Aurora Over a Dead World

"...Hmmmm... last night was great," Zenith says, stretching as we leave the motel and step out onto the street. She raises her hands high above her head, lengthening her body, seeming much better, calmer overall.

"Glad you enjoyed the night, Zenith," I say, and she gives me a smile. Zenith is usually in a good mood when she’s completely satisfied, so I feel totally at ease talking to her without her suddenly getting irritated or jealous about something.

"Yeah, it was good, and the feeling of finally being full of energy is great. Now I can go a few more months just fine," she says, giving me a nod as if to show off her "energy." I nod back in agreement—it really was good.

"So... let’s go get some breakfast." She grabs my hand, pulling me along as she walks through the streets looking for someplace open. We end up stopping at a small bakery. She places a few orders, grabs them in a bag, and pulls me along again over to a set of stairs where she sits down right on the ground.

"..." I sit down beside her, taking what she ordered for me. She rushed through the orders, not wanting to stay in a place that was starting to fill with civilians, so what we have is a kind of simple stuffed bread that’s only lukewarm.

"How’s commanding going without me there?" she asks, taking a bite of her bread. I think about what to say as I pick up my own bread and take a bite. It’s not easy. A lot has fallen on me and Cecilia now that she’s not there.

"It’s going well. I’ve been handling the missions without any problems, and for now, Aurora Island is moving away from useful ruins, so we might go a while without heading back down there. That means I’ll have to deal with monsters up here..." I say, trying not to worry her. The situation’s a bit more complicated than just that.

"...Nightmare seems to be somewhere around these parts of the city. You should be careful and avoid this area. That crazy bitch is obsessed with hunting you down and killing you," she warns me, looking at me seriously. I nod, already knowing traces of her had been found around here.

"You know, Nadir... even though I’m still furious at you for making me lose my position... I’m still worried about you getting overloaded. The higher-ups must be breathing down your neck, right?" She hits the nail on the head. Things have been rough for me, mainly because they’re watching my performance closely.

"Don’t worry, I’ve been handling everything fine. Your help would obviously always be useful, but I have great people under my command, and I learned a lot from you out on the streets. I’m not going to get overwhelmed by something this small."

"Hahaha, hearing that from the crybaby is pretty funny."

"And you, Zenith? Everything’s been going relatively well for me, but what about your students? Have you been handling all of that okay?"

"More or less. Not killing is hard, though, so I end up having... problematic incidents with them. For now, we’re using the simulator, and I’m making them train against monsters every single day."

"They might be weak on strategy and reacting instantly to danger, but the raw talent in all of them is terrifying. In a month, tops, they’ll be nearly at the level of a Kaira with two years of experience if they can keep up their current learning pace—way stronger than we were when we started." I’m surprised when she says that.

"You think it’s because the Core is more stable than the chips?"

"Partially, yes, but I think it’s more a matter of natural talent and the powers that carry them. Some of them have powers so ridiculously strong that even without talent, they’d already be near the top of this generation."

"Besides, this generation is full of talented people. Some at the academy noticed me observing them from a distance, for example. Things have been improving, and the future looks promising." Seeing Zenith say that makes me smile.

Because during the war, I never once heard Zenith say the future was promising or even looked promising. It shows me it was the right decision to let Zenith live among civilians as an instructor. She’s learning to see another side of life—a calmer, brighter one.

"I’d love to be there with you and see your students." When I say that, she bites into the bread in her hands with anger.

"They’re all over eighteen... trying to make me jealous?"

"Hahaha, of course not. To me, you’ll always be the most beautiful of all."

"Yeah... but I’m getting older. I’ll be forty soon—"

"The Director is seventy-two and looks like a teenager." Even so, we don’t live forever. I understand Zenith. The cost of that "youth" that seems eternal is an immense burden.

Many Kairas don’t make it that far. In fact, it’s not uncommon for us to live shorter lives than an ordinary person. Many die at forty-five or fifty, still looking young, their bodies unable to withstand all the strain and pressure placed on them, and they just give out.

Reaching seventy-two is like fighting death every single day and winning by the narrowest of margins. Of course, that life expectancy has theoretically increased with the cores, so the new generations will live a little longer, but they’ll hardly surpass the average human lifespan.

"If it’s about looks, you’ll probably die before your hair even has a chance to turn white. Me too, so hey, look at that—an unexpected perk," I say like a little joke, and she gives me a small smile.

"Yeah, I hope I still live a long time, and you too. If you die from the strain before me, I’ll be pissed at you forever. You have to die only after I do."

"...Yeah..." If that’s how it is, I’d rather die alongside her than stay alive, but I don’t say anything so as not to drag down the light mood we’re sharing.

"Zenith, have you been adjusting well to living among civilians? Or is it still very hard?" I wish she could have already gotten used to it.

"...It’s very hard, and frustrating. I just order whatever food and tech I want so I don’t have to leave the house. I can’t deal with ordinary people anymore."

"And if someone tried to pick a fight with me, I’d probably turn them into the next stain on the pavement, so... yeah, it’s... kind of bad." She says it in a somewhat sad tone, but it’s a complicated truth.

We’re not soldiers trained to face humans. A trained soldier could easily get into a fight with a rowdy civilian and restrain them without killing or seriously injuring them.

But us? We, who were trained to kill monsters, don’t have that same ability. Because a monster doesn’t need a "review" on whether it should die or not, and any second spent deciding can be the line between being alive tomorrow and dying today from hesitation. That distinction makes it hard for us to deal with civilians who attack us or piss us off too much.

"Well, I’m sure you’ll get used to it soon." I know she probably never will, but if she can at least improve enough to walk the streets and live like a normal person, I’d already be happy.

I would love to give her the life of an ordinary civilian. Unfortunately, the most I managed was making her an instructor at the academy, which still keeps her unfortunately connected to direct danger.

"..." Zenith finishes her bread and pulls a small pastry from the bag.

"Nadir, I think it’s time for me to go. Today, I want to sleep all day. No students causing problems, no things to deal with. I doubt I’ll actually manage to sleep, but at least I want to spend hours lying down, staring at the ceiling, and cursing life."

"It’s pretty boring, so I’m heading off. Now, are you coming with me, or are you going to go do something interesting?" she asks, clearly not wanting me to come along.

"I’m going back to base. I’m going to look through the map records from the last eighty years and see if I can pinpoint where we’ll pass over in case the island doesn’t shift direction slightly. After today is over, I’ll be back to work, so I’ll have to hunt monsters up here," I tell her what I’m going to do, and she nods in agreement.

"Perfect, then I’m going." She hands me the bag, but before she leaves, she keeps staring at me.

"You won’t sabotage me climbing back up, right?"

"....No. If for some reason you get promoted to commander again, I won’t try to sabotage you..." Even though I’d prefer she didn’t return to being commander, it’s fine if she manages to climb back to that rank, though I doubt it’ll ever happen.

"Perfect, then. You’d better keep your word. If you sabotage me again, I’ll be furious, and I’ll get my revenge somehow." She walks off with that little threat. I pull out my phone and check the time.

"[How was the meeting, Commander Nadir?]" Nexus finally speaks up now that Zenith is gone.

"It was good. What you’d expect from one of our meetups." There was nothing special. We just ate something, talked, had a little sex, and then talked some more while eating stuffed bread.

It’s simple, but the simplicity of it was what made the atmosphere comfortable for the conversations that actually mattered.

"[It was somewhat irresponsible to be away from any communication device in that room. Had an emergency occurred, it would have taken longer to contact you.]"

"Zenith and I wouldn’t let you watch what we did. Don’t be like that, Nexus." I turn off my phone and start walking to base to stretch my legs.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!