Immortal Children

Chapter 3 - Found it.

Translated by KuroNeko
Edited by KuroNeko

On the interface displayed on my retina, I reviewed the photos I was getting from the raven-type reconnaissance drone that was circling over the amusement park, but there was no change in the surrounding ruins, including the amusement park, and the entire region remained silent.

“How are you going to handle it?” In my inner ear, I heard Kaguya’s voice.

I didn’t say it out loud, but I answered to Kaguya, “I don’t know.”

After checking the numbers in the corner of my eye that displayed the facility’s “contamination” status, I removed my gas mask.

“Are you a human?”

The woman spoke out, but her voice was weak and difficult to understand.

“Human,” I replied. “No, unless you’re a bigot who doesn’t consider individuals who have had body alteration surgery to be human, in which case I’m a human.”

“Remodeling surgery……?”

“Why do you think I’m not a human?” I asked, ignoring her muttering.

“Um, let’s see,” she answered, “because your eyes…… eyes glowed red.”

Perhaps it was due of the dim lighting. She must have noticed a faint light coming from the dilated pupils. The pupils with their dark red irises seldom shone with a golden light due to the nanolayers coating the eyeballs. I’m not sure why, but it seems to happen more frequently when I’m emotional.

“What was the reason for your imprisonment?” I asked the woman. “No, where did you come from?”

“Tokyo’s…… um, Tokyo’s 17th District Protection Facility—”

Tokyo? Isn’t Tokyo sinking to the bottom of the ocean? The woman said something incomprehensible, as if she was confused.

“Hey, Ray. Is that an important thing to ask when you have a lot of work to do and need to hurry?”

As if to refute Kaguya’s comments, I shake my head. Then I just asked if I may speak with her later.

“Okey,” she nodded.

“I work for the union as a scavenger. You don’t appear to be a cannibal. Do you require help?”

She struggled with the iron chains on her hands and feet while I spoke.

“Required……. “

I can’t fathom what she went through while being taken hostage by cannibals, yet she paled and stoutly nodded. Her lips were slightly quivering with anxiety, but she didn’t appear to say anything else.

“I’m Leila. What’s your name?”

“……Misuzu”

I figured that if I heard her name, I would remember something about her, but I couldn’t recall anything about her. Perhaps it was just my imagination, but she didn’t appear to recognise me either. Misuzu had a rather unsettling impression on me. She was outfitted like an elite soldier, but she was terrified and shivering so badly that she could be seen from afar. It’s difficult to think that someone would have the fortitude to leave Torinokago, but the fact that she hasn’t given up on life while being trapped by the cannibal demon proves she possesses the necessary qualities. At the very least, she is braver than the majority of the cowards.

I spoke to her in as gentle a tone as possible so as not to startle her.

“I’m in the midst of a battle with the enemy who has taken up residence at this facility. I’ll do everything I can to assist you, but will you look after yourself?”

“Are you going to help me?” Misuzu asked me.

“Of course, I’ll do what I can. So will you act like you’re protecting yourself?” I asked her again.

“I’ll see what I can do.” She replied.

Misuzu’s face was flushed, and her hands were clinched firmly. She is honest and hasn’t given up on hope. People who will follow orders honestly and without extra thought are valuable in an emergency, and their chances of survival are better.

“I don’t know if you’re a trustworthy person, but I will not abandon you here.” I said.

And so it is. She nodded.

“Then wait there quietly for a moment,” I said. “You’ve done a great job, not giving up until now.”

I walked up to the abandoned assault droid and bent down to look at it.

The problem is the control chip.

“Kaguya, did you find out where the chip is?” I asked Kaguya, without saying it out loud.

“Of course. More importantly, are you really going to help her?”

“We can’t just leave her here like this, no matter what. Right?”

As I answered Kaguya, I looked at Misuzu. She hugged her legs, which were crossed in front of her chest to protect her own body, and looked at me. Her body trembled as if she was a poor little deer being stared at by a predator.

“Doesn’t look like it’s going to be useful though……” Kaguya said.

“I suppose so,” I replied. “She was trapped in a place full of cannibals and could have been killed at any moment. She was lucky she haven’t given up on her life.”

I raise the body of the assault droid and tap the cover with the handle of my knife to expose the control panel on the back. The more impatient I am, the more I can’t remove the cover.

“Wait, you will never get the cover off that way. Calm down.”

Kaguya’s words make me realize how foolish I am. There was no way that armor designed for combat could be removed with just a light tap. Apparently, I was much less calm than I thought I was.

Maybe it was because of the unfamiliar happenings.

Removing the cover from the control panel, as instructed by Kaguya. It was easier to remove than I had expected, perhaps to make maintenance easier.

“I’ll scan the electronics through Ray’s line of sight, so you can slowly look over the entire control panel.”

I obeyed Kaguya’s instructions straightforwardly.

“Are you sure you want to help her?” Kaguya said again.

“If I leave her in this place, she will meet a miserable end. Or maybe she will be kept alive in a way that makes her wish she was dead.” I said.

“That’s not Ray’s pattern.”

“What kind of man did you think I was?”

Instantly, Kaguya fell silent. She must be busy comparing the scanned images with the blueprints she downloaded from the database. I’m sure she is.

“Found it.” Kaguya said.

As Kaguya said this, one chip plugged into the control panel was framed by a blue line. I followed Kaguya’s instructions to remove the small, slender control chip from the control panel so as not to damage it.

I took a small, anti-static electronics storage box out of my backpack and then placed the control chip in it.

Then the box is carefully tucked into a pocket lined with shock-absorbent material in the backpack.

It’s an expedition for this chip. I can’t afford to lose it.

Then I pulled out a tool from my backpack to cut the chains used to bind Misuzu, and then I took my backpack and went to her to cut the iron chains.

It never occurred to me that a tool that is only heavy enough to be used to break into a locked building could help people.

I held out my hand to help Misuzu stand up.

She hesitated for a moment to take my hand, but I didn’t care. I grabbed her hand and made her stand up.

“Thank you……” Misuzu said.

The Misuzu who stood up was slender and surprisingly tall. She was only a head taller than me, who was much taller than average. I didn’t notice it when I was sitting there, but she had long legs and good style.

I hand Misuzu the spare handgun I keep in my belt pocket.

“You know how to use it?”

Misuzu nodded at my words.

“I want you to take it and follow me. Make sure you follow instructions.” I said.

Misuzu nodded, and with a familiar look, pulled out the magazine of her handgun and checked the remaining ammunition.

Suddenly remembering, I took out a water bottle from my backpack.

“Here’s some water, you want some?” I asked, and she moved her lips with a pale face.

“I need a drink. It’s…… “

Misuzu thought for a moment, and then, as if remembering, she placed the pistol in the holster at her waist and accepted the water bottle.

“Are you sure this girl is okay?” Kaguya said.

“I don’t know,” I replied to Kaguya.

If we want to get out of this place alive, we have to do it even if it’s not okay.

“I got your back up.” I said to Kaguya.

“Backup……?” Misuzu asked questioningly.

I shook my head and replied to Misuzu, who looked up at me with an amused expression.

“I’m talking about this.”

I took a breath and stared at the end of the rubble leading outside.

“Hey, Kaguya,” I said. “Are those security droids by the wall in good shape going to work?”

“I’ll check. Touch them one by one.”

As Kaguya instructed, I touched the security droid.

I endured the mild pain I felt in the palm of my hand and tried to hack through the contact connection.

I don’t understand the logic or theory behind the ability to operate machines and mechanical dolls from the old civilization just by touching them with my hands. I had asked Kaguya about it once, and she had explained it to me carefully, but I still couldn’t understand it.

The technological capabilities of the old civilization were incredibly far removed from the technological system I knew, and there were many events that could only be considered magic.

The “gravity field generating grenade” that I used to nullify the impact of my fall when I jumped off the building was also a glimpse of the technological capabilities of the old civilization.

Anyway, Kaguya will connect us via electrical contact.

That was good enough for me.

I squeezed and opened my numb palms several times to make sure my hands were comfortable. Then I pulled out the magazine of my handgun to check the remaining ammunition.

If we can hack the mechanical doll’s system, we may use it as an ally force. Activate the old security droids and have them fight the looters.

There is another disturbance in the ruined amusement park. With the enemy gathering, the time to escape is limited. So we use whatever we can.

“I told you the target was in the underground armory, you idiot. I’m not sure why none of you check it out.” From a large hole in the ceiling leading outside, a female voice that sounded like a looter could be heard.

I lowered myself and readied my handgun, then called out to Misuzu, who was standing by my side, ready to move at any moment.

“We’re going into battle now. Hide yourself as best you can, try not to make a sound, and follow my instructions.” I said.

“Um…… I understand. I’ll do it.” She replied.

Misuzu’s military-like appearance suggested that she had a fair amount of combat training, and her movements were quite impressive.

Misuzu and I hid in the rubble where the rebar popped out, and I aimed my gun at the large hole in the ceiling that led outside.

Through a hole in the ceiling, I could see the face of a woman, black and dirty, peering into the room.

I saw the woman’s eyes widen in surprise for a moment as she realized the gun was pointed at herself, but I fired without mercy.

The plundering woman fell forward like a threadbare doll and came tumbling down over the rubble.

Always pull the trigger of a gun twice.

I never think that one bullet is enough to kill. I always make sure that I get what I want. If you don’t, the next person who will be killed will be you.

It seemed that the looters outside were gathering at this place they called the armory. I could see some looters running towards us from above.

Unscrupulous shooting continues from the looters.

I dodge the bullets by hiding in the rubble. Several bullets fired by the looters pierce the body of the woman who was one of them.

“We’re still on standby, okay?” I said to Misuzu.

I don’t wait for Misuzu’s response, but this time I ask Kaguya.

“You still can’t get the mechanical doll to work?”

“Wait, a little longer.”

“Hurry,”

“I know,”

“You’re taking too long. I’m going to be an old man at this pace.”

I switch from the handgun to the submachine gun and make a proper sweeping shot toward the big hole. The submachine gun, with its grip adjusted, dances in my hand as it recoils, spitting out bullets.

What was a warning shot hit a looter who had come down through the rubble into the room.

The looting man tumbled down to the side of the rubble where we had been hiding. The man, who smelled horrible, was pulled ashore and died like a poor fish drowning for air, as if his lungs had been damaged.

“We’re hit again! What the hell is going on!?”

I fired at the screaming looters. This time, I hid myself well and could not kill him.

“Shit, shit, shit. I will not let you kill me for nothing.”

I load the mags while listening to the vindictive voices of the looters.

“Connection confirmed. Security droid is operational.” Hearing Kaguya’s voice, I move.

I give Misuzu some instructions and send her to the back of the room, to the door I left open. After firing a few warning shots at the enemy, I also rushed into the back room.

Frowning at the dusty room, I ran Misuzu past the large metal door, and I stayed there to place a bomb in the door.

I take a baton like cylinder out of my belt pocket and place it on the wall on the left side by the door. When I pulled on the protruding part at the end of the cylinder that had been absorbed into the wall, a thread came out, along with the tip of the cylinder. The thread was so thin that it could not be seen without careful observation.

I set the end of the tube as I pulled out on the wall to the right of the door.

At first glance, the door appears to be empty, but as soon as you get caught on the string threaded in front of it, the cylinder explodes, disabling the enemy.

After I finished setting the trap, I followed Misuzu to the large door. I tried to close the heavy door, but it was locked in place and did not budge.

“What’s it like there?” I asked Kaguya as I ran up the stairs.

“I have activated four security droids to attack any moving creature, friend or foe. I’m currently engaged with a group of enemy who have invaded the armory.”

“Do you think you’ll be able to fight the enemy properly?”

“It’s just four of them, and they’re armed with low-powered tasers, so they’re no good at all. If we can buy a certain amount of time, we’ll be good.”

“It’s a dead end……” A troubled-looking Misuzu stood at the top of the stairs.

“Huh? I thought it was supposed to open and close automatically,” I questioned.

“I kept it closed because the enemy might come,” Kaguya said.

“You’re so witty,” I said.

“Don’t you like a woman who can do it?” Kaguya asked.

“No way.” I replied.

From the doorway which opens and closes to extend upward, only the face is put out to confirm whether there are any enemy.

“It looks like it’s going to be okay…… There’s an exciting room ahead with dead bodies hanging from it, but bear with me.” Misuzu nodded at my words and silently followed me.

Suddenly a loud crashing sound came from the entrance to the basement, which was closing as it buried itself in the ground.

The looters must have been caught in the trap that was set at the end of the door.

“Kaguya, can you lock the doorway you just closed?” I said.

“I’ve already locked the door.”

“Thank God.”

“Ah”

“Is there a problem?” I asked hurriedly.

“I’ve lost contact with the security droids. I think they’re all down.” Kaguya replied.

“It was good,”

I walked down a quiet corridor, free of enemies, and stopped in front of a doorway leading outside the facility to hide with Misuzu.

I look up at the sky and see a raven-shaped reconnaissance drone flying freely in the cloudless blue sky. Then I check the image from above that appears in my field of vision.

I couldn’t find any enemy in the vicinity, but I was in no hurry to check the images again.

After confirming that there were no enemies in the tall buildings around the amusement park, I signaled Misuzu to run toward one of the collapsed buildings.

I then had the interface display a map of the area around the amusement park.

I followed the lines of the route I had set up on the map for escape in advance and moved as far away from the abandoned amusement park as I could.