Ame no Hi no Iris

Seeing the beautiful body of the young girl lying on the bed, Ralph sighed.

—A long time pa.s.sed.

On that day three months ago, he once called the young girl to inform her of the bad news. Now, it seemed like something that happened long ago.

The remains of a robot that had only its head and right arm on was placed in a transparent box at the corner of the laboratory. To recycle this, he applied for a long holiday, frantically going here and there. Because of this, he finally found the mental circuit that is said to be the lifeline of a robot a few days ago.

He ended the final check up with his exhausted body. Then, he pressed the switch that provided electric power.

After a zap, the young girl"s fair chest throbbed violently, then recovered its original state.

Ralph kept staring at the situation in front of him.

—That person was indeed a genius.

A red flush gradually surfaced on the young girl"s white face. Including details like this, the workmanship of the robot is indeed meticulous.

"Mnn......"

Finally, the young girl made a slight noise.

Ralph stood up from the chair, approaching the bedside. The young girl slowly opened her eyes, a bright radiance reflected in her blue eyes. Though the color isn"t the same, the profound eyes reminded Ralph of the deceased Professor Umbrella. The robot was made with her sister"s appearance, so this is understandable.

To him, the existence of the woman Umbrella is very important. Ralph finally understood this after she pa.s.sed away. Ralph entered the research centre at the tender age of fifteen, and met her when practicing. Umbrella was his teacher, and was also a beautiful flower that he could only look at from a distance. When she chose him to be her a.s.sistant, he thought that everything emitted a rosy radiance, and even believed in the presence of G.o.d.

However, though Ralph had feelings for her, he did not express his feelings buried in his heart up till the last second. It"s because he was clear that his silhouette was not reflected in her amber pupils. The only person in her eyes was the young girl— certification number HRM021-α.

"Pro......fessor?"

The young girl lied on the cold bed, mumbling quietly.

Letting the young girl awaken right now, what meaning does that have for him? Ralph questioned himself. However, his answer was quite obvious. Ralph loves Professor Umbrella, and respects her from the bottom of his heart. That"s why he could not abandon the young girl that the Professor loves.

"Do you understand what I"m saying?"

Ralph asked in a deep, calm voice.

The young girl opened her pink lips slowly, saying in a small voice "Yes......". Hearing her melodious voice, Ralph couldn"t help but think, she"s really similar to Professor Umbrella.

"The movement control circuit is still booting. You can move after thirty minutes, so please wait for awhile."

The young girl blinked, nodding slightly.

Then, she said quietly.

"The rain...... stopped......"

When her body was able to move, the young girl raised her upper torso from the bed and inquired.

"Why...... am I here?"

The young girl stared at Ralph with her blue, deep pupils.

That was when Ralph noticed something. Compared with the last time that they met, the color of the girl"s pupil had a slight change. The young girl"s pupils changed from its original vibrant sky blue to a strong deep blue, pupils that were beautiful like the blue skies after a hurricane.

"Look at this first."

Ralph pa.s.sed a mirror into the girl"s hands. The girl looked at the mirror, showing a perplexed expression. Maroon hair that reached her shoulders, white skin, blue pupils— the mirror reflected the silhouette of the fifteen year old girl Iris Umbrella.

"Then, let me tell you what happened."

Ralph said while moving a chair to the young girl"s side. After that, he slowly explained what had occurred up till now.

After Professor Umbrella pa.s.sed away, Ralph was ordered to tidy up the Professor"s belongings. Thus, he found Professor"s "will" from the large amounts of papers and books remaining in the research center. To be exact, the will was only a draft, and seemed uncompleted, and doesn"t even have an envelope. Finding the will was three days after Professor died.

That was when he realized the matter about Iris, and immediately contacted the Umbrella residence, but she was already taken away by the Robots Management Department. Ralph did not think that they would be so quick, and the sudden changes caused him to be fl.u.s.tered.

Ralph immediately started to investigate Iris"s location. However, the Robots Management Department refused to tell him anything about Iris using their obligation of confidentiality as the reason. In the end, he still couldn"t find Iris who had turned into sc.r.a.p metal.

Three months after Professor pa.s.sed away, Ralph who temporarily gave up on the matter suddenly learnt about strange news. Someone found a robot collapsed at the Venus Fountain Plaza, and it gave the G.o.ddess statue a circlet cigarette case. That was what he heard from his reporter friend Karen Cloudy.

Recalling the contents of the Professor"s will, Ralph started to search for the robot because of his intuition. Lastly, because of his pa.s.sionate persuasion— and of course, paying a certain amount of money helped— he moved the remains of the robot from the department using disposal as an excuse. Seeing the group photo of Professor and Iris stuck in the cigarette case, Ralph"s intuition came true.

Thus, he finally retrieved Iris" body. Being able to finish the maintenance so quickly, was also because of the "spare" body that the Professor prepared for Iris.

"....... This is the will that Professor left."

Ralph handed the letter that was kept in a blue envelope to her. She took it with trembling hands, and started to read the letter that starts with "Dear Iris".

♠

After some time, Ralph continued.

"...... Professor Umbrella"s belongings now belong to you. However, robots having properties isn"t acknowledged by law, so the property would be kept under the Oval University Fist Robotic Laboratory. Also......"

After hearing his words, Iris just nodded silently.

She started to sob, tears dripping onto the will in her hands. Seeing her blue eyes that were moist because of tears, Ralph thought, so beautiful.

"That"s right, please wait for awhile."

After ending the necessary statements, Ralph stood up from his seat.

When he came back after about five minutes, Iris was already off the bed, leaning onto the wall while wearing a white cloth that was like white curtains. An about one meter wide transparent box was in front of her, and the remains of a robot was in it— her "previous body", the body that only had a head and a right arm, a body that was like sc.r.a.p metal.

"Can I...... touch this?"

She asked Ralph somewhat hesitatingly. Ralph pressed a b.u.t.ton, opening the transparent box while saying: "Mnn, sure."

As though she was comforting a sleeping child, Iris caressed the cheek of the robot. Then, she bent down, hugging the remains of the robot gently while saying.

"Thanks for your hard work......"

Tears flowed down her fair face, dripping onto the robot"s chest.

Ralph looked at her silently. The silhouette of the young girl holding the robot remains seemed rather unrealistic, but was a strange scene that filled people"s hearts with sorrow. Three years ago, the time when carried the young girl—HRM021-α to fix her probably had the same feelings.

After Iris reluctantly loosened her arms, Ralph asked.

"That"s right...... The thing that I went to fetch just now was this."

A card box stained black because of machine oil was in his hands.

"The card box was in the chest of the "body" that you just held. There"s a map and a cash card under another person"s name in it, what is......"

At that moment, Iris" expression changed instantly.

Her blue eyes widened, s.n.a.t.c.hed the card box and opened the cover. A group photo of a young girl of about twelve or thirteen and what seemed to be her parent was stuck in the box.

"Erm!"

She suddenly shouted. Then, she grabbed Ralph"s shoulders, approaching his face as though she wanted to kiss him. Ralph asked in surprise: "Wha- what is it?"

"How long did it pa.s.s since you took me back!?"

Ralph answered in confusion: "Err...... About two weeks......"

"Two weeks......" Iris tightly held the card box, raising her face that was full of determination.

"I"m off.!"

After shouting that, she opened the door of the room and ran out while being covered in a piece of thin cloth.

Ralph stood blankly without moving, then chased after her quickly, fl.u.s.tered.

♠

I ran out without shoes. Mr. Ralph was shouting something behind me, but his voice is out of my auditory range.

My battery is full. Though the movement control system of my limbs still had some problems, I don"t care.

Two weeks pa.s.sed after that.

—G.o.d! Oh, G.o.d!

I prayed repeatedly to the G.o.ddess statue that looked like Professor. I ran non-stop, rushing forward with a speed of a hundred meters in nine seconds. As though I was going to welcome the arrival of my beloved Professor, I went forward directly. My body was only covered in a white cloth, but I don"t care.

The research centre was quite close to the Umbrella residence, and wasn"t too far from the fountain plaza where the G.o.ddess statue stood as well.

Also, it"s quite close to the location where she"s at.

While running, I searched for the data of the map of the city. Data of the memory and the map matched quickly. I would be able to find her after running the opposite direction to the drainage system of the fountain plaza.

Finally, I reached the commercial streets. The shopkeeper of the fish shop shouted in surprise: "Eh, Iris!?" I waved to him while smiling, then started to run again.

The G.o.ddess statue enlarged in my field of vision. Chatty old men, playing children and couples expressing their love sat on the benches nearby. That was the scene that I liked the most. In front of me would be the remains of the junk parts store. When I think about it, I once used up all my battery here. However, it doesn"t matter now. I continued to ran non stop after turning the corner, entering a residential area—

Thus, I finally arrived at "that house".

I walked into the courtyard, there was a drain that looked like something was dragged out, the trails that I left here.

Walking into the backyard, torn off tubes were everywhere. Those were a part of my body.

After that, I kneeled on the ground, searching in the bushes while crawling.

I searched nervously.

G.o.d.

Ah, G.o.d, thank you.

"Lilith......"

The girl was waiting for me while maintaining her original posture with her eyes closed as though she was slumbering.