Editing Amaryllis in the Ice Country:Chapter 10 (section)

===Part O===

“Sleeping soundly now…”

The baby in the Cradle is sleeping well. There’s an air conditioning installed in the central control room of the generator, and thus no worry that the Cradles will freeze.

“The batteries?”

“Gathered them…well, more or less.”

Saying that, Eisbahn pours out the batteries from his pockets. There are dozens of Cradles lined up in the room, and I can’t help but think of this as a bird’s nest due to the egg-shaped objects.

“Hey, why aren’t you sleeping, Amaryllis?”

Daisy asks curiously, “Well,” I pat the girl on the head, saying,

“We’ll be coming over to sleep soon. We need to make sure the Cradles are working fine first though.”

“I see…”

Daisy seems to understand as she looks inside the Cradle. The baby she saved is sleeping there.

“Gabriella White.” There’s the name etched on the nameplate. “It’s a girl.” Daisy narrows her eyes, muttering with emotion.

“Hey, Amaryllis.”

“What is it?”

“Why are the robots going into the Cradle to?”

At this point, Daisy’s lying inside another Cradle next to the baby. There are spare Cradles inside the generator, and this is one of them. All the other children are asleep.

“The Cradle’s very good at temperature control and isolating from the outside air. It’s very effective in preventing frostbite.”

“Heh…”

“We’ll leave everyone to you.”

I look over at the case Daisy’s holding. It contains the Mind Circuits of the villagers.

“What about you, Amaryllis?”

“I’m fine. My remaining battery can provide warmth.”

“I see.”

“So now, it’s time to sleep well.”

“Uu…”

Daisy closes her eyes quietly. She switches to sleep mode, and lets out a steady breathing.

“Good night, Daisy.”

I slowly close the lid of the Cradle.

There are two rows of Cradles lined side by side. One of them is for the human children, and the other is for robot children. Looking at this symbolic scene, I show a smile on my lips. All of them are sleeping with a peaceful face, and this reminds me of the nap room in the kindergarten I worked in.

“Daisy might be angry when she wakes up again.”

“Most likely.”

Eibshan looks down at the Cradle, “I never thought this will be goodbye.” He said,

It’s true that the Ice Age is coming to an end, and the temperature on the surface will rise. But other than here, we don’t know how many humans have survived, unable to tell when they will be saved. As for whether they can make it here before the electricity in the generator runs out, it’ll be down to luck.

Thus, we decide to cut off the remaining electricity provided. This includes the lighting inside the generator, the air conditioning, and we too—will give up on maintaining our functions. Maintaining a damaged body will expend more electricity than a normal one, and there’s a risk of power leakage. More than anything, I want the children and masters to have an increased chance of living, even if it’s just a little. This is my responsibility as Chief.

“Sleeping nicely there…”

Eisbahn marvels as he looks down at the Cradles. The children are sleeping peacefully within, but the babies are holding their little fingers, as though grabbing something precious.

“I see..”

“Hm?”

“Shall we sleep?”

Eibshan pulls my hand. Back then, I would have shaken it off in annoyance, but not now.

I hold his hand, and answer,

“Yes.”