by Kamiya Yuu
Ahh, at this point, Marie might just admit it. His decisiveness, lack of hesitation, activity, and determination were qualities she was still lacking. For an instant, she was the one who was moved.
However, was this all to that pervert’s activity and pervert’s judgment, to be unscrupulous, risking his identity being discovered, all to do such a thing.
A leisurely date with a young girl automata?
–If there were not so many onlookers, Marie really wanted to mount on him and beat him down.
“Pap–mama…I…want that. Is that okay?”
“Wow, such a cute automata! You have fine tastes, AnchoR~♪ If you want anything, I’ll buy it!”
But that pervert completely ignored her impulse to beat him out as he continued his date with automata. To be honest, even at this point, she wanted to drag him into an alley and smash him to death.
Suddenly, Marie had an idea, and deliberately said,
“Erm…Naoto~. While you’re being really gracious, I do remember that it was RyuZU who got all that money, right?”
Upon hearing those words, Naoto blankly tilted his head.
“So what?”
“Didn’t you say that RyuZU’s your girlfriend? Is it reasonable to use the money earned by your girlfriend on another girlfriend?”
Marie’s eyes were filled with the desire for schadenfreude.
Naoto however looked at her as though she was an idiot.
“You’re stupid. RyuZU’s my wife, and AnchoR’s my daughter. What’s wrong for a parent to spend on his kid?”
“…I understand. Well, whatever you want.”
“Well, I’ll do that without you telling me.
Marie wondered–Seriously, what am I doing now?
First, this shitty situation–She really felt uncomfortable at being unable to do anything.
And furthermore, she could not bring herself to enjoy such an date with a pervert under this amicable atmosphere.
Furthermore, this incorrigible pervert–
“Yo, mama! We’re leaving you behind!”
The crossdressing pervert hollered as he waved his hand–in any case, she was completely disgusted by his entire appearance.
She grudgingly answered, and suddenly noticed the side.
The boutique shop window reflected her disguised appearance.
The faint blond hair was tied in a ponytail, and she was a thin foreign girl, dressed in a translucent camisole.
Her unique emerald eyes were covered by dark colored sunglasses, unable to be seen by anyone.
And the pervert walking in front of her–the one suddenly saying this, was a pretty girl who could be mistaken for a cover model for a teenage girl oriented magazine.
‘She’ was dressed in blue a one-piece dress, a summer coat, and a haori, the feet wearing soft boots. ‘She’ had a babyface, but it was pretty, and being a NEET, her skin was ‘pale’. With a wig and a hood with cat ears on it, there was no way to view ‘her’ as anything other as a girl…but.
This innocent girl was holding hands with a little girl more innocent than the former, probably an automata, as they walked alongside each other happily.
…Nobody would think of them as terrorists.
They merely continued forward, getting involved with the crowd, gathering the surrounding attentions on them. The stares appeared as though they were looking at something adorable.
–Argh, I just want to murder them now.♥
This foreign girl with dazzling blond hair and trendy outfit furiously gave chase, not noticing that she too was garnering some attention herself too.
The TV on the streets broadcasted the aftermath of the Akihabara Terrorist Incident.
“This boy is Naoto Miura, disguised as a student in Grid Kyoto, suspected of illegally dealing military parts and trading illegally modified Automata. Experts have stated that he is involved with the International Terrorist Organization ‘Adventurer’. The suspect studied at the Tadasu no Mori High School, but the residence information might have been fabricated, and the police and military hopes for any civilian to provide relevant information–“
Shown on the screen was a photo of Naoto before his crossdressing.
Perhaps it was a photo taken from the helicopter, for Halter’s face was taken as well.
And right opposite that street screen, at an open-air table of a certain famous hamburger chain, particular teenage criminal–Naoto was grinning away.
“Ehh–I’m in trouble, in trouble. Anyway, isn’t that kinda like the description of a manga protagonist?”
He slurped the vanilla shake, laughing as his shoulders shivered.
Seated opposite him was Marie, her mouth stuffed with apple pie as she sarcastically answered.
“Nobody will believe that anyone who organized such a grand scale terrorist activity is ‘just a high school boy’. They got to fudge it a little to make it believable at least, you know?”
“But even so, that’s too much already. Anyway, what is that ‘Adventurer’?”
“If I remember, it’s a terrorist cell prominent in Europe. The leader is an idiot who calls himself the name of Cagliostro…but in fact, it’s just a little group centered on international scams.”
“Oh.” Naoto answered with no interest, and curled his lips.
“And anyway, aren’t you supposed to be the one on TV instead? If I think about it–‘Making up an identity, attend school, be a backalley technician involved in terrorist activities’, there’s someone with such a character setting here.”
“Don’t point at me with the straw like that, you pervert!”
Marie pouted unhappily as she drank her chocolate shake.
“The man beside him is Vainney Halter, age unknown. He is a cyborg mercenary, and had a history of being involved in numerous international skirmishes, known as a professional terrorist–“
The report continued, and Marie widened her eyes.
“Eh? That one’s real though.”
“Eh? Uncle Halter is like that too? Well, I guess it’s true that he’s the bodyguard of a bomb like Marie.”
“Who’s a bomb here–but it does look like he’s famous, actually? That guy with only the head left seems to know.”
“–Also, the whereabouts of two female students who were acquainted with the suspect Naoto remains unknown, and their status is currently in the air.”
Appearing next on the screen was a blond girl, and a silver haired girl–Marie and RyuZU’s photos. Looking at how they were dressed in uniform, the photos were probably obtained from their student yearbooks.
And upon hearing that their status was ‘in the air’, Naoto gave a gaudy face.
“…The mastermind is a victim, while uncle Halter and I are now international criminals…this world is really unreasonable. Well, whatever.”
“Because our daily routines are different?”
“I don’t understand.”
Naoto frowned, and then, he asked, seemingly having thought of something.
“Anyway, you alright? Someone supposedly dead just had her photo up there, you know?”
“It’s fine. The dead ‘Marie’ definitely won’t be suspected.”
“…Why?”
Was it through the power of the Breguets? –Naoto wanted to ask, but Marie noted,
“I can guess what you’re thinking, but nope, the Breguets have abandoned me, so I can’t use that amount of power now, you know?”
She narrowed her eyes, continuing,
“I just–used my older sister’s disguise–so it’s definitely ‘impossible’ to catch me–except for my big sister.”
–Then, Marie thought.
Now that I’m exposed now, I’d rather be caught by the police or the ‘military’ here.
Marie tossed the emptied paper cup and packaging into the trash bin, and sighed.
She returned to Naoto and AnchoR who were waiting for her, and a question lingering in the corner of her mind appeared again.
–Now the
n, what will be the outcome this time..?
Amazingly—no, though it was really displeasing, as they had taken the initiative, there was no deaths amongst the civilians.
Without that announcement for a potential terrorist activity, one would have to wonder how many incidents would occur when the initial ‘main cannon’ and electromagnetic pulse caused the machines to malfunction, how many thousands of people would die.
In this sense, their actions were not completely meaningless.
That was the one thing she could proudly conclude–however…
In the end, she ended up causing more harm than help, helping the government conceal the news, and even accelerated the plans of the Shiga ‘military’.
Such a fact was really–
“Mama…I want an order.”
“–Oh, eh? What?”
Marie’s thoughts were interrupted, and she lifted her head.
For some reason, AnchoR was fidgeting uncomfortably as she looked up at Marie.
“Mama…’you’re crying’…I want you to order me to help.”
–Crying? Me?
Marie inadvertently touched her eyes and cheeks…but she was not crying.
–Perhaps, even if they were made by ‘Y’s hands, an automata was still an automata after all, no? Perhaps they could not fully comprehend a human’s emotional.
This caused Marie to instinctively feel relieved…relieved?
Before Marie could deal with her skepticism.
“…Mama, you’re crying…asking for someone to help…that’s why, I want an order.”
“–”
This time, Marie was taken aback.
And then, something unknown, akin to disgust, was unable to escape, for it could not vent out.
AnchoR was such an automata–this fact remained undeniable.
Marie could understand the feeling of doting an automata, and did think that the automata was cute.cue.
But this was a matter entirely. Her mentality as a clockwork technician–could not simply view AnchoR as a simple machine.
Automata were not humans, just like how Marie was not an automata.
In that case, would it be strange to hope for an automata to behave like an automata–no, that would be common sense.
So, this disgust was created because the hidden feelings within her were yet to be revealed.
“…Can AnchoR help?”
No. It was weird. Impossible.
Marie had never seen an automata with such a reaction.
It was strange to view this gloomy automata in front of her as a machine.
“…Erm…then, AnchoR–can you ‘destroy” that?”
–I shouldn’t think too much.
Marie heard a braking somewhere inside her heart as she raised an order the automata requested.
AnchoR again confirmed,
“…Can that help you out, mama/”
“Ye-yeah, once that thing breaks down, things will be changed.”
Right–since AnchoR was willing to help, that would be for the best.
The situation would improve if they were to destroy that massive weapon. At the very least, those people would be unable to get away with what they wanted.
And then–Marie pondered. We’re the ones who announced a terrorist act beforehand.
If they were to settle this as a simple terrorist attack and be suppressed by the government–going by this script, the situation would be a little more tenurable.
But because of this thinking, AnchoR–gave an innocent smile that caused Marie to be completely speechless.
“Then, papa will help you, mama…so don’t cry, mama, okay?”
–What is she saying?
She heard those word she could not understand, and could not help but look for Naoto–
“…Wha–hey, Nao–wh-what happened you you?”
She refrained from screaming that name as she sprinted off.
Right in front of her was a pale looking Naoto, sprawled on the ground, panting furious.
“…Ah–Marie. Don’t mind, see if you can, get some headache meds…or some anesthetic that won’t knock me out?”
Naoto was sweating profusely as Marie dashed towards him.
At this moment, Marie–finally realized it.
“Wai…t a second…what happened to your earphones?”
“–What are you saying, marie? Of course it broke in Akihabara.”
Well, of course. He did toss it aside before her, but that was not what she was saying–
“If you have time to spend money on an automata, buy something for yourself! Seriously, are you an idiot!?”
–In fact, Marie did not know what was the world Naoto heard, how it appeared to him.
But even an ordinary person like Marie could hear with her ears the abnormal sounds from the Grid below them–Akihabara.
There was no way Naoto could not hear it.
No, it might be the same in Kyoto or Akihabara. Back then, Naoto was wearing the completely soundproof headphones when they had conversations, so with his headphones removed–would this world not be too loud? Furthermore, in this situation…
However, Naoto’s face remained contorted as he curled his lips, shaking his head.
“I don’t need it now…if I buy it, I don’t have the confidence that I won’t wear it?”
“Pull yourself together! This isn’t the time for stupid talk! Do you know how sick you look now? It’s like you’ll die at any moment now!”
“Ah–don’t say that now, Marie. You’re tempting me, and that’s–really something I can’t hold myself from.”
–Tempting?
Marie felt skeptical at Naoto’s words, and then, she got her answer from his eyes.
The grey eyes, shivering in pain, were the most powerful answers.
–If he was to relax, he would think of impaling a screwdriver into his head for release–that was what those eyes were saying.
“Please…I’ll buy it as soon as I can without you saying, once I get ‘what I need’, that is. Anyway, just get me some painkillers, ‘kay?”
Marie was intimidated by those words, and inadvertently nodded, but–
“I-I know…but–what are you ‘looking for’?”
A drugstore–if I remember correctly, there should be one right around the corner.
Marie wondered as she looked around, and Naoto feebly, weakly–
But his eyes were a contrast to Marie’s–whose expression was described by AnchoR to be ‘on the verge of crying’–filled with an violent will
His reply caused Marie to widen her eyes.
“What else…find a ‘chance to win’! I wanna beat those guys who did such a thing to RyuZU–”
“…Papa, you’re ordering me to pat you?”
“Oh~ good good! Papa will be fine as long as you pat papa, AnchoR!”
Naoto ignored Marie’s protests, and devoured the painkillers–an entire box of them, playing around with AnchoR as he beamed.
Marie was a little concerned before this.
Naoto’s face was writhing all the time, only stopping whenever he interacted with AnchoR. Marie had assumed it was caused by the burn, but she had forgotten about something, and understood it.
He probably was in so much pain, he could not be bothered with his burn wound.
“…”
She lowered her head. She found herself to be laughable.
In other words, Naoto–had been doing what he said all this time.
All he did was to ‘do what he could do’.
Unlike her, who could only imagine and dither…
Naoto kept patting AnchoR on the head, lifting his head as he said to Marie,
“…Marie, just to be sure, Grid Akihabara is one of the parts that form the Multi Grid Tokyo, so we can’t destroy it all at one go, right?”
“Right. System-wise, it’s not impossible, but it’ll affect the entire capital.”
Clocktowers controlled the city functions of this grid–and a Core
Tower controlled those clocktowers.
And the place where this Core Tower was situated, was the country’s Horological Core Tower.
Commonly known as the ‘Heaven’s Pillar’.
Unlike a core tower that reached deep into the underground, it was a huge pillar reaching high into the skies, as its name implied.
“It’s easy to think of Tokyo as a clock, for example.”
If the ‘Heaven’s Pillar’, placed in the center, was assumed as a pendulum core, the surrounding Grid cities could be viewed as balancers, balance wheels, levels, regulators, and all kinds of escapements.
These grid cities sap the power of the ‘Equator Spring’ coming from the underground, and distribute it to all the grids in Japan–in other words, it was a unified ‘Main Movement’.
“If Grid Akihabara is to collapse, the capital circle may collapse completely–that’ll involve the entire Japan, and in the worst case scenario, destroy the whole of East Asia. That’s how influential it is.”
In that case–Naoto chuckled.
“But on the other hand, even if Akihabara does stop, the ‘neighboring grids’ can still influence Akihabara, right? –Ah–papa’s recovered thanks to you, AnchoR!”
“…Really? You still look like you’re hurting, papa…”
“This pain isn’t much if it’s for the sake of my wife and daughter–now then, back to where we were, okay?”
Naoto then gave an invincible looking sneer, declaring,
“We’ll just heat up Grid Akihabara or burn it all, along with that weapon.”
“–…”
Marie was speechless, unable to say anything.
The bypass used for their fake terrorist announcement was magnetized, unable to be used.
In fact, it was not as simple as what Naoto had said. While Akihabara was magnetized and unable to function, there was no way to control grid akihabara’s city functions–but–
“Even if one of the grids stop functioning, the neighboring grids will assist and maintain–right? If it’s able to maintain–it’ll also break off the maintaining function, right?”