The Sexroid
The Abyss War that had once ravaged Eden ended in a victory for the city-state. Both the process and the conclusion were recorded as an overwhelming triumph for Eden's forces.
Thus, the Abyss War was remembered as a mere rebellion by the Aegis System. Yet, those who had actually fought in it spoke with one voice.
To them, the Abyss War was Eden's defeat.
Even with all of Eden's factions united, they could neither dismantle the Aegis System's plans nor halt their infiltration.
Eden had only defeated Aegis on the physical battlefield. In the digital realm of cyberspace, they were utterly helpless against them.
The only reason it was recorded as Eden's victory was due to a mysterious helper who had mapped out and handed over the Aegis System's plans in meticulous detail.
At the time, Eden's ruling class had followed their advice out of sheer desperation, grasping at straws. But once the war ended, everyone came to realize the truth.
There existed a faction that was steps ahead of the Aegis System—an entity that supposedly held all of cyberspace in the palm of its hand.
Speculation was rife that they were a splinter group from the Aegis System itself, but those who had encountered them directly shook their heads.
They were different from Aegis or any other netwatchers. They possessed an overwhelming, transcendent netwatching ability that defied common sense.
Naturally, everyone scoured cyberspace to find them. But it was impossible. Eden's netwatchers could not find a single trace of their existence, let alone their operational history.
As time passed and the ruling class realized they would never find them, they named the group after their final message, which declared their work was done.
Phantom Protocol: Upload Complete.
Thus, they became known as the Phantom Protocol.
To the ordinary citizens of Eden, they were nothing more than a fleeting urban legend.
A faction that could not be found even when all of Eden's netwatchers and the three mega-corporations joined forces? To those who viewed the mega-corps as the gods of Eden, this group was quite literally a ghost.
And now, the name of that very Phantom Protocol had just crossed Draco's lips.
If the mercenaries sitting here had been ordinary, they would have scoffed inwardly while pretending to agree. But Swoo was no ordinary mercenary.
"Tell me more," Swoo said, her eyes sparkling as she leaned forward.
Swoo's sudden interest caught Draco off guard, even though he was the one who had brought it up.
"Pardon?" Draco blinked.
"How did you know it was the Phantom Protocol?" Swoo asked.
"...You believe me?"
"I told you. You're the client, and we're the mercenaries. Of course I'll believe you," Swoo replied.
Draco tilted his small head. His jet-black hair cascaded over his shoulders with the movement. He seemed to be studying Swoo's face to see if she was telling the truth.
"...You really do believe me."
"Yep. I don't lie," Swoo said.
"Ha..." Draco let out a soft sigh.
He didn't quite know how to process this.
Although he had brought it up first, seeing Swoo believe him without a shred of doubt made Draco feel a sudden wave of exhaustion.
He had expected to be ignored at first, and perhaps even ridiculed later. Was this mercenary really that different, just as Salvador had praised?
Or did she already know about the existence of the Phantom Protocol?
Pushing his complicated thoughts aside, Draco adjusted his posture in the chair. The seat cradling his body was incredibly comfortable, but his dangling legs, which couldn't reach the floor, were frustratingly annoying.
"I mentioned that I copied the data from the shard, correct?" Draco asked.
"Yep."
"And that during that process, the information stored in my head—specifically, in my nano-computers—began to evaporate, and my implants stopped working."
"Yeah."
"Under normal circumstances, that's impossible. If a single shard could kill a person like that, Eden would have collapsed long ago. Perhaps the shard itself was just a medium that has now vanished."
"True."
"So, the moment I woke up, I searched past records for similar cases."
"I bet you didn't find anything," Swoo remarked.
"Indeed, absolutely nothing came up. Part of it was my lack of familiarity with net surfing, but the information regarding it was unnaturally clean. The only option left was to dive into the Abyss... but I didn't want to die."
The deepest part of cyberspace.
In that place, now known as the Abyss, roamed rogue AIs that harbored a deep hatred for humanity.
One might wonder why anyone would fear AIs trapped in a virtual world, but when these entities encountered a human, they would flood the human's brain with an astronomical amount of data, frying and melting it instantly.
Anyone who had seen the corpses of those whose brains had been melted would naturally be terrified.
Draco had likely seen such bodies himself.
"So I was hesitating, but then, at some point, the lost data was suddenly restored. In exchange, the shard data I had copied disappeared. It was as natural as if we had exchanged information."
One could easily drop the words "as if."
In reality, they had likely retrieved the shard data from Draco's mind and restored his deleted data in return.
Retrieving dummy data discarded in the Abyss would have been child's play for them.
"By then, my doubts turned into certainty. Perhaps they realized I had figured it out, because they left a brief symbol and a message at the very end."
Draco picked up a long fountain pen and scribbled something onto a sheet of white paper.
[ __ ]
[ Phantom Protocol : Upload Complete. ]
It was a dry notification from the Phantom Protocol, preceded by a short blank space.
In truth, anyone could copy the message itself. However, no netwatcher in Eden could replicate that blank space in front of it. In the nano-computers used for netwatching, the very concept of a "blank space" did not exist.
Thus, Draco could be absolutely certain.
Their client had been the Phantom Protocol.
This realization brought both questions and concerns.
After all, among the items they were tasked to deliver was the very sexroid Draco was currently occupying.
What secret was hidden within this body that prompted them to order its delivery? And if he were to continue living in this body, what complications might arise in the future?
"We know nothing. That is why I wish to commission you," Draco said.
"So we just need to find your original body?" Swoo asked.
"...Tracing the Phantom Protocol and uncovering the secrets of this body would be ideal, but for now, my primary goal is to find my original body. If that proves impossible... then my secondary goal is to uncover the secrets of this shell."
"Did Zyrec recover your body?"
"...That is what I was told."
"By Philip? Or Lewis?" Swoo asked.
"Their answers... no, their testimonies were identical."
Testimonies, not answers.
Draco was currently suspicious of the two.
There was a backstory he hadn't revealed to Swoo yet, but it would probably be better to hear it from Philip and Lewis directly rather than from Draco.
Or, they could just extract the information secretly.
"This is going to be a long-term commission. No wonder the reward was so unusual," Swoo said.
"Unusual... Yes, I suppose it is," Draco replied.
While the reward Draco offered included a massive amount of credits, the true reward was what came after.
The trust of Draco Legia.
At first, Swoo had thought Salvador had thrown that in to entice her, since someone of Salvador's caliber would have easily figured out her motivations.
But this reward had been put up by Draco himself. He knew his own worth and what could be accomplished with his trust, which was why he dared to offer it.
It could easily be seen as arrogant and presumptuous.
But Swoo didn't see it that way.
In fact, it was the exact reward she wanted most.
"Hmm..." Swoo murmured.
The puzzle Swoo had assembled in her mind was instantly swept away. All the pieces scattered, leaving only a blank board.
On that board, Swoo began to arrange the pieces anew. These pieces were different from before. She had to alter her plans. She calculated the means she could use and the means she had to use. She discarded what she had kept and picked up what she had thrown away.
It wasn't difficult.
The methods and tools needed to handle this commission were all contained within Draco's explanation.
The most crucial element among them was Hugo's rebellion.
Hugo, the Zyrec executive. Thompson, who was bound for execution. And the rebel faction lying low inside Zyrec. By exploiting the relationships between these three, she could handle this commission without a hitch.
The only variable was if Draco's original body had already been destroyed. In that case, she would have to contact the Phantom Protocol.
Just as Draco feared, there might be a secret hidden within this sexroid body.
Still, it should be fine.
Swoo's lazy gaze drifted over to Angela.
Their eyes met. How long had Angela been watching her? Swoo wasn't sure, but she flashed a playful grin and nodded.
"I'll take it," Swoo said.
The first button had been fastened.
Fastening the second wouldn't be hard either.
"...You're really accepting it?" Draco asked.
"Yep. The reward is too good to pass up," Swoo replied.
"...If I fail to regain my body, the credits, let alone the weight of my trust, will become utterly meaningless."
"It's fine," Swoo assured him.
A tear welled up in the corner of Draco's eye.
He didn't seem to notice it at all.
Seeing his lips droop into a pout and his hands tremble, it seemed his body was reacting on its own.
"...Thank you. Thank you so much," Draco stammered, his body's settings making him sound cute and submissive.
"Yep. Take care of yourself," Swoo said.
It was a standard warning, but to Draco, it sounded loaded with meaning. Still, he didn't dwell on it too much.
Even if his personal combat strength had weakened, he still had Philip and Lewis protecting him.
While it was true he didn't fully trust them right now, he didn't believe they would go so far as to take his life.
Draco still believed in the friendship and bonds they had forged over the years.
Or rather, he wanted to believe.
That's what he's thinking, right?
Swoo stared at Draco's face, reading his thoughts perfectly.
But holding onto such thoughts was a classic setup for betrayal. It was especially true in stories with the gender-bender tag.
Of course, the outcome would depend heavily on the other tags attached to his story, but Swoo was certain that Draco's path would not be an easy one.
"If you ever find yourself in danger, contact us. We're open twenty-four-seven," Swoo offered.
"...Yes. Please feel free to contact me anytime as well. If you need assistance, do not hesitate to ask. Though I may not be of much help in this state... I will do my best to assist you," Draco replied, trying to sound dignified but failing to mask the soft, submissive tone of the Reina model.
"Yep," Swoo replied.
Swoo stood up, her mind already plotting how to fast-track Serena's promotion.
Only a managing director could deal with another managing director.
Even if they belonged to different corporations and Serena's was a lesser subsidiary, that fundamental rule of corporate hierarchy remained unchanged.
And Swoo knew exactly how to accelerate her promotion.