Time Traveler L’s Life on the Streets: Log 1

L was a girl from the future. Though, to be precise, she wasn’t exactly a “girl.” She was an artificial life-form called a Kiklim. Crafted with a mixture of cutting-edge sciences in the future (though she was now a generation outdated by her little sister, a newer model), she was an absolutely flawless agent (supposedly) that had mastered all kinds of technology (yet she always tripped over her own feet, for some reason). And this pinnacle of science... had now joined the ranks of the homeless.

“How pathetic...”

As she dragged her feet down the country road against the sunset backdrop, L vented all of her inner irritation with a heavy sigh. It had been one, maybe two weeks since she arrived here from the future. Ever since she’d failed to assassinate Rekka Namidare at the end of summer vacation, L had remained here in this era all alone. Abandoned, to be precise. After all, the conspirators that had sent her to the past to help her betray the agency... Well, they’d all been captured by the agency.

Granted, half the reason she’d failed in her assassination attempts was because of those guys being unable to operate the Space-Time Translocator properly, so she felt their capture was well deserved... However, the Space-Time Translocator that allowed travel between the past and the future was now under the management of the doctor, its inventor. L had come to the past with the help of the agency traitors, and losing them had meant losing her ride home. As a result, she now found herself wandering aimlessly around in this era.

Fortunately, target Rekka Namidare lived in a peaceful rural town, and L was the walking embodiment of future technology. She had nothing to fear in terms of material danger. No, the real problem was the three staples of survival: food, clothing, and shelter. Well, clothes weren’t so much of an issue right now. The long-sleeved kimono L wore was made from superfibers from the future. It was specifically designed never to get dirty or frayed. And as for shelter, she could sleep anywhere she wanted as long as she set her system to sleep mode, so she managed to get by with that. All that was left was...

Grrrumble...

“Why can’t this blasted thing be turned off?” L muttered, pressing a hand against her abdomen as her low-energy alarm rang out.

The stomach-grumbling feature and others like it were all installed by her creator, the doctor. The doctor had wanted L to resemble a human as closely as possible, from the way her five senses worked to the movement of her joints. While certain aspects of the human body were structured very logically, others could be improved dramatically with more efficient mechanical parts, L believed. Grumbling stomachs, for example.

“I guess I have to eat something after all...”

If she could connect to the future, she’d be able to replenish her energy supplies. But that wasn’t possible at present, meaning she’d have to eat something instead.

Actually, it was possible for her to use the main energy source in this world—electricity—to recharge her Kiklim body. In order to do that, she’d need to either stick her finger into a power socket or lick dry cell batteries, which weren’t exactly socially acceptable things to do... Perhaps she had been influenced by her foster parent a little too much, as she couldn’t help but associate energy replenishment with the idea of food.

Of course, if it came down to it, she’d be willing to sneak into a store and steal electricity as a last resort, but her first choice was definitely a meal. That being said...

“There’s no way it’ll be that easy...”

This was an age that placed a particular emphasis on the assets of the individual, after all. And she had none. The alternative, going into the mountains to find food, would also be difficult.

L’s goal was to simply assassinate Rekka Namidare and save the future, so she didn’t feel any animosity towards the past or its people. She wanted to avoid causing them any trouble if she could help it. She didn’t want to steal food any more than she did electricity. That would strictly be a last resort.

But she didn’t have any currency that would work in this day and age. And the people here didn’t barter. So if she didn’t want to steal, she’d have to find a way to be self-sufficient.

“That’s right! I can just go fishing!”

If she recalled correctly, she should be allowed to catch any non-prohibited fish in this era.

“Um... It should be okay if I use up a little of my energy, right?”

L infiltrated a local communication line on the spot and looked up all the wildlife and fishing laws that applied to the region.

“All right, this all checks out! Now I’m good to go.”

With renewed determination, L triumphantly marched towards the river that flowed a little bit north of town.

▽

It was about the time that she reached the river that L realized she had completely overlooked the tactical side to this mission. She had no fishing gear.

“Oh my God... I never thought I’d be in a situation saying those words, but here I am.”

L was mumbling from the ground. The shock had brought her to her hands and knees.

“Th-Then I have no choice! I’ll just have to make it myself!”

L got to her feet, pulled herself together, and immediately began her search for suitable materials to improvise a fishing rod. One hour later...

“I can’t catch anything...”

After putting together a fishing rod, she dropped the line in the water and waited half an hour... with no results.

Now, this makeshift rod of L’s was fashioned from a thick tree branch and some string she’d found on the ground by chance. She couldn’t find anything to use for a hook, so she’d attached one of her voltspear-style knives. With such a flagrantly unfit-for-fishing fishing rod, there was no way L was going to catch anything. Despite her eager enthusiasm for the task, she was simply just wasting her time.

“Hahh...”

It was only natural for one’s thoughts to turn negative when things weren’t going well. And right now, L was muttering a long string of curses aimed at the agency’s researchers in the back of her mind.

The development of the artificial life-forms known as Kiklims was spearheaded by the doctor, but not even the doctor could build everything alone. There were several assistant researchers on the job that had investigated what abilities and functions the Kiklim—in other words, L—needed in order to complete her time-traveling mission. And one of their topics of discussion had been what to do about her living necessities while she was in the past.

They couldn’t expect Rekka Namidare to cover all her expenses himself, although he likely would end up looking after her. But they couldn’t have L put any sort of burden on him, lest it end up hindering the progress of his stories. It was an issue they’d spent a long time debating, and they’d eventually agreed to install a feature that allowed energy to be forwarded to L from the future. They also gave her basic crafting skills in case she ever needed to make a shelter for herself. While there were other reasons R had ultimately ended up replacing L and taking over her mission, minute details like these undeniably played a small part in influencing the final decision. Just thinking about it was unpleasant for L.

“Argh, damn these stupid fish! Why won’t they bite already?!”

She could just raise the output on her voltspear knife and zap the whole river into submission. And she was actually entertaining such a dangerous idea when...

Splash!

The sound of something unnaturally heavy hitting the quiet river echoed in L’s ears.

“Hm?”

L looked around, wondering what the source was. She hadn’t sensed anyone around, so it couldn’t have been someone throwing a boulder into the water.

“...?”

L peered into the river depths, pondering what had fallen in... when she spotted a shadow swimming in the water. One awfully large to be a fish.

“?!”

The shadow suddenly rose to the surface at a rapid speed, bursting out of the water with a massive splash.

...A dragon?

The moment the figure entered her sights, L instantly searched that word out in her internal library. Its long, tremendous body was covered in a mysterious pattern of sparkling scales. Its appearance was majestic as it soared through the air with more grace than any bird... But its face was sharp and angular like a serpent’s, giving it an overall intimidating look.

“Aaah, swimming in this form really does feel the best... Hm?”

The dragon muttered something to itself before it noticed L and turned its terrifying gaze upon her.

“Eep...”

L flinched as their eyes met, her face paling as her whole body trembled.

“Hey, aren’t you...”

The dragon looked down at L and started to say something, but L reached her breaking point long before the dragon ever finished.

“KYAAAAAAAAH!”

L ran down the bank with tears in her eyes, fleeing from the dragon as fast as her legs could carry her.

“What was that, what was that?! Oh my God, oh my God! Scary, scary, scaaaaary!”

▽

“She ran away...” Lea, having returned to her human form from her Leviathan form, muttered sadly as she looked in the direction L had fled.

She was just a little hurt.