You Must Never Get Caught
The age of AI has arrived. That doesn't mean I write my novels with AI.
As the sky began to darken, Rai stared out the window, sunk deep in thought.
Once the sun went down completely, Shalla would be back.
The problem was what to do with Orchi until then.
His gaze drifted toward the sofa.
"Orchi."
"Yeah?"
Orchi sat on the sofa looking as if she hadn't a clue about anything in the world. Then she seemed to spot something, and bent down.
A rustle.
"Huh...?"
Rai's eyes narrowed.
In Orchi's hands was a bag of potato chips — the snacks Shalla hid away and snuck even when she was home.
"Where did you find that?"
"Here!"
Orchi pointed under the sofa, then beamed as she popped a chip into her mouth.
"It's good!"
"............"
Rai watched her in silence. Orchi's face was the picture of innocence. She was a strange creature who could sprout black tentacles from her back and breathe fire from her mouth — and yet, in this moment, she looked like nothing more than a little girl, perfectly happy over a single snack.
Rai's expression softened a little.
"This isn't going to work..."
He couldn't tell Shalla. She might look like a hopeless freeloader around the house, but she was an S-rank Awakener. If something dangerous had shown up, she would absolutely try to do her duty. And if she found Orchi... there was no telling what would happen.
Rai let out a sigh.
"At least for now... I can't say a word..."
Then a plan clicked into place.
"Hold on."
Rai pulled out his phone and started texting someone.
The tension drained from Rai's shoulders.
"We're saved..."
"Rai?"
"It's nothing."
He set the phone down.
"Orchi, want to go out and play?"
"Play?"
Orchi tilted her head.
"What's that?"
"Uh...."
Rai thought for a second, then said, "Something just as good as eating."
"Huh...!!!!"
Orchi's eyes lit up.
"I wanna go! I wanna go!"
"Alright, alright."
Rai smiled and got to his feet. He pulled out a bag and packed the essentials in a hurry — phone, wallet, a change of clothes, a few toiletries. Then he looked at Orchi once more.
"You ready?"
"Yeah!"
Orchi nodded with gusto. Rai took her hand and walked her to the front door.
The moment his fingers closed around the doorknob—
A click.
From the other side of the door, there was no sound at all. It was far too quiet. Rai's hand froze.
"............."
Something was wrong. Even the ordinary noise of the hallway — the living sounds that should have been there — was gone.
Rai opened the door slowly.
Creeeak....
A cold dark seeped in through the gap. And then...
Something was standing there.
It was about the size of a person. It was not, however, a person. A grotesque bipedal machine, its entire body forged from black metal that barely reflected any light at all. Its gauntlets looked as though they had been split lengthwise. Its arms were unnaturally long and wickedly sharp. Layer upon layer of mechanical apparatus clung to its torso, far more than any machine could possibly need, and where a head should have been, there was nothing that could be called a face.
Only one thing. A lens, round as an eye, glowed faintly in the dark.
Thud.
The machine took a single step. The color drained from Rai's face.
"What. What is that..?"
Orchi peeked out from behind him.
"What's that?"
Rai didn't answer. He just stared at it, his face gone rigid.
A low whir. The machine slowly tilted its head, and a mechanical scrape of metal on metal echoed down the narrow hallway — the movement of something that could not quite understand what the two people in front of it were supposed to be.
Rai's heart hammered against his ribs. That thing was no ordinary machine.
Something about this... feels really fucking bad...
One of the machine's arms lifted, just a fraction. Rai's instincts screamed.
"Orchi...!!!"
"Yeah?"
"Run."
"..........?"
Rai clenched both fists.
"Right now——!!!!!"
In that instant—
KABOOOOOM------!!!
A colossal explosion tore loose behind them. A roaring blast of heat and debris came howling through the apartment, and in a heartbeat the inside of Rai's home was swallowed in flame. Walls and furniture shattered to pieces; a scorching storm slammed into the entrance.
"Ah!!"
Orchi cried out in shock. Rai spun on reflex.
"Orchi!!!!"
He threw himself into the fire and pulled her into his arms. There was no time to look back. Smoke was already curling from the end of the machine's arm, hissing as it rose.
"A b-bomb...!!"
That thing had just fired it. Rai bolted down the hallway with Orchi clutched against his chest.
BOOM---!!!!!!
Something detonated behind them again. The walls shuddered.
"Rai!"
"Don't talk! Just run!"
Rai's breathing turned ragged. But Orchi, still held in his arms, twisted around to look behind them.
In the distance, the black machine was slowly pushing itself upright. A grinding shriek of metal. That grotesque eye turned toward them.
"Rai...!!!"
"Hah... hah... what...!!"
"What's that?"
Rai clenched his teeth.
".........!!!"
For a beat he said nothing. Then a trembling voice spilled out of him.
"Never...!!"
He pulled Orchi tighter against him.
And then Rai and Orchi ran, desperately, into the dark of the hallway.
Behind them, the black machine slowly lifted its head.
Click.
Click.
The sound of the next round being chambered rang through the entire corridor.
At that same moment, the instant the explosion reached her, Shalla spun around on pure reflex.
"Over there--!!"
She didn't hesitate. She ran toward the sound, kicking off the ground and cutting across the street. People around her startled and stared as she passed, but Shalla paid them no mind at all.
Before long, a familiar building rose into view.
Rai's Apartment.
But there was nothing left of the place she knew. The windows had been blown to shards. Part of the wall had caved in. A low, heavy roar of heat still rolled off the wreckage. The area around the entrance was charred black, and a pale haze of smoke kept pouring from inside the building.
Shalla's footsteps stopped.
"Rai?"
Every trace of expression vanished from her face. She plunged straight into the scene.
"It's dangerous! You can't go in there!"
Police and Awakeners were blocking the entrance, but Shalla shoved them aside without ceremony.
"Move--!!"
"Shalla!"
"I said move!"
It was rougher than anything the usual Shalla would ever have done. The Awakeners nearby glanced at one another.
"I've never seen her get that emotional."
"No kidding..."
Shalla didn't even register the looks. There was only one thought in her head.
Rai.. please...
She ran all the way to the living room, where the flames had been beaten back somewhat. A long, hollow rush of air moved through the wreckage. The living room was a ruin. The sofa was half-burned. Black soot had spread wide across the walls. Broken glass and debris littered the floor.
Shalla searched the room like a woman possessed, her breath coming in short, sharp gasps. What her eyes found was Rai's phone, completely smashed.
The officer beside her spoke carefully.
"No remains have been found at this time..."
Shalla's eyes went wide.
"What?"
"No body or remains have been recovered..."
"Then...."
She stepped in close to the officer.
"Then where is Rai?"
"W-we don't know yet either...!!"
Shalla's hand closed on the officer's collar.
"Where is he?!"
A rapid pounding of footsteps—
"Shalla!"
Bat came running from behind and caught her by the arm.
"Let go——!!!!!"
"Calm down!!!"
"How am I supposed to calm down——!!!"
Shalla shouted in Bat's face.
"Rai was here! He was here right up until I called him, and now he's gone!"
Her voice was starting to shake.
"We have to find him. We have to find him right now...!!!"
She grabbed Bat's clothes.
"Right now... we have to find him...!!"
Tears had already gathered at the corners of her eyes.
Bat looked at her for a moment without a word. Then she quietly set a hand on Shalla's head.
"Shalla."
"............!!"
"I know how scared you are right now."
Stroke. Stroke. Bat smoothed her hair, slow and steady.
"But leave this kind of thing to the adults."
"........"
"What you need to do right now is not try to decide any of this on your own."
Shalla bit down on her lip. But the tears fell anyway.
Meanwhile, in a completely different place, in a darkened room, Rai was tied to the wall.
"Alex...."
A blond man stood in front of him, a black dagger in his hand.
"Please don't do this..."
Rai's voice was pitiful.
"Weren't we friends...?"
The man let out a sigh.
"I didn't want to do this either."
"Then let me go!!!!"
"Sorry."
The man raised the dagger.
"I'm doing it for the money."
"W-w-w-wait, wait."
"I'm really sorry."
"Hey--!!! Hold on a second!"
The man threw the dagger with everything he had.
Thwack!
"GAAAAAH---!!!"
Rai's scream shook the room.
A moment later, the man checked his phone.
"Oh."
A bright smile spread across his face.
"One million points acquired."
"........."
Rai, watching this, began to tremble. Then he reached up, grabbed the dagger stuck in his own forehead, and pulled it out with a pop. The blade bent limply in his hand. It was a rubber toy, shaped with completely unnecessary realism to look like an actual dagger.
Rai stared at it, then glared at Alex with a look of pure disbelief.
"You really don't have a shred of mercy in you..."
"It's a game. Why are you like this."
"You stuck it in my forehead!"
"It knocked off some HP, didn't it?"
"That's not the point!"
Rai gave the ropes around him a tug and they came right off. He hadn't even been tied properly to begin with.
Orchi, who had been watching from the side, was amazed.
"Woooow--!! Rai's so cool--!! I wanna stab too--!!"
A metallic whisper of a blade leaving a block. Orchi came back from the kitchen with a chef's knife, and Rai nearly jumped out of his skin.
"WAAAAAH--!! Don't actually stab me with that--!!!"
A board game was spread across the table. Snacks and drinks were piled everywhere, and Orchi sat among them, watching the two of them play. Rai pulled the toy dagger dangling from his forehead and grumbled.
"Haa... why does this game even have this kind of setup?"
Rai's friend Alex answered without a hint of shame.
"Because I'm the traitor~!"
"There's still such a thing as going too far..."
Orchi shot her hand straight up.
"Me too, me too! I wanna play!"
Alex looked at her and smiled.
"Sure. Join us next round~! And put the real knife down~!"
Orchi lit up.
"Okay!"
Watching her beam like that, Rai let out a breath of relief.
"Haa... at least I got her here in one piece."
Alex gave a short laugh.
"No kidding. When you said out of nowhere you were bringing a cousin, I wondered what was going on."
Rai looked over at Orchi. She was stuffing snacks into her mouth, oblivious to everything. He muttered under his breath.
"I left my phone behind... I can't even get in touch with anyone..."
He had tried to borrow a phone and call Bat, but she had a habit of never picking up unless it was a number she'd saved — and the same went for texts. There was no real way to tell her he was being chased by some unidentified robot either. Unable to think straight, he had come somewhere he could at least clear his head for a little while.
That somewhere was Alex's place.
Orchi tilted her head at the sight of Rai sunk in such heavy thought.
"Rai. Hurt?"
His face went stiff at the question.
"It's nothing."
And in that moment, Alex's phone chimed.
Ding.
Both of them looked at the screen at once. A short news alert was up.
Rai's face went white. Slowly, he covered it with both hands.
"Guess I'm... staying the night..."