Ch.197Work Record #030 – Superior Human Party (2)

For the next week, it was a series of comfortable duties. While the city hadn’t changed and neither had the work, the people certainly had.

Ms. Eve no longer pictured Reverend Bill Weaver’s face when pulling the trigger for work. She could now willingly point her gun at criminals and shoot them right before their eyes.

Kay no longer spilled countless meaningless words soaked in anxiety. After erasing the blemish she had created herself, all that remained was an exceptional hacker skilled enough to breach Belwether.

I was the one who told her to become an IT specialist rather than a hacker, but that too seemed to be wrong advice. It would be fair to say that if I gave Kay a hundred words of advice, ninety-nine of them were probably wrong.

By acknowledging that, I could at least make it true that I had given her one good piece of advice. I had such trivial thoughts when finishing my last job early Wednesday morning.

Just a little, though. Not enough to interfere with work. The kill authorization finally came through for the criminals I had only subdued earlier. I pulled the trigger, and my final task before the party was complete.

After tucking the small evil deed into my waistband, I lightly jumped over the rooftop railing. Free-falling while surrendering to gravity was more comfortable than one might think, but if you completely give in, you’ll fall headfirst.

Dispersing the impact was my enhanced body’s job. I landed in a comfortable position, but… Ms. Eve was right in front of me, staring with a blank expression. She lightly tapped my helmet and said:

“Arthur, it seems like you’re jumping off buildings more and more frequently these days. Didn’t I tell you not to act so recklessly just because you’re sturdy?”

“You know what it’s like inside that building, right? I just didn’t want to come out smelling like metal.”

Ms. Eve removed my helmet and ruffled my hair as if to mess it up, which saved me from further questioning.

“Ah, Vola said she’d take me to some kind of mod party tomorrow. Would you like to come along, Ms. Eve? You know that even though I might look like a pure human, my modification ratio exceeds 100%.”

Strictly speaking, it was 98%, but people who frequently modified themselves typically added up all their modifications when talking about ratios. Even Vola only claimed her modification ratio was 97% in front of Talos.

It wasn’t simply about showing off credentials. The difference between mods and pure humans was just a matter of mindset, aside from the slight capital difference. A high ratio signified strong resolve.

It meant you had no aversion to replacing your body parts as needed. Whatever the purpose of modification might be, you agreed with the act of modification itself.

Ms. Eve flexed her hands and looked up at me. With her two hands that felt similar to flesh, she cupped my cheeks and gently pressed and stretched my not-so-soft cheeks.

“Arthur, you’re someone who needs some rest, but since we now have someone to comfort the Creek escapees, I’d like to continue working a bit more… Just don’t bring only women.”

It was her usual half-joking concern, and not something to worry about so much… probably. Almost certainly… No, that’s not right. “Probably” fits better.

I was still wearing my gunpowder-scented combat uniform, but Ms. Eve didn’t seem to mind as she held my helmet and wrapped her arm around my neck, standing on tiptoe to gently press her forehead against mine.

By now, Ms. Eve no longer blushed at such gestures. I lifted her until her toes barely touched the ground and enjoyed the feeling of our lips meeting. Her body temperature no longer felt so cold to me.

It was still cooler than a familiar body temperature. Of course, it was naturally cooler than when we were in bed with her arms around my neck and me holding her, our body temperatures mingling, but I consciously felt a bit of longing.

When you enjoy pleasure, the world becomes quite beautiful. You can feel hungry looking at cans full of synthetic food, and find meaning in life when waking up to a smog-filled sky in the morning.

“You know this isn’t a party for looking at women, right? Ah, in that sense… I don’t want to lose next weekend to the Creek escapees either. It’s okay to be that greedy, right?”

“Now you’re finally becoming as greedy as you usually claim to be. Yes, next weekend is yours. After all… we both know we’ll have plenty to do before work after this weekend ends, right?”

We were both quite fit. We recovered our energy quickly with just a little rest. Neither of us was particularly inclined to refuse, either.

I had thought about cutting back a bit, but that was merely a passing thought. I wasn’t the type to deny myself pleasure unnecessarily.

After finishing the last job of the week, I returned home. Arthur-2 was already asleep. The outline of a gun bulging from under her pillow was faintly visible.

She’s quite honest. She growls when threatened and keeps weapons close when anxious. Was I like that too? At the very least, keeping a gun by my pillow while sleeping… I probably had done that.

Though we seem quite different, we’re the same people when it comes down to it. I sighed once, headed to bed, and got some brief rest. I needed at least minimal rest before the party.

In the morning, I put on the suit I had prepared for the Christmas party. After running my hand over the artificial skin on the back of my hand, I tucked the small evil deed into my waistband, and my preparations were complete.

I definitely needed to buy a car. Not every place could be visited in jeans and a jacket, and there were quite a few issues with riding a motorcycle in formal attire.

Who would have thought I’d have dignity maintenance expenses in my life? While adjusting my clothes, I connected to an incoming communication from Vola.

The fixed message on the connected channel indicating she was driving meant I wouldn’t need to take a taxi.

“You up, Boogeyman? You don’t seem like the type to still be rubbing your eyes, so get dressed properly and come down to the parking lot! Your apartment parking lot, that is.”

She’s quite informal for someone proposing a party. I won’t deny that this made me more inclined to go.

“How many hours do we need to travel that you brought a car? I’d prefer to go by car if possible.”

“It’s nearby, man. Besides, why would a freelancer who would make Pathfinder employees scramble out in panic just by entering an airport be concerned about taking a plane?”

“Ah. It’s not that I’m concerned about planes. It’s just that even a Post-Human Type IV would feel terrible going to work on Friday after taking two flights in two days.”

I left a message for Arthur-2 saying I was going out and got on the elevator. The elevator stopped once on the way, and I made eye contact with a man and woman with guns at their waists… but they didn’t get on.

Only after I held the door open button and gestured for them to get on comfortably did they finally board with expressions that suggested they were extremely uncomfortable. Belwether’s freelancers didn’t point guns at people just because they looked suspicious.

Well… if encountering a freelancer first thing in the morning was a bad omen, and if they went the whole day without doing anything bad, especially without pointing guns at anyone, that would be good. I hope so.

I found Vola’s pickup truck in the parking lot and got into the passenger seat. The passenger seat was incredibly spacious, as expected of a pickup truck large enough to accommodate a full-body cyborg.

“Good thing I had you get a suit. Ah, our destination is the Farmers Company headquarters. We mods like green too, man. In fact, those of us who’ve replaced everything with machines particularly love green.”

Even Vola didn’t drink cyborg operating oil from a metal cup. Mods were still people, after all.

Still, I couldn’t deny that it would be quite an amusing combination, so I didn’t hold back my laughter as I said:

“It sounds like modern art. Hydroponically grown plants, grass, and us tin-can humans standing on top of it.”

“Ah, damn it. Don’t use words that fleshies use, Boogeyman! You know what happens when people who couldn’t replace their hearts with cybernetics but replaced their fists with machines get their feelings hurt, right?”

Vola seemed to be making a weak joke, then mimicked throwing a heavy punch into the air. She wore a full-body cyborg frame that could generate strength similar to mine.

Of course, there were big differences beyond strength. Type IV was light and agile due to its biological tissue, and could self-repair through natural healing up to a certain level, making it essentially a full-body cyborg.

As the car started moving, we soon headed toward the familiar downtown scenery. Downtown had more security teams than usual. It wasn’t just Belwether’s security teams either.

I occasionally saw Belwether’s security teams in white uniforms chatting with Pathfinder’s security teams in dark purple uniforms.

According to Vola, the people in purple weren’t Pathfinder’s security team but their escort team. They seemed heavily armed for a chairman’s escort team, but there would probably be proper closed-type reinforced suits at the party venue.

We headed toward the familiar Farmers Company headquarters. The building with its subtle green glow often reflected scenery that embodied Farmers Company’s ideals—landscapes where everything was tinted green.

We passed the main building used by employees and headed toward another building connected to the main one by a skybridge at the upper levels. Farmers Company’s headquarters always had that organic, tissue-like appearance.

Only then did I understand where Vola had brought me. In front of Farmers Company’s event building stood their security team in heavy closed-type reinforced suits.

Nearby, Pathfinder’s chairman’s escort team in purple closed-type reinforced suits—with leg parts reinforced two or three times—had formed a perimeter… just as Vola had said.

After getting out of the car in front of the building, I climbed the stairs with Vola. I was momentarily grateful that I wasn’t timid enough to tremble while passing through the security teams in reinforced suits.

The entrance to the green-tinted skyscraper opened, and I began to see metal detectors and cyborg scanners prepared in front of the building’s largest hall.

While trying not to look around too obviously, Vola whistled once to catch my attention. Pathfinder’s executives came into view.

The chairman was… quite elderly. Unlike Mr. Günter, who had replaced his entire body with an enhanced body and machinery to regain his youth, he was a genuinely old man, frail and aged, looking about as old as he appeared.

Yet he was filled with a certain confidence that made him look like the chairman of a mega-corporation. The small old man appeared to be the biggest person in the hall.

Around him were three women and one man. They must be the Pathfinder chairman’s children that Vola had mentioned. I made eye contact with one of the chairman’s daughters.

She noticed us entering and gestured lightly to those around her. The closed-type reinforced suits standing near the chairman, who was talking with the party host, moved aside to let us pass.

Even if this wasn’t their own city, the family of a mega-corporation chairman was still the family of a mega-corporation chairman. They had almost no reason to worry about conveniences or gazes around them.

A mental communication connected with Vola, and both of us spoke only in our minds without opening our mouths. I didn’t particularly want to talk about the chairman’s family in front of his escort team.

“What did I tell you, Boogeyman? These are the kind of people I meant. They seemed just your type, so I thought, ah, I should bring you… They look pretty good, right?”

Following Vola’s gaze, I saw she was looking at the chairman’s daughter I had just made eye contact with. She was short, with fairly long blonde hair, wearing a dark purple suit. She even had a personal bodyguard nearby.

Her impression seemed gentle, but… well, not all Belwether LA branch team leaders exuded an “I’m a dangerous person” aura from their faces either. It’s best not to judge by appearances.

‘Not bad. They seem like decent people to make friends with.’

Vola output a laugh. It was the kind of laugh that seemed to ask if I was really thinking about making friends with mega-corporation aristocrats. I shrugged briefly and approached them as the chairman’s escort team cleared the area.

The Pathfinder chairman’s daughter with whom I had briefly made eye contact blocked my path momentarily and gave an awkward smile. When she smiled, her eyes narrowed to look like a smile emoticon. Not very aristocratic.

“It seems the internal preparations aren’t complete yet, so we can’t enter. Our Pathfinder Company is sponsoring and even hosting this time, so we came early… but I guess we came too early.”

“When you say ‘our Pathfinder Company’… would it be too cliché if I dragged out those words as if to say, ‘I had no idea who you were until now’?”

She giggled at my words. Her lips twitched as she composed her laughter, then she nodded energetically.

“It would be quite cliché. I’m Sophie Lipman, second daughter of Paul Lipman, chairman of Pathfinder. And you are?”

“Arthur Murphy, regular employee of the mercenary company Nightwatch. I feel quite the status difference between us.”

Her purple-tinted artificial eyes blinked briefly, and she covered her mouth with her hand as she giggled again. Conversely, her bodyguard standing beside her, dressed in a suit without the purple tint, seemed to become more wary of me.

“You didn’t lie. Regular employee Arthur Murphy of the mercenary company Nightwatch and… Belwether-certified freelancer with the callsign Boogeyman. I think I’ll call you Boogeyman.”

She pointed at her bodyguard with her palm and chuckled. The name Arthur wasn’t that rare.

“He’s also Arthur. His surname is a bit unusual, so he prefers to be called by his first name. He’s my personal bodyguard.”

That was also why Arthur-2 didn’t need to abandon the name Arthur. It was truly a common name.

I extended my hand to the other Arthur as well, and we briefly shook hands while I made eye contact with his wary expression inside his helmet. His wariness didn’t diminish at all.

“Our company has another Arthur too. His surname is Solverson. Ah, fortunately, the full-body cyborg mercenary who came with me isn’t named Arthur, so don’t worry. It’s not that common, right?”

“If there were three people called Arthur, I might have gotten dizzy. If the person next to you was also named Arthur, I would have been spinning in circles! Well, I’m glad the first person I met at the party is a good person!”

We shook hands lightly. Thanks to Vola driving me here early because she wanted me to see the party sooner, I was at least able to converse with a corporate aristocrat who seemed quite humane.