"Sob, sob."
I want to fly too. I want to control objects and stuff!
"Sooob!"
No, more importantly! After I threw that much of a fucking fit earlier! Shouldn’t something happen, even just a little??!!
"What the hell is wroooong??!!"
"You’re an A.I., aren’t you!! You’re supposed to be a genius!!!"
"W-Wait... Gasp!!"
What the hell had she vomited earlier, and Bippy’s hard work had all gone down the drain.
No, more importantly, what was I supposed to do if the very person who made me didn’t know how to use it?!!
"Um... maybe if you eat a thousand of them...??!!"
"Like that would work!!!"
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.
.
"Is that thing really a NIKKE?"
"Looks like her NIMPH is fried."
There was a saying.
The root of all evil in the world was—
"Who cares? As long as we get the Core."
—humanity.
As the war against the Raptures dragged on, humanity suffered enormous losses. Aerial combat had been prohibited because of large Raptures, and those bastards controlled one-third of the surface.
Under such circumstances, some people conducted shady deals in order to turn a profit.
Either valuable goods from the surface—
"The bullets?"
"Here."
—or the Cores of dead NIKKEs, which they secretly sold at high prices.
"Beer and bread?"
"Deal!"
Having finished speaking, the two men loaded NIKKE-suppression rounds into their guns.
.
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.
.
"Geh, geh—huh? Huh? Rukh! Wait a second!"
"Where are you running off to?!!"
"No, no! I just heard footsteps??!!"
"Don’t be ridiculous! How could there be people in this wasteland—!"
Bang!!
"There are, aren’t thereee??"
"I told you there were!!"
There were still people on the surface? Was the Ark not complete yet?
In this setting, humanity was ultimately defeated by the Raptures, and the few survivors built an underground facility called the Ark to live in. But if there were people here...
No, more importantly, why were they shooting at me...?
Bang!!
"Guh?!"
I barely twisted aside to evade the bullet flying at my cheek, and then a sigh came from over there...?
"Hey, shoot properly. You can’t even hit that?"
"Why don’t you do it, then?"
"What?! You want me to?"
Excuse me? I’m on your side, you know? No, no, don’t load that shotgun...!
And why are you pulling out a submachine gun—
Excuse me!!!!
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.
.
... ... ...
"Wait... that’s... the end...?"
Unaware that the fizz in her soda had gone flat, the short-haired NIKKE asked with a blank expression.
"S-So then, the great master standing before us... is... is he... d-de...?"
"You think so?"
If I had died there, I wouldn’t be standing in front of you. And I’m not done talking yet.
... .. .
.
.
.
"Holy shit, that scared me!"
"Grrrgh..."
I flicked my wrist once, leaving the bastards collapsed on the ground behind me.
Seriously, who shoots at a person? Ah, right. I’m a Rapture.
At first, I was so confused about why people were shooting at me that my brain didn’t work. But with the stress plus the feeling of being hunted, the safety pin in my head popped right out, and—
Crunch, crack.
I twisted it.
I won’t tell you exactly what it was.
"...You really are a Rapture."
How could he do that to them... Ugh, even a devil wouldn’t go that far. Eclipse looked pityingly at the men rolling around on the ground while clutching between their legs.
It was self-defense, okay? They attacked first, Your Honor.
Objection denied.
"Grrgh, grrgh... I... Iii!!"
"M-My... balls... Gack!"
"Yep, yep. Stay just like that~ Oh, what a sight—"
Rustle.
"—huh?"
I heard that just now. Who was trying to pull a disappearing act—no, no, run away?
I put a hand on my hip and turned toward the sound.
"Come out while I’m asking nicely."
But all I could hear was the wind. So this was how they wanted to play it? Should I turn you into a eunuch too?
"I’ll count to three. One, twooo..."
"I-I’ll come out! I’m coming out!!"
Only after I recited those magic words did a small figure emerge from the reeds. Judging by the young voice, it was a NIKKE...
Huh?
"Th-The car is over there! There’s... fuel in it! And there are... supplies in the back!"
Sharp eyes, blue coveralls stained with dirt... That outfit?!
"An off-banner pull?"
"W-What? You know me?"
Mori? Why was she here?
I need to tell a boring story for a moment. The story in the original work—the NIKKE setting, that is—was enough to give us bipolar disorder.
"W-What?! Why... why are you looking at me like that?!"
She was one of the characters in that story, someone who would appear in the original work. If this was the original timeline, she shouldn’t be here...?
"Um... Eclipse...?"
"Yeah?"
"What year is it... right now?"
"? Right now it’s... 2000■■. Why?"
"Oh-ho?"
A smile naturally spread across my face at Eclipse’s answer.
The original story began sometime in the 2100s, and now was roughly ninety-six years before that... I could really screw Queen over.
"Eclipse, I think the plan needs some revisi—oh my?"
The moment I turned my head, I heard a rustle, and Mori was already running far away.
"Bippy, catch her."
"Bip!"
But we had a tracker—no, Bippy.
.
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.
.
Mori’s POV
Crazy, crazy, crazy! Why was there a male-type NIKKE here? No, was that even really a NIKKE?!
My breath caught in my throat as I ran like mad for the first time in my life. After becoming a NIKKE of [Incubator Squad], my role had been transporting supplies. It was simple work, work where nothing major was supposed to happen...!
‘Why is this happening to me!!’
I was just an ordinary NIKKE, like some passing extra.
But because I failed to produce results, I was eventually transferred to Incubator Squad, which was made up of useless NIKKEs like me. After that, I had simply been assigned work without thinking much about it.
And today,
I had merely been driving a vehicle for a supply transport mission.
‘Hey, hey, stop.’
‘? Why? This is a Rapture sighting zo—damn it.’
The two who had come along today suddenly signaled for me to stop and then went silent, damn it.
It was too late by the time I went to see what was going on.
That monster was there!!
"Seriously, my luck is fucking awful today—!"
"Bippy."
"Bip...?"
"Bip."
I turned my head at the sudden electronic sound.
"Bip-pu."
"W-What is thiiis??!!!"
"Bippibibibibibippibip!!!"
A giant rice cake—no, no, a white Rapture was running right beside me...
Wait, why was that thing getting closer?
"Bippibippibippppiiiing!!!"
"D-Don’t come any closerrrr! Don’t come...!!!!"
When I cowered like a small animal, Bippy answered by suddenly pulling an electric shocker from its back.
Bzzzzzt.
"Kyaaaaaaaaaah!!!"
Mori was knocked unconscious.
Bippy caught Mori! Wow! It’s a free SSR! Let’s never meet again!
.
.
.
.
.
"So... now then... Miss Mori?"
"Mmph! Mmph!! Mmmmmph!!"
"Let’s talk about our business—"
"Mmph! Mmph!! Mmph!!"
Bippy had safely(?) subdued Mori without leaving a single scratch on her and brought her before me.
Then I sat her in the truck’s seat so we could talk comfortably, but—
"...Bippy, untie her."
"Bip!"
Whether it was out of fierce loyalty to me or its Rapture instincts, Bippy had gone behind Mori and tied up her mouth and entire body with its legs.
"Hey, hey, Bippy! You’re going to make her cry! Go over there and reflect on what you did!"
"Bip!"
"Oh? Was that a middle fing—no, a tentacleee?? You little—!"
I’m your mother!! Bip!
Eclipse finally dragged Bippy away by the hair to fight with it some distance away.
All right, now we could finally talk properly—
"I-I’ll do anything!!"
Thud.
"Huh?"
The moment her body was free, Mori suddenly bowed her head to me. What was wrong with her?
"I-I’m useless, and I’m just an ord-ordinary N-NIKKE, but...! I’ll... I’ll do anything you command me to do...!"
"Hmmmm~?"
For the record, I might have sounded like that, but I was panicking like crazy right now. Mori? Mori was acting like this?
In the story, Mori was a prickly girl who went through every kind of hardship after being betrayed by her two teammates and getting unfairly screwed over. There were plenty of lines about how she regretted being born... Of course, the protagonist helped her, but...
"Hmm..."
"Eek!!"
If recruiting a companion was this easy...
"Mooori~?"
"Y-Yes?!"
I had to accept, right?
"From now on, you’re chun-sic-e."
".....What...?"
.
.
.
"You need to fix that personality of yours, got it?"
"Bip!"
"Aaargh, you little...!"
Had she made it for nothing? Eclipse wanted to get into a car that could take her back to the past.
While Rukh spoke with the NIKKE in the back of the truck, she was squatting there with this troublesome little brat. Why were they talking for so long? Night would fall at this rate.
"Phew, I’m bored... Is there anything around here...? Let’s take a look."
Leaving Bippy behind, Eclipse climbed into the truck’s cargo bed out of boredom, and her eyes immediately lit up. Let’s see... wow? A machine gun and an AK-47? Oh-ho?
Not only guns, but all kinds of items were piled up there. A long box that looked like it contained something—it took up half the cargo bed—and beer...? What were these guys, soldiers? Or not?
Whatever. As she resumed looking around, something gleaming caught her eye. Oh? Was it expensive?
Shing.
"Huh? A sword?"
What was this? Judging by the blade, it was for combat. But judging by its weight, it wasn’t something a human could use... More importantly, why was it so red?
Was it used by a NIKKE?
While Eclipse floated countless hooks above her head, the wind blowing in from outside gently brushed dust off the long box beside her, revealing lettering that had been hidden beneath it.
[Special Improved Mass-Produced Unit Model A]
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