Turning Point (16)
Thud... thud... thud...
At the vibrations coming from beyond the wall, a man's eyes slowly opened. It was Roxy, just waking from sleep and looking quite disheveled. He stretched with a long yawn, loosening his stiff body.
"So noisy. Don't you think so, friend?"
Number Seven waved his pincers as if to agree. Roxy and Number Seven's current location was a ventilation duct, sealed except at the front and back. It functioned as a sort of sector inspection path, with bundles of cables connected to various sensors neatly arranged along the wall.
"Looks like our friends have started their operation. Ah, I really need to get back soon, but it's not as easy as I thought."
Roxy scratched at his head. Number Seven, who'd become even closer to him after spending the whole day together, seemed to agree. Roxy was in quite a predicament.
He'd thought he could find a vehicle before dawn and slip out of this outpost with ease. But whether entering this lab was the mistake, or leaving traces somewhere got him caught, the security had grown tighter.
Number Seven clacked his pincers, blaming Roxy for causing suspicion by stirring too much trouble. Roxy pretended not to notice.
But that didn't last long. When Number Seven brought his head close to glare at him, Roxy had no choice but to surrender.
"Alright, alright, I admit it. I did get a bit distracted. I'll admit that."
He really couldn't criticize Number Seven for lacking focus. Roxy had dragged the reluctant Number Seven around, sightseeing the base. Still, he had no regrets—there'd been too many interesting things to see.
He'd discovered countless containers filled with all sorts of monsters. They looked dormant, waiting to be deployed. There were ghouls, along with more advanced mutation stages like Dreadnoughts, and infected power loaders.
The environment inside those assault-type containers was tailored for such creatures—a horrific setting, with lampreys crawling over the "creep" and sticky, oozing organic matter wriggling.
He'd also witnessed fragments of those special monsters, called buds, which the others had fought, being studied and analyzed.
Roxy figured there had to be a reason the pureblood supremacists went to such lengths to retrieve what they themselves hadn't been able to recover. They'd certainly been thorough. He'd stared intently at the console screen as vast amounts of complex data flashed by.
He couldn't understand most of it just by looking, but unfortunately, he couldn't make copies. More precisely, he could have, but he shouldn't—unauthorized access would have revealed his location instantly, burning any chance of escape.
There were only a handful of sentences Roxy managed to comprehend. He made sure to remember them, in case they'd be useful to share later.
「The Maker did not manifest its full potential. Though absorption of the terraforming device is complete, due to lack of experience, ability to control phenomena remained primitive.
The self-destruct nuclear device on the Reformist ship exploded, erasing the Maker's core without a trace, but we succeeded in recovering biological tissue. Through this data, we plan to enable the bud to bloom once more.」
「We recovered part of Blue-Eye's exoskeleton and most of the biological tissue. Most of the information held in that tissue was lost when the core was destroyed.
Apart from the penetration wound in the exoskeleton and chest, it remained close to original form, yet there is barely any usable data.
Initially, the reason was unknown, but Cystus revealed the answer. The heretic Lee Hyun-woo absorbed all of Blue-Eye's potential.
Whether Blue-Eye's mystery passed to the heretic, or it was forcibly stolen, remains uncertain. One thing is certain: ambiguous entities merely serve to augment the heretic's strength.」
「The bud born in the residential area unfortunately never received a name. It was annihilated by the heretic before blooming. Still, the shielding generator it swallowed was reusable.
Though just a mere device, not even worthy of being called an artifact, in the present circumstances we can't be picky.」
「Based on a relatively intact Maker, we plan to synthesize the remaining buds with forgotten relics to partially recreate an ancient entity, to whatever extent possible.
The grace of the holy tree shall postpone their death, ultimately deny them, and bind together those who were torn apart. Cystus wishes for the certain death of the heretics, as does our god.
The god wills it. As followers, we simply obey.」
'What a hard way to live.'
If only they could just live simply and easily. Roxy shook his head. Feeling the commotion in the base grow, he stroked his chin while reclining in the cold corridor.
"Still, repairing a reconnaissance craft now feels out of place."
Click.
"If I go out now, I'll get caught immediately."
Click, click.
"There are still a lot of areas I haven't checked... Hmm... It's all so ambiguous."
After a brief bout of thinking, Roxy snapped his fingers, decisively.
"Alright, friend. Let's go. Most of the pureblood supremacists are probably gathered where the ship is docked."
Click?
A movement of the pincers, as if to ask where to. While cleaning up, Roxy spoke.
"There was a storage bay we didn't visit yesterday, right? That's where we're going. By now, the security there should've relaxed a bit."
Number Seven's pincers waved in front of Roxy's eyes, questioning his seriousness.
"There's definitely something there. It's a bit far from the docking area, so if things go south, I'll detonate those bombs I planted last night, create chaos, and swipe a shuttle. The plan's perfect."
「......」
"Let's get going. Hesitation just wastes time."
Roxy quietly crawled through the corridor, heading to the slightly ajar metal door he'd set up to avoid being noticed. The incessant crane sounds suggested containers filled with monsters were still being moved.
At busy times, vigilance naturally slackens. Seizing such an opening was easy for Roxy, who'd scouted the place even when security was at its peak.
Roxy propped the metal door open and, confirming there was no one around, slipped down. A wide-open space, rather than a cramped one, felt much better.
'Hmm, that sea smell.'
It was different from what Roxy remembered, but that wasn't important. He checked the energy level in his suit, which he'd been recharging bit by bit by siphoning off base power. He was over 60% full.
'That's enough.'
He prepared to activate his active camouflage at any moment as he headed quietly toward his target—the storage bay. It wasn't an ordinary one; it was more of a vault than mere storage.
'What are they hiding in there?'
Roxy barely hid his anticipation. Security had clearly lessened compared to yesterday. With all remaining personnel mustered at the docks, the odds were tilted in his favor.
'Which path would be the most fun?'
A difficult problem indeed. While he lived like a drifting jellyfish, he was far from lacking in initiative. In fact, he was rather strong-willed.
There were only two pureblood supremacists in sight, guarding the front and back of the storage bay. Even amidst all the base commotion, they stood firm, not letting their guard down.
As Roxy pondered, Number Seven urgently tapped him. Curious, Roxy looked over to see Number Seven pointing at one of the pureblood supremacists on guard.
He studied the indicated figure closely. There was something vaguely familiar about him, like someone he'd seen before, and then he remembered.
"... That's the bald guy from before, isn't it?"
One of the patrol troopers he'd bumped into when he first entered the base was now guarding the storage bay. Remembering this, Roxy grinned. The indecision from earlier vanished.
Roxy figured out how to get inside. Not knowing the guard shift patterns, he assumed they wouldn't change for a while, likely due to minimally staffed rotations.
With ships preparing to depart, even fewer troops would likely remain in the base—the pureblood supremacists were moving as though they intended to strip this outpost down to its skeleton.
Now was the perfect time—he would cause some havoc and slip out.
Settling on this plan, Roxy moved stealthily with Number Seven. The stacks of unsorted storage bins scattered about made for perfect cover.
He drew closer and closer to the bald—no, to the pureblood supremacist, who stood staring straight ahead, oblivious to Roxy's approach.
'Tsk tsk.'
He hadn't noticed when he saw him at dawn, but his body seemed oddly misshapen, as though he'd taken something strange. The baldness was probably a side effect.
After activating his active camouflage, Roxy signaled Number Seven to wait and circled behind the supremacist. In a flash, he wrapped a wire around his neck and pulled tight.
"...!"
The pureblood supremacist thrashed in shock as his airway suddenly closed. He struggled to pry off whatever was choking him, but the thin metal wire couldn't be caught by his thick gloves.
Though the supremacist's suit was military grade, Roxy's gear was crafted by Kyle, an engineer who'd survived daily clashes. He wasn't about to lose for the sake of his brother's pride.
"Gkk... ghrk..."
His desperate attempts to breathe were reduced to guttural wheezing. The supremacist glared at Roxy with bloodshot eyes.
He managed to open his mouth to call out, but just then, his eyes rolled back. His hands slackened at almost the same moment.
Without a flicker of emotion, Roxy pretended to wipe cold sweat from his brow. Killing him would be easy, but he didn't. Personnel like this were almost always linked to the base's management system; if the vital signs stopped, it could trigger a whole new level of trouble.
So he stopped at just knocking the man out. To be sure he stayed that way, Roxy jabbed him with a syringe.
It was a sedative meant to induce a coma-like state, originally intended for emergency care but modified a bit by Roxy for fun. The supremacist probably wouldn't wake up again.
Looking at the scene he'd made, Roxy felt something was missing. When he figured out what it was, he called over Number Seven. As the little guy hurried over, Roxy grabbed a small vial strapped to his back.
Too bored to just lie around, he'd swiped some dye from a nearby warehouse, using it to make Number Seven even more colorful. He dabbed a finger in the dye.
Squatting down, he drew stripes all over the bald supremacist's head. Only then did Roxy feel satisfied.
"It looked boring without any lines, so I gave you some. No need to thank me. Have a nice long rest."
With that, Roxy hid the now-decorated supremacist somewhere inconspicuous. So as not to risk alerting anyone with the sound of a door opening, he dealt with the other guard on the opposite side as well—though that man just got knocked out, since he wasn't bald.
Number Seven slipped inside and unlocked the facility. Thud—A deep sound, loud enough to hear if you were listening, echoed out.
Roxy quickly slipped through the narrow gap of the slightly opened door. What he saw inside made him frown.
"What the...?"
There, sitting alone, was a massive chunk of metal—it looked like a huge pod, or maybe just wreckage that had fallen from somewhere.
Roxy circled around the lump of metal, putting in a fair amount of effort to figure out what it was—at least, by his standards.
Number Seven hunted for a panel, but found nothing. Having gone through all that trouble for nothing, Roxy and Number Seven turned to leave, disappointed.
"Looks like Sky Whale wreckage... Honestly, even if they said these purebloods were scrap dealers, I'd believe it. Why drag this stuff all the way here?"
Just as he rapped the metal chunk with his knuckles before heading out, a strange vibration echoed from it—almost as if it had synchronized with Roxy's suit.
「... Pilot eligible for user registration detected.」
"Hm?"
A strange voice rang in Roxy's ear, making him turn around. The voice had been no hallucination; more followed, confirming it.
「Likely unaffiliated and hostile to the pureblood supremacist group. Request to such user: help.」
Roxy wasn't flustered by the voice. On the contrary, his heart pounded in excitement at the discovery. The disappointment and boredom he'd felt melted away instantly.
'Pretty sure my friend mentioned a robot that could talk like this. What was the name again?'
He rummaged through his memory for the name he'd heard at the briefing.
「This unit is O—」
"Orca. That's right, isn't it?"
「...!」
At the overlap of names, the strange voice fell silent. Whatever was inside the metal—no, Orca—seemed to ponder.
「Affirmative. But how? This unit's name should not be known.」
"My friend said he survived thanks to you. Strictly speaking, I'm alive because of you, too."
「... Lee Hyun-woo.」
"That's right, he's my friend. Since you know him, you must be Orca. I heard you couldn't escape with him and broke down, but you seem to be doing alright?"
Roxy stared at the lump of mangled debris. It was a stretch to call it "alright," but since communication was possible, it wasn't in the worst shape.
「This unit also wonders. The main body was in a contaminated sector and seemed unusable, but for some reason, after losing connection with Remora's hull, I ended up here.」
Orca explained that he was set to share the same fate as the Sky Whale—torn to pieces by the gravity cannon.
「Normally, without registering an eligible pilot, I would have been destroyed here by hostile forces.」
"Survived, only to end up in this state, huh. Sad."
Roxy and Number Seven clicked their tongues in sympathy, and Orca was silent for a moment.
「It was that way until now. But now, it's different. Because you, an eligible registration candidate, have appeared.」
"Me? Oh, right, just what does it mean to be eligible for user registration?"
「This unit wonders, too. Certain privileges are required to register a user—privileges that most people nowadays lack.」
"But I have them?"
「Affirmative. Did you ever come into contact with artifacts as a child? Judging by the residual wavelength sensed, it's presumed Martian in origin.」
"Artifacts? Hmm... Ah, maybe that? But then again... I used to mess with all sorts of stuff when I was younger, so I'm not sure. Mars had so many weird things lying around."
Roxy shrugged. Back when he lived on Mars with his brother Kyle, every day was an adventure. They'd scavenge old, abandoned bases for uncollected machinery to sell as scrap. Maybe in the process, he'd touched something significant.
「Gloxinia.」
"Oh—how'd you know my name?"
「Learned it by linking to your suit. But that's not important right now. I have a proposal; please consider it.」
"Go ahead, I'll at least hear you out."
「Gloxinia, will you serve as a temporary pilot? A positive answer is hoped for.」
"Ehh... That's tough."
Orca couldn't hide his dismay at Roxy's chin-scratching answer.
「Why? Though I'm currently trapped and can't escape, this isn't my normal form. The odd appearance is due to the gravity cannon's effects.」
"My standards aren't that strict—that's not the issue. I've never piloted a power loader. I'm amazing with shuttles, but with different controls, my performance drops by half."
Though Roxy bantered lightly with Orca, he was dead serious about the situation. Judging by what his friend had said, Orca must have incredible capabilities.
But the problem was that he'd never piloted a power loader, not even once. If he could, he wouldn't have dumped all the work on his furry-tailed friend.
He knew he should help Orca, who had once saved his life. In another situation, he wouldn't hesitate. What held him back now was a promise to a friend.
'I promised to be the Joker.'
As Roxy scratched his cheek, Orca bristled.
「... This unit is nothing like some ordinary power loader!」
"I have to get out of here alive. I promised my friend to be the Joker. Orca, you may outclass any normal robot—but how much of that can you use depends on your pilot, right?"
「... Affirmative.」
"Without a pilot, you can't move freely. If you could, you'd have busted out the moment you woke up, without asking me. There's some sort of restriction, isn't there?"
「... Affirmative.」
"Would it be easier to escape piloting you, which I can hardly control, or to steal a shuttle and escape with my skills?"
「......」
Orca fell silent. Having just accessed his suit and experience data, Orca couldn't outright deny Roxy's logic—Roxy really was that skilled.
「This unit is never granted to just anyone. Only those who meet the qualifications can access it.」
"That's a shame. If I had more time, maybe we could get acquainted."
「Anyone who boards this unit wins great honor—and glimpses the secrets of the world.」
'Should you really say things like that so easily?' Roxy wondered briefly, but chose not to ask. It felt like if he pursued it, he'd be in over his head before he knew it. So he let it slide.
"Honor and secrets, huh? Those are like a strong liquor—feels good going down, but the hangover is rough. Not really my style."
「... Didn't expect anyone else to speak like the previous pilot.」
Orca listened as Roxy explained the situation: the survivors of Titan had gathered at Archive, planning their escape—an ongoing process even at this moment.
Orca, silent a while, didn't repeat his proposal. Instead, he helped Roxy by hacking the base's data and providing a safer escape route.
「There are seven shuttles outside. They're set aside for repairs but are fully operational. Take one with exterior—not core—damage: numbers 737, 52, or 14.」
Orca continued with a neutral tone.
「This unit was designed for humanity's continuance. Though unable to move, I can still interfere remotely with the base systems. A large number of mutated beings, transformed by infected crystals, have been detected. I plan to reduce their numbers. This will create a diversion to help your escape.」
Orca didn't say what would happen next, but Roxy could guess it easily enough. The pureblood supremacists' response would be predictable.
Roxy scratched his head as he stared at the chatty metal lump.
"You know, you're making me feel soft. My friend said you're not like a robot, and they were right."
Roxy sighed. Still, he was almost relieved. He'd been feeling unsettled anyway. His promise to his friend was important, but leaving Orca to rot here pricked his conscience far too much.
Marveling at his own soft heart, Roxy made a show of wiping away tears of emotion. Number Seven, guessing his intentions, began assessing how to quietly dismantle the metal chunk.
"Hey, Killer Whale buddy, say hello first. This is our new friend—the hero who'll rescue us from this miserable place."
Fortunately, Orca harbored no anti-robot prejudice, showing a friendly attitude as Number Seven performed his antics atop him.
「Delighted. Truly delighted.」
Click, click!
Number Seven clicked his pincers as if to say he was happy too. Roxy thought he'd been smart to keep the disassembly tools handy and spoke up.
"So, what's the upside if I ride you?"
「This unit is very fast and strong. Though the first time is hard, fun is guaranteed. You can run through a pilot tutorial before hostiles arrive—a crash course.」
Sensing a change in the situation, Orca responded quickly, saying exactly what someone like Roxy would want to hear.
"You should've said that sooner! Hang on, I—no, we will get you out!"
Grinning, Roxy began the dismantling operation with Number Seven's help. Seven would pry off metal pieces as if mining, and Roxy would set them down.
"Oh, I forgot to ask. Killer Whale buddy, do you like causing chaos?"
「Haaa...」
After a pause, Orca replied. For some reason, the voice conveyed a sense of resignation—or was it relief, or maybe simply letting go.
「It is this unit's specialty.」
"I have a feeling we'll get along just fine. Yesterday, I planted some fun surprises around the storage areas. Want to hear about them?"