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Simulation Ready.
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Humming.
Crackle of fire.
Whistling.
Faint echo from the shelter’s wall.
The harmony of forgotten era blurred with the hope… or perhaps stubbornness of current era. It felt so off, yet somehow, it felt so right. Similar to a humble potato soup, spiced with mere rock salt and musty wild herbs. Unsavory and boring, yet it tasted just like home.
Umbra stared at Tristia.
She continued to hum, swaying left and right in every couple of notes. The song that she hummed, seemed so distant, yet somehow so familiar.
It was as if he recognized it.
He kept staring at her, wondering where he heard the melody.
It was not long before Tristia caught that he was not moving. She took a deep breath, stopping to gut the rabbits and stared at him. “Not fuckin’ again…” she grumbled softly, rubbing her forehead.
Umbra still stared at her.
She sighed, steeling herself. “Umbra…” she called.
“Hrm…?”
“Good… you react at least… do you know me?”
He nodded.
“Huh… okay… then, what’s my name?”
“Trish…?”
“Oh, you’re not forgetting me?” she stretched her arms, relieved. “Here I thought you forgot and I had to convince you again…”
“Whay…?”
“Well, you just… stand there and stare at me…” she eased up her back. “Wait… don’t tell me that you get charmed by ol’ me?” she snickered.
He tilted his head. “C-Charmedh… no…”
“Ouch… ain’t know how to take that…” she chuckled and continued her work. “Come on, then, less talking and staring, more doing…”
Yet, he kept staring at her.
“What is it, big guy?” she sighed.
“Sihng…”
“Sing? Oh… you want me to sing again?”
“Fam… mhi… li… arh….”
“Well, that’s odd…” she scratched the side of her neck, keeping her eye on the work. “That’s what my Ma used to sing back at home.”
He kept staring at her.
“Alright, you bloody arse…” she stopped and sighed, then stared at him sharply. “Quit fuckin’ staring at me, will ya? I ain’t a fuckin’ eye candy, alright?”
“Sor… ry…”
“Hah… fuck…” she rubbed her forehead. “Look… I ain’t mind you staring at me, but…” she stared at him.
It seemed that he was trying to remember something.
She sighed. “You got something poking in your mind or something?”
He nodded. “Hear… sihng… bhe… forhe… canth… rem… emh… berh…”
“Oh… well, that ain’t odd, then,” she stared at him. “As I said. My Ma used to sing it. You told me you ever go to Bone Mountain, aye? Must be from those time you spent there.”
“No… thish… long… grehr…” he forced a cough. “Olh… dher… I… young… gerh…”
“Huh…” she looked aside. “Then, I ain’t have an answer to that…”
“Shing… morhe…?”
A thin smile formed at her face. “Well, as long as you promise to work, then… sure.”
He nodded.
Soft, yet slightly coarse humming.
The continuous crackle of the fire.
Loud hooting of beast.
Some occasional chirps of crickets.
Even the rhythmic slicing sound as the serrated tail shredded through the rabbit’s hide and flesh.
Peaceful, almost meditative…
And it went on and on throughout the night.
Tristia kept humming.
Her gaze sometimes shifted to Umbra.
He was still working.
She took a deep breath, giving a brief halt to her humming, then stared at him again.
Unexpectedly, she smiled.
Two weeks ago, she would not expect to see Umbra capable of this activity, let alone waking up from his coma. She still remembered how desperate he was to just move his limbs just after he woke up… and now, he was able to even hunt on his own and butcher an animal.
As she kept staring at him, a memory resurfaced.
Her home.
Her past.
How she used to hunt back home.
How she used to butcher animal with her family.
She took a deep breath.
With everything that happened to her… sometimes, she asked herself: Why? Why did all of this happen to her? When everything truly went wrong? Was it when she decided to elope? Or was it when she decided to leave? Yet… what did she truly do wrong to deserve this?
She looked at her legs.
Why did she do that she lost her legs? Was it because her rotten mouth? Yet… somehow…
She stared at Umbra again, then to his missing arm.
The fight was still clear on her mind.
Why did he shield her during that fight? Why did he even fight with her? Why didn’t he just knock her out and hand her to them? What did he truly want at that time?
Was it because of the talk just before the fight? Was he simply too stubborn? Or did he have another motive?
She shook her head.
It didn’t matter. By the end of the day, he suffered more compared to her.
Yet, perhaps, everything was a sign…
She looked outside to the dark night.
… perhaps, a message from the universe to her: Give up. Just give up and accept your fate.
She closed her eyes. “Fuck…” she accidentally let out a sigh.
“Trish…?”
She looked at him.
“Yhou… ok… kayh…?”
“No… I’m fuckin’ not okay…” she took a deep breath. “Could I… bother you?”
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“Yesh…?”
“Turn around…”
Without asking further, he slowly turned around and faced her with his back.
“Thanks…”
She moved closer to him.
He could feel her head leaning against his left back.
Her shivering fingers tried to dig around his scale.
Several drops of tears fall down to his back.
He kept silenced. He knew that everything he said would not help. So, he just stayed there, offering her something to lean to. Yet… perhaps… there was something he could do for her.
Umbra scratched his tongue, then coughed softly, forcing out a puff of air out of his throat.
He knew it was a long shot… but, perhaps… if it helped, then… it would worth it.
He opened his mouth, trying to hum.
It was low and coarse, closer to stones being grounded against one another rather than an organic voice.
Yet… the melody was the exact same.
Memories…
What was left…
To endure…
Who stayed, who left…
Her nails dug even deeper into his scale.
Her sobbing started to leak through.
Sniffling.
Visible movement.
Finally, she let it all out.
Scream escaped from her throat.
Her arms lashed out at his back.
Everything that she had endured…
Pain.
Resentment.
Longing.
It all laid bare…
No more sobbing.
Just crackle of fire.
Sometimes, hooting was heard from the outside.
Tristia had already silenced, yet she still leaned to his back.
Yet, Umbra still kept silenced, letting her compose herself.
Soon, she moved away, taking a deep breath with a sniffle.
And another deep breath.
She then stared at his back.
Still unmoved.
She opened her mouth, yet not voice came out. “U-Umbra…” she managed to force the word out of her throat.
“Yesh…?”
“Uh… you can… turn around…” she wiped her left eye.
“You… o… khay…?”
She took another deep breath. “Yeah… I… uh, should be…”
“Youh… hurth…” he held her hands.
She jolted.
Her arms was covered in scrapping and bruising.
“Well… your scale ain’t exactly soft…” she looked away.
“Rhest… fhin… nishh… me… own…”
“No… I can still—”
He pinched her bruised hand.
“KH! What the fuck is that for?!”
“Rhest…” he threatened to pinch her hand again.
“F-Fine! Now, let go of my arm!” she yanked her arm off him.
Umbra worked on gutting the rabbits.
He then, slowly stood up, stretching his sore body.
Tristia, on the other hand, was glaring at him from the side, while grumbling on her own, but loud enough for him to hear. “WhothehelldohethinkIam?Fuckin’princessthatcan’tdoshit?”
Ignoring her grumbling, Umbra sat down again and continued working.
“Fuckin’bastardwouldn’tevenletmedoathing…” she went on rambling.
Umbra’s head twitched.
“Heain’tevenhaveafuckin’armandalreadyfuckin’—”
Crunch.
Tristia flinched to see that Umbra crushed the rabbit’s head with only his grip.
“Louhd… dger…” he growled.
“I… don’t say anything.”
“Goohd… nowh… yhou… rest…”
“O-Okay…” she quickly laid down and faced him with her back.
Umbra sighed and continued to work.
“Nowyougonnahavetocleanyourhands.Wateris—”
Rustling.
She froze.
More rustling.
Soon, a large shadow loomed over her.
She slowly turned around.
He sat down next to her. His eyes were glaring at her.
“I-I’ll rest…”
He kept staring at her.
“Uh… I-I promise I wouldn’t say anything…” she moved a little further from him.
“Resth… ohr… I… makhe… you… resth…”
“Okay…”
Tristia couldn’t sleep.
Not with Umbra still rustled around and kept himself busy.
She stared at her bruised arms and sighed.
Why did she even cry? After everything, would he even act the same towards her? What if he changed towards her? What would she do then?
She turned around and glanced at him.
He was still slicing the meat.
“Trish…” he glanced at her.
“What? I can’t sleep!” she turned around, facing him. “You ain’t sayin’ I should sleep.”
“Hrh… fhine…” he sighed.
“Ain’t that piece a bit too thick? The smoke—”
He stared at her.
“Oh, fine… fine…” she rolled her eyes. “I ain’t saying anything again…”
He sighed then proceeded to slice the piece of meat in half.
“Thank you…” she sighed.
“Hrh…”
“Look… Umbra…” she took a deep breath. “I appreciate it, okay? You ain’t trying to peek at me in that…” she paused, “condition… or comfort me after… and…”
He didn’t even look at her.
She clenched her fist. “Oy… look at me… will ya? I need you to listen…”
He looked at her.
“Okay… look… I appreciate that a lot… but, I’m fine, alright? I’m still bloody Tristia… it ain’t matter if I fuckin’ cry or sob or whatever… I still am me…” she paused, calming herself down, “So… I hope you ain’t treating me like a fuckin’ frail princess, okay?”
“Not… treath… you… prins… cessh…”
“So… why ain’t you let me work?”
“Yhou… knowh… to… mor… rhow…”
“Why tomorrow?” she tilted her head.
“Resgh… sl-sleeph…”
“Fine…” she grumbled and rolled around, facing him with her back.
“Grh…” Umbra limped out from the shelter.
The sun had already risen, yet Umbra’s eyes were still exhausted.
He growled and stretched his limbs. He then checked at the rabbit’s tendons that was dried on the shelter’s wall near the fire.
“Hrh…”
Dry.
Warm.
It should be done.
He peeked inside the shelter.
Tristia was still sleeping.
He was hoping to ask her, but he probably should not wake her up.
Her arms had gone from bad to worse.
The scrapping had already formed scabs, but the bruising got even worse and swollen, especially her fingers and elbows.
Umbra came inside slowly, making sure that he made no noise.
He picked up the rabbit hides and some small wooden sticks. Then, he placed the hides near the tendons and pushed the sticks to each of the upper edges of the hides into the wall, making sure that the hides wouldn’t fall off.
“Hg… rh…” Tristia yawned.
It was not long before she opened her eyes. She got up, placing her hands on the ground. “GH!” she winched. “What the fuck…” her hands were swollen. “Huh… what the…”
Her memories returned.
“Right…” she sighed. “Fuck…” she stood on her stump, winching as she had to lift her own torso first with her palm.
“Trish…” a shadow loomed over her.
She looked up and immediately notice his tired face. “Fuck, you ain’t sleep yet?”
He shook his head.
“Okay, you are going to sleep later… now, scoot over… I need to have some business with the nature…”
He moved aside.
She prepared some fabrics. “Fuck… shit… this fuckin’ hands…”
“Nheed… help…?”
She paused.
“Can… helph…”
She took a deep breath, then stared at her hands. “Look, I know that I ain’t want you to treat me like princess, but…” she paused. “I… uh…”
“Trish… yesh… orh… no…”
“Yeah,” she sighed, “I need your help…”
Umbra strapped her body to his with his tails on his front torso.
“Com… fortf… a… ble?”
“Just hurry…” she grunted.
He walked forward with the spear as walking stick. “Far…?”
“As far as possible… I usually throw them…”
He nodded.
After walking for some times, he eventually stopped near a tree.
“Well… how the hell are we going to do it, then?” she looked at him.
“Hold… yhou… t-thails… then… clhean…”
She sighed. “Alright…”
He held her in his arm, then let his tails go from their torso. He then slipped his tails between their bodies and coiled her torso, making sure that his tails had a firm hold of her body, but not too tight.
“Okay… uh, lower me…”
He lowered her and moved her forward.
“Don’t you… fuckin’ look…” she grunted.
“Hrh…”
She undid her pants and put it on her shoulder.
Soon, trickle of water was heard.
Umbra waited, then, a horrible stench pierced his nose.
He looked around in panic and grabbed his spear.
“OY! Don’t shake me around!” she half-shouted.
“Sho… ry… stench… an… ni… malh… lookh…” he kept staring to the sides.
“Right…” she sighed, “that’s from my arse, you fuckin’ bastard…”
“O-Oh… so… rry…”
“Just… just keep it steady…”
With his tails suspending her above the ground, she didn’t have to clean herself as much as she used to. She simply needed to wipe her private and bottom clean of the waste, then scrubbed it with some ashes.
“Okay… I’m done…” she put her pants on.
“O… kay…”
He moved her closer to his torso again.
“W-Whoa! Wait… I haven’t even cleaned myself that well!” she grabbed the trunk, avoiding him. “J-Just hold me a bit further like this…”
“Canth… walkh… nhot… ba… lanche…”
“Hah, fuck… alright…” she sighed.
Even after returning to the shelter, Tristia couldn’t even see Umbra directly at his eyes.
“Trish…”
“Y-Yeah?” she avoided his gaze.
“Ten… dhon…”
“Right… I’ll uh, check it…” she quickly walked outside.
How could she even look at him? Crying was already one thing, but requiring his help just for a basic need?
“Hrg… fuck… fuck…” she leaned her head to the wall.
“Trish…” he peeked out from the shelter
She jolted. “Y-Yeah?”
“You… angr… ngryh?”
“N-No…”
“Whay… av… vo… idh… eyhes…?”
She stared at him.
Was he really this dense? Was the bolt mess up his brain so much that he didn’t truly realize? Or did he truly not mind this? Did he not even care?
What was worst was she couldn’t even be angry at him. How could she? He did everything she asked for.
“Hm… Trish…?”
“No… I, uh… not angry… just…” she avoided his gaze, facing him with her back.
“Whay… av… vho… id…?”
“I… uh, just need some space… please…”
“O… kayh…”
******
Research Log 12.
Agent: Creep. Class: [REDACTED]
Here I thought we had some down time… perhaps some blossoming romance a bit…
(Sigh)
I mean, who doesn’t when the scene started with humming? And after everything they went through? I was expecting that.
I would still flag blossoming romance here as odd, since that is my job…
Man, this is rough…
Guess a little bit of me still want to see a movie here…
(Sigh)
But, I guess this is to be expected…
(Tapping fingers)
Subject 0 returned with a decent hunt, so food is not going to be a problem for a while.
He also found a water source… not yet shown yet in this session, but… that was their water problem technically solved.
What actually terrifies me is that… this is close to what I’ve seen here…
Subject 1’s mental breakdown happens because there are so many triggers within a quite moment.
The humming…
Talk about the past…
Similarity…
I did expect that her breakdown happened in Session 10 when Subject 1 talked a lot about her past after Subject 0 got into episodes…
Well, I was wrong.
(Sigh)
(Chair creaking)
This is one terrifying machine…
To even be able to mimic the unpredictability of human’s mental condition…or at least intelligent being’s mental conditions…
The question now is… what is considered intelligent by the simulator?
So far, Horned Rabbits and Skin Wolves still behave like common wild lives… they have intelligence, yes, but those observed are still mostly instinct… there are Stone Bear and they mentioned Gray Jumper, but we’ve never seen them alive… so I’ll skip them.
And now… I am quite curious about domesticated animal…
(Sigh)
(Tapping fingers)
Okay… I think I should mention this but… the reaction during and after bathroom scene are disturbingly realistic…
Once again, it is tied to how the simulator processed mental conditions and thought… so, it is no surprise by now.
I think… I don’t have anything else to say…
I’ve compared the visual of the shelter and it is the exact same even after both Subjects leave. So… I just hope that it is consistent to the other areas.
