Highmore

[Code Name] Highmore

[Gender] Female

[Combat Experience] None

[Place of Birth] Iberia

[Date of Birth] Aug 23

[Race] Ægir

[Height] 156cm

[Infection Status]

Medical tests have confirmed that no infection is present.

[Physical Strength] Excellent

[Mobility] Standard

[Physical Resilience] Outstanding

[Tactical Acumen] Normal

[Combat Skill] Standard

[Originium Arts Assimilation] Flawed

Highmore was brought to Rhodes Island for medical treatment after being involved in an operation in Iberia.

Based on observation and her test results, she was approved to become a field operator and now supports various missions around Iberia.

Imaging tests reveal clear, normal outlines of internal organs, and no abnormal shadows have been detected. Originium granules have not been detected in the circulatory system and there is no sign of infection. At this time, the operator is believed to be uninfected.

[Cell-Originium Assimilation] 0%

Operator Highmore shows no signs of Originium infection.

[Blood Originium-Crystal Density] 0.08u/L

Operator Highmore rarely comes into contact with Originium.

That's it, what else do you want to know? The proliferation of Seaborn tissue on her arms and weapon? That's far beyond my area of expertise. I'm just a doctor who doesn't even know what a Sea Terror is, after all. Why don't you consult a biologist instead?

I still remember how disorganized we were when Highmore first arrived at Rhodes Island.

Those of us who were present at the time should still remember it clearly. The Hunters from Ægir had only just finished their report at the Rhodes Island Landship and left when Tulip and Mizuki sent us such a big surprise. Even Dr. Kal'tsit was still in talks with Iberia...

Though we always say we can't ignore a wounded patient in need, we're still responsible for the safety of the other personnel after all. If it weren't for Amiya using her power and guaranteeing that Highmore was different from those appalling creatures, we wouldn't have known what to do. I even heard that Medical faced some technical difficulties when operating on her wounds and the hyperplastic tissues?

That's not all. After the surgery, Mizuki even requested us to accept her as an operator, to allow her to once again experience life amongst people... We weren't the only ones surprised, I'd wager even Amiya couldn't hide her astonishment, and Tulip was next to her just coughing lightly.

As for me? Well, I ended up being the one in charge of arranging and recording her test results. ...No, I don't think there was anything worth remembering or discussing, especially not her weapon impact tests on bionic dummies. If you're really interested, have mercy on me and go check the recordings yourself.

Highmore does not shy away from revealing personal information, and readily cooperated with our background investigation.

When the topic of her parents came up, Highmore continued to maintain a facade of calmness and indifference, but we were able to get a glimpse of her feelings through her phrasing and micro-expressions.

The tragedy she experienced is little different from that of many other Ægirs in Iberia. Whether it was her father being spirited away by the Inquisition under the pretense of his Ægir identity, never to return, or her mother gradually becoming mute in the few remaining years of her life before finally dying of despair, their departures left an irreparable mark in her life.

Surprisingly, she does not seem to harbor any grudge or regret towards the Inquisition. Instead, she blames the townsfolk for falsely accusing her father to save their own skins, the neighbors for spreading false rumors of her mother's alluring voice, and herself for being helpless to change anything yet unable to let go.

She directs her hatred toward human weakness rather than ill will, and perhaps that is why she continues to wallow in remorse and shame to this day.

When the townsfolk attempted to pry open the door—to take away her mother's corpse—shouting, cursing, declaring the drought to be a curse she'd brought about, wanting to purge it by incinerating the body...

It was still afternoon, the sun still high up in the sky. Yet, I swear I saw starlight through the window. It formed a humanoid body, looking grand and divine, with bright blue stars marking an old man's joints. They fluttered around like spores in the wind, while lines of starlight coalesced into blood vessels. Countless moist and vibrant organisms converged harmoniously, drawing out the lines and contours of a human body.

When the old man raised his arm, it was like a bite had been taken out of the crowd. Where his hand passed, there remained no noise, nor any marks, or even bloodstains. The wriggling starlight consumed all violence, leaving only silence in its wake.

When the entire street was fully illuminated by starlight—it took but a moment—the grandpa, the bishop, started walking towards me. Behind him flowed a living carpet, or a cape, or something, formed of nothing but the stars and the ocean.

It was serene, beautiful, brilliant. Ah, so this is what humans should really be like...

I, too, wish to join that patch of starlight.

[Miscellaneous Records]

Child, I am not against your desire to change, starting with your name. However, I do not give you this name for you to simply blindly chase after some vague higher goal.

Humans are infinitesimally small, unbelievably small. We are each but a tiny grain awash in the waves.

In our imaginations, the lives of ordinary people able to live self-sufficiently may suffice to represent all of humanity. However, within such imagination, the term 'humanity' eminently excludes the Infected, the impoverished barely able to eke out a living, the wanderers without a home in the wilderness, the Sarkaz branded with the epithet of evil, and we of Ægir. Such massive-yet-myopic idealism does not even include the land and the sea humans rely on to live, nor the flora and fauna that are reduced to mere resources. It contains only humans, and the creations they pride themselves upon.

This irrationality stems from the weakness and inefficacy of humanity, their inequality and distrust. Only by shedding our laziness and degeneration, by shattering our biases in the pursuit of evolution, can we finally realize the value of a human being.

Oh, Highmore. How dearly I wish for you to stand higher, to discover the means to bind all of this together, to find all the myriad paths to walk towards this future, instead of simply basking in the faint glory of any one pioneer.

During a trip back to the landship, Highmore came to the abrupt realization that the mission she had just participated in was simply a short line on a random tactical planning map. To be clear, this should have been obvious with a bit of logic.

The difference this time was that she had suddenly discovered countless other lines just like it, along with operator codenames crammed wherever they fit, as if weaving a constellation chart, each point connecting people together.

Why had she never paid attention before, despite having seen similar things so many times? Heh, without even realizing it, you all are gently re-weaving the homes that humans rely on.

Or perhaps, it could be us.