[I was trying to find out whether what my senior said was really true, but because of that bastard, it's hard for me to get close. I got promoted to team leader in my own right, but because I didn't get that so-called top something award, they wouldn't even let me in.
And for whatever scheme he's cooking up, it looks like he went and found helpers from outside. They said they were coming from a new company, but I couldn't confirm what kind of people they were. They're probably just as obnoxious and arrogant as he is.
Still... still, I'll carry out the plan as ordered. So we will... return to a brilliant past. To be honest, the brightest time in my life was when I first joined the company and met my senior.
But our goal is far grander than that. So let's meet there again. To a past where no technology existed, and where everything must have looked even more dazzling.
There, chickens whose wings were never cut off will be flying over the plains. If someone loses an arm, everyone will comfort them... and even without arms, we'll learn how to live together.
Plentiful food and civilization... all the resources we once enjoyed will be gone, but... in that place with nothing at all... we'll be able to walk all day long.
Ah, for the operation, I'm planning to bring in outside Fixers. My successors have become far too accustomed to ampoules.
If someone's pain and suffering must always lie beneath any leap in progress... then I will give up all that abundance.]
"Take care, then. That's all, scurry scurry... and that's the end."
Even before reading it, they already sounded like lunatics. After reading it, they looked even more like deranged bastards.
So they're seriously spouting that they're going to wipe out all technology? Haaah... just why are those so-called brilliant geniuses in a place like that...
By the time the Sinners had heard the full story about Ms. Shurenne and were each lost in their own thoughts, the first to speak was Ms. Ishmael.
"How ironic. If anything, it's a relief that Ms. Shurenne didn't have to see the scene from earlier, where the Liberation Alliance members were mercilessly slaughtering the researchers..."
"She probably believed it right up until the moment she died. That what she was doing was... a noble cause that would end violence... Still, maybe it would have been better to die believing that."
Ms. Rodion's expression looked a little gloomy as she said that.
Ms. Rodion... she must have gone through something similar in the past. Taking on Ms. Shurenne's role herself now... believing that what she was doing was a righteous cause, only for it to bring about even greater misfortune.
Suddenly, I found myself feeling rather sorry for the Sinners.
Whether it was me or them... or maybe even the various people we'd faced so far... perhaps a surprisingly large number of people had sorrowful pasts. Sometimes I end up thinking too deeply like this.
*
While Dongrang and Samjo were away, we got information from Ms. Shurenne and, well, I changed clothes too. ...Let's ignore the fact that Ms. Ishmael looked a little disappointed.
Anyway! We made no progress for quite a while.
We had taken down quite a few K Corp extraction squads, but we'd ended up in a frustrating situation where we didn't know where to go or what to do.
In the end, we were just waiting for Dongrang while fighting off the enemies that kept coming at us from the same spot, when... far off in the distance, I spotted people who carried a pressure distinctly different from the other K Corp employees.
"Ah, so they're K Corp employees, are they? Hey! I saw some researchers over there who couldn't evacuate, you know..."
"....."
Gregor shouted at them loudly, but they simply ignored him and went up to the upper floor.
Looking at them... are they extraction squad rank 3? Still, I guess K Corp is finally moving in earnest. They're probably pretty high-level personnel in K Corp, given that their suits inject regeneration ampoules on their own.
While Gregor was awkwardly scratching the back of his head at the sight of them, Dongrang, who had finished speaking, joined the conversation.
"Their purpose isn't rescue. They handle the elimination of intruders and security for confidential technology.
Rescue is the job of rank 1s."
"Huh! Rank 1 means they're super high-ranking employees, like Fixers, right?! As expected, noble...!"
"Huh? In the Nest, rank 1 is the lowest, and the higher the number, the better..."
"Wha—wha—wha... what?!!!"
At Samjo's casual remark, Don Quixote reacted with tremendous shock.
Well, usually the lower ranks with higher numbers are the ones who rescue people, and the higher ranks with lower numbers are the ones who deal with enemies. Isn't that how every Wing works?
Don Quixote didn't react with much resistance, given her previous experiences, but she still asked Dongrang with an expression full of hope.
"...Even so, there can be no rank among lives saved. Why, then, are the roles divided?"
"Haha, because having lots of numbers feels nice, like money, doesn't it?"
That's true enough. Back when I was with a Wing, I was also quite... quite high-ranking, I think? Anyway, I had a high position. I don't even remember exactly what rank that would translate to, or how the internal structure of the Wing was arranged.
"Ah, the story got a little long, but... don't worry, the approval has already been secured."
<...?>
"What? Approval? What approval?"
At Dongrang's sudden remark, the Sinners perked up.
...The approval you'd have to wrangle from a Wing's director can't possibly be a low-level approval.
"It seems like we're supposed to fill out all sorts of paperwork too, but since this is an emergency, let's skip as much of the procedure as possible. That should be fine, right, Samjo?"
"Well... if we submit a report after about three and a half days of overtime, I think we can make it work. And strictly speaking, the problem started when I brought you people to the lab without even reporting it."
"No, I'm asking what approval it is!"
Heathcliff finally snapped after holding it in as long as he could, but Dongrang simply ignored him with a smile and kept talking.
"It seems Dongbaek has headed there."
From the way he referred to it as "there," it seemed Dongrang had already guessed where Dongbaek was going.
Come to think of it, that place... if Dongbaek, who seems to be from the same Technology Liberation Alliance as Ms. Shurenne, was going somewhere, then... ah.
"The Viewing Room. Security procedures there are really, really strict."
The Viewing Room. The place Dongrang mentioned so casually had a name that made it hard to guess what kind of place it was.
That was true even for the fairly sharp Ms. Rodion and Hong Lu.
"Viewing room? Just hearing the name doesn't give me any idea what it's for~"
"And I don't see why the security would be so strict~"
...For some reason, I can guess. Maybe it's because of old memories that are starting to surface, faintly.
"It's at the very top of the lab. If you want to make access difficult from the start... there are only two ways. Hide it underground, or put it at the very top."
A name that gives no clue. A place with tight security... the one thing that clue points to, as far as I know, is definitely a Singularity.
Usually, Singularities are beyond human comprehension, so a place related to one wouldn't be easy to identify just from the name.
That aside, a Viewing Room... it doesn't sound like something connected to ampoules at all.
...It may be an excessive guess, but K Corp's Singularity might not be ampoules at all.
It's definitely absurd, but... Singularities are absurd by nature, and more than anything, my instincts are telling me that.
I had a slight suspicion... but for now, I decided to ignore it and move on. ...I really should fix this habit, honestly.
*
The Viewing Room. Was Dongrang's guess right? At the path leading there, a familiar face was standing guard.
Samjo, who looked straight at that face, explained what he knew to us.
"You may have seen him earlier, but... he's a man named Maril. In fact, I met him once at a B Corp interview."
"What? Samjo... you even interviewed at B Corp?"
Huh? Seriously? B Corp? There?
"...Of course K Corp was my first choice, but... in the first place, even mediocre people like me, who aren't even gifted, end up submitting applications to every Wing they can, at least on paper."
"Still, if you made it to the interview, your application must have been decent enough? B Corp doesn't take that many ordinary people."
Just as my offhand remark made it seem like I knew something, a glint entered Samjo's eyes and he was about to answer when his gaze shifted toward the area near the man called Maril.
A scene of devastation, with no better word for it than ruin. The corpses of K Corp researchers were scattered everywhere, and the sight was fittingly described by that word.
We didn't feel much about it, but... the moment Samjo saw it, his face went pale in an instant.
"...Excuse me, just a moment, I need the restroom..."
After leaving those words behind, Samjo hurriedly stepped away. ...Right, for a normal office worker, that would be the proper reaction. I wish I'd been like that too...
"Our researchers... probably didn't even get the chance to resist."
"K Corp employees crushed my comrades with clubs, even though they never threw a single punch."
Dongrang and... Maril. The representatives of each group stood in sharp opposition to one another.
The one who broke that icy tension was—Otis. Her.
"We're looking for your boss. Where is he?"
"What I'm curious about is how you're still alive."
"Ah, those damn murder machines? They weren't enough to stop us. The bombs hurt a bit, though."
"...Heathcliff wasn't hurt much, though, was he?"
"Just let that one go! You did have it rough... that's true."
At my teasing, the atmosphere shattered in an instant, and Maril continued speaking with an expression of disbelief.
"...The bombs weren't meant to wipe you out. They were a means to an end. So Ran and Shurenne's plan has run into a variable. Who are you people?"
Then Faust, who had been silent until now, spoke.
"Even if you return to an age without technology, you will not find rest.
Those who have already tasted the abundance technology brings cannot endure the era before it. The same is why trips to the backstreets became fashionable among the wealthy.
It is merely a time to reflect on life and be satisfied with what one has. Few are those who could live by going back to that era."
"...So what? I hate people who talk too much. I hate explanations too."
"I am not particularly talkative. And there is no domain in which I require explanation. I am merely curious about the difference in our perspectives."
"...None of us ride the WARP trains. We don't eat the meat of the City any longer. Once you know the truth, you can't have such shallow thoughts as a trip to the backstreets."
Maril spoke with confidence, but... did he not realize that all of that was being carried out under the protection of the Head, the very pinnacle of technology?
Should I call that stupid... or naive...
In front of Maril, whose brain looked spotless, the person with the purest brain among us spoke up.
"Hmm... the elders in my family, who know far more impressive things than I do, make very good use of them."
"The masses are ignorant. Even if you show them directly with their own eyes, most won't believe it."
What exactly was he so proud of, to go around spouting that kind of nonsense?
...Tch, I hadn't planned on speaking at all. But he's making it impossible to hold back.
"Your elitism is truly disgusting. It's rare to find a sane person while spouting such things."
"This is not elitism. In truth, ignorant humans..."
"Well, ignorance... from where I'm standing, that's the funniest thing I've heard."
As I looked straight at Maril with dark eyes that seemed to gleam like the deep sea, Maril finally hardened his expression and met my gaze head-on.
"...Who are you?"
"So now you're interested? How should I put it... hmm, someone who once knew everything about the City, maybe?"
"....."
"Do you think I'm bluffing? That would make me sad... unfortunately, I was serious. Ah, or should I make it more straightforward so you can understand? That would be disappointing, though..."
Ah, I got a little too carried away trying to sound like my old self. The atmosphere froze over. This is exactly why I didn't really want to talk...
After working together for years, even this way of speaking has stuck to my tongue. ...It's strange how memory may be gone, but behavior changes anyway.
"...Hey, Sara. What the hell were you, really? I'm starting to get scared..."
"...I said that, but right now I'm just an ordinary person. I used to work as a doctor, up until recently."
"A little too far to dress that up with just that, don't you think...?"
"But it's true, you know? These days, aside from having a lot of retirement money, I've got nothing to brag about~"
"Oh, that's a little tempting."
As I traded light banter with Ms. Rodion and eased the tension a little, even Maril's tightly frozen expression finally loosened to something more bearable.
Before long, weapons were raised straight toward us. ...So there's no intention of talking.
Haaah... then it's another fight, huh. As if it was ever any different.