Dark Omen (1)
Officially, Mega Corp has no capital.
The state itself had been absorbed into the corporation, and every old term had been replaced with corporate jargon. The Space Marines were called the Crisis Management Team, and the department overseeing entire industries was simply the Resource Management Team.
But even without using the word capital, Mega Corp still had a place that could only be called its center of power.
Earth. The place they called Headquarters.
There, the very heart of Mega Corp had taken root.
Five corporations had founded Mega Corp, and those five had been the kings of Earth.
Now known as the Five Great Families, one of them—the Yujin family—was rooted in a region once called East Asia.
Yujin Agriculture had begun as an utterly unremarkable business in a small nation called South Korea, yet even after growing into a megacorporation that commanded the galaxy, it never forgot its origins.
The ancient capital of that long-vanished country had become the Yujin family estate. And that was no metaphor—the entire city served as the Yujin family's residence.
Inside the enormous dome-shaped "estate," maglev trains and small aircraft ferried people from place to place, and at the dome's apex hung an artificial sun to sustain the internal ecosystem.
Roughly a full century ahead of any other planet, this place was home to the Yujin family and the tens of millions of "tools" who served them.
And in the very middle of that high-tech wonderland stood an old cabin and a garden.
It was the residence of Akira Yujin, head of the Yujin family.
Akira Yujin.
The supreme lord of the Solar System, who had held the office of Mega Corp CEO for three consecutive terms.
And right now, that man was tending a small vegetable patch.
Despite being well over two hundred years old, genetic modification treatments left him looking no older than middle-aged.
Two men in formal suits stood near the garden. One was an old man with snow-white hair swept back from his forehead; the other was young.
They had already been waiting a full hour.
They had every right to complain, yet neither said a word.
A trained dog does not bark until its master commands it. They simply waited for Akira to finish his business.
At last, Akira rose from the soil, hoe in hand.
"I've kept you waiting a while. Come here."
At Akira's words, the younger of the two men approached.
"What is it?"
"It concerns the young lady."
"The young lady?"
Akira tilted his head, and the man added one more word.
"Lady Kisaragi."
"Ah. The third daughter's child."
Only then did Akira laugh as though remembering. Watching him in silence, the old man's eyes twitched ever so slightly.
"Yes. What about Kisaragi?"
"Her transponder signal was destroyed."
The meaning behind those words was obvious. Kisaragi Yujin was dead.
Akira frowned.
"Impossible. I never assigned her anything remotely burdensome."
"Her last signal came from C-08. Upon verification, it lies within Space Dog territory."
"Hmm."
Akira nodded along to the man's report—then raised the arm holding the hoe.
And brought it down on the man's head.
The hoe buried in his skull, the man collapsed without even a scream. Akira didn't stop there. He wrenched the hoe free and kept swinging it down into the man's face, again and again.
The wet, heavy sound of meat being pounded filled the garden.
When it was over, his face and hands drenched in blood and brain matter, Akira tossed the hoe onto the corpse.
"Clean that up."
"Yes, my lord."
As if such things were nothing new, the old butler snapped his fingers. Black-suited attendants filed into the garden and were gone with the body in moments.
"That hoe was rather poor quality, I must say. Remember—tools are the most important thing we possess."
"Yes. I will be more careful."
"Good."
The reason the man had died was simple: he had answered questions Akira hadn't asked. Twice.
"Do you have any idea how many credits were invested in raising Kisaragi? A sum comparable to the development budget for a new class of battleship."
"……"
"We even gave her genetic modification treatments because her body was frail. You think mere pirates could touch that child?"
Akira drew a handkerchief from his breast and wiped his face.
"I find myself curious indeed—just who would dare harm the treasured favorite of House Yujin."
"……"
"The ship Kisaragi boarded. The captain was Yuseong Samuel, was it not?"
"Yes."
"The Samuel family... that would be Titan way, wouldn't it. The moon the Edgertons have their eyes on."
The Edgertons were a Prime Capital holding sway over Mars. A rank below the Noble Capital, certainly, but they were still genuine contenders competing for the seat that ruled Mega Corp.
"Could the Edgertons have planned this, then? No. The Edgerton whelp is a coward. He lacks the nerve to bare his teeth at House Yujin."
The whelp he spoke of was the current head of House Edgerton, whom the world called the Tiger of Mars. Yet Akira treated a man of such fearsome standing like a half-witted child.
The butler knew that while the Edgerton patriarch had survived two assassination attempts, Akira had been ruling House Yujin unchallenged all this time.
And so the butler could say it with certainty:
The old monster before him had every right to speak as he did.
"If not the Edgertons, then who? Aya. What do you think?"
"I believe T&C was involved."
The butler answered without a moment's hesitation.
Apparently pleased by this, Akira's eyes curved into crescent moons.
"Heh heh. Just as I thought."
"……"
"T&C and the Edgertons appear to be fighting over dominion of Jupiter, but in truth they're in bed together. After all, the Edgertons' credits flow from T&C."
The butler showed nothing on his face, but inwardly he was stunned. He had merely suspected as much—he had never imagined the two had actually struck a secret pact.
The alliance between T&C, rulers of Earth, and the Edgertons, nobility of Mars, was a secret among secrets. Apart from the two family heads themselves, almost no one knew of it.
Most unfortunately for both families, Akira was one of the few who did.
"That snake means to seize the initiative before the Board of Directors meeting. You know this, don't you?"
Akira handed the blood-soaked handkerchief to his butler.
"Yes. Saddam Chamberlain, head of T&C, covets the CEO's seat—your seat, my lord."
"He does. That insolent little whelp. The fact that he's making a serious move on me must mean he finds me frightening after all."
Apparently finding the situation rather entertaining, Akira burst out laughing. The butler waited in silence before a man laughing while soaked in blood.
He had watched Akira's eccentricities for decades. He felt nothing anymore.
Then, mid-chuckle, Akira's laughter stopped dead. As if the mirth of moments ago had been a lie, his face went utterly blank.
"The justification is ours, so we will strike first. Inform everyone in the family."
"Yes."
"And."
For the first time, killing intent kindled in Akira's expressionless eyes.
"Whoever destroys my assets deserves to die. Yuseong Samuel, and every soul with even the slightest connection to that ship—bring them all before me. Not a single one may be missing."
"Yes."
"One of the Shadows has infiltrated the region around C-08. Contact him and have it done."
"...Understood."
At the mention of the Shadows, the butler flinched.
The Shadows were a special unit answering directly to the family head. Soldiers mutated through genetic modification pushed to the absolute extreme, they were infamous for their monstrous power and merciless methods.
A bloodbath is coming.
Once a Shadow was deployed, the fate of Yuseong Samuel and his men was sealed.
Only a fate so gruesome that death itself would seem a mercy awaited them.
Having sent a silent word of condolence to the men somewhere out there beyond the stars, the butler quietly withdrew.
While somewhere on Earth, a colossal war and a ruthless massacre were being decided, chaos erupted aboard Yuseong Samuel's ship—chaos no one had seen coming.
"What the hell kind of shit-show is this?!"
Yuseong wanted nothing more than to faint on the spot.
Before him lay the morgue—or what had been the morgue. A sudden fire had left nothing but ash where it once stood.
The Crisis Management Team Leader summoned the guards who had been posted at the door.
"What happened?"
"W-well, you see..."
The soldiers went rigid under the Team Leader's sharp gaze. Stammering, they explained what they had witnessed.
"Smoke came from inside? You got suspicious, went in to check, and found a fire already burning?"
"Yes, sir."
According to the soldiers, during their watch a strange smell and smoke had begun seeping from inside.
Protocol dictated that no one but the doctor could enter, so they had stayed out of the morgue, waiting for their relief to arrive.
But the smoke never let up, and eventually the soldiers had no choice but to open the door and go in.
What greeted them was not the doctor, but a raging inferno.
"I don't understand. A place with nothing but corpses—how does it catch fire?"
"H-how did this even happen?"
The Medical Team Leader, arriving late to the scene, was aghast at what he saw.
The captain, who should have been the one explaining, stood in a daze, so the Crisis Management Team Leader gave a brief account in his place.
Having heard everything, the Medical Team Leader's face hardened into stone.
"Considering the chemical reagents stored in the morgue, a fire is possible. But one spreading this large is rare."
"Meaning what?"
The Medical Team Leader glanced around and fell silent.
Arson.
Just as he implied—if there was an arsonist among the crew, the situation had just become very serious.
And the intent behind setting fire to a place where the Research Team Leader's body happened to be stored was unmistakably suspicious.
"...We should confirm the bodies first."
"Yes, let's do that."
After extinguishing the fire, the soldiers laid out the recovered corpses, and the Medical Team Leader examined the charred remains with meticulous care.
"This one's the crew member who worked the night shift, isn't it."
The body had burned so badly from the torso up that identification was difficult, but a ring on one of the hands told him it was the subordinate who had been on duty tonight.
Grieving bitterly over his subordinate's death, the Medical Team Leader finished examining the remaining bodies. Then he realized someone was missing.
"Are these all the bodies?"
"Yes. Why do you ask?"
"……"
The Medical Team Leader drew the captain and the other team leaders aside.
Far enough that no one else could overhear, he reported that several of the corpses were gone.
"The bodies of the guard and the Research Team Leader are missing?"
"Yes."
"It's not as if corpses can walk out on their own. How is that possible?"
"Medical Team Leader. Are you certain of what you saw?"
"I checked again and again. Exactly two bodies are gone."
On the heels of the Research Team Leader's death, a mysterious case of arson had now erupted as well.
Someone inside the ship is attacking us.
The thought flashed through every mind present.
"A ghost, really? That's absur—"
"Could there be an unidentified alien creature aboard the ship?"
"Hey! Is this supposed to be a joke? Enough with the nonsense!"
"I only mentioned it, why are you getting so worked up about it, Material Management Team Leader?"
"Ahem. I-it's nothing."
"The biggest problem is that the Research Team Leader's body is gone. Weren't we scheduled to meet with the pirates at C-08?"
At someone's remark, Yuseong's face went pale. If he lost Kisaragi's corpse as well, he would have no cards left to play.
Yuseong issued orders in a frenzy.
"We must find those bodies, whatever it takes! Am I understood?"
"Shouldn't we identify the culprit first—"
"Damn it! This isn't just my problem. If the rest of you fear Noble Capital retribution, then cooperate as much as you can!"
Yuseong was right. Kisaragi Yujin dying had been beyond their control, but failing to even secure her corpse left no room for excuses.
At the very least, if they didn't keep her remains intact, a future more horrific than death was certain to swallow them whole.
"Crisis Management Team Leader."
"Yes, Captain."
"Have you contacted them yet?"
"Yes. The moment the meeting ended, sir."
"Good. Off the record—tell them the bodies will be handed over as normal."
"Are you certain that's wise?"
"If we find them and still have no way to dispose of them, that's a problem too. All we need to do is locate them before the rendezvous."
It was a dangerous gamble, but the Crisis Management Team Leader did not point that out.
Yuseong didn't know it, but the man was harboring thoughts of his own. Instead, like an assassin concealing a dagger in his breast, he merely bowed his head with a blank face.
Next, Yuseong called on the Security Team Leader.
Given that the chaotic situation was hardly without fault on his part, the man was visibly cowed.
Yuseong placed both hands on his shoulders.
"You understand, don't you? The culprit—you must catch them. No exceptions."
"I-I'm already doing my very be—"
"Your best isn't enough. Search every member of the crew if you must—just find them. I'm delegating full authority over this matter to you."
The captain was offering him complete control, but the Security Team Leader's expression did not brighten.
Can I actually catch them?
Frankly, he had no confidence. But he couldn't say that.
"Ahem. I will find them, sir. You have my word."
"I'm counting on you."
Left with no choice, the Security Team Leader answered with feigned confidence.
And as everyone scrambled in disarray, the culprit responsible for it all watched them from the ventilation duct overhead.
When the team leaders dispersed, the "thing" quietly tailed one of them.
Everything went beautifully.
A way to hide my identity while throwing the enemy into disarray.
Fire.
Mixing the chemical reagents stored inside the morgue to start a blaze—no one would imagine an alien creature did that.
Granted, with no outsider having boarded the ship, they would find it suspicious. But they'd suspect a human hand, not me.
Once I'd settled on fire, preparation was quick. After devouring every last bit of the guard's corpse, I swept up all the chemicals in the morgue. A few drops of acid blood onto the toxic material, and the flames roared up at once.
The reinforced exoskeleton is highly fire-resistant.
The flames wrapped around my body, but I barely felt the heat. I passed leisurely through the fire and climbed up to the morgue's ceiling.
I waited a little distance away, and soon people came running. The fire was put out quickly, but by then most of what had been inside was ash.
The corpses were disposed of nicely, and their reactions played out exactly as I'd predicted. All except one moment that came dangerously close.
The one moment someone brought up aliens, of all things.
One sharp-eyed bastard nearly scared the daylights out of me.
Thankfully, the Material Management Team Leader flew into such a fit of indignation that the alien talk got buried on the spot.
After that, the captain and the team leaders spilled important information left and right, with no idea I was listening.
Pirates, huh. The captain's lost his mind.
I knew the Space Dogs well. A loose alliance of various pirate species, they called themselves conquerors of space—everyone else called them space garbage.
They occasionally took mercenary contracts, but the moment things went south, they'd betray you without hesitation. It had gotten to the point where people said you were better off trusting a mindless Amorph than trusting a Space Dog.
My guess was that the captain planned this rendezvous to pin Kisaragi's death on the pirates. If he knew even a little more about the Space Dogs, he would never have made a choice like that.
It didn't seem like the kind of idiotic decision he'd make on his own. Someone had clearly whispered in his ear.
Looks like the Crisis Management Team Leader led the charge. I'll have to keep an eye on that one, too.
For all I knew, he was in league with the pirates.
What do I do if the pirates target this ship?
A pirate raid. Neither entirely good nor entirely bad, for me.
The advantage: since the Space Dogs were made up of multiple species, the range of genetic essences I could acquire would widen. If I timed it right, striking while the pirates stormed the research ship, I could gather a variety of genes with ease.
The downside is that the essences I'd get from the research ship's crew would shrink.
I had no idea how many pirates there'd be, but as far as I could tell, this research ship had almost no chance of winning. The guards were already taking turns wearing a single set of powered armor; there was no way they'd beat pirates who ate plunder and slaughter for breakfast. Most of the crew would die in the fighting—and that meant fewer essences for me to consume.
I'll table this one for now.
I'd need to see the pirates' caliber with my own eyes before I could judge.
While I was lost in thought, the meeting ended. Everyone filed off to their respective duties—and then my auxiliary organs flagged an anomaly.
Him?
The Material Management Team Leader, the one who had so vehemently dismissed the alien theory, was acting strangely.
On the surface he looked fine. Underneath, he was anything but. His heart was pounding twice as fast as anyone else's, and cold sweat was pouring down the back hidden beneath his clothes. The textbook symptoms of someone under extreme tension.
Why so nervous?
He shouldn't have had anything to do with any of this.
I'd been about to head back to the nest, but my interest was piqued. I fell in step behind him.
He kept glancing over his shoulder the whole way.
What's he got stashed that he's acting like this? A pot of honey?
Walking warily, scanning his surroundings, he finally stopped.
Where his footsteps halted was the front of the Cargo Bay.