Paranormal Link-29
"Ehehe... S-sorry, we didn't realize who you were..."
"P-please spare us..."
"Ugh... Th-thank you for your mercy..."
One guy forcing a grin while rubbing his hands together. Another begging for his life with a deathly pale face. And the third with his jaw twisted from that first hit. These three pathetic idiots were on their knees in just three exchanges. Whether picking a fight, getting their asses kicked, or even after dying... these black scum always followed the same damn script, no matter the era or place.
"Hahahahaha."
Imagining these losers huddled together, heads bumping as they rehearsed lines from some script—it had me cracking up on the spot.
"...Ah, haha... hahaha..."
"Haha... ehehehe..."
"Heh, ugh! Hehehe, urk...!"
My laugh was obviously forced, but for some reason, they misread it, sneaking glances and starting to chuckle nervously themselves.
"What the hell are you grinning at? Want me to crack your skulls?"
"No, sir!"
"We're good!"
"Th-thank you!"
They seemed too dim to get it straight, so I asked calmly, and suddenly they were waving their hands frantically, snapping to attention.
"Come on, then. What'd you do wrong? Jawboy, you start."
Did he not appreciate my kindness in letting him speak quick and get it over with? A flash of resentment crossed his face, vanishing like melting ice the second our eyes met. Smart move on his part, considering his mental and intellectual state—but damn, he didn't have to try so hard to smile with that twisted jaw. Looked like a deranged psycho, and it was grossing me out.
"W-we were too aggressive, sir."
"You were too aggressive?"
"Yes."
"Wrong answer, buddy."
Thwack! Since he'd at least tried, I backhanded the other side to reset his jaw. Probably fixed it.
"Eek!"
"...H-hic!"
"Who'd think I killed you from that?"
"Isan."
I was staring in disbelief at the other two overreacting when someone called my name from behind. Turning, I saw her standing there, practically hugging Blanca with hands clamped over the girl's eyes.
...Had she been doing that the whole time?
"You're late. Lopez Wife's waiting."
"......"
You're the ones who were late... Her words felt like she was blaming me anyway, so I shot an aggrieved look at the three idiots in front of us.
"S-spare..."
"Kids. Threatening random passersby at night like that? It's dangerous, y'know?"
You guys are the dangerous ones. I patted their shoulders lightly and spoke softly.
"Please spare us..."
They kept acting like I was some psycho killer begging to be spared, but I'd never said I was gonna kill 'em. The fact they thought that just showed how fucked the security was in this city.
...On the flip side, it meant even these morons knew their stunt could've gotten them killed.
I glanced back at Blanca. No need to show her this ugly shit.
"Alright, first things first—cough up whatever you're hiding."
"...Y-yes?"
Thwack!
"Hiiiik!"
The last holdout toppled backward, leaving the final survivor practically shitting himself.
...Seriously? They came at us swinging tools over something this minor?
Mercs everywhere, and these clowns had the balls?
"Hey, pal. You gonna hand it over, or should I?"
"Th-that's..."
I raised my three-legged stool, and he trembled, pulling something wrapped in filthy cloth from his pocket.
Well, gotta know what the fuss was about, right? I hooked the cloth's edge with the stool and unfolded it.
"...The hell?"
Inside was an arm. Not a real human arm, though—something artificial shaped like one. Cyberware...
"Robotics arm?"
Following her voice, I turned to see both of them had sidled up, staring at the "arm" in my hand. Melissa looked half-shocked, half-baffled; Blanca's eyes sparkled with curiosity, like it was her first time seeing one.
...Design-wise, it looked no different from my leg. What the hell was the appeal? Girl logic? Or otaku shit?
"...Robotics? What's that?"
"Not an implant. Look at the joints and actuators."
Hell if I could tell. Just looked like the arm version of my leg.
"Similar structure to early implants. Back then, robotics and implants weren't really distinguished."
Sensing my gaze on my leg, she added,
"But nowadays, nobody uses robotics like this. Inefficient, and risky."
"Like that Rubelite hack incident?"
"...Hack, huh. Yeah, pretty much."
She took the arm from me with a vague reaction, lifting it up.
"Where'd you get this?"
"W-well... from that spot where they said an implant turned up before..."
She examined it closely, unsatisfied. "...This isn't an implant. It's a robot arm."
"...Th-that..."
"Hmm... this material..."
The guy wanted to say something, but she ignored him, tapping the casing with a finger before handing it to Blanca.
"Blanca."
"Ugh... pretty heavy."
Blanca took it, set it on her lap, and poked around.
"Huh? This..."
"Yeah, perfect fit, right? Looks like aerospace alloy."
"Yeah, it is... but..."
Blanca muttered, glancing at the kneeling guy watching us nervously, then at me. Worried we'd nod and beat him down to steal it, probably. We would.
"Alright, then..."
Melissa, catching Blanca's look, smiled at the pale-faced thug.
"It's not even an implant anyway. You'd just get scrap value for it."
A flicker of electronic light in her eyes.
"How's this sound?"
"...Y-yes...?"
He'd been braced for us ripping it off him, so her sudden offer left him blinking dumbly.
"Uh, wha...?"
His jaw dropped like he'd seen a fairy, staring into space.
"Just in case—make sure you explain it right to your buddies. Avoid any annoying fallout."
"Y-yes, sir! No doubt about it!"
"Take care!"
We left the thug bowing at a perfect ninety degrees and hit the road home again. Blanca skipped ahead, thrilled with her new toy; I walked behind her with Melissa.
Staring at Melissa, who was slightly ahead, she turned.
"What?"
"Nothin'."
She'd paid up too easily—felt suspicious, but hard to voice it. Hoped she hadn't slipped in a tracker to hunt us down later.
Just as I mulled that silently, she grinned at me.
"You're just like me."
"...I refuse to believe that, but I'll bite. How?"
She leaned toward me, whispering,
"You didn't kill them either."
"...You think I'm some murderer?"
Jesus, scary thought. What the hell? I sped up to put distance between me and this nutjob.
The next day was much like the last. We arrived a bit earlier at Blanca's heart-pounding secret base—the three of us settling into our spots to kill time. (It earned the "heart-pounding" moniker because Blanca had been bouncing like a kid on a field trip since breakfast.)
Blanca, heart pounding!
"Check this out."
I was leaning against the door, bored out of my skull, when Blanca approached with something. A gauntlet-like thing that wrapped from elbow down, wearable on the arm. Barely resembled what she'd brought home at first—impressive transformation.
"Done already?"
"Nah, no shock absorbers yet. Use it like this, and your arm snaps."
"...It's safe, right?"
"......"
"...Right?"
"It's not finished yet!"
Dodging my gaze, she hurried back to the workbench.
"Spaced the casing, so let's find some cheap buffer filler for inside. If we go budget..."
More techie jargon I wanted to scream wasn't for little girls—but nope, it unfolded right in front of me again.
...Then again, back in the martial world, low-rank brats would geek out over swordplay with each other, not fluffy girl talk. Same here or there...
...Or was it just my crowd?
Lost in that dumb thought—
Clank.
I snatched the sword beside me and shot to my feet on reflex.
Shing.
Sword sheathed at my side, drawn. At the same instant, Melissa halted her chat with Blanca, rising to stare the same direction as me.
"Sis? ...Bro?"
Blanca, sensing the shift, looked puzzled at us both standing.
A creepy, lifeless presence moving. And with it, the mercenaries and scavengers scattered around started shifting fast.
Then, from afar—a scream, followed by gunfire echoing everywhere.