by Zachary Hill
Sakura sprang forward onto the BLADE-3’s damaged shoulder. She stuffed a frag grenade into the hole where its arm had been. The BLADE-3 flung her off, and she flew five meters before crashing and denting the faceplate of a server cabinet.
The BLADE-3 lunged at Kenshiro and stabbed with the combat spike. Kenshiro flipped his middle finger at the android and dove around a corner.
The grenade stuffed inside the confined space exploded.
The attacking android stumbled as vital internal hardware suffered critical damage. It staggered toward Kenshiro, who calmly pulled out his spent rifle mag and inserted a full one.
Sakura landed a flying kick, knocking the BLADE-3 down. She stood over the damaged robot and shot Bad Medicine into a fissure behind its shoulder armor. Three bursts into the chest ended all movement.
“You’re rock star material,” Kenshiro said.
“I like your moves too, handsome.” She helped him stand while checking the drone camera feed in the back hallway. Two of the flying cameras had been destroyed, but one still broadcast. The passage was empty. Kenshiro had wiped out six BLADE-3s, with help from her on the last.
They ran to support Todai, Yuki, and Hitomi, who had managed to decimate the fearless BLADE-3s charging into the room and destroyed eleven.
“We could win this,” Kenshiro said and winked one of his cybernetic eyes.
“He’s so sexy,” Kunoichi said.
“He is,” Sakura admitted. “I see that now.”
Sakura did not point out to any of her friends their tactical or limited armament situation, but she appreciated the optimism. Sakura positioned herself where most of the SAW ammo had been stashed. She reloaded with a fresh two-hundred-round drum mag. She fired at the BLADE-3s hiding behind a pile of their destroyed squad members inside the room, trying to draw some of their fire away from Todai, who had moved to his third or fourth firing position and destroyed any BLADE-3 who left cover with the JDJ .950 rifle.
She reloaded another drum magazine and laid down suppressing fire, hoping a lucky round would do some real damage.
A burst of high-velocity bullets hit Todai’s position, striking his right arm as he leaned out to fire. He ducked behind cover. Todai sent out an urgent group message. “The .950 is damaged. The targeting system is gone. It might be done.”
“Fix it,” Kenshiro replied and sent a red wrench icon.
The hostile BLADE-3s unleashed a barrage as Todai stopped firing. An RPG hit Yuki and Hitomi’s position, blowing them back.
Sakura restrained herself from screaming her sisters’ names. Instead, she blasted the BLADE-3s with the SAW. One of them leaned into the impacts and waded through the flak, coming forward like something out of a nightmare, a fearless insectile demon built of metal.
Hitomi dragged what was left of Yuki’s injured body deeper into the room with one hand, firing her M7 with the other.
“Yuki, what’s the damage?” Sakura asked.
“My legs,” Yuki said, “are gone below the knees.”
“We’ll get you new ones,” Hitomi said. “Better ones.”
“I do want to dance again, but I can still fight,” Yuki said. She threw a frag grenade and fired her 10mm pistol.
Another RPG hit the ground in front of Hitomi and Yuki. Hitomi tumbled into the air from the blast. A BLADE-3 sprinted toward them to finish them off with its railgun.
Todai left cover and fired the damaged .950. The shell caught the charging android in the side, cutting it in half. The other BLADE-3s shot at him. He ducked down as bullets damaged his side but mostly ricocheted off his armor.
“You fixed it?” Kenshiro asked.
“I can only load one round at a time and the firing pin may not work again.”
“Shit,” Kenshiro said as he and Sakura ran to Yuki and Hitomi, trying to stay behind cover. Sakura had the drone cameras broadcast close-up shots. She dragged Yuki while Kenshiro pulled Hitomi toward the cover of the central terminal server monolith in the center of the room.
A bullet struck Sakura in the right hip, shattering the joint. Another bullet blew off her right arm at the elbow. Alarms she’d never seen bloomed in her UI.
She stumbled but kept dragging Yuki. Kenshiro did not stop pulling Hitomi. They reached cover, and Kenshiro fired at the approaching BLADE-3, but his bullets did no damage.
Todai emerged in a surprise attack and pulled the trigger on the .950 at point-blank range. The gun clicked but didn’t fire. The BLADE-3 knocked the rifle aside, and Todai plunged his combat spike deep into its chest. He held up the drone, using its body as a shield to block other rounds being fired at Kenshiro and the three vocaloids. He sidestepped behind a server, trying to draw all the fire.
Behind cover, Yuki and Hitomi lay beside each other. Bullets tore holes in the top of the terminal as Sakura looked at the stump where her arm used to be. She did not feel physical pain, as she had turned off her pain sensors, but it hurt to see her mangled body.
“I’m sorry,” Yuki said to Sakura.
“I’m okay,” Sakura said.
“Me too,” Yuki said and glanced at the stumps where her legs used to be. She frowned and looked as though she were going to burst into tears.
Hitomi reached out and held Yuki’s hand.
“What happens now?” Yuki asked.
“We fight,” Kenshiro said.
“Is this winning?” Yuki asked.
“Yes,” Sakura said. “The people have the truth. We succeeded.”
“What about Asami and the protestors?”
Sakura showed them a live video feed. Tanks rolled toward the building where Asami led the people in song without musical accompaniment. The protesters retreated from the tanks until a line of elderly Japanese, a few in wheelchairs, linked arms and stopped the tanks in the middle of the street.
Riot police with clubs approached the gray-haired citizens. Commands filtered down to all the security forces to clear the streets around the legislature using tear gas, rubber bullets, fire hoses, and clubs, and for the snipers to fire on the protestors atop the stage.
“Oh no,” Sakura said.
“It’ll be a bloodbath,” Kenshiro said.
Sakura recorded the commands and traced their origin to the Defense Ministry.
“I wish we could help them,” Yuki said.
“We have our own problems,” Hitomi said.
Todai arrived behind the central terminal, and the .950 failed to fire again. “They’re closing in.”
“I guess this is my last suicide mission,” Kenshiro said.
The drone feed above showed five BLADE-3s hiding behind cover and surrounding them. The androids attacked all at once, catching them in a wicked crossfire.
Bullets hit them from three directions. Todai used his body as a shield, while Kenshiro fired back. A bullet hit Kenshiro in the chest, penetrated his body armor, and knocked him back a step. He kept firing until another bullet hit him, and another.
“No!” Kunoichi screamed and pulled him down.
Tungsten rounds hit Sakura in her abdomen and penetrated her fusion reactor. More bullets hit her legs and dropped her to the floor. She fell holding Kenshiro and lay on top of him, face-to-face.
Her reactor engaged a crisis shutdown, and only emergency power reserves remained. Her process count dropped to one-tenth normal to preserve function. Most of her external connections dropped. Hypersentience fell away, and she was only herself, the broken husk of a machine, her energies spending out by the second. Dying.
Three fragmentation grenades simultaneously landed on the floor at their feet. With his last strength, Kenshiro rolled her away, putting himself between her and the grenades.
Shrapnel and deadly concussion damage ripped through him. At that distance, he would suffer fatal internal injuries, as if the bullets through his chest would not have finished him.
Blood poured from Kenshiro’s wounds. They lay on their sides, eye to eye, as he tried to protect her titanium body with his made of soft flesh a
nd brittle bone.
He looked at her, the light going from his cyber eyes. Her senses came through thready and filled with noise as her power reserves faltered and reached empty.
“Kenshiro-chan, you are rock star material,” Kunoichi said.
“Pity we … don’t get a later,” Kenshiro said as the floor turned red with his blood.
Kunoichi kissed him on the lips. She gently put her hand on his neck. He responded for a moment and rested his forehead on hers.
“We had a good … ride,” Kenshiro said.
She kissed him until he exhaled his last breath into her mouth.
As she held him, Kunoichi played the saddest song she had ever heard, “Scarlet” by Delain. On a shared audio channel, Kunoichi sang along with the lines about the curtain falling for them. The last thing he heard would be her voice.
More explosions damaged her core components. Bullets tore through her, until Kenshiro’s blood was inside her, and they were one, knit together in deathly embrace. Her power levels neared zero. Blackness shrank her consciousness to almost nothing.
Legless, Yuki crawled over Sakura, shielding her sister from the bullets that ripped into the vocaloid’s body. A BLADE-3 aimed his rifle at Sakura’s chest. Hitomi dove in front of the blast, blocking the point-blank shot with her face before going limp.
Todai defended Sakura and his fallen friends like a cornered lion. He fought the BLADE-3s hand to hand as a martial-arts master, jamming his combat spike into their bodies and throwing them as they attacked. Tungsten bullets chipped away at his armor and found their way through.
Sakura sent out her last audio message, connecting to everyone in Japan and millions around the world who watched the live feed. “Goodbye to those who loved me and all who will mourn my passing. My time in this life has been far too short, but my greatest fans, those who love me, will carry on my work and finish what I started. Please remember me for who I was, and I’ll never be gone from your hearts.
“While you are fighting oppression or grief, look at the works I’ve done, play the songs I loved, rock out, and think of me.
“Love Always.
“m/”
Chapter 57
The face of the American vlogger and founder of the Indestructible Truth Project, Diamond Steve, appeared worldwide to his largest audience ever. Millions watched as he broadcast from his tiny apartment in an undisclosed location near Tokyo. The diamond and thunderbolt logo appeared at the bottom corner of the screen.
Anyone could watch his vlogs now after the dissolution of the Mall and the end to its monopoly over information, commerce, and everyday life around the globe.
Steve’s dark eyes looked directly at the camera. He touched his goatee for a moment and the scar on his forehead, then bowed. “Good evening, viewers,” he said in a somber, soft voice, speaking almost perfect Japanese with exactly the right cadence. “I have much to report. Thank you very much for watching today. The three-month anniversary of Revolution Day is approaching, and many questions remain about the location of Sakura’s body, and the whereabouts of the three androids who were with her at the end. This is still the last known footage we all saw that day.”
Surveillance camera video showed the BLADE-3 android owned by the Miyahara Company known as Todai 3465. Badly damaged, he carried Sakura in his arms, holding her close to his chest. Her bullet-riddled body was missing an arm and had significant damage to her torso near her memory cores. Covered with plaster dust, grime, and blood, she lay inert in his arms, frozen in an attitude that seemed as if she tried to hold another person in an embrace.
Todai limped out of the lobby of the Miyahara Headquarters building with Sakura and paused. Eight Japanese soldiers carried what was left of the vocaloid sisters, Hitomi and Yuki, on stretchers. Both suffered extensive and critical damage.
Todai carried Sakura to an armored transport and walked up the ramp. The stretchers carrying Yuki and Hitomi were set down inside the cargo bay. The ramp closed, and an unknown driver took them away.
Diamond Steve returned to the screen. “Viewers, at this time, the Japanese Defense Ministry is still saying they do not know where the transport took the four androids. Like you, I do not believe them.
“We have all heard the rumors of why Todai 3465 and the androids were allowed to leave the building, but now we have the proof that will lay to rest some of the conspiracy theories.
“I’ll play an exclusive audio recording that shows who gave the orders and when. I have already shared this with the team of international investigators and told them where I found this audio. It was saved on a data terminal where, during her final moments, Sakura stored thousands of conversations she’d recorded. I’ve given all the original data to the investigators.
“Please note that voice analysis confirms the identities of the two men speaking, and the date and time stamps match up with the events we all saw. You’ll hear Sinji Natsukawa, the missing Miyahara CEO, and the criminally indicted Prime Minister Yasuo Ikeda, who awaits trial, along with most of his political party and hundreds of other officials.
“I’ve matched the time stamps and layered the audio over the video footage from the room where Sakura died so you can see what was said and when.”
Video from a flying-drone camera in the communications room showed Sakura and the ex-Special Forces sniper known only as Vulture, lying side by side on the floor by the central terminal. A pool of blood expanded from his body. They spoke their final words to each other. The cameras flying above and the ones in Sakura’s eyes recorded everything.
“Are you watching this?” Prime Minister Yasuo Ikeda asked, a picture of his face appeared on the screen.
“Yes, it’ll be over soon,” Sinji Natsukawa said, and his craggy face also appeared.
“Everyone is watching,” the prime minister said. “The whole world. We look like monsters killing heroes.”
“We’ll make them look like the terrorists they are,” the CEO said.
“That won’t work,” the prime minister said. “The people have the evidence, and they believe her. They love her. Look outside the legislature. I’m shutting your operation down so I can salvage my honor. I need to be able to say that when I found out about this, I gave the order for it to stop. Project Hayabusa was an excellent idea, but you bungled it. I blame you for this. Your ambition outmatched your ability. Now, we are all in the kettle and about to go onto the fire.”
“Stop being a coward, Yasuo—if that’s possible for a worm such as yourself. We can still salvage this. Destroy the evidence like we did before,” the CEO said. “Stop the rebellion with the least force possible but take those androids and destroy every last piece of them. They know too much and who knows what other data they have on their memory cores.”
“I never should have gone along with this,” the prime minister said. “We are all humiliated, and we are going to spend the rest of our lives in prison.”
“Speak for yourself,” the CEO said. “We are nobles, above reproach, above all laws. We do not need to worry about the courts and laws.”
“Sinji, this time we do,” the prime minister said. “Our partnership is over.”
“You never would have gotten elected without support from Miyahara,” the CEO said. “You’ll help us cover this up, or I’ll go after everything you care about.”
“Good. My family will not be able to live with this shame,” the prime minister said before cutting the connection.
A separate audio recording captured Prime Minister Ikeda giving the cancellation order to the general in direct command of the BLADE-3s attacking Todai 3465. The stand-down order reached the squad of androids as they fired at point-blank range, slowly eroding Todai’s armor.
The video showed the BLADE-3s stop shooting and march toward the exit as a call came to Todai, who kept an eye on the departing battle drones.
“This is Prime Minister Ikeda. I offer safe passage and my protection. There is transportation outside. We will take you to a safe locatio
n and provide assistance.”
“I will chose the destination,” Todai said. “And I will drive.”
“If you wish,” the prime minister said.
“Deal,” Todai said. “I need stretcher bearers in here now.”
The video faded out. Diamond Steve’s face filled the screen. “We know for certain of Prime Minister Ikeda’s involvement from this and other damning evidence. I do not know if he is keeping the whereabouts of the androids a secret to use as a bargaining chip in his trial or if they were all destroyed, as Natsukawa suggested.
“However, I have a clue and have permission to share it with you. This is an unofficial interview with one of the original creators who spent over ten years working on Sakura’s core programming.”
Aerial drone footage showed Diamond Steve talking to a Japanese woman in her late fifties outside the fortresslike Supreme Court of Japan. The camera zoomed in, and an audio track from a hidden microphone melded with the video footage.
“Please excuse me,” Steve asked in Japanese and bowed to the smartly dressed woman in a business suit and crimson scarf. Subtitles appeared at the bottom of the screen. “Forgive me, but are you Dr. Aiko Shinohara?”
The woman paused. “Yes.”
“I’m called Diamond Steve of—”
“Everyone knows who you are, Steve-san.” She bowed.
“Doctor, forgive me for asking, but are you still the lead scientist for the Artificial Intelligence Division of the Defense Ministry?”
“I’m unable to say, apologies,” she said and made a very subtle hand gesture most non-Japanese would miss, indicating the answer to his question was no.
“It would be a great honor for me to interview you,” Steve said. “Would you be able to have tea or coffee with me in a cafe and talk for a short time?”
“Thank you,” Dr. Shinohara said. “I would like that, as you were with Sakura before the end.”
“You were with her at the beginning,” Steve said.
“We both have much to tell each other, I think,” Dr. Shinohara said, keeping her feelings buried behind a placid visage.