"Oh, you're here, Sir Barlowe," A nurse came inside the room, perhaps checking on General Roger's condition. "...I see you forgot your pants again," she giggled.
"..."
Is that even possible? No. For Lieutenant Narc, that's possible. It would be impossible for that to be impossible.... Wait. Am I even making sense here?
"..." Lieutenant Narc didn't reply as he remained dazed behind me.
"Are you all right, Sir Barlowe...?" The nurse asked, leaning closer to him. "You look pale..."
"...Ah!" Lieutenant Narc jolted after he noticed someone was near him.
"Ah!" The nurse jolted too in response, slapping him on the cheek. "...O-Oh n-no! S-Sorry –"
"N-No, it's all right..." Lieutenant Narc let out a forced giggle, rubbing the cheek he was slapped with his hand. "S-Sorry, I-I'm all right, just a hangover."
"I-Is that so... Hmm?" she stuttered, her eyes suddenly averted to me. "Who's..." She stopped a moment after she had a clear look at me, taking pleasure time scanning me from head to toe while subtly biting her lower lip, "...this fellow you're with? A co-worker perhaps?"
"Yeah. Yes, he is," Lieutenant Narc replied. "This is a friend from the military, Rem."
"Hey, Sir. Rem~" The nurse walked closer to me, slowly locking her arms into mine. "You've got nice hard babies here~"
"..."
Do my biceps look like hard babies...? And why is she flaunting her cleavage in such an obvious manner? Her voice also reminded me of how Shaun speaks with Sergeant Charlotte... back then...
Nurses, I don't understand them...
"...?"
Wait. Come to think of it, why is Shaun not using that usual tone he uses to Sergeant Charlotte earlier? Is that perhaps the thing that was bothering me when I watched them exchange replies? Well, in any case, I suppose those ten months' worth of being unconscious, or so Shaun says, made me late on some happenings...
"By the way," The nurse added, still clinging to me, "I don't mind you calling me your mommy or whatever, but I prefer we start a step at a time all right~? My name's –"
"How's Uncle Hans doing?" Lieutenant Narc interrupted, looking at General Roger on the bed with a melancholy expression. "Is he... going to be up soon?"
"Tsk..." The nurse subtly clicked her tongue.
"..."
Did I just hear her saying I can call her 'mommy'? Is she finding someone to be her child? Perhaps she's not able to produce offspring? Is she... infertile...?
Nurses, I don't really understand them...
"You know," Lieutenant Narc started talking, still looking at General Roger, "when I was a kid, I remember Uncle Hans telling me stories about his days in the military. Seeing him like that with a smile on his face makes me smile too. That was also the time I said to myself 'Ahh, I want to be like him someday'.... Now look at me, time sure flies huh?"
"Sure, sure," The nurse sighed, letting go of my shoulders as she plans to walk outside the room. "I'll go get a doctor real quick..."
"..."
Is that how nurses really are...?
"I also remembered him saying if he would die someday," Lieutenant Narc continued, his fist clenching, "he would like to be on a battlefield, like a hero..."
A hero. Is it really necessary for someone to die for them to be called a hero? What's a hero in the first place anyway? Someone who fights just to die, someone who fights without considering every factor affecting it, someone who fights despite knowing very well what the outcome will be - Isn't that just plain idiocy? In my point of view, at the least.
Humans, I don't understand them...
"Having to die doing nothing is the same as your life being meaningless, it's even better not existing, or so he said..." Lieutenant Narc added, he then looked at me with a subtle smile. "How cool is that, huh?"
"..." I just stared at him, clueless about what to reply. He then returned his eyes to General Roger after a minute with his expression immediately changing.
"Sir. Barlowe, good afternoon," A doctor came in the room with the same nurse who was here earlier. "I see you've forgotten your pants again."
"..."
Just how usually does Lieutenant Narc go outside without his pants on?
"Oh, Doc., good morning," Lieutenant Narc looked at them standing in the doorway, putting on his usual smile. "Well, stuff happened. But to be honest, I like it this way. It's breezy and cool."
"Is that so?" The doctor nodded with a smile in response.
"...?"
I noticed the nurse who was behind the doctor was waving her hand, looking at me while mouthing the words 'Hi, Rem'. Not knowing what to do, I waved back at her. Though why is she still flaunting her cleavage when I'm looking at her? Is that one of the effects of someone who lacks fecundity?
Fertility, I don't understand it...
"...Hmm?" The doctor's eyes averted toward me, taking notice of me waving. "Who's this young man with you? "He's quite... something, just like you..."
"...?"
What's with the pause while looking at me from head to toe?
"Rem," Lieutenant Narc introduces me, his hand placed on one of my shoulders, "Rem Fisher. Uncle Hans' nephew."
"Nephew?" The doctor repeated, staring at me. "Aaron's son?"
"Yeah," Lieutenant Narc said, glancing at me. "...Somewhat."
"..."
Somewhat, huh... Not that there's wrong with it...
"Is he, now...?!" The doctor said with an astonished expression, walking closer to me. "My... You've quite grown into a fine man! I remembered you visiting here with your father years ago, you were just as little as my thumb back then. Look at you know..."
"...?"
Years ago...? Putting the fact that I'm not a year old since I was created aside, I don't even remember visiting one, a hospital, until now. And me to be little as his thumb back then. If I'm correct, robots don't grow physically, and if there is one - How? In the first place, is there even a human as tiny as a thumb like that...? Well considering General Roger's size, maybe, in a small chance, there is one...
Human anatomy, I don't understand it...
"I-I think you've got the wrong –"
"Hmm?" The doctor ignored Lieutenant Narc and kept staring into my eyes. "Though, if my memories serve me right, you had ocean-like eyes like your father... How strange..."
"He's not my real father," I answered. "I don't have one in the first –"
"H-He's adopted...!" Lieutenant Narc cut me off, laughing awkwardly. "Y-Yes, he's adopted."
"...?" The doctor stared at him, clueless about what was happening.
"..."
I'm adopted? What orphanage would take in a robot? If there is actually one, who would even adopt that? It's like buying a phone in an orphanage.
"He was just a little child when Uncle Aaron adopted him after Jay... passed away," Lieutenant Narc added, glancing at me. "So Rem didn't have the chance to meet his real parents."
"..."
I've heard that name before...
- I've missed you so much, Jay... -
No. It's just earlier to be exact. Who's Jay? I'm just getting confused by every unfamiliar name being thrown at me every time...
"Wait, that kid is... gone?" The doctor said in a low tone, his expression astonished as he stared at Lieutenant Narc. "W-What happened...? I-Is it... because of the war? I know he was a soldier, right...?"
"...Suicide," Lieutenant Narc paused before answering, averting his eyes away from him, avoiding eye contact.
