I took a flashlight from one of the dead men and ran to her.
Giving her my shoulder, I attempted to help her stand up. Although she seemed slender, her body weight was heavier than I thought it would be.
“Are you OK?” I asked.
“No, I’m not. I exhausted most of my energy in the negotiation.”
She was unable to stand up. I felt embarrassed that I was grabbing her dainty wrist.
“You talked with the ancient creature…”
“Now it’s a protector of its kin rather than a guardian serving the will of the ancient. It accepts the responsibility with its own free will.”
Free will? Did the beast have that?
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Instead, I asked, “Why were the Meccanians seeking you?”
“That’s their business. I don’t know why,” she replied, her voice weak and her speech slow. “The guardian told me that the men blasted its grandchildren’s playing channel.”
She didn’t seem too interested in the men.
“I asked it to allow you to be in its domain in exchange for my new errand,” she continued. “Now you are its guest. You can find the way by the luminescence. That’s the reciprocal gift.”
Then she looked at me with half-closed eyes, which looked like sharp-edged sickles. My heart started to beat faster because she was so close to my face.
“Take me to the Node,” she said.
I couldn’t reply at first. “What’s the Node?” I finally asked.
“After we destroyed the centralized system, some Nodes survived,” she whispered with an air of nonchalance. “They’re distributed all over the world and interact with one other. Every memory and thought in the vicinity stream into them…”
In retrospect, I realize that she told a stranger about the secret of the world. But I didn’t know what she meant at that time.
“It’s not so far. Take me over there. I need to recharge.” Then, at an unexpected moment, she smiled at me. “You can do it.”
Suddenly, all her weight leaned on my shoulder.
“I will shut down my consciousness to preserve my memory,” she said.
Shortly afterward, she became faint, as if she were dead.