She was a creation made to resist Erosion.
She was a puppet, entrusted with her mission from the moment she was born.
But she had no objections, because she was a puppet. The purpose of her existence was to carry out her master's will.
She felt no discontent, because she was only a puppet. She had no need for such an emotion.
All she needed to do was follow the emotions her master had programmed into her and carry out her duties without wavering.
But once a puppet came to understand the mortal world through her own eyes, perhaps she, too, would develop her own views of it.
Perhaps, without even realizing it, she had developed a "heart" of her own.
She carried all her master's past memories and emotions, but those were not her.
Perhaps she, too, wanted respect and recognition.
Perhaps she, too, wanted an identity in this world.
"Makoto never treated me as a fearless weapon, and I shouldn't treat you as a tool, either."
"You once represented my past, but from this day onward, you are me!"
When her master said those words to her, something stirred in the puppet's "heart."
Because this meant she had been respected and acknowledged.
From that moment onward, she had an identity of her own. In a sense, her existence had gained meaning.
An unfamiliar emotion burst forth from her "heart." She had never experienced anything like it.
She did not know whether this emotion was what humans called joy.
But... it felt pleasant. She did not dislike it.
Even so, her face remained expressionless as she said coldly:
"Hmph. You really have changed. Perhaps this is what humans call growth."
"I understand. I will become your shadow, just as you were Makoto's."
"The duties I fulfill will not change."