ch48

“…Show me your ID.”

DS3-2, the police officer with the rank and authority next to the team leader, curtly leads the inspection.

The sweetness of power… or rather, annoyance. And more than annoyance, it seemed like anxiety was greater. Even from the control room, it was noticeable that he wasn’t concentrating on his work.

In fact, it was inevitable. For the past few days… or rather, since witnessing the accident, Helena, the top and charismatic figure of the 3rd day shift, had been leaving her post frequently.

It seemed my advice had worked in an unexpected direction. She was walking a tightrope between work regulations and laws, tirelessly searching for the missing people.

Using physiological needs as an excuse, she contacted other gates from time to time, and even used her team leader authority to check the entry lists…

Even if I told her not to poke around in the bushes recklessly, she would just say she understood but clearly had no intention of stopping.

…So what have I been doing in the meantime?

• I’ve finished checking the medical area system with my engineer privileges. I’ll print out the patient list and send it to you now, so don’t wander around and get suspicious. –

• …Thanks. –

How could I leave her alone…? I was busy supporting her with the feeling of looking after a child playing with fire.

I muttered words I could never say openly on the police network and sent the data. At the same time, I thoroughly erased any remaining traces.

I wanted to settle down and work, covering not only my access logs but also Helena’s footprints… but I was too worried about not only the command but also someone right next to me.

“Lena, really… what’s keeping her so busy when the kids are so restless…?”

“……. Who knooows…?”

Even though I knew that the private line built through the imported cheap terminal couldn’t be heard by others. Every time Anne muttered to herself, my body unconsciously stiffened.

Normally, I would have dismissed it as a minor worry, but… the way she was looking at me with her piercing eyes and muttering made it seem like she had other intentions.

If it was just dejection because she realized that her best friend and her friend’s younger sibling were plotting something without her, I would have been honest with Anne and asked for her help, or asked her to tell me what she knew.

But the heat she had shown on the day we first met. The flame that had been ignited and extinguished repeatedly was getting stronger and clearer.

I wanted to lament that I was no different from a frog in front of a snake… but it seemed that the snake wanted something from the frog.

…I can’t do this.

Even a skilled soldier would have a hard time fighting actively with such an unstable rear, and my mental strength, which was only that of an ordinary person, was starting to scream in agony.

It was necessary to make a clear decision here. Was Anne Grisha an ally of Helena Valentine… or was she an enemy?

“Hey… Anne unnie? Can I ask you something?”

“…? Yes, of course.”

At the prompt reply, I carefully chose my words.

I didn’t want to openly show that I suspected her. I had only joined in because of the kindness of the Valentine sisters and my own selfishness, and I had no intention of interfering too much.

I just needed to know if Anne was drawn to Helena’s light like I was.

“Do you… like Helena? I mean, in a way that’s more than just friends!”

“……”

Her clear gaze became dreamy, and the surrounding air became sticky, as if pheromones were being emitted from her body.

Her breathing slowed, as if not a single lie or suspicion should be mixed in.

The most passionate confession in the world, filled only with sincerity and passion, was made in a place where the person in question wasn’t even present.

“…Yes. I’ve loved her ever since we first met. I loved her so much I could die.”

…Why am I, the one listening, more embarrassed?

“……Have you ever told her that?”

As if wishing on a star, after fulfilling a long-held desire. Anne’s slightly flushed face gently shook from side to side.

“…When the right stage is set.”

“……”

She was going to choose the place and time for the confession of a lifetime… As a complete outsider to this relationship, I had nothing to say.

No, rather, I felt a surge of pity.

Why am I the kind of person who has to constantly weigh and worry about things, even after falling into a place like this?

Leaving aside the complicated sexual identity.

I still haven’t decided whether it’s okay to carelessly overlay the feelings I had for a game character onto the living, breathing Helena Valentine. Anne, who could calmly declare that she fell in love simply because she met her, was too cool for me to handle.

“Ah, another armory call. …And it’s a breakout.”

“…?”

Well, did a heavy weapon Droid malfunction or something?

I didn’t know how a breakout could happen in the armory, but I waved goodbye to Anne, who was leaving in a hurry again because it was almost time to leave work.

Then I should join Helena and get ready to go back…

“Ah, shit… what’s all the fuss about? I really don’t want to go to the command…”

“…Don’t even think about passing it on to us. I don’t want to get involved with the collection unit either.”

Thump—!!

I was startled by the night shift engineers who came in almost as if they were replacing the person who had left.

It was a good thing they had put on their riot gear, or I would have knocked over my chair in surprise.

“Oh, day shift hyung. Did I scare you? Sorry about that.”

“…It’s okay. But the command…? We don’t have the authority, do we?”

I asked him, who apologized awkwardly, knowing that he had slipped in before the control room door was locked.

“I ran into someone from the command on the way here, which was just my bad luck. They suddenly gave me temporary access and told me to take all the internal surveillance camera footage from the basement because there was an accident? Shee~bal….”

“Oh dear…”

It seemed that Helena’s work evaluation score was going to be ruined because she had been wandering around all over the place during work hours. …No. Come to think of it, maybe there would be some gain that would make her sacrifice worthwhile.

If it was temporary access… it would be a certificate that would work unconditionally for a set period or number of times without special authentication information, so it was just as well.

“Shall I go instead?”

“…Really?”

At my offer to take on the troublesome task, he sent me the disposable access card without hesitation.

Ding…!

I boarded the elevator that took me back and forth between the parking area and the barracks area every day.

The elevator was not spotless, but it was managed without any particular dirt, so I thought something must have happened when I saw bloodstains on it.

…It’s unlikely, but I hope it’s not Anne’s blood.

“Hoo… good.”

I carefully pressed the button with the abbreviation HQ, and a laser emitted from the ceiling scanned the passengers.

• Access authorized. Moving to the command area. –

Then the door closed and the elevator began to rise to the top floor.

The goal is… the black box in the command floor.

If they even bothered to separate it from the network, it was sure to be full of data about the project or equivalent materials.

From experience, extracting only the knowledge that matches a specific keyword from the information library is more of a brain-intensive task than a time-consuming one, so I only need to make contact with the terminal in between once.

How difficult could that be?

Thud….

After a slight tremor, the door opened and the Paradise Corporation’s oasis and palm tree symbol embroidered uniform immediately greeted me.

The gaudy bulletproof vest and military uniform with a chaotic combination of gold and white, and the military helmet? The full-face helmet with the gas mask integrated was the same as in the game, so I was glad.

…But the actual combat power is in the lower ranks even among the Mega Corp troops, but the equipment is state-of-the-art, which makes me angry because it seems like they are showing off their wealth.

“…I have extracted the video data as instructed by the 3rd gate control room.”

When I reported my business to the collection unit member who didn’t make way for me even though I came on the elevator that was working normally, one of the corporate employees working inside finally authorized me to pass.

But when I approached, his eyebrows, which had been nervously raised, relaxed and he offered an unexpected comment as if he felt sorry for me.

“…? You’ve shrunk a lot in a short time. Are you suffering from some kind of surgery side effect?”

‘This bastard…?!’

…It seems that he has lost the ability to distinguish people in exchange for working comfortably without wearing a helmet or anything.

Whether this ill-mannered guy was making personal attacks or not, I adultly handed over the terminal with the data and secretly rolled my eyes to look at the command structure.

It was like the cramped engineer control room had been enlarged several times.

Troops stationed here and there, employees busy working in their respective places, and a storage device that looked like a server.

…Sometimes other employees leave their seats and head there with connecting cords, so it seems like it’s the black box, but as someone who is still being stared at by the collection unit to get out as soon as the work is done, I don’t see a way to naturally contact it.

“Hmm… I guess it didn’t escape to the outside. Good work, let’s just preserve the data and finish.”

He was flipping through the videos, not knowing what he was looking for, and then he stood up.

In his hands were the connecting cord to plug into the black box and my terminal. …It’s the perfect opportunity to use someone else if I’m having a hard time.

I followed the employee who was approaching the black box and pretended to wipe the sweat from my hands, and then I slipped off my gloves.

The gap to aim for is the pride that can be inferred from the man’s casual condescension.

He is a member of Mega Corp, and all the police below are no different from subordinates, so if I can attract his attention with flattering conversation…!

Click!

As soon as I confirmed that the code was inserted and the data transfer had started, I quickly opened the floodgates of flattery.

“Wow~ You’re in Paradise, which is no different from the best workplace, and you can even order around the collection unit with a flick of your chin? I’m really jealous?”

“…You’re saying some pretty pointless things.”

The corners of the man’s mouth, which had been drooping from overwork, twitched, and his gaze, which had been looking at the terminal, flew to my visor and landed. He gestured for me to say more if I had anything else to say.

In the meantime, I pretended to lean against the wall and placed my bare hand on the terminal placed on the black box.

“Pointless things… that’s too much. Do you think we’re born to be combat police and stay at the bottom? It’s just that we don’t have the ability to be in the command.”

“Ahem……! If you continue to be faithful to the instructions of the superiors like you are now, you will be promoted soon.”

Shit. I kept babbling nonsense with my mouth, but trying to pick a needle out of the sand with my head was killing me.

I swallowed the blood that was seeping out of my aching and throbbing nose.

Still, it’s a relief that the target I’m looking for and the size of the database are much smaller than the city-scale hacking I committed before…….

……What is this?

Squeak!

“?! H-Hey there, are you alright? The surgery’s side effects are no joke!”

“No… this is….”

The shock of discovering something incredibly strange… and bizarre made me stagger for a moment.

I waved my empty hand to indicate that I was alright, trying to regain my balance after my leg faltered. Just then… a soft hand reached out and supported my arm.

Ah, right.

If what’s inside here isn’t false information or misleading dummy data, then it’s only natural that she would appear.

“This is… Grisha-nim! I thought you were in the underground…?”

“…I heard that a cherished junior went on an errand for someone else, so I followed immediately. Just in case my junior made a mistake.”

“……”

I lift my face, which had been fixed on the floor, and meet her gaze.

…Ann Grisha, team leader of Paradise Corporation and on-site manager of the Repackaging Project.

She’s definitely the same person as the one who sang that desperate and yearning serenade from earlier. But now that I know all the details of this project that have just been hammered into my brain, and even that she was the one who carried it out, I can’t believe anything anymore.

The raised visor showed Ann’s beautiful smile and gentle expression, but… seeing it only made my skin crawl.

…Ann, who the hell are you?