Chapter 30

Translated by SkyTL Edited by SkyTL

Chapter 30: Listen, cactus

In Eos there are private rooms for Lacey and Charlotte.

Lacey’s room, on the other hand , is very plain. Although she has been told that she can decorate her room as she pleases, she limits herself to the bare necessities .

The only exception is a small ceramic cactus that she guards like a treasure.

And on the walls of the unadorned room now hangs a large exhibition of very old films about the earth.

It is a genre known as animation.

But it is not an automatically computer-generated image, as is the case today, but a work of great labor, a series of images drawn by hand by a human .

Lacey sits dutifully in a chair in front of the table, staring intently at the screen.

She doesn’t seem to be paying attention to her surroundings or her back. Her eyes are focused only on the front.

“Good luck…”

Lacey murmurs softly . Both of her hands are clasped tightly on her chest.

On the screen, the boy is being chased. Facing him is a tall man in a jet-black coat who seems stronger than the hero. Moreover, the enemy looks better.

And then…

“Oh, no!”

Lacey lets out a small, muffled scream.

Just as the hero was about to be taken down, a girl intervened from the side and protected him. A splash of blood appears on the screen, then the screen goes dark.

A few seconds pass without a sound being heard .

Then, in contrast to the previous scene, a strangely cheerful closing melody is heard .

Lacey froze and could not breathe for about ten seconds.

Finally, she took a deep breath and dropped both her clenched fists on the table.

Then she dropped to the floor, propped her cheek on the table and threw her upper body weight on it.

“…What’s going to happen to Marie?”

Lacey muttered. Apparently , the girl who protected the hero earlier is called Marie.

She sighs heavily again.

In the middle of the table there is a pot with cacti. She continues talking to the cactus.

“Cactus, we’ll see what happens tomorrow…”

Lacey was a little too excited and tired.

She settled down and talked to the cactus.

“I feel sorry for Marie…”

The cactus didn’t answer her heavy-hearted muttered words.

“Well, Alice is the main heroine, but shouldn’t Cliff reciprocate her feelings a little? She works so hard …”

He nudges the pot with his fingertips.

“Cactus. I don’t understand the human heart. And neither do you, Lyle-sama. You told us to become humans, and now half a month has passed and there is nothing to talk about. Haa …”

She poked around in the cactus pot for a while, then dropped her fingers to the table, bored.

“Is it too much trouble for us to serve you as a robot, Lyle-sama? In truth, I don’t care if I have to go to the end of the universe if I can serve Lyle-sama. But I am sad to hear that I no longer need to serve him, that I am no longer needed…”

“I don’t think I need it, but…”

“Huh?”

Lacey sat up, stiffened for a few seconds, then stared at the cactus in front of her and tilted her head.

“Um, Cactus-chan…? Did Cactus-chan speak? You sounded like Lyle-sa…”

“No, back, back.”

“Huh?”

Finally, Lacey blushed and looked behind her.

She hadn’t even noticed that I had been standing right behind her the whole time.

How she even got the idea that the cactus had been talking there is a mystery.

“Ah, ah, ah…”

Lacey froze in a strange pose, half-turning her head, mouth open.

That’s a funny face, and kind of cute….

Thinking about it, I shrugged.

“Well, I didn’t mean to scare you, but it’s not locked, and I called out to you, but you looked at it so intently . But I really don’t think I can do without Lacey, it’s your free will… Lacey… are you okay?”

“Uh, yeah…”

Oh, no… Lacey is like a fish out of water.

It’s all well and good to be cute, but should I give her a drink of water?

Or should I just follow the second principle and tell her to calm down?

While I was thinking about what to do, Lacey had somehow managed to recover from her breathing problems on her own .

“Hey, Lyle-sama. How long have you been in there…?”

“Since about the beginning of the show?”

“Not from the beginning…”

“No, it’s just so funny to see you so happy and sad.”

As I say this, Lacey bites her lower lip with a tear-streaked face, closes her eyes, shakes her head, and opens her eyes.

Then she claps both hands on her cheeks and makes her usual expressionless face.

“So, what can I do for you, Lyle-sama? I am at your disposal.”

“No, I don’t think you follow me…”

“…Forget what I said earlier.”

“Well, yes, yes.”

I placate Lacey, pleading with me.

Well, it was really interesting, and I won’t forget it in the least.

But enough of that, let’s get down to business. I wanted to tell her in person.

“So, to get to the point …”

“… Yes.”

“I just got a call from Riza. They found a generator. A total of four fusion reactor modules on board. But we only received the beacon, so we haven’t recovered them yet, and we don’t know how safe they are.”

Right.

Riza’s search through the debris, her tiny body battered and bruised, had finally paid off.

The generator beacon tells us that all four reactors were in emergency shutdown during the accident .

However , since it was an emergency shutdown of a fusion reactor, “successful shutdown” only means that the reactor did not explode or release hazardous materials, and some damage to the reactor must be expected . It is not possible to go to the site and restart the reactor with a single switch.

In addition , it is difficult to transport a huge module as is, so it must be disassembled to a specific size on site.

However , this is a smaller problem than the lack of actual equipment.

That is, compared to the earlier problem of taking the generators currently in use in Astoria when the generators cannot be found .

“Congratulations, Lyle-sama.”

“Ah, yes. And I think I will go there once before I pick it up.”

I don’t necessarily have to go there, and the pickup itself is entirely up to Riza, but here you go. I’m the acting captain. I want to see the scene. At least that’s what my mentor, Captain Baker, would have done, and though Riza balked, I let her do her own thing.

Lacey nodded her head and placed her palm on her chest.

“I’m coming with you.”

“No, this time I’m taking Charlotte with me. I want her to get used to the place. We’ll decide tomorrow at the meeting, but I think Lacey needs to stay on the ship.”

“Yes, Lyle-sama… If we get a generator, the repairs to the Eos won’t be long in coming.”

“Riza is a hard worker. She said it could take less than a month if it’s in good shape.

Well, if all goes well, but fortunately there are no signs of serious problems at the moment.

If we mobilize all the rovers from Eos, the loading capacity will be quite large. If necessary, I can negotiate with Ira to lend us her rovers, but since Ira doesn’t have many usable rovers and will probably insist on them anyway, it’s fine if she doesn’t have any . Eos’ share should be sufficient .

The fact that we have to disassemble it on site is also necessary, because we will check every single part later anyway .

So the outlook is good.

And the fact that this is the biggest… And the fact that this is the second or third biggest concern… That means that the time is getting closer for me and the girls to make a decision.

“So it’s time for you to decide what you want to do with yourselves.”

“… That’s… But…”

Lacey looks at me with wavering eyes.

Do they want to deactivate their neurochips and become human? Or do they want to continue living as robots?

Will they share the journey to Eos with me? Or will they choose to share their fate with Astoria?

I wonder what Lacey really thinks of me. She will do whatever I tell her to do. She has neither the will nor the desire to do so.

But what did she say earlier when she thought I was gone when she blurted out.

“Is Lacey going to follow me to the ends of the universe?”

I jokingly repeated what Lacey had just said to the cactus, but she looked down at me confused.

I knew I had said something wrong, but I couldn’t take back my words now.

“I will follow you wherever you want to go, Lyle-sama.”

“If it’s not an order, won’t you stay with me?”

“Lyle-sama, I… I will do anything to make you happy, Lyle-sama. I want you by my side… I like you, Lyle-sama. Isn’t that enough?”

Lacey’s voice was very serious.

… I think that was the first time she said she liked me.

But… I think she would have said that. I think she has to.

Regardless of how she really feels, she will say it because she thinks it would hurt me if she doesn’t.

I let out a small sigh.

“…I didn’t want you to say that.”

“How can Lyle-sama believe me?”

It’s ironic.

She can love me or hate me, but as long as there are three principles, she has to say she loves me. No matter how much I want to hear her true feelings, the three principles won’t let me. The three principles always give me the answer that suits me.

So in the end, the words mean nothing.

“If you… I’m not talking about a human being, but if you could tell me the same thing without the three principles…”

“I’m not… I’m not…”

I wanted to say it casually , but it seemed to get to Lacey a lot.

She looked at me with a very sad, very hurt expression in her eyes.

This is not good. I’ve disappointed her.

It’s only driving her more crazy.

“Well … I would be very happy if Lacey would come with me. I like you too, Lacey.”

I feel like I’m saying the strangest things.

Lacey stares at me with a kind of blank stare, but I can’t look directly at her.

I’m in trouble.

I hastily wave my hand to change the subject.

“A-Ah, by the way. Uh, yeah, what was that video? Miss Whitford was a pro-book person, but I guess Lacey watches that kind of stuff.”

“Eh? Oh, that…”

I thought I was being a little pushy.

But I was surprised to find that Lacey had a fondness for such films.

It seemed to be a very old and rather crazy piece of work.

Where had she found something like this?

Since computers have been around, most of the art in the world has been collected in libraries, so I suppose a work like this must be around somewhere .

As I pointed the water at her, Lacey became strangely agitated and began looking left and right.

I managed to divert the conversation, so I continued.

“And you seem to really like the cactus. I’m glad I gave it to you if you’re taking such good care of it.”

“Ah, uh …”

I seem to have succeeded in covering up my story, and the hurt expression on her face has disappeared, instead she looks like a fish out of water again .

Cute… It’s fun to tease her like that sometimes….

I’m starting to have some bad thoughts.

If you want to have some private fun, you should have been a little more careful, Lacey.

Every room on this ship opens by itself when you stand in front of the door, unless it’s locked. So if you want privacy, you have to lock the door every time.

And that’s exactly what we warned you about when you came aboard.

…But that rule was also made by the captain, who said, “Let’s make our relationships more open….

I think it would be better to change the rule.

While I was thinking about this, Lacy’s mouth was still puckering up.

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