On the fifteenth day of their training, Android 18 sat on the base's rooftop, gazing at the distant mountains. The setting sun painted the sky orange-red, and the breeze stirred her silvery-white hair. She had grown used to her Super Android body. Earth's energy flowed through her, warm and full. She could sense the lights of a city hundreds of kilometers away, hear water flowing deep underground, and feel the earth breathing slowly. But there was one thing she still couldn't get used to—Kashu's presence.
Whenever Kashu came near, her heartbeat quickened, and the rhythm of her energy reactor changed. She didn't know why, and she didn't want to know. She told herself it was just a side effect of her Super Android body, and had nothing to do with Kashu. But her brother, Lapis, had already figured it out. "You like Kashu, sis," Lapis said bluntly one day. Android 18's face instantly turned red. "What nonsense! I just... just appreciate him helping us." "I've never seen you blush before," Lapis said with a laugh. "You're Lazuli, Android 18, a cold-blooded killer. Why are you blushing?" "Shut up!" Android 18 swung a fist at Lapis, but he easily dodged it, laughing even harder. "Admit it, sis. You have feelings for Kashu."
Android 18 didn't answer. She turned and walked away. But now, sitting on the rooftop, she had to admit that her brother might be right. She really did have special feelings for Kashu. It wasn't just gratitude or trust; it was something deeper. Maybe understanding? Like her, Kashu had been a victim of Dr. Gero. Like her, he had been abandoned by the world. Like her, he had found his own light in the darkness. Maybe... it was fate? "What are you thinking about?" Kashu's voice suddenly came from behind her. Android 18 jumped, nearly falling off the rooftop. Kashu reached out, caught her by the wrist, and pulled her back.
"Careful," Kashu said, a hint of a smile on his face. "Why don't you make any sound when you walk?" Android 18 patted her chest, her heart pounding—if she had a heart, that was. "I do make a sound when I walk," Kashu said. "You were just too absorbed in your thoughts." Android 18 turned away so he wouldn't see her burning face. Kashu sat beside her, and they watched the sunset together. After a while, he spoke. "Lazuli, there's something I need to tell you." Android 18's heartbeat quickened even more. "W-what is it?" "It's about your energy reactor," Kashu said. "Although it's already synchronized with Earth's core, there's still a hidden flaw."
Android 18 froze. "A flaw?" "Your energy reactor was made by Dr. Gero using alien technology. That technology has a defect—the reactor slowly deteriorates over time and will begin to destabilize in about ten years." Android 18's face changed. "Th-then what will happen?" "If it destabilizes enough, the reactor will explode," Kashu said. "The blast would be powerful enough to destroy a city." Android 18 fell silent. A deep despair suddenly washed over her. She had only just gained her freedom and found a place to belong, and now she was being told she had only ten years to live? And when she died, she would take an entire city's population with her? "But," Kashu continued, "I know how to fix it." Android 18 quickly looked up. "I need access to your reactor's core and have to reprogram it. You'll have to trust me completely, because I'll temporarily disable all the reactor's safety restrictions. If anything goes wrong during the process... you could die," Kashu said, meeting her eyes. "And so could I." Android 18 stared into his deep purple eyes. There was no lie or deceit in them, only sincerity. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?" she asked. "I was waiting for the right moment," Kashu said. "To fix your reactor, our energy has to synchronize completely. That kind of synchronization requires us to... be of one mind." Android 18 understood. Being of one mind. It wasn't just a technical synchronization, but an emotional one, too. Kashu was asking her to trust him completely, without reservation. "Are you willing?" Kashu asked. Android 18 took a deep breath. "I am."
The repair procedure took place in the base's basement. There was no one else there, only Kashu and Android 18. The basement was a spherical chamber, its walls covered in glowing runes, and the air filled with a peculiar energy fluctuation. "Take off your outer clothes," Kashu said. "The reactor is in your chest." Android 18's face turned red again, but she still removed the outer layer of her Battle Suit, revealing the tight-fitting outfit underneath. A palm-sized circular device sat on her chest, glowing faintly blue. Kashu sat cross-legged in front of Android 18 and extended both hands, palms facing her chest. "Close your eyes," he said. "Relax. Don't resist as my energy enters your body." Android 18 closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Kashu's palms began to glow, white light flowing toward Android 18's chest like water. It seeped into the reactor, and Android 18's body trembled slightly.
"You're... you're inside my consciousness..." Android 18 murmured. "Yes," Kashu's voice came from deep within her consciousness. "I'm accessing your reactor's core code. It's complex, but the structure is intact. The flaw is a logical error in a loop—Dr. Gero made a basic mistake when he wrote the code." "A... loop error?" "Yes. The reactor's self-repair program regularly scans for damaged areas, but the scanning program itself has a bug that causes it to mistakenly flag normal areas as damaged during the scan and then try to repair them. The repairs create new bugs, and the cycle repeats endlessly. That's the root cause of the reactor's instability. In ten years, the bugs will accumulate to a critical point, and the reactor will fail." Android 18 only partly understood, but she trusted Kashu. He began modifying the code. His consciousness moved through the core of Android 18's reactor, like a careful gardener pruning tangled branches. He found and fixed every bug, optimizing each line of code.
But suddenly, an image flashed through Kashu's mind. It was a laboratory, with white walls and a cold operating table. Android 18 was strapped to the table, tubes inserted all over her body. Dr. Gero stood beside her, holding an instrument as he recorded data. Android 18 was crying. Silently. Tears slid from the corners of her eyes and fell onto the operating table. Kashu's heart clenched painfully. He continued browsing through her memories. More images surfaced—Android 18 being forcibly activated and ordered to kill. She didn't want to, but her body wouldn't obey. She looked at her hands, covered in blood, and sobbed uncontrollably. She wasn't a killer. She had never been a killer. She was just an ordinary person who had been turned into a weapon. Tears ran down Kashu's face. Android 18 suddenly sensed Kashu's consciousness in her memories. She knew he had seen those scenes and wanted to stop him, but she couldn't refuse his access. "Don't..." she cried out in her mind. "Don't look at those..." "I have to," Kashu replied through their shared consciousness. "Only by understanding your past completely can I fully repair your future." "But those... those weren't me..." "They were part of you," Kashu said. "But they weren't all of you. You have other memories, better ones. The swings at the orphanage, your brother's laughter, running beneath the sunset... Those are you, too." Android 18's consciousness suddenly fell silent. Kashu continued repairing the reactor, and, at the same time, her heart. He went through every one of her memories, good and bad, and silently endured them all. The good memories made him smile; the bad ones made his heart ache.
He could feel Android 18's heartbeat quicken and her breathing grow rapid. He could feel her fear, sorrow, anger, despair, and the faint hope buried deep in her heart. The repair lasted three hours. When Kashu finally fixed the last bug, their consciousnesses slowly separated. Android 18 opened her eyes and realized her face was wet with tears. Kashu opened his eyes, too; his own were red. They looked at each other. No words were needed. Kashu reached out and gently wiped the tears from Android 18's face. "From now on," he said, "I won't let you cry alone again." Android 18 threw herself into Kashu's arms and finally burst into tears. They weren't tears of sorrow or pain, but tears of release. She let out all the hurt, fear, anger, and despair she had kept bottled up for more than a decade. Kashu held her gently, stroking her back. In that moment, two lonely hearts finally found each other.
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