86 - Volume 10 - Chapter 3.7

Appendix

In addition to the Processors and combatants, the Eighty-Sixth Strike Package’s headquarters at the Federacy’s Rüstkammer base housed a large number of soldiers and military personnel. One of those personnel’s duties was bringing in supplies, but Shin stopped in his tracks when he saw a familiar, if clumsy large silhouette helping them out.

Unlike the Eighty-Sixth Sector’s frontline bases and the western front’s 177th Armored Division’s bases, which were adjacent to the battlefield, Rüstkammer was far from the front lines. This meant there was no need to collect materials from the field after battles.

This did make Shin wonder what Fido did when there were no operations—in other words, when it had nothing else to do.

Unlike the other Scavengers, which the Federacy had made in its image, Fido still had its original core unit, which was made in the Republic. Its programmed duty should have been the same as it was back in the Eighty-Sixth Sector. But somehow, Fido handled itself with surprising flexibility.

Well, maybe it wasn’t all that surprising. Even back then, Fido would ignore the orders of Republic soldiers and disregarded its assigned combat sectors. It kept boarding transport flights, which was as flexible and free-acting as a Scavenger could be.

Shin had already stopped asking himself what kind of programming was running inside that core. He did think that even if Scavengers had learning capabilities, everything had its limits, but he’d long since concluded that this wasn’t a question he should be brooding over.

After unloading a container full of vegetables or some such, Fido turned to face the supply personnel.

“Pi!”

“Oh, thanks for the help, as always… And look, your owner just showed up.”

“Pi.”

As Fido’s optical sensor flickered enthusiastically, Grethe approached, regarding it with a smile as her high heels clicked against the floor. The truck that’d brought in the food supplies drove off, and in its place, a trailer full of ammunition rolled in. Watching’s Fido reaction as Shin came closer, Grethe parted her red lips.

“…We collected a few of that one’s models when we offered aid to the Republic.”

Shin glanced at Grethe, who didn’t look back at him.

“There’s a handful of other Barrett units that have been operating for a similar number of years as that one, but none of them are as smart. Stubborn, clumsy…and it won’t do anything except obey its initial orders.”

Fido prioritized resupplying a particular Eighty-Six. And to that end, it would leave any bases it was assigned to and even learned new orders, like gathering pieces of the war dead’s rigs or their Personal Marks. The only thing Fido didn’t do was collect dead soldiers’ remains. Perhaps it had some strict prohibition on doing so placed on it.

“Really,” Shin said indifferently.

“Doesn’t it interest you?” Grethe raised an eyebrow. “The Scavenger that’s been by your side all this time is different from the others.”

“Why didn’t you try analyzing it?”

“AIs are outside my area of expertise.” She shrugged. “If it can’t fight…and especially if it’s not a Feldreß, I don’t care that much.”

Fido’s memory regions still contained records of Shin…and all the rest of the Spearhead squadron’s dead members. So apparently, to that end, they hadn’t needlessly messed with Fido’s core unit when they put it inside a Federacy unit.

After pausing for thought, Shin said:

“I knew Fido wasn’t like the other Scavengers long before you pointed it out. Even back in the Eighty-Sixth Sector’s frontline bases, Fido was different from the others, too… And besides,” Shin appended, gazing into the violet eyes fixed on him, “if someone told you the dog you picked up years ago was actually a wolf all along, you wouldn’t mind after all this time, would you?”

If it still cherished you. If it still stayed by your side, after all this time.

“I suppose I wouldn’t.” Grethe smiled.

“Even if he isn’t a Scavenger, I don’t care. He’s still…”

Shin trailed off, throwing a glance at Fido. Noticing this, Fido waved its crane arms at him, and Shin felt his lips slacken into a smile.

“He’s still with me, after all.”