The Chairman Goes Out (2)
The Chairman Goes Out (2)
Small chunks of stone crumbled bit by bit from the concrete ceiling.
Inside the collapsed tunnel,
Catherine, Andrea, and I leaned against the overturned train, surveying our surroundings.
The electric lamp flickered weakly.
From the far side, shrouded in deep shadow, a hulking figure strode toward us.
It was Drex.
"This doesn't look good. Both ends are completely caved in, and there don't seem to be any working elevators, either."
"In other words, we're trapped."
"Exactly."
Drex, having answered my question, stuck a cigarette in his mouth out of habit.
Given the situation, he didn't light it.
That was the conclusion Drex had reached after scouting around, leveraging a dwarf's characteristic powers of observation.
Judging by the way he kept shaking his head,
the situation was worse than I had imagined.
"And from what I can tell, they've jammed the signals too. In my view, this was a planned bombing."
"Ha, what a mess."
Andrea let out a sigh.
Catherine and I both agreed with that sentiment.
This time, Catherine directed a question at Drex.
"Since signals aren't getting through, that means we have no way to contact the upper city, correct?"
"That's right. Still, word that there's been an accident will have gotten out by now. It means if we wait, rescue will come eventually."
"Then do we have no choice but to wait?"
"Well... probably. Technically, we could head up through the underground level and the sewer district—several hundred meters straight up—but I'm not too keen on that idea."
"...We'll have to observe the situation for now."
In any case, it was clear we had been swept up in something.
I calmly retraced my memories.
I thought carefully about whether there had been a quest related to tunnel or train terrorism.
But no matter how hard I tried to recall, no specific quest came to mind.
Terrorism in Neon City was practically a regular occurrence, after all.
In other words,
it happened so often that I had no way of pinning it down.
As if they had overheard our conversation,
two people approached us from somewhere.
It was a woman in a crisp suit and a man who appeared to be her aide or bodyguard.
The woman, who looked like a corporate executive, asked the man.
"Are these the ones?"
"Yes, that's correct."
I greeted them warily.
"What business brings you here..."
But thanks to the words that then fell from Drex's lips,
I stopped mid-sentence.
"...Huh, isn't that the Monolith Chairman?"
"...."
I had nearly stood there boldly, chest puffed out, before the Chairman of the entire cyberpunk world.
Unlike me, who had clammed up, Drex kept talking.
"Someone who'd ride a private jet their whole life—what are they doing in a place like this?"
Listening to him, it sounded like he was talking to himself.
Probably so stunned that the thoughts in his head had slipped out without him realizing it.
The problem was, being inside a tunnel, his voice echoed a bit too loudly.
The woman—the Chairman of Monolith Corporation—spoke.
"I had business that required me to move discreetly, you see."
For a Chairman, she must have been quite old.
Yet she spoke with the unassuming tone of an ordinary woman.
"But seeing as this explosion happened, it seems it wasn't so secret after all. I wonder if some little rat made off with the information."
She continued at her own unhurried pace as she said this.
"However, that's not what matters right now."
The Chairman's eyes, which had been scanning elsewhere, settled on us once more.
"I hear you're famous mercenaries confident in your skills. Any interest in taking on a request?"
"...Huh?"
For the record, that was my reply.
I answered without thinking.
The others were waiting for the Chairman to continue, arms crossed or in similar postures.
"As I just said, I came out here secretly. And because of that, it seems likely that Koozaka's ninja squad or Heishukwoi's tactical operatives will show up before our company's security department does."
The Chairman took one more step toward us.
Her posture radiated absolute confidence.
"The request details would be protection... and rescue to the surface, let's say."
Finally, she looked at the cigarette Drex was holding and said.
"And upon reaching the surface, the provision of one cigarette to me. So, how about it? Won't you accept my request?"
We exchanged glances with one another.
The answer we had to give was already decided.
9. The Chairman Departs (2)
"Hahaha, that was ages ago."
"...Haha, yes it was."
The Chairman's gaze was fixed on the space beyond the glass wall.
I stood quietly behind him, hands clasped politely together.
The brilliant glow of the neon signs reached all the way here.
I studied the Chairman's broad back with care.
"Having climbed up from a place deeper than this building is tall, it still comes to mind from time to time."
"...Haha."
Since his manner of speaking changed depending on the body he inhabited, one could easily mistake him for a different person.
But it was certain—they were all the same individual.
He moved his fingers through the empty air.
The massive executive desk that had occupied the center of the room descended straight into the floor.
In its place, a luxurious sofa and a table rose up from elsewhere.
"Now, take a seat over there."
"...Yes, sir."
At the Chairman's invitation, I sat on the opposite sofa. A plush sensation enveloped my body, as if I were sinking into the sofa itself.
I wasn't sure what kind of mechanism it was, but
on the table that had risen from the floor sat two cups of tea, steam curling up from them, alongside appetizing-looking snacks and fruit.
"Back then, things were like that. In the end, we couldn't find any proof that another corporation had carried out the terrorism, either."
"That—that was a regrettable incident."
"Still, it was a chance for an internal shake-up. And in its own way, it was a fond memory and experience."
"...Climbing hundreds of meters up from the underground?"
I found myself asking candidly.
The Chairman answered with a smile.
"Haha, if you asked me to do it a second time, it would be a bit much. Still, the taste of a cigarette you smoke after switching bodies on the surface—that was something special."
"Ah, please feel free to smoke now."
"No, even so, one must be considerate in front of a non-smoker. Our connection isn't one that ends after meeting just once or twice, is it?"
The Chairman lifted his teacup first.
Seeing that, I also raised the tea before me and took a sip.
It was the same type of tea I had drunk in the reception room earlier.
"Actually, I've entrusted you with several more requests since then."
"...I'm merely grateful that you, Chairman, look upon me favorably."
"Hmm, you're fine in every other way. The problem is that your self-confidence is far too low compared to your abilities."
He picked up a snack with his thick fingers. He showed no concern for formality.
His sharp gaze, visible between the scars on his face, studied me.
Even though I hadn't done anything wrong,
I felt as though I ought to apologize first.
"I wonder if it's because all the people around you have such strong egos, or because you're originally from outside the city."
He continued speaking at a measured pace.
"There seem to be other reasons as well, but I haven't figured those out yet."
Even without me saying a word,
I felt as though my innermost thoughts were being read with perfect clarity.
A drop of cold sweat ran down the back of my neck.
"Even so, I can't help but think it's only proper to at least say something to an old man living on the same floor, but I suppose even I think he's a terribly rude person."
...But how do you know about Bill?
"...Did you perhaps investigate me separately?"
"That aside, what business brings you here this time?"
The Chairman chewed on a snack.
"Even if you said you just came for a cup of tea, I'd be perfectly fine with it—but you're not the type of person to do that."
His skill at changing the subject was no joke, either.
But I wasn't brazen enough to press that point here.
I began to briefly explain the situation I was currently facing.
Of course, I mixed in a very slight lie.
It was unavoidable.
No matter how much Smile Zone knew about Eve's identity, and the fact that I possessed Eve,
it was still a secret for now.
If word of a super AI's emergence got out,
every corporation would salivate and try to extract both the information in my head and Eve herself.
Well, the Chairman sitting before me wasn't the type to do that,
but seeing as he was someone who had lived far longer than I had—over a hundred years, even if he didn't look it—there might well be more to him that I didn't know.
There was no harm in being careful.
After listening to my explanation, the Chairman nodded.
"A virtual terrorist, and a party thrown by corporate high-rankers."
His fingers tapped lightly on the table.
I suspected it was his body reflexively craving nicotine.
"I think I know what kind of party it is. Though it's not quite at my level to attend, so I've never been myself."
The Chairman continued, leaning back against the sofa.
"Still, I can't ignore a request from my lifesaver."
"...Isn't 'lifesaver' a bit much? We were just carrying out a job we were commissioned for, after all."
"At any rate, I've got it. I'll look into it on my end and let you know the place and time."
I immediately bowed my head at those words.
Power and connections really were meant to be used.
"Thank you, Chairman!"
"I'd like to go myself, but I'm busy. It might be tough for you."
"Ah, of course—even just the introduction is more than enough."
In fact, that was news I welcomed with open arms.
So, now that my business was done,
I figured I should get ready to head home.
"Are you just going to leave?"
Why?
I halted mid-motion.
"Since you're here, have a meal before you go."
"Pardon?"
"It happens to be lunchtime, doesn't it?"
To be perfectly honest,
I wanted to refuse.
But this was a situation where I couldn't.
If the Chairman says let's eat, and I refused?
A loyal subordinate—like the chief of staff—who caught wind of it might send an assassin.
Under that kind of pressure, I probably wouldn't know if the food was going into my mouth or up my nose.
In the end, the answer I had to give was already decided.
"...Thank you for the invitation. In that case, I'll eat well before I go."
"Haha, that's the spirit."
Now that things had come to this, I resolved to think positively.
Food that the Chairman eats...
I was already looking forward to seeing what kind of dishes would come out.
Day in and day out, I had stuck to a diet of soy protein or krill,
so I never imagined an opportunity to eat high-class cuisine made from natural ingredients would come along like this.
The Chairman manipulated his vision interface again.
Soon, something massive rose up from a corner of the Chairman's office.
It looked like a wine cellar.
"I recently got my hands on a decent bottle of alcohol."
"...Haven't you not finished your work yet?"
"Haha, what are you picking at my words for? If I get drunk, I can just switch to another body. Let's just go eat."
"...Yes, sir."
The Chairman, in the form of a middle-aged man, had a personality that was boisterous and refreshing—which was all well and good.
But if there was one problem I could think of, it was that he absolutely loved alcohol.
I had a somewhat ominous premonition.
Still, after a few recent incidents, I'd learned my lesson.
I'd have to read the room and drink only a little.
* * *
It was absolutely not my fault that the Chairman, drunk as a whale, collapsed straight into a deep sleep.
For the corporation, it was an emergency.
Because the Chairman, who was supposed to handle the afternoon's work, had passed out cold.
The result was that all the critical tasks the Chairman had to personally oversee ground to a complete halt.
It wasn't just my imagination that the chief of staff's eyes, fixed on me, were tinged with murderous intent.
But it was seriously not my fault.
I felt wronged.