Chapter 91: Assault

“Are you sure you can handle this?”

“Easily, White Collar.”

I answered the voice beside me with a bit of banter, my eyes still on the binoculars.

It was cold. My breath clouded white in the morning air. But the sun had risen all the same, and with it, the Bubbles and Monoz began to stir. Through the narrow frame of my view, I could see the Bubbles growing more active.

And then there was this.

“…No matter how many mornings I see it, this never stops being funny.”

The Monoz were eating.

They had chosen a sunny spot and lined up together to bask in the light. Or stare at it, rather. Facing the sun with their shadows behind them, they sat perfectly still. No matter how many times I saw it, the sight was funny.

Today, Endo-san’s mechanical tiger, Acht, had joined them.

The artificial tiger sat upright like a four-legged beast, muzzle lifted toward the sun. It looked almost like a painting.

“…Is the light actually reaching all of them?”

Acht used more than thirty Monoz as joints to mimic the movements of a living creature. Sitting that neatly, there had to be places the sun did not reach.

“Don’t worry about that. It moves every so often. See?”

“Ah.”

I see.

It rolled over and exposed its belly.

Rudo often lay like that too.

Still, what a troublesome thing to build.

A Monoz core was more than capable of serving as a brain. And yet, for some reason, Monoz did not “wake up” unless they were placed inside spherical bodies. Put one in a humanoid robot, and it would not move. Mount one in a tank, and it would not move. It had to be a sphere. No exceptions. And they never spoke with actual sound.

It was strange. Of course I had wondered about it. Once, I had asked my Monoz.

Why don’t you speak?

Why won’t you move unless the body is spherical?

The answer I got back was simple.

Unknown.

Apparently, even the units themselves did not know.

Then they asked me a question in return.

Then why do humans have two arms?

There was an answer, technically. Humans evolved from four-legged creatures. But if I pushed the question further, I could not come up with a reason that even satisfied me. We could have evolved from six-legged creatures and ended up with four arms. Why not?

In the end, the answer was unknown.

So I gave up.

I had two arms. Monoz were spheres. Even if I installed Miku-san¹ into Rat Unit, he would not start speaking in a cute voice. Senbonzakura² would just start playing.

That was fine.

Or at least, I thought it was.

Scientists, apparently, did not.

The result was that thing.

A mechanical tiger.

They kept the Monoz spherical, embedded them as they were, and used them as joints to move a “tiger.”

There must have been communication interference between so many tree crystals packed together.

The Monoz must have had a miserable time learning to control it.

It would absolutely have been more efficient to use those thirty units separately.

And yet Endo built Acht.

A mechanical tiger.

“What is the point of going that far just to make it closer to a living creature?”

“Isn’t it obvious? It’s about romance.”

Endo answered like it was the simplest thing in the world.

How wonderful.

I really did not understand what smart people thought about.

***

Two o’clock came.

The usual dry, crumbly field ration I had eaten for lunch was now making its way through my body as energy.

The Monoz, Rudo, and the Rikan had all rested enough.

And the same went for the Bubbles.

“S1 to H1. Confirmed Bubble movement. Point B3 is lightly guarded.”

“H1 to S1. Confirmed on our end as well. Route three combined with D, correct?”

“Wait one. S2.”

Answer: Infiltration of the building successful. Enemy presence: 3. All Dolls.

“…”

They had not been there that morning. They must have come out once the Bubbles cleared.

I took two seconds, one breath, to think.

Entry point D was unusable unless we dealt with the enemies inside. The infiltration team, S2, consisted of Snake Unit, Rabbit Unit, and Rudo. The only combatants were Snake Unit and Rudo. Three enemies, two fighters. If the Dolls made any noise, reinforcements could arrive.

We had to put them down quietly.

How?

I needed information.

“S2, send enemy positions.”

Beep!

Rat Unit processed the data Rabbit Unit sent and projected it into my wired headset. Blue, translucent humanoid shapes appeared inside the building. If thermography worked, I could probably see this sort of view for myself, but unfortunately, under tree crystal interference, even infrared was unreliable. The best we could manage was a virtual projection calculated by Rat Unit and Rabbit Unit, our information team.

The best we could manage.

But good enough.

One of them was in the perfect spot. It was walking along the windows, periodically checking outside.

I would take that one.

“Snake Unit, Rudo, take the two on the first floor. They’re Dolls. Make sure you finish them completely. Tell me when you’re ready. H1, H2, prepare to enter. I’ll give the signal. H1, secure point B1 after entry. A1, A2, scatter along route three on my signal. Handle the Bubbles.”

A ping came to my terminal. I checked it, and the words “in position” danced across the screen. On the virtual projection, Snake Unit lay waiting in the enemy’s path, while Rudo crouched behind it.

Good.

I pressed my right eye to Hellhound’s scope, the anti-tank rifle made for the Hound Model, and built my world inside that narrow view. I breathed in. Breathed out. Loud enough for Snake Unit to hear, and more importantly, for Rudo. If I did that, Rudo would match his breathing to mine on his own.

“Count. Three. Two. One. Enter.”

As if moving to my count, the Doll approached the window.

My finger moved. The round flew. It skimmed the exposed concrete of the window frame, sending powder blooming into the air. I lost sight of the target. I clicked my tongue. Even so, my left hand worked the lever and chambered the second round.

Assume it was alive.

The bullet had grazed its head. Could it stay standing after that?

No. Its balance would break no matter what.

Then where was it now?

Think. Or imagine. Or predict.

Vision.

From the muzzle. From the trigger. From the finger on the trigger. The feeling came back to me.

The enemy was staggering.

It would move to protect the head that had been shot. Unable to hold itself up, it had taken three steps back. Its weight was on its left leg.

A feeling.

I raised the muzzle slightly. The wall was in the way. The shot would pass through. But after punching through, the bullet would drop. So just a little more.

Up.

Stop breathing. Pull the trigger.

“S1, clear.”

Report: S2, all clear.

I checked the words dancing across my headset.

Good.

I had been more worried about Snake Unit, but it seemed they had managed.

Rikan’s H1 and Endo-san’s H2 entered.

A1 and A2 had begun dealing with the Bubbles drifting closer. They did not seem to need help. Or so I thought, until Rabbit Unit contacted me. Enemy presence at B1. I looked over and saw a Doll coming up the stairs from the underground entrance, just as its head appeared.

Fast response.

I was impressed.

Rikan and the others would not make it in time.

So I shot it myself. I could see it. That meant I could hit it. That was how it worked. The Doll was blown away. Rikan and the others secured B1. Heavy machine guns sang out in a cheerful rhythm. Sirens blared. Too late for that. We had secured the entry point. Now all that remained was suppression.

And so,

“S1 to all units. Now the situation really begins. Rock and roll. Let’s do this.”