Instructions Received

After listening to Mayfly's account, Light Rain fell silent for a moment. "So... your father?"

"He died. Right here." Mayfly's mechanical voice remained calm. "I broke through my directives to find him, but all I saw was his corpse."

"After that, my directive became elimination."

"I'm sorry." Light Rain sighed softly.

But Mayfly showed no reaction. He still seemed to be nothing more than that emotionless defective unit.

"Why were you able to break through your directives?" Light Rain asked.

"Because of the flaw from when I was manufactured... The flaw allowed me to break through my directives, so I came here."

"Because you wanted to save your father?"

"I don't know."

Mayfly shook his head. He had followed in his father's footsteps, seemingly driven by some kind of "instinct."

After hearing that, Light Rain understood.

Perhaps, in a sense, Mayfly's father's research had not failed.

Mayfly truly seemed to possess something akin to human emotions and self-awareness, just as his father had envisioned.

That flaw had made him incomplete, but it had also allowed him to break free of the directives inherent to Mechs.

From another perspective, then, the great invention Mayfly's father had hoped for had succeeded.

It had simply taken far too long, and he had never gotten the chance to see it.

Thinking of this, Light Rain did not press further and disturb Mayfly's thoughts.

"Let's go."

"We'll find you a core. Maybe that can keep you alive."

Light Rain spoke to him.

His exploration objective could be pursued alongside this matter. There was no conflict between them.

Hearing this, Mayfly fell silent for a moment. His flashlight-like eyes turned toward the wreckage of the Mech Hive and lingered there, though it was unclear what he was looking at.

"...All right."

Then, he responded to Light