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“I…I thought…”
Ranmaru held up his severed right hand with his left, face shadowed in abject horror. He dropped his hand to the floor, falling back on his rear and backing up against the wall of the control room. Ranmaru clenched his jaw in pain…but not physical.
“I-I mean…I knew I wasn’t alive anymore. B-But…it’s…I-I was hoping that…I can’t…” Ranmaru mumbled strings of words together incoherently. Sara, the others, and the Dummies could only watch as Ranmaru broke down at the realization and acceptance that he was no longer human, no longer alive. The other Dummies had to accept it, too, despite Kurumada’s condition.
Alice crossed his arms beneath his chest, glaring at Ranmaru angrily. “Bullshit, kid! Your emotions are proof that you’re a human being, doesn’t matter what your body’s like!...Even if you look weird.”
Ranmaru squeezed his eyes shut, the noise around him turning into static. He had lost all hope…
Sara kneeled down in front of Ranmaru, gently picking up his loose hand and holding it out to him tensely. Even if he had seen his own death, Ranmaru wasn’t able to accept the fact that he was truly gone until he witnessed how inhuman he was with his own eyes. It pained Sara to see her game partner in such a disheveled state…even if she didn’t want to, she had already grown an attachment to him. She could trust Ranmaru, and she believed that fully.
Ranmaru opened his gray eyes, meeting with a pair of gentle purple ones. With a sigh, he took his missing appendage back into his possession, placing it against his barren forearm, twisting it back on with an audible click. The sound was another simple reminder that he was nothing more than an AI; a doll. A dummy.
The white haired boy shook his head, standing back up. Sara followed him, an apologetic look upon her pale face.
“...I’m sorry, Ranmaru. I know it must be tough on you,” she spoke in a gentle tone.
Ranmaru shook his head, averting his gaze from Sara. “No. I shouldn’t be surprised. Kurumada has a giant hole in his body, we can even see all the wires and shit…I should’ve known that after he got attacked, I’m like that on the inside, too.”
Sara and Ranmaru could hear Kurumada grumble from the corner of the room at the mention of his current condition. It was true; all of the inner workings of Kurumada’s body were visible to everyone. The dangling wires, the endoskeleton of his muscular body. All of his muscles were artificial, nothing like an actual boxer who had trained himself for so long. The Dummies all looked so real…it was disorienting to even Sara to watch Kurumada’s body get punctured by Maple’s tendrils like a pencil going through paper, and Ranmaru removing his right hand…no blood or flesh visible from either. It was uncanny.
After nothing but silence on Sara’s side, Ranmaru continued, “We should get going. We need to talk to Hinako about everything. Though I doubt she’ll even listen.”
Unable to say anything more in the moment, Sara nodded her head, leading the way out of the security room and to the elevator that went down to the fourth floor of the facility. The group entered the cemetery, where Hinako stood idly. Even throughout the explanation of their current situation to the middle schooler, Ranmaru remained quiet. Sara couldn’t help but toss glances at him worriedly as he stared down at his bandaged hands. Everyone split apart once more after the conversation with Hinako had finished, but Ranmaru still stood dormant near his coffin. Sara approached him wearily, placing her hand on his shoulder. Ranmaru jumped, turning around with an open mouth.
“A-Ah, Sara! I told you to stop scaring me like that! Y-You even told me that getting so worked up will drain my battery…” But, he didn’t make any effort to remove her hand from his body. He pursed his lips as the comforting warmth of Sara’s hand left him.
She smiled teasingly, placing a hand on her hip. Then, Sara’s expression faded into one of worry.
“Ranmaru…do you want to talk? You’ve been off ever since we left the security office. I’ll listen.”
Ranmaru paused, looking into Sara’s warm purple eyes, filled with care. Even after the short amount of time they’ve known each other, he grew an attachment to her. She gave him a feeling of butterflies swarming inside him, which he didn’t even know he could feel anymore before Sara looked at him so caringly. He could trust Sara, and Ranmaru believed that fully.
“If you wouldn’t mind…” He murmured hesitantly, “Y-Yes, please. I want to get out of this cemetery first. It’s too…eugh, you know.”
“Depressing?” Sara tilted her head to the side, letting out a pained chuckle.
“Yeah, that.” Ranmaru nodded.
The redheaded girl turned around, raising her hand up to motion Ranmaru to follow her. “Let’s go to the Discussion Room. It’s more private.”
The pair exited the dreary cemetery, making their way to the Discussion Room. Just as before, they held hands to enter, which made Ranmaru blush despite having done it twice before. How was his body even able to do that? He ignored the feeling of warmth in his cheeks as they entered the torn apart pink room that used to feel a little more homely.
“Err…Maple really fucked this place up, huh?” Ranmaru mumbled as he looked around at the torn pink wallpaper, couch and bedding.
“At least she’s gone now. Her body is clearly deactivated in the art gallery…we’ll be okay. No one else can enter.” Sara sat down on a portion of the soft, fluffy white carpet that wasn’t torn up by Maple in their earlier fight. Ranmaru awkwardly took a seat beside her, rubbing the back of his neck. He immediately pulled his hand away as he felt the collar, another reminder of what could happen to him in the future. Sara got straight to the point, no sugarcoating.
“It’s about your hand, isn’t it? Ranmaru…”
Ranmaru gritted his teeth, gripping the gray fabric of his pants with bandaged hands. It wasn’t easy, no matter how much he tried to convince Sara that it was fine. That girl could see right through anyone.
“S-Sara…you couldn’t possibly get it! I-I…I had some sort of hope that maybe I was human! Even after watching myself die in that god awful video, I still stupidly thought that there was a chance. I’m an idiot, I’m an–”
He stopped speaking immediately as he felt that familiar, warm, alive hand grip his chin and lift it up. Once more, gray eyes met with purple. Sara stared into his eyes sternly, yet determined and comforting.
“Don’t say that, Ranmaru. I can see so clearly…your strong feelings, your choices, your emotions…those are all proof that you’re a living, human being! I don’t care what you, or Midori, or anyone else says. You may be a doll, but…I still see you as any other human, Ranmaru. We’ll escape the killing game together, and you can live by my side as a human being. You are human, Ranmaru.”
Tears welled in Ranmaru’s eyes as Sara spoke so confidently, so kindly. His cheeks reddened as Sara’s grip on his chin remained. He didn’t realize he had pulled the girl into a tight embrace, face buried into her shoulder and orange hair. It smelled good; comforting. Sara’s presence alone was comforting. He cried harder as he felt a pair of slender arms return his hug around his back.
“You are human.” Sara repeated.
Ranmaru could feel his face turn red.
Why did ASU-NARO program that into the Dummies? They continued to torture him like this, allowing Sara to see how flustered he was at her kindness…
But, he didn’t care.
He cherished the feeling of warmth and affection that burned inside him.