Ch.84The First Twilight of the Idols – Los Angeles Melancholia (4)

“Since we’re all on the same team, let’s show some flexibility. Let’s say there might be a security inspection in the morning. But how can field staff work without supplies? This is inefficient!”

The new department head of the Legal Assassination Team’s 4th Division was somewhat lacking in caution. It wasn’t because he thought that having the Shepherd on their side meant the Assault Division would also be on their side.

It was because he didn’t suspect there might be reasons when people who were supposedly on the same side were blocking him.

This was the inevitable nature of the Legal Assassination Team. Their work was mostly clear-cut. Typically, everything was predetermined: who to kill, why, by when, and how.

In contrast, the Security Team had to deal with unspecified individuals. There had never been guidelines on who might pull out a gun and want to kill all the employees who came to the company. The level of improvisation required was different.

Just as another round of disconnected conversation was about to begin, Rottweiler One received a message from the Shepherd. He raised his gun at the assassination department head who was arguing in front of him.

In response to the sudden threat, Rottweiler One, who was already prepared, pulled the trigger faster than the new head of Assassination Division 4 could draw his pistol.

A muffled gunshot rang out through the silencer. A reddish liquid with blue tints splattered across the corridor in front of the Supply Division. The bullet cleanly pierced through the neck, preventing the life support system from functioning.

“The inefficiency was what we’ve been overlooking until now. Rottweiler One, elimination of Assassination Division 4 head complete. I’ll leave Supply Division defense to Security Division 2 and proceed with Special Operations Division hunt.”

There was no response from the Shepherd. He must be engaged in combat with the Special Operations Division at the branch manager’s office. Communications began pouring in for Rottweiler One as well. The Security Division had been completely unaware until now.

“Ah, um! This is Kelpie One from Security Division 3’s ‘Kelpies’! I just received orders, but why are we fighting the Legal Assassination Team…?”

“Didn’t you hear the Shepherd? This is coup suppression duty. Everyone except office workers and those who surrender their weapons is to be eliminated. That’s all! I expect maximum efficiency!”

While those with suspected involvement in the coup should be dismissed without a disciplinary committee even if they surrendered, the regular Security Division couldn’t be expected to make such distinctions. The Assault Division was enough to get hands soaked in blood and preservation fluid.

“Understood! Confirmed with the Assault Division. They say it’s true that the Legal Assassination Team is attempting a coup. Excluding office workers and those who surrender…”

After confirming that the latter part of the message was clearly transmitted, Rottweiler One cut the communication and zoomed in with his artificial eye on something unusual he spotted outside the window.

Through the pouring rain, he could clearly see Special Operations Division members embedding their fingers into the curtain wall of the Executive Building and sliding down. The warning priority was Assault Division 1, responsible for protecting regular employees.

“Mastiff One, this is Rottweiler One. I’ve confirmed Special Operations Division members climbing down the Executive Building. Prepare accordingly. Also, are you in communication with the Shepherd?”

“Rottweiler One. This is Mastiff One. Communication priority with the Shepherd belongs to Kangal One, who’s escorting agents operating under headquarters’ orders. Don’t worry about operational matters. We’re currently protecting administrative, management, and Legal Assassination Team office workers in the Employee Building with Security Divisions 1, 5, and 6.”

The Security Team needed to be strictly by-the-book now. Even if they were from the Legal Assassination Team, office workers shouldn’t be touched. The Assault Division could also be counted among the coup participants, and that needed to be avoided.

With three Security Divisions plus one Assault Division, they could handle a few Special Operations Division members. An Assault Division head would have little difficulty fighting one-on-one with a Special Operations Division member.

“Good. Maximum efficiency… Wait, are there any Security Divisions available for deployment?”

“Division 4 is currently defending the Medical Building, and… only Division 11 is on standby. I’ll contact them. I expect maximum efficiency!”

One Security Division wasn’t enough to hunt down and eliminate infiltrating Special Operations Division members. After calling Division 11 and assigning them to guard the Supply Division, Rottweiler One began sprinting through the building.

He didn’t fully trust that agent who claimed to be from headquarters yet used Security Division 4’s callsign. More precisely, he was suspicious. Still, the company’s orders were the company’s orders. An opportunity given was an opportunity.

If they couldn’t trust the agent’s abilities, they could simply work behind the scenes to ensure those abilities weren’t needed. Even life itself wasn’t too high a price to pay for liberation and salvation from guilt.

Rottweiler One connected communications again, this time with Kangal One who was supposedly escorting that agent.

“Kangal One! This is Rottweiler One. I’ve reinforced the Supply Division’s security and am hunting Special Operations Division members. Do you need reinforcements for agent escort?”

Gunfire could be heard even through the communication. It was rare for this much gunfire to echo through a major corporation’s building. Kangal’s voice was almost indistinct.

“Rottweiler. This is Kangal. I think we can send you to the Executive Building! Return to your duties. You know that two hundred regular employees need us more than two enhanced humans!”

Most of the Legal Assassination Team used subsonic ammunition, and to prevent sensory dulling in indoor combat, most personnel used silencers, yet the reduced sound was still deafening.

But amidst the chaos, gloom, turmoil, and noise, work was still progressing. Kangal One and three Assault Division members were running through security staff passages, leading Arthur and the Market Keeper.

The security staff passages weren’t necessarily that safe. They already looked like they’d been swept up in the storm.

The headless corpse of a Security Division employee, clearly attacked by the Special Operations Division, was rolling on the floor, while the severed head was embedded in the corridor wall along with a hand from a Special Operations Division agent.

A Special Operations Division agent typically stored about four hands inside their body. Thanks to this person who had blocked a Special Operations agent, that agent’s opportunities had been reduced by at least one.

Arthur felt compelled to do something, but could only suppress that feeling with trivial sentiments. He was using the name Shepherd Six, but he wasn’t Shepherd Six.

He was just a mercenary directly under the chairman. Protecting employees was the Security Team’s job, not that of a chairman’s direct mercenary. The assigned task had to be carried out. Without hindrance, without interruption.

The Executive Building was now in sight, but it wasn’t just the entrance to the Executive Building that came into view. Two Special Operations Division members in enhancement suits were also moving within sight.

Two would be enough to handle. And the Assault Division wasn’t here to handle problems that could be handled sufficiently. Arthur spoke out, unable to hide his tension.

“We’ll break through from here! Um, Assault Division, please support the Security Team!”

Kangal’s ears were already stacked with dozens of support requests. They needed to find the Shepherd to command first, then attend to other regular employees. The Assault Division needed to move faster than anyone.

“Alright… This is Kangal One, I’ve escorted Shepherd Six and the Market Keeper to the Executive Building! The escape point is…”

As he spoke, a powerful impact sound was heard from the top of the building. It seemed the Shepherd had thrown himself down. The Assault Division’s enhancement suits could withstand falls from that height.

Arthur’s own objective was to capture Walter and escape. The coup was now the Shepherd’s responsibility. But that single thud seemed to have found a perfectly good escape point.

Now even the Assault Division was leaving for coup suppression, leaving just Arthur and the Market Keeper. Tense from the gunfire, combat heat, and red lighting filling the surroundings, Arthur took a deep breath and said:

“Can we take them down simultaneously? I’ll handle the one moving on the left with my grenade rifle!”

The Market Keeper quietly drew her revolver. After loading anti-enhancement suit rounds and rotating the cylinder, she whispered what Market Keepers typically say:

“Affirmative. Target acquisition complete. I will correct market failure. I will follow your lead.”

Arthur drew his grenade rifle. Shouldering the rifle that fit perfectly with his enhancement suit, he aligned the front and rear sights properly for the first time and pulled the trigger.

It was a weapon from that war era. With a scream-like gunshot from that extinction war that ended with humanity’s surrender to the horrors, a self-propelled grenade left the barrel along the rifling.

The chest armor plate of the Special Operations enhancement suit was penetrated by the grenade, which received both rotational force and propellant power, causing an explosion powerful enough to knock back the other Special Operations agent guarding the Executive Building entrance.

The anti-enhancement suit round from the Market Keeper’s trigger, pulled at exactly the same time as Arthur’s, had already drilled a six-centimeter hole in the Special Operations agent’s brain storage container, all in less than a quarter of a second.

As the explosion and flames triggered the fire suppression system to release carbon dioxide, the enhancement suits completely sealed and began supplying oxygen.

The two rushed through the shattered door into the Executive Building. Inside, sealed off from the outside, not even the slightest smell of gunpowder or blood flowed. The Market Keeper’s voice was heard:

“Two more Special Operations agents are nearby. And I’m detecting signals from Los Angeles branch administrative staff. They seem to be tracking the elevator and coming down.”

Arthur immediately tapped the side of his helmet to bring up the HUD. There were two options available now: a jammer and Walter’s voice. If he just infiltrated using Walter’s voice, they wouldn’t believe it.

He needed to use the jammer too. Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves for a natural tone, Arthur said:

“Activating jamming device! I’ll turn on the jammer to cut off communication between the branch manager and Special Operations Division. I won’t keep it on for long, so please connect with the Special Operations Division as soon as the jamming signal disappears!”

With good timing, in this urgent situation, the Special Operations Division would think the connection had simply been restored after being cut by the jammer. After seeing the Market Keeper nod, Arthur activated the jammer.

While the basic functions of the enhancement suit still worked, all functions requiring communication were shut down. He raised his hand toward the Market Keeper, counted to five, then made a fist, activating the voice module while turning off the jammer.

Now he could hear the Special Operations Division in his ears. The sound of fully mechanical cyborg bodies humming as they operated, no human breathing sounds at all, but speech was audible.

From Arthur’s throat came the voice of the person he hated most. It’s just a tool. Being too emotional to use a necessary tool would be… inefficient!

“Jamming countermeasures complete. Special Operations, postpone hunting administrative staff and head straight down to the Executive Building entrance. We can make examples later. Two surrenderers showing as headquarters personnel are engaged in combat at the Executive Building entrance. We need to deal with them before headquarters gets involved and things escalate. If headquarters tries to reach out, we cut off their wrist first.”

“Headquarters personnel, sir?”

‘How would Walter speak? Right, basic distrust of humanity and praise of reason.’ Arthur immediately presented a well-crafted auditory hallucination to the Special Operations Division:

“Yes. True to their soft headquarters nature, they seem to be trying to handle this quietly. The rational decision would be to send hammers, but they’re swayed by their mushy humanity. What did I tell you?”

Though his heart was racing, it only beat once per second, but his brain was working twelve times faster than usual. The pleasure of being able to completely deceive them was something to be enjoyed.

“If you’re going to keep praising reason even while hiding in the panic room, find a way to get reinforcements. Damn! Changing destination! Going straight down to the Executive Building entrance through the windows! Headquarters intervention!”

Enemies don’t always infiltrate through the net. Sometimes they infiltrate through familiar voices, sometimes through such silly deceptions. This was what Arthur had learned from K.

How kind of them. Arthur inwardly muttered. Walter is in the panic room of the branch manager’s office.

The two who had cut off communications boarded the elevator. It would take twenty-seven seconds to reach the branch manager’s office at the top of the Executive Building.

He had to keep thinking. His mind couldn’t stop. He took another deep breath. In the opposite elevator were other administrative staff, probably team leaders. If left to descend, they would encounter the Special Operations Division.

Arthur scanned through the alerts marked as urgent that appeared in his vision. There were thirty-nine. There was even a support request from Security Division 4, which he had belonged to, from the Medical Building. With a deep breath, he looked away.

After sorting by distance, he found one transmitted from the Executive Building and connected. Speaking in his own voice again, he said:

“Ah, um, hello! I’m an agent dispatched from headquarters to arrest the branch manager…”

Arthur tried to say his name, but only a censoring sound was heard. The chairman had directly intervened. Right now, Arthur’s name was classified information even to the Los Angeles branch team leaders.

“-___-_ agent! The Special Operations Division has been directed to ground level near the Executive Building entrance! Please go back up to the branch manager’s office! It will be safer there!”

The elevator that was about to pass by paused momentarily after hearing Arthur’s voice. They didn’t believe that headquarters dispatch agent nonsense who suddenly appeared claiming to arrest the branch manager.

The team leaders simply determined that the sound of Special Operations agents climbing down the elevator cables had ceased. That was enough.

As the elevator ascended, the surroundings grew increasingly quiet, and by the time they passed the sixtieth floor, even the classical music playing inside the elevator could be heard.

Ground-level matters weren’t their concern. Arthur’s current duty was what was happening in the sky of this towering skyscraper forest. While Arthur briefly felt disconnected as he looked down at the ground, the elevator arrived.

He could see areas hazy with carbon dioxide released for fire suppression, as well as flickering flames from fires and muzzle flashes suppressed by flame arresters. He couldn’t help.

Arthur thought this must be the view Günter wanted to show him. He wanted to tell him he was different from those people struggling down below.

But the higher they went, the more being here at the top of the Executive Building rather than on the ground felt like a sin. Arthur knew he was a person more suited to the ground.

The elevator reached the 81st floor, the top level. Why the Executive Building had to be so tall, why the branch manager had to work from the 81st floor, Arthur didn’t know.

Everything seemed strange, but what was normal still eluded him. Fortunately, after exiting the elevator and unsealing his enhancement suit, the smell of rain flowed in through the broken window.

It meant he could forget for a moment. That he was in a natural space where the sour, earthy smell of rain could be detected. Arthur checked outside the elevator door and walked along the short corridor.

There was no bloodstain here. Not a single person with normal flowing blood had stayed here. Only the blue preservation fluid bloodstains from the Security Team leader and the black fuel from the Special Operations cyborg bodies were soaking the carpet.

The two headed for the panic room. The Market Keeper detached part of her enhancement suit arm and replaced it with her own enhancement suit arm equipped with a cutting tool. The cutter made high-frequency vibrations as it touched the panic room door.

Neither expected the branch manager’s panic room door to cut easily. They did expect a few more Special Operations agents in the branch manager’s office, though. The Shepherd had done his job very well.

There was one CCTV camera watching the scene. Probably used to monitor the outside from inside the panic room. Arthur could have shot it, but instead he faced the CCTV and lightly tapped the side of his helmet.

The helmet’s internal lighting turned on and transparency increased, revealing the face inside. Walter must have recognized him, as the panic room door began to open on its own shortly after.

From inside came the smell of blood mixed with preservation fluid. An alarm was sounding that a firearm had been discharged inside, and an emergency shelf had descended to fill preservation fluid containers. And inside, only one person was standing.

It was Walter. Without his enhancement suit, holding a revolver typically used by Special Operations or Assault Division in one hand, and in the other, the corpse of the Legal Assassination Team leader with a hole in his head, facing Arthur.

He had… quite an ordinary appearance. A man who looked to be in his late thirties or early forties. Neatly bleached white hair was tidily arranged, and even his artificial eyes gleamed with white irises.

As soon as the door opened, Walter threw the revolver to the floor. He tossed the Legal Assassination Team leader’s corpse in front of the two. Showing his hands cleanly, he said:

Though he was suppressing uncontrollable anger and desire for revenge with a craving for efficiency, Arthur was gradually reaching his limit. Arthur’s right hand began to tremble as it spread wide.

“I surrender. As the person responsible for the Belwether Los Angeles branch coup, I’ll submit to headquarters’ disciplinary committee. I’m a shareholder of Belwether headquarters in my own right, so proper arrest is the principle.”

He acknowledged defeat, but didn’t want to admit he had been defeated by a single variable in his plan. Therefore, he continued speaking leisurely, as if he were a superior:

“Just as you won’t experience any physical threats when you’re referred to the disciplinary committee. Your sponsor would want that too. Following the rules. Isn’t that an employee virtue, Arthur Murphy, regular employee?”

Walter had already figured out who Arthur’s sponsor might be. He quickly deduced that the possibility of intervention from the headquarters board or chairman, which he had dismissed, was correct.

And if the headquarters board or chairman was involved, he was confident that the vengeful regular employee standing before him couldn’t do anything outside company regulations, so he boldly showed his face.

Arthur wasn’t concerned at all about those intentions, plans, or calculations. The preservation fluid container on the emergency shelf was nearly half full. That was all that mattered.

Walter burst into laughter as if in disbelief and spoke. The Market Keeper froze as Walter had expected. The emergency shelf’s preservation fluid container was filling up more and more.

“To think headquarters would actually intervene. Whatever connection you have, you’re quite lucky. Let me ask just one thing. Was your sponsor… the board, or the chairman himself? That is…”

At that moment, the preservation fluid container was completely filled.

Arthur took a step forward. With the tips of his enhancement suit fingers extended, he grabbed Walter’s shoulder and embedded his fingers into his chest.

Although Walter also had an enhanced body, he had removed his enhancement suit to show he had no intention to resist and to be arrested. He didn’t even have the single layer of body armor Arthur had been wearing when he died.

This was what Arthur himself had experienced. What he had suffered at the hands of Adrian, who had become a monster because of Walter’s plan. Seeing preservation fluid-mixed blood flowing along his fingers, Arthur muttered through gritted teeth:

“Not everyone gets a chance, Walter…”

After fixing Walter’s body with the fingers embedded in his chest, Arthur lightly grabbed his chin and nape. He began to push, drawing on the strength assistance function of the enhancement suit.

“And you’re right. According to company rules and regulations. We should follow the rules. But…”

Arthur no longer felt the tingling in his nape. Walter’s neck was torn from his body, and Arthur picked up the filled preservation fluid container and threw the head into it. He muttered:

“The one who makes the rules found your pathetic rebellion attempt no longer amusing. So, he changed the rules to make it enjoyable. The rule now is… ‘Neutralize him and bring him to my shop.’ That’s it.”

Walter had the right to scream, but unfortunately lacked lungs. Only a handful of meat around the brain and its surroundings remained, without the exhaled breath to be processed by the vocal cords.