Clockwork Planet
/ Clockwork Planet Vol 1 Chapter 4
The air was trembling violently.
Naoto took a tremendous impact, and fell heavily from the chair onto the floor. He laid still on it, unable to get up immediately.
–Even in modern society, where the entire planet was replicated using parts, there would be earthquakes.
It was simply the release of stress from the city’s construct system, at most a slight tremor humans could barely detect, an occasional occurrence that happened spontaneously.
However, this was not that simple.
The impact just now seemed to cause a tremendous jolt, to a point one might feel the entire city would be reduced to rubble.
The cupboard behind the cafe restaurant counter fell.
The massive chandelier in the hotel lobby fell.
A series of accidents happened on the main street in front of the station.
Explosions and noises could be heard one after another, entering Naoto’s ears through the headphones.
During this time, the tremors showed no signs of ceasing.
And then, Naoto saw it,
The red teacups flung off the tables did not fall onto the floor, but floated in the air. The red tea within too floated in the air, taking the form of brown goblets.
…What’s going on?
In what seemed to be a spontaneous response to Naoto’s doubts, Marie exclaimed.
“A gravity anomaly…!”
She immediately crouched onto the floor and hid under the table. Beside her, Halter could only poke his head in (for his body was too big), and he anxiously asked,
“Has the collapse began?”
“Halter, how much time do we have left?”
“7 hours and 12 minutes–it should have been enough.”
Marie widened her eyes in shock.
“Has the ‘military’ begun the purge earlier…?”
“No, calm down. If what the higher-ups of the ‘Guild’ said is true, they won’t allow our technicians to be involved in the collapse.”
“But even so, a telltale sign of this scale is beyond expectations. If the chaos spreads, those guys might try something more forceful…!”
After a while, the tremors stopped.
However, there was a tense atmosphere surrounding them, as if lightning was about to befall upon them.
Naoto shooed the distant screams and growls into a corner of his consciousness, and stood up.
At this moment, Marie spoke up,
“You–”
“Huh?”
“What’s your name?”
Her emerald eyes contained a serious mood as she stared at him.”
Naoto could not ignore it, and answered,
“…I’m Naoto. Naoto Miura.”
Upon hearing that, Marie sighed,
She dejectedly lowered her head, and then lifted it adamantly,
“Good, Naoto. I just introduced myself, but I’ll do it again. My name’s Marie, and though I won’t admit that you’re a technician more amazing than me–”
She stopped talking, for RyuZU was behind her, giving a serious look.
She forced a smile, and continued,
“But I’ll agree to that to save my own life, ‘kay!? Listen up!? Enough with the formalities and courtesy! I just want a definite answer from you, even if it’s small. Do you have something that can possibly deal with this situation!?”
“Erm..”
“We can.”
RyuZU immediately answered in place of the hesitant Naoto.
And then, she calmly said to Marie, who turned around,
“From what you said, your problem is not that ‘you do not have time’, but that ‘you cannot identify the cause of the error’.”
Marie hesitated,
“…That’s right. Even if you say so however, what’s the difference between them?”
“The difference is clear to see. To put it the other way, if you can locate the cause, it should be fine.”
Marie hesitated slightly, and nodded,
“Right. If he can locate the cause, he can leave the rest to us…”
“In that case, there shall be no further issues–Master Naoto.”
“Wh-What?”
“You should have understood very well the cause of the anomaly in this city–the source of this sound.”
Upon hearing those words, Marie inadvertently titled her head.
“Voice?”
If that’s all they need, I guess it’s alright...Naoto nodded,
“But I’m not exactly very sure on where it is…we got to go to the 24th level to find that out.”
“Wa-wait!”
Marie shrieked, and grabbed Naoto tightly.
“How did you know the anomaly happened on the 24th level?”
“Eh?”
Marie looked ready to gnaw as she furiously interrogated a dumbstruck Naoto,
“Neither Halter nor I mentioned anything about the problem happening on the 24th level. How did you know when you haven’t entered the core tower?”
“Why, you ask…”
Naoto looked a little lost as he answered,
“Because the distorted sound is coming from there, right?”’
“–What…?”
“I already felt that it was very noisy, and it got unbearably noisy since two days ago. I thought the ‘military’ neglected to maintain it or something…”
“2 days ago–”
Marie widened her mouth in shock.
She recalled the gravitational anomaly that happened in the wee hours. That anomaly–but the calculations were only compiled by the 10 people in the observation team—no, wait, a distorted sound?
Marie was stunned, and Halter beside her cautiously asked,
“May I ask, Naoto–if what you’re saying is that you managed to pinpoint an anomaly 70km deep from the surface through the sound, through your own hearing, unassisted by any apparatus?
“Yeah, why?”
Naoto nodded casually, but Marie and Halter froze.
They were stunned.
They could understand the meaning behind these words, but on the other hand, they could not believe him at all.
They could not believe that this little boy right in front of them was human.
Marie yelled in a trembling voice,
“H-Hey you! Do you know what kind of an amazing thing did you just say casually?”
“No, erm, don’t you already know?”
Naoto said it as a matter-of-fact, but Marie lashed out forlornly,
“…Yeah, we did, but that’s because we had no choice but to catch a ‘military’ technician and interrogate him after only managing to check the first 2 levels in a single day!”
Naoto widened his mouth in shock, and asked skeptically,
“Why does it have to be that troublesome? Ah, is it because you guys are being careful?”
“It’s because we can’t detect it if we don’t do it…”
After saying those words, Halter made a deep sigh, seemingly wanting to squeeze out all the air from his artificial lungs.
“Huh? My ears are better than ordinary people’s, but you guys have the listening devices, right?”
“…I say, who’ll go through so much work if listening devices can solve this–?”
“Hold on.”
Marie interrupted a frowning Halter, and asked with a tense look,
“–Now that I realize it, aren’t you wearing noise-cancelling headphones?”
“Hm, so what?”
You’re kidding me, Marie shouted hoarsely.
“Yo-You’re wearing such earphones–so why are you still able to converse with us?”
“Even if you ask me, it’s cheap though?”
Naoto looked really lost as he scratched his cheek, and continued,
“It’s not like I often listen to music, but it feels a lot more comfortable when things are quiet.”
–Because I feel a lot more relaxed.
Once Naoto said this, Marie questioned him with a menacing stare,
“–Relaxed? Even the cheap stuff nowadays can block out sounds completely!”
“Even if you say so, I can hear you completely.”
“That’s why it’s really weird! Your ears shouldn’t be able to hear anything now, right? How in the world did you managed to ‘hear’ in such a situation?”
Marie looked ready to gnaw at any given moment, and Naoto merely blinked, scratched his head, and said,
“E-Erm, even if you say so.”
“……No, that’s fine. You don’t look like you’re lying.”
Marie sighed, and solemnly asked,
“In other words, you can detect the cause of the anomaly through the sounds. If we bring you to the 24th level, you will be able to detect it. Once we do find it, we’ll think of some way to deal with the rest–is that okay?”
As Marie continued to stare at him, Naoto scratched his head, looking bothered,
–I know people are pinning hopes on me.
This feeling was very foreign to Naoto himself–perhaps it was the first time even. He could not answer honestly at once, but hesitated a little, and answered unconfidently.
“E-Erm, I’ll tell you before you’re disappointed. I’m just an ordinary High School student, and playing with mechanics is just a hobby of mine. I’m just an amateur who’s not even an apprentice, let alone a technician, you know?”
“Thanks for saying so much nonsense.”
Marie glanced at Naoto as the latter muttered, and shrugged,
“But it’s fine. You’re not familiar with it, but I know how complicated RyuZU’s construct is. Since you’re able to repair her, and since you managed to located the malfunction through your ears, that’s enough. I believe in that.”
Naoto was silent.
After pondering for a little while, Naoto looked at this blond-haired girl for the first time–right in the eyes.
He asked,
“…I say, why are you going to such lengths?”
The wails of the passers-by reached his ears through the headphones.
Since he had known that this city was to be purged, there was no reason to stay here He too wanted to escape immediately.
“I can tell from your words that you have nowhere to go. Your future’s bleak. Why aren’t you running away?”
He thought that was an ordinary thought—however,
“I hate to think of something as being impossible.”
Marie told Naoto,
“There’s a limit to everything in nature, but telling me to give up when I decide to test myself to the limits is something I have to refuse. I’m making challenges no matter when it is, and that too applies to my father, older sister, and all the Meisters.”
Naoto could not comprehend such a thought.
“…Why?”
“Because this world’s just like this–our planet died 1000 years ago. We met out limit, and reached the end. Because of that technician who never gave up however, we’re able to continue living.”
Marie smiled, and continued,
“Something irreplaceable will always stand in the far distance. That’s why I don’t want to give up. If I run away now–I’ll lose my dignity forever.”
“…”
And so, Marie murmured prayerfully,
“Please–lend me your power.”
Naoto could not answer.
The boy who was born as an ordinary person, grew up in the bottom, and enjoyed his current lifestyle.
The prodigy girl who was born as a genius, refined her own talents, and honored her lofty ideals first and foremost.
They were like oil and water.
Their values differed so much it was depressing. There was no way they could understand in such a short time.
“…”
Naoto felt that since this city was about to collapse, he should escape immediately.
Luckily–if he could possibly say so, he had no place to call home. No matter where he went, this fact would not change.
Why should I believe in a creature called Marie I can’t not understand and bring RyuZU to such a harsh scene? More importantly, what’s the benefit for me?
“…Sorry…”
“Ah–Master Naoto. There is something I wish to report.”
The moment Naoto was about to voice his refusal, RyuZU interrupted him.
“I do belong to you, so I do not know if I should answer…”
With these words as the prelude, RyuZU calmly spoke up.
And then, she looked in the direction of the core tower through the glass window.
“If she is not moved away…my ‘little sister’ should be in the underground of Kyoto’s core tower.”
–*THUMP*!!
Naoto sensed an intense throbbing of his heart.
For that instant, he forgot to breathe, as the words RyuZU said echoed in his mind over and over again.
–Little sister…sister, sister…eh? Sister…?”
“Little…sister…?”
–RyuZU’s little sister.
Underneath the core tower?
In this Kyoto?
In this city’s that’s to be purged and buried along with this already dead planet?
His lungs were gasping for breath, the feeling of his blood flowing in reverse running within him.
“…That, in other words, that means…”
He tried his hardest to take a deep breath, trying to act calm.
Naoto then exclaimed, unable to hide his excitement while trying his hardest,
“A-an-an automata that’s built later than RyuZU?”
“Yes. The 4th unit of the Initial-Y series, ‘trishula’ AnchoR lies within there.”
“W-wa-wait, in other words, she’s a more advanced automata than you, RyuZU?”
Upon hearing Naoto’s excited words, RyuZU frowned.
“–There is no automata that is stronger than me in terms of cognitive abilities, but in terms of specifications, they can be superior to me under certain conditions. They are my capable little sisters inferior humans are unable to compare to.”
Naoto staggered to his feet.
His body temperature was surging, his blood pressure skyrocketing.
“Erm, well, before I actually see her, you mind telling me something?”
“Yes, may I know what you wish to ask?”
“Erm…she’s called AnchoR, right? ……how’s she like?”
“Let me think. Pretty and neat short black hair. Her irises are a little small, but she does have bright red irises. She assumes the form of what is equivalent to a 12-year-old human, is less than 140cm in height, and is inapt at expressing her emotions. As her codename ‘trishula’ indicates, she has the strongest fighting mobility and weapons amongst all the automatas–”
“–What’re we spacing out for!? Let’s go, guys!”
Naoto stood up straight and raised his fist to the sky.
He then said adamantly,
“If there’s a small possibility of saving 20 million people hiding in my hands, I’m definitely not going to let go! I guess this is my—destiny!”
Naoto said this with such vigor, his eyes glittering, like his soul was burning.
Normally, they would be called ‘ulterior motives’ and ‘selfishness’.
Humans—especially women like Marie—would not know of this.
They would not know that men would risk their lives to fight just because of a spur of a moment.
These creatures called men were so foolish yet so noble–
“…I say, Milady. Is it really alright to leave this to that guy…”
“Don’t ask this, okay…?”
Marie shook her head and murmured in response to Halter’s mutter.
Having decided on heading to the core tower, Naoto and company quickly moved down the hotel’s aisle.
They were headed for the underground parking lot. Halter’s vehicle was parked there.
They passed through the lobby, now in a mess after the fancy chandelier that had fallen, and appeared at the staircase.
And Halter stopped there, turned back, and said,
“Then, how do we deal with them? You know, if we’re going to the core tower, there’ll definitely be interference.”
Halter glanced over at the other side of the wall.
And Marie, who understood the meaning of that, nodded,
“…We have to do something. If we’re discovered to be headed to the core tower, the staff at the workplace will end up taken as hostages.”
Marie sighed, and reluctantly shrugged.
At that moment, Naoto, standing right beside her, called out,
“What are you doing? Aren’t we going to the core tower?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“That’s not much time left, right? Let’s hurry up.”
“…That’s why I’m thinking of what we should do next. Understand?”
Marie clicked her tongue in annoyance.
In response to that, Naoto tilted his head perplexedly.
“You’re talking about those guys over there watching us? They’re the reason why we can’t move forward?”
Naoto displayed a surprising amount of observational skills, and Marie seemed more peeved than before as she frowned,
“…If you found that out, can you at least use your mind a little more? Do you think those guys watching us will let us go without saying anything once they see us?”
“No, but,”
Naoto stared at Halter’s massive body,
“Uncle here is a cyborg soldier, and RyuZU’s here. Can’t we just end them before they make the report?”
“Seriously, you…you’re becoming dangerous once you get motivated.”
And while Halter grimaced, Marie sighed softly,
“I want to do that too if I can, but it’s not that simple. This is politics. The technicians in the ‘military’ are all useless, but their organizational ability–”
“Then what do you want to do anyway? Political games?”
“–!!”
Marie swung a fist at Naoto–and stopped.
Her clear emerald eyes were staring at Naoto, her body trembling in rage.
Unable to hide her furor, she vented her frustrations as she lashed out,
“…You don’t understand anything at all!”
“I don’t understand. It’s because I don’t that I’m asking this, right?”
Naoto said
“What’s with politics, and what’s with organizational ability? Are those more important than going to the core tower and repairing it?”
He had no worries at all.
He was able to show such an unrestrained, unrestricted, radiant expression, for he was an ordinary citizen.
And this youth of freedom, who acted on his own whims for his own desires, said something philosophical,
“–Either way, everything else other than that doesn’t matter, right?”
“–!!”
Marie closed her eyes, and slammed her raised fist at the wall with all her might.
Then, she took a deep breath, and quietly spoke to the big man standing beside her,
“Halter.”
“Here.”
“Though–I’m really unhappy that I can’t out-talk this moron.”
“Don’t call me a moron.”
Marie ignored Naoto’s protests, and continued,
“Tell me, who do you think is correct, objectively?”
“Well…if it’s adults debating, you’re probably correct, Milady.”
Halter stroked his chin, and shrugged as he continued,
“–But if it’s between kids, isn’t it alright to agree with that brat’s view like a kid? This uncle’s job is to wipe the butts of a kid.”
…Kid. Marie murmured this word, and nodded, saying,
“Well–you’re right. I’m still a little girl after all.”
“Hm. You’re not a technician now, you’re nothing, just an arrogant snobbish Princess who’s inexperienced in the matters of the world.”
Halter chuckled happily.
He then reached out his sturdy palm, saying in a teasing manner,
“Is there any job you wish to hand over to me, Marie?”
“–Hm.”
Marie nodded, grimacing.
And RyuZU, standing beside them, coldly interjected,
“Are you finally done? Precious time is being wasted in masses like flowing water while you continued to hesitate. May I at least hope that you have the ability to reflect upon this?”
“I got it…but RyuZU, may I include you as fighting strength?”
In response to Marie’s question, RyuZU showed an elegant expression as she lifted the hems of her skirt slightly, and bowed.
“My job is to eliminate all obstacles standing in Master Naoto’s path.”
Marie nodded, and turned to Naoto,
“Naoto, since you said such big talk, you’re going to help me out, right?”
“Let me say this first. I’m weak at fighting.”
“I don’t have any expectations regarding that. More importantly–”
Marie placed her hands on her hips, and said to Naoto tauntingly,
“This ‘talent’ RyuZU said you have–show it to me.”
Naoto nodded, and sighed gently.
He slowly removed the cheap headphones that were giving off a green light.
And then,
–Amidst the sea of noise that was nauseating, Naoto stumbled.
“Uu…”
He frowned, and gritted his teeth.
He even had the feeling that everything entered his ears, and was stuck in his mind.
It was probably due to the change in gravity. The gears in the city were all giving off strange noises, and there were confused people shouting in response to the sudden turn of events. All sorts of noises could be heard, forming a sacrilege of an orchestra that entered Naoto’s ears.
“Master Naoto.”
Once she saw that Naoto was about to fall over, RyuZU immediately went over to support him.
“It is alright. If it is you, Master Naoto–you can definitely do it.”
Yeah. Naoto took a deep breath.
“I can’t ruin my name as a mechanical nerd here if I want to repay the trust of the best automata in this world.”
He closed his eyes.
–In the midst of the maddening storm of noises, a clear zephyr-like melody could be heard.
It was the sound of RyuZU’s gears moving, such a beautiful, elegant, perfect, fateful melody.
Thanks to the harmonic melody from RyuZU, Naoto was able to extract the important information from the massive pool of data that entered his mind.
And then–
“…Now then–let’s go.”
Naoto slowly started to count the number of those things.
Marie elegantly descended the spiral staircase leading to the parking lots.
And Naoto followed her from behind tentatively.
However, there appeared 2 men in their way, standing on the landing of the stairs.
The two hulking men stood side by side in front of Marie, giving off a pressure of wanting to crush her.
One of the men glared at her, saying,
“Are you ex-Meister Marie Bell Breguet?”
Marie grinned, and said,
“You won’t believe me even if I tell you no, right?”
The men did not smile however,
“We’re from the ‘military’. There’s something we would like to ask you, regarding the disappearance of the military technician Niijima.”
“I see, so you used this as an excuse already. That’s quite some preparations you made.”
One of them stepped forward to grab Marie by the shoulder, however,
Marie lowered her body.
She stuck a leg out to trip the man grabbing her shoulder, and then slammed a high kick at the falling head. It was so strong a bone crack could be heard.
She looked down at the man that was taken down before he could say anything, and clicked her tongue.
“–Who allowed you to touch me? At least know your place.”
“Brat! You wanna fight–!?”
The other man too got agitated as he reached out for Marie.
Marie coldly knocked that hand away in a flowing motion.
And then, her arm drew an arch, the tightly clenched fist slammed directly into the chin.
The man tumbled over, unable to endure the pain, and defended his upper body as his posture was staggered.
At that moment, Marie pranced.
She did a sharp turn, the boot pounded deep into the man’s solar plexus with the help of centrifugal force.
This hulking man was taken down in that instant, and one could only hear the heavy sound of flesh tumbling onto the floor.
“–”
Marie landed on the floor together with her lofted coat.
And then, she drew a candy from her pocket without looking at the downed man, popped it into her mouth, and chewed on it.
Upon seeing this, Naoto instinctively knelt down.
“Sorry for saying all sorts of big talk to you just now!”
Please don’t use those attacks on me. Naoto seemed to be begging this, and,
“Good. Glad that you understand.”
Marie nodded, and turned around.
She turned to look at the corridor at the bottom of the stairs, linking to the parking lots.
Unexpectedly, there appeared a military automata.
It was a light-armored type that was bipedal. It had the silhouette of a human, but the two overly thick arms were ugly. The front end of the right arm was a muzzle, aimed right at the duo on the landing.
Marie widened her eyes in the face of this weapon that could easily mince 2 children.
“You got to be kidding me. That’s scary.”
However, this line was not intended to be said about the enemy.
Her face showed no signs of fear, despite being basked under the mechanical killing intent.
“Halter!”
A massive body responded to Marie’s call, and leap down from above the corridor.
*THUMP* there was a dull impact.
Halter’s fist landed firmly on the automata, using the falling momentum, causing the frame to be severely deformed and wrecked.
The automata staggered backwards, and Halter landed, protecting Marie and Naoto.
The automata immediately calculated the threat level of the enemy that had just attacked—through the analysis of the body functions and enemy distance, it assumed the completely mechanized soldier Halter to be the biggest threat, and changed targets from Marie to him.
But at that moment, Halter was standing right in front of the automata.
He grabbed the massive right arm and crushed it using his own weight.
“–!”
The wires popped out, the gears and springs flying everywhere.
The automata stumbled a few steps backwards–but spun greatly, stamped on the floor and leapt at Halter.
The remaining left arm swung at him like a guillotine.
This was a hit that could send a human flying–but Halter easily blocked it with one hand.
“–, –!”
The automata started to tremble.
Halter grinned as he blocked the military automata that was struggling with all its might.
“That’s quite a simple battle algorithm. Hey, you want to tussle this completely mechanized me with the output of that light armor?– Aren’t you looking down on me now?”
The automata’s arm was crushed in a creak.
Halter grabbed that arm, his fingers twisting the armor. The shaft was shattered, and the frame was hammered.
“You—idiot!”
And then,
Halter stomped onto the floor, causing a radial crack upon it.
He exerted all his strength in an explosive punch.
This hit came faster than the flying shrapnel.
He activated all the functions in his body, and punched through the armor of this military automata, wrecking the core without mercy, forcefully terminating the functions of this enemy machine–
The shredded springs fell, the wrecked pistons rolling emptily.
He tossed aside the scrap machine, and Marie, standing behind, said to him,
“That’s to be expected of you, Halter. Good job.”
Halter turned around, spotted the girl walking down the stairs, and shrugged,
“That’s just a mere chore. However–”
He stared at Naoto, and wondered,
“You’re able to find out the number of enemies and their locations so accurate..are your ears sonar or something?”
Right–the intel Naoto had picked up was frighteningly precise.
Halter could not tell how Naoto could determine ‘these guys have bad intents on us’, but either way, he did thoroughly pick up on the enemy numbers, locations and weapons.
How much of an advantage can such an ability bring in strategic planning–
But Naoto did not think anything about it as he asked Halter excitedly,
‘Uncle uncle! You’re not using normal military prosthetics, right?”
“Oh? You know that too? That’s right, I look like an ordinary good guy, but my insides won’t lose to anyone, you know? This is the ‘8th Generation’ created by the Breguet Company.”
“What? The 8th generation? Don’t they only have the ‘6th Generation’ on the market now..?”
“This is a prototype more advanced than the next generation that’s to be introduced to the market. IT’s a real high-end product.”
And then, Halter posed to show off his muscles.
“I’m the bodyguard of this Princess, so we used some secret techniques of the Breguet Company through some connections.”
“Wow~! Hey, please detach yourself and show the parts to me–!”
“What disgusting things are you two guys saying!? Let’s go!”
With Marie prompting them, Naoto and Halter kept quiet.
They hurried down the stairs, and quickly arrived at the parking lots.
A black sedan was parked by the entrance.
But the moment she was about to approach the door.
“Don’t move!”
A really loud voice, amplified by the loudspeaker’, boomed throughout the underground parking lots.
Marie widened her eyes as she looked up, and standing in the middle of the path leading to the surface was a stout steel giant—its Electricity Conservation Measures functions removed.
“The VS-08 ‘Grat’–!? An armored soldier? You got to be kidding me!”
Halter murmured, cold sweat trickling down.
That was a humanoid weapon with mechanical clockwork functions, developed by the Vachron family.
It was completely silent, imbedded with silencers, and also had a stealth mode comprised of thermal and optical camouflages. It was an ace used in combat under special environments–and had overwhelming fighting abilities such that many of the light-armor automatas from before could not defeat it even if they banded together.
The cannon was so powerful it could easily blast through the latest combat prosthetic Halter used.
It turned its cannon to Marie’s group in a flowing manner, and then…
–BOOM.
After hearing the report over the communicator, Limonz gasped.
…What did that imbecile just say!?
He felt sweat seeping out of the hand holding that communicator.
“……C-can you repeat that again?”
“As I said, Marie Bell Breguet and her two escorts resisted greatly, so we had no choice but to shoot them down. Also, an ordinary citizen was involved in this battle–”
“That ordinary citizen does not matter!!”
Limonz clicked his tongue, and continued,
“Who permitted you to kill them!? I said to capture them alive!!!”
“Yes, but–”
This ambiguous answer caused further anxiety in Limonz, and he hissed in an interrogative manner,
“You folks activated our company’s Grat, and you still cannot catch a single brat!?”
“…Please pardon me. It is a little inappropriate to think of this target as an ordinary person.”
“She is simply a little rascal.”
He spat sharply.
He slapped the communicator over and over again, completely seething.
“Right, she is simply a little rascal after all. The most she can do is to fool around with mechanics.”
“..”
“You killed her, right?…I see, so she is dead.”
He licked his lips, and inhaled some air.
“I guess there is nothing of her left after she got caught in the Grat’s machine gun fire.”
He sounded as if he was a little expectant of something, and the informant gave him a definitive answer.
“…Yes. The corpse took massive damage. It will take us some time to figure out if it’s really her–”
“No need for that. Just bury the corpse. We do not need a report. Marie Bell Breguet disappeared during the collapse of the city. We just have to settle it as that.”
“…Is that really alright?”
“If news gets out that the princess of the Breguet family got killed by Vachron’s men, things will get out of hand. These streets will sink in a few hours anyway.”
“Understood.”
Once this line was said, the call was ended.
Limonz quietly hung up the phone–and flipped it together with the table.
He widened his eyes, his teeth gritting as he howled in fury.
“Fools! Those useless morons…!”
It would be troublesome if she was really dead.
He wanted to use Marie Bell Breguet as the scapegoat of this incident, to be scorned by the public, and weaken the Breguets.
However, that could only work if she was alive.
The dead could not bear responsibility, and if their daughter was killed, the Breguets would be more aggressive in response. This was the exact opposite of what the Vachrons wanted.”
“That filthy whore! She wants to shame us even in death…!?”
–And more importantly,
If she were to die so easily, he would not be able to let her experience much shame.
Limonz wanted to humiliate her.
He wanted to enjoy the moment, how her beautiful face would contort when her pride and dignity was lost.
If not, he would show mercy as a bait during the hearing or to reinstate her, and make that arrogant girl break down in tears, serve him like a cheap prostitute–such a future was not impossible.
But these wretched desires became meaningless the moment she was dead.
He was fuming.
However, he had no choice. He wanted to at least kick at her corpse, he did not have enough time to do so. The anomalies in the city were starting to hasten, and the time to purge was about to occur.
Limonz cursed as he hastened his steps to the helicopter parked on the roof.
–
“…Is this really okay?”
Halter asked as he switched off the recorder.
Marie smiled cheerfully and nodded,
“Yeah. The Princess of the Breguets got killed by the Vachrons—you really recorded it down, right?”
“To be honest, I feel that this plan is full of flaws…”
Halter stroke his chin as he murmured,
“Well, it’s fine. This voice recording shall become actual proof, and no matter what the soldiers say afterward, it will simply be treated as evidence that can’t be hidden.
“If Marie dies, those guys’ plan will be more or less ruined…that’s the logic, but I never thought you would think of faking your own death.”
Halter sighed, and turned to look behind.
Behind the duo, RyuZU had sliced the armored soldier into bits, piling it in a hill.
The youth–Naoto searched through the heap, and muttered with an annoyed look.
“This is the signature work of one of the 5 Enterprises Vachron…there’s no artistic sense at all.”
“That is correct. However, Master Naoto, if it is something a child created through block stacking, even worthless refuse should be given a suitable amount of reward. For example–you have worked hard.”
The girl standing beside Naoto–RyuZU, whispered scathingly.
Halter watched the duo, and spoke softly,
“…Two humans, one light-armor automata, one armored soldier, and a recon soldier. All of them got picked up accurately by Naoto’s ‘ears’–I thought he was mistaken about the armored soldier.”
“If the Vachron Company finds out that this Grat stealth system they’re so proud of was easily seen through, what sort of expressions will the weapons developers there show–hohoho, serves them right♪”
“You look rather happy there.
Halter put down the communicator, stood up, and sighed,
“As an ex-soldier, even I don’t really want to believe this after seeing this. He could even hear a stealth machine underground; how did he do it.”
“But there’s no room to doubt. He’s the real deal.”
Marie narrowed her eyes.
–In fact, it was impossible in theory.
Animals like ‘elephants’ did not listen using their ‘ears’, but through their ‘feet’.
They sense the tremors on the ground their soles, and use it to communicate with their comrades far away. The tremors on the earth, the surface, the air–even voice was a vibration. Those that could cause interference with everything else would create a resonance.
It was impossible for the ‘footsteps’ of those underground–the vibrations of the air to reach the surface. However, the air tremors would cause the walls to shake, and the walls would shake along with the building.
There were animals who can hear a coin drop from several kilometers away.
There exists radars and sonars, which uses the same concept.
However–Marie glanced aside at Naoto.
–Naoto Miura.
He is a ‘human’. Or is supposed to be one.
He was able to carry out a conversation despite wearing noise canceling headphones. If he could detect slight vibrations through his entire body–for example, through the bones or anything like that, such a phenomena could be explained.
But if such a thing was to exist in real life and even made use of till this day, how should she explain this?
Such a phenomena could not be simply explained as ‘a unique skill’.
If it can be described in a single word from the vast knowledge Marie had amassed–it was a ‘superpower’.
In this world that is completely made of gears, this ability, the value of that power, if it were to be measured in a mere person’s terms, there would be much significance in this–
“Marie?”
“–!”
This voice pulled Marie out from her vortex of thoughts.
“Wh-what…?”
“Nothing. I just saw you spacing out there. What are you thinking about? Aren’t we rushing for time?”
Marie watched Naoto staring at her with a strange look, his head tilted.
“–Yeah, that’s right. Sorry.”
She apologized and ceased her thoughts, putting her skepticism aside.
This was not the time to think about such things.
At this moment, the most important thing was to see if this youth was just as RyuZU had said–someone she could entrust her thoughts to. And then…
“…Now then, are you alright, Milady?”
“Yes, Halter. I’ll leave this to you.”
Marie removed the Chronopass dangling at the chest of her coat.
This was the proof of a Meister.
The girl called Marie Bell Breguet once received this medal.
And she,
“–!!”
Threw it into the air.
And Halter fired at it.
The ‘Chromepass’ dancing in the air was shot down by Halter’s accurate bullet.
“–”
And it, it broke apart, scattered into countless gears.
“Right–it doesn’t matter to me at all. What ‘Meister’?”
These words seemed spiteful, but Marie’s tone was very refreshed.
This ultra-intricate pocket watch, comprised of 9 gears of all sizes, was reduced to powder.
It was the proof of being one of the best technicians in the world.
Some people even offered their lives to get one.
Outstanding qualities, remarkable talents, unyielding hard work–they gathered all these, bet their careers, and yet there were many technicians who despaired over their failure, as many as the stars in the skies even.
Even Marie, hailed as the jewel of the Breguets, only managed to attain it after so long.
“–”
But it was fine to her either way.
This thing had no use for her current ‘objective’, and would simply stand in the way of her ‘ideals’. It was completely worthless to her.
“Let me do everything I want from now on.”
Marie lifted her head, and looked around at everyone.
She clenched her fists, and said with vigor.
“I want to save this city. It doesn’t matter what happens later on. Anything that can’t help me now isn’t no different from shit. I’m going to go my way, and if anyone’s going to stop me, I’m going to crush it.”
Anyone got any issues!? Marie forcefully asked, and Halter answered back with a laugh.
And then, he covered his mouth and looked down, saying
“Of course it’s fine, but Professor Marie, I do think it’s unfitting of a posh lady to say the word ‘shit’.”
“Shut up, you idiot!”
Marie retorted, and placed her hands on her hips.
“The Meister Marie Bell Breguet is dead. I’m now Marie, and I have no responsibilities now. I’m just a little girl.”
She showed a feisty smile.
And then, she turned to Naoto and RyuZU.
“Now then, I’m of equal standing as you right now. Get ready to be commanded at any given moment.”
“Ah, er…yeah. I’ll do my best, yeah.”
At that moment, Halter had already checked through quickly if there were any explosives or traps installed in the car. He then unlocked it, and cheerfully said,
“Let’s get on board then. We’re going.”
Marie sat in the co-driver seat, while Naoto and RyuZU were seated in the back.
Once everyone fastened the seat belts, Halter sneered and stepped on the pedal.
The car rocketed up the slope of the parking lots as it flew up, and Halter turned the pedal around maniacally, causing the car to drift rightwards greatly. Naoto hurriedly grabbed the handle.
The car accelerated as its gravity engine roared.
“–This is terrible.”
Marie murmured as she watched the outside.
No matter how one tried to sugarcoat things, the fact remained that the outside looked deplorable.
Smoke churning in the air, thunderclouds churning, and one could even see a few twisters trampling upon the streets.
Under the effects of the gravity anomaly, there were houses, rubbish–and humans thrown into the air.
The destruction showed no signs of quelling as it expanded.
It was basically an impactful scene of a disaster in a panic movie, where metals flew about everywhere.
Halter’s spinning car continued to race through the streets like this.
They were headed to the center of the city–the massive core tower stretching through the sky and the earth.
The massive core control functions that manipulate all the weather and natural functions in this city.
“Hurry, Halter!”
“Got it!”
There were car accidents seen everywhere along the wide main street, but Halter continued to dart between the gaps, and even accelerated.
Naoto, having removed his headphones to concentrate on his hearing, suddenly whispered,
“Well, just think of it as gibberish from me if you notice it already–two dangerous looking cars are approaching us from the left right now.”
“What? The ‘military’!?”
“No–that doesn’t seem to be the case?”
Naoto shook his head, and two gray cars flew in from the flank.
Two unmanned cars with machine guns mounted on their flat surfaces.
After gliding for quite a while, they switched directions and chased them at an alarming speed.
“–Warning! Warning! Please stop your car!”
One of the cars let out a corrupted voice.
“They’re unmanned police patrol cars, and not the pursuers from the ‘military’. The cars themselves are akin to automata, so they probably gave chase based on their own judgment.”
“Eh? Why’s the police chasing us now?”
Marie growled furiously, and Naoto pondered for a while, before answering,
“I guess–it’s because this car is way beyond the speed limit?”
“You gotta be kidding me!?”
Marie growled as she stamped at the dashboard.
“They still care about speeding at such a moment!? Are all Japanese morons or something!?”
And then, she turned to Halter the driver, and asked,
“Can we shake them off?”
“I’ll be tough. They’re moving faster than us, and the troublesome thing is that they’ll get in our way.”
“Understood.”
Marie undid her seatbelt, turned around, and raised the co-pilot seat. She then began looked around for something, and asked Naoto,
“Naoto, are you sure those are unmanned?”
“Yeah. No doubt about that. What do you want to do?”
“Lower your head and hang on tight.”
“Eh?”
“Master Naoto, please come over to this side.”
RyuZU then pulled Naoto to her side, ostensibly protecting him.
Naoto’s body inadvertently froze up once he heard the pursuing cars approach.
Marie opened the sunroof of the car, and poked her body outside.
Her hands were holding, onto a 25cm long thing–?
“Wha!?”
A sub-machine gun.
She ignored Naoto’s surprise outburst as she fired at the car on the right.
The fully automatic rain of bullets was pelted upon the unmanned patrol car.
However, the scattered bullets bounced off the surface armor of the car, and the car itself was left unscratched.
“…A bulletproof type even. This is getting audacious.”
Marie clicked her tongue in disgust as she thought about how it was a mere patrol car. At this moment, Naoto interrupted,
“Erm, if this is an action movie, I don’t know whether this ordinary citizen A that got innocently involved in this should interrupt…”
“What?”
“That car you attacked just now has two wheels. The front right is moving a little strange, so if you stab–”
Before Naoto could even finish, Marie quickly reassembled the sub-machine gun in her hand.
–Coil Spear.
She raised the weapon that had essentially become a mini-rifle at that instant, and started firing at will.
The bullets bounced off the asphalt, and hit the suspension of the fore right wheel—the tire on the right side was knocked aside, and the car shook greatly.
The car started to spin.
The car lost its balance, and veered greatly to the right, slamming to the other patrol car pursuing them, causing both cars to roll and tumble together, slam into the guardrail, and fell on its side.
“…Your ears are really convenient.”
Marie returned to the co-driver seat and latched on the seat belt as she marveled.
And Naoto trembled as he asked,
“Is it really a need to know how to shoot if you want to be a Meister…?”
“Don’t use this Princess as the standard.”
Halter laughed, and turned the steering wheel.
The car glided down a wide traffic junction, and raced off at a tremendous speed.
Their current location was between the buildings in the administrative district, the road long and wide.
All they had to do was to pass through this stretch, and they could reach the entrance of the core tower,
“…Things are going well up till now. I thought there’d be at least a checkpoint.”
“It’s necessary to get as much fighting strength when sealing the city. They probably got mobilized elsewhere.”
Halter answered as such to console an uneasy Marie.
Immediately afterwards, Naoto felt a chill tingle up his spine.
But before he could speak up–
“If you excuse me, Master Naoto.”
RyuZU, who had remained quiet till this point, got to action.
She lifted Naoto forcefully while the latter leaning on her. “Ah—woah.” Naoto, upon being buried in RyuZU’s soft breasts, let out a strange sound.
“? What are you—”
Marie turned back to look, and stopped midway through.
For RyuZU’s skirt was fluttering slightly.
Having been well acquainted with RyuZU’s construct, Marie knew the meaning of such an action.
It was the only ‘weapon’ RyuZU had–the black scythe extend out from underneath the skirt, and swung down at a speed even Halter, a cyborg, could not tell.
And with a snap, the car was severed in half like it was a joke.
The car was nearly sliced in half, into left and right as they glided on the road due to inertia.
“Wooahhh!?”
“What are you doing–!?”
Marie and Halter screamed, and then, there was a boom.
A sharp object flew in between the severed car sections.
–‘that thing’ flew by at supersonic, and even Naoto with his superhuman senses could not sense it.
Soon after, the explosion behind revealed its true identity.
A rocket shell–a high explosive shell with overwhelming firepower.
It flew by the sky.
The car bodies collapsed unstably due to the gales from the explosion. While the car body screeched on the ground, giving off a large amount of sparks, RyuZU embraced Naoto and leapt out of the car.
Though she was carrying only a person, she was practically dancing in the air.
And then, she landed gracefully.
She looked down at Naoto, who blinked in surprise while being in her chest.
“Master Naoto, are you hurt in any way?”
“No, I think they have a bigger problem however…”
Naoto said as he slid down from RyuZU’s arm.
The car, severed in two parts, continued to skid forward due to inertia. The frame got contorted, and the wheel rolled about, facing the sky.
Are those two still alive–the moment Naoto thought of it, a white fabric fallen beside the car–Marie suddenly leaped out, her summer coat slightly stained.
It seemed she managed to leap out at the last moment.
Her beautiful emerald eyes were filled with hostility as she lashed out,
“Ryu–ZU!! Were you trying to kill me!?”
But the being involved, RyuZU, remained surprised,
“That certainly is an extraordinary thing to hear. On a subjective side, it should be seen as be saving those feeble, fleeting lives of yours while I was saving Master Naoto at this same time. Should you not be lowering your heads and thanking me graciously in such a situation?”
“Don’t you know what it means to do things in moderation!?”
Beside her, Halter, who was also all dirtied, stumbled out.
He turned to look behind, stared at the road covered with pitholes, and muttered with a troubled tone,
“…Hey, Marie, instead of worrying about that, those guys are firing on the streets.”
“Ahh, seriously! Does anyone here have a normal working mind or something–!?”
“It seems Master Marie does have some unstable emotional tendencies. A lack of calmness is a sign of infancy, so would you at least show some maturity beyond that infant-like body of yours?”
Marie was left speechless by RyuZU’s words, and lowered her head.
She clenched her fists, trembling, her mouth leaking a voice that sounded as if it came from Hell.
“…It looks like the hatred borne from this ridiculous treatment is allowing me to rip a military automata to shreds.”
“Is that so? Wanna try it out now?”
Marie lifted her head, wanting to rebut at Halter’s teasing, but she was left speechless after seeing what was in front of her.
There was a red light in the middle of the road, approximately 300m away.
–It was an eye. A monoeye was shining from a humongous shadow blocking the path.
This gigantic frame was 6m long, and the circular silhouette was attached to 2 legs through 2 inverse joints. The silhouette was such that one would think of a hare or a short-legged ostrich. Also, there was a 120mm cannon installed on the abdomen.
Marie inadvertently spat out air.
“What now, Milady? Can you use those fists you’re proud of to do something?”
“You said that while knowing this right, Halter!? That’s a Heavy armor automata.”
–Heavy armor automata.
An unmanned automata developed for assault and repression, equipped with a powerful cannon, multiple layers of sturdy armor, and outstanding mobility even on uneven surfaces; due to it being more apt at turning in small angles, such an automata was without a doubt one of the strongest weapons in modern urban warfare.
Also, it was not the only unit appearing in front of them.
Looking far away, there was also a 2nd, 3rd…they could seen 16 such units in their field of vision.
Standing beside the heavy armor automata were many light armor automata and self-propelled artillery, and unmanned helicopters could also be seen in the air. With so many enemy units, Halter could only clench his fist.
“…It looks like we’ve been checkmated? What a bummer; my dream to hit the jackpot in Las Vegas and get a blond model to serve me hasn’t been fulfilled.”
“Please forget about such vulgar thoughts.”
Marie glanced at Halter condescendingly, but she was not looking relaxed after that.
“These unmanned weapons…they’re probably set to taking down anyone who approaches the core tower.”
The reason why they had yet to continue attacking was because the set distances to intercept a moving object like a car was far from the humans that were standing still
“They used an entire battalion’s worth of firepower. Where has the idea of moderation gone to.”
“It’ll be bad if they don’t get any form of damage if they want to make this look like an accident.”
Though they sounded relaxed when talking, an atmosphere of despair began to surround them.
During this time, RyuZU silently stepped forward, and asked,
“Then, am I allowed to assume…that you are going to give up?”
“Well–”
Marie grumbled impatiently.
“We can’t break through them head on. Right now, we need to think of loopholes in their settings and find another route in–”
“If you assume that there is such time, I have no choice but to re-categorize Master Marie from being a ‘small fry’ to being ‘less than a small fry’…”
RyuZU mocked Marie scathingly as she stepped forward elegantly.
“RyuZU? What are you planning to do?”
In response to Naoto’s worried voice, RyuZU merely answered briefly,
“Eliminate.”
And then, she pulled a leg back by half a step.
She glared at the obstacles in front of her, as if they were vile, crude things.
“Since such grotesque, distasteful litter has pointed their guns brazenly upon Master Naoto. They shall be the ‘enemies’ I have to eliminate.”
Upon hearing RyuZU say such assertion, Marie yelled out with apprehension,
“Wa-wait! Those are the latest MAs, you know!?”
“So?”
“What so? You…!”
“If you wish to say an antique from a 1000 years ago is unable to beat the latest weapons.”
RyuZU showed a little fearless smile.
Her golden eyes were staring at the front.
“This is my answer–”
And then, RyuZU looked up.
“You have yet to make progress even after 1000 years, and are only able to create ‘toys’ inferior to me–the weakest of the ‘Sisters’. This is why your minds are unable to graduate beyond the level of mites.”
A sound was ringing.
It was not akin to a gentle sounding singing voice.
In a businesslike, mechanical tone, RyuZU said these words–or to be precise, she declared.
“Defining Declaration–Initial Y series, Unit 01, ‘Yourslave’ RyuZU.”
Right, it was a real declaration.
“Inherent function–‘Dual Time’…activating sequence, begin.”
It was the assertion of a rebellion.
She declared her intent that from this point onwards–she would defy the laws of Physics.
Naoto widened his eyes in shock.
He heard a sound within RyuZU, a sound no ordinary person would be able to hear.
Tik tack, tik tack, tik tack, the sound of the second hand ticking.
The sound was smooth, precise, irregularly, incoherent, yet it was–being warped so beautifully, so naturally.
At the same time, the sound of gears being meshed together could be heard. With the sound of dominoes falling, the shape and color of RyuZU’s black dress was changed. Her white skin was revealed, and a thin, clear veil fluttered, forming a tight-fitting crystal-colored wedding veil around that ample body of hers.
At that instant, the golden eyes seemed to change into a blazing ruby.
“–Beginning shift from 1st clock ‘Real Time’ to 2nd clock ‘Imaginary Time’.”
The clock disk in front of RyuZU’s chest was pressed like a shutter.
After that, the second clock disk hidden within showed itself.
The ticking of the second hand that could not be heard before hammered at Naoto’s eardrums.
However, the supernatural sound released from RyuZU caused her, her time, and even her existence to transcend beyond the normal laws.
He could not understand.
But his instincts had clearly caught up to the changes in that sound.
“Activating (Chrono Hook)–jumping from real movement to imaginary movement.”
RyuZU suddenly turned around.
Naoto gasped.
The crimson eyes facing him were glowing lightly like an avant-garde design, a blaze emerging from within.
RyuZU then spoke in a melodic manner,
“Master Naoto.”
“–Ye-yes?”
“A mere gear that caused me to cease functions for 206 years; the ‘Imaginary Gear’ you repaired for me, Master Naoto, shall be activated. Though it may be a temporal moment for you, it is the same as being several hours on ‘my time plane’.”
–Naoto looked confused, not understanding the meaning behind these words.
RyuZU however closed her eyes in an apologetic manner, and continued to say stoically,
“This function will not cease until the energy from the spring has been used up. However, I shall return back to you, so until then–please spin my spring bac.”
“Ye-Yes.”
“Now then, though it will be 3 hours from my point of view, please pardon me to leave your side.”
And so, RyuZU lifted the hem of her skirt elegantly as she bowed deeply.
And then, she said the name of that function,
“–‘Mute Scream’–”
In that instant, everything ended within Naoto’s cognition.
Naoto was unable to explain that in order.
For his—no, humans’ imperfect vision could only think that everything happened at the same time.
That was really the case.
It felt as if 5 minutes had suddenly jumped by in a film.
It was an unnatural feeling, one where it seemed everything that should have passed by was omitted.
An illogical reality where every single change happened within that instant.
It was even a blasphemous scene that could not be explained.
If one had to start from an obvious beginning–that would
Chapter end
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