Evolve (16)
"Hyun-woo! That, that—! How! How did you do it?!"
When Nadia and I arrived at Albatross's cargo bay, we had to deal with Kyle first instead of the power loader. As soon as he saw us approaching, he was so excited that he started firing off words rapidly.
As he rushed up, sporting even darker circles under his eyes than yesterday, I almost raised my fist out of reflex, mistaking him for a monster.
"Kyle, calm down. What's going on?"
"The exoskeleton! How did you change its form?!"
My attempt to get him to calm down just lit the fuse further. Like a wick burning down, Kyle's excitement only grew as he kept gesturing in all directions.
"Oh."
At the end of his pointing finger was the power loader, hanging by a securing wire. Its armor was not the usual gray metallic color, but a cloudy white reminiscent of bone.
I had somewhat expected this. There was nothing else Kyle would make such a fuss about. Well, there couldn't be—there shouldn't be.
'If there were a delay because the processing room was overloaded, or if we ran out of resources in the open-pit mine and had to stop production until we found a new point, that'd be a major problem.'
I suggested we talk while walking and pulled Kyle along. Nadia, looking like she couldn't wait to brag about our achievement, had a restless expression. She fidgeted with excitement, unable to keep still. Carry was already zipping around nearby.
When we arrived in front of the power loader, Kyle's intense gaze locked onto me. It meant he couldn't wait any longer.
"Now, please explain. How did you do it? You didn't even come to the processing room."
"Kyle, you've probably figured it out. The reason I was able to change the exoskeleton's shape is all thanks to this power."
I lifted some tools lying around with telekinesis. Since it was an invisible power, this was the only way I could show it.
"You did process it using telekinesis, right?"
"Well, strictly speaking, it wasn't telekinesis per se, but the fundamental energy that enables it."
"... Psionic energy."
"Yes, exactly."
You needed psionic energy to manifest psychokinesis. In a way, they were the same, but strictly speaking, telekinesis was a processed form of psionic energy.
At first, I didn't really understand the difference, so I kept picking up and putting down the exoskeleton for no reason. Then, by chance, I managed to extract pure psionic energy in its unprocessed state, and I was astonished to see it absorbed naturally by the exoskeleton.
Unlike telekinesis, which seems to pull or push, in this case, it was absorbed, and that was when we realized the exoskeleton had become soft and malleable.
"Huh... Well, anyway, that's great news."
Kyle finally looked relieved and nodded. The Blue Eye's exoskeleton boasted excellent defensive power. It could withstand not just bullets, but grenades and most explosive force.
But it wasn't unbreakable for us. Even exoskeletons had a fatigue limit, and if you exceeded it, they would crack or shatter. In fact, it was because we could destroy the exoskeleton and its core with the polar impactor that we were able to kill Blue Eye.
Even though the exoskeleton was transformable, the reason we hadn't tampered with it recklessly was simple: our goal was to process it, not to destroy it.
Now that the difficult hurdle of processing had been cleared, the issue that "armor can't stand against firepower because it's easier to break through than to block" was, to a degree, addressed.
If you deployed an energy field, that dynamic was reversed, but to create an energy field of that scale for a power loader, you'd need to share energy from something like a reactor generator, which was impossible given our resources.
"Did you run any defense tests?"
"We haven't. It was too late last night. If we had, albatross probably would've gone on emergency alert, thinking we were under attack."
"That's true. What about rare metal? Can you change its shape with psionic energy too?"
"We'll have to try that now. I wanted to test it yesterday, but my battery ran out just from processing the exoskeleton, so I couldn't touch it."
I tapped the power loader and looked at it. With Blue Eye's exoskeleton, its overall color had become white, and its shape was almost demonic.
Sharp, spike-like protrusions had formed on the shoulders and head, giving the impression of a monster that had become even more monstrous to slay other monsters.
It looked pretty menacing to me, but Kyle seemed to score it highly for that. Even Nadia liked its intimidating presence.
'There's definitely some effect.'
Normal mutant ghouls once hesitated to approach the presence emanating from Whiteout's head. Blue Eye's exoskeleton had a similar effect.
Although both had now been separated from their originals for quite some time, so the effect wasn't as strong as before, it hadn't disappeared completely. There was still a subtle sense of intimidation—most people found it unsettling.
While examining a composite armor plate set aside for testing, Kyle asked,
"What about a test right now? I even brought the test piece."
"What did you bring?"
"What else? The grenade cannon that'll be mounted on this scary giant."
Kyle grinned. Nadia's eyes sparkled as she looked at him, then she rushed over.
"Is it really completed?!"
"It's not... quite done. Just the frame. We need to attach the parts during testing. Once everything's attached, it'll be finished."
Kyle tried to play down expectations, but Nadia was happy enough as it was, bouncing around excitedly.
When Kyle displayed the cannon's prototype as a hologram, she stopped running around and stared intently.
"I went with a recoil-operated structure for recoil control. It's basic, but nothing works better. For shells, I debated between unified and separate charges, but settled on the latter—the former made the shell too long for standard magazines."
"Ooh..."
"Instead of regular powder, refined blue crystal powder is mixed in. The expected firepower will be enough to completely scorch the vicinity of its impact point. It forcibly triggers a rebound effect to maximize power. There's technology to up the firepower and shrink shell size even more, but we can't handle that here—our refining tech has limits, so this is the best I could do."
"Oooh...!"
"I'll explain the details after a test."
Kyle added that the range shown in the simulation was just for the blast—if you considered shrapnel and air bursts from proximity fuses, the effective area would be much larger. I thought the firepower might rival most missiles.
"This brute firepower is the result of sacrificing precision and range. The travel force is strong, so it'll fly far, but the effective range for a sure hit is much shorter."
"That's still impressive. Should cover our firepower gap well enough."
"Of course. Technology has advanced a lot."
No matter how times changed, there was one thing that remained constant: the relationship between war and technology. It was common for advanced technology designed to save lives to end up being used for taking them. Excessively improved firepower followed the same pattern.
'... How bitter.'
As the enemy's firepower increased, so too did ours, and people endlessly sought ways to win. That kind of arms race naturally led to technological progress, and inevitably to more war.
Back when humanity was confined to Earth, mutual assured destruction acted as a deterrent. But after we left the cradle for space, large and small wars kept breaking out out of sight, usually over remote satellite or asteroid belts where destruction meant little.
In that context, those who called for peace seemed almost laughable. I was one of those fools—because in words and thoughts, nothing was impossible.
I tried to ignore the bitter taste in my mouth and spoke up.
"It was finished faster than I expected."
"We had to rush it for field deployment, so it was our top priority. We're making shells to fit the cannon's caliber now."
Kyle shrugged, admitting he hadn't slept because of the rush. When Nadia started looking around for the cannon, Kyle pointed toward the back.
"The cannon's outside. I left it there since I thought the power loader wouldn't be ready—but maybe I should have just brought it here."
"Oh, the power loader isn't operational yet. Only the frame and armor are on; the generator's missing."
"Is that so?"
"Yeah, we're completely reworking the core parts to make a spot for Carry."
Nadia, noting that it only looked impressive from the outside, confessed that it was still just an empty shell. Kyle rubbed his chin and sighed.
"Guess it'll be tough to make time. I'll just take the test armor plates, then."
"I wanted to see the cannon..."
Nadia tried to hide her disappointment. To run a weapon test, we'd need to put a lot of distance between ourselves and the main base, albatross. The noise would be significant, and the pureblood supremacist radar might pick it up.
Even if we got detected, we'd need time to move. That's why Roxy and his shuttle weren't around. If you wanted to go far, you needed an aerial vehicle.
It seemed the modifications weren't quite finished, but the shuttle's flight function was fine. Nadia seemed eager to go along for the test, but never said so out loud.
There wasn't much point in me accompanying the test for security, since Eric would be going, and I still needed to figure out how to process the rare metal sample.
When I put that into words, Nadia and Kyle both accepted it. Nadia seemed pleased I was staying, wagging her tail, and Kyle called a passing Beta Series robot to help him carry away the armor plates.
Just before heading outside to Roxy's waiting shuttle, Kyle turned back as if remembering something.
"Oh, Hyun-woo. Take a look at that, too. Not the rare metal, but the other stuff we got. Whiteout's head and tail."
"I was planning on it. It'd be a waste to leave materials like that unused."
"Good. It's in my private workshop, so just tell Beta and it'll bring it right over."
"... You left it there?"
I shot him a reluctant look. "Workshop" was one thing; in reality, his so-called workspace was just a regular cabin loaded with tools because he couldn't be bothered to walk anywhere.
I could accept that—until I realized he was also storing Whiteout's head there. I figured it'd at least be somewhere in the cargo hold.
「〣( ºΔº )〣」
Carry made a face like it was staring at a freak. Apparently, it thought that was weird too.
"I kept it as a sort of totem. Every morning, meeting its gaze jolted me wide awake, so it was really useful."
"That wide-awake feeling is because of the oppressive presence unique to mutants."
"Aha."
Aha, he says. I was speechless at Kyle's calm answer. He just shrugged.
"It doesn't have any side effects, right?"
"Your emotions could become dulled."
"That's not a side effect, that's a benefit. It means my hands won't freeze up from fear anymore."
It seemed Kyle actually preferred it. He even lamented that he'd miss that effect now that it was gone. With a final wave, he promised to return by evening and walked away.
After he disappeared from sight, Nadia clapped her hands.
"He's gone. Let's get to work!"
"Yeah."
I instructed a waiting Beta Series to fetch Whiteout's head from Kyle's quarters. Nadia, riding on Carry, got started with her tasks, while I examined the rare metal I'd left behind yesterday.
It was just a slender needle, not much to work with. If there had been more, I could have experimented with combining or analyzing it, but with so little, I couldn't risk wasting a single piece. I might not be able to restore it to its original form, so it was a risky move to even try.
"Hm..."
Just as I'd done with Blue Eye's exoskeleton, I injected psionic energy instead of ordinary telekinesis. I felt a jolt, almost as if something had been yanked out from the core inside my chest. I still wasn't used to extracting energy from my core, which was embedded inside my heart.
As before, the rare metal responded energetically, or more precisely, it amplified the injected energy. But it didn't feel like its shape changed.
'Is this not the way?'
I thought I could probably force it to transform, but it didn't seem meaningful. More precisely, I was getting that impression from Sprout, who was perched on a locker, watching me.
"If you know something, tell me."
All Sprout did was shrug its leaves, as if to say it didn't know. I let out a small sigh. I'd thought it would be an easy fix, but, unexpectedly, I was nowhere near a solution. I was even tempted to try eating it, just to see what would happen.
That was when the Beta Series returned from Kyle's cabin, carrying Whiteout's head and tail. The two robots carefully placed the materials on the floor and, after reporting their task complete, set off on patrol.
'Intimidating.'
I set aside the rare metal for now and focused on the material the Beta Series had delivered. As always, not a single bit had decayed. There wasn't even a hint of odor—unusual for anything organic that had died.
It still bore the scars of its final battle with me. Strangely, these "Bud" class entities didn't seem capable of decay, as if the concept didn't apply. The only change was that the cut surfaces were neater for storage.
Blue Eye's exoskeleton was similar. There wasn't any biological tissue left now, but that was only because we had burned it off.
"How am I supposed to use this..."
I tried injecting psionic energy into it, just as I had with the exoskeleton. There was a brief moment of resistance, and then it vanished. The energy from me filled the interior, and it felt like I had taken control of the material.
Since I could now control its shape, I was about to inject more energy, when a familiar voice called from behind me. It was Celestia.
"May I use that?"
"Cel—"
Celestia looked at me with an expectant expression when our eyes met.
"—estia."
Her face fell with disappointment as soon as I finished saying her name. She didn't say it directly, but it was obvious she felt let down and hurt.
I knew exactly what I had done to disappoint her, but I forced myself to ignore it. I still wasn't ready to use nicknames with her.
Celestia exchanged glances with Nadia, looking briefly confused, but soon smiled as if she didn't care after all.
Seeing Celestia made a sharp twinge go off in one corner of my head—it felt like Ian's memories were trying to surface again.
'Maybe I should've just gone with Kyle.'
Suddenly my thoughts were a tangled mess, most of them swamped by impulses related to Celestia. If I acted on my feelings, I'd probably end up getting slapped, so I struggled to keep them at bay.