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“Don’t tell me, you’re going to make excuses like I went easy on you now… or that I was just being sloppy! If you do that, with the fight from earlier… it’s one-on-one, a tie!”

Hey, hey, hey, tie or whatever, just hold on. You’re about to get me in trouble!

“Calm down… calm down.”

Before answering the phone, I first clear my throat. And I also try to rein in my slightly giddy mind.

I have no direct connection to this clusterfuck of an event.

Five Eyes? Rosalyn? Strictly speaking, I’ve never even met them face to face. Even if they asked if I knew anything, I wouldn’t have anything to say… Logically speaking, I shouldn’t.

I trust that Aaron, who has meticulously examined my past actions, knows this better than anyone.

……Do I really have to trust this guy because I have nothing else to trust? Oh, my fate….

Anastasia! How have you been? You haven’t left Harvest Planet already, have you? –

As if making a lighthearted courtesy call, a cheerful voice echoed in my head.

I felt my body reflexively shrink back, like a frog being watched by a snake.

Damn it, to be bickering with a resistance hacker with one hand while chatting with a high-ranking corporate executive with the other.

Sleeping with the enemy is an understatement; it’s a distance that even those involved wouldn’t believe.

“…What do you mean, ‘how have I been?’ It’s only been a week.”

Oh… Has it only been that long? I’ve been so busy preparing things that my sense of time has become a mess. –

Once I decided to act like my usual self, I couldn’t help but snap at the smarmy Aaron.

He wasn’t the type to explode like an active volcano if you poked him a couple of times, but even though it wasn’t good to be on edge with him, the way he strangely showed friendliness made me automatically push him away, wondering what he was up to.

So… I wanted to make it clear that this wasn’t my fault, but entirely his own karma. Yeah.

By the way, where are you right now? If you don’t have any particularly urgent business, I was wondering if I could ask you for a small, very small favor? –

“…….”

Hearing his nonchalant words, I surveyed my surroundings.

A crowd of citizens who came to get free lottery tickets and prizes and ended up seeing something they shouldn’t have, a host and event staff who looked like they were having trouble breathing, and security guards and mercenary groups scattered everywhere, busy smashing the lights installed by Five Eyes.

And electronic devices that weren’t responding to our control at all, probably because the mercenary friends had been completely overwhelmed in the tech battle.

Damn it, a small favor my ass.

“I’m not really in a position to do anything right now, so even though I don’t know what’s going on, if it’s really urgent, you should look for someone else….”

Is that so? I just happened to see you taking a stroll in a bipedal vehicle nearby. I thought I had found the perfect person, so I contacted you… What a shame. –

You son of a bitch.

Suppressing my annoyance and embarrassment, I wondered how I got caught… but when I thought about it, there was nothing to think about. This was the hottest place, being broadcast live.

I glared at the filming drones in the sky, busy covering this mess up close.

Why don’t you just film the event hall and not film the spectators who have retreated to the corner of the square, exposing innocent people…!

Among them, I glared at the gaudy yellow drone with the Paradise logo on it. I wasn’t sure, but it felt like my eyes met Aaron’s through the lens and beyond.

“…What do you want?”

Could you please restore that unfortunate Christmas monstrosity as soon as possible? It’s too much of an earnings surprise to show the chairman. At this rate, there will be more employees fired than sales increased. –

In contrast to my reluctant agreement, the request came out as if he had been waiting for it.

His attitude, as if he knew this would happen anyway, was infuriating. You bad guy… you’re a master at testing the waters while knowing everything.

Beep!

It seemed that he wasn’t lying or just being polite when he said he was busy, because as soon as I conveyed the corrections, the call was cut off cleanly.

It might not be something someone who was slacking off during work should say… but anyway.

It’s time to work now.

“Monitors. How long has it been since they turned into that mess?”

8 minutes and 43 seconds since the initial attack was launched. It has been about 1 minute since only Five Eyes propaganda has been broadcast without filtering. –

About 10 minutes… At this point, the resistance should be satisfied with the results compared to their investment.

From the perspective of the ruling class, their pride will be hurt, but they will be able to excuse it as a simple happening.

Rosalyn… you’ve had enough fun with this, right? Even if you insist you want to enjoy it more, you can’t, because from here on out, it’s my responsibility.

I think you’ve done enough of that ‘terrorism’… Aren’t you thinking of leaving when the applause is still going strong?

Are you… asking for mercy right now? Then is this a declaration of surrender?! Are you admitting that I’m better than you!!

“…This bitch?”

It must be a hallucination, but I felt like I could hear a scream of happiness all the way here.

It’s like the mischievous child demanding praise has become too arrogant… or that her cuteness has gone too far and become slightly annoying.

Certainly, trying to win her over with a few sweet words here would be one way.

But doesn’t the prime powder keg of democracy that Five Eyes likes so much have a saying like that?

‘We do not negotiate with terrorists.’

As Rosalyn said, I’m a former police officer, so I can’t give in to this kind of intimidation. Yeah.

Crackle… Crackle…!

“Aish.”

It happened before, and it’s happening again.

As an overwhelming amount of signal pours in, the terminal sputters sparks, saying it can’t handle it.

Anyway, once it finishes its role as a medium, the parts will be severely degraded, so it just needs to hold out while I’m using it.

Is that… Asha’s ability? –

“What’s with the sudden interest…? Ah, is this the first time you’re seeing it in person?”

Like before.

There hasn’t been a chance to see it, but the first question he’s expressing to me, who’s arbitrarily starting things without a proper explanation, is this.

I’m worried that he’s only interested in things related to me.

How can there be such a model rebel where such thorough indifference and interest coexist?

It’s regrettable that you’re fighting alone in a field that I can’t help you with… Later, if I have the opportunity, I hope you’ll install various additional parts for me. –

“…Okay, I’ll just make you into a house-sized robot.”

He’s expressing his desire to help in a very admirable way, since he can’t just stand by.

With that, I gave the tin can a small smile and tried to focus on tracking Rosalyn again… but I soon realized an important fact.

…What am I doing using this excellent robot as a cushion?

Is it really reasonable to be struggling with a cheap terminal…? …Of course not.

“I think I just found a way for you to help, would you be okay with it right away?”

If it’s for Asha, I’d be happy to. –

I grabbed the outstretched hand and came down from his sturdy shoulder.

I was annoyed that he was receiving me in that embarrassing pose again without permission, but I had more urgent business, so I decided to let it go this time.

…It was comfortable, too.

Whoosh…!

There was no unpleasant discharge sound.

A gentle vibration caressed my eardrums, as if the tin can’s circuits and my mind were resonating.

I also have experience fighting against groups until my head bleeds, so I know that it’s never as simple as it sounds for an individual to defeat a large number of experts.

There are as many ways and ingenious routes of attack as there are people, so it can’t be easy.

So what secret did Rosalyn have that suddenly increased her skills?

Did she unlock a hidden power? Did she stop playing around and start getting serious?

Again, a hacker’s skill depends on their individual abilities, but the limit of their abilities depends on their equipment. So it’s clear that Rosalyn’s side has added equipment that they didn’t have before.

And it must be incredibly expensive and high-performance equipment… or something connected to the system adjacent to this square that helps them occupy a very advantageous position.

So… Rosalyn?

Hmm… Ahem! That’s not it… Ms. Rosalyn, or even Lady Rosalyn would be fine! Tell me!

An answer that comes back right away, as if stuck to the channel. I snatched the stream of signals that made it up.

You say your eavesdropping countermeasures are perfect? Let’s see if you’ve blocked the back door that’s digging in from the inside.

This is… beautiful. –

While I was busy tracing her signal, I heard the tin can mutter.

The volume was small, but it contained content close to admiration, so I didn’t feel too bad because it seemed to be affirming my efforts.

No, more than that. Is it because I’m borrowing his processing unit and memory? I was surprised that he could see this scenery that I was seeing.

“What does it look like to a current artificial intelligence…? Is it a decent level?”

I was holding on to a thin thread and navigating through a tunnel full of obstacles, but the classification of information that passed by gave off an atmosphere of swimming in space.

When this is over, I have to show off… no, show him my mental library and work scenery.

To the residents of the world made up of 0s and 1s. Only Asha has the right to enforce completely different laws. …I’m glad you were able to break free from the shackles that were placed on you. –

“Uh… thanks…?”

I awkwardly patted my neck, which was getting hot.

A more complex and… a deeper answer that I couldn’t keep up with came back than I expected.

Maybe I shouldn’t be saying anything to Rosalyn. Praise is a deadly poison that always disrupts my composure.

Anyway, the signal tracing was going smoothly.

Although the route it had taken was twisted, and it was a meager clue that I had barely found by illegally stealing the server host and square base station logs and using the inspector’s authority to the extreme, it was enough.

A location that is not registered in the base station and where there can be no physical transmission tower or separate antenna. The place where the chat entered by Rosalyn is said to have passed through.

“Good idea.”

I looked at the large star decoration on top of the Christmas tree.

Where is this a fair fight, secretly planting bugs in the lion’s heart.

When did you install the repeater on top of the tree? How sneaky….

No!! How can you say sneaky! Please don’t disparage the masterpiece that I asked a worker who has always had a great interest in resistance activities to do for a fair price!

Well, well. In short, she bought them off with Credits.

If she had that much money to spare, she should have offered it to me…! If she had, I would have turned a blind eye to her filling 10 minutes.

Bang!!

Before I could even ask or order him to, the tin can, who had confirmed the source with me, started to stomp his feet on his own.

The body, shot like a bullet, passed through the crowd and sank behind the stage.

The goal is that high Christmas spire. Just breaking it with a gun would push Rosalyn out, but… I’m a little worried about the aftermath of doing Aaron’s request sloppily!

“Hey! It’s a little late to say this, but try to climb up without being seen on camera as much as possible!”

In the advertisement, didn’t Care Bot boast that all its detailed joints were implemented to ensure no mistakes in delicate housework?

As if it were an acrobat, the tin can was stepping on the monitor, pulling on the power cord with one hand, and using the recoil to climb up and up, showing off a performance no less impressive than a combat Droid.

I was just moving busily, but I was worried that I would be filmed again by the drones flying around, ignoring the control and cooperation requests of the security personnel.

Even though I’m planning to change bases. I don’t want more embarrassing rumors like a supernova hacker to spread… I’ll have to turn the archive upside down later.

Ah—!! Anastasia, you! Touching that directly isn’t network warfare or a battle of skills?!

Remember. The world of competition is quite cold, you know?

With a whoosh of air, the final leap was completed, and before I knew it, we were hanging near the top.

The wind whistling past my ears was cold, and we had long passed the height where someone with a fear of heights would faint, but strangely, I wasn’t worried.

To borrow Aaron’s expression, it was because the ride of the bipedal self-propelled vehicle was so excellent that I didn’t have time to be.

“Then let’s quickly connect…”

Crackle!!

Before I could even finish voicing my concerns about how to access the repeater hidden inside the star decoration, a boldly swung iron fist—literally a steel punch—smashed the star and grabbed the entire bundle of circuits inside.

Doesn’t she make me want to give her a lecture about the dangers of electric shock?

Hey! Even the only electric power user in the world doesn’t do such a crude thing!

Connection completed. –

“Aren’t you being a little too cool and refreshing?!”

Originally, I should have distinguished between authorized and unidentified signals, Rosalyn’s tricks. And then contact the staff below again to confirm what to replace the screening with, but… I can be a little flexible, right?

“Uh… huh?”

“Mr. MC? The fireworks countdown is going off on its own…!”

The stage and the plaza below become noisy.

Well, it’s understandable to be uneasy when fireworks that look like cruise missiles start igniting on their own, and the monitors that were illegally occupied are displaying peaceful messages like ‘Happy New Year~’ again.

Please understand that all actions are done with good intentions.

The core of the show is hidden with more flamboyant tricks. It’s a basic magic trick that’s so old-fashioned it’s musty, but it can definitely attract attention.

Pyoong? Pshooong?

The fireworks are launched one after another, making a roar that’s hard to capture with such trivial sound effects.

The missile barrage, on a different scale from the anti-corporate propaganda that’s hard to respond to, finally reaches the designated height and explodes.

Kugugugung!!

“Wack?!”

“Wow… money is raining from the sky, money is raining…”

A faint vibration and a rough wind swept through the city, and soon an artificial Milky Way adorned the night sky.

Even in the midst of that, creating a paradise logo by drawing a palm tree-like shape next to the Milky Way could only be described as an obsession, but at least it was visually pleasing.

With the delayed lighting ceremony proceeding at the same time, the plaza, which had instantly become as bright as day, no longer had any darkness for eye-catching lights to shine on.

Ughhhhh!! Just you wait…! Anastasia Valentine!!

Okay, okay, stop causing trouble for today and go in. Let’s fight again later in full condition.

In the end, a protest is doomed to fail if it doesn’t receive attention and public support. Rosalyn, who was completely kicked out of the system, spat out petty lines and left the channel.

It’s not something to say to a girl… but she might look better when she’s tearful than when she’s confident.

“Well… then, as we announced! We will now move on to the live broadcast of the pension lottery drawing!”

The atmosphere is heightened by the shout of the MC, who has regained his composure.

I skipped a lot of intermediate steps, but in any case, the event schedule must be kept. The rest will be taken care of by the organizers, who will make excuses or make deals.

“Hmm…”

Shall we return to the ground now? –

“…No, let’s stay a little longer.”

The coldness that rivals the situation room wasn’t great, but the scenery was decent enough to look at.

Leaving a place where there were many words and just as many problems, but where I had somehow adapted well, and starting from scratch on bare ground. Even if it was a schedule I had planned from the beginning, the burden was great.

Even if it was familiar Neo Haven, throwing myself into the swirling darkness was… psychologically close to suicide. However….

Tap tap.

? –

I lightly tap the hand I shoved into the repeater. For now, the sound is clear and pure, so it seems fine.

Even if I jump off here like crazy, wouldn’t it be okay to go with the guy who will definitely grab my falling body… A vague expectation swirled around my buzzing heart.

You only die once in life.

Logically speaking, neither I nor the tin can can die again since we’ve already died and come back to life once.

What, is that sophistry? To stop a Ground Zero duo whose very existence is a miracle, ordinary stubbornness won’t be enough.

Ironically, it’s as empty as its name suggests, and it still has a lot to learn, but that’s a problem I can help with.

…Wait a minute, empty? What, there was such a trendy and cool name, why couldn’t I think of it sooner? No, was there really no one among the original characters with this nickname? Wow, really?

“…Zero.”

The smooth feel flowing over my tongue.

Even with the somewhat random word, the tin can, Zero, reacted like a ghost.

“From now on, I’ll call you Zero. The Valentine surname… we’ll add it when we get permission from Grandpa.”

I’m confident that it’s the perfect name, both in the sense that we share the same starting point and in the sense that we’ll fill in the empty (Zero) parts in the future.

The word also has a strong power. And it has a neutral feel in preparation for any possible choices.

Is that… my new name…? –

I heard Care Bot’s voice, which was stiffer than before, probably because it had been exposed to the cold wind for too long.

Come to think of it, could there be problems with the adhesive of electronic devices falling off at low temperatures? I need to leave work quickly, take care of the repairs, and rush to the repair center.

“…Idiot, how can I give you a name and then take it away? Just think of it as a nickname I call you casually.”

…That is a wise saying. –

Good, very energetic!

Then, shall we slowly return to the ground…?

…Hey, Zero? How did you wrap your arms around me?

What are you going to stick to the tree with if you take both hands off? ……What kind of crazy talk is it that this is the fastest way? Hey.