Terms of Contract
I tore my gaze away from the surreal massacre unfolding courtesy of the Hachishakusama and stole a quick glance in the direction Silva had indicated.
Among the countless abandoned buildings, one old commercial structure stood out—its windows completely shattered, giving it a particularly grotesque appearance.
Two unidentified ECHOs hiding there?
Had I ever spotted anything besides zombies while roaming Hongwei-7?
It was hard to believe, but I couldn't doubt the detection skills of Silva, Cerberus Squad's sniper.
Her scope wasn't just a simple telescopic sight; it was a pinnacle of cutting-edge composite sensors.
And Karen had even customized it herself.
What should I do…?
Honestly, there was no real reason to hesitate.
It can't be squads from another Ark, that's for sure.
If it were, they wouldn't be hiding like this.
Besides, in this hellscape where zombies and anomalies were openly battling for territory, any ECHO skulking around could only be one thing.
A Wanderer.
Those who had betrayed humanity—or simply discarded their duty to protect it—deserters who fled mid-operation or escaped the Ark entirely.
They were ghosts drifting through these ruins of death, wagering their lives every step of the way.
"Silva, can you capture the targets alive?"
[I'll give it a try. But if the targets resist...]
"As quietly as possible. If things get too noisy or dangerous, don't force it. I'll send Arva along too."
[Understood, Commander.]
The moment our brief comms ended, Arva caught my eye signal, nodded, and melted into the shadows.
As a master of stealth and infiltration, she could surely identify and secure the Wanderers without issue.
Even if something went wrong, it wouldn't be too dangerous.
But who could it be? Wanderer of the Ashes—Isol?
The first Wanderer ECHO who came to mind was that bitch who'd hurled me into this world.
But the odds of it being her were slim.
In the original story, Isol didn't show up until much later—way after this point in time.
The protagonist's first encounter with her was near Ark 7, practically on the opposite side of the planet from here.
What other famous Wanderer squads were there...?
Ash Vine?
Crimson Requiem?
Black Hourglass?
The timeline here diverged from the story I knew by decades, so the names felt hazy.
Plus, it had been nearly a month since I last accessed Echoes of Humanity — ECHO, and the lore details weren't crystal clear anymore.
In the meantime, the battle in the shopping mall's central hall was winding down.
The zombies—presumed to be dispatched by the Carapace Lord—stood no chance against the Hachishakusama. They weren't even allowed to get close.
...What to do about her.
Was it because of that contract from before?
Fortunately, she wasn't attacking us directly, but she was still an uncontrollable anomaly.
No telling when some whim might spark trouble. And unlike zombies, anomalies came in small numbers—but each one was a powerhouse.
Lower your guard, and you'd pay dearly.
How much time passed like that?
Arva's voice crackled over the comms.
[Commander. Targets secured. No resistance.]
"...You got them?"
[Yes. Two ECHOs. Wanderers, as you suspected.]
Not a single gunshot?
How'd she nab them? Blade takedown at close range?
"Good. Link up with Silva and head here immediately."
[Understood.]
I cut the comms and glanced absently toward the Hachishakusama—only to find her gone, vanished like smoke.
"......"
As if she'd never been there at all. Only the mutilated zombie corpses bore witness to her presence.
Moments later, Silva emerged from the darkness, dragging two small ECHOs along.
They looked like sisters, strikingly similar in appearance.
The two ECHOs were utterly terrified—the younger one especially, trembling like an aspen leaf.
They probably figured we would dispose of them right here.
Well, can't blame them for thinking that.
The raw hostility humans in this world showed toward ECHOs was beyond imagination.
ECHOs were why zombies, anomalies, and machine civilizations had appeared in the first place—despite the fact that they were the ones protecting humanity.
And Wanderers? Those who'd abandoned that duty?
The pure terror they felt right now was understandable, given the Arks' standard protocol for dealing with them.
But I had zero intention of putting them down.
Not when we're already short-handed...
Childlike form or not, an ECHO was still an ECHO.
As long as they were supplied with proper food—specifically Concentrated Nutrients—they were valuable assets capable of providing more labor than an average human, or even a group of humans.
And these aren't mass-produced either. Original models for sure. Sister-types, no less.
I scanned the captured ECHOs, rifling through my mental archives at high speed.
Not ones from the game? Not in any setting docs?
Nothing rang a bell.
The only clue was that they were Wanderers—a twin sister-like ECHO squad. But amid the flood of ECHO faces and names flickering through my mind, no perfect match surfaced.
That was when it hit.
The sharp eyes of the older-sister ECHO—head bowed, quaking in fear—overlapped with a faint image in my memories.
"......"
I pictured the shape of her eyes from memory... and mentally scarred them with a massive gash across.
Then, without thinking, I murmured the name bubbling up in my head.
"Moi of the Omega Howl Squad?"
At my words, the huddled ECHO's shoulders went rigid.
She looked up, eyes wide.
A gaze brimming with wary confusion that seemed to be asking how do you know my name? That reaction alone confirmed my guess was dead-on.
And...
An infamous line from the game flashed through my mind like lightning.
"We are not dogs who lost their master."
"We are merely beasts who tore our master apart and devoured him."
Wanderer squad— Omega Howl.
They'd rallied berserk ECHOs from botched battles or reckless ops, forming a massive pack that ravaged Arks with machine-civilization levels of brutality—raiding, plundering, destroying. The worst ECHO faction, plunging countless humans into terror.
And at the heart of that madness— the leader, Moi—Broken Fang.
No, hold up.
Why her? Why here, looking like this?
Ark 69 had nothing worth stripping bare.
That's when the ECHO I pegged as Moi spoke up, her voice trembling as she chose her words carefully.
"Y-Yes... my name is Moi. But I'm not with Omega Howl Squad. My sister Rai and I... we don't belong to any squad."
"......Huh?"
Rai?
How was Rai still kicking? Hadn't she been destroyed by humans?
The moment the name Rai hit my ears, I felt something click in my head.
The Rai I knew had been brutally scrapped by humans.
That very incident was the tipping point—the one that made Moi abandon all faith in humanity and devolve into her persona as the Broken Fang.
Suddenly, the scattered puzzle pieces snapped together.
I let out an involuntary chuckle.
"Ah... no wonder."
"......"
This timeline was over thirty years before the main story I'd played from the protagonist's POV in Echoes of Humanity — ECHO.
In other words, before Moi had any reason to snap—back when her sister Rai was still alive and well.
Figures...
I looked again at the two girls shivering before me.
Yeah, something had felt off.
The lunatic leader who'd later reduced over five Arks to ash-heaps wouldn't have been nabbed so pathetically by Arva and Silva.
She got a brief story mention, but that Moi had solo repelled a named machine beast, Harvester, all by herself. She was a monster among ECHOs.
But the girl in front of me now? Not Broken Fang. Just a scared Wanderer kid flailing to survive with her sister.
Hit the jackpot.
I'd come out here to scout Carapace Lord activity in Hongwei-7. Now, I felt like I had stumbled on a winning lottery ticket by the roadside.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
After relocating to a safe spot for our temporary base, I handed the still-quaking sisters some cold sweet potatoes and water from my combat rations.
"Uh..."
"What's this?"
The two ECHOs eyed the food like wary stray cats, suspicion etched on their faces.
"Sweet potatoes. Go on, eat. There’s no poison in them."
At my offhand remark, the older sister—Moi—hesitated before gingerly picking one up.
She took a bite, eyes widening in surprise, then passed it to her sister.
As they started munching away, I eased into the main topic.
They'd clearly been watching the Hachishakusama before we arrived.
"You two know anything about the Hachishakusama? Has she always gone after zombies like that?"
Moi paused mid-swallow, then spoke cautiously.
"...Yes. At first, we were too scared to do anything but hide. But that monster shows up periodically and picks off any zombies approaching the area. Like... she's patrolling her territory."
"Hmm..."
Just as I'd suspected.
The Hachishakusama saw Hongwei-7 as her turf.
And she'd been treating the Carapace Lord's invading zombies like pests—exterminating them accordingly.
Not intentional on her part, but the result? She had become our Ark's strongest, most reliable shield.
"So, how long have you been here?"
"...About three days."
And in those three days, while observing the Hachishakusama's patterns, Moi and Rai had hoarded useful resources into their secret hideout like squirrels.
No need to scour elsewhere—we could just recover their stash and head back to the Ark.
So I made the offer— join Ark 69.
The Broken Fang of the future wouldn't have given a human's pitch the time of day...
But she wasn’t that mad leader of Omega Howl.
Was she still pure and innocent? Clinging to a longing to belong somewhere?
Parched for survival, the terrified girls exchanged glances... then accepted with eager nods.
"Arva. Take Arclight Squad and secure the resources with Moi."
"Understood, Commander."
Arclight Squad headed off toward the collapsed Hongwei-7 Command HQ building, following Moi's lead.
"We'll secure the perimeter around the hideout."
Cerberus Squad got to work turning the area into a fortress against potential intruders.
While the squads handled their tasks, I was left alone with Rai—who started peeking at me anxiously.
"U-Um... what should I do?"
"Huh? Nah, just rest till your sister gets back."
"P-Pardon?"
"Er... ECHOs don't need breaks?"
Just a throwaway joke.
But Rai only grew more fidgety, eyes darting my way.
How to warm up to her?
I was pondering that—and getting curious about how the sisters had wound up here—when I opened my mouth to ask.
[Poo— Popopo—]
“...You hear that sound?”
"Sound? N-No... I don't hear anything?"
Rai tilted her head at my question. I cleared my throat and played it off.
"Nah, nothing. Must've been my imagination."
A bizarre noise was whispering directly into my ears alone—inaudible to anyone else.
I grabbed White Tiger and pointed upward at Rai.
"I'm gonna scout the rooftop. Rest easy."
"Th-The Commander himself?"
"Yeah. On our Ark, the Commander pulls shifts too. Plus, I need a moment to think."
"...Y-Yes, sir. Understood, Commander."
With that awkward excuse, I headed solo to the hideout's roof.
I didn't forget to radio Cerberus Squad en route about my movements—a quick heads-up so they wouldn't fret.
Moments later, the darkness behind me rippled softly... and the Hachishakusama materialized without a sound.
[Poooooooot! Popopopopoo—!]
The Hachishakusama unleashed a torrent of blatant displeasure the instant she appeared.
Her face twisted in fury as she glared daggers at me, unleashing a machine-gun barrage in her incomprehensible tongue.
...The gist was obvious, even without me understanding a word.
Bitching about me breaking the contract, I suppose.
But I didn't flinch from her resentful stare. I met it head-on.
If I let her momentum drag me around like before, I'd be her personal cum-dump for life.
In this bizarre symbiotic bond, I needed to seize control.
With that in mind, I opened my mouth slowly.
"No more dick."
[...Popopopopoo?!]
"No more dick!"
[Poooooot?! Popopopopopopo! Poo—! Popo!!!]
"Shut up! Be quiet, or no dick for you?"
[Poo...?]
My unexpected response made her eyes go round, comically so.
Such blunt, primal blackmail painted her face with bewilderment and shock.
And I could see her gaze drop downward, as if double-checking if I really meant it.