I sat down on a long table of the Astral. Corp Cafeteria. The empty plate lie forgotten in front of me.
“You okay there Ace?” A soft feminine voice appeared beside me. “You’re not usually this quiet.” I sighed a little and pushed away my empty plate. “Tough day at work?”
I looked to my right and saw a familiar short haired young woman sitting beside me. She looked at me in concern while holding a sandwich in her hands. “Ellie...” I muttered, forcing a polite smile. “Are you good with kids?”
Ellie blinked owlishly after hearing that. “I have some experience babysitting my sister’s daughter. Why do you ask?”
Why do I ask?
“I need your help," I replied truthfully.
“You need my help?”
“I need your help.”
The girl looked around for a moment before looking at the sandwich she just ate. She inspected it closely in suspicion before carefully putting it down. “Ace, don’t tell me...” She took a deep breath and gave me a deadpan look. “You screwed up didn’t you?”
“No! I mean, she’s still alive.” I told her. “But...” I paused for a second, trying to find a way to explain it. “It’s just too emotionally taxing to guide her.”
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Ellie looked around for a moment before leaning her face closer to him. “You’re getting attached?” she whispered in slight disbelief.
“She’s ten! How am I not supposed to feel attached to her?!” I slammed my hand in frustration, sending out a loud bang and turn the whole cafeteria silent. I sighed a little and lowered my head to the table. “I just… I can’t keep doing this anymore… I can’t keep pretending like they’re not real…”
Ellie sighed and looked at me patiently. “I’m sorry to say this, I know you’ve probably heard this a hundred times already but…” she paused for a moment and I know exactly what she’s going to say. “It’s for the greater good.”
“Greater good at the cost of innocent children life…” I muttered to myself.
“Look, even if I want to help you, I have no idea what I’m supposed to do,” Ellie picked up her sandwich again and took a bite out of it. “I can’t use that machine, nobody can.”
I leaned back to my chair and looked up. “Ellie, I can’t sleep. Even if I know that nothing is going to happen to her, I can’t rest easy knowing that she’s alone out there,” I looked back at Ellie with the most begging look I can manage. “So please, just… Take care of me while I take care of her.”
Ellie blinked owlishly after hearing that. “You might wanna check your wordings on that one…” she said. “But yes, I’ll do my best. I’ll go get your breakfast, lunch, dinner, midnight snack while you pull off your all-nighter.”
I exhaled a breath of relief after hearing that. “Thank you so much, Ellie, you have no idea how much this meant for me.”
“I’m not doing this for you,” Ellie said before munching on the rest of her tuna sandwich. “I’m doing this because if you screw up, we’ll have to postpone the rebuilding protocol for at least four centuries. And that means I will be working on the death management for four more centuries. I do NOT like working in the Death Management.”
I gave her a warm smile. The girl who saved me time and time again from this cruel position bestowed to me by the powers that be. With her around, perhaps I can do this... And maybe, just maybe, I can save that girl...