Living as an AI (3)
Living as an AI (3)
"The tactical operatives?"
"They've been dispatched."
"...I see."
A Chinese mafia corporation.
The man in charge of Heishukwoi's tactical division.
Hey Ryu leaned back in his old chair.
Through his mechanical eyes, surgically implanted long ago, he gazed at the densely packed, irregular buildings.
This was Chinatown, the Sin Sector, known as one of the most congested places in all of Neon City.
Hey Ryu popped a sunflower seed that sat on the small table into his mouth, cracked the shell, and spat it out.
He admired the view outside through the windowless gap and spoke to the aide standing guard behind him.
"Black Net. He was a good Shashou (Hitman). True, he went to prison for Chrome Psycho symptoms, but he was a member of our organization, bound by blood."
Hey Ryu spat out another sunflower seed shell with a 'Ptui.'
"Blood is repaid in blood (血債血償). Isn't that right? There's also a saying that when you drink water, you must think of its source (饮水思源)."
Having finished speaking, Hey Ryu rose from his chair.
He approached the open window.
"The reason I slipped out of the main headquarters building to enjoy this scenery, the reason I cultivate and eat sunflower seeds separately—they all come from a similar place."
For just a moment.
Hey Ryu's sharp, narrowed eyes turned toward the aide standing behind him.
"All of it, so I don't forget the past."
The aide knew the past the man was referring to had happened decades ago.
Hey Ryu's subordinate, his aide, simply bowed his head and maintained silence.
After observing his quiet aide's demeanor, Hey Ryu turned his head back to look outside.
"The chaotic, rule-less sprawl looks just like an old fortress (城砦)."
Hey Ryu continued speaking.
"Of course, back then, there wasn't a single 'neon sign' or 'hologram' light like there is now."
A flicker of nostalgia passed through the man's eyes.
"So sometimes, I'd rather see the scenery of the past than these streets covered in holograms."
Though the lights of this city would never go out.
It was just as Hey Ryu swallowed those final words, while taking in the panoramic view of Chinatown.
In that moment.
The view outside the window changed.
The holograms vanished, and the lights disappeared.
The lights that should never go out went out.
In that surreal landscape, the mouth of Hey Ryu, a man who seemed like he would never be flustered, fell open in a daze.
"Huh?"
Also.
The unfamiliar female voice he heard was.
[Target, confirmed.]
Right after that.
16. Living as an AI (3)
I pushed my way through the cobwebs as I walked.
Ugh, it was so musty.
Then I stopped in my tracks and asked Eve.
Since I was leading the way, I naturally turned my head to look at her.
"...What are you doing?"
It was right after we heard the old man mention a hidden passage out the back of the antique shop.
I had a question about why a normal antique shop would have a 'secret passage'.
But listening to him talk earlier,
it seemed like he'd been secretly digging up Heishukwoi's confidential information, too.
So I decided to let it slide, figuring he might have his own private circumstances.
It would be strange to obsess over every little thing like that.
Eve, who didn't have a speck of dust on her clothes despite walking through the dusty passage, answered my question.
"I have located the Heishukwoi 'tactical division chief' who issued the corresponding order."
"...How did you find that out?"
I was baffled. How long had we been trekking through this secret passage, and she'd already found the person?
Eve puffed out her chest slightly as she spoke.
It looked like an expression of confident pride.
"I connected by hacking into the city's neural network."
"...Was it really that easy to connect just because you wanted to?"
"For a brief moment, a 'minor issue' of a blackout occurred in the relevant district, but there were no casualties."
I cleared away a cobweb blocking my path.
A spider—too big to even consider touching without gloves—scurried away from my hand.
When I looked back again, Eve was staring at me expressionlessly, as if there hadn't been any problem at all.
It was a statement that made me doubt my ears.
...How is that a minor issue, Eve?
I mean, living in this city, I'd never even heard of a blackout happening.
Come to think of it, there had been a blackout-like phenomenon when Eve blackmailed Koozaka's Vice-Chairman too.
......Well, it'll probably be fine.
Anyway, now that it had happened, there was nothing I could do.
I shook off a spider trying to cling to my foot with my shoe and asked Eve the next question.
"But if that's the case, doesn't that mean we don't even need to run away?"
"No."
"Huh?"
Eve supplemented her explanation.
"Heishukwoi's tactical operatives have already been dispatched separately, so we must exercise caution."
I thought that much would be manageable, but
Eve's gaze on me seemed to be growing sharper, so I nodded along.
"You're right. Good thing we came out through the secret passage."
For reference, we'd left the 'old computer device' Eve bought and my 'retro game console' with the owner, an old man, to be sent via drone delivery.
That was the whole reason we went out.
I couldn't just give them up, no matter how much Heishukwoi's tactical operatives were chasing us.
Maybe because we were in the Lower Layer.
Maybe because it was a secret passage.
An old halogen lamp swung from the ceiling.
It was amazing that such old bulbs were still being used.
A faint light was visible at the far end of the passage.
The exit of the secret passage was getting closer.
"Alright, let's get out of here first."
The exit door itself was very old, but the lock attached to it was the latest model.
How do I open this?
I fiddled with it and opened the old door, stepping outside.
A gray sky covered in clouds, and a wide, empty lot that clashed completely with Banta Market, stretched out before us.
We had escaped safely, for now.
Now all I had to do was figure out how to stop Heishukwoi's tactical operatives.
That was what I was thinking.
"...What the hell."
Far away, between the clouds,
something huge was falling, spewing black smoke.
Before I could even figure out what it was, Eve grabbed my shoulder from behind and said.
"Please brace for impact."
"?"
"To minimize casualties, I will drop it onto the empty lot corresponding to these coordinates."
Drop what?
But before I could ask Eve what that falling object was.
What looked to be a tactical 'Aerial MPV' was the first thing to plummet from the sky.
- Kwaaaang!!
A powerful shockwave and flames erupted.
I didn't know who was riding inside,
but it looked like they'd have a hard time surviving.
I peered through the rising flames and identified the insignia etched onto the Aerial MPV.
A spreading black flame logo.
It was a symbol representing Heishukwoi.
Which meant.
This crashed aerial vehicle belonged to Heishukwoi.
Hmm.
For what felt like the umpteenth time today, I turned my head toward the AI.
Eve faced me with a demure posture.
"It is finished."
"......."
No, if it was going to be like this, we really didn't need to come out through the secret passage....
I looked at Eve with that expression in my eyes, but she just faced me with a blank look.
......Fine.
As long as it got resolved well.
Though I never imagined things would wrap up without me using a single spell.
"......Let's just go home."
"Confirmed."
Maybe because she was looking forward to the computer arriving by drone, Eve's footsteps quickened a little as we walked outside.
"Ah."
I stopped for a moment.
"Why are you doing that?"
Eve asked me as I stood still.
"I almost forgot and just went home."
Eve tilted her head slightly to the left, as if she found that puzzling.
* * *
Underdog, Dominic Martin, rushed back home.
'Alright, I did it!'
He was incredibly lucky.
To think he'd run into the person Heishukwoi was targeting at an antique shop in Banta Market that he'd just happened to wander into.
The reward hadn't hit his account yet, but since it was a corporation that absolutely guaranteed its bounties, he felt he could look forward to the amount.
He started celebrating by dancing alone in his empty house.
Good thing his acting was superb.
If he were a normal amateur info broker, he might have been caught right there and found himself in deep trouble.
'Well done, you're the best! Dominic Martin!'
Dominic Martin thought to himself and let out a sigh of relief.
He needed to be careful, and careful again.
Even if there was a one in a million chance his tail got caught, he wanted to avoid meeting the widely rumored 'Shooting Star'.
Still, he had cut the line that the information was connected to, so there was no worry of being tracked.
'...I'm thirsty.'
Maybe it was because his tension had eased.
A sudden thirst sprang up.
'I wonder if I have any of that Rainbow Flavor Cola left.'
Koozaka's new product, Rainbow Flavor Cola, perfectly suited his taste.
Dominic Martin danced merrily over to the fridge.
He sensed something was wrong the moment he opened the refrigerator door.
'.......'
Why....
was the refrigerator not cold?
Normally, because of the intensity setting he'd cranked up beyond its performance specs, he should have felt a bone-chilling cold.
But he felt no such chill at all.
The freezer was the same.
Melted ice trickled across the floor.
Dominic Martin muttered.
"......No."
It would have been fine if it were just the refrigerator that broke down.
That was because a familiar sense of déjà vu washed over him.
He frantically ran to other places.
He checked the condition of various electronic products. And regrettably, his ominous premonition wasn't wrong in the slightest.
"Oh, you son of a—."
A harsh curse naturally flew out of his mouth.
"Does this make any sense?!"
The sorrowful voice of the man echoed throughout the room.
* * *
After returning home, I washed my hands and feet lightly.
Hygiene was important, after all.
I sat on the sofa and shook off the fatigue from going out.
"Well, this should be enough."
Still, we had the bond of being fellow Jeonbungi.
I hadn't intended to kill him from the start.
Also, I'd taken into account that he didn't know my identity.
No matter what, if he had known who I was and still sold the info, I wouldn't have let it slide like this.
"A merciful choice."
Eve answered my words.
......I don't think it's particularly merciful, though.
It looked like it would cost Underdog a huge amount of credits just to restore all his broken electronics.
I looked over at Eve, who was sitting in the corner, wiping and assembling her old computer.
Usually, Eve would've kept staring at me, but even she couldn't resist a new gift.
What was so good about that thing?
I guess I'd have to play some games with her today.
With that thought in mind,
I expanded my vision interface to kill some time while Eve finished her assembly.
The 'NCB24 News Program' I'd set as a startup program launched.
A cold announcer's voice came through the screen.
《This is an NCB24 breaking news report. Mr. 'Hey Ryu', known as a high-ranking executive of Heishukwoi, has been hospitalized at 'Neon City Central Hospital' after being transported by the medical subscription service 'Heal and Run', complaining of sudden hallucinations and abnormalities. The hospital has stated that the cause is currently unknown─.》
Hmm.
I really was a merciful person after all.
Looking at the photo of the narrow-eyed man from the party, Hey Ryu, I thought to myself.