4 4 301 DialogEnable AniZhuanchangBegin 1 Standing before the door of the Construct Maintenance Department, Chrome stares as the room lights up, and he clutches his fists.
36 36 301 Noticing Chrome's gaze on his broken arm, the Construct Captain laughs and waves his functional hand around.
37 37 301 Construct Captain Almost got my whole arm torn off. Luckily I was a quick shot. 1
38 38 301 Construct Captain As for this... Well, the Maintenance Department is packed to the brim right now, so I thought I'd just get a quick treatment until they're done being so busy. 1
39 39 301 Construct Captain How about you? Why are you here? 1
40 40 301 Chrome I... 2
41 41 301 Chrome hesitates for a second before revealing how the other Construct attempted to sacrifice himself to complete the mission.
42 42 301 Construct Captain Is that so... That guy's still in there. 1
43 43 301 Construct Captain Thanks for saving him, Chrome. I hope he survives. 1
44 44 301 Chrome ... 2
45 45 301 Chrome That's not enough. 2
46 46 301 Chrome Even if I've managed to save a few Constructs this time, this will still happen again and again. 2
47 47 301 Chrome If I don't come up with a real solution... 2
48 48 301 I can save him from destruction, but not desperation.
49 49 301 I can drag him away from swarms of Corrupted, but I cannot lift him from the abyss.
50 50 301 Construct Captain A real solution, is it? You're quite incredible, I must say. Just the endless fighting is enough to tire me out. 1
51 51 301 Construct Captain Sigh... He wasn't always like this. He used to be quite easygoing with all his dirty jokes. But the squad he was in was completely wiped out in a scout mission. 1
52 52 301 Construct Captain When the Rescue Force arrived, he was about to jump into the Red Tide. Took them a lot of effort to keep him from diving in, but still, he changed after that. 1
53 53 301 Construct Captain No one knew what happened during that mission. It wasn't until his maintenance was over that he found out the commandant from his original squad was promoted and transferred to another team. 1
54 54 301 Chrome finds his chest aching as the Construct Captain explains.
55 55 301 Chrome ...Abandoned, is it? 2
56 56 301 Construct Captain Probably thought he wasn't useful anymore. 1
57 57 301 Construct Captain We're just tools to those humans, after all. Perhaps there's nothing strange for them to throw us away when they're done with us. 1
58 58 301 Construct Captain We're fighting to reclaim Earth right now. I wonder how the humans will see us once our job is done and the war is over? 1
59 59 301 Chrome Tools... 2
60 60 301 Construct Captain It's not hard to understand, then... why he'd lose the will to live. Why he'd rather it all end back there. 1
61 61 301 Chrome Does no one... want to change this? 2
62 62 301 The Construct Captain takes a look at the murmuring Chrome.
63 63 301 Construct Captain Our squad was sent to cover the evacuation of a refugee camp under attack from the Corrupted on a past mission. 1
64 64 301 Construct Captain Something went wrong with our planned route, and we went through an area filled with Corrupted. 1
65 65 301 Construct Captain We tried our best to take the refugees to safety. We went through layers of Corrupted to save the kids in the camp. 1
66 66 301 Construct Captain I had to carry the children back to the safe zone against a hailstorm of bullets. But when I put them down, one of them looked at me and cried. 1
67 67 301 Construct Captain He cried, and he yelled, "It's a monster." 1
68 68 301 Construct Captain I took a look at my reflection in the river, and that was when I found out that my whole body was scarred and burnt from the attack. 1
69 69 301 Construct Captain Especially my face. Since the temperature of the shrapnel that hit it was too high, the artificial skin of half of my face had melted. 1
70 70 301 Construct Captain ...I suppose a human wouldn't even be able to stand. 1
71 71 301 Construct Captain While I stood in front of the child, looking like I'd be joining the Corrupted at any moment. 1
73 73 301 Construct Captain Then I got sent here. 1
74 74 301 Construct Captain A very talented doctor treated me then. 1
75 75 301 Construct Captain Not only took my delirious complaints seriously, he patiently comforted me. 1
76 76 301 Construct Captain For a moment, I felt like I was treated as a "human." 1
77 77 301 Construct Captain It made me... less desperate. 1
78 78 301 Construct Captain It made me think that perhaps humans and Constructs can understand each other. 1
79 79 301 Construct Captain It should've been like that, shouldn't it? 1
80 80 301 Construct Captain We were one and the same originally, weren't we? 1
81 81 301 Chrome Humans will always fear the things they don't understand. 2
82 82 301 Chrome They do that because they never understand what Constructs are. 2
83 83 301 Chrome A single slander on Constructs can create panic among humans. 2
84 84 301 Chrome How could I not notice that? 2
85 85 301 Construct Captain What can we do, then? 1
86 86 301 Construct Captain We are Constructs. We travel from the battlefield to the Maintenance Department and back. We accept missions, and then we complete them. 1
87 87 301 Construct Captain The humans who survived, those sitting on their thrones comfortably in Babylonia, barely have the chance to know us. 1
88 88 301 Construct Captain Who has the time to consider the relationship between humans and Constructs when we can barely survive and win this war against the Punishing Virus? 1
89 89 301 The Construct Captain pats the silent Chrome on his shoulder.
90 90 301 Construct Captain The doc is asking for me. I should get going. 1
91 91 301 AniZhuanchangBegin Construct Captain Don't get too obsessed, you. 1
94 94 301 AniZhuanchangEnd The joint operation is a success in the end. The factory overtaken by Corrupted has been destroyed, and the commandant in charge of the operation has been highly commended.
95 95 301 But the names of the wounded and dead Constructs in the battle have not even been mentioned.
96 96 301 Chrome's monitor shows the news of a commandant getting a promotion, followed by a rousing, inspiring speech. He clutches his fists.
97 97 201 1 500155
98 98 301 1 "I can save him from destruction, but not desperation."
99 99 301 "I can drag him away from swarms of Corrupted, but I cannot lift him from the abyss."
100 100 301 "Even having chosen to become a Construct, all I can do is follow the rules and complete the missions, earning praises. Just like before."
101 101 301 "You even stopped asking about your teammates' whereabouts after a word from your father."
102 102 201 1 500318 -200
103 103 301 1 ??? Are you lost? 1
104 104 201 1 500155
105 105 301 1 Chrome Who are you? 1
106 106 201 1 500318 -200
107 107 301 1 ??? I'm you, silly. 1
108 108 301 ??? Are you afraid? 1
109 109 301 ??? You're afraid that you've made the wrong decision. You're afraid that your choices will lead your team to their doom. 1
110 110 301 ??? Because you've never made any choice for yourself in the past. Every move you make, you make them in other people's shadows. 1
111 111 301 ??? You're thinking that, if only you were a human, you'd be able to fight for the rights of your fellow men and lead them away from their inevitable end. 1
112 112 301 ??? As a mere Construct and a squad captain, you have no power to sway those arrogant humans and their prejudices. 1
113 113 201 1 500155
114 114 301 1 Chrome I'll find a way. 1
115 115 301 The resources he could get as "Langston", and the power he has gained as "Chrome"...
116 116 301 Can they be the missing pieces of the solution?
117 117 301 Chrome I will. 1
118 118 301 AniZhuanchangBegin Like a stone being dropped into a lake, his memories follow the ripples and hit him in waves.
169 169 301 AniZhuanchangEnd 1 Elites Is this your son, John? 1
170 170 301 Langston Greetings, sir. 2
171 171 301 Elites I heard your boy got the highest score ever recorded in the practice test. 1
172 172 301 Elites Like father, like son, I say. Truly worthy of the legacy of the Smiths. 1
173 173 301 Elites We'll be counting on you to take care of us then. 1
174 174 202 1 2 1
175 175 301 ...
176 176 301 The Smith Estate is frequently visited.
177 177 301 Most of the time, he just needs to keep to his study. If he runs into the guests on his way to school or back home, he will politely greet them.
178 178 301 That is "Langston's" routine on top of his path to becoming a "Smith".
179 179 301 The guests, their faces all blurred together, will pat his head and compliment him as an excellent successor.
180 180 301 Except he has no interest in them. These praises are for a Smith, and he has yet to become one.
181 181 301 AniZhuanchangBegin If he keeps going non-stop, day after day, then one day—
184 184 301 AniZhuanchangEnd "What a waste of time."
185 185 301 "The part of you that remains when that shell of a body is cast aside."
186 186 301 "Even... if we live to see the day we win... there won't be a future for us, will there?"
187 187 301 "I thought you were just another perfect facade the folks at the top created to comfort us."
188 188 301 "Victory will belong to humans."
189 189 301 Langston was raised to be a leader.
190 190 301 "Constructs" to him then slowly became data in the simulated battles. They were resources he could use, his leverage to reshape a fight.
191 191 301 But ever since he became a Construct, he has realized that Constructs are no different than humans. They also feel pain and tired. They laugh when they find something funny and cry when they see something sad.
192 192 301 The contempt, distrust, even the caution and fear are all very real, despite them hiding in the shadows as they wear down the soldier's will and corrupt the human's heart.
193 193 301 Humans always fear what they do not understand, especially the elders in positions of power. They know little about the evolution of technology, and Constructs are no more than weapons used to reclaim Earth to them.
194 194 301 But the only difference between Constructs and humans is what their bodies are made of.
195 195 301 Despite no longer being flesh and bone, Constructs are still humans. They deserve the same future.
196 196 301 When humans reclaim Earth, the names in the history books should not just belong to humans.
197 197 301 AniZhuanchangBegin If Constructs cannot share a fate with humans, their divide will only grow, and when the distrust bubbles and boils over, they will never be able to understand each other again.