At the Edge of the Isle

Kōrō lead Himeko to a corner at the edge of Olyhymna, where water fed into an artificial river that led into the frontier. Its largest city, Terminus, was minuscule on the horizon, almost blending in with the thick clouds that surrounded its tallest peaks. Still, the presumably holograms and soft light constructs surrounding it glowed bright blue through the opaque clouds.

Himeko wondered what life was like there, on the precarious boundary that separated places like Olyhymna and New Urania from the irradiated wastes left behind from the Stars of the Apocalypse. The frontier cities were cities that existed partially without the Takamagahara Protocol, and all she had heard of them was that they were just as precarious as their location. Still, though, she hoped that they would survive, with or without the Protocol, so that the boundary would continue to be pushed back, and eventually the whole world would flourish once again.

The sound of rocks clacking against each other jostled Himeko from her thoughts, and she turned around to see what Kōrō was doing. He grinned sheepishly as she looked around. He was setting up a picnic.

“Oh,” she whispered.

“Do you not like it?” he asked, sitting down and crossing his legs as he pulled out all manner of things from the basket – crackers and fruits and cheese and meat and more – and neatly arranged them in a circle in the center. The basket was set aside, level with the drop from Olyhymna to the frontier, and Himeko ran her fingers over its course, painted texture.

“No, that's not it at all! It’s just so nice,” Himeko exclaimed, flustered. “I didn't expect it. Thank you.”

“I wanted it to be a surprise. Today just happened to be the perfect day for it, though we’ll have to head back to New Urania once we’re done or my dad will kill me.” Laughing, Kōrō pulled out two canned drinks, popped open their tabs, and propped them up against his and Himeko’s knees. Pink dusted her cheeks, and she felt warm despite the cold of the drinks. Their knees were almost touching.

She picked hers up as a distraction, but flushed further as she saw its labeling, taking a sip and looking away. “You remembered my favorite green tea.”

“It wasn’t hard to,” giggled Kōrō, rummaging through his bag. “You’re always drinking it unless Yuutsuyu hands you a juice box!”

“I didn’t like tea in my first life. I found it bitter at best, and tasteless at worst, especially green tea. Because it’s so fragile, good quality tea was one of the things thought to be impossible after the bombs ravaged the world. It wasn’t until your relative, Yoshita, handed me a can just like this one and told me to give it a try that I started enjoying it, though now looking at the label…I wonder if that’s because of the copious amounts of sugar in it, hehe.”

“It’s my dad’s favorite, too. I swear, he drinks it like water! It’s way too sweet for me.”

“Hehe, so you’re the only one in your family breaking the mold?”

“When it comes to actually drinking water, yes! Otherwise, we’re cut from the same cloth. They’re all hard light architects and there’s nothing else I’d rather be doing.”

Himeko popped a cracker lathered in goat cheese into her mouth. “You know, I was one of the pioneers of hard light, but I could never actually use it. That credit all went to Yoshita, but of every person I ever wielding it…I don’t think any were as beautiful as yours.”

Kōrō’s eyes went wide. A light blush smattered his fair face, framed in by his wispy blue hair. It made him look quite pretty.

“Hehe, Himeko, you’re too nice,” he said softly, tilting his face towards the radiant sun beginning to dip into the sky. “But although I appreciate it, I know I have a lot left to learn and more improvements to stride for. We can’t just grow complacent because someone complimented us.” He hummed to himself for a brief moment. “There was something I wanted to ask you.”

Himeko’s heart sped up besides her better judgement. Could this be…? “Yes?”

“What actually happened a few weeks ago?”

Ah. Her heart stuttered into a low thrum, and she was crestfallen when she pulled her ball-jointed knees to her chest. “I had a fight with someone, someone very important to me, and I told them I hate them.”

“…Oh. Is that how you really feel?”

“I don't think so? I don't know? It’s all so confusing. I never meant to say what I said, though. Its like it all just welled up out of me and poured out.”

“Then why don't you apologize?”

Himeko hugged her knees closer to her chest. “I don't think I’m ready to. I don’t think they'll accept it, and I can't face that.”

“Even if they don't accept it, you should still say it for their sake and yours. You’ll never move forward if you let it just sit forever, and you’ll always regret never fixing the relationship you lost.”

She peaked at Kōrō from behind her knees and hair, shying away once she noticed that the glowing parts of her eyes and cheeks were washing his in a dull blue glow. “Are you speaking from experience?”

“Maybe,” he said, enigmatically, his lips curling softly at their ends. “And if I am, maybe I’ll tell you about it one day.”

“’One day….’ That’s quite far off, isn’t it? What if I’m not interested anymore?”

“Then, to keep you interested in that, I’ll just have to keep myself interesting enough for you to keep me around, hehe~”

✦✦✦

“Angel,” whispered Himeko, shivering from the cold of the Ministry after she knocked and the doors opened to reveal the robot peaking out between them. It looked at her with an oddly human expression. The sun had already set, casting the whole building in sharp and dark blues and purples, and the rotating cornucopia had slowed to the point that its glittering elements were only a stagnant crown. “Can you take me to the Cube of Olyhymna?”

“For an esteemed guest such as yourself, Lady Zaiyabōto? Certainly. Follow me,” Angel murmured. After closing its eyes, it opened the door fully and offered Himeko a smooth plastic hand. She laid it in its palm and she was quickly swept inside as gears churned the door closed behind her.

The cold was even more biting inside. Devoid of organic life from the workday being over, the only sounds were the low hum of machinery and the steps of the two inorganic lives walking side-by-side. The sparkling walls reflected the blue and gold glow of Angel’s body.

Himeko followed close behind and her heels clicked rapidly as she tried to catch up with the robot. “Angel, who made you?”

“Hm? I’m the creation of Master Asaumi Yoshita. I was made to be his assistant following the ‘death’ of your original body.” It replied, opening the door to the hallway to the cube.

Himeko couldn’t parse how exactly that made her feel, so she instead continued indulging her curiosity.

“So, you’ve been around as long as Shusoin has?”

“Yes, although I am younger than her by precisely seven years. I was the one who recommended her to the position of our Cube’s caretaker.”

Himeko stopped walking. “You…recommended her? Why?”

“Madam Shusoin was the closest person to my master before he took her position. It may be an unintended programming error for one such as myself to feel emotions, but I thought it would only be right if one such as himself was taken care of by someone who not only could follow him into the future, but also shared his wishes. It didn’t hurt that I could trust that Madam Shusoin would not allow me to fall unfairly into disrepair.”

“His wishes?”