How to Fix a Mistake (1)
How to Fix a Mistake (1)
Fleeting memories flashed past like a panorama.
Blood and revenge.
Rainy days and love.
And Mage.
Maya felt as if she had woken from a long-forgotten dream.
Like someone who'd been connected to virtual reality for too long, her mind was hazy, and distant reality felt awkward.
She couldn't move her limbs.
Even though she wasn't breathing, she felt no suffocation, which struck her as strange.
Countless bubbles simply floated before her eyes.
Maya realized she was trapped behind a glass wall filled with some kind of liquid.
She realized she was in what appeared to be a 'laboratory' she had never seen before.
'...A laboratory?'
In an instant, her mind went blank.
"...■■!"
Even when she screamed with all her might, her voice didn't carry outside.
The painful memories she had buried in her past resurfaced.
She wanted to bite her tongue in resentment of her misfortune, but even that minimal freedom was denied to her.
In the midst of that situation.
《He~llo! How are you!!》
A bright voice, completely at odds with the mood, reached Maya.
《I came because your vital signs were abnormal, and it looks like you're waking up~.》
Maya turned her eyes to look outside the glass wall.
'...Noppera-bō (のっぺらぼう)?'
It was a yokai straight out of the old Neo Japan tales her father used to tell her.
A metal mask covered its entire face. She had no idea how it breathed, and no facial features—including eyes—were visible at all.
The yokai, neatly dressed in a scientist's lab coat, also had a neutral voice, making its gender impossible to guess.
《You must be pretty flustered~. Could this be a PTSD reaction, I wonder~? Hmm, don't worry. As your records will show, you weren't kidnapped. Ah, well, I suppose in a sense, you could call it a kidnapping.》
The genderless yokai who chattered on introduced itself as 'Dr. Terra'.
《I may not look it, but I'm a chief researcher at Monolith, you know? Hahaha, in other words～, that means this is inside a Monolith corporate research lab. So, feeling a little calmer now～?》
It had no mouth.
《Right now, you've only had your cyberware removal surgery, so you don't have a 'body' to move yet—but don't worry too much about that either～. I've been given permission to use the Chairman-nim's spare bioware, so you'll be able to move soon～. Tch, but when I asked if I could use it for experiments, he wouldn't allow it at all...》
It talked too much.
For Maya, who couldn't reply, this person was deeply unsettling.
《There were also some cyberware implants that couldn't be removed, and nothing can be done about those～. So, question for you: How's your mind right now? You seem lucid～, but you never know. Ah, you can't answer yet, can you? That's because your oral region has been removed as well. Haha, just think your answer.》
Maya took stock of her situation.
Just as the yokai said, her mind was clear—as if a contaminated filter had vanished.
The nerve-torturing pain that had plagued her since her 'kidnapping' was gone as well.
Aside from her physical condition, she was completely normal.
《Thinking about what you want to do once you get out will also help your recovery～. And after the bioware surgery, we'll move on to drug treatment～. I read a paper saying it helps alleviate Chrome Psycho symptoms. Of course, I'm the first author of that paper, so─.》
Dr. Terra kept chattering noisily, but Maya no longer heard the yokai's voice in her head.
'Things I want to do once I get out...?'
If I get better, and if I can leave this place, then I'll─.
Maya thought.
23. How to Fix a Mistake (1)
"...I'm truly sorry."
She.
Maya was very different from how I remembered her.
I recalled the oldest memory.
When I first met Maya, she was very bright, strong-willed, and had a cheerful laugh.
Then I recalled the most recent memory.
When I met Maya on a rainy day, blades had sprung from her hands, her personality was as sharp as those blades, and madness lurked in her smile.
And now, her appearance was similar to when I first met her, but the atmosphere was completely opposite.
"...I remember everything. I'm also aware that I made a mistake."
"...Ah."
I couldn't reply.
What to say, how to comfort her—the words wouldn't come out right away.
Taking a deep breath, she continued.
"...Actually, I was discharged a few days ago, but I've been helping out at my father's shop in the lower layer. ...In case any more problems come up."
I didn't need her to explain what Maya meant by 'problems'.
She must have been worried about the Chrome Psycho symptoms coming back.
"...Seeing your face makes me feel a bit mixed up, but it's better than I expected."
Maya gave an awkward smile.
"Ah, because of my status as a fugitive, I changed my identity with Monolith's help. ...For now, I kept the name the same."
Maybe she was embarrassed to keep the conversation going.
Scratching her head, Maya added.
"...At times like this, I'm almost grateful for the city's lax enforcement of the law."
Was that her attempt at a joke?
She'd been forcing a smile the whole time.
"Anyway, I did think it might be rude to show up like this, but ...I figured I should apologize face to face, no matter what."
Maya bowed her head to me once more.
"Thank you, and I'm sorry."
"...No, there's no need to apologize."
Only then could I barely manage to speak.
Once I started speaking, the next words flowed out without pause.
"Why don't we talk at my place for a bit before you go? I can't just send a guest away like this."
"...No, I only came by for a moment. I still have to help my father at the shop later."
Maya lifted her head and answered.
"I'll just say my greetings and head out today."
With those words,
Maya walked toward the hallway elevator.
What should I say in this situation?
I couldn't tell what kind of mindset she was in.
When the elevator door opened, I called out to Maya almost instinctively.
"Maya!"
Because if I just let her go like this,
I was certain I'd regret it.
"...Yes?"
Maya slowly turned back and looked at me.
"Later,"
I said to her.
"I'll come eat at your father's restaurant, so we can talk more then."
Maya looked blank for a moment, as if she hadn't expected that.
And soon,
She smiled—the most genuine smile I'd seen from her today.
"I'd be grateful if you did!"
I saw Maya off as she disappeared between the elevator doors.
* * *
I voiced my complaints to the person on the other end of the hologram call.
"...Didn't I tell you? Once she was discharged, I asked you to contact me."
[Hahaha. I for~got.]
This person.
"What do you mean, 'forgot'."
I grumbled at Dr. Terra, the woman (probably) with a featureless metal mask instead of a face.
Even when I glared at the hologram of Dr. Terra's face, there were no eyes, nose, or mouth, so I couldn't tell what expression they were making at all.
[Still, it was the Chairman-nim's order as well, and I provided the best care possible as you asked～. And the reason I couldn't tell you about her discharge immediately was that she herself wished it.]
I let out a sigh at Dr. Terra's reply.
"...Well, thank you."
[This is practically a thank-you wrung out of someone by twisting their arm～. By the way, that's a proverb, and its meaning is─.]
I let Dr. Terra's words go in one ear and out the other as I thought.
To think that a person like this is the most competent bioware expert I know...
Maybe it was because this was a cyberpunk world.
Truly, it was the end times.
I cut Dr. Terra off and said.
"...You're the one who gave her my home address, aren't you?"
[I have no idea what you mean. How could I possibly know the address of 'Mage'-nim's house?]
...You must have found out somehow.
I held back the words that were about to follow and spoke again.
"...Still, I'm relieved that she seems to be in much better shape."
[To think you'd worry about me so─.]
"Maya."
[...We even used the Chairman-nim's spare body bioware, so of course she'd be～. And do you know how much overtime I had to put in because of that?]
"You already eat and sleep in the lab, Doctor."
[Ah.]
I felt a little lighter after that silly exchange.
Anyway.
Dr. Terra shook their head on the hologram screen and grumbled.
[Really, you should realize how grateful you should be that we at Monolith take care of things like this.]
"I'm always grateful."
[Haha, you'd better be.]
Honestly, they weren't someone I could chat with so casually.
They were Monolith's chief researcher, and it was even truer if you knew that nearly all implant components developed by Monolith passed through this person's hands before release.
[Ah, right.]
"Yes?"
[Now that I think about it～.]
At the sudden change of topic, I looked back at the figure on the hologram.
[I saw you on a broadcast recently～?]
"Ah."
When did they even see that?
They were the type who'd tease me more if I got flustered. I responded calmly, nonchalantly.
"I could appear. It's no big deal."
[...Weeell, that is true～.]
Hmm-ing and stroking their smooth chin, Dr. Terra continued after a brief pause.
[Your call with our Chairman-nim got cut off suddenly, didn't it? And the entire NCB24 broadcasting building got hacked.]
"......."
[Thanks to that, the Chairman-nim almost dispatched a security team to the NCB24 broadcasting building, you know～, hahaha.]
"...Hahaha."
That could have been a real disaster.
[But you see.]
I suddenly felt uneasy.
I didn't know about other things, but whenever this person dragged out their words like this, it was never good news.
[An astonishing fact our intelligence team discovered...!]
"...A fact?"
[The hacking signal, surprisingly enough, came from you, 'Mage', the one I'm talking to right now!]
"......."
Actually, that was only natural.
Eve hadn't been authorized to enter the broadcasting building, and since she didn't move her prosthetic body, she would have picked up my neural computer chip's signal from inside my data module.
It wasn't strange at all.
[They said the trace was extremely difficult to follow, but then again, who are we? No matter how well you hide the clues, some things can't be helped～.]
But the problem was that ordinary people didn't know that.
[I told the Chairman-nim you were on the phone right now, and they said they're a little curious about that～? They asked me to tell you to stop by sometime.]
Ah.
[I've passed on the message～.]
I really wanted to pretend I hadn't heard.