"Looking for me?"
After making sure she was steady on her feet, Bai Ling bent down and picked up the bottled water that had scattered across the ground.
"Mm."
The little penguin's voice was light—pleasant to listen to.
"Is there something I can help with, Administrator?"
Even though communications had been restored, Bai Ling wasn't wearing the Endfield Industries-issued comm device. His Originium Arts would be interfered with by their equipment.
So he wasn't surprised at all that she'd come looking for him.
The little penguin didn't answer right away. She simply tilted her head and stared at Bai Ling for a while, then slowly reached out and gripped his wrist.
"You're different from everyone else."
Most people changed their attitude once they learned she was the Administrator.
And if they'd already known she was the Administrator, their attitude tended to split sharply into extremes.
Bai Ling wasn't like any of those cases.
He didn't revere her, and he didn't keep that strange, careful distance either. What he showed was something simple and ordinary: a kind of "knowing."
And that made the little penguin feel comfortable.
"In what way am I different?"
Casually, Bai Ling handed her a bottle of water. His voice was gentle—comfortable in a way different from her adorable softness.
"You seem like you know me… but also like you don't."
Speaking on instinct, the little penguin took the water, opened it naturally, and drank—without even a trace of suspicion toward Bai Ling.
Hearing her, Bai Ling didn't reply. He just opened his own bottle.
He really didn't know the Administrator… after all, he'd never played Endfield, and he had no idea what Endfield's story was like.
Was it grand and sweeping? Or scattered and broken?
He didn't know any of it.
He only knew that the little penguin in front of him was someone who could shoulder all of Talos-II on her own.
And yet this "someone" was standing obediently before him now, taking small sips of water.
Bai Ling had originally thought he'd transmigrated to Terra.
After all, when Warfarin had stood in front of him—though she'd changed a lot—her essence hadn't changed.
Originium couldn't be faked. Otherwise, that certain cyber ghost girl wouldn't have been so absurd.
"…I don't know what the future will bring. But I do know the past is over—completely, in every sense."
The Administrator had lost her memory. Even if she truly was the Doctor's "Traveler," she still wouldn't be the Doctor from Terra.
Right now, she was simply someone trying to recover her memories and carry out the plan she'd set for herself in this world.
A cute, powerful little penguin.
When Bai Ling had first seen Endfield's promotional material, what he cared about most wasn't the appearance of familiar figures—
It was the existence of the little penguin.
Talos-II and Terra were intertwined in countless ways, but the story on this planet would only be a brand-new story—connected to Terra, yet not Terra itself.
Holding her half-finished bottle, the little penguin listened to Bai Ling's words for a long time…
"…Is it really over?"
She tried to salvage something from the question—but Bai Ling clearly wasn't going to give her that opening.
"…For me, it's over."
"Over in what sense?"
"Whether emotionally… or in terms of reality… it's probably over."
After saying that, he unconsciously patted his pocket. Such a tiny motion, and yet it deepened the lonely, world-detached aura around him.
The little penguin didn't know what to say.
The things buried in this man's heart might be too many—so many that even she felt lost.
If she had amnesia…
Then what had the man in front of her lost?
If he hadn't lost anything, how could he speak and look like this?
For her confusion, Bai Ling said nothing more. He gathered himself and walked back toward the Hub Center, and the little penguin followed behind him.
He hadn't bought all that water just for himself.
Eyjafjalla and Eldera were still resting in the room.
"Administrator, you still have a lot to do. If you put all your attention on me… you might not finish anything."
The threats in Valley No. 4 hadn't been resolved yet. The Hub Zone was only temporarily safe.
"…Then… we'll talk later?"
"No problem."
Watching Bai Ling leave, the little penguin turned and headed back toward Perlica and Chen Qianyu, who had been waiting in the Hub Center the whole time.
Seeing her return, Chen Qianyu reflexively rubbed her eyes.
She hadn't imagined it, right?
The Administrator had gone to find Teacher Bai Ling?
When Bai Ling returned to the resting room, Eyjafjalla and Eldera were discussing something.
Two adorable little lambs sat together, swapping notes, looking incredibly close—like real sisters.
If he went in and interrupted them, Bai Ling almost felt he'd be ruining the moment.
But Eyjafjalla had already sensed his return through the Command Seal link.
Very naturally, she set down her notebook and looked toward the doorway.
Since he'd already been noticed, Bai Ling walked in.
"…I bought water. Want a couple sips?"
"Thank you, Senior Bai Ling."
As Eldera took the bottle from him, she clearly saw the little lamb symbol on the back of Bai Ling's left hand.
The horn and wool patterns were already blurred beyond recognition—only the lamb's face remained clear.
Without making it obvious, she glanced at Eyjafjalla beside her.
Her instincts told her… this was connected.
Eyjafjalla also took her bottle, her voice soft.
"Senior, the ecology on Talos-II really is very different from Terra's."
"…Two different planets. Of course the differences are big."
He pulled his hand back, hiding it behind him.
Only one stroke remained on the Command Seal. When that final stroke vanished, separation would come.
And with no way of knowing whether he could summon her again, goodbyes always felt awful.
But right now, besides spending what time they had together as well as they could…
There wasn't much else to do.
And then—
Noise drifted in from outside.
A disturbance.
It seemed to be something related to Valley Fortress.
-------
My : pat*eon*com/RuneA
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