Chapter 142

The packaging that had been crinkling at the corners of my mouth quietly slipped down toward my knees.

Of course, there was no particular agreement, but excluding sleep time, the most comfortable break during work was mealtime, so there was an unspoken rule to avoid small talk related to work. Ken, who seemed far from misbehaving, carefully broke this rule.

“Um… I think by late tonight… or maybe by tomorrow morning, the guidelines for data recovery and the payload encoding program will be mostly complete, so can we redistribute our tasks a bit…?”

“Oh? Little shy one! You finally finished it? Don’t worry! If it’s just a repetitive task, I’m fantastic at that!”

‘How unnecessarily diligent…’

With a loud smack, Marina patted the little one on the back, and he accepted the rough praise while coughing.

On the other hand, I finally felt the dryness of realization that it was inevitable.

I thought to myself while nibbling on a fork, but it didn’t change anything.

If there are results that I’m not happy with, there are also causes leading to them.

Perhaps it was because I had been noticeably speeding up my work lately, trying to convince the two that it was okay to take it easy. Or, maybe it was because Ken, who felt a strange sense of responsibility and urgency because, despite algorithm development, I had hardly touched the server entrusted to me.

Realizing that too late and trying to do something about it, no reasons for laziness came to mind, and now I could not afford to slow down.

Being overly cautious and hesitating could lead to real catastrophe if I got caught.

In any case, the chaser did not know they were chasing, while only I, who was being chased, was panting and sweating cold for days.

Finally, it seemed something that could be presented as a customized program had been completed…

…Is it okay? It should be fine, right? After all, I had worked hard to create a gap and prepared as a countermeasure, so I should be able to ease up a bit, right?

My talent had never betrayed my expectations, but the suspicious mad scientist who had a hand in its birth made me uneasy.

“Is there… still a storage device we haven’t touched at all?”

– Previously, you retrieved and disposed of some research materials from the terminal at the bottom of the P-row server rack, but after that, the electrical output weakened, causing you to halt the work. Furthermore, among the recording black boxes located outside the server, there are devices that have not been examined… –

“Ugh…!”

There are indeed an absurd number of them. While there is an advantage to extracting data just by fiddling with it for a few minutes, the difficulty level anticipated by Enema was really not trivial.

After all, Enema didn’t give us a generous three-month deadline for nothing.

If it were to be solved by three people, they would need to pour in all their time except for eating and sleeping to barely finish the workload. They called for compensation as if being generous, stirring up a desire to work.

If we had been groaning or dissatisfied with the daily increase in recovery data, they would have found more mercenaries or assigned a reliable employee to help.

…Who would have thought that the original black company would flaunt its quality in this manner? Those bastards.

I don’t know what the history of this world is like, but the fact remains that Japan was the one to first establish the concept of dying from overwork on Earth. I clearly read it in the news, you bastards…!

“Shy one! How do you use the encoder? Is there no prototype? I need to have instructions from A to Z unless you’re going to give me a separate manual!”

“…I told you I made sure to follow the guidelines on purpose, didn’t I, sister?”

I clenched my teeth while successfully taking a round of the vast warehouse filled with server-related equipment, and in the midst of it, I could hear the commotion of the two, busy organizing some systematic plan for themselves.

“Hah…”

I let out a sigh with visible dissatisfaction, resting my chin in my hand. I started chewing my fork more frequently as well.

Even while they babbled about error-checking bits and error codes, when I looked at them with a blank stare, there was no sign of a question or transition to a conversation coming my way.

I understand the intention of deliberately excluding me from the conversation.

Having struggled to meet my quota of submitted data alone, they likely want me to take a break and let them handle this for once. Well.

…I don’t need that at all, so can you please stop trying to work secretly out of my sight? People who have many things weighing on them are truly anxious, you know.

“Phew, it seems like you’ll have to slog through a bit this time. Just bear with it this once, and next time I’ll pick a commission that you can do comfortably at home by yourself.”

– I don’t sleep anyway, so you don’t need to worry about me. I’m alternating the operation of computing elements used in the regular operation to minimize accumulated fatigue on the parts, so please don’t worry. –

“…Wait, that’s kind of enviable? Are you a dolphin or something?”

My lacking stamina is patched by exercising little by little, the insufficient nutrients are compensated for with health supplements, and the calories getting depleted by using powers are somehow made up with a calorie-dense diet full of desire.

When I lamented about my insatiable need for sleep, Zero returned an absurd truth.

What do you mean sleep is unnecessary…? And that guy even complains to me every morning for sleeping in? That’s so unfair. He always brings back things to get me in trouble.

Clatter!

I pushed my chair back and got up, asking for them to refrain from giving me a morning call.

It’s not satisfying, but… I’ve rested enough for now. I’ve eaten and slept well with Enema’s money until the moon passes. I should start making efforts to safely wrap up this approaching finale.

In a test, while the long-rehearsed skills are important, the focus sharpened during the last-minute cramming significantly influences the performance.

“Alright… Marina, Ken! If there’s nothing else to discuss, I’ll be leaving first?”

“Huh? Why? Don’t you want to stay longer? I was expecting your cheeks to get all puffy like usual.”

“…It’s just that I have something that I stopped working on, and it feels a bit uneasy. And besides, I’ve never stuffed that much in my mouth before!”

I felt guilty, but concealing my true feelings, which I could never reveal to those I had gone through thick and thin with, I left my seat quickly.

The first time in my life I left food uneaten since coming here… Who decided unilaterally on a menu like pho without consulting anyone? I can still taste the detergent in my mouth! Ugh!!

★

Tap, tap. Tap!

Beep—. Beep—. Beep—. …Click.

From their respective seats, everyone was typing away on their keyboards.

Some were using simple pad-shaped lightweight computers, while others were on supercomputers that could barely be called portable. …There was even a weirdo who implanted terminals into the robot they brought.

In any case, the individuals came from different backgrounds, ages, and specialties, and this incredible temporary hacker team was impressively orderly.

First, the team’s ace workaholic, Anastasia, was overflowing with enthusiasm and extracting data with remarkable styles and techniques.

Once forensics finished, the normally recovered files were uploaded automatically to the internal network, and the verification team began their reliability review.

However, if that were all, we would be comfortable, but even if it started as an unofficial commission, the destination was a formal contract.

Because we had to send progress reports daily as specified at the time, I organized the random metadata and raw data sent from the Droid into an understandable format, and when I tossed it to Marina, she would add a generous amount of sugar-coated words in her usual repetitive task and submit it according to the form.

In addition, whenever I found myself with free time or my brain wasn’t working, I kept pulling nearby servers into overtime.

…That was until today.

“Ugh… I thought I was going to die. Hey, you both are going to go to sleep soon, right? I’d appreciate it if you could refrain from working late while I’m away.”

Stretching as vigorously as I could while casting frequent glances, the girl exuded an aura of someone pleading not to work.

I wondered if there could really be a colleague signaling me not to work, but… it seemed unavoidable with a living witness present. I had to accept the reality.

“…Ah, I’m going to hand over the completed tool to Marina. Thanks for your hard work today, Anastasia.”

“Sweetie! From now on, I’ll do a time attack within a week to break your record and get you a bonus, so take a good rest!”

“Uh… yeah, right. Good luck…? If you need a handover or if I missed anything by mistake, please let me know… for sure.”

Though she tilted her head, she readily accepted that she would go to sleep soon and waved goodbye, saying I had worked hard.

Naturally, the imposing super alloy chick that followed her around like a shadow vanished along with its owner.

Thus, the remaining two were left to labor on.

“First… I’ll send it to you on the laptop, so let me know if you don’t understand anything… we can take it slow from tomorrow…”

“Oh…?”

The two began whispering while huddling together.

While the atmosphere was familiar and warm, it was also hard to neglect the sense of camaraderie that carried a hint of compatibility.

If Ken was busy talking because he had a lot to explain, Marina nodded her head almost fervently, to the point where it raised questions about whether she understood.

Thirty minutes… an hour. The teammate who had left earlier would have been asleep for quite some time by now.

Should I confirm whether it’s okay to disband this little meeting if there are no more questions… just when that thought floated to the boy.

“Um, um~ but little shy one…?”

“Yes?”

Suddenly, and with barely any warning, Marina’s face turned towards Ken.

Beaming. Her expression was one that seemed to carry not a single worry or concern, but due to the tilt of her head, an incongruous chilling shadow appeared.

Most importantly, her gaze held a probing nature that was hard to dismiss.

“Unlike the prototype you showed earlier, the program you just threw at me seems to contain some commands related to communications networks that look extremely risky if caught… Did you forget the clause about being dragged off if you communicate carelessly with the outside? Hmm??”

“……”

Who had ulterior motives, and which side was preparing the trap?

Her mask started to slip a bit.