Chapter 295 ·Turning Point (58)

Turning 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󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄁󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄀󠄁󠄀󠄂Point (58)

"The program turned out well. Your skills seem to keep improving."

"Thanks for the compliment. But I didn't put in that much effort, to be honest. Strictly speaking, I didn't need to. The combat data accumulated in the unit was already enough, so all I had to do was refine it. If you think about it, most of the credit goes to your handling skills."

"Well, I'm pretty good at it."

The two were laughing and chatting. It was Nadia and Licorice.

They weren't just smiling on the surface while slyly tossing knives at each other with their words. It was genuinely wholesome conversation. That was the first time I'd seen them laughing together like that. I'd seen them smile separately, but never in the same space like this.

Usually, Nadia would chatter one-sidedly, Licorice would respond with a snort, and I would be stuck in the middle, mediating. That was the usual routine.

But now Nadia perked her ears and boasted, Licorice accepted it with a quiet chuckle, and I stood a little off to the side, blankly watching them. They were so engrossed in their conversation that they didn't even notice I was watching.

As Nadia was thoroughly inspecting the power loader, which had regained some of its former splendor, she carefully examined a hologram projected by her personal terminal. The hologram display seemed to show the structure of the power loader.

"Licorice, does this part also fall under the system's control range?"

"You're asking if you can control that part independently? At first, yes, but not now. During the last update, that part was integrated."

"Oh, why? It doesn't seem to affect the circuits much."

"Of course, it's because of the physical burden. I know what you're thinking. But you should stop. The sense of unity you get by linking the unit to the bio-circuit—that's the problem."

Licorice explained that controlling the unit via bio-circuit, unlike just manipulating it with the controls, greatly affected physical sensations. She continued her explanation.

"Your bio-circuit is still immature. It was badly damaged and is incomplete. Unless it fully recovers, if you try to control this thruster one by one, it could mix up your senses. Phantom limb pain, or—"

"Eek?!"

Suddenly, Nadia screamed as Licorice poked her in the side. Her tail stood straight up and her fur puffed out. Licorice chuckled.

"You might feel like something else has grown in the same spot as the thruster. The human mind, while it seems robust, has a low threshold for weirdness, so that sensation will never be pleasant."

"Ugh... That even sounds horrible."

"So don't get greedy. Something unexpected could happen, so leave this thruster to the system. Even if you don't control it directly, the system will match your intent as much as possible for you."

"Okay."

Nadia was already rubbing the spot Licorice had poked as if she really felt something had attached there.

Seeing Nadia grimace just at the thought, Licorice finished her explanation with a chuckle. Nadia listened carefully.

'They're really getting along.'

Maybe because my own threshold for strange situations was also low, just as Licorice described, this sight still felt unfamiliar. Not that it was a bad thing, of course. It was good. Really good. Who wouldn't be happy to see friends getting along? It simply felt new to me.

Was it a change in my feelings? I was thinking about it when an engineer from Myosotis approached, holding a terminal.

"Licorice, if you don't mind, could you take a look at this code?"

"Weapon optimization, huh? Is this for the rail cannon?"

"Ah, yes! It's better to reduce the load even a little so we can fire one more shot, right?"

"True. Just upload it to the database for now. The weapons systems have so many variables, so it's easier to look at it after stabilizing the generator first."

"Understood!"

The engineer, who had been nervously watching Licorice, brightened up at her positive answer and returned to his place.

"... Unbelievable."

I muttered without thinking. Now that I saw it, it wasn't just her attitude toward Nadia that had changed—Licorice was being much kinder to others too.

In the past, her barely concealed coldness would have made people shrink away, preventing proper conversation. But now, things had improved.

Had the one-word response parrot evolved? Is this what it means for a person to grow, since she's not literally a parrot?

She wasn't quite outwardly welcoming, but this alone was a huge step forward. I was so moved, I was at a loss for words.

Right then, I felt something tapping at me as I stood there absentmindedly. I shuddered and turned my head to see who it was.

「ヽ(°〇°)ﾉ」

Carry approached me, mouth open wide in a goofy expression, swinging its support arm in a "surprise!" gesture. Normally, I would have played along, but my mind was elsewhere, so I didn't react.

Carry tilted its head in confusion, then quickly tried to pull me along, as if there was something I absolutely had to see, pointing one way and then another.

「( っ•‌ᜊ•‌ )う」

Carry had pointed toward Nadia and Licorice. With a worried look, it mimed a sigh.

"I just saw it too."

「(˶ˊᜊˋ˶)ᐝ」

"They've been like that since yesterday, right? They said they worked together last night, so I guess it started then..."

Carry nodded at my words, making gestures to let me know it helped with the work too.

"You saw it from then? ... So why are you surprised? It's not like you're seeing it for the first time like me."

「ヾ( ·`⌓´·)ﾉﾞ」

Carry complained, arms flailing, upset that they were still behaving that way even after a night's sleep. Apparently, it thought it was a temporary thing and was as shocked as I was. Having seen everything up close, it must have been really surprised.

Before Carry could gesture anything else, it suddenly hid behind me in shock. At almost that exact moment, I too felt someone's gaze pierce me and flinched.

Turning my head, I found a pair of eyes intently staring at me from up close. At some point, Licorice had silently approached. Carry was using me as a shield to avoid her gaze. I felt a jolt of betrayal.

"What are you doing?"

"... Nothing?"

"Hmm..."

Licorice crossed her arms and looked me up and down, alternating glances between me and Carry. Then she spun around.

"If you're not busy, come with me. Since you keep getting distracted, it's better to keep you where I can see you. Leave you alone, and you'll fall into a crevasse or something."

"I'm not that young, you know."

Even an ordinary riverbank was nothing like a crevasse. You'd have to throw yourself in on purpose to fall in one. Was she underestimating me?

"You never listen. And that has nothing to do with age."

"......."

I was dragged away by Licorice. Carry came along too. I dragged it with me as it tried to quietly slip away, pretending to be busy with something else. After a few struggles, it reluctantly gave up and let me pull it along.

Nadia, who had been deeply focused on the data graphs on her terminal, perked up at our approach and raised her head. She waved a hand.

"Hyun-woo, got caught again?"

"I came on my own."

"Doesn't look like it."

Nadia giggled, then handed her terminal to Licorice.

"The code is all applied. To finish optimization, I need to start her up once. I'll get in the cockpit, so can you watch the data graphs? I'll be watching from inside too, but I might miss something."

"Alright."

As Licorice took the terminal, Nadia opened up the power loader's cockpit. With agile movement, she climbed into it. From inside, she beckoned to Carry.

"Carry, you too!"

「(＞д＜)」

Carry swiveled its thrusters and flew over to the cockpit. While it settled in, Nadia spoke again.

"I added extra pins to your seat. Now, even in high maneuvering, you'll shake less."

「(˶〉‎ࠏ〈˶)」

Carry looked delighted, as if that had been a lingering complaint. Soon, Carry settled into its seat and melded with the unit. As Nadia started up the power loader, she worked several buttons and levers.

After a few clicks, she gave us a thumbs up from outside. That meant the unit and system were operating smoothly.

"You can start. I'll keep watching."

- Then I'll begin!

With that signal, the power loader, frozen like a statue, awakened. The generator hummed and each frame began its self-diagnostic, the sound brushing past my ears.

Licorice, checking the hovering holographic windows, entered data into the terminal. I quietly watched her skilled movements. Then Licorice spoke up.

"If you've got something to ask, do it now. This isn't a hard task so I can talk."

"Licorice, you've changed."

"... Is that going to be complicated? Like, 'You've lost your touch' or 'I never thought you'd turn out like this,' or 'I'm totally disappointed,' that kind of thing?"

Licorice, her finger tapping a holographic screen, suddenly started at me. I frantically waved my hands.

"No, no, not at all. I meant it in a good way. I saw you when I came into the storage bay earlier, talking with Nadia and with the others."

"Oh."

"You seemed a lot softer. It surprised me that you changed overnight."

"Well..."

Licorice scratched her cheek sheepishly, then glanced around. Her eyes ended up on me.

"It's thanks to you."

"Me?"

"You said so before. That everyone here is good people."

That was true. But what did that have to do with Licorice changing? Or maybe I did know. To be exact, I'd hoped. I'd hoped Licorice would get along better with others.

But for it to happen so fast, and so well—I hadn't expected that. When I made it obvious how touched I was, Licorice frowned in embarrassment.

"It's not like I changed just because of what you said! I already felt it'd be good to change a little. I'm not that monster. So don't look at me like that."

"I see... All right."

"You have no idea! You're giving me those exact eyes!"

Licorice glared and suddenly raised her voice.

"I really mean it. I always believed in you. I always knew Licorice saying things like 'If you don't expect anything, you can't be betrayed,' or 'I don't like people because they'll betray you at the critical moment,' wasn't because you grew up without parents like I did. You were just awkward with people because you were young. But seeing how you've matured, I'm totally satisfied. It must be why they say environment shapes people."

"That you're being sincere makes it more annoying..."

As I pretended to wipe away tears, Licorice nervously tousled her hair.

"Of course I'm sincere."

"And that makes it even more annoying."

Finishing her work while talking to me, Licorice sent the results to Nadia, then shot me an electric glare. Really, she did look angry, so I backed away awkwardly. Soon Licorice shook her head with a small sigh.

"Nothing's changed that much. Suddenly changing all at once wouldn't be like me. It'd be weird, and above all, I don't think I could change that much, even if I wanted to."

Licorice went on.

"I just let my guard down a bit. I started wondering if I wasn't pushing too hard. Right now, it's tough as hell, but this isn't all there is."

"That's true."

"Later, I'd like to be able to look back and say, 'There were tough times, too,' without any discomfort. Maybe I'll joke about it over drinks or reminisce while gazing up at the starry sky. I just hope the feelings then are more positive than negative."

"That's how it'll be."

With my extra serious voice, Licorice cracked a smile.

"Maybe, like you said, I was influenced by those around me."

Licorice seemed to say she was affected by seeing people walk forward—not dwelling in the past, not stuck in the present, but heading toward the future. She stretched, shaking off her fatigue.

"From your reaction, I guess it's better to change. I used to have a lot of annoying habits, didn't I?"

How did she know that!

Caught off guard by her knowing that secret, I tried to hide my embarrassment, forcing a laugh and responding lightly, as if it meant nothing.

"Haha, well, even now—"

"You're laughing? Do you think I'm joking right now? Even now? Lee Hyun-woo, have you lost your mind?"

"......."

Maybe she was stretching just to interrogate me thoroughly. Caught off guard, I broke out in a cold sweat.

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