A World That Treats You Gently / Wings of Meltdown

"..."

What did he really think of himself?

Lin Mo silently had Prometheus end his call and instructed, "You and Hua should continue training. I expect to be back tonight."

"Eh? O-okay..."

It took Lin about half an hour to get everything arranged. Most of the people he knew seemed to think he had taken the wrong medicine, especially when Kevin looked at him as if to say, "You've finally gone insane." That left him even more silent.

Elysia was out on a mission today, saving him the trouble of dealing with her endless questions. Mobius was as usual. With a capable sla... assistant in the lab, Lin barely needed to help with anything other than cooking. Other than her experiments, she was not particularly fond of Lin either, so that was easy enough. The newly acquainted Vill-V, on the other hand... occasionally called Lin over to help test some bizarre equipment. Today, she had another "Girl Machine 2.0" that she wanted his help with.

A meaningless name, a meaningless 2.0, and a meaningless request involving Prometheus. It was Vill-V's incomprehensible style from head to toe.

"Oh my, you're heading out? Fine, fine. Then can you leave Number One behind? Don't worry, nothing will go wrong."

I'll stay. You go on your "date."

Prometheus had unexpectedly taken the initiative. Since that was the case, Lin transferred Prometheus into the terminal Vill-V had prepared. He glanced at the "Girl Machine 2.0" covered by a black cloth, but could not see what was underneath.

It was rather short, only reaching Lin's neck, and did not look very wide either. That only made him more curious about what it really was.

But the moment Vill-V got Prometheus, she immediately chased Lin out. "If you're not staying, then don't look. Go take care of your own business."

After closing the door, Vill-V walked over to the terminal and said to Prometheus inside, "Number One, won't you consider my suggestion? Like installing a particle accelerator cannon..."

"..."

"Fine. You really are like Lin in this regard. Whenever you don't want to answer something, you just ignore it."

Vill-V smiled lightly. "Then let's begin—another great invention by Miss Vill-V!"

A World That Treated People Gently

"Hello, Mei."

"We meet again, Eden."

Mei could only squeeze two words from her mind to describe the singer standing gracefully in the hall: dignified.

Eden and Su were among the few steady personalities among the MOTH Heroes. Even Hua could hardly be considered sufficiently composed. Compared to the Fu Hua of fifty thousand years later, she was currently closer to being introverted than reserved.

Her reddish-brown hair spread elegantly behind her head, while her dark golden eyes, like the red-and-gold embellishments on her clothes, gave off a sense of lavish yet not excessive beauty.

She looked like a woman who had stepped out of the works of medieval artists, filled with the air of history and art. Even her outstanding appearance seemed insignificant beneath her temperament.

Mei could somewhat understand why the portrait hanging in the lounge was of Eden.

"Are you alone?" Mei looked around. Other than this beautiful woman, she did not see any other MOTH Heroes. Naturally, Lin and Klein were nowhere to be seen either.

"Lin was here just now."

"Him again..." Mei had been hearing that name rather frequently lately, yet she never saw him in person. He was everywhere, yet nowhere at all.

Lin had spoken with Eden very few times. Though it could not compare to Sakura, who barely spoke at all, Eden was indeed the person he spoke with least aside from Sakura. He talked more often with several of the male MOTH Heroes.

Perhaps they had fewer common topics because they worked in different fields.

That piqued Mei's interest. She asked, "What were you talking about just now?"

"We were discussing my debut work." Eden poured a glass of richly colored red wine. The purplish-red liquid swirled through the stemmed glass, elegant and refined.

She smiled faintly, raised the glass, and took a small sip.

"Your work? Lin understands art too?" Mei had not expected that to be their topic. "Strange... how does that helmet guy know a little about everything?"

Eden only tasted a little before setting down her glass and folding her hands before her. "No, Mei. Lin does not understand art. He simply enjoys the sensation of sound."

"And Lin's versatility is related to his past life. Compared to Pardo, Lin had a happier life, but he still grew up alone and without relying on others. That is probably why he ended up seeming like someone who can do everything."

A trace of pity for someone flickered through Eden's golden eyes, but it soon vanished. That person did not need anyone's sympathy. He had never complained about such "small matters."

"Alone... do you mean he was an orphan?"

This was the first time Mei had heard about Lin's past. Only then did she realize that Lin probably had not always been like this. What had his past been like?

"Yes. Lin did not grow up in an orphanage. He supported himself until he joined Fire Moth."

A child supporting himself until he joined Fire Moth.

How much bitterness and hardship was contained in that short sentence?

Mei's past had also undergone a major turning point at one stage, dealing a blow to her worldview. But compared to Kiana and Lin's childhoods, she could, in a sense, even be called fortunate.

Lin... was that why he treated people so coldly?

"You must be thinking Lin became this way because of his childhood, Mei." Eden took another sip of wine. Rather than drinking it, she seemed to be smelling it. Each time, she only wet her lips with a tiny amount, yet the wine in her glass disappeared quickly.

Mei frowned. "Isn't that the case?"

"Mei, I said earlier that Lin and I were discussing my debut work, didn't I?"

"Yes."

"The reason Lin brought it up was because he used to be my fan."

"Huh? A fan?" Mei was startled by that title.

That guy, who always spoke as though everyone owed him eight million and wore an expression that required Level Eight Light Signal Language to understand, had once been a fan who waved glow sticks and shouted from the audience?

No, wait. Eden was not that kind of singer, was she?

"Before he joined Fire Moth, he often attended my concerts. So do you think he was like this back then?"

"Now that you mention it, that does feel very strange..."

If Lin were to comment on a song now, there would probably only be two answers: either "Stop bothering me," or "Boring."

"I only learned through Elysia that Lin used to be my fan, and how 'ordinary' he once was."

Ordinary?

Mei was confused, but Eden no longer seemed interested in continuing the conversation. She drained the rest of her wine in one gulp, a blush rising beside her cheeks.

"When will Lin finally accept the happiness of being 'small'?"

"Have you been waiting long?"

Lin arrived exactly on time—not a minute early, not a minute late, precise as a stopwatch.

"No, I only just arrived too."

The girl with inner-dyed hair tilted her head and replied with a smile, a lock of dark hair falling over her shoulder.

That was right. The person meeting Lin today was Soul. After the Fifth Branch Incident, she had suffered a severe mental blow. It had taken her several months of recovery to emerge from the tragedy of her parents' brutal deaths. After considering it carefully, Lin decided to set aside a day to observe Soul's mental state alone.

Lin had not told Soul or Spasi about Ritter. They only knew that the assassin had been executed while being transported back to headquarters. They did not know that Lin had gone to The Deepest Place.

After thinking it over, the Ritter incident might still shake the mental state they had worked so hard to recover. The outcome was no different, so it was best if they did not know.

Besides, Lin had not come out this time solely for that matter.

"Team Member Lin, I've made you worry. You never take vacations..." Soul's eyes dimmed. She had guessed why Lin had asked her out. "I'm so useless."

Lin kept both hands in his pockets. "...Why would you think that?"

"But it's the truth..."

"..." Lin sighed so faintly it was almost imperceptible. He said to the dejected girl before him, "No. I've just been tired lately and wanted to come out and rest."

"Really?" Soul's eyes lit up.

"You used to tell me to rest once in a while, so I decided to go out today."

Lin's tone was much the same as when he had soothed children before. Soul's mental state could not withstand any major upheaval right now. It was best to be as gentle as possible.

After blanking out for a moment, Soul said happily, "Is that so? You remembered."

"Let's go. We'll have lunch first."

"Okay!"

The two walked side by side into the shopping district.

Lin carried a file in his arms.

It was one of the files on Poisoned Cocoon members brought out from The Deepest Place.

Besides Soul, the purpose of his trip was to search for clues related to Poisoned Cocoon members.

And the residence marked in this file was nearby.

Wings of Meltdown

A bird glided across the sky, letting out a cheerful cry.

I stood atop the clouds, watching the migratory birds soar high, struggling with all their might toward that blazing sphere of light.

Burning to ashes in the sunlight, their resounding cries were guided by the wind and carried into the distance.

"If only I had a pair of wings."

I lowered my head and saw him standing before the ashes, pointing at the clouds beneath my feet.

He had said those words.

"You yearn for that blazing sun too?" I shouted to him.

"No. I long for your patch of clouds."

He smiled and waved at me, scattering into the wind.

He too became ashes burned away.

Delta stood among the clouds, raising his head blankly.

"Director! Director!"

Delta groggily opened his eyes. His consciousness had yet to return from the dream to his body, and he shook his sleepy head in a daze.

The floor was icy cold, stinging the skin beneath his thin clothing.

"Uh... what happened? Why am I sleeping on the floor?" Gripping the armrest, he slowly pulled himself into the chair. He shook his chilled head, feeling an unpleasant coldness throughout his body.

His assistant poured a cup of hot water and pressed it into Delta's stiff hands. "Director, this is the third time you've fainted this week. Didn't you say the Titan's main-body development was nearing completion and that you could rest? Why did you sneak back again?"

Delta stared at his unfocused pupils reflected in the water. He barely gathered enough strength to focus them, took a sip, and sighed. "But the Anti-gravity Flight System is not finished yet. The Titan Hover Pack and floating vessels only lack this final step. I want to finish it sooner."

"The flight system... Director, why are you so determined to make the Titan fly? That was not part of the original plan, was it?"

"Why..."

Delta leaned back in his chair, covering his sickly pale face with one hand. The muscles he had once trained so desperately had long become slack under his abnormal schedule. Through the gaps between his fingers, he vaguely saw a bird fly out from behind him and soar toward the blazing sun.

He took a photograph from his chest pocket and stared at the picture of himself with another person.

Delta stood with his hands on his hips, laughing toward the camera. The other person stood at the side, head raised to watch migratory birds taking flight in the distance, his back to the camera.

"If only I had a pair of wings," he murmured softly.

There was not much information left on Poisoned Cocoon, and what remained was vague. The only file in Lin's hands contained basic information such as name, gender, and address. It mentioned nothing about appearance, connections, or combat ability.

Trying to find someone in a sea of people when he knew only the name and not the face was plainly a fool's dream. Lin could not risk searching the name in the database either. If it was discovered that the target of his database search was a Poisoned Cocoon member, trouble would follow one after another.

The reason Lin had waited several months before starting his investigation was also to let the effects of The Deepest Place and the Fifth Branch Incident fade to a certain degree.

An assassin named I Billy... was he somewhere nearby? Who could he be?

A secret Fire Moth unit hiding outside a Fire Moth base would indeed cause Lin no small amount of trouble.

Lin and Soul picked a random restaurant for lunch. As long as they were not in Fire Moth, even unfiltered air made anything taste good.

"Team Member Lin, the news outside says there's an assassin who specifically leaves Forget-me-nots at crime scenes." Soul spoke up to Lin, who had been thinking about how to find the Poisoned Cocoon member. "Ah, sorry. You were thinking just now, weren't you?"

Lin, who had been holding his chin, shook his head slightly. "It's fine. You don't need to be so restrained."

"Really? That's great. I still get a little nervous going out with Team Member Lin..." That was evident from Soul's outfit. She smiled, but soon dimmed again. "Why are there always people who take the lives of others..."