Chapter 30
Chapter 30
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: Talking Machine (7)
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Inside the Hall Paradise building was a special underground facility.
Access was limited to the freight elevator, and the only external entrance was the winding underground parking lot that spiraled down endlessly.
It was a staff-only zone that regular customers couldn't enter at all, and an important facility that formed the foundation of Hall Paradise's operations.
But the security wasn't managed as strictly as it should have been.
You could tell just by looking at the two guys lounging around in the basement right now.
"Hey, hey."
"What."
"The guys outside aren't picking up."
"What were you gonna call them for anyway."
"Obviously to tell them to fuck off and run."
"Ugh, you retarded fuck..."
The gang member muttered curses as he leaned back against the worn-out sofa.
"Eh, they're probably slacking off somewhere again. It's not like it's the first time."
On the low table were empty pizza boxes and soda cans scattered haphazardly.
Proof that more than one or two people used this place like a break room.
"Boss said if he catches you one more time, he'll grind you up in the shredder with the androids."
"If they had the brains to think about that, they wouldn't slack off in the first place."
"...Yeah?"
He tilted his head, then nodded in agreement.
Truth was, they were slacking off in hiding too.
He pulled a handheld game console from his pocket and nodded.
"Anyway, if something happened, they'd be calling us, not the other way around."
"Duh."
There were more than one or two guards and gang members assigned to watch the entrance.
Not all of them could have gone down.
Beep beep, beep...
The retro game sound effects continued alongside their conversation.
"Oh yeah. Weren't there some guys who went out on patrol?"
"Patrol?"
"You know, that thing."
"Hmm, don't think so. No messages."
"Probably. Ah... wish they'd brought some decent guys while they were out─"
Bang bang bang!!
At that moment, someone pounded hard on the iron door.
The man whose sentence was cut off let out a sigh.
"Fuck, I told you not to knock, press the bell."
He stood up and walked to the firmly shut iron door.
Then he checked the camera.
"Hey, looks like one of the touts from the front gate."
"Yeah. ...But why's he look like that?"
The two gang members standing in front of the iron door frowned and checked the camera screen again.
Shaky voice aside.
The tout had his face pressed right up to the camera, pores clearly visible.
It was extremely unnatural.
"...Hold on. I'll contact security and ask what happened at the front gate."
The moment the man activated his smart chip interface to call security.
Boom─!!
An explosion-like roar echoed.
The iron door crumpled and flew inward.
A clear shoe print was stamped on the outer surface like a seal.
"Sh-shit, what the fuck...?!"
The gang members behind the door had to take the full impact.
Pushing aside his already unconscious buddy, the other wiped blood from his forehead and yelled.
"Do you even know what this place─!!"
His words cut off soon after.
An unidentified man stood in the wide-open entrance, holding the tout from the camera screen dangling like a doll in his hand.
The sharp-eyed intruder─Hotdog Man─shook the tout's body around as he asked.
"You said this was the place."
"Y-yes!! That's right!"
From the tout's perspective, this unbelievable reality felt like a dream.
Originally, he planned to just play along with the intruder's tune until the gang members gathered.
But from the front gate to the underground.
All the gang members he encountered had been taken down.
In just a few minutes...
"This is where you capture androids, reboot their personality modules, and reprogram them into obedient sex toys that work well! If you go inside, there are still people running the programs right now!!"
He even spilled secrets he shouldn't.
Hotdog Man quietly gritted his teeth.
The content was truly shocking.
"...So that's it."
At that moment, a gloomy effect sound rang from the handheld game console in the fallen man's hand.
As if announcing the reality that had befallen their enemies.
For now, the cleanup was roughly done.
Using the card keys scavenged from the trash, I opened the inner door, and a foul smell of unknown origin poured out, pushing through the heavy air.
A musty metallic tang like old blood.
My face naturally scrunched up.
"Heh, heh heh... This is it. I guided you like you said, so you'll let me live, right...?"
I didn't answer and tossed the tout aside.
He wasn't important right now.
"H-hik!!"
Freed from my hand, the tout writhed as if desperate to escape, but his legs were completely wrecked and he couldn't stand properly.
He began crawling toward the outside at a snail's pace.
In that state, it would take hours just to get from underground to the surface.
I stepped into the depths of the basement where the lights flickered.
...Crackle.
There were prison cells.
Cells where kidnapped androids had been discarded.
Mostly female androids, but some male ones too.
And.
At the end of the corridor hung an android with all limbs disassembled, wires plugged into its temple port, suspended in midair.
"Ah, still working on it. Why, why'd you come in?!"
A skinny man who looked like a technician yelled at me in a trembling voice.
Maybe because the facility's soundproofing was perfect, he seemed completely unaware of the commotion outside.
Or maybe he was just in a weird state.
"F-fuck. B-boss said. D-don't touch androids whose settings aren't finished."
Mistaking me for a gang member, he irritably shook his head.
I stopped silently in front of him.
"...W-what. O-okay, got it. I'll keep it secret if you sneak out and go."
Splatter!!
A sound like splitting a watermelon echoed.
My palm, capable of denting steel plates, struck the technician's face directly.
Ugh, just caved right in.
I hadn't hit full force since I still had business with him, but that was enough to knock out all his teeth.
"Urk!!"
I grabbed the screaming technician by the collar and hoisted him up.
People in this city were basically all tough.
Probably because of their mechanical bodies.
I commanded the technician in a low voice.
"Cancel it."
"W-what... do you m-mean..."
Teeth gone, slurring badly.
Plus the trembling speech, my hand instinctively rose again.
The technician, seeing my palm, freaked out and waved his hands wildly.
"I-I understand!!"
The guy crawled across the floor, dragging himself to the keyboard and started typing on the screen.
Meanwhile, I checked inside the widely spaced prison bars on both sides.
All powered down, deathly quiet.
And.
Among the closed-eyed androids, the face I was looking for wasn't there.
'...Where is she?'
Maybe another facility besides this one.
As I pondered grabbing the tout again.
The technician typing away pulled a pistol from his pocket and aimed at me.
"D-die!!"
Bang!!
The shaky aim was easy to dodge with a slight shoulder movement.
Reflexive slap.
This time with a bit more force.
The technician spun two full turns in place before collapsing.
Oh crap.
I needed to wake the sleeping androids.
As I pondered how to handle the imprisoned ones.
I suddenly turned at the sound of footsteps from behind.
"......"
"......"
Our gazes locked in midair.
Gorilla-like bulk.
Muscles hard as armor, like he'd been pumping drugs instead of meals.
Seemed like another gang member, with a bullet hole from the technician's shot on his chest.
Soon after, a brass casing rolled across the floor.
"T-that fucker!"
In his hand was the tout, recaptured while crawling outside.
"This fucker started all the chaos!!"
But the response to the tout wasn't from me or the brute—it was another voice.
[Is that so?]
"Yes!!"
[Good job.]
"...Yes?"
Crack.
The sound of neck bones snapping.
The tout's head lolled limply.
The brute's inorganic gaze turned to me.
That instant.
I felt chills creeping up my nape.
...What the hell is this?
[No need to tense up like that. I just have a few questions.]
"Who the fuck are you."
[Me? The boss of Hall Paradise.]
Hall Paradise my ass.
The calm voice came precisely from near the brute's throat.
Even though his larynx didn't move at all.
Someone behind was speaking through the brute.
"Not you, this lump."
[This friend? He won't answer even if you ask. His emotion and personality modules were removed long ago. He's been heavily modded too—my personal pride and joy.]
"Fuck..."
I wasn't one to care about android rights.
But the brute in front of me.
The shit going on in this building.
That smug voice.
All of it pissed me off.
[My turn for questions. Why'd you come here?]
"You kidnapped some old guy's daughter."
[...Daughter? That's weird. We don't touch humans.]
"His daughter's an android."
Brief silence.
Then booming laughter.
[Pfft, hahahaha!!! Ah, yeah, some people are like that. Heh heh. I get the gist. So, did you find the old man's daughter?]
"......"
[Oh, not yet? Not here... Ah, then maybe she's up top with me. I personally inspect all androids before they see customers.]
Maybe because it's a game world.
Or this cyberpunk world where morals are dead.
Why so many villains?
[...Or.]
The emotion in the voice was blatant mockery.
[Want to come up here yourself?]
"...Ha."
[11th floor. Of course, you'll have to deal with him first. Haha.]
The brute began advancing slowly.
Like facing a massive tank,
A heavy presence pressed in.
[I'll go check if your target's here. Ah, nice meeting you. Good luck.]
Click─.
Like a phone cutting off.
Seemed he'd really disconnected.
And.
·
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...Crackle.
A thick vein bulged on my forehead.