"KENT, how are they doing? Are we getting clean data from those two?"
"They nearly sunk too deep at one point, but I managed to pull them back."
"I see. Still, XX76573 really lucked out finding such a good 'mate'.
A shame she won’t be able to bear children in the end.
Let’s make the most of her, for data’s sake."
"Yeah… She was designed as an XX-type to help combat population decline.
I always hoped she’d have a normal home, live a happy life..."
"Come on, don’t be na?ve.
This model gets ‘recalled’ after three births.
Cancer risk’s unavoidable with them."
"I know\... but still…"
"The government doesn’t care about the retirement plan for the ‘gifts’ the Stork delivered."
Back in the LABO observation room, I couldn’t hear this conversation.
But that professor… something about him felt off.
"So, have you moved on to the final experiment yet?"
"No, not yet."
"What, having second thoughts now?
Still treating her like a living being when you’re about to sever the brain from the body?"
"XX76573 will transition to the artificial skull soon.
Access to the brainstem is stable…
Data extraction sensitivity is also optimal."
"That’s more like it. Progressing well, huh?"
"Yes."
"Good work, young researcher.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
This is a precious sample for the Magokoro project.
Stick with it, and maybe we’ll make you the lab director someday."
"Thank you, sir."
---
I stepped out for a break, partly to rest, partly to escape.
Researchers were bustling everywhere.
"Vitals! Call them out!"
"BP 92/54, Pulse 48, Temp 34.5!"
"Get the Ringer’s!
Keep her stable a little longer!"
MAI was still there.
They’d told me she wouldn’t make it…
But she was still fighting to live.
Somehow, I felt relieved.
"What should we talk about next, I wonder."
It might be the last time.
But MAI was still here.
"You really shouldn’t be in this room."
Suddenly, KENT appeared.
"She’s beautiful, isn’t she?"
"We’re… not in that kind of relationship."
"Even so.
You, at least, deserve to see her.
In the end, you’re the only one who can send her off properly."
Below a large observation window, MAI lay on the surgical table.
Her head was obscured—still mid-procedure.
But her young, graceful body was visible.
"Life… it stays beautiful, even in its final moments."
"…Yes, it does."
"Give her a warm farewell.
Let her know she was loved."
"I will."
"As her attending physician, I want to be there for her until the end."
"…Please take care of her."
"Make her heart happy, at the very end…
That’s what this whole project is for."
"…Okay."
Nothing made sense anymore.
This was “memory therapy” for a peaceful death?
But I just… wanted to stay with MAI.
That much was true.
[KENT: Alright then, time to go.
Be sure to give her those flowers.]
Once more, I went to see MAI.
It felt like the last time.
"SHIN, you’re here.
Look—the city lights from the Galactic Railroad!"
"Beautiful."
"Hmm? You mean me?"
"Yeah. You."
I held MAI in my arms.
She didn’t pull away.
"Being like this with you, SHIN… it’s been my dream."
"I don’t want to let go.
Not ever."
I couldn’t lift my face.
We kissed.
"I don’t want to part from you.
You said we’d be together forever."
"Yeah. Me too."
[Oxytocin detected. Subject is at ease.]
[KENT: So… she’s happy then.]
We stayed like that for a while.
Peaceful. Warm.
Time slowed down.
…NO ONE ELSE CAN HAVE HIM.
What?
MAI’s expression suddenly hardened.
The tracks twisted violently into a spiral.
"We’ll be together forever, right?"
The train started circling the loop endlessly.
She was trying to trap me in an infinite loop.
…SHIN LOVES ME. I LOVE… SH…IN…
The train kept spinning on the same rail.
Forever… with… SHIN…
[KENT: SHIN! Talk to her!
If this goes on, you’ll be trapped with her.]
"MAI, don’t worry.
I’m here.
I’ll always be here with you.
So you don’t have to hold on so tightly… okay?"
"Aaah… it hurts…
My head… it’s splitting…"
[Norepinephrine detected. Brain’s releasing it for self-defense.]
I held MAI tightly.
It was all I could do.
Suddenly, the world glitched.
The sky cracked apart.
"Ringer’s! Damn it!
Just a little more—hold on!"
Faint voices reached me.
[KENT: MAI’s using the last of her strength just to be with you.]
I get it, MAI.
This is goodbye, isn’t it?
In an instant, everything went black.
MAI vanished.
---
[Bzzzt—crk—SHI…N, can you… hear… me?
Machine’s acting up… Hold on, we’ll reestablish—]
The scene returned.
A pink, fluffy world.
Like some kind of pastel amusement park.
"Look, SHIN!
Isn’t it fun?"
"MAI?"
"Of course, it’s me.
I’ve been with you this whole time."
Everything around us was soft and pink.
But this… was MAI’s world.
The fountain water ran red.
Scissors and surgical tools peeked from behind plush decor.
Red cotton swab flowers lined the paths.
…Lidocaine… pain… please… let… go…
A faint voice.
Operating room chatter?
"Isn’t it fun?
Everything feels so fluffy..."
"And look… blue fingers coming down…
Piercing through the sky…
Isn’t that fun?"
MAI laughed innocently.
But there was no joy in her laughter.
