The embedded Steel Titan flailed its legs on the floor, but being deeply stuck, he couldn’t escape on his own.
Falcon swiftly approached and crushed his flailing legs. Crack-! Sparks flew from the shattered limbs.
Ignoring the Titan, Falcon grasped the remaining lower half and forcibly pulled it from the ground. The upper body of the Titan couldn’t easily escape from Falcon’s mount.
The overwhelming size difference between them vanished the moment the Titan’s body split in two.
[Come here, you jerk, just die already]
Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam-! Falcon’s fists relentlessly pounded the Titan’s upper body. Though the Titan lying on the ground tried to resist, every time he did, Falcon simply dodged lightly and smacked him again, as if to say, “Pathetic.”
Just when Falcon judged that the Titan’s resistance had completely ended, she cautiously attempted to access the Titan’s soul circuit.
[Is this how you do it?]
“Yeah, just like that.”
As Falcon connected to the Titan’s brain computer under my guidance, various holograms popped up in the cockpit. The internal status of the Titan was laid bare across dozens of screens.
Severe damage: body half-destroyed, ammo running low, nearly complete failure, and so on… Skimming through all that information, I quickly made my way to the Titan’s core—the circuits responsible for its soul and brain.
Just as I had predicted, the Titan’s soul was being manipulated by an unidentified code I had never created. No, could it even be called code? The messy machine language felt more like the result of desperate attempts to express some supernatural phenomenon.
‘What kind of superpower looks like code…’
I compared the original code I remembered with the Titan’s current code and began systematic removal of the virus born out of the superpower’s influence.
With every malicious code I eliminated, the Titan’s body twitched as if it were having a seizure. It seemed there was an algorithm stopping the attempt to eliminate the brainwashing. In fact, every time I tried to remove it, new malicious code would be generated.
However, such attempts alone couldn’t prevent the brainwashing from being lifted.
“How long will this take…?”
“Not long. At most, five minutes. Ten at the longest…”
While I was casually chatting with Steelstone, the fully subdued Titan quickly raised his hand and grabbed Falcon by the nape of her neck.
As I was shocked that a dying Titan could do this, he uttered something even more surprising.
[Evil punishes.]
[─Self-destruct sequence activated. One minute until execution.]
“…Self-destruct?”
“Wha, what…”
I let out a hollow laugh and looked at Steelstone.
“Self-destruct? Was that a thing?”
“Uh, um… just in case, I created it.”
“No, why would you add such a spec to a battle weapon…”
I hadn’t discovered this detail even when I checked the Steel Titan’s catalog earlier. So, that self-destruct feature was secretly added by Steelstone without consulting anyone else.
I wondered if he was crazy. Why put in a self-destruct feature that wasn’t even needed? If this could deal significant damage to the enemy, I might praise his foresight, but that wasn’t the situation now.
Quite the opposite. Because of that blasted fantasy of his, it was now putting our life at risk, and I couldn’t find any good words to say.
‘And he even made it impossible to block it through computer hacking…’
It meant that once it started, the only way to interfere would be to remove it physically. “One minute,” huh? I didn’t know how powerful the self-destruct would be, but if Falcon bolted with full speed—
That was impossible as well. The Titan’s arm still held Falcon’s neck tightly.
“Um… have we doomed ourselves?”
“Y-You should run away. Like, teleport or something…”
“In one minute? Not to mention, what are the odds of that working? Plus, I’ve got my allies around here. I can’t just let them get caught up in this.”
Even at this moment, time was cruelly passing. I thought as hard as I could for a way to turn the situation around. Should I call Arima now to throw both of us across the gate? No way. No way I could move such a large robot through the gate.
What about erasing both of them with a satellite strike? If that were possible, the Steel Titan couldn’t have single-handedly decimated City W.
This wouldn’t work, nor would that. As plans to stop the self-destruct began to dwindle, Steelstone cautiously stood up from the cockpit and moved outside.
“Mr. Steelstone? What are you trying to do…”
“─It’s my fault, so I have to take responsibility until the end.”
Steelstone said that and leaped off Falcon’s body, landing on top of the Titan with a thud-! Watching this, I figured out what he was trying to do. He intended to physically enter the reactor to cut off its power.
It was a method whose success was dubious at best and, even if he succeeded, would not guarantee Steelstone’s life. Just as I was about to reach out to stop him in shock, the Steel Titan, holding Falcon’s neck, opened his mouth in surprise.
[Master, what?]
“…It’s me, your Father. You little brat.”
[Weapons don’t have parents…]
“Did you really think that? You really are a foolish one till the end.”
Steelstone said this and began hammering the Titan’s chest with a hammer. The Titan’s chest, which had withstood tank fire without a scratch, began to cave in.
Just when I thought that maybe, just maybe, they could block the self-destruct in time, the Titan, holding Falcon, let go of her and embraced Steelstone.
“Mr. Steelstone-!”
[Father!]
When Falcon and I shouted in surprise, Steelstone raised his hand as if to signal that he was all right.
“Let go of me, you rascal. It hurts.”
[Master… No, … Father.]
“…Yes, my son.”
[I, what have I done…]
“Son?”
At that moment, the alerts blared from the screen connected to the Steel Titan, with warning sounds going off left and right. The malicious codes I had expected would take over five minutes to erase were being wiped out rapidly.
So, the Titan was breaking free from the brainwashing on his own.
[I am Steel Titan, the guardian that upholds justice…]
A hero awakens.
With a deep breath of regret for the things he had done, the Steel Titan opened his eyes. But that was only for a moment. A hero is not someone who languishes in regret.
A hero does what needs to be done, even when they face regret—willing to tackle things others wouldn’t dare.
[Father.]
“Titan…”
[Thank you for creating me. And, Little sister?]
[Why?]
[Please take care of Father.]
Titan said this and handed Steelstone over to Falcon. Just when I was wondering what he was up to, the Titan thrust his left hand into his own chest.
Moving the crumpled metal plate away, the Titan looked at the power source pulsating within.
[Hmmm-!]
The power source, entering self-destruct sequence, began to crumple between the Titan’s hands. It emitted a weak explosion and noise before completely stopping.
Satisfied, the Titan smiled at Steelstone but cautiously glanced at him.
[…Father.]
“No, Titan, you…”
[I must have been a disgraceful son. I became a monster who ruthlessly killed people despite your design…]
Although the Steel Titan was created as a battle weapon, that was merely the ideal design. Accordingly, it aligned with what the P City elite funding Steelstone had wanted.
Throughout the process of creating the robot, Steelstone never wished for this robot to become a ruthless killer.
Thus, while the Steel Titan may have been born as a battle weapon, it was never intended to be a slaughterer.
[But, Father… if only for the last moment—at least that last instant—was I not a son you could be proud of?]
“…Of course, Titan.”
[Ah, I see…]
Titan smiled with satisfaction at Steelstone’s reply. But it was brief; the Titan soon closed its eyes and slowly came to a halt.
The death of a machine. With the power source gone, the Titan lost its life. Steelstone looked at his deceased son and shed tears.
“…Mr. Steelstone, let’s head back.”
“…Ah.”
He hugged his son for a long time before slowly getting up. Soon after, a long contrail streaked across the sky.
*
[Due to illegal activities in City P, property damage in City W amounts to approximately $12 trillion… City P has decided to take responsibility for all of this…]
[The international community continuously sends condemnation towards City P.]
[As villains swarm in the thoroughly destroyed City W, the Evilus Corporation is providing unwavering support for the refugees…]
The war was over.
Leaving the shattered Titan behind, it wouldn’t have been hard for people to guess what had happened there.
Seeing their battle weapon rendered utterly powerless, City P immediately declared surrender and faced a terrifyingly massive war compensation.
“P City is totally finished.”
“I guess. City W has resources to at least start over somehow…”
“If a place like P City, which only had technology, is hit with a sum like that…”
I chatted with Steelstone about it. While we were catching up, a tiny robot the size of a palm wobbled over.
[Father? Would you like some tea?]
“Oh, Falcon. Thank you.”
[Doctor Eight too.]
“Thanks.”
Falcon who brought the refreshments wobbled back toward her own house. Watching the miniaturized Falcon, Steelstone scratched his cheek as if still getting used to it.
“Wow. I can’t believe that big Falcon is this small now…”
“It’s the power of magic, you know.”
“Magic, huh? I never imagined such a thing existed.”
Steelstone said this, sipping his tea. As the bitter aroma and taste enveloped his mouth, he looked at the tiny toy house where Falcon had gone in with a gaze more amazed than at that mere magic.
Outside, the uproar from the ongoing battles could not be heard.
[Damn that brother! I told you to bring Father the tea!]
[No, little sister. That’s normally what a younger sibling does… Agh-!]
[Shut up! Just die!]
“Haha…”
Watching his children bicker, Steelstone let out a faint laugh. Then he looked at me and said,
“To me, that feels more magical.”
“It’s science.”
What are you staring at?
Just because everything was smashed and the power source was gone doesn’t mean the machine is dead.
Having taken the brain circuit from the Titan, I rebuilt the shattered Steel Titan.
The result was right there. Two robots were squabbling on one side of the laboratory. How many people would know that those robots could single-handedly take down an entire city?
At least, the vast majority of people wouldn’t.
