After parting ways with Albert, Cain was walking down a dimly lit hallway; the green neon light flickering above cast a dark atmosphere and reflected his mood. His footsteps were slow, echoing but not reaching his ears because the boy's mind felt left behind in the man's room.
'Experiment, huh?'
It was true that the experiment Albert wanted to do was a big step for humanity, but the man was overestimating Cain. His body didn't simply adapt; he was just lucky to have the ability to store a virus inside it.
So doubt began to grow in his heart. Cain could still participate in the battle simulation test, but Albert's request to develop a cure for the cosmic virus was too risky, as it could fail.
And the main reason was that he didn't want to shoulder other people's deaths, or didn't want to.
Cain raised his hand, staring at his hard, calloused palm.
'Can I save many people?'
The question was stuck in his heart like a bent nail that stubbornly refused to be pulled out. He shook his head, unwilling to burden himself with the future that he would not know, and instead focused on the things at hand.
He stopped in front of the entrance door. The red lens above it blinked, showing a green light that made the door in front of him hiss and slide to the side.
The golden light from the artificial sun penetrated the dim room he occupied, making his eyes squint as he raised a hand to shield them.
Cain stepped out, then the boy's eyes widened when he saw his comrades standing not far from the entrance, gathered together in silence.
"He's back!"
Abel's cheerful voice attracted the attention of the other three, who immediately turned their necks towards Cain. The blonde boy ran closer, followed by Rika, Louise, and Peter, their faces stiff and slightly pale.
The gray-haired boy let out a short sigh and didn't know how to act, having solid, loyal friends like them who were willing to wait, even though they didn't know how long Cain's discussion would take. Luckily, it didn't. The discussion finished relatively quickly.
"Let's go to the cafeteria."
Rika stared at the boy's face. Her red eyes half-narrowed, seemingly wanting to prob yet exhaled and opened her mouth.
"Are you alright?"
She stepped forward, both hands clenched on her chest. Her expression was twisted while biting her lip. Next to her, Louise and Peter exchanged glances and stared straight at him.
Cain wryly smiled, unable to help but widen his lips.
"You guys are too worrywart. I'm fine, I just had a short talk about the new battle simulation experiment they were working on."
'Well, it shouldn't be a problem for me to reveal that issue. Because, neither party will be harmed anyway.'
He muttered and swept his gaze through the others. They exchanged glances and kept still in place, noting that the person in front of them was simply a silver tongue. Even though the gray-haired boy himself didn't notice it, the four were.
Rika and Peter, who were a bit sharp at reading people's natures, exhaled sharply.
But in the end, the four gave up and, together with Cain, went to the barracks' canteen, which was a bit far from the simulation building.
They traversed the desolated road in silence. Even Abel, the talker, closed his mouth, walking a step in front of Cain, who followed the four from behind.
Cain's teammates, who somehow sensed something from his talk just now, were hesitant to continue the conversation. Then, even if they insisted on asking, Cain could easily evade their pressure.
So, they intended to wait for Cain to open up to himself, but that thought turned into a boomerang that hit their own consciousness, who were still covering up their respective pasts.
That was why the group went silent.
'It's so quiet in this place.'
Cain muttered. The emptiness visible in the military barracks changed the atmosphere that should have been fiery with the blazing spirit, leaving only a gentle wind that whistled dust through the air, making the lungs tight.
Even so, it did not mean that the absence of people made the place scary; instead, it gave it a flat calm, soothing his heart.
After a rather long journey, they stopped at a building with a conspicuous second floor, standing in the middle of other gray buildings. Its silver, shiny exterior and the winding of green neon lights gave it a luxurious impression that made Cain's mouth gape.
They passed the face-recognition scan conducted by the lens embedded above the steel door. The door opened, exhaling a cold aura that made Cain's body shiver, as he rubbed his left elbow.
'Brrr, it's like a refrigerator.'
The closer he got to the entrance door, the colder the air that caressed his skin penetrated deep into his pores. But then, a faint crackle of the black lightning that flowed in his veins nullified the cold, albeit slightly. It was acting as a self-defense, which he was unaware of.
'Nice!'
As he stepped in, Cain widened his eyes, seeing a spacious room layered with silver metal. Hundreds of tables and chairs were neatly arranged, shimmering in the bright room as if no one had ever touched them.
Cain strolled over the counter, and as usual, a human model android welcomed them, speaking with a stiff tone as if it had been programmed.
{Welcome, please choose your food.}
Abel held his chin, his eyebrow wrinkling while glaring at the jelly variants displayed on the counter table. His face beamed, and it immediately took on a different flavor than usual.
"I'm going to try this flavor now."
The flavor variant he chose was chocolate, and he didn't take one or two, but a dozen. Rika only needed one glance and took the chocolate and coffee variants, just as Cain preferred.
Peter and Louise exchanged glances and nodded. The brown-haired girl took the chocolate flavor, and the blue-haired boy took the coffee flavor.
Their behavior made Cain's forehead furrow, wondering why his comrades unanimously chose the variants he usually took.
It made him swallow saliva. Initially, he wanted to take the overly sweet vanilla flavor to wash away all the bitterness in his mouth, thanks to the conversation with Albert.
However, as he felt his comrades' stares turn into knives that slowly slice his mind. He took the same chocolate and coffee variants, making his comrades nod with relieved smiles.
"Then, where do we eat?"
To break the creepy atmosphere, Cain opened his mouth, his voice low but echoing in the empty room. Abel raised his hand, his face twinkling as he stepped forward. Cain even hallucinated seeing stars glittering in the boy's golden iris.
"Oh, how about on the second floor?"
Rika was silent, while the other two smiled dryly. Louise alternated her gaze between Rika and Abel, slightly hesitant to speak.
"Y-Yes, Mr. Abel really likes being on the second floor."
Louise peered towards Rika, who let out a short sigh, slightly exasperated towards Abel, who was so fixated on the view from the second floor.
"Well, I can understand his feelings. Seeing the view from a high vantage point really opens your perspective. Isn't that right, leader?"
Peter, who suddenly threw the question at Cain, made everyone's attention turn to him. He scanned the interior, the spacious first floor with windows on the side that filtered the sunlight in. In the corner, he saw silver stairs, connected to the upper floor, and nodded.
"Why not? We're here to relax. Let's go to the second floor and enjoy our meal."
The boys in the group smirked, unlike the girls. Louise smiled faintly, stiff because her friend next to her let out a long sigh while massaging her throbbing forehead.
'Oh, this works too.'
The corner of Cain's lip lifted, witnessing the tangled emotions on Rika's face. It was subtle, but he saw a slight twitch in her eyebrow that managed to disappear in an instant.
It made him shrug his shoulders, slightly disappointed.
However, just as they lifted their feet, the door to the canteen opened, showing several shadows of people visiting. There were three people, and the man in the middle widened his eyes when he stared at Cain.
"Cain, you're really awake."
"General Dosh?"