The Sexroid
Screeech—clunk.
It had been a very long time since she last rode in this old car.
Normally, she would have taken an AI hover-taxi, but today's commission was one where broadcasting their location to others would do no good, so they decided to drive themselves.
So she needed to start the engine and get moving.
Yet Angela remained dazed.
She couldn't even bring herself to step on the brake and turn the key to start the ignition.
Floating around in her head were the words Swoo had spoken just moments ago.
Humans aren't racehorses that can't stop.
If it's hard, you can always stop and rest.
What did she mean by that?
How had Swoo been able to see right through Elyse's current situation, when she had never even seen her face?
When Swoo told her not to forget their original goal, did she already know what that goal was...?
“If you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.”
“Huh? What?”
“It's a quote by Friedrich Nietzsche. Do you know it?”
“I mean, I've heard of it...?”
“Take good care of her, Angela.”
Angela turned a startled gaze toward Swoo.
“Now that she's a director, she'll have plenty of free time. You won't have to hide your relationship like that anymore, either.”
“...Isn't the only reason a director would have free time because Serena is suspiciously competent? My sister said other executives don't even have enough hours in a day.”
“Elyse will be the same. She's done enough work as a director; she might actually be better at it than Serena.”
Swoo's words weren't wrong.
In reality, Elyse was a secretary in name only, handling everything a director was supposed to do.
On top of that, she had been doing her secretarial duties. But now, she no longer needed to act as a secretary. With a change in superiors, she might even get secretaries of her own.
So, she really might have some free time now.
“...Do you think I can really take care of her? It's embarrassing, but we've always done nothing but fight.”
“But you're still family.”
Swoo said, licking the soft-serve ice cream Angela had bought her.
“That fact alone is enough.”
“Since you're family now too, Swoo, I'll have to treat you well. Enoch too.”
“I always treat you well.”
A smile spread across Swoo's face.
Angela quietly watched Swoo's smile. Swoo always smiled like that whenever the topic of family came up.
She thought it was just her usual smile, but having spent so much time with Swoo, Angela felt that this smile was slightly different from her ordinary ones.
“...What was your family like, Swoo?”
“I think they were a good family.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I don't remember them very well, but they probably were.”
Crunch, crunch.
Swoo, now down to the last bite of her soft-serve cone, buckled her seatbelt.
“Let's go, Angela. If we're late, the old man will scold us.”
“Alright, let's go.”
Rumble-clatter!
When the engine started, a terrible noise echoed, accompanied by the crackling of the radio.
"It is 8:00 AM, this is the Westtown Hour. Listeners, all eyes in the Corporate Plaza this morning are turning to Zyrec Tech."
"Just moments ago, the Zyrec Public Relations Office officially confirmed that the Integrity Execution Protocol, IEP, has been activated for Kinetics, their core branch."
"This is an IEP, not a simple audit. The Kinetics branch, which was solely responsible for combat drug development, has been completely locked down by the CSIA as of this hour—"
Even though she had been starting it periodically, she had still been a bit nervous. She was relieved the engine actually turned over.
Swallowing a sigh of relief, Angela waited a moment. Just because the engine was running didn't mean they could set off immediately. Enoch's car required warming up.
About three minutes later, the junk car carrying the two of them pulled out of the building's parking lot.
The radio continued to discuss the noisy world, and the world itself was not much different from usual.
A hazy, grey sky. Tired people commuting beneath it. Vagrants lying on the streets, trying to sleep. Shop owners beginning to open their doors...
“Come to think of it, Swoo.”
“Yeah?”
“When are you going to collect our payment?”
“Eric will decide that.”
“...Do you trust him?”
“Yeah, I trust him. Eric will definitely let us know when it's time to settle.”
Why did that expression of trust sound so ominous?
Angela harbored a strange doubt, but she drove on without asking further. Right now, she was more concerned with the report coming from the radio than those thoughts.
"Currently, Kinetics Tower is in a state of a ghost tower, with all networks isolated and assets frozen."
"The activation of the IEP, which exercises control over core assets, suggests that beyond simple corruption, there has been a serious data leak or an attempted hostile takeover."
"As a result, Zyrec Tech's stock price is plummeting by nearly 16% immediately upon market opening."
"It remains unclear when the CSIA's blockade will be lifted. Traffic in the vicinity of the Kinetics branch is completely restricted, so those commuting to the Eastheim commercial district should use detours—"
Watching the scenery flash by, Swoo secretly accessed a stock trading site without Angela noticing.
The plunge of Zyrec Tech Kinetics stock was passing 16% and heading toward 18%.
Influenced by this, the stock prices of Kinetics' subsidiaries were also crashing past a simple drop and hitting rock bottom.
Among them, one stock caught her eye immediately.
Seeing that, Swoo broke out in a cold sweat.
In the game, it hadn't been a subsidiary of Zyrec. In fact, it was a stock that was supposed to skyrocket when the IEP was activated at the Kinetics branch. Why on earth...?
It would probably skyrocket eventually, but the fact that seventy percent of her entire net worth had vanished in an instant was not good news...
...What do I do?
Angela's money was in this, too.
Swoo's tail curled inward.
“Swoo? Is something wrong?”
Though her tail was curled pitifully, Swoo's expression was barely different from usual. Even so, Angela knew Swoo was worried about something.
She had realized that when talking to Swoo, one had to look at her tail rather than her face.
Clasping her shivering tail, Swoo looked at Angela and asked.
“Angela, what do you think about money?”
“Money is just something you can earn back. Killing or hating people over it... feels a bit much, I guess?”
“What if I lost a huge chunk of your money?”
“It's fine. You've done so much for me, Swoo. Just looking at the Zyrec situation... yeah. There's no way I could ever hate you.”
“Will you still set up my VPN, clean, do my laundry, and cook for me?”
“Of course. But why are you asking all this?”
“The stock I bought dropped by almost seventy percent.”
“Did you buy it using my money too?”
“Yep.”
Swoo cast a cautious glance at Angela. Angela's expression remained soft. Far from holding back anger, she simply let out a small chuckle, as if finding Swoo's behavior cute.
The trembling of Swoo's tail stopped.
“See, I told you to be careful with stocks. How much did you buy to worry this much?”
“This much.”
Swoo spread both hands wide.
Angela blinked for a long moment before asking cautiously.
“Ten of the small ones, right?”
“Big ones.”
Angela's face froze solid.
The traffic light turned green, but Angela didn't even think about moving, staring blankly at the amount Swoo had indicated.
The car behind them honked its horn repeatedly before suddenly stalling, and the traffic light that had just turned green quickly switched back to red.
Was the amount simply too massive to suppress her anger?
Swoo's tail began to shiver again.
“Y-You promised not to hate me, right?”
“Swoo.”
“I'm sorry.”
“For the time being, do your own laundry and cleaning. And I'm not setting up your VPN either.”
“I'll recover it somehow.”
“Even if you recover it, no. I'm not changing my mind. I'm mad.”
“Okay.”
Her tail drooped dejectedly.
Arriving at their destination, Swoo got out of the car and trotted along.
Her gait was no different from usual, and her expression remained unchanged. However, the tail hidden beneath her clothes was still thoroughly dejected.
Looking at Swoo, Angela wondered if she had been too harsh, but losing such a fortune... and without her consent, was definitely worthy of a scolding.
Yet, she couldn't help but let out a soft chuckle.
Considering the situations Swoo had created so far, getting scolded over something like this was actually hilarious.
With only slight exaggeration, Swoo was currently shaking the entirety of Eden. For such a being to be scolded over losing a little money—no, quite a... lot of money—was absurd.
The more she thought about it, the funnier it became.
“Angela.”
“Yes?”
“Are you still mad?”
“I'm not mad anymore, but what I said earlier still stands.”
“...Okay.”
Swoo nodded, scratching her head.
Angela smoothed down Swoo's hair and asked.
“What do you think of this commission?”
“I think it'll be fun. Though it depends on how you handle it, Angela.”
“Fun... Right, it does seem like the kind of job you'd enjoy. For me... it already feels difficult.”
“Why? Do you not like that kind of person?”
“Well, it's not that I dislike the person... but they ended up like that against their will, right?”
“Yeah.”
“So I'm worried the client might be... broken in many ways. Yeah... I think it'll be tough in a lot of aspects.”
After pondering for a moment, Swoo nodded in agreement.
Angela found Swoo's reaction surprising. It was the first time she had ever seen Swoo empathize with someone else's situation.
“But still, I think it'll be fun.”
Swoo entered the building with sparkling eyes, as if she had never been dejected in the first place.
The meeting place with the client was a massive business tower located in Westtown's District 1.
A place where offices of all kinds of corporations were gathered.
It was the same kind of business tower as the one where they had gone to meet Yoo Sena.
Today's client was waiting on the top floor of that very tower.
This meant they were the owner of a company that was doing quite well, even within this business tower. Though it felt like a mid-sized enterprise lagging far behind a megacorporation, it was still impressive in its own right.
“Are they the CEO?”
“They didn't specify, but considering they called us to the top floor, we should assume so.”
A CEO who had achieved great success at a young age.
From what they heard, he used to be a mercenary, and his body had been massive. His personality was bound to be formidable as well.
The elevator doors closed, and the world rapidly receded. A height of fifty-eight floors. Angela and Swoo chatted while looking at the view, then fell silent.
The elevator doors opened.
“Nice to meet you.”
There, in the center of an office large enough to be called a hall, a figure stood.
“I am the representative of Legia Security Delivery.”
A woman hovering precariously somewhere between a girl and a young lady introduced herself.
“Draco Legia.”
It was a name that did not match her appearance at all.
And for good reason.
She—no.
His mind was currently trapped inside a sexroid.