File 5.9 - A Welcome Smile

Edgar took the next two days off from training. Dick screamed at him for the negligence, but none of it mattered to him. He had to stay at her side. He wanted to be sure he was there when she woke up. Each time before he missed his chance to say what he wanted to her. He wasn’t going to allow the chance to go away.

However, he ended up falling asleep. It happened frequently and he would throw himself awoke when he realized it to check on her. Always she slept each time.

Something pushed on him. He was only lightly asleep. So he noticed it quickly. It threw his head up. He finally saw it. A hand moved. She was awake. “S-Sh-Su…”

“It’s Shizuka,” she replied dryly. She looked around the room trying to get her bearings. ‘A hospital room…’

“…Yeah…” He forgot everything he wanted to say to her. He smiled with relief. Simply being there when she woke was enough for him. The rest seemed pointless.

Shizuka saw the bandages over her body. Parts of her felt sore and tight. She couldn’t move the way she wanted. The relief on Ed’s face drew her towards him. ‘Was he waiting here the entire time? He looks happy, but why?’ Something about the scene felt off to her. She lifted up her hand to Ed’s face. Stiffly, she poked his cheeks. “…you’re real…”

“…Yeah…”

“Why…are you happy?”

“…cuz…”

“…oh…” She didn’t know why, but she seemed to smile a little. Her hand rested on his cheek just being sure. Shizuka repeated it to herself.

Across the compound, the scene of Edgar and Shizuka together in the hospital room played in real time on a small screen on a computer display. It rested propped up in the pilot seat. Doctor Kitawara looked up from his work behind the seat. He stared for a minute at the video for a while. “Excellent, things are progressing smoothly.”

The video closed down. Behind it displayed equations and schematics. Kitawara picked up the computer and sat down in the pilot seat. He flipped through mountains of data on the terminal. Suddenly, he came to a stop. Edgar’s image appeared along with personal data. Simulation data from his training displayed in the corner. “This won’t do. Some stimuli might be needed.” He started to flip through data again.

While searching through files a ‘CLASSIFIED’ stamp appeared on some data. He lowered the computer down to his lap. “The committee’s already made a move. I’m glad to see they aren’t completely useless. This should do perfectly. Just needs the right touch to finish things.” Between his fingers resting on the screen, the name ‘Yokatomo’ appeared.