An unfamiliar ceiling.
When I came to my senses, the first things to greet me were the rhythmic beeping of machinery and the smell of disinfectant.
"......."
How did I end up like this?
I had clearly been enjoying the 3rd anniversary festival of *Echo of Humanity - Echo* when I ran into some crazy cosplayer chick—
["You must survive, Commander."]
"Hah?"
When I lowered my gaze, what entered my sight was a matte black metal prosthetic arm occupying the place where my arm should have been.
"I'm going crazy…."
It had really been cut off.
At my brain's command to move my fingers, I could see the mechanical prosthetic move.
Then that meant I had really been infected with the Z Virus….
"…What a fucking mess."
The zombie virus from the game's setting.
The nameless, mass-produced Echo that had saved me and died.
The relief of having survived.
The despair of having fallen into an unknown world.
My head grew muddled as various thoughts swirled together.
"......."
But wasn't I strangely calm?
Was it because of the nano-machines that all humans in the world of Echo possessed?
At that moment, the hospital room door opened silently and two Echoes entered.
They weren't human. Humans couldn't walk around armed like that.
"Huh…?"
And the Echo with coral-colored short hair who made eye contact with me wore a surprised expression.
"You're awake! Awesome—!"
Then she immediately shouted brightly and strode over.
'Pomen?'
It was an Echo with a familiar face.
She was an Echo who had first appeared not in the main story, but in a side story during the 2.5 anniversary event.
Among players, she was a must-have recommended character rated SS-tier.
Even me, a veteran player, had used her quite a bit by rotating her in my first and second teams.
"Hello, Commander? How are you feeling? We attached the latest model prosthetic arm from our ark, so is it okay?"
She approached the bedside, bombarding me with questions while looking at me with eyes full of curiosity.
Her chatty personality from the game came through exactly as I remembered. She even fiddled with my mechanical arm as if it were a fascinating toy.
"Pomen. The Commander has just regained consciousness. Compose yourself."
An extremely businesslike, emotionless voice stopped Pomen.
It was Arba, an Echo with silver hair tied up without a single strand out of place.
"And… do not touch the Commander's body arbitrarily."
"Why? Human skin is soft and squishy, isn't it? Of course, this part is hard… but I like hard things too."
"......."
"There is a 92% probability that humans dislike contact with Echoes."
"Then does that mean the Commander falls into that 8%?"
"What?"
"See? He's staying still even when I touch him. Oh my, I think it got even harder than before?"
"The ark's latest prosthetic arm doesn't have that function, Pomen."
Arba let out a short sigh, not sparing me a single glance, her eyes fixed on the pad in her hand.
"Geez, so stiff. She's always like that, Commander."
Pomen whispered softly near my ear.
"Still… you don't hate it when I touch you like this, do you?"
What should I answer?
In the game's setting, humans disliked contact with Echoes.
It was because they were androids and combat weapons modeled after humans. There were also various contamination issues.
But I was a bit different.
Characters I had only seen in the game were alive and moving.
Was that why?
Rather, I wanted to touch them. Filled with curiosity, I touched Pomen as if I were touching an animal I was seeing for the first time.
'She's softer than I thought.'
I had assumed humanoid androids would be hard, but it was no different from touching a human.
However, her armed sections definitely showed signs of being machinery.
The connected areas were like that too.
It was while I was busily fiddling with Pomen's body to satisfy my curiosity that—
"You are quite an aggressive Commander, aren't you?"
"…Ah."
"Fufufu. It's my first time being touched by a human rather than a machine… It feels much better than I thought?"
Pomen's honeyed voice dug into my ear.
Wondering if I had been too obvious, I tried to pull my hand away, but instead Pomen grabbed and pulled it.
"Would you like to try touching somewhere else…? There's a place that's softer, and one that would be just to the Commander's liking…."
She added with a wink. It was at that exact moment.
"Pomen."
"I'm joking, joking. So, did you finish the check? How is it? Is the Commandant healthy?"
"His vital signs are stable. The prosthetic arm's synchronization rate with the central nervous system is at 88%, so… His recovery is much faster than we expected."
"Wow! The Commandant who arrived this time is very healthy? What a relief—!"
Pomen, who had been cheering, shoved her face even closer to me and added,
"It would be even better if you're sturdy at night too… right, Commander?"
"Pomen."
Arba's voice dropped by a tone.
But that was all; her gaze remained fixed on the data pad.
I stared blankly at this unrealistic situation.
Kids I had raised as part of my main teams even if they weren't my absolute favorites. Those Echoes were exchanging banter right before my eyes.
It felt like I was actually playing through a side story.
'But Commandant?'
Wasn't the player originally the Commander?
They were similar words, but the nuance was completely different. In the game, Commandant and Commander existed separately.
As if reading my unspoken question, Arba lowered her pad and opened her mouth.
"Operation Blast has failed, Commander."
Blast, Blast….
'Sss… what was that again?'
I felt like I had heard of it, but I couldn't remember well.
If I had known this would happen, I would have thoroughly studied Echo's lore.
One thing was certain: it wasn't the main story.
I had only roughly watched the side stories, but since I had slowly progressed through Echo's main story, reading each episode, there was no way I wouldn't know.
"The damage?"
To my question, Arba answered without any change in expression.
"Total annihilation. 94.7% of the troops that left Ark 69 were annihilated. And all humans except for you, Commander, have been confirmed dead."
"Annihilated… you said?"
"That's correct. When the Crawler Queen appeared, the number of zombies increased rapidly, and the final defense line quickly collapsed."
Ah, if she appeared, it made sense.
She was a calamity-level monster who had destroyed several arks even in the game.
Rather, it was almost surprising that this ark had survived even after the Crawler Queen appeared.
"You participated in Operation Blaster and were retreating while engaging the Crawler Queen. In that process, you were surrounded by zombies and infected with the Z Virus. Originally, you should have turned into a zombie, but…."
"That mass-produced Echo was really amazing! Even though half her body was blown away, she protected the Commander!"
"Ahh…."
At Pomen's words, her face as she held a saw blade to my arm came to mind.
"What about that Echo?"
"Echo B-707's functions were confirmed to have ceased at the scene. The only one we rescued from there was you, Commander."
"…Hmm."
My feelings were somewhat complicated.
After telling me to survive no matter what, in the end, it seemed she had died saving me.
"......."
Arba and Pomen, watching my reaction, exchanged glances.
Then Arba continued speaking.
"And as of today, according to the central AI's orders, you have been appointed as the Commandant of Ark 69 and simultaneously assigned as the Commander of the 'Arclight Squad.'"
"…Me?"
My mind went blank.
I was just an ordinary office worker who had enjoyed Echo as a game.
"Ah, seriously! Arba, aren't you being too stiff? Can't you see the Commander's face has gone pale?"
Pomen glanced at me and grumbled at Arba.
Then she showed me a bright smile.
"So basically, it means you and we are now a team. Don't worry, Commander. No matter what happens, I'll protect you. Day and night!"
"I will accompany you as well, Commander."
I alternated my gaze between my newly acquired mechanical arm and the two female Echoes.
Was it because of the nano-machines in my body?
Or because of the original owner's memories?
My heart, which had felt suffocatingly tight, was clearing up at a surprising speed.
"And…."
Arba, having checked the blinking pad, spoke again.
"There are no longer any humans remaining in Ark 69. If you refuse to assume command, all Echoes in Ark 69 must enter the self-destruction disposal protocol."
"Hey, Arba—!"
Pomen shouted in a flare-up.
"Are you threatening the Commander who just woke up? Using our lives as collateral?"
"…I merely conveyed the facts. Emotional responses are unnecessary. Furthermore, the central AI demands an answer. The situation is not good."
The emotionless Arba's gaze paused for a very brief moment on Pomen's hand touching my prosthetic arm.
And in this pressure-filled situation, I slowly opened my mouth.
"Disposal protocol…."
My memories were slowly returning.
'This is side story content. The setting before the story even begins.'
An ark collapsed by the Crawler Queen's attack.
How many such arks could there be in this harsh world? But Ark 69 was a bit different.
While many combat Echoes remained, the ark AI had entered self-destruction because all the commandants had been annihilated.
Thus the ark became a giant tomb, and the side story I remembered was about the protagonist who fled to Ark 69 later discovering the Arclight Squad in the ruins.
And when that story came out, Arba and Pomen's limited pickup banner had been ongoing too.
I remembered quite a few players had their wallets drained by that limited pickup—they were top-tier characters, after all.
'*Sigh*….'
A sigh escaped me.
But there was no escaping it.
If I refused command and Ark 69 entered the disposal protocol?
Setting aside the Echoes dying, I also had no way to survive in this harsh world. There was no other choice.
'I don't want to die.'
Since it had come to this, I had to somehow survive and land a blow on that crazy bitch.
Her exact identity was unknown, but Isol, the Ashen Wanderer.
A baseless thought rose in my head that if I found this Echo, some answers might emerge.
"Fine. Relay this to the central AI. Cancel the disposal protocol. I will assume the position of Commandant of Ark 69."
"Wa, waaaah—! Really? You're the best, Commander!"
Overcome with joy, Pomen hugged my neck tightly.
'D? E?'
At the soft sensation pressing against my face, my wicked hand was about to move on its own when a strange mechanical sound rang out.
[Core temperature rising rapidly. Activating emergency cooling system. Failure. Initiating system restart. Failure….]
White steam was rising above Arba's frozen-stiff head.
"Pfft. She broke down again."
Pomen burst into giggles at the sight.
"Our stiff leader has no resistance to this kind of fiery stuff, you see."
Then, making a mischievous expression once more, Pomen suddenly lifted the corset top she was wearing to reveal bare skin.
'*Boing!*'
When Pomen wrapped my face in her chest once again, Arba began spewing thick smoke above her head like a broken steam locomotive, accompanied by a loud *pishuuuk—* noise.
At that moment, my eyes fell upon a familiar object behind Arba.
"…Donchimban?"
It was an item I had purchased at the 3rd anniversary event.