by Yuu Kamiya
“You’re a cyborg, so the tourbillion mechanism implanted inside you ends up negating fluctuations in gravity within the margin of error,” Marie answered as she gave a look to the man who was bigger than anyone else in the room.
Halter, who served as both Marie’s bodyguard and secretary, was originally from the army; he later rose up to become a clocksmith. His body had been mechanized when he was young, so though he had enough power to break combat-use automata with his fists, in exchange, his artificial body wasn’t as sensitive as a body of flesh.
“Even if you say that, it’s still only on the level of the force felt when riding an elevator, no?”
“That’s more than enough. Besides, that isn’t where the problem lies.” Marie shrugged her shoulders.
Hannes continued in agreement, “It’s true that the range of fluctuation itself is within the margin of error, but the problem is the number of times it happened. The frequency graph is also reading an unprecedented pattern even when compared against all the data from the last thirty years. It’s currently stabilized at 1.03g, but...”
“From what one can tell from reading this observational data, another one’s about to come.”
—Groan. Marie suddenly felt the weight of her body increase, causing her to pause. It wasn’t enough to make her collapse to the ground, but it wasn’t something one could ignore, either.
Analyzing the extra weight pressing down on her entire body, Marie muttered, “—It’s 1.34g now.”
“Dr. Marie, this has to be...”
“Indeed, this problem doesn’t seem like one that can be dealt with as simply a common gravitational irregularity anymore. If it continues worsening at this pace, it’ll affect everyone above the gears eventually as well.”
As for what this implied...
“In the worst-case scenario—the metropolitan mechanism might collapse.”
“——”
Hearing Marie say such things in a matter-of-fact tone caused a nervous chill to run down the backs of all present.
If this was as much as the gravity fluctuated, at most it would only make one nauseous. But what if an even stronger gravity started weighing down? Or if it dropped down to zero gravity? One might suddenly be squashed under one’s own weight, or thrown up into the air, for that matter.
Or rather, the mechanism would probably just malfunction once the fluctuations went beyond the extent that the escapement could adjust for.
It’d be one thing if it were the mechanism of an automobile or a home appliance, but if the twelve clock towers that governed the metropolitan environment and the core tower that pierced all the way up to the stratosphere from the center of the city were to break—reconstruction would simply be impossible at that point.
This city—Kyoto—would end up being lost forever.
Even after a thousand years, the “Clockwork Planet” that reconstructed the world using gears still remained a black box that no one could reproduce. Even the Meisters, of whom there were only 6,305 in the entire world, couldn’t do it.
“—Everyone, please listen.” Marie spoke up.
She looked out over all her present staff members, then continued in a firm voice.
“Though I’m sure you’re all already aware, the situation has taken a turn for the dire. Whether it be the urgent dispatch order or the innocuous malfunction report that didn’t match that urgency, the job was suspicious from the start, but—”
Marie paused for a moment.
She opened her feet up to her shoulders’ width, placed her hands on her waist, and hoisted her right hand up with composure.
With the small body of a young girl yet the majesty of a queen, Marie asserted, “We’re all widely acknowledged, first-rate clocksmiths here. It’s true that we probably can’t match up to ‘Y,’ who created this world; however, you and I are all rare talents gathered together from the entire world. There’s no one better than us, nor is there a malfunction we can’t resolve. Before we move on, please recall that fact first.”
Upon hearing those words that could even be called arrogant, the expressions on the faces of the staff changed.
—She was right. There wasn’t a single person among the Meisters dispatched here that was incompetent.
Each one of them was a self-made, expert technician who had started out as a Lehrling, then became a Geselle after going through rough jobs out in the field, and finally a Meister after acquiring both expertise and experience.
From its director, Marie, all the way down to the lower-ranking staff that made up the observation squad, Meister Guild had nothing but talents who were part of a technical vanguard and would be welcomed with open arms at private enterprises and militaries anywhere in the world.
“That’s right. We are Meister Guild.”
Meister Guild.
An international organization whose goal was to maintain and preserve the planet’s mechanisms. Boasting more than half of all Meisters as its members and armed with the best technology and equipment, it was a troop of clocksmiths who faced off against malfunctions in cities all over the world. It was a non-governmental organization whose activities were unconstrained by any political or ideological consideration.
That was “Meister Guild.”
“It seems that there’s a befitting reason that HQ made us come here from the other side of the world in such a rush and forcefully intervene, after all. I also sense something suspicious from the military’s attitude... Well, we’re used to being hated by that lot, aren’t we?”
The bitter laughs that spread throughout the staff spoke to their experience.
“This one’s going to be a handful. Let’s enjoy it as much as we can.” The springy way Marie said that made it sound as though she really meant it. “I don’t know what’s going to come up yet, but I’ve concluded that whatever it is, it’ll be a pressing matter.”
Then, putting her thick layer of resolve into words, “Observation squad, please pinpoint which floor of the Core Tower contains the source of the fluctuations. The masses of mediocre technicians out there couldn’t finish a job like this even if they spent a year on it—but we’re going to finish it in two weeks!”
“““Understood!!”””
Marie had pushed past the limits of nonsense with her unreasonable demand; yet, all of her present staff answered her with charged voices.
●
Having given detailed instructions to the observation squad, Marie saw them off as they returned to work, after which she flopped onto her makeshift bed.
“Ah—... It’s so tiresome.”
“You did good work. That was a pretty rousing speech.” Halter held out a cup with steam rising off the top to Marie, who was groaning at the ceiling. It was a well-blended hot cocoa made with ample amounts of milk and sugar.
Marie abruptly rose up to receive the cup, then curled her lips in irony. “Man, I’m really glad. To think they would be fooled by a speech from a little girl like me.”
“They knew better, but let themselves be fooled because they’re adults.”
“I wonder if that’s the case.”
“It is. There’s no way an idiot who seriously acts complacent in front of a mechanical malfunction of a metropolis could ever become a Meister. Even though I’m a clocksmith who’s stuck at Geselle rank, I can at least tell that much.”
“......”
Halter picked up a metal folding chair and brought it next to the makeshift bed before sitting down in front of Marie, who remained silent. “It’s gotta be scary. It’s gotta be unbearable. If you screw up somewhere, people will die. Cities will be blown away. Even so, everyone here is a wicked gambler who sticks his neck into the fire of his own free will—Look, in the same way, there’s a little girl here desperately putting on a tough facade even as she’s on the verge of wetting herself as well.”
“...Well, it is comical, isn’t it.”
“Well, yeah. You can’t do anything but laugh.” Grinning broadly, Halter continued.
“Laugh, fool yourself, and likewise, act tough. There’s no other choice. As an adult, it’d be too embarrassing to cower in fear like a wuss while a cute little girl is tackling the problem head-on.”
“For being so lowly, you sure can talk.” Marie put her lips to the edge of the cup as she let a smile escape. The sugar mixed into the cocoa sent a pleasant buzz to Marie’s tired brain. “In that case, shall I treat you as an adult and work you to the bone now?”
“Yes, ask anything of me, princess.”
“Investigate the military. I want to find out what they know about the situation.”
“Hmm? I thought they were openly disclosing the information they have.”
“It’s true that there wasn’t anything suspicious in the measurement data they disclosed. But, I can’t think that they obediently spit out all of the information. I want both evidence of the cover-up and the information being covered up.”
“In other words, do you mean to say—” Halter lowered his voice as he muttered, looking serious, “—that the military is intentionally concealing a fatal malfunction?”
“At the very least, the possibility exists.”
“...Is the situation that bad?”
“Probably. The fact that Meister Guild dispatched us here all the way from the other side of the world without any explanation bothers me.”
“You think the information was leaked? But if headquarters got ahold of information that’s being concealed by the military and the Japanese government, wouldn’t they say something about it to us?”
“It might be that they have no proof. Also, even Meister Guild isn’t free from entanglements with the outside world, you know? After all, it can’t ignore the will of its sponsors, the five great corporations—and there are those who want to eliminate me as well.”
“...Hey now, that sure sounds menacing.”
Marie showed him a broad grin. “Isn’t that what you’re here for?
Marie Bell Breguet. The youngest person in history to ever become a Meister, as well as the daughter of the president of the Breguet Corporation, one of the five great corporations.
Though she hadn’t ever been publicly criticized, given her ability and status—she was nonetheless used to having looks of jealousy and hatred thrown at her. Given an opportunity, those who would sabotage her were a dime a dozen. When such characters resorted directly to violence, it was Halter’s job to protect her.
“If it ends up just being me overthinking things, then none the worse. But, I want to be sure just in case.”
“Roger. I’ll try sounding things out for now.”
As Halter stood up, someone knocked at the door.
“? —Please, come in.”
“Excuse me.” The one who entered after receiving Marie’s permission was a member of the observation squad that had just left earlier.
“What’s the matter? Did something unexpected occur while you were working?”
“Not quite. Actually, I have a report on the Y D-01 container.”
“Gh! Was RyuZU found?!”
Seeing Marie straighten her back and lean forward seemed to have made the staff member awkward as he reported in a faltering voice, “No, well, you see... By reverse-calculating the air route, we somehow managed to pinpoint the location where it fell, but...”
“And?” Annoyed by the staff member’s equivocal manner of speech, Marie tightened her fist.
“There happened to be an apartment building right below the location where it fell.”
“...An apartment building?”
“Yes. You see, I was told that the impact of the fall, well... caused the entire building to collapse.”
“——, Hah?” Her voice inadvertently escaped from her mouth. At the same time, the cup fell out of her hand. Hot cocoa scalded her skin as it spilled all over her knees, causing Marie’s body to reflexively jump up while jittering.
“A, Are you alright, Dr. Marie?!”
“I’m f... Th, There’s no proble...” Marie answered, swallowing her urge to scream. Abruptly snatching the towel that Halter handed her from her side, she looked up at the staff member, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. “C, Co, llapsed... you say?”
“Right, well... how should I put this, it seems like the building had been considerably deteriorated to begin with...”
“What? Hey now, don’t tell me there were casualties?!” Halter cried out.
The reporting staff member denied it in a hurry. “No, the silver lining was that there were no casualties. For all of its size, it had relatively few residents. That, combined with the fact that there appears to have been a rather large margin of time before it fully collapsed, seems to have allowed all of the residents to escape in time.”
“I, I see. I’m glad to hear that...” Marie said in relief as she wiped the cocoa off her legs.
The staff member continued, “Ah—about that... things aren’t looking so good, actually.”
“? Is there something else?”
“You see, what I’m saying is, the apartment building collapsed.”
“What? You told me that already.” Marie said in confusion as she knitted her eyebrows.
The staff member, seeming to have become impatient, exclaimed, “As I keep saying, it collapsed! The Y D-01 container fell below the local grid along with the building!”
“———” As if a flare had suddenly flashed in front of her, Marie’s pupils constricted into dots. It had been awhile since she last experienced this sensation.
She reflexively asked again, “What did you say just now?”
“The Y D-01 storage unit fell below the local grid. Fortunately, the rubble from the collapse stopped at a shallow floor of the city’s mechanism; however, the report mentioned that we didn’t prepare any machinery used for civil engineering, so recovering the container would be extremely difficult.”
“C’mon...” Halter groaned as he put his hand on his forehand.
The situation was such that even he didn’t have the composure to joke about it; however, upon seeing his mistress petrified in dumb amazement, he managed to just barely regain himself and suggested in a low voice, “...At any rate, let’s contact headquarters. For this accident, we need to have them send the supervisor of the legal department as well as machinery for excavation over there. There was an asset even the Breguet Corporation can’t simply disregard in that storage unit, so they’ll manage things for us if we explain what happened.”
“R, Right... It’s as you say. In that case, I’m sorry to trouble you, but could you handle that process?”
“Understood.” Halter nodded, then left the room together with the staff member.
As the door closed, Marie, left alone in the room, curled her lips in irony. “...Looks like it’ll be a fun job this time as well, seriously.”
●
At the same time—03:17:46 a.m.
Naoto Miura woke up.
He was in a park, an athletic park with both a spacious sports field and children’s playground equipment for children. Underneath a roofed rest area set up in a corner, Naoto ground his teeth as he covered his ears.
“...Shut up.”
Dissonance sounded. He was used to hearing abnormal sounds from the municipal mechanism, but it was especially hard to bear right now.
Truly unpleasant sounds were coming from the gears on the twenty-fourth floor of the Core Tower, which was around 70,620 meters underground. He had woken up because of that. Normally, the noise-canceling function on his beloved headphones would erase such noises, but—well, his headphones were missing...
But before that...
“Why... was I sleeping here?” Naoto muttered as he tilted his head. Perhaps because he had slept on a hard surface, his whole body felt as heavy as lead, like he hadn’t slept at all.
“I see that you have woken up, Master Naoto.”
Naoto had yet to fully awaken when a cool, beautiful voice reached his head from behind. Turning around, he saw the face of a
n angel immediately before his eyes, causing him to inadvertently throw his head back in surprise.
The gemstone eyes, which glittered gold, gazed intently at him. They were beautiful enough to make one swallow one’s breath—but at the same time, one couldn’t read the thoughts behind those artificial eyes.
...If I remember right, this girl...
Naoto gasped and tried to stand up, but ended up staggering.
Groan. A heavy pressure pushed down on his entire body. His hands, which had been propping him up, slipped, and Naoto rolled off the bench. The rebound from hitting the ground made his head hit the edge of the wooden bench forcefully.
“GAhhhhhhhhhhh my head feels like it’s going to crack open!”
As Naoto was holding his head and kicking about in agony, a sweet voice fell upon him from above. “What a novel calisthenic exercise. Master’s refined taste reaches far beyond the current times.”
“That’s not what I’m doing! More importantly, what was that just now?!”
“It seems to be a fluctuation in gravity. The cause is probably a slight error in the municipal mechanism.”
“Damn government buffoons. At least maintain the mechanism properly, dammit!” While grumbling, Naoto stood up. As he brushed off the dirt that had gotten onto his clothes, he turned to face the owner of that sweet voice once again.
The girl looked dainty as she sat on her heels while kneeling on top of the bench. Realizing that she had apparently been providing him with a lap pillow until he had woken up, Naoto became internally flustered.
“Umm, your name is RyuZU... right?”
“Yes. My humble name is RyuZU, and I am the First of the Initial-Y Series.”
Seeing RyuZU’s elegant smile as she answered him finally lit up the pivotal memories in Naoto’s mind, causing him to rapidly reconstruct his memories of last night.
As he thought back on those freshly reconstructed memories, Naoto laughed in exasperation. “...That was a crazy night, huh?”
Everything had been normal up until he got home from school. But after he’d returned home and took a bath, a meteorite came crashing down. The “meteorite” turned out to be a mysterious storage unit, and within was an automaton that looked like an angel—and to top it all off, things ended with a do-or-die repair job in a building that felt like it was going to collapse at any moment.