Transhumanism (2)
Transhumanism (2)
The air hung cold and heavy.
A strange, inexplicable dankness lingered. Even though the mask's filter should have blocked the fine dust, an eerie, suffocating sensation filled the air.
How did I ever live in a place like this before?
Actually, having memories of surviving in a garbage dump—an environment far worse than this—only amplified that sense of dissonance.
I was now in the lower layer, Bedtown.
To be precise, the district where Maya's father ran the 'Fusion-Japanese Restaurant.'
Naturally, just like any other lower-layer neighborhood, public safety was abysmal.
"Whew~."
"Not a single cyberware seam in sight. This is insane."
"Wanna go hit on her?"
And because of that, there were plenty of vagrants catcalling with their eyes glued to Maya, who was walking beside me.
If Eve had been with me right now, they would have collapsed to the ground, screaming about unexplained implant failures before I could even be bothered to care.
But since we'd rushed out—fled—so suddenly, unfortunately Eve's prosthetic body wasn't with me.
[Shall I handle it?]
"No, I'll do it."
Still, she was essentially with me.
Anyway, my companion was being harassed.
Letting it slide wasn't a good option.
Fundamentally, the lower layer has a low security tier, and the NCPD corruption rate published by NCB24 is high.
Because of that, people living in the lower layer basically have the concept of 'self-help' drilled into their heads.
Getting sent flying through the air just for whistling once probably isn't a particularly pleasant experience for them either.
But this is, after all, a cyberpunk world where bullets travel faster than the law.
They probably had a corner of their minds prepared for a future like this to come someday.
"...F-fuck! What the hell is this!!"
"I'm, I'm flying!"
"......The cosmos sings to me!"
Or maybe not.
Fortunately, Maya didn't seem to have heard their catcalling. She turned her head, trying to peer into the chaotic alleyway.
"I just heard something weird—."
I grabbed Maya's head from behind.
Fixing her head in place so she couldn't turn around, I kept moving my feet forward.
"?"
"It's nothing."
Maya's puzzled expression transmitted through my fingertips.
Once I locked her jaw joint like that, Maya followed my steps, moving forward like a puppet.
"...Hehe."
Embarrassing as it was, she must have secretly enjoyed the experience, because Maya let out a small, amused giggle.
Holding onto Maya's cheek at such close range was just as awkward for me.
But I figured as a long-time regular—past tense—of the Japanese restaurant, and as her housemate, I was entitled to at least this much.
Only after we'd moved far enough that the vagrants' screams were no longer audible did I let go of the hands holding Maya's ears and cheeks.
Maya turned back to look at me.
"...What was that, really."
Black bobbed hair, a pink streak running through it, a bright smile with no trace of darkness whatsoever.
The dark figure from that rainy day was nowhere to be found. The darkness-type Maya had successfully evolved once again into the light type.
I was genuinely happy about that fact.
So I answered Maya with the same smile.
"Just a prank."
"......Hmmm."
Maya let out a long nasal hum, staring at me.
But soon she burst into a grin again and said.
"Still, I'm grateful you came all this way to pick me up. Hehe."
We started walking again.
30. Transhumanism (2)
The 'Fusion-Japanese Restaurant' run by Maya's father was located fairly close to the monorail station.
Of course, that didn't mean it was right next door.
Just close enough that you could call it barely within the station's influence area.
Because of that, we naturally ended up heading toward the monorail station and naturally chatting about various things.
Actually, come to think of it, if I'd used my overflowing credits, I could've called several taxis to go home.
But since we were walking without much thought, I forgot, and I was also curious about what route Maya usually took to come home, so it couldn't be helped.
I called out to Maya walking ahead.
"So, why were you late today?"
"Ah."
At my question, Maya briefly opened her mouth.
The clouds covering the sky were darker than usual. That meant it was late.
Fearing 'mucous membrane friction' was part of why I ran out, but it was also true that I came to pick Maya up because her return was delayed.
After a short silence, Maya considered her answer.
She walked along the hologram pedestrian crossing line on the ground, balancing herself. Spreading both arms out to her sides, walking like a kid.
"......"
...How old was Maya again?
I had that thought watching her.
I pushed the uncomfortable truth to the back of my mind.
Seeing her walk along so innocently like that, she just seemed like the youngest among us.
Having chosen her answer to my question, Maya slowly stepped forward and continued speaking.
"You know, sometimes when you live life, you have days where your luck is just inexplicably bad."
"True."
I'd had one recently too.
A lot of them, actually.
Maya turned to look at me while walking.
"Today was that kind of day for me."
"Ah, that's rough."
It might sound like a half-hearted answer, but for an I-type personality, it was my best effort.
As I answered with a nod.
Maya, who seemed to have a lot to say, fired off several things like a machine gun.
"The truck carrying the cooking ingredients was suddenly late, out of nowhere the shop's electricity went out, and I don't even know why there were so many rude customers today. The one who got smacked in the back of the head by Si-un-ssi and passed out last time came back again today. So I just..."
"A day of terrible luck?"
"Exactly."
"So how did you deal with that rude customer this time?"
"My father sent him on his way."
She phrased it as sending a person off.
It almost sounded like he sent him to heaven, but it probably meant he kicked him out of the shop.
Maya's father, the owner of the shop, had been running a restaurant in the lower layer for years, so one way or another, his arm muscles were formidable.
I didn't know if he'd gotten implant surgery, but he could probably handle the local thugs with one hand.
"Well, even so."
Maya continued.
"It seems like maybe it wasn't such an unlucky day after all."
"Why?"
A grin settled onto Maya's lips.
Her teeth were still sharp.
I briefly admired Maya's smile.
"Because Si-un-ssi came to pick me up."
"......"
Was it because she was the youngest among the housemates?
That one came out of nowhere and hit hard.
For reference, in Eve's case, since her age couldn't be measured, Maya being the youngest among us was probably correct.
Feeling awkward for no reason, I told her the truth I'd mentioned earlier once more.
"Like I said before..., it's true I came to pick you up. But the bigger reason is that I just fled."
"Then that's fine."
Maya added at the end of her sentence, 'Let's just gloss over the little things.'
......
Actually, if you thought about it in terms of share, '70 percent' was fleeing, and '30 percent' was picking Maya up.
I felt a slight pang of conscience.
Well, all that matters is the result turned out good.
I successfully restored my mental health through self-rationalization—a basic virtue of any outstanding cyberpunk citizen.
And a brief silence followed.
I spoke, trying to break the awkward mood.
"Anyway, it must be tough for you, helping out at your father's shop until this late every day."
"Nah, he's going to Neo Japan soon anyway. I'm just helping diligently until then."
It was something I'd heard when I visited Maya's shop.
Originally, she was supposed to go together with Maya.
Hm.
That's right.
I stopped it.
Maya cut through my brief contemplation.
"Back then, Si-un-ssi said you would protect me, so you coming to pick me up today does build a little trust. Hehe."
How embarrassing. I'd just blurted it out without thinking.
The me from back then....
What kind of foolish thing did I do.
Of course, it didn't mean the words themselves were a mistake.
It just meant I should have said the same thing in a slightly softer way, and I regretted it a little.
Anyway, the station was almost there.
I just had to endure this atmosphere until then.
That was when I was thinking that.
Suddenly, a hologram screen floated up through my vision interface.
What appeared on the screen was 'Eve'.
There was no way she'd shown up just to block the lovey-dovey atmosphere; something must have happened.
"...Eve?"
"Oh, you got a call?"
Leaving Maya's curious voice behind, Eve opened her mouth inside the hologram screen.
[There is currently a faction tracking 'Si-un' and the human 'Maya.' Upon reviewing the relevant data, they trace back to an extreme transhumanist group, an organization by the name of 'Tech Worm.']
"......Why them."
Out of the blue, at this timing—what the hell.
[The target is most likely the human 'Maya.' She appears to have been targeted because she had cyberware installed and then normalized the 'Chrome Psycho' condition using bioware. For reference, the related information is presumed to have been leaked by the human 'drunkard' whom Si-un knocked out with magic at that time.]
Should have hit the back of his head harder with magic.
What a shame.
"Haah."
Such is daily life in cyberpunk.
I thought as I let out a short sigh.
I had a rough idea of their goal.
They were the type to spread 'machine supremacism' to the point of kidnapping people and forcibly installing—outdated—cyberware.
It made sense that Maya, who had normalized her body with bioware again, would become a target.
As I stopped in place,
Maya, reading the serious mood, restlessly shuffled her feet and looked up at me.
"...Is something wrong?"
"Hold on a second."
I asked Eve.
"Estimated time of arrival?"
[Approximately 1 minute. How will you respond?]
"What do you mean, how will I respond."
I'll clean them up and go.
Even if I've quit mercenary work, I can volunteer for the role of city janitor myself.
But....
Before that.
The next 1 minute—no, 50 seconds.
First, I needed to explain the situation to Maya and ask Eve to send Maya home.
I looked straight at Maya.
* * *
Maya refused in a resolute tone.
"I'm absolutely not going."
"Hm."
Yeah, no way.
I was an idiot to think I could finish the explanation and persuade her in 50 seconds.