by Kamiya Yuu
She slowed down greatly.
The heat strong enough to contort space vanished like a furnace that was put out due to its fuel exhausted.
In other words—she was perfectly still in this imaginary time.
RyuZU curled her lips alluringly.
“You—really worked hard there.”
She praised as she swung her scythe.
A black scythe grazed past AnchoR’s mask like numerous slashes.
She stopped the gears from spinning, severed the circuits, and utterly disintegrated the mask, not sparing even a single screw.
Finally, she knocked aside the massive claw dangling above the blond girl’s head, and muttered,
“But it is time for you to rest. Master Naoto shall repair you immediately.
—Normal time had resumed.
And AnchoR’s body was sent flying, overwhelmed by the rampant power within her.
● ● ●
Naoto and Marie could not observe what happened in the Imaginary time.
And thus, what they could only understand where the booms, winds and impacts, the destructive scars that utterly damaged the carpark, RyuZu with her spring run out, and a thoroughly wounded AnchoR sent playing.
The little girl body hit the wall hard, and Naoto shrieked,
“Woah!? AnchoR!!”
He hurriedly scampered over, carrying that lifeless body.
Bluntly put, AnchoR was in a terrible state. She reverted back from the black devilish look to the white girl, but her body clearly showed severe damages.
It was as if she was hit by an incoming trucker. Either that, or she was smashed badly by a gigantic hammer.
In fact, it was due to the explosion caused by the sudden cessation of power output, similar to how an engine that was indefinitely accelerated was forcibly shut down. The energy capable of ripping the Imaginary time apart hit AnchoR herself,
“Ah…th-the insides are still working…thank goodness.”
Naoto heaved a sigh of relief. He pricked his ears to listen in on AnchoR, making sure that the functions within were running normally…
Marie nodded,
“Anyway, go wind RyuZU’s spring for now. I’ll do some emergency repairs in the meantime.”
“O-okay, I’ll leave it to you, Marie…!”
And Marie made use of the time RyuZU restarted as she got down to repairing AnchoR
But even so, she was unable to do much.
She merely did some simple checks on the body, and stopped the parts that were causing burden on her body. If she were to actually repair it, she would need the equipment at the workshop at Naoto’s ears.
After the preliminary treatment, Marie let out a little sigh,
“…But I can’t actually believe that we actually did it. To be honest, I really couldn’t believe that RyuZU would agree to the plan to use Naoto as the shield…”
That RyuZU definitely would not have agreed to endanger Naoto.
That was not just what Marie thought; that should actually be the case in the first place.
Of course, an automata would not disobey a master’s orders, but RyuZU was not restrained by such a natural restraint. When necessary, she could ignore Naoto’s orders.
But even so, that was the reality.
“…That is all because I believe in Master Naoto.”
A cold voice could be heard from behind.
Marie turned back to look, and found RyuZU, now with her spring winded, standing there.
“Master Naoto is a exceptional person beyond that of an ordinary human—and this Master Naoto has said that he believes in me. Thus, I had a duty to repay his belief. Also, since Master Naoto indicated that he believes in AnchoR too, I have to believe in my little sister no matter what.”
And thus, the result was a huge success.
AnchoR was injured badly, but she was repaired. They managed to win in a battle they absolutely had no chance of winning, achieved their objective, and attained a sufficient result.
Naoto believed in RyuZU and AnchoR, RyuZU believed in Naoto, and both RyuZU and AnchoR risked their lives to repay his trust.
Marie earnestly felt that it was a beautiful thing.
“…Yeah, the relationship between you two is nice. I stand corrected.”
“I am grateful that you are willing to accompany us, Master Marie Yes, trust is one thing, but there is also doubt in reality. I should have prepared some failsafe after all.”
“…Hm? It’s strange hearing you say such a discreet hing?”
Marie tilted her head slightly in, not realizing at all that in the time she did not recognize, how she was mere millimeters away from dying.
At this moment, Naoto, having taken off the earphones, spoke up softly,
“Oh…?”
“What’s the matter? What did you hear?”
“It’s nothing, just that I heard something very shocking from the underground…looks like we have a winner here. The sound of that massive weapon’s stopped.”
“Now that’s good news. Our efforts in starting that big event’s not wasted here.”
Having said this, Marie stood up,
“Now then, let’s get moving first. We need to hurry up and get AnchoR back to the workshop for repairs.”
● ● ●
—I’m so sleepy
The girl wandered in the sweet white mist, or maybe swimming in it.
Perhaps she was even flying.
Everything felt very vague to her; unsettled, vague, ambiguous—but even so, the light floating in front of her eyes were flashing, as certain as the warmth in her chest.
—What’s going on?
She once had such a feeling at a certain time and place.
After wondering about it for a little, the girl immediately got an answer. It was simple.
That was when she was born.
When she was born in a pure white room that was very warm and seemingly very interested; it was that sort of a feeling.
There were a few people around, saying very pleasant things to her.
—But it was weird.
She could not remember what exactly did she say back then.
She was very amused to hear it, and it was delightful and addictive, yet why could she not recall it?
The girl felt an abrupt anguish, and had a little urge to cry.
At that moment,
She heard some voices that felt nostalgic for some reason.
“—That’s why I say it has to be like this!”
“Stop kidding around with me here! The imaginary function back then and now this eternal function!? How do you expect me to repair this thing—you want to fight against this universe!?”
“Ahh, seriously, I sad that part doesn’t need to be repaired! Isn’t there an escapement that reduces friction to zero? Just adjust the gears meshing that part!”
“Do you mind telling me how do you mesh something with zero friction!?”
—The voices felt so nostalgic, yet she did not know them.
But even so, her mind became warm for some reason, and she got a little happy.
And so, the girl realized that a certain thing was meshed together correctly, a mass of energy that could be seemingly scooped out and eaten spreading from deep within her chest.
“Ehh!! I might as well do this myself! Just give me the screwdriver!”
“Huh!? Wh-what are you doing!? I’m scared just looking at what you’re doing! Who even holds it in such an absurd manner, hey, are you going to destroy it!?”
“It’s because you’re dragging your feet with this, Marie!”
“Nnn—yu…whatever! Just instruct me on what part to deal with here. I’ll do as you instruct here.”
“I said already it’s the 3 manouevres on the right of the 40,325,831st common circuit!?”
“Where do I start counting to get that number anyway!? I’ll really hang you if you don’t act reasonably here!”
—It’s really nostalgic
The strengt
h spread all over her body, and the original vague thing gradually became clear.
First, she recalled her name. AnchoR. Yes, that was the one thing she could recall. That was the name she had when she was born, when everyone celebrated her birth.
That was an important—name and oath.
“Anyway! What’s with this structure that’s so meaningless, incomprehensible and unidentifiable!”
“Now then, I shall explain this in a way your pathetic brain can understand, Master Marie.”
The girl blinked.
She knew this voice. Surely, it was her older sister’s voice. It was truly a very nostalgic voice, and she could clearly recall the voices of her family. The voices of her most beloved, treasured people.
“AnchoR here has a ‘Perpetual Gear’, which in other words means that she can obtain energy from the automatically spinning spring, allowing her to move without any loss. This energy is all converted to heat, and stored within this cube. AnchoR’s space manipulation and weapon storage, summoning are all done through this infinite heat. Her actual function is basically the ‘Perpetual Gear’ only. Do you understand?”
“I don’t understand! You mind telling me the theory behind it!?”
“…Master Naoto. Master Marie’s incompetence is way beyond my estimation. Please provide the explaination.”
“—Basically, there’s such a thing.”
“I don’t want to accept such an explanation!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
—Pfft she let a little chuckle.
The fog scattered like the curtains parting.
The reactivation was complete. All the functions were running as normal. The Perpetual Gear, running normally. All green.
She was correctly recognizing that she was not having a dream, but that it was reality.
—But even so—
The girl had a nostalgic feeling before, that even in the dream, this heart of hers had always understood this clearly, that when she was completed, that was truly the case…
The instant she had that notion, AnchoR opened her eyes.
There were 3 faces in front of her.
One of them was a face she knew. She always had a smile, but it was obvious she was concerned. That would be her eldest sister, RyuZU.
As for the other two…
“Morning, AnchoR? You feeling alright?”
“—There should be no problems. Probably, I guess.”
“You really aren’t so sure here, self-proclaimed genius. Well, it is a rare fact to have you admit that AnchoR’s structure is beyond your capabilities.”
They were faces and voice she did not know.
But even so, the impression they had on her began to overlap with the important memories in her mind for some reason.
AnchoR was about to speak up, but she hesitated a little.
She was a little worried as to how she was to address them.
—Ahh.
The answer came immediately.
She knew of the most earnest, wonderful greeting.
“—Papa, mama, sister…good morning…”
…And for some reason…
The instant she said this, the trio staring closely at her had their faces frozen.
● ● ●
At a place rather close to Akihabara, Conrad and company had set up a hiding place.
There was a workshop filled with ample equipment over there, and after moving the wrecked AnchoR over there, Marie and Naoto spent 3 hours repairing her.
AnchoR was finally restarted successfully, but after hearing her first words
The faces of Naoto, Marie and RyuZU cringed at that instance.
“…I guess AnchoR’s repairs did fail after all. Ahh, I did emphasis not to let Master Marie handle the repais.”
RyuZU lamented in an exaggerated manner, and Marie lashed out at her,
“Shut up, you there! Do you understand how I feel right now!? Why of all people do I have to be a couple with this pervert here!? This is the first time I had such a humiliation in my life!”
On the other hand, Naoto knelt down halfway to meet AnchoR’s eyes, and spoke with a gentle voice,
“AnchoR, you hear me~? Hear~ this carefully, okay~? This big brother~ here doesn’t have such poor tastes. My bride is decided to be RyuZU. Understand? I have good tastes, right?”
But the one cause, AnchoR tilted her head, stunned, as she asked,
“Papa…I can’t call you that?”
Naoto broke into a huge grin, and shook his head,
“No no no, listen carefully, AnchoR. You can call me that, no problems at all. Yeah. To be honest, I’m really so happy to hear you call me papa that I’m shaking.”
“Woah!?”
Marie groaned, looking as if she just saw a cockroach that was accidentally crushed.
But Naoto ignored Marie’s reaction as he continued,
“But this one, you want to call this one mama? I’ll end up being a couple with this one here, and that’ll be really surprising, right? My bride here is RyuZU, and I’ll really get a nightmare if I’m to be associated with this protein-based, feral, foul-tempered girl. You understand that~?”
“—You know that I’m the one to have a nightmare here, right? Even if I do want to find another man to play with, you’re the last one I’ll choose!”
“…?”
I don’t know what I did wrong here? AnchoR tilted her head, shook it, and scampered towards Marie, embracing her tightly.
Naoto let out a shriek as he hollered,
“Ahh!! You’re sneaky, Marie. I’m envious, let’s swap!!”
“Shut up. Don’t approach me, you pervert!”
Marie glared at Naoto heinously as she frowned.
AnchoR’s face, now rid of the mask, resembled a young tender girl no matter how one looked at it.
A simple inspection would show that her functions were running. Her expressions lacked change, and her vocabulary and logical thinking were a little lacking. Most probably, it was her personality setting at work.
But it was a little weird seeing her being so clingy without the master identification done.
The concept of an automata having ‘parents’ was strange in itself, let alone ‘imprinting’, and one had to wonder what sort of a joke it was?
Marie continued to embrace AnchoR as she asked RyuZU,
“What’s going on? Does she have a circuit that makes her think that ones repairing her are her parents? It’s one thing to be a cheap automata, but will an Initial-Y series actually make use of such a crude master identification?”
“…No, this has nothing to do with master identification. It seems it was caused by an erratic memory.”
RyuZU scowled as she emphasized,
“You hear, AnchoR? It is enough for you to call Master Naoto papa, for that one here is just a side bonus.”
“Hey, you.”
“In other words, she is one of the tools for Master Naoto to use. You understand?”
RyuZU ignored Marie’s protests as she explained this reminder,
—However,
AnchoR continued to cling onto Marie tightly, tilting her head as she asked,
“…I can’t?”
“nyaa~ 11:41, 3 August 2015 (UTC)Uu!!! It’s not like you can’t! You can call her that if you like, AnchoR! I don’t mind at all!! Yeah, endure that little bit, mama!!”
“GYYAAHHH!!!? Stop saying such disgusting things, you pervert!?”
“BWAH!!?”
Naoto was about to embrace AnchoR along with Marie, only to be sent flying back from a sharp swinging kick from Marie.
And as she watched Naoto writhe on the floor in pain, RyuZU looked stunned as she said,
“Master Naoto, I shall advise you not to dote too much. There is a need to be strict when the time comes for it, no?”
“This is really weird after all! Can’t you think of something!?”
Marie yelled out a shriek, and grabbed AnchoR’s shoulders as she tried to pull her distance
.
But unexpectedly, AnchoR looked up at Marie’s face,
“Mama…?”
“I said already that I’m not your…”
She was left speechless.
“…”
Marie stared at the face of the tender girl that continued to look up at her.
There was no extraordinary expression shown on that face, but…
“—!”
…Uu, so cute!
“No no, don’t get emotional here! Get back to normal!”
She hurriedly shook her head to change her thinking. She would end up like that pervert. She could not allow herself to commit this ridiculous shame where one would suspect if she had the right to live on.
Marie thought of a way to counter it, and immediately said,
“Anyway, let’s finish the master identification. This strange imprinting here may be cured b that.”
If an override of her recognition was done, she could at least use a master’s authority to order a change in formal address, even if it was not perfect.”
“…I see. We cannot allow this to drag on.”
And then, RyuZU faced the girl that continued to cling onto Marie, gently calling her name,
“AnchoR.”
“…? What’s the matter, sister?”
“I want to be sure of something. Right now, you do not have any master registered, right?”
Yes. AnchoR nodded.
“Very good. Now then, AnchoR, I have a suggestion—”
At this point, RyuZU grabbed Naoto, still rolling on the floor in pain, by the collar, guuh and brought his face right in front of AnchoR while ignoring Naoto’s voiceless groans.
“I want to make an introduction. This is Master Naoto Miura, currently my master. Do you have any intention to register him as your master?”
Stunned, AnchoR tilted her head.
She approached Naoto’s suffering face, and asked,
“—Papa, you want to be my master?”
