Ch.1212. Punk City and the Human Boy
by fnovelpia
Christmas Eve was a white Christmas, just as the weather bureau had predicted.
So white that the roads were blocked.
“This isn’t a white Christmas, it’s a white disaster.”
Sonia, who heard Amon’s muttering, nodded in agreement beside him.
The snow that had started falling a week ago continued until Christmas Eve.
Thanks to this, the younger children at the orphanage were having what amounted to a festival.
For young children, snow is always heaven’s most welcome gift.
But for those who had to clear it, snow was a curse and garbage by its very existence.
Most people realize this when they return from military service or get a part-time job.
However, Amon, Sonia, and the other older children at the orphanage tended to realize this truth relatively early.
That’s because they had to clear the snow with shovels and brooms.
Even Sonia, who had been excited about this year’s white Christmas, found herself cursing the snow as garbage falling from the sky after about two hours of shoveling.
When the massive snow removal truck, comparable to a tank, passed by clearing snow, the children quickly pushed the snow from inside the orphanage onto the public road in front of it.
In Colorado state, where snow fell at an insane rate, this was the most efficient snow removal method.
Clear it to the side of the road?
Who knows how long and how much snow would fall?
Moreover, with the climate already destroyed by environmental damage, waiting to clear the snow later was absolutely not an option.
Because of this, the city’s snow removal method was for citizens to throw snow onto the road, and then snow removal vehicles connected to subspace would sweep it away.
In the process, there were many accidents where people couldn’t avoid approaching snow removal vehicles, but in a world where thousands of people die from gunshots every day, nobody cared.
Fortunately, this tragedy did not visit the orphanage.
Thanks to Amon and Sonia’s thorough safety control and the children’s cooperation, they were able to continue snow removal without accidents.
However, not “all” children were cooperative.
Among them were children who disliked Amon’s instructions and did as they pleased.
Most of them were Jimmy and his followers.
The reason they didn’t have accidents despite this was because they not only disobeyed Amon’s safety instructions but also didn’t participate in snow removal work at all.
They only came out with shovels and brooms because they were interested in the special snacks that came after snow removal, but they didn’t actually clear any snow.
They just huddled in a corner, giggling among themselves.
Amon left them alone with a sense of resignation.
‘Fine. It’s something that they’re not interfering with the work.’
Anyway, Jimmy and the others would soon graduate from the orphanage.
Even in the military, they don’t make senior sergeants work, so there was no need to force them to work.
Amon could just do more work himself.
‘Even if the world changes, military hierarchy doesn’t go away.’
Amon comforted himself like that and continued working.
Of course, he was angry too, and if he had his way, he would have liked to flatten their heads with a shovel.
Amon was not a saint.
But, nevertheless.
He forgave them.
Thinking of the goddess who loved him, and constantly reminding himself how blessed he was, he forgave them.
‘Those bastards. When we go back, I won’t put syrup in their hot chocolate.’
With a bit of petty revenge mixed in, Amon forgave them anyway.
In any case, after the morning snow removal time ended, the children returned to the orphanage.
Since the snow removal vehicle only came to the street where the orphanage was located during the morning, there was no point in clearing snow in the afternoon.
They returned indoors, warming themselves by the heater and chatting with their younger siblings.
“Big brother! I want to clear snow like you too!”
Amon could only smile bitterly at one child’s words.
That’s the kind of thing an 8-year-old would say.
At that age, snow removal work would look easy.
But they didn’t know that even an hour of continuous shoveling would make your mind go fuzzy.
After all, at 8 years old, snow would still look like a toy rather than garbage.
Amon couldn’t bring himself to ask for the child’s help, and instead vaguely said they would get to do it when they grew up.
While surrounded by younger siblings, thawing his mind with sweet hot chocolate, someone came to the orphanage.
‘Who could it be? Who would come through this heavy snowfall?’
He couldn’t think of anyone.
First of all, it wouldn’t be a civil servant checking on the safety of the orphans.
If civil servants worked that diligently, the city wouldn’t look the way it did.
A robber?
Never.
Robbery is done to make a living, but on days like this, attempting robbery would likely result in getting stranded.
Besides, there wouldn’t be any point in robbing an orphanage anyway.
He also considered documentary film crews or cult missionary activities, but dismissed these candidates as well.
Breaking through this heavy snow meant either having a desperate purpose or being someone who only comes when it snows.
The most likely possibility was a police officer coming to issue a fine for insufficient snow removal.
In fact, about two years ago, there was a police officer who came to issue a fine because the snow wasn’t cleared.
Originally, it wasn’t illegal not to clear snow for 24 hours after the snow removal vehicle passed.
After all, you can’t expect people to clear snow endlessly.
But that police officer issued a fine anyway.
Partly because he needed to meet his quota, and partly because he thought the orphanage director wouldn’t know the law well.
The officer harassed the director with an implied threat that if she didn’t want to pay the fine, she should offer a bribe.
Unfortunately for him, he tucked his tail and left due to the director’s sharp legal knowledge.
Incidentally, that police officer was found dead in someone else’s front yard the next day after trying the same trick at several houses.
That’s because the person he tried to threaten happened to be a gang executive.
Anyway, back to the story.
Since there was a precedent, it was highly likely this time too.
No, it wasn’t just likely—it was certain.
At least, whoever was coming to the orphanage through this snow probably wasn’t a good person.
With that expectation, Amon focused on the entrance.
What kind of person would come through that door?
While waiting by the heater with a view of the entrance, a nun soon opened the door.
What appeared when the door opened was a man in a suit who looked every bit like a sales representative.
He was a bit far away so details weren’t clear, but there was a corporate badge on his chest.
‘Which company?’
It was an unfamiliar company.
Although Amon could recognize most major corporations just by their colors or silhouettes, he didn’t know this badge.
‘Well, mountains change in fifty years, so I guess it’s natural.’
This wasn’t the first unfamiliar company he’d seen since coming to this world, so it wasn’t a particularly important issue.
Amon focused on the sales representative who was talking with the nun at the entrance.
Though he couldn’t hear the content, the fact that the sales representative kept bowing his head to the nun gave the impression that he wasn’t a bad person.
‘No, snap out of it, Amon. This is cyberpunk.’
Cyberpunk Rule #2:
There are no good corporations.
Especially, the larger the corporation, the infinitely lower the probability of it being good.
In this world, a corporation is not much different from “a gang with the power to ignore law and public authority.”
So that sales representative could be seen as a gang member who dresses nicely, has insurance, and is protected by law.
‘A person like that bowing his head?’
Absolutely not.
There’s absolutely no way it could be with good intentions.
Amon kept his eyes fixed on the sales representative with certainty.
While doing so, the director took the sales representative to the reception room.
After a while, the director with a kind smile and the sales representative came out of the reception room.
The atmosphere between the two was unmistakably warm even from a distance.
As Amon was doubting his own assumptions, the director and the sales representative approached the heater.
The children warming their hands by the heater and those warming their hearts with hot chocolate noticed the two approaching and turned their attention to them.
They all raised their guard at the appearance of the unfamiliar sales representative, but seeing the director with a benevolent smile beside him, they lowered their guard.
If she trusted this person, then he must be trustworthy.
That’s how deep the director’s trust ran.
Amon was also in a situation where he seriously had to violate one of his absolute rules: never trust a corporate person.
While he was contemplating his beliefs, the orphanage director introduced the sales representative with a kind smile.
“This is a representative from Higgjen Transport, which donated items to the orphanage before.”
Higgjen Transport.
The children who heard this gasped.
It was a natural reaction when a mega-corporation that controlled the American distribution industry suddenly appeared.
Conversely, Amon’s eyebrows narrowed even more.
It was too suspicious.
Why would a corporation of that size come to an orphanage through this snow?
His question was soon resolved thanks to the director’s explanation that followed.
“It seems there was a haunted item among the donated goods from before, and he came to discuss compensation for it. If you tell him what kind of damage you suffered, he will assess the extent of the damage and provide compensation. This corporation has been consistently donating for several years. I vouch for him, so please trust him and speak freely.”
Only after hearing that did Amon understand.
Cyberpunk Rule #1:
Generally, money and transactions do not lie.
Therefore, this corporate person has come with at least good intentions.
***
Generally, money and transactions do not lie.
This rule precedes all other cyberpunk rules and is an absolute law.
This was an absolute rule that everyone had to acknowledge even when Amon posted it on a community in his previous life.
Of course, some people questioned it.
– Huh? Don’t corporations kill customers to silence them?
But this comment misunderstood the rule.
Nowhere in that rule does it say that corporations never betray customer trust.
To be clear, it says money doesn’t lie.
Applying the rule to that comment, corporations weigh whether killing a customer or compensating them and letting them go is more financially beneficial, and act accordingly.
What if the corporation is a defense contractor?
They can kill customers without problems.
They’re confident they won’t get caught, they have the force, and even if they’re caught, while there would be image damage, it wouldn’t be more costly than keeping the customer alive.
But what if the corporation is an insurance company or a security company?
They can’t kill customers.
Those are corporations that survive on an image of saving people.
Killing a customer might be beneficial in the short term, but if by any chance it’s discovered, the image damage would be beyond imagination.
Who would want to entrust their life to a company that kills its customers?
They would certainly suffer losses greater than what they were trying to silence.
So rather than killing customers, they prepare enough money to silence them, and only take action when they absolutely have to.
As a result, in transactions where money or equivalent items are exchanged, no one betrays the other.
Unless the other party is a psycho or too stubborn for it to make sense, Rule #1 is absolute.
The director’s easy trust in the sales representative and Amon’s opening his heart to him were both based on this rule.
They say a ghost possessed an item donated by the distribution company.
The image damage this fact could bring would be beyond imagination.
And killing orphans to silence this fact would be too inefficient.
Therefore, it’s much more beneficial to settle this as an unfortunate accident and finish with a heartwarming image of having compensated for it.
Moreover, there was another reason that only Amon knew.
‘It’s probably because of me and Sonia.’
A mega-corporation like Higgjen Transport would be operating its own independent information network.
They probably knew that there were Divine Power holders in this orphanage.
So they had been consistently building goodwill through donations for several years.
And if all those years of effort were to go to waste because of a single(?) haunted vase, they’d be too upset to sleep.
Combining this logic, it fully explained why a person at the level of a corporate manager was wearing a sales representative suit and came all the way here through this snow.
Whether it was a department head or a president, they must have really pressured him.
As evidence, traces of fatigue were evident under his eyes.
‘Poor man.’
Amon, who had worked at a black company that made him do night shifts for two days straight, felt compassion for the manager.
However, compassion and forgiveness were different stories.
After all the trouble that haunted vase had caused.
He wanted to demand compensation for psychological damage.
Unfortunately, in a situation where he had to hide that he was a Divine Power holder, he couldn’t say that he exorcised the ghost by hitting it with a Bible.
Amon had to be portrayed as a warrior who physically drove away the ghost.
That’s how the story was edited and told to the sales representative.
His eyes turned to Amon.
‘He probably suspects Divine Power.’
But Amon wasn’t a fool either.
He had already prepared countermeasures.
Amon and Sonia both wore silver anklets under their pants.
When the director first gave them these anklets, saying they would ward off ghosts or bad luck, he thought they might be some kind of germanium bracelet.
But out of respect, he wore the anklet and immediately noticed its effect.
The anklet had the effect of blocking leaking Divine Power.
Amon noticed it because it felt like warm energy couldn’t escape from his feet.
So the representative wouldn’t be able to get anything from this place.
And as Amon predicted, the representative prepared to leave without noticing anything.
He seemed to be somewhat suspicious of Amon, but it was merely circumstantial evidence and he couldn’t reach certainty.
The director hurriedly saw off the puzzled representative.
“Take care on your way back!”
Many children waved their small hands to see him off.
He gave the children an awkward smile and left the orphanage.
***
The representative who left the orphanage walked down the street with his frosted glasses still on.
In the blizzard where he couldn’t see an inch ahead, his steps were dignified.
Beyond the frosted glasses, his eyes glowed red as he looked ahead.
With his hands thrust into his long coat pockets, he muttered toward the empty air.
“Yes. Yes. I confirmed it. Yes. You mean the Mystic Power holder?”
He nodded his head and then, making sure no one could hear, covered his hand with a soundproof glove and whispered.
“I’ve narrowed down the candidates to two. Both were wearing silver anklets.”
With those words, his eyes made a mechanical sound as they readjusted their pupils.
The artificial eyes that seemed to see through everything looked beyond the blizzard.
In the snowstorm where one could easily get stranded, the representative shrugged his shoulders as if joking and said:
“The possibility that it’s both of them? None. You know. Mystic Power holders can only be born one per region. Two Mystic Power holders being born in one city is theoretically impossible.”
Of course, according to his words, it would be difficult to explain the current situation where two people were wearing anklets.
But the representative had already prepared a theory to explain the current situation.
“It seems one of them is a decoy. That… isn’t there such an expression in Japan? Shadow Samurai. Oh, is it called Kagemusha? Yes. That’s what I mean.”
He removed the glove from his mouth again and continued his monologue.
“Yes. I understand. I’ll do as you ordered.”
His monologue ended there.
The representative in the long coat walked into the blizzard.
There was not a hint of hesitation in his steps.
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