Chapter Four / 00 : 00 / Returner

10:34 AM on the sixth day of February of the 1016th year of the Wheel.

About seventy-five kilometers below the surface of Mie Grid lay the base of the city’s mechanisms. Something that would never be seen by the people who lived on the surface slowly began to move.

It was an enormous steel spider.

All in all, it was 320 meters tall and 932 meters in length. The fact that such a thing was moving at all was ridiculous. Nonetheless, it walked forward with an incredibly loud noise.

It slid under the bottom of the city into its deepest underground layers, where free from the gravitational restraints of the facility’s hangar area, it headed straight eastward. What lay in its projected path was the capital area of Japan—the Tokyo Grids. Its walking pace was slow. It would most likely take about a day and a half for it to reach its destination.

However, in spite of the noise and its lumbering pace, what was crawling through the hollow space of the Clockwork Planet was something that could definitely sneak up on and deal a lethal blow to its prey—it was a weapon that could destroy the very planet itself. There was no doubt that it was an extremely dangerous existence.

A malevolent spider that should have been crawling forward unbeknownst to all; and yet, there was someone secretly observing it from the shadows...

“It’s finally begun moving, huh...” the shadow muttered, her silver hair swaying. “It’s an unbearably ugly, unsightly thing, but... it certainly is menacing.” After spewing out those venomous words, the shadow—RyuZU—narrowed her eyes.

Confirming the monster’s departure, its path, and its speed, she quietly left the scene without being discovered by anyone.

●

6:27 PM on the sixth day of February of the 1016th year of the Wheel.

There was a building referred to as the fourth clock tower that could be found on Yasukuni Street in Akihabara Grid, Tokyo, Japan.

As a rule of thumb, clock towers were under military management, but here, for the purposes of technological research, the tower was among a handful of exceptions whose maintenance was annexed to a university.

There were multiple silhouettes walking through the campus of that university, The Akihabara Institute of Technology. They were wearing matching blue work clothes and pushing a cart with a large package, brazenly traversing the campus illuminated by the crimson light of the setting sun. There were still many students and faculty members out and about, but no one paid any mind to the workers making their way across the campus.

As a result, without being questioned by anyone, they arrived at the entrance to the clock tower’s warehouse. There, the group encountered an iron gate and a small accompanying stall which housed a security guard. The security guard, who looked to be in his late sixties, watched the crew moving the large package, perplexed.

The man in front, who was large and bear-like, called out with a smile, “Hi there! Thanks for your hard work as always.”

“Y, yeah, you too... Umm, what business do you have here today?” the security guard asked.

The large man surfaced a refreshing grin as he took out a single sheet of paper from his satchel stuffed full of various documents. “We’re from Seiko’s shipping department, we came here to deliver the new measurement devices.”

“Eh, I haven’t heard of such a purchase though...?”

“Oh man. Another one, huh.” The large man scowled exaggeratedly, then grumbled in a small voice, “This is already the third time this year. It seems that university researchers are rather irresponsible when it comes to detailed paperwork... Ah, no, sorry, that was rude of me.”

“No no, I know what you mean.” The security guard smiled bitterly. “Let me guess, it’s for Professor Kizaki isn’t it? The seminar students often complain about how strict he is despite being pretty sloppy himself.”

“Well, I guess technically you could say that it’s nothing new at this point, but...” The large man huddled his shoulders together as if feeling obliged and pointed at a line on the document that he was handing over to the guard. “It seems like Dr. Kizaki went off on a sudden business trip today so he can’t be reached at the moment. He told us to install the devices while he’s out because he wanted to get to work immediately once he’s back, but... maybe that would violate protocol?”

“Hmm... Well, you see, normally you would need a written form from the professor, but...” Nodding, the security guard muttered, seeming sympathetic, “Well, your document looks official so I guess it’s fine. When the professor comes back I’ll give him a warning for next time.”

“Thank you very much! Really, you saved us a lot of trouble.”

“Not at all, thanks for your hard work. I’ll open the gate now.” With a smile, the kind security guard flipped a switch on his desk. As the gate opened, the large man was handed back his stamped document from the guard. He bowed as he said his thanks.

The group in blue work clothes pushed the cart into the warehouse. Once the security stall was completely out of sight, the large man—Halter—burst out laughing, “—Well, that’s university security for you, Dr. Hannes.”

“My goodness. I can’t believe you, Mr. Halter.” The one who responded was the man pushing the cart right behind Halter. He had chiseled features and a long, rectangular face. He was the very picture of a straight-laced middle-aged man. “Is it really normal to let people whose identities you aren’t sure of into a clock tower with a single document, just like that?”

“Normal people judge others by their clothes and their attitude. If you wear the uniform of a delivery man and throw a joke in somewhere, you really won’t seem suspicious.”

The other man—Hannes—didn’t look like he was convinced. “Still, it was a stroke of luck that the professor was conveniently away on a business trip, wasn’t it?”

“Oh, that? No, we had the Breguets handle that for us.”

“...What did you say?”

“Given that we’re dealing with a university, we can’t be too violent with our methods, you see. That’s why we made up some business for the professor that would get him out of the way. Thanks to that, we’re the only ones in this clock tower right now.”

Hearing those words, Hannes sighed deeply and repeated, “...My goodness, I can’t believe you.”

“It seems you’re a rather straight-laced person despite having worked with that tomboy,” Halter teased, grinning.

However, Hannes immediately returned with a blank face, “Tomboy? But she’s the most serious, sincere, and outstanding woman I know.”

“...Well, words are an imperfect vehicle of expression, I suppose.” Though Halter couldn’t dismiss Hannes’s description of Marie as completely wrong, it didn’t seem exactly right to him either, somehow.

Taking a breath, Halter shook his head and changed the subject. “Well, in any case, if any problems arise I’ll take care of it, so please take care of the work, professors. Taking the installation of the devices into consideration, I’m estimating that the job should take about four hours. Is that enough time?”

“Of course. We’re still Meisters, you know. Have a little faith, won’t you.” Hannes—the man who once served as an observation chief of Meister Guild—replied, puffing up his chest.

To those words, Halter smiled bitterly and lowered his head, “—My, you’ll have to pardon me for asking.”

●

0:00 AM on the eighth day of February of the 1016th year of the Wheel.

A little before the present, on this day that will be deeply carved in history, Marie Bell Breguet was in Akihabara Grid, Tokyo, Japan—inside its first clock tower.

In a mechanical room filled with gears just like the inside of a core tower—several scores of technicians were working relentlessly in order to execute Marie’s plan. Their first step was to synchronize the core and its supporting clock towers. They were working without rest to accomplish that.

Of course, they weren’t the Technical Force who normally serviced this place. Their racial backgrounds, genders, and ages were all over the place. Their clothes and equipment weren’t uniform in any way either—actually, there was just one thing they shared to mark them: A chrono compass on the wrist.

The proof of being a Meister.

A super finely detailed timepiece with nine clockfaces large and small. The medal that represented being at the peak of all two hundred million clocksmiths in the world.

Even hundreds of ordinary clocksmiths couldn’t rival a single Meister. Meisters were extraordinary clocksmiths who possessed both talent and the history of results to back it up. Among the gathering of Meisters, one of them was yelling out, “Dr. Marie!”

Marie lifted her head up from her work desk. She had been focused on her calculations, a string of equations showing on the piece of scrap paper on her desk. “Yes, go ahead. What is it?”

“We’ve confirmed the synchronization of the 3,340th to the 7,990th, as well as the linkage of all the floors.”

“—Understood. Thank you for your hard work,” Marie nodded.

Only a moment later, a different clocksmith who had been standing guard over the communications device yelled out, “Reporting! A transmission from the fourth clock tower says that the functions of all floors over there have been released. The administrative privilege over the atmospheric temperature system is being transferred to us.”

“—Understood, please send them this message in response: ‘It’s almost time for the operation, so once you finish the final confirmation please escape immediately.’ Also, please forward the administrative privilege to the rest of the clock towers once we receive it.”

After sorting through some more reports, confirmations, and requests for instruction one after the other, Marie let out a large sigh. She stretched her back as far as she could in her chair before releasing the tension in her muscles.

A man in his late fifties came up behind her. “It looks like we made it somehow, eh?” He laid the steaming cup in his hand onto the table with an elegant motion and continued, “It’s black tea. One with plenty of milk and honey—you liked your tea sweet, right?”

Marie relaxed her expression and took the cup in one hand. “Thank you, Service Chief Konrad.”

“I’m not the service chief anymore you know, Dr. Marie,”

“...That’s true isn’t it.” Putting her lips against the rim of the piping-hot cup, Marie cast her eyes downward.

Konrad had once been her advisor, serving as her service chief when she had been in Meister Guild. He was an old and experienced technician who had lent his hand to her during the incident in Kyoto, even staying in the core tower to the very end despite the danger.

After the incident, he had retired from Meister Guild and was now working as a freelance clocksmith. He was also the one who had investigated the suspicious movements of Tokyo’s military for her.

“I’m glad that the work was safely finished... I asked too much of everyone.”

“Not at all. Everyone enjoys working with you. Plus, the work was easier than expected as most of the clock towers turned out to be empty.”

“...Yeah, it’s like a parade of felonies.”

She took a breath as she tasted the sweet, hot black tea. She thought about the clocksmiths working here and at the other clock towers. Nearly all of them were like Konrad, Meisters who had once been her subordinates. They had left Meister Guild after Kyoto’s incident and become regular civilians.

—Hijack the city mechanisms and sortie against the approaching raid by the enormous weapon.

Anyone else who heard of such a plan would surely call it absurd, but they had readily gotten on board with it. People who possessed a priceless level of technical skill that would allow them to work wherever they pleased were helping her with a job that would not only not pay much, but was illegal.

Because Marie Bell Breguet had asked them to—for just that reason.

Marie blushed as she was filled anew with a deep gratitude she could never fully express. “Really—I’m so thankful for you all.”

Just then, the correspondence device that had been left on the table started ringing. Marie flipped the switch to receive the call, upon which a voice immediately asked, “—Marie, are the preparations done?” It was Naoto’s voice. Perhaps he was slightly nervous, because his voice was higher than usual.

Marie curled her lips at the receiver. “—Of course. Who do you think I am?”

“I’m counting on you, Meister.”

“That’s obvious as well. Just make sure you take care of things on your end.”

“Roger,” Naoto answered briefly, upon which the transmission ended.

Konrad asked, “Was that ‘him’ just now?”

“Yeah, it was Naoto Miura.” Marie nodded.

Konrad muttered with a sigh, “Though I had just witnessed it again myself the other day, it’s still hard to believe no matter how many times I see it. To be able to fully grasp the makeup of a core and twelve clock towers with just his bare ears and that level of equipment to aid him...”

“But, it’s real.”

Naoto had grasped Akihabara Grid’s structure with his ears, and Marie had drawn up its blueprint based on his description.

The plan was to analyze which functions were shared between the core tower and each of its supporting clock towers. From there, reverse-engineer a way to hijack the core tower from four of its clock towers and seize control of the atmospheric temperature system along with the communications network. Then, construct their own system that they could freely manipulate through the network.

Normally, it would take several hundred years just to be able to get the overall picture of the tower network, but Naoto and Marie had managed to finish that absurd task in just three days.

“If the core tower is the brain of the city, then the clock towers are its internal organs. If I were to make an analogy, what we’re doing is something like interfering with the brain by stimulating the organs, well... It’s true that the core tower and the clock towers are connected so it isn’t impossible in theory, but... my word...”

Of course, it was something that was only made possible thanks to the cooperation of as much as several dozen clocksmiths.

Konrad whispered in a low voice, “As a clocksmith myself, I find it somewhat terrifying.”

Konrad was himself a Meister, someone who stood at the pinnacle of all clocksmiths. He could safely say that he had mastered, even perfected the latest clockwork technologies that humanity possessed. It wouldn’t be self-conceit if he did; he had the resume to back it up. Yet, there was a talent that truly existed that even he couldn’t understand at all.

“I wonder if he... or rather such an ability is really human.”

“He’s definitely human, Dr. Konrad,” Marie replied immediately, casting her eyes downward. “He isn’t a handy god nor a convenient magician. He’s simply another idiot you could find anywhere, no different in any way from us.”

“......”

“He’s an idiot, but—at the very least, he’s a much better person compared to the ones responsible for Kyoto or our current situation. However abnormal an ability he may possess—at least he feels human.”

He wasn’t some absolute good or the incarnation of justice by any means. He wasn’t truly omnipotent either. If trying to find meaning in one’s life while stumbling along the way was how humans, who were all born without inherent value, should live—then Naoto Miura was the most human person of anyone that Marie Bell Breguet knew.

Konrad stared at Marie for a while, but in the end, he quietly nodded. “—Indeed, it’s as you say.” Then, as if it had just incidentally come to mind, he ventured, “By the way, I’ve actually thought this for a while now, but...”

“Huh?” Marie tilted her head. Seeing that, Konrad whispered teasingly, “You’re simply terrible at pretending to be a goody two shoes.”

“Eh...?” Marie let out a baffled voice.

Konrad grinned. “However, know that I think the real you is much more charming, Dr. Marie.”

“—P, Please don’t tease me!”

Konrad enjoyed the sulky look on the girl who was like a granddaughter to him before turning around. Before Marie had realized it, the clocksmiths had stopped moving their hands to watch her exchange with Konrad.

Konrad looked among the faces one by one before clapping his hands twice. He then vigorously declared with his smooth bass voice, “—Now then, everyone, it’s finally time. What do you say we enjoy the moment that history changes course together?”

●

On the moment that the day turned from the seventh of February to the eighth, what would come to be called The Akihabara Terrorist Incident that led to the Uprising of 2/8 opened its curtains.

—At the command given by a certain boy, a severe earthquake with a radius of thirty kilometers centered in Akihabara Grid shook Tokyo. All communication mechanisms ceased functioning as the city’s internal resonance gears began to operate outside of regulation.

The group of gears in the core tower that tuned the city functions displayed unprecedented behavior.

It wasn’t a malfunction, nor was it degradation in function due to age. The system was operating normally; it was simply that the administrator, a young girl, had networked them to a new system that she had built herself.

And, five minutes after the start of the affair, the hijacked communication mechanisms began to operate once more. The helpless people who were forced to watch the situation unfold ended up receiving a rather enthusiastic claim of responsibility:

“Ladieees aaannnd gentlemen!! Along with the foolish and banal ordinary citizens who are neither gentlemanly nor ladylike, good evening! Pardon me for disturbing you while you’re enjoying your weekend night!”

The processed voice which sounded like a drunken master of ceremonies resounded at a high volume throughout the city from countless televisions and stereos.

Hearing those words, Konrad furrowed his brows, feeling conflicted. “Good heavens, it appears that I simply can’t keep up with the sensibilities of you youngsters these days.”

Beside him, Marie was similarly clutching her head as she groaned, “No... could you please not treat that idiot as the representative of us young people.”

Marie and Konrad had devoted all their time to building their own system, so they had left it to Naoto to make an adequate claim of criminal responsibility. This was what they ended up with.

For an unprecedented, unparalleled historical event like this—the claim is simply too crass, Marie regretted the outcome, but it was already too late. “Arghh god, I need to have a word with him after this— How’s the transmission of the disinformation going?!”

The clocksmith standing watch over the control panel answered, “As planned! All 168 communication circuits are still under our control. There’s no sign that they’ve noticed!”

“—Understood; observation squad, what’s the current location of the enormous weapon?!”

“It’s currently proceeding through the base of Shibuya Grid! Factoring in the projected movement of Tokyo’s military, I estimate that the two sides will clash in about five or six minutes!”

“—Understood, so it’s going well for now. In that case, please prepare to boot up the atmospheric temperature system!”

After Marie had finished tossing out the latest instructions in rapid succession, Konrad interjected, “Dr. Marie, we’ll be fine by ourselves from here.”

“...Thanks. In that case, I’ll meet up with them as planned and move on to the next stage. Everyone, please escape immediately after the operation ends.”

“““Understood.”””

Hearing that chorus of voices behind her, Marie grabbed her coat and bag while dashing out of the room. As she ran her arms through the sleeves of her coat, she rushed up the emergency staircase to the rooftop of the clocktower and threw open the door.

Standing in the doorway, Marie felt the tepid air of the night brush past her cheeks. The light gears of the cityscape were running, converting gravity into a florescent shine. The stars, overshadowed by their radiance, couldn’t be seen. The only things on the horizon were the silver moon and the Equatorial Spring turning from its gravitational pull.

From a speaker somewhere, Marie could hear Naoto’s joke of a terrorist threat. She shouted, “RyuuuuuuZU!!”

“—You do not need to shout, you know. I have been here ready to pick you up for a while now, Mistress Marie,” a cool, refreshing voice called out from behind her.

Marie turned around to find an automaton whose silver hair was fluttering in the night’s wind before her.

“Rather, it is you, Mistress Marie, who is about two seconds behind the projected time. In a situation like this where even a slight delay could lead directly toward a crisis, your blunder is—”

“Then why don’t you hurry up and make up for it!” Marie shouted as she leapt at RyuZU.

RyuZU’s face wore a glorious frown as she begrudgingly took Marie into her arms before jumping off of the building. She was heading towards Naoto, who was currently delivering their claim of criminal responsibility from the rooftop of a building by the nearest train station. For the next stage of the operation, the three of them and Halter were to meet up there.

RyuZU raced through Akihabara, jumping from rooftop to rooftop with Marie in her arms. Perhaps, because of their broadcast, the cityscape that flowed by below was exuding an air of alert stillness.

“—It’s starting!” Marie muttered briefly, raising a finger. She was pointing towards a red tower in the night—Tokyo Tower. A relic of the ancient times, it was turning white as it froze over. “It’s nearly time for the final stage of the operation.”

Freezing Tokyo Tower then smashing it into pieces would serve as an easy to understand threat visible throughout Tokyo. It was a show of strength that served as definite proof that they had seized control of Akihabara Grid as they claimed. Once they were done here, they would promptly end Naoto’s broadcast and move on to the final stage.

RyuZU replied in a cold voice, “More importantly, something has been on my mind for a while now. It appears that the enemy’s movements are approximately two minutes and thirty-seven seconds faster than anticipated.” Turning her head slightly to the side, RyuZU cast her gaze upon something far in the distance.

Following RyuZU’s eyes with her own, Marie recognized three large shadows flying silently through the night sky. “Stealth helicopters...!”

They were military weapons carrying assault automata within them. All three of them were heading straight towards the same destination as RyuZU and Marie—namely, the rooftop where Naoto was waiting. Naoto’s location had been purposely leaked from the beginning, so it was only natural that they would know where he was—but their response really was quicker than anticipated.

Even now, the stealth helicopters, kings of the sky that they are, were pulling ahead of them in the race to Naoto before Marie’s very eyes. —At this rate, Naoto will be fired on before RyuZU arrives.

“Furthermore, I can see security automata on the ground.”

Lowering her gaze to confirm RyuZU’s report, Marie found security automata rushing towards the building where Naoto was with flashing sirens. There were a little more than a dozen of them.

The security automata were several orders of magnitude less threatening than the stealth helicopters, but they still had to be dealt with. Though they looked awkward, like large steel cans with feet, even just one of them would still be enough to restrain an unarmed human.

—What should we do? Furrowing her brows, Marie was troubling herself over how best to deal with the situation when RyuZU whispered, “Mistress Marie, you are carrying a weapon, yes?”

“Huh? I’m carrying my Coil Spear, of course, but what about it...?” Seeing Marie nod, RyuZU announced dispassionately, “In that case, I shall leave the riffraff below to you as I am currently in a rush.”

“Huh? —Kyaaaaaaaaaaaah?!” Without time to even reply, Marie let out a scream as she was tossed in the air.

Seeing the sky and the ground in alternation as her body rotated in freefall, she hurriedly retrieved her anchor wire from her holster and fired it. As Marie adjusted her posture in midair, she killed most of her momentum by pulling on the wire, and in doing so, managed a rough landing with a roll.

Meanwhile, having discarded her excess “baggage,” RyuZU accelerated away in a race against the helicopters.

“Ow ow ow ow... That shitty doll...!” Marie raised her head up cursing, before immediately swallowing her breath.

“Suspicious person detected—” Multiple voices of warning overlapped with each other. Marie had landed right in the middle of the security automata that had been rushing towards Naoto. And at the moment, they were surrounding a suspicious girl who had fallen from the sky while packing heat.

“Wha...!” Marie hurriedly drew her Coil Spear from its holster. At the same time, confirming an increase in their target’s threat level, riot guns protruded out of hatches on the automata’s torsos.

“Attempt to resist arrest confirmed—Commencing subjugation.”

“If you’re going to drop me, then drop me in a better spot, you piece of junk!!” Marie yelled out as she jumped back from where she was. It was an indiscernible cry of either anger or desperation.

Immediately after, gunshots rang out.

●

—After that, having made it through several close calls, Marie somehow managed to defeat all of the automata.

After confirming that she had brought down all of the security automata in question, she hurried towards the rooftop of the building where Naoto was.

As she entered the building and ran up the emergency staircase, she saw the minced wreckage of several helicopters crashing down in a blaze through the windows.

Making it to the top floor, what awaited Marie was a scene of ruined assault automata that had been demolished into scrap metal, Halter with his back to her, Naoto who was prostrate on the ground for some reason, and—

“—”

RyuZU with a composed look on her face.

The moment Marie found her, she fired her Coil Spear without a second thought. Her aim was accurate—however, RyuZU evaded it with just a single step backwards.

“...That’s dangerous, princess,” Halter uttered as he broke out in a cold sweat.

“Halter,” Marie called out as she swiftly made her way to him. In contrast to her inner heart which was at a rolling boil, the words she uttered were cold and businesslike. “Please restrain that piece of junk. Today’s the day I’ll dismantle her and fix that rotten personality for good.”

Halter shrugged his shoulders and sighed. “Don’t ask for the impossible, princess. Just what do you expect me to do?”

“When do you plan to capitalize on your career experience if not now? Please use the Marine Corps’, uhh, hand-to-hand combat techniques to seize that piece of junk. I don’t mind if you break her in the process, okay?”

“I was in the Army, not the Marine Corps. What’s this commotion all about?”

Without answering him, Marie swung the pistol-sized mechanical bayonet—Coil Spear—that she held in her right hand one time, causing it to transform into its blade mode.

“This shitty piece of junk deserted me and ran away by herself! Despite the fact that I was surrounded by security automata!” she yelled out gruffly right before she slashed at RyuZU.

The swing was sharp and carried the momentum of Marie’s upper body; however, RyuZU evaded it with just a light step.

“Oh my, your facade is peeling off, you know.”

“Shut it!”

“Mistress Marie, you are always calling yourself a multi-faceted prodigy, so there is no way you would have any difficulty with a small threat like ten or twenty generic security automata, right?”

“How could that possibly be true?! I thought I was going to die!”

“What—” RyuZU opened her eyes wide in astonishment. “...I apologize. I thought my opinion of you was already as low as could be, but to think that you are such a complete wimp... You have my sincerest apologies.”

“...I’m gonna destroy you! I’m definitely, seriously gonna destroy you...!”

“Be quiet—” Naoto muttered, cutting off Marie, who was trying to transform her Coil Spear even further to extend its blade. He was kneeling with his head against the concrete ground.

When he spoke, the three ended their farce abruptly and turned their eyes towards Naoto in silence.

He continued as he pressed one ear snugly against the ground. “As expected, they’re heading towards the ‘Actuator.’”

Naoto strained his ears with all he had. Far in the distance... underground footsteps sounded 5,387 meters away.

He heard all of them without missing a single one.

“There are 3,021 automata and 1,765 soldiers on foot.”

“...It should be safe to assume that that’s practically all of the garrisoned forces that could immediately be mobilized.”

While rubbing his head, Halter laughed as if to say, What an opportunity.

Marie retracted her Coil Spear. “They should know where we are, too.”

“There are seven sources of sound heading straight toward us—they’re not stealth helicopters this time. They aren’t loaded with automata, even. They’re authentic assault helicopters.”

“Out of the heavily armed helicopters that Japan owns, the ones that could be mobilized right now... they’re PTK-A74s,” Marie deduced.

To which RyuZU inquired, “How much of a threat are they?”

“They’re heavily armed, unpiloted, autonomous fighters. They’re equipped with two resonance cannons... Well, with seven of them, they can scorch this entire grid without needing to resupply.”

“Alright, let’s get the hell outta here. Hey Naoto, how much time do we have?” Halter asked. Naoto quickly got up.

“About 372 seconds until they arrive—it should be something like that.”

“Well then, let us withdraw before we come into contact with them. I shall carry the luggage.” RyuZU piled up the pieces of Naoto’s equipment and lifted them up easily.

Naoto unplugged the unneeded lines from his favorite pair of headphones, then put them back on his head. After that, he turned on the noise-canceling function.

...Ahh. He let out a large sigh. ...It’s finally quiet.

Seeing Naoto like that, Marie asked quietly, “Hey Naoto, are you okay?”

“...Well, yeah, somehow.”

“That ability is a burden on your body after all, isn’t it...”

“Nah, that’s not it. I messed up... Sorry,” Naoto replied as he turned around and stuck his thumb up with a snap.

“You see, it seems there’s a sex parlor in that building over there.”

“...............Hah?”

“With the beds creaking and the people moaning constantly, they couldn’t be more of a clueless nuisance if they tri—”

Before Naoto could finish, Marie uppercut his chin, her face flushed.

Halter called out to Marie, who was stomping on the back of Naoto’s head in silent anger. “Oi, cut it out, princess. That brain shoulders the future of the world.”

“The world must have gone mad, then.”

“...Aren’t you being completely unreasonable...?” Naoto groaned underneath Marie’s feet.

Halter let out a sigh. “Hurry up, now. It isn’t the time to be doing a comedy skit.”

“...R-Rest assured, Halter—” Naoto uttered as he stood up while teeter-tottering. He adjusted his headphones, which had slipped off his ears, and brushed off the dust that had gotten stuck to his clothes. “If we’re all together, something as minor as a metropolis of forty million people is as good as putty in our palms.”

“...Hopefully, you’re right,” Halter grumbled while rubbing his head.

Afterwards, the four of them ran down the building’s emergency staircase and stepped outside. Passing the three helicopters that had crashed and were now in flames, they headed towards the roundabout in front of the station.

A giant display that hung on the outside of the station building was playing an emergency news broadcast, reporting in-depth on this unprecedented act of terrorism.

Stopping in the midst of the chaos of a plaza packed full of evacuating people, Halter said, “Well then, as planned, the princess and I will wait for you guys in the workshop after we evacuate all of our clocksmiths, alright?”

“We’re leaving AnchoR to you. Don’t screw up and die, got it?”

“You don’t need to worry about that,” Naoto said as he returned a gentle smile.

However, RyuZU suddenly interjected, “No, I am terribly sorry for asking this, but could you come along with us as well, Mistress Marie?”

Marie turned around, her head tilted, “—You want me to come too?”

“RyuZU?” Naoto asked, perplexed.

Upon those words, RyuZU meekly admitted with downcast eyes, “It is impossible for me to win against AnchoR solely on my own. Master Naoto provided me with a suggestion that could make it possible, but—if anything were to happen to Master Naoto, I suspect that I would never be able to operate again.”

“...”

“As such, I would like to ask you to accompany us to guard against that disastrous, albeit unlikely, possibility just in case, Mistress Marie,” RyuZU said as she bowed deeply.

Marie widened her eyes in silence. To think that RyuZU of all people would lower her head to me when, even taking into consideration her abusive verbal filter, she has unfailingly treated everyone aside from Naoto like an insect.

Marie gulped, then slowly nodded. “—Very well. I don’t think I can do anything against AnchoR, but even so, I’ll accompany you guys if you would like me to. Win or lose, we’ll be together to the end.”

RyuZU raised her head with a composed look. “Your resolve is admirable, Mistress Marie.”

Marie turned around and looked up at the bear of a man that was Halter. “Halter, you’ll be fine by yourself, right?”

“Yeah. After all, Dr. Konrad will be with me as well. That grandpa is no amateur himself. Even if you’re not there, he’ll be able to handle leading the evacuation,” Halter said flippantly.

“...If you’re disrespectful towards Dr. Konrad, I’ll strangle you to death later, you know?” Marie glared at him menacingly.

Naoto cut in from the side, “Hey, Konrad is that old guy, right? Will he really be okay?”

“Yes, he should be fine. Though he may look feeble—” Marie shrugged, “he’s actually someone who can hold his own against a dozen lightly armored automata with just a screwdriver.”

“...What, really?” Naoto groaned, reluctant to believe it.

Halter backed up Marie’s claim, grumbling, “To be honest, I’m allergic to the guy. The way he asserted that he could easily pin me down by twisting my arms, just because he has full knowledge of the structure of my artificial body, is just...”

“...No no no, you two are just trying to trick me, right? You guys are at least exaggerating, right?”

“Nope. It’s the whole, unadulterated truth,” Marie asserted flatly.

Naoto looked ever so suspicious. “I doubt that this could be the case, but... does everyone from Meister Guild think that might is right like you?”

“Now that’s impossible. At its core, Meister Guild is a gathering of intellectuals, you know?”

“...Of course, I should have known better! Phew...”

But Marie continued, “It’s just that, since repairing clockwork is a test of stamina, everyone does some sort of basic body training. Incidentally, the one who taught me self-defense is Dr. Konrad, you know.”

“...You call those nasty techniques of yours self-defense? As Naoto recalled Marie’s footwork in taking down two soldiers in an instant, the muscles along his spine trembled. —No matter how you look at it, that technique was designed to kill.

“Well, you know,” Marie said as she curled her lips, “when trouble arises with the local military, we have to be able to crush them easi—at the very least defend ourselves.”

“You said crush just now didn’t you?!” Naoto cried out, but Marie only returned a sweet grin.

After parting with Halter, the three of them got moving. They were heading towards the underground parking lot of the train station. It was a location that fulfilled the requirements of a wide and deserted space that they would use to lie in wait for AnchoR. As they took a position where they could monitor the entrance, RyuZU muttered, “...Will she really come?”

“She’ll come.”

“She’ll come.”

Marie and Naoto both asserted the same conclusion, but for different reasons.

“Our actions should have caused them to deviate from their script. After all, there’s no way that they would have taken into account the possibility of terrorists hijacking the city mechanisms. Now that things have come to this, neither side of the incident can ignore us. And the only one who can stand up to you, RyuZU—is AnchoR.”

“...She’ll come to meet you. To be precise, she’s coming—to be destroyed by you, but...” Naoto narrowed his eyes as he gazed into RyuZU’s. “Like I’ll let it be that easy. I’ll definitely put an end to this with both of you unharmed. So, RyuZU—I’m counting on you. Please stop AnchoR-chan.”

“Yes. If you say so, Master Naoto. Besides—” RyuZU paused, placing a hand on her chest. “...Hurting my sister is, to put it mildly, something I would like to avoid as much as possible.” With her eyes cast downward, she voiced her true feelings.

—Immediately after, AnchoR showed herself at the entrance of the underground parking lot.

In the dimly lit parking lot, the air was still. The pandemonium outside seemed far away. Two Initial-Y Series were facing each other thirty meters apart. It was an extremely close distance that could be covered in an instant by either one of them.

One of them was a young automaton child wearing a formal dress of red and white—AnchoR.

The other was a silver-haired automaton girl wearing a formal dress of black and white—RyuZU.

Behind them, Naoto and Marie gulped as they watched on, they didn’t dare move. AnchoR paid them no mind, her eyes were focused solely on her elder sister.

RyuZU began with a gentle voice, “Can you hear me, AnchoR?”

There was no reply.

However, RyuZU paid it no mind and continued, “Your voice reached my master. I can understand your humiliation in having your will trampled upon by that odious apparatus on your face, but—” She paused, taking a breath. “Me destroying you is out of the question.”

Narrowing her eyes, RyuZU scrutinized AnchoR, who was remaining silent. “As both your elder sister and a follower of my master, I shall save you. As such, you ought to fight for yourself as well, AnchoR. Listen only to yourself, break free of that fetter.”

AnchoR didn’t reply. The cube dangling by her chest came off its chain, quietly floating up in front of her chest.

RyuZU took a step forward to answer her challenge. “Subjugating.” —Sounds escaped her lips. It wasn’t her usual airy singsong voice. RyuZU was speaking—announcing—in a mechanical, businesslike tone. “Definition Proclamation—the First of the Initial-Y Series, RyuZU YourSlave.”

Immediately after, AnchoR replied in kind, “Definition Proclamation—the Fourth of the Initial-Y Series, AnchoR, the One Who Destroys.”

They both began to transform. While Naoto and Marie watched on, the two Initial-Y Series charged straight into a territory that the humans who lived inside this universe could never fathom.

“Inherent ability—‘Dual Time’ ...Initiating start sequence.”

“Inherent ability—‘Power Reserver’ ...Initiating transformational sequence.”

They had both declared their defiance of natural law. Together, they were saying none other than this: Right now, from this moment onward—I shall break the laws of physics.

Naoto struggled to breathe. The power hidden inside RyuZU, a function antithetical to the laws of this universe, manifested. At the same time, there was a resounding sound of gears meshing into place—

Like dominoes being toppled over, RyuZU’s black dress changed its color in a flurry. The naked, pale skin of her arms was laid bare as her face was adorned with a fluttering veil. A bride with her dainty torso wrapped tightly in a pearl-white wedding dress; her golden eyes flared into a brilliant, ruby-red.

“—Commencing shift from the first timepiece, ‘Real Time,’ to the second timepiece, ‘Imaginary Time.’”

“—Enemy threat level: Category Five—Initiating Shift to the Twelfth Balance Wheel of Differences.”

“No way,” Marie gasped. —Did AnchoR say “the twelfth” just now? Marie knew nothing about the inherent ability AnchoR possessed. She couldn’t grasp it with her intuition like Naoto; however she could at least make an educated guess.

When we first encountered her in Mie, she definitely said “the third” back then. I’m sure my memory is correct. If that term is something that refers to her output of energy, or a limiter of some kind, then the twelfth would be—

As Marie shuddered, AnchoR transformed. The cube floating by her chest twisted, and began to turn at the speed of light. Her glamorous black hair was stained blood-red while her pure white armor blackened and swelled from the crimson lines which snaked over her like a nervous system.

The angelic ring of two half-gears above her head split into the horns of a demon as a crackling sound came from the black mask that covered the girl’s face.

“Chrono Hook—Jumping from normal operation to imaginary operation.”

“Chrono Hook—Initiating output of imaginary power by means of the Perpetual Gear. Materializing.”

RyuZU and AnchoR simultaneously stepped forward. More than just a mere physical movement, their steps indicated that they had entered into states that should be absolutely impossible in this universe. As imaginary time spread, sealing the area, infinite heat welled, to the despair of the universe.

AnchoR announced dispassionately, “Executing orders... Declaring: I shall destroy the target ‘RyuZU’ before me.”

RyuZU smiled in response. “Come at me with all that you have, ‘AnchoR.’ I shall do you a kindness and corporally teach you to respect your older sister.”

The sisters called out each other’s names as they faced one other anew. Then— RyuZU pinched up the hem of her skirt and curtsied, while AnchoR simply dropped down onto all fours upon the ground. Like a wedding vow and a cry of despair respectively, they spoke the most heretical, blasphemous words in this world:

“——‘Mute Scream’——”

“——‘Bloody Murder’——”

Immediately after, the two legendary automata clashed. The phenomena that occurred after was beyond anything that could be grasped by Naoto and Marie.

●

RyuZU was dashing inside imaginary time. Time was frozen still in reality—the domain between zero and a second later belonged to her. It was a fictitious domain that shouldn’t exist in this universe. It was a contradictory gap formed by a breakdown in the laws of physics. As long as she was in this state, she was untouchable, her scythe was absolute...

—However, her little sister was also an irrational existence in mutiny against this universe.

AnchoR’s salient blood-red hair traced an arc through the air as she evaded RyuZU’s unobservable attack with a leap inside imaginary time. Simultaneously with the shift, she stomped a nonexistent ground as she swung her right hand down. She had tried to tear both RyuZU and her imaginary time apart with her enlarged, enormous hand equipped with sinister claws.

“—” RyuZU’s face showed no surprise. She evaded AnchoR’s claws with a composed and elegant maneuver, putting some distance between herself and the girl. This much was within her expectations—she had already known beforehand that AnchoR was capable of this much for sure.

Even if RyuZU could move unfettered by the restraints of time itself, AnchoR could keep up with her through sheer force. Her infinite heat was distorting the universe, wrenching open small holes in spacetime.

RyuZU was gracefully dancing through the frozen world while AnchoR was violently burning through her imaginary time. The two automata were defying the natural flow of time through completely different methods.

RyuZU raised her arm.

—The first of the Initial-Y Series, RyuZU YourSlave. Envisioned as a servant, she had just the two scythes extending from under her skirt as her weapons. If compared to AnchoR, who was designed for battle with her innumerable number of armaments, one could even call RyuZU relatively weak. As such, RyuZU called herself the weakest of her own accord. In her own words, she’s “the one least suited for combat among her sisters.”

However, “That does not mean—that I will lose.”

Obeying RyuZU’s will, the black scythes cleaved at AnchoR from both left and right as she came charging towards RyuZU. Her swings were not only swift but skillful, the scythes were flashing through the air. She gracefully minced everything before her into fine pieces while neither breaking form nor revealing her pair of aberrantly powerful blades for more than an instant.

However, the sharp blades were blocked by something, a high-pitched shing rang out as they were repelled.

“...?!” RyuZU shifted her center of mass, and twirling to the side with a light step, dodged AnchoR’s barreling charge. She noticed that there were ripples in the empty air where her scythes had been repelled... The cube floating above AnchoR’s head was changing its shape as it twisted— “So it was her spatial manipulation...!”

Spatial manipulation—the basic ability of the weapon called AnchoR. She had created small spatial distortions in the way of RyuZU’s scythes to shield herself. It was impossible for RyuZU’s scythes to break through that shield.

“...gh” RyuZU swung her scythes again. Expecting to be blocked this time, she prioritized speed over accuracy hoping that AnchoR wouldn’t be able to react in time to the sudden overwhelming flurry of her attacks.

“—!!” However, they were all repelled. Ripples appeared as AnchoR grunted with a distorted voice, everywhere RyuZU swung, her attacks were neutralized without fail. RyuZU dashed away in retreat feeling uneasy; AnchoR chasing after.

Though they were nearly equal in speed—RyuZU was slightly faster. The field of imaginary time itself was giving RyuZU an advantage.

No matter how much AnchoR accelerated in pursuit, her spatial manipulation ability was being restrained by imaginary time. That she was only relying on spatial manipulation for defense without tapping into her armory of countless weapons was proof of that.

In other words—AnchoR had to take RyuZU down with just her bare hands.

“—gh!” AnchoR swung her claws. It was a close call, but RyuZU managed to evade it with a jump to the right. However, the instant those claws cut through the air, the spacetime they were in furiously jarred as it twisted. At the same time, the car behind RyuZU was annihilated. It had been blown into smithereens without leaving a trace.

The heat that AnchoR possessed, enough to wrench open gaps in time, was pouring generously into the claws of her right hand. If even a single one of her claws touched RyuZU, RyuZU’s body would be helplessly disintegrated.

AnchoR defeating RyuZU with just her bare hands? It was a very real possibility for “the One Who Destroys.” AnchoR having her armaments sealed didn’t even serve as a handicap to her.

To begin with, RyuZU’s attacks couldn’t penetrate AnchoR’s defense. Even if RyuZU could use her advantage in speed to prolong the battle, eventually her spring would become unwound and she would shut down. That, or she would be caught and smashed into pieces before then.

That was the conclusion—the near future that would soon arrive, the end to this duel.

However— “Just as expected—or rather, just as planned,” RyuZU muttered quietly as she desperately evaded the claws that tore through the spacetime around her. There was no fear in her eyes. This was a scenario that she already knew would come to pass.

—Three days ago.

At the strategy meeting, Naoto and RyuZU had this exchange: “If I were to battle AnchoR head on, our chance of victory would be zero,” RyuZU asserted. To which Naoto replied with a troubled expression, “You don’t necessarily have to win, you know? If you could just destroy that mask—”

“It is the same thing, Master Naoto. There is a difference with regards to combat ability that is simply insurmountable.”

“...Even if you use your inherent ability?”

“Yes. Even if I were to access imaginary time, AnchoR would be able to follow me into it through sheer force. That child has an infinite reservoir of heat energy that makes it possible.”

Naoto nodded. “In that case, there’s only one answer.”

“What would that be?”

“It’s simple,” Naoto answered. “—Just make me into your shield.”

“That is out of the question,” RyuZU immediately cut down his proposal. She glared at him. “It is not even worth considering. Do you truly understand what you are suggesting?”

“There’s no other way is there?”

“There is. We can just avoid an engagement with her altogether,” RyuZU said, her cold gaze below freezing. “I shall be blunt. Compared to exposing Master Naoto to danger, AnchoR being enslaved is a trivial matter.

Even if Tokyo collapses and several hundred million members of the esteemed human race fall to the bottom of the planet because of it, I do not care—”

Indeed, this was the one line that RyuZU would absolutely not cross...

“—gh” RyuZU kicked off the ground, flying into the air. Hooking onto a pipe on the ceiling with her scythes, she used it as leverage to swing her body. With that maneuver, she narrowly escaped destruction from AnchoR’s claws yet again.

Glancing behind herself, RyuZU saw her little sister continuing to rush at her without a single moment’s pause. With all the heat she had stored up, AnchoR’s body was distorting the spacetime around it just by existing. An ominous shimmer was enveloping the child’s body as if she were on fire.

RyuZU twisted her body and kicked off against the ceiling. She launched herself, and using both her scythes and feet, remained elegantly airborne by vaulting continuously through the sealed space of her imaginary time.

She was trying to slip past AnchoR with a maneuver resembling the trajectory of a pinball, however, AnchoR didn’t move. The shape of her cube changed in non-Euclidean geometry.

“——?!” A large-scale spatial distortion unfolded, its boundaries assaulting RyuZU. One of her scythes was caught and crumpled like scrap paper, the force of which, caused RyuZU’s body to jolt off course as she lost her balance and was thrown by the shockwave.

Just before she hit the wall, RyuZU cut off her broken scythe with her remaining one. If it couldn’t fulfill its function anymore, it was nothing but a burden. Regaining her freedom of movement, RyuZU landed perpendicular against the wall—and immediately reversed her trajectory rebounding off of it with a leap.

That instant, the wall she had kicked off of disintegrated in a blast.

—She recalled.

“Even if I were to agree to such a ridiculous plan, pardon my bluntness Master Naoto, nothing would be resolved by someone as measly as you laying down your life. A human body would not even serve as an anthill before AnchoR’s power.” RyuZU cast her eyes downward asking in a weak voice, “Master Naoto, do you think that it is fine for you to die?”

“Hm? Why do you say that?” Naoto replied, jauntily laughing. “You’ve got it all wrong, RyuZU. I’ll risk my life, but I haven’t even the slightest intention of dying. Nor do I have any intention of sacrificing you, and of course, I won’t be giving up on AnchoR-chan either.”

Casting her golden eyes downward, RyuZU sighed. She shook her head. “That is an impossible luxury. Frankly, it would be a mad endeavor.”

“Well, that might be true. But for some reason, I don’t get the feeling that we’re going to fail at all.” Winking one ashen eye, Naoto continued, “Yeah—I’m not gonna die and AnchoR-chan’s not gonna kill me, either. I believe that you’ll be able to pull it off for us, RyuZU. Besides—”

She had lost one of her weapons.

That meant that her options had become significantly more limited. The number of times she could attack in a set amount of time, her methods of evasion, and the maximum permissible damage she could bear—in other words, her very chances of survival had been reduced.

Even so. “There—is no problem.” RyuZU turned her timepiece, her crimson eyes burning.

Quickly. Swiftly. Rapidly. —And more, deftly!

She would master herself. She would command time and space. She would continue to maintain the initiative and control the battlefield. RyuZU understood that she was capable of this, that she could win if she continued to see it through.

She had lost one of her weapons due to a large-scale spatial interference, but in exchange, she had gained some distance between herself and AnchoR. The distance she had gained was a paltry something that could be covered by AnchoR in less than a second, even in imaginary time, but—even so, it was an opportunity.

Keeping her eyes on AnchoR, RyuZU leapt over her causing AnchoR to turn around and give chase in hot pursuit.

There was no point in considering their difference in abilities and strength. Her own master, Naoto, had said that she could do it. Naoto believed in her abilities, so RyuZU would believe in them too. And, more than anyone else, RyuZU herself—believed in her own little sister.

—Her master had said this: “After all—AnchoR-chan can’t kill humans, right?”

RyuZU didn’t refute those words. She simply asked, her expression unchanging, “...You do realize that that child is being controlled right now?”

“But she’s desperately resisting.” Naoto looked into RyuZU’s eyes as he asserted unwaveringly, “As proof of that, AnchoR-chan didn’t attack me or Marie in Mie. She only targeted you and old man Halter the whole time.”

“It could simply be that she had chosen her targets by their threat level.”

“That could be true,” Naoto readily admitted, but he immediately shook his head after. “But, I don’t think that’s the case. I’m sure of it. I’m okay with risking my life to save her and prove that I’m right.”

“Besides,” he continued, “that child asked her dear older sister to save her.”

“———”

“AnchoR-chan can’t kill humans. So, if you use me as a shield and create an opening that way, you’d be able to break her mask in that moment, right?”

So she was asked, but... RyuZU didn’t answer him. Thinking about things logically, she couldn’t accept Naoto’s plan. It was way, way too risky. However, she couldn’t bring herself to lie and say that it was impossible either, so she remained silent.

Naoto smiled gently as if he knew what she was thinking, “Yeah, in that case—this is an order, RyuZU. Save your little sister by making me your shield.”

—At this point, hesitating would be pointless.

She determined the proper timing by first eyeballing the distance between herself and the one in front of her, then the distance between herself and the one fiercely chasing after her from behind. AnchoR looked just like a small meteor as she charged towards RyuZU while distorting the spacetime around her.

“AnchoR.”

RyuZU called out her little sister’s name.

“I believe in you.”

She couldn’t see her little sister’s face through the mask covering it, but just the same, AnchoR was closing in on RyuZU—her body having become an avatar of destruction.

RyuZU finished her calculations. She could picture the maneuver in her mind. She smiled gently and lowered her speed ever so slightly. Just by doing that, RyuZU entered AnchoR’s attack range. AnchoR raised her right hand along with its massive claws. A blow that would crush everything in its way came at RyuZU.

Immediately after—RyuZU jumped straight up. She wouldn’t be able to evade the attack like this. Having done so at this timing with only this amount of distance between them, AnchoR’s strike would smash her body into pieces while she was stuck in midair.

However—that was only if AnchoR accelerated.

The instant RyuZU had jumped and AnchoR saw what was before her, she flinched. AnchoR abruptly decelerated. Like the core of a nuclear reactor whose fire had been extinguished after running out of fuel, she lost the massive amount of heat she possessed that warped even spacetime.

In other words—she had entered into a completely frozen state inside imaginary time.

RyuZU lifted the ends of her lips bewitchingly. “—You did well.” She dispatched her scythe along with those words of praise. Its single black edge turned into countless flashes as it brushed past AnchoR’s mask again and again. She halted the turning of its gears, severed its wires, and thoroughly dismantled it down to its very last screw.

Finally, she brushed aside the massive claws that had been hovering over the blonde girl’s head while whispering, “Rest for a little while. Master Naoto will get to repairing you right away.”

—RyuZU returned to normal time.

Immediately after, AnchoR’s body was blown back by the crushing force of the explosive energy.

●

Naoto and Marie were unable to tell what had happened in imaginary time.

As such, the only things they could perceive were a thunderous roar, a burst of wind, a shockwave, and some marks of the battle left behind here and there between the two Initial-Y sisters in the parking lot.

Additionally, it appeared that RyuZU was falling asleep and AnchoR had somehow become tattered from being blown away.

It had all happened instantly, all at once.

Seeing the body of the young automaton girl slam forcefully against the wall, Naoto cried out, “—?! AnchoR-chan!!” He rushed to her side in a hurry and held her up. She wasn’t moving at all.

AnchoR’s condition was, frankly, an awful sight to behold. She had returned to her original white appearance—an angel instead of a devil. However, it was clear even at a glance that her body had been immensely damaged. It looked like either a dump truck had hit her, or she had somehow found her way under a gigantic hammer.

In reality, the explosion had come from within herself due to the feedback of her abruptly halting her energy output. It was the same principle as forcefully stopping an engine that was accelerating limitlessly. With no means of release, the energy that was great enough to wrench open pockets of imaginary time bared its fangs against AnchoR herself.

“Ah... H-Her inner parts are still moving at least... Thank goodness,” Naoto sighed in relief. After sounding out AnchoR’s condition by straining his ears, he knew that her inner mechanisms were still functioning properly.

Marie nodded. “In that case, wind RyuZU’s spring for now. While you take care of that, I’ll see to AnchoR’s emergency repairs.”

“R, Right. I’m counting on you, Marie...!”

After that, Marie took on the task of repairing AnchoR until RyuZU rebooted. But even if the spirit was willing, there still wasn’t much she could do. Marie simply did a quick inspection of AnchoR’s whole body and disengaged any mechanisms that were continuing to burden her. Truly fixing her up would require the equipment of a workshop and Naoto’s ears.

After finishing AnchoR’s first-aid treatment, Marie let out a soft sigh, “...But really, to think that this plan would really succeed. To be honest, I couldn’t believe it when RyuZU agreed to using you as her shield, but...” There’s no way that that RyuZU would approve of exposing Naoto danger, Marie had thought, and indeed, that should have been the case.

While a normal automaton naturally wouldn’t be able to defy its master’s orders, that sort of common sense didn’t apply to RyuZU. If she deemed it necessary, she could ignore Naoto’s orders. Even so, this was reality.

“...That is because I believe in Master Naoto wholeheartedly,” a cool voice said from behind her. Marie turned around to see RyuZU started up, her spring rewound. “Master Naoto, a person who exceeds the standards of mankind in various ways—said that he believes in me. In that case, I have a duty to repay his faith. Similarly, if Master Naoto says that he believes in AnchoR, then I must believe in her as well.”

And, judging by the results, Naoto’s plan was a great success. AnchoR was in terrible condition, but she could be repaired. They had overcome a match that they absolutely shouldn’t have been able to win and accomplished their goal. It was more than enough of an achievement.

Naoto had believed in RyuZU and AnchoR, while RyuZU had believed in Naoto who believed in her. RyuZU and AnchoR had risked their lives to answer his faith. Marie genuinely thought that that fact was beautiful.

“...Yes, you two have a wonderful relationship, don’t you? Really, I see both of you in a whole new light now.”

“I suppose I am thankful to you for accompanying us, Mistress Marie. Indeed, while it goes without saying that I believe in Master Naoto, a pragmatic concern still daunted me, so it was necessary for me to procure some insurance.”

“...Hm? Aren’t you putting it rather strangely?” Clueless that she had been just a few centimeters away from death in imaginary time, Marie tilted her head slightly.

Just then, Naoto, who had taken off his headphones, let out a small voice, “Oh...?”

“What’s wrong? Did you hear something?”

“Well, I just heard a tremendous sound from below... It appears that the fight between Tokyo and Mie has concluded as well. The enormous weapon has stopped making any sounds.”

“Well, that’s good news. Looks like it was worth raising hell,” Marie said as she stood up. “Now then, how about a change in scenery? Let’s get AnchoR to a workshop quickly and fix her up.”

●

—I feel really sleepy...

The girl had been walking inside sweet, white fog. Or swimming, perhaps. She might have even been flying. Everything felt ambiguous, fluid, haphazard, vague—but even so, there was no mistaking the glittering light floating in front of her eyes, the warmth she felt inside her heart.

—I wonder what this feeling is.

I’ve felt something like this before, sometime, somewhere...

Thinking to herself, she quickly came up with the answer. It was simple...

—Ah, it was when I was born.

I felt like this when I was born in that very warm, pure white room that was full of wonders.

There were several people there, I remember that they would tell me very fun stories.

—But, it’s strange.

I can’t remember the details of our conversation at all...

The stories they told me, they should have been lots of fun, and yet, why can’t I remember...?

The girl became immensely sad, even feeling like crying a little. Just then— She suddenly heard a voice that sounded nostalgic somehow.

“—I’m telling you, that’s just how it is.”

“Don’t mess with me!! First an imaginary mechanism and now a perpetual one?! How am I supposed to fix that—are they picking a fight with the universe?!”

“Ugh god, I’m saying that you don’t have to fix that! There’s a zero-friction escapement inside her, right? It’s fine if you only fix up the gears that are meshed against that!

“How can gears mesh against something with zero friction? Can you describe that in words that a human could understand?!”

—Their voices sounded nostalgic, yet they were foreign to her. Still, the girl became a little happy as her head began to feel warm. At the same time, she felt a dense lump of energy small enough to be scooped up by a spoon and eaten ooze out from the depths of her heart as something locked into place inside her.

“Argh! Fine, I’ll fix her then, so lend me your screwdrivers!”

“Hah?! W, What’s up with your hands? They’re totally shaking! The way you’re holding the screwdriver is crazy, hey, do you want to break her or something?!”

“It’s because you’re taking your sweet time that I’m doing this, you know?!”

“That’s not— Y, You... Fine! Then give me some proper instructions on what I should tamper with and how, since I’m going to be doing exactly as you say.”

“I’ve been telling you that there are three gears to the right of the 40,325,831th resonance-linked circuit haven’t I?!”

“Where are you counting from to get that kinda number?! If you don’t cut it out I’m really going to hang you!!”

—Really, how nostalgic. As the energy that seeped out of her heart diffused throughout her entire body, bit by bit, what had felt vague and murky began to take form. The first thing she managed to recall was her own name, AnchoR. Indeed, she would recall this if nothing else. It was the name she had received while everyone was celebrating that she had been born.

It was a precious name—with the meaning of a precious vow.

“In the first place! What’s up with this cryptic incomprehensible unidentifiable mechanism?!”

“In that case, allow me to explain it in a way that Mistress Marie’s regrettable brain can understand.”

AnchoR batted her eyes. I know this voice. There’s no mistaking it. It’s a familiar voice that I can clearly recall—the voice of someone I truly, truly love. It’s older sister’s voice.

“AnchoR’s inherent ability is Perpetual Gear. In other words, she uses the energy from her self-winding spring as her driving force without expending any of it. All of that energy is converted into heat and stored inside this cube.

“So, her spatial manipulation and the storage as well as the summoning of her armaments are all just faculties of her ability to create and utilize infinite heat.

“The function of her main body is simply to ‘operate perpetually.’

“Do you understand now?”

“Like I can understand that! Would you be so kind as to explain the principle behind it?!”

“...Master Naoto, Mistress Marie’s feeblemindedness has exceeded my expectations. Please, if you could give it a try.”

“—So basically, such a gear exists.”

“Like I’d accept an explanation like that———————-!!”

—“Hehe,” AnchoR giggled. Like thick stage curtains being opened up to begin a play, the fog inside her mind cleared. She became aware that she was no longer in a dream.

—Still, I remember...! Even if it was a dream, my heart clearly remembers! It was also just like this when I was born...!

While thinking of such things, AnchoR opened her eyes. Three faces were there to greet her. One was a face AnchoR knew well. Someone who she remembered had always been smiling, but whose face was currently reflecting her concern—AnchoR’s eldest sister, RyuZU.

And as for the other two...

“Good morning, AnchoR-chan. Do you feel alright?”

“—She should feel fine. Probably. Most likely.”

“That’s a rather timid remark for a self-proclaimed genius, don’t you think? Well, the way you honestly admitted that AnchoR’s mechanisms were too much for you to handle is commendable at least.”

They were faces and voices she didn’t recognize. Even so, for some reason, the impression they gave her was the same as a very important memory. AnchoR began to open her mouth, but hesitated a little.

She was a bit troubled as to how she should address them.

—Ahh. She immediately came up with the answer. She knew the two most perfect, wonderful words that would fit them to a tee.

“—Father, Mother, Older Sister—good morning.”

...Why are they looking at me like that?

For some reason, the very moment she had uttered those words, the faces of the three who were peering at her stiffened.

●

The safehouse that Konrad and the other Meisters had prepared was at a location near Akihabara that boasted a comprehensive set of clocksmithing equipment. After bringing AnchoR there, it had taken about three hours for Naoto and Marie to repair her.

AnchoR had managed to successfully reboot; however, hearing the first words out of her mouth, Naoto, Marie, and RyuZU’s faces all became stuck in a cringe.

“...Oh AnchoR... so the repairs failed after all. Ahh, that is why I warned you over and over that we mustn’t let Mistress Marie touch her, Master Naoto! And yet...” RyuZU exaggeratedly lamented.

Hearing her, Marie angrily shouted, “Hey you shut up over there!! Do you have any idea how I feel right now?! Of all the things, I was just implicitly called this pervert’s wife, you know?! I’ve never been so humiliated before in my life!”

Meanwhile, Naoto was crouched down so that his eyes were level with AnchoR’s. “AnchoR-chan, could I have a word~? Listen caaaaaarefully okay sweetie~? This Mister’s tastes aren’t thaaat bad. It’s already been settled that RyuZU is my wife. See, so my tastes are good, right?”

However, AnchoR simply tilted her head with a blank expression. “Can’t I call you Father...?”

Naoto grinned widely as he shook his head. “Listen well, AnchoR-chan. That’s fine. Completely fine. Yeah! To be honest, I got chills hearing you call me ‘Father’!”

“Wow,” Marie groaned in disgust, her face twisted as if looking at a louse she’d accidentally crushed under foot.

Naoto paid her no mind. “But putting that aside, see, the problem is, if you call that girl over there mother as well, it implies the unthinkable—that we’re married. My wife is RyuZU, not her. Living out my life together with that walking animal-protein landmine over there would be a nightmare. It hurts me a little that you would think that, AnchoR-chan. Do you understand how I feel~?”

“—Hey, the one it’d be a nightmare for is me. Even if I were to play around with some boy in the future, I do have standards, you know?”

“......?” AnchoR tilted her head trying to find the error in what she had said. Shaking her head, she rushed over to Marie and hugged her tight.

Naoto cried out, “Huh?! That ain’t fair Marie! I’m so jealous, let me take your place this instant!”

“Shut up! Don’t come near me you pervert!” Marie cursed, knitting her brows.

Freed from her mask, AnchoR’s face was the very picture of an innocent little girl.

There’s no problem with her movements as far as I can tell at a glance. The reason her facial expressions seem limited and her diction seems lacking in comparison to her mental faculties is probably just a factor of the personality she was programmed with.

However, how emotionally attached she is to Naoto and me despite not having completed her Master Confirmation is strange. It would be odd enough for an automaton to have the concept of having parents much less for the imprinting process to cast her in the role of a child. What kind of a joke is this?

Marie asked RyuZU, “What’s the meaning of this? Does she have a circuit that recognizes the people who repaired her as her parents or something? It might be a different story for a cheap automaton, but for an Initial-Y Series to have such a crude Master Confirmation? Seriously?”

RyuZU frowned. “...No, this has nothing to do with her Master Confirmation. It appears that she is confusing her memories... Do you understand, AnchoR? Calling Master Naoto your father is enough. That thing over there is nothing but an extra.”

“Hey, watch it.”

Ignoring Marie’s protest, RyuZU emphasized, doing her best to make AnchoR understand, “She is one of the tools, so to speak, that Master Naoto used to repair you. You understand, right?”

—However, AnchoR tilted her head while continuing to cling to Marie, “......Can’t I?”

“~~~~gh! You can! If you want to call her that, we don’t mind at all, AnchoR-chan! Yeah! Let’s bear with this much, alright? What do ya say, Mom!” Naoto said as he tried to bring AnchoR and Marie into a group hug.

“Gyahhhhhhhh?! Don’t spew out such nasty things you pervert!”

“Whahgeuh?!” Naoto hit the floor. Marie had brought her leg all the way back and punted him mercilessly.

As Naoto writhed on the floor, RyuZU addressed him, “Master Naoto, I advise that you do not spoil AnchoR too much. Be strict with her when appropriate, alright?”

“This is weird after all! Can’t she be fixed somehow?!” Marie cried out in exasperation. She was grabbing AnchoR’s shoulders as she tried to pry the girl off of her. AnchoR looked up at Marie’s face from below. “Mother...?”

“I’m telling you that I’m not your Mo...” Marie faltered.

“......” She looked down at the innocent little girl gazing up at her. There wasn’t a clear expression on the girl’s face. There wasn’t, but...

“—”

...Ugh, she’s so cute.

“Wait, Marie, don’t let that distract you! Get it together.” She shook her head in a fluster, mentally refocusing. I’d be the same as that pervert if I accept this. What right would I have to live then? I can’t let such a farce be exposed.

Marie considered how she should respond before promptly saying, “In any case, let’s do her Master Confirmation first. It just might cure her of this bizarre imprinting.” If the confirmation process overwrites her current ego, then great. Or, even if that doesn’t happen, we might be able to have her stop calling me mother anyway if Naoto orders it as her master.

“......I suppose. We cannot postpone it indefinitely after all.” RyuZU nodded to Marie’s proposal. She then turned to face the girl who was still clinging to Marie, calling her name kindly. “AnchoR.”

“...? What, Big Sister?”

“Allow me to confirm: No one is currently registered as your master, yes?”

“Yeah,” AnchoR nodded.

“Good girl. Well then, AnchoR, I have a proposal for you—”

RyuZU absentmindedly lifted Naoto up by his collar, strangling him. Paying no mind to his choking “gueh,” RyuZU thrust his face before AnchoR. “Allow me to introduce him. This is Master Naoto Miura. He is my current master. As of right now, do you have any interest in registering this person as your master?”

AnchoR cocked her head to the side, her expression blank. Peering into Naoto’s pained face, she asked, “—Does Father want to be my master?”

“Oh—? Ooh, yea yea! Yes yes, I super want to be your master!” Naoto affirmed as he raised both hands into the air in an excited appeal for his candidacy.

“—Okay, I understand,” AnchoR nodded, leaving Marie’s side.

Just then, all sense of will was thoroughly effaced from AnchoR’s eyes; though she was rather expressionless to begin with, the change was clearly palpable. Her red eyes had lost their radiance, becoming like dark glass beads. She looked at Naoto.

“...?!” Shocked, Naoto choked on air.

Without showing any reaction, AnchoR quietly opened her mouth. “Verifying qualifications for the Master Confirmation—Question: Who am I?” A completely bland, mechanical voice, like that of an automatic voice response system asked.

Naoto and Marie inadvertently looked towards RyuZU. Acknowledging their glances, RyuZU nodded. “This is AnchoR’s formal Master Confirmation process. If you can give the correct answer to this question, then you will be acknowledged as her formal master—though, no one has managed to do so up to now.”

“Could it be that you know the answer, RyuZU?” Marie asked.

“Yes, I do.” RyuZU nodded, her expression unchanging, “However, there would be no meaning in it if Master Naoto receives the answer from me. To borrow your own word from earlier, her Master Confirmation is not so ‘crude’ as to permit cheating.”

“......”

“Furthermore, though this should be obvious, there are no retries allowed. Everyone, regardless of who they are, only has the right to one try—if they answer incorrectly in their first attempt, then it would be useless even if they say the correct answer afterwards. The process cannot be initiated for them again.”

“...I see.” Marie nodded, “That’s why they used that mask, eh.”

She had wondered why they had used such a roundabout method of a device to fool AnchoR’s Master Confirmation instead of just registering her, but now she knew.

“So they couldn’t successfully complete her Master Confirmation. Well, seeing the precedent you set, RyuZU, it’s questionable whether AnchoR would have obeyed their orders unconditionally, even if they were able to register as her master; the same holds true for Naoto, but...” It’s not like we can just leave her on her own. Marie turned towards Naoto. “We can’t afford to get this question wrong, Naoto. Let’s think about this carefully before we—”

However, before Marie could warn him, Naoto answered promptly, looking straight into AnchoR’s eyes, “—AnchoR-chan is a cute girl, right? That’s just common sense.”

“Would you listen to what I’m saying?!” Marie cried out in exasperation.

Naoto snorted, “What are you going on about? This isn’t a trick question. AnchoR-chan is a pretty little loli-girl. What else is there to it? Ah, maybe the little sister vibe?”

...This guy’s hopeless. If I don’t do something about him soon... Marie looked up towards the ceiling. The stakes couldn’t be higher and the dumbass decides to think with his dick... “...No, calm down, Marie. Only Naoto failed. I haven’t answered yet, so there should still be a chance...” Marie mumbled to herself while holding her head in her hands.

It was around when Marie was agonizing over what she should do when...

“—Confirmed.”

With those dispassionate words, the light returned to AnchoR’s eyes.

“...Hah?” Marie’s eyes widened, her mouth agape.

“Hell yeah!” Naoto pumped his fist.

Next to him, RyuZU nodded contentedly. “I am relieved that you arrived at the right answer without issue. As expected of Master Naoto. So quickly too, well done.”

“Wait, what?! What do you mean that’s the right answer?!”

“What do I mean? It is just as you saw yourself. Master Naoto’s answer was precisely the programmed password for AnchoR’s Master Confirmation. That is all there is to it.”

...No no no. That’s impossible. Marie waved her hand dismissively while covering her forehead with the other. “Shouldn’t the answer to such a question normally be something like the concept behind her design or a message ‘Y’ left behind?!” Is it really okay for the correct answer to a question that nobody could answer for countless years to be the filth that this pervert vomited out on an impulse...?

However, RyuZU sneered at Marie’s words. “My, is that all a mediocre pseudointellectual like yourself can come up with? The truth tends to be simple. Occam’s razor—only the wise can understand that.”

“Even so, for the answer to be... ‘a girl’?”

“AnchoR is the only one among us who was clearly designed as a weapon. Infinite violence that operates perpetually—That is AnchoR’s concept, yes, but do you seriously think curs who give such an answer should become her master?”

“That’s...”

As Marie faltered, RyuZU continued with a smile, “If I may be so bold, in defining AnchoR as a girl, Master Naoto did in fact pick up on ‘Y’’s message. If one is to attain infinite force, one must not have the intention of exercising it.”

She paused for a breath.

“An anchor is something that holds warships at bay. If one can pick up on why ‘Y’ gave her this name, then the answer to the confirmation question is not so unreasonable, no?”

Marie was completely lost for words. Looking back towards Naoto, she asked somewhat suspiciously, “Did you give that answer after thinking so far ahead, Naoto?”

“Eh? No, not really?” Naoto answered blankly.

—I figured as much.

As Marie glared at him with half-closed eyes, Naoto held up his hands in surrender. “As you can see, AnchoR-chan is a frighteningly aesthetic, extremely sensual, agonizingly adorable automaton, right? So what if she has some rather showy armaments? She’s no different from RyuZU on that point, no?” Naoto babbled on, right in his element.

“—How fearless of you to cheat on me with my little sister, Master Naoto,” a cold voice from behind him called out.

“Huh— Ah, no, that’s not it?! Of course you’re my one and only wife, RyuZU, but! This and that aren’t related—right, I meant what I said as a father!”

The radiance disappeared from RyuZU’s eyes. “To lust after your own daughter... I see that you are in the terminal stage of your disease...”

“...Ah, is that jealousy I sense? Miss RyuZU is seriously cute—” RyuZU’s blow floored Naoto.

Just then, AnchoR, who had remained silent until now, spoke, “—Your orders, please.”

“......?” Naoto got up abruptly, his face perplexed.

Receiving his gaze, AnchoR repeated, “—Your orders, please.”

“AnchoR-chan?”

“—Yes, I am the Fourth of the Initial-Y Series, AnchoR, the One Who Destroys. I recognize you as my master, Naoto Miura. Your orders, please.” Though not to the point of sounding like an automated reply system, her voice still sounded cut and dry like a machine. Her expressionless face and voice hadn’t changed from earlier, but she didn’t feel at all like a little girl.

Naoto turned around in a fluster, “RyuZU! AnchoR-chan seems strange! Could she be bugging out?!”

“So that answer was wrong after all...” Marie muttered.

“Hahh, are you kidding me?! How else could that question be answered!”

“No—AnchoR is operating normally, Master Naoto,”

Naoto turned around, “—What’s the matter with her then?”

“The answer is simple. AnchoR is denied free will once her Master Confirmation is complete.”

“———”

Naoto’s face lost its expression as he turned to face RyuZU. “What? Why...”

“I stated this earlier as well, but AnchoR was the only one of us designed as a weapon. If she had a will other than her master’s, she could not be considered a weapon. As such, she is programmed to cease self-determination once she acquires a master.”

“...Didn’t you just say that the reasoning behind the answer to her confirmation question is that her master shouldn’t be someone who intends to use her for violence? What’s up with that then?!”

“AnchoR was designed to entrust all of that to her master,” RyuZU replied dispassionately.

Marie cut in from the side, “Wait up. In that case, what status was AnchoR in when she hadn’t gone through her Master Confirmation yet?

“When she is without a master, she possesses free will so as to be able to find herself a suitable master who could manage her overwhelming strength. Though, she has a significant restriction put in place during that time period.”

“Which is?”

“She must not harm humans. That is all.”

“...I see,” Marie nodded.

When AnchoR doesn’t have a master, her safety is her own free will. Once she finds a suitable master, she functions purely as a weapon.

That is how she was programmed.

“...Well, considering that common sense can’t be applied to an automaton with free will to begin with, I guess one could say that her system is well thought out...”

“—Well thought out? Are you freaking kidding me?! Just what part of such a system is well thought out!! I didn’t save AnchoR-chan because I wanted a weapon! RyuZU, why didn’t you tell me if you knew this would happen!”

“...Master Naoto,” RyuZU replied meekly, her eyes downcast. “I had expected that you would become angry. However, surely you have not forgotten, have you? AnchoR and I are automata.”

“......”

“I understand that you treasure us, out of your own credences, but—we are not human. We possess inherent abilities in line with our design concepts and are charged with an eternal duty. Acquiring a master and putting our abilities to good use are how we derive meaning from having been born.”

“But, in that case, RyuZU...!”

“I was born as YourSlave. It is only natural that the way to use me would be different from AnchoR, who was born as the One Who Destroys.”

For a moment, Naoto nearly shouted something... but he changed his mind. He simply bit his lip as if enduring something and lowered his gaze, muttering, “Even so, how am I supposed to accept this?”

“I trust you to treat AnchoR kindly, Master Naoto.”

“......” Naoto didn’t reply. He clenched his fists while looking downward.

Seeing how crestfallen he was, Marie called out timidly, “Naoto...?”

“——I don’t like this.”

“Huh?”

Naoto raised his head. Furrowing his brows, he glared at RyuZU, then Marie, then AnchoR in turn. “...I don’t like this one bit. This isn’t what I wanted. A girl happens to be an automaton so she doesn’t need her own will? That really pisses me off! In the first place, if I’m her master and my orders are absolute, then she should obey my orders god damn it!”

RyuZU replied promptly, “As she is right now, she will obey your will a hundred percent, Master Naoto.”

“That’s not what I mean! It is, but it isn’t! Argh, god! In any case, I won’t acknowledge being AnchoR-chan’s father like this.”

Marie spoke up, amazed at his behavior. “Calm down a little. You’re all over the place you know?”

“Shut it, stuuupid.” Naoto turned to face AnchoR again. Staring right into her red eyes, he called out her name, “AnchoR-chan.”

The weapon replied dispassionately, “Yes— Your orders, please.”

“What do you want to do?”

For a moment, the weapon froze, then answered, “—Error. The content of the order is unclear. Requesting further details.”

“Tell me what you yourself want to do, AnchoR-chan.”

“Yes—I would like to serve adequately as AnchoR, the One Who Destroys,” the weapon answered clearly.

From behind, RyuZU said gently, “Master Naoto, I know I am repeating myself, but AnchoR does not have her own will right now.”

“She does,” Naoto asserted curtly.

RyuZU asked softly, “What makes you think that?”

“If AnchoR-chan didn’t have her own will, she would have killed me. When that mask was manipulating her, she was constantly resisting it.”

The strange noise that he had heard from AnchoR the whole time when she was being controlled had not simply been her operating sound—

It was the proof that AnchoR had her own will.

Naoto remembered that voice, that cry of lament, well.

That was the grounds for his claim.

Staring straight at the girl in front of him, Naoto continued, “That was your ‘mission’ just now, right, AnchoR-chan?”

“Yes.”

“Aside from that, what are some things you like or want to do?”

“Yes— Confirming: Is that a request for a disclosure of information regarding AnchoR’s own will?”

“Right! What does AnchoR-chan wish for?”

“Yes— Answering: Currently, this automaton’s free will has been locked.”

“Okay, then let’s give you an order. Remove that lock, ‘kay?”

The weapon took a while to respond to his words, “...Yes— Confirming: Is that an order for me to act by my own will?”

“In other words, I’m entrusting you to your own will, AnchoR-chan.”

“Yes— Is that an order to remove all my limiters?”

“Well, I think so?”

“Should I understand you to mean that I am given permission to voice my own opinion by way of me disengaging my emotional suppression circuit and unlocking my routine sequence of self-determination?”

“Yeah yeah! That’s exactly right! I authorize all of that, all of it!!”

“——”

“Do you understand? You can do whatever you want. With your own will, AnchoR-chan!”

—Immediately after, Naoto’s ears heard the sound of countless gears within AnchoR rearranging themselves. That was the signal that the rules that had been imposed on her were changing. It was the sound of the fate that had originally been forced upon her being shattered. Before Naoto’s eyes, AnchoR was trembling. A voice escaped from her quivering lips. “...Anything I want?”

“Of course,” Naoto answered immediately.

“...Really?”

“Without a doubt,” Naoto asserted flatly.

Being told that, AnchoR’s eyes fluttered about. She appeared flustered and afraid, seemingly troubled over whether she should really voice her desire. Belying her face that was expressionless as a whole, only the wavering of her eyes and voice expressed her anxiety as she said, “...I want... permission...”

“Hm?”

“...I want... permission to cry.”

“That’s...” Marie doubted her ears. Permission to cry—what’s going on here?

However, Naoto answered her immediately with a nod. He gave her the permission while slowly stroking her head. “You can cry.”

AnchoR’s face crumpled right up. Large teardrops formed at the corners of her red eyes and immediately began to fall. “...I want... more permissions.”

“Yeah?”

“Can I touch you...?”

“Sure.” Naoto nodded, upon which AnchoR took a step closer to him and felt his chest gingerly.

She continued, “Can I apologize...?”

“You don’t have anything to apologize for, but if you want, yeah.”

Upon receiving permission, AnchoR immediately buried her face in Naoto’s chest as she sobbed. Sniffling, she repeated, “I’m sorry,” over and over again. Her voice was soft at first, but before long, it was a reverberant wail.

Seeing her, Marie whispered, “Hey RyuZU.”

“What is it, Mistress Marie?”

“I’m going to ask, just to be sure: Was this turn of events part of your calculations?” Marie was suspiciously peering into RyuZU’s eyes.

Though Marie’s gaze was like that of an inquisitor, RyuZU smiled as gently as usual. “I said so just a little while back, did I not? That I trust that Master Naoto will treat AnchoR kindly.”

Marie sighed as she grandly dropped her shoulders. Crossing her arms, she stared at RyuZU incredulously. “RyuZU, you’ve got a nasty personality.”

Unexpectedly, RyuZU didn’t refute her statement.

“Yes, I imagine that it would naturally appear that way to someone with a regrettable brain like yourself, Mistress Marie, but,” RyuZU continued with a sunny smile, “I am YourSlave. It would not be appropriate for me to say too much or take the lead. I simply believed that Master Naoto would arrive at the truth without the help of a mere servant like myself.”

—That was the truth. Seeing Naoto meet her expectations—RyuZU smiled with pride.

Seemingly convinced, Marie sighed, “Could I ask one more question?”

“What is it?”

“I’ve always been wondering—on what grounds did you determine Naoto to be worthy of being your master?”

RyuZU raised her eyebrows, perplexed. “—Dear me, I thought I had already informed you plenty of times, but—no, excuse me. I do not mean that I expected anything from your memory, which is as deficient as your breasts, but...”

“———”

While Marie silently fumed, RyuZU continued, “It is because Master Naoto is the most outstanding individual in the pathetic, even pitiful bunch known as humanity.” She paused for a breath, then smiled. “—It is because he made me believe that where he is going is where I should follow.”

AnchoR asked, her words broken apart by sobs, “...Is it okay—if I don’t break anything anymore? Is it okay—if I don’t kill anyone anymore?”

“Yeah. There’s no need for any of that!” Tightly embracing the trembling girl, Naoto nodded firmly.

Just then, the cube dangling by AnchoR’s chest twisted, letting out a groan. At the same time, a single giant ripple surfaced in the area. It was a hole that led to an “armory” that didn’t exist anywhere in this universe. Like before when AnchoR had pulled out her armaments, something was slowly revealed, upon which it tumbled down onto the workshop floor.