Are You Really Doing This? (2)
Are You Really Doing This? (2)
No Answer's secret third floor.
Smith, a tuskless Orc, quietly offered his opinion to his Boss, Natasha.
"......Boss, no matter how you look at it, isn't this plan far too dangerous—."
But his words were never finished.
"Shh, quiet."
Because Natasha raised her index finger without even turning around.
Then she turned her head and looked at Smith.
"You're on probation, aren't you?"
"...Yes."
At those words, Smith shut his mouth.
It was because he had failed to escort a certain Mage home.
Of course, Smith held no resentment whatsoever about that part.
Even if the Mage had said it was fine, the crime of not properly following Boss's orders was significant.
No matter what anyone said about it, that was his fault.
If he had escorted the Mage home, such an incident might not have happened in the first place.
Smith silently lowered his head and assisted Boss.
Natasha organized the materials and thought.
Just as Smith had said.
It was certainly a dangerous plan.
Incredibly dangerous, at that.
And it wasn't even something she needed to do at the cost of breaking the rules she herself had set.
A request that brings no harm to Neon City.
It was No Answer's most important.
And most fundamental rule.
So why had she answered Catherine's call and agreed to help her?
Shooting Star.
Red Horn.
Tech Master.
No matter how great those bigshots were, they weren't comparable to the entirety of Neon City.
Natasha thought of a certain Mage.
She recalled the first time she met him.
The first emotion she had felt was probably sympathy.
A Mage was a profession that was disappearing from Neon City — no, from the entire world.
And it was a time when many people envied the Mage because his companions were so exceptional.
That he only got where he was because he had a good friend.
There were plenty of people saying that.
Up until then, she hadn't thought much of it.
Deep down, there was even a part of her that agreed.
The next emotion she felt was curiosity.
Because the Mage was at the center of the group.
He wasn't particularly strong, nor was he incredibly clever.
Yet he naturally moved like the leader of the party.
She hadn't understood back then, but now she did.
There was never a mistake in his actions.
He rescued hidden hostages as if he knew they were there.
He cleared false accusations and easily uncovered hidden perpetrators.
All the people close to him owed the Mage at least one thing — and that fact made it all the more obvious.
It didn't even take Natasha long to come to trust him herself.
A 100% mission success rate.
It was a figure no one else had ever achieved.
Strangers disparaged his record, saying it was because his comrades were exceptional.
But the people around him would know.
That without the Mage, that 100% figure wouldn't have existed — and they themselves might have been far more unfortunate.
And finally.
"Well, he did save my life once."
"What did you say?"
Smith responded to Natasha's muttered words.
She waved her hand nonchalantly.
"No, nothing. More importantly, when did they say everyone would be assembled?"
"Almost all of them have arrived. Now only Shooting Star and the lone Mage remain."
Natasha nodded briefly.
"Good. Prepare the materials and go out to greet them."
"Yes, Boss."
Smith bowed formally and exited the room.
Natasha slowly thought.
Yes, she was simply repaying that debt.
That was how Natasha interpreted and summarized her actions and emotions.
Without even noticing her own heart fluttering unconsciously.
12. Are We Actually Doing This? (2)
I slowly counted the patterns on the ceiling one by one.
I was trying to avert my eyes from the reality before me.
Wasn't it called the five stages of grief?
I wasn't in a situation to get angry anyway.
As for anger, I wasn't so sure.
Denial, bargaining, depression, acceptance — my mind kept cycling through the stages.
Denial.
'No way..., this can't be happening.'
Bargaining.
'Can't we just call it a draw?'
Depression.
'......I'm screwed. Everything's going to end now.'
Acceptance.
'Yeah, sure, that could happen. A mega-corp Vice Chairman? We could kidnap one.'
And then I went right back to denial.
Meanwhile, everyone Natasha had called had assembled at No Answer.
Technically, Catherine had asked Natasha to formulate a plan, but anyway.
Natasha pointed at the hologram with her folded fan.
"Koozaka William — I looked into his schedule. They say he'll take a private airship from Neo Japan next week and enter Neon City again."
How she found out the schedule of a hidden mega-corp Vice Chairman was too terrifying to ask about.
The hologram before her shifted into the shape of a massive airship.
Drex's, Andrea's, Catherine's, and my gazes all turned toward the airship hologram.
"This is the airship's data..., check the details for yourselves."
The moment Natasha finished speaking, a file was sent at alarming speed.
The data was stored onto my neural computer chip through the network port I had left open.
The detailed schematics and specs of the airship were displayed through my vision interface.
Honestly, even if I looked at it, there was no way I'd understand what was what.
This looked like a wing.
This looked like the fuselage.
That was about the extent of my level.
Drex, the most cerebral among us, swiped through the screen with his fingers as he spoke.
"It's definitely the airship Vice Chairman Koozaka rides around in — the anti-air defense systems seem insane."
As he said this, he lifted his sunglasses slightly with a finger.
His eyes were looking at Natasha.
"Most missiles wouldn't even get close."
At those words, Natasha unfurled her folded fan with a fwoop. She covered her mouth with the fan as if it were a habit.
"That's correct. And this time, we're going to use that capability."
"Hm."
Drex fell silent for a brief moment.
It was a gesture that said he would listen.
Natasha explained the full operation.
"We'll attempt an interception with ground-based anti-air firepower..., specifically, surface-to-air missiles."
"Huh?"
I reacted without thinking.
Natasha's blue eyes moved toward me.
"The goal is to induce the defense countermeasures — flares and chaff — and create confusion on their radar and visual systems."
She gestured toward the hologram.
Multiple streaks of light shot up from beneath the hologram of the airship the Vice Chairman would be aboard.
Smoke and explosions were depicted as well.
"And using that gap, we infiltrate from the air, seize control, and then land at a designated external garbage landfill — that's the most critical part. Finally, we transport the target to a safehouse, and the prepared plan ends."
Natasha then went on to explain several more aspects.
What the security situation was like, what Koozaka's intel network was like, how many minutes the response time from Neon City was anticipated to be..., things like that.
Honestly, not a word of it reached my ears.
[I am notifying you that I have saved it to the database.]
I just trusted Eve alone.
I wasn't the only one — Catherine and Andrea were wearing blank expressions too.
Honestly, calling those two cerebral types was a bit much.
Only Drex was nodding along.
Seeing that, it looked like we just needed to trust Drex and go with the plan.
"I'll organize the remaining details into a separate document and distribute it. On paper, of course, because of hacking risks."
Natasha folded her fan again.
She crossed her arms and tapped the fan against her other hand.
"Any questions?"
At those words, I carefully raised my hand.
I looked around.
Everyone except me was quietly listening.
I cleared my throat a few times and asked Natasha.
"Um, I've mentioned this several times before, but."
"Mm-hm."
"...What if it's not Smile Zone after we kidnap him?"
But it was something I couldn't just gloss over.
It was also the biggest reason I opposed this (insane) plan.
Honestly, the very idea of kidnapping a mega-corp Vice Chairman based on nothing but suspicion was absurd in itself.
When it came to cyberpunk mega-corps, there were plenty of heavy hitters who wielded power greater than nations.
For reference, Koozaka was one such heavy hitter.
We might as well kidnap the President of the United States.
......Though that wasn't exactly easy either.
Anyway.
It basically meant an incident of roughly that scale.
"Then we just let him go."
Unlike my worries, Natasha's response was utterly peaceful.
Well, I mean....
That's not wrong.
She continued with a supplementary explanation.
"That's why we're putting even more emphasis on security. And naturally, we'll conceal our identities too. We'll also minimize the number of people who know the information."
.......
I wondered if it really was that simple a problem.
Was I the only one taking this seriously?
They say in a world of three-eyed people, the one with two eyes is the odd one out.
I tried to voice more opinions and stop this madness.
But before I knew it, Andrea and Drex, who had been sitting in their chairs, had gotten up and were standing near me.
Drex's large hand landed on my shoulder.
"Haha, we have to repay kindness by doing things like this. Don't worry! It'll go well."
No, I was grateful and glad for the help.
But I didn't understand why they were talking as if doing this was a foregone conclusion.
"Come to think of it, my girlfriend told me to bring you over next time, to have a meal together."
"Mm."
Drex's girlfriend was Lorenda.
Since she and I had a certain connection, her request wasn't strange—.
No, that wasn't the point.
I slowly assessed the situation.
And cautiously opened my mouth.
"......Even if I tell you not to do this, you're going to do it anyway, aren't you?"
There was no subject, but there was no one who didn't understand my words.
"Of course!"
"Obviously."
The former was Andrea's answer, the latter was Drex's.
......Why won't you bastards ever listen.
Too many stubborn people had gathered around me.
In the end, I resolved to give up on everything.
"......Haah, fine."
I just nodded weakly.
"Let's give it a shot."
"Haha!"
Drex laughed and slapped my back with his massive cyberware arm.
My whole body shook and shuddered with each slap. That hurt. It hurt.
Drex patted my shoulder.
Andrea, seemingly wanting to pat me too, began equipping her own massive mechanical arm.
Catherine and Natasha, diligently analyzing the data and conversing.
Smith, wearing a deadened expression somewhere.
Right then, Smith and I made eye contact.
After a brief moment of eye contact, we nodded at the same time.
So I wasn't the only one worried.
Anyway, I didn't know anymore either.
Well, it'll work out somehow.
I secretly let out a sigh.
* * *
Inside the airship Natasha had secretly launched, we were maintaining such an incredibly high altitude that the massive form of Neon City felt tiny.
I swallowed unconsciously.
Was it the pressure difference? Or nerves?
My ears and head felt clogged.
I must've been crazy, fu—.
Why hadn't I felt anything strange when I listened to Natasha's operational briefing?
I inwardly cursed my past stupid self.
......Should I suggest we call it off even now?
Before jumping out of the airship without a parachute.
I silently regretted it and closed my eyes.
I should have stopped this insane plan.
I thought it with all sincerity.