Author's Side
After being assigned lodging at the Forward Base, the next morning dawned on The Ark.
Ethan stirred in his sleep and slowly opened his eyes. Though a haze still lingered, the sounds drifting in from outside the window pulled him back to reality.
"Is it morning already?"
Stretching, Ethan sat up and glanced around the room without much thought, then turned his gaze to the voice outside the door.
"Commander. May I come in?"
A familiar voice. It was Rapi.
"Oh, come in."
Zing~
The door slid open, and Rapi entered the Commander’s office with her usual expressionless face.
"Commander. We have a guest."
"Huh? A guest?"
Distracted by the sudden news, Ethan was at a loss, but Rapi added:
"When you’re ready, please come downstairs."
"Understood. Go on down first."
Though he didn’t know the details, keeping a guest waiting is poor manners, so Ethan quickly finished preparing and went down to the first floor.
There, waiting for Ethan, was an unfamiliar girl he had never seen before.
"Hey. If a guest has arrived, you should be hurrying, right? Do I look like someone with free time?"
"….."
By all appearances, this delinquent girl was the guest who had been announced. It was unusual to start insulting someone you just met.
"Who the hell are you?"
"Who? Me? Ha ha. You really don’t know who I am?"
"I don’t."
The girl let out a short laugh as if appalled. From Ethan’s perspective, he really had no idea who she was.
"Wow. Officer schools must be a joke these days. Don’t even teach basic protocols. Hey you there—white scrap metal."
"Huh? Me?"
"Yeah, you. Tell her who I am."
"This is Ms. Shuen, CEO of Misiris Industry, one of the top three Nikke manufacturers."
Only then did Ethan realize the girl’s identity and his expression hardened slightly. The CEO of one of the top three manufacturers—she held special power even within The Ark.
"You got that? Then you know how to behave."
"Hmm… do you know anything about Marian’s corruption?"
"What?"
"Marian’s corruption seems to have originated in The Ark. Do you know anything about it?"
Ethan cut straight to the point. As the CEO of one of the top three companies, she was likely to have gathered plenty of information.
"…Looks like you didn’t understand a word I said. Uni."
"Yes."
"Kneel."
"Understood."
At Shuen’s command, the Uni standing behind took a step forward and reached out toward Ethan.
Crackle!
Suddenly, Ethan’s legs gave out, and he collapsed to the floor.
"Commander!"
"What… what is the meaning of this?!"
Rapi and Neon shouted in shock at the sight. But Shuen ignored their voices and pressed her foot down on Ethan’s head.
"People who act above their station need to be put in their place. Hey. When you speak to me from now on, you do it in that position. And don’t ever ask stupid questions again. Got it?"
"…Remove your foot at once."
"Wow, this is something else, huh? Hey."
Thud!
Shuen lifted her leg and then stomped hard on Ethan’s head.
"That’s right."
Thud!
"Like that."
Thud!
"Funny, is it?"
Thud!
"Huh? You think it’s funny?!"
Click-click-click.
At that moment, the heavy cocking sound of firearms echoed around them.
The Counters had all leveled their guns at Shuen, as if they could no longer tolerate her rudeness.
"Ha ha. Look at these guys."
"Remove your foot."
"Oh, leave her be. Let’s see whose reflexes are faster: your feet or their bullets."
Tension skyrocketed, like a ticking time bomb about to detonate.
"Mihara."
"Yes~."
As the uncomfortable tension lingered, a blue wave of energy spread out from Mihara’s body.
"Sensory exchange complete~."
At Mihara’s words, Shuen pulled a pistol from her side and aimed it at Mihara’s abdomen.
Bang!
"…!!"
"Aaah!"
"What… what is this… ouch?"
In Ethan’s view, a shocking sight unfolded. The one who had been shot was clearly Mihara, but she showed no reaction; instead, it was the Counters who groaned in pain.
"Nice, huh? I’ve swapped Mihara’s and your sensations. The pain sensors automatically kick in on my end, see? So…"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Ugh…!"
"Ugh… aaah…!"
"What is… happening?!"
Under the barrage of shots, the Counters cried out and collapsed helplessly.
"This is possible, see? But Nikkes pointing guns at humans is out of the question—punishable no matter the reason. Well then, is that enough?"
"…Brat."
At that moment, Ethan’s voice, lower and colder, cut through. Shuen turned her gaze to him.
Whum...!!
An overwhelming aura that vibrated the air surrounded him.
"You’d do well to know your place."
With murderous intent in his eyes, Ethan locked onto Shuen. Meeting his gaze, Shuen’s face momentarily stiffened and she took a few steps back.
"Ha ha… what, you gonna do something from that look? Ahem… then let’s start talking, shall we? From now on, you’ll head to The Surface with the Wardless."
Momentarily thrown off by the sheer killing intent, Shuen nevertheless forced a smile and continued.
"Oh, the Wardless are Mihara and Uni. You have a squad name, right? Counters? Something like that. Anyway, go up there and capture a specific Rapture. Details from them. Got it? You have two days."
"You sure talk a lot for one person."
"Hey. CEOs of the top three companies have the same command authority as the Deputy Commander, you know? If you don’t want to end up in the electric chair, you’d better do as I say. Two days."
With her business concluded, Shuen turned on her heel and walked away. If anything, she looked determined to get out of that room as fast as possible.
Of course, just because her business was done didn’t mean the others in the room were off duty.
"Where do you think you’re going, damn brat?"
"…What?"
"Before you leave, you owe my colleagues an apology."
Annoyed by Ethan’s ridiculous attitude, Shuen’s face contorted in fury.
"…You’re hopeless. Mihara, swap him out with her."
"Oh my. The target is a human, though."
"Do as I say!"
"…Yes, yes~."
Shuen barked the order in anger, and once again a blue wave of energy spread from Mihara’s body.
"You’ve never been shot before, have you? Let’s see how it feels."
Bang!
As the shot rang out, an unexpected wave of pain surged into Ethan’s abdomen.
"If you keep screwing around, you’ll feel like you’ve become a beehive…"
Step.
Yet despite being shot, Ethan showed nothing but a blank expression as he took a step toward Shuen.
"…What is this. Huh. Look at this."
Bang!
"Hey, don’t come any closer. Just go away."
Bang!
"I said, stay away!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Instinctively threatened by Ethan closing in, Shuen opened fire again, but he didn’t stop.
"Mi-miha...Mi- Mihara! Shoot!"
"Nikkes can’t shoot humans, you know."
"You…!"
Crack!
Before she knew it, Ethan reached right in front of Shuen and grabbed her throat tightly.
"Y-you’re not letting go?!"
"Apologize."
"You insane bastard…! Do you know who I am?!"
"None of my business. Apologize while you still can."
"Why would I apologize to a pile of scrap like you?!"
"Hey!!"
When polite words failed, Ethan resorted to a harsher method. His menacing presence shook Shuen.
"Hik…! M-miha…!"
Thud.
His mind resisted, but his new body couldn’t hold on—Ethan collapsed, unconscious.
"…He’s out cold, huh. Ha ha ha. Gave me a fright there. Heh… Let’s go. Don’t forget the capture."
"Yes."
"Yes, yes~."
After catching her breath, Shuen hurried away.
A few minutes passed after Shuen disappeared. Carefully opening his eyes, Ethan found himself staring at a familiar ceiling.
"Ugh…."
"Commander, are you all right?!"
"Teacher, can you see me?!"
"I’m fine. I can see you."
Reassuring Anis and Neon, who were worriedly looking on, Ethan sat up.
"Thank goodness. You really scared me. Don’t do that again; humans can die from shock."
"You didn’t die, did you? That’s good enough."
"Geez, what a thing to say!"
At Ethan’s nonchalant reply, Anis lightly tapped him. Though he’d experienced countless gunshots, his current body was still vulnerable.
"…Still. Thanks for being angry."
"Don’t mention it."
"By the way, Teacher, you look fine for someone who got stepped on."
"Oh, do I?"
At Neon’s offhand remark, Ethan unconsciously touched his face.
Sure enough, if anything happened, there were no hints: no wounds, no swelling—nothing.
'Is this thanks to Astral Energy?'
The energy was slowly seeping into every part of his body. Though not fully recovered, he’d at least shed the edge of being an ordinary human—he just couldn’t withstand gunfire yet.
"You two."
"Yeah?"
Just as the conversation was wrapping up, Rapi’s gaze snapped to Uni and Mihara.
"Care to explain what just happened?"
"That’s not hard. We’ll tell you on The Surface."
"Surface or not—what the hell is this Shuen? How is this okay?!"
"It’s okay. She’s a CEO of one of the top three companies."
Without missing a beat, Mihara answered Anis’s question and brought up the mission.
"Right, let’s hurry. We only have two days. If we miss the deadline, I have no idea what Shuen will do."
Though reluctant, Ethan and the Counters had no choice but to obey the orders of a top-three CEO with deputy-commander authority, and they moved to The Surface.
Ethan's Side
"We’ve arrived on The Surface. Beginning connection with Shifty."
"Understood. Please proceed."
Having swiftly ascended to The Surface, we attempted to establish communications with Shifty immediately.
"Not going to work. Shuen shut down all the comms."
"What…?"
It felt like a thunderclap. Blocking all communication—what on earth was she thinking?
"…This mission isn’t a simple one."
"Heh heh, right. It’s what you’d call a co.nfi.den.tial op."
"Smells fishy as hell."
I couldn’t agree more with Anis. We’d done secret ops before, but this left a bad taste.
"They said capture a specific Rapture. Is that even possible?"
"That’s why there’s a squad for it. Uni and I. Anyway, let’s move out. I’ll guide you to the rendezvous point."
"…Let’s go."
With far more questions than answers, we followed Mihara’s lead toward the designated point.
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