Chapter 32

Vroom—!!

An automobile with a displacement that seems to classify as a monster bike exuded a strong presence.

Even on the elevated roads of a city packed with all sorts of vehicles, that noise was unparalleled. Curious eyes were bound to turn towards it, but… that was impossible.

Even though sunlight, like a blessing from nature, shone down on the entire city, only the upper levels could enjoy its benefits to the fullest. The mid-levels, where most citizens lived and decent shops lined the streets, were still shrouded in the shadows of the upper district, with colorful lights and street lamps turned on since morning.

…Helena, unsatisfied even with the speed that could be compared to a thin thread of that light, kept pressing the accelerator.

“Helena—!! Drive safely…! Please, drive safely—!! Obey traffic laws!”

“…Where did you learn such dull sayings, and how can a coward like you be a mercenary? We’re going slower than usual, so don’t worry. By the way, isn’t there nowhere to stop besides the implant shop and the droid store? Plus, we still have a whole day left before the hotel checkout time?”

Clank!! Boom!

“——!!”

A noise that could hardly be called a language escaped between lips like a shrill scream.

I can assure you, the two wheels just lifted off the road for a moment before barely touching down again seconds later. And… who does acrobatics in a downhill slope, weaving between other cars…!?

It was ten times more frightening than fleeing from a pursuer or jamming a loaded gun against my head.

When I was forced to wear a helmet, I thought it was overindulgent, but as the cold wind brushed my fingertips, my thoughts changed.

…I can’t endure this. I won’t hold back any longer. No matter how hard something is, the first time is always the most difficult; you find your groove from the second time onwards.

“Sis Helena…! I don’t know what I did wrong, but it’s all my fault!! So please, slow down—!”

“…? What do you mean ‘wrong’? I was just appreciating that thanks to you, I get to spend the night at a hotel. ……Still, it wouldn’t hurt to take a drive together now and then.”

“!! Up ahead! Please watch the road…!!”

Screech—!!

Desperately turning around, our eyes met. …I thought my heart would stop.

Even though there was no sign of the implanted devices in her like someone might have embedded, Helena showcased superhuman senses, deftly avoiding other vehicles that were slowly moving.

It might be more accurate to say she whizzed past as if turning a sharp corner, but either way.

Indeed… our main heroine and the strongest close-combat partner… I wonder how she interpreted my heartfelt scream. At least the perceived speed hadn’t decreased at all.

“……”

…Yeah, this is some kind of amusement ride. And how do you ride a terrifying roller coaster without flinching? You simply close your eyes.

Following Helena’s suggestion, I shut myself away in darkness, rejecting light until we arrived at a reliable implant shop where I believed she had also undergone surgery safely.

★

On the desk, a pair of disheveled boots were bobbing up and down.

Despite it being the shop’s business hours, a middle-aged man wearing a sleep mask murmured.

“Whew… the air feels quite unsettling.”

– …? The shop’s ventilation system is operating perfectly, sir. Shall we attempt to find the source of your anxiety through simple brainwave scanning? –

“……Oh, Jenny. That’s something only humans can instinctively understand; machines can never grasp it.”

With impeccably styled red hair and charming freckles, the woman who otherwise would have been hard to identify without the serial number engraved near her face and neck continued to respond without pause.

– …Human intuition or gut feeling is more about decisions based on unconscious environmental information. However, my current sensors do not detect any external threats, leading to the conclusion that there is no serious health issue with you, sir… –

“……Sigh.”

Rustling.

The man referred to as “teacher” sighed loudly while showcasing the earplugs he pulled out.

Given the shop’s small size, the medical assistant droid, Jenny, was an astounding and expensive asset, and she remained silent as she observed her owner’s behavior.

– If permitted, I could conduct a basic health check right away… –

“Cough?!”

Instead, she made a call to fulfill her duties.

The smooth voice resonating in his head without warning caused the man to cough as if it had taken him by surprise, propelling him upright from a reclining position.

When he thought about how he had divided his retirement money into three parts, even reducing the credits needed for his home and shop to invest in the droid, a fleeting regret washed over him… However, upon seeing her exquisitely customized exterior that perfectly matched his tastes, he relaxed his body once again.

Fortunately, the store had no customers, so there was no worry of tarnishing the reputation of a “quiet and capable expert.”

However… since last night, the abrupt cessation of visitors felt to him like the calm before a storm.

If one were to probe for a reason, the answer would be clear. Who would want to get on the operating table dangerously when an EMP bomb terror incident had just occurred?

No matter how skilled the teacher’s handiwork, if the electricity were to suddenly cut out… the tombstone would read that he died of shock after seeing his own internal body.

“Hmm….”

Rubbing his hair back…!

As he attempted to comb his disheveled hair, he noticed that Jenny quietly took out some cleaning supplies and lowered his hand.

…He wondered how a personality model that previously leaned towards assistant or housewife had suddenly transformed into a motherly figure, but that train of thought was interrupted by the arrival of a long-awaited customer.

“Anastasia… I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were scared to the point of fainting.”

“…. I didn’t faint…!”

“……Oh?”

With the entrance of two stunning women, one clad in white and the other in jet black, forming an impressive contrast that was almost too good to be seen alone, the teacher straightened up.

The taller figure, the one in white, was Helena Valentine, who possessed the greatest potential among the customers he had ever had.

On the other hand, the smaller one, in black, was trembling like a newborn fawn, depending on Lady Valentine for support, captivating his curiosity.

– Thank you very much for visiting our implant shop. However, the teacher is currently suffering from an inexplicable anxiety disorder, so I, Jenny, will assist you with new registrations and explanations… –

“Hey… hey!”

The teacher quickly pulled back a droid that was about to make the shop’s closure permanent.

The taller Helena accepted the teacher’s silent signal, but the smaller, darker one glared at him with eyes that suggested she wanted nothing more than to bolt from the shop.

“…Ahem, Lady Valentine? It’s been a while. Have you come for a checkup? Or perhaps… an additional procedure?”

“Unfortunately, I’m fine as I am. Today, my younger sister has come for some business.”

“…Hello. I am Anastasia… Valentine.”

The girl defined as a younger sister stepped slightly forward, almost as if pushed.

Her face was already full of disbelief, but the teacher paid little attention.

Even without the droid’s excessive honesty, first-time customers typically expressed skepticism towards the cramped waiting room and the dual-purpose office-situation room’s scenery.

However, he hadn’t survived countless competitors in the same industry merely by luck.

“Ah, no need to be tense, young lady. You can call me teacher comfortably. …Jenny? Please provide the pamphlet and explain to our first-time guests?”

– I will assist with the utmost sincerity. –

Thus, the teacher re-engaged the droid he had previously halted and entered the procedure room with the door wide open.

After confirming that the young girl found it slightly more reassuring to see a stark-white stage outfitted with cutting-edge surgical equipment and tools, he sought to grasp the key interests of the young guest while sharing visual information from Jenny, left beside them.

“Hmm… So you idolize your sister?”

Strengthening muscles, solidifying bones, hardening skin, enhancing reaction speed, physical support… Why was gender reassignment surgery suddenly on the table? Even the experimental process seemed to glitter in curiosity. Of course, several options were vetoed by the serious Helena, but still.

If her sister, who possessed a body gifted by the heavens, was anything to go by, the teacher thought it worth anticipating her potential as he silently prepared for the procedure.

– Teacher? The customer, Anastasia, has made a decision… –

“…First, let’s bring her inside. We need to start the examination.”

Half fear, half excitement, and a spoonful of tension. Anastasia Valentine entered the procedure room with a creaky gait.

Perching lightly on the surgical table, she murmured.

“…There’s no need to do the implant compatibility test. There won’t be any side effects anyway.”

“Hmm…?”

It was a strangely confident declaration.

Unlike those who boast without basis, it felt like she had come to bring forth a predetermined result.

However, since this was half a medical business, one couldn’t simply take the words of a patient at face value.

“Then… have you already undergone a potential or amplification rate test?”

“…Huh?”

The girl, who wore a slightly arrogant expression, blinked blankly in response.

…Pleased that he had been wise to probe further, the teacher withdrew a syringe containing test nanobots to check the concentration.

“…When implanting bio-implants, the most pressing concern is indeed the side effects… but even if the same implants are placed and the same cyberware is laid, the efficiency produced varies from person to person. If you thought your sister, who showcases the physique similar to a full-body cyborg with only basic physical enhancement implants, was common, you’d be quite disappointed.”

“Uh…? Huh?? But… implants upgrade based on the component grade being embedded…?”

…Watching yet another unfortunate case believe corporate promotional slogans blindly, he clicked his tongue.

“…Implant procedures are not a means to bridge or assist the gap between people. Rather, it’s closer to a discrimination that blatantly reveals the limitations that subject holds.”

With a firm push, the syringe was inserted into her soft arm.

Though it felt like he was committing a terrible act toward someone who was unable to react in front of the brutal truth… work is after all work.

Having administered all the nanobots, the teacher approached the procedure room monitor to check the output results, but… the screen displayed nothing.

“……?”

Lowering his gaze, he checked the pristine syringe and the needle mark on Anastasia’s arm.

This was not a daydream. He had carefully injected the test fluid. The swarm of nanobots, which should have been bustling with activity, simply evaporated.

‘…Is the monitor broken?’

Having concluded the most reasonable assumption, he continued his work while keeping his eyes on the screen.

“…Anastasia? I’m sorry, but I’ll have to administer the injection once more. …Jenny, please initiate scanning simultaneously with the injection.”

– …Preparing for precise scanning. I will inject, teacher. –

The nanobots in the newly taken syringe appeared on the screen as countless dots. If it wasn’t a monitor malfunction, then the first set of nanobots malfunctioning would imply… there’s no way a multitude of millions of independent robots could fail simultaneously.

Then… could it be that the shop was exposed to an electromagnetic pulse attack?

The answer to the teacher’s question unfolded before him.

– …Significant theta wave activity confirmed at the subject’s thalamus…! Teacher…? Are you watching…? –

“……”

The nanobots entering the dark girl’s bloodstream sequentially halted their functions.

As they forgot their programmed purpose and drifted off into rest, it resembled priests encountering their deity, offering their bodies in tribute.

Upon checking the data sheet sent from the android, there were only visual-assist implants around her shoulder and a bar code on her arm.

“Ugh……?!”

The teacher’s legs buckled.

The figure of the girl, whom he had simply considered cute, now distorted before him. His brain screamed as he observed something utterly beyond comprehension, despite deploying all his experiences and accumulated knowledge.

…That is, not a simple human. Humans cannot govern the science that has been built upon millennia of civilization with bare flesh.

What reason do numerous people have for adding implants even at the expense of healthy flesh? It is to escape even a little from the limitations this mass of protein possesses: the brain and body.

Then for an entity that has already transcended that realm… would they even need implants?

If that demonic power was a product established on a miraculous balance, it could break or deform with even the slightest change.

“Are you… alright…?”

The darkness beckons. It seduces beasts who have lost values they believed to be immutable and wander aimlessly.

How could this being be so merciful, how could this being be so enchanting?

“……I’m sorry. I seem to be feeling a little unwell. Based on the examination results… I believe Miss Anastasia should absolutely avoid adding any implants. Even for the sake of protecting your ‘special talent.’ That’s… my opinion.”

“?! R-really…? Really…?”

“…Indeed. No matter which shop you go to, it’ll be the same. So, could you please leave now…?”

The teacher escorted Anastasia, whose expression had crumbled as she witnessed her world crashing down, and Helena, who comforted her, out of the shop.

No, quietly so that Anastasia, who trudged along, wouldn’t hear, he called to Helena.

“…Lady Valentine? Is that really… her your sister…?”

Hearing such ominous phrasing, Helena’s body stiffened for an instant.

Yet as she recalled the stories from Heinrich and the tearful visage she had seen for the mercenaries, her doubts dissipated.

“…Yes, well, it’s a bond woven by fate.”

“……In that case, I’m relieved.”

With that last remark, the teacher closed the doors of his shop.

“…See? I told you the air was unsettling…?”

– ……Yes. –