Signal Fire at the Water’s Edge

by Reki Kawahara

  “Corvus. It is indeed a mistake you should reflect upon for not making use of hard-won information. But I also misread Magenta Scissor’s strategy. Neither Lotus nor I anticipated her aiming to disseminate the kits not only by invading festivals through local nets but by also by courting the danger of challenging others and getting into regular duels. If I was going to make doubly sure, I had the choice of forbidding Rin from connecting globally until the issue was resolved.” The sky-blue avatar narrowed her eyes regretfully.

  “No, you’re wrong, Master!” Ash, sitting formally next to Haruyuki, shook his skull helmet fiercely. “The problem’d never resolve with just me cutting off the net and doing a whole ‘run away from the Accelerated World’ thing. You and Master Lotus and even this crow here taught me that!”

  Haruyuki reeled slightly at this unexpected line, and Fuko also blinked slowly once. “Huh? I—I did?” he asked.

  “I do also question if I taught you that?”

  “Yes, you did! Not in words, but like, through life…life…” Ash brought his face close and asked in a whisper. “Hey, Crow, how do you say ‘the way you live your life’ in English?”

  “Uh, um…” Haruyuki unconsciously fell into thought. “Lifestyle…maybe that’s not quite it…It’s more like a path for living, so way…Way of life or something, I guess?”

  “That’s it! That way! Of! Life! You taught me!” Ash said, the tension in his voice fluctuating wildly, and Haruyuki understood what he was trying to say.

  Following the destruction of the first Nega Nebulus, Kuroyukihime cut her connection to the global net and disappeared from the Accelerated World, while Fuko also retired from dueling and lived as a recluse at the top of the old Tokyo Tower, where other people couldn’t come near her. But both of them had broken down the walls of those stagnant worlds and stepped outside. To accelerate themselves once more.

  Haruyuki even understood the reason Ash had added his own name to that list, too, but putting that aside for the moment, he nodded. “Right…Even if you lose the duel, even if you lose everything for the moment, you can always get it back again. I mean, Ash, you were parasitized by the ISS kit, but you came back to us. I didn’t know what to do when Rin collapsed, but this…I feel a little relieved somehow.”

  He had spoken that much until he noticed Ash and Raker both looked extremely serious still, so he gradually slowed down.

  “…Um…Ash and Rin are both going to be okay now, right? I mean, the ISS kit didn’t parasitize Ash’s actual body, but the motorcycle—the Enhanced Armament, and you completely destroyed the bike before, Master, so…”

  “Look, Crow. Sorry to get your hopes up for nothing, but…the problem’s exactly that.”

  “…Wh-what do you mean…?” Haruyuki opened his eyes wide under his mirrored helmet.

  “Corvus,” Fuko said in a quiet voice, “even if an Enhanced Armament is completely destroyed in a duel, it will return in its usual form in the next duel, yes? So then if Ash duels again, I expect he’ll be returned to that form we saw in the beginning, trapped in the parasitized motorcycle. The ISS kit hiding in his Neurolinker isn’t gone.”

  “Huh…? So, so then the interference with Rin’s mind…”

  “We should assume it will continue unchanged after this duel.”

  “B-but—!!” Haruyuki held his breath and stared at the timer in the upper part of his field of view. There were about six hundred seconds left. Once that time passed, the kit Fuko had worked so hard to destroy would be regenerated, and Ash would return to that terrifying form. Was that what she meant?

  “Then…let’s hurry and purify it! We’ll call Mei or Bell and get them to burn the kit out or return it to a sealed-card state, and then the interference will end!” Haruyuki said forcefully, but Fuko didn’t nod her agreement this time.

  “It’s unfortunate…but I’m forced to conclude that that would be difficult as well. Regardless of whether we use Maiden’s purification flames or Bell’s rewinding time, in order for the ISS kit to be removed from the user, there needs to be the will to refuse the temptation of that power. A will strong enough to negate the negative Incarnate that the kit itself possesses.”

  “Then there’s no problem! Like Ash would ever lose out to that kit! I mean, he’s here with us right now, the usual Ash…”

  Haruyuki leaned forward, and Ash gently pushed him back with a hand wrapped in a riding glove. “…Sorry, Crow. Nice you feel that way an’ all…But you said it yourself, yeah? The problem’s that that eyeball’s parasitizing my Enhanced Armament. Listen. The bike’s a part of me. But, like, the bike itself isn’t self-aware. It can’t come up with any kind of willpower to reject the ISS kit, y’know.”

  “That’s exactly it,” Fuko agreed. “Most likely—no, undoubtedly, even if we tried purification of rewinding, we wouldn’t be able to separate the bike from the kit. Despite this, because the motorcycle and Ash are strongly connected through the Image Control System, the kit will generate mental interference. If she planted the kit in the motorcycle rather than Ash with the deliberate goal of bringing this situation about…Magenta Scissor is a fearsome opponent.”

  “S-so then, Ash, you could use the Image Control System, too, and communicate a will to the bike—” But at this, Haruyuki finally remembered a critical piece of information:

  This wasn’t the first time he’d seen an ISS kit parasitizing an Enhanced Armament. Ten days earlier, when he had been given the kit by this same Magenta Scissor and ended up equipping it, Takumu—Cyan Pile—had also been parasitized not with the red eyeball in the center of his chest, where it usually took up residence, but in the Enhanced Armament of his right arm, Pile Driver.

  When Chiyuri asked him if she could erase the kit with Citron Call Mode II, Takumu had rejected the possibility. He had said the reason was that the kit itself refused to be separated through Incarnate power, but perhaps Takumu had sensed this, too. That if the kit had invaded his Enhanced Armament, which was equivalent to a part of his own body, the separation would be more difficult than a parasite in the main body of his avatar.

  As if to add evidence to Haruyuki’s thoughts, Ash hung his head low. “When this duel started, I was desperately trying to get back control from inside the bike. But, like, the instant the battle started, some kinda will or something poured into me, like this tsunami, from the kit, and I basically passed out. Next time I opened my eyes was after Master rescued me. It’s, like, when the kits got Olive and them, it sorta got in the way of what they actually wanted, right? But for me, the kit—the bike, parasitized by the kit, the only thing I can think is it’s moving on its own. Honestly, wrestling back control from that thing is serious no-way town when I haven’t even trained in the Incarnate System…”

  “…Now that you mention it…the kit that parasitized the Pile Enhanced Armament tried to parasitize us with several kits of its own will. And that time, too, rewinding with Citron Call was no good in the end,” Haruyuki muttered, growing more disheartened by the second, until he finally thought up the next solution and yanked his head up. “I—I got it! Even when the Enhanced Armament is parasitized, we could— If we directly attack the ISS kit during parallel processing in the Brain Burst central server, we can annihilate it! I-I’ll direct with Rin and sleep with her tonight! And then when I sneak into the central server, destroy the kit—”

  Here, Haruyuki finally became aware of what exactly he was saying and hurriedly waved both hands while shaking his head. “N-no, it’s not like that, Bro! I don’t mean it like that! No way!”

  “Who you callin’ brother, you giga suuuuuuuuck!” Roaring, Ash yanked his left fist up high—and then placed it on Haruyuki’s right shoulder.

  “Huh?” He stopped shrinking into himself. “Uh, um…?”

  “……Well, you know. Gotta say thanks, Crow. You thinking about my sis—about Rin.”

  “……A-Ash?”

  “But, like, sorry, you know? Time’s up. That ISS kit parasite’s movin’ hella fast. Def no
t gonna make it to tonight. I even thought about destroying the Enhanced Armament, the bike itself, but that’s a hella tough job, too. I either have to yield it to another Burst Linker in a direct duel or sell it in a shop in the Unlimited Neutral Field, but whichever way, the bike won’t actually be gone. And if I mess it up, not only does the mental interference keep going for Rin, I maybe might make everything a whole lot worse, y’know?”

  “Th…That’s…” Haruyuki was at a loss for words.

  Ash had casually tossed out the idea of getting rid of the motorcycle, but there was no way he didn’t understand just how serious that was. Ash Roller was a Burst Linker with basically all of his potential poured into his American motorcycle Enhanced Armament. If he lost it, his battle power wouldn’t just be halved. Forget leveling up; it would be a mean feat just to maintain his points.

  But Ash Roller’s resolve, his feelings for his little sister Rin Kusakabe, were even greater than Haruyuki had imagined.

  “Crow.” Hand still on Silver Crow’s shoulder, Ash spoke in the calmest voice Haruyuki had ever heard from him. “But, like. There’s just one way to stop Rin’s suffering. A way to totally erase the ISS kit from inside the Neurolinker and end the mental interference.”

  “…What’s that?”

  “Me disappearing. Right here, right now, I leave Great Wall, and I get Master to let me join Nega Nebulus. Then in the next duel, I get the Judgment Blow from the Black King. Then I’ll vanish as a Burst Linker. With the ISS kit, yeah?”

  Even after Ash closed his mouth, Haruyuki couldn’t react for a while. Finally, he slowly shook his head. Over and over and over, he intently moved his head from left to right and back again. While he did, he pushed a hoarse voice from his throat: “No. No way, not that. You said this to me ten days ago when I was one with the Armor, didn’t you? You said hang on right to the last second, don’t give up. Grit your teeth and fight to the end. So I fought. I managed to make it back to everyone again. So why…? Why…?”

  “Aah…that’s right. If—if it was just my problem, that’s prob’ly what I’d do. Even with the parasite progressing and me getting even wilder than before, I’d prob’ly be all ‘as long as it works out in the end, that’s okay by me.’ But you know, Rin…” He cut himself off and lifted his gaze from the ground to stare directly at Haruyuki through his skull-patterned face shield. “…If Rin said something awful to the people around her now, even just once, because of the kit—especially you, Crow—she’d never come back from it. Even if we did manage to purify the kit after that, she’d never forgive herself. She’d blame herself, just blame, blame, blame, and then cry, cry, cry. And I don’t wanna see that Rin. I wanna settle this on my own before it’s too late. And that’s what Rin wants, too. She was ready for this. She came to your school festival to make her last memories as a Burst Linker. She’s been looking forward to this day for forever…”

  “…But. But when you’re not a Burst Linker anymore, then,” Haruyuki said, forcing his voice out, “then…memories related to the Accelerated World, all of them…”

  “…Yeah, guess so. But I’m pretty sure she won’t forget today at least. Going around with you, seeing the stuff, laughing her head off, having a great time. Just her memory of today, you know. So, Crow— No, Haruyuki. Make friends with her again. Even if you can’t duel, there’s all kinds of other stuff to do. Like study together or go watch motorcycle racing or something. But I’ll tell you one thing, as her big bro, I’ll be giga damned if I let you do anything more than that.”

  The last part Ash said more as a joke, but Haruyuki couldn’t look him squarely in the eye; virtual droplets of water kept obscuring his vision from the other side of Silver Crow’s visor.

  It was just too sudden. He had never even imagined this ending. It had only been ten days since he met Rin Kusakabe. There were so many things he wanted to talk to her about, ask her about, but he wouldn’t get to say any of it, ask anything. And it wasn’t just Rin. Ash Roller was the opponent in Haruyuki’s first loss as a Burst Linker, and in his first win. Ever since, they had dueled countless times, polishing each other’s skills in the process. They were rivals from different Legions, and two players with the same goal, aiming for the limits of speed.

  He absolutely could not accept losing both Rin and Ash at the same time. Haruyuki turned his eyes pleadingly toward Sky Raker, sitting in her wheelchair nearby. The Burst Linker, master to both Ash and Crow, silently returned his gaze, her mouth shut. Her twilight-colored eye lenses appeared to be urging him to accept it—or waiting for him to rise up.

  Haruyuki felt it was both. Fuko was putting the choice on Haruyuki. Would he simply nod at Ash’s words and accept an eternal good-bye? Or would he lift his face even higher in this situation and try to seek out a path to the sky?

  He blinked hard, shook off his tears, and stared up into the night sky of the Bizarre Festival stage. Perhaps the aftershocks of the large explosion still lingered; there was a meager break in the thick clouds. On the other side, a single small star glittered alone. It couldn’t have been, but whenever he was on the edge of despair and disheartened, he felt like it was always this same star he found in the night sky.

  Haruyuki took Ash’s hand from his shoulder, brought it in front of his face, and squeezed tightly, as hard as he could. “Ash. There’s still…There’s still just one way left to fight. Just one way to remove the ISS kit from the bike and cut off the mental interference with Rin right now.”

  “……”

  Ash Roller waited silently for him to continue.

  Mustering all the force he had to stare intently at Ash Roller, Haruyuki stated, “We cut out the root of the chain. We’ll destroy the ISS kit main body in the Tokyo Midtown Tower in the Unlimited Neutral Field. Right now.”

  9

  “…Well said, Corvus.”

  Immediately after returning to the real world, Fuko murmured the words from directly next to his ear.

  Before he could say anything in response, the direct cable was yanked from his neck. Haruyuki, similarly, hurriedly pulled the cable from Rin’s neck where she was lying on the bed with her eyes closed. Right after he tucked it away in his daypack, the white curtain surrounding the bed was yanked open.

  “Sorry. Sorry to keep you waiting. I’m just going to have a look at your vital data now, okay?” a woman dressed neatly in a white doctor’s coat said as she ran her fingers through the air.

  It was the school nurse, Mitsu Hotta. With an ad hoc connection to Rin’s Neurolinker, she got the monitor data on Rin’s temperature and pulse and things, then furrowed her brow slightly. “You have a bit of a fever, but all your other numbers are normal. Did you maybe overexert yourself at the festival? How about you rest a little and we’ll see how you do?”

  Haruyuki let out a slight sigh at this diagnosis. It was already clear that the reason Rin collapsed wasn’t a cold or overeating, so it would have made the situation that much more complicated if she were carried away in an ambulance or something.

  Saying she was just going to grab a rehydration pack, Ms. Hotta headed for the refrigerator in a corner of the room, and Fuko took advantage of the moment to murmur to Haruyuki, “I’ll explain to Mayuzumi and everyone else, so you stay with Rin a little longer. I’ll mail you as soon as we decide on a plan of action.”

  “Okay…Thank you.”

  He dipped his head and also gave a nod to a worried Takumu on the other side of the curtain. Fuko squeezed Rin’s hand tightly before standing up and urging Takumu to join her in walking toward the entrance. Returning to take their place, Ms. Hotta handed Haruyuki the oral rehydration bottle and smiled just a little for some reason before moving to her desk a ways off.

  Haruyuki first helped Rin up into a sitting position before unscrewing the cap of the bottle. The built-in straw automatically popped up, and he brought it to her mouth.

  Taking tiny sips of the cool liquid, Rin let out a light sigh and gazed at him. Right now, she still remembered the battle that ha
d unfolded in the Bizarre Festival stage and the words that had been exchanged there. He wouldn’t have to explain again what Ash Roller—her brother Rinta Kusakabe—had told them, or what Haruyuki had decided.

  So he stared quietly into Rin’s grayish eyes and kept himself to a brief statement. “It’s okay. This time, it’ll be me who helps you out.”

  Rin hung her head slightly and slowly closed her eyes. Tiny droplets of water collected on her eyelashes, shimmering and shaking there. …“I’m. Sorry…I…” The reason for the apology was probably the fact that she had been parasitized by the ISS kit, as well as the fact that she had hidden this throughout the school festival.

  Haruyuki leaned forward and shook his head quickly back and forth. “You don’t need to apologize, Kusakabe. The truth is…it’s because I was careless…” But he had already said the rest of this in the stage, so he swallowed hard and continued. “…We’re definitely going to go and eliminate the main body. And then we can go look at the rest of the festival together.”

  Rin kept her face down for a little while longer, but she finally lifted it and brought a smile—albeit a pained one—across her lips. Nodding sharply, she spoke in a voice that echoed in Haruyuki’s ears with a purity that was almost heartrending. “…Okay.”

  In reply, he nodded firmly before setting the rehydration bottle on the small table there, and then he made her lie down once more. After covering her up to her shoulders with the blanket, he stood up and moved away from the bed.

  He closed the white curtain and went over to where Ms. Hotta was tapping away at a keyboard at her desk. “Ms. Hotta, I just have something to take care of and then I’ll be back, so please watch out for Kusakabe.”

  “Roger.” Raising her head from her holowindow, the health teacher grinned once more. “…And maybe it would be a good idea if we kept her a secret from the student council vice president?”