episode_0046

Even though it was a used car, it ran surprisingly well, which made me realize anew how conscientious the car fixer I was introduced to was. It’s common for a bad purchase to result in a vehicle that belongs in a junkyard, with wheels that barely turn.

After leaving the Fresh Market, we drove towards the Eclipse Point gate. I looked over and saw Aaron sitting in the passenger seat, still clutching the unidentified implant tightly as if it were precious, trembling.

“Hey, drug mama’s boy. How about you start talking? I can see the two in the back glaring at me in the rearview mirror, and it’s getting uncomfortable.” “Ah, ah, ah, alright.”

Perhaps it was for Martina’s sake, but Wade was glaring so intensely it seemed he could kill someone with his eyes, even without drawing his sword. Patton, the glasses-wearing guy, didn’t look happy either. Still, thanks to me, they got out of that mess safely, so I hoped they would at least be a little cooperative.

‘Fifty-Star… they’re dangerous guys.’ Normally, gangs, unless in special circumstances, stick to the administrative district where their hideout is located, or at most, venture into an adjacent district. They generally avoid leaving their home ground. Moving further would likely cause friction with established gangs holding sway in those areas, and proper collusion with administrative personnel wouldn’t be in place, making operations difficult.

However, Fifty-Star was a bit special. They were scattered throughout Eclipse Point, and their individual combat strength was considered far beyond that of a typical gang. However, they had a drawback: they operated under a structure that made them unable to function without a specific command system. This meant they couldn’t be said to have truly swallowed any one area. This could mean Fifty-Star might be anywhere, but conversely, it also meant they could be easily shaken off if one sought protection from the strong individuals of a local area.

‘I could go to Rossboard and impose on Ricardo for a bit, summoning cyber dolls and having fun. Or I could go to Japantown and kick up a fuss with the Neo Shinsengumi. If all else fails, simply hiding in Tonyboni, which has returned to the smog-filled streets, would make escaping easy.’

If the intention was to escape from the beginning, I could have just let him go outside and parted ways. The only reason I bothered to take on Aaron Rossmore’s request, whose compensation was unknown, was an extension of my curiosity: why was a drug-addicted kid like him carrying a prototype that a megacorp should be carefully storing? Given how many escape routes there were, I was confident it wasn’t a risky endeavor, so I went through with it.

“Uh, uh, my mom was a senior engineering researcher at Extreme Military.” “Extreme Military?”

The corporate world was like an overflowing ocean, so it felt like it would take me a long time to recall that name, but Wade’s eyebrows twitched as soon as he heard it. “You know about them?”

“I’ve heard the name. As the name suggests, it’s a company created to test extreme performance, not for market release. So the products they put out are famously incredibly powerful and incredibly expensive. For example… it’s strange, but perhaps it’s like a hypercar specialist manufacturer?” “What’s that?”

Of course, it’s true that they have product lines made only for the ultra-rich, but even their lower-tier and flagship products are made accessible to those who handle a fair amount of money. “Thanks to that, they’re a company frequently talked about among cyberware enthusiasts. Of course, they’re so expensive that only a handful of people have actually seen their products, and they’re mostly sold to collectors in the upper city for display, right?”

“Is it similar to rich people collecting supercars?” “Perhaps. If they have money to buy things they won’t even use, would it hurt them to donate a little to me?”

It seemed like that wouldn’t happen even if the sky fell and was rebuilt, but if I thought of it as a pipe dream like winning the Super Bowl, it might have a certain flavor to chew on. Wade, with an arm over the back of the car seat, looked up at the ceiling for a moment, shaking his leg like an old man, then let out an “Ah-” as if something just occurred to him.

“Now that I think about it, didn’t I hear a rumor that they were ‘forced’ to shut down recently?” ‘Forced’ to shut down… There was a sharp barb in that wording. A barb that snagged the more you chewed on it.

“Ah, anyway, suddenly strange people stormed into the company, went up to the CEO’s office, and… and they killed the executives!” “Even if it’s a small company, are there really people who would do something like that…?”

“And then, they went to the lab and demanded the data… My uncle, who was the lab head, seemed to know something, and he gave me this and told me to run… A-and to find my mom..! He said she had already evacuated to Out Point…!”

Patton, the glasses-wearing guy, listened to Aaron’s words with a serious expression and wiped his glasses. I could very easily deduce that the strange individuals who stormed the company, as Aaron described, were the Fifty-Star who crashed into the market.

‘The hostage situation at the Fresh Food Market we escaped from has just been subdued by Dex’s deployment. It ended with all 13 culprits dead, 3 hostages dead, and 2 patrol officers dead. Public opinion is currently inflamed due to the patrol’s slow response.’ ‘It’s a shame I can’t netdive right now.’ Isn’t it said that watching other people’s houses burn is the most entertaining? I would have been diligently badmouthing EPSB while watching the news channel with Luna, but it’s a pity.

Anyway, Aaron explained his situation and pulled out the implant he had carefully hidden in his arms. Preserved in a sterile pack, it was a spine implant that looked incredibly hardcore. It seemed designed to connect to the cervical spine, replacing the existing spine and exposing itself above the skin. The body was made of an enormous number of nerve connections and complex metal parts, with the mark of a three-headed dog etched into it like an engraving. There would be no reason to walk around shirtless displaying such a core implant, but it looked quite cool.

“Is this an Extreme Military implant? It’s a super hardcore type, just like the rumors said.” “Hmm… even if the external form is like that, aren’t there a few unnecessarily many connection points?”

Wade and Patton, who had been sulking until now, immediately leaned in and began examining the object the moment something drool-worthy appeared. They pretended otherwise, but it seemed they were also curious about what Aaron was holding. And since it was an ultra-high-grade item from Extreme Military, something mere mercenaries could barely even glimpse, this was their chance to thoroughly inspect it.

Martina went quiet, starting to use the computational power of her King Spine to analyze it, and I hummed a tune as I entered Golden Arch, which was adjacent to the outskirts.

Just like Rossboard, which had a harbor, this was an outlying area where the real sky was visible. In terms of administrative district size, it was the largest area, but seeing the abandoned, ruined department stores and amusement parks, one could tell that this place used to be a street lined with entertainment facilities (a bit more wholesome) like AM Kabukicho. Though now, it was abandoned and had become an unhealthy playground for scavengers.

“Anyway, is that all you know, and for the exact details, we just need to ask your mom when we get paid?” “Uh, yes.”

“Mercenary fees are expensive, so I don’t know if she can pay, even if she’s a senior researcher. This big brother here is quite famous, you know.” *Pfft—* a snorting sound came from the back seat. The culprit was none other than Wade, who had gone back to acting cool as Aaron clutched the implant like a precious egg again.

“And you still look like you should be attending Megacorp School…” “I’m twenty-nine. Ma’am.” “Must be nice to look young, you son of a bitch.”

Having landed a full combo with a ‘click’ and won the exchange, I cackled and drove like Jay Q, making the car sing. Accelerator, brake, accelerator, turn, brake, accelerator, brake. *Screech* *Screeeeech* *Skid!*

“Aaah! You crazy bastard, what are you doing!” “Hmph, aaaah!” “Damn it, my stomach…”

Listening to the three people’s screams as my music, I stepped on the accelerator towards the outskirts. After all, any cameras that would regulate speeding would have already been plundered by scavengers, so none would be left anyway.

***

We drove for several hours without incident, arriving safely at the almost unused gate of Eclipse Point, feeling only a little hungry. Of course, this meant individuals didn’t pass through it; corporations, however, had cleared the land routes to acquire goods most cheaply, allowing them easy access.

“By the way, where in Out Point were you supposed to meet? Didn’t you get coordinates?” “Uh, that’s…”

Aaron frantically rummaged through his pockets and pulled out a crumpled note. It seemed to be hastily scrawled, making the code, which looked like coordinates, difficult to decipher. I turned the note this way and that, even looked at it upside down, but I couldn’t pinpoint the exact location. I could only barely infer a rough general area.

“Let’s just head out for now. I’ll analyze the handwriting in the meantime.” “Oh, okay.”

It seemed Patton often took on requests of this nature, as he instinctively took the note with the coordinates and fiddled with his glasses. Wade, who looked like a born combatant, was hugging his knife and had already fallen asleep, and Aaron was nodding off, perhaps from the dark circles he got while being chased by Fifty-Star.

“Aren’t you sleepy?” “Adjusting the sleep patterns of this terminal can be resolved with hormone regulation.” “You won’t grow tall if you do that, you know?” “It doesn’t matter. And besides…” “You should eat a lot and sleep a lot so your chest can grow big and full, too.” “…”

Martina made a pouting face and closed her eyes as if she was reluctantly going to obey. For some reason, Patton seemed to be looking at me like I was trash, but it was a misunderstanding. That misunderstanding could be smoothly resolved by showing him a loaded shotgun. Indeed, problem-solving is always about greater power.

The van I was driving slowly entered the gate’s lure gate. The gatekeeper, who tried to communicate with me via the car’s internal hologram display, asked me for my ID and reason for passage. When I presented the forged ID Mason had acquired and stated it was a business trip, they readily let us out without any further procedures.

Even though Golden Arch was a mess, it still had a somewhat urban atmosphere, but after driving for only about 15 seconds into Out Point, nothing but wasteland stretched out before us. Furthermore, the temperature, which was always regulated by the city’s management system, was now experiencing bizarre conditions due to abnormal climate: the ground sizzled in the morning, and reverse icicles grew like stalagmites at night.

“I never thought I’d end up in Out Point.” “I was dragged here against my will because of someone. How do I feel about that?” *Click* “I am happy.”