Young Girl, Her Gun and Commander
“Commander… I… I have begun to sympathise with Agent…” quietly said M4A1, biting down on her lip as she gazed at Agent’s remains.
“It’s perfectly normal for you to feel that way. She’s dead, anyway, so she’s no longer an enemy or ally.”
My legs couldn’t hold me up due to exhaustion. I sat on the ground and spaced out. In fact, my vision was foggy. I didn’t know how much time I had left. I guess I was just silently awaiting death as Agent did.
“Commander… I… I killed humans, too… on my way here… Like Sangvis Ferri… I… I did not know if I made the right decision… but… I wanted to learn the truth. I wanted to know who the girl I kept seeing in my dreams was… I wanted to know what happened… I wanted to learn about my past… I want… to become human!” said M4A1. Afterwards, she smiled at herself in a ridiculing manner as though her final wish was to a dream.
“Haven’t you already made a decision? Using Persica’s reasoning as our parameter, you made a decision that wasn’t influenced by any programming. That makes you a human. Humans aren’t bodies of flesh. What makes a human a human is their spirit. As Persica said, you can make your own decisions.”
“But my decision… led to me killing humans… D-Does that qualify as a human decision? W-Was the decision I made… a decision humans would make? I do not know… I… do not know…”
I shut my eyes and replied, “Oftentimes, our choices aren’t a product of what we know we should choose or what the subsequence will be. Sometimes a decision is purely based on our interpretation and belief of what is correct just as is the case with Agent. I consider Agent to be very strong, because she was able to make her own decision and forge forward without letting anything get in her way. From our perspective, what she did was wrong. Still, it was her decision she stuck with till the end. That’s very commendable. M4A1, you should run now. If you killed a human, they’ll kill you when they find out. You have the data Persica needs, right? There’s still time to run. Go, M4A1.”
“But… but you will die!! I-I need to take you to the humans!”
M4A1 came up to me and went to pick me up. I smiled helplessly: “When Springfield died, I lost the desire to live. Don’t worry about me, M4A1. Do what you should. You wouldn’t want to fall here before you can achieve your goal, right? You’re no longer a T-Doll, M4A1. You’re a genuine human now. So accordingly, don’t think about sacrificing everything for me; do what you should, instead.”
“I refuse! Commander! I am not helping you as per my robotic settings but because I like you! You must live. I want to know the truth, but I want you to live, as well!”
M4A1 desperately tried to pick me up. Suddenly, somebody tapped M4A1 on the back. Startled, she looked behind her. AR15 and M16A1 stood behind her. Frightened, M4A1 nearly screamed. AR15 patted M4A1’s shoulder: “We’ve finally found you, M4A1. We knew you would definitely come here. I know what you want to know. I know you want to ask us why we turned; however, we need to leave this place now! M4A1, we’re here to help you! Sangvis Ferri’s Mastermind holds the answer to the truth! She knows who you are. You’re different to us! You were originally a human! M4A1, humanity’s military is right outside. We must leave, now!”
M4A1 juddered as though AR15 shot her. I didn’t expect to hear the revelation that M4A1 was originally human, either. I was uninformed of her past and what happened. M4A1 must’ve been after that information. She probably didn’t expect the truth to be so shocked herself. But nevertheless, she turned back around and shouted as she ran toward the exit: “But… but Commander will die! I can’t leave Commander behind!”
“Are you insane?! You’re now a traitorous T-Doll! Humans will gun you down if they see you! Commander won’t die! Put him down! Put him down now!”
“No!”
Human footsteps and voices gradually closed in. Humans managed to break into the building. There were no Sangvis Ferri forces defending the place. It was only a matter of time before the human military found us, so they had to make the decision right away. M4A1 would learn the truth if she left. I didn’t know if I’d survive or not – not that I cared.
“I agree. I think it’s best you put him down. That’ll prevent me accidentally hurting him when I shoot.”
AR15 and M16A1 both shuddered. Everyone robotically turned in the direction the voice came from. Under UMP45’s lead, Team 404 had their guns aimed at Team AR. UMP45 coldly watched the three and demanded: “Put your guns down! Come back with us and clear Griffon’s name!”
“What do you want?!” exclaimed AR15, aiming her rifle back at Team 404 without hesitation.
UMP45 said, “Have you not ruined Griffon enough?! Thanks to you, Griffon has crumbled, and Mr. Kryuger is being held in custody! It’s all thanks to your betrayal! Disarm and come back with us to clear Griffon’s name! Mr. Kryuger treated us well; why did you harm him?! I don’t care about myself! If you can’t come back alive, then I’ll take your data back! HK416, prepare your grenade launcher!”
“Despite there being a human here?”
“Yes! We can shoot down humans! Prepare to fire!”
“Have you lost your minds?!”
Shocked, M4A1 spun around, put me down and stood before me. Voice loud, she exclaimed, “Commander never did anything wrong! What are you doing?! I just want to know the truth! I want to know who I am… I want to know why I must fight! I just want to know the answers! 404, let us go. Take Commander back to the humans to get him treated!”
“404… you make the call…” I used my last ounce of strength to speak as loudly as I could to try and let UMP45 hear me: “You’re all humans now; you’re not robots I can order around. Do what you should. Anti-Rain, 404, you’re all excellent human beings… Do… what you should.”
“Don’t talk to me about choices! I once made a choice; I killed the one I loved most, and I can do it again! Anti-Rain Team, come with us or give us your data!”
“We want to know the truth! We refuse to continue serving as humans’ slaves!”
Everyone was armed. Everyone had their own belief. Everyone was a competent combatant. It was a recipe for disaster…
“Sometimes, our decision isn’t made because we know what impact it has on the future, but solely because we believe and interpret our belief to be correct. Everyone, all I want to say today is the way to end this war can be summed up very simply: don’t put ourselves in the shoes of a commander on the front line, directing robots’ on the battlefield. Don’t do that, and we’ll be able to understand their perspective and how pointless this war is.”
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