ch38

The morning of the combat police, one of the few remaining quasi-public service positions in this era, is early.

To be more precise, the lights of Metropolis never turn off, and citizens live freely according to their jobs and lives.

Moreover, since visitors from the external wasteland or other cities do not kindly notify the police of their arrival, the police inevitably maintain a two or three-shift work system, making their jobs quite arduous.

In that context, it is only natural that visitors with something to hide prefer the moments when the police can be more merciful and lenient. Even if individuals cannot be specified, it is very natural to favor the moments when a more flexible person is on duty.

Kugugung…!

“Ugh…!”

As the front wall of the gate, which had been temporarily closed for internal personnel change, rose with a rough noise, the man waiting in line hurriedly put down the cigarette he had been fiddling with.

Though he belittled it as a guard dog or something when out of sight, it was hard to ignore the public authority backed by corporations in a civilized society maintained by corporate power.

…Especially at a gate with a large number of troops stationed, just like the police station within the city, it would be much better for his well-being to avoid any actions that could get him in trouble.

• The next vehicle may enter. –

At the announcement that echoed through the vehicle, the man slowly advanced the cargo trailer he had driven until he reached the line marked on the ground.

Upon arriving at the designated spot, a locking mechanism extended and gripped the vehicle’s wheels.

Now, the escape route was blocked, and it was too late to run. He could only hope that the information he had bought with a premium was correct.

He tried to maintain a natural expression, but upon seeing his grotesquely distorted face in the rearview mirror, he simply stiffened his facial muscles.

Rather than showing signs of being a somewhat lacking criminal, he thought it would be better to pretend to be a nervous ordinary citizen caught in a checkpoint, a humble belief in action.

Before long, a police officer approached, gestured for him to exit the vehicle, and recited the customary procedures… Upon hearing this, the man felt a surge of relief.

“I will proceed with the citizen identification and cargo inspection. If you cooperate sufficiently as instructed, there should be no further issues.”

“…Understood.”

“Thank goodness! What a relief…!!”

One might wonder why he felt so pleased with the stiff tone and polite demeanor that clearly followed the manual, but what if the average combat police officer he had encountered so far had been, “Knock, if you don’t show your ID quickly, I’ll smash your head with a baton. 3… 2… 1… Crack!”?

If he didn’t want to be picked on for something strange while entering Harvest Planet, the information to go to the gate on the desert side at sunrise was not wrong. He felt a weight lift off his shoulders.

“…Are you Arno Kruger, a green-level citizen?”

“Yes, yes… that’s me….”

He was moved by how the police’s altered mechanical voice sounded smoother than the announcements from the robot at his favorite restaurant, and he nodded repeatedly.

His level of cooperation had long surpassed what could be described as cooperative, bordering on servile, but considering his secretive and small side job, it was a rather clever response, whether intentional or not.

“The trailer is listed as containing delivery displays, circuit boards, and large-capacity storage devices, as well as new memory cards. …Is there anything that might violate data distribution laws? If there are any materials inside the devices, they must be censored.”

“Oh… as a middleman, I just take what I’m given, so I don’t know anything about that…!”

“Is that so…?”

Even though the large scanner installed at the gate had scanned the entire vehicle, Arno glanced at the busy police officers investigating whether there was a secret space made of electromagnetic shielding materials.

The police, who checked the underside of the trailer and the walls with their batons, could not carelessly touch the cargo marked for delivery.

…Deliberate damage to goods not purchased is a challenge to the corporation. Compensation for the loss of Credits would be enforced, even for the police.

It might be similar in any city, but given that this place was a paradise where the belief in Credits was particularly strong, his expectation that they would be more cautious was proven correct.

He imagined that he would pass the inspection without incident. Now, all that was left was to close the trailer’s door and enter the city… when suddenly, a thunderous procedure was added.

“Then… fortunately, there are two excellent cyber engineers on duty, so we will confirm this as quickly as possible in a simplified manner.”

“…What? …No, yes! Of course, you should. Yes…!”

‘…What the hell?’

Upon reflection, the person who had given him the information had only said they wouldn’t nitpick unnecessarily, not that they would conduct a sloppy inspection.

He reassured himself that it was still okay. Even if a team of engineers or hackers got involved, if they were to examine every single item loaded, no one would pass through this checkpoint today.

They would probably only check a few samples….

As one of the police officers who had been conversing with Arno entered the office located inside the gate, two individuals presumed to be cyber engineers came out to take their place.

“……”

Among the combat police, if there were any distinguishing features aside from speech and behavior, it would be their physique, and one officer stood out as particularly small and petite, exuding no sense of intimidation.

Could they perhaps employ a boy soldier for a lower salary…? he thought rationally as he entered the cargo area with the two engineers to observe the inspection.

Click….

The relatively larger engineer connected terminals to the storage devices one by one and examined the data read by the pad he had brought. However, the results were pristine white; he was not bold enough to play tricks.

Unless it was a rather shallow and trivial method.

“Is this the box containing the memory cards?”

“…Yes, that’s correct…?!”

Buuuuuuuk!!

In truth, he had no right to do so, but before Arno could even attempt to stop him, the tape sealing the box was swiftly ripped open by the small police officer.

Then, after removing his gloves, the officer’s small, white hands plunged into the box filled with memory cards and began to rummage around.

“Uh… um… what’s that…?”

“Since it’s a simplified inspection, it won’t take long. You can rest assured.”

The comment was meant to imply that playing with the contents was part of the inspection, but he shook his head, collected himself, and kept his mouth shut. …There was no need to create unnecessary trouble.

How long would a scene that would evoke a warm feeling reminiscent of a child playing in a pool, seen by someone with the knowledge and memories of an old generation, last?

The busy movements suddenly halted, and a startled scream escaped from the small police officer’s mouth.

“Ugh…?!”

““……?””

The embarrassment that could not be fully concealed even through the altered mechanical voice was conveyed to everyone around.

However, the one who made the sound seemed even more flustered, and after a brief hesitation, the arm that had been deeply buried up to the shoulder was pulled out, holding a single memory card.

“…Huh?”

With a foreboding sense of dread, Arno’s jaw dropped.

No, no, no… there are surely over a thousand empty memory cards in that box; is it realistically possible that the one randomly chosen would be the one responsible for his small side income?

Whether or not intense self-justification took place, the extracted storage device was handed to the other engineer. Once the problematic item was inserted into the pad… various data was revealed to the world.

[ On the Deep Ideology of Liberal Democracy. ]

[ Social Contract Theory, Jean-Jacques Rousseau. ]

[ Before the era of giant corporations, there existed the age of nations. ]

…

Documentaries, e-books, theses.

Only one person present understood the meaning and value of these items. However, if the others had any clear common sense, they knew that this was material that would never pass censorship and that they had just caught a violator of data distribution laws.

“……Mr. Arno Kruger, I am arresting you for data smuggling. If you have enough Credits to pay the fine, you can leave with only a criminal record without any separate detention or trial….”

“……Damn.”

He weakly extended his barcode, and the engineer, who had been anxiously waiting for a punishment akin to execution, felt a slight sense of relief.

“Ugh….”

Using the excuse of needing to use the restroom, she left the uncomfortable scene, removing her visor and clutching her head.

Anastasia Valentine recently realized that protecting someone from threats or incidents that could arise at any moment is far more burdensome and exhausting than she had imagined.

To find a metaphor… it felt like being a whistleblower who had denounced a revolutionary.

“…Is this how it’s resolved…? No… is this really all there is…? Then what on earth…!”

…It was the anguish of someone who had been undercover for a month, just a day before receiving her first paycheck.