Allen's side-story: Meeting Shion
[Narration, Allen]
Do you know? What's being entombed in the grave isn't just the body of a deceased person. In the dark, cold, deep, and still ground, there is one other thing that is being laid to rest.
[Title]
Allen: Um, Hi. I'm Allen Ridgeley. This spring, I graduated from Borromeo University's information engineering department, and began working here at Vector Industries. Starting today, I was assigned to the prototype OS design department of First Division. –Pleased to meet you all.
Kevin: Welcome, Mr Ridgeley. I am Chief Winnicot. If you have any questions at all, please feel free to ask your mentor here, Miss Uzuki.
Shion: Nice to meet you, Allen. I'm Shion Uzuki.
Allen: N- Nice to meet you, too! (Whoa, she's beautiful… I'm so lucky to have someone like her as my mentor…)
Kevin: Isn't it great, Miss Uzuki? This means even you get to have the junior you've hoped for since starting here a year ago.
Shion: Yes, I'm glad to know that, now, all those days of being forced to do bothersome chores from a mean-spirited boss are finally over.
Kevin: Hey, hey… you shouldn't say such things right in front of the mean-spirited boss himself.
Shion: Yeah, I suppose I shouldn't, huh– hehe. By the way, Allen, that was a joke. Let's work well together, shall we?
Allen: Y- Yes ma'am!
Kevin: I heard you're a graduate of Borromeo. Well then, we're both alumni together. I have high hopes for you.
Allen: Oh, you went to Borromeo, too, Chief? Umm– I have a brother 4 years older than me… Maybe you guys were classmates? His name is Alan Ridgeley—
Kevin: I'm sorry– I don't remember him. I don't expect that we were in the same class.
Shion: That's for sure. The Chief graduated 10 years ago when he was 15 years old.
Allen: F– Fifteen? He graduated Borromeo at fifteen??
Kevin: Actually, there are a lot of advanced young people here. Miss Uzuki is still only, what… 18?
Shion: I turned 19 last month!
Allen: Uhh, she's even younger than me?! (Wow– In my hometown, a Borromeo graduate at 21 is almost unheard of–)
Shion: Ah… um… does that bother you–?
Allen: N- No! My mentor is my mentor… So please, teach me all sorts of things!
Shion: Not at all… In fact, Allen, please help me with all sorts of things, too.
Allen: Y- yes ma'am–
[Narration over image of Kevin, Shion, & Allen overlooking the Archetype]
And so, this is how my life at Vector began. Life as a working man had its share of anxieties, and although a delightful miscalculation, it was as wonderful as Heaven. That's because there were so many opportunities to program together with Miss Uzuki, my immediate senior and mentor. Why was it Heaven to be with her? It may not be necessary to dare speak about that.
[Narration, over blackness]
Then… a year passed.
Jessie: Huh? That's strange—
Allen: *gasp* Miss Jessie!– Gunph— ughhghhhhghhgh!
Jessie: A– Ah? What made you choke on a sandwich? Here, have this iced coffee.
Allen: Mnph…–*gulp*gulp*gulp* Bwhaa— Ah, thanks so much. Miss Jessie, you're a lifesaver!
Jessie: What? That's an exaggeration. —Anyway, this is the first time I've seen you take your lunch here at his park. That bench is always my assigned seat.
Allen: Oh? Oh, I'm sorry. I'll get up right away–
Jessie: It's alright. This bench is big enough to seat two. I can sit on this half.
Allen: Ah, Ok—
Jessie: Oh, I get it… today, the Chief and Shion went to an academic meeting. You usually eat together with the two of them, don't you.
Allen: Yeah, that's right–
Jessie: This is the perfect chance, y'know… you should give it a rest.
Allen: What? Why??
Jessie: Ahh, so that doesn't mean you're doing it on purpose after all–
Allen: Huh? Doing what–?
Jessie: You three are a love-triangle. Only, it seems all three of you involved don't even realize it– at all.
Allen: L- “LOVE TRIANGLE”?? What are you talking about?
Jessie: The Chief and Shion don't realize that you've got the hots for Shion. And you don't realize that the two of them are an item. — that's what I'm talking about.
Allen: The Chief and Mentor Uzuki—?
Jessie: See, you didn't realize after all. The Chief is stubborn and Shion is oblivious, but what's wrong with you? How did you not know about those two?
Allen: Well… now that you mention it, whenever I went to lunch with Mentor Uzuki, I wondered why the Chief was often with us, too…
Jessie: THAT'S-BE-CAUSE! You were butting-in on a couple's meal!
Allen: …..
Jessie: Aw, don't let it get you down…
Allen: …..
Jessie: I'll treat you to this soup, too, so… Here– chug it down, and cheer up!
Allen: Um, thanks…. …*gulp*
Jessie: Listen, Ridgeley– You're a sheltered kid, but… …you seem like a rare type of kid, who I want to keep from getting hurt. So, I'll give you some advice. – Please give up on Shion.
Allen: …..
Jessie: The Chief and Shion… well, they're an extremely compatible combination. They each have plenty of what's lacking in the other, and they complete each other nicely. As for you, well… you can't mend what's broken in Shion.
Allen: …..
Jessie: Of course, it's hard to say for sure about them by guesswork seen from the fringes, But that's how I see it. If you believe my experience and intuition, don't forget what I said just now.
Allen: …..
Jessie: Well then, I'm off. Starting tomorrow, I'll hand over this bench to you exclusively. See you later…
Allen: …..
[Narration, over blackness]
That day, I continued to think for a long time about the words Jessie said— And, no matter how I thought, I could come to only one conclusion. Her words were… …“completely correct”. But, I'm a person who's bad at giving up, it seems. However little hope there is, I will say only how I feel. Therefore, even if I can no longer enjoy my lunch with that person, it doesn't matter. —yes, because I had made up my mind.
[Allen is outdoors on a rainy night]
Allen: –wow, what's with this rain!
[–Lightning–]
Allen: Geez, I've been on a business trip to the Dammerung for over a week, so I forgot how it was a natural phenomenon. I guess I prefer a colony environment to a planet after all. Aaa, I'm soaking wet– At least the souvenir box is ok. (Today is the activation test of KOS-MOS with the prototype OS installed. Finally, she's starting up…) (She was launched by everyone tonight. When I see them, I'm sure I should get a chance to hand over the gift.) But if I don't return soon– Alright, I'll run to the lab!
[Allen returns to a destroyed lab]
Allen: —-w- what happened? Th- this is awful– What could have possibly happened to devastate the lab like this?!
Investigator: Hey, step back! Step back! No one is allowed to enter here… — huh? Your uniform… Are you someone involved in this place?
Allen: I'm one of the development staff! What the hell happened?
Investigator: A running-out-of-control accident. It seems the android being developed went on a rampage.
Allen: Oh my god… KOS-MOS?
Investigator: Ah, perfect… could you cooperate with us? We were looking for someone connected.
Allen: Cooperate?
Investigator: There are several corpses with severe damage. I was hoping you could try to positively identify them from the uniforms and such.
Allen: S-several… corpses??
Investigator: Look… everything seems to be in that bag over there–
Allen: !!!!! Uuhhh— Hans… Chow… And this is… Vans…? ! Oh no… Even Jessie… Why? Why would something like this—?
Investigator: And this person looks like he's somehow the one in charge of this place. Just before he stopped breathing, he was able to report the outbreak of the incident to us. Thanks to that, we were able to start our initial investigation quickly.
Allen: Oh—! Chief Kevin… I can't… believe this… (Chief, you were my rival, but I didn't hate you, by any means—) (Your logic, your passion…it was all what I aspired to be–)
Investigator: But, the strange thing is… From this point, all the bodies over there aren't Vector personnel. Why in the world are there so many of them— …even bodies in military garb—?
Allen: Uh– So, this is all of the personnel… right?
Investigator: Uh… yeah… that's right, but…
Allen: Um, so… as for the injured— You must have carried out one young woman, right? Oh yeah! And KOS-MOS– –the android that went berserk!
Investigator: Whoa, hang on a second, We just arrived now, too. We've only just called for the ambulances, so no one's been carried out yet.
Allen: Then that means—
—They're still out there!
[Allen runs off]
Investigator: H- Hey, you! We haven't inspected over there yet!
[Starts off in darkness]
Allen: *heavy breathing* Somewhere— I'm sure they're somewhere! Mentor Uzuki… and KOS-MOS— KOS-MOS is no longer operational— Which means, Miss Uzuki stopped her… I'm sure I can't be wrong about that. So, then how—? If I can think like them, I'll know, and then I'll also understand where Miss Uzuki is! —As much as my mentor is a master of martial arts, she's no match for KOS-MOS's mobility. If that's the case— I know!– a wide-open space with nowhere to hide. She'll confront KOS-MOS head-on at a place that's easy to predict her movement. —- there's no other way. If so, then…. …. the roof—!
[Allen on the rooftop, in the rain. Shion is unconscious]
Allen: Mentor Uzuki—!
Shion: ……..
Allen: Mentor… Uzuki? —-! Thank goodness, she's breathing– Miss Uzuki… She's alive—!! Rescue team! Hurry over here! There's a survivor! On the roof! Please hurry!! She's still alive! Uzuki– My mentor, Miss Uzuki— — is still alive!!
[Narration, Allen]
Mentor Uzuki, thankfully, had only minor injuries, and was hospitalized just for observation. When her hospital days were nearly over, she began dealing with the aftermath with silence. When I thought about Miss Jessie and the others, I immediately began to cry– But right next to me, Miss Uzuki would keep working as if she were an emotionless doll. I was sure the KOS-MOS project would be suspended. And perhaps she and I would be reassigned to separate workplaces. Even with that threat continuing to loom, I still couldn't tell her how I felt. And then, that day came… The day that Chief Kevin and the staff, who had no relatives, were buried in the cemetery prepared by the company.
[At Kevin's grave]
[Shion is doubled-over in grief at the gravestone, as Allen looks on]
Shion: WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA– Uu, uu, uuh, uwAAA- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA–!!!!
Allen: (That day was the first time I saw her cry—) (Clearly, gently, calmly, I saw such tears from her.) (Unable to find a comforting word, or even hand out a handkerchief, I gazed at her trembling back.) (…all the while, grasping tightly in my pocket the ringbox that had become soaking wet with rain.)
[Narration, Allen]
The moment I saw her tears, I finally understood. I couldn't help but realize. Along with the loss of many people's lives, so too did I lose my chance to say how I felt– – they all were lost. Yes, this day— It is also my intentions that are in the dark, cold, deep, and still ground– …Buried.
