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“Na–i!”Nai loved his brother. He loved Vash with all his heart, more than anyone else could ever do – even more than Rem, even if, as he grew up and matured, he recognized her affection for his twin.However, there were instances when Nai, even with all the love he had been nurturing year after year for Vash, felt a sharp desire slapping his face. One of those instances –a repeated one– was Vash that kept bothering him whenever he was working. And Vash knew that Nai despised being interrupted on two occasions: when he played the piano and when he was intent on repairing the damn faulty machinery that humans built.As his brother's blonde head popped out dangling upside down, Nai imagined the wrench in his hand describing a perfect trajectory to smash Vash's nose in a comic manner. But Nai didn't throw the wrench. Instead, he twisted his torso, leaning against a bunch of dirty cables, redirecting the light towards Vash: his twin’s eyes glowed in an inhuman light blue for a second, before Vash squeezed them close.“Move the light away!”“What do you want, Vash?”“Come to the party.”Nai couldn't suppress the irritated sigh that inevitably dragged his brother down from the upper level where he came from. Vash neatly slithered down, almost rolling on himself, and crawled to his brother who had spent the entire day in the stomach of the mothership.“Come on, Naaaaai!”“I haven't finished here yet.”“The party is tomorrow.”“It will take me more than one day to finish.”“No, it won’t.” Vash shrugged in front of Nai's surprised gaze. “Brad told me.”That betrayal poked Nai in the guts. Brad was one of the three (maybe two) humans he dared trust.“I bothered him until he gave up for his own sanity.” Vash added. “He covered for you.”“Not good enough I see.”“Come on, Nai!”Nai didn't listen to Vash's pleas and went back to the bolts he was trying to unscrew. “You aren’t wearing your glasses, Vash.” He admonished his little brother.“I forgot the goggles at home.”“I didn’t mean the goggles. Even if you should wear them when entering here. I meant the other glasses.”“In my pocket.”“They should be on your nose.”“I took them off to come here.” Vash pushed himself forward with his hands and legs, crawling almost like a crab, until he sat in a space empty of cables. Something poked his hip, so he had to move in closer to Nai. Now there was less than a hand of space to separate them. Vash leaned his head on Nai's shoulder.“Nai…”“You'll get dirty, Vash.”“It's a bit too late, don't you think?”Nai felt a thumb rubbing his cheek. It was unexpected enough to make him jolt in surprise. Vash smirked at him. “You have a spot of grease here, just let me–”“I'll take a shower later.”“Don't move around like that.”“I'm working, Vash.” So annoying. But Nai remained still as Vash rubbed his hand in the space between his nose and the right cheek. “If you say oh it was just your mole, I swear–”“It's not your mole.” Vash blurted out. “...will you come to the party?”Nai huffed. “Wear your glasses, Vash. They protect your eyes from the strong artificial lights in here.” He moved his head back from Vash's hand. “I'm done with today's work.”Vash pulled the glasses out from his pocket and wore them. “Ah-ha, so it wasn't urgent.”“You knew that already. Don't smirk.” Nai closed in towards his brother’s face. Vash jolted in surprise, and the dim light kept his slight blush a secret. “You were right, there's some grease on my face.” And he climbed outside.“What, you didn't believe me?!” Vash quickly scampered after him. “Stop using my glasses as a mirror, Nai!”Nai walked down the corridor at a slow pace so that his brother could catch up with him.“You don't have a patent on being annoying, you know Vash?”“I'm not annoying!”“Yes, you are!”Nai elbowed Vash, who elbowed Nai in return. A third voice interrupted their banter.“Vash!” A girl with her hair tied in two braids trotted towards them. “You are coming to the party tonight, aren't you?”All the sulky expressions from the quarrel with Nai disappeared in a blink of an eye, and a smile sprouted on Vash's face. “Sure!”“Wasn’t the party tomorrow?” But none of them listened to Nai.“And will you sleep here on the ship?”“No, I'll go back home.”The girl pouted. “You never stay! Here on the ship is more fun, why don't you move in?”Nai had already reached his daily limit of patience regarding interactions with humans, so he backed away down the corridor.“Oh, wait Nai!” Vash called him, but Nai waved goodbye.“I need a shower and I hate parties, especially the ones I'm not invited to.”The girl's voice stuttered. “B-but you can come too!”However, Nai ignored her. He felt Vash's eyes on his nape even after turning around the corner. When Project Seeds finally found another planet Earth to begin anew, the ships became the center of the new society. From vehicles that crossed humanity through space, they became the core of the new cities built around them. The ships scattered on the surface — like tumors, Nai thought when Rem explained to them the structure of the cities. All distant from one another, interconnected via communication channels and cars. Nothing else but the area around the ships had been subtracted from the planet and nature. The humans had learnt from their past mistakes, Rem insisted, and now the towns weren't gray monsters of pollution that devoured nature, but timid sprouting blossoms that coexisted with the planet itself.
Lies.
Those were all lies. But Vash was deaf to Nai's words.Rem was one of the rare people who abandoned the comfort of the cities to build her own little cozy hut in the woods. It wasn't really in the woods, but on a small hill from where they had quite a clear view of the outline of July, their city. Rem built it piece after piece, with the enthusiastic help of Vash and the reluctant company of Nai. They used solar panels for their energy. Nai had asked Rem if their plan was to consume that new sun instead of the planet.“We are using what is naturally arriving on the surface from the sun.” Rem had explained with a patience that Nai had started to recognize and somehow admire only after growing up a bit. “Not mindlessly abusing and overusing. Or forcing the sun to give us more energy than it produces.”Still, Nai had doubts. He opened the door of their house. Next to the hooks where they hung the keys, Rem had left a note with a scribbled Take a shower, Nai. and a little silly face badly drawn at the end.Nai took a shower, because he was covered in dirt and grease from the machinery he repaired, and then, with his hair still damp, he went to the garden in the back of the house. The little clean gravestone always had at least one red geranium in front of it.
TESLA
But her remnants weren't there. Whatever had existed of his sister, only memories remained of her. Nai sat in front of the gravestone. A little breath of wind whistling against his neck made him shiver.“I haven't forgotten, Tesla.” Nai remained in silence. When Vash visited her, he usually talked about his day. Nai tried to, but there was never anything special to say – on the other hand, to Vash any day among the humans was special. “Today I worked and avoided a party. I think Vash is going.” Pause. “He is definitely going. He likes them.” He sighed. “I just hope he remembers to wear his glasses, otherwise…”Sometimes Nai had the terrifying thought that Vash loved humans more than Plants. Whenever that happened, Nai locked that idea in a remote corner of his mind until it would pop out again.“That human…” The girl who interrupted them. “...would she smile at Vash like that if she knew about his true nature?”What Nai wanted to ask the cold stone was “Would they accept us if they knew we aren't the Plants they can keep under control?” but he didn't, because he knew the answer already. An answer that had been tainting his nightmares. *** “Na–i!”Nai slammed the huge book, closing it right before Rem appeared from behind the tree he was sitting under. She gave him her brightest smile.“There you are. You love this spot, don't you?” Rem sat next to him. “Oh.” Her eyes fell on the book cover, and Nai caught the shadow that sombered her face. It lasted only a second, just like when he had asked about the flower in the computer room, but it didn't escape Nai's attentive eyes. “The Bible. Isn't it a bit too boring to read?”“Not at all. Actually, there are many interesting things about humans.”Rem shifted slightly closer to Nai so that she could lean her back against the trunk. Nai retracted his legs against his body as much as he could with the book in his arms to avoid contact with Rem's.“Fiction has always been used by humans as a means to explore themselves. Even if sometimes there are fantasy elements like dragons, fairies, or—”“Genocide.”Rem faltered.“God punished the humans, but it seems like they haven't learnt from their mistakes. Or from fiction.” Nai looked at Rem, waiting for a counter that didn't come. He understood from her pained expression that her brain was frantically working to find a good answer. “The reason why you didn't want me to show my powers is because humans will never accept me and Vash, won't they?”Rem opened her mouth, and Nai could almost hear her pitiful “No!” squeaked out from her throat. However, Rem took a deep breath before speaking. “Humans react differently in front of things that are new to them. They need time to adapt.”“How did you react in front of Tesla?”Nai was feeling a morbid pleasure in witnessing how his words were hurting Rem deep inside. Her face, usually sweet of smiles and coos, turned into a rigid expression of guilt.“...how did you react when you found me and Vash?” He poked more at the injuries still fresh in Rem’s spirit. "Are we the atonement for your guilt?”Nai had to repress the smirk that was pushing the muscles of his face.“No.”But when he heard Rem's firm voice, Nai was taken aback. She sounded sure, she looked angry. For a second, without knowing it, Nai felt like every little human child when scolded by their parents: guilty, sad, scared.“I could never be forgiven for not saving Tesla, Nai.” Rem was calm. Nai would have felt more comfortable if she screamed in rage instead of tackling him with a cold serious voice. “But I had a choice when I found you and Vash. I decided to keep your existence a secret.”“To protect us from humans?”Rem held her breath. Nai noticed the little halt of her chest, almost heard her heartbeat.“Yes. To protect you from some humans.”Nai stood up, the book falling on the grass with a low sound. “Then why bother taking such parasites to other planets? To destroy them?!”“Because we want to keep living, Nai.” Even if Nai was faster than Rem, he didn't avoid her hug. She was warm. “And I want you and Vash to keep living as well.”“...as humans?”Rem pulled Nai closer into her arms. “I promise you Nai, you won't hide yourselves forever. No matter what.”
Then why have you created my and Vash’s file in the system for everyone to read?
Nai wanted to hurt Rem more, but her warmth made his head fuzzy, and her tender scent soothed the turmoil in his stomach. He hated it. But didn't back away from her. “Nai…”Vash wasn't sleeping. Nai could tell it because his brother kept turning around, from one side of the bed to the other, pulling the covers with him.“You can't sleep?”“Nu-uh.” Vash shook his head. “Uhm…” He was dragging his voice, hesitating in his words. “...hey Nai. What happened with Rem under the tree?”Vash had seen them. The idea made Nai's cheek burn in embarrassment. His little brother had seen him in a moment of weakness.“Nothing particular.”Under the covers, Vash's hand found Nai's. “Was it about Tesla?”“And even if it was?”“Are you sorry for her?”“I am, Vash. She is my sister.” Nai looked at the shape of Vash in the darkness. “And she is yours as well.”Nai felt Vash's fingers twitching on his hand.“Nai... I will–”The door opened and the light from the corridor intruded in the soothing darkness, hurting their eyes. Both twins hid their heads under the covers.“Aren't you sleeping yet?” Rem entered without closing the door and sat on the bed on Nai's side. “Do you need a bedtime story?”“We aren't kids anymore, Rem!” Vash complained, popping his head out. He was pouting with his cheeks puffed.“I was trying to sleep, but Vash kept moving.” Nai sold him out mercilessly.“Nai!”Rem chuckled. “Let me finish the last checks for the night and I will be back to tell you a story.” She moved in, and Vash immediately extended his neck to receive a kiss on the cheek. “Okay?” Nai tried to avoid it, but Rem's lips touched his forehead.“I will be awake!”Nai scoffed. “You will fall asleep in two minutes.”“It's not true!” Vash jumped on Nai to block him in a grab.“Now, now.” Rem separated them. “Close your eyes and think about something nice. I will watch over your sleep.”That familiar scene that had been happening since Nai had memories acquired a different taste. There was something wrong now that they had discovered Tesla. Now that he realized Rem would never be able to protect them from the other humans.
Liar.
“And in case you two will fall asleep before my return.” Rem kissed them again. “Goodnight.” *** “Good morning!”Rem pulled open the curtains of their room, and the sun pierced through the window and reached Nai and Vash. Nai, who had awakened hearing the sounds of Rem being busy in the kitchen, wasn't as traumatized as Vash, who growled like an injured wild animal and retreated under the comforting shade of the covers.“Rem, why can't you just knock?” Nai massaged his eyes.“It's funnier like this.” She chuckled. “Breakfast is ready, get up.”Vash emitted a guttural sound that would perfectly fit a lament coming from a deep abyss in Hell (or its equivalent in any religion and belief). Rem pulled the cover away, forcing Vash to curl up on himself and sink his face against Nai's right thigh – his brother's closest body part at that moment.“Vash!” Rem put both hands on her hips. Vash didn't move. “Oh well, it means I'll eat all the donuts with Nai.”“I don't like don–”“Donuts?!” Vash perked his head up. “I'll be ready in two–no, one minute!”Nai sighed. “Only food motivates you in the morning.”“Well, sorry if I'm more human than Plant.” With time, Vash had turned his brother's accusations of being too human into playful catchphrases. “You'd be more cheerful if you ate more sweets.”“I eat sweets.”“Coffee with a splash of milk doesn't count.”“Da–”“Dark chocolate doesn't count.”“Who said that?”“I did. I’m the human expert between us after all.” Vash stuck his tongue out. “80% chocolate isn't sweet, it's torture.”“I wasn't aware there's a right way to be human.”“Of course there is.”Rem's voice floated from the first floor. “Bo–ys. Come down before I eat your share!”Vash dashed outside their room. One hour later, both twins were walking towards the mothership.“Anyway, they are planning another party–”“Vash.” Nai interrupted him. “No.”“Oh come on! Why not?”Vash accelerated his pace to catch up with Nai, who had sped up, apparently to leave his brother and his party talks behind.“Vash, who are these they?” Nai asked. “You know a lot of people, but you never say their names.”“Well, Jessica and–”“It's not what I meant.” Nai stopped so abruptly that Vash bumped into his back.“Ow, why did you stop?”“You know their names, what they do, but you never really care about them as individuals.”The guilt on Vash's face told Nai that he had touched the right string. If he was younger, Nai would have rubbed more salt on the fresh injury, making his brother's self-confidence in his own relationship with humans crumble. However, Nai had gone past that phase many years ago, and simply shook his head.“At least be sincere with yourself and put into practice what you preach, instead of pretending to be everyone's friend while never really bonding with them. Or do you think we aren't good enough to truly be their friend?”Vash put humans on a pedestal, and more than once Nai had accused him of belittling Plants for their sake. Satisfied with his venomous words, Nai turned around.“Maybe you are the one who thinks so.”Only to turn back and glare at Vash.“What are you–?”Nai had already pictured in his mind, his hands grabbing Vash's clothes and shaking him out of rage for thinking such a thing. How dare he say Nai thinks low of himself like that?!But an arm appeared from behind, locking Nai's neck in a friendly but uncomfortable hug.“Hey, brat.” Brad squeezed his arm a bit tighter, dragging Nai further towards himself. “Lucky me I found you before you reached the mothership. We have to repair one of the stabilizers in the outskirts today.”“Let go.” Nai slapped his arm away. He noticed at that moment that Brad was carrying his tool box too. “You could have called.”“I did, but Rem said you had left already. Today of all days you had to be on time, huh!?”Brad was clearly jesting, but Nai wasn't very good at catching irony, so he pouted. “I'm usually late because Vash never wants to get up. This morning the donuts gave him the right boost.”“Hey!” Vash stepped in. “Don't put the blame on me!”“Exactly.” Brad nodded. “You can just come to work on your own.”Nai was about to answer, but Vash's “What?” arrived faster. There was a slight hint of distress in his brother's voice. Nai looked at him, and Vash's face was nothing but a silly pout. “We are twins, Brad.”“Time to let go of that umbilical cord then.” Brad grabbed Nai by his clothes, something that Nai absolutely despised and absolutely didn't know how to prevent him from doing without resorting to violence. “Let's go, Nai. It's gonna take some time to get there.”“No car?”“You guessed that right.”Nai groaned in a fashion very similar to how Vash had done when Rem woke them up that morning. “See you tonight at home, Vash.” He waved his hand to his brother.Vash's smile in response to Nai disappeared the moment his brother and Brad disappeared from his sight. *** “Nai!” Vash kept calling his brother's name as the doors of the rooms opened in front of him.When he had woken up that morning, Vash found the space next to him empty. Nai was gone. Vash had gotten up and, instead of heading to the dining room for breakfast, checked all the places where he believed he could find Nai.But Nai wasn't in the library, nor in the piano room or under the tree where he liked reading books or napping. So, Vash had started checking every room that wasn't locked until he found him.“Nai.” Vash half-closed his eyes, looking at his brother's dark figure standing out in front of the bright, huge monitor. “Why don't you turn the lights on?” He quickly walked to his brother and sat next to him. “Rem doesn't like that we sit this close to the screens.” He didn't miss the small flinch between Nai's eyebrows. “What are you watching? A cowboy movie?”“No.” Nai was about to press the button to close the video, but Vash was faster, and a documentary popped out in a roar of flying airplanes that were releasing bombs on all the people crawling too many meters below for the pilots to hear their cries.Vash jolted, and his hand mechanically found Nai's, holding it tightly.“Vash–”“I know…” Vash started. “...that humans can also do bad things.” He tilted his head against Nai's shoulder. “But there are a lot of humans like Rem too. That must count for something.”Nai moved his eyes from his brother to the images running on the screen. The noise of the weapons bringing death buzzed into his ears as a warning, because the humans like Rem had never managed, in all history, to prevent such tragedies from happening. With such humans out of the picture, he was the only one who could protect his brother from ending up like–
Tu-tum.
Nai's heart skipped a beat only to immediately soothe. The turmoil of thoughts and feelings inside him calmed down, lulled by the tune Vash was humming with his lips closed. Nai looked down at his little brother, who reciprocated his puzzled glance with a chuckle.“When I told you that this tune calms me down, you made it into a song for the piano.” Vash intertwined his fingers with Nai's. “You've been staying on your own a lot lately, it's boring.” He puffed his cheeks in a grumpy expression.Nai sighed. “What do you want to do?”Vash perked up. “Let's play the piano!” He almost dragged Nai from the chair pulling his arm.“Don't you usually have breakfast when you wake up?”“What if I had had breakfast already?”“There are no crumbs on your clothes.”“Wha–I don't leave crumbs on my clothes!”Nai felt the smirk on his lips sprouting naturally, his muscles working without him commanding them to curve his lips. “Oh, you do.”“It's not true!”Vash was throwing a tantrum like a child. His little naive brother who still wanted to believe in humans.“Hey, Vash.”“What?” There was still the shadow of irritation in Vash's eyes, but Nai's calm voice, so far from wanting to start a brotherly quarrel, got his attention.“I will protect you, no matter what. You know that, right?”Vash slightly tilted his head on a side, his eyebrows slightly furrowed. “There's nothing to protect me from now. And I can protect you too, you know?”“It's a big brother's duty to protect his younger siblings.”“You don't even know if you are older than me! You've just decided that on your own!” Vash complained as he followed Nai. “Rem said that–” *** “Rem said that we should keep our room tidy.” Leaning against the doorstep, Vash glared at Nai, who was sitting with his legs crossed on their bed, surrounded by more books than they owned. “Where did you get all of those?”“Library.” Nai replied distractedly, leafing through the pages. “Brad told me I couldn't help with a job because I still know too little. I'm going to prove him wrong.”Vash sat on the edge of the bed, and the mattress sank down under his weight. Two books glided towards him, lightly bumping on his left hand. “Lately, you've been working a lot with Brad.”“Yeah, maybe.”“What are you reading?”“A book.”Vash shifted closer, with pout on his face. “I can see that. I meant–”“It's a manual. I don't like that he knows more than me and thinks I can't get a job done.”“Do you want Brad to recognize your worth?”Nai slowly raised his eyes from the book. “I don't need his approval. I need to prove him wrong.”“It sounds the same to me. But since you don't need his approval, we can do something together!”“Like those stupid parties?”“They aren't stupid. And I meant something just you and me. Like the piano. It's been ages since the last time you played the piano, and a break might help you. When was the last time you saw sunlight?”“This morning.”“Ugh.”It was a bit because of Vash's words, but mostly because he had been reading the same line for a minute, that Nai was convinced that maybe a little break from the manuals would help his mind. The piano was the only odd note in the rural house Rem decided to build on the hill. Everything in there was made of wood, or at least it looked like it was made of wood. When the twins first saw it, they thought the trees gave a new shape to their roots, branches and trunks. The piano was the metal in nature, it was the humans on the planet; white and cold, in the cozy room with the chimney.Nai pushed a finger on one of the keys. The echo in his ears was pleasantly familiar. He pressed another key.Then, Vash bumped into his body, forcing Nai to move aside and make him space to sit.“You still do it.” Nai scolded him and received a quirky smirk.“What shall we play?”“There's only one song I've ever played.”Nai's fingers glided on the keyboard, playing the first few distant notes. The slow crescendo was an almost frustrating sequence of keys pressed with the calm of someone who was tasting the music drop after drop.Then, Vash's hands followed like a storm, bringing a cascade of notes that forced Nai's fingers to go faster to avoid being run over by that stampede of a melody. Nai frowned at him, but let Vash's frantic musical pace drag him into that accelerated version of their song. There was no turning back, they could only play faster and faster as their hands chased one another on those stairs of blacks and whites.The notes mixed together, sometimes resulting in a nice tune, but more and more often mingling into something that clashed; and yet, somehow, it still had sense for them to exist. The twins played the song in loop one, two, three times. Then they lost the count, until Nai almost smashed his fingers on the keys. Those notes sounded louder to Vash, who stopped playing right after his brother.“What was that, Nai?”“...humans use to do it when playing the piano. Like…” He raised both hands and heavily let them down on the piano, spreading more notes in the room. “...this. It doesn't make sense.”“For not liking humans, you are oddly interested in what they do.”“I'm not interested. Knowledge is a weapon.”“Knowing that they smash their fingers on the piano isn't a weapon.” Vash pointed out. “I might start thinking you want to bond with them.”“Like you do?” Nai snapped out. “Pretending to be one of them doesn't make them your friends.”“What are you saying? They are my friends.”“You are just being friendly, not a friend.” The sight of his brother's eyes full of doubt and his face shaped in pain gave Nai a weird sense of pleasure. “Going to parties or being all smiley around them doesn't mean you have bonded with them. What do you think will happen if one of them realizes you are a Plant?” He let his words sink in, and smiled in victory when Vash looked down. “But they don't have to know, right? As long as we keep eating food like humans. And wearing glasses. Sometimes, you forget they might see the markings in your eyes under strong light.”Vash pulled his head up so fast that he startled Nai. “Said the one who spent the entire morning reading books to be recognized by Brad!”“I said it's not true!”“And you know what?!” Both raised their voices, almost yelling. Vash bumped into Nai again, forcing him back tothe edge of the stool. “Even if they realize who we are, I will protect you, you... you…” He was struggling to find the right insult. “...you dumb potato!”Nai had an instant of hesitation, a moment when all his gears stopped to elaborate what Vash had just said. The calm before the chuckle that quickly turned into a genuine laughter of fun. Instead of repressing them, Nai let his laughter go, sure that he would infect Vash, who would join him, leaving that small clash of words behind.However, Nai's voice faded alone as alone it had sprouted. Vash was looking at him with a serious face which badly matched with the silly insult he had just thrown at Nai.“Vash?”Nai didn't know when Vash's left hand was on his own, nor he had realized that their bodies touched and he could feel the warmth radiating from Vash. Vash, whose face was closer than before, and Nai suddenly became conscious of their legs brushing against each other, and Vash's breath on his face, and his long dark lashes, and the mole under his left eye, and–“Va–” “I'm home!”Rem's voice scared Nai, paralyzed on the stool. The genuine smile appeared on Vash's face so quickly that Nai thought he had only imagined his firm eyes on him and his brother’s face getting so close that Nai had almost closed his eyes. Vash stood up to reach Rem.“You bought apples!” Nai heard Vash say with an excited voice, as if nothing had happened. “Can we bake an apple pie?”“Of course. Where's Nai? This is something we must do together.”Nai had to prop himself on his arms, his body suddenly limp, his legs weak and his face burning.“...I'm here, Rem.” He wasn't sure his voice was loud enough to reach her.Vash appeared again in the room. “Hey, Rem bought apples.” He took Nai's hand, and a gentle tug was all it took for Nai to respond and stand up on his shaking legs. Vash smiled at him. “Let's go.” As if nothing had just happened. *** Rem sat next to Nai, and Nai didn't like it at all. He didn't want her to come, and yet she showed up unannounced, and didn't even bother to ask Nai if she could enter his space. She just did it.“What are you reading?” Her eyes were faster than Nai's hand, and a shadow blurred her smile. “The Bible, not the best book to learn about humans.”“I'm reading just out of curiosity.” Nai replied with a plain voice.“I thought you would rather read some books about cowboys.”“Just because I enjoyed cowboy movies a few times, it doesn't mean that I like them.” His voice whipped out with irritation, as if he didn't want to remember that he enjoyed something made by humans.“I understand.”No, Rem didn't understand. Nai wanted to yell it with all the voice he had in his throat, ready to burst out, he wanted to break Rem's calm smile and push her away. But Rem pulled herself with hands and legs to sit closer to Nai, with her back against the tree, and Nai looked down at the Bible to hide the desperate scream deep behind his eyes.“I won't let what happened to Tesla happen to you and Vash.”Nai stubbornly kept his eyes on the printed words.“I don't want anything bad to happen to you two. Because you are–”“Then you admit that bad things can happen to us because of humans!” Nai barked back at her. “It happened to our sister, how can you prevent that from happening to us?”The calm that surrounded Rem infuriated Nai even more.“I will make sure of it.”“How?!” Nai stood up, the book fell from his legs. “Those are only empty words! You don't want anything to happen to us, but we are on your system already! As Plants! And you are the only one who knows about us, so you put us there so that other humans will know!”“Nai–”Nai had no ears to listen to her any more. He dashed past her and ran through the green field right into the closest corridor. Without paying any attention to where he was going, Nai ran until his breath allowed him to, and he stopped. The closest door to him slid open in his presence, as an invitation for him to step into the room. Nai glanced up at the endless rows of incubators that were protecting the seeds of humanity; a gush of cold coming from inside the room where the humans were sleeping made him tremble. Nai felt like he could have walked for years in that tunnel of capsules and would never see the end of it. He stepped back, outside the range of the sensor, but the door didn't close.A shiver shook his entire body, even if the cold couldn’t reach him anymore. *** “I think Jessica likes your brother.”Brad pulled out that observation out of the blue during one of their maintenance checks. It was such an out of place sentence that Nai forgot he was about to scold Brad because he hadn’t double checked –again– that the supports to keep up the metal doors were secured.“...who?”“Jessica.” Brad repeated. “Brown hair always braided. She’s a bit small and usually bounces around instead of walking.”The description had the immediate effect of pulling out a memory that Nai had forgotten the moment he turned his eyes away from that girl. The one who had invited Vash to a party.“A lot of people like my brother.” Nai blurted out. It was true, because Vash was docile and compliant with humans, which made him look adorable in their eyes.“Yep. But Jessica likes him.”Nai didn’t like the emphasis Brad used on likes. He might not know humans as Vash did, but he had lived among them for long enough to understand certain innuendos.“And so what?” He maintained a flat voice. “Jessica only likes Vash’s looks.”“How could you tell?”“I know it.”Brad chuckled, and Nai wanted him to stop.“You should start spending more time at parties with your brother and less talking to the Plants.”Nai, who had forced himself to focus on his work, ignored the cables in front of him and turned around to look at Brad’s back. Not hearing an answer, Brad looked back at Nai.“I saw you a few times. You talk to them as if those things can understand you.” Brad didn’t notice Nai’s grip getting firmer around the wrench. “You should talk to some girls.” He added before going back to his work. “And not being so jealous of your brother.”Nai quickly stood up.“Nai, don’t be mad.” Brad tried to call him back. “We have to finish this job!”“I’ll be back!” Nai blurted out without looking at him. He tossed the wrench at his own feet and walked away. *** Vash was sitting under the tree, alone. He was bored.In the last few weeks, Nai had stopped playing with him as much as they used to do before. His twin brother now spent most of his time reading boring-looking books and watching videos about human history. Vash missed the moments he spent with Nai: jesting with Rem, daydreaming about the planet they would land on, chatting and arguing and playing together.“I wonder where he is now.” Vash looked at the fake blue sky above his head.Everything had changed since when they stumbled upon Tesla and uncovered what happened in the past. A little part of Vash wished that day he managed to convince Nai not to spy into the files – that he didn’t help him go through the wall of the password, because it was Vash who knew how to play around them.Nai hadn’t stopped thinking about Tesla since then. Even if he kept laughing with him when they pranked Rem, even if he kept scolding Vash for being too human, even if he kept being the usual Nai when he was around Vash and Rem, there was something different in his eyes. Vash could tell that part of his brother’s mind wasn’t with them, but in a place that no one could reach.“Nai…” Vash whispered his name as he stood up and walked out from the comfortable shade of the tree. “I’m going to find him.” He gently clapped his hands on his cheeks. “And we will play!”Brooding under the tree wouldn’t do much, especially magically summoning Nai to his side. All Vash had to do was check all the places Nai liked spending his time in.“Where are you running to, Vash?”Rem, who was checking some data on a portable screen while sitting on the green grass, turned her head as Vash dashed past him.“I’m going to find Nai so we can play!” Vash said aloud while running. He didn’t miss Rem’s smile.The first place Vash checked was the piano room. Nai wasn’t there. Just to be sure his brother wasn’t hiding, he checked behind the piano, finding only some dust.Then, it was the library. No book was missing, and Nai was nowhere to be found. He tried in their room, but there was only their bed still unmade from the morning – Rem would scold them again for sure.“Nai…”Vash wondered where Nai could be, and as the image of the computer room crawled in his mind, he shook his head with a shiver. He didn’t like that room anymore after what happened, but he disliked the idea of Nai being there alone with their sister’s corpse hidden somewhere under their feet even more. So, Vash slowly made his way to the computer room.However, Nai wasn’t there.Halfway to the room, Vash heard a familiar sob. He stopped and immediately turned his head to the direction from where that sound came. Another sob, this time slightly louder, slightly distorted, as if the attempts of harnessing the sadness were crumbling.Vash opened his mouth to call his brother, but his voice remained stuck in his throat. He walked until the corner of the corridor and peeked beyond the wall.Nai was sitting on the floor, his back pressed against a closed door and his legs bent against his chest. All curled on himself, with the back trembling, Nai looked smaller than he was in Vash’s eyes. His brother was crying with his face hidden on his knees.For a second, Vash felt the urge of running to Nai to hold him tightly and tell him that everything would be okay. However, an unknown weight crushing his chest was keeping Vash stuck where he was, frozen as he stared at his brother, whose crying voice was filling his ears and his mind.I don’t want to see Nai crying. Vash squeezed his eyes as he gulped down the painful knot in his throat. I want Nai to be happy. I don’t want him to be like this. I don’t want……them to take Vash.Vash silently jolted hearing his own voice speaking in his head words that he didn’t think.
I don’t want them to take Vash.
His voice repeated as Nai’s sobs grew louder.
I don’t want to die!
Vash covered his mouth with both hands. He slowly retreated until the sound of Nai’s voice breaking in tears was too far to be heard. Only then, Vash ran at full speed back to Rem. *** Seven days.When Nai realized seven days had passed, his mind went back to the lines on the Bible that told about the creation of the world. On the seventh day, God rested. For some reason, that thought made him giggle. A giggle devoid of any sign of fun and happiness, but still a giggle that filled the silent, cramped room.“Nai?”The reason why Nai was aware of the passing time was only because of Vash. His brother's voice usually came from beyond the door twice a day, in the morning and in the evening. That was the morning of the seventh day.“It's curious that they let you roam around. It must be because you haven't developed any power, unlike me.” Nai sounded oddly calm. “Useless power, since they made sure to put a limiter inside my brain the moment they knocked me out with a sedative. Apparently, they did the same to other Independents who are still back on Earth.” Nai took a small pause. “There are others like us out there, and they are on a leash.”“Nai, don't worry. You'll get out of here.” Vash sounded worried, no matter how he tried to modulate his voice to hide any negative feeling. “Luida and Doctor Conrad are siding with Rem!”“How about Brad?”Silence fell.“I see.” Nai sighed.The painful piercing at the side of his neck had made Nai realize the guards had shot him with sedatives. He knew what was inside those guns they carried around, and now he also had a first-hand experience on their efficiency — very high, he had to admit. However, Nai could have easily diverted the darts if only he wasn't focused on Brad's look of contempt and fear. As if it hadn’t been thanks to Nai’s powers that Brad didn’t meet his end as a chunk of meat pressed under the metal door.Nai giggled again. The tiny laughs turned into a crescendo of cackles that hurt his throat and made his stomach squirm. Lying on the hard floor of the tiny room he had been locked into, Nai felt tears rolling down his cheeks.“I was right, Vash!” His voice was broken by the cackles. “I was always right!”“Nai!” A loud thump told Nai that Vash had just slammed both hands against the door. “I'll get you out of there! Me and Rem! We will get you out of there!”“And then what? Do you think humans will accept me, or you?” Nai was still laughing and crying. “I was so stupid, so stupid to believe Rem and believe you. I had to eliminate them back then, when I had the chance. But I decided to trust Rem, I decided to trust humans, and look at the result. Look at what's happened. I have been so stupid…” His voice slowly stopped hiccupping in cackles. Only the silent tears remained. “...you have to run, Vash.”“...what?”“Run away, as far as you can. I know it'll never be enough, but—”“I won't run away! I will save you!”“You can't!” Nai screamed with all the air he had in his lungs. But it was the kick against the door that made Vash jolt in surprise. “You can't save me Vash! It's over! They have won! And now you can decide if you stay and become their lab rat like Tesla was, or get away and live!”“I can't go without you!” No reply. The silence scared Vash like the unknown darkness in the corners of the bright corridors did when he was a child. He knocked both fists against the door again. “Nai!”“...Vash, before you go…” Vash was sure he heard a sob. “...can you... please kill me?”“Nai—”“I don't want to... end like that. Like Tesla. I don't want to be in their hands. Not even after death. Discard my body so that not even a small piece will remain…”“Nai, I don't want to—”“Promise me!”Nai looked at the door with his chest hurting with fear and hope.“I won't kill you.” Vash replied in a whisper that Nai perfectly heard.“Vash! Please!”“I have to go now.”“No!”“I will save you, Nai.”“Vash! Don't leave me here! Vash!”Nai thrashed his body against the door in the vain hope that his brother would come back. Instead, he remained alone, curled on the cold floor, crying his misery.“...don't leave me with them, please... Vash…” *** Rem didn’t like that the twins played with the computer consoles, unless it was under her strict surveillance. Nai had stopped caring what Rem liked or disliked in his behavior and actions the moment he discovered the existence of Tesla. Of course, Rem didn’t want the twins to see what was beyond the veil of smiles and lies, to see what happened in the past and was bound to happen in the future.The computer was emitting a continuous low buzz that sounded loud in the dead silence of the room. Even the slight sounds of his fingers gliding on the touch keyboard exploded around Nai, each with the promise of him being caught in the action.Nai had a plan, but for it to work, he had to know more about the ship and its functions. Nai knew what to do and knew he didn’t have much time left before Rem realized.However, Nai was still a child, despite being forced to grow up too soon from the sweet dream Rem had raised him and Vash in. The more files he read, the more his hands trembled as he forced himself not to look again at the files that Rem had created about them — if she wanted to raise them as humans, why had been they marked as Plants where other scientists could find it out? Nai knew it would hurt him, but he couldn’t stop thinking about Tesla’s dull eyes looking from the picture and he wanted to see the real thing again, he wanted to carve the face of his older sister into his memories and never let her go.Nai ignored the impulse until he had to stop because he kept squeezing his hands into fists to release the tension in his fingers and he wasn’t reading the lines running on the screen anymore. He quickly opened the folder. Tesla looked at him. The alive status pulsating in red made his chest ache.Vash’s image flashed in front of Nai, covering Tesla’s in a horrific perfect overlapping. If it wasn’t for the haircut and the dull expression, Nai could have been fooled into thinking that was a picture of Vash. Vash, who was in the same folder as Tesla.“I won’t let them take you.” Nai whispered, tapping on the file where he remembered seeing his brother’s data.But there was nothing there.Nai stared at the blank square before tapping again on the file. He tapped again, with more vigor, as if all he needed for the file to show up was using strength. However, Vash’s file was nowhere to be found. Nai opened the other folder; his own file as well had been deleted with no trace left.“Nai.”Nai couldn’t shake off the clear expression of someone who had been caught red-handed, his mind too shocked to elaborate a ruse to pretend he was there doing something else that wasn’t using the computer he had been explicitly forbidden to use. He looked at Rem, but couldn’t understand what she was thinking from her face; she was calm and serious.“I knew I would find you here.”“...what happened to Vash’s file? And mine?”“I have deleted them.”“Why?”“To protect you.”The surge of rage exploded within Nai in an instant, so powerful that it blurred his ability to perceive anything that was outside his own thoughts and words. Nai didn’t see Rem’s collected face cracking in surprise, or he would have enjoyed that sight - maybe. He only saw his own anger.“Like you protected her?!” He slammed his hand on the console, and what happened probably wouldn’t have happened if Nai had wanted it to.Both turned their heads to the hole opening in the floor. The capsule hidden behind their feet sprouted like an ominous cold plant.However, it was empty inside.Nai stared at the cylinder in horror. “...Tesla… where’s Tesla?”Rem opened her mouth, then closed it before she could emit any sound. She realized that whatever she might say would never reach Nai as much as seeing it first hand would do. His trust in her had been cracked after all.“Come with me, Nai.” Rem walked back to the corridor and turned around to check on Nai. When she saw him standing in front of the computer, she believed he would have refused to follow. But then, Nai took a shaky step forward, then another, and he walked behind her like a chick with the mother hen.Rem wondered if Nai still considered her his mother.“Why have you taken me here?” Nai looked at his and Vash’s tree, the spot where the twins knew they could always find each other. He noticed a small red spot in the green. A geranium was timidly sprouting on a small clump of loose soil.“Listen to me Nai. Until the end. Then, you can decide what to think and what to do.”Somewhere inside Nai’s head, the idea that Rem knew about his plan rooted like a parasite.“The reason why we…” She stopped, took a deep breath and started again. “After we turned Tesla into that state because of the studies on her, I agreed to keep her alive because I was sure there was a way to heal her from what we had done.”Nai was standing far enough from her not to be in the range of her grasp; he was holding both arms around his body more to have a sense of protection than actually being protected. Rem gulped down the knot in her throat and continued.“But there isn’t Nai. I kept Tesla there hoping that I could undo my mistakes, hoping that I could undo my weakness in not stopping the other scientists even if I didn’t agree with them. But there was nothing I could do anymore for Tesla, if not basking in the false hope I could bring her back and that could cleanse my sins towards her.” She faced Nai’s gaze full of doubts and suspicion without faltering. “What I can do now is not repeat the same mistake with you two. I’m sorry that you have to pretend for now to be not what you fully are to be safe from our greed, Nai. I cannot see another way where we can all be together.”Nai gave a quick glance back at the grave, and his eyes were immediately back on Rem, as if he didn’t trust her enough to let her out of his sight.“That’s why you have erased my and Vash’s file from the computer.”“I believed we could undo what we did with Tesla. But I’m afraid I was too idealistic for once. I want to live happily with you and Va—”“And what if the scientists discover what we are?!” Nai blurted out. “What if they come and do to us what they did to Tesla?!”“I won’t allow—”“Shut up!” In a fit of rage, Nai darted forward, his fists ready to hit. His hands landed on Rem’s arms; she was shielding herself pretty easily, but Nai didn’t care. “Shut up! Humans will never accept us! They will use us and do what they did to Tesla!” He hated himself because he was crying, but he hated himself even more because he was too weak and gave into the warmth of Rem’s arms around him. “What if they take Vash?!” Nai yelled with his forehead pressed against Rem’s stomach. “What if they take him and you cannot protect him?!”Rem held him tightly as if she never wanted to let him go again. “I will protect you both Nai, I promise.” *** Nai couldn’t tell what woke him up. He usually was quite the light sleeper, unless he was truly worn out, and even the slightest change in his bedroom made him open his eyes. When he looked around his cell, of course he didn’t know if it was night or day, and he wouldn’t know until Vash came. He sat down, his head weirdly heavy and hurting on his temples.Something was wrong. Nai didn’t immediately realize what it was, it took him a few minutes of endless sinister silence.All the noises from the ship had disappeared. The low buzz of the machinery keeping the ship going, the mechanical sound of the sliding doors opening and closing, the voices of the humans so far away that the words reached Nai’s ears only as faint whispers. All those noises were gone.Nai stood up, teetering on his legs; his head felt too heavy, and he stumbled forward to keep his balance. The sudden sound of the door opening, reacting at his presence, surprised him — the jolt in his chest was closer to a scare than a surprise. The corridor was dark. Not a single light, of the countless set in the metal like stars against the sky, was shining. A thin crackle of electricity caught Nai by surprise, and he took a step back from the source of the sound. His left foot brushed against something coarse and uneven, something that didn’t belong to the metal of the ship. Nai immediately moved opposite to the thing on the floor. The electricity crackled again. This time, it triggered some of the emergency lights.Nai stared at the root he had just touched with his foot. There were thin threads of roots climbing the walls, floor and ceiling of the corridor, slithering on the metal like snakes, and growing in front of Nai’s eyes. It looked like they were slowly devouring the ship.The shock vanished as the electricity crackled for a third time, making the emergency lights pulsate twice like a heartbeat.“Vash.” He whispered, sensing his brother’s presence all around him. “Va—”Something tickled the back of his neck. Nai emitted a strangled sound of fear and moved away. The roots followed him; they changed their path, curving back and extending in the empty air to reach towards Nai. Nai closed his eyes. He felt Vash’s fingers touching his cheeks. But when he opened his eyes again, there were only the black tendrils around him.“Vash…”The roots crossed in front of him, creating a tight web that blocked Nai’s only path towards the exit. Behind him, the corridor led to the heart of the ship. Nai followed the path in the semi-darkness drawn by the roots, careful not to tread on them, even if they always moved aside before he could step on them. The floor under the roots was warm, different from the freezing cell. If the eerie atmosphere of the abandoned —if it had been abandoned— ship wasn’t unnerving him, Nai would have enjoyed the pleasant heat radiating to his bare feet. And the scent. The roots were emanating a delightful aroma of spring that clashed with the rigid and cold architecture of metal.“What…?” Nai grimaced. He had stepped onto something warm and liquid, something that creeped him out with a sinister shiver that shook his entire body.The electricity flickered again, and more lights turned on. Nai stared at the long red trail that connected the pieces that once together composed different human beings. The skin and vivid flesh had melted with the coarse bark, and buds ready to blossom were timidly sprouting where the blood had splattered. Nai was almost sure he could hear a sucking sound, like someone drinking. He kept walking, the tendrils lingering around him.The further he went, the thicker the roots became; the more human rests popped out from the bark like sinister flowers, the more actual flowers decorated the roots. Flowers of an unnatural yet beautiful shade of black. Nai couldn’t help but think that it was ironic how the humans who liked growing flowers only to sever them from their roots for a mere thing like aesthetic display were now the ones being displayed. However, the thought didn’t lessen the weight he had felt in his chest since when the door of his cell had opened. Nai wondered when all of that had happened and why he didn’t hear anything.“Vash.” He called his brother’s name again more to calm his nerves than for a need of a response, because nothing happened, but Nai felt slightly better. “Vash.” He repeated lowering his voice, and the clench around his chest seemed to weaken a little. “Va—”An arm appeared in front of his eyes. Nai screamed in surprise and faltered backwards. His feet tangled with the roots, and Nai fell on the ground.The arm dangling limp from above was attached to an entire human body. Nai immediately pushed himself standing, and walked around the corpse smashed against the ceiling without diverting his eyes from it. As he circled with careful steps, Nai saw the blond hair first, then the horrified expression frozen in death.Brad.Nai’s stomach gurgled, and it wasn’t for satisfaction. The fizzle in his guts burnt like vivid fire. Nai had never vomited in his life due to his organ being different from a human’s, but he could bet that whatever a human felt before puking, it was the exact set of physical reactions he was having in that moment. His legs became weaker, forcing him to lean against the wall for support. Supported by the strong metal, Nai slid down, sitting with his knees against his chest.He couldn’t tell for how long he sat with Brad's corpse in front of him. What moved Nai from his silent contemplation was a sob. He heard it as if it was coming from someone next to him, but he turned his head and only saw the corridor filled with the roots. He heard again the same voice broken in a suffocated cry, and Nai hurried to stand up.“Vash?”The roots on the floor retreated, creating a passage large enough for Nai to walk without stepping on them. Nai followed the path until he reached where once there was a door, now pulled out with part of the wall; the roots were slowly slithering from there. Inside, it was all dark, without the flickering emergency lights that still persisted in the corridor. Nai squeezed his eyes, trying to catch any familiar shape in there. Then, he stumbled into something and fell forward.Out of all the pain that radiated in an instant throughout his body, his wrists hurt the most. The pulsating throb on the forehead told Nai that he had definitely smashed his head on a root, despite his attempt to protect himself with his arms. He raised his head enough to see what made him fall. A tear ran down his cheek.Lying lifeless at his feet was Rem.Nai recognized the silly patch on the uniform sleeve shaped like a geranium. Her long black hair was covering her face, and Nai pushed himself far from her, too scared to reveal what kind of expression she had in death. As he put a hand down on the floor, he brushed his fingers against a flower bud that immediately shivered under his touch. Nai retreated his hand. He removed from his mind the image of Rem, lifeless on the floor, and focused on the sobs coming from deep inside the room.“Vash.” Nai pulled himself standing. “Vash, I’m here. We have to go.” His own voice sounded weird, a mingle of sadness and weariness that didn’t make him sound sure of what he was saying. But Nai knew that it was only a matter of time before the humans from the other settlements understood something was wrong —if they didn’t know already— and went there to get them.“Vash.”There was a clump of roots from which the tendrils endlessly grew. Nai heavily knelt down, his arms around the clump for as much as he could reach in a clumsy hug.“Vash. We have to go.” He repeated. “I will protect you.”His brother was still crying with pitiful hiccups. But the roots opened enough to show Vash curled on himself, his face wet in blood and tears.“...Nai.” His voice was broken. “I didn’t want to… but they… they…”“Vash, it doesn’t matter.” Nai extended an arm towards him and grabbed his arm.The moment he touched Vash’s skin, Nai’s head hurt as if it had been split open. Countless images, sounds and scents flowed into his brain, and Nai couldn’t perceive his own body anymore. Different scenes flashed in front of his eyes so quickly that he barely recognized a few of them, until everything stopped.He was in that same room, but it wasn’t devoured by destruction. Rem was alive, and so were the few people with her. Nai saw Conrad who was saying something, but his voice took some time to synchronize with his mouth.“...best chance we have.” He was saying with a slightly distorted voice, as if it was a signal that wasn’t perfectly received. “I’ll be there and make sure they won’t overdo it with Nai.”“I’m not convinced.” Rem looked like she hadn’t been sleeping for days. Her voice had the same distortion as Conrad’s. “But they won’t decide otherwise solely based on what happened with Tesla.”“Rem!” Nai recognized that voice. He looked around to see Vash, but his body wasn’t following his commands. “You can’t let them experiment with Nai!”His brother’s voice was coming from inside himself. Nai was seeing through Vash’s eyes.“Vash! You shouldn’t be here!” Rem quickly approached him. “They know you have no powers, so you can stay at home, but they might—”“Do to me what they want to do to Nai?” Vash sounded oddly calm and angry. Nai had never heard his brother truly angry, and the idea that Vash, who was always so bright and happy and naive, could express that feeling so deeply scared him. “I know they want to experiment on him. He saved Brad. He didn’t want to hurt him.”“I know, Vash. We are trying to make them see reason. Meanwhile, Conrad will be there and—”“Like he was there for Tesla?”Nai felt a sudden surge of rage that worsened the pain in his head. What followed was a succession of memories of Rem who smiled and smiled and smiled. But her smile became more distorted, less genuine, faker as her images passed by one after another, faster and faster, until her black hair turned blonde, and everything became Tesla’s dismembered body. She was eerily floating in a tank. Tesla’s head buzzed like an afterimage. One second, her face was a macabre display of what the humans were capable of, a second later, she was looking fine like in the picture of her file. Then, her face turned into a gush of flesh again, then normal. The two Teslas superimposed each other quickly, until distinguishing them became impossible. Then, everything stopped, and Tesla’s head became clear to see again. But it wasn’t her head on the dismembered body. It was Nai’s.Nai screamed. When he opened his eyes, he was in Vash’s arms. His brother’s eyes were wet with tears but he wasn’t crying anymore. A familiar glowing blue net of marks had appeared on Vash’s skin, the same mark of their sisters. Nai glanced down at his own hands: the same marks were cutting through his skin as well.“...I think I did the right thing.” Vash stated with an oddly calm voice that clashed with the tears he had shedded just moments ago.Nai moved back just enough to look at his brother. His smile didn’t reach his eyes, shining with folly.“They would have done to us what they did to Tesla. Rem too. She lied to us, saying she would protect us, and she was ready to give you to those humans.”“Vash—” Something grabbed Nai’s ankles. As he looked down, more black roots wrapped around his body, constraining him. “Vash! What are you—” The words strangled in his throat. Nai felt the roots crawling under his skin, inside his body. It didn’t hurt, but the sudden intrusion and his surprise of what was happening made him freeze. “Vash…”“Don’t worry, Nai.” Vash pulled him back into his arms. “I’m killing them all, so they won’t hurt us.”Nai felt his own body melt. The roots penetrated deep into him, in the vessels running in his body; they sank deep in his muscles, reaching his organs. Instead of pain, Nai felt a pleasant warmth.“V-Vash…” He looked down and couldn’t distinguish anymore where his own body finished and his brother’s started. He didn’t even know if his own consciousness still belonged to him. His thoughts were heavy.“Sssh, everything is okay, Nai.” Vash’s voice echoing in his head was too sweet for Nai to resist. “No one will hurt us. There won’t be humans anymore around us.”The last thing Nai saw were Vash’s deep blue eyes, the same as Tesla's. Then, he closed his eyes.