Upon arriving in front of my house, I immediately made my presence known by slamming the door open with my fist, sending splinters flying through the entrance. There stood Lotus; older sister, scientist, and creator of the maniac that terrifies me so much.

  “Lotus…” I growled.

  "I suppose that I’d have to talk about this sooner or later." She sighed, closing her book. "What do you have to say about that incident of mine?"

  “You helped bring to life the only hope in those desperate times, but when he needed you most, you abandoned him, knowing you created a monster. Who do you think you are? Victor Frankenstein?”

  “Cog technology was still very unstable at the time; there was no guarantee that Hideaki's sanity would remain intact.”

  “Then why did you still allow that to happen?”

  "It was our… my only hope, which did indeed result in what I desired; a solution for the animals. Just like you, desperate not to let what happened to Thomas repeat itself, decided to go under cogfication." She breathed. "Which, for a while, had positive results; you can sense danger and warn others ahead of time." She glanced at me out of the corner of her eye. "But look where you are now, losing all control. You've even gotten rid of the limiter ."

  "Do you think I had a choice?" I yelled. "It was a matter of life or death! If it weren't for your offspring, I would have become worm food!"

  “You only got to that point because of your impulsiveness. Instead of analyzing your opponent and then taking action, you just clenched your fists and flailed them, hoping that would be enough!”

  “What do you know about facing danger? You turned around and ran away with your tail between your legs the moment something went wrong! You talk so much about research and analysis, but the first thing you do is run away and bury the truth!”

  I took a step forward with a stamp to the floor:

  "Let me remind you of something, Lotus. That fateful day with Thomas? We may have been cornered and attacked, but I never, not even for a moment, stopped fighting for him, because he meant the world to me!" I shouted, my eyes welling up with tears. "I only ran away after I realized there was nothing more I could do, after my purpose was stolen from me!"

  "And what makes you think I don't regret it?" She shouted, jumping up and throwing the book into the kitchen. "You have no idea how much I hate myself for getting involved with that bunch of egocentrics! All the contributions I made to them! Every minute spent developing that mess!" She also began crying. "I may not make the best decisions, but I would lose myself if I ever lost you! Believe me, the last thing I want is to create a new Hideaki!"

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  “What kind of protector restricts, monitors, and manipulates the one they’re protecting?! And why did you allow that scum to assimilate into their siblings? What do you gain from it?”

  “Have you already forgotten about this morning’s report? You 're the one with the symbiotic ability, and I didn't even have control over it!”

  "That's right," Hideaki burst through my throat, "by your own words, I was granted long-distance communication so I could communicate with my future brothers. But you imprisoned me before I even had someone with whom I could use it in combat!"

  Lotus was startled, but quickly regained her composure:

  "Hello, Hideaki." She greeted him listlessly. "It's what the creature said, Cacto. He was designed to be a leader amongst humanoid Cogs, and his communication would help them stay coordinated in combat. But as you can guess, things went downhill before Divine could ever be dispatched."

  “Lotus,” I looked at her, “who exactly is Divine? Like, I've heard of them, but people only talked about them as nothing more than a threat that would end the world or something like that.”

  “Well, Divine Aetherius was the second humanoid Cog. They were being developed after my resignation, so I wasn’t as involved in the process. But what was revealed is that Divine was gifted with advanced intellect in an attempt to avoid repeating Hideaki’s madness. The team succeeded in this, but it backfired.” Lotus put her hand under her chin. “Divine, lucid as they were, quickly realized they intended to use him for senseless destruction. Aware of this, he went on a rampage, obliterating the facility where he was created. Divine went on to publicly declare that any member of Machina Research would meet an unpleasant end if they found them.”

  “Hideaki once told me that he now lives in exile. Is that true?”

  “Indeed. As Divine grew to hate the industry, they decided to adopt a life far from the confines of humanity, now spending his days tending to his garden and observing the landscape.”

  After thinking for a few minutes, I declared:

  “I would like to see them.”

  "Great idea. Since I haven't been able to console you yet, maybe you can learn something from your colleague." She wrote something on a piece of paper and handed it to me. "Here's the address. You'll have to take the train, but it's worth it."

  "Thank you," I said solemnly, "I only ask that you think of better ways to protect me."

  "And you should think a little before you start flailing your arms around," she said warningly, but with a playful smile on her face as I walked out the door.

  …Until I was interrupted.

  "Thinking about it," Lotus put her hand on my shoulder, "it's been a while since I visited you. I'll come along, okay?"