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…I had considered the possibility to some extent.

After all, the world had changed, and so had my body. I had gained abilities I never had before, and my thought process and way of thinking had changed, so my constitution could be different too.

The problem was… I blacked out after a few sips of a strawberry-flavored drink with an alcohol content of 1 or 2%, which was barely even alcohol?

“…Familiar ceiling.”

Unable to resist uttering the scripted line, I stared at the dimly lit ceiling of my house.

The lapse in consciousness was unavoidable since I was drunk, but even so, losing my memory completely was far beyond my expectations.

The last scene etched in my mind was a glass with cool swirling foam and the duo of women reflected beyond it. The contrast between the carefree Helena and the serene Ann was vividly imprinted.

Judging by the lingering queasiness, I must have finished the meal somehow… but I hope I didn’t act out ridiculously or say anything unnecessary? …I shouldn’t have, please.

“Ugh…”

A groan escaped involuntarily.

My body was too sluggish to break free from the cocoon of blankets that wrapped around me, so I only slightly tilted my head over the back of the sofa to check on my sleeping roommate.

Even in her sleep, her subtly furrowed brow and tightly closed lips, as if she had something to worry about, caught my attention.

Right, the person in front of her suddenly became unconscious, and she had to bring me all the way home, so she must have had a hard time. I should definitely apologize on her way to work later.

Come to think of it… I only rode the motorcycle after work and walked a bit, but I have to go back to work in a few hours…? Is this the benefit of healthy drinking…? Amazing, really.

“……”

For some reason, I got angry and buried my face in the pillow.

Bullets flying around… grenades exploding… having a gun pointed at my head are definitely clearer dangers, but the current frustrating situation was causing no less stress.

…Let’s try to sort out the jumbled pieces.

First, Ann is deeply involved in Helena’s past.

In fact, anyone who sees them together naturally would be able to guess this, even without information from a parallel world.

Second, I don’t know what Ann is really thinking.

Whether Ann Grisha was a character that existed in the original story or not is a futile concern now. I’m just curious about her intentions, subtly hinting at things to me while maintaining a distance from Helena that’s more than just friends.

Finally, third, if Ann is in danger of being removed… that place is probably the Gate, her workplace.

It’s just a baseless assumption, but if I assume the worst, there’s a possibility that Gate 3 will be attacked.

So, based on this, what can I actually do?

…What else? Maintain the highest level of vigilance! Quietly wake up, go to work, Anastasia Valentine. And don’t forget to buy Helena a drink from the vending machine for her trouble.

Tap…! Tap, tap tap….

“Asha is adapting really quickly, isn’t she?”

“…I guess I was just born with this talent.”

Having taken off the provided protective gloves and placed them beside her, she moved her fingers like dancing, analyzing all the constantly incoming data.

While Helena and the other DS3 team members and mechanics were busy conducting analog inspections outside, the cyber engineers’ battlefield was an invisible, intangible fight.

They interpret the information read by the large scanner installed inside the Gate and the detected radio waves, and compare them with the internal list to see if there is anything illegal.

If it’s clean, they report it to the team leader’s terminal. If anything suspicious is found… they must quickly find the cause and brief the suspected violations.

…Why is there even something suspicious called an ‘internal list’?

Rather than asking why it exists, it would be more accurate to ask how many exist.

There’s the basic whitelist of high-ranking personnel who must be allowed to pass without question. A blacklist of people to detain even if they haven’t violated any laws, and a list of criminals to be shot on sight.

In addition, there were countless lists to be used for comparison or as reference materials, such as radio wave lists and encrypted data examples.

Now I understand why everyone who came to the interview was so eager to have a piece of iron hammered into their brain. To do this by hand without the computational assistance or additional functions of an Implant, you’d need ten hands and ten eyes, or follow fundamentally different rules like me.

Anyway, it’s been almost a week since I started this job, and I seem to be getting the hang of it.

• The scanning results show that the collected information is clean… but the spare tire attached to the back of the minivan seems to be coated with radio wave shielding, so I’ll leave the response to the on-site judgment. –

• …Spare tire, confirmed. –

The expressions of the combat police who heard the communication between the engineer, the team leader, me, and Helena changed drastically. The control room watched the scene, which was like a crime movie, with bated breath.

“Hey…! Why are you splitting a perfectly good tire! Are you guys crazy?! Where does that rule even exist!!”

“Inspection procedures can be changed flexibly depending on the judgment of the field, the control room, and the command. Thank you for your cooperation.”

The lined-up police and the sensitive visitors argued back and forth. As those searching the minivan pulled down the spare tire, some of the angry people pointed their fingers at Helena… and then their arms were grabbed by others.

She said that if it was a misunderstanding, sufficient compensation would be provided. Her katana was drawn towards the tire that was lying nicely on the floor, and it was instantly cut in two.

Whirr…

“……I’m arresting you for smuggling unregistered goods and violating customs laws.”

“You son of a bitch!!”

Zip-lock bags filled with white, blue, pink… all sorts of pretty colored powders poured out of the cut tire. …Crazy creative bastards. If they like drugs so much, they should just use them all themselves. It’s amazing that they’re trying so hard to bring them into the city.

If they had lined up at another gate, they might not have been caught because they wouldn’t want to pay for the tire if they were wrong… They’re regrettable people in many ways.

…Or is it? Should I see it as they’re deliberately giving us results to get a bonus?

“At this rate, I won’t have to worry even if I go on a business trip!”

“…If that happens, I’d like to go with you?”

I brought up the topic with the intention of sticking close, so nothing would happen in my absence… but I quickly turned my head away after seeing Ann’s wavering eyes.

No, I blurred my focus as if I was surfing the web using the backdoor channel that some excellent senior engineer had created for the poor junior engineers.

If you ask why… it’s because I’ve been punished every day since I passed out at that bar.

What is the price for trying to probe someone’s feelings carelessly?

…It’s being paid back in kind by the person who made the decision.

“Hmm…”

“…Doesn’t Lena seem like she’s not afraid of anything in the world? Has she been like that since she was a child? Even before she had the modification surgery…?”

“Uh… well, I guess so…?”

…What on earth did I do when I was drunk? Even though everyone keeps telling me that nothing happened, I think this treatment is too much.

I forced myself to roll my eyes and make humming noises to create a busy appearance. Even so, I just agreed appropriately to the questions that came flying at me without regard.

Even though there were occasional breaks, trips to the bathroom, or going out to the field, she was my boss and colleague who I had to spend almost six or seven hours together in the room… I couldn’t keep doing this.

I have to solve it somehow. That’s my logical conclusion.

But I wish she would stop relentlessly questioning me about everything in connection with Helena, with the gentle attitude from my first day of work completely gone.

Even the gaze that closely observes my reaction while the purpose of the question is Helena Valentine doesn’t disappear. The irony of being monitored every move in a space without surveillance cameras…

“…I see.”

This time, Ann nodded once as if she would stop here, and quietly focused on the terminal she had brought in until the next team came in.

‘Thank you… thank you… for being so merciful and letting it go…!’

I offered my heartfelt thanks inwardly, even though no one was listening, and finally leaned back comfortably in my chair and relaxed.

With dazed eyes, I glanced at the control room monitor and Ann’s terminal on the keyboard.

She said that she had officially registered the holographic pad she had purchased separately as a business device.

A portable terminal… I should buy one as soon as I have enough Credits. The cheapest one possible, so I can use it as a hacking medium and easily destroy it at any time.

…Wait, isn’t this a pretty good idea to overcome this uncomfortable situation?

“…Good.”

It’s just a hypothesis, but… if Ann’s strange behavior continues for a long time, it might be a good idea to use the excuse of buying a terminal to have a sincere conversation with her in a private setting without Helena.

In the end, no emotion or belief becomes reality unless it is acted upon or spoken out loud.