Memory, or Data
The wall Enoch had cut open was roughly patched up, clumped and crumpled together by Soo's magic.
It looked natural enough from the inside, so surely it would look natural from the outside too.
Actually, it didn't even need to look natural. It wouldn't matter at all if Talos tore down the awkward wall.
Talos, who only followed orders, would never set foot in these sewers. Even if someone pressured the ECPD high command using Talos's name, it would be impossible.
Eden's sewers were kept hidden even from the megacorps. Of course, figures like the megacorp chairmen probably knew everything, but without that level of influence, no one could ever find out.
That was why Soo followed Miko's guidance without a single worry. Enoch, who had no way of knowing this, was busy keeping guard, constantly glancing back over his shoulder.
The passage the two of them and the single drone traversed was incredibly dark. There were even stairs and small gaps here and there; an ordinary person would have surely broken their leg before taking more than a few steps.
But for Soo and Enoch, it wasn't an issue.
Needless to say, Soo's eyes were fine, and the ocular implants Enoch had gotten before heading to the front lines allowed him to see clearly through the darkness.
The only real problem was the smell.
Since the path connected to Eden's sewage system, the stench was truly beyond imagination.
The stench of a normal sewer was hard enough to bear, but what kind of city was Eden? It was a city where corpses were recycled. Naturally, the smell of rotting bodies was mixed into the sewage system of such a city.
And that wasn't all.
Cultured meat, the staple food of Eden's citizens, released a horrific stench when it rotted.
Compared to this, the smell of a rotting rat corpse could be considered a sweet perfume.
Of course, it wasn't a problem for Enoch.
This was thanks to the olfactory filter implant he had mentioned back at the junkyard.
But for Soo, who had no implants at all, it was absolutely dreadful.
"Ugh... *cough*, *hack*..."
"I told you I could give you a mask."
"*Sniff*... It still smells even if I wear that."
"It filters out toxic gas, at least. Put it on now."
"Dragons don't die from breathing toxic gas."
"If you're not going to wear it, then stop gagging."
"*Gag*."
Is this brat doing this on purpose?
Enoch's eyes narrowed, but looking at Soo's pale complexion, she didn't seem to be joking. He wondered what to do, but there was nothing he could do for her.
The same went for Miko.
If Miko had been there in person, she would have held Soo in her arms to block the smell, but a cold drone could do nothing.
So, she decided to do what she could right now.
Telling them how much time was left was easy enough.
"Just bear with it a little longer, and we'll be outside...!"
"How much longer?"
"About twelve minutes!"
"Not long, then."
"Right?"
"I want to run."
"Ah... I'm mapping the route in real-time, so if you run, I won't be able to keep up with your speed."
"Didn't you download the whole map?"
The drone, which had been rolling along the ceiling in silence for a moment, muttered softly.
"...To be honest, I can only catch tiny glimpses at a time. The security is too tight."
To be even more honest, just catching these glimpses was causing the other side to flood them with tracking viruses.
Fending them off, stealing glances, guiding Soo...
On the surface, it looked like Miko was doing it all alone, but right now, over a dozen Netwatchers were connected to cyberspace alongside her.
They were Netwatchers from the Wasteland, acting as firewalls to draw the attention of the tracking viruses and divert their gaze.
Without them, Miko's brain would have turned to mush, like pudding heated in a microwave.
"Anyway, that's how it is, so please bear with it a little longer! If you're bored, I can tell you how I managed to—"
"Wow, Miko is amazing."
"...I'll just guide you quietly."
Miko didn't mention the danger she was in out loud.
There was no telling what kind of unpredictable action Soo might take if she found out.
If Soo realized Miko was in danger, wouldn't she just say she didn't need a guide, smash through the ceiling, and make a bold escape?
Considering the heroic tales of Soo told in the Wasteland, along with the rumors circulating since she entered Eden, it was highly possible.
Just look at her now.
Hadn't she pulled off such a reckless stunt just to rescue a single sexroid?
In Miki's stories, Soo was a grand hero. The same went for the man beside her, Enoch.
However, there was one detail that bothered Miko.
When she had asked around about Enoch, she had heard occasional rumors that he had a preference for young, small things.
The most memorable rumor among them was, of course, that one: the rumor of 'Enoch, the trash mercenary of Velvet Mile.'
Stories of a goddamn bastard who dragged young, small girls under bridges to force himself on them.
He was even famous as a son of a bitch who enjoyed hearing painful screams, or who did those things in front of others to rake in money.
He doesn't seem like that kind of person, though...
But you could never be too sure.
As the old saying goes, "Where there's smoke, there's fire."
Of course, as soon as Miki returned alive from Eden, she had slapped Topher across the face, fuming, "With your size, how can you like such a small, young girl?"...
In any case, Miko decided to keep her guard up against Enoch.
She felt uneasy leaving him beside Soo, who seemed to know everything yet was surprisingly naive about the ways of the world.
It was a train of thought that, if Enoch ever found out, would have sent his blood pressure through the roof and caused a brain hemorrhage.
"Nnnngh...!"
The place they arrived at after traversing the sewers was near the Circuit Line in Westtown. In other words, an alleyway close to the street where the office was located.
If they had taken the roads, it would have taken at least an hour, but they had arrived in just twenty-eight minutes.
Whether it was good luck or Miko's clever routing, it didn't matter to Soo.
Stretching her stiff body, Soo let out a tired sigh and patted Miko's drone.
"Thanks, Miko."
"Ah... Ehehe... I'm glad I could be of help, Lady Soo."
"Are you going back now?"
"Hmm, I have enough time to chat with you! Topher is also waiting for a chance to talk to you!"
"I see. Are you two still in the Wasteland?"
The drone's camera whirred as it spun around. It felt as if she was glancing at Enoch and Draco nearby.
"It's fine. They're friends I can trust."
"Is that so?"
"Yeah."
"Hrmmm..."
Miko projected an air of suspicion.
Enoch had a clear conscience. There was no reason for him not to. He had never lied to Soo, let alone done anything terrible to her.
If anything, Soo was the one who did terrible things to Enoch; Enoch had truly never done anything of the sort.
"Yes, we are still in the Wasteland. We promised you, Lady Soo. That we would enter when the time comes."
"It won't be long now."
"...Is that true?"
"Yeah."
Nodding lightly, Soo tilted her head as she looked at the various marks engraved on the drone's body.
"Is it a family alliance? Or did you merge?"
"Ohoho! Utilizing my outstanding genius, I absorbed the families in this vicinity! The ones I secretly infiltrated into Eden before were also from those families! Amazing, right? Aren't you terrified of my genius?"
"That is amazing."
This time, there was a bit of sincerity in her voice.
Absorbing the scavengers' forces was surprising enough, but ordering them around like actual familiars was even more astonishing.
Did she promise them a chance to return to Eden? Or did she promise them a comfortable life in the Wasteland? That was something she would find out once they talked.
Soo stood up, cradling the drone in her arms.
"Let's go. I'll introduce you to a new friend too."
"Okay!"
Enoch followed Soo as well.
As he walked, he glanced down at Draco, whom he was carrying.
"Soo, is this... Draco, this sex... I mean, is this person alive?"
"Yeah, he was alive until just a moment ago."
"...Putting it like that makes it sound like he's dead now."
"He's just deactivated right now. Probably."
Even if a human mind was inside, a sexroid's body was ultimately a machine running on a battery.
If the battery ran low, the sexroid would automatically shut down its power.
However, if a human mind was inside, there was a chance things might be a bit different.
Could they stay awake until the battery was completely drained if they didn't want to sleep? Or perhaps they had entered something like a sleep mode.
Whatever the case, he was alive.
It didn't matter if the body was completely broken and couldn't get up. As long as the data chip inside his head was intact, Draco wouldn't die.
Hearing that explanation, Enoch shook his head in disbelief. Cradled in Soo's arms, Miko's drone let out a strained chuckle, its voice trembling.
"...You seem to have gotten even worse than before."
"L-Lady Soo... That, uh, makes you sound like a very cold-hearted dragon...!"
"Yeah, I am a dragon."
Soo answered proudly, scratching her temple.
"I need to go wash up quickly."
"Ah... Right, did the bathroom renovations finish well?"
"Yeah, there's a tub. Angela and I use it together every day. You can use it too, Enoch. If you get lonely washing alone, I'll wash with you."
"What?!"
"...Stop talking nonsense. I'll just go to the bathhouse nearby, so you go ahead and use it all you want."
"That place collapsed."
"...Was it you again?"
"I didn't do it. My cat did."
"What cat...?"
"I got a cat recently. Her name is Bori. She's really smart, speaks human language well, and writes in nice, round handwriting."
Enoch figured this was just another one of Soo's nonsense stories.
In the past, he had been a novice who got swept up in her antics, but the Enoch of today, having survived the war, was different.
It was probably just a human.
Someone who looked like a cat.
Or maybe a criminal who had been 'persuaded' by Soo to live as a cat.
"If such a cat actually exists, I'll call you my big sister. I'll take charge of cleaning the office for the rest of my life."
Arriving in front of the office, Soo spun around to face Enoch. Her eyes were sparkling brightly.
"Not big sister. Big brother."
"Sure, wait, no. If there really is a talking cat, I'll just become your slave."
He wouldn't fall for it this time.
Nodding confidently, Enoch climbed the stairs to the office.