Clockwork Planet - Volume 03

by Kamiya Yuu

  –In other words, this boy was planning to fulfill what he declared.

  –All he thought of was to throw that gang of people into the fire.

  Having realized this, Marie asked, seemingly half dazed,

  “…So you found something?”

  “Not yet. I found a few bypasses, but it doesn’t look like Grid Ueno itself can provide much influence. It’s probably like you said, Marie, that the Multiple Grid is a string with numerous control functions linked together, helping each other..but–”

  He stated adamantly,

  “As long as I get…something definite–!”

  He was giving a violent, twisted smile, due to his pain and anger, saying,

  “I won’t put on these headphones, until I beat those shitheads up until their snot comes up.”

  And then, he showed a change in attitude.

  He gave a leisurely smile, a stark difference from before, let AnchoR piggyback on him, and stood up.

  “And it’s important to look for what AnchoR wants! Got to make up for 1,000 years of absence, so how can I keep AnchoR waiting! Come on, AnchoR, where are we going to next! See some clothes? But your clothes now are cute too! Papa’s happy!”

  But AnchoR, resting on Naoto’s back, whispered to Naoto, saying,

  “But…papa, mama asked me if I can destroy that…”

  Upon hearing that, Naoto immediately gave Marie a displeased look,

  “Marie! You said such things!?”

  “Y-yeah…it’ll be easier to destroy–”

  That would be much faster than heating up the surrounding grids–

  Right when Marie was about to continue on, Naoto cut her off,

  “I object! I absolutely object! What are you treating AnchoR as, you landmine of a girl!?”

  –What else? Marie wondered.

  Her spirit as a technician insisted that AnchoR was an automata, an embodiment of violence that was unreasonable and irrational, a ‘weapon’ that should be used at such moments–

  But before Marie could say this, Naoto continued,

  “…Eh, assuming that AnchoR’s in perfect state, that trash down there that’s not even a B grade art form can be chopped up and left for the trash collectors to handle–maybe. AnchoR’s strong–but–”

  “…Erm…sorry…”

  “You don’t have to apologize, AnchoR! You don’t have to hear anything stupid from this landmine of a girl.”

  “Tha–”

  Marie refuted without a second thought, and Naoto narrowed his eyes at her.

  “I did say that AnchoR needs to recharge, right? For example, if AnchoR now is to switch to her output rate when she fought RyuZU, that’ll be 12, you know? A few seconds will–ah, but we’re talking about AnchoR’s perspective, you know? Anyway, she’ll end up at 1 in a few seconds–her current activation mode. Even for AnchoR, do you think she’ll be able to destroy that ginormous trash in such a short time?”

  “…This…”

  “AnchoR needs to recover until she can operate at maximum output for a while, gain some kinetic power from the ‘Perpetual Gear’ and store them, so let’s see…”

  Naoto stopped, and pricked his ears.

  “–About 160 hours, and by that, the enemy would have regained power…better forget about your selfish wish to rely on AnchoR–and! More importantly!”

  Naoto gave a condescending look, saying,

  “You let a young kid handle everything, and celebrate the ending–isn’t that too idealistic? Do you have any dignity at all? To be honest, I’m ashamed of you.”

  “–!”

  Gak–Marie felt the blood in her boiling, and she trembled,

  Humiliation, shame; neither of these words were enough to describe the feeling scorching her head.

  However, AnchoR indicated hesitantly,

  “…But papa…the ‘other method’–”

  “Nope, that’s no different from nothing here. I refuse, absolutely, no way, I won’t allow this!!”

  “…Uu, erm…”

  With Naoto’s thorough objection, all AnchoR could do was to remain silent.

  –What are those two saying?

  Marie again felt distant, and got annoyed. This logic she did not know, this correct answer that was decided without her knowing–because of these factors, she felt an indescribable displeasure.

  “…Sorry.”

  From Naoto’s head, AnchoR lowered her head to Marie.

  Marie felt the shock from those words in her heart, and Naoto noted bluntly,

  “Woah, Marie…you managed to disappoint a girl who has been disappointed for 1000 years. I see that you’re finally reached the state of a sadist now, aren’t you?”

  “I-I’m not–I don’t have that intention–”

  “…Sorry, mama.”

  “I told you not to call me that–ahh, I wasn’t talking about that! Okay! I get it! It’s my fault, sorry! Don’t show that face now–!”

  –Marie no longer knew what she was saying.

  She lamented, but could not come up with any ideas.

  And surely, how naive a thinking it was to so selfishly entrust everything for a little child to settle.

  During this time, despite sweating so profusely–Naoto was gathering all the information he could hear with his ears, trying his best to break this deadlock.

  On a closer though–ever since that electromagnetic pulse, this boy never stopped for a single moment.

  So, Marie Bell Breguet,

  What do you plan to do?

  “—”

  Marie gritted her teeth, almost gnashing it.

  She was always like this, it was habitual. She really–hated herself.

  How many times, hours, days, years do I have to spend hesitating before I learn…!

  “–Naoto.”

  “Yes yes, wassup?”

  “Sorry, I’ll be heading back first. Can I leave this guy to you, AnchoR?”

  “…If it’s mama’s orders–”

  “It’s not an order. It’s a ‘request’. This guy–I’ll leave Naoto to you. If the police or the ‘military’ finds you, shake them off with all your might and return to base.”

  Marie did not realize.

  At this moment, this instance, for the first time–she spoke to AnchoR, treating her as an ‘ally’, and not as an ‘automata’–AnchoR was the only one to realize.

  “…Yes, a request? It’s more absolutely than an order.

  AnchoR gave a blooming smile, and Marie nodded back.

  Naoto did not ask where she was going.

  And Marie did not inform Naoto of what she wanted to do.

  Halter and Vermouth’s heads ceased functions due to the electromagnetic pulse, and at this point, they were finally running.

  That was simply it.

  All she could do was to go on without hesitation, to do ‘what she could do’–‘what she had to do’.

  Marie turned her back and could not be seen, and only then did AnchoR say,

  “Mama’s not crying anymore…you’re amazing, papa.”

  “…That girl’s really amazing, AnchoR.”

  Naoto showed a vague smile, stating cryptically.

  “She’s a genius.”

  “…Genius?”

  “Yep, it means a really~amazing~ person.”

  “…More amazing, than amazing?”

  Upon seeing AnchoR cuddle the doll and widen her eyes, Naoto strode off, looking satiated.

  “Right! Don’t say that I said it!”

  His strides were faster, and soon, he was jogging.

  “She’ll start brooding over ridiculous stuff–but she’ll show off her genius when it’s time for them. She’s different from someone like me.”

  Naoto felt that geniuses have their own troubles.

  But in any case, seeing someone amazing like her so frustrated over something unimportant, to put it politely, was still infuriating.

  In any case, those that were so stupidly smart were really like idiots, n
o?

  “Well, looks like she’s recovered, so let’s do what we can do! Okay, we’re going somewhere a little far now. Let’s run!”

  “..Ok.”

  AnchoR, piggybacking on Naoto’s back, started to think,

  –Papa’s amazing, and he says that mama’s more amazing than amazing.

  With these two, and sister around, everyone won’t die, everyone will be saved, and will smile.

  Such a hope she was not permitted to have over these thousand years caused her to smile,

  –……

  “…Papa, I want an order.”

  “Uh, erm…let’s think, ah…yeah, there’s a little, sp-sports shop there…”

  Saying that–

  “D-do you mind…buying some water, and an oxygen canister?”

  Naoto, devoid of any dignity as a father–

  Collapsed onto the floor due to weakness, and could only watch AnchoR run off…

  “–I’m sorry, Prime Minister…but what did you just say?”

  The Defense Minister represented everyone else as he asked with a trembling voice.

  The meaningless, ineffectual Diet Meeting lasted from the previous night till this point.

  And having gathered up and dismissed the meetings over and over again, during this fifth meeting–the declaration from the Prime Minister–representative of the ruling party, caused every single member present to show shock and fear that could not be hidden.

  However, in the face of such reactions, the Prime Minister looked displeased as he shook his head, saying,

  “It is as I have said. I have dialled the ISS hotline to explain our situation, and then–”

  He took a deep breath, stating firmly,

  “I made an emergency request to use the ‘Tall Wand’ on Grid Akihabara.”

  There was nary a commotion in the Diet.

  All those present were unable to say anything, as silence engulfed the scene.

  And right behind the Prime Minister who proudly lifted his head, the Chief Cabinet Secretary seemed to have swallowed a bitter pill as he tersely explained everyone else.

  “The information censor is going to be at its limit, and it is only a matter of time until every country knows. Once they do, they will soon propose that we use the ‘Tall Wand’, but no matter which country proposed it, it’ll bring about dispute from the East Asian countries, and there’s a chance it’ll trigger a war.”

  …They knew at.

  Or at the very least, everyone except for the Prime Minister–everyone else probably realized this grim fact, regardless of their principles and philosophies.

  It was the Committee’s objective to think of what to do, and at the same time, the reason why they had differing opinions and no conclusions to their debates, no–?

  While everyone else remained speechless, “However”, the Chief Cabinet Secretary continued,

  “If our country is to report this scandal and ask for assistance, the situation will differ. We have disclosed all our objectives clearly, to destroy the entire grid along with it. Right now, the ‘military’ stationed in the neighboring countries and the ‘Meister Guild’ are rushing here as fast as possible. In order to minimize the damage caused by the destruction of Grid Akihabara, and also avoid a war with the neighboring countries, this is the best decision–the Prime Minister’s decision”

  The Chief Cabinet Secretary concluded.

  And that implied tone of terror added at the end seemed to indicate his true thoughts on this matter.

  Having heard the explanation of the Chief Cabinet Secretary, all those present had the same thought.

  That probably was a miraculous instance of all attendees having a common agreement.

  And that was–‘what the hell are you talking about’.

  If that was a joke, it was a bad one–but if that was not a joke, that would be worse.

  The Defense Minister was the first to recover from the chaos, and growled in rapid fire fashion,

  “–Prime Minister! Are you still sane? I have countless objections to it, but–it’s tame to call your arbitrary actions as overstepping your authority!”

  But the Prime Minister–

  “–This is a dire situation.”

  Nonchalantly commented in the face of such lashings.

  And then, he continued on confidently to the crowd that remained speechless,

  “As the Prime Minister, I declare this country to be in a state of emergency! Everyone, the country is now is a crisis of survival. We have no time to wait for the ‘Yatsukahagi’ to start moving again!”

  (He’s pulling off this move now…! That damned bastard…!)

  And while the room was filled with growls and buzz, Karasawa was in a corner of the room, shivering due to a chill up his spine.

  –We have one hell of a stupid bastard here.

  He was not referring to the Prime Minister; the latter was merely a fool not worth mentioning.

  Karasawa was confident that there was one huge stupid bastard manipulating that imbecile from behind the scenes.

  It would be fine if the imbecile was dolled up to look smart, but that bastard hypnotized the imbecile into thinking he was smart.

  Basically, that was it,

  –Even if he is to watch the situation unfold, you might be forced to gorge yourself in the end. In that case, you are to declare to the people and the other countries ‘I’m an honest Prime Minister’, and once the crisis is over, you’ll push all the blame to the rulers of the prior era who ruled for a long time, and you can escape responsibility–

  That bastard probably conceived such a lie to fool the imbecile.

  And to be honest, did they really think the ‘Tall Wand’ was something to be used that easily? That it could be deployed like a pizza delivery ‘understood, we’ll deliver it to you in 30 minutes’?

  –That was a weapon of mass destruction, the strongest anti-Earth weapon based on the theories of the old era.

  It was a metallic rod dropping down from the observation platform of satellite orbit, and had a simple design.

  There was no record of any actual use–but it was said the destructive power could easily crush a city.

  There was a need to go through the ISS voting to use it, and at the minimum, three quarters of the members had to agree.

  However, there were 7 current member countries–and it would be difficult to execute.

  One would be skeptical as to whether that imbecile even knew what kind of weapon the ‘Tall Wand’ was, and it was impossible to have a miraculous diplomacy to allow the firing in such a short time.

  In that case–right,

  (This was a script planned long ago…!)

  “–Yes! This is a state of emergency…! Prime Minister, the country will be destroyed if authority is left to an incompetent fool like you!”

  The Defense Minister’s veins were throbbing as he roared.

  And the Prime Minister, so humiliated by that, invariably yelled back with furor,

  “Know your place, young Tokita! Who do you think I–”

  “Quiet! I’ve no intention to talk things out with a traitor. As the Defense Minister, I’m stripping you of all ruling power in this time of domestic crisis!”

  The Defense Minister hollered with burning rage, and declared,

  “From now on, us ‘military’ will seize temporary control! At the same time, we shall sue you for inciting internal conflict and colluding with outside parties!”

  “Wh-what are you saying–!”

  The Prime Minister–now the ex, yelled in shock.

  And instead, the Defense Minister laid out a thick stack of papers, bellowing,

  ‘You! You knew that weapon existed, and yet you remained silent! You wanted to use that weapon to consolidate your political base, and the proof is here! You saw that the plan failed, and immediately contacted the other countries to avoid authority, your intent causing great harm to our country! This is a traitorous act!”

  “Wh-What nonsense a
re you spouting! What are you insinuating now?”

  “Behold! I have obtained proof–show it to him!”

  The moment the Defense Minister shouted this, the large screen on the wall began to broadcast a visual.

  –The image shown was in a certain dark room.

  And in the middle of it, an old man wearing an old military uniform was seated there.

  That old man, whose expression could not be seen, calmly noted,

  “My apologies, Mr Prime Minister–but I do say that you are underestimating us, using us as your stalking horse. Since you have degraded us as revolutionists, we shall use your blood as the price. We will repel your government with hatred and malice.”

  This brief visual ended, and the meeting room was filled with hatred and vengeful noises.

  Amongst them, the Defense Minister gleefully noted,

  “–Ex Prime Minister, this is what Security has found in your terminal, ‘A Crime Announcement’. You think of yourself as an honest Prime Minister even after hiding such a thing? How ridiculous!”

  “No–this has nothing to do with me! I don’t know!”

  “Shut up! If you want to argue, we’ll let you explain in the investigation room–take him away!”

  Two military officers appeared behind the Defense Minister, and flanked the ex-Prime Minister, grabbing him, and whisking him away from the meeting.

  But in the meantime, an official blocked their way.

  “Pardon me, Defense Minister! I do want to ask you about something! It is about the fact that the ‘military’ had received orders to prepare for battle 2 weeks back! Apparently, there was a blind spot in the capital defense assignments, and I suppose that is the cause for the announcement to Akihabara terrorist incident, you know? No, is there anyone else other than the Tokyo ‘military’ technicians who has the expertise and knowledge to activate such an announcement?”

  “Wh-what are you implying now?”