The armor was dismissed.
The white-haired girl in her form-fitting combat suit appeared before 'Little Herta.'
The techwear suit perfectly outlined the girl's figure.
A body that was slender, but not frail, with proportions nearing perfection.
Quite cute.
And though 'Little Herta' hadn't maintained the transformation, the device itself remained in an active state, channeling the power within the badge.
"How do you feel?"
"...Surprisingly, not much different."
AR-214 stood still for a moment, carefully assessing her body's condition.
There was a sense of weakness, but not that feeling of her existence fading away.
She realized, more profoundly, that many of the rules within the Glamoth Iron Cavalry weren't meant for killing enemies.
They were meant to restrict them, the Cavalry themselves.
But soon enough, AR-214 adjusted her mindset. Smiling, she walked over to 'Little Herta' and bent down to bring their eyes level.
"So, how did you actually do it? Become the queen of a Swarm?"
The Swarm needs a leader, or else it dies.
And in AR-214's eyes, the girl before her was someone controlling the Swarm through sheer will.
Is that even possible?
AR-214 felt like she was dreaming.
Can the Swarm truly be controlled by a person, or was the girl before her just a Swarm Queen wearing human skin?
"You'll find out later."
'Little Herta' didn't answer the question.
After dismissing her own transformation, she was also guiding the Swarm King to release its power, using it to maintain AR-214's current state.
"Now, come. Let me take you into this dream."
She reached out a hand toward AR-214.
AR-214 wasn't sure what she was thinking anymore.
She'd been somewhat wary of her before, but after arriving in Penacony, that trust had noticeably grown.
Seeing the hand offered to her, she simply smiled, biting her lip slightly.
Then she took 'Little Herta's' hand.
"What do I need to do?"
"Nothing. Just lie down in the Dreamscape with me. I'll guide you in."
'Little Herta' held onto that slender hand.
Leading the girl, she stepped into the dreamlike waters of the pool.
After watching AR-214 lie down, 'Little Herta' finally sat down beside her.
But...
'Little Herta' had forgotten about her height.
Right now, she was just a tiny little girl, and the Dreamscape was designed as a standard, single-person unit.
For an average woman, even if two people got in and the water level rose a bit, it wouldn't be a big deal.
But for 'Little Herta,' the water that barely reached AR-214's chest was almost high enough to cover her own mouth and nose.
"Pfft..."
'Little Herta' spat out some water, sitting up straight with a bit of a pout.
This was the first time she'd ever run into a problem because of her height.
It was kind of surreal.
Just then.
A pair of warm arms reached out from beside her, hands sliding under her armpits and easily lifting her up.
'Little Herta' suddenly found herself pulled into a warm embrace.
The back of her head came to rest perfectly against something soft and warm.
Even through the combat suit, she could feel AR-214's body heat and the thumping of her heart.
"Sorry, you just looked so troubled, I took the liberty of picking you up. This way, the water won't go over your mouth."
"..."
'Little Herta' really wanted to emphasize that she wasn't actually a little kid, but after saying that, AR-214 suddenly lowered her head, burying her face in the crook of 'Little Herta's' neck.
Her arms wrapped around the smaller girl's waist, holding her close with a sort of greedy longing.
An awkward hug.
That was the biggest feeling 'Little Herta' got from being held.
Her body trembled with nervous tension, her arms seemed to hold on by instinct, but didn't know where to settle.
Her glasses frame pressed against 'Little Herta's' face, clearly not positioned right.
Her legs moved restlessly under the water, as if wanting to wrap around her, or maybe lift her up higher.
"...AR-214?"
"Ah? Sorry! I... I've never hugged anyone before, I don't know—"
Flustered, AR-214 scrambled to let go of 'Little Herta,' trying to explain with confusion and panic, but she couldn't find the words.
The reason she chose to desert from the Cavalry in the first place was to search for the meaning of her own self.
And even back then, when she'd secretly taken off the armor, she'd almost never had any physical contact with others.
The feeling of embracing someone, she had never experienced.
After deserting the Cavalry, she naturally tried to access the Interastral Network, to learn about this vast world.
And in that world.
Hugging.
This simple act appeared in so, so many scenarios.
The girl, who had never known another's warmth, couldn't understand it, yet instinctively craved that shared body heat.
Just now, she simply thought that if the water was too deep, she could just use herself as a cushion.
So she'd subconsciously reached out and picked the girl up, but when she was actually sitting in her lap, some impulse from deep within drove her to do what she'd just done.
A gentle fragrance lingered around her nose.
The warm, slender feeling of the body in her arms transmitted back through the combat suit, against her skin.
The weight of the small girl was clearly felt, pressed down by gravity.
AR-214 didn't know how to describe this feeling.
It was like an empty part of her was being filled. Something that had always been missing, something she hadn't even noticed was gone, seemed to momentarily manifest, giving her a sense of comfort, of peace and contentment.
AR-214 didn't know how to categorize this feeling.
She only confirmed one thing.
Maybe she liked hugging people.
Maybe she liked physical contact with others.
If she could, AR-214 would even want to hold the girl in her lap inside the cockpit while summoning her armor for battle.
"..."
Her chaotic thoughts were almost an open book to 'Little Herta,' who had already begun weaving the power of memories.
She knew what it was that AR-214 hadn't recognized.
Born belonging to a collective, yet being the only one who wanted to be different, to stand apart.
Unable to bear it, unable to accept it, finally choosing to flee the collective, and then realizing that leaving the Cavalry didn't mean she'd find what she was looking for.
In the eyes of others, she was just as much an outsider, a misfit.
It seemed that no matter where she went, this girl would never find a kindred spirit.
This girl, who had fought for who knows how many years, probably never realized it herself.
That whole series of actions stemmed from one very simple emotion: loneliness.
From the moment AR-214 became aware of her 'self,' aware that she didn't fit in with the collective, that she couldn't truly integrate into any group...
Her strange behaviors were perhaps just instinctive reactions she didn't understand herself.
'Little Herta' sighed inwardly.
She didn't directly call AR-214 out on it.
Instead, she lowered her own hands, took the girl's flustered palms in hers, and guided them back to wrap around herself again.
"It's okay. Just hold me like this. It gives me something to lean on."
As she spoke, 'Little Herta' leaned back, willingly settling herself into AR-214's embrace.
And her actions gradually calmed the flustered and confused AR-214.
Looking down through her glasses at the girl in her arms, AR-214, unseen, quietly lowered her head again to rest against her.
"...Mn. Thank you."
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL