Garbage Dump (4)
Garbage Dump (4)
I paused in thought for a moment.
I had no idea how to even begin explaining Eve's existence.
'Eve'.
The super AI I had named.
Originally, I had tried to name her 'Adam',
but at the time, the AI forcefully asserted her own will, and so she ended up as Eve.
I subtly shifted my gaze forward.
Catherine was looking at me with an expression that plainly expected an answer.
It didn't seem like something I could just gloss over without explaining.
Right at that moment.
The pressure to answer was conveyed directly through her stare.
......Mm.
Well, there was no reason to keep Eve's existence a secret now.
In the first place, I hadn't hidden Eve's existence
for any particular reason.
It was a matter of conscience.
Because during a job I undertook alongside all my colleagues,
I had secretly brought along an 'AI'—an entity that could potentially pose a danger.
Of course, that was a different story now.
After living with Eve for some time,
I had become convinced that this AI wasn't such a bad entity.
On top of that, I won't deny that the streaming donations from Eve flowing into my account had a certain positive influence.
Anyway.
Ultimately, this was just my own stance and thoughts,
and perhaps what my colleagues thought could be different.
In the worst case,
they would advise me to immediately remove the data module and neural computer chip and carry out an information wipe,
and naturally, physical enforcement of that advice would presumably follow.
I gathered my thoughts.
Catherine waited for me.
Eve, too, seemed to read the mood, quietly observing the situation and saying nothing.
And in this situation,
the only one who could move freely was some megacorp's vice chairman.
"...Um, excuse me."
In the silence, Kozaka William cautiously raised his hand and expressed his opinion.
"It looks like the explanation might be long, so may I have a glass of water? Because of this terrible smell, and I'm a bit thirsty."
Being addressed politely by a megacorp vice chairman didn't feel as bad as I had thought.
But I wasn't flustered enough to say that out loud.
I silently nodded.
"Of course it's fine. We only rescued you, Vice Chairman-nim, for our own purpose. We have no intention of detaining you."
Now that it was clear he wasn't Smile Zone, there was no need to restrain the vice chairman and provoke him.
I added kindly.
"If you go outside, there should be an Orc. If you ask him for water, he'll probably give it to you."
"...Mm, understood."
He would need time to sort out the situation as well.
Maybe because he hadn't fully calmed down yet,
Kozaka William staggered as he walked.
Now, with him gone, it was just the two of us left.
I decided to tell Catherine everything honestly.
If I lied here,
one lie would lead to another.
The situation would only get more tangled.
Taking a slow breath, I opened my mouth to address Catherine.
"To explain about Eve, first—"
But just as I was about to continue my explanation,
from outside the room, the Orc, Four-eyes, came rushing in.
Unless my eyes were playing tricks on me,
he was holding Kozaka William's arm behind his back. Anyone could see he was restraining him so he couldn't move.
......What the.
Before I could even grasp the situation,
Four-eyes shouted in an urgent voice.
"Hey! What the hell are you doing letting the hostage wander around like this!! If you've kidnapped someone, you have to hold onto them tight! Honestly, it's lucky I was guarding outside...."
Hm.
Now that I thought about it,
I hadn't yet explained the situation to Four-eyes.
I had only told him something like, 'Something came up that called for a kidnapping, so we briefly abducted the megacorp's vice chairman.'
From his point of view, knowing nothing,
it must have looked like the kidnapped hostage had casually strolled out asking for a glass of water.
For some reason,
Kozaka William's eyes as he looked at me seemed to turn into rotten pollock.
I barely held back a laugh.
13. Garbage Landfill (4)
After my brief explanation of the situation,
Four-eyes gently let go of Kozaka William.
It was a careful movement, like supporting someone who was ill.
Maybe because he was of a different species,
it was hard for me to read the emotions on an Orc's face,
but even so, I could tell very easily that he now wore an 'oh, fuck' expression.
I spoke lightly to Four-eyes to ease the mood.
"...How does it feel to be the only Orc who has broken a megacorp vice chairman's arm?"
"......Shut up."
Four-eyes replied, grinding his teeth.
Judging by his answer, he didn't seem to have lost his mind yet.
Compared to the hard-to-read Orc expression,
it was very easy to read the expression of Kozaka William, a fellow human.
Freed from Four-eyes, Kozaka William sat down on a chair and downed the lukewarm water in one go.
He looked like he wanted to spit out curses right then and there,
but unfortunately, with no allies like his subordinates around, he seemed to be holding it in with considerable effort.
Setting down the empty cup, Kozaka William loosened the tie that was strangling his neck.
Having already shown all his unsavory sides, it felt as if he was now discarding all pretenses.
"...So now can you explain? What this situation is, and what exactly your identities are."
Even after having his arm broken by an unknown Orc, he still had a fierce spirit, which struck me as rather impressive.
Sitting in the opposite chair, I tapped the table with my finger and replied.
"First, basically, as I said earlier, we only rescued you, Vice Chairman-nim, to achieve our objective."
"......Someone seemed to call it a kidnapping."
Kozaka William muttered, glaring at someone with green skin.
Strictly speaking, one could also call a rescue a kidnapping.
But I couldn't say that openly.
I smiled courteously and continued.
"Well, isn't it just a communication error?"
"......."
It was indeed a kidnapping,
but in the end, it was also true that we had saved him from assassins aiming for his life.
"Frankly, we aren't stopping you, Vice Chairman-nim. If you want an exit, we can guide you to one right now."
"...Alright, then the exit—"
"However, we can't guarantee your safety. Based on what that Koozaka Chairman fellow said earlier, a ninja squad appears to be positioned above the garbage landfill."
I took a short breath and said.
"Are they your allies, Vice Chairman-nim?"
"......."
Kozaka William could not answer and remained silent.
He probably couldn't be sure either.
Because the assassination attempt itself had occurred due to a security department employee being bought off.
It was something Kozaka William himself had said inside the airship.
Kozaka William appeared to be trying to maintain his composure.
"...That's a problem that can be solved by calling an employee from my line."
Was he gradually starting to believe he was safe?
His tone shifted from polite speech back to his original vice chairman tone.
Kozaka William vigorously moved his fingers in the air. He seemed to be interacting with his vision interface.
But even that action was short-lived.
"......Out of signal range? That can't be."
It didn't take long for his expression to harden.
"...Could it be that there's no signal here?"
"How could that be? It works fine."
There was no way signals wouldn't reach just because we were underground.
Actually, this was something I had somewhat anticipated.
Ever since we entered the sewers, underground,
a no-signal indicator had been floating in one corner of my vision.
The last time it had worked was when we'd received a radio transmission from Natasha after exiting the crashed airship; ever since then, the signal had been dead.
Perhaps they had deployed jamming
over the entire garbage landfill.
I smiled and offered the vice chairman two options.
"Do you want to go out? What will you do?"
"......."
He couldn't contact his employees outside,
and with a ninja squad aiming for his life scouring the entire garbage landfill,
he had only one choice he could make.
"...Fine. Then can you protect me all the way into Neon City—specifically, to the Koozaka headquarters building?"
The mercenary spirit inside me awoke.
I smiled and joked.
"How much have you looked into this, customer?"
A line often heard somewhere.
Right now, I'll give you the chance to hire Neon City's strongest mercenary—Catherine—at a bargain price.
This was also a beneficial move for us.
If Smile Zone's identity was truly the Chairman of Koozaka, then we were at a loss as to how to handle him.
In such a situation, if the figure known as the Vice Chairman could help us,
our available options would multiply.
Moreover, the Vice Chairman had ample motive to bear a grudge against Smile Zone.
The atmosphere around us became much more relaxed.
I pulled up a chair, sat down, and began planning our next steps.
However.
Unnoticed, Catherine had approached from behind and gently placed her hand on my shoulder.
I couldn't bring myself to turn around and check her expression.
I heard Catherine's voice by my ear.
"......Make sure to explain later."
"...Yeah."
It was about Eve.
Thanks to the Orc who appeared and broke the megacorp vice chairman's arm, we had just glossed over it, but
honestly, I couldn't keep putting off the explanation forever.
I couldn't just let it slide.
...I'll have to explain when it's just the two of us later.
I thought so.
* * *
Going above ground where the ninja squad was searching was clearly the 'worst plan,'
and waiting for support like this was merely a 'middling plan.'
Then what was the 'best plan'?
I gathered everyone and explained.
"We'll go through the sewers just like this and head straight into Neon City's underground."
Kozaka William, fidgeting with the empty cup, replied with a nervous expression.
"......Isn't that dangerous?"
I nodded nonchalantly.
"There are killer drones moving around, broken cleaning robots that eat people, and on top of that, plenty of vagrants and mutant contaminants."
"...Then."
"Still, it's far better than facing the ninja squad above ground."
"......."
It was true.
As if those bastards would follow us into the sewers.