episode_0103

A customer with a prosthetic body approached me and Sylvia.

The gait was not fast.

That would be the case, as his head, emitting a red glow, was fully scanning the inside of the bar.

No matter how much information you research, there are still many things you can’t know without seeing them yourself.

“….”

Finally, the mechanical body’s rough and noisy footsteps stopped.

“Customer, if you are just here to have a drink, I will guide you.”

A giant mole-like Eslock intervened.

At his words between us and the guest, the guest bowed his head with a small movement.

“What the heck, why is that guy here?”

“….”

I could hear other guests nearby murmuring.

But the guest raised his head again and spoke in his characteristically stiff tone.

“Hello, Blue Heart Office. Hello. My name is Anderson, the director of the Metal Sight Office.”

What office? For a moment I thought it was the Metal Workers’ Union because it looked like a metal street.

Well… there was no disagreement that it was a name that suited the appearance of the director well.

Perhaps the other members, like Anderson, were either entirely prosthetic or had a high proportion of prosthetic bodies.

“Mr. Anderson. Nice to meet you. I am Sylvia, the director of the Blue Heart Office.”

“And I’m Chris.”

I hesitated whether to use formal language or not, but I decided to stick to informal language.

To begin with, I may look like a child now, but since I am a vampire, you probably know that my appearance and actual age do not match.

“Are you two… mother and daughter? Or sisters?”

“Well, I wonder what it looks like to Mr. Anderson.’

“….”

Anderson scratched the head of the body with one hand.

Ha, it seems like the habits from when I was human still remain.

“…Hello!”

Meanwhile, David and Midas, who had gone to the bathroom, returned.

Midas ran up to Anderson without even knowing who he was and greeted him with a cute look, sticking his tongue out.

“What a well-mannered kid.”

Anderson naturally avoided Sylvia’s question as he responded to Midas.

“So why did your boss come here?”

“I came here to meet you.”

Suddenly Anderson’s voice grew louder.

Then, Silas, the general, and Midas, who were nearby, were all surprised and moved away from him.

“That’s not a sufficient answer.”

I asked him why he was here, but he didn’t say anything else.

“I feel a bit awkward doing this in a public place. I wish we could move to a different location.”

“…There’s nothing we can do. Our office is on the second floor. Would that be okay?”

Anderson nodded his head repeatedly, faster than before.

“…?”

Midas stared blankly at the sight.

Sylvia exchanged gestures with the group as she led Anderson to the office on the second floor.

Immediately Ray and David followed me and Sylvia.

***

“I think it would be nice for you to be here.”

Just then, Laia stopped Sheila, the general, and Midas from following us.

The first floor of the hideout building was not fully occupied.

We left the bar and took the elevator straight to the second floor.

Thud!

When I got on the elevator at Anderson, it shook a little.

“….”

I thought it might be too heavy since it’s a prosthetic body.

Tiring, the elevator doors opened with an alarm sound indicating that they had reached the second floor.

Sylvia, who got off first, led us to the office.

As with the first-floor bar, not all of the second-floor space was office space.

Still, compared to the Silver Side days, the office seemed to be at least twice as large.

“David, please take Mr. Anderson to the reception room.”

“Okay.”

Anderson followed David obediently into the reception room.

Sylvia started turning on the lights in the office and making various preparations.

“Ray, what do you think?”

“…what?”

“Why did they suddenly come looking for us from that side?”

“Well, since it’s an existing office that was originally here… I guess they’re trying to take the initiative?”

“Hmm.”

If that’s the case, I’d be a bit disappointed.

“Oh, Sylvia. Is the Metal Sight Office the management office here?”

“Yes, I definitely remember the office with that name being the Grove Avenue Management Office.”

“That’s right.”

If Anderson ever starts talking nonsense, we could threaten or subdue the Metal Sight office… and we could become the management office of Grove Avenue.

As I was thinking that, my wicked right hand naturally gained strength.

“Chris.”

“Ah, I didn’t realize I was using force.”

When Ray pointed that out later, I quickly relaxed.

“Okay, then let’s go too.”

“Sylvia. I’m not a problem solver for this office, is that okay?”

“Hey, it’s okay. Someone like Ray is our office’s honorary troubleshooter.”

“…Really?”

When I nodded, Ray blushed and lowered his head slightly, either embarrassed or grateful.

It could be said to be a kind of special treatment, but for someone like Ray, special treatment was more than enough.

As I entered the reception room, the first thing I saw was Anderson sitting on a chair.

‘What the heck, that chair looks like it’s completely dented.’

Although it was mentioned in the Dream City game, the discomfort of the full-body prosthesis was more than I imagined.

“Ah.”

Meanwhile, David, who had guided Anderson to the reception room first, whispered something to Sylvia.

“I think that would be good.”

I don’t know what the good thing was, but I saw David going out of the reception room.

While David was returning, we also took our seats opposite Anderson.

“Before moving on to the main topic.”

***

As Sylvia said, David came back again.

“Sylvia, here.”

Sylvia placed something David had handed her on the table.

“What is this?”

“Is this for Mr. Anderson?”

As Anderson unpacked the package, something resembling a battery appeared.

Oh, that looks like a rather expensive battery. Naturally, users of full-body prosthetics don’t need to eat.

Instead, there were batteries for charging and transmitting taste sensations.

It was like offering a car to a guest, offering a prosthetic battery to the prosthetic user.

“…I didn’t know I would be treated like this.”

“It can change depending on what Mr. Anderson says next.”

A red light flashed across Anderson’s mechanical face.

If there were only yellow and green lights on the side, it would have been a perfect traffic light.

‘No, let’s focus properly.’

While Sylvia and Anderson were talking, I found myself thinking about something else.

As I shook my head to collect my thoughts, Ray looked at me with a puzzled expression.

“Okay, then, please tell us why you came to see us.”

As soon as Anderson inserted the battery we had provided into his slot, Sylvia’s questions began.

“It’s simple.”

“Simple?”

“Have you ever worked on a commission for the Auckland government before?”

“….”

Anderson already knew that we were a bunch of fixers hired by the government’s agents.

Well, if you saw Johnny at the bar on the first floor, it wouldn’t be hard to recognize him. Il-sung was also the head of the Il-dong office.

The problem was me and Eslok. I was in my adult form at the time, and Eslok was in his fiery horse skull form.

I waited for Sylvia’s answer.

“You knew it so well.”

“It was something I could understand if I thought about it calmly.”

Anderson reacted as if it was no big deal.

“So what does it matter?”

“Hell’s Angels, Young Lords, Orc Kings.”

In response to my question, Anderson suddenly mentioned the names of three gangs.

The original text was clearly Hells Angels, Young Lords, and Orc Kings.

Anderson didn’t need to explain, the three gangs were ones we had met before.

“First of all, I would like to thank you all for the momentary, albeit imperfect, peace that has come.”

“It was nothing.”

Anderson smiled at my answer.

“Our Metal Sight Office is in partnership with young lords and orc kings.”

Ah, that’s what it felt like.

I was curious about where the head of an office that wasn’t that famous got enough money to use a full-body prosthesis.

Unless you’ve secured the slush funds of the Lidocaine Association branch leaders like me.

“Then the reason you came today must have something to do with those two gangs.”

“Yes, the two gangs have no ill feelings towards the Blue Heart Office, the Ildong Office, or the Tetracaine Association behind both offices.”

“….”

Anderson’s message isn’t quite finished, but up to this point it feels like something’s missing.

“So?”

“How about we cooperate with each other?”

“I’d like you to explain that ‘cooperation’ in more detail.”

Anderson cut to the chase with Sylvia’s words.

Young Lords, Orc Kings, and the Metal Sight Office join the fight against the Lidocaine Society.

The Blue Heart Office, Ildong Office, and Tetracaine Association join the fight against the Hell’s Angels.

If you look at it this way, it was really simple.

“I think we’re at a loss.”

“Can I ask why you think so?”

“The Lidocaine Association is in the northern part of the city. I don’t know how much help it would be even if the two gangs here and your office helped us. But on the other hand, if we joined the fight against the Hell’s Angels, it would be effective right away. ”

Others nodded to what I said.

“Then, is there anything else you would like to ask for from our side?”

In response to Anderson’s question, I whispered a condition in Sylvia’s ear.

“…I would like you to transfer the management office rights on Grove Avenue to us.”

“….”

Anderson did not respond to Sylvia’s question right away.

Instead, he rested his chin on one hand and began to think for a moment.

‘The face is also a prosthetic, so I can’t read its expression.’

Today seemed like a day to learn about the pros and cons of the body.

“I think we need to discuss that part.”

“And one more.”

“Please speak.”

“There’s peace with the Hell Angels for the time being. What are you going to do?”

I just hope it’s not like we’re from somewhere other than Auckland.

Because I didn’t think it would be a very effective method.

“You don’t have to worry about that part. It’s easy for them to fake evidence of drug sales in Auckland.”

“….”

Did you really intend to break the agreement by blatantly forging traces?

From then on, the conversation between Sylvia and Anderson continued.

Of course, it wasn’t a long time. Anderson said that we needed to discuss the terms with both gangs.

It was easy to infer why the two gangs needed to be consulted about who would be the management office of the Metal Sight Office.

In the process of maintaining the qualifications of the management office, he would have cooperated with both gangs.

He must have been using that qualification to collude with the two gangs.

It was only natural that Anderson could not make the decision on his own, since he was being asked to hand over the privileges he had enjoyed so far to our Blue Heart office.

If the two gangs think that we will cooperate with them even if the management office qualifications are transferred to us, they will be okay with it.

“Then let’s go now.”

“Yes, please take care.”

Before Anderson left the building completely, he did not forget to tell us who were seeing him off that he would have an answer soon.

“…Whew. It worked out somehow.”

“That’s right.”

Sylvia and I breathed a sigh of relief as we watched Anderson walk away.

I was worried that we might get caught up in a gang war, even though we were advertising our status as the management office on Grove Avenue.

The Hell’s Angels are a bit different from the other two gangs, because they are strictly a biker gang.

Given its unique mobility and expandability, it was understandable that it would want to sell drugs.

“Well, let’s go in first.”

I wondered if they would accept our terms.