Are You Really Doing This? (1)
Are You Really Doing This? (1)
I took off my high-end suit and shoved it into the garment manager, the 'BM Styler.'
For reference, BM stood for Black Monolith.
The next thing I did was shower.
I scrubbed my whole body down with an expensive filtered showerhead.
Finally, I pulled my everyday clothes out of the styler and changed into them.
At last, I could breathe comfortably.
The necktie that had been choking me felt suffocating as hell.
I dove straight into bed.
Of course, I had already taken my shoes off.
No matter how much I lived in a cyberpunk world, the Korean soul inside me could never tolerate walking around the house with shoes on.
"...Ugh, I'm exhausted."
A sigh escaped me without my even realizing.
To be honest, it wasn't a physically demanding schedule.
There hadn't been any combat on the way back.
It wasn't like the schedule had dragged on for over a day, either.
It had only been a brief moment.
All I did was go and have a conversation with some people.
I had no idea why I was so tired.
Compared to my usual outings, it felt twice as draining.
It felt like if I just closed my eyes right then, I could fall asleep instantly.
.......
But before that, I needed to send some messages.
Aside from the Chairman, only two people had known in advance that I was going to the party.
Those were Catherine and Julia.
Julia would probably be fine.
But if I didn't let Catherine know how the party went, the aftermath would be a little terrifying.
I didn't write a long message.
I just sent something along the lines of, 'I think I know who Smile Zone really is.'
I could give her the detailed explanation later.
Now, time to sleep....
Ah, before that, should I check the backlog of net space posts?
I launched the net space, intending to look at some humor posts or gossip.
More precisely, I tried to launch it.
- Ding-dong.
Someone.
If only someone hadn't rung my doorbell right then.
......Why was that?
Even without opening the door, I had a feeling I knew who was outside.
12. We're Really Doing This? (1)
It was obvious without her saying a word.
The person outside the door was Catherine.
Was it because she had come in a hurry?
As if she had been lounging at home, she was wearing light-looking clothes.
A tank top and dolphin pants.
Honestly, I didn't know where to look.
I couldn't have a long conversation with her in the hallway while she was dressed like that.
I brought Catherine inside and sat her down.
After that, I gave her a brief explanation of what happened at the party.
"So."
"Yeah."
"You think that Smile Zone guy's true identity is the Vice Chairman of Koozaka?"
"Like I just said, it's not certain, just the highest possibility."
Catherine nodded after hearing my explanation.
She was sipping the molecular cocoa I had given her.
I rubbed my sleepy eyes and continued explaining.
"At the end of the day, it's just a possibility. What was the percentage again...."
[I explain that it is stored in the database as 79%.]
"Mm, around 79%."
Eve spoke in a voice only I could hear.
Since I hadn't revealed Eve's identity yet, I just relayed Eve's words to Catherine as they were.
Catherine took another sip of the hot cocoa.
"Isn't 79% incredibly high?"
"......It is, but it's not 100%."
It was just a story of possibilities, after all.
I shrugged my shoulders.
I used my whole body to show I was doing fine.
"And honestly, even if it is right, what can we do? We can't just grab a megacorp's Vice Chairman and do anything about him."
Catherine quietly nodded at my words.
But she still looked like she had a lot on her mind.
Catherine's golden eyes looked at me.
"Then Si-un, what are you gonna do?"
"Mm."
...Well.
Nothing would change much from how things are now, right?
"We'll have to find evidence we can be 100% certain about."
We could track down Smile Zone's traces.
Or we could try searching for other information.
"It'll take a while, but it's the safest and most certain way."
At the very least, it seemed much better than the option of doing something to the Vice Chairman.
It was also possible he wasn't really Smile Zone.
Catherine put down her finished cocoa.
She had an expression that looked like she had made up her mind.
And in my experience as a Catherine expert, having watched this friend for close to ten years,
in times like this, she often had zero brakes and would go from zero to a hundred instantly.
"Let's not do that."
"Yeah."
"Let's just ask him directly."
"......Excuse me?"
Was my hearing bad?
I thought I heard something strange.
Guess it was time to swap these out for artificial eardrum cyberware. What the hell did you just say, Catherine....
I pulled myself together and asked.
"You know that's insane, right?"
"Why?"
Goldie....
"......The case I met this time was extremely special, and normally, he's a person who's hard to even meet."
I explained calmly.
"Meaning, it's hard to create a chance to meet him, and even if we do, there's no way he'd answer honestly—."
Wait.
I felt a sinister energy.
There was no way Catherine didn't know what I knew.
Looking at Catherine's confident expression, alarm bells went off—my dark premonition was right.
Before I could say anything else, Catherine nodded and answered my words.
"Let's kidnap him."
Goldie, what on earth are you saying....
But it seemed like I was the only one opposing that opinion right now.
Because Eve also spoke up next.
[I agree with the opinion of the human 'Catherine'.]
What should I do with these Goldies?
I clutched my head, which was starting to ache again.
......Honestly, it wasn't an impossible plan.
Honestly, I was almost unnecessary.
With Eve's help and Catherine's ability, it was more than feasible.
But....
Setting aside the question of feasibility, the aftermath of the kidnapping was the problem.
"Let's calm down for a second."
"Honestly, isn't this the easiest method?"
[I once again affirm the opinion of the human 'Catherine'.]
...That's not the point, I said.
I swallowed hard.
How should I explain this so these Goldies would understand and drop that insane plan?
"...Kidnapping someone inside Neon City is absolutely impossible. More than anything else, the aftermath of the kidnapping is the problem."
"Then we do it outside the city."
.......
She had a point.
A megacorp's Vice Chairman would inevitably travel to cities all over the world, showing off his influence.
He was in Neon City now, but sooner or later he'd leave for another city and come back—that was bound to happen.
"......Then we'd have to find out the confidential schedule of the Koozaka Vice Chairman. What do we do about that?"
"We'd have to get help from No Answer, or something."
That was also a valid point.
After all, it would be a difficult task with just the two of us (three, counting Eve).
"This is practically illegal, so there's absolutely no way they'd help."
"We still have to ask. And if the Boss allows it, it won't matter."
.......
They won't allow it.
Strict adherence to rules—that was the law of No Answer.
"Then how do we get outside the city, kidnap the private airship the Vice Chairman rides around in, and how do we plan—."
"Ah, it's fine. Let's just try to make a plan from now on. We were gonna ask Drek and Andrea anyway."
"......."
I felt the situation escalating.
I had just washed, but a cold sweat trickled down my spine.
Since things had come to this, I had no choice but to pray that the others would refuse.
It was easy to say.
This was kidnapping a megacorp's Vice Chairman, after all.
Yeah, that'll happen.
It must just be my needless worry.
Because if we slipped up, it was something that could turn Neon City, or the entire world, against us.
Personally, I hated the very thought that the people around me would be put in danger because of me.
I wanted to oppose Catherine's plan.
But no matter what I said right then, it didn't seem like Catherine or Eve's opinions would be swayed.
"......Fine, we'll have to contact the others at least once."
"Mm, mm."
Catherine smiled with a satisfied expression.
Yeah....
The others would definitely oppose it, too.
Smile Zone's identity wasn't even certain.
And there were other methods available.
Mm.
But what was this anxious feeling?
.......
And the next day.
"Drek and Andrea said they'd help."
"...They might."
"They were mad, asking why we were discussing this without them. Apologize to them later."
"......I'll have to."
I had expected those two would help me.
Still, we had spent a long time together as comrades. We owed each other our lives a few times over.
Still, the others wouldn't.
I thought those two would be the last to agree.
"Ah, and Julia said she'd help, too. I ran into her in the hallway, and she said she'd look into the information once through her underworld connections."
"......Mm."
Was that it?
Just because she said she was my fan last time.
The fact that we ran into each other in the hallway by chance felt suspicious, but I brushed it off as my imagination.
......It's fine.
It was still fine.
Julia helping didn't change the situation drastically.
There was one clear and present reason why this plan could absolutely never happen.
No Answer's Boss, Natasha.
She had no reason to help us, specifically me, to the point of breaking the rules she herself set.
Really.
For real.
It was absolutely something that would never happen.
"And the Boss says she'll gather information on the Vice Chairman. She'll give us word once the entire schedule is out, and then we'll make the plan."
"......Why?"
My genuine feelings leaked out unintentionally.
"Why do you think?"
"No, it's definitely weird."
Was I the only one who thought this was strange right now?
It wasn't even confirmed that Koozaka's Vice Chairman was Smile Zone.
Just because of a possibility, people were participating in this plan to kidnap a megacorp's Vice Chairman without hesitation.
.......
They're all just paying lip service, right?
They aren't being serious.
That's how I calmed myself down.
There was no way it could actually happen.
This absurd plan of kidnapping a megacorp's Vice Chairman.
* * *
"Alright, here's my plan."
Drek and Andrea, Catherine.
And I was sitting among them.
With a hologram depicting various graphics in front of us, Natasha began to explain the plan.
Seriously.
I simply could not understand how this crazy plan was actually moving forward step by step.
I clutched the bridge of my nose as a headache set in.