Story Reader / Arcade Anima / Land of Bliss / Story
The cave-in happens before she can uncover more of the truth. Hush slams into her from the side—and that is the last thing Vera remembers before she falls unconscious.
She was probably struck.
She struggles within her M.I.N.D. as if churning through boiling seawater. Against such overwhelming pain, she cannot break free no matter how hard she tries.
Ouch...
Her previously injured arm throbs with excruciating pain.
Maintenance... Hurry...
She can faintly hear Hush calling to her, but she struggles to wake up. She needs emergency treatment.
In her daze, she slips back to the day she was "recycled" by Kurono—that day seemed to hurt just as much.
...What happened... that day?
...Saving at least one would be something. Keeping this one safe would be enough.
Hey, Average Joe. You're an Attacker-type, right?
Yeah... No need to rub it in, I'm an Attacker-type, but you fight better than—
She detaches her arm.
But you...
I'm reaching the limits of my battle capabilities. I'm a Support-type by design, after all. You can still fight if you've got your structure intact, right?
...If I have one "surviving" teammate, I won't have to hear the nickname "Death" anymore.
Use my arm to get past the defense and leave! Leave like you had planned to in the beginning!
Stop leaving me with pain. It hurts deeper than the pain in my receptors right now...
Ouch...
Something seems to have rushed to her side and begins dragging her away slowly.
...What is it...
Don't drag me away...
Ouch...
It hurts...!!!
Grrrrr—
Ah! I-I'm, s-sorry!
Vera wakes up to Hush apologizing beside her.
You...
S-sorry! D-danger... y-you... surrounded, surrounded...
I-I can only... I can only...
Hush describes the situation incoherently, and Vera cannot extract any useful information from her frantic words.
I...
BOOM—
A deafening explosion erupts right next to Vera's audio module, and Hush immediately throws herself on top of Vera.
Debris flies through the air, smashing against Hush's frame and leaving several wounds.
Mh-hm!
A few survivors run over when the dust settles, coughing and attempting to drag the two Constructs away from the blast center, but their strength fails them after a few tugs.
Why did they use explosives again...
Are the Corrupted... getting closer...
Vera barely manages to look around. They have clearly retreated to the deepest part of the underground fortress, and everything around them is in complete disarray.
Why is it just you here... Where's Hey...?
Just run if the breakout failed... Don't come back for me... Idiot...
D-don't, speak. Captain, safe.
You were, hurting. Screamed, just now.
Hush points at Vera's shoulder before gesturing to the few maintenance components remaining in her arms.
I-I, heal.
You're an attacker. You don't know **** about healing... Aargh!
Pant... pant...
P-pain, go away...
Go away...
Hush, who has been trying to comfort Vera, suddenly collapses, but Vera swiftly catches Hush with her other arm.
Are you alright—
...
Only then does Vera notice the countless wounds covering Hush's back.
The gaping hole is a horrifying sight. Vital fluid streams down her back, pooling into a small puddle beside Vera.
Hush's injuries are just as severe as Vera's.
Tsk! Why the hell are you looking after me when you're so badly injured yourself?!
Because... y-you, said it hurts.
Hush tries her best to lift her head and gives Vera a smile, and her equally battered bot also starts to make noise again.
<i>"Because you said it hurts."</i>
The silly smile Vera has mocked countless times before somehow manages to stir her heart this time.
What does my pain have to do with you?
Whether I live or die is none of your business...!
Remember this! We're just teammates! A Kurono teammate amounts to nothing!
Do you know what happened to all my previous teammates—
<i>"Don't think about it, don't... We won't end up like your previous teammates, I promise."</i>
<i>"Captain told me that Vera sometimes speaks harshly when she's feeling anxious..."</i>
<i>"It's alright, Vera. The breakout failed, but everyone survived. We'll get another chance."</i>
...Both of you... What the hell are you mumbling about?!
Exhausted, Hush nestles herself against the warm, crimson color of Vera's hair, tightly gripping Vera's battle-worn hand.
<i>"Don't think about those bad things anymore... Vera... Vera."</i>
<i>"Let's talk about something else while we wait for captain to rescue us, okay?"</i>
...Hah...
Vera closes her eyes, hurt and irritated—she realizes that this has happened before. Her two teammates always stir up emotions she cannot express... like that piece of salted fish she could not swallow nor spit out.
But she does not think it is a bad thing. She has even grown accustomed to it.
Enduring the dull pain in her arm, Vera stops her complaints.
She lets Hush lie against her red hair while she presses hard on the gaping wound in Hush's back, quietly cursing and hoping for Hey to show up quickly. But the vital fluid still flows uncontrollably between her fingers.
Fine... I'll do as you say. We can talk about something else. Anything, okay?
<i>"Okay..."</i>
<i>"I heard you cry out in pain..."</i>
<i>"Can you... describe what pain feels like?"</i>
...Huh?
<i>"I don't know what pain is... but I don't want to hear you say you're hurting."</i>
...
Hush closes her eyes and nestles further into Vera's arms.
Vera watches helplessly as the moth before her beats its wings and throws itself into the scorching flames time and time again for the sake of its "teammates" and their unlikely "survival".
Hush's pain module is nearly non-functional—her earlier oblivious demeanor stemmed from this absence of pain.
Vera has long understood that this is exactly why Kurono has valued and exploited "Moth"—this girl is perfect as a vanguard on the frontline.
Yet an inexplicable rage rises from deep within Vera's chest.
Why is that...?
Perhaps Vera's resolve also begins to waver in this moment. The thought of "leaving Kurono" begins to take root in her mind... and she even considers taking others with her.
...
No one knows that Vera once tightly embraced a tiny moth in a deep, dark underground fortress.
Pain is perhaps... the most memorable sensation.
It was what kept me going before I joined the Special Force... before I met the two of you.
...
Do you hear me, Moth?
Live...
...
Their combat supplies are running out. The breakout attempt has been a failure.
Hush slips into hibernation mode.
Vera whistles the "homebound" tune on behalf of the gravely wounded Hush. Hearing the signal, Hey has no choice but to stop fighting and fall back, escorting the refugees deeper into safety as they withdraw.
Everyone's face is filled with despair. They all know that every passing moment after the failed breakout counts down to their inevitable end.
<color=#ff4e4eff>42 days</color> have passed since Group 013 of the Kurono Special Force arrived at Seaside Town.
...
Carrying Hush on her back, Vera walks alongside the evacuees.
Vera does not reveal the tracking device she is clutching in her palm, and no one notices it either.
—That is something she tore off a Corrupted during the breakout attempt.
Location markers blink on the web-like interface. No matter how much Vera wishes she had misread it, the indicated position is unmistakably this underground fortress.
...
Despite how much Vera wants to end it all—the distrust and toil underground are far from over.
