Infinite Dendrogram - Volume 10 - Chapter SS4

Sisters 
Bow Hunter, Gerbera 
A depressing rain was falling upon the gaol. 
Our clan leader, Sechs, had left to get coffee beans for the café, leaving me alone with April. 
To absolutely no one’s surprise, you had to get coffee beans even here. 
The gaol had no proper restaurants or vendor tians, but there were some vending machine-like shops. Was that where he was going? 
The alternative was that he would farm coffee beans in a dungeon, but I found it hard to believe that. 
Oh, speaking of dungeons... 
“Hey, April, can I ask you something?” I called out to the robot. 
“What-is-it?” she replied in monotone. 
“The leader picked you up in a dungeon, right?” I asked, remembering him saying something about a treasure chest. 
“Af-fir-ma-tive. This-u-nit-was-dis-a-bled-du-ring-a-bat-tle-at-the-end-of-the-pre-an-cient-civ-i-li-za-tion. The-ow-ner-ship-in-for-ma-tion-was-re-set, as-well. Af-ter-re-ac-ti-va-ting, I-re-gis-tered-the-cur-rent-own-er-as-my-ow-ner.” 
That sounded like some a baby bird’s filial imprinting. But looking at how much she knew, it wasn’t like she’d lost her memories, right? I didn’t get it at all. 
“So... do you remember what you did before you starting serving our leader?” I asked. 
“I-used-to-pri-mar-i-ly-pro-tect-V-I-Ps.” 
“Ohh, that sounds like a perfect job for you.” 
She was the world’s toughest bodyguard, after all. Of course, she’d have to make sure her Material Slider didn’t harm those she wanted to protect. 
“Af-fir-ma-tive. I-am-the-Prism-Per-son-fo-cused-on-en-dur-ance. It-is-a-good-ap-pli-ca-tion-of-my-a-bi-li-ties.” 
“So you’re saying there are other Prism People as powerful as you?” 
“Af-fir-ma-tive. There-were-a-to-tal-of-five-of-us-made. I-am-u-nit-two. Every-one-be-sides-u-nit-one, who-may-be-called-my-el-der-sister, had-ex-cep-tio-nal-bat-tle-ca-pa-bi-li-ties.” 
So she’s one of five sisters, huh...? Wait, there are four... no, three robots... as strong as her? 
“Can I ask what the strong sisters were like?” I asked. 
“U-nit-three, Jet-Cha-ser, was-fo-cused-on-speed. She-was-e-quipped-with-a-mo-di-fi-ca-tion-wea-pon-that-made-her-the-fast-est-in-all-cir-cum-stan-ces.” 
“That’s just broken.” 
“U-nit-four, Gar-net-De-stro-yer, was-fo-cused-on-fire-pow-er. She-was-e-quipped-with-ma-ny-tac-ti-cal-wea-pons.” 
“Was she the same size as you? You’re sure she wasn’t a giant robot?” 
Also, the name reminded me of a certain bear, and remembering that bear made me kinda depressed. 
“U-nit-five, Pearl-Sa-vior, was-fo-cused-on-hea-ling. She-was-e-quipped-with-me-di-cal-na-no-ma-chines-and-dil-i-gent-ly-served-hea-ling-the-hea-vi-ly-in-jured-and-se-rious-ly-sick.” 
“That’s a bit sci-fi, but really peaceful compared to the others. I think healing magic does the job just fine, though.” 
Wait, from what I could recall, healing magic was weak against diseases that required surgery... 
“But wait, the fifth isn’t exactly a battle robot, right?” I asked. 

“She-also-ex-celled-in-sen-ding-na-no-ma-chines-in-to-the-bo-dy-and-as-sas-si-na-ting-the-tar-get-from-with-in.” 
“I take it back...” 
What a dangerous bunch of sisters. Whoever’d made them must have been a real mad scientist. The pre-ancient civilization sounded like an era of insane robots. 
“Will your sisters pop out of some chest, too?” I asked. 
“That-is-im-pos-si-ble.” After saying nothing but “af-fir-ma-tive” to all I’d asked, she was finally denied something. 
“Why?” 
“The-three-are-ei-ther-de-stroyed-or-miss-ing.” 
“...Sorry.” 
I knew I was in a game, and that she was a robot, but I still felt like I asked something I shouldn’t have. 
April, however, didn’t change her expression and said without pause, “No-need-to-a-po-lo-gize. It-is-the-past-and-no-thing-but-a-re-cord-of-the-truth.” 
It was as if she felt nothing about her sisters “dying.” 
“Don’t you feel that it’s... a sad memory?” I asked slowly. 
“If-there-is-some-thing-I-‘feel,’” April said as she looked at the devices in the café, “it-would-be-the-fact-that-I-was-far-more-for-tu-nate-than-my-sis-ters.” 
I looked at her in silence. She had basically just said that she was fortunate to still exist, and that that was what separated her from her sisters. It felt less robotic and more like something a philosophical person would think. 
“Want some of the cake I made?” I asked at last. 
I didn’t know whether I wanted to thank her for telling me about her past or make it up to her for being insensitive, but I took out the cake from my inventory and handed it to her. She didn’t need to eat, but she could still enjoy the taste. 
“Thank-you.” 
She accepted my offer, and we both ate cake together. 
We were the only ones here, and neither of us said a word. All we could hear was the sound of the rain outside. 
“Unit five...” Suddenly, April stopped moving her fork and spoke up with vocal smoothness not present before. “She was good at making sweets. The other battle-focused units, myself included, weren’t fit for such precise work.” 
“...I see.” 
April then returned to eating the cake. 
Why did she say that, though? 
When I’d asked whether losing her sisters was a sad memory to her, she’d said that all she’d felt was that she was more fortunate than her sisters just by the virtue of still existing, but then, after a strangely long pause, she had indirectly implied having fun memories with her sisters... which implied that she felt something for them, too. 
I was dumb, though, so I wasn’t sure if my interpretation was any good. 
After we silently finished the cake, I began to wonder if she would ever fondly look back at the days she spent with us. 
It wasn’t a very “me” thought. The weather must’ve made me sentimental. 
“I wonder when the leader’s coming back,” I pondered. After eating something sweet, I was up for some good coffee to help me change my mood. 
I looked at the rain outside and waited for Sechs. 
April joined me, and together, we both simply watched the time pass by.

The End