NOVEL NEXT chapter 0
0 – Prologue – The Choice of the Machine
[Activation of the Lockdown Protocol. All barriers are closed.]
“Taehyuk, sir.”
In the house where the red-tinged lights flickered,
In my home where the entrance, windows, everything, were blocked by thick steel,
“Please, sir, lower the weapon in your hand.”
With trembling hands, I aimed the gun at the comrade in front of me.
Unable to bring my finger to the trigger.
“Step aside, Ilia.”
Once designed and created for war, a robot.
Now, reunited as a cohabiting android.
Until recently, a lover.
Now,
Now…
Something that has allied with those destroying the city.
“If you intend to return to the battlefield once again, I will stop you.”
“It’s my choice, Ilia. You have no right to stop me, and you know it.”
“No, I have enough reasons to stand in your way, Taehyuk.”
Reaching slowly towards the corridor leading to the door,
Facing the eyes that met mine several times,
I still couldn’t release the aim at the fellow approaching me.
“Master Taehyuk ordered me to prioritize my safety.
Also, he requested me to find my happiness, together.
I faithfully followed those orders.”
“I wished for you to live as Ilia, not to engage in such actions -“
“Yes, as you just mentioned, I simply followed orders.”
The eyes turned red, no, in those visual sensors, there seemed to be something unknown to me.
If one were to consider it human, that face, which could only be described as insane, was smiling.
Despite being a machine.
The one who once awkwardly raised the corners of their mouth, now seemed to be bursting into hearty laughter.
So naturally.
With a face that you wouldn’t think was mechanical, they were pulling me in.
“I am here thanks to Master Taehyuk’s survival.
Even the reactivation after the operation halt during the Incheon training mission,
Understanding the feeling of receiving affection,
Knowing what the process of finding happiness is like,
Above all, the pleasure that comes from freely choosing something,
All the precious data – no, experiences that I wouldn’t have gained if Master Taehyuk hadn’t survived.”
As I couldn’t raise my hand to the trigger to the very end,
As I reminisced, slowly letting go of my hand from the weight of the gun,
He approached calmly and demonstrated what was his on top of my hand.
The heavy lump of iron fell to the floor.
“I have confirmed that the emotion called happiness for me is produced from the communication with Taehyuk.
However, I have also learned that there are too many factors in this city that hinder that emotion.
So, for my happiness,
I merely took action.”
From beyond the firmly closed barrier, the sound of explosions echoed.
People’s screams and bullets pounded on the closed iron gate.
“To eliminate all obstacles seriously threatening Taehyuk’s survival and my happiness, I have made a choice.”
But those did not reach me.
The firmly closed barriers seemed as if they would never open again, not allowing even a single ray of light to seep through.
“I would appreciate it if you could understand.”
And so, he pressed his lips against mine.
In the darkened room.