Chapter 11: Chapter 11

I had no choice but to remain pinned down and endure it until the two of them returned.

Clank, rattle—

The manual elevator, which I had always thought was unbearably noisy, now sounded like a bell of hope.

All I could do now was pray that the two of them would find me.

A groan slipped from my throat on its own.

Not long afterward, heavy footsteps reached my ears.

As the sound grew louder, my swelling anticipation made me turn my head toward the maintenance room door.

At last, just as Sati came into view...

"Huh? What's this? You were here?"

"Help... me..."

With the last of my strength, I managed to beg Sati for help in a dying voice.

In stark contrast to the severity of the situation, Sati merely shrugged as she approached indifferently, slid her hands beneath Manu's armpits where she lay sprawled on top of me, and lifted her up.

The body I hadn't been able to budge when I tried lifting it came away from me smoothly, as though being hoisted by heavy machinery.

"Ugh, I thought I was going to die."

"You weren't in your room, so I was wondering where you'd gone and what you were doing."

As I crawled pathetically across the floor and barely managed to stand, Sati laid Manu back in the case and spoke as if to herself.

Then she put a hand on her hip, cocked her head to the side, and looked at me with a suspicious expression.

"Is this your kind of thing?"

Sati furrowed her brow and asked whether this was my thing while looking at me as though I were some kind of bug.

Why was she making that face while asking about my preferences?

If she was asking which I preferred, I was definitely more attracted to long straight hair than short hair, but...

Somehow, it didn't seem like that was the kind of question she meant, so I asked again with a wary look of my own.

"...What do you mean, this kind of thing?"

"That thing, what was it called...? Ah. Necrophilia?"

As though even explaining it with her own mouth was disgusting, Sati bared her teeth and said it with an openly revolted expression.

"What?"

She seemed to be under a truly spectacular misunderstanding.

Apparently, she had decided I was a corpse-fucker.

"N-No! She collapsed while she was coming out!"

Startled by Sati's completely unexpected misconception, I hurriedly began explaining that she had the wrong idea.

"So everyone here was lying down without any energy, then all of a sudden this one came out and pounced on you? Is that what you're saying?"

"N-No...! I mean—"

"Sati? Is the Leader here?"

I still hadn't properly explained things to Sati when, to make matters worse, Ariel's voice approached the maintenance room.

In the end, the two of them joined up before I could offer any real explanation.

Even Ariel, after receiving only a rough account of the situation from Sati, took a step back with an uncomfortable expression.

"Leader..."

"N-No! I'll explain everything!"

As Ariel's face began to sour after believing the distorted explanation, I cried out in panic.

At this rate, both of their Affection levels might drop to zero.

"I remembered seeing Ariel operate the case last time, so I picked up the battery that had fallen on the floor and put it in, you know? Then she suddenly woke up and looked like she was about to say something to me before falling right on top of me. I think the battery just happened to have enough charge left for her to move for a few seconds..."

I stumbled over my words, but explained that I had found the battery on the floor and inserted it to practice what I'd seen before.

The two of them simply listened to my frantic explanation, which practically sounded like I was rapping.

I probably looked like a guilty man overreacting and getting ahead of himself, but everything I said was true.

"What? So that's all it was?"

"...Phew."

Sati responded carelessly, as if it were no fun after all, while Ariel let out a faint sigh of relief.

Was she relieved that her Leader wasn't some hopeless necrophiliac?

Why did I have to explain myself to the two of them while feeling like this after nearly dying just moments ago?

"But why did you even do that?"

As I sagged in utter exhaustion, Sati strode up and asked.

I shrugged at her puzzled expression and answered with a look that said even I hadn't expected this.

"How was I supposed to know it would work? I saw Ariel doing it when she woke you up, so I wanted to practice too."

"If that was the case, you could have told me..."

At my explanation that I'd wanted to practice in advance, Ariel murmured regretfully, almost to herself.

In the game, things proceeded automatically with just the click of a button. Now I had to operate the machine myself.

I thought that if I looked too inept at handling the equipment, even Ariel might begin to suspect something.

According to the setting, I was a veteran who had operated these devices countless times. It made no sense for me not to know how to handle even this one.

"I just wanted to practice by myself without burdening anyone."

I managed to brush off even that unnaturalness with the excuse that I hadn't wanted to inconvenience them.

"And that's how you caused this mess."

"Urgh."

Sati's sharp, accurate jab left me speechless.

I had absolutely nothing to say, and as I could only scratch the back of my head...

Ariel cautiously looked back and forth between the case beside us and me before carefully opening her mouth.

"But when you say you were practicing..."

"Yeah. I was thinking of waking one more person soon."

"Do you have someone in mind?"

I cut in to answer Ariel affirmatively, and this time Sati asked with her arms folded.

Her manner naturally suggested that she was leaving the decision to me.

Originally, I had planned to ask the two of them whether there was anyone they wanted to wake first, but...

Since Sati had asked, I decided to mention the Replica I wanted to wake first.

"The one you just put back in the case."

"...So it is your type, then?"

When I calmly named Manu, Sati raised an eyebrow and asked whether it really was a matter of preference after all.

"Hmm. So you like girls who look like this."

Then she sidled over to Manu's case, peered carefully at her face through the cloudy cover, and began muttering to herself.

"That's not it."

I answered firmly, irritated by Sati's muttering.

She needed to stop trying to make everything about my preferences.

Besides, Ariel's gaze had turned a little cold.

"Really? Still... hmm. It has to be her, of all people?"

Meanwhile, Sati, who had approached the case, rubbed its dusty surface and muttered as though something bothered her.

"Huh? What's wrong?"

It was rare to see Sati act uncomfortable about something.

Of the three of us, Sati had always been the most uninhibited, so it was surprising enough that I asked why first.

"It's just... I don't really remember ever talking much with her."

"Ah, me neither..."

The two of them said they didn't remember having much interaction with Manu, whom we planned to wake.

Of course they didn't.

Manu wasn't an active character to begin with.

Even in the game, all she did was wander the streets alone late at night or appear at a restaurant on certain days.

That was why she had extremely little interaction with other Replicas, and her Affection events were held exclusively between her and the player.

"Well, it'll be fine."

I had prioritized efficiency, but given Manu's personality, there was little chance she would immediately attack me.

Of course, she might have grievances or resentment built up toward me because of this unfair, hopeless situation. But that was something I, as the player, had to bear.

"Should I bring the batteries right away, then?"

"Yeah. If we wake her now, she'll have plenty of time to rest today."

After telling Ariel to do so when she asked whether she should bring the batteries right away, I remained alone with Sati in the storage room to wait.

"Is there a reason you're waking her first?"

As she ran her hand over the case amid the silence, Sati asked again with a puzzled look.

Rather than mention things like stages or farming speed, I racked my brain for another way to put it before answering.

"Because Manu alone will be faster than the two of you going out on operations."

I'd meant it as a reasonable explanation, but once the words left my mouth, they sounded as though I were belittling their abilities.

"What?"

"No, I mean..."

"I brought them!"

Just as the mood was about to turn sour, Ariel returned from the storeroom at the perfect moment, carrying an armful of batteries.

"Good. Then shall we wake her right away?"

I took the batteries from Ariel's hands after her impeccably timed return and approached the case, ignoring Sati's uncomfortable stare.

All I had to do now was fit the battery in and turn it.

Repeating the hand movements I had studied before the two of them arrived, I waited for Manu to wake up again.

Her green eyes slowly opened once more.

Watching her quietly sit up inside the cloudy case, I opened the lid so she could come out comfortably.

"...What is going on?"

"Are you conscious?"

When I addressed the confused-looking Manu, she looked around for a moment, seemingly trying to grasp the situation.

"You must be confused since you've woken up after so long and don't understand what's happening, but for now, go rest in the maintenance room."

"...Okay."

I knew it would be hard for her to understand the situation, so I simply told her to go rest in the maintenance room for now.

Manu nodded along with her brief reply.

Seeing her quietly agree without complaint despite her sudden return and my order, I thought things would be fine with her.

However, the next day...

When Sati and Ariel came to the Leader's room for the day's operation, Manu was not with them.

"She refused?"

"Yes. Then she just went out into the streets..."

Apparently, Manu had refused to come to the Leader's room.

As Ariel explained where Manu had gone afterward, she looked toward the wall with wistful eyes, as though she were worried.

"Okay, I'll find her. You two carry on as usual."

Seeing Ariel's expression, I said I would find Manu and told the two of them to proceed as usual.

"Okay."

"Yes, understood."

After sending the two of them off on their usual resource runs, I wandered the streets looking for Manu.

Not long afterward, I found her on a street with no notable facilities.

"There you are. I have a small favor to ask..."

She was still wearing her combat suit, without having changed.

I thought that, despite her indifferent attitude, she might have been considering the operation after all, and I was about to speak.

"...No."

Manu, who had been watching me while looking around, didn't even listen to what I had to say before carelessly refusing.

A quiet refusal, utterly unlike the previous two.

"Huh."

She wasn't hostile, but her blunt attitude and merciless refusal caught me a little off guard.

You never know what expressionless, quiet characters are thinking.

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