The Hospital (1)
6:00 PM. The Port District of the T&C Special Trade Hub.
Under normal circumstances, this would be the hour when workers in their duty uniforms bustled back and forth across the docks — but not today. The soldiers of the defense fleet and the security team's police had turned out in full force, standing at readiness throughout the Port District.
"The head of House Edgerton will be arriving earlier than originally scheduled. There must be no mistakes whatsoever."
"Of course, General Manager!"
Lyla Chamberlain, the ruler of the city, gave a silent nod in response to the Crisis Management Team Leader's answer.
To the public, the head of House Edgerton paraded his valor under the name of the Black Lion, but within Megacorp's upper echelons, he was regarded somewhat differently. Lyla defined the Martian noble Denver Edgerton in a single word.
Weirdo.
As a rule, the people of Noble Capital and Prime Capital were not kind to their inferiors. Like Akira Yujin, they treated the lower orders as slaves or property; or, like Lyla herself, they dealt with them in a strictly businesslike manner. The head of House Edgerton was arguably the only Prime Capital lord who enjoyed genuine popular adoration.
And thanks to that, I'm the one who suffers for it.
Lyla maintained a perfectly blank expression, but irritation was quietly pooling beneath it. Denver had originally been due to arrive two days from now — the day right before the Board of Directors Meeting. The only reason she was preparing to receive him this early was the intelligence she'd obtained: Denver was inbound ahead of schedule.
A man who loves his surprise shows.
There was no doubt he'd cooked up this theatrics to parade his special status before the city's public. But neither could she simply tell him to come whenever he pleased. If word spread that she'd given a popular guest the cold shoulder, the citizens would point their fingers at Lyla, and Saddam Chamberlain would inevitably be profoundly disappointed in how she handled the affair.
…Sly old fox.
While Lyla was swallowing her frustration on one side of the district, the security team's police officers had gathered into a huddle on the other.
"Has the Port District security team finished its sweep?"
"Damn it, they had to show up right in the middle of the smuggler mess. That was a real ordeal."
"Good work, all of you. Ah — and Officer William, who distinguished himself in the smuggler pursuit. Outstanding job. If not for you, we might have shown a disgraceful face to our distinguished guest. Haha."
"…Thank you."
"Ahem. I see you're still holding the post of detective team leader for the Port District. Expect good news before long. You've earned it."
William was basking in everyone's congratulations, yet his heart was nothing but uneasy.
They knew nothing. They had no idea how grave the danger looming over this city truly was.
…Edgerton.
William had once been a soldier. But he hadn't served in any ordinary crisis management unit — he had operated in a covert force answering directly to Denver Edgerton, the very man now on his way.
The unit that field-tested the new Hulk Mutants.
Improving on the Hulk Mutants was, in effect, a declaration of competition against House Yujin. The political risk was one that even the head of House Edgerton could not shoulder lightly.
And so Denver had poured everything into keeping the project secret. Every member of that covert unit was given a fabricated service record. On paper, William had been assigned to a crisis management team aboard House Edgerton's flagship.
Still, as far as William could tell, Denver himself was not a bad man. He was, in fact, almost startlingly decent by the standards of Megacorp's ruling class — close to a good lord. He officially denied the covert unit's existence, yet he never forgot the people who had served in it, and looked after them well.
If it hadn't been for that incident, William and his comrades would likely still be serving under Denver, loyal to this day.
If only that bastard hadn't conspired with the test subject…
One of his comrades from the covert unit had betrayed Denver. The man had fled the unit alongside one of the new Hulk Mutant test subjects and vanished without a trace.
Fortunately for Denver and William alike, the news never reached House Yujin. But in the aftermath, the unit was disbanded, and William and his comrades scattered to build new lives of their own.
If my lord still remembers me…
If he could only convey the truth of his situation, perhaps the thing threatening this city could be dealt with.
William was deep in these thoughts when alarms suddenly blared from the speakers installed throughout the district.
The signal that a ship was arriving.
In response, the dark sky above the Port District rippled for a moment — the district's double-layered blast doors activating, interfering with the holographic projection. Then a crack more than two hundred meters long split open in the sky. The massive blast doors parted, and from within emerged a warship in all its terrifying majesty.
The new warship was dressed in white with golden ornamentation. At seven hundred meters in length and a hundred meters in height, it was so enormous it would have been visible from the city's outer perimeter. Beneath the floodlights pouring down from the dome-shaped ceiling, the ship brought to mind a hero's vessel out of ancient myth.
"So they finally rolled out a new model after five years."
Lyla murmured as she gazed up at the unfamiliar warship. It descended at a stately pace and touched down on the ground.
The ship's hatch opened, and out strode figures armed in silver armor like knights of medieval Europe — Edgerton's Silver Lion Knights, known to everyone in Megacorp.
In truth, what they wore was not real armor but high-grade powered armor painted silver. It had precious little to do with the Middle Ages or tradition, but by Denver's image-obsessed orders, they had been dressed up this way deliberately.
Empty pageantry.
Lyla clicked her tongue inwardly, yet from an ordinary citizen's perspective, Denver's judgment seemed to be earning a considerable response. Every soldier and officer on the ground was watching the Silver Lion Knights with eyes full of longing.
The knights who had disembarked formed up in ranks, leaving only the center open. At the far right of the front line, the knight in the thickest, largest armor raised a banner emblazoned with a lion and shouted.
"Presenting His Lordship Denver Edgerton, great ruler of Mars and Black Lion of House Edgerton!"
On cue, Denver disembarked last.
In contrast to the other knights, he wore armor of black with golden accents. This was Denver Edgerton, Prime Capital lord of Mars. As he stepped down, he released the seal on his helmet — and a man with dark skin and gleaming white teeth grinned and thrust his hand into the air in a wave.
Lyla had stationed the soldiers and officers here to indulge the other side's spectacle, so she flicked a glance at the Crisis Management Team Leader beside her. He hurriedly began to clap, and the soldiers and police in the Port District erupted into cheers in unison.
Denver waved casually in response to the acclaim, savoring it as he ambled through the ranks of knights. And at last, the pinnacle of Megacorp's powers faced one another.
It was Lyla who broke the short silence first.
"Lyla Chamberlain, daughter of Saddam Chamberlain, greets Denver Edgerton, head of the Prime Capital House Edgerton."
"It's been a while. I never imagined the little girl who used to trail at my heels would grow into such a fine lady."
"Thank you. Though I would ask that you address me as General Manager now, Lord Denver."
Denver smirked at the sight of her — mouth smiling, eyes utterly cold. He swept his gaze over the surroundings once more and murmured with theatrical admiration.
"Well, well. And here I thought I'd taken security rather seriously myself. Saddam will be pleased."
"I'll take that as a compliment."
"Give the reporters a reasonable window. That's why I brought the prototype warship, after all."
"The press are already waiting outside the city."
"Oh ho, is that so? Impressive!"
Denver nodded along with an expression of hearty approval. At his breezy manner, Lyla ground her teeth inside — though she let none of it show.
Someday. I swear it…!
Within Megacorp, Noble Capital and Prime Capital were together called the Seven Great Houses, the Seven Great Nobilities — but in truth, the gulf between the two castes was considerable. Only Noble Capital could stand for the office of CEO; Prime Capital lords were granted votes solely for themselves and their family elders.
Even so, a kingmaker undeniably wielded no small influence, and the Prime Capital houses knew it — which was precisely why they exercised that power so aggressively.
Much like Denver Edgerton, laughing boisterously in Lyla's face right now.
He had arrived early and yet carried on shamelessly about promoting his new warship — but that was all for the public show. His true intent was to test Lyla, the one charged with preparing the Board of Directors Meeting. To see whether she, whether her house T&C, truly deserved a hand in choosing the next CEO — whether she was a card worth betting House Edgerton's weight on.
"Haha. Flawless as ever, I see."
When she gave no visible reaction, Denver burst into loud laughter. It was the signal that the first test had ended.
Lyla exhaled inwardly and spoke again.
"Leave the rest of the reception to the others and come with me to the Administrative District. I have questions regarding the new warship."
"I've come all this way — it would be a shame to leave at once. I'd like to at least exchange greetings with the fine people here."
"…I'll be waiting."
Protesting would only mean watching him do exactly as he pleased anyway, so Lyla did not press. Denver smiled and approached the soldiers and police.
He was a star in the eyes of Megacorp's public, and no small number of them lined up to ask for his signature. The exchange was proceeding in good spirits when a familiar face caught Denver's eye.
"Well, if it isn't you. Wil— no, wait. Isn't it NH01?"
"…It's been a long time, my lord."
At Denver's casual invocation of his old codename, William bowed his head. Denver clapped him familiarly on the shoulder — and then his brow creased.
"Were you always built like this? You were never this thin before."
"……"
Judging by the concern in Denver's manner, he still held genuine affection for his old subordinate.
My lord would understand what I'm about to do.
William made his decision.
"…Forgive me. My lord."
"Hm?"
With those final words, William drew his laser pistol and shot himself in the abdomen.
The hospital.
As far as I remembered, the space city had exactly three major hospitals capable of treating the seriously wounded. One stood in the Administrative District; the other two were both in the Commercial District.
Only Third Capital and above can use the Administrative District hospital, so William couldn't have gone there.
The signal from the parasite was coming from the Commercial District side. Conveniently, the hospital sat close to the subway station, so traveling along the rail lines would be my best route.
Route's settled. The problem is it's still early evening.
Being the Commercial District, plenty of shoppers still filled the streets. The hospital's proximity to the station was good news, but at this near-quitting hour, the station itself was packed.
I intended to act aggressively, but I had no intention of waging all-out war on the entire city. And if I butchered a station full of people in bulk, the nest might be exposed.
Still, there's time left. No rushing into a decision.
According to the wavelengths the parasite was transmitting, William was currently in a coma. In that case, the medical staff would most likely focus first on stabilizing him — ripping the parasite out immediately seemed unlikely.
Though the parasite being discovered is unavoidable either way.
Once he'd been admitted to a hospital with life-threatening wounds, hoping for a miracle was off the table.
The parasite keeps reporting in, so I'll wait until nightfall. That gives me time to plan how to take the hospital.
William's location was the same hospital he'd been admitted to after the old apartment complex battle. Back then, I hadn't approached the hospital myself — instead, I'd sent a parasite-infected riot officer in to pull him out.
Megacorp hospitals are crawling with androids.
In Megacorp, patients with grave injuries, patients requiring genetic modification, and patients of Prime Capital rank or higher were treated exclusively by genetic surgeons. Beyond boarding a ship, a human doctor handling ordinary patients was practically unheard of.
Most patients were treated in medical capsules, so androids took the place of high-value personnel like doctors.
They're not combat models, so fighting them should be easy enough — but…
Medical androids were a headache in an entirely different sense.
Every last one of them wears a call bell.
The moment a medical call bell rang, it went straight to the hospital's central AI, which assessed the situation and dispatched an appropriate response. If an android rang its bell while I was attacking, police and soldiers would mobilize to hunt me down before I knew it.
Because of complications like that, hospitals were one of the hardest target types to crack even in the game. I was a master of infiltration, and even I had never much wanted to raid one.
Without an EMP trait or a stealth trait, getting in is… ah.
Stealth. That reminded me of a very useful tool.
The high-grade powered armor I'd taken from the sniper in the Port District. That suit came with a cloaking function built in.
If I activate the armor and then eat it, shouldn't the cloaking effect carry over?
It had been lightly modified, so synthetic fiber formed the base — but woven into it were special metals used to actualize the cloaking, which made it eligible for my trait.
Metal Absorption lasts over twenty minutes now.
It used to be twenty minutes flat, but my body had been further strengthened by the Perfect Organism trait, and Metal Absorption fell under its effects — so I could safely count on somewhere between twenty and thirty minutes.
Thirty minutes was neither long nor short. With the hospital's surveillance net so dense, every minute I stalled was a minute working against me.
If I want to deal with William fast, I need to go in knowing the hospital's layout.
Fortunately, there was a way for me to learn the interior in advance without setting foot inside.
I returned to the nest in the Commercial District with the others.
[Zzzzz Zzzzz (Don't touch me)]
｢Making nest?｣
[Zzz (Yeah)]
｢Little Baby. No disturbing.｣
｢?｣
No. 26, who had watched me do this before aboard the ship, understood at once. She took Adhai and withdrew to a distance.
There's really no need to go that far.
It was consideration on her part, so there was no point calling it out.
I settled comfortably on top of the nest and lowered my jaw to the ground. My auxiliary organs pressed against the sticky surface.
As always came the sensation of my body floating free — then, all at once, everything plunged downward as if sucked through a hole. The familiar feeling of the link, worn smooth by repetition.
Find the hospital.
My auxiliary organs took the order and began searching among the things that existed on the surface for a hospital.
Footsteps of people walking the streets, shopkeepers tending their businesses, scraps of chatter on the corners — the first sensations to register were the sounds the city produced. Hot on their heels came the smells: the aroma of food spilling out of restaurants, the sweat-soaked odor of office workers' clothes, the taint of air not yet fully purified.
In a way, the Commercial District might be this city's very essence.
Amid the flood of sensation, I filtered out the smell unique to hospitals — cresol, the compound common to preservatives and disinfectants.
An eight-story hospital, close to the station.
And William's location: the third floor. Surgery.
Across the entire third floor, the antiseptic scent was laced with the thick copper of blood and the smell of human beings — clear confirmation that the operating rooms and the intensive care unit shared that floor. The layout would funnel post-surgery patients into the nearby ICU to recover.
Then everything gets settled on the third floor.
Beyond that, I combed through the hospital for the server room and the central AI computer. The densest cluster of electrical signals sat two levels underground.
Good. That'll do.
With the hospital's overall structure mapped in my mind, I severed the link.
My preparations were complete. All that remained was to wait for nightfall.
Tonight, William dies by my hand.