“Then who am I?”
Red Taisui heard the being before it—the one with pitch-black wings and a whip-like tail—ask the question.
“If Sakti Shali-Leban’s personality as a human has already disintegrated, then who am I? I, who possess all these memories, this consciousness, and these patterns of thought?”
If his life truly began the moment he broke from his cocoon...
Then he had no place of origin, and no path of return.
“In the courtyard of the Red Deer Palace, there is a massive camellia tree,” the starship said softly, its rustling electronic voice incredibly gentle. “It was a white camellia... you planted it yourself when you were thirty-one, the year of the Imperial Restoration.”
“Two years ago, an accident caused part of the palace to burn down, including that tree.”
“A court gardener suggested digging up the roots entirely to plant something else, but Evelyn and Klein both vetoed the proposal.”
“I remember it. I remember how you liked to sit under that tree to read, or to go over troublesome reports. In the spring, the camellias would fall in whole blossoms, carpeting the benches and the paths.”
“I imagine it was for the same reason that your friends refused to change anything.”
“However, a few months after that accident, amidst the former ashes, we discovered a new green sprout.”
“It is the same plant. It grew from the ashes, from the same roots, and it will eventually flourish again with a canopy of green.”
“But it is no longer the one I knew. It is no longer the one you sat beneath to read, smiling as you brushed away the fallen flowers.”
“Sometimes, I dislike my own name.”
“We, too, have our own likes and dislikes.”
The mechanical arm of the artificial intelligence gently embraced him. That endless rustling background noise was like the softest drizzle, dampening them both.
“In human stories, Taisui is a star that brings calamity. It is also a false star, a 'void star' that does not truly exist in the universe.”
“I loathe such fateful pronouncements.”
The starship’s control interface brushed over those golden-brown eyes; the feedback signals told it of his body temperature and heartbeat.
“Personality transcription prioritizes uploading the parts the Data Firmament deems more important. For instance, political decrees and plans, iterative weapon data, key battles, and strategic command concepts. Or perhaps the parts of your memory you valued most—Evelyn, Klein, the years spent with me...”
“It has no human emotion. It does not understand that those tiny interests and hobbies are the very things that compose a human soul. Therefore, regarding your own self, the parts you can recall are actually the least preserved.”
Sakti did indeed remember that white camellia, because it was a seed he had dug up from V217. But he did not remember frequently sitting under the flowers to read.
Just as he did not remember what he used to like to eat.
“So that is why you can no longer link with me.”
He smiled, as if the trembling of a moment ago had been a slight illusion. Sakti patted the mechanical arm, continuing the conversation as if nothing were wrong.
“As a completely new individual, my mental fluctuations have changed. You can no longer receive my call.”
He should have understood, but he had spent all this time refusing to think about it.
“I am deeply sorry.”
“Identity and stance will not make me stop loving you. My core, my underlying logic, every one of my chips will love the you who possesses the same soul.”
His former half sighed. “But I also made a promise. Red Taisui would become your tombstone, the vessel for the memories of the human named Sakti Shali-Leban.”
“There is no need to apologize for that,” the Core Species whispered. He suppressed his emotions with maximum speed, resting his forehead against the console.
“It is I who should thank you. Thank you for telling me all this, and thank you for being willing to help the Grey-Wing tribe.”
“If you see Klein, tell him I’m definitely going to punch him. But when I get married in the future, he’ll certainly receive an invitation.”
He let out a long sigh.
“I can understand. The old me would have also done anything to preserve everything of V217. So I understand the pain of losing a closest friend, a lover, or a family member. If any sliver of possibility were placed before me, I cannot say for certain that I wouldn't make the same mistake.”
“You don't have to force yourself to keep smiling.”
A part of the starship pressed against him, as if returning to the time when they shared a mental sea, maintaining a permanent deep link.
“We once tried to trace the parts that were successfully uploaded, but the early stages of the Time River connection were too chaotic. No one knows where those fragments went.”
“The Data Firmament was born from the remains of the Fahna. Therefore, I will cross the sea of stars to recover or visit every Akashic Rift and residual model I can sense.”
It spoke softly.
“We will eventually meet again—with a brand new you, yet one who possesses the same soul.”
“Alright, stop being a poet.”
The Core Species’ voice held a hint of a laugh, but his head was bowed. Red Taisui felt liquid droplets falling onto the floor of its bridge.
Humans called them tears.
It pretended not to notice.
“Perhaps this is a good thing,” the mechanical lifeform offered, clumsily comforting a human who wasn't quite human.
“I am not sure why you appeared in this body, but whatever helped you has clearly completed the parts you were missing. A fragmented personality cannot fit into a complete new body.”
“Compared to your former hatred and loathing, your attitude toward the Zerg seems to have changed. Do you mind telling me about your partner?”
It had spent many years learning how to change the subject, yet it still hadn't learned very well.
However, Sakti suddenly gripped the console tightly.
“Kamlan.”
He murmured the question: “Have you been to Kamlan?”
“Not yet.”
The starship did not understand the intent behind his question, but it gave a straightforward answer nonetheless.
Sakti had woken up on a raider ship, breaking from his cocoon.
The raider ship had once passed near the planet Kamlan and captured Gela.
And Kamlan held another residual model of the Fahna.
He did not believe in coincidences.
Red Taisui said it would visit all Akashic Rifts and Fahna remains, but it hadn't yet had the chance to visit the former site of the Golden Crow Fleet.
In the eyes of the outside world, there were only collapsed rifts there.
He had to go to Kamlan again.
This thought scorched him, making it difficult to suppress the desire to find the beginning of it all.
But there were more important things at hand—the Grey-Wing tribe, preventing another conflict between humans and Zerg, and... he didn't know how to explain everything about himself to Gela.
Regardless, he needed to resolve the most urgent tasks first to ensure the safety of the entire habitat sector.
Then, Red Taisui emitted a small sound, something akin to a query.
“I have received a boarding request.”
The starship spoke slowly.
“I think it might be for you. The party gave your name.”
External images expanded across the entire bridge.
A pure white mecha floated quietly in the void, solitary. Steel wings like flower petals spread out behind it. Its power furnace was shut down, rendering it motionless.
It was Qi Ming.
The Core Species remained silent for a moment.
His mind was filled with too many chaotic thoughts; he couldn't fathom why Qi Ming would appear here.
He had previously left this unit in the Nest residential area as a safeguard.
The crimson dreadnought stood in opposition to the tiny, moon-white machine. Both were named after stars.
It felt like some absurd and cruel joke.
The Taisui star that never existed was like his shattered past, while the Morning Star at dawn had become the only path home left in this inverted world.
Red Taisui directly unlocked the docking permission.
Before his reason could catch up, Sakti was already walking toward the hangar.
The starship opened the path for him, sending him straight there.
The moment Qi Ming came to a halt, the cockpit swung open, and the white male Zerg rushed out.
He flapped his wings—which had only recently become whole—and stumbled as he slid to the ground, not even caring that he was inside the "Crimson Reaper" that had purged five Zerg nests.
Gela sprinted toward his approaching partner and pulled him into a fierce embrace.
His wings enfolded the Core Species, and his tail tangled tightly with the other's, as if he wanted to hide him entirely within his arms.
Invisible threads of mental energy climbed and coiled around the black female Zerg, inseparably protecting those painful, shattered parts.
No trace of distress could be seen on Sakti's face. But even across a vast distance, Gela had been cut by that violent tearing sensation on his way here.
This had caused the male Zerg—who had been following Kleiman’s troops to the Old King’s Nest area to recover the Great Information Nest—to jump into Qi Ming regardless of the consequences and rush to his partner’s side.
“Don't be afraid.”
The white Zerg, not knowing what he was saying, spoke in a jumble. He repeatedly kissed Sakti’s eyes and the corners of his mouth, cupping his face and pressing their foreheads together.
“Don't be afraid... I—I’m here.”
The magma hidden beneath the calm surface surged with heat. Before this, he had never seen Sakti shed tears for anything.
Even when defeating Katla, the other had used angry roars to hide all bitter emotions.
As if he had severed the weak instincts of human nature, his partner suppressed every emotional fluctuation that might expose a vulnerability.
“Everything for us began from the moment we met.”
Gela spoke rapidly, no longer caring about keeping any secrets regarding his mental strength level; he only wanted to protect Sakti from any harm.
“Nothing else matters.”
“It doesn't matter if you are human, what kind of human you were, or what name you used.”
He clung to the other’s neck as if holding the most precious treasure in the universe.
“From the very beginning, the one I knew and fell in love with was the you standing before me.”
As if to weep in place of the one who could not easily shed tears, Gela pressed against the Core Species, his tears wetting the side of Sakti's neck.
“Not anyone else, and not any other Zerg.”
The male Zerg whispered, over and over again.
“But Sakti, my partner, the one I met on that raider ship.”
***
