Volume 4 Chapter 5 (2/2)

It had likely been a high-rise building with things like a theatre or mall inside, but more than half of it had broken off and covered the smaller buildings with rubble. All of the external walls were scorched black. The sparks bursting from the ground likely came from what had once been the electronic sign.

I would never have known what it was without being told.

”Maxwell, where's the entrance leading underground?”

”The shortest route would be to enter the partially collapsed building and head down the stairs. There is also a slope behind the building for cars to directly enter the underground parking lot, but based on its location, it is buried beneath all that rubble.”

We had to risk our lives to the very end.

It wasn't just the gels and bombing. Our surroundings were overflowing with all kinds of death.

With gla.s.s shards crunching below our feet, we entered the building. It was already a dark night, but the building's wiring must have been severed because it had almost no lights on.

”...An electric fire could start at any moment.”

”The gas lines are also a worry,” added Maxwell.

Not even the emergency exit lights were on, so my smartphone's backlight came in handy. With some advice from my vampire sister who, as a denizen of the night, had excellent night vision, I managed to find the stairs down to the parking lot located to the right of the metal detector gate.

The door was bent and wouldn't open, but Erika raised her wonderfully beautiful leg and performed a kick with the sole of her foot while still carrying the Cla.s.s Rep on her back. The entire metal door bent and flew inwards.

While supporting the stretcher with both hands, I twisted my head to look down the stairs. We could not relax even after coming this far. It was game over if a bunch of gels had taken refuge here to escape the flames.

”The gels react to disturbances in the air. Since there was no reaction even after Miss Erika kicked down the door, it is unlikely any are hiding on the stairs.”

”Unlikely isn't impossible, though. Let's get going.”

The gels disliked heat. If anyone had had a free hand, it would have helped to grab a metal pipe from the burning wreckage to use in place of a red hot poker, but we could not be picky here.

We descended the dark stairs one cautious step at a time. After reaching the last step, I took a quiet breath. Then I pa.s.sed through the door and entered a large s.p.a.ce.

It was an underground parking lot.

”Maxwell. Where exactly is it located? Although I imagine the security cameras and intranet must be down given the state of the building.”

”Sure. That is not a problem. I can determine the location using footage from the vehicle in question's drive recorder. It is the medical truck on the 4th column and 15th row. It is the size of a delivery truck and the mirrors of the surrounding vehicles show that the side bears a cross design with two snakes wrapped around it. Use that to search.”

”Asclepius, huh?”

But triumphantly showing off that trivia was of no use in an emergency. We had to get to the surgery truck to save Anastasia.

Half of...no, about a third of the underground parking lot was buried in rubble because the ceiling had collapsed.

The surgery truck had just barely escaped harm. Some pebble-sized fragments must have hit it because the winds.h.i.+eld was white with small cracks and the cha.s.sis was dented.

”To breathe life into the medical equipment in the back, you must first head to the driver's seat and start the engine.”

”Understood. Anastasia, we're going to gently lower you.”

”...Honestly. Just do what...you want with me.”

”That isn't something a girl should say so readily. Ayumi.”

”Got it. Gently, right?”

I lowered Anastasia's stretcher to the floor to free up my hands. Released from that burden, I felt a tingling pain in my arms. I also made sure to duck down and check below the truck for any red gels.

I of course did not have the key to the surgery truck.

”Maxwell, what about the door lock? Cars these days generally use EM or IR right?”

”No. Perhaps because it is a medical device, it is more strictly locked than a normal vehicle. The one lock requires both a digital and a.n.a.log key, so I alone cannot unlock it.”

”Oh, I see.”

I grabbed a piece of concrete rubble the size of a phone book and smashed the driver's side window. Gla.s.s scattered everywhere. I discarded the block, reached inside the window, and manually unlocked the door.

Incidentally, the alarm did not go off. The winds.h.i.+eld was broken back when the rubble had pushed in, so the alarm may have done all its blaring back then.

”Satori-kun, why does your manliness seem to increase five-fold in an emergency?”

That made me a little worried about how Erika normally saw me, but I didn't have time to question her. I brushed the gla.s.s shards from the seat and then climbed in.

”Maxwell, what should I do now? How do I ignite the engine? The battery alone won't be enough, will it?”

”Downloading diagram from Excess's development server. Follow my instructions and remove the cover below the steering wheel.”

Cars these days would not start up just by connecting some torn wires like in an old police drama. Everything was controlled by encrypted signals, so the system would actually lock down if it received an improper current.

But things changed if you connected the internal wiring to a terminal with good program control.

”Wow, I didn't expect it to match the smartphone's connection port so perfectly.”

”That would be a result of looking ahead to the possibility of a fully self-driving vehicle. I can enter the vehicle's system through the maintenance cable.”

When you turned the steering wheel, it did not directly exert a force on the tires. Instead, an electric signal told a servo (a type of motor) to exert the force on the tires. As you've probably already guessed, you could do whatever you wanted if you messed with the program in between. This could be used in a dangerous way much more easily than attaching a bomb below the car. Since these things were AI controlled with their ports fully opened to the internet, it kind of felt like the world wanted to be destroyed.

With a loud roar, the truck shook and the headlights activated. The digital displays for the speedometer and fuel gauge appeared in the darkness.

”What will you do, Maxwell?”

”With the engine ignited, the connection is no longer necessary. I would prefer to stay with you.”

I needed Maxwell to control the remote operation station. I pulled the connection cable from my smartphone, hopped out of the driver's seat, and made my way to the back.

When I threw open the double doors, I found a thick but translucent plastic sheet part.i.tion and lots of high-tech equipment including robot arms and computers. Overall, it looked like a dentist's chair that had been upgraded to an SSR card.

”Okay, Maxwell, I need your help. I have no idea what to do. Before even getting to the surgery itself, I don't know how to professionally sterilize anything.”

”Sure. I have a.n.a.lyzed the manual and undergone repet.i.tion learning. I have contacted the slave medical system and taken master privileges. Please follow my instructions, user.”

”It's all up to you. Save my good friend.”

”Sure.”

I honestly don't remember much of what happened after that. It was a lot like entering an unnecessarily luxurious multi-purpose smart kitchen and making an unfamiliar meal while viewing a cooking site on my smartphone. The sterilization level was less like that of an operating room where not even a loose hair was allowed and more like an emergency outpatient clinic for patients needing immediate care. Plus, Anastasia had a piece of rebar piercing her and that meant we could not remove her clothes, so there was only so much we could do.

Erika, Ayumi, and the Cla.s.s Rep remained outside the truck. There wasn't much s.p.a.ce inside with all the equipment and there was the sterilization issue.

But there was one thing that was burned into my mind.

And it of course was the thing I least wanted to remember.

”I am prepared to stop the bleeding, apply st.i.tches, and provide a transfusion. Please pull out the rebar that is plugging the wound. I cannot continue if you do not.”

”Pull it out? Me!? I-I thought you were going to do it all!”

”No. The surgical station's arm is designed for precision, so it is poorly suited for this kind of heavy lifting.”

”What about anesthesia? Anastasia is still awake!”

”No. We do not have time to slowly apply general anesthesia. Also, placing her under anesthesia in her current weakened state could put her life at greater risk.”

”C-can't we at least do some localized anesthesia...?”

”A lot of time has pa.s.sed since she began bleeding. We do not have time to wait for anesthesia to take effect.”

I had to grab and pull on the rebar pierced straight through the 11-year-old girl's belly.

I felt dizzy the entire time.

”Fortunately, the rebar itself was not bent, so it has no large protrusions,” explained Maxwell. ”If you pull it straight back, slowly but surely, you will not harm the surrounding tissue.”

But when I actually grabbed it and applied force, I felt a horribly soft resistance. A tremor ran through my fingertips. Clenching my teeth was not enough to stop them from chattering.

”...Ha ha. Don't cry, Truth. There's a girl right here.”

Anastasia's will seemed far stronger than mine as she lay helpless on that high-tech chopping block.

”No matter how this turns out, I'm still thankful. So don't hesitate. We'll be friends no matter what happens.”

I felt like I was doing something terrible. Like I was supposed to be saving someone yet was actually tearing them apart on the inside.

Still, I managed to pull the finger-thick rebar all the way out.

The thread of tension snapped.

I fell back onto my b.u.t.t with the horrific b.l.o.o.d.y rebar still in my grasp.

My smartphone vibrated to warn me.

”I will now begin stopping the bleeding and applying st.i.tches. There is no time to remove Anastasia's clothing. I will need to tear a portion of her silk camisole, so please acquire ex-post-facto approval.”

”Yeah...”

”I will perform the surgery, but it would help if you could change Anastasia's orientation per my instructions.”

My memories ended there. I a.s.sume I changed gloves and re-sterilized myself after touching the floor and then became a clumsy machine controlled by Maxwell rather than a human. I wouldn't have been able to bear it if I hadn't just given myself over to the series of instructions: right to left, top to bottom.

However.

”Wait a moment. User, this is somewhat odd.”

”What, Maxwell!? Please don't tell me there's been some kind of trouble! We've already removed the rebar plugging her wound!”

”No, there has been no trouble with the surgical procedure and this is not an accident. It is unexpected, but it is a welcome miscalculation.”

What was Maxwell saying???

”Removing the rebar should have caused a great quant.i.ty of bleeding, but there has been an unexpectedly small amount. This would normally not be possible.”

”Did it just so happen to miss any major blood vessels or organs?”

”No. Given the location, that would not be possible. Also, the bleeding is already coming to a stop. This recovery speed would be impossible for a human.”

”Wait! You don't mean...”

Anastasia was still conscious.

But she looked up at me and then turned her head to look away. That sort of confirmed it for me.

Maxwell provided the answer.

”Sure. It is extremely likely that Anastasia is an Archenemy.”

Maxwell mechanically continued the work.

I felt dizzy seeing those inhuman fingers push inside someone's body, pierce a needle into them, and pa.s.s a thread through.

Once the work was complete, Maxwell covered the entire wound with a large piece of gauze.

”The full task has been completed as requested. Once I have confirmed her condition is stable, I will inject some morphine into the affected region. That will complete the surgery, but it may have been unnecessary from the beginning.”

It was done.

Anastasia was alive.

I could hear her impudent comments once more.

...This should have been the time to shed tears of joy, but my mind was full of distractions, telling me just how pathetic the human named Amatsu Satori was.

Anastasia smiled a little from the operating table.

I recalled what she had said during the surgery: No matter how this turns out, I'm still thankful. We'll be friends no matter what happens.

She probably hadn't intended to deceive me.

She simply hadn't had a chance to tell me and had it revealed on the operating table. Just like when someone with a secret navel piercing got appendicitis.

”...Tell me, Anastasia.”

”It's Maiden. Darn, I guess I couldn't hide it. If it was something I could just tie a rag around at the scene, I could have pa.s.sed it off as a miraculous survival, but there was nothing I could do with this professional operating table.”

She maintained her unnecessarily feminine j.a.panese even when speaking self-deprecatingly.

”I'll tell you everything.”

”Okay.”

”But let me ask one selfish question first. Truth, are we still friends?”

”What kind of question is that?”

I spat out the question.

And when the 11-year-old girl's eyes opened wide, I continued.

”Of course we are. If we weren't, why would I carry you across a bombed and gel-covered city and enter a half-destroyed building that could collapse at any moment?”

Anastasia said nothing for a while. But seeing the look on her face was enough.

No matter what secret she had and even if she wasn't even human, there was no way she was an enemy.

”My handle is Maiden. I borrowed it from a certain Archenemy.”

She finally began her explanation.

Her shoulders looked a lot less tense than before.

”The Silky. They're Archenemies that reside in European houses. They like to wear silk dresses, help out with all the housework, and protect the home, but they will drive out any master they don't like even if it gets them hurt. Well, j.a.pan has something similar, right? What was it called? A Zas.h.i.+ki Waras.h.i.+? Think of them as something like that.”

A European Zas.h.i.+ki Waras.h.i.+.

Yes, someone like that might indeed look indistinguishable from a human, just like my vampire older sister and zombie little sister.

But a silk dress, huh?

That would explain why she made sure her camisole and miniskirt were both silk.

”Why did you hide it?”

”Because it's embarra.s.sing. I mean, being a maid? That's not my style.”

The exhaustion showed on her face as she made that sulking comment.

This meant she was an 11-year-old European maid and an immortal genius hacker who attended college. There was so much there it was almost laughable.

”Also, we need to take into consideration that this is happening in Vegas, our hideout. Truth, I am well aware that you are our ally. When you challenged the Bright Cross all on your own, it was more than just me who felt a jolt of electricity down their spine. Amatsu Satori is undoubtedly a savior and a hero. For us anyway.”

I doubted she was talking about hackers or crackers when she said ”our” and ”us”.

She meant a close yet distant world to which a human like me could never belong.

”But nothing is absolute in the internet society. I am well aware of your skill, Truth, but the States are on the cutting edge of intercepting communications. I wanted to be extra careful, so I didn't dare mention this in an email or video chat.”

”What? What were you doing here in Las Vegas?”

The answer could change the meaning behind the appearance of the gels and the military bombing.

Then Anastasia, that close neighbor of an Archenemy, spoke.

”Hey, Truth. Archenemies can outdo a human individually, but we are overwhelmingly outdone by humans when it comes to overall numbers. In that case, it isn't physical strength we need to protect ourselves. How can we build a natural safe zone where a small number of people control a much larger number? How can we secretly steal resource from the entire human population without showing any sign of conflict at all? Everything needed for that was gathered here in Vegas. What do you think those things were?”

My mind went blank for a moment.

And then a possibility occurred to me.

”It can't be.”

”Money and information, right?” Anastasia grinned despite how pale she still was. ”Do you know what book first mentioned the concept of paper money? It was not a politician that proposed it. A certain author released the idea into the world using the words of a fictional demon named Mephistopheles. The demon suggested creating doc.u.ments giving someone the owners.h.i.+p rights to expected, but not yet discovered, treasures.”

”There is a giant computer that has taken that name: Mephistopheles. It is a unique supercomputer that provides centralized management of all electronically controlled casinos, machines, and gambling results in Vegas.”

The key to this year's selection was their response to the internet society.

In addition to major search engines, online stores, and leading AI researchers working on self-driving cars, actors and athletes' social media activity cannot be ignored and even traditional craftsmen use the internet to find sponsors and successors. It is a necessary part of life even for fields that seem entirely unrelated.

Information is very important for the financial field as well, so it was refres.h.i.+ng to see how the seemingly calm and collected candidates were surprisingly dedicated to gathering information.

Schools, prisons, hospitals, and corporations.

In any organizational structure where the few rule over the many, the upper levels must have unilateral access to the lower levels' information. That may have finally expanded to a global scale thanks to the internet.

Cla.s.sification: A

The magazine's method of determining influence from the effect on things like stock prices requires further attention.

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