The Truth About Unit 5
–Inside the Astraea ship–
Kou and Hyoue were sitting cross-legged by the foot of Unit 5.
Dishes that were cooked by Ponko were being brought out one after another. They were also provided sake.
Kurt headed to the Pericles. He went there to reunite with the Kurt Maschinenbau employees. They must be celebrating Kurt’s return right about now.
There were a lot of things Kou wanted to talk about with Hyoue. However, he ultimately decided it would be best to talk to the latter about Unit 5.
Hyoue was unexpectedly happy that he did so.
「I’m sorry, Kou-kun. I know this won’t serve as an excuse, but I truly wasn’t aware of what was going on with Yoshikawa.」
Kou got flustered when Hyoue deeply bowed to him.
「Please wait! You did nothing wrong, Hyoue-san! Please raise your head. That, umm…… I’m sorry about not getting in touch with you for so long as well.」
Kou then started telling Hyoue about what happened to him ever since he was brought to Planet Asia.
He encountered a mysterious cat and came across Unit 5.
Then, he received Development Engineer qualifications from Asia.
「A cat huh? I remember her. She was a dark gray cat Familiar with a face resembling that of a fox, right?」
「Yes! That’s her!」
Master was a Russian Blue. Her coating was actually dark gray, but the cat breed was called Russian Blue for some reason.
Kou was glad that Hyoue had remembered Master.
「She wanted to ask me for help, but unfortunately, there just wasn’t enough time back then. I met her about a few days before the Defense Dome we were previously based in was attacked by the Stones. That’s why she left quite an impression on me.」
Master was searching for a Development Engineer who could awaken Aimer and entrust Astraea to.
Kou continued telling his story. He talked about how he finally reached Astraea.
And then, he rescued Asia with the help of Metal Iris and Storm Hound. He also began to release the technology he obtained to the world.
He also talked about how he went to learn from various Development Engineers.
The second half of Kou’s story was something Hyoue was familiar with as well.
At that time, he wasn’t aware of the issues with Yoshikawa and thought that Kou was purposely avoiding him.
Hyoue finally made up his mind.
He told Kou something that greatly shocked the latter.
「You continue to aim for strengthening Unit 5 who you met in those ruins huh? Thank you, Kou-kun. I’m sure my dear departed grandson Shuji is glad as well.」
Looking at Hyoue who displayed a forlorn smile, Kou became sure that his words weren’t a lie.
「N-No way…… Shuji-san is dead……」
Kou couldn’t believe it. He had previously believed that Shuji was somewhere on Planet Asia as well.
「This is Lanius Unit 5, right? Shuji was actually supposed to pilot it, you know?」
Kou was taken aback and looked up at Unit 5.
「This one was just about to be completed back then. The production of artificial muscles delayed its roll-out. However, a large force of Murders attacked before we could finish working on it, and we ended up having difficulties evacuating. Shuji and some company employees boarded Silhouettes in order to buy us more time.」
「That’s……」
「Shuji was really looking forward to Unit 5’s completion. He always talked about it during the whole production process. Of course, he often talked about you as well.」
「Shuji-san……」
「Unfortunately, I was fighting in a different location that day. Apparently, he fought alone in order to let others escape.」
「That’s just like him.」
「By the time I got back, there was nothing but a Mantis-shaped wreckage and Shuji’s destroyed Silhouette. The MCS was crushed. I wasn’t able to confirm what was inside. Even if he did end up getting captured by Murders, he wouldn’t have had much time left. I couldn’t just abandon the rest for the sake of a faint hope that my grandson managed to survive.」
The two were silent for a while.
Then Hyoue began to speak again.
TAKABA’s high-performance machine at that time, the Radian, found it difficult to match a Mantis-type in combat.
「Three days passed. A large number of Murders came again. We finally decided to completely abandon the Defense Dome. It was a fierce battle. It was at that time. Unit 5 moved on its own and fought Murders with its greatsword. It was as if Shuji was possessing it.」
「Unit 5 moved on its own in order to protect people…… I’ve heard of that before……」
It was something Kou heard when he first arrived on Planet Asia.
A Silhouette with a story behind it.
「You did? It fought akin to a frenzied beast. It continued to cut Murders down even when half of its face was smashed.」
「But I also heard that Silhouettes with special issues like that are usually discarded.」
「That’s right. Silhouettes that move on their own are either discarded or have their MCS replaced. An MCS affects a human pilot’s five senses. There was no time to repair Unit 5, and I couldn’t afford to divide my attention either. However, I just didn’t want to simply discard it. I asked for it to be stored in the underground junkyard before we escaped. It was unlikely that the Murders will come all the way there after all.」
Hyoue looked nostalgically at Unit 5.
「Huckebein made it in time to rescue Kurt. However, Lanius couldn’t make it to rescue Shuji. Unit 5 must have been very mortified because of that. He must have wanted to fight alongside Shuji. Unit 5, you becoming Kou’s partner machine shouldn’t be a simple coincidence. You must have chosen him, right?」
Hyoue spoke to Unit 5 as if it was a person.
Kou also felt the same about it.
「……Unit 5 said that he still wanted to fight. I felt like he’d called out to me. He wanted me to use him.」
「There’s no doubt. This guy should have called out to you, or perhaps it was Shuji. ……Or perhaps both of them did.」
「You’re right. The two of them called out to me and helped me.」
Kou bowed his head toward Unit 5.
He couldn’t help but shed tears.
「Shuji-san…… Thank you very much……」
Kou truly believed that it was thanks to Master and Unit 5 that he was able to survive until the present.
And when he heard that Unit 5 was supposed to get piloted by Shuji, various memories flashed in his mind.
「Fate is an amazing thing. Thank you, Kou-kun. Thank you for crying for Shuji. I and Shuji truly missed spending time with you.」
Tears welled up in Hyoue’s eyes as well.
Under the feet of Unit 5, the two reminisced their memories of a certain young man.
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