BATTER 33

Somehow, Baron liked that face better, so he stared at Bijou without blinking, like a camera lens. That plaster-white, heatless visage etched itself into his mind. In terms of accuracy and preservation, it might fall short of an ancient daguerreotype, but it was far more beautiful.

As the finger slowly pried back the eyelid and intruded, the dry, soft mucous membrane clung to it. The flesh was slick like settled phlegm, but because blood vessels ran through it, every heartbeat was transmitted perfectly. The throbbing pulse of the heart wound itself slippily around the finger. Thump, thump, thump, thump. A low, ambiguous, yet gentle vibration spread out. It was as if another heart had taken root inside that empty hole.

As the drumming grew clearer, a dull sensation of a foreign object was felt deep inside the cavity. It wasn’t painful or particularly uncomfortable, but his throat let out a reflexive ugh. Feeling the slight tremor, Bijou asked.

“Does it hurt?”

“Not really… It’s a spot that healed a long, long time ago.”

He replied nonchalantly. His left eye had been replaced by an artificial substitute ages ago. It was something from so far back that he couldn’t even remember what the pain of losing his first eye felt like. More than the empty space behind the eyelid, the concerned questions of why he had lost the eye had always been more irritating. He felt relieved that this meddling android hadn’t bothered to let a “why” slip from his lips.

The finger groped around the shallow area before being withdrawn. Bijou briefly turned his gaze to the forehead where the epidermis had been scraped away. His pupils, which had lingered on the injuries, once again stared into Baron’s chestnut iris.

“The targeted area appears to be the left eyeball and the frontal bone adjacent to the left orbit. Part of the eyelid is torn, and the eyeball has been completely destroyed. It seems the other bullets missed. In a typical case, this would have resulted in instant death or a comparable critical injury, but…”

Baron caught and held the hand that was hovering near his wound. Bijou, who had paused his speech, slowly moved his lips.

“You underwent surgery to replace part of your eyeball and skull with artificial materials.”

That event from the distant past had taken not just an eye from Baron, but other fragments of bone as well. The bone of the left orbit and part of the skull protecting the frontal lobe. The skin transplanted over it bled just like any other part and would be cut if a blade touched it, but the replaced bone—well, it was much harder than that. Baron gave a short snort.

“Yeah. Didn’t you already know? When you were going on about biometric info, you only touched the right side of my face.”

There was no way Bijou hadn’t known. He just probably didn’t realize it was this sturdy. Baron continued, tapping his forehead where the scabs were drying.

“Only the upper left side of my face is titanium alloy. I got lucky. If I’d been hit in the right side of my head, I would’ve been dead on the spot.”

If it had been at least one to the head and one to the heart, he wouldn’t be sitting here laughing. How are they training people these days? Bijou hugged both knees and shifted his posture. His gaze, tilted toward his knees, clung persistently to the scars.

“It looks like a surgery performed a long time ago. When did you have it?”

“Hmm, I don’t remember well. It was something my mom did for me when I was really young.”

“Your mother? Do you mean to say your mother was a doctor?”

As the questions continued, Baron let out a laugh as light as air. There weren’t many words that could be appropriately placed next to “mother.” It was because she had been a uniquely ambiguous and strange entity in every aspect. A mother of wire, not cloth. After thinking it over, Baron scratched his head and answered.

“How should I put it… a medic? Yeah, a military surgeon. Anyway, it was something like that.”

“You’re expressing yourself quite vaguely.”

“Ah, getting cold again. You look sexy when you act like that.”

Baron gave a wink. It didn’t really show since he happened to close his left eye. Half was a joke and half was serious, but Bijou remained silent as if just waiting for the next words. The sunlight beating down on the crumpled car and the crown of his head was exceptionally stinging. After scratching his disheveled, sweat-soaked hair scritch-scritch-scritch, Baron spoke again.

“You know those crazy robot characters from old horror movies? Crazy, um, psycho robots.”

“Yes, I am aware. Representative works include Director James Cameron’s 1984 film The Terminator, Director Wes Craven’s 1986 film Deadly Friend, and…”

“An AI exactly that crazy was my mother.”

A mad robot, a mad AI. One couldn’t explain his mother without presupposing a technical error that could be described as insanity. As a son, it was truly something to be proud of.

“She didn’t give birth to me directly, but if she gave me a name and raised me, she’s my mother. Right?”

He finished the sentence as a question, but he had no intention of seeking agreement. Baron clapped his hands together—smack! It was a loud, refreshing sound, almost like a slap to the cheeks.

“Alright, now that I’ve spilled the family history, you’ve gotta pay up. Your turn.”

“Pardon? I didn’t quite understand.”

The guy who had been boasting a sharp intelligence that was almost off-putting was suddenly playing dumb. Ha, well, it’s charming, but did you think that would work? A gaze as sharp as an awl targeted Bijou.

“Who the hell are you?”

He answered without even a moment’s hesitation. It was the exact same answer he always gave.

“I am your friend, lover, and family for your loneliness. One who will always love you…”

“No, I’m asking who you are.”

The answer Baron wanted wasn’t some product manual or a catchphrase a copywriter struggled to squeeze out. He wasn’t intending to toss out a philosophical question about the self, either. It was a blunt, one-dimensional question that even an idiot could understand instantly.

“I’ll ask one more time. Forget about reciting that stupid promotional blurb. What I need to hear right now is the reason someone wants to take you back in one piece even if it costs a hundred million dollars. And why a man who can order around four subordinates uses honorifics with you.”

A tense silence hung in the air.

“What exactly are you?”

“But that truly is all I am.”

Yet the guy remained the same. He was the type who would treat a blade like a blade of grass even if you shoved it in his face. It was no different now. As if he were sitting by a sunny attic window, he answered while still leaning his head on his knees. It was a calm, gentle voice that didn’t waver even before that fierce gaze.

“If you ask me who I am, there really is only one thing I can answer. That I am your friend, lover, and family who will always love you.”

Baron let out a hollow laugh. Was he mocking a man because his magazine was empty? Contrary to the preposterous answer, the guy’s blue eyes only grew infinitely deeper. Bright sunlight draped over those blue eyes that made you want to believe whatever he said. A shadow like a reed forest fluttered just above his cheek.

“Really, that’s all I am…”

If the place where they sat had been under the pale lights of an interrogation room, Baron might have been able to utilize a few more diverse methods. If he used a bit of creativity, there was nothing he couldn’t do right this second. Even if the magazine was empty, a heavy pistol could make a decent blunt weapon. However, he had zero expectation that an android—especially this stupid android—would get scared of pain and start singing. Baron let out a long sigh toward the ground.

“Then what, should I just view this whole mess as some kind of lover’s spat over you? And I lost an eye in a lovers’ quarrel?”

“I feel truly sorry about that part as well.”

“Glad you at least feel that way.”

Before he could even finish speaking, Bijou jumped up from his seat. He marched right in front of Baron and crouched down. His back was wide open in that posture. Before Baron could even properly voice his question, Bijou turned his head slightly and said:

“Get on my back!”

“What?”