by Kamiya Yuu
“I see that this is just you directing your way to usurping power!”
“What nonsense are you saying! Even if you are humiliating me, there has to be a limit to that!!”
“So then, please answer my question–!”
…The meeting was in complete chaos, beyond any hope of salvaging.
Before anyone realized it, even the Prime Minister, who was to be taken away, was amongst them, and the whole group was kicking up a fuss. No matter how they insisted, it was a rehash of their own views.
(There’s no doubt about it now. Someone’s definitely pulling the strings from behind…!)
Karasawa groaned at a place slightly away from the buzzing meeting room.
This entire incident was pulled off way too flawlessly.
This coup d’etat, the Prime Minister’s arbitrary actions, the reveal and chaos, they were all too perfect.
It was no longer just a question of the Cabinet collapsing anymore. The factions in the country would break apart, including the ‘military’, and it was a matter of time until there was internal conflict.
(Is that the correspondence of the old Shiga ‘military’ Professor Marie mentioned…? No–)
Amongst this entire sequence of incidents, the Akihabara terrorist incident was probably the only thing not in the mastermind’s plans.
Karasawa too heard of this unprecedented, skeptical miracle from Marie.
But at this point, even that miracle was used ‘as one of the scenarios’.
(This monster’s able to capitalize on the ‘magic’ Professor Marie and the others used–)
Was that really the old Shiga ‘military’?
…Something seemed to be amiss.
Karasawa had a look at the chaotic meeting for a while–and then, he begrudging affirmed something.
–Looks like I’m the only one able to think normally now.
Was it due to them losing their composure due to the dire situation? Or was it their real selves as representatives elected by the people.
As a citizen, Karasawa hoped that it was the form, and he decided,
It appeared he had to do his own investigations…though it was really perilous.
(Guess I got no choice as an advisor–no, this obviously isn’t part of my job.)
Karasawa shook his head, grimacing.
At the same time, his sharp eyes noticed someone.
There was a suspicious man who was far from the crowd like Karasawa was, about to slip from the meeting.
(Alright, time to show me your true colors…!)
Karasawa curled his lips into a little smirk, and with bated breath, tailed the man…
Even as the sun sun, Tokyo remained awake.
The underground streets remained empty in the door, and filled with energising human voices and neon gear lights.
Naoto and AnchoR edged through the crowd, returning to base.
Vermouth, still hanging on the hanger, greeted them cheerily,
“Yo brat–eh, now that’s strange? What’s with that cute getup of yours? How’s it like below your skirt now? Show me. I’m worried you might get ogled by a few old man with ill intentions.”
“Like you, uncle?”
“I’m not willing, but I’m an older sister now–how about it, brat?”
Vermouth cackled, and tilted his head skeptically.
Ever since Naoto entered the room, he had been eyeing the work desk in the workshop.
Looking over, he saw the back of Marie, repairing RyuZU, who was heavily damaged.
“…How long has it been since Marie started work?”
It had been 7 hours since Naoto and AnchoR broke away from Marie.
And during this time, Naoto and AnchoR went through Grid Ueno, and then Grid Sakuradamon–but there was no way RyuZU could have been cooled down by the time Marie returned.
“Yeah.” Vermouth nodded, and answered with a wry smile.
“I know what you’re thinking–4 hours. She’s been like that for the past 4 hours.”
“–…”
“Of course, she wasn’t slacking before then. She first cut off the spare parts to prepare first, and waited until the body cooled–so she’s been like that.”
While Naoto and Vermouth had their conversation, Marie never turned her head around.
It was likely–no, surely, she did not realize that Naoto and AnchoR had returned.
“It’s ridiculous, isn’t it? Is this the ability of a human of flesh and blood?”
–Ridiculous, yes, it was.
That was something Naoto once heard–the enigmatic scene he saw in the Core Tower of tower.
What could be considered a miraculous art, the apex of all arts in the world.
–The air seemed to be ruffling.
The rules of the world appeared to be contorted, centered on the petite blond girl.
The screws, cylinders, wires, springs, gears–all the clockwork parts–
Were dancing at godspeed as though gravity was thrown out of the window, returning back with the precision of a time rewinding.
The tuned materials, honed nerves, adjusted unit.
All of it was–so beautiful. Naoto could have cried accidentally given how beautiful it was.
The girl’s breathing, blood flow, and even the friction of her bones and muscles formed a god-like symphony in unison.
Is this really a living human–Naoto was skeptical.
This is a human music box capable to creating with supreme skills, right?–
While Naoto was faced with this otherworldly work that made him wonder, AnchoR suddenly asked,
“Papa–is this…a ‘genius’?”
“–Ah, yeah, that’s right…damn it.”
Naoto nodded as he answered AnchoR’s question, gritting his teeth regrettably.
He merely felt moved back then, found it so pretty he was envious.
The techniques, describable as violent–were ‘talents’ that could practically change the world.
However, he was not simply mesmerized; he was envious, and yearning.
It would not have mattered if it was another Automata or the Core Tower. But…
That person, the one repairing RyuZU, why, isn’t it me–
The melody was suddenly distorted.
“–phwah! I’m out of sugar! Chocolate, chocolate–ah, found it…phew…uu…? Oh, Naoto. You’re back?”
Marie thought of breathing normally, rolled on the floor, and laid down.
She took out a bar of chocolate, and began to chew on it, lifting her head once she sensed Naoto’s presence.
And Naoto, who did not seem to be in the best of conditions, nodded lightly.
“Yeah…I’m back–”
“…Mama, I’m back.”
“Yup, welcome back–did you find ‘what you want’?”
?”
Marie asked, having realized that Naoto’s black hair had some headphones on.
Naoto nodded, and then, looked a little skeptical, asking,
“Yeah…anyway, can I ask something first, Marie?”
“What? Ah, I can hear you out as I work, you know?”
“Yeah. Please do that.”
Marie nodded, and returned to the desk. She was not as focused as she was before–but she was repairing at a superhuman rate, asking,
“So, your question is?”
“…Marie, how are you fixing RyuZU? The spare parts RyuZU can use can’t be bought on the market, right?”
Marie did not stop in any manner as she answered Naoto’s question,
“I can handle everything except for that illogical ‘Imaginary Gear’. You know, RyuZU was kept under the custody of my old family–the Breguets. I wanted to get her to move before, so I removed and reassembled her so many times–even without a blueprint, I do remember the positions of the nanogears.”
Naoto remained silent, and Marie turned her eyes to the surrounding floor.
If one was to follow her stare, he would find dissected automata corpses lying everywhere.
“Luckily there’s a whole lot of them–these high quality automata that were used for shitty means…let’s see, how many did I break up?”
Marie answered, and Vermouth answered,
“27 of them.”
“Ah, yeah. I broke up 27 units to get their parts, and at the very least, I got all the necessary parts needed.”
“Missy, be a little discreet. That old man called Conrad is now a crying wreck, and he’s giving that end of the world look, you know?”
“I don’t care what that evil being is thinking.”
Marie muttered with a serious face, and seemed to have thought of something as she turned to Naoto.
She pointed the screwdriver bit at Naoto, saying,
“I’ll be blunt–I don’t have those convenient ears of yours. All I can do is basically some emergency repairs using the equipment here. You’ll have to do the final adjustments here.”
Though it sounded like a dig, Naoto gently nodded, and turned her eyes aside.
Marie was a little skeptical at the response, and continued working..
“Ah, what about uncle Halter?”
“–I can’t get his prosthetics, so he’ll have to wait.”
That’s a lie. Marie muttered.
No, it was a fact that she could not obtain prosthetics, but she did try connecting him to a voice installation.
–However, there was no response.
She was not certain of his status. In fact, even if the proper procedure was carried out, a head transplant bore a great risk, and furthermore, in that situation, it was not strange for there to be internal dama–
Marie shook her head, changing the topic.
“What about you? Can’t you help out now? I want 3 self-regulated resonance movements.
“–Sorry, I don’t know how to do that.”
“Then the circuit’s fine too. Help me–”
“I can’t do that either. I don’t understand what you’re doing now, Marie.”
Saying that, Naoto went to a corner of the room to sit.
And Marie impatiently lashed out at Naoto.
“Seriously…you should have studied how to form circuits in Middle School at least, right? Why don’t you understand that? Don’t you find it a waste to throw all that school fee into the gutter?”
And with Marie saying that, Naoto raised his tone unhappily,
“Hey, Marie, I don’t understand what you’re saying at all! Don’t underestimate a mechanical nerd! I read the textbooks until they’re all torn, and I don’t know how much of my money did I use to buy guide books–so many that I can’t remember!!”
“The problem is that you, don’t, remember–! Stop sounding so proud there!”
Marie invariably growled tersely, and clicked her tongue.
“Seriously! You have such convenient ears, so why don’t you know…”
If I have that kind of a supernatural sense–Marie wondered about this so many times.
If it was her, she would use that talent to the fullest, not wasting a single second.
But while Marie gave that begrudging glare, Naoto retorted,
“Why exactly? I find it strange too. No matter how many textbooks or guidebooks I buy to read–I can’t understand them!”
“I’ll slap you if you brag about that so proudly! Ahh, I really mourn over that precious paper resource…”
Marie sighed, suffering a migraine, probably due to her blood gush.
She chomped on a piece of chocolate, and then–she suddenly had a doubt.
…Why not?
She was not faulting him. It was a simple question.
Anyone else aside, there was no way this guy didn’t work hard for it–
This idiot was such a fanatic of machines–so much that he really fell in love with a robot girl, and proposed to her.
It was understandable if it was just an ordinary topic. This guy was thoroughly uninterested in anything that did not interest him.
But machines–the subject of technical proficiency, he probably did attend class seriously.
Did he give up because he did not understand?
–How is that possible? I can’t imagine this guy ‘giving up’. Even him saying the words ‘I don’t know’ is strange in itself.
Marie was confident that she had such an understanding of the boy.
In that case, though he had such determination and grit, and such talent, why did he not understand–?
His learning capability was not bad in any sense. His limbs were not clumsy.
To be honest, even if he did have a thorough grasp of the internal construct, was he able to repair RyuZU with that alone–?
And while harboring such a doubt, Marie muttered,
“–Didn’t you repair RyuZU? How did you do it back then?”
“Search.”
Naoto curtly replied, and Marie blankly repeated that answer.
“…You searched your way through?”
“I don’t understand the theory and the textbook, so I tried everything from here and there, until the sound was nice.
–How preposterous.
Does this guy know how complex of an automata RyuZU is?
–He probably knew. Given his talent, he understands it better than me.
–I can’t think of anything. There has to be some really big misunderstanding this guy has…no.
In an instant, Marie felt some indescribable notion, something akin to a chill, scaling through her head.
–Maybe it’s you, who think you know, that has something really–
“–…”
Marie stopped thinking. She felt that she could not think any further.
“…I really don’t understand this idiot at all.”
Marie spat those words to cut off her thoughts, and changed the topic.
“Are you done with your questions? What about that thing ‘you want to find’?”
Ahh, Naoto shook his head, saying,
“Marie, that really gigantic thing–is called the ‘Heaven’s Pillar’, right? That doesn’t belong to the military, right?”
“…? Yep. That’s for the Imperial Household Agency to handle.”
“Imperial Household Agency? That means…oh, I see.”
Naoto seemed to understand something as he nodded.
–And upon hearing those words, Vermouth seemed to realize something as he smirked, adding on,
“This country, japan, has an old tradition etched deeply into it, long before this planet was modified into the Clockwork Planet. Nobody can do anything to them. Brat, as a Japanese, I guess you understand now, right? That realm that neither politics nor culture can encroach on–the center of the City Grid, the Core Tower, is the place most suited for the ‘country’s foundation’ to be built on.”
Naoto narrowed his eyes, muttering,
“That doesn’t sound like it.”
“Of course! That thing is just how it looks on the surface!”
Vermouth guffawed, and Marie skeptically asked,
“…What do you mean?”
Marie again sensed a rational only she could not understand–and then, she was suddenly panting,
“–Naoto, what are you thinking of now?”
Her voice was quivering slightly as she asked.
However, the boy receiving the question merely remained nonchalant, so direct.
His grey eyes were giving off the glint against countless enemies, his lips showing a sneer of a child plotting a prank.
And then, his words, faced with Marie’s skepticism as to whether she misheard, Vermouth’s laughter, and AnchoR’s confusion–
He revealed what ‘he wanted to find’.
“Marie, let’s sum this up. We’re going to occupy the ‘Heaven’s Pillar’–the ‘Palace’.”
“–So that’s how it is. What do you think?”
He spent half a day thinking of ‘something he wanted to find’–a chance of winning.
Naoto described his means that were not eve
n a ‘plan’ as he asked that.
“Ha–hahahaha! Hey brat–little Naoto! I was right about you! You’re really interesting! You can become an outstanding scumbug–no, wait, I think you are!”
“Papa…you’re amazing–!”
Vermouth was rolling over in laughter, and AnchoR’s eyes were glittering.
Only Marie was panting, looking stunned.
“–You’re… mad. Do you know what you just said, everything?”
“I know, very well in fact–Marie, think about it.”
Naoto raised a finger.
“Who were the ones who announced their move first, them or us?”
–Us. We declared that we’ll freeze Akihabara.
“So who are the ones who were assumed to be the culprit behind all this? Them, or us?”
–Us. That’s what the news reported.
Marie felt a chill, and gasped.
“Those guys labelled us as such, so let’s put on a show as they wish! The savage Naoto Miura who is suspected to be linked to some international terrorist group, and his happy friends are–”
Naoto gave a contorted sneer unbefitting of his baby face, saying,
“‘We did it all’–if we do this now, what happens?”
It was a brief, simple, obvious ‘malice’.
Anyone could push the blame–and a convenient ‘mastermind’ was completed.
“Those guys want to continue acting, so let’s dance along with it, make it as eye-catching, so much that a massive weapon pales in comparison! Coup d’etat? Conspiracy? Those don’t exist, and nobody needs to bear responsibility. This entire incident is just some evil passing terrorists coming in to create chaos♥”
Just one move–just as those people held the government at checkmate with one move, so were those people ‘checkmated’.
Upon seeing Naoto’s chuckle, Marie gulped.
–In theory, it can work.
However, with that method, the significance of that, this guy is…
“We can just dump those guys into the pot. The pot is Akihabara, and the flint is the ‘Heaven’s Pillar’.
He said those words on the basis of understanding that.
From his eyes, Marie could clearly see his rational mind–and madness, and she finally understood.