“Haa... It’s been a while since I’ve thought about the old days.”
What he had remembered was the time when he first set foot in this world.
It wasn’t all that long ago—only about a year in the past.
While living here, he had thought he’d completely forgotten it.
It felt nostalgic.
At first, it had been like that...
Memories of the past were enough to calm both body and mind.
If he had time, he might have closed his eyes and drifted off into sleep, lost in that longing.
Yes, if he had time.
Remembering his situation, he looked up at the sky.
Above him, a cloud of dust from the exploding transport ship was still rising.
His back felt the hard ground, and rough stones jabbed at his head.
“Still alive, huh.”
He pulled a small chain from around his neck.
With a metallic rattle, a thin dog tag came out.
On it was written a single name: “Bill.”
“If I didn’t die after falling from up there... guess I won’t need this after all?”
The transport ship had exploded in the air.
Burned alive, or torn to pieces by the shockwave.
Even if someone survived that, crashing into the ground would always leave the same result.
And yet his expression was far too calm.
His clothes were burned and shredded in places.
The sharp-looking uniform was gone now.
“No spare clothes, then...”
He glanced at the burning aircraft beside him and shook his head.
With an explosion that big, the first question was whether the bag with his clothes had even survived.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
While he was checking his clothes, something heavy shook the ground.
Had it heard the noise just now?
The sound was getting closer.
“Couldn’t they let me rest for a bit...”
Bill cracked his neck and sat down against a wall.
There were still a few minutes before that huge thing got here, so he decided to rest first.
“Huh?”
He noticed the corpse of a woman lying in front of him.
Her hand was still gripping a gun, but that hand had been severed from her arm.
Her legs were twisted at odd angles, and her eyes hadn’t even been closed.
It was a massacre.
For someone who had been underground until now, it was his first time seeing something like this.
“Rest in peace...”
Bill closed the woman’s eyes with his hand.
Then he covered her with a nearby sheet of iron.
At least now, they probably wouldn’t find her.
He couldn’t bring the body back with him.
Just surviving like this had already made him a test subject.
“Ha... I wonder when they’ll get here.”
His enemy was the Rapture.
A mechanical monster that moved through a shining “core” like a snow-white eye.
Even the footsteps he heard now were from them.
But before them, there were people coming to find him.
They... no, they weren’t people.
Beings closer to cyborgs, with brains inserted into mechanical bodies.
Nikke.
And then—
“Commander!!!! Are you okay!!!!”
As if she had been waiting for it, a voice calling out to him rang out.
For the first time that day, the man smiled.
――――――――――――――
“So... you’re really okay?”
“I told you, I’m fine. Look. Nothing’s broken, and I’m not swollen anywhere.”
Beside Bill was a woman inspecting his body from head to toe.
In a blue uniform, with black stockings standing out, she was...
Marian, the woman he would end up killing with his own hands not long after.
“My name is Bill, and your name is Marian. Isn’t that enough?”
Marian gave him a suspicious look.
But no matter how she looked at him, he seemed to have nothing more than a few torn, burned patches on his clothes.
There wasn’t a single sign of burns or injury.
Of course, she couldn’t check under his clothes.
Not only was the situation inappropriate, but there was also a huge ethical problem.
He was the commander.
He understood her concern and accepted it, but he was still her superior.
“I see... You were really lucky. I’m glad... you’re safe...”
“Yeah, yeah. Let’s get moving. Sounds like they’re coming.”
“Ah, yes.”
In those few minutes, the footsteps had grown much louder.
They were probably close now.
Thirty meters, maybe more.
Soon they’d be within range.
“But Marian. Do we really have to fight?”
“Huh?”
Bill pointed to a gap created by the collapsed wall.
There was just enough space for two people to squeeze through.
“It’s a little... embarrassing, but if we can get through without fighting, wouldn’t that be better? You’re alone. There look to be about ten of them, rough estimate.”
“B-but... Nikke are made to take down Raptures...”
“Don’t worry about that. Come here. If we wait a little, they’ll pass on their own.”
Bill grabbed Marian’s hand and pushed her into the gap.
She seemed to resist for a moment, but soon enough she obediently hid herself inside.
She could have fought back, but then he would have had too little time to hide himself.
Either way, Marian was still a very considerate Nikke.
“They’re almost here. Stay quiet.”
“Yes, Commander.”
Marian looked at the back of his head and thought.
Why had he pushed her in first?
The one who fought was her, a Nikke.
Of course, judging the situation was normally the commander’s job.
But this time was different.
Depending on the outside situation, they might have to fight them.
Then it should have been the commander in her place.
In the worst case, the one who became the bullet shield would still be the Nikke.
Marian had no words.
She had seen countless people as a Nikke, but no one had ever shown her the same kindness.
There had been people who drove her into danger and ran away.
But this was the first time someone had sent her somewhere safe.
“Marian, your back... it’s ticklish.”
“Y-yes?”
Before she knew it, Marian’s fingers were scratching lightly at his back.
She jolted in surprise, but the surrounding rubble was tightly packed and didn’t move.
“Good thing the Raptures moved on...”
Bill reached out and pulled her free.
Soon, the dirt-covered Marian emerged outside, brushing off the dust as she asked,
“Commander, why did you make me go in first?”
“Why? Ever heard of ladies first?”
“You’re a person, Commander. If something happened, I should have been able to go out first, but if you were in front, I couldn’t do that.”
It was a fair point.
Bill couldn’t bring himself to refute it, so he just turned away as if agreeing.
“I’d like it if you didn’t do that next time.”
“If I can help it... I’ll try.”
He couldn’t bring himself to look Marian in the eye.
The Marian behind him had, for a brief moment, shown a red glow.
The corruption was certain.
“Commander, are you okay? Do you have a headache or something...”
“I’m fine. I just had something sad on my mind.”
“Something sad... Then could you tell me about it while we walk? Kindness isn’t something you should only receive.”
“Well...”
He couldn’t exactly tell her now that the “sad thing” was her.
Bill instantly regretted bringing it up.
Talking about it was a problem, and ignoring her would have been a problem too.
“Ah, it’s okay. It must be a secret you can’t possibly tell me. Then instead... may I take your arm?”
“Take my arm?”
“Yes. You look fine, but maybe you’re not. If it makes you uncomfortable...”
“No, it’s fine. You can stay like that.”
“Hehe. Thank you.”
“Let’s go. The others are waiting.”
Bill slowly moved toward the rendezvous point.
Pretending to check the map, he listened to the Raptures’ footsteps and chose a route that would keep them from meeting.
And then, in front of Bill’s eyes, two familiar people came into view.
――――――――――――――――
“Aah... just when are they coming? If a Rapture shows up at this rate, we’re all dead... Rapi, do you see anything?”
Anis asked Rapi, who was scanning the surroundings from the front.
It was already the agreed time, but there was still no sign of the new commander or any Nikke.
She even wondered if they’d been abandoned.
“No, not yet. I don’t see any reinforcements, but... thankfully, I don’t see any Raptures either. I guess that’s the only hopeful news.”
That was right.
Neither good news nor bad news had come.
At least, not yet.
“Aaaah~~ I just want to get back to the Ark and drink some soda... We worked hard today, so I should be able to drink two bottles at once, right~?”
“Anis, that...”
“Hm?”
“Nothing...”
Rapi had been about to say, “That’s a flag...” but stopped herself.
She didn’t usually enjoy jokes, and this wasn’t exactly the kind of situation where jokes were appropriate anyway.
The commander assigned to the operation had already died.
The reinforcements hadn’t arrived at the scheduled time, and even supplies were running low.
At most, they could resist once or twice more; after that, they’d be out of bullets and unable to fight back at all.
They hadn’t met any Raptures yet, but this was the kind of place where that could happen at any moment.
This was the surface.
“Ugh... when are they coming... I really don’t want to die in a place like this...”
“We still have to wait.”
Either way, they were Nikkes.
Soldiers who couldn’t decide anything on their own without a commander, and could only obey orders.
So the two of them chose the one and only option they had: wait for the reinforcements that never came.
“Haaah... Rapi... we...”
It had only been five minutes since Anis had first spoken to Rapi.
Unable to stand the boredom any longer, Anis let out a huge yawn and tried to shake off the dullness.
But before she could finish, Rapi called out to her first.
“Anis, look over there.”
“Huh? Huh?? Ra, Rapture????”
Anis hurriedly brought her gun close and ran to Rapi’s side.
But Rapi ignored her reaction and pointed toward the spot she’d been watching.
“About 150 meters to the southeast. I can see one Nikke. And beside her is someone who looks like a commander.”
“I-I want to see too.”
Anis took Rapi’s binoculars and aimed them at the distant moving speck.
There, a man and a woman with a noticeable height difference were walking toward them.
“Well, well? Rapi, this is the surface, isn’t it?”
Anis rubbed her eyes to make sure she was seeing straight, then looked back through the binoculars.
“What is this, a club or something? Go on, press up against each other all you want.”
“Anis, watch your mouth. They might hear you.”
“And what if they do? No, let’s meet them first and then talk.”
“Good idea.”
The two of them quickly packed up their supplies and ran toward them.
As expected, Anis’s face was full of dissatisfaction.
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