episode_0021

Amy spoke to me as I was looking down at Shine, who was lying in bed and sleeping soundly.

“Jeff.”

“Huh?”

“Does Jeff want to go home?”

Amy’s sudden question made me open my mouth.

I want to go home.

It’s true that I wanted to go back if possible.

“But it’s dangerous outside.”

I have to get out of here to go home.

A series of sentences that come to mind in a chain.

It’s a dangerous place outside.

It’s dangerous to go out here.

I don’t even question the thoughts that come to me so naturally.

“Yeah, it’s dangerous.`

“And I don’t think Shine wants to go back.”

“Shine?”

“Yes.”

I turned around and sat down, stroking Shine’s head.

A fine strand of hair runs through my fingers.

A faint smile appears on my face at the pleasant feeling of them gently entangling me.

Her face is sleeping comfortably, and a small smile appears on her face as if my touch feels good.

“I think Shine likes this place better.”

“What does Jeff think of this place?”

“There are some frustrating aspects, but I don’t think it’s bad either.”

I turn around and sit up, covering Shine’s body with the blanket.

The gaze that met Amy’s was lost in space.

“What exactly is Amy doing?”

I asked, shaking my short legs.

Amy seemed deep in thought when she heard my question.

“I’m saving kids like you.”

“Kids like me?”

“I’m talking about the kids who were held captive at the research center. I can’t just stand by and watch them being exploited their entire lives.”

I kept my mouth shut.

She seems to have some deep story.

The dark, sunken eyes spoke volumes.

“Hey Jeff. Can you tell me what you’ve been doing at the lab?”

Amy began the story cautiously.

Then he adds urgently.

“If it’s painful to recall the memory, you don’t have to tell me.”

I started to organize what I wanted to say.

I didn’t really want to lie, but since I was here relying on her misunderstanding, I thought it would be a good idea to tell her about life in the lab from the perspective of the test subjects, if possible.

“The morning starts early.”

I began to tell the story slowly, trying to recall my memories.

The subjects’ mornings start very quickly.

I don’t know about other people because each employee starts work at different times, but I also wake up quite early.

Blurry memories begin to surface in a chain reaction.

The vague words gradually become more fleshed out.

“Every morning I get the same question.”

In my case, I guess it’s true that I asked a question.

But now, as a test subject, I have to answer.

As a test subject who has been experimented on there my entire life.

Amy, who heard my story, came closer to me.

Amy sits down next to me, who is sitting on the soft bed.

A hand reaches out quietly and grabs my hand.

When I looked up at Amy, she hugged me without saying a word.

It felt a little stuffy, but I didn’t refuse.

“Health status, what you want to eat, simple things like that.”

“Did you give it to me if I asked you to eat it?”

“Well.”

It’s obvious that you couldn’t eat it all.

I don’t know about the other test subjects, but Shine’s case was special.

“I don’t know about other test subjects.”

“Jeff.”

“Huh?”

“Don’t call me a test subject.”

I kept my mouth shut.

My body cringes as if I’ve made a mistake.

Amy’s hand moves gently along my movements, stroking my back.

“I’m not a test subject.”

“Yes… .”

I answered quietly.

Opening his mouth carefully, he spoke of his daily life with Shine.

Just an ordinary story, nothing special.

A story where there was no action, no conversation, no exchange.

Even though it was obviously a boring story, Amy listened attentively.

“Then, was Shine the same?”

I hesitate to answer.

What I said was, I reconstructed Shine’s appearance from my perspective, and explained it as if I were seeing it from Shine’s perspective.

It would be bad if I talked too much.

I hardened my expression and shut my mouth.

Amy, who noticed that my gaze was not good, carefully touches my cheek.

I feel a slight awkwardness at that touch.

I talk out of Amy’s hands.

“I don’t know because I’m apart from Shine.”

It’s not wrong to say that there was actually a large glass wall between her and me.

Amy takes a quiet breath at my answer.

“Thanks Jeff.”

I look away from Amy.

I wasn’t the kind of person who deserved to hear a thank you from her.

“We are the resistance.”

After I finished telling my story, Amy opened her mouth quietly.

“Resistance?”

“Yeah, it’s too cruel to be dragged to a research lab and spend your whole life there just because you have a special ability.”

I nod.

Because I agree with her thoughts to some extent.

But because of the sacrifices of such people, other people can enjoy their rights.

I didn’t bother to say my thoughts out loud.

“Our goal is to save them.”

I could see that even terrorist groups had one belief.

So one question arises.

“But it’s illegal.”

“The law doesn’t matter.”

“The police will chase you.”

“The police aren’t scary.”

I kept my mouth shut and touched the lips.

Because if we continued talking, I felt like I would make a slip of the tongue.

A small silence fell between us.

Because both she and I realized that we had been talking too much to each other.

I gathered my thoughts.

Anyway, it seems best to keep things as they are now.

“I like it here.”

I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t like it either.

I was just saying the same thing as Shine.

Thinking from Shine’s perspective, she definitely doesn’t want to go back to the lab.

But we are family, so I wonder if I have been thinking too personally all this time?

I turned and stroked Shine’s cheek.

The feeling of her gently squashed cheeks is transmitted to my fingertips.

“Shine is also good.”

But still, it’s frustrating.

If I have to be stuck in this facility for the rest of my life, I will do whatever it takes to get out of here.

I was caressing Shine’s cheek.

A small laugh was heard from behind me, and at the same time, Amy hugged my body.

Without being able to resist the hand that dug between my armpits, I was dragged by her and held between her legs.

A hand extends from behind and rests on your stomach.

Amy’s chin, resting heavily on the table, feels heavy.

The warmth felt all over my body made my face hot.

I couldn’t move, I just breathed quietly.

The unfamiliar warmth and affection I feel for the first time crushes my consciousness.

As I was moving my gaze here and there, unable to come to my senses, Amy’s hand began to move.

The right hand resting on the stomach disappears.

She rummaged through her pockets and handed me a small card.

“This is… .”

“Citizenship.”

I finger the small card in my hand.

Citizenship was not an easily issued card.

The grade written on the card is 5th grade.

It was a high-grade card that could pass through Zone 5 without any problems.

On the front of the citizenship card was a picture of my face, my age, and my name.

“Hand it to Shine when she wakes up.”

Amy even handed me Shine’s.

Two small cards are placed in your hand.

Two identical cards with different names.

The serial number on the back may be different, but when looking at the front, it looks the same.

I now have dual citizenship.

One is the 7th grade card that I originally used.

And this time, I got a new 5th grade card.

I have mixed feelings.

He handles the card with a complicated gaze.

I remember the days when I struggled to climb to a higher rank.

The citizenship I obtained without any compensation as a young girl is of a higher rank than the citizenship I had worked for my entire life.

“I wanted to set it to a higher level, but I couldn’t right now, there are still people looking for you.”

“More….higher grade?”

Fluorescent light shines down on the shiny card.

It’s so dazzling that I cover my hand with the card.

“Yeah. I’ll change it to a higher one once this is over.”

I felt a cold sweat running down my back.

Increases the level of citizenship.

What exactly is Amy’s true identity that allows her to say these words so easily?

My head is spinning in a complicated way.

I was fiddling with the cards and asked cautiously.

“What rank is Amy?”

“Me?”

There was a small laugh in the voice coming from above.

She answered, hugging my body tightly.

“Secret.”

“What’s the secret?”

As soon as Amy finished speaking, a familiar voice was heard.

It seemed like Shine had woken up from her sleep.

Shine, who came with a rustling noise, pushes Amy’s arm away.

As he dug into my gap, Amy’s body tilted backwards.

“Shine.”

“Huh?”

“Amy seems to have a lot of secrets.”

I said so and handed the card to Shine.

She starts looking through the cards I gave her.

“What is this?”

“Citizenship.”

“Citizenship?”

Shine seemed to have no idea what citizenship was.

Shine, who had been fiddling with the card in her hand, seems to have lost interest and throws the card onto the bed.

“Then that won’t do.”

Amy, who was holding us in her arms, quickly got up and picked up the card.

He puts me down in his arms and hugs Shine.

Holding a card in one hand and a shine in the other, she begins to preach.

This shows how important citizenship is.

But Shine just avoids eye contact with an uninterested expression.

“I’m hungry.”

I leave Shine and Amy’s conversation behind and lift the card.

A shiny card, with the name Jeff written on it.

And a picture of a little girl.

I thought about it for a moment and then placed the card on a nearby table.

Amy, who noticed me like that, sat Shine and me down on a nearby chair and started talking about civil rights.

Although Shine grumbled that she was hungry, he listened to her until the end.

I let Amy’s words slip away.

It was something I already knew, but it was a citizenship that I couldn’t use if I returned to my original body anyway.

If you can’t go back, then it would be the opposite.

Amy, who was looking at Shine and me who looked uninterested, sighed and took the card back.

“It would be better to give it to you when you’re a little older. If you forget it somewhere, it’ll be a big problem.”

“Amy I’m hungry.”

Amy answered with a small smile, as if she couldn’t help it at Shine’s nagging.

“It’s a little early, but shall we go eat?”

Shine and I exchange a glance and jump off the chair.

The sound of small footsteps echoes throughout the room several times.