Chapter 47
Chapter 47
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 47
Chapter Title: Spilled Water (2)
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Her eyes were as pure white as snow, shimmering with a transparency that could easily be mistaken for blue.
Her multicolored silver hair, cascading down past her waist, gave off a mystical sensation, as if we were beholding a beautiful work of art in and of itself.
After a moment of silence.
Nova slowly stepped out from within the capsule.
"Huh..."
Michael clamped his hand over his mouth in surprise, as if the voice had slipped out unconsciously.
Even a highly capable businessman like Michael had momentarily lost his composure.
Nova's new body exuded an overwhelming presence in all directions.
Thump─.
His shoulders jerked at the sound.
It wasn't from my chest.
The faint heartbeat was coming from Nova herself.
'...How.'
It felt so much like gazing at a living human that I had to calm my startled mind.
Come to think of it, the android I'd met at Hall Paradise could eat food and breathe as well.
For an android made of machinery rather than flesh and bone, such functions were unnecessary, yet it seemed they had deliberately added a separate heartbeat mechanism.
But it wasn't a real human body.
Just an incredibly well-crafted android.
"......"
"......"
Nova stared at me intently.
Not the volleyball you'd find on a deserted island, nor the turret from a grocery store,
but with her perfectly functioning body.
A bit awkward...
"How is it? Feel okay?"
In response to my question, Nova closed and opened her eyes a few times, as if organizing her sensations.
She was currently wearing a shirt and slacks that Michael had picked up from the clothing bin.
I'd originally planned to just wake her up, but I freaked out at the glimpse of flesh-colored skin through the transparent capsule and asked Michael to handle it.
Nova awkwardly touched her throat with her slender fingers, as if unaccustomed to producing voice with an android body.
"Ah, aaah─."
A small but clear voice.
Different from her previous speaker voice, but the precise enunciation remained the same.
"System boot normal operation. Bio interface panel normal. Basic system diagnostics complete. OS compatibility confirmed. No OS conflicts."
And then.
Nova neatly clasped her hands together.
"Yes, I'm fine."
At least it matched the speech pattern of the Nova I knew.
Probably.
"...Y-You're Nova, right?"
"Unable to parse intent of question. Were you perhaps referring to another AI model named 'GPT' that you mentioned before─?"
"No no no, that's not it."
It was just that her stunning appearance made it hard to picture the 20mm turret.
She still remembered that, huh.
'...Definitely Nova.'
No doubt about it.
I scanned her body from head to toe, checking for anything unusual.
"No issues with the body?"
"None."
Nova nodded slightly.
Just as I was about to breathe a sigh of relief.
"However."
"?"
"This 'android model' appears to be an illegally modified derivative product."
As I put a question mark on my face, Nova continued her calm explanation.
"Internal data scan complete. Searched all specs, configurations, and model names of androids released in Risk City."
"Results."
I held my breath, waiting for her words.
Faint streams of light flickered in Nova's white eyes.
"Confirmed product specs highly similar to the RS series developed by Beltech Corp."
"...Beltech?"
"Beltech International Solutions."
The company name Michael had just mentioned.
Which meant Nova's speculation was quite likely correct.
"Exact model designation: RS-009. Currently discontinued by city government due to safety concerns."
Discontinued for being dangerous...?
I pulled out my terminal from my pocket to search for the model.
And then.
"...Huh?"
The grinning emoticon changed its expression frighteningly fast upon meeting my eyes.
I subtly lifted my head to check Nova's expression.
"What's wrong?"
Still her impassive face.
But if the emoticon's emotion wasn't a glitch.
"...No, nothing."
"Confirmed."
She seems happy, at least.
I chuckled and launched the cyber web on my terminal.
What was it again.
'Beltech RS-009...'
A few posts came up.
I was curious what kind of model it was that the city had forced off the market.
"......"
I quietly held out the terminal screen to Nova without saying a word.
Nova nodded calmly upon seeing the photo on the terminal.
"Yes, this is the model."
"This is it?!"
My voice rose involuntarily.
For reference.
The terminal screen I held out displayed a post with the following content.
Looks like a Goliath.
I blankly stared at Nova, thinking of the unit you get for 100 minerals and 50 gas.
'...It has specs similar to this?'
Honestly, I couldn't wrap my head around it.
There was just a huge disconnect.
Size and weight alone made it obvious.
I asked Nova with an awkward expression, as if I'd heard a bad joke.
"C'mon, you're kidding. It says this robot can fire missiles or machine guns from its hands..."
"Just need to reload ammo, and I can too."
Nova's hand rotated in reverse.
Naturally, a compartment appeared inside, ready to be filled.
"......Uh."
I quietly shut my mouth.
She was basically a walking turret.
"Furthermore, unidentified energy is being transmitted through the heart-shaped organ, suggesting the use of research tech related to mana circuits not yet commercialized. Test result data matches RS-009 values closely."
No, at this point, she's a tank.
What terrifying tech could turn a normal android into something with Goliath-level specs.
At that moment, Michael, who had been silent until now, quietly approached.
"...Hotdog Man."
"I'm shocked too."
"No, not that."
Michael launched into an explanation like a machine gun.
He knew the RS series vaguely; it had overwhelming specs but suffered from issues with size and weight.
But having RS-009 top-tier specs while maintaining an 'android's size and shape? That didn't make sense.
How much money, how much tech would it take.
To produce that unrealistic result.
He couldn't even 'dare' to guess.
And so on...
"Done talking?"
"Honestly, I could go another two hours."
"That's enough."
In short, this one android Nova was piloting might be worth more than all the weapons in the truck.
In that case.
What must 'someone' who lost this precious item be thinking right now.
We stared blankly at each other, then bolted without another word.
Right now.
We didn't have time to space out...!
─Area 21, Central Business District.
In the forest of skyscrapers packed with megacorp buildings.
A taciturn man overlooked the vast cityscape.
He asked in a low voice.
"The culprit."
Countless lines of text scrolled up on the transparent glass window.
A calm voice continued in his ear.
From origin to gender, height, weight, personality, cyber web search history, and hidden tastes.
Though the listed gender 'male' might have changed by now.
Anyway, it was info dug up by the megacorp's web spider techs.
"Method."
A clipped question, but the executive assistant quickly grasped the intent and replied.
"Disposal."
The man, who had been firing off short questions, finally spoke at length.
"Cut off their heads and deliver them in 'boxes.'"
Here, 'box' referred to a device that kept brain cells alive without blood flow.
The executive assistant, aware of its gruesome nature, faltered for a moment but quickly composed herself.
The man, arms crossed and tapping thick fingers, read down the text and spoke.
"Pursuit."
The issue was that Area 49 had few road surveillance cameras, most of which were broken.
Accordingly, the glass window screen switched.
Hoping no blame would splash his way, the executive assistant quickly added.
The city's dump.
Where all sorts of fugitives hid.
The glass window screen played a small clip of the culprit limping away.
"Looks injured."
"...Tch."
Who knows what trash thinks.
With that thought, the man roughly waved his hand.
At the same time, the glass window lights went out, and the assistant's voice cut off.
The missing weapons didn't matter, honestly.
But.
'...Of all things, that android.'
It was a problem that the secretly made item hadn't gotten extra security to avoid external eyes.
Beltech Corp's CEO, Frederick Kessler, quietly gritted his teeth.
If it came out that the head of a prestigious megacorp couldn't trust mere humans and had secretly developed a bodyguard android (usable for other purposes) in a human-like form to his tastes...
"Damn it."
The glass window darkened,
and the dazzling cityscape spread before him, bright enough to hurt the eyes.
Unfortunately, he had no leisure to admire it right now.
A moment of life or death.
I held the terminal to my ear and sadly muttered.
"Boss, thanks for everything up till now..."