One day earlier — Star Ring, Deep Space Base No. 2.
Mesha sat on a wide platform beside the shipyard, feeling the pressure of the colossal vessel looming in front of her.
Its metal hull gleamed silver-white, etched with intricate patterns—like a sleeping beast waiting to wake.
The platform was empty. Now and then, an engineering robot or a materials cart rolled by, orderly and indifferent.
Nothing here was designed for human comfort. Even her seat was just a stack of metal pipes.
She was so deep in thought that she didn’t notice someone step up beside her until a soft voice called out:
“Hi! Mesha.”
Mesha flinched and turned quickly.
“Hi… Little White.”
“What are you thinking about?” Little White asked, dropping down beside her.
“Nothing.” Mesha smiled politely.
“Where’s Linneya? Not with you?”
“She’s on the New Sunflower,” Mesha said, pointing at the giant ship. “She said she wanted to wander around alone.”
“Oh. Lonely?”
“Not really. It’s just…” Mesha hesitated. “I don’t think I’ve adjusted yet.”
“Yeah… This place is cold,” Little White said, leaning back with her hands behind her head. “Dead. No day, no night. I don’t like it either.”
“It’s not that I dislike it,” Mesha said carefully. “Edean doesn’t have day or night either, and deep underground there’s a different kind of pressure—like you can’t see a future.”
“But being moved so suddenly to someplace this open, this far away… it doesn’t feel real.” She let out a small breath. “It’s like I’m dreaming.”
“Oh, it’s not just the silence, then,” Little White said. “Stuck all day with robots who don’t even have expressions—yeah, that can get depressing.”
“If you want to talk, you can always come to me.”
Mesha’s smile softened. She seemed to relax a little.
“It’s been okay.” She glanced toward the distant hangars. “They’re easy to communicate with. Especially when I talk to Wyatt and Merc, I can barely tell the difference from humans.”
“Of course,” Mesha added, “you’re the best person to talk to.”
“Ha. Then let’s talk.” Little White nudged her lightly. “What was your life like before this? Day to day.”
“Mm…” Mesha searched for words. “Honestly, it was a bit dull.”
“Where I lived was tiny—space for one bed. My world was basically just my room and the medical levels. The work itself was straightforward: treating patients, doing checks, writing reports.”
“But after Phantom Forge infiltrated, Edean had waves of wounded. Graham reopened an abandoned rehabilitation center in the under-tower city, and I was moved there.”
“After that, every day was nonstop.”
“So you’ve been working a long time, then…” Little White started, then stopped. The question she almost asked—how many times Mesha had been reborn—caught in her throat, and she swallowed it back.
“Let me ask it this way,” Little White said instead. “Those wounded… do they all follow Graham without question? Nobody doubts him?”
“Most people worship him like a god,” Mesha said. “After he saved Edean, they believed anything he said.”
“I’ve only met a handful who had doubts about Julian’s so-called betrayal. Even then, they never dared say it plainly.”
“Do you think those people are worth saving?” Little White asked.
Mesha thought for a moment.
“Humans are complicated,” she said. “A thousand faces for a thousand people. Most just want to survive. The truth isn’t important to them.”
“If the one in power serves their interests, they support him. Only a small minority will hold to principles and justice.”
“So whether they’re worth saving… I honestly can’t say.” She looked down at her hands. “But the children and the embryos—those are worth saving. No question.”
“That makes sense,” Little White said quietly.
Mesha glanced at her. “Can I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
“Have you… ever considered what happens if we fail?”
“Fail?”
“If we can’t bring Lord Julian back,” Mesha said. “What then?”
“We haven’t,” Little White said, shaking her head. “We haven’t considered it.”
“But you’re facing a force several times your size,” Mesha said, eyes wide. “If it were me, I wouldn’t sleep. You’re not afraid? You don’t even plan an escape route?”
“Robots don’t get afraid,” Little White said. “You might not understand how they think.”
“They’re awakened, yes, but the old habits are still there. They only know one thing: give everything to the mission in front of them.”
“As for what comes next?” She shrugged. “We’ll deal with it when we get there.”
“And you?” Mesha asked suddenly. “You used to be human, didn’t you?”
“How do you know?” Little White blinked. After a few seconds, she frowned. “Did Soren tell you? Or Garrick?”
“Neither.” Mesha smiled. “A hunch. Garrick only told me you were one of the greatest gladiators.”
“That’s… obvious?” Little White looked embarrassed.
“My hunches are usually right.” Mesha’s smile turned playful. “So what made you willing to give up being human—to turn yourself into a gladiator for people’s entertainment?”
“Can we… not talk about that?” Little White said, voice tightening.
“Oh—sorry.” Mesha hurried to back off.
She tried to change the subject, but couldn’t think of one. They sat in silence for several minutes.
Finally, Little White spoke anyway.
“For revenge.”
“Re… revenge?”
“Yeah.” Little White’s gaze went distant. “My father was a biologist too. Like yours.”
“When I was fourteen, my whole family was murdered—my seven-year-old sister, my three-year-old brother. I hid in a closet and saw everything.”
“Afterward, the killer set the house on fire. I couldn’t escape either.”
“That’s… horrible,” Mesha whispered, covering her mouth.
“My father’s colleague, Wesley, dragged me out,” Little White continued. “By then, only my brain was still alive.”
“I had a choice: die, or take revenge. I chose revenge.”
“With the one clue I had, I tracked it all the way to Evil Desire Island—into the gladiator trials.”
“I fought match after match. I got stronger. Somehow I even ended up as one of the Seven Demon Kings.”
“In the end… I got my revenge.”
As she spoke, Little White’s expression grew more and more strained.
“I’m sorry,” Mesha said quickly. “I didn’t mean to drag you back into it.”
“But… you’re incredible. That took so much courage. If it were me, I would’ve chosen death.”
“Back then, Evil Desire Island might have been the most vicious place on the planet.”
Seeing Little White’s state, Mesha opened her arms. “Hug?”
…
***
A week after the attack on Twinmoon Bay —
Edean, Conference Room, Level 501.
A young man who had never appeared here before sat across from Soren and Graham.
He looked seventeen or eighteen at most, but the maturity and darkness in his eyes didn’t match his age at all.
If Little White had been there, she would’ve been furious—because the boy resembled her greatest enemy: Barnett, the man Soren had personally shot and killed.
Soren lifted a wineglass with his clumsy mechanical arm and handed it to the youth.
“Hi, Dr. Barnett.” He smiled. “You’ve worked hard lately. Staying on the clone level every day—must’ve been lonely, huh?”