“Can't come inside? Why? What if something happens inside?”
“Something
did
happen,” Mio said, and smiled. “It's just the agreement that was made. Contractually speaking it's a win-win. The area patrols are paid contractors after all. On top of which, the security guards are not moving. And if you're wondering why, well in addition to the few people who are inside, there are several people imprisoned here along with us. Normally if you fudged the data on entrants we could fool them, but when the compound is closed to business like today, there's no point in deceiving anyone. There's no big difference between three thousand and three thousand five hundred people, but there's a world of difference between ten and fifteen people. The proportions are small today.”
“He said it was a maintenance day or somethingâ¦that dead man over there. Are there not any cleaning people or anything?” Hazuki asked.
“None. Maintenance ended yesterday. Taking out the trash here doesn't take more than two days. Building maintenance is handled by a D&S affiliate company. They're done with product inspection of the equipment they leased to do maintenance on things like air-conditioning, and have even settled their invoices. Today's supposed to have been a prep day for tomorrow, but it's probably not really.”
“You're saying it's something else?”
“Of course. There are only two police affiliates here able to confirm entries into the building. And then two more area patrols on top of that. And for some reason, three technicians for the kitchen. Seven of them altogether. No building chiefs or staff. Isn't that odd? Are those seven people even able to make this building run?”
“What do you mean
run
?” Mao asked.
“Look. You guys are assholes, so maybe you don't have strong feelings about this, but it takes a lot of money to operate a living space for civilized human beings. This building especially.”
“You're saying this is a lot of money moving for too few people.”
“Even to run a face-recognition system takes time and increases costs tremendously. Running the electricity in this building for one day could feed an undocumented resident like you for a whole year. I mean that's just simple math. Only the outside patrols are on super alert.”
Mio made a noise with her plasma gun and swung it over her shoulder.
“So I decided to run with it. If I could take down the seven people in here, I could rescue the captives. I could even avenge the dead. It's not like I have no chance of success.”
“Take down⦔ Hazuki muttered.
It's wrong to kill people.
“Wait, Mio. When you say âtake down the people'â¦you can't kill them.”
“We're the ones getting killed here.”
“That doesn't mean we should kill them. It's⦔
Hazuki thought about what Ayumi had said.
No, this unbearable thought was all Hazuki's.
“I know all this. C'mon,” Mio said.
“What you're worried about is dealing with the simulation. In old fictions, people would go on and on about love and beliefs, to be at peace about killing everyone. Even I know that those things don't mean anything anymore.”
“Then⦔
“Listen. Maybe you'll understand this, Hazuki. Whatever else happens, we need to save the captives and escape from here. It's no use ending up dead. If you keep objecting, we'll both get killed. Everyone will die. The enemy is not hesitating. They've already killed dozens of people.”
Butâ¦
“There was even a time when they would have been acquitted. I'm not saying I'm going to bludgeon everyone. If everyone survives that's great. Think positive! But in the meantime, I want to survive this. Eat or be eaten.
“Now move,” Mio said. She brandished her weapon again.
A haze of warm vapor rose up around Mio.
The gauge lamp on the weapon turned on. Small blue bolts of lightning crackled around the gun.
The very next moment.
The wall fell down. Mio fell back. Hazuki held her face with both hands.
“Ow! Shit, now I feel funny. Did my electric shield go down or something? But look. Structurally, this is the weakest point of the hall walls. What do you think? Not bad, right? Architecture is so funny.”
Mio climbed through the hole in the wall.
“You're insane,” Rey Mao said as she went over to Hazuki, who was still crouched with her face in her hands. Mao placed a hand on Hazuki's shoulder. “Hazuki. She's stupid and crazy, but for now I think she's right.
If we sit here and do nothing we'll get killed. I don't want to kill anyone either, but I also don't want to get killed.”
Beyond the collapsed wall was yet another hall.
“Earlier there were gates on either side to keep the room sealed. You can't get in here directly from either the main way or the back gate. But you take down one flimsy wall and look. An emergency stairwell not normally used.”
Mio started climbing the stairs, complaining about how heavy her gun was as she went.
“Will you be okay?” Rey Mao asked. She patted Hazuki's back. Hazuki nodded.
Rey Mao ran up the stairs.
Hazuki followed.
On the elevator this would have taken mere seconds.
Everything shared the same inorganic look.
The sixth, seventh, eighth floor, all looked identical. All it did was elevate. Only the motion let them know how high they were. Only the physical exertion let them know how much time had passed.
“Finally!” Mio yelped. The word reverberated across the stairwell. “This is it. My footing is bad, so I can't fire this gun.”
Mio withdrew a universal pass-card from the weapon and slid it through the reader.
The gate labeled 14 opened.
“See how much easier that was! What were you thinking?” Hazuki asked.
“You can call me Crasher Mio. Let's go.”
Mio stepped onto the floor.
No one was in the hall.
“The restaurant is over there.”
“And that room?”
Mio lowered her body and scoped out the area.
No, she was reading data from the monitor built in to her weapon.
“There are people here.”
Hurry
. Mio ran to the right.
Rey Mao soundlessly followed Mio and looked around the corner.
She truly looked like an animal.
She signaled for them to come. Mio advanced.
Hazuki followed.
“That's the kitchen. It's huge.”
“That big?”
“I thought they cooked in a factory. Boy, was I wrong.”
“What do you mean? You've seen me cooking. When you were little I was even still cooking real animals,” Rey Mao said.
“I thought that was some religious activity performed by undocumenteds. I was oblivious about religion back then too.”
Mio opened the gate to the kitchen with her card.
“This is an antibacterial gate. It
is
a factory. Like we have time to get sterilized,” Mio said, and punched some numbers on her keyboard.
Two gates opened simultaneously.
“What do you think? I put it in emergency mode. I've just saved millions of bacterial lives.”
The space inside was wide.
There were sinks and preparation tables all along the room. There were heat-treating devices and equipment, and large restaurant-style double doors.
“Look, a freezer,” Mio said and suddenly her face went serious. “What if there are humans in there?” She let out a short laugh and went back to being serious.
This wasn't a joke.
“Where's that room?” Rey Mao said, all the while looking out the entrance.
“And, does this door not close now?”
“Not when it's set on emergency mode. If there were a fire or something everyone would get trapped inside and die. It's a trade-off with the bacteria for a second, so just bear with me. Let's see⦔
Mio looked up. She was reading data.
Hazuki looked around the kitchen.
“Uh-oh.”
The double doors. No unauthorized personnel allowed.
“Holy cow, Hazuki,” Mio said.
Just then.
“Ayumi,” Rey Mao called out.
Rey Mao fled to the hall before Hazuki could turn her head.
“Ayumi?”
She's here?
They heard a man, howling.
Hazuki sped to the gate.
“Don't come in here!”
It was Ayumi.
Rey Mao's back, holding steady. Beyond itâ¦
The man with the peacock tattoo on his head.
The man who had attacked Hazuki.
He was holding a knife.
Beyond him.
Ayumi standing with her legs apart.
Ayumi stared down the man.
They were frozen.
Can't move.
Can't move.
Can't move.
Only Ayumi.
Only Ayumi's mouth moved.
“Cat. Do as I asked.”
The man brandished his knife.
The manâ¦
He barked like an animal and leapt at Ayumi. Ayumi ran with great agility.
She was fast.
Rey Mao, confused for a second, turned around.
“Go back inside.”
“But, Ayumi⦔
“Leave her!” Rey Mao said. She pushed Hazuki past the gate. “I promised. Our kind don't break promises we make with friends. We're just getting in their way.”
Inside, Mio was making annoyed sounds.
“What's this âno unauthorized personnel' bullshit. I don't have time for passwords. Let's try this.”
A low rumbling sound.
Sparks flew all around her, and snakelike lightning tendrils ran the course of the stainless steel. All the lights on her electric pack were turned on. The vapors rose.
The gauge sputtered out, and they heard the sound of glass breaking.
The double doors disappeared.
“I'm practically a terrorist. This is a serious crime. No lawyer's going to represent me.”
Mio went inside.
Hazuki kept looking backward.
Rey Mao shook her head slightly. Her hair swayed.
Insideâ¦
“Is that an operating table? This isâ”
“No⦔
“It's a countertop,” Rey Mao said.
“Countertop? Look at this thing. It's⦔
“Who's there?” Rey Mao yelled out.
A man in a white lab coat was crouched behind the oscilloscope. He was wearing a mask. “W-what theâ¦Hey, who are you? Are you terrorists?”
“We're just little girls,” Mio said as she gave the man the once-over. “We're immature little girls. Mister, are you a criminal?”
“C-criminal?”
“You killed them. Our friends.”
“Friends? What are you talking about?”
“The people your generation thought weren't worth keeping around because they were tacky.”
“
What?
”
“The ones who are tacky because the generation before you thought it was okay to do whatever they wanted.”
Mio had her weapon aimed.
“Stop it, Mio!”
“I know. I'm just intimidating him. I have to be intimidating to intimidate. So if you're scared, old man, bring out the other little girls you kidnapped.”
The man crept back to the wall. Then.
The other door.
“They're terrorists! Protect the food!” the man yelled. He hit the screen of the touch panel and grabbed for the emergency receiver.
Another door locked. Rey Mao kicked the receiver right out of the man's hand.
The emergency receiver flew across the room.
“No use calling anyone.”
Rey Mao grabbed the man in white by his collar and threw him onto the operating table, no, the countertop.
The medical equipment fell over and crashed to the floor, sparking and smoking. Rey Mao pinned the man to the countertop.
“Hey. Did you just say âfood'?” she asked.
The man's eyes widened as he looked at Rey Mao.
Rey Mao looked right back at him.
“What does that mean?”
His mask fell off.
“You girls⦔
He couldn't meanâ¦
He couldn't possibly meanâ¦
“Don't tell me you are preparing
humans
for consumption here. Are you?” Rey Mao struck the man again.
“Answer me. Answer me answer me answer me. Hurry up and answer me!”
“Y-yes. Well, n-no.”
“Which is it?”
“W-we use the organs.”
“What the hell!” Mio yelled.
“Don't be stupid. This is too stupid. In this age, when you're not even supposed to kill or eat animals, you'reâ¦humans? What is this?” She smacked him across the face. “Hey, you! Doesn't your company make near flawless imitations of meat? You are making enormous amounts of money exporting that food across the entire world. You changed laws to gain this monopoly. So why humans?”
“The taste.”
“The taste?”
“We weren't able to re-create the flavor. The flavor he wanted. We developed great synthetic ingredients and hybrid products, but it seems there was no comparison to the real thing. W-we had very few samples, I mean none of us had everâ¦we'd never tried it, so we d-didn't know what it t-tastes⦔
“Of course not!” Rey Mao yelled and hit the man again. “Why would you go and eat another human being? You're crazy,” Rey Mao said. She yanked him off the countertop and held him up by the arms, leaving his feet to dangle.
They heard the door unlock.
“Watch out, Cat!” Hazuki yelped.
Two men flew through the doors.
Spray guns.
The room went white. Hazuki's eyes hurt. She couldn't stop tearing up.
“You think blinding me will get you anywhere?” Rey Mao's voice.
A silhouette appeared in the white smoke. Some men holding metal batons approached them.
The heavy object echoed across the emptiness. The sound of jostling.
A short scream.
Something fell on top of something else. The sharp sound of a firing weapon, and then the sound of something breaking.