Clockwork Planet - Volume 03

by Kamiya Yuu

  The boy slowly got up, shaking his head, saying,

  “…I heard your conversation. It’s a waste of time to continue talking. Let’s ignore this guy for now and find a way to get back up.”

  At this moment, Gennai spoke up harshly.

  “It is impossible. The elevator will not be powered on electricity unless on my orders.”

  “Powered on electricity? What’s that…well, just give the order. We got no time to waste here.”

  ‘I’m not done here–!”

  Gennai’s tone harshened, and the boy scowled.

  Then, he said impatiently,

  “Seriously, old man, I’m pissed off because of what happened with AnchoR, and I’m now busy! If you don’t hurry up and activate the elevator, I’ll–”

  “–You’ll kill me?”

  Gennai retorted defiantly.

  This was the last fight the old man would say to the arrogant youngster, a protest of the question he risked his life on being dismissed as something an old man would do to spend the time.

  However, the boy merely looked flabbergasted.

  “–Huh? Have you lost it, old man? Will the elevator move if I kill you? If you don’t activate it, I’ll”

  The boy’s eyes showed no doubt as he said convincingly,

  “‘Climb up using my own strength’. That’s what an elevator means, right? If there’s a cable leading up there, I’ll be able to climb up there.”

  The boy was able to pinpoint the location of the elevator–and even reveal the structure acurately. Gennai was silent.

  At the same time, he recalled that the boy was the owner of this Initial-Y series unit.

  ‘Y’s inheritance; the latest myth, God’s own automata.

  Gennai knew that they existed, and saw the activation of unit 04.

  However, the one in front of him was not any other unit, but the ‘1st unit’–YD 01 ‘RyuZU’.

  Nobody in the past had managed to break through that unit’s master identification, and having recalled that, Gennai realized,

  “–Boy.”

  ‘I asked the wrong person’–he faced the boy again.

  He said,

  “I shall ask you a question. Depending on your answer, I may activate the elevator.”

  The boy wordlessly turned around.

  Gennai stared at those light grey eyes, asking,

  “–Do you have no doubts about this world, this world of endless despair that humanity had, and will continue to challenge?”

  On this unknown planet, in this vague, illogical planet.

  Do you not have any doubts–this was the question.

  And then, Gennai was forced to face this reality he did not want to know.

  It was something beyond his imagination, merciless, illogical, simple, and foolish–answer.

  His heart was so devoid of hope he thought he had none, yet he felt despair for the 3rd time.

  That boy was undoubtedly just a normal human, or so he appeared to be, saying human speech, acting like a human.

  And then, he dared to act so nonchalant, as though ‘he had completely understood Gennai’s despair’, directing his response not at anyone else, but at Gennai.

  “–It’s your choice to say that you’re a failure and grumble about it, but…”

  The grey eyes were filled with condescendence as the boy said,

  “You’re being too cocky, old man. Who do you think you are, being a ‘representative’ of humanity’?”

  “–”

  “Don’t lump me along with you.”

  –Unlike you who have given up, we didn’t despair’.

  Right–the boy described ‘what is a human’.

  Gennai remained speechless, and he sat down.

  He exerted his weight on the chair, rocking it–and he exhaled deeply, nodding,

  “…Fine. I shall contact them and activate the elevator.”

  Gennai said, and the boy’s expression immediately changed.

  “Oh? Why old~man~! You’re really reasonable! Right, RyuZU, let’s go!”

  “Please wait, Master Naoto. You will faint due to lack of oxygen if you run.”

  The boy and automata dashed out of his home in a rush.

  With a grim look, Gennai watched that back, pondering alone,

  How laughable–that person, that boy clearly, blatantly, in an enlightened manner, saw the ‘center of the illusion’ shrouding humans with his eyes, and boldly said ‘why can’t you see this’.

  –I see, he may have the form of a human.

  –Many have said that God created Man out of his own image.

  However, that genius who appeared human–no, an abnormality, radical, superhuman, God or demon–was nonchalantly saying that.

  Despite not being human, he boldly described what was a human without a doubt.

  Gennai chuckled ominously.

  The target of his hatred, almost on mania, appeared in front of him.

  The arrogant, foolish God fooled humanity. In that case–

  “–We shall meet again, boy. No…”

  ‘Y’ (That monster)–impersonating a human.

  –…

  A sharp beep rang.

  The monitor on the wall changed, flickering.

  Gennai pulled back his consciousness from the past, saying to the communications officer.

  “–What is the matter, report.”

  “Ah…y-yes. Recharge at 82%….”

  “Good work.”

  Gennai nodded, and stood up.

  He slowly looked around the command room, at the faces of his subordinates who were serving him.

  They were his old subordinates, who were with him since the research in Grid Shiga; or the sons of his allies who raised them in Mie.

  Gennai, without a kin or home, viewed these people as his ‘family

  –Well, whatever Gennai thought.

  Since the planet we are standing on is unstable to begin with…

  Everything…is merely some ordinary, fleeting illusion.

  –If you are really God, you may kill me off.

  But if ‘Y’ is merely a person lying, bluffing humanity.

  I want you to know the limits of us ordinary people–the definite limits of humanity.

  I want you to know your sins, for you denied absolutes, rebuilt the world, and stagnated humanity for a thousand years.

  And then, you shall see everything, and die in your despair.

  With such fury and hatred, Gennai declared,

  “Good work, everyone. Now then–I shall ‘give instructions’.

  And then, a high pressure electric current that could easily turn human bodies into ash ran amok in the command room.

  Naoto suddenly got up like a spring.

  His eyes were widened to their limits, sweating profusely.

  “Master Naoto…?”

  “Wait, Naoto, what’s with you?”

  Both RyuZU and Marie stared at Naoto skeptically. AnchoR, resting on his belly, too looked up in shock.

  But this was not the moment to be bothered with it.

  Naoto heared something dangerous.

  His eardrums, his instincts, no, all his senses captured the greatest siren alert.

  It was not merely the matter of a life threatening moment, but something more terrifying than that. It was something he never heard before–no, correction, he did hear before!

  “Wait…you got to be kidding–!?”

  How can I forget? His rage was boiling.

  I get to hear this ugly, indecent, unpleasant sound again.

  “What’s wrong now, Naoto? After a little while, the Bypass will–”

  “Marie!!!”

  Naoto shrieked, his teeth gnashing.

  “Get everyone out to the South right now! To where the clouds are! Hurry!”

  Perhaps she saw something from that face–

  “–Everyone! 20th Outside team, head to your 6! Begin weather manipulation!”

  –She yelled while leaving aside her
doubt and questions, and began operating the control panel at her hands.

  Then, Naoto sensed the mechanical operation sounds of the ‘Heaven’s Pillar’ interfering with the external temperature and humidity.

  The winds were trembling, the air pressure changed drastically, creating a massive amount of steam–but…

  “Shiiittt! We can’t make it! Everyone runn!!!!”

  Naoto’s holler echoed through the massive floor.

  And then, 5 seconds later.

  –The light of destruction came, blowing away everything in its path.

  Chapter 4 – 07:35 – Progressor

  An explosive light from the bottom from the city permeated through the ‘Heaven’s Pillar’, entering the sky.

  Karasawa saw this scene from the roof of the ruling party’s headquarters, stroking his chin in shock.

  “–Woah, I didn’t make it…”

  He stole some records from the terminals of the ruling government party, and through the logs, he affirmed a certain fact.

  And right when he was about to contact Marie and the others and report on this–this happened.

  “This is bad…my commission as a consultant isn’t worth it now.”

  I’m someone who won’t work without being paid–with a bitter expression, Karasawa held onto the terminal in his hand.

  His back was leaning on the metal fence on the roof, and he exhaled hard.

  –I should have realized it.

  According to Professor Marie’s report, those guys illegally transported an Initial-Y unit’.

  Those guys are researchers on electromagnetic technology, so why didn’t they use that technology on that thing? I should have realized it.

  Also, this report–

  “It’s too risky for me to handle this intel alone…”

  “The Shiga ‘military’, the communication logs of the mole in the government–they were deliberately encrypted, but he spent an hour and so to decrypt it, which he had to laud himself for. However…

  At this point, he might prefer not to know about it.

  “No matter whether the coup d’etat succeeds or not, ‘the mastermind’ behind them have the same aim–to cause the ‘Capital Circle’ to collapse–now what do I do…”

  Right when Karasawa was dripping in cold sweat and muttering to himself–

  “–…”

  He wordlessly drew his back from the metal fence.

  He was not taken aback.

  He predicted that events would turn out this way the moment he obtained this intel.

  He wanted to inform Marie before that happened–his benefactor, Professor Marie, however…

  “They’re showing up immediately…seriously, for some bad guys, they’re so capable. It’s killing me.”

  Karasawa said, and sighed.

  He looked aside.

  He saw a person–no, someone appear on the roof.

  The opponent was in stealth mode, but it was possible to at least see it if one paid attention. There was something steam-like there.

  –Optical camouflage.

  “And at a size that can be for personal use…? Hey hey, I can conclude as a consultant that not even the ‘5 Enterprises’ managed to develop this successfully, you know?”

  Karasawa’s eyes and lips showed a smile, tilting his head in confusion.

  He then raised his voice heartily, saying,

  “Is it okay if you tell me? –How much is your pay?”

  The pile of steam did not answer.

  I guess so, Karasawa gave a wry smile.

  Those people were not the type to mess around and say ‘any last words’, ‘what have you obtained’, ‘say your prayers’.

  If they were just as stated in the intel obtained, they would have known that Karasawa had no last words, knew what he obtained, and that he was an atheist.

  In the face of this killing intent closing in, Karasawa slowly undid the button on his collar.

  He moved his right foot back, and got into a fighting pose.

  “Alright, let’s do each other’s work. Do you know that in this country? Not doing extra is not considered to be doing work.”

  Viva laborers–Karasawa muttered sarcastically as he faced this enemy in front of him.

  The enemy was probably a full cyborg with the latest equipment, and perhaps the one inside was a professional. On the other hand, he was merely a consultant, armed only with a handgun and some tools.

  –How many seconds can he survive?

  Sighing hard, Karasawa stepped up to challenge this overtime that was a matter of life and death.

  –What happened?

  Marie gave a blank stare at the scene in front of her, so stunned she was gasping for breathing.

  –Everything vanished.

  The sudden burst of light devoured everything, melting, vanquishing.

  The Core Installation made of extremely sturdy materials was melted like Amezaiku.

  The floor, walls and ceiling were punctured with a massive, round hole.

  The light shot through the outer walls, melted the floor, vaporized the structure, and shot through to the outer wall on the other side.

  The light created this hole, and at the same time, left behind an ugly melting scar.

  Marie fell limp.

  If she was a second later, she would have been vaporized by that light too.

  With a trembling stare, she looked around, finding Houko beside her, the ‘Black Tortoise’ Halter was controlling at the wall, and Vermouth by the feet of that massive body.

  Naoto, who was in the safety zone with RyuZU and AnchoR, remained unscathed.

  The maintenance automata were no longer to be seen. They were already working in the epicenter, unable to escape.

  –But at the very least, it doesn’t look like any human was caught in the blast.

  Having understood this, a doubt appeared in Marie’s consciousness.

  With a quivering voice, she raised her doubt,

  “–Wh-what happened!?”

  This yell echoed towards the empty, massive hole, gradually fading away.

  Nobody answered–no,

  “…We got bombarded.”

  Naoto was the only one to answer her, with a mutter,

  “What did you say?”

  –I can’t understand? By whom? By what? For what reason?

  Marie’s thoughts started to swirl erratically, and Naoto again affirmed–this time, with a loud voice.

  “It’s that damn bigass thing ‘main cannon’ that blew a hole through Akihabara! We were hit! Do you here me!?”

  She heard that, or at the very least, she could understand what Naoto was saying, but–

  Marie yelled back, dumbfounded,

  “–Why!? Why are we bombarded!? Those guys are aiming for a coup d’etat, right!? If any harm is to come to Houko–the Royal Family, their purpose will be for nothing, right!? No, more important–!”

  Marie immediately leapt to her feet, flailing her arms.

  “If they destroy the ‘Heaven’s Pillar, Tokyo, Japan will end up sinking if it gets too bad! Those guys too will…!”

  This would not be a coup d’etat.

  It was simply a terrorist attack–no, the worst form of it, a ‘suicide terrorist act’.

  It was different from the initial premise, different from before. She could not understand the significance of this action–

  However, it seemed even Naoto could not explain her doubt at this point, as the winds blew through the massive hole, engulfing the scene–and at this moment…

  “–Spraying steam can weaken the directional power of the microwaves. Such a suitable countermeasure that vexes me. However, I do hope that you tell me, how do you know this main cannon is a ‘Microwave Mega Cannon’?”

  The deep, steely voice of a man echoed in the level.

  Where

  –Where did that come from?

  This voice did not come from a speaker, and neither was it heard directly.

  Marie l
ooked around, trying to answer her own doubt. Then, she realized,

  The entire floor was resonating, spreading the voice.

  Before anyone could react, that voice continued on calmly,

  “I suppose you are still alive, right? ‘Y’–, no, I remember, young Naoto Miura.”

  Everyone, beside RyuZU, turned to focus their eyes on Naoto.

  The only two who had an impression of that voice–Naoto and RyuZU, looked down from the hole that was blown through the floor.

  There was the massive weapon, looking like a little dot in Grid Akihabara.

  “–This voice…is it the old man from that time…!?”

  Naoto muttered, and Marie jumped up, yelling,

  “Naoto! What’s going on? Explain! What’s with that microwave mega cannon!? Whose voice is that?”

  But Naoto could not answer. He did not answer.

  “Like hell I know!? Mirco–what is that!?”

  “–When we fell to the deep basement the last time, we did meet an old man who assumed himself to be a hermit and lost to life. I suppose that is his voice–but here is the question. Why do we hear that annoying voice again?”

  RyuZU muttered as she recalled, perplexed.

  “…No, since it is you, I suppose you would have blocked it ‘without knowing’. There used to be an installation called a microwave, and this uses the theory behind it–this sound too uses the wall to resonate through the power of electromagnetic waves. I do apologize for rattling on by myself.”

  The robotic voice continued to ignore the dumbfounded group, and said,

  “Oh yes, I have yet to introduce myself–I am Gennai Hirayama, the leader of this coup d’etat. Now, you must be thinking, why attack the ‘Heaven’s Pillar’?”

  “Gennai…Hirayama…”

  Marie remembered this name well, nodding.

  Yes, even if he did so, it would merely be leading them to a path of self-destruction…

  “I shall keep it brief that. To be honest, regarding this coup d’etat…the outcome does not matter to me. The executed subordinates however were utterly fuming at the injustice however.”

  –Does not matter?