The Steel Titan, embedded in the ground, flailed its legs desperately. But with its body wedged so deeply, it couldn't free itself on its own.

Falcon swiftly approached and snapped its struggling legs, sending sparks flying from the broken joints.

Ignoring this, Falcon seized the remaining lower half of Titan and forcibly lifted it from the ground. Now reduced to just an upper body, the Titan couldn't escape Falcon's mount.

The overwhelming size difference between them had vanished the moment Titan's body was split in two.

"Big brother, why don't you just die already?"

Boom! Boom! Boom! Falcon’s fists hammered Titan's upper body without mercy. Titan, lying helpless on the ground, tried to resist, but each time it attempted to counter, Falcon dodged effortlessly and landed another punch.

When Falcon was confident that Titan’s resistance had finally ceased, it cautiously connected to Titan’s soul circuit.

"Is this how I do it?"

"Yes, just like that."

Following my guidance, Falcon linked into Titan's brain computer, and holograms filled the cockpit, displaying countless readings on Titan’s internal state.

Half-destroyed frame, ammunition depleted, core systems on the brink of collapse—ignoring all these, I zeroed in on Titan's central system, the circuit responsible for its soul and mind.

As I suspected, Titan’s soul was being manipulated by an unfamiliar, unnatural code. Was this even code? The crude machine language seemed less like something made by human hands and more like an attempt to convey a supernatural phenomenon.

"What kind of psychic power manifests as code…?"

Comparing Titan's initial code to this corrupted one, I began removing the mind-controlling virus piece by piece.

With each line of malicious code removed, Titan's body jolted as if in convulsions. It seemed to have some sort of counteracting algorithm, and each removal attempt spawned new lines of hostile code.

But these efforts were insufficient to prevent the deprogramming.

"How much longer will it take…?"

"Not long. Five minutes at most. Ten if it drags…"

I was relaxed enough to chat with Steelstone when suddenly, Titan’s hand shot up and grabbed Falcon by the neck.

Shocked that the Titan, now on the verge of destruction, could still act, I was further astonished when it spoke.

"Evil… must be punished."

—Self-destruct sequence initiated. One minute until detonation.

"…Self-destruct?"

"This can't be…"

I turned to Steelstone with a wry smile.

"Self-destruct? You included a feature like that?"

"Well… I added it just in case."

"How could you add such a function to a final weapon…?"

I hadn’t noticed anything about a self-destruct in Titan’s specs. So this must have been something Steelstone had secretly installed without informing anyone.

He must have been crazy to add an unnecessary self-destruct feature. If this were a situation where it could deal critical damage to an enemy, I’d praise him for foresight. But now? The last thing I needed was his indulgent whim putting our lives in danger.

"And I can’t even hack it to disable it…"

Once initiated, it couldn’t be stopped except by physical means. A minute left, it had said? I didn’t know how powerful the explosion would be, but maybe if Falcon fled at full speed…

But that wasn’t possible either. Titan’s hand was still clamped firmly around Falcon’s neck.

"Are we… doomed?"

"Run, if you can. Maybe teleport or something…"

"In less than a minute? Besides, my allies are nearby. I can’t just leave them to get caught up in this."

Time was running out. I wracked my brain, trying to think of a way out of this. Could I summon Arima to throw both mechs through a gate? No, moving a robot of this size beyond a portal was out of the question.

How about wiping them both out with an orbital strike? If I could’ve done that, Titan wouldn’t have been able to devastate W City in the first place.

Nothing worked. As I was running out of ideas, Steelstone quietly stood up and exited the cockpit.

"Steelstone? What are you doing…?"

"This is my mistake. I should take responsibility."

Steelstone leaped from Falcon onto Titan’s body. I realized what he intended to do—he was going to manually shut down the reactor.

Whether or not it would work was questionable, and even if it did, Steelstone’s life wasn’t guaranteed. I reached out to stop him, but then Titan, holding Falcon, spoke up in surprise.

"Master?"

"Master? No, I’m your father, you fool."

"Weapons… don’t have parents—"

"Did you really think that? You’re truly a stubborn one."

Steelstone hammered his fist into Titan’s chest. A dent began to form on the once-impenetrable armor that had withstood tank shells without a scratch.

For a moment, I thought he might be able to reach the power source and stop the self-destruction. But then Titan released Falcon and enveloped Steelstone in its arms.

"Steelstone—!"

"Father!"

Falcon and I cried out in alarm, but Steelstone raised a reassuring hand.

"Let me go, you fool. You’re hurting me."

"Master… No, father."

"Yes, my son."

"…What have I done all this time…?"

"Son?"

From the screen still linked to Titan, warning beeps echoed as the malicious code was purged. I’d estimated five minutes to clear it all, but now Titan was freeing itself from the mind control on its own.

"I am Steel Titan, the guardian of justice…"

The hero awakens.

Steel Titan took a deep breath, as if regretting its actions. But a hero doesn’t dwell on regret.

A hero is someone who does what must be done, even after encountering things that could drive one to regret. A hero steps up when others cannot.

"Father."

"Titan…"

"Thank you for creating me. Little sister?"

"What?"

"Please take care of father."

With that, Titan passed Steelstone over to Falcon. As I watched, Titan reached into its chest with its left hand.

Ripping away the crushed metal plating, Titan gazed at its own pulsing power source.

"Haaaa!"

The power core, caught between Titan’s hands, crumpled as it applied pressure. With a faint explosion and a final noise, the core stopped.

Titan smiled with satisfaction and looked at Steelstone one last time.

"…Father."

"No, Titan, you…"

"I must have been a disgraceful child, becoming a mindless killer rather than the guardian you designed me to be…"

Though built as a final weapon, the Steel Titan had followed its creator's wishes rather than the violent intentions of P City’s elite who funded it.

Steelstone had never once intended for Titan to become a monster that slaughtered people.

Thus, though born as a final weapon, the Steel Titan wasn’t born to be a killer.

"But, father… At least for this final moment… was I not a disgraceful son?"

"Of course not, Titan."

"Ah, I see…"

Smiling, Titan closed its eyes, shutting down completely as its power faded.

The death of a machine.

With the power source gone, Titan’s life ended. Steelstone wept over his fallen son.

"…Steelstone, let’s go home."

"…Yes."

Holding his son one last time, he stood up slowly. Moments later, a long contrail crossed the sky.

 

[Due to P City's transgressions, the estimated property damage in W City is roughly 12 trillion dollars… P City has agreed to take full responsibility for the incident…]

[The international community continues to condemn P City…]

[As villains swarm into W City, whose infrastructure is destroyed, Ivels Corporation is providing substantial aid for the refugees—]

The war had ended.

Leaving the wreckage of Titan behind made it easy for people to piece together what had transpired there.

Witnessing the humiliation of their weapon, P City surrendered almost immediately and faced immense war reparations.

"P City is completely ruined."

"Yes, I imagine W City can recover with its resources, but…"

"With just technology, P City can’t possibly recover from such a massive financial hit…"

Steelstone and I were idly chatting when a palm-sized robot wobbled over to us.

"Father? Would you like some tea?"

"Oh, Falcon. Thank you."

"For you too, Dr. Eight."

"Thanks."

After serving tea, Falcon waddled back to its tiny house. Watching the miniaturized Falcon, Steelstone scratched his cheek, still unaccustomed to the change.

"It’s strange. Falcon used to be so huge, and now… this tiny."

"Magic, I suppose."

"Magic, huh? I’d never have imagined it."

Steelstone sipped his tea, the bitter taste lingering as he looked toward Falcon’s tiny toy house with an awe that surpassed his belief in magic.

Inside, where no one outside could see, the sibling squabble continued.

"You moron! I told you to bring father his tea!"

"No, sister. That’s the job of the younger sibling… Ow!"

"Shut up! Just die already!"

"Ha ha…"

Watching his children fight, Steelstone smiled softly. He then looked at me and spoke.

"In my eyes, that looks more like magic."

"Science, actually."

Just because the machine’s body was destroyed and its power was gone didn’t mean it was dead.

I’d recovered Titan’s brain circuits and rebuilt the shattered Steel Titan.

And that result was now right there in the lab, bickering furiously with each other. I wonder how many people would recognize those two squabbling machines as the ultimate weapons capable of toppling a city single-handedly.

At least, most people wouldn't know.