Camouflage (4)
The morning of the Board of Directors meeting.
Inside the Monument, owned by the T&C family, preparations for a massive event were in full swing. While the entire building echoed with the hurried footsteps of scurrying staff, one place alone remained sealed in silence — a certain conference room in the Monument. There, gathered together, were Lyla Chamberlain, ruler of this city, along with her secretary and closest aides.
"What has the Edgerton side's response been?"
"They intend to announce that this entire incident was the unilateral doing of Vice-Commander Vickers."
"…Unilateral, you say?"
At the secretary's words, Lyla couldn't even muster a hollow laugh. Thanks to the camera footage recovered from the Defense Fleet survivors who had been deployed in the evil spirit hunting operation, along with the Crisis Management Vice Team Leader's report, she had pieced together exactly how events had unfolded. Who had set loose an unidentified biological weapon. And what the Silver Lion Knights had done to bury the truth. She knew all of it now.
'In MY city, how dare they!'
Lyla gritted her teeth. She had long known that Denver, beneath his blustering outward image, was a snake at heart. But she had never imagined he would pull such a stunt right before the Board of Directors.
'"It was all a misunderstanding"? The shameless bastard!'
DENVER had been present when the Crisis Management Vice Team Leader gave his report. He had pleaded ignorance, claiming he knew nothing of the matter, but Lyla had seen through the lie almost instantly. Denver insisted that all responsibility lay with the vice-commander — that he himself had been in the dark, that real authority over the Knights rested in the vice-commander's hands, and that Denver held the commander's seat purely for the sake of his public image. Anyone else might have swallowed it. But to the daughter of the T&C family, who had dealt with Edgerton for years, such an excuse was worth nothing.
"You said the sole survivor, apart from the vice-commander, was who, again?"
"Lady Catherine, of the Silver Lion Knights."
"And what has become of her?"
The only survivor besides the vice-commander had been found half-dead amid the wreckage. Under normal circumstances she would have been taken into custody immediately, but her injuries were so severe that she had been transported to the Central Hospital in the Administrative District instead.
"Lady Catherine is currently undergoing treatment for severe PTSD and physical trauma."
"When will she be fit for interrogation?"
"Even once her body has recovered, the psychological damage is so extensive that treatment will be difficult. The physicians' assessment is that she will likely live out her life with mutism as a permanent aftereffect."
"Tch. Once her treatment is finished, pry the information out of her by whatever means necessary. Torture is acceptable, if needed."
"Understood."
It was truly absurd: one suspect in this affair was mute, and the other had vanished without a trace. The vice-commander Vickers — the man Denver had named as the ringleader, and the single most important figure — could not be found no matter how thoroughly they scoured the sewers.
'Of course he can't be found. He's already been disposed of.'
What was the likelihood that only the man in charge would go missing? Nine times out of ten, Denver had arranged it in advance. Even with everything laid bare before her eyes, the man did nothing but pile lie upon lie.
She wanted, that very moment, to summon her subordinates and haul Denver away in irons — but she exercised superhuman restraint and forced herself to send them back.
'The partial destruction of the Commercial District's infrastructure, a surprise attack on Defense Fleet soldiers, and the smuggling of an unidentified experimental subject….'
Not a single one of them anything less than a major crime. That alone was enough to make her blood boil — but there was something that enraged her far more.
'That I'm expected to let that treacherous snake go free!'
Early that morning, she had reported the full details of the incident to Saddam Chamberlain. And the answer that came back was one thing only.
'Forget vengeance — bury the whole thing? Just like that?'
To her father, a man angling for the Megacorp CEO seat, the backing of the Edgerton family mattered far more than this backwater trade hub. She understood his reasoning well enough; she knew what her family's long-cherished ambition was. But if she let this pass, she would become the fool who swallowed an enormous humiliation without saying a word.
'Ordering the General Manager of the T&C Special Trade Hub to ignore the one who disgraced her!'
By now, there was no one in the Megacorp who didn't know that Denver had pulled his cheap trick on her. Daily Mars had run the story of her humiliation as an exclusive scoop before noon.
'Wei Zhao. That filthy, obscene creature…!'
She ground her teeth at the memory of Wei Zhao, who had used the media to spit in her face. Daily Mars had dealt Denver's image massive damage as well — but he was still the head of his house. His position was nothing like hers, a mere city administrator who could be replaced at any moment.
'If this goes on, I'll be the only one who ends up bleeding.'
Her father, who prized profit over flesh and blood, might well choose to discard her instead of pursuing revenge. In other words, she would become the sacrificial offering to mend relations with the Edgerton family.
"General Manager, what are your orders?"
"…Place all Silver Lion Knights personnel under arrest. As for those aboard their warship, have the Defense Fleet watch them strictly so that no one gets any ideas."
"Understood."
"Denver is permitted free movement only during the Board meeting. At all other times, he is confined."
All she could do right now was restrict the movements of the Edgerton family's people.
"Then I will take my leave."
One by one, her aides filed out of the conference room, orders received. She had called this meeting despite the crushing workload of the day — and in the end, nothing had been resolved. As the helplessness of that fact settled over her, a single thought flashed through Lyla's mind.
'There's only one card left in my hand.'
Lyla called the secretary back just as she was leaving the room.
"What happened to that experimental subject the Defense Fleet brought in?"
"The corpse is currently in storage at the Science Research Institute. The dissection is scheduled for late this afternoon."
The grotesque creature that the Edgerton family had smuggled into the Special Trade Hub. Its corpse had been recovered by the Defense Fleet and was now being held in the Science Research Institute beneath the Monument.
'A living weapon newly developed by the Edgerton family.'
Securing that corpse was the only gain she had drawn from this entire affair.
"We must squeeze some kind of result out of that devilish monster. Otherwise, the losses don't balance out at all."
"I will pass that along as stated."
The power of Edgerton's secret weapon was something everyone had already witnessed firsthand. Even the Crisis Management Vice Team Leader — the hero of the hour — had gone pale with fear several times over the course of his report.
But what if T&C — no, what if Lyla Chamberlain — obtained that monster's genes and learned to mass-produce it? Seizing control of the entire family would be no task at all.
'When that day comes, I will be the head of the house.'
After the secretary departed, alone in the empty conference room, Lyla's eyes quietly began to burn.
Several hours before Lyla began dreaming of betrayal in the Monument, Vickers, vice-commander of the Silver Lion Knights, was still in the sewers. Defense Fleet soldiers hunting for him had been prowling the area without pause.
"Nothing over here."
「Kzzt, check the other, kzzt, sectors as well.」
"Copy th—tch. When are they ever going to fix this comm network."
Once his pursuers had moved off, Vickers, who had been hiding nearby, quietly raised his head above the water. His current state was a sorry sight indeed. With the power in his armored suit nearly drained, he had discarded everything except his helmet and the chest plating that housed the power core — the rest had been abandoned somewhere along the way. Without power, high-grade powered armor was nothing but a dead weight, so he'd had no choice.
He muttered under his breath, his face a picture of defeat.
"…To be beaten like this."
He had believed he'd been sufficiently cautious, sufficiently prepared. He had misjudged completely. The monster's intelligence had exceeded anything he'd imagined, and both the Defense Fleet and the Knights had been set at each other's throats by its machinations.
'I must get out of here somehow and report this to His Lordship.'
Vickers knew his master had abandoned him. Watching the soldiers comb the tunnels for him, he could guess what the official story would be — that he had attacked the Defense Fleet on his own authority.
But it didn't matter. Denver had said it before: should things go awry, the blame would have to fall on him. And at the time, Vickers had accepted it. He was the sword that served His Lordship. A sword is a tool that moves as its owner wills — and a tool possesses no will of its own.
'No more soldiers nearby, it seems.'
Feeling that all signs of life had vanished, Vickers moved again. There was a route to the surface close by — one newly opened when the sewer ceiling had collapsed. If he could slip out there and hide in the ruins, an opportunity was bound to present itself.
"Hk— damn it."
With no armor left to shield him, he had to push through the frigid foul water with nothing but his bare body. Worse, his wounded shoulder still throbbed dully despite the treatment he'd received. Was it the exhaustion compounding the injury? Coughs kept wracking him.
Vickers clamped a hand over his coughing mouth and pressed on. As he kept moving, a thin shaft of light appeared ahead.
'Almost there!'
Vickers hauled himself out of the filthy water and began climbing the debris. His fingertips, waterlogged from so long submerged, were pale and swollen, and raking them over the hard scrap metal had left his hands bleeding in moments.
'Just a little more!'
Ignoring the pain lancing up through his hands, he clawed his way upward. One more stretch of the arm and he would reach the surface.
The instant he extended his hand, the world stopped.
'Wh—?'
No — it wasn't the world that had stopped. It was him. His body rose slowly upward, and then was dragged back down into the sewer.
'Wh-what is this…?'
Even as he panicked, an invisible pressure suddenly crushed down upon his entire body. The force binding him was like descending into the deep sea wearing no protective equipment whatsoever.
"Gh-ghkk! S-sto—urk! Guh!"
His limbs began to twist of their own accord. Like a marionette bound fast in rigid strings, his body was slipping free of his control. From fingertips to wrists, then his entire arm; from toes to ankles, then his entire leg — every bone bent and snapped at angles no body was meant to bend. His spine wrenched the wrong way, and the ribs sheathing his chest punctured through skin and jutting out.
Vickers screamed despite himself, but no sound ever left him. When he finally looked back, the last thing he saw was a pink balloon — and two violet eyes.
「Prey」「Me」「Eat?」
「Yeah. Little one eats it all up.」
Having succeeded in the hunt, she passed the prey to the little one. While the little one ate, she kept a ceaseless watch over their surroundings.
The big one probably didn't know yet, but she had grown once more through the last battle. Her command over the mysterious power she'd been born with had become far more precise. Now she could sense objects at far greater distances than before — and exert her influence upon them as well. Thanks to that, she was able to keep track of exactly where her beloved child was at this very moment.
「Little one must grow up fast.」
「Reason」「Unknown」
「Big one is tired from protecting us all alone. So we have to help.」
「?」
She had grown in more than body alone. Her mind had matured greatly as well, and she could now see how much effort her beloved child poured out for their sake. She knew that the big one's reasons for protecting her and the little one had sprung from selfish desire. And she also knew that, little by little, a selfless feeling called affection was growing within it. Just as she herself was changing, so too was the big one.
「When little one grows up, big one will surely be happy.」
「Me」「Adult」「Joy」「Welcome」
Of course, she held no resentment for the big one's attitude. She couldn't have — the big one's place within her had already grown far too large.
「Me」「Grow」「Adult」「Understand…」
「Quiet. Just eat.」
「Hurts!」
Having scolded the little one for its pointless chatter, she turned her mind to what came next. The big one seemed to want them lying low and hidden, but she thought a little differently.
「Too many scary animals here. Fighting alone is hard for big one.」
To help him, they had to grow as much as possible before reuniting with him.
「Finish eating all of it. Then we go somewhere else.」
「Where?」
「Place with prey.」
Fortunately, this underground was full of prey that was both rich in nutrition and easy to hunt. The corpses of creatures bearing four attached limbs lay scattered everywhere.
'The disguise worked, then.'
Coming to my senses, the first thing I did was use my auxiliary organ to survey my surroundings. The acrid smell of harsh chemical solution and a faint trace of blood. Electromagnetic waves drifting through the air, and the mechanical hum of instruments positioned here and there. Every element was telling me the same thing: this was the Science Research Institute beneath the Monument.
At present, I lay prone atop a colossal metal dissection table in one of the laboratory's chambers, bound hand and foot. They had clearly registered that I was a corpse — and yet their caution had apparently gotten the better of them, because both my arms and legs were locked in metal restraints.
'I'll leave these for now.'
Sturdy as they were, they meant nothing against my strength. I could snap them this instant — the only reason I didn't was the surveillance cameras inside the lab. Moving only after calculating everything was the way to keep this clean.
'Let's see. There should be a gene sample storage vault nearby.'
Strictly speaking, the Special Trade Hub wasn't a facility specialized in genetic research. If anything, it was closer to a comprehensive entertainment complex.
'Even so, there's no way a Megacorp research facility doesn't have a gene sample vault.'
The underground Science Research Institute was a facility dedicated to various lines of research aimed at producing obedient employees for T&C. By "producing obedient employees," they meant using genetic modification to ensure that these people could never meaningfully resist T&C.
'The exact opposite approach from the Hulk Mutants — the goal is engineering nothing but bad genes into them.'
Defined simply, it was a facility for making humans into more inferior slaves. In any case, being that kind of place, it held a wide variety of gene samples in storage.
'There's no better spot in this whole city for gene farming.'
I doubted they'd have anything from rare lifeforms, but there were a few genes worth my attention here.
'I just need the ones tied to unlocking new Types.'
And at the moment, I possessed a trait that raised my odds of acquiring genes — the Avatar of the Hunt. Unleash it and strip this place bare, and I should be able to unlock the Types I wanted.
'For that to happen, though, someone needs to come to me first.'
For my plan to succeed without a hitch, a few conditions had to be met. So I waited, and waited — until, after a while, I sensed movement outside the laboratory.
"The General Manager wants us to see whether we can extract genes from this thing and weaponize them."
" figures. Word is this thing ate soldiers and knights dozens at a time."
A chime announced a validated ID card, and the door slid open as four researchers in white lab coats entered. Each was already fitted with auxiliary equipment for dissecting an enormous organism — crude-looking exoskeleton suits, far barer than standard powered armor, each with a pair of android-style auxiliary arms mounted on the back.
"Ugly son of a bitch, isn't it. And they want us to dissect that?"
"Tch. There goes another overtime night."
"Then let's get set up, quick."
Using their auxiliary arms, the researchers began laying out an assortment of chemical reagents and dissection tools across the table.
'Chemicals, huh.'
I'd been needing something for a smoke screen, and this was a welcome stroke of luck. Very, very slightly, I shifted my tail toward the chemicals.
"Huh?"
One of the researchers turned around. I stayed perfectly still, as though I had never moved at all.
"Guess I'm seeing things."
"Hey, quit slacking and give us a hand."
"Yeah, yeah."
Not registering anything strange, he threw himself into hauling dissection gear alongside his colleagues.
Reading their every movement through my auxiliary organ alone, I thought:
'Conditions are met.'
Every prerequisite for using the Avatar of the Hunt was now satisfied. The form carried a devastating side effect — an appetite so fierce it devoured my reason. When its effect wore off, if there was no prey around me, I would lose my mind and rampage. And a rampaging monster in the middle of a Megacorp facility would be found and destroyed in short order.
'To avoid disaster, I need food prepared in advance.'
The four researchers in this laboratory. They would be the offerings for the Avatar of the Hunt.
'Of course, they'll have to lend me a hand first.'
I prepared in secret, evading their sightlines.
'With surveillance cameras around, sneaking out on my own won't be easy.'
Which is why I need helpful friends. Friends who obey my every word.