What a fine evening.
Bird chirped from a distance, followed by other's cheerful chirp, forming natural symphony. Snow covered forest glittered brightly under sunset's gaze, complete with natural pine fragrance that drifted in the air. Together they created indisputably impressive natural landscape. I danced amidst the snow-covered lands, gracefully jumping around, dodging stray Fallen Gboro-Gboro ice ball and Kongou wind ball that almost blasted me away.
A fine evening indeed.
My spikes struck Gboro-Gboro's chest, while Kongou behind me sliced in half by my blade. Two more prey added to my list. This morning Dr. Sakaki asked me to resume my job, exterminate any Aragami around Temple Area. As usual, he didn't tell me why. Frankly, I couldn't care less about his reason, so long as he didn't dabble in dangerous experiment.
I pulled apart Gboro-Gboro body, broke it down to its salvageable part and grabbed its Core. Did the same to Kongou minus its Core, I accidentally cut it in half along with its body. Carefully, I stashed each material in my brand new Oracle infused knapsack.
Cold snow-covered tree swayed as I perched on its branch, sending icicles and snow down to earth. I reached my headset and pressed a button.
"It's done doc. No Aragami left in two kilometers radius from Tranquil Temple."
[Excellent, go to Tranquil Temple south gate, I'll meet you there.]
"Got it." Wait, what? "Oy doc, it's dangerous out here, don't-"
The only voice came from my headset was static noise. Dr. Sakaki abruptly cut off our communication line. Great, soon I would have a scientist to babysit. With grumble, I jumped from tree branch and started to walk.
I stopped at small snowy field south of Tranquil Temple. According to my prediction, Dr. Sakaki's chopper would land here. A normal human couldn't take ten meters fall without injured themselves, so the chopper would have to find a clear ground for landing.
I dropped my knapsack and began reorganizing my stuff while I waited for his chopper. This morning, before I went here, I decided to craft a knapsack for my daily job. This idea came from my experience. Unlike God Eaters, my missions spanned from couple of hours up to few days straight, so running out of space was inevitable. Also, this knapsack allowed me to brought additional tools. Sure, restore pills, ration, and any kind of booster had no effect on me, but I could still use some stun grenade and traps.
Soon, a subtle sound of helicopter rotor approached me. I squinted, tried to discern faint outline of Dr. Sakaki's chopper among the cloudless night. It still took some effort to spot a black object on black background, even with night vision.
Dr. Sakaki arrived with note and pen on his hand, he scribbled his book right after he stepped out of the chopper.
"Doc? Why're you here? This isn't a safe place for you."
"Time to see the results of your hard work. Let's rendezvous with First Unit, they're at Tranquil Temple now."
"What's your game doc? Don't play dumb on me, I know you're up to something." I glared at him.
Dr. Sakaki maintained his unreadable expression. "Escort me to Tranquil Temple, you'll find your answer there."
My normally fast pace reduced to crawl, and it was all because of Dr. Sakaki. He wrote down every single details about me and my ability, especially my Oracle field. We reached Tranquil Temple after excruciatingly long walk. Like he said, the First Unit had already there, finishing off a Chi-You and was about to take its core.
"Please, all of you, hold your Arcs." Dr. Sakaki exclaimed.
"Huh? Doc? Sis?" Rina turned her head toward us.
"Why are you here?" Alisa asked.
"Dunno, Doc. Sakaki dragged me all along, without any explanation no less." I shrugged.
"Worry not, all will be explained in time. Leave that Aragami there for a moment. Come with me. I've something to show you."
Dr. Sakaki really knew how to dragged people around with as little description as possible. We blindly followed him and hid behind nearby ruined house, intensely watched Chi-You corpse ahead of us. The tension grew thicker, thick enough to prevented anyone from making any sound, even Kota.
There, I heard that, faint footsteps and crushed snow. Someone, or something approached the bait. "It's coming..." I whispered.
"Where?" Kota asked. He didn't even bother to whisper.
"There! Look. It's coming! I knew it would!" Dr. Sakaki spoke.
Everyone's eyes snapped at lone figure that slowly walked toward Chi-You corpse. Suddenly, everyone rushed forward, circling the unknown person, and aimed their God Arc at her. The said figure turned around, facing us.
It was a... I didn't know what it was. Humanoid bloodied... girl? Wore ragged cloth or remains of Fenrir flag perhaps. She... no... it had white hair and very pale, almost white skin and yellow eyes. I said 'it' because it definitely Aragami, a human-shaped Aragami.
'What! No way...'
'You know... it?'
'It's not an it. I have a hunch, but let's hear that doctor first.'
"Um... I... I am... Hungry..." It talked.
"Whoa!" Kota shouted. He tensed and put his fingers on trigger, ready to shot at any moment.
"Welcome, welcome! Good to see you! It certainly took a while to get you to show yourself, hm?"
"What's going on?" Alisa asked. She constantly turned her head, from the unknown... things? to Dr. Sakaki.
"Thank you for all your help in bringing her here. Oh, there's just so much I must know! So many opportunity!" Dr. Sakaki said. He examined the unknown creature from top to bottom, like what he did to me on my first meeting.
"I'd appreciate an explanation more than your thanks, doctor." Soma replied.
"The little lady was quite determined. Wouldn't appear when we needed her to, so I took a chance and eliminated all of her natural prey in the region." Dr. Sakaki explained.
"So that's why you sent me." I crossed my arms.
"Huh? What're you talking about sis?"
"Lately, I've been doing his so-called 'special request'. He wanted me to eliminate any Aragami in Temple Area, regardless their types. Now I see why..." I narrowed my eyes at Dr. Sakaki.
"You're devious, doctor, and I don't know whether it's a compliment..." Soma added.
"Uh. hey. so... I'm just gonna ask the question on everyone's mind... Who the hell is this kid?" Kota asked.
"Ah, of course, of course. We probably shouldn't be speaking out in the cold like this. All will be explained at the lab." Dr. Sakaki approached the unknown Aragami fearlessly. So sorry to keep you all in the dark. Uh, you will join us, yes?"
"I'm hungry!" The unknown Aragami bowed to Dr. Sakaki.
"Yeah?" Soma asked.
"I... I am hungry?" It swayed its head, turning around, until stopped at me.
"What?" A wasted question, I knew it wouldn't be able to understand me.
"I am hungry!" It jumped, slowly walked to me.
'The hell? What should I do Rei? It's coming.' The unknown Aragami crept closer, less than few meters away now. Other God Eaters had move away, they aimed their weapons at it from a distance.
'Do nothing. Stay still and don't create your weapon.'
'What? Seriously?'
'Dead serious.'
It stopped few feet away from me, lifted its head, and watched me with its wide innocent eyes. Suddenly, it leaped at me. I didn't have any chance to react, it crashed into my chest, hugging me tightly with its thin arms. My hands reacted automatically and shoved it away. However, instead of pushed it away, I found myself returned her hug, lightly patted its head. It was bizarre, my logic screamed at me, telling me to shove it and prepare myself for a fight, yet I kept rubbing its head.
"As predicted" Dr. Sakaki muttered.
'As I thought.'
Something fluttered within me, a speck of recognition, and a hint of familiarity. I couldn't stop myself from patting its head affectionately, and earned baffled looks from everyone around me.
"Uh... who is she? How do you know her?" My sister stared at me.
"I don't know, feels like I know... yet I don't." I stared quizzically at the unexplainable anomaly before me.
"I... am... Hungry!" It raised its fist and leaped at me, again.
"This gonna be interesting..." I sighed.
We parted ways. First Unit returned with their usual transport helicopter, while Dr. Sakaki, unknown Aragami, and I rode Dr. Sakaki's chopper.
On our way back, the unknown Aragami glued to me, literally. It didn't let my arm go, no matter what. Not only that, I also felt something had messed my head. Warm and fuzzy feeling rose in my chest whenever I saw it rubbed its head on my arm, and I ended up showering it with even more affection each time I tried to pushed it away. I finally given up after my... tenth attempt? And allowed it to do whatever it wants to my arms.
We arrived at the Den faster than First Unit, thanks to Dr. Sakaki's superior helicopter. He dragged us to one of his private lab near helipad and perform a quick check up on it. First Unit hadn't arrived yet, so I took it to my bathroom after Dr. Sakaki finished his test. Bad choice, I didn't know that Aragami had curiosity streak in it. I was trying to cleaned its bloody hands and feet when it dived into my tub and shook violently. Blood, dirty water, bubble, and other grime splattered onto my bathroom wall, some of it even splashed on my cloth.
It took a chunk of my patience, but I finished cleaning it after some time. That Aragami now sat on the floor in Dr. Sakaki's office, surrounded by entire First Unit. I sat on nearby coach, watched it twiddling with its feet.
"So doc, who's this girl?" Kota asked.
"This-"
"That's an Aragami." I interrupted him.
1... 2... 3...
"WHAAT?!" My sister, Kota, Alisa, and Sakuya shouted in unison.
Ah... Reminded me of my first introduction. Soma was the only one that didn't surprised by my revelation. He probably already knew its true nature, considering his sensitivity to Oracle.
"Correct, Rena. I can say it, but it will be no different. This is an Aragami." Dr. Sakaki reaffirmed my statement.
"Figured as much, it give off the same vibe as them..." I stood up and returned to my room.
"Are you going to leave?" My sister noticed me.
"Yep, got something to do, I'll be back soon."
Back in my room, I rummaged my knapsack and took Gboro-Gboro Core and its materials. This should be enough to satisfy that unknown Aragami hunger, I hoped. Now I got a moment to spare, time to ask Rei about that creature.
'Oy Rei? Tell me everything about it.'
'About that Aragami I assume? What do you want to know?'
'Everything! What exactly is that creature? Why I feel... attached to it?'
'Don't call her it. She's sentient Aragami, and also Singularity, like us. Still as clueless as baby though. It's normal to feel attached, that Aragami is our... sister in your term.'
My body went cold. 'WHAT?! I only have one sister, and that's Rina!'
'Yet you embraced her as her sibling. You subconsciously acknowledge her as your sister.'
His word stuck in my mind. He was right, I hugged it... or her... just like how I hugged Rina... 'That's because of you and your damn instinct!'
'Why are you vehemently opposing this?'
'I hate it! I hate being controlled by instinct!' I stomped my boot, creating sizable crack on floor tiles.
'Controlled is not the correct term, it's more like suggested. You can still hate or reject her if you try hard enough. Is it really that different? Human also acting like that.'
'What're you talking about?'
'Human follow their desire, just like we follow our instinct. No, they're worse than us. We never betray our kin, human on the other hand, stab you in the back if it suits their desire.'
Rei was right, to some extent. Not all human betrayed each other, some stay loyal to their friend. Were we really that similar? Humans and Aragami?
'Give her a chance, it's unfair to hate her like this.'
'Fine, I give up. I'll give it a shot." I sighed in resignation.
I put back Aragami materials and decided to bring entire knapsack to Dr. Sakaki's office. Nobody noticed me coming back, except that Aragami. She stared at me, giggling lightly and rolled on the ground. I rested on nearby couch and placed my knapsack at my side.
"So she talks a lot about food. About 'being hungry'... What exactly do you think she means?" Kota asked.
"Fooood!" The unknown Aragami shouted.
"Eeep! Cause you know, it's a little ominous." Kota responded to it.
"Hey, come here... Look." I lifted my knapsack. That Aragami turned her head at me, or... at my bag. She crawled, slowly moved closer, and stopped at my feet. I rubbed her stiff yet soft silvery hair, she replied me with small giggles.
"That said, in times of dire need-uh, now-they'll gobble up..."
I stopped listening to his boring lecture and played with new Aragami instead. She held my wrist in place, wordlessly begged me to keep rubbing her. My other hand dug into my knapsack and grabbed the first thing I touched, a chunk of Fallen Gboro-Gboro cannon. Left, right, left, right, her eyes darted between me and cannon part, as if she was asking my permission. "Go on, no need to hold back..."
She might not understand my word, but she knew my gesture. She released my wrist and stared at me with her dangerously innocent wide eyes. Her pale hands reached at the food I provided, gently prodded it, and turned around, slowly ate it while watching First Unit talked with Dr. Sakaki.
"I am hungry!" She yelled in cheerful voice.
"Whoaa?!" Kota jumped away in surprise.
"Wrong, it's thank you." I gently patted her head.
"Thank... You...?" She tilted her head. It sounded like question instead of thanks.
"Most importantly, I believe that the young girl need some friends. She already shows certain fondness for Rena, but I feel she will find a particular affection for you too, soma." Dr. Sakaki glanced at him.
"You're out of your mind!" Soma scoffed. "She may play pretend well, but she is not a human, just an approximation. She's still a monster on the inside." He walked out in anger.
Monster, huh? Then, what exactly am I?
"Aaand he's gone." Kota turned his head, facing the new Aragami girl. "How did you won her affection Rena?"
"Dunno, something clicked in me, and before I knew it she already attached to me, like this." I rubbed her smooth hair, earning her satisfied hum in the process. "Kinda cute if you ask me."
My sister gasped and abruptly turned her head. She points her index finger at me. "You!? Who are you? What've you done to my sister?"
"Huh? What are you saying?" I tilted my head.
"Stop lying you imposter! My sister would never say 'cute' or anything like that!"
"Heyy!" I shouted in protest. "I know I'm not ladylike... scratch that, some even call me boyish, but that doesn't prevent me from enjoying something cute!"
"I know, I'm just teasing you." She smirked playfully at me before turned at Dr. Sakaki. "Alright, where should we keep her?"
"I have a spare room, it's over here." Dr. Sakaki pulled a card and inserted it to another red door in his office. "It's quite small, but should be enough for her."
Like he said, it was a small room. Identical to my room, albeit significantly smaller and less decorated. In fact, it filled with only single bed.
"Sorry guys, got to go now, the Bugarally is on the air." Kota clasped his hand and scurried away.
"Excuse me, I have a report to fill." Sakuya left the room.
"Allow me to help." Alisa added.
Sakuya left us with Alisa on her trail. We decided to left her in her room, allowing her to adapted to her new room. However, for some reason she didn't want to stay. She tailed me wherever I go. I returned to my room with Aragami girl, my sister, and Dr. Sakaki in tow, we all sat on sofa, examining the unknown Aragami before us.
"Interesting... She fond of you without even knowing you." Dr Sakaki scrutinized her.
"You know why?" Rina asked
"Let me guess, because we're similar?"
"Si... Simi... Simi...lar?" The Aragami girl tried to mimic my word.
"How did you know that?" Dr. Sakaki narrowed his already narrow eyes at me.
"Wild guess." Nope, I wasn't going to divulge my secret to someone like him.
He kept staring at me for a while. "Correct. Both of you have almost identical body. Brain, nerve system, organ, even bone structure is identical to human, except it's made up from Oracle Cells. In her case, she didn't have digestive tract, only mouth, throat, and stomach."
"I see, your point?
"You already gained her trust, so I want you to help her. Talk to her, teach her, help her out." Dr. Sakaki looked at Aragami girl. She stared at us, twiddled her fingers and played with her feet. "See, she's absolutely hopeless, but I'm sure she will grow into fine girl if you willing to help."
"Got it, I'll try."
Dr. Sakaki left her in our care. We began teaching her about basic word and writing. She still had long way to go, her first writing was unreadable doodles, but at least she enjoyed drawing it.
The night approached us, we sat on the sofa, with three bowls of food on table. Two bowls of stew for me and Rina, and a plate of Kongou tail for new Aragami girl. She didn't know I couldn't taste anything other than Oracle related food. I ate her stew, pretending there was nothing wrong with it.
"I'm done, thanks for your food sis." I thanked her.
"I am hungry!" The Aragami girl raised both of her fist.
"Nuh-uh, It's thank you." I talked to her.
"Thank... you?" She bobbled her head at my sister.
"Good girl." I patted her head.
"Good job." my sister copied me.
"Ehehe." The Aragami girl giggled and smiling at us.
She was an Aragami, a purebred Aragami, yet she acted so... innocent, and naive, like a human child. Rei word repeated in my head. Aragami followed instinct, human followed desire, what was the difference between us? Feral Aragami blindly followed their instinct, yet some human also ruled by desire. Human was a sentient being, so did that Aragami girl. In the end, my question and doubt went unanswered.
I lay on my fluffy bed, resting my exhausted mind. My sister slept on my right while the Aragami girl stuck to my left arm. I stayed still for the whole night, pondering over Rei's word.
Dawn came, we crept out from our warm blanket, preparing ourselves for another day of work. My sister left us this morning, she had a meeting with other First Unit, or so she said. I sat on my sofa and rummaged through my knapsack.
"Go...?" The Aragami girl tried to speak.
"Yes, my sister have to attend a meeting." I ruffled her hair. "Here, this is for you." I pulled a piece of Kongou wind pipe from my bag.
"Thank you..." She bowed at me, slowly nibbled her food.
Watched her cheerfully ate her food risen my mood. Maybe Rei was right, this didn't feel so bad, like took care of a toddler. She got amazingly good learning capacity. In just one night, she learned basic word and simple response like thank you or hello. Also, she had great deal of curiosity. She examined, sniffed, and touched everything in my room. Sometimes she stopped moving, carefully listened to people talking in other floor.
[Rena, can you help me with this Link Support Device?] Licca voice came from my headset.
"Of course, I'll be there shortly." I closed our line.
I looked at the Aragami girl. "Now, what should I do..." She wouldn't let me go, it obvious. Surely I couldn't bring her to our workshop either... couldn't I? Whatever,
I took a coat from wardrobe and put it on her. My coat covered most of her body, from neck down to her ankle. Definitely oversized, but better than that ragged flag scrap she wore. Her curiosity kicked in, she sniffed and brushed my coat. She stroked my coat softly, then little bit more firmly, then it became full-blown scratching.
"Itchy?" I asked.
"Itchy!" She vigorously scratched my coat for a while before finally fed up and threw it away.
Half an hour and half wardrobe later, I managed to find alternative. The said alternative was nothing more than few pieces of fabric patched together to extend and fixed her ragged Fenrir flag. Not much, but at least she didn't throw it away. We walked to God Arc storage facility after I finished mending her tattered cloak. Like a clueless child, she stared at every single object she found along our way. Even a simple object like card scanner or speaker was unique enough to enraptured her. Some people eyed us as we passed by, but thankfully nobody cared, only occasional whisper like 'who's that' or 'what's that girl doing in here'.
Scent of oil and metal greeted us when I opened the door to storage facility. The Aragami girl inhaled it deeply, attempted to satisfy her growing curiosity. She childishly jumped around, watched every brightly colored God Arc that hanged on storage facility wall. It was ironic, she giggled and waltzed around, cheerfully played in a room that held their killer's weapon.
I pushed away the door leading to our workshop. "Yo Licca, I'm here."
My eyebrow arched at unusual scene before me. Licca and four other members of maintenance crew tried to lift the metal block. Unless they were God Eaters, they would never be able to lifted it.
"Good, help me flip this Link Support Device. I need to check its base. Okay thanks for your help guys." Licca dismissed her team.
That was easy, after series of tugged, pushed, and turned, the Link Support Device now lay upside down on the ground. She began tinkering with its underside, specifically at large drill that mounted on its center. That large drill used to firmly attach this device to the ground, preventing it from getting knocked over.
"Big..." The Aragami girl commented on its size.
"Huh?" Licca stopped tinkering and watched the Aragami girl behind me. "Who is she?"
"Hm... don't be surprised, kay"
"Okay...?"
"She's an Aragami."
1... 2... 3...
Nothing... No scream, no yell, nothing. Licca wore impassive face, blankly stared at me while crossed her arms.
"Stop pulling my legs." She spoke flatly.
"What? No, I'm serious."
"Serious!" The Aragami girl mimicked my word.
"Prove it." Licca narrowed her eyes at me.
I grabbed a Gboro-Gboro Core from my knapsack. The scent of Gboro-Gboro Core stole her attention. She watched the Core on my hand intensely, then looked at me with her adorable eyes.
"Food!" She chirped happily and raised her fist.
"Go on" I offered the core.
"Yeey..." The Aragami girl gleefully took the core and ate it. She bows after finished her meal. "Thank... you"
"WHAAAT?! How?" Licca moved away.
"Don't ask me, we found her in Tranquil Temple. She's a humanoid sentient Aragami, that's all I know. Oh, don't worry, she doesn't consider human as food."
"How many people know about her?" Licca came closer to Aragami girl.
"Not much, you, Doc Sakaki, and whole First Unit. Anyway, need a hand in assembling it?"
"Hold it, are you sure she's perfectly safe?" Licca circled her, examining her feature.
"Yes, I think. Doc Sakaki guaranteed that she will behave. File a complaint to him if she decided to bite you." I smirked at Licca.
"That's not very reassuring..." Licca mumbled.
"Nahh just messing with you." I patted her back. "So... need some help?"
"Here, read this." Licca handed me a paper.
Another shopping list? No, It was an upgrade request. My sister had the required materials and wanted to upgrade her short blade. "How did you get this?"
"Your sister submitted it two hours ago. Normally this kind of request will be handled by any available crew immediately, but I think you might want to do it by yourself, so I marked it as in progress."
"Thanks Licca, I appreciate it. One more thing, can you look after her while I'm working with this? She won't bite you, I promise." I smirked at her.
"I'll see what I can do."
I closed the door to storage facility behind me. It took quite a long time to convince that Aragami girl to stopped following me. Her sad face robbed half of my will, but it had to be done. There was no way I could take her with me to public places like God Arc production facility. It would only bring unnecessary attention.
The creation monitor hummed to life the moment I dumped her materials into processing container. Carefully, I analyzed and calculated each part then began to work. Bit by bit, the material began to take shape. Titanium flattened into blade edge, after that Cocoon Maiden spine embedded into the blade edge, giving it numbing venom of Cocoon Maiden.
New blade edge hanged on my knapsack as I walked back to storage facility. There I found her God Arc, neatly stored in its protective casing on the wall. I pulled one of Licca's trick, disassemble a God Arc without any tools, and began working.
I returned to our workshop after finished swapping my sister new God Arc part. Another unexpected sight faced me right after I opened the door.
The Aragami girl giggled as Licca rubbed her hair. How did she win over Licca in such short amount of time? I walked closer to them, and got a headbutt on my stomach. The Aragami girl dived at me as soon as she noticed my presence.
"Good... job?" She hugged my waist.
"Yeah, good girl." I patted her head.
"Ehehe."
"She's so adorable. It almost unbelievable, Aragami behave so innocent and naive, like a baby." Licca approached us.
"Yep, I never thought it would be possible either, yet here she is."
"What's her name?" Licca gently nudged her.
"Uh... I never thought of it. Hey what's your name?" I asked at Aragami before me.
"Name!" She mimicked my word.
"As I thought... She doesn't have any."
"That's horrible, you should give her a name." Licca grabbed her welder and resumed her work.
Name? That might work. Surely I couldn't keep called her 'little girl'. Perhaps I should suggested the First Unit to name her next time we met. I rubbed her soft silvery hair. "Want us to name you?"
"Name!"