by Kamiya Yuu
“But…what about the people? Didn’t such a thing happen a few days ago? if we have to carry out a forced purge here in such a situation, the social backlash…would be terrible, no?”
“It has been more than 8 hours since the incident happened in the middle of the night. It’s a Grid with few people living in it in the first place, and they were all evacuated.”
“Wait, Secretary! That decision is too hasty!”
A female senator, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, suddenly exclaimed.
“The is still a chance for Akihabara to be restored, right? And we have yet to be sure of who we are dealing with and their objectives.. Should we first think of negotiating with the criminal group?”
“Is this the time to think about this so leisurely? I say we should take action decisively. Maybe problems will happen in the future, but isn’t it our priority to deal with the situation now?”
“Purging Akihabara is not simply a problem for our country alone! The other countries’ reactions will also–”
“If we can hurry and deal with this current situation, we can explain our way out of this no matter what happens.”
“What are you saying now!? It’s because of such discreteness that caused the folly of previous government administrations, no? If we are being heavy-handed in this, it is inevitable that the other countries will condemn us!”
“It is your job to deal with this, right?”
“I cannot agree with that thinking at all! First, we need to peacefully settle this–”
The Chief Cabinet Secretary and foreign minister were yelling away.
And the Prime Minister, sandwiched in the middle, was looking gaudy.
That anxious face was practically saying ‘what about the next elections?’
(Did I make a mistake in coming here…?)
And Karasawa, slouched on the chair, could only mutter in his heart.
He, viewed as an outsider, could only watch their bickering as he sighed in annoyance.
–It was unbecoming of them.
The man in charge was overly incompetent, had no views, and could not make any decisions.
The man who accurately grasped the situation was more practically proactive, but his ideas were too radical.
And the woman who understood the situation was an idealist, and perhaps it was unlikely of her to come up with some actual actions.
–Nothing had changed ever since a thousand years ago.
No, perhaps it had been this way since 2000 years ago. This is ‘politics’.
His old refuge, the ‘Meister Guild’–a non-profit organization that worked beyond borders, was not completely spared from this.
Perhaps such a power game was part of human nature…
Karasawa calmy observed them,and narrowed his eyes.
(I wonder if Professor Marie…and Professor Conrad are fine…)
He had accurately grasped the situation of the ‘Akihabara Terrorist Incident’ that happened during the night.
Or rather, he was one of the accomplices involved in cleaning up the mess.
His previous job was as a member of the Communications branch of the ‘Meister Guild’ First Division, second team–the team led by Marie.
And it was due to Marie’s request for help that he agreed to assist immediately…
(…But this situation has deviated from what we were talking about.)
He never showed any emotion, merely grumbling in his heart.
Leaving aside the massive weapon, the collapse of Grid Akihabara was never in the plans.
In other words, their plan failed.
As for how they should deal with it, they would be contacting him at any given moment now–
Karasawa witnessed the squabbling going on, and sighed for the umpteenth time on this day.
“I wonder if I can get some overtime pay…”
The sun was hanging high up in the sky.
The dazzlingly white sunlight was warm, raining evenly all over the city.
But even though it was the day, there were some places where the sunlight could not reach them.
In a dusty, messy underground street located in a corner of Grid Ueno–though it appeared to be rather bustling at night, it was devoid of people at this time, silent, with the shutters pulled.
But even at this time and place, there was a shop that remained functional.
The crude neon gear spun lazily, showing the filthy shop decorations.
There was no door on this shop. One could hear some light-hearted music from inside, but the shop was designed such that nobody could look inside from the entrance.
The trio were standing in front of this shop.
One of them was an extremely frail boy–Naoto, and he quietly muttered the name on the display.
“Strip the Ueno…?”
Marie instinctively lowered her sights..
The old poster plastered on the wall entered her sights.
“A replication of 150%! Everything, an all-around rotation where everything can be seen–!”
And along with such an inciting line was a girl automata of a similar age to Marie, posing in overly teasing or stimulating poses that defiled her common sense of shame, and defied the common moral conscience when it came to sex.
“–!”
Marie instinctively turned her face aside.
There seemed to be something…no, one might say that everything was filthy and lewd, impure. She could be said to be completely reviled by it. She did not want to think anything about the ‘replication’ of doing 150% to it.
AnchoR was carrying RyuZU on her back, and she asked with interest,
“Papa? What is this shop…?”
“Ah, well, it’ll always be too early for you, so you shouldn’t ask~…”
Naoto merely passed it off, and he muttered to Marie beside him,
“Well…hey, is this really the address?”
“…I guess, so…yeah, it’s true.”
“But Marie.”
“Don’t say it.”
“Even if you won’t, I will. This is a shop that feels R18 no matter what, right!?”
“I don’t know!? The address leads here as far as I know!”
Marie yelled, her face blushing.
The duo hollered as they stood at the entrance of this shop, which clearly appeared to be a backalley fetish shop.
In other words, a strip club.
This was not a shop where naked women danced. The playtoy automata would wear extremely lewd clothing, do erotic dances for the onlookers, and provide lewd services–this was a club akin to a chemical reaction, where a deviation in modern society had a chemical reaction with a group of art enthusiasts with exquisite tastes.
Typically, Marie would not give a glance to it, let alone visit it–
But no matter how many times they affirmed this, this was where Conrad instructed them to head to, the rendezvous in cases of emergency.
And at this moment, someone exited from the shop, perhaps having heard of the commotion outside.
It was a graceful old man dressed in an exquisite suit.
“Professor Marie–thank goodness. Are you alright?”
Marie had completely frozen.
Standing there was Conrad, as expected. The unique monocle reflected the colorful lights from the neon gear–and it did not match him at all.
“Professor Marie, what happened!? What exactly–”
—That’s what I want to ask, Marie thought.
No, there was too many things to discuss and inform, and she felt relieved after meeting this old man. However–as this was this place, she really could not be happy at all.
Feeling extremely worn out, Marie asked,
“Erm…Professor Conrad, actually…there are materials…here, right?”
“Of course. Now then, let us head in.”
Where would the ‘of course’ come from…?
Marie did not understand, but they could not discuss anything at the door, and with pro
mpting, she went into the shop.
…However, she really had to squeeze out lots of courage just to step into the threshold.
She heard Naoto’s careful instructions to AnchoR from behind.
“AnchoR, this will be bad for your mental health, so just look down no matter what.”
“…? I understand…”
“–Hm, I see…it is more serious than I expected.”
Conrad noted sternly as he walked in front, but to be honest, Marie could not listen to anything at all.
–This space filled with ahan’ufun certainly caused all sense of tension to be gone.
The shop was basically as what Marie expected, and beyond expected.
Red light filled the shop, and it was a little dim. The areas where the automata were supposed to dance on stage were unfiltered. The BGM was intense, exotic.
The next issue was the leather sofa placed along the aisle.
That probably was the audience seat. Due to the screen, it was hard to peek inside.
–But why is there a ‘leg’ stretching out above the screen? What is the body posture like!? What is the creaking on the sofa about? What’s with the ‘I’m coming’? What miracle is that female underwear that suddenly flew above their heads!?
–Decadent. Wretched. Immoral!!
Marie was blushing furiously as she kept her eyes right in front.
But at the next moment, she spotted an automata with an amazing body showing off her amazing assets, giving an erotic wink.
Marie wordlessly looked afar.
The big sister automata gave Conrad a teasing pose, and then approached the strange acting Naoto, who was so tense he was frozen all over.
“Woah!?”
Naoto let out a squeal, for he was stroked on the butt.
AnchoR, who obediently looked down as she stood beside Naoto, asked in confusion,
“…? Papa, what’s the matter?”
“Ah, ahwawa…kids shouldn’t be looking!”
“You, too, mustn’t look! Or rather, I’m bad with this myself in the first place!”
Marie could not help but interject.
Upon hearing Marie’s reaction, Vermouth, held under her armpit, mocked,
“Hahaha, relax, Missy. Is this your first time at such a shop? I heard that you changed jobs to be a terrorist? Now there’s no need to worry about some boring laws now.”
“That isn’t the issue!”
–It’s really impossible for me to say the word ‘lewd’ in front of Professor Conrad’.
After passing through this unhealthy space, the gang entered the back room. They then head down the stairs in a single file to the basement, and at the end of it, there was a wide room.
“We’re here. Though it does appear messy.”
The room they were brought to looked a lot more decent than the one above.
There was none of the lewd things they could see or touch. The lights were white, and there was no rowdy music to be heard. Placed inside were simple beds, sofa, table, and simple living tools.
Deep inside was a thick door. It seemed there was a workshop behind it.
Having calmed down a lot more, Marie inhaled deeply.
Then, she asked a question she really wanted to ask.
“I want to be sure of the situation…Professor Conrad. But before that, may I ask something? Why this place?”
Conrad looked perplexed in the face of this question.
“It is a fine place, right? Just as you like it, don’t you?”
“Do you think I like this?”
Marie coldly retorted, and Vermouth giggled, saying,
“Right? Isn’t this a fine shop. Please allow me to visit with my lower body the next time.”
“I’ll give you a coupon later. An all-day discount is possible.”
Conrad noted amicably, and Vermouth chuckled,
“You really are understanding unlike what your appearance implies, old man. Now then, I’ll be really grateful if you give me a smoke.”
“Sorry. I stopped smoking for a few years already.”
“Now that’s a pity. Tobacco is the duty of a man, old man.”
“At my age, I’m happy with a glass of Scotch.”
“…Professor Conrad!”
Marie glared at the old gentleman with a venomous look.
Conrad raised his hands in defeat, and gently told her,
“This shop belongs to my acquaintance.”
“Professor Conrad!?”
“Yes, the boss is an old acquaintance of mine, and he does treat me to some drinks from time to time. As payment, I’m in charge of maintaining the girls, you know? That’s basically it.”
“That’s impossible. The arms of a Meister are used for this…!?”
Marie widened her eyes in shock.
Conrad was amused by this girl who was like a granddaughter to him, shrugging,
“It appeared they’re rather popular because their dancing skills have improved. Of course, he happily allowed me to use this place as a shelter.”
Also, he added mysteriously,
“I can’t say this out loud, but this is also an illegal auction place for automata.”
“–Huh?”
“In other words, this is a black market for premier automata with illegal added parts that are male-oriented. Organizations are involved, and they’ll close an eye on this, so this is the best to hide a workshop.”
“Wow, the government is corrupted…”
Naoto muttered unhappily.
Marie felt a heavy bump on her head as she cupped it, sighing,
–Yes, it was truly logical.
It really was to be expected of the Englishman Professor Conrad, who had a workshop in Grid Akihabara, to have so many relations in the far foreign country of Japan.
The workshops were inferior to an actual one, but the basic equipment were there. Though they were not hoping for military equipment, there was naturally a large number of illegal, superior parts.
But to be honest…
(While that is the case…I can’t just pass things off like this!?)
Till this point, Marie had thought of him as an outstanding gentleman, a senior worth respecting. As a technician, she learned a lot of things from this Professor Conrad–
But the rare sight of him was a pervert, one similar to Naoto…!
Having realized this reality, she felt utter despair, her footing practically beginning to collapse.
“Well…leaving aside that.”
She shook her head, and bucked up. There were more pressing issues at hand.
Marie raised a head she was holding under her armpit–Halter’s, and said,
“Anyway, please help maintain his life, okay? There’s magnetism…but if the brain inside is fine, he can probably be saved when the outer casing is swapped.
Of course, the premise was that if he was still alive, but Marie did not say it.
–As Vermouth had said, it was a miracle he was still alive, for the head was hot due to the magnetism. The life maintenance device might be wrecked before it was activated–Marie did not want to think of it this way, but his brain might have been dead. She could not guarantee at all–as to whether he was still alive.
Conrad nodded understandingly, saying,
“Hm…I suppose a brain transplant is needed. Amongst the unlicensed doctors I know of, I do know one with such an expertise. I’ll make the arrangements immediately.”
“Please. Also…”
Marie hesitated, saying,
“–Professor, are you able to get spare parts for Halter’s body? In around 2-3 hours…no, within 1-2 hours.”
“…I suppose that will be impossible now.”
“–”
“First off, it’s extremely difficult to obtain ‘military prosthetics’ at this point, and dangerous at that. To be honest, there was a plainclothes investigator who just came by, and passed by all of you. This isn’t a military market, and has something to do with the politicians.”
“…”
“It’s likely that the black market dealers in Tokyo are being investigated. Right now, it’s impossible to obtain military parts in Japan. The moment we obtain them, we’ll be eyed immediately.”
“Is that, so…?”
In that case, what could they do?
She knew very well that her hopes were slim, but her heart still sank after having this fact pointed out.
Upon seeing Marie give such a bleak look, Conrad gently comforted,
“…First, we have to hurry and put his brain on the life support. We’ll then think of the prosthetics afterwards.”
“Okay. I’ll leave this to you.”
Conrad received Halter’s head, and quickly left the room.
Marie then proceeded to pat her face.
There was no time to waste. She turned around, and said to Naoto, who was in a corner of the room.
“Naoto, bring RyuZU into the workshop. Also…use anything suitable parts to make a fan and cool it down.”
Naoto nodded, and asked in surprise,
“Ahh…but won’t water or ice cool it faster?”
“Seriously…what did you learn in school anyway? If you cool down something hot too quickly, it’ll either crack or deform–my diagnosis is that you should should do this for RyuZU, so trust me.”
Marie said, wondering,
–I just said something unreasonable, but–
AnchoR sensed Marie’s stare, and nervously lifted her head,
“? Mama?”
“Don’t call me that.”
Marie gave a brief reminder, and averted her eyes.
Halter’s anti-magnetism installation was the strongest in this world. It was designed such that for brief moments, it would be able to function within the faux-electromagnetic field created by the of the ‘Planet Governor’s electromagnetic filter.
However, the electromagnetic pulse from that weapon easily pierced through the filter.
Considering the fact that those automata could easily repel such powerful electromagnetic fields, and even remove their own magnetism–there was only one conclusion.
–‘Y’ did consider the idea of ‘an electromagnetic attack’ right from the beginning.
This cute looking thing, tilting her head skeptically while saying unreasonable things, was the proof of this. In that case, RyuZU could be repaired once she cooled down–and Marie firmly believed in that.