Dynamite Blue story · Pocket Stories
The Beginning of Baeksa
NAVII Project - Ouroboros's last survivor. The beginning of her becoming Baeksa after abandoning the name Emily.
7 scenes, 258 lines
1. Scene 1
48 lines[Opening - Baeksa]
Baeksa.
NAVII Baeksa group leader.
The last survivor of Project-Ouroboros.
[Opening - Baeksa]
[NETIC Headquarters]
NETIC Headquarters in the heart of Air Ground.
The 17th floor. The floor where Hera's office is.
Someone walks in from the end of the hallway.
Hera~!
...You've come again.
Yeah! I came because I wanted to see Hera.
Team Leader, if you'd like to see her, please make an appointment...
I suddenly missed you, that's all. Haha!
The Chairwoman is currently in a meeting.
How much?
It's scheduled for two hours.
Come on~ That's nothing I can't handle.I'll be waiting!
No.
Hmph, can't hear you. Hahaha~!
Baeksa settles onto the hallway sofa as if it were the most natural thing.He takes out his phone and sends a message.
I'm here. Waiting.Is the meeting running long?
Read and ignored.
Haha...
The elevator opens. Visitors step out.One of them stops while passing through the hallway.
Early 50s. An expensive suit.A badge from a major Air Ground law firm.
...Emily?
Baeksa's hand stops.0.5 seconds. The shortest pause in the world.
Emily...? No way.It's me, your lawyer. The one who handled your family's legal affairs.
After your family's accident, I was the one who handled the estate, too...
First of all... who might you be?
This isn't the time for jokes.If you're legally alive, there are things that need to be sorted out...
...No... I'm sure of it.You can't hide those eyes and that bone structure. I've seen them for years.
The man looks into Baeksa's eyes.There's something behind that innocent smile. Something indescribable.
The man is a lawyer who has survived a long time.His instincts tell him: this is someone not to be provoked.
...My apologies. I was mistaken.
No worries! I hope you find that Emily person too!
The man turns away.His pace quickens. He doesn't look back.
Baeksa's smile never fades.It never has.
Baeksa looks out the window.Her face is reflected in the glass on the 17th floor.
Emily, huh...
Haven't heard that name in a while...
[Opening - Baeksa]
2. Scene 2
15 linesBlank
Five years ago.She had a different name.
Emily.The kind daughter of an Air Ground capitalist.
Blank
[Air Ground Charity Foundation Office]
Emily is wearing a volunteer vest and organizing supplies.
Today's volunteer schedule in the Underground?Yes... Understood!
I like how Ms. Emily is always so bright.
Oh, it's nothing.There are people who need help, after all.
That's really impressive. Someone from Air Groundcoming all the way to the Underground to volunteer...
You really don't have to go that far...
Humble angle, passed. Smile angle: 15 degrees.
Maintain eye contact for 3 seconds, then look away first.Tilt head slightly.
Perfect.Emily is perfect again today.
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3. Scene 3
22 linesBlank
[Underground Volunteer Site]
In front of the long line of people waiting for food distribution,Emily is ladling out soup.
Have some more! Eat plenty!
A girl is standing at the end of the line.
A thin body. Sharp eyes.A look that says she has no interest in things like charity supplies.
Eat well and have an energetic day~
...Pfft.
What's the matter?
A fake expression...
Yes?
That's a fake smile on your face.
Emily's smile flickers for 0.1 seconds.So briefly that no one notices.
That smile is fake.A perfect expression you've practiced since childhood.
It is perfect.But it doesn't work on me.
Emily's smile disappears.
For the first time in her life.A face with no pretense, empty eyes.
...See? That's your real face.
Idiot. What a boring way to live.
She recognized me.
First time.
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4. Scene 4
31 linesBlank
Emily starts following Sara around.
Not as volunteer work. Personally. Alone.
Sara - Observation Log
Day 3: Sara does not bow to the strong.She is generous to the weak.
Day 7: Sarah does not lie.It's not that she can't do it, she just doesn't. ...Is that even possible?
Day 12: What would it be like to live like Sarah?A life where you don't have to pretend...
Day 13: None.
Day 14: None.
Day 15:
Then become Sarah.
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[Underground. Rooftop of an abandoned building]
Sarah is sitting with her legs dangling over the railing.
You're here again.
Yeah! I brought snacks!
...Why do you keep coming here?
Because we're friends!
Since when were we friends?
I decided that!
...I really can't figure you out.
How much of it is an act, and how much is real?
I don't know either!
...That's the scariest part.
...It tastes bad.
Liar. You ate it all.
...You're annoying.
Sarah turns her head. But the corners of her mouth are raised.
So that's how she smiles.
That angle. I should remember it.
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5. Scene 5
62 linesBlank
Sarah disappeared.
Emily knows. Because she had been watching Sarah.
She saw people in white coats taking Sarah away. NAVII.
She bought the information. It wasn't difficult. Because she's the daughter of an Air Ground capitalist.
Ouroboros Project - Recruiting test subjects. Full-body mechanization adaptation experiment.
If successful - you can become a completely different person.
I'm going to save Sarah.
Really?
No, I'm going to complete Sarah.
Emily enters the laboratory. Voluntarily.
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[NAVII Underground Laboratory]
Experimental Wing.
PROJECT: OUROBOROSThe snake that devours its own tail.
Objective: Development of the perfect weapon through full-body mechanization.
SUBJECT E-01 EmilyCompatibility: 38.4%
SUBJECT S-?? SaraCompatibility: 89.1%
12 others.
Researcher C closes the E-01 file, then opens it again.This is the third time.
Pain index - zero.She acts. There is no neural response.
...How can she act and not feel pain?
The subjects drop out one by one.Failure to adapt to mechanization. Mental collapse. Physical rejection response.
12. 11. 9. 5.
Emily is alive.
Emily lies on the operating table with machines connected all over her body.Her body is gradually being turned into a machine.
Ow~ That hurts~
...Her biological responses are normal.
Come on, if it hurts, then it hurts!
By the way, what happened to Sarah?
I cannot share information about the other test subjects.
Got it! Hehe.
Emily's smile never fades.
But her eyes are looking somewhere else.The ventilation duct leading to the lab next door.
Sarah... so you're in the next room.
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Three weeks later. Subjects remaining: 2. Emily. Sarah.
SUBJECT E-01 EmilyCompatibility: 38.4% → 91.7%.
Note: With no self to begin with, there is no self to lose.
SUBJECT S-?? SaraCompatibility: 89.1% → 86.3%.
Note: The problem is that her will is too strong.
An empty vessel can hold anything.
...If there was no self to begin with,then there was nothing to lose.
Blank
Night. Emily crawls through the vent into Sarah's lab.
Sarah, her body half turned to machine, stands fixed in a mounting rack. But her eyes are still alive.
Sara.
...You came. Did you come to save me?
...
...I guess not.
I knew from the start. The way you looked at me.
They weren't the eyes of someone who liked me. They were the eyes of someone who remembered.
...Emily, where are you in all this?
I said I didn't know...No, I just didn't know back then.
Thank you, Sara. Thanks to you, I know what I am.
An empty bowl. One that can hold anything.
So that means I can hold you too.
It was the first time Sarah was the one to fall silent when she faced Emily.
Goodbye, Sara.
No.
Hello, me.
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6. Scene 6
43 linesBlank
After that, Sara disappeared.From the experiment records. From the lab too.
Strange. I thought I'd be sad.
Nothing. I don't know. Whatever.
Because now I am Sara.
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An explosion occurs in the NAVII underground laboratory.
Hera watches the explosion from afar.
Blank
Messages are piled up on the phone screen.
Request confirmation of data loss in the Ouroboros test subject.
They're all the same content.
I'm just checking the data.If there's anything left I can use, I'll take it. If not, I'll just leave.
Blank
The laboratory is burning.All data. All records. All traces.
Ruins. Someone is sitting atop the smoking wreckage. Boldly.
A fully mechanized body. A serpent-shaped Jagear coils around it. The only clean thing in the ashes.
...Too late.
Hey there. I'm Emily.
Sorry for blowing this place up~.I apologized, so you'll let it slide, right?
Impressive.Well, whoever you are, I've already gotten what I needed.
In that case, would you finish what you were doing?I hate wasting time on pointless things.
Hold on.
You're the only one. You're the only one who knows my secret.
Hmm, unfortunately I don't think I can let you go.Sorry about that too!
Emily attacks. The power of full-body mechanization.A serpent-shaped Jagear shoots toward Hera.
Fast. Strong. Precise.
But. Hera gently dodges.
Emily's body is laid on the floor.Nothing broken. Very gently. A perfect takedown.
...What.Just who... are you?
I just blew up a whole lab...me, the one who's fully mechanized?
So?
If it's defective, then it's just being defective. What can you do.
Well, do as you like. I'm a bit busy, you see.
Your name?
...Nothing.
Baeksa.You're so brilliantly white. It suits you well.
Hera turns around. This time for real.
What... that person.
She beat me. And doesn't even care.
Huh...
Haha... Hahaha!
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7. Scene 7
37 linesBlank
[NAVII Baeksa Atelier]
Baeksa is looking at her own face reflected in Yuri.
Emily.
Sara.
Baeksa.
In the end, they're all someone else's names.
Emily is the name her parents gave her. A life taken from Sara.Baeksa is the word Hera calls her.
None of it is her own.
So what. What does a name matter.
Baeksa's hand rises unconsciously.It touches her lips.
Emily's habit.
When she first met Sara, and when she first met Hera,this came out before she even realized it.
...It still comes out.
Whether it's a frightening thing to say. Or a welcome one.
Whether it means Emily is still alive.Or that only her habit remains, parasitic.
Even she doesn't know. Perhaps she never will.
...So what. As long as it's fun, that's enough.
The snake on her shoulder looks down at Baeksa.It flicks its tongue. Baeksa flicks hers back.
Baeksa turns her head. The snake looks away first.
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[Epilogue - Record]
SUBJECT E-01 Experiment Report.
Project Name: Ouroboros.Result: Partial success. Test subject escaped. Facility destroyed.
Untraceable. Presumed to be somewhere in the Midground.
Contact attempts: 3.Response: None.
Note: One member of the contact team deserted after returning. Reason unknown.
Researcher's assessment: an unstable sense of self was not a weakness but a strength. An empty vessel produces no rejection response.
Bringing her back to the lab is strongly discouraged. Because she would enjoy it.
Attached: Photo of the inside of the test subject's locker. One photo beside the mirror.Two girls. Emily and Sara.
A Baeksa sticker is attached to Sara's face.A Baeksa sticker is also attached to Emily's face.
Both of them are Baeksa.
Handwritten below:
Sara play is over ♡
Whose turn to play next?
Approval: Review complete. Proceed with scouting.
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