Ch.79Work Record #014 – Unqualified Slaughter (6)

At the very least, I should check if there’s a fugitive. After catching my breath, I’m able to stand. I select four intact bullets from my ammo pouch and load them into the revolver.

I check my jaw, then examine the cut on my neck. The bleeding has already stopped, and a film is forming over the skin. Taking a deep breath, I feel the pain in my side subsiding as well.

A full-body prosthetic can replace severed parts but has poor self-healing capabilities. An enhanced body can self-heal to a certain extent. That’s the only difference. Right now, self-healing was the better option.

Would ambushing and killing Special Operations agents be something to put on a resume? I wasn’t sure. It was just the end result of my habit of rearming my mind with frivolous thoughts. Perhaps it would be acceptable.

I quietly listen. The sound of a car comes from a nearby alley. It’s the sound of a van that just started its engine and began moving. I tap the side of my helmet lightly to connect communications and ask:

“Is the vehicle escaping now from the Enforcement Division?”

“No. We’ve dispatched a pursuit team, so rest a bit more…”

“I didn’t follow all the way here to rest. It seems they’ll pass right in front of me, so I’ll handle it. Leave it to me.”

My physical condition was perfectly fine. I can see the van’s headlights from the alley ahead. As it slows down at the sudden encounter with the end of the alley, I take a light step forward. I jump up and grab on.

For the people inside the van, the curve ahead seemed more important than my black-clad figure. The shouts I heard from inside were cautious, but not about me.

Judging by how the back door was rattling wildly, they must have departed without even thinking of closing it. There shouldn’t be anyone left in the passenger compartment.

“Hey! Turn, turn! If Enforcement catches us because the navigation isn’t working due to their jammers…”

Hanging on to the van’s frame with one hand, I raise my fist. As the General Affairs employee turns his head while speaking, his gaze meets directly with my helmet display. He freezes.

I extend my fist and strike. My fist creates a hole in the bulletproof plastic panel between the reinforced glass, my hand reaches inside the vehicle, and I feel the air conditioning and the nape of the General Affairs employee’s neck.

I grip tightly and pull once. A scream erupts. On the second pull, the vehicle’s door rattles completely. Now the General Affairs employee feared something he had never feared before.

“Get it off, get it off! Crash into something or…”

At that moment, I pulled a third time. The bulletproof window came out entirely, and his body was dragged through the space. I throw him toward the road and draw my revolver with the same hand to shoot. The explosive round hits his head and detonates.

The bulletproof panel rises urgently, and the driver begins to swerve the steering wheel wildly, shaking the vehicle. Hanging on wasn’t a problem, and it was simple to wedge my fingers between the bulletproof panel and the window.

But then… the car gradually slows down and stops. What was I thinking doing this? As I slowly tear off the bulletproof panel, a gunshot sounds from inside the vehicle.

I duck, but it wasn’t aimed at me. When I completely bend and remove the bulletproof panel, I see the General Affairs employee slumped with his pistol in his mouth.

His heartbeat and breathing had completely stopped. Not wanting to desecrate the corpse, I close his eyes, which still retained fear despite having lost their vitality. I reconnect to the communication channel.

“Elimination of escape vehicle occupants complete. Has the main force finished extermination?”

“It’s done. Damn, the same bastards we saw in the employee cafeteria this morning started shooting as soon as we mentioned a coup… Shit. Why did it come to this?”

“I wonder too. I’m just someone who got caught up in this. I don’t know what the Shepherd is thinking right now, and I barely understand why Walter is doing this…”

A sigh comes through the communication. Michael responds slowly.

“People who get caught up usually try to escape. But you’re swimming right into the center of the whirlpool. Why?”

“Because I want revenge. And because this is the right thing to do. What else do I need besides these two reasons?”

“You incomprehensible bastard… How’s your body? If I send you back with holes in you, Suyeon will give me hell. Will bandages be enough?”

The Enforcement vehicle approaches me. I answer with a smile on my face, a laugh that escaped regardless of my will.

“I can handle the bandaging myself.”

My condition was recovering quickly. Excellent healing ability. Whether Adrian’s sacrifice had helped, or whether this level of self-repair would have been possible without his sacrifice, I couldn’t know.

Still, I just… hope that the experiment using him had some meaning. I hoped it wasn’t just work to create a monster for a coup. Though that was like expecting betrayal.

After receiving first aid, Michael had everyone except me exit the van’s passenger compartment. After closing the door to prevent sound from leaking, he said:

“Seeing what Lone Star Rangers has done, those planning the coup won’t sit idle either. Can you share the next plan?”

“All that’s left is the Shepherd. If the Shepherd has really sided with the coup, well… we’ll have to deal with him. I don’t know how we can do it, but we must. Afterward, we’ll work with the Market Keepers to subdue the leadership.”

He had many people to take care of. And the betrayal of the General Affairs Division, which made up about two-thirds of Lone Star Rangers, was already common knowledge to the Chairman. He began to probe:

“The recording you gave me also had a list of other companies. If… that is, if after authorization, Lone Star Rangers deals with the mercenary staffing companies that sided with the coup, can we buy indulgence?”

“You haven’t committed any crime. Those who haven’t been appointed won’t concern themselves with the Enforcement Division. However, if you want to avoid trial by media and public opinion… it would be better to do so.”

Belwether wouldn’t use mercenary staffing companies suspected of participating in the coup. He knew that fact very well. Lone Star Rangers seemed to be on track.

Michael still looked uneasy. He was still weighing whether this insignificant mercenary from General Affairs could really end this matter.

But clearly, Special Operations was dead. The Special Operations that supposedly only emerged in Belwether’s worst-case scenarios was dead. The trust given by this one death was greater than expected.

He probably thinks I’m just a low-level operative. Believing there’s a larger plan from the unappointed person, and that according to that plan, the coup would become a mere incident, he nodded.

Michael was trusting the right person. The Chairman was here simply because he enjoyed seeing how far I could go alone. He wasn’t depending on me at all. The matter would be handled.

“It’s strange to hope that a coup discovered in advance doesn’t fail. Alright. I’m all in. How many hands have you won so far?”

“All except a couple where I bet my neck. I’m not betting my neck this time.”

I return with Lone Star Rangers. I decline an offer for a drink. If I should be drinking now, it would be in an office with a night view. I wanted to go back.

If I just drove along Sepulveda Boulevard to the ruins, couldn’t I reach Eve’s hideout? Stupid thought. There were too many watching eyes. Sometimes one must refrain.

As I return to the trailer parking lot to see the Chairman, someone suddenly connects to my computational assist device. And I hear a familiar voice. It was the Shepherd’s voice.

“Is this how you repay the favor of sparing your life, Shepherd Six?”

“Well… whether it’s a backdoor or whatever, or you just ignored everything with your security team leader authority and contacted me directly, not getting angry first when I suddenly hear your voice in my ear is my way of repaying the favor.”

Friend or foe? I couldn’t tell. Then an ally? Definitely not an ally. The Shepherd spoke as if frustrated.

“Let’s meet face to face. Where…”

“Since this is a secure channel anyway, let’s just talk like this. I don’t want to see Walter’s tiresome face again if you bring him along.”

The sound of a fist hitting a desk came through the communication. The Shepherd’s voice sounded like it would swallow me whole. Still less intimidating than the Chairman.

“Acting like you’re Special Operations after working for barely half a year. Really? Is that the plan? To spout such bullshit and then cause a corporate civil war in Los Angeles?”

“Believing that a single general employee can cause a corporate civil war should be called paranoia, right? Do you have any idea how hard I’m working to prevent it from escalating to a corporate civil war?”

Yes, my language had definitely deteriorated. Profanity reveals a person’s lowest point. It was proof that neither the Shepherd nor I were people with enough composure to be courteous to each other. The channel goes quiet for a moment.

An unexpected voice followed. A voice I had been longing for. Chance’s dry, rational voice began to be heard.

“Agent Arthur Murphy?”

“Chance! Yes, I thought if anyone would take care of you, it would be the Shepherd. Did the Shepherd look at your contents or anything?”

Chance continued to output a voice of concern, or rather, a bland voice without any mixture. Chance seemed to be… afraid of something.

“Agent Arthur Murphy. Your capabilities exceed calculations. You are excellently crushing Belwether’s coup forces. But you must stop. You must stop. War must never happen again.”

Chance’s artificial brain could communicate in a sufficiently human way without synthesizing human emotions. Such an artificial brain was afraid like a human. Why? Chance had experienced that war. A clear reason.

“I hope the Shepherd hasn’t tampered with your code, Chance. I’m trying to prevent that right now. I’m just cutting off the fins like filleting a fish and striking the back of the neck with a knife to catch it. And…”

This time it was the Shepherd’s voice again. Is he using a voice module? Probably not. When I saw the Shepherd, such a component wasn’t equipped.

“Even if you do nothing, Walter will stage a coup. Is that it?”

“Yes. Of course. Do you know how much preparation that bastard has made? Before it’s too late…”

The Shepherd took a deep breath. He spoke as if trying to sound as pleasant as possible.

“Walter won’t start anything as long as you’re roaming around LA somewhere. You’re showing us right now how much one general employee can ruin a plan. You’re preventing it.”

The Shepherd spoke almost pleadingly. It seemed like no one except Walter was interested in LA’s hegemony. Not even the Shepherd.

“But you’re cornering Walter now. That guy might shout ‘I need to start before suffering more!’ at any moment. If you dig deeper, Walter might start things.”

The Shepherd… was always maintaining balance. To prevent conspiracies he didn’t know about, he investigated the city in plain clothes, and when I completely opposed Walter, he took his side.

“You said you’d strike the back of the neck like filleting a fish? Are you going to infiltrate Belwether headquarters alone and assassinate Walter? That’s impossible. You can’t do that.”

The Shepherd’s voice was full of despair, anxiety, and… fear. He terribly feared a corporate civil war. His purpose was perhaps… maintaining the status quo. That fact became clear with his next words.

“All we need is small evidence that you’re operating covertly in LA. A few minor bomb attacks, or shootings against partner companies or Belwether…”

“Do you think someone as high as Belwether’s branch manager would fall for that? Chance, are you also agreeing with that? With that complacent status quo plan?”

Chance’s voice was heard again. I try to convince myself that the disappointing answer isn’t disappointing.

“While it has many flaws, that is correct. I cannot choose war. I am an artificial intelligence and unmanned aircraft from the war era. I know the horrors.”

Desperation and fear could be felt in Chance’s voice as well. He began to speak about those horrors, about the war memories he wouldn’t want to recall from his memory.

“9.8% of the North American continent physically disappeared. 77.1% of the land became barren. 23.8% of the Chinese continent was completely vitrified. 71.2% of the land became barren. Scotland and parts of Northern Ireland were submerged, and the crust in those areas suffered irreparable damage. Russia’s major cities were flattened, with an average elevation of -1.7 meters. Also…”

It was the first time I had directly heard about the horrors of that war. Unless you studied history in college, there wasn’t much you could learn. I spoke to Chance, who seemed to be outputting language engulfed in fear.

“What we’re trying to do isn’t that war, Chance. Considering the relevant factors…”

“Does a smaller scale of horror make it any less horrific, Agent Arthur Murphy?”

I had no answer. Horror is horror. The Shepherd picked up on that and spoke. His voice contained self-reproach.

“It’s not even small, Shepherd Six. I, I… honestly, I can’t trust myself. With just one of Jaina’s terrorist attacks, nearly one hundred and sixty general employees died. Even if she was connected to Walter, just…”

The Shepherd momentarily fails to continue. Perhaps Walter hadn’t deceived Special Operations. Perhaps the Shepherd was really willing to accept his own purge.

“Those were civilian terrorists, and that many died. How many would it be in a corporate civil war? Who would fight? It’s not even clear who counts as a combatant! Is an administrative team with firearms training a combatant or a civilian? Answer if you can take responsibility, Shepherd Six.”

I was silent for a moment. As if the Shepherd also wanted to place hope like me, a voice barely holding onto the thread of reason was heard.

“I could betray and strike Walter. But then the Legal Assassination Team, which would obviously be purged, would resist. Partner companies would also split in half and start fighting…”

“So, with your method, we buy a momentary peace that melts in the mouth like candy by the end of the year? What can we do while the branch manager is fooled by this ridiculous play?”

“I’ll win back Special Operations and then cut the throats of Walter’s people with the Assault Division and Special Operations. It would be a miraculous probability, but if I succeed in persuasion and can gather enough troops…”

In the end, we were trying to do the same thing. The only difference between us was one thing. Yes, yes. It was time to sweep the table again. This time, it’s not a bluff.

“You asked if I enjoy creating miracles, right?”

Is it enough that I can mobilize the Market Keepers? Perhaps I could even get support from the headquarters security team or… Belwether’s hammers.

“It seems that way. Let me get permission from my sponsor and I’ll contact you again. Please wait a moment.”