there had been years ago.
I will definitely bring her back.
Resolved, he flew onward.
Warehouse outside Ship 1.
Mio’s cellphone GPS had led here.
Activated Ether Dagger at minimum output.
Forced the door open with brute force.
If this turned out to be unrelated, it would be a serious issue—but it was not.
A space surrounded by equipment, incomprehensible to Jin.
Clearly not cargo waiting for transport—operational machinery.
Upon a pile of materials arranged like an altar, Mio sat—her familiar cocoon beside her.
The girl, seated cross-legged on the curved metallic surface, appeared unharmed from a distance.
Jin felt immediate relief at that.
“Mio, are you safe?”
Jin called out, his body exposed to the outside air as he released the hatch.
Mio lifted her gaze from the ground at the sound.
The moment Jin saw it, his spine turned cold.
Emptiness.
He had never seen such a gaze from Mio.
No trace of the usual light in her eyes, the spark that once lit her surroundings.
For a heartbeat, Jin froze.
Chiding himself to hide his fear, he reached out.
"Let's go home, Mio."
She shook her head without a word.
Her silver hair swayed with the motion.
A strand looked damaged, as if strained beyond care.
As if she had no time to tend to herself.
"Everyone’s worried about you."
She clenched her hand tighter.
Closer inspection revealed the mobile phone gripped in her palm.
The blinking light indicated a call had come.
Evidence of Emisa and Masato, and May, repeatedly calling Guardian, worried about Mio’s disappearance.
If you don’t want to answer, just turn off the power.
But the hesitation in Mio’s refusal revealed her lingering attachment.
Still, Mio shook her head.
Looking at the cocoon at Mio’s feet.
If Jin’s speculation was correct, the ASID must be contained within.
The ASID, a duplicate of Mio.
“…I… I think I understand your… origins.”
Saying it with hesitation, Mio’s shoulders trembled.
Just as Jin had not wanted Mio to know the truth.
Mio, too, did not want Jin to know.
Their relationship, far from ordinary.
No blood connection.
No kinship of species either.
But for Jin, it was not a significant matter.
For Mio, though—how was it?
Jin could not know.
Perhaps a little different from ordinary… you are my daughter. We’ve gotten through everything so far. We’ll get through this too.
What am I doing? Jin wonders, even as he speaks.
Why am I moving only my mouth like this?
Why don’t I run to Mio right now?
Why am I waiting to be taken by her hand?
Why can’t I reach for it?
Ah. It’s clear.
Not the instinct of a warrior.
Just the instinct of a father who’s lived eight years with her.
Even if I stepped forward now, she’d retreat at the same pace.
This distance is the limit.
If I move any closer, I’ll never hold her hand again.
That’s what he feels.
“No one thinks you’re dangerous.”
He says it all.
Willing her to come toward him.
Willing her to take his hand.
“Come home.”
There will be time enough to talk later.
It was nothing more than the fact that Mio’s birth was a bit complicated.
Jin reaches out, saying it’s nothing serious.
Too sweet.
Jin had seen her too sweetly.
He had misjudged the extent of Mio’s resolve in being here now.
He should have thought more carefully from the start.
The meaning of Mio being here alone.
Before even considering it fortunate that she was not restrained.
The possibility that Mio was cooperating with Harold.
He had not entertained that notion even slightly.
Mio was a victim.
From that point, his thinking had not moved forward.
He had not considered the possibility that Mio had chosen to join a desperate plan—dependent on massive sacrifice—intending to balance the scales in the end.
“—No.”
Only when Jin arrived did Mio finally speak.
Shaking her head.
Shaking her hair loose.
All the words Jin had spoken to her so far.
She says them all are wrong.
“Wrong. Wrong! Jin doesn’t understand anything!”
Both were struck by the tone of that address.
The way she had spoken to him when they first met.
As if their relationship had reverted entirely to that moment.
Jin felt the weight of the past eight years being erased.
Mio, seeing the shock on his face, realized the gravity of her own words.
But it was too late—her voice could not be stopped.
“No one is waiting for me! No one is searching for me!”
Like a child throwing a tantrum.
Ignoring every voice.
Covering her ears as she screamed.
As if only by doing so could she block out the malicious whispers of others.
“There’s no place for me to return to!”
A voice tearing itself apart.
From Mio’s eyes, streaming down—tears.
The first time Jin had seen his daughter cry in eight years.