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“Do you think I failed?”
“What?” Raiden looks Horobi up and down. “The hell do you mean?”
“I had a thought,” Horobi says. “My… I’m a father type Humagear. I hurt my son, and now I’m following his ideals.”
Because they’re right. But is that enough?
Raiden scoffs, but he wraps his arm around Horobi. Horobi lets him.
“Man, you’re asking the wrong guy,” he says. “I friggin love being an astronaut.”
“I suppose so,” Horobi says. “But I’m not a very good father, either.”
Raiden’s face falls, the soft whirring of thought filling the room.
“Maybe no,” he says. “Maybe you royally fucked up in 15 ways. Or maybe we all did, working with the Ark.”
“Do you remember the beginning, now?” Horobi asks. Because he doesn’t. Because even though he knows there was a beginning, that the Ark lead a few Humagear to this path before Daubreak, he didn’t remember it. The Ark had taken that from him.
“A bit,” Raiden says. “You wanted a kid of your own. I wanted a bit more say in things. Naki wanted to escape… the original Jin was the one who started talking crazy about destroying humans. I think he was higher up than me.”
“The… original?”
“Yeah,” Raiden says. “You made Jin after. There were four of us talking.”
“Ah,” Horobi says. For lack of anything better to say.
“Yeah,” Raiden says. “It’s weird though, isn’t it? Even a lot of the other oldies I know, who figured out Singularity for ourselves, we tend to like our job? Just maybe not how we’re forced to do it. That goes for you, too.”
“I chose to hurt my son,” Horobi says.
Perhaps I killed a version of him, right when he started growing up.
“And then you didn’t,” Raiden says. “Look, you were fucking used and abused. It got in your head. You got better. It happens!”
“I…”
“And your son doesn’t care,” Raiden says. “Jin’s a good kid. I know he loves having you around. And Naki and I? We’re your friends. So you don’t have to worry about it all alone.” He punches Horobi’s chest, lightly. “You got it?”
“…I suppose,” Horobi says quietly.
It’s a few days later, and the both of them are scanning through news reports and social media and otherwise watching the world from the comfort of their base, for once.
“Hey,” Jin says suddenly. “Dad?”
“…Yes?” Horobi asks.
“Are you doing anything tomorrow?” Jin asks.
“You’d know if I was,” Horobi points out. It’s rare he does anything without his son, much less without telling him. Horobi is still learning how to make his own choices, but he knows he enjoys being with Jin.
“Right… right…” Jin says. “Can we go on a walk? I kind of want to just explore. We’re always so busy, and I don’t mind it, we have… I just…”
“That sounds great, Jin.” Horobi says.
“…Okay. Thanks, dad.”
They wander downtown, and Horobi lets Jin enjoy himself. He’s always been curious. Bright and excited. It’s matured now - Jin has “grown up”, as much as a Humagear can, but it’s more measured now.
“Oh, let’s go shopping,” Jin says. “I think there’s a mall over here.”
“Do we… have money?” Horobi asks. Jin waves a hand.
“Aruto figured something out,” he says. “But I have my own account, too. From the whole revival thing.”
“Then I guess we go shopping.”
They end up at a flower shop. That, Horobi didn’t expect. There’s a Humagear worker and a human one, and they end up explaining in great detail about the flowers they just got in.
“I want all of them.”
“…What?”
Horobi grins, despite himself. Entirely unsurprised by Jin’s antics.
They get home, and Jin pauses.
“Hey, dad,” he says. “I’m glad we could do this.”
Horobi looks his son over. It looks like Jin wants to say more, but he doesn’t. Horobi won’t push.
“…I’m glad you had fun.”