Hacked into the mechanical lifeform's system, is it an S-type android?
Takatsuki did not know that everything he did that morning was observed by another figure.
The white-haired older sister, who had been squatting motionless in the tree since yesterday, finally saw the target of her curiosity.
However, she found it a bit strange.
That is, why would this android summon some strange humanoid things that were neither mechanical lifeforms nor androids?
She chose to observe.
Androids can sleep, but it is not necessary.
Years of fugitive life had accustomed her to not sleeping.
She decided that she wanted to see what this strange existence truly was.
During her years of escape, she had killed countless pursuers and countless mechanical lifeforms, but this was not out of bloodlust.
Killing fellow pursuers was for survival, and killing mechanical lifeforms was for her mission.
She stood up from the treetop and looked in the direction where the rolling mechanical creatures had left.
Since she had seen them, there was no need to let them go.
Glancing at the busy Takatsuki below, she exerted force with her foot, and her body weighing hundreds of pounds leaped tens of meters without making any sound.
"?"
Takatsuki, who was preparing breakfast, glanced at the treetops above.
"Is there something?"
He activated his aura perception but didn't sense the presence of any other living beings.
"A hallucination?"
After confirming again that there was indeed nothing, Takatsuki continued to prepare breakfast.
He had to finish before Mei woke up...
The sound of heavy impacts from afar made Takatsuki lift his head.
"Why didn't I notice this place was quite annoying yesterday?"
Takatsuki lowered his head and continued to busy himself, pondering.
"What kind of world is this? It feels a bit familiar."
Even with Heaven's Stairway assisting in memory searches, it was impossible to identify it with such limited information.
After all, this might not even be a world Takatsuki knew about.
When the white-haired android lady returned to her lurking spot, she saw a different scene.
In the time she was away, the area destroyed by the mechanical lifeforms had been completely restored, and a humanoid presence she had never seen before was sitting at the outdoor dining table.
"..."
As mentioned before, androids themselves are modeled after humans, so eating is something they can do, but for them, it is not necessary.
Is this eating?
How did they turn the food into this?
The android lady could not understand; androids do not need to eat, so she did not know about cooking.
Observe...
Maintaining her previous decision, the android lady continued her observational stance.
"Are there strange robots around?"
Eating breakfast, Mei learned about what had happened while she was asleep from Takatsuki's account.
"Yes, it seems this world might not be a simple apocalypse. Of course, it could also be the remnants of war left by a former civilization."
"Biology can become extinct, but mechanical things, if they have enough intelligence, can endlessly produce and repair themselves, and continue to execute their initial commands. Perhaps that's why they destroyed what we left behind without hesitation. Perhaps the reason for the civilization's demise was war."
Takatsuki thought for a long time but couldn't recall any anime he knew that had such a plot.
"If that's the case, then it's truly lonely, still carrying out old tasks even after the war has ended."
Takatsuki nodded and looked at Mei: "Is Raiden not coming out today?"
Speaking of Raiden, a blush spread across Mei's pretty face.
"She said she wanted to rest."
Although she said this, both Mei and Takatsuki knew it was just an excuse.
Living alone in a forest like this would undoubtedly be very lonely, but with companions, or even one's beloved, even a monotonous life would be filled with joy.
This forest was vast, and besides the absence of humans, it contained plants, wild beasts, a huge waterfall, and a castle suspected to be thousands of years old.
And, robots playing the role of knights...
However, the two did not conflict with these robots; these robots consistently referred to them as invaders and acted as guardians.
Basically, as long as they stayed away from the places the robots guarded, they would not be attacked.
However, the two did not know that after they left, a white-haired android lady descended from the sky, brandishing a greatsword and dispatching those robots one by one.
"What exactly are you...?"
Over a hundred hours, over a hundred hours of observation, the android lady noticed that the two were completely different from the androids and mechanical lifeforms she knew; their lives were very regular.
They needed to eat at regular intervals, and sometimes they would enter the house to rest, making some strange sounds.
"Are they humans?"
The android lady looked in the direction the two had left, but in her database, all humans should have already hidden on the moon.
Drawing the blade embedded in the mechanical lifeform, she pursued them in the direction they had left.
Although it took a considerable amount of time to deal with these mechanical lifeforms, she clearly knew where Takatsuki and Mei were going.
The time was already approaching noon, which was their daily mealtime.
When she returned to the vicinity of the treehouse, she indeed saw the two who had already started eating.
At the same time, her daily eavesdropping began.
"Mei, I think I know what this world is."
After several days of gathering information and contemplation, Takatsuki finally determined what this world was today.
"Really?"
Takatsuki nodded: "I hadn't thought in this direction before, and I didn't recall it when I saw those robots."
"It wasn't until I saw those knight robots today that I finally figured out what this world was about."
He sighed. Thinking of the truth and essence of this world, Takatsuki couldn't help but feel a little sad.
If Honkai Impact 3rd was full of 'knives,' it also had many beautiful things.
Then this world is a pure tragedy; everything here is born to be destroyed.
"What's wrong?"
Mei heard the sadness in Takatsuki's tone.
"Nothing, just sad for the future and truth of this world."
"This world is destined to be a tragedy. Everything in this world is born to be destroyed. Everything lives in lies, acting for something that doesn't exist."