18 Resonating Together 1
‘Processor… has been compromised.’
With its head half-destroyed, one eye flickering intermittently, barely managing to speak in fragments.
Edelweiss forced out a voice, strained and broken.
‘——leakage is occurring. Materials for repair… insufficient. Cannot keep pace.’
It seemed to utter a proper noun, but Jin could not discern it.
Whatever it was, it was clearly fatal to Edelweiss.
As it spoke, the flicker of its single eye grew weaker.
‘Apologies.’
With stiff, awkward motion, it turned its head toward Jin.
Its remaining eye reflected Jin.
‘We cannot… fight together.’
‘No. Not yet.’
Jin’s机体 was fully halted. The reactor was completely destroyed.
Even if inverted, fighting was no longer possible.
But—there was still something this机体 could do.
Use my机体. If all of this can be converted into raw material, your damage should be repairable.
A hesitation in response to the words.
Possible. However—
A flicker of confusion.
What will you do? Left alone in this orbit.
Debris from asteroids, fragments of destroyed机体, scattered across this region—shrapnel from the destruction of Umbrella II.
Even a single screw—let alone a grain of sand—accelerated here would easily kill him.
It would be safer to remain within the wreckage of the armored Gryphon.
You will die.
But if that safe zone becomes material, Jin would be left behind in that death trap.
Even if Edelweiss recovers, sending Jin to safety would require significant time.
That is not all.
It is already too late.
Edelweiss speaks, its light flickering weakly.
‘Even if repaired, it is gone—broken. The soul you speak of is severely damaged. I will cease functioning soon.’
And even if one were to stretch the estimate.
It would be no more than a few dozen minutes.
‘Still—there is still a chance. You are the only one who can move now…!’
He knows the words are monstrous.
Like lashing a dying man.
Whether Edelweiss speaks the truth, Jin cannot tell.
But it is likely more accurate than Jin himself.
The individual known as Edelweiss will die soon.
He feels it.
Yet only Edelweiss can move to save Mio now.
No matter how much Jin struggles, the body lost—without it, he is merely human.
He has no power to fight in space.
‘It’s impossible. Even if I reach him…’
A sound like a sigh escaped.
‘Whether there remains time to fight.’
A voice tinged with regret.
The first time they spoke aboard the Third Fleet.
Compared to then, she had grown much more adept at carrying emotion in her voice.
Jin recalled—Mio had been the same.
Even she had once struggled to express her feelings.
So too had Edelweiss. If they had spent more time together, perhaps she would have shown different emotions.
Knowing that future was closed off, Jin felt sorrow.
Realizing he was about to lose another comrade.
Realizing he had truly cared.
‘Why such a face?’
‘Because I am sad.’
‘…She also wore that expression. Was she sad?’
The light went out.
‘Edelweiss!’
‘One thing—I would ask.’
Light returns. Yet it is dimmer than before.
The approaching deadline presses against the senses, undeniable.
Why did you tell me to use your unit, knowing full well you were going to die a moment ago?
...There is something harder for me than dying.
Jin answers the question, searching for words.
I don't think it would make sense even if I explained it.
Whether Edelweiss comprehends this far is uncertain.
Even so, sincerely.
Honest with your own heart.
The death of someone important. Disappearing. I’ve already failed twice. Once ten years ago. Once just recently.
When the command was lost.
— the moment they lost her.
I can no longer recall that name.
To Jin, standing here, that someone else was already an unrelated stranger.
The closest stranger one will never involve oneself with.
And now, it seems to be beginning for the third time.
Mio is losing herself—because of her own doubts.
"I won’t allow it. If I can save Mio with my own life, I’ll risk as many lives as it takes."
"Even if she were to grieve?"
"Ah."
"Then why?"
Why.
Jin found himself laughing at the question, though it made no sense.
It was obvious.
Yes—but even so, he had forgotten that very clarity.
"Because I love her."
That feeling.
Had he ever spoken it aloud, even once?
Had he ever put it into words—
Mio might not have felt such uncertainty.
"Because I love her as a father, truly. More than anyone in the world. More than anything."
"Ah."
Edelweiss repeated the words slowly, haltingly.
As though the words themselves were the most important thing.
Again and again.
"I don’t know those words."
"That’s not true."
Just as Jin had lost sight of it.
Edelweiss had simply not noticed.
"You love her too, Mio. That's why you've been watching over her all this time."
『Is that so, this is...』
A whisper. The light flickers once more.
The intervals between flashes grow longer.
As if the pulse is fading.
Jin thinks it might extinguish entirely at any moment, and calls out again.
"Edelweiss! Hurry! I don't care what happens to me—just save Mio!"
Even if it's only a brief prolongation.
If she can live longer, then he must choose that path, he shouts.
『—Your Majesty. Forgive me』
Edelweiss speaks, barely audible.
『I am breaking the prohibition』
◆ ◆ ◆
The day Edelweiss was born.
She was told her role by her mother, Terminas Seven.
—You are my successor, to come someday. Your duty is to protect that child. For that purpose, I brought you into the world.
That order. There could be no refusal.
Nodded gladly.
——For that purpose, I have granted you the power modeled after the strongest being I know.
Is this about the Long Sword? Edelweiss asked.
Terminas Seven replied with negation.
——No. That is only one aspect. The greatest power he possesses lies here.
Pointing to Edelweiss’s abdomen. To the Reactor concealed within.
——That is the power which overwhelmed our ancestors. But using it is forbidden.
Why? Edelweiss asked.
If it is so strong, then using it would surely protect the Child of the Future.
——No. ——Yes.
Terminas Seven again called Edelweiss by her true name, shaking her head.
——To wield it without love brings only end. Never use it.
◆ ◆ ◆
‘If this is love…’
Edelweiss’s single eye regains its light.
Absorbing the remains of the griffin at a speed indistinguishable from decay.
Etheric radiance leaks from her form.
As before, gathering the surrounding wreckage solely through ether.
‘I shall not be the one to bring about the end.’
The light intensifies.
Where did she conceal such power?
‘You said earlier that you’d accept any consequence if it meant saving her.’
‘…Yes.’
‘Then show me that resolve.’
Edelweiss’s volume expands in an instant.
Overwhelmed by the avalanche-like force, Jin cannot move—swallowed whole.
Nothing is visible.
Only Edelweiss’s voice remains.
‘Give me everything you are.’
‘I don’t care!’
Jin nods without hesitation to the demand.
If that’s what it takes to save Mio, take everything!
Instead, Edelweiss continued.
‘Take my entire self. To you.’
It was a vow.
A declaration of surrendering one’s whole being.
‘Please—when I cease to be myself, stop me.’
It was a prayer.
A plea not to become a being that defiles the cosmos.
Holding both.
‘Love for Her—may it bind us.’
Edelweiss turned the final key.
‘Bodily control released. Resonance, initiated.’