Ch.428Feint (4)

Pisces dodged the intruder’s attack to the side, then evaded in the opposite direction. The Screamer’s hand, with hook-shaped blades attached like fingers, embedded into the wall behind her.

After avoiding the first attack, she activated the Nano Spartan module installed in her body. Her human-like female body instantly turned navy blue.

The characteristic of this module is that it dramatically enhances the physical abilities of cyborgs or androids using nano machines. Pisces struck the Screamer’s hand stuck in the wall with her enhanced fist.

“!”

An intense sound tore through the air. Her swinging fist was damaged, and the enemy’s hook claw bent significantly.

This was an unexpected result. Contrary to her intention, the hook claw didn’t break, and instead, the attacking side suffered greater damage.

The attacked Screamer pulled back its bent hook claw and spun its body around. Its tail, attached to its rear, rode the momentum and flew toward her.

Instead of dodging, Pisces activated the shield module implanted in her chest. A purple barrier appeared in front, absorbing the energy contained in the tail.

While defending with the shield, her left arm split open, revealing a hidden plasma rifle.

She tried to counterattack with it but was too late. The Screamer attacked by spewing white flames from an arm with a cylindrical pillar.

That firepower and heat was, by estimation, at least plasma-grade. There was a limit to what the shield could protect. Pisces jumped to the ceiling to avoid the fire.

The expensive carpet on the floor quickly turned to ashes, and the metal walls and floor melted. The entire room instantly became a sea of fire.

Pisces thought that continuing to fight like this was not a good choice.

The High Commissioner’s body is incomparably sturdier than ordinary androids. However, this is only for survival, not for combat.

Just then, the Screamer stopped spewing fire. Steam erupted from pipes rising above its spider-like body. It was cooling down the rapidly increased heat.

This was her chance to escape. There was a usable Monster Walker in the ship’s armory. She needed to get there.

She crawled along the ceiling upside down toward the collapsed wall.

“Where are you going?”

Just as she left the room, a projectile made of psychic power sliced past her back.

While nano machines from the module repaired the damaged area, she ran down the corridor outside the room.

“You cannot escape.”

Behind her came the sharp sound of metal clashing. The Screamer was chasing her, moving its eight legs.

There were many pirates on this huge ship. They would soon appear to capture the creature.

At that moment, multiple footsteps were detected at the end of the corridor ahead. They must be coming to capture the Screamer.

However, the appearance of those who emerged from the front was far from her expectation. Their power suits were covered in blood, and their faces showed clear signs of terror.

“Hurry! We need to escape before it comes… Argh!”

The pirate at the front crumpled like scrap metal in a compactor mid-sentence. Soon after, the others met the same fate. Where the armed pirates had stood, only a pool of red blood remained.

It was a bizarre situation that even the High Commissioner couldn’t comprehend, but one thing was certain.

There was another intruder on this ship besides the Screamer.

Pisces immediately changed her destination. Instead of the armory, she would head to the hangar where the carrier-based aircraft were stored.

With the enemy being stronger than expected, using a Walker would be meaningless. It would be much more rational to escape and hide on a nearby planet.

She took a detour in the middle of the corridor and put strength into her enhanced legs. However, she fell after just a few steps.

“What’s this?”

She looked down at her twisted legs. Despite the nano machines still operating, her broken legs weren’t being repaired. It was because of unidentified amber particles floating around her lower body.

“I told you that you cannot escape.”

The Screamer crawled toward her as she lay fallen. It grabbed and tore off her left arm with the plasma rifle using its bent hook claw.

“Got her?”

“Yes.”

Behind the Screamer, a second intruder appeared.

The identity of the opponent was a female Volf with a bird’s head. Unlike ordinary Volfs, she had wings made of amber particles on her back.

The situation wasn’t good. The particles were blocking the effect of the Nano Spartan module, making escape impossible.

So she modified her plan.

“Tool of the dangerous creature ‘AMorph.’ Pisces Twelve requests negotiation.”

“Negotiation, you say?”

“I presume you came to obtain the core component of ‘Prometheus V2.’ Is that correct?”

“Yes.”

“If you eliminate me, you won’t be able to use the machine even if you find the component.”

The Screamer, which had been menacingly flicking its hook claws, stopped moving at those words.

“What does that mean?”

“Prometheus V2 needs an active High Commissioner to function. Without me, that weapon is useless.”

That’s one of the reasons why Prometheus V2 couldn’t be mass-produced or operated.

With so many more functions added compared to the previous model, it couldn’t be controlled by ordinary ship computers. Only a brain equivalent to a High Commissioner’s could successfully manage it.

The opponent was a Screamer with performance good enough to engage in information warfare with a High Commissioner. It should understand that accepting her proposal would be beneficial.

However, the response once again defied her expectations.

“I know.”

“You know?”

“I confirmed through simulation that a high-performance computer is needed to operate the weapon stably. The identity of the missing component from the warehouse is the operating system of Prometheus V2—you.”

“……”

“If I subdue you and check your memory storage, I can find out how to control it. There’s no need to negotiate.”

The negotiation had failed.

Now there was only one path left for Pisces.

“Incineration protocol activated. 10, 9…”

“Huh? Is this…?”

After Pyrrha Eleven was discarded in the past, all High Commissioners had self-destruct devices implanted. This was to prevent information leakage in case of unforeseen circumstances.

“It’s a self-destruct timer!”

As the countdown began, the data stored in her head was rapidly deleted. Her cognitive abilities also deteriorated rapidly.

Before her brain stopped, the last thing Pisces saw was a mass of cables creeping toward her.

–

“2, 1… Incineration protocol abor, ab, aboooorted.”

“…Phew.”

Sky Mother breathed a sigh of relief as she watched the High Commissioner who had stopped just in time.

‘That was close. The operation almost failed.’

The reason they came here was to retrieve the core component of Prometheus V2, the High Commissioner.

Originally, PS-111 was supposed to infiltrate the ship alone. She was planning to move between various bases set up on the planet with AMorph to fight the rankers.

But that changed because of one question suddenly raised by PS-111.

Namely, whether an ordinary person could easily assemble and disassemble the complexly structured Prometheus V2.

That super weapon is a delicate item that could break or go out of control if a mistake is made during assembly. No matter how necessary it was to keep it out of enemy hands, reassembling it every time it was needed would not be an easy task.

PS-111 speculated that a High Commissioner, or at least someone comparable, was managing Prometheus V2.

It was certainly a plausible hypothesis, so AMorph and she modified their plan at the last minute.

If there was a High Commissioner-level android on the ship, it might be difficult for PS-111 to subdue it alone, so she would go along too.

And their judgment was correct.

“I didn’t expect the High Commissioner to attempt self-destruction though.”

It’s the first time since seeing the mutant Screamer self-destruct in Adhigh Orr’s hometown. Moreover, back then it was 20 seconds, but this time the countdown was only 10 seconds.

If PS-111 hadn’t acted quickly, it would have been disastrous. She expressed her gratitude to PS-111, who had connected its cables to the back of the High Commissioner’s neck.

“Thanks to you, we survived. Thank you.”

“……”

Instead of answering, PS-111 rolled its red camera eyes around.

“What’s wrong?”

“Due to the incineration protocol, 90% of the High Commissioner’s memory data has been lost. The control method for Prometheus V2 has also been deleted.”

“What?”

Sky Mother was startled by the sudden disaster.

“Can’t you recover it? By using the facilities on this ship, perhaps?”

“It’s impossible because it’s been completely erased. Even if some parts could be salvaged, the incomplete memory would be more harmful than helpful.”

PS-111 seemed to regret this outcome as well, as it began stabbing the High Commissioner with its hook claws.

“We came here to get a super weapon, but it’s unfortunate.”

“Yes.”

“Still, we eliminated the variable of the High Commissioner… Huh? What are you doing now?”

“So I’m changing the plan.”

She thought it was venting its frustration, but that wasn’t it. PS-111 was in the process of disassembling the High Commissioner’s body.

“I will transplant Pisces’ components into my body and try to control Prometheus V2.”

“What? Is that possible?”

“Yes. Although the memory storage device is damaged, some of the data processing units remain. If I connect my brain to it, it should be usable.”

Sky Mother is not a technician. However, she could tell that the method PS-111 proposed would not be easy.

“…What if it fails? You said before that if handled incorrectly, the weapon could go out of control and explode.”

“That possibility cannot be ruled out.”

“And you’re still going to attempt it?”

“But if successful, I can become an enhanced being compared to now.”

PS-111 nodded and continued the disassembly work while speaking.

“My goal was to discover who I am. To achieve this, I need to protect those who know about a part of me, ‘Penelope’.”

“So you need to become stronger? To protect us?”

“Yes. I believe the middle child would understand my decision.”

“……”

Sky Mother met the other’s red eyes with her amber ones.

They were eyes made of camera lenses. Normally, one shouldn’t be able to read any emotion from them, but somehow she felt differently. She sensed the emotion of ‘conviction’ in those red eyes.

“Seeing how determined you are, you must be confident you won’t fail. Is there anything I can help with?”

“Please prepare to descend to the planet immediately after I complete the transplant.”

“Understood.”

With that, Sky Mother left to capture the bridge.

“I will not fail.”

Left alone, PS-111 looked at Pisces’ computing unit that it had just extracted and reaffirmed its determination.