Ch.120Night of the Stars for Returned Children (1) – Work Record #019

Despite the noise in the freelancer network, the city was relatively quiet. The Belvedere security team was probably working on their shift schedules.

Since everyone I knew was at the company, and my only Christmas plans involved meeting the returned children, I once had the grand ambition of requesting to work during Christmas week.

Grand? Well, the overtime pay was certainly grand. Looking back now, it feels like ancient history. Today I seem to have successfully maintained my freelancer connections, so I’ll postpone everything else until tomorrow.

Los Angeles the next morning had a bit more vitality to it. The holographic Christmas tree that had been standing since early December finally started lighting up one bulb at a time. Probably.

Like a countdown, decorations increase day by day, and on Christmas, a star will appear at the top. At 7:30 AM, a message arrives from Manager Yoon’s contact.

The message said to come in today for final accounting, though there wouldn’t be any more public work assignments. The night shift week would start from Friday, and today was that Friday.

We’d need to review the final tasks we’d completed. I’d only worked for about two months, but others would need to do their year-end settlements. As for December’s salary… it’s better not to expect anything from the start.

Isn’t it a bit much for a coup to happen the month after I put a large deposit down on an apartment? I thought to myself, sighing in disbelief before putting on a hoodie with the Night Watch logo over my t-shirt and leaving home.

Even in late December, Los Angeles isn’t cold. Today’s high will exceed 20 degrees Celsius. Anyone wearing a jacket is only doing so to protect their skin from smog.

In contrast, Detroit is quite cold. The high is negative one degree and the low is negative seventeen. I’ve never imagined such weather, but the homeostasis maintenance function will work.

They say Los Angeles used to be a bit less hot, and Detroit a bit less cold. But those landscapes can now only be seen in N-Enter Corporation’s virtual spaces.

I’ll miss the 7:30 AM commute for a while. When I pushed open the office door, Tina was waiting. At least the Night Watch office didn’t need much in the way of security devices.

I lightly tapped the wall as a substitute greeting to Ms. Nadia, and stared blankly as Tina slowly waved her hand. She began speaking in a droopy voice.

“Goood morning, Boogeyman… Why did you come in so eaarly today when it’s just a review?”

“Ah, I have something to give Manager Yoon when he arrives. I’d like to invite Tina too…”

I pushed an invitation to the returned children’s Christmas party into her field of vision. After slowly reading through it, Tina closed the window with a tap.

“I’d liike to go, but you knooow? For me, it’s best to just sleep heere.”

Tina briefly looked toward the night duty room, then began lightly tapping on the desk. Once with the soft part of her fingertip, once with her nail. Then three times with the soft part of her fingertip.

Morse code? It must be Morse code. It only needs to be conveyed through sound, and no one would find it strange for someone to have a habit of tapping their fingers on a desk.

I didn’t say anything. One shouldn’t let their guard down just because of the Christmas atmosphere. I said to Tina, who was sighing:

“I should at least send you a cake. Even if sleeping is good, spending Christmas just sleeping all day without eating anything seems a bit sad, doesn’t it?”

“Buy one with pseudo-ingredients. Cake is something you eat for the atmosphere, not the taste. That’s more familiar anyway. You understand? Good kid.”

Tina shook her head vigorously as if to say that’s enough talk about Nadia, then sprawled back over the office desk and said:

“But for a party, shouldn’t you buy a formal suit? Originally you would have worn a Belvedere security team uniform, but that’s not the case anymore, right?”

“Ah, I’ve thought about that too… I might as well get a bulletproof suit tailored. It provides basic protection.”

I gently stroked the matte black plate on the back of my hand. The subsonic bullet fired by the Law-Arm employee had barely penetrated my skin and just lodged in my body. Eve had scolded me for that. I remembered.

Tina injected power into her lightweight prosthetic legs that looked like they were just bones, stood up, and began to smile. She came over to me, nudged Little Misdeed, and said:

“It would be a shame not to see you in a suit. Until last year, college students dressed casually when they gathered, but this year it’s the first time everyone’s coming as working adults, right? Others will be in employee uniforms, but you’ll be, just perfect.”

She spread her arms wide, smiling as if imagining the scene. I couldn’t quite picture it. In my mind, a formal suit still only meant a security team uniform.

“If you show up with that bulletproof suit and that pistol on your waist, you’ll definitely attract attention. Don’t you think?”

“There are already many others who’ve left Belvedere, so I don’t think so? I heard one of them went into a human resources team at a company similar in size to Night Watch…”

“Vola doesn’t wear a shirt under his suit jacket. An augmented mercenary with a mechanical feel, and a boss who’s clearly a Belvedere veteran… I’m not sure about Eve. I’ve never seen her in any other outfit.”

Only then did I imagine what the scene might look like when entering the party venue. I hoped the party entrance would be much larger than Vola’s height. The sight of a fully augmented person ducking to enter… would probably attract attention.

“Be careful not to let Kay be treated like a lost child, and also…”

Seeing Tina talking as if she wanted to be there… I sometimes wonder if it’s right for someone harmless like Nadia to have to live in hiding like this.

Because they might harm someone. I always carry Little Misdeed. A gun-like object that’s unlike a pistol—it holds twenty-one rounds, can be loaded with reinforced bullets, and empties its magazine in an instant when fired in rapid succession.

I was able to enter Panacea Medtech’s headquarters wearing this. Was I incapable of harming others? Even a mutant with dysplasia couldn’t have harmed more people than I could.

Especially when I heard Ms. Nadia’s voice saying “Enjoy my share too without going through the computing assist.” This… even to me it seemed strange.

A moment later, Manager Yoon arrived, and I handed him the Christmas party invitation. His eyebrows moved slightly, and he responded somewhat cryptically:

“Miracle children… is this what I think it is? That, well, during the administrative team terror incident…”

He spoke quite cautiously since it related to personal matters, but for me it wasn’t difficult to talk about. It certainly wasn’t something I avoided. It’s a memory I’m proud of.

“Yes, it’s about the returned children purchased by Belvedere. I’m one of those children. People from Panacea Medtech prefer these kinds of… terms.”

“Panacea Medtech has always been that kind of company. And now I understand why Arthur doesn’t seem like a new employee, and why he seems like he’s already worked at Night Watch for a year.”

“Because my tenure at Belvedere wasn’t 6 months but 22 years?”

“No need to say more. Do you have a suit?”

Around that time, the rest of the employees arrived. Eve was only a few minutes late, that’s all. Everyone seemed to know they wouldn’t see each other for a while. Especially Eve, who would know she wouldn’t see us for even longer.

I also sent Kay a message saying she didn’t need to worry about the Non-Human Liberation Front. This allowed her, who had almost darkened in expression, to join in the party conversation.

Enzo, who had been quietly listening to the suit conversation, cleared his throat once, then spoke in a slightly trembling voice:

“I, I also have plans on Christmas… so I don’t think I can attend… but I’ll let you know about a good tailor who makes bulletproof suits. If, if you have time today, let’s go together.”

So it seemed I would end up going with all five of them. Even just Eve would have been fine, but it would be proof that I was doing well, so it was definitely not something to refuse.

There was a reason Manager Yoon preferred bulletproof suits over combat gear. No matter how much they were called mercenaries, they needed to be courteous when making contracts. Appearances were the basics of courtesy.

For Manager Yoon, who handled direct client contact while being both a field and rear support person, a suit was better. As someone who would be making individual contracts as a freelancer, I would need to get used to this too.

What a wide world it is. Sometimes it doesn’t seem to have expanded much, but then occasionally I get this sense of being in a much broader place. I try to adapt to this unfamiliar feeling. It was just strange.

I’ve already adapted to Night Watch, which isn’t Belvedere. I just need to adapt to life outside of Night Watch. Consider all situations and adapt. It wasn’t Belvedere’s saying, but it’s useful advice.

And only then did I remember that there was one more person at Night Watch. Ms. Mila came running up the stairs hurriedly, bowing her head with that characteristic smile that was more bright than friendly.

“Um, I’m not late, am I? I memorized the map, but it still takes quite a while to get here from the net cafe with this body! I also slept in late thinking I only needed to be here at 8 PM…”

I couldn’t understand what was complicated about it, but there was no need for confusion at this point. Manager Yoon pushed an invitation to her as well and said:

“It would have been fine if you came at 8 PM. For emergency calls, we send the time specifically, so don’t worry and come in. But why did you go to a net cafe? You have a computing assist.”

“Ah, yes! I have a computing assist but not enough money for a home. A computing assist is cheaper than a home, right?”

Didn’t I mention this? I probably thought she would tell you herself since it’s personal information. Manager Yoon sighed, then got up and took Ms. Mila to the night duty room where I had stayed before.

Nadia would be holding her breath. I wonder if Mila could become friends with Nadia. I was able to, and Mila was twice as bright a person as me, so it should be entirely possible. That’s what I believed.

Talk of homes goes around. When something good happens, Ms. Mila smiles literally from ear to ear. It was amazing how someone who grew up in the most polluted wasteland could have the most untainted smile.

Eve stared at that sight for a while, then leaned against me. Before she could speak, I said in a slightly teasing tone:

“Should I look away from there?”

Knowing that no matter how much force she used I wouldn’t feel pain, Eve jabbed my stomach with her elbow. The shock absorption function works well.

“It’s not like that. I just think it’s amazing. Why are there so many amazing people in the world, Arthur?”

“Maybe it’s just that everyone, including you, is amazing.”

“There’s a counterexample. I don’t want to say who.”

“That’s because they don’t count as people.”

Eve chuckled at my words. She snuggled a bit to find a comfortable position while leaning on me and said:

“When I’m with you, everything becomes this simple. That’s good enough for me. Really.”

Around that time, Ms. Mila returned after deciding to stay in the night duty room. Only then did I give her the party invitation. Upon receiving it, she literally jumped up.

“I, I’ve always wanted to go to a place like this! I’ve lived my whole life in the wasteland among piles of books, so I’ve been curious about life among people! It’ll be a wonderful night, right? Though I don’t have clothes suitable for such a night…”

She naturally grabbed and pulled at the skin on the back of her hand. While the body could be called clothing in a way, normal people don’t change their bodies to go to parties. She was indeed a person with many inexperienced aspects.

The most important thing to review this year seemed to be the death experience center story, which I had also received as a training preset before. Night Watch had even looked for new employees because of that place.

The sight of people who had experienced death hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of times and no longer feared pain was chilling even just to see in virtual reality. Yet I recall it again.

In contrast, there were plenty of people who didn’t have clothes to wear to the party, so today’s schedule naturally became shopping. I was starting to appreciate that Night Watch wasn’t a big company.

The first place we arrived at was the tailor shop recommended by Enzo. It had an owner who seemed more familiar with bulletproof fabric than suit material, but it was still Enzo’s recommendation.

Manager Yoon said that since it was my first suit, I needed to choose properly, and even powered up his sniper eye implant. The result was indeed good. I chose a dark blue suit that only showed blue when it reflected light.

Being a custom suit for mercenaries, the waistband was a bit thicker to accommodate holsters, and the basic components included two holsters.

The tailor asked what company made the pistol I usually used, and I drew Little Misdeed from my waist, removed the magazine, and handed it to him.

As he took the matte black pistol, twice the size of a normal gun, he almost dropped it. Surprised by the unexpected weight, he held it with both hands and said with a bewildered expression:

“Whoa, I almost dropped it. Wait, this… how many kilograms is this thing?”

“With the magazine removed, it’s probably in the high 2kg range? That’s about the weight of a carbine made by Belvedere.”

I lightly tapped the matte black plate on the back of my hand to indicate it had been modified. He activated another printer behind the counter.

“I almost dropped the pistol, so I’ll make you some skin to cover that hand. If you’re going to a formal event in a suit, it’s better to cover modified parts. Nearly gave me a heart attack…”

Soon, three printers in the tailor shop began fabricating the bulletproof lining for my suit, two holsters for Little Misdeed, and artificial skin to cover the back of my hand. The artificial skin finished first.

It didn’t look particularly pleasant, like a sheet of human skin being printed out dry, and watching him outline the cutting lines and process it to fit the back of my hand was awkward, but the result wasn’t bad.

As Enzo had introduced him, he was an excellent tailor. The skin covered the back of my hand perfectly. After about an hour, the suit was also completed. It was heavier than ordinary clothes because of the bulletproof lining.

It’s even a bit heavier than combat gear. That’s because it has an outer layer to make it look like a suit rather than just being body armor. With the skin properly covering the back of my hand and holsters at my waist… now I looked ready for a party.