Editing Amaryllis in the Ice Country:Chapter 8 (section)

===Part 2===

There’s no progress in the preparation work.

We gather all the batteries we can find, from the icemobile and the heavy machinery, to the remotes and the torchlights. However, all the batteries we can gather are either rusted or burned, probably because we have been ‘collecting’ them again, and it’s far less than what the plan requires. I thought of a plan to use the spare lighting of the ceiling when there’s a power outage, but even so, that only makes up a little bit.

But time waits for no one.

—What can I do with the batteries…?

I roll about on my bed at home, thinking hard, trying to come up with something. But no matter how much I think, it’s all barren, and I can’t think of any ideas.

“This is troubling…haaa.”

I sigh hard. And then, at this moment,

“Yo, you dropped your skirt here.”

“Wah!”

I leap up in shock. I narrow my eyes, and see a familiar blond in the room. My skirt is twirling around on his fingertip.

“Wait! What are you doing!?’

I snatch my skirt back from this shameless guy.

“Don’t just barge in here.”

“I tried knocking. There was no response.”

“Why are you here?”

“I’m just here to cheer up Amaryllis with the conflicted look on her face while humming away.”

“I never asked you for help.”

“Don’t be shy now…oh, one bra here.”

“Return it to me, you pervert.”

I snatch my underwear from the guy. Looking closely, I find my underwear and clothes scattered all over the room, and I remember that I have yet to clean up my room in a while. The music box with the battery removed is lying there, giving a lonely feeling.

—Ahh, what do I do with the battery?

I pick up the music box that has lost power, and start to be frustrated again. If this keeps up, I will have to notify everyone on delaying the operation again. I don’t want everyone else to feel dejected after being fired up, but delaying it with no end date in mind will prove fatal.

“Just take a break for now. It’s important to change your mood.”

Eisbahn gives a rare proper suggestion.

—Well, I can’t think of anything good if I keep being stubborn about this, huh…?

I sigh, and decide to take a little rest. I lean my back on the wall, and let my body sink into the chair. My joints give off a ‘creak’, and I just feel heavy all over.

—Ahh, I’ve been really tired recently.

I relax my body, and close my eyes. “You alright?” “Yep, I’m fine.” “Good then.” I carelessly converse with Eisbahn, and it it ends.

After some time passes.

“…Hey, Eisbahn.”

I slowly speak up. Eisbahn’s already lying on the bed, “Hm?” and he asks back carelessly.

“Can I ask you something?”

“What?”

“Why did you say me back then?”

I know my voice’s really soft here. Back then—I collapsed when I short-circuited, and it was Eisbahn who came to save me.

He gives me a smile, and says,

“It’s a man’s duty to save his lover, right?’

“Be serious here.”

“Ehh, but I’m really serious here.”

Eisbahn’s tone is as mischievous as ever.

“I never mentioned anything about going to the surface to anyone else.”

“I saw you head towards the ‘REM forest’.”

“I see…then, how did you figure out where I was? That place was so far even the communicator can’t work.”

“You entered the work tunnels, didn’t you? I followed the footprints.”

“H-hmm…you’re pretty smart there.”

“Thanks for the compliments.”

—Ahh, this is hopeless.

I shake my head slightly. I really want to thank him formally, but I just can’t bring myself to do it.

—Right.

I clench my fist hard, and say,

“…E-erm.”

“Huh?”

“Well…th-thank, you…for saving, me.”

“Heh?”

Eisbahn sits up from the bed, and turns towards me,

“You’re actually thanking me for real here. The heavens are going to shoot spears down on us.”

“It’s fine. You are my savior…once in a while.”

“Savior…nice way of calling it. Just feels like I’ll be forgiven for whatever I do.”

“Wait, what are you going to do?”

I cover my body with both hands. This guy is able to casually say something like ‘the reward is your body’.

But it’s different this time.

“Can I ask you something?’

“What?’

“Tell me. How did the ‘humans-robots coexisting plan’ come about?”

“…? What do you mean?”

“Basically. You thought of a third plan other than to wipe them out or let them live. What gave you the inspiration?”

“Ahh, you mean that.”

I rub my cheek with my index finger, and get down to the point.

“Well, how do I put it…’halving’.”

“Halving?”

“Hm, you know I was a nanny robot, right? Back then, ‘halving’s the mantra from the Principal.”

Whenever the children have an argument, Principal will always teach them ‘let’s do halving’. Even if they’re sweets, or toys, he will recommend that we halve them.

“…Back then, Yuu and Fuu—ahh, they’re the children at the kindergarten. Both of the argued.”

With nostalgic feelings, I narrate. Thinking back about it now, what happened back then feels like yesterday.

“They were fighting over a ball. I was troubled as I was unable to get them to play nice. Principal came by, and suggested ‘halving’.”

—Now then, I shall halve this ball.

At this moment, Eisbahn interrupts,

“You can’t half a ball, right? It’s not a biscuit.”

“You think so too? I used to think the same thing as you. Guess what the principal did?”

I roll the handkerchief in my hands into a ball, and toss it at Eisbahn.

“We end up playing catch. “Here, how about it? Throw the ball back.” Principal throws the ball at Yuu, and so Yuu and Fuu end up playing catch, becoming happier. Before I knew it, I too was playing along.”

“Hmm…this Principal sure can mix things up.”

Plop, he tosses the ball of handkerchief back at me.

“Hmm, it sure sounds like pulling at fast one, but I really respect him back then. Ahh, there’s such a way to do this, I thought. Even he manages to ‘halve’ a ball successfully when there’s no way to do that.

Principal loves to halve everything. If children are fighting over toys, he’ll get them to play together; if children are fighting over a picture book, he’ll get them to read together.

“So, I was wondering if I can do halving about this. The future doesn’t just belong to humans or robots, but rather, it’s to be opened by both sides.”

“So, a future of ‘halving’…”

Eisbahn suddenly picks up the handkerchief ball in my hand, and twirls it around on his fingertips. His actions resemble the Principal so much, and it leaves a slightly surprised.

“Then—”

He asks,



“If there’s a situation where you can’t ‘halve’ it, what will you do?”