Ch.82The First Twilight of the Idols – Los Angeles Melancholia (2)

The time was now 6:22. It was almost time to depart. And, it was also a brief moment of rest. From here on, everything would be improvisation. The only people they could rely on were themselves.

Perhaps not entirely just themselves. The Chairman never needed to draw strength from others, while the Shepherd and the Market Keeper found their strength in their convictions. Arthur used a somewhat simpler method.

“Ah, Chairman. Could I make one phone call before we leave? Maybe we should cover up the surroundings or…”

“Just go ahead.”

Günter spoke as if there was no need for such precautions. It was trust and confidence. The Chairman’s secure channel couldn’t possibly be compromised, and whoever Arthur was contacting would be someone the Chairman knew as well.

Probably Eve, Günter mused to himself. He had seen the woman who existed in that inefficient space—too small for Belwether to handle, yet too large for a person to manage—around Arthur.

The Chairman believed that to become a complete person, one needed family, or at least someone to share their heart with. Günter had become human through such people, and for those same people, he had also become a beast.

That was such a long time ago. Watching this returned child who resembled himself make the same choices was certainly something to be savored. People always savor.

At the Chairman’s words, instead of asking about operational security, Arthur climbed onto a bed in a corner of the connected trailer and turned on his computational assist device. He pressed a familiar contact.

What if she’s sleeping since it’s dawn? Does she wake up at six-thirty? Arthur pondered briefly, but his concerns didn’t last long.

The connection took four and a half seconds. The voice, still slightly drowsy, already knew who was calling.

“Good morning, Arthur… At this rate, I’ll forget your name and start thinking it’s actually ‘Caller ID Unavailable.'”

“Did you know I’d call? I think I only told the office I’d come back after the job was done.”

A laugh, still somewhat sleepy, reached his ears. A small voice flowed, as if embarrassed to speak loudly.

“It’s… nothing special. How is it nothing special… hmm. Just. I was dying to know what you were doing, so I figured you’d want to contact me at least half as much.”

“Half, huh. If this were a less intense job, I would have called you three times by now. Still, today is the last day. It feels like I’ve found my way back. Probably.”

Arthur didn’t believe that following the yellow brick road would lead to the Emerald City, but he did know that the Pequod would eventually reach Moby Dick. That was the way back.

Eve knew someone would die, and though she abhorred murder terribly, she wasn’t worried. Not because she had essentially given up. There was a small faith.

She had briefly admired the Belwether-like clarity Arthur possessed. She had momentarily envied that temperament that could measure and divide everything with a ruler. She had briefly thought Arthur was a cold-hearted person.

But he wasn’t as cold as she had thought. He was rather mischievous, and not completely different from the people she knew in her world. That’s why she could trust him.

Though that trust didn’t prevent her from making concerned requests. Eve, immersed in the warmth of a voice she hadn’t heard in a long time, said:

“Don’t kill too many, Arthur. You’ll lose your way back if you do. The goal is settlement, after all. Right?”

“Settlement, above all. I’ll contact you when the job is done.”

With those words, Arthur found his bearings. Moving beyond simply repeating “faster” without a clear direction, he could now reflect on why he was running so hard. It was to return.

Return to where? All the way back to his life at Belwether that had been cut out with scissors? No. To Nightscape. To Nightscape, where there were still too many stories to hear and tell.

The connection ended. Arthur put his helmet back on. He returned once more to being Shepherd Six. Being unafraid of death and standing on the front lines was Shepherd Six’s job.

Now it was time to go to work. A return to Belwether after such a long time. They would move to the headquarters in the security team leader’s car. The rain was pouring down, reducing visibility to within one meter, and the hologram on the car window was the only landmark.

The air in the car was filled with silence. Even that silence penetrated the moisture-saturated air, and the car arrived at the headquarters’ parking lot. They exited sequentially to avoid appearing to disembark from the same car simultaneously.

The Market Keeper got out first, leaving just the Shepherd and Arthur in the car. In the interval before they would exit with a time gap, he asked:

“Will you come back to work, Arthur? The Chairman could arrange that much. And… damn it, I need a reliable guy to rebuild the branch’s reputation that’s been shattered because of this mess.”

If he had found a way to escape his guilt, it was time to run. It was a much more moderate and respectful reinstatement request than what Walter had made. But Arthur shook his head.

“Not at all. I’m here to cut all the sticky bad blood between Belwether and me. Still… I’ll think about ways I might be able to help.”

After saying that, Arthur got out of the car. Ignoring the smell coming from the car, he entered the headquarters wearing a sharp Belwether security team uniform. He just needed to reach the assault team’s locker room through the security team corridor.

Stephanet didn’t pay attention to the two outsiders authorized by the security team leader’s authority. They entered through the security staff corridor and set out to find the familiar path. It was a route he could navigate with his eyes closed.

It felt like he might hear familiar voices, but it was just an illusion. The corridor was empty as it was still a bit early for work hours. To reach the assault team’s locker room, they had to pass by the security department.

No matter how much this was about settlement, he couldn’t just pass by Security Team 4’s locker room without a glance. Arthur tried to take a quick peek. Or rather, he tried to make it seem quick. His enhanced vision swept over the entire scene.

One locker per person, the corner of the locker room where a box of his belongings had been placed when he had nowhere else to put them—his eyes swept over these things in that moment. Among them, he also saw a familiar person.

The head of Security Team 4 was talking to someone. His voice suggested he didn’t understand what was being said.

“What? We got a message not to use the call sign during the morning? Then who’s using Shepherd Six? Is this really from higher up? Wait. Let me check…”

In the middle of speaking, the security team head looked up and wore an expression as if he’d seen a ghost. Arthur softened his expression slightly and touched his computational assist device to send him a message. It was a brief message, but one with trust.

‘I’ll just borrow my original name for the morning.’

The team head wore a contemplative expression after checking the message. He wasn’t sure whether to view Arthur as an intruder or a former subordinate. But he decided to trust him.

Saving the lives of everyone remaining in Security Team 4, including himself, was worth more than a mobile phone and a few hundred credits, so this was actually fortunate.

Above all, only someone with at least the security team leader’s authority would have such permissions. It was clear that the higher-ups who had driven Arthur away before were now trying to use him again. He had been a capable rookie.

“Oh, right. Shepherd Six. It’s not a problem. Just a minor transaction. It’s only for the morning, so get to work, you fool! Understand?”

Walking straight ahead, they arrived at the assault team’s locker room. It was his first time there. Compared to the ordinary locker room of the security team, it was much larger, with enhancement suit racks placed for each member.

There was only one enhancement suit prepared. Arthur, who first put on the inner lining for connecting to the enhancement suit, felt the tingling of the neural circuit wiring as he approached the enhancement suit that was prepared with the back open for installation.

First, he inserted his feet to secure them. The black, streamlined assault team enhancement suit had quite an ergonomic structure, but that didn’t necessarily mean it was comfortable. Just fitting his feet in was quite awkward.

After that, he pushed his hands in to align them properly with the suit’s hand sections, and sent current through the inner lining to make the enhancement suit recognize the wearer’s position and posture, causing it to close itself.

The matte black armor plates surrounded his entire body, and a download window briefly appeared in his HUD before adding a small screen to his field of vision that showed the suit’s status and battery level.

Finally, he picked up and put on the helmet that was hanging, and he looked exactly like an assault team member. The grenade rifle that had felt too large and heavy when used bare-handed now felt like an ordinary rifle with the enhancement suit on.

Around that time, the Shepherd entered the assault team’s locker room. He gave a light salute upon seeing the two in enhancement suits, and Arthur and the Market Keeper returned the Belwether-style salute. Shortly after, real assault team members entered the locker room.

There were people inside the enhancement suits too. Whether they had bushy beards or looked like someone you wouldn’t want to disturb while drinking alone at a bar, people gathered and routinely put on enhancement suits and helmets.

They knew there were two additional personnel. They might have been familiar enough with each other to distinguish one another just by their movements.

The Shepherd assessed the arriving personnel and then turned on the assault team’s secure channel. He began to speak slowly, as if reciting:

“We have already failed in our duty once. We all still remember—or rather, none of us can forget—the number of regular employees who died during the Jainist terrorist attack.”

Guilt binds them together. Arthur thought about how the sight of the carnage they witnessed when they went up to the employee wing to report the successful elimination of the terrorists, in good spirits after sweeping them away, had driven them to act like this.

“So, we tried to prevent such a thing from happening again. Tried. To. Prevent. Even though we wear enhancement suits that can laugh off grenades exploding right in front of us, we tried to avoid rather than block.”

The Shepherd’s voice was beginning to boil over. The fluorescent blue pigment coated on his enhancement suit shimmered as if rippling. He was becoming the Shepherd and security team leader once more.

“You know what has been lurking while we turned our heads away. It’s our fault again. It’s our sin again. But this time, there’s one difference.”

The Shepherd slowly inhaled. It seemed both overwhelming and like he was swallowing the end of pain.

“The higher-ups have authorized it. The one who determines what constitutes a last chance has given us a last chance. It’s not a chance for us. It’s merely a chance to prove that this branch can maintain its efficiency on its own.”

The Shepherd first showed his enhancement suit rifle. It was larger than the grenade rifle Arthur was holding, and instead of the clean black low-visibility paint used by Belwether, it was painted in the deep green of nationalist military equipment.

“But we can also ride on that opportunity. It’s too late to pray for salvation and absolution, but too early to give up. Everyone! Stand by in full combat readiness. Prepare to face the Special Operations Team and the Legal Assassination Team.”

They also knew how a coup was planned. Being told to prepare to face the Legal Assassination Team and the Special Operations Team meant they were now the suppression force. The assault team’s resounding response echoed.

“Rottweiler One. Use safety inspection as an excuse to block the Legal Assassination Team’s supplies and access. Bull Terrier Two, order the Mobile Team not to start patrol and to stand by. And…”

Why are there only two Bull Terriers? Perhaps the assault team leader whom the Shepherd had killed to hide me was Bull Terrier One. Not everyone in the assault team might have been completely on the Shepherd’s side.

The plan to prevent this incident from spreading outside the headquarters was gradually coming together. Günter, who had been watching through his enhancement suit, finally began to smile with satisfaction.

The Shepherd gave most orders cleanly, but his voice trembled slightly only when ordering the assault team he trusted most. He was afraid.

“Mastiffs prepare to evacuate regular employees. The security door access rights are also with the branch manager. This time they won’t be closed from the start, so set the evacuation location two floors above the usual. Confirmed, Mastiff One?”

It was the very same assault team leader who had torn off the Inquisitor’s helmet in front of Farmers Co.’s headquarters. He responded cleanly. It was the most difficult, most frightening, yet most honorable task.

The opportunity to correct their failure lay with him. He could be trusted. By the time the task assignments were completed, it was already past 8:30. It hadn’t taken that long.

Suppression was a task they had to do, so they already knew what needed to be done. Only, the will to actually accomplish it had been broken.

The explanation about us was last. The one assault team squad that hadn’t received orders was called forward, and the Shepherd continued:

“These two are people assigned by headquarters to arrest the branch manager. Call signs are Shepherd Six and Market Keeper… no, don’t number the latter. There’s only one Market Keeper in the company, this woman.”

The assault team, knowing that Shepherd was Security Team 4, must have wondered why a Shepherd was here. Arthur could now comfortably release the familiar feeling of tension in his shoulders.

“Kangaroo One. I will now respond to the branch manager’s summons and go up to his office, refuse the coup plan, and then escape after engaging with the Special Operations Team. These two will use that opportunity to infiltrate. Help these two reach the executive wing where the branch manager’s office is located and then come to the escape position. Understood?”

Another clean response followed. Outside the headquarters, heavy rain was pouring down, but inside, not even a hint of soil could be smelled. That was the era. That was the city.

But even such a high-speed era couldn’t tolerate certain things. Shortly after, the Shepherd, who had received the summons, left the assault team’s locker room with one final word. He had become a shepherd leading his sheep once more.

“Even if the office workers couldn’t resist the gun barrels, they are not the enemy. When the engagement starts, spread the word to other security teams as well. If someone has to die, we die. Understood?”

“Understood!”

And, as was customary for Belwether employees when finishing their words, there was something the Shepherd had to say. Finally, instead of the branch-style salute, he raised three fingers in the headquarters style and shouted:

“For the company, the employees, and the shareholders! Maximum efficiency is expected!”

It was such a terribly Belwether-like phrase. The morning thus began to show its bare face, and the team leaders who had received the summons started heading toward the executive wing.