[Ding! Detected that the host has experienced a fatal drop in vitality. Contacting the nearest medical assistance base.]
[Contact failed. No medical assistance detected within maximum range of detection. Recalibrating. . .]
Pedring blinked. He was in space.
To contain the explosion, he didn’t hesitate to absorb the alien projectile into his suit and flung himself to the outskirts of the Earth’s atmosphere. Whether or not he succeeded in containing it, he didn’t know, he had even lost the will to care. All he could tell was that his body was numb from his toes to his lips, and the suit could only drift across the void without his command.
He closed his eyes with a sigh, thinking that it was just right.
He was running on borrowed time, after all.
[Ding! Detected that the host’s mentality has deteriorated to abnormal levels. It is determined that the host’s body can no longer sustain itself. Activating protocol EXTRACTION-616. . .]
Pedring opened his eyes, suddenly reluctant.
That’s right, who was this? Where did this voice come from?
Yeah, sure, he was about to die, whatever — but! He was allowed to be curious even while he died, right?
This voice was cold, metallic, something entirely unlike KY-8’s usual tone. Pedring had synthesized the voice for KY-8 himself, he was familiar with it in a way no one but a creator would be.
Pedring tried to speak, but found that his throat was too dry and heavy to use, as if all the air in his body had been sucked out. He could only listen helplessly as ‘KY-8’ started an ominous countdown in his ears.
[Activation complete. Sending the host into suspended consciousness in 3. . . 2. . . 1. . .]
Pain burst into his head and drilled to the back of his eyes. Pedring’s head rolled back as his body convulsed involuntarily, forcibly released out of his control. The convulsing continued until a sudden cease of movement, leaving a spread-eagled figure drifting in the shadow of the sun.
