Chapter 1338
Cui Ming: You are my comrade-in-arms
Rei Ayanami blinked her red eyes at Choi Myung.
The pale light of the infirmary fell on the sheets, and the air still smelled of disinfectant. Rei Ayanami leaned against the headboard, her red eyes fixed on Choi Myung, who stood beside the bed. Her expression remained indifferent, but something deep within her eyes flickered slightly, like ripples spreading beneath a frozen lake.
"Mr. Choi Myung, why are you so kind to me?"
Her voice was soft, as if afraid of disturbing something, the last syllable fading into the quiet room. This question had been swirling in her mind for a long time, from Cui Ming personally giving her the injection, to him standing by her bedside without leaving, to him saying he hoped she could become a normal person. This feeling of being watched over and cared for was too foreign to her, so foreign that it made her uneasy, and it also made her want an answer.
Choi Myung placed the tray on the nearby cabinet and turned to look at her. His gaze was calm and direct, devoid of pity or scrutiny, simply stating a fact.
"Because in my eyes you are a comrade-in-arms."
"Comrades..."
Rei Ayanami slightly opened her mouth, a hint of surprise flashing in her red eyes. She lowered her head, looking at her hands resting on the blanket, her palms unconsciously tightening slightly. The word "comrade-in-arms" sounded too heavy, too warm, completely different from any title she was familiar with. She thought Cui Ming would say, "Because you need to be taken care of," or "Because you're the pilot," or even "Because you have value." But comrade-in-arms? This word meant equality, meant standing shoulder to shoulder, meant being able to entrust one's back to the other on the battlefield.
Rei Ayanami did not expect this answer.
In her mind, she was never someone who stood shoulder to shoulder with anyone. She was a manufactured tool, a consumable item bound to the cockpit, a spare part that could be replaced at any time. Rokubungi Gendo looked at her as if she were a fairly handy instrument, the technicians recorded her data as if they were recording the operating parameters of a machine, and even she herself was used to this role—a part for combat, a part for piloting EVAs, nothing more.
"Why do you treat me as a comrade-in-arms, rather than a cog in the machine?"
She raised her head again, her red eyes staring directly at Cui Ming, her voice trembling slightly.
This wasn't a question, but rather confusion—the instinctive bewilderment and need for confirmation from someone accustomed to being treated as a tool, hearing for the first time that they were being treated as a human being. In her world, cogs in a machine didn't need to be cared for, didn't need to be expected to be normal, and certainly didn't need anyone standing by her bedside to answer her questions. But every word Cui Ming had just said was shattering that understanding.
Cui Ming stared at her, his gaze unwavering. His expression remained calm, his voice deep and clear, each word like a heavy hammer striking metal, resounding and powerful.
"Although you are a clone or an artificial human, in my opinion, if you participate in the battle, then you are a comrade-in-arms, it's that simple."
He didn't launch into lengthy discourses or invoke ethics or morality; he simply provided the answer with the most direct logic. You fight, you face danger, you and I stand on the same battlefield, so you are not a cog in the machine, you are a comrade-in-arms.
This understanding is brutally simplistic, yet unwaveringly unquestionable. In Cui Ming's world, a fighter's identity transcends all origins, all bloodlines, and all methods of creation. Anyone who takes up arms to face the enemy is a worthy comrade-in-arms and should be treated as a human being.
Rei Ayanami stared at him, a slow melting sensation in her red eyes. She opened her mouth, as if to say something, but her throat seemed blocked, and no sound came out. In the end, she simply nodded gently, turning her face slightly towards the window, letting the light streaming in from outside fall on her profile.
The infirmary fell silent, save for the rhythmic ticking of the medical equipment. Hikari strolled down the corridor, the hem of his white coat swaying gently with each step. He reached the infirmary door, leaned against the frame with his arms crossed, and glanced back and forth between Choi Myung and Rei Ayanami. His eyes behind his glasses curved into crescent moons, and a meaningful smile played on his lips.
"How about that? Surprised? This is Old Cui."
Hikari chuckled, his tone brimming with knowing mockery, his voice unusually light in the empty corridor. He tilted his head, his gaze landing on Rei Ayanami's still indifferent face, as if sharing some secret.
"That's just the kind of person he is. He's very stubborn, always talking about comrades-in-arms, but in reality, he values the people around him more than anyone else. Getting him to admit that he cares about others is harder than asking him to fight ten monsters one-on-one."
Choi Myung turned to look at Hikari...
His gaze was calm, but his brows furrowed slightly, as if he had spotted some experimental equipment about to go out of control. He didn't immediately refute, but simply stared quietly at this scientist who was spouting nonsense, his eyes revealing a kind of helplessness that he had long been accustomed to yet had to be wary of.
"Do not conduct dangerous experiments."
Cui Ming's voice was deep and steady, each word enunciated clearly, as if proclaiming an inviolable command. He took half a step forward, blocking the door frame of the infirmary behind him, as if afraid that Hikari would pull out some glowing test tube or a giant syringe that needed to be held in his arms from his pocket at any moment.
Hikari paused for a moment, then raised her hands in a gesture of surrender. Her smile froze, and her voice carried a hint of grievance: "This...where is it dangerous...I'll be careful, really, you have to believe me."
"I just trusted you too much..."
Cui Ming looked at him, his voice even lower, each word like a sigh squeezed out from between his teeth. His gaze was as sharp as if he were scrutinizing an experimental report riddled with hidden dangers, and his aura of "I've seen through you all along" made the temperature in the corridor drop several degrees.
"I trusted you so much that I knew you would definitely come up with something incredible."
"..."
Hikari opened his mouth, unable to find a rebuttal for a long time. He looked down at the giant syringe that was slightly bulging in the pocket of his white coat, then looked up at Cui Ming's expressionless yet all-knowing face. In the end, he could only awkwardly touch his nose, chuckle dryly, and look away.
An eerie silence fell over the corridor.
Rei Ayanami leaned against the headboard, her red eyes shifting back and forth between the two men. Although she didn't quite understand what they were talking about, nor did she quite grasp what Hikari's assessment of her as "stubborn," she vaguely sensed that Choi Myung's almost obsessive caution might be his way of protecting those around him.
The infirmary lights were a stark white, casting long shadows of the three people on the wall. (End of Chapter)