“…Wait, that was all of humanity?”

“Yeah.”

Ethan remembered the sight he had seen in Belphirn. A single human skeleton encased in a glass dome. The domes, immaculately preserved without a speck of dust, filled an entire wall.

No matter how many times he counted, they barely reached the hundreds. It was a significant number in terms of human mortality, but far too few to account for the entirety of humanity.

At most, it was comparable to the population of this Alcate. Even considering their long life spans and their tendency to have children later in life, the number was strangely low.

“……”

It was grotesque. The more he listened, the more twisted the world she came from seemed.

He had been treated as less than cattle, yet in her world humans were nothing more than mass-produced dolls, pressed from a mould.

Broken ones were discarded, and when there weren’t enough, new ones were simply made. Just objects—nothing more.

No, could they even be called human?

“Do you ever feel alive?”

“My heart is beating properly.”

Sixty beats per minute. The steady, unchanging rhythm of the heartbeat showed no irregularities, even at this very moment.

“No, what I’m asking is—what does it mean to be human in that world?”

At the sudden question, If tilted her head.

“I don’t understand what you mean.”

“You create and raise children inside metal shells, then entrust them to metal dolls. What makes humans any different from those metal dolls?”

Why didn’t she understand this?

One looked into the green eyes that burned with intensity, but the other’s gaze lingered on the ground.

A short, heavy sigh slipped through Ethan’s clenched teeth as he ran a hand through his hair.

Seeing him like that, If’s expression turned sullen.

That look – he only had it when he looked at her.

They weren’t touching, they weren’t even facing each other. And yet sparks flew between them.

Why was that? Wasn’t that something that only happened when he looked at her?

Did his eyes heat up like that when he looked at other things?

Even as she thought about it, If opened her mouth to answer his question.

“Androids are machines. Their internal organs are different…”

“That’s not what I’m asking.”

Ethan’s voice rose as he cut If off. There was a hint of confusion in her rolling eyes.

Seeing this, Ethan raked his fingers roughly through his hair. The flood of information in such a short time was overwhelming – everything about it was shocking and made his head hurt.

How could such a world even exist?

“They’re no different than dolls.”

“What is?”

“Living without doing anything, without thinking about anything.”

“Is that bad?”

“……”

Ethan fell silent at If’s question.

“Do we have to do anything? I don’t understand why thinking is necessary to live.”

Her words were filled with genuine curiosity.

Ethan put down the things he had been packing and sank to the floor in front of the bed.

She watched him sit at her feet, waiting patiently for his answer.

If she was just an annoying woman, he could have just left her. At this point, the fact that he was a condemned man no longer mattered. What mattered was that the only Ancient in the world was here.

What did he hope to achieve with such an effort?

Even he couldn’t fully understand his own actions.

“…It’s like humans are just toys created by metal dolls.”

“No, humans were the ones who made the androids.”

“But when the number of people decreases, it’s the metal dolls that make the children. How can you still say that people make them?”

“Artificial wombs and android robots – humans made those too.”

Even at this close distance, their perspectives were worlds apart.

“……”

As he fell silent, If tilted her head again.

He often said and did things that were difficult to understand, but today was especially bad.

“Humans create tools for convenience. They make knives to cut things more easily, beds to sleep more comfortably. Everything humans use was made for their own benefit. Isn’t it the same in the place where you’re from, Ethan?”

“……”

“We created artificial wombs to make pregnancy and childbirth easier, and that’s how we reproduce.”

Convenience. Everything was created for this single purpose.

They eliminated biological functions for the sake of convenience and built androids and artificial intelligence to live comfortably.

The room fell silent. 

Ethan opened and closed his mouth several times before his expression twisted in frustration. 

A crushing sense of oppression threatened to boil over. 

What had ancient humanity given up – all for the sake of comfort? 

“Then what do you live for?” 

Ethan had spent his life fighting to survive. 

Because he didn’t want to die. 

Even when he had to crawl through filth, even when his flesh was cut and burned, he endured.

Because he wanted to live.

Even when it wasn’t pleasant, even when he wasn’t happy, even when death was right in front of him, with his back to the edge of a cliff, Ethan lived because he didn’t want to die.

It was instinct.

“I live because I’m alive. Do I need another reason?”

Ethan’s mouth dropped open in disbelief at her question.

How was this different from death?

His life had been a desperate struggle. Hers was surrender.

To close one’s eyes while standing on the brink of death – could that really be called living?

How was it different from simply existing because you couldn’t die?

They had given up life for the sake of comfort. Ethan couldn’t understand any of this.

He had learned to fight by sacrificing his body, because losing an arm or a leg was better than losing his life. As long as he was alive, he believed he could do anything.

“You said you were curious about other humans. If you die, you won’t get to see anything else.”

“If I die, I won’t feel anything anyway.”

No regrets.

Not even a trace of desire remained.

‘I can’t feel it. Why should I have to know pain? It’s nothing but hardship.’

She had lived for decades without knowing pain. Even if she started feeling it now, it would be nothing more than an inconvenience.

“But until then, you feel everything.”

“What exactly is included in ‘everything’?”

Life cannot exist without desire.

Food, water, rest, sleep—these all stem from hunger and the need for sleep.

Even the most basic survival begins with desire.

And to fulfill those basic needs, people act.

Even human progress itself required desire.

The thirst for knowledge drove learning. The craving for social recognition fueled ambition. The pursuit of wealth stemmed from the desire for material gain.

Even s*xual desire, at its core, came from the instinct to leave offspring.

Ethan exhaled heavily and ran a hand over his face as he closed his eyes.

The ancient humans, all gathered in one place. They had died – every last one of them.

Except for one.

He should have realised it then. That such a powerful civilisation had come to an end.

“Ethan?”

When there was no answer, If called his name again, urging him on.

Slowly, Ethan opened his eyes.

A single surviving Ancient.

She had escaped extinction by sheer luck, although from her point of view it probably wasn’t luck at all.

Ethan reached out and cupped If’s cheek.

Her eyes – the exact same colour as his – held a flicker of curiosity as she leaned into his hand, adding weight to it.

There was no hint of doubt in her steady gaze. She clung to the warmth without even understanding what it was.

Ethan knew that no matter what he said, she wouldn’t understand.

It was harder than trying to teach a child who knew nothing.

“When you die, you won’t even be able to feel this.”

“Yeah.”

Then there was nothing more to say.

The conversation ended with resignation.

A life in which the present was everything – no future, no past. A life lived like a doll, giving up everything, knowing nothing.

He felt a damnable pity.

Ethan bit his lip and let out a bitter laugh.

A worthless man who had crawled in the dirt felt pity for a woman the world adored.

How ridiculously out of place.

***

Every time his fingers brushed against her skin, heat flared up.

Not even when his body was fighting off infections had he felt a fever like this. His head felt like it would explode.

“Ah…!”

A gasp broke in the middle. His chest heaved in sync with the rapid beating of his heart.

Ethan lifted his gaze from where his lips were buried between the soft curves of her body.

Her eyes, locked with his, were filled with moisture.

“Mm… Ethan…”

Every time she said his name, her breath came out in shallow gasps.

Ethan gripped her waist tightly and pressed his palm against her chest, right next to her face.

His fingers sank into the soft flesh, as smooth as kneaded dough. There wasn’t a hint of muscle – just yielding, delicate flesh that gave in to his touch.

“More… Do more… Mmm… Ah…”

Her whimpering voice carried an impatient plea.

She acted as if she had given up everything in life, yet every time their bodies pressed together, she only asked for more.

Ethan flicked his nail lightly against the firm tip of her flushed br*ast.

Even with this slight stimulation, her back arched and a moan escaped her lips.

“You won’t even get pregnant because it’s uncomfortable, but you still like s*x?”

Her mind, clouded with heat, was slow to process things.

Pregnancy. S*x.

It took a while for the words to connect and find their meaning.

“This… s*x…? Y-you mean…?”

But it didn’t make sense.

This wasn’t a procreative act.

Kissing, touching br*asts, licking between her legs – why was this called s*x?

Her eyes, filled with confusion, turned to Ethan for answers.