episode_0083

With the door naturally closing with a *clunk*, the lab seemed to be filled with a subtle, heavy darkness.

In addition, the whirring sound of Dr. Pointless’s mechanical joints activating seemed unusually loud, and it didn’t feel like an illusion at all.

“Hey. First, put away that wicked-looking saw and let’s talk.”

An additional medical robotic arm emerged from behind Dr. Pointless, and a menacing-looking circular saw spun, then stopped, and slowly aimed at me.

If that thing touches me, it’s going to hurt quite a bit.

Dr. Pointless took a step closer, *clunking* as he approached me, who was sweating profusely and stumbling backward.

I feel like I could just run away right now, should I break the door?

‘Considering where else I might use it, the invisibility cloak feels a bit wasteful…’

As I thought that and stumbled backward, my back hit the door with a *thud*, and realizing there was no escape in the narrow lab, I immediately authorized Kerberos’s activation.

With a *click* – an internal operating sound audible only to me – a fierce premonition struck my entire body, and I activated my Potential Wear to escape from Dr. Pointless, who was approaching, spinning surgical tools whose purpose I had no desire to know.

A feeling of omnipotence descended upon me, accompanied by the sensation of every muscle fiber in my body being torn apart.

Right now, I felt like I could grab an Assaultroid made of steel frames with both hands and tear it apart.

So I grabbed the gap in the closed cylindrical hatch and exerted force to pull it open.

“It seems you, too, were a subject of some megacorp’s unethical experiments.”

“Huh?”

More precisely, I was about to, but at the sorrowful mechanical voice, the strength in my arm suddenly *slackened*, and my hand, slipping from the door gap, swiped through the air.

“That cyberware, which involved opening your back and exposing your spine to completely replace it, seems designed with absolutely no consideration for user safety. The cyberware embedded in corporate soldiers is already quite strenuous, but yours seems even harder on the body, with no mental protection system whatsoever.”

“Uh…”

“Surely, some mad scientist must have attached it to test the operational limits of cyberware.”

I scratched my head, wondering if Kathleen, who had instantly become a mad scientist, would find her ears itching.

“It’s… not wrong, is it?”

Considering Extreme Military’s slogan is ‘a slogan,’ after all.

It’s true that it’s in the realm of an ornament, with no consideration for user safety, and it’s also true that this Kerberos itself lacks a mental protection system.

Though I have Martina, that is.

‘It’s merely a collateral effect.’

‘You’re speaking after quite a long time?’

‘I merely had something to think about regarding Dr. Pointless, an android experiencing a cognitive error.’

Martina, whom I’d left to guard the house, seemed to have much to ponder about Dr. Pointless, an irregular existence, as her mental communications with me had become sporadic.

“You’re quite timid for your skill. It’ll be hard to keep standing, so please sit over there.”

*Whirr whirr.* As if it had just been a joke, a pincer-shaped robotic arm pointed to the chair beside the operating table, and Dr. Pointless turned his back to the Shape Shifter, busily working his hands to prepare something.

“The skeleton’s damage isn’t severe, so no need to touch it. Just detach and repair the weapon arm.”

“I’ll know your condition better than you, kid.”

With the two of them starting maintenance without even looking at me, standing awkwardly, I awkwardly clicked my tongue and then sat down in the chair as Dr. Pointless suggested.

*Creak.* It didn’t seem to be a good piece of furniture, as it let out a somewhat sharp scream when I sat down, but it didn’t feel like it would collapse.

Without even removing the Shape Shifter’s tactical robe as she lay on the operating table, Dr. Pointless’s movements as he detached her limb parts seemed divinely inspired.

Indeed, it’s not surprising that he could do that much, receiving program adjustments, but with the prosthetic arms and legs instantly dropping onto the tray, the Shape Shifter became like a Daruma doll, utterly defenseless.

“Judging by the damage rate, it seems you fought quite roughly.”

“My stomach was pierced, you know. Do you know what it feels like to have something long and cold go inside? If you made me stay just to say things like this, I’d rather go out and buy some food.”

“I understand the difference in your situations, between this kid and you, so I’m not making an issue of it. I’m just trying to make a brief conversation between people who will both live difficult lives.”

Dr. Pointless examined the broken fingers of the Gorilla Arm, the bent blades of the Bear Claws, and the Mantis Blades whose joints had completely detached, which were all damaged while fighting the Shape Shifter, letting out a rough voice as if in admiration.

Perhaps he’s having a headache figuring out how to fix it?

“By the way, ‘people who will live difficult lives,’ you say.”

As I mumbled that sentence, as if regurgitating it, feeling a strange sense of empathy, Dr. Pointless and the Shape Shifter glanced my way.

“Anything that hasn’t received release authorization from a megacorp’s lab cannot escape their tracking.”

“No, I mean…”

It seemed like a serious misunderstanding, but considering Martina, it wasn’t exactly wrong, so I could only bite my lip briefly.

‘Now that I think about it, Little Vampire’s body was originally supposed to be recovered by Xeno-Tech.’

It was only because Johann was lax in his work that I could bring it here, as it was a body created by Bram Stoker using materials stolen from Xeno-Tech.

Somehow, my situation seems similar to the Shape Shifter’s.

Even the connection to Xeno-Tech is the same.

“Furthermore… you and your friends have become quite famous, haven’t you?”

He moved his mechanical fingers, inputting something into the panel to show proof, then displayed the brawl from the top floor of the Junk Palace, which had been broadcast live.

Watching the fans wildly cheering amidst flying bullets, as if the madness of that time was contagious, and Closing Age continuing their performance in an even more frenzied state, made my mind go blank.

“Eclipse Point and the megacorps don’t particularly like mercenaries’ activities being exposed through media. That’s why they pay even more attention to incidents like this one.”

“…Damn it. Did I want to appear there?”

If a mind-blowing shootout between a Mexican cartel boss and a Chicago mafia boss were to be broadcast worldwide, anyone would stop it.

While Martina is blocking online doxxing attempts, which are used for her electronic warfare defense response learning, there’s no way to prevent information from spreading among people who recognize my face.

If the identities of the mercenaries who provided a dopamine rush amidst programs plastered with boring commercials remain unknown to the world’s renowned hackers, people craving more will go mad as time passes.

If I were to open an SNS account and go viral when the public’s reaction is this high, I’d instantly become an influencer.

It would be perfect for attracting the resentful gazes of megacorps who dislike anything that isn’t their carefully selected ‘fish’ gaining prominence.

“And on top of that, you’re a fugitive… you understand what I’m saying, unknown individual?”

It didn’t seem like he’d believe me even if I said my name was just something Luna gave me.

‘Martina wasn’t exposed, so she should be fine, right…? No. You never know. Damn it, how did that thing end up in my body…’

Even if I could turn back time, I probably wouldn’t avoid embedding the Ayakashi ampoule into my body, but feeling this anxious after so long made me think that.

Seeing me like that, he seemed to consider me a complete comrade, and chattered on in a rather pleased tone.

“Actually, one of the reasons I forged a deal with Banishment was the merit of their being able to receive protection from a powerful faction called Seven High, but your existence was an even greater factor in making that decision.”

“Me?”

“Since we’re in the same predicament, wouldn’t you be more likely to look after this kid if I weren’t around? It’s appealing to emotions, so to speak.”

“An android having emotions? You’re talking nonsense…”

“The world is heading towards a singularity, so couldn’t something like this happen? Perhaps not just me, but some super-AI that repeatedly debugs itself might enter a special body and become a new humanity.”

These are all difficult stories to accept.

Even after that, Dr. Pointless continued to talk, examining the Shape Shifter who was quietly receiving repairs while lying down.

Stories like his hobby being collecting books from before the corporate wars, or how the Shape Shifter couldn’t even properly control her excretory functions when she first got this body.

The Shape Shifter, the party concerned, resisted, but what could she do in her flailing Daruma state, without limbs?

“She’s an argumentative and ill-tempered outsider now, but it was quite amusing nonetheless. I’ve checked all the weapon parts, so now it’s time to deal with the body damage.”

“Wait, there’s no damage to the body. Just attach it.”

“You’re doing something you don’t normally do. It’s impossible, isn’t it?”

The Shape Shifter, whose mask was shattered by my full swing, revealing her face, struggled.

Her struggles, devoid of limbs, were truly pitiful to watch from the side, and Dr. Pointless, as if he were merely a machine, disregarded her appeals and snatched at her robe.

The angle of her eyebrows on her closed-eyed face tilted as if she were trying to resist, but there was no way she could rebel in this situation, and the robe was pulled open by Dr. Pointless’s hand, revealing its interior.

*Plop.* A large, breast-shaped mass of gel rippled and shook greatly, like jelly.

A body of translucent black gel, with a chrome skeleton and core supporting its interior.

In the Shape Shifter’s lower abdomen, as if showing everything, white, lumpy fluid had gathered, forming a certain shape.

A small, pouch-like shape.

“…”

“…”

“…”

Its identity could be known even without a precise examination, so all three — no, four — present fell silent.

What broke the silence was.

“Cough..! *Pfft…* Hahahahahaha! To think, kid, you’d break a virgin’s hymen! Hahahahaha!”

It was the android’s explosive laughter, rolling on the floor almost as if crying from genuine amusement.

“…Somehow, I didn’t feel like it from the start.”

“Hahahah!”