Ch.108108. Living.

# 108.

As if marking the flow of time, I was in the last photo of the series that stretched from the past.

A narrow room. A clear photograph capturing me and the Robot looking at pictures.

The moment I realized that the friends who had been chatting with me were actually figures from a past long gone, I became the only one left in the world.

Nothing had actually changed. Even if the Drone had continued working properly until my death, we would never have met in person anyway.

But the difference between “knowing” and “not knowing” the future was significant.

Didn’t Oedipus pierce his own eyes out of despair and guilt after discovering his fate and the truth?

I nearly died from the mental shock of realizing that the hope I had cherished was nothing but an illusion.

Would I ever again experience something like those days when I lay face-down on the floor, wanting nothing, nearly dying? Probably not.

Well, I’m currently lying in a hospital bed after being buried under a pile of rocks, but still.

Anyway, once the connection with the past through the Drone was broken, I thought I would never again see it flying through the sky, though I couldn’t understand how it had worked in the first place.

It’s hard enough to redirect a disturbed stream of water. How could anyone possibly restore a flow of time spanning decades—perhaps centuries—that had been disrupted?

Besides, if this future was what awaited at the end of that flow, perhaps it was better that it never returned.

I would die lonely, having awakened in an era too late to change the world.

Between fulfilling my loneliness and changing humanity’s future while it was still possible—if I had to choose one, the right choice would obviously be to wish for humanity to move toward a future different from the one I had lived through.

So I tried to forget the time I spent with the Drone.

But now, the Drone I thought had stopped forever was flying in front of me again.

Why? It wasn’t strange that such a question would come to mind.

Even knowing all that history—knowing about the accidents and deaths that would happen in the future—they still couldn’t avoid destruction.

Even a young boy would try to prevent his carefully built block house from collapsing if he knew it was about to fall, but did people of the past feel no sense of crisis when they saw me?

In many ways, it was hard to understand, and I wondered if perhaps my connection to the past had been my imagination, and the Drone had simply reconnected after being disconnected by chance.

“…Well.”

Between the far-fetched idea that this old Drone was connected to the past,

And the possibility that many people were still alive, sending me all those messages—

Realistically, the latter would be more believable. Time travel had only been human fantasy, something I’d only encountered in games and movies.

But I had seen it with my own eyes. The whole world submerged underwater, with only a tiny fraction of past glories barely poking their faces above the surface.

When I recall that sight, believing in a connection to the past actually feels more realistic.

“How have you all been? You haven’t forgotten me, have you? Quite some time has passed, but what we went through isn’t something that would easily fade from memory.”

Anyway—though I was surprised by this unexpected turn of events, thinking simply, it wasn’t such a bad thing for me.

After all, I was reuniting with precious friends who had been my companions in this desolate world, so of course I was happy.

“Ugh, I’d like to see your reactions, but unfortunately I don’t have the Controller right now, so I can’t do anything. I’ll have to ask the Robot to bring it when it wakes up.”

The Robot that saved me had closed its eyes and was doing something, saying it would take quite some time to optimize and adapt to the replaced parts.

Just imagine being all wrapped up in bandages, in pain, and having to wait indefinitely without anyone to talk to.

Though I wasn’t as excited and happy as when the Drone first connected, I couldn’t help but feel good about not being alone, at least for this moment.

“Since we’re meeting after a long time, we should talk about what we’ve been doing, right? To start with my story… Well, as you’ve seen over the past few days, I haven’t been doing so well. I’m a mess from head to toe. I really thought I was going to die.”

For the past few days, my body has been in terrible pain and I’ve had no energy, just sleeping and waking up repeatedly. Especially at first, I raised my voice and tensed my body asking why the Drone was flying around, then promptly passed out.

But after a few days, whether I’d gotten used to the pain or had recovered a bit, I could at least have a proper conversation. Though I was just talking one-sidedly without the Controller.

Looking at the lens that felt somewhat unfamiliar after such a long time, I talked about what had happened.

I told them about my strange experience visiting a city where only robots remained, and how I found a cool guitar at a place like a Seed Vault and was considering awesome names like Alexander or Maximus.

“I’ll show you me playing the guitar sometime if I get the chance. Don’t expect much though. This is the first time in my life I’ve played guitar, so it’s only natural.”

…Well, I’d need to get these bandages off first.

“Come to think of it, I look pretty strange. Someone might mistake me for a mummy. Though I almost did become one.”

Whether for treatment or because my clothes were dirty with dust and blood, all the clothes I had been wearing were gone.

Plus, since it’s difficult to change clothes in my condition, all that’s covering my body from the camera are bandages and a moderately thick blanket.

In many ways, this wasn’t really something I should be showing to strangers whose faces I don’t even know.

But who cares? It’s not like we’ll ever meet in person anyway.

I wasn’t particularly embarrassed, having shown all sorts of appearances already.

My hair has grown quite long, but it seems the boy inside my heart remains.

“Mori, are you ready?”

“…Please be gentle this time. It really hurts.”

After talking for a long time without realizing how much time had passed, the dreadful moment arrived.

The Robot approached me and started touching the splint and bandages securing my leg.

The ordinary-looking splint and bandages had special functions.

They apparently administered drugs that somewhat prevented muscle loss that inevitably comes when you can’t use your legs, and helped bones heal faster.

It was a wonderful function that I definitely needed, but there was a reason I was whimpering and shaking my head.

“…Aaaaargh!”

It hurt. It hurt so terribly that curses swirled in my mouth.

The sensation of muscles contracting on their own and something being injected into the bone—I could only describe it as feeling like I was going to die.

Living with pain that feels like death but isn’t actually fatal,

Or facing a peaceful death without any worries or pain.

Collapsed with tears and cold sweat soaking me, I momentarily wondered which was better, but then shook my head.

No matter how painful, being alive is much better.

“Shall we do it once more after you eat something?”

“Ughhhh…”

…That’s better, right?

* * *

Several days passed. Not much had changed.

Lying in bed, eating, sleeping. Receiving torture—no, treatment that felt like torture. That was all. It was truly mysterious how, despite my leg feeling like it was about to burst with pain, not even a bandage for wound closure had come off.

[So the world ended and you’re wandering around alone?]

[A broadcast from the future? How can we believe that!]

“Hmm… I was uncertain at first, but it seems everyone has forgotten me.”

One thing that had changed was that I was wearing the Controller on my wrist again after a long time. It’s boring to just talk by myself, after all.

But unlike me, who remembered my friends, the people beyond the Drone seemed to have forgotten me.

I didn’t think what happened between us would be so easily forgotten, even after considerable time had passed. Could the flow of time have been different?

It was a bit disappointing, but these reactions were also nostalgic, and I could have a fairly entertaining time reminiscing about what had happened.

“Hmm—we’re really running short on food now.”

“It was already precarious before I came here. Maybe I should start moving soon…”

“How could you with that body? I’ll go look around. There might still be food left somewhere we haven’t checked.”

But the peace didn’t last long. We were truly out of food now.

I had been holding out by taking pills that only staved off hunger, but… forcing myself to endure like this was bad for a patient.

“Do you know how many days you’ve been saying that? It would be better to move quickly. If the weather turns bad again, we’ll really be in trouble.”

Moreover, after the storm had passed, the sky that had been clear for a while was now filling with snow clouds again. Once a blizzard starts raging, it becomes difficult to move even with healthy legs.

The building presumed to be Paradise was right in front of us. Wasn’t I caught in the collapse while going to find Alexander?

Given what happened, there’s a possibility that something went wrong with Paradise… but it seemed better to try something than to keep lying here.

“Then please wait. I’ll create a place for you to lie down in Alexander.”

“Huh? Wasn’t I going to drive?”

“How could you with that body? I should drive.”

“That’s my line—how are you going to fit in the driver’s seat with that body?”

“The roof is already dented and the glass is broken. If we just rip it off, wouldn’t that create space?”

“…You’ve become quite rough.”

Alexander could be driven as long as both arms were intact.

So even though my posture and legs would be uncomfortable, I naturally thought I would drive since I had experience, but the Robot took my place, saying it was out of the question.

“Your legs aren’t uncomfortable, are they?”

“No. My body feels a bit confined, but this is fine. We’re not going far anyway, right?”

“That’s true.”

Fortunately, Alexander was intact. As the Robot said, part of the cargo area and the passenger seat were somewhat dented, and the area where the glass had been was now empty, but it started up well.

After I lay down in the space the Robot had created for me, minimizing luggage and including a soft pillow for my legs, the Robot brought straps and tied me up tightly.

…I used to tie up the Robot like this before, but now our positions are reversed.

It was quite uncomfortable being tied up in thick clothes since I couldn’t sit in the warm passenger seat like before. But what could I do? This was the only way for me to move safely when I couldn’t walk on my own.

“…Ugh. This is really scary.”

Vrrrrrrrr.

Alexander started up. Since I had always been in the driver’s seat, I hadn’t realized how strong the vibrations were—stronger than I had imagined. Maybe it seemed worse because we were on uneven debris.

“Be…be careful.”

“Don’t worry! I’m a flawless robot now!”

…Did they replace its personality along with the parts?

The Robot had always been smart and somewhat prideful, but it felt upgraded in many ways.

Well, it made sense that it would be happy being able to freely do things it couldn’t do before.

It seemed to have been concerned about not being able to help me much lately, so this worked out well for both of us.

Bump. Bump.

…This is a bit scary though.

“Come here.”

“Woof!”

As we started moving forward and the cargo area began to shake, I hugged the Puppy tightly.

Since I usually had to hold the steering wheel, the Puppy looked happier than ever being held in my arms.

…Yes. I’m glad to be alive.