Chapter 8

Buaaaan—!!

Kkiiiiiiik…!!

A sharply designed sports car drifted roughly as it arrived at the front gate of the lab, where digestion and data recovery operations were in full swing. Someone unusual enough to drive a tire car over an unpaved wasteland, someone who could freely approach the highly guarded territory of Mega Cop, which was currently in a frenzy.

If you still lack situational judgment after seeing this, just look at the droids on their hover bikes guarding the sides of the sports car, and the combat helicopters floating majestically above. The VIP of VIPs, the ruling class of Enema Corporation, had personally arrived.

The responsible person, who had been tidying up the situation with a serious expression just moments ago, rushed over and performed a sharp bow to the young man who got out of the sports car roughly.

“There was no need for you to come in person, Amagi-sama…! I will tidy up the place right away!”

“……”

The man’s eyebrows twitched, and he focused his attention on the responsible person’s face. Then, after taking in the impressive, charred appearance of the lab, he asked in a calm voice.

“…Is this your first time seeing me?”

“Y-Yes…? Yes! It’s my first time serving a board member! I’m truly honored to see Amagi-sama’s esteemed face…”

“Enough.”

“Gulp?!”

The man, who had been called Amagi twice, roughly grabbed the responsible person’s hair and lifted his head. Despite his youthful appearance, he locked his dark, sticky eyes onto the responsible person and spoke clearly.

“…If it’s your first time, I’ll be lenient this time. From now on, refer to me as Edamatsu-sama. When you call me Amagi, it reminds me of my father. And…”

Edamatsu Amagi kindly moved the responsible person’s head, directing his gaze towards the frozen staff and the lab.

“The mobile suppression strike team dispatched due to suspicions of asset and research data leaks has been annihilated. Additionally, the trackers and recovery team dispatched have also been annihilated. The lab is in a state of partial destruction. Honestly. Was it really necessary for me to come check in person? Huh?”

“S-Sorry…!! I made a mistake!”

“Making two mistakes in one go makes me wonder if I should really tolerate this.”

He shoved the responsible person aside, who had begun to grit his teeth, and busily moved to inspect the scene himself.

Destroyed security robots, hovercrafts, and turrets. Troops lying dead before they could even enter. Corpses melted into the holed barriers and, as a finishing touch, the lost research data.

“…What a mess.”

To have something like this happen in the Delta sector that he was in charge of… With the intent of finding even a slight clue about the instigator, Edamatsu’s brain gathered the remaining traces. The enemy had been excessively thorough. It was only natural for someone who had specifically targeted and occupied the isolated territory of Mega Cop. Not only had they erased all surveillance camera records, but they had also destroyed the heads of the corporate soldiers sent in…

“…Indeed.”

The corners of Edamatsu’s mouth twisted.

The resurrection technology that revives humans from the brain was still undisclosed to other Mega Cops and was the highly classified service nearly complete. The only ones aware of it were the closely monitored research team and Enema’s royal family. If this were to become public knowledge, they would accumulate credits like a claw, and in order to secure a larger pie of that sweet profit, some internal squabbling was perhaps a foreseen sequence of events.

Siiik.

Which sibling should I test first…?

Despite being plagued by paranoia and making completely off-base guesses, the mad dog, having found a reason to show its teeth, seemed immensely happy.

★

“Uh… Excuse me, miss. Can you promise me that if I install this, no one will come looking for me later…? I still haven’t finished paying off the loan I took from Paradise…!”

“…… If you keep refusing the procedure like this, I can’t guarantee anything.”

“Ah… I understand! I got it…!!”

Kkiik…. Wheeeeeing…!!

In a hurry, the flustered mechanic grandpa began to operate the panel, and the store equipment started to make slightly concerning noises as it activated. A mild anesthetic was administered, and a machine arm laden with laparoscopic surgical tools approached to make an incision in the thin wrist. Soon after, a thin film inscribed with a barcode was injected and sealed with a laser. In an instant, the installation of the future world’s convenient wallet was complete.

Beep…!

Using the implant just installed, I made a credit payment and exited the store.

I understood his worries. A delicate girl like me, without even basic implants and with a three-year-old child… appeared to have been seen as a whim by a runaway rich girl… Thanks to that, it seemed like I wouldn’t need to hand over hush money.

…What a relief. Right now, I have no credits for food or survival.

[ Balance: 893,600 C ]

“Huh…….”

Considering what I earned in just one day since I was born, it wasn’t bad. In fact, it was more than decent, enough to not have to worry about food and shelter for now… but there was a very important issue.

“Damn…!!”

I glared at the horizon, filled with resentment and injustice.

The vast and towering walls and skyscrapers of the metropolis filled my view. Factory smoke emanating at a terrifying rate. The various neon lights that looked like fireflies from afar. It was a grand scene that made one acutely aware of how powerless an individual can be compared to a collective.

To think that what I was looking at was Harvest Planet, a different city nearby, not the largest metropolis, Neo Haven? The Great War may have ravaged most of the Earth and human civilization, but it undoubtedly contributed immensely to technological advancement.

So, let’s pose a question. Where am I while gazing at Harvest Planet? The answer is: a settlement near the city! Then, what is truly needed to enter the city? That is, drumroll please… citizenship!

And… the price demanded by the specialist broker who creates that citizenship is a staggering one million credits. It’s cheap for fabricating a plausible life story and background through intermediaries. …Of course, I’d try it myself if I only knew how to write citizenship.

“110,000 credits……”

Even muttering it out loud feels quite difficult.

Most of the credits I currently held were from the firearms I viciously scraped together. The hovercraft, which should have been the most expensive, was practically handed over for scrap costs since the junk shop owner was too hesitant to touch items from Mega Cop.

Should I go back and argue for a higher price now…? But if I did that, and the owner got revenge and reported me to the corporation, my hard-won tail could be caught again.

“……”

Perhaps worried about my daze in broad daylight, passing pedestrians kept casting glances in my direction. Bad thoughts crept into my mind about hacking just a thousand credits from everyone’s wallets and gathering energy like a Spirit Bomb…

Clink….

However, that devilish thought fizzled out with the sound of the can of food shaking in my arms.

I could easily prey upon corporations or lawless scum, but I couldn’t touch the lifelines of these refugees who were also gathering credits just to survive day by day like me, trying to scrape enough to buy citizenship.

Credits are currency, and credits equal trust, and the value possessed by humans. In a world where even crops can’t grow outside of controlled environments, running out of credits is the same as facing immediate starvation.

I… when that foolish android awakens… I truly wanted to be proud.

Look, your master hasn’t lost their humanity, even in the most dire circumstances. Understand and cherish this glory…!

“Pfft…!!”

Just imagining it brought me joy and made my spirit rise.

To earn money, I must work, not jump straight to thievery… Perhaps I might be just the right fit for this world.

The game Neo Haven was of course set in the open world of Neo Haven – Emerald City, but there were also stories and quests related to other metropolises. I already possessed the knowledge regarding citizenship and brokers, not from suspicious inquiries in this settlement, but from what I originally knew. If I could just retrace my steps, there’s no doubt I could figure out a legitimate way to earn 110,000 credits in a short time.

So… how did I manage the massive upgrade costs and equipment setup expenditure as a Level 1 Anastasia?

“……Ah.”

Damn. My face heated up. Automatically, my arms wrapped around myself.

As much as I could gain vitality from imagination, how embarrassing would it be to think back to what I actually did in the past? No… back then, this body was a character beyond me, and while earning credits through those things, I was also shouting, “Oh yeah, oh yeah!”

“!!”

Since the gazes around me began to interpret in an entirely different meaning, I couldn’t stand it anymore and raced back into the store to ask the mechanic grandpa if he happened to need any employees.

Naturally, I was turned down.