Immortal Children

Chapter 8.1

Multi-legged vehicle

Translated by KuroNeko
Edited by KuroNeko

I sat at the living room table, sipping my coffee and looking at the holographic projection Kaguya had set up. A map of the abandoned city, centred on the nursery’s base, was displayed on the screen.

Misuzu came over after a time, a drowsy expression on her face.

“Good morning……” Misuzu murmured languidly.

“Good morning. You don’t look well. Did you get enough sleep?”

“Yes….. Well, I was up late watching a movie.”

Accepting a paper cup of coffee from the housekeeper robot, Misuzu murmured.

“‘Thank you very much, Droid-san.” Misuzu smiled.

With a beep, the housekeeper droid responded and proceeded to the kitchen behind the counter.

“Movie on a mobile information terminal?”

I said, looking into Misuzu’s beautiful amber eyes.

“Yes. Last night, Kaguya-san and I decided to watch a movie together, but there were so many to pick from that it took us a long time.”

“I don’t blame you; there’s a massive amount of older works in the database.”

“I never thought there would be that many movies.”

“Didn’t you have free access to movies when you were at the protective facility in Tokyo?”

As I offered Misuzu some cookies baked by the housekeeper droid, I asked.

“Yes, I was able to see it. But there were only a few of those…… movies, and I’d been watching the same ones since I was a kid, so I became bored.”

“That’s unusual. Wasn’t the facility where you grew up connected to the database?”

“Well…… I’m not sure. The adults were in charge of everything.”

What do you think? I thought to myself.

Misuzu’s facilities might have been cut off from the outside world for a long period. The fact that she was unaware of any anthropomorphs implies as much. They claimed to be self-sufficient in terms of food, therefore it’s possible that it was a facility that was cut off from the rest of the world. What were they doing on Earth if that was the case?

“Hey, Misuzu. After all, can you tell me about the mission?”

Misuzu ate the cookie with her mouth closed, then placed it back on the paper plate. She pondered for a bit before starting to speak.

“I was tasked with bringing a special individual back to the facility.”

“What exactly do you mean, special individual, Human? Or a mechanical doll?”

“I was not given any details. The information was kept by the captain.”

“Wasn’t it a stupid plan?”

“Yes……”

『Ray is insensitive,』 Kaguya said over the room’s speakers.

“Good morning, Kaguya. I’m glad you had fun with Misuzu last night.”

『Not really.』

As I listen to Kaguya’s harsh remarks, I apologize to Misuzu.

“That was clearly insensitive. Sorry.”

“No…….” Then, as if remembering, Misuzu murmured. “I remember he mentioned it was an individual who, despite its human form, could move like a mechanical doll.”

『That’s…』

I agree with Kaguya’s muttering.

“Guardians”

“Guardian?” Misuzu tilted her head.

“Yeah. It’s a mechanical doll that has a human skeleton within. I told you that there was something even nastier than anthropomorphs. Those are the guardians. According to what I’ve heard, some of them don’t even have a human form.”

『They mimic walking human skeletons, except they lack skin. It’s made of a strange steel from the old civilization, sturdy and brisk.』

Misuzu was surprised by Kaguya’s words.

“Leila, have you ever fought a guardian before? No. Are the guardians naturally hostile to humanity?”

『I have never fought. I just observed the battle of the raiders attacking the guardians from a distance.』

“The rest, I suppose, is just rumour. It appears that there are those who can speak human language and call themselves guardians.” I said.

“They kill people and call themself guardians?” Misuzu cocked her chin.

『The problem with them is that they are selective about who they kill.』 Kaguya said. 『They’re attacking raiders, but they’re also slaughtering anthropomorphs all over the area.』

Misuzu gave a difficult look at Kaguya’s words.

“All of the bad people are being targeted. They appear to be on the side of justice.”

『Tsk, tsk, Misuzu, you’re clueless.』 Kaguya said in a pompous tone. 『Good people are also being targeted.』

“That’s…….”

“I doubt there are any good people in the world, but some of our troops were attacked, while others were guarded to the birdcage after pointless questions and answers. In the worst-case scenario, they slaughter everyone in the birdcage. In any case, I’m not sure what the guardians want.”

I shrugged my shoulders as I said that.

“What did the facility’s people want with the guardians that they sent us to the surface for?” Misuzu muttered helplessly.

“The majority of the technology is most likely from the old civilization. You will have an edge in the terrestrial world if you can gain the formidable combat capabilities of the guardians. After all, those guardians are monstrous entities capable of easily eliminating a platoon of battle-hardened mercenaries with a single guardian.”

“Do you mean to say that we, with little to no fighting experience, couldn’t handle them from the start?”

“That’s a pretty good guess.”

 “That’s…….” Misuzu turned her head down.

I’m sorry to hear that, but I’ve expressed my view once and for all.

“Perhaps it was because it was an anthropomorphs attack that we survived.”

“Yeah……” Misuzu said, exaggeratedly depressed.

“Is there anyone close to you in the unit that came out of the facility together?”

“There wasn’t here,” Misuzu shook her black hair.

“At the very least, it’s a relief. Because having someone you know eaten alive by anthropomorphs is indeed a nightmare.”

“Yeah…”

Misuzu disliked the stillness of the living room, where the only sound was the housekeeper droid’s faint moving noise.

“Um, what’s that?”

Misuzu seemed to be interested in the map that Kaguya was displaying to her.

“It’s a map Kaguya and I drew based on information we gathered from the nursery’s base, and we used the equipment inside the base to have Kaguya present it for us.” I said briefly to Misuzu.

“Is that a map of Yokohama?”

“Yes. Sakuragicho, to be exact. So I was trying to establish a safe route from the base to Birdcage.”

I moved my hand around on the three-dimensional hologram.

“This is where we are,” I said, pointing to a nursery at the coastline. “So our next stop is here.”

When I move my hand to the northwest and expand the area of the map to be displayed, the centre of the map changes and widens.

“It’s densely packed with buildings. A birdcage in the downtown area?” Misuzu said.

“Actually, due to the war, there’s not much left of the building,” I said.

“By war, do you mean apocalypse war?”

“Yes. There may have been a cluster of important facilities constructed here, but the area has been so extensively bombarded that there is little left to witness.”

“Ah, I see.” Misuzu folded her arms and pondered something. “I think I might be good at this. Do you mind if I give it a shot?”

“You mean you’re good at creating routes?”

Misuzu nodded, “Yes.”

“I don’t mind. Just do it.”

“Kaguya, can you display the map on a flat surface for me?”

Misuzu traced the map with her finger, swiftly following the best route to the birdcage, as Kaguya did as she was instructed. Kaguya, understanding Misuzu’s intentions, drew a crimson line along the path Misuzu’s finger had traced, making it extremely obvious.

“Kaguya, compare what we know about the building to Misuzu’s route.”

Kaguya did as she was directed and drew a map of the building’s condition.

Several points along the route came into contact with demolished buildings. 

I looked at Misuzu and she nodded to me.

“Yes, it is. How about this?”

Misuzu created a new route and showed it to me right away.

『It’s perfect. It would be far more helpful if we know the specific location of the buildings. For example, by telling the nearby tower, this collapsed building may be easily passed to the other side of the street.』 Kaguya said, and displayed a new route.

Misuzu was impressed by this.

“How do you know the current condition of the buildings?”

I said as I manipulated the map.

“I’m updating the map with footage from the reconnaissance drone that’s assisting us in the sky, followed by routes I’ve seen on my own.”

“That raven-shaped drone? Raven-kun sure is brilliant, isn’t he?”

“Oh, well. But your talent is surprising. You appear to have a sharp mind, and I don’t mean to be rude, but you seem to be capable of doing well in this world.”

“Yes, you can count on me.”

Misuzu smiled, as if a flower had bloomed.