Chrome Shelled Regios

by Shūsuke Amagi

  Harley looked to be practical, but that seemed to be only limited to what he was interested in.

  Three tables sat in the spacious room. On each desk was the exact same situation, so Layfon couldn't tell the difference between them. Harley pushed aside the things on one of the tables and got him to place the wooden box there.

  In the box were several rod-like things. In a relaxed manner, Harley took out one of the rods that was dark as charcoal. He took out a long electrical terminal from the gear box on the table and inserted it into the rod. The terminal slid in easily.

  "Let's first adjust the handle of the sword. You're one-handed, right? Do you want to set it for two hands?"

  "Please do."

  Layfon said so, knowing that Harley wouldn't have listened if he said he could adjust whatever settings he wanted.

  "Roger. Hold this."

  Harley handed something over that he took out from the small mountain on the desk. It was a half-transparent item with a bluish tinge to it. At one end was a wire linking it to a machine.

  "Hold it just like how you hold a sword."

  Layfon thought of the feeling he had when holding a sword, then he tightened his grip on the icy cold rod-like thing. The thing had its own resistance and didn't get squashed. Compared with its soft appearance, it was surprisingly hard.

  "Wow, your grip is quite strong. Even if you fight with your bare fists, it's gonna hurt."

  Harley nodded while looking at the number appearing on the display. He pulled out the keyboard to enter the number.

  Sudden changes appeared at the end of the rod where the terminal was inserted. The rod extended and expanded, its appearance adjusting continuously, eventually becoming what was shown on the display.

  "Try again."

  Layfon did so.

  "How does it feel?"

  "......Pretty good."

  Nothing felt out of place. Layfon's every finger held the handle closely.

  "I'll do more adjustments once the entire weight's been decided. Well, then the handle's ok now. Next is the material. How do you want it? What Nina uses is black Dite. It's got good density but with decreasing conductive rate. If we're talking about speed, it's better to use white or green Dite. I'd recommend the white. If you don't get it, I've got a sample here. Wanna give it a go?"

  Without waiting for a reply, Harley had entered the experimental lab and brought back a pile of rods.

  Layfon's worked up a cold sweat just by looking at the pile of rods on the floor.

  "Well, let's begin testing."

  Smiling, Harley handed a rod to Layfon.

  It seemed he'd spend a lot of time here.

  When Harley let him go, the sun had already sunk down in the west.

  Layfon returned to the dormitory in a flurry and jumped onto the bed. He slept for a few hours and was awakened by the alarm clock. He fixed his messy hair, dressed himself in his work clothes and rushed out of the dormitory.

  This was Layfon's first work day.

  Holding the map in one hand, Layfon arrived at an underground entrance outside the residential district. He handed his work permit to the police student for check up and entered the interior. Right before him was a lift. Layfon sat inside the simple lift that was encircled with metal fence, and headed down into the depths of the city.

  Just when the indescribable smell of oil and liquid became stronger and stronger, the lift stopped, sending a great jolt up Layfon's body.

  The dim light lit up a scene before him. Numerous tubes and wires crossed each other. A gear wheel was moving up and down in its own rhythm. Selenium flowed like blood in one direction inside the glass-like tubes, whereas liquid in the colour of murky sediment flowed in the opposite direction.

  This place was underneath the city – the Central Mechanism Chamber. The scene of Regio's heart lay open before Layfon.

  "How shocking......"

  A young man who looked to be also a half-studying and half-working student walked past and greeted Layfon as he stared speechlessly at the sight before him. Layfon followed the young man to the person in charge, and then started his job of cleaning.

  As he was a beginner, he was sent to clean the corridors.

  Grouped with the other newbie, Layfon went to work in the maze-like corridors. About one hour later, both of them started to get the hang of how to remove the mixed liquid from the wall, so they divided the work between them. It was easier this way to finish their target.

  When Layfon went to discharge the dirty water in his bucket and get some more clean water, his partner was resting on the floor, totally exhausted.

  "Are you resting?"

  "Yeah," came the powerless reply.

  "How to put it...it's tough. I picked this job coz I needed money, but I never thought it was such hard work to just clean the floor!"

  "That's because you used too much unnecessary strength. What if you don't use the muscles of your wrist but the weight of your entire body? That'd save some strength," Layfon advised, but his partner was so exhausted that he only made some noise as a response.

  Never mind, Layfon thought. He continued cleaning with the clean water and the cleaning liquid.

  He didn't resent the repetitiveness of the work, since he could leave his mind blank and not think of anything. He only needed to concentrate on moving his body, his consciousness swallowed in the flow inside him. That was the blood running in his veins, which was the flow needed to open up the flow of Kei. If he focused more, blood and Kei would flow to the antibodies inside him.

  Layfon kept on brushing while enjoying that feeling.

  When the water in the bucket turned dark, he was brought back to reality.

  "I have to change the water," he murmured, and unexpectedly got a reply.

  "Then please change mine too."

  Startled, Layfon lifted his gaze to the source of the voice.

  And got another shock.

  "In exchange, let me treat you to supper...Uh, what's wrong?"

  "Senpai, why are you here?"

  It was Nina. She wore the same work clothes as Layfon. A bucket filled with dirty water sat beside her feet, and she was holding a brush missing a handle. Oil stained her nose, cheeks and even her hair.

  "I'm half studying and half working too. Is that so strange? With that, I'm leaving the water to you. I'll buy some food. Meet up here later."

  Nina left Layfon at a loss.

  When Layfon came back with clean water after a few minutes, Nina also managed to make it back in time.

  "Thanks."

  It didn't seem he was dreaming. Nina was looking at the wide-mouthed Layfon disapprovingly. Both of his hands were occupied with the buckets.

  "How do you plan to eat? Put down the buckets. You should rest when it's time to rest."

  "Ah, yes!"

  He placed the buckets on the floor and hurried away to join her. They sat down on a tube.

  Nina handed over a sandwich.

  He took a large bite. The delicious taste of chicken, vegetables and spicy sauce seeped into his tired body.

  "Very delicious."

  "This is the most popular bento. It's always sold out. If you don't time it right, you'll never get to have it."

  Nina's lips relaxed slowly. She handed Layfon a paper cup filled with red tea.

  It was red tea with ice. The sugar level wasn't too high. The drink tasted nice.

  "Did you buy this too?"

  "No, I made it," she shook her head and put the lid on her water bottle.

  "I wasn't planning to share. Didn't know you were here, so I went to get some water just then."

  "Ah, I'm sorry."

  "No worries, and just a warning. Prepare your own drink from now on, the water here tastes horrible."

  Layfon left his mouth open, then looked at the side of Nina's face. A Nina happily eating her sandwich while her beautiful golden locks were oil-stained just didn't match each other.

  "What is it? I can't eat with you staring."

/>   "Sorry. I'm just surprised."

  "Yeah?"

  "Very surprised. Like how I can't imagine senpai's working here, and also......"

  She looked very cute, taking huge bites of her sandwich, but knowing he'd get quite a beating if he let those words out, Layfon quickly swallowed them.

  "Well, in terms of health, this is the worst environment you can imagine."

  Luckily she didn't notice him struggling with his words.

  "But it's true that the pay is good. For someone as poor as me, I'm grateful to get such high pay."

  Poor?

  "Are you that surprised?"

  "Ah, no, not really......"

  It was true that he was surprised about it.

  When he first met Nina, he felt an elegant higher-class bearing from her on top of the standing straight and centre way that passionate Military Arts people preferred.

  "Frankly, my family isn't poor."

  Nina washed down her last bite of sandwich with red tea. Looking at the Nina now, it was hard to imagine she was of the upper class.

  "Then......"

  "Didn't I say my family? My parents were against me studying here, so I ran away from home. They don't send me any allowance."

  "And for what?"

  "Why did you come here?"

  "The only scholarship qualification that I passed was this academy city's, so I'm here."

  Disappointment appeared on Nina. No, what she tried to cover underneath was the anger in her eyes.

  "And I'm an orphan, so I haven't got any money."

  After quickly adding that line, he could see the apology in her eyes.

  "...... Is that so. I'm sorry."

  "No, that's ok."

  Layfon found her funny. Although she always appeared stubborn and calm, when he talked with her at such a close distance, her expressions were like the images of a kaleidoscope. In particular, it was funny of her trying to cover her own expression and still act cool.

  "I've always wanted to go outside," Nina said softly and took another sandwich. "For us born in a Regios, the majority of people spend their entire lifetime in the same city. Because of the filth monsters outside, we're trapped like birds in a cage...... but, there are also people who travel on roaming buses in between cities. They can look at many different worlds, as opposed to many who only see one world. I'm envious of them."

  Receiving Nina's glare again for staring at her, Layfon hastily took a bite of his sandwich.

  "I couldn't become a traveler, but I still wanted to see the outside world, so I was determined to come to the Academy City. I found that a reasonable choice, but my parents were very against it."

  Nina's eyes narrowed in enjoyment. Perhaps she was recalling the scene of her defying her parents.

  "That was my first time arguing with dad to such an extreme end. I didn't know what he was thinking, but I was happy."

  "Is that why you don't get any allowance?"

  "Yeah. They found out that I took the exam behind their backs. They locked me in the room when I was about to leave. I only managed to escape and board the bus in the last minute. I sent home a letter after arriving here. I wrote what I thought was right. The return letter was extremely short. It included a return bus ticket and a piece of paper saying "Besides this, we won't give you any help.""

  "So I'm like this now," she concluded and fell silent, eating her sandwich. Layfon also focused on eating.

  Nina finished the last sandwich and poured some red tea into the paper cup.

  "I'm only good at Military Arts, so that's why I'm in this case. But you seem different."

  According to the Student President, Layfon was forced to transfer.

  "Not at all," he shook his head, lowered his head to gaze at the red tea in his cup. The coldness of the iced red tea seeped through the paper and into his palm.

  "I still haven't decided what to do, but, I want to do something."

  "Um, what about Military Arts? Frankly, I think you're strong in it."

  "Not Military Arts. I failed it already."

  "Failed? What happened?"

  Nina was the type to say what was hard to talk about. Layfon shook his head bitterly.

  Just when he was searching for words to confuse the topic......

  Gla, Gla, Gla. Footsteps of someone running in the corridor sounded, then that someone appeared, coming close to place where Layfon and Nina were resting.

  It was an older man wearing the same clothes as them. A beard adorned his chin. Machine oil filled his fingernails. Layfon guessed he must be a senpai in the Mechanical Engineering course.

  "Hey, did you see it here?"

  "See what?" Layfon said but Nina got ahead of him.

  "Here again?"

  "Again. Sorry! I'm counting on you!" the man ran away.

  "This is troublesome."

  Nina drained her red tea and stood up.

  "What happened?"

  "Come and help. We don't have to clean today."

  "What?"

  Nina smiled. "The consciousness of the city has escaped."

  Even so, he didn't understand it. He could only say "what?"

  This time, Nina laughed. "Never mind that, just come."

  Layfon followed.

  Amongst the regular noises of gears turning were erratic footsteps stamping on metallic floors, but Nina was strolling in the busy atmosphere.

  "Is this urgent?"

  "For the Mechanical Engineering students that look after this place, it's serious enough for them to have their marks taken off."

  "Oh......"

  The city's consciousness?

  She said that the city's consciousness had escaped, but what was the city's consciousness? Layfon didn't get it.

  Since it was a self-governing city, the city would move according to its own will. No one knew where a city would go, and the people living in it couldn't control it. People lived in cities that floated, lost on the barren surface of the earth. Rumour had it that in the time when humans didn't have to rely on Regios, they had maps mapping the entire world. But these maps had lost their value. No one ever read them anymore.

  For humans living in this age, what happened outside a city was a mystery. At the same time, the city that they couldn't control was also in itself a mystery.

  He wouldn't have not known what it meant by the city's consciousness.

  But what it was like to have the city's consciousness escaping was hard to fathom.

  Nina didn't hesitate when coming across any forked corridors. Layfon watched her back, confused.

  "Aren't we looking for it?"

  "There's no need."

  "Why?"

  Layfon was more confused. He caught up with Nina to look at her face, and only saw excitement on her gentle countenance. She didn't look around. She was just walking straight in the direction she knew.

  "The city's consciousness has a strong sense of curiosity," Nina said suddenly. "So it likes to run around. That serves to avoid the filth monsters, but what's more important is its bottomless curiosity to explore the world. It runs here and there...... that's how Harley puts it."

  Nina halted her steps, blocked by the railing. From here, they could look into the depth of the city's heart, layered by machineries, the air vibrating with the sound of machines at work.

  And above that was something.

  Something that pulsated with golden light.

  "And because of that, it's also curious about new things inside itself. It's curious like you, a new student."

  "Zuellni!" Nina called. The ball of light flew through the air in circles.

  "The workers are agitated," she said.

  The ball of light flew straight at Nina. Without giving Layfon the chance to shout "watch out", the ball of light was in Nina's arms.

  "Haha, aren't you full of spirit?" Nina smiled, carrying the ball of light.

  Layfon took a closer look at it and was speechless.

  The ball of light was a small child.

&
nbsp; "But you gotta work properly. If you get lazy, the workers have to run around and adjust a great deal of things."

  It was about the size of an infant, but the ratio of its limbs looked normal. Her hair was long enough to touch her toes. She gazed at Nina cheerfully with big and animated eyes.

  (This......is the city's consciousness?)

  Layfon stared at the light-emitting girl without a word.

  The girl looked past Nina's shoulder and caught his eyes.

  "Ah, he's new. Let me introduce. He's Layfon, Layfon Alseif. He's very strong. Layfon, she's Zuellni."

  Layfon's gaze flickered between Nina and the girl.

  "That is......uh, the same as the city's name......"

  "Isn't that a given? The city is this child's real form."

  Perhaps this was a given, but it was hard to associate this little girl with the huge city he was in.

  "Oh, I'm Layfon Alseif. Nice to meet you," Layfon extended his hand to shake hers.

  Zuellni had already jumped from Nina's arm to her shoulder, then onto Layfon's chest.

  Layfon held her in haste. She was weightless, but he could feel her body heat through his thick working suit.

  Zuellni held tightly to his clothes, hugging him. She was gazing up at him with pure and polished eyes, making him feel a bit embarrassed.

  "Oh, she seems to like you," Nina said, trying to suppress her laughter.

  "What?"

  "Zuellni won't let anyone she hates touch her. If I explain it in Harley's words, Zuellni is the Electronic Fairy, the consolidated form of the city's particles. Once the form loosens, the electronic particles will shoot through the other's body, just like a lightning strike."

  Hearing that explanation, Layfon wasn't sure what to say. He couldn't believe such a cute little girl would harm humans.

  "The workers are all so worked up about Zuellni missing because of that too, on top of the gears not moving properly; but I don't think this gentle girl can harm others."

  Nina patted Zuellni's head. Zuellni squinted.

  But even Layfon himself didn't know how he'd have reacted when he first knew of this. Nina's easy and relaxing manner enabled him to hug Zuellni so naturally.

  "Senpai is incredible."

  "Why so sudden?"

  "That's what I think."

  "You're weird!"

  Nina took Zuellni from him.