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And the man who took her first time... was actually a man who looked exactly like me!
What on earth was going on?!
I looked at myself in the screen, looking familiar yet strange, watching the younger version of Kafka blooming beneath him, feeling the warmth of her that was tightly wrapping me at this very moment, and my brain completely fell into a state of chaos.
Was this recording real? Who was that man? Was it me? If it was me, why did I have no impression of it at all? If it wasn't me, then who was he? Why did he look exactly like me?
Kafka looked at the unconcealed shock and confusion on my face, a trace of complex emotion flashing in her purple eyes—there was nostalgia, relief, and even a trace of imperceptible... heartache?
She closed the terminal's screen and set it aside casually.
Then, she hugged me tighter with both arms, gently pressing my cheek against her neck—the skin there was delicate and warm, carrying her unique, reassuring fragrance.
Her lips pressed close to my ear, her voice like a dream, yet clearly my mind, revealing a shocking secret that could overturn my entire perception:
"Yes, you didn't see wrong." Her voice was gentle, carrying a trace of a sigh. "The man in the picture is you. Or rather... the you of the past."
My body stiffened abruptly, my brain buzzing, almost unable to process this information-heavy sentence.
"Before you stepped onto the Astral Express, or even before you were discovered by the Herta Space Station..." Kafka continued, every word like a heavy hammer striking my heart, "you were a member of the Stellaron Hunters. Just like me, like Silver Wolf, like Ah-Ren, and like Sam..."
Stellaron Hunter... Me?!
"We were partners, carrying out Elio's 'script' together... and also used to be..." Her voice paused, as if recalling something, her tone carrying a trace of indescribable lingering affection. "...very intimate partners."
I could feel her heartbeat, right by my ear, steady and powerful, as if verifying the truth of her words.
"Until an accident during a mission..." Her voice lowered, carrying a trace of imperceptible pain. "You suffered devastating trauma, your consciousness sank completely into darkness, and you fell into a long coma. We tried every method, but couldn't wake you up."
"Afterward, your body... or rather, that container that had lost consciousness, was recovered by the Herta Space Station after changing hands, and became an important research subject for them. They were very interested in your special constitution, but also couldn't wake you up."
So... the experience before I woke up at the space station was like this... I didn't appear out of thin air, but had a forgotten past tightly connected to the Stellaron Hunters!
"Until a few months ago, Elio's 'script' finally reached a critical node." Kafka's voice became gentle again. "Following his instructions, I found you and implanted the Stellaron into your body. That was the only way possible to wake you up at the time, and it was also... the beginning of our separation again. In order for you to be able to walk your own path of 'Trailblazing,' I had to leave temporarily."
My heart felt as if it had been grabbed tightly by something.
So my separation from Kafka was an arrangement of the script, for my "Trailblazing"?
"So..." She gently lifted my chin, making me look directly into her eyes; her purple eyes were filled with seriousness and a trace of... grievance?
"The footage you saw is real. That was a long, long time ago, when we were still performing missions together... and it was also my first time."
Her cheeks flushed slightly, which was an extremely rare sight for her.
"Ever since we separated... I have been waiting for you." Her voice carried a solemnity like a vow. "Keeping myself pure for you."
Keeping myself pure... these four words fell heavily on my heart.
So, she had always...
"Elio told me that the threads of fate would eventually entangle us again. Now, we can finally... continue our past relationship."
She looked at me, her eyes filled with the joy of regaining something lost, as well as... undisguised, intense love and desire.
I was completely stunned.
Past and present intertwined, forgotten memories and the facts before my eyes collided, making my brain a mess.
I was a Stellaron Hunter? Kafka and I were lovers? She was my first woman, and she had always waited for me? All of this... is too crazy!
But the connection of bodies was so real, and the emotion in her eyes was so authentic.
That played recording, that man who looked exactly like me...
Perhaps, what I lost was not just memories, but a soul-stirring past, and an... lover I should have cherished.
And now, fate, or Elio's script, had sent her back to my side.