by Kamiya Yuu
Naoto cussed, and shook his head unsteadily, saying,
“…Ahh, well, I forgot about it. The sudden shock from before caused me to remember that there was once when I took this thing when I was a kid, and back then, I was shocked by this sound. It seemed it was so traumatic to me that I just erased it from my memories…damn it.”
“I do apologize for that. I’ll arrange for air transportation when we head back.”
RyuZU continued to support the tottering, shaky Naoto, and the quartet walked off.
This transportation method runs several times a day, each time transporting massive numbers in one go, and thus, the terminal was filled with a mass flux of crowds moving to and fro.
In front of them was the Grid Mie.
From the existing ‘connecting station’ on the surface, one could transfer to the link rails that form the keystone of the city’s transportation, or to the unmanned taxis that were in queue, waiting for customers.
They avoided the crowds for the time being, and moved towards at the rest space located beside the entrance. Marie was leisurely clasping her hands and supporting her chin.
“Anyway—that damned masochistic bastard who’s waiting for my lashing’s in this city, right?”
Kukuku. and as Marie let out a sinister snicker, Halter stared at his master with his eyes half-closed, saying,
“Ah, I suppose I don’t really need to remind you, Milady, but we only have a rough guess of the place. We aren’t actually certain of the exact location.”
“Are you treating me as an idiot, Halter? Using the weather data of the estimated time that message was sent, and the number of times the city gear spun, my repeated calculations has narrowed it down to a radius of 500m. The original data’s vague, so I can’t go any further than that, but there’s always a way if I compare it to the local intel. My pleasure’s about to begin. Fufufu…”
Seeing Marie grin menacingly with such cockiness, Naoto, seated opposite her, was dumbfounded as he said,
“…How desperate is this girl for the sake of one single prank call?”
“Leaving aside the fact that she is unable to let go of the delusional vilification or slandering of a fool, I would say, to be precise, that she is lacking in confidence. Leaving aside yourself, Master Naoto, I suppose it is a normal reaction for someone like Master Marie to be so concerned with such words because she is so self-aware. Is there not a wise aesop in the past? That quarrels will only happen between people of the same levels.”
RyuZu coldly stated these words with a smile, but Marie merely snorted.
She sarcastically closed her eyes, folded her arms, and wagged her index finger, saying,
“I see that you’re mistaken, RyuZU. I’m already used to the envy, jealousy and slandering of the peasants.”
“…Then, what are you so furious about?”
It seemed Naoto was feeling a lot better, and he sat upright with his eyes half-closed
“Furious? Me? Hahaha, what a joke. It’s not that easy to make me angry, you know? Yes, really. I’m not furious. I’m not furious.”
Marie fixed her eyes intently on Naoto, her lips curling.
“I am simply following what my big sister said. If a fine lady is to be humiliated, pursue that person with a smile on your face, elegantly hunt that person to the end of the world, and slap that person until he cries.”
“…There’s no way I want to see that big sister in my entire life.”
With his eyes half closed, Naoto blurted these words from the bottom of his heart as he sighed.
● ● ●
—Grid Mie.
Naoto was born and raised in the neighboring city, but this was the first time he visited Mie.
To begin with, moving between cities itself was not something particularly enjoyable, and there were many who never left their hometown cities from the day they were born.
However, leaving that aside, Naoto expressed his initial thoughts about Grid Mie.
“…Hot…why’s it so hot?”
The sun had already set at this time, and it was almost time for night.
But even so, it was so hot that standing under the shade was enough for him to sweat profusely.
“That’s because of the nearby Grid Shiga purged a long time back.”
Marie briefly answered as she strode forth. They were headed towards the spring-powered train, which circles the city, the Link Rail station, located at one end of the terminal.
Naoto followed her from behind, and asked,
“Is this just like what happened in Kyoto…?”
“……What exactly did you learn in school? No wonder you keep failing all your subjects.”
Marie let out a deep sigh, and shook her head.
“It’s true that in the long-term…by causing cities to fall, it’ll definitely cause damage to this planet. However, if the city malfunctions to the point of being unable to be salvaged, it’ll affect the entire planet if the city’s left alone. The first thing to do is a ‘Triage’ to prevent the damage from spreading, and that’s purging. Normally, there’s a need to follow a formal procedure to calculate and evaluate carefully. The people who lost their homes would have to be supported sufficiently.”
Marie let out a long ramble, and seemed to have finally lost it as she fanned herself with her right hand.
“…It’s really hot. The sun’s already setting, yet hot air’s still coming out…”
“It’s still better than Siberia though.”
Halter, who was converted into a cyborg, muttered while looking as if it was not his problem.
After hearing that, a surprised RyuZU tilted her head slightly as she spoke,
“How strange that is. I do remember Siberia being a frozen region as far as I can recall.
“During the time your functions stopped, June 8, 42 years ago, the Grid Neryugri.
Marie answered briefly. And Halter, following behind them, chimed in,
“The Grids south of Siberia malfunctioned. It was originally an unmanned block, and was not purged in time, and so, the surroundings seemed to have become a scorching region. The frozen lands melted, and the Baikal lake’s overflowed to the point of drowning the surroundings…it affected the entire Northeast Asia. Now it has become one of the premier tourist resorts in the world, and it’s bustling, to put it.”
Humans are really resolute folks, Halter joked sarcastically.
Marie wiped the sweat off her face as she continued,
“Well, this is an example of what happens if you hesitate over purging and leave it alone. That’s why purging is something that has to be done, but on the premise of it being a ‘last resort’…”
But, Marie wondered.
This was the basis of the true terror regarding the Clockwork Planet, this absolutely ridiculous construct ‘Y’ constructed.
Basically, there was no permitting of any machinery lacking in spare parts.
Since it was an intricate clockwork structure, no matter how small the part that was lost, whether it was a gear, cylinder, spring, wire, the structure would instantly collapse.
But this planet defied such a logical thinking.
It was as if such a predicament was thought of beforehand, and even if the gears were faulty on a city-wide scale, the other cities would continue to run, seemingly to make up for any deficiencies.
The connectivity and linkage were absolutely complicated. A single purge alone would sometimes affect cities 4,000km away.
Thus, a ‘purge’ would naturally require the government’s authorization, and also the agreement of international organizations and the surrounding cities.
For as the term implied, that was a ‘final measure’ that could potentially endanger the world.
Of course, upon thinking about this, Marie clenched her fists, and bit her lips.
“Stopping such incidents is the mission of us Clockwork technicians—huh?”
Marie let out a skeptical voice, tilting her head.
Unkn
owingly to her, two people vanished, and when she turned back, she found Halter standing there, scratching his head.
Marie frowned, and asked Halter,
“…Where are those two?”
“Ah, how do I put this…?”
Halter raised a finger, and Marie turned towards the direction he pointed.
Standing there was,
“Hmm!!? A swimsuit that suits RyuZU—ugh, that’s difficult!”
The fool muttered in grimace as he stood in front of the mannequin placed in the shop window.
“This one…no, this one—but the swimsuit design looks inferior when compared to her quality.”
“I suppose so—swimsuits were originally designed for those who felt their body sizes were lacking, to decorate those who had quite the regrettable bodies. It might be extremely difficult to found something that matches a perfect existence like me.”
“That’s absolutely right! I guess it’s better to go to an automata exclusive clothing shop after all, right? No, I guess it’s better to custom make something for your level, RyuZU—!?”
“You think we got time for that, you idiot!?”
Marie grabbed Naoto by the collar, her voice frigid to a point of below 0°C .
“It’s Sunday tomorrow. After you’re done with my stuff, go ahead and hold hands with the automata to the seas or the mountains however your like. Now let’s go.”
“Ahhh…RyuZU! I wanna think about it on the train! Get me a pamphlet!”
“Understood, Master Naoto.”
● ● ●
With the refreshing creaking of metal, the ring rail raced through the perimeter of the city in the middle of the night.
Looking out from the window at the first carriage car, Naoto muttered,
“But really, this city ruins the scenery…”
The ring rail ran through the meshing of the gear cars.
In terms of planetary coordinates, the speed was merely 80km per hour.
But as it was moving in the opposite direction of the city’s spinning, the relative velocity was 140km instead.
The passing scenery outside the window were buildings, buildings and more buildings with gears exposed from them. There was an occasion park to be seen, but even it was buried amongst the trail of gray streets illuminated by light gears.
“Well, it’s to be expected that it would be inferior as compared to Kyoto.”
Marie did not seem moved or whatsoever as she replied,
“Kyoto is one of the few sightseeing cities left in the world with a lot of heritage preserved. Mie is basically an industrial city, so this is how the scenery’s basically like.”
Naoto blinked his eyes as he stared at Marie.
“Marie, you’re more familiar with Japan than me, a Japanese?”
“Didn’t you forget that I’m an ex-Meister? World Geography’s basic knowledge to me. I should be the one asking you to know more about your neighboring cities…”
Marie yapped flabbergasted as she raised her other leg instead.
She glanced aside out of the window, and muttered,
“It was said that there was a little more nature preservation back then. That there were ‘Four seasons’.”
“Four seas?”
“Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter—this country used to be hot in the Summer, and cold in the Winter.”
Halter answered.
Naoto was stunned, tilting his head skeptically. This was the first time he had heard about such a thing.
“What was that? Something that happened 1000 years ago?”
“—No, Master Naoto. The seasonal changes did not disappear completely when I malfunctioned 200 years ago or so. In the past, the Clockwork Planet would adjust the temperatures to ‘completely replicate’ the original Earth…but it seems to have changed completely.”
It was rare for RyuZU’s answer to not contain any sarcasm.
Her eyes were staring out of the window, but seemed to be looking at something else instead.
“…Yes. It is almost at its limit, in many ways, huh?”
Marie closed her melancholic eyes as she nodded.
Silence arrived upon them.
Naoto did not understand what this meant, but he hesitated over whether to ask the question, and in the end, merely stared at the swimsuit pamphlet quietly.
—And so, a few minutes passed as the group tumbled along with the ring rail.
They then got off at the station that was at the complete opposite end of the first ‘Connecting Station’ they got off at, separated by the Core Tower.
Hanging above the alighting group were the starry skies, the moonlight, and the silhouette of the equatorial spring that ripped through the night sky.
“…”
While Naoto looked up at the sky, Marie showed a sinister sneer beside him.
“Now then, looking at coordinates, I think my sandbag should be around here somewhere.”
“Milady, your signature bitchslapping has upgraded.”
Halter snarked with a blank face, but she ignored him.
“Now, Mr Walking Navigator, do you mind investigating the exact location of this thing—hey!?”
But Naoto ignored this conversation.
He continued to stare into the void wordlessly as he walked towards the platform exit.
And RyuZU followed him without without uttering a word.
“W-wait a sec, Naoto! I can’t figure out where that crash-test dummy is without you here!?”
“So it has progressed beyond the level of just whacking him up…?”
Marie and Halter were left behind, and they too frantically gave chase.
They passed through the ticket gantry, and once they passed through, they would be at the commercial district located in front of the industrial complex.
Naoto, who first exited the station, was rooted to the spot, seemingly staring at the sky.
And Marie called him from behind.
“Wait, Naoto. What’s going on here?”
“Quiet.”
“You—”
Naoto’s cold response caused Marie to speak up without a further thought.
“Master Marie, do you mind remaining quiet for a little while?”
After hearing RyuZU’s brisk words from the side, Marie nodded slightly.
She then looked over at Naoto.
The latter still had his back facing her as he stared blankly into the sky.
Marie could recognize this back.
This was the one who deciphered the practically infinite number of gears in the Core Tower, enacting a miracle.
The gray eyes staring into the sky were able to see the ‘certain thing’ Marie could not.
—He pricked his ears to listen attentively.
Marie did not understand the reason for that.
She was already unable to comprehend the world Naoto felt.
But since Naoto deliberately did so, it meant that there was something she never realized.
…Sweat trickled down her forehead.
The meshing of the gears did not sound as loud as before, probably because this was a bustling area. The streets were relatively clean, reeking of a hot, humid air.
This was probably what Marie was able to sense.
Naoto was probably able to hear a lot more things, and after a pause, he finally spoke up.
He said,
“—I can’t hear anything.”
……
“Wh-what are you fooling around with—?”
Marie nearly tumbled heavily due to the sudden surprise.
But Naoto continued to stare deep into the bustling streets, the industrial complex he could barely see.
And Halter suddenly spoke up,
“—What time is it now?”
“Eh?”
The entire group stared at Halter, including Marie.
“The time. What’s the time now? I’m guessing it’s around 7pm or so…”
“Looking at the Japanese Kansai Standard Time, the t
ime now is 18:58:23—I see, it really is weird”
After hearing RyuZU’s reply “What’s that about”, Marie was about to ask, only to quiet down.
She then realized it.
She frantically looked around, and before she could say what she realized, Halter spoke up,
“—Isn’t it too quiet?”
7pm at night, in front of the station.
The sun had completely set, and the lights from the light gears lit the surroundings.
The spacious roads were devoid of wind, the hot, humid air stagnating heavily, and only the heat released from the roads that were exposed to the day whiffed by the skins of the quartet who remained still.
It was so hot, yet Marie shivered.
There was no passer-by to be seen, and the opened shops were lifeless.
The operating shops looked a little old, yet the outside looked to have a little fanciful designs to them. While they all had their shutters raised, there were no customers to be seen. There were constructs at the cross junctions of the road, probably functioning as police boxes, yet there was no person in sight.
It was an empty bustling street—how did she not realize this paradox?
There was nothing more mysterious than this place.
This place was basically,
“A ghost city…”
Marie was left flabbergasted as she muttered in a groaning manner.
● ● ●
The location was the outskirts of the Grid Mie heavy industry complex, and there was a tall tower that allowed a full view of the entire place.
It was a watchtower built on a hill, in the middle of a path trail.
The sun had sight, and this place, devoid of human presence, was left with only 4 shadows.
One of them, Naoto, was leaning his body out from the railing, narrowing his eyes as he gathered his concentration.
The vast scenery he could see was the industrial complex at night, buried by the numerous light gears.
This complicated collection of metal was akin to an organ formed using unknown machinery. It was a little terrifying, but the riveting sight was breathtakingly beautiful and majestic.
