Rentaro swallowed. His skin pricked with the enthusiasm of the people on the other side of the phone with Kisara, and after all this time, he finally understood that this was not a lie or a joke, but that what was happening now was a critical moment for the survival of Tokyo Area.
Suddenly, a shock that made the earth reverberate assailed Rentaro and Enju from below, and they both staggered. Looking at the view on the front panel, he saw that the base of the Stairway to Heaven, which had been fixed at an angle of elevation of seventy degrees, had started to move slowly with a grinding sound. However, the movement was so slow that it made him want to go to the place himself and move it.
Finally maintaining a distance pretty much level with the ground, the feet of the two tripods installed on the lower parts of the long rails on the left and right were brought down with amazing speed into the ground, digging deep into the ground and leveling a hill as they stopped. In order to prepare for the recoil of the blast, the railgun dug itself in deep.
“Changing to online mode, linking data with satellite. Activating the CYCLOPS system. Showing target on the main monitor.”
Before long, the front of the three-sided panel changed, and seeing the zoomed-in image there, Rentaro almost had to look away. Just how many tens of thousands of species’ genes had been incorporated into that body? The Gastrea’s dark brown skin was cracked and had warts all over it that made it look like it had smallpox, and there were objects sticking out of it. Eight sickle-shaped barbs stuck out all over the grotesque body in random places—on the neck, head, right eye, and other places. Its head was swollen beyond strange, and something shaped like a curved beak projected out near its mouth. The remaining left eye was so small that it looked almost sad. On the screen was a horrifying giant walking on two legs.
Based on the scale, it was probably about four hundred meters tall. As it pushed its way through the ocean, it brushed off the flying missiles cutting through the night sky with its feelers. Smoke from the explosions scattered, and the ocean water near it evaporated. But Rentaro could not see anything that looked like damage.
Enju, gazing dumbfounded at the monitor, looked at Rentaro with a pale face. “R-Rentaro, what’s that?”
“A Stage Five,” said Rentaro, “also known as the Zodiac Gastrea: Scorpion. Ten years ago, it was one of the monsters that wreaked havoc on the world.”
It was originally used by the U.S. Department of Defense and the Japanese government as a code name to tell them apart, but before they knew it, it had become a household name that everyone used.
Rentaro made a tight fist and gazed at the repulsive angel of death. If a whale that swam in the ocean was brought onto land, it would die, crushed by the weight of its own body. It went without saying that the same should have been true for something with a frame many times the size of a whale’s.
Suddenly an unbelievable view came into sight. Just how tough was that Gastrea, such that it could support that vast body weight and still move? It was probably harder than anything else that existed on earth. There was no way an existing weapon could kill that. As the Scorpion suddenly stopped, the feelers all over its body stood straight up perpendicularly, and it pointed its giant beak toward the sky. The next instant, Rentaro cursed the fact that these facilities were equipped with a sound collection device.
“Hyooooooooooooooooooooo!!” It was a loud shriek of a monster that seemed to unnerve everyone working hard around Japan. An earthquakelike vibration shook the whole facility, and a cold sweat broke out all over Rentaro’s body. There was anger in that howl. The roots of his teeth clattered loudly. He didn’t even have a chance to scream.
“Did you hear that? Don’t lose focus, Satomi!” Rentaro came back to his senses with Kisara’s cry. Even Kisara could not completely eliminate the panic and irritation that were mixed into her voice. “Satomi, listen calmly. We’re in a bad situation. There’s no Varanium armor-piercing ammunition in the chamber.”
“Wh-what do you mean?” Rentaro asked.
“There’s nothing that can be shot out of that railgun! In other words, it prob…can’t be used…like that. S…plea…secu…it……self……” Suddenly, Kisara’s voice became so faraway that he couldn’t tell what she was saying. Not knowing what was going on, Rentaro pressed the phone harder to his ear.
“Kisara? Kisara?! What’s wrong? Hey, Kisara!” Glancing left and right, he looked suddenly at the control panel and stared at the screen. All the blood suddenly left his face. The indicator bars that had been steadily showing their wireless data transmission had come to a complete stop. The data transmission had been interrupted.
“Right now, we can’t enter anything remotely… The transmission is probably…being affected…the supermagne… The rest is up…to yo…Satomi……” Even as she was breaking up, he could pick up what she was trying to say.
Rentaro clutched the cell phone in his hand like his life depended on it and screamed. “Kisara! No, Kisara! Stop! Please stop! I can’t do it. Don’t leave me alone!”
“Satom…… The world…depen……… please…”
There was static, and then their call was cut off. Rentaro gazed at his cell phone with unbelieving eyes. He was suddenly enveloped with chills. But this was not the end of the terrible situation.
Suddenly, a piercing alert echoed, and when he looked up, the status screen on the left panel seemed to be red with rage. “Coolant leak in power storage system confirmed. Please abort experiment immediately. I repeat—Coolant…”
On top of that, the synthesized voice said, “Fire-control system UNTAC is not activated. Please reactivate it or abort the experiment.”
“Railgun firing angle, eleven degrees above ground level. Energy eighty-eight percent filled.”
Rentaro forced himself to take deep breaths and calm down. He couldn’t let this abort now. He didn’t know how much the coolant leak would affect the firing, but looking at the status screen, it was only leaking slightly. He could probably shoot once.
But at the same time, he knew if he missed, he would not have another chance. He prepared himself. Opening his clenched fist, he checked to make sure he could move all five fingers.
He stretched his black artificial arm straight out in front of him and narrowed his fingers into the shape of an arrowhead. With his left hand, he felt around behind his humerus, where his triceps would have been, and pushing a button he found there, his arm turned counterclockwise and popped out. The connection whirred and came loose, and Rentaro’s right arm came off from the elbow down.
Rentaro stared for a while at the nerve connector terminal, insulation, shock absorber, and other parts in the cross section of the arm. Finally, he opened the universal bolt connected to the chamber next to the control panel. Rentaro then set his disconnected right arm into it and pushed the LOCK button. His right arm was sent to the chamber and locked into place.
“Rentaro, don’t tell me you…?” Enju said, her voice trailing off.
“Yeah, I’m using my right arm as a bullet,” said Rentaro. “Super-Varanium should be good enough.”
As if approving of Rentaro’s sacrifice, the composition analysis results were displayed. This material would be able to withstand up to five percent below light speed.
“Still no response from the fire-control system. Switching to manual trigger control system. Energy one hundred percent filled. Ready to shoot.”
Another joysticklike object came out of the control panel. All this stick had was a trigger like that of a gun. Rentaro prayed as he gripped it hard.
The indicator flickered one hundred percent on the screen. The whole facility shook with the powerful energy of a mass of billions of tesla volts of energy looking for an exit. The fire-control system that allowed for automatic aiming to hit the target was not responding, which meant that Rentaro would have to manually hit the target.
He couldn’t do it.
Rentaro squeezed his eyes shut. There were almost fifty kilometers between this facility on Bos
o Peninsula and the target in Tokyo Bay. In the world of shooting, where hitting a target a kilometer away was already considered a miracle, even if the target was large, how was he supposed to hit it from fifty kilometers away? Manually, he didn’t even have a fraction of a percentage of a chance of hitting it.
The panel showed the Scorpion trying to land in Tokyo Bay, with a firing line rushing at it as the battle with the self-defense force at the water’s edge progressed. Beyond them was the line of jet-black Monoliths standing silently to protect Tokyo.
At that moment, the Scorpion shot out one especially long sickle-shaped feeler and mowed down all the artillery batteries and missile silos crowded around the coast of the bay at once. Dense clouds of sand and rocks were stirred up and Rentaro could tell that the state of the war was starting to take a dire turn for the worse. Replaying the Scorpion’s hate-filled war cry in his head, he gripped the joystick so hard it almost broke. He wiped the sweat from his hand holding the joystick on his clothes.
The coolant loss alert was annoyingly shrill in his ears. It was as if it was urging him saying, Hurry up, hurry up.
He heard a ragged sigh come from his own throat that sounded like that of a wounded animal and clenched his teeth. He could not let that organism step on the land of Tokyo Area. If he quit here, what in the world had he been fighting for this whole time?!
Do it! Do it! You can do it, Rentaro Satomi!
The tips of his fingers seemed like they had solidified and wouldn’t move. Rentaro finally fell to his knees, still clinging to the joystick. “It’s no use……… I can’t do it. I’m……”
He wanted to run away.
Suddenly, a small hand was placed on top of Rentaro’s. Surprised, he looked next to him, where Enju was looking at Rentaro with an unusually kind expression on her face. “Rentaro, I am here.”
His mouth was parched. The corners of his eyes felt hot, and looking down, he hugged Enju and squeezed hard. “If this misses, it’s the end for us.”
“It won’t miss. You can do it.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Of course it’s impossible. First of all, how can you believe in a weapon that was inactive for ten years that never even had a test run? One wrong step and the bullet could shoot toward Tokyo Area and cause an unprecedented disaster there.”
“But you can do it.”
“How can you always say such irresponsible things? I’m…”
Enju suddenly brought her face so close they almost bumped heads. She focused on him with her eyes wide and bit her lip. “I have not said a single irresponsible thing. It is what I always think. You are the only one who can save this world. No one else but you, Rentaro.”
Rentaro was surprised and covered his mouth. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath to calm himself. “Enju…I definitely don’t want to lose you.”
The tension left Enju’s tense body and, at peace from the bottom of her heart, she closed her eyes and put her arm around Rentaro’s neck. “Don’t worry. I love you, too.”
Her body felt so hot he thought he would be burned, but he also felt relief like being wrapped in down. He didn’t know how long they stayed like that. Suddenly, Enju let out a strange sound and pressed in on Rentaro’s face. “Rentaro, let us be clear. I can interpret what you said just now as a proposal, right?”
“Uh………………. D-d-dummy! Of course it just means I like you. Interpret it in a familial way! What does a ten-year-old kid have to say about love, anyway? Besides, before you can even think about feelings, the law says…”
Enju looked dissatisfied as she stared at Rentaro with the corners of her mouth turned down. “Then, do you love Kisara?”
Rentaro gave a start. “Don’t say that……!”
Enju thrust a victory peace sign in front of Rentaro’s nose. “Two years. Within two years, I shall make you like me more than Kisara!”
Rentaro smiled wryly and scratched his head. “When you’re twelve and I’m eighteen, huh? The older I get, the more criminal it seems, doesn’t it?”
“I can’t wait longer than that.”
“Okay, okay, I get it. I expect a lot from you.”
Enju smiled faintly and slowly peeled her body away from his. “Are you still scared…?”
Rentaro looked at the palm of his own hand and was strangely moved. The trembling had stopped. Rentaro closed his eyes. “No… Thanks. Give me your hand. We’re gonna end this.”
Lifting his face, he looked at the panel. He even felt pity for the raging Scorpion.
Sorry we made up a name for you. But I can’t die yet.
The energy that was about to run wild earlier had started shaking like an earthquake right below them.
Rentaro gripped the joystick again, and Enju put her hand on top. They put their fingers on the trigger together.
Rentaro closed his eyes. Strangely, he felt good. He felt like he couldn’t miss. “Enju.”
“Yeah,” she said.
They slowly pulled the trigger.
He felt so light and comfortable that it would be a disservice to compare it to floating. He lost all sense of time.
Finally, everything was enveloped in light, like a blessing.
EPILOGUE PUTTING ON A BOLD FRONT
The Seitenshi’s palace was, in a word, magnificent. Turning his head, Rentaro could see the forest of marble pillars, the graceful arch of the domed canopy, and the polished floors with mosaic pictures.
Occasionally, he reached up to fix the collar of the unfamiliar white formal suit, scratching his head. How had it turned out like this? It was not the first time he’d screamed this question in his mind that day.
“Tomorrow is the celebration ceremony, so don’t be late,” Kisara had said the day before, throwing a map and the suit at Rentaro, looking like she couldn’t be bothered.
He thought about being extremely late, but in the end, the next morning, Rentaro found himself changing trains by himself. He frowned, thinking something was strange as he looked at the map, but he was not mistaken—the ceremony was in Tokyo Area’s First District. He was stunned when he realized that it would be smack-dab in the middle of the Seitenshi’s palace.
As Rentaro repeated quietly to himself that this must be some kind of mistake, a guard approached him with eyes that said he thought he was facing a suspicious person. However, the moment Rentaro showed his invitation, it was like he had said, “Open sesame,” and the guard’s face broke out in a smile as he hit Rentaro’s shoulder with friendly, but hard, blows and let him through.
Kisara stood in a dress in front of the large door where the ceremony was being held. She had her hands on her hips and looked unhappy. After seeing Rentaro, all she said was, “You’re late,” which brought them to the present.
“Satomi, you are the guest of honor today,” she said. “Please don’t look around like some tourist. As your employer, you are embarrassing me.”
“Hey, but Kisara, you didn’t say anything about what a big deal this was,” Rentaro protested.
“Oh, didn’t I? Yesterday, I told you that the Seitenshi herself would be decorating those civsec officers responsible for remarkable achievements, so come dressed in your best, didn’t I?”
“No! You threw the map and suit at me like it was too much of a bother to do anything else. That was it.”
“Really? Oh well. Oh, Satomi, your necktie is crooked. I’ll fix it for you, so stay still.”
His heart thumped as hands covered to the elbow with black lace gloves reached for his neck. Kisara was beautiful. After his nervousness faded, he was able to gaze at her again. She was wearing a black dress with frills that looked like bunches of black roses, and she had a matching black ribbon tied in her hair.
She didn’t notice because she was crouched over as if in a fight with Rentaro’s necktie, but from where he was, he had a perfect view of her full chest in her shoulder-baring dress. Kisara’s hair smelled really good. “H-hey…,” said Rentaro. “You know you’re at a terrible angle right now?”
“Don’t talk to me,” said Kisara. “Jeez, why are neckties so hard to tie?”
Rentaro’s fingers opened and closed against his will.
“Maybe like this…?” Kisara pulled at the necktie with amazing force.
“Guh….” Rentaro choked. The tie had tightened around Rentaro’s neck with amazing force.
Kisara closed her eyes and shook her head. “It’s not working. I’m not good at stuff like this. Satomi, you look just like the Hanged Man card in my Tarot deck, especially with that unfortunate face of yours. You’ll just have to tie your necktie yourself.”
Right after she said it, she realized how rude it was and covered her hands with her mouth. Kisara looked with conflicted feelings at where Rentaro’s right arm used to be and finally opened her mouth to speak. “Your new artificial arm isn’t ready yet?”
“No, but I think it’s almost ready,” he said.
“Speaking of which, I saw Dr. Sumire the other day. She said, ‘I can’t believe he defeated a Stage Five with a rocket punch. He’s seen too many super-robot cartoons. I thought he was just a regular carefree kid, but he’s an idiot. He’s a carefree idiot. Oh, how funny! How funny!’” She ended with an impression of Sumire’s laugh.
“Why is it that even though I saved Tokyo Area, I have to be made fun of this much?”
“How should I know?” Kisara pulled a pocket watch out of her pocket. “It’s time. Now, listen carefully. I told you earlier, but I’m going to tell you again. The Seitenshi is taking valuable time from dealing with state affairs to conduct this ceremony, so there’s a silent understanding that these kinds of ceremonies should be done as quickly as possible. So when she asks you a question, you should reply with concise answers like Yes or No. And don’t ask any questions. Do you understand?”
Black Bullet, Vol. 1: Those Who Would Be Gods Page 21
