ch42

“Those goddamn sons of bitches…! Didn’t I tell you not to let the next car in before the front car gets out?! What do you have in your heads instead of brains! Goldfish?!”

“……Did everyone see that clearly? That’s why you have to check the front team’s departure before carefully inspecting the next team. Sometimes the magnetic force of the locking device tries to forcibly attach the rear wheels of the front car to the front wheels of the back car.”

A number of police officers, easily over forty, were creating a very grim atmosphere.

Not a single person showed a nonchalant attitude; they were all lined up or working with perfect military discipline.

If you saw this kind of scene as soon as you entered the gate, even employees of a company would act cautiously… but when viewed from the perspective of an insider, it’s just a chaotic mess, and all I can do is chuckle.

On one side… the leader of the dawn shift (Night Shift), NS3-1, was yelling at the top of his lungs, his throat and insides about to burst.

On the other side, Helena was busy reminding the poor team members who were called in as soon as she arrived at work to learn from this incident and raise their awareness.

Screech—! Screech—!!

Clatter….

Was that all? The police officers dragging away the wreckage and detached vehicle parts scattered on the checkpoint floor were constantly relaying their true feelings through the dedicated communication channel, saying things like ‘fuck’, ‘we’re screwed’, and ‘…I want to go home’ without any embellishment.

And some personnel were outside Gate 3, guiding the waiting queue of vehicles to other gates….

The expressions of the visitors in the back, except for those in the front who directly witnessed the accident, were really not good.

They probably thought that the riot police, who looked pissed off, had dismantled the vehicles into pieces… but that’s not the case. We’re also in a frenzy trying to clean up.

And… if you ask how I know and see all this, the answer is simple.

“Wow… they’re really busting their asses, busting their fucking asses! Honestly, it was so tiring when they put a blade to my head and implanted the Cyberware and made me study it… but seeing this, I feel quite rewarded!”

“……What are you so happy about, you idiot. Even if the bill doesn’t come to us, our performance review scores will be cut the same. …Don’t even dream about a bonus.”

“……Seriously…?”

The engineers were chatting without even being wary of me, who was on my first day.

The four of us, Anne, I, and the dawn shift members NS-CE1 and NS-CE2, were watching the surveillance camera screens on the split monitor in the technician’s control room… no…! We were scrutinizing them without any gaps.

…Of course, after understanding the current situation, only those two were engrossed in watching, while I was busy examining the received data in more detail. Anne was busy hovering around me, wondering if there was anything she could teach me in detail.

[Police Work Regulations Article 1, Paragraph 6: Unauthorized access to controlled areas during work will result in removal from the security system authentication list.]

…So, if you violate this, the turrets installed everywhere will stretch and wake up.

[…Article 2, Paragraph 1: If damage to civilian or corporate assets occurs due to individual negligence and insurance coverage is not possible, the compensation amount will be partially deducted from the salary to be paid according to the degree of fault.]

……Oh my. I heard that something similar to the four major insurances still exists, but they strictly determine responsibility.

Only then did I understand the weight of the mournful sighs and curses that had been echoing on the channel since earlier.

Let’s see, two and a half trucks were half-destroyed, and the drivers and passengers were immediately taken to the medical area… the estimated damage amount is… um….

“Um… senior? Is the salary usually okay with an accident of this scale?”

“……Do you think cup ramen is a pretty good complete food…? If you live in the dormitory, you can save on fuel costs too….”

I recalled the parking lot scene, where there were overwhelmingly more motorcycles than cars compared to the size of the building. …I think I got a slight glimpse of how hard Helena has been working.

“These bastards… it seems like their cleaning speed is getting faster and faster? It’s already over…!”

“Then… day shift partners number 1 and 2? Good work!”

“Ah. Yes…….”

While we were quietly studying, the dawn shift, having appropriately cleaned up the accident they caused, declared the end of their shift and dispersed.

With a frivolous salute, two engineers of unknown identity left the room.

If Anne hadn’t been by my side, I would have wondered where they had sold the concept of handover, but seeing her casually waving her hand, I guess this is normal.

Click….

“♪~~ ♬~ ♩ ♪”

“?!”

I was startled when Anne, who had stood up as soon as the control room door closed, started humming.

I wish the voice modulation module would forcibly replace it with some kind of metal scraping sound.

“Ah! I’m sorry, junior… no, Anastasia! I’ve been working alone for so long that I just….”

“…Huh? It’s definitely dangerous to use names here….”

Before she could finish her sentence, Anne took off the visor she was wearing and comfortably shook her head. My eyes automatically went to the ponytail swaying from side to side like a keychain. …Wait, she was wearing that with glasses on.

“The command doesn’t even bother installing cameras to monitor the control room, so it’s really okay!”

“…….”

I looked once at Anne, who was banging on the empty swivel chair in front of the monitor as if telling me to quickly come and learn the work from her. Then I looked once at the main force through the camera, who had stopped passing visitors to other gates and started working.

…I can’t be so lax, if only because I feel sorry for Helena….

“……Lena also comes in here to rest comfortably when there are no visitors?”

“If that’s the case…!”

She popped off her visor and loosened her neck, which was already stiff after wearing it for only a few hours.

It felt like I had been tricked by a clever excuse… but in fact, even if we put aside the job training, I wanted to talk to Anne face to face since this was only our second meeting.

As encouraged, I sat next to her and stared at her as she shyly wiggled her fingers.

What can I say about the impression of Anne Grisha I’ve had so far… a woman like a fluffy cloud with various expressions…?

The heat she had subtly shown before was nowhere to be found, and she was just happy that she had a junior, so I was at a loss as to how to react.

“I heard rumors that the difficulty of this recruitment interview was almost hellish…. I’m glad Anastasia passed…! You’re not deliberately being considerate of me as a senior even though you’re more of an expert than I am, are you…?”

“…I’m really just a fool who has lived only on instinct and recklessness. And… you can call me comfortably.”

…What reaction? She seems so harmless that it’s hard to feel any ill will, and I naturally relax.

I cautiously asked Anne, who was muttering the word Asha in her mouth, if I could learn some work… with a light heart.

“Asha…? Would you like to eat something more…?”

“……No, I’ll just rest a little. Yes….”

What should I call this… exhaustion due to overuse of abilities or traits?

Even though I bought chocolate and drinks from the vending machine in the hallway five or six times, the tips of my fingers are trembling.

……Of course, damn it…! It couldn’t be easy to make money from a corporation.

I had to learn all the processes from the basics and cram them into my head, so it was particularly physically draining, but even considering that, cyber engineers had quite a lot of work to do inside.

I was starting to think that taking off the visor was part of arranging a comfortable working environment.

Fortunately, thanks to my natural talent in this area, I think I’ll be able to reduce the frequency of using my traits and operate the control room vending machine instead from tomorrow.

Knock knock….

The control room door is knocked.

Checking the monitor… ah, it’s Helena and the night shift engineers who are next up after us.

It’s time to escape from a workplace that lets you leave at 2 PM in the afternoon but doesn’t even provide lunch. I should have noticed when there was no restaurant floor on that elevator… a regretful mistake.

“Yes~ I’m coming out…!”

Before hiding my face again, Anne and I exchanged eye contact, as if we had planned it, with the meaning of “good work today.”

So, I thought that all that was left was to go back and rest… but our dear team leader said something unexpected.

“Ahem…! Engineers? As a team leader, I’d like to hear how your work was today… how about having a simple meal and a few drinks…?”

The night shift personnel who were passing by and entering the control room nodded in admiration. Indeed, you have to be that good to be a team leader!

…Of course, she’s just euphemistically saying that we should have a comfortable meal together.

“Um….”

Alcohol… I don’t particularly remember actively enjoying it, but it seems that alcohol is still the best way to narrow the distance, even as times change.

But Helena probably doesn’t know that I’ve already built a good relationship thanks to Anne’s sociability.

…It can’t be helped. It’s an opportunity that’s too good to pass up, so let’s take this opportunity to experience the drinking culture following the police culture.

Even though I don’t know my drinking habits, I’m very confident in my alcohol tolerance, so if I pass the glass around well, a place for sincere conversation will be prepared.

My plan is perfect! ……Probably.