Interlude / 06 : 05 / Reviver

Let there be no doubt about it.

—The universe was askew from the very beginning.

We were all born into this world before any one of us could even stand. While wailing desperately and floundering in our frail bodies, fearing both the unknown and the threats in front of us, we asserted our existence and managed to survive by racking our meager brains...

While all the while wondering,

Where did we come from—

—And where are we going?

In our process, we invented god out of anxious fear. We forged philosophy as a means to guide pure reason. We discovered mathematics as a tool to predict things. Timidly, fearfully, we began to write our own history.

...While ending the world several times over along the way.

The Earth, which had once been flat, became a sphere. We, who had once been at the center of the universe, were now a satellite to the sun. Upon mastering the laws of gravity, humanity took to the skies. Eventually, we used our humble reason to ascertain the five fundamental forces and managed to lay our hands on the throne of Truth at last.

By applying knowledge, language, and violence, by flooding the world with blood and tears—we repeated the cycle of joy, anger, and sadness—and through hurting an unfathomable number of people, leaving them writhing in desperation...

We recreated our world time and time again.

We rewrote our history time and time again. And by doing so, we managed to prolong the duration of humanity’s existence time and time again.

However—in the end it was all a futile effort.

That day, that hour, that moment, everything vanished along with our ephemeral dreams. On that day, the Earth was destroyed, the world came to an end, and the universe was reconstructed differently. And so—humanity was taught a lesson. Our legacy had been erased. The path we had chosen was a foolish mistake; all our worries and suffering along the way had been for nothing. The knowledge that we had desperately accumulated was nothing but worthless trash.

Humanity, which had been at Truth’s doorstep, was struck right back to its infancy. The fact that the universe was the model garden of a mad god was proven, and in its design, we were nothing but babbling babes.

However—we must ask ourselves: If this world in which everything is vague, uncertain, absurd, and filled with contradictions is just the whim of a god... Then does this world in which we live—really exist at all?

A thousand years later...

●

High in the skies above Akihabara Grid were twenty planes tearing through the dawning light. With their whirring rotators and loudly clanking gears, they seemed like predatory birds made of steel. The pilots of these seventh-generation tactical fighters were the seventh aerial squadron of Tokyo’s military.

—Also known as the Sakamuro Squad.

They were the most powerful aerial force that Tokyo’s military possessed. These twenty fighters had launched from base in Yokosuka Grid and were headed straight for Akihabara.

They had only one objective.

“—Destroy the enormous unknown weapon that appeared in Akihabara Grid.”

“Eat shit and die.” From inside an aircraft tearing through the morning at a supersonic speed, Captain Sakamuro spat that out upon hearing their orders through transmission.

He had been rudely awoken past midnight and ordered on standby. Then, when the order to sortie had *finally* come at dawn—he suddenly found out they were to take down an enormous unknown weapon, just like that. “Hey AWACS. Want me to stick a cruise missile up your ass to wake you up?” he threatened into his mic half-seriously. The captain was infamous for his short temper to begin with.

“Watch your mouth, captain. That was an official order.”

“I’ll make you shit yourself.”

“I’ll only say this once more, captain. This is an official order. The seventh aerial squad is to promptly destroy the enormous unknown weapon—which we’re tentatively calling ‘Yatsukahagi’—that appeared in Akihabara Grid.”

“Hah—” Captain Sakamuro snorted. “Are you stupid? You’ve gotta be. Only an idiot would take me as a fool.”

“Captain!”

“Hey stupid, listen up. I don’t know what this Yatsukahagi is, but you’re telling me that an enormous weapon suddenly surfaced right in the middle of Tokyo out of nowhere? What was our security force doing?! Jerking off while falling asleep on the job?!”

“The security force has already been decimated.”

Upon hearing that, Sakamuro sank into silence. Next, visual data was sent to all pilots through the transmission line. What they saw—was the image of an enormous mechanical spider big enough to squash buildings with its feet in the middle of an Akihabara that was engulfed in flames.

“Everyone, it’s as you can see. This is a very real threat. The destruction of Akihabara Grid would spell the end of Tokyo—which in turn would spell the end of Japan. Pilots, give your all for the nation!”

“......”

“Also, Captain Sakamuro— You’ll be court-martialed for your behavior after the operation. You’re excited, right?”

“—Hah, yeah. I’d be thrilled to go.”

If I can make it back alive, that is. Captain Sakamuro nearly yelled out those words in rage before barely managing to swallow them at the last second. The captain couldn’t afford to say such a thing in the resonant transmission where his subordinates could hear. Irked, Captain Sakamuro struck the canopy of his unit with his fist.

An enormous unknown weapon that appeared at the heart of the capital out of nowhere, huh—what a joke.

No one knew of this thing’s existence? If you expect anyone to believe that, then maybe try cleaning out your ears, because you’ve got shit where your brain’s supposed to be.

Someone knew—at the very least, the top brass did. Both what this thing is and its objective.

If that isn’t the case, then why the fancy name for an unidentified enemy object that can simply be called ‘the target.’ They came up with that gem pretty damn fast for a pack of numbnuts caught with their pants down...!

—It’s obvious. Captain Sakamuro grit his teeth so hard that it wouldn’t be surprising if some of them cracked. The target assaulted Akihabara Grid, and Tokyo’s security force intercepted it— And they failed. Was their failure a part of some plan? Or did they screw up somehow?— In any case...

(So in short, our job is to clean up after some bedshitter’s mess...!) Captain Sakamuro howled internally. It was just a hunch—however, it was an analysis that proved exceedingly accurate.

Tokyo’s security force is no joke. They aren’t a force that could be crushed so casually. They’re among the strongest of the forces to be reckoned with in the nation. That generous budget and high-level training isn’t for nothing.

And yet, as far as I could tell from that image earlier, they were annihilated—without even leaving a single scratch on the enemy at that.

(And so, at a loss, the politicians, the wretches that they are, decided to shove the responsibility onto the air force.)

—Their thinking was beyond childish. “Well, the security force couldn’t do the job, so let’s try throwing the air force at it next.” How simpleminded. If they really think that we can do what the security force couldn’t, then they’re beyond help.

The security force had multiple resonance cannons at their disposal.

In theory, a resonance cannon should be the strongest deployable anti-ground weapon—if even resonance cannons couldn’t scratch the target, then that would mean that the target either has armor that can withstand the cannon shells or some kind of mechanism to neutralize them.

Captain Sakamuro had no way of knowing what that mechanism could be—but there was one thing he *could* say, Even if I slam all of my unit’s cruise missiles into the target, the chance that they would have any effect is—

“Everyone, you’ll soon be arriving at the mission area—all units, prepare for battle!”

“......Roger,” Captain Sakamuro replied with a disgruntled sigh. —I’ll follow orders. That’s my duty as a soldier. However— According to the brass, the target’s armaments, number of cannons, and firing range are all unclear— In that case, Sakamuro sneered internally...

Adjusting the headset’s mic by his mouth, he announced to his troops: “Storm One to all units. Switch to Formation Delta. We’re going with a ‘burst and run.’”

He had chosen Formation Delta because it was a triangle formation, it was a measure to avoid the worst-case scenario of having all his units caught in the target’s line of fire at once.

“Blow your load from maximum range then skedaddle on out.” Hearing that order, the AWACS operator barked, “Captain?! You haven’t been given orders to use such a tactic. Don’t decide things by your—”

“—Tactic? If you’re gonna call, ‘destroy the mysterious enormous weapon’ a tactic, then how to execute that order is under my jurisdiction! Filthy armchair tacticians can go ahead and keep their mouths shut!!”

I’ll obey your damn orders. That’s my duty as a soldier. However—above all—I have the responsibility of not letting my subordinates die for nothing in a futile engagement. “All units, do you read me? Obey my orders. I’ll take responsibility for this.”

“Captain!” the AWACS operator yelled out in furious exasperation.

Ignoring the operator, the vice-captain of the squad replied, “Storm Two, roger. All units, switch to Formation Delta.”

“““Roger.””” With that cue, Sakamuro Squad switched to formation delta.

“Seventh aerial squad...! You bastards—” the AWACS operator began to roar through the transmission line, however, all of a sudden— His voice was cut off.

At the same time, the seventh aerial squad heard the din of the AWACS aircraft that had been flying above them exploding.

“W, What was that?! Don’t tell me—”

“Oy, you’ve gotta be kidding me... The target shot down AWACS?!”

Before trepidation could spread any further among the squad, Captain Sakamuro looked at his sonar—

Seeing the enormous response that came from way off in the distance, he clicked his tongue loudly before shouting harshly, “All units, adopt evasive maneuvers as you turn around and disperse! Ignite your afterburners and retreat at maximum speed —We’re in the enemy’s firing range!!”

“R, Roger—” Unable to conceal their disquiet, all squad members of the seventh obeyed their captain’s orders and turned around, tracing a wide arc. However, Captain Sakamuro couldn’t conceal his own alarm either.

(Shooting down AWACS first—? Cheeky bastards...)

—The enemy had shot down their AWACS, which had been flying at an altitude that was twenty thousand meters above them, from outside the range of their cruise missiles. It was self-evident what that meant. It was a brazen provocation, as if to say, “You’ve all been inside our firing range for a while now.”

Enduring the overwhelming strain of the G-force on his body, Captain Sakamuro turned his unit around like everyone else and ignited the fuel compressed by the rotors in the afterburner.

“—ngggh!” The shock of accelerating to his unit’s maximum speed—Mach 5—slammed him forcefully against his seat. He grit his teeth and endured the overwhelming pressure on his body. However, just then—he saw a unit that had done the same in front of him explode into pieces.

Seeing that, the valiant men of the seventh aerial squad peeled their eyes wide open. “Storm Three has been shot down! I repeat, Storm Three has been shot down!!”

“What— What the hell is this!! What was he shot w—” someone cried out in the transmission line—however, he was cut short. Something flashed by. As the units of his retreating squad blew up one after another, Sakamuro howled, “—How would I know, you wanker!”

They were being fired upon from a distance far greater than 18,000 meters—the maximum range of a cruise missile. Hitting our AWACS, an aircraft 20,000 meters above us, that can take evasive maneuvers at hypersonic speeds? For a single unit—no, even for several units working in conjunction, to have such absurd anti-air capabilities is—impossible.

However, the reality of the situation was that the units of his squad were being shot down one after another. Forget striking back, they couldn’t even evade the enemy’s attacks. They were being annihilated one-sidedly.

Just then, his instincts told him to do something inexplicable.

“—Dammit!!” Following his gut feeling without hesitation, Sakamuro released the limiter for the angle of the plane relative to the horizon and pushed the joystick all the way forward and took a nosedive.

The reason he had to release a limiter to do this was because Captain Sakamuro was engaging in something a pilot should never do—a forbidden maneuver. His vision stained red instantly as fierce “upward gravity” caused his blood to concentrate in his brain.

—A condition known as “redout.” Those who experience it may end up dead. However— “Ngh— ...ngggghh!!” Immediately after—the intense impact that scraped the back end of the unit proved his instinct right. He had managed to avoid the attack of unknown nature that came from behind him by a paper-thin margin.

The moment he processed that, the captain returned his unit to level—and immediately shouted through the fierce, throbbing headache assaulting him, “Fuck off!! I’m flying at five times the speed of sound here! —Why can’t I see it coming?!”

—An attack that came from behind as he was flying at Mach 5. Taking into consideration the *relative* speed between the two, from his frame of reference, an attack from behind that couldn’t be seen even at Mach 5?

It wasn’t a laser, nor was it a resonance cannon shell. If it had been one of those, there’s no way he would have been able to evade it. —There’s no doubt about it. This is artillery. It was abnormal and hard to believe. It was impossibly fast and accurate—a magic bullet.

An artillery shell that couldn’t be perceived even while moving at Mach 5—1,650 meters per second. Against something like that, the entire squad will be shot down before we can leave its firing range... damn it!

“Storm One to all units! Eject! Abandon your unit and bail out—right this second!!” Captain Sakamuro yelled into his mic.

“R—Roger!” the surviving squad members replied.

Captain Sakamuro waited to see them do as ordered before pulling the lever by his own feet. “...urggghhhh!!” As the canopy opened up, he was ejected with his seat.

—Because he had been flying at Mach 5, the still air that he ejected into hit him like a brick wall. Feeling like he really might lose consciousness this time, Captain Sakamuro twisted his face intensely as he stared across into the distance.

—Not at Akihabara Grid where the target was—but where the national diet building was—Kasumigaseki Grid. “You damn pigs! Just what kind of a monster did you bastards pick a fight with...!!”

Just then.

—Right on cue, as if it had been waiting for the seventh aerial squad the whole time...

Countless flashes of light arced through the dawning sky before landing in Akihabara Grid.

Seeing that, Captain Sakamuro sneered. —Ahh, so if both Tokyo’s security force and the air force are no good, then next up would be—what a simple-minded idea.

Those flashes of light had come from Tokyo’s defensive cannon tower—which sat atop the peak of Mt. Fuji and was armed with a tremendous number of ultra-long-range artillery batteries. It was the anti-ground, anti-air trump card of Tokyo whose main purpose was to protect the Pillar of Heaven in Tokyo.

What Captain Sakamuro felt as he took in the scenery surpassed hatred— He sneered, “Feeble-minded pigs... You *better* have your next excuse prepared already.” As he opened up his parachute in the midst of his fall, he got a hunch that felt more like a conviction...

—The countless falling stars lighting up the dawn sky in their descent toward Akihabara... most likely, even those—wouldn’t be enough.

............

......

●

—Successive weak vibrations ran through a dimly lit, narrow room.

The broad, low-ceilinged room had countless monitors affixed along the walls where a thick glass tube was strung around the perimeter of the multi-tiered flooring—inside, blue-white lightning would flash now and then.

There were around thirty people standing in this room wearing military uniforms without a single crease. All of them had their eyes focused on the monitors and gauges before them.

“Enemy signals have ceased, we’ve shot them all down... I’m also receiving confirmation that we’ve been hit by Tokyo’s defensive cannon tower—” one of them reported, upon which everyone gulped. “We’ve been hit eight times—but have suffered zero damage.”

The room filled with feverish enthusiasm. It felt like cheers might break out at any moment. Facing his subordinates, a large old man, the only one sitting, nodded. “—Good.”

“Phased array radar, radar lock, infrared sight, railgun, magnetic shields—all stable.”

“Remaining power at 12%. That’s still 2% over what we would need to finish recharging the railgun on schedule. Requesting permission to reduce the power being fed to the FCS by 30% to conserve energy.”

“Granted.” After giving that brief response, the old man—Gennai Hirayama sighed deeply. The young man standing beside him said in a slightly shrill voice, “What a magnificent showing, Your Excellency. To defeat the famous seventh aerial squad this easily...!”

“It was the obvious outcome,” Gennai replied briefly as he leaned back in his chair.

Really, the outcome of the engagement could not have been more obvious. Humanity had once wielded this power, the easiest form of energy to freely utilize in this universe. In current society, where everything has been replaced with gears, researching this technology was a crime in and of itself. It was electromagnetism, the scientific theory that united three of the five forces in the universe—the electric force, the magnetic force, and Coulomb’s force.

Before this weapon, which was the culmination of humanity’s lost knowledge of electromagnetism, all clockwork weapons were nothing but toys. Thirty years ago, Gennai had designed this weapon himself, convinced of that fact.

—The mobile composite electromagnetic assault weapon, Yatsukahagi. It was something that had its origins in a government project. As far as its name goes, the decision to keep its official name the same as its code name during development had been due to both Gennai’s sentimentality as well as his sense of sarcasm.

“Foreign countries, too, will be forced to acknowledge the validity of our research upon seeing this result,” an officer ventured.

“...I wonder. It’s nothing more than the obliteration of a single squad in the end,” Gennai muttered, before a different officer, also quite young, rejected Gennai’s misgivings. “Hardly! Annihilating Tokyo’s security force is an achievement that no country can ignore!”

“I agree, Your Excellency. I mean, even Tokyo’s defensive cannon tower couldn’t touch us!”

...True, Gennai thought. I knew that the resonance cannons of the security force wouldn’t work on us. After all, it’s impossible to induce cracking in magnetic plating via sympathetic vibration.

However—Tokyo’s defensive cannon tower is a traditional projectile weapon. It was Japan’s defensive trump card in the case of an enemy invasion reaching the capital—a battery of recoil-based semi-automatic cannons meant to exterminate any enemy.

Yes, their magnetic armor materialized through constantly coupling iron atoms was sturdy, but even so, on paper, it had been fifty-fifty whether their armor could’ve withstood the shelling from Tokyo’s defensive cannon tower—Gennai had won that gamble as well. And on top of it all, just a little while ago, they had obliterated a veteran aerial squad that was fairly well known, even abroad.

“At this point, there’s nothing in Tokyo’s military arsenal that can stop us!”

“Ahh... yes, you’re right.” Gennai nodded as he surveyed the faces in the control room without a smile. Everyone was lost in the moment, thrilled.

—I don’t care about that.

In the end, this is nothing but another case of “an eye for an eye.” We’re the same as the government— We’ve simply repeated something that humans have never ceased doing since antiquity.

Humanity never changes; it isn’t capable of changing.

However—

If that’s the case, then what about the one who remade our world, “Y”?

This planet continues to turn normally, properly, consistently—but also abnormally, improperly, and inconsistently at the same time.

Just what was the true identity of the one who created this ultimate contraption—the Clockwork Planet—with hands no different from yours or mine?

He tore down all the theory that humanity’s brightest had slowly managed to accumulate by dedicating an unfathomable amount of time to understanding the laws of nature. One day, out of nowhere, he shoved his incomprehensible, unbelievable truth right in the face of all humanity.

And the one who succeeded in that feat was a mere human—a humble clocksmith.

Don’t make me laugh! —Who would believe such a story. Who could accept it? In declaring his ideas to be the one and only truth in this great, wide universe, he demonstrated an arrogance that would put even the gods in the heavens to shame, an insolence that would flabbergast even the demons of hell.

You’re telling me that the one who pulled *that* off was human? A member of our species? We creatures who have been squirming about on the Earth’s surface the same way for thousands of years now?

On that day, I became convinced—that the answer to that question is a resounding “no.”

Humanity never changes. It’s something like karma at this point.

However, “Y” overturned all our human assumptions. Arrogantly, insolently, he twisted the universe askew.

—There’s no way that that was the feat of a mere human. Calling what he did vile would not do it justice. If there *is* someone who could execute such boundless evil, that person must be a being that transcends the concepts of good and evil.

—Well, if that’s the case, I can accept it.

I don’t care whether he’s a god or a demon. So long as he’s a monster whose existence transcends human understanding, then there’s no way for us to defy him. If he chooses to delude humanity in a dream for all eternity, in a new world he made himself when the old one had been on the verge of collapse, then that’s all there is to it.

There’s no way that we mediocre humans can oppose a transcendental being— As such, while I was disappointed by history and thrown into despair by the world, I thought that it would be fine if I lived out the rest of my life in resignation.

—That is, until I saw that boy touting about one of “Y’s” automata...

As everyone in the room was zealously eying the next target, now convinced that they had nothing to fear—Gennai’s moss-green eyes clouded as he muttered to himself, seeming to have gone mad:

“Now then, ‘Y’... just you try to stop me...”

The world that you created from beyond the boundaries of good and evil in your arrogant insolence—shall be crushed by mediocre humans amidst humanity’s self-destruction—due to the weight of humanity’s unchanging karma.

Swallow that fact as you answer me—wretched monster.

You who recreated the world— Just what are you?

A malevolent god? Some demonic transcendental being? Or nothing but a haughty human?

Show me your true self, with the world you created on the line...!

●

—At the same time, in a workshop in Akihabara Grid, a blond-haired girl—Marie—was sitting against the wall with her feet outstretched, her mind wandering aimlessly. Her emerald eyes had lost their luster.

This situation is just like—a wild fantasy, one that probably everyone has entertained in their mind at some point. Being left behind in a world that’s been destroyed for one reason or another—the premise of a B-movie.

With neither food nor water and the tools of civilization all broken, the only things that one can rely on are one’s own knowledge, body, and comrades.

...I see.

It’s only natural that such a premise would be labeled B-class—it sounds totally unrealistic. No screenwriter has ever actually experienced the end of the world... they don’t have a clue how such a scenario would actually play out in reality.

Reality—isn’t so simple.

Reality—always far exceeds the human imagination. Unreasonably, absurdly so.

With Halter—whose entire body was giving off smoke—collapsed on the floor before her, Marie laughed scornfully, emptily. In her hand was a screwdriver that she was weakly holding onto. Dangling from that screwdriver, was another one clinging onto it where their metal ends touched. It was as if the two were glued together.

The tools of civilization—are broken? The only things one can rely on are one’s own knowledge, body, and comrades?

Don’t make me laugh—this is the reality of a violent, nonnegotiable, worst-case scenario calamity. The situation is completely hopeless.

Just as Marie let out a sigh that seemed to expel her very soul, “—Uwah! —Why’s it so hot—?!” a short boy yelped as he leapt up.

“The hell?! —What’s going on here—wait, why are my headphones so loud?!” The boy that had boisterously woken up—Naoto Miura—tore off his headphones in a rush and threw them away from himself. Then, noticing Marie’s listless gaze, he asked the obvious question while screwing up his face as if enduring some intense pain: “W...What happened...?”

“—Good question.” Marie smiled. “If you’re okay with a conjecture, then my answer is—we were hit by an electromagnetic pulse.” Her voice sounded lifeless.

Perplexed, Naoto knit his brows all the more. “An elec-tro-magnetic— What’d you say?”

“......” Marie didn’t even have the strength to retort anymore. With a languid sigh, she held up the two screwdrivers that were stuck together for Naoto to see. “—Everything, absolutely everything, has been destroyed... Do you get it now?”

Due to an exceedingly, unbelievably powerful EMP, everything had been magnetized. No—if that was the end of it, things wouldn’t be so bad, Marie thought. Most likely, the heat from the EMP’s electromagnetic induction melted the more delicate clockwork parts like nanogears, wires, and springs.

The only things left were some tools that had become useless due to becoming magnetized. Nothing—but broken clockwork remained.

Processors, cars, the lighting and the door-lock of the room—even these screwdrivers—were broken.

“Should I put it in simpler terms?” Marie said as she opened her hand. The screwdrivers fell and made a dull clang as they hit the floor. “Now that everything’s been magnetized, we can’t even do something as simple as leaving this room!”

—Clockwork technology being vulnerable to magnetism was something that had been pointed out long ago. That was why humanity abandoned electromagnetic technology—they had no choice but to do so.

However, even if the Planet Governors at the North and South Poles intercepted the electromagnetic waves that poured in from space, fully eliminating electromagnetic waves from the planet was impossible. As such, anti-electromagnetic technology—how to protect clockwork devices from the influence of magnetic fields—has been continuously researched to this very day as a topic of extreme importance.

Indeed, in light of the current situation, one could surely see just why it was so important. In short, Marie—no, everyone living on this planet had just had— All of their knowledge, their technology, sealed without exception.

Forget fixing the broken clockwork, there wasn’t even a tool that one could use. The people in Akihabara Grid were like birds who had had their wings plucked off—no, if that were the case, things still wouldn’t be this bad. After all, even if you pluck a bird’s wings off, it would still at least have its legs.

...Even if Marie was a genius, she was helpless if she couldn’t apply what she knew. In a world where everything had been replaced with gears, this was the reality she was facing. It was the absolute worst-case scenario.

“What should I do?” —Even such a thought was too optimistic.

“What can I do?” —There was absolutely nothing left to suggest an answer.

Marie inadvertently recalled that she had once seen something that surpassed her current B-movie, disaster film, situation—an absurd, ridiculous movie from ancient times. Her lips formed a lifeless smile.

The premise of the film had been that the world that we live in was, in reality, just an illusion. That the true world had perished long ago. Humans were only permitted to live inside a dream, their brains connected to machines.

It’s ridiculous. I’m well aware of that—however, if that were true, I feel like this situation would suddenly make a lot more sense.

Now then— What can I do?

When my consciousness is stuck inside a dream.

In a world where I literally can’t move my arms and legs, where everything is a fantasy. How can I escape the dream—armed with nothing but my brain?

When everything I see before me is nothing but a lie?

And among all those illusions, the one that gives me true despair—oh, how great it would be if it really *were* an illusion—is that. Marie turned her eyes toward one of the thick-paned windows of the room.

Outside, she could see the nightmare responsible for this situation. The towering object that was blocking out the sun—an absurdly enormous mobile weapon. The monster that had wiped out everything so easily was standing there like a symbol of despair.

“—Wha— R, RyuZU?!” Naoto cried out.

Hearing his voice, Marie turned her gaze back in his direction. What Naoto was looking at—was a silver-haired girl collapsed on the floor. Panicking, Naoto leapt towards her. As he tried to lift her up in his arms—

“—Ow! —haaah?!” The moment he touched her—rather, the moment he tried to touch her, he recoiled. At this point, he seemed to have finally realized the source of the heat that had woken him up. Naoto paled, his face flushing pure white...

—RyuZU was wallowing in a sea of blood.

Or rather, the half-melted, glowing red, metal panels of the flooring were hot enough for one to mistakenly see it that way. The reason for that was RyuZU herself. Her very body was what was emitting enough heat to melt the iron in the floor.

Naoto almost collapsed from terror while still managing to yell out with a trembling voice, “—Hey, where’s AnchoR?! Old man Halter too! That babbling head as well—”

Marie answered silently, motioning with her eyes. Following her gaze, Naoto found Halter, whose body was fuming, collapsed on the floor. Next to Halter, he saw AnchoR collapsed like a puppet with severed strings. She was dead still. Finally, there was Vermouth, eyes vacant, and settled by Halter’s feet.

“...Were you listening? I told you, didn’t I.” Then, as if reciting content of a bad dream, Marie declared that—

“———Everything’s been broken...”

............

......

A stillness like the ocean depths began to settle over them; however— “Don’t mess with me...” A clack could be heard as Naoto clenched his teeth together and pulled Marie up by her collar. “Then we have to hurry up and repair them— You can do it, can’t you?!”

Marie didn’t offer any resistance. As Naoto shook her, Marie answered with a faint smile, “...Sure I can... if I could just demagnetize them—erase their magnetic field—that is.”

“Then what are you sitting around for?! Get your ass—”

“—And how would I go about doing that?” Marie asked quietly. The tone of her voice shut Naoto up. Meeting the gaze of his gray eyes, Marie continued, “...Ignorance is bliss, isn’t it, Mr. Naoto. I’m envious, really.”

—Of course, in theory, I know how to demagnetize something. If clockwork can become magnetized, then the opposite—that it can become demagnetized—must also be true.

For Marie, who was an ex-Meister, tuning clockwork that had become magnetized was a simple task. She could even do it with her eyes closed. The idea was simple, either apply an alternating electric current through the material, or force it against an opposing magnetic field until its own charge fades away. That was all there was to it. Marie was well-versed in both the methods and procedures to do so.

However, in order to even begin— “Electricity is absolutely necessary! Understand?! That shitty weapon fired off a damn EMP, in a clear, brazen violation of the international treaty...!!” Marie lamented as if in pain.

Feeling daunted, Naoto let her go. Released, Marie sank right back down against the wall once more. She was completely lost in thought. —Ahh, but of course... No country, no organization actually adheres to that treaty. The wireless EM transceivers equipped to Halter and Vermouth’s artificial bodies were also in clear violation of the treaty. But that was beside the point—

“You can tell with those bizarre ears of yours, can’t you?! That EMP completely destroyed Akihabara Grid you know! Well?! Just how exactly am I supposed to get out of this room?! How am I supposed to get my hands on the demagnetizing equipment?! Would you mind explaining it to me in simple terms so that I can understand...!!” Marie was shouting, and by the latter half of her tirade, her words had become mixed with tears.

—It was impossible.

Marie knew, in theory, how to generate electricity using gears. However, it was impossible to control the electricity generated with that method as precisely as necessary for demagnetization. Simply having that knowledge—much less testing it—was a crime. And as far as legal demagnetizing equipment goes, they were managed as strictly as level 4 pathogens.

Such technology wasn’t something that Marie, currently a civilian, could freely access. Not to mention, there wasn’t even any demagnetizing equipment that could work on a human-sized machine, much less municipal grids.

Just for argument’s sake—even if I went to an EM management facility and stole some demagnetizing equipment, I’d still have to carefully demagnetize the clockwork parts one by one. The protective shell around Halter’s brain should hold on for a while longer, but... even so, there isn’t enough time. In the first place, right now— “...What am I even thinking... I can’t even get out of this room...” Marie muttered as she hung her head.

—In just one move...

Has the enemy really rendered me this powerless in just one move?

All the knowledge, all the skills that I’ve carved into my flesh and bones till now, neutered by just one move—

Now *that* feels like a lie for sure— Just as tears began to stream down her face, suddenly, Marie heard the sound of thick glass cracking.

Startled, she raised her head to see Naoto slamming a chair against the window. A second time, a third, a fourth—the cracks in the tempered glass grew—— “Argh!!!” Until, with one last hit, the window was smashed to pieces. Perhaps he had swung too hard, because the chair flew outside, slipping right out of his hands.

“Alright. Let’s see, so we’ve got RyuZU, AnchoR-chan, old man Halter... and the talking head, but I guess we can just carry him in our hands. I’m going to lower them down one by one, so... is this the eighth floor that we’re on? Well, in any case, find me something like a cable or cloth that’s long enough to reach the ground.”

“......” As Marie watched dumbfounded, Naoto impatiently clicked his tongue.

“—Argh, fine, forget it! Keep grumbling over there then. Just stay out of my way!” Naoto yelled at her before turning towards RyuZU. Hands outstretched, he reached towards her body which was hot enough to melt the floor without hesitation.

“—Wha, wait a sec—” Marie hurriedly called out to stop him.

Ignoring her, Naoto grabbed ahold of RyuZU’s body. “——ngggggggggh!” As his face twisted, the stench of burning human flesh reached Marie’s nose. In spite of it, Naoto casually lifted RyuZU up in his arms as if he didn’t feel a thing.

“What are you doing?! Are you insane?!”

“Shut up! Any dead weight can just go ahead and sit in the corner and keep its mouth shut!” Naoto howled as he moved RyuZU away from the red-hot floor. “—I don’t know why! But I get the feeling that RyuZU can’t be left where she’s lying!” Yelling through agonizing groans, Naoto gently lowered RyuZU down on her back onto a cool part of the floor.

It’d be an understatement to say that RyuZU’s body was in terrible condition—a good chunk of her abdomen was entirely gone—which seemed to suggest that a good number of her parts had vaporized after melting. One could even see distortions in her frame as well... The damage was such that not even Marie could repair her on the spot.

Ordinary automata would be discarded without a second thought if they were damaged this heavily. It wasn’t merely a question of having the necessary tools, Marie would also need a ton of extremely expensive replacement parts. However—at the same time, Marie felt certain that something didn’t add up.

After being exposed to temperatures high enough to melt metal, and for such a long time at that—this is all the damage that was done?

Considering that its parts had vaporized, RyuZU’s abdomen should easily have reached several thousand degrees Celsius. However, despite being subjected to such high heat, neither her clothes, her artificial skin, nor a single section of her hair was damaged. She looked practically unscathed aside from her totaled midsection.

No, in the first place— Marie wondered, as doubt took hold in her mind, could electrical impedance really induce heat hot enough to wholly vaporize clockwork parts?

“—guh!” Glancing at RyuZU once more, Naoto shook his head for focus as he fiercely rose. He didn’t seem to pay any mind to his burnt skin or the clothes that were now glued to him by sweat. He gathered things like cables and wires, anything stringy that seemed structurally sound, and began to tie them together.

“...What... are you planning to do...”

“Can’t you tell by looking Miss Genius! If the door won’t open then we’ll get out through the window!”

As Marie had mentioned, this room was a workshop. It was made to be airtight, not a single speck of dust could get inside. If the door to such a room wouldn’t open because its autolock had been broken—then what?

—One could just smash the fixed window and get out that way. That was all there was to it. However...

“—Right, so we escape, and then what...”

Naoto whirled around in frustration. There was a clear tint of contempt in his eyes. “I’m gonna get outta here! Then I’ll find a way to ‘demagnetize’ things somewhere! When I do that, I’ll be able to fix up RyuZU and AnchoR-chan, and old man Halter as well! I guess, while I’m at it, what’s his name, Vermouth?! I’ll fix him up too!! And then—!!!”

Marie had never seen him make such a bloodcurdling expression before. Saying that there was murder in his eyes as he looked out the window wouldn’t do the vehement glint in them justice.

—The culprit behind everything.

Glaring at the enormous weapon that was trampling through Akihabara’s streets, he shouted, “I’m gonna stuff the bastards who did this to my wife and daughter in a kettle and boil them alive—is that good enough of an answer for you?!”

“———”

“If you’re not gonna help, then at least keep your mouth shut and stay out of my way!”

—Does this guy really not understand the situation after all? Marie thought, but at the same time, she found she was content with his answer. I’ll admit—right now, I’ve fallen so low that I couldn’t even think of escaping through the window. Even an idiot could come up with something like that...

“...You sure can talk, eh. With Akihabara Grid magnetized and its gears literally sitting still... The number of ways to get to a neighboring grid are pretty limited. Do you realize that...?”

“Hey, at least I’m doing something! How’s grumbling going to change anything?”

“Yes, you’re right... Really, it’s just like you said, isn’t it?!” Surely, I must admit that rushing into things like Naoto’s been doing—is far more commendable than anything I’ve done so far.

Naoto seemed surprised by her reply as he faltered for a moment. In that moment, Marie slapped her cheeks with both hands and stood up, she was peering directly into Naoto’s eyes. His ashen eyes were as radiant as always—no, even more radiant than usual, in light of the grim situation. Even with things as they were, Naoto still hadn’t given up on anything. That was what his eyes were saying. Nothing. Not a single thing.

Just for now—I’ll follow your lead. “First, we should go to the rendezvous point that the other Meisters and I agreed upon—Grid Ueno. Though, now that one of Tokyo’s grids has stopped functioning, it surely isn’t going to be easy to get there, as—there’s no one in Akihabara right now. Under normal circumstances, it would have been possible to use the restricted connecting bridge between the two grids, but...”

As Marie spoke, she suddenly began to feel a strange sensation. Seeing Naoto smile at her, his eyes narrowed and his face relieved—she felt something deep inside her heart grate.

Just then.

“—Confirming that the magnetic field has dissipated. Ending emergency sequence. Booting in normal mode.”

A quiet voice caused Naoto and Marie to turn around with a start. Before them was— “That really surprised me!” AnchoR. Blinking her wide eyes in astonishment, she slightly tilted her head.

We’re the ones who’re surprised— Before that thought could even run through Marie’s head— “Thank gahhhhhhhhhhhd— So AnchoR-chan was unharrrrrrrRRRRmed! Daaaaammit, I almost had a heart attack y’know!” —Naoto, who had been standing next to Marie, leapt towards AnchoR, joining her in a mutual embrace.

“—ah?! No! I don’t want you to die, Father!” Taking his words literally, AnchoR, with her dainty arms, pulled him tightly into an even deeper hug.

“Don’t worry, I won’t die! After all, RyuZU is fine as well. But really, I was on the verge of fainting from worry, you know.”

“...Was it AnchoR’s fault? ...Is AnchoR a bad girl?”

“No! You’re a really gooood girl! Oh you! It’s thanks to you being alive that Papa’s still here you know! Cuz I *might* have been seriously considering suicide if your gears weren’t turning!”

“...? Even though Father almost died, because of AnchoR, Father survived... because of AnchoR? ...?”

And so, watching an idiot and an automaton having such an exchange—Marie was at a loss for words.

—What’s going on here?

No way. Was she seriously able to withstand the EMP?

The same magnetic field that pierced right through Halter’s anti-magnetic shielding and melted his parts in spite of him sporting the Breguets’ next-next generation military cyborg body?!

Is it dumb of me to be surprised by the capabilities of the Initial-Y series at this point? No, wait— If that was the case, then why was she inoperational— No, wait wait! More importantly, what did that idiot just say?!

“—Naoto, just now... you said that AnchoR’s gears were turning...?”

“Yeah, that’s right. Her gears were turning the whole time. That’s why I was able to stop myself on the brink of committing suicide.”

As if saying something obvious, Naoto continued:

“If AnchoR was moving, then RyuZU must have had a reason for heating herself up as well, or so I thought, but it wasn’t like I had concrete proof. That’s why I was so desperate to hurry up and do something. But you kept grumbling...” Naoto muttered as he petted AnchoR’s head.

Ignoring him, Marie thought to herself. —The reason—she heated herself up...?

For a moment, something began to click in Marie’s head, but before she could formalize it in her mind, AnchoR said apologetically, “...I’m, sorry... for the ‘prickly countermeasure’... umm...”

It seemed like she didn’t fully understand her own functionality—actually, it seems like she doesn’t understand it at all.

“...I think I was in an emer-gency—‘hea-ting’ se-quence...?”

“————”

Marie desperately held on as she felt like she was going to faint. —Ahh right—there’s ‘one more way’ to demagnetize things. I’ll admit, I did forget about that in my moment of distress—but at least let me give an excuse, Marie begged internally of no one in particular.

Normally, that method is something that’s absolutely impossible; and even in the case that it *is* possible, it’s a method that no one would ever willingly utilize, much less set to automatically execute.

Marie yelled at the mysterious object who proclaimed such a thing, “Demagnetization through the application of heat— Demagnetizing yourself by heating yourself up to the Curie temperature? You seriously did that? You’ve gotta be kidding meee!”

—It was the phenomenon known as Curie’s law.

Magnetized materials completely lose their magnetic fields once they exceed a certain temperature. In short, one just has to heat them up. That was all there was to it. It was an exceedingly simply method.

However, it was also a last resort—actually, it was more a method that normally would be out of the question, failing even to serve as a last resort.

Why, you ask? Naturally, as clockwork parts heat up, they warp and eventually melt. The Curie temperature is different for each part of a clockwork mechanism. The wider the range of Curie temperatures in a system, the more likely for the system to break with the method. In other words, it was only natural for gears and wires that have lost their strength due to high heat to perish—it’d be strange if they didn’t.

In the first place, even if that was possible, AnchoR should have shut down when the EMP hit. In that case, just how did her heating mechanism continue to operate—?!

Ignoring Marie, who was struggling with that question by herself, Naoto simply muttered, as if to confirm her suspicions, “So basically, it’s possible to demagnetize things by applying heat. AnchoR slowly raised her core temperature with her frictionless Perpetual Gear over time while RyuZU deliberately shut herself down by converting all her power to heat in one go. Is that right?”

Hearing those words, AnchoR abruptly stood up while hoarsely yelling in a panic, “B, Big Sister...! That’s bad, Big Sister, can’t cool herself d—”

“Don’t worry, AnchoR~I got that feeling somehow~so I already moved RyuZU to a cold area on the floor!”

“—Father, you’re amazing...!” AnchoR exclaimed in admiration with big eyes. However, quickly noticing the burns on Naoto’s hands, her expression completely reversed, her eyes drooping sadly. “...But, doesn’t it hurt...?”

“Ah-ha-hah! If it’s for the sake of my wife and daughter, burns like these ain’t a thing!” Just like a real father putting on a brave face in front of his child, Naoto declared his fortitude with a dapper smile.

Ahh—yeah, he really is amazing. Marie thought as she watched on, dumbfounded. So amazing, in fact, that I can’t even understand it anymore. He’s weird.

—The situation had far exceeded her imagination. However, Marie muttered softly, “Yeah... yeah. Demagnetization through the application of heat—”

She wasn’t satisfied with that answer.

She couldn’t comprehend how it was possible.

However, there was something about the way Naoto and AnchoR marched on, leaving her dumbfounded self behind, that...

As she was washed over by a feeling of stark emptiness, Marie picked up the talking head that had been lying on the floor.

For now, I should do what I can, too.

“—Well at any rate, let’s get out of Akihabara Grid first and foremost.” As she said that, Marie hurled the disembodied head at the red-hot spot on the floor.

●

“—You rotten whore! My brain nearly cooked you know?! Is your head just as loose as your crotch?!” Vermouth suddenly shouted as the gang ran through the stilled Akihabara.

“My, so you’re alive. I was almost certain that you had failed to demagnetize,” Marie coolly answered the barking head without stopping her feet. Beside her was AnchoR, who was carrying RyuZU, and a panting Naoto trailing slightly behind.

Leading the way, Marie carried Vermouth and Halter’s heads under each arm. Vermouth was confused. “Huh...? What’s going on here? Why is the master a talking head now too? Oy, phantom princess, explain yourself— What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”

As Marie ran past a streetlight, she slammed Vermouth against its pole to shut him up. Halter’s artificial body had been too damaged for repair and was far too heavy to carry, so Marie had been forced to settle for saving just his head.

I feel bad for Vermouth. Because he was still asleep, there’s no way he could’ve seen the way Marie’s face looked when she removed Halter’s head... Catching up, Naoto awkwardly managed through ragged breaths, “...Ah—it was a bad time to ask that old man... but anyway, so you really were fine after all?”

“Huh? Ahh, you’re the guy who was with this absolutely rotten princess. I’m fine? —Where the hell did you get that idea? First, I might die anytime now, maybe even within the next three seconds. I have no way of knowing, my oxygen gauge’s askew. To add to that, it’s looking like my right eye’s crushed, so I can’t see color all that well either. The very fact that I can still hold a conversation with you right now must be a miracle. If you call this fine, then I guess you’d figure a zombie with four limbs to be the paragon of health.” —Despite his claims to the contrary, the talking head was quite spirited indeed.

As athletic as Marie was, running at full sprint with two heads in her arms was a tough task, the heads alone were as heavy as bowling balls. As she fought the urge to throw away the one under her right arm, Marie squinted.

There was nothing moving on the streets of Akihabara under the morning sun. However, the city’s clockwork devices must have caught fire as flames could be seen rising up here and there.

That, however, paled in comparison to the groaning sound that even Marie’s ears could catch ringing from underground. It had been going on for a while now. It was surely the sound of the city breaking down.

“By the way kid, did anything happen to my handsome face?”

“You know that guy who sank in a blast furnace from that really old robot movie?”

“Did my artificial skin melt?! Bitch, what did you do to m— Hey, you’re being downright abusive!” Still running at full tilt, Marie had slammed him against a guardrail this time.

“Listen well, okay, Mr. Talking Head?” Raising Vermouth, she glared at him at eye-level.

“Whether or not you end up stuffed in a trash can or tossed in a toilet all depends on my mood. And right now, I’m in an absolutely atrocious mood. So much so that when I was demagnetizing you, I seriously considered letting you boil to death just to let off some steam. Fortunately for you, I have the rationality of a world-class genius and the kindness of an angel to boot. Be grateful that I decided to let you live. A shitty hooligan like you ought to swear loyalty to me while thanking me in tears, got it?”

“You’re doing what some brute or demon would do,” Naoto retorted, but Marie ignored him. She continued in a kind voice that would instill terror in the heart of even a demon king:

“—Serve me well. Otherwise, die ♡.”

That’s your raison d’etre, Marie implicitly asserted between the lines.

Vermouth muttered dejectedly, “—Oy, kid, is it just me or is this filthy sow legitimately insane?”

“I see that you’re fond of trash cans. Or do you like toilets better?”

“Calm down old man. The answer is yes, but seriously, I’d keep quiet if I were you.”

“—Don’t screw with me you shitty brat! Come on, think about it rationally, I have the right to be mad don’t I?!”

“...See, whether one has rights or not... is a matter of jurisdiction...”

—Vermouth was impressed. “...For how young you are, it seems like you get it. Let’s share a smoke for reconciliation if we ever get out of this mess alive.”

Unsurprisingly, Marie snorted at their exchange between huffs as she ran. They drew close to a place that’s been known as Mansei Bridge since antiquity.

Large shadowed objects could be seen against the dawning sky if one turned their gaze slightly upward. Surrounding a truly gigantic pillar extending upwards as far as the eye could see were a number of enormous, several kilometers in diameter, discs with small gaps between them. Those discs were the other grids that made up Tokyo.

Amongst Tokyo’s grids, Akihabara had the lowest elevation. The connecting bridge that led to the grid just above Akihabara was where the gang was trying to get to right now.

—So, Marie thought as she turned around.

The Pillar of Heaven was blocking out the morning sun, casting a gigantic shadow over the ground. In its shade, Marie glared at the enormous mechanical spider arrogantly lording over Akihabara...

“Give me a short answer. That weapon is the culmination of electromagnetic technology... yes?”

“Is there some sort of meaning in asking such an obvious question, princess?”

Marie stopped. Dropping the head under her right arm to the ground, she stomped on it. “I don’t need your snide remarks. If you answer with anything other than a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ next time, I’ll beat you to death.”

“Yes.”

“Good. Next question, what does that thing plan to do next?”

“No.”

Without missing a beat, Marie grabbed Vermouth’s head and raising him up, prepared to pitch him overhand into the Kanda River below. Naoto, however, stopped her—and not a second too soon. “Calm down, Marie. Don’t kill people in front of AnchoR.”

“Oy kid, it’s great that you saved me, but isn’t your reasoning for it a bit strange?”

Looking beside herself with anger, Marie growled, “I was a fool to try to rely on this schmuck for even a second. Say, just to be sure, wouldn’t AnchoR be able to do something about that thing?”

If it’s AnchoR’s overwhelming combat power that stayed toe-to-toe with even RyuZU’s Mute Scream— Marie thought, but AnchoR looked down and shook her head.

“...I’m sorry... Mother...”

Seeing her like that, Naoto cut in, “AnchoR is low on charge right now. It’s unreasonable to expect her to do something about that monster.”

Upon those words, Marie understood. Ahh...

The Perpetual Gear was an instrument that manifested perpetual motion through infinite heat. Being that as it may, even if AnchoR’s input energy has no limit, her output energy certainly does. If she continues expending more energy than she can output, then she’ll begin to eat into her Power Reservoir.

As she was currently using her First Balance Wheel of Differences—her lowest gear—as long as she possessed the initial energy from her spring, she could continue operating perpetually in this state. That was precisely why she had been able to autonomously demagnetize herself.

However—after being seriously damaged in the fight with RyuZU and subsequently repaired, AnchoR had lost nearly all of the surplus energy that had been stored inside her Power Reservoir. If she continued exceeding her output by raising her Balance Wheels of Differences, she’d run out of energy in minutes.

—In other words, we can’t resolve the situation by letting AnchoR go ham. Marie groaned, shaking her head. “If we could at least read that thing’s movements, there’d be some things we could try, but...”

“I’ll say it again, princess. What meaning is there in asking such an obvious question?”

“Shut up. I’ll really toss you in the river you know.”

“—I’m being serious here, Miss Self-Proclaimed Genius. The pieces are all there. If you can’t figure this out I’ll be disappointed, you know?”

“——”

Accepting the challenge, Marie organized the situation in her head—or tried to. She shook her head.

I’ll admit it. I’m flustered right now, it’s true.

In the first place, everything started with this talking head’s short-wave transmission.

Chasing after the source of the transmission led us to Mie Grid’s underground levels, where we discovered that enormous weapon.

That weapon was something that Shiga Grid’s Technical Force, which had been conducting illegal research on electromagnetic technology in their home city, had created to ensure their survival, a weapon that could destroy the world.

Then we learned that the feds and Mie—Shiga’s military of old—were about to engage in a large-scale conflict.

In order to mitigate that, we took the initiative and evacuated the population by giving advance notice of our terrorist attack. And after the coast was clear, we baited Tokyo’s security force underground and had them intercept the enormous weapon.

Then—all we did turned out to be for naught. We failed. From a strike powerful enough to pierce through a grid and the EMP that followed it, Akihabara was completely wrecked.

Not only that, Halter is barely clinging on to life. RyuZU was seriously damaged and is out-of-order right now, and AnchoR has insufficient energy to act—and to top it all off, the city’s been turned into a magnetic field. I’m completely powerless right now.

All of our plans were torn apart; all of our combat strength was thoroughly neutered.

—Marie had yet to recover from the shock of that.

The pieces are all there...? What is? —It’s no good... my head’s going in circles. I can’t collect my thoughts... Marie bit her lip, seeming vexed.

—However, just then, Naoto unexpectedly raised his head. He had the same scary expression on his face that Marie had seen just a little while ago—only this time, his gaze was penetrating, as if he were saying with his eyes, “I can see everything you’re up to.”

He shot a piercing look at the enormous spider that towered over its surroundings, blocking out the sun.

“...We don’t need to do anything.’ —Isn’t that right you shitheads?”

Upon those words, Marie turned to show Naoto her incredulous face but, before she could, Vermouth’s laughter reverberated throughout the post-apocalyptic world that was Akihabara causing AnchoR’s shoulders to jump in fright.

“Ha— Hahahah! This brat really is something else! Oy princess, you sure picked up an interesting kid didn’t you!”

“What... do you mean?” —Again. Once again, things are proceeding due to factors that I’m unaware of. Because by relying on logic, there are some elements that I can’t comprehend. Feeling a sense of anxiety for the unknown, Marie sullenly knit her brows.

Vermouth explained, “That thing is over there because it chose to appear over there, and that very fact—is the worst-case scenario for the feds. The enemy queen has suddenly appeared out of nowhere and put their king in checkmate. It’s a terribly unfair cheat move—but regardless, the match is over.”

—I don’t get it. What did Naoto and this schmuck grasp in order to come to that conclusion?

“—Princess,” Vermouth said, trying to stifle his laughter, “I feel bad for saying this, but you’re nothing but a sheltered little girl after all. How cute.”

“Wha—”

“On the other hand, this brat is—how should I put it. Despite his cute face, he’s capable of some nasty thoughts. You’ve got what it takes to become a great scumbag kid.”

“I’m used to being called a pervert, but the word scumbag irks me a little,” Naoto pouted, discontent.

“—In short,” Vermouth summed things up, “just like the kid said, all they have to do now is sit and wait for the feds to self-destruct— It’s checkmate.”