Ch.51Work Record #010 – Routine Corporate Dispute (2)

“Ah, before we depart, could I get voice samples from both of you? I’m installing a voice module, and if I can mimic your voices, it would help disrupt N-Enter’s mercenaries.”

I lightly tapped the voice module wrapped around my neck instead of a microphone before putting on my mask. Mr. PD looked at me with a slight gleam in his eyes.

Ordinary office workers often admire mercenaries. And mercenaries, in turn, often admire ordinary office workers. After seeing him nod, I pressed the microphone button near my collarbone and spoke.

“Preset one.”

I gestured lightly, indicating he should speak. Mr. PD cleared his throat once before starting.

“Well, I could say anything… Right. I’m Pavilidi Leon, a general researcher at Farmers Co. Wasteland Restoration Research Institute. Um, I’m participating in this mission for field research on plant species, and I’ll be traveling safely with an escort. And… hmm. Working at Farmers Co. is great because you get to eat real poke?”

His speech was disorganized and his tone kept changing, but that would actually improve the quality of the voice mimicry. After waiting sufficiently, I removed my finger from the button. While waiting for the voice analysis to complete, I smiled and said:

“There’s nothing better than a company that takes good care of food, clothing, and shelter. I’m a bit envious of the poke. Ah, preset one.”

As I spoke, the voice module wrapped around my neck like a neck warmer began to vibrate slightly. It was adjusting my vocal cords entirely. I tested my voice lightly.

“Ah, ah. Confirming normal operation…”

What came out of my mouth was almost identical to his voice. There was a slight sense of uncanniness, but very minimal. I nodded with satisfaction.

“It seems to be working. Thank you. Could you call your assistant as well?”

Mr. Enzo sighed deeply after seeing the voice module working properly. If I had to pick the most considerate person among my colleagues, it would definitely be Mr. Enzo.

While I was taking some time to capture the assistant’s voice too, a delivery drone flew in and dropped a large box in front of Mr. Enzo. After he signed on the drone’s screen, it flew away.

“Black, black uniforms are generally good, but in the daytime wasteland, they’re rather cons-conspicuous. I ordered this as soon as I received CEO Yoon’s contact, and it arrived on time… Please change into this, Arthur.”

Inside the box he handed me was not the black uniform I was currently wearing, but a combat uniform painted in desert camouflage for the wasteland. It even had a similar texture to the dry wasteland, and included a face mask and ballistic mask as well.

“Ah, I should be paying for something like this… Please deduct it from my salary. It’s something I need.”

Mr. Enzo was always exceptional at helping ensure necessary things were in the right hands at the right time. But he shook his head again.

“The proportion of wasteland operations in Night Watch’s work is incr-increasing, so this is also about improving work efficiency. You only need to cover 40%.”

I almost gave a Bellwether-style salute but settled for a slight bow instead, then changed in the institute’s employee locker room. Now I looked like I could blend into the wasteland if I lay down. It was a satisfying appearance.

The carbine’s body was still black, but at least I could change the attachments to desert color. That would make it less noticeable, especially on a hot day like today when heat haze was visible.

After leaving the locker room and placing my black uniform in the box, I put on my mask. Then I put on the ballistic mask with its mix of gray and light brown wasteland colors. Now I was ready to work.

This time the van was a bit short on space, but since CEO Yoon and Eve would disembark first to take up sniper positions, there wasn’t much to worry about.

I boarded the van with more passengers than usual, and we left the underground parking garage connected to Farmers Co. headquarters. The net was reflected in Kay and CEO Yoon’s eyes. CEO Yoon’s eyes were fixed on empty space as she spoke only with her mouth.

“We’re preparing for electronic warfare, but if our communications start getting intercepted, I’ll say ‘I’ll regroup.’ In that situation, you two from Farmers Co. shouldn’t say anything over comms, and Arthur will create a diversion by broadcasting fake positions using your voices while taking a detour. After that, what you need to do is the same as usual.”

Kill the office workers. If we just killed the office workers protected in the rear, Vola would be able to move much more freely. A massive weaponized full-body prosthetic, 2.4 meters tall, would be unleashed.

“After eliminating the office workers, I’ll push from the rear flank. Just be careful of crossfire.”

“I’m glad you understand so quickly. Rifleman number one…”

CEO Yoon didn’t call Eve by name this time either, but Eve responded as if it wasn’t necessary.

“Eve is fine. I prefer to keep things concise.”

CEO Yoon’s gaze seemed to briefly fall on me before she continued with the operation briefing. I never hoped she wouldn’t know about us spending the holiday together, but I felt like scratching my cheek a bit awkwardly.

But I was already wearing the ballistic mask. I awkwardly tapped the mask a couple of times before lowering my hand.

“Very well. Ms. Eve, please handle detection and escort duties around me. I always trust your keen eye. Ms. Vola, you already know what to do, right?”

Vola, with her additional armor plates installed, nodded slightly. With only a quarter of her head remaining human-like, she resembled a combat drone.

“Once the electronic warfare threat is neutralized, I’ll mow down everything at the front. I’ve also loaded smoke grenades in the projectile launcher on my shoulder, so there’s no need to worry about client protection.”

She truly was a weaponized full-body prosthetic incarnate.

The vehicle climbed into the wasteland. Soon we left the properly paved road and began driving directly on the wasteland terrain. The off-road tires made for a bumpy ride. Kay, who was checking the surroundings, spoke up.

“Tina, stop for a moment. These bastards have even scattered mines. They look like unmanned mines, just a sec… These usually use a basic system that can be cracked with a simple multi-purpose remote… Wait! I think I can track them!”

I wondered how she could deduce the mercenary company’s location just by looking at buried mines, when a hologram window appeared above the wall separating the driver’s seat from the passenger compartment. Information about the mines Kay had accessed appeared.

It seemed they weren’t buried by hand but fired and buried using a mine launcher. Each mine displayed how far it had traveled and where it had landed. This was an essential function for mine launchers.

The positions of seventeen mines shown on the screen were calculated through Kay’s neural computing assist. The mines had been launched from the northeast. After memorizing the map, she nodded.

“Ta-da! This is why you should bury remote-controlled mines by hand. You can’t put sophisticated security programs in mines, right? I think I’ve roughly figured out their location…”

Time to work. After double-checking the connections on my ballistic mask, I half-rose.

If the location had been identified quickly, it would be much simpler to deal with the mercenaries first and then help the Farmers Co. researchers plant their vegetation in the field with peace of mind.

“I’ll go out and pursue them on foot. Being a Posthuman Type IV, the speed difference won’t be significant, and starting from this distance will make me less noticeable to them. Kay, please scan once more for snipers.”

“None! Completely clear! Go get ’em, Boogeyman! Or should I say Sandman now? Whatever!”

After exiting through the rear door of the van to avoid being seen from outside, I surveyed the northeast. Nothing visible yet. The front and driver’s side windows of the van were all covered with ballistic plates, relying on external cameras.

A moment later, Kay’s voice continued in my earpiece. Unmanned mines that were easy to access would also be easy to disarm. The only problem was that N-Enter’s mercenaries would notice too.

“Mines neutralized! Tina, kick up some dust and drive so Arthur can hide!”

Though she was relying on cameras rather than looking directly through the windshield, Tina’s driving showed no hesitation. She accelerated slightly, creating a cloud of dust around the van, and I used it as cover to run.

Even if someone had been observing, their attention would have been drawn to the van kicking up dust. There was a small hill to the northeast as well. I started running in a different direction from the van.

The only sound was my combat boots hitting the dusty wasteland. I wasn’t out of breath, nor was I affected by the heat. It made me realize I had become an enhanced human.

Thanks to the shock-absorbing capabilities, I ran through the heat haze without kicking up dust. I looked toward the hill visible in the northeast. Zooming in, I lightly scanned the ridge of the hill. A small glint caught my eye.

A scope? I continued approaching while keeping a low profile. CEO Yoon had also mentioned using one of the small hills common in the wasteland as a sniper position, so the mercenaries hired by N-Enter would likely do the same.

At least the scope wasn’t pointed in my direction. With each sprint, the surrounding landscape rushed by quickly, but only as fast as my Posthuman Type IV eyes could track.

Getting closer, I saw a sniper aiming at Night Watch’s armored van. I pressed the microphone button near my collarbone and spoke.

“Confirmed sniper on the hill 330 meters to the northeast. Aiming at the van, no spotter visible. Be careful of sniper fire when you disembark to take up positions.”

I continued circling around to approach. As I got close enough to see the side and rear of the hill, I spotted a van hidden at the base. N-Enter’s mercenaries had already secured the hilltop and were waiting. Then, gunfire erupted.

The gunshot echoed across the open terrain, and the muzzle flash came from the armored van. Judging by the volume, it was Vola’s medium machine gun. A few rounds swept across the hill. If the sniper was careless…

Another muffled gunshot rang out. This time it wasn’t Vola’s machine gun. The sniper, whose position had been roughly exposed, had returned fire. It was a terrible, instinctive mistake.

Until now, only they knew our exact position, but now we knew theirs too. CEO Yoon’s voice came through.

“Sniper position confirmed, initiating counter-sniper fire. Offliner, how long until you reach the site?”

“Less than 30 seconds at a run. Please handle the sniper first. Their attention is already focused on the van, so I’ll use that opportunity to infiltrate from the flank.”

After hearing a confirmation, I started running. I pushed off the ground, then pushed off again. The wasteland soil was slippery from a layer of acid rain erosion, but I had no complaints whatsoever.

The van grew closer. This time it was a van with ballistic plates properly lowered over each window. I approached the passenger side of the van while avoiding the front cameras. Someone was leaning inside.

It would be the driver anyway. The priority target was the electronic warfare specialist, not the driver. Voices began to be heard from the passenger seat. I pressed the microphone button and whispered:

“Preset three.”

The recording began. It was time to show the true capability of the voice module.

“What’s with the gunfire? They fired first? Ah, um. Scope glint… If they detected and neutralized the mines, they’re not amateurs. This might get messy. Should Kate and I change positions to outside the electronic warfare range? Ah, yes. Good. So we just need to circle around the field operatives from that position.”

After finishing the recording, I whispered “Preset three” again, felt the neck warmer tighten around my throat, and approached the rear door of the van. The rear door could only be operated from inside the passenger compartment.

I lightly knocked on the rear door of the van. I spoke using the voice from the intercepted radio communications—a male voice with a slightly higher pitch than mine.

“It’s me! I said there won’t be any position changes, so I’d rather stay somewhere safe. Those guys aren’t amateurs if they found the mines. Preset four.”

I heard someone getting up inside the van. They approached the rear door, and it opened. A Latina woman with light tan skin, shaved sides, and a protruding neural computing assist sighed. I recorded her voice.

“What did you say at the end? Look, just keep the front ballistic plates down and there won’t be any problems, Miguel! Why are you always so cautious and overthinking everything? Can’t you be more efficient, at least when working?”

The man in front was named Miguel. If she opened the door without properly verifying who she heard, that was her mistake. I finished recording and aimed the gun at her forehead. I pulled the trigger.

The sound suppressed by the silencer was absorbed into the wind sounds echoing across the wasteland. Still, everyone would have heard it. Silencers don’t hide gunshots; they just make the direction harder to determine.

I caught her as she fell forward and confirmed the kill with my tactical knife. The type of neural computing assist attached to her head, the eye implants modified to reflect the net, and the drone that stopped flying around inside the van—she was a hacker.

I pressed the microphone button again to return my voice to normal before speaking. With the computer specialist gone, Vola would be able to deploy now.

“Electronic warfare specialist eliminated. I’ll take care of the driver and then begin pressure from the rear flank. Please be careful of crossfire.”

People trying to prevent forests from being created in the wasteland were better off gone than present. And since they had scattered mines to kill people, killing them was appropriate. I made my decision.

Without making decisions, one acts inefficiently. The man in the driver’s seat began shouting loud enough for even a normal person to hear faintly.

“I think someone’s infiltrated the passenger compartment! Kate must have been… taken out! Let’s get to the van…”

After approaching the passenger seat, I started knocking on the ballistic plate with just my fist. Breaking through an already raised ballistic plate is difficult—more difficult than getting the driver to open the door himself.

Voices could still be heard from inside the vehicle. His only means of resistance would be a pistol, and there wasn’t much reason for a Posthuman Type IV wearing a ballistic mask to be that afraid of a pistol.

“That guy’s in front of the passenger seat! He seems to be trying to break in, so, uh, quickly… Eek!”

As Vola’s medium machine gun began firing suppressive shots along the ridge of the hill, he let out a weak scream.

I whispered “Preset four” inside my mouth. The woman hadn’t spoken much before dying, so the sample was limited, but the voice that came out was decent enough.

“Miguel, it’s me! Some bastard tried to get me to open the door by mimicking your voice! I barely handled it… ugh, open the door quickly!”

The voice was a bit shaky and cracked with the wind noise mixed in, but it actually sounded more natural for the electronic warfare specialist who had just been attacked.

The sound of the door handle being grabbed with trembling hands clicked several times. Then, the door opened.

The driver’s frightened expression turned almost instantly pale when he saw my face with the ballistic mask. I raised my gun again.

I gripped the handguard, aimed along the midline from his chest to his forehead, and pulled the trigger. This time it ended so cleanly that no confirmation kill was necessary.

After turning off the preset and speaking in my own voice again, I made a routine report.

“Driver eliminated as well.”