アキラは先日エレナから購入した情報収集機器の使い勝手を試しに、バイクでヒガラカ住宅街遺跡まで来ていた。この遺跡は適度に建物が密集しており、モンスターの脅威度も低いので、使い慣れていない情報収集機器を試すのにちょうど良い環境だ。
アキラがクズスハラ街遺跡以外の遺跡に来たのはこれが初めてだ。少々胸を躍らせて、クズスハラ街遺跡とは一風変わった遺跡の光景を期待していた。その期待は半分だけ
「......何か、クズスハラ街遺跡とは違うな」
アキラは遺跡を眺めながら拍子抜けや落胆に近い表情を浮かべていた。確かにクズスハラ街遺跡とは一風変わった光景だ。しかし倒壊しかけた廃屋が建ち並ぶ遺跡の姿から感じるものは身近なスラム街の雰囲気であり、期待していた風景は、高度な文明の
「どういう意味だ?」
『今の人間が旧世界の遺跡から入手した技術を使って文明を再建したように、過去の人間も同じようなことをしていたのよ。クズスハラ街遺跡を建造した人間と、このヒガラカ住宅街遺跡を建造した人間は同時代の人間ではないのよ。アキラが住んでいるクガマヤマ都市も、100年後にはクガマヤマ都市遺跡なんて呼ばれて、旧世界の遺跡として扱われるかもね』
「......ああ。なるほど。東部の文明は一度だけじゃなく、何度か滅んでいるってことか」
『そういうこと。だからクズスハラ街遺跡で手に入るような遺物が手に入るとは思わないでね。別に遺物収集が目的でもないのだから気楽に行きましょう。情報収集機器の調整は私がやるから、アキラは適当に
アキラが目に掛けている細めの眼鏡にも似たバイザーのような表示装置を指差す。
「俺はこれを着けているだけで良いのか?」
バイザーは情報収集機器の付属品で、収集情報等の表示装置だ。表示部分は透明な素材で造られていて視界を遮ることはない。邪魔なら額の位置に上げることもできる。元の所有者がエレナだった
『邪魔なら外しても良いわよ? 別にその表示装置がなくても私が索敵の結果をアキラの視界に拡張表示すれば良いだけだから。誰かにどうやって情報収集機器の表示を確認しているか疑問に思われないために着けていてもいいけれど、コンタクトレンズ式の表示装置を付けているって答えれば済む話だからね』
「別に邪魔にはなっていないし、このまま着けておくよ。一々疑問に思われるのも面倒だし、慣れておかないとな。よし。行こう」
アキラはバイクを荒野に近い廃屋の影に
「随分しっかりした作りの建物も多いな。こっそり住んでるやつとかいないのか?」
『水と食料とモンスターと盗賊を何とかできれば、そう考える人もいると思うわ』
「......スラム街の方がましか」
『スラム街にすら隠れ住めない訳ありの人物で、食料やモンスターなどの問題を解決できる人なら住んでいるかもしれないわね。そういう人間が仕掛けたトラップが残ったりしていることもあるわ。注意しなさい』
アキラが遺跡探索を続けていると、暴食ワニの死体が転がっているのを見つけた。かなり巨大で、以前アキラが右上段蹴りを
「あのウェポンドッグと同じか。でもこいつには機関銃とか付いていないな」
『個体差が大きいモンスターだからね。多分食料にしたモンスターに火器で武装した機械系モンスターが少なかったのよ。
「なるほど。俺にもできるか?」
『撃破は私がいるから可能だとしても、持ち帰る手段がないわ。多分バイクで運ぶのは無理よ。それともアキラが背負って頑張って都市まで運ぶ?』
「嫌だ。車を借りるなり買うなりするまでは無理だな」
アキラはその場を立ち去り遺跡探索に戻った。そして探索を続けながら、何となく気になったことをアルファに尋ねる。
「アルファはモンスターに就いて結構詳しいみたいだけどさ、何であんなモンスターが存在するのかとかも知っているのか?」
『一部ならね。それも知識として知っているだけで、自分で調査した訳ではないし推測も多いわ。知識の出所は内緒よ? いろいろ面倒だから聞かないでね。アキラが100年ぐらい細かな規約を聞き続けた上で、いろいろな条件に同意するなら話は別よ? 聞きたい?』
アルファが不敵に
「知識の出所を聞くのは止めておくよ。それで、あの暴食ワニみたいなモンスターは何で存在してるんだ?」
『恐らくは何らかの研究の実験体が逃げ出して野生化したのでしょうね。元々は軍事用の高度なサイボーグでも作る気だったのかもね。メンテナンス不要な自動修復機能を持つ生物に近い機械や、自身の部品の修理製造も可能な機械を人間と統合する研究でもしていた。それを可能にするナノマシンの作成を目指していた。その研究の過程で人体実験の前に犬やワニで試そうとした。ある程度成功して次の段階に進もうとしたら、戦争でも起きて実験体は逃げ出してしまった。そんなところだと思うわ。まあ、誰かが悪ふざけで造って野に放った可能性もあるわ』
アキラがいろいろと想像して顔を少し嫌そうに
「......どちらにしても良い迷惑だ。旧世界の人間は一体何を考えてたんだ?」
『今の文明の技術に比べて、旧世界の技術は異常なまでに高度だわ。いろいろできてしまうから、いろいろ試したくなってしまう。そういうのは今も昔も変わらないわ。その程度を誤るとその文明は滅んでしまい、旧世界の仲間入りをする羽目になるのよ』
「すると、今もどこかで誰かがやらかして、明日にでも滅ぶ可能性もあるのか」
「......少なくとも、今の文明は俺が死ぬまでは保ってほしいな」
アキラは何となくそう思った。それを保証するものは世界のどこにも存在しない。
遺跡探索を続けていたアキラは他の建物とは一線を画する邸宅を発見した。他の建物と同様に年数劣化で傷んでいるが、それでも裕福な者が住んでいたことを匂わせる雰囲気を漂わせている。
その期待はあっさりと裏切られた。邸宅には無数の部屋が存在していたが、基本的にほぼ全て空だった。大勢の他のハンターがアキラと同じことを考えて、邸宅に残っていた遺物を争うように持ち出した結果だ。そこらの廃屋で見付かったなら見逃される安値の遺物であっても、これほどの豪邸の中にあったのなら高価な遺物に違いないと思われて、一切合切持ち出されていた。残っているのは積もった
『アキラ。待って。その部屋に入って』
アキラは言われた通りに部屋の中に入ると、
「この部屋がどうかしたのか? 何にもないぞ」
『隠し扉のようなものがあるわ。恐らく地下室があるのよ。隠し部屋だと思うわ』
「これか。どうやって見つけたんだ?」
『情報収集機器で採取したデータを私の高度な演算力で解析したのよ。
アキラが取っ手を握り、隠し扉を開けて地下室に降りた。地下室は光源が一切ないため真っ暗だ。入り口から入ってくる光も元の部屋が薄暗いため頼りない。
隠し部屋ならばまだ高価な遺物が残っているのではないか。アキラはそう期待しながら携帯照明を
『何もないわね。残念だけれど既に見付けた人がいて全部持ち出したのかしら。......私の所為ではないわ』
アキラには別に責める気などなかったのだが、アルファの妙に言い訳じみた返事を何となく面白く思い、冗談半分で軽く答える。
「......いや、実は更に隠し部屋があるんじゃないか?」
『私が調べた限りではないけれど、もう少し調べてみる? もし存在していて私に見つけられないのなら、情報収集機器の感度の所為になるわ。壁や床にギリギリまで近付いてみて』
アルファから希望を残す返答が戻ってきたので、アキラは念のため調べることにした。壁に鼻先が擦りそうなほど近づいて隙間のようなものがないか見てみたり、床に寝そべって
「......ないな。アルファ。そっちは何か見つかったか?」
アキラは照明を消して地下室から出ようと
そのままアキラは地下室を軽く見渡したが、何も見えなかった。
「駄目か。隙間があれば、そこから光が漏れたりしないかと思ったけどな。考えてみれば、そもそもここは地下だし意味ないか」
真っ暗な地下室でもアキラにはアルファの姿がはっきり見えている。元々アルファの姿は映像情報のみの作り物で、光源など関係ないからだ。そしてアルファ以外何も見えなかったアキラの視界に、色彩を抜いた地下室の光景が加わった。
『アキラの視界を拡張して、情報収集機器で取得した情報を基に作成した映像情報を追加したわ。色はないけれど、十分でしょう?』
白黒の濃淡で表示される地下室に色彩豊かなアルファの姿が見える。アキラには白黒映像の一部分だけがカラーになっているような少し妙な光景が見えていた。
「......よく見えるようにはなったけど、何が見付かったんだ?」
アルファが床を指差す。アキラがそこを見ると、床に円の中に人の足の裏のようなものが書かれたマークが書かれていた。
『透明な蓄光塗料で書かれているわ。分かり
「......ここに立てってことか? 地下室に何でこんなものが書かれているんだ? 旧世界の文化か何かなのか?」
アキラは自分の足の裏を床の印に合わせるようにして立ってみる。するとアキラ達以外には誰もいないはずの地下室にメイド服を着た女性の姿が突然現れた。少し驚いたが、同じような経験はアルファで体験済みだ。アルファの仕業だと考えて視線をそちらに向ける。
「アルファ。何の
アキラが表情を険しくさせるが、アルファは全く見当が付かないという態度をしている。
「何って、俺の前にいるやつ......」
アキラがそう言った瞬間、アルファがアキラの強化服を操作してアキラを力尽くで円の外に引き出した。
「急になんだよ!?」
本当に急だった所為で強化服の動きに付いていけない体に強い負荷が掛かり、アキラは少し体を痛めていた。その痛みと急な動作の不満を表情と視線に乗せてアルファに向ける。
『アキラ。さっき見えたと言っていた誰かは、今も見えている?』
アキラは視線を人影の方に移すが、その人影は完全に消えていた。
「......いや、見えなくなった。で、一体何だったんだ? 何でそんなに慌てていたんだ?」
「し、死にかけたって、どういうことだ?」
『アキラの脳には無線のような通信機能がある。前にそう説明したわね? それは旧領域接続者と呼ばれる人の能力なの。アキラはついさっきその弊害で死ぬ危険性があったの』
訳も分からず死にかけたと聞かされて驚くアキラに、アルファがその理由の説明を続ける。
「それと、俺が死にかけた理由がどう関係するんだ? 俺が見た誰かが旧領域接続者にしか見えないやつだったとしても、それで死ぬってことはないだろう? そういうやつを見ると死ぬのなら、アルファを何度も見ている俺はとっくに死んでいるはずだ」
『旧領域接続者にも能力に差異があるのよ。旧領域から取得可能な情報の種類や量には個人差があるわ。アキラは偶然にも私と相性が良かったのよ。アキラが見た人間は旧領域上の存在である可能性が高いわ。旧世界ではそういった実体を持たない者を自分の視覚や聴覚に拡張表示させて、いろいろなサポートをさせていたことがあったの。施設の備品として存在することもある。道案内をさせたり、施設の案内をさせたり、情報取得の手助けをさせたり、いろいろね。旧世界では旧領域接続者なんて珍しくなかったのでしょうね』
く便利そうだなって感想しか思いつかないけど、何か危険なのか?」
『アキラが見たという人を私は認識できなかったけれど、アキラにはどんな人が見えていたの?』
「メイド服を着た女性だ。危険な感じはしなかったけど」
『本来危険なものではないからね。問題は彼女が旧世界の存在で、旧世界の人間用の装置であり、今の人間の事情を一切考慮しない可能性が高いことなの。アキラが彼女を認識できたことで、アキラには送信される情報を問題なく処理できる能力があると誤認する可能性が高いわ。仮定の話になるけれど、アキラが見た彼女がこの
『そう答えると、アキラは死にかねないわ』
予想外の返事に
くして我に返ると、深呼吸をして何とか気持ちを落ち着かせた。その間アルファは黙って待っていた。
『落ち着いた?』
『そうね。いいえ、と答えるべきね。あるいは、極めて精度の低い情報を、視覚的に処理可能な形式で、ぼやけた映像情報としてほしい、とか言ってみれば良いかもね。
「......その場合、打つ手無しか? 何とかならないのか?」
アキラが表情を険しくする。自身が旧領域接続者だと教えられ、即死する危険性を教えられ、対抗策も存在しない。それは幾ら何でも勘弁してほしいからだ。
アルファが唐突に普段と異なる口調で話し始める。その表情もどこか能面のようだった。
アキラは以前の出来事を思い出すと、説明を遮って答える。
『許可受諾を確認しました。......まあ、これである程度は大丈夫よ』
「前もってやっておけなかったのは、あれか、許可を得る
。山ほど残っているわ。具体的な内容は話さないし話せないわ。理由は分かっているわよね?』
「分かってるよ。聞くと100年かかる上に、許可を得る
確かに見えるが実際には存在しない。アキラはそのアルファと似た存在を興味深く見ていた。
「アルファには見えないんだっけ?」
『大丈夫よ。さっきの許可で私にも見えるようになったわ。ただし向こうが私を認識できるわけではないから気をつけてね』
「分かった。すると向こうには俺が独り言を言っているように見えているのか」
『見えていればね。単なる映像データなら、人型の看板と同じよ』
「そういえばさっきから動いていないな。えっと、聞こえてる?」
女性がアキラの呼びかけに応じて恭しく一礼する。
アキラには女性の説明の意味が分からない。だが先ほどのアルファとの会話を思い出して、まずは断ることにする。
「いいえ。ちょっと聞きたいことが......」
女性は再びアキラに一礼した後、その場から姿を消してしまった。
「......何だったんだ?」
『実体はない。呼びかけることで反応する。提案を拒否すると消えてしまう。一回その場から離れて、今度は前向きに検討するので説明してほしいとか言ってみたらどう?』
「やってみるか」
アキラは一度その場を離れてから、また同じ場所に立つ。するとまた先ほどの女性が再び現れた。
「少し聞きたいことがあるんだけど」
今度は先にアルファが尋ねてみたのだが、女性は全く反応を示さなかった。
アキラが情報端末を取り出すと、情報端末からアルファの声が出る。
アキラしか聞こえない念話ではなく、アルファのしっかりとした音声が地下室に響いた。しかし女性は何の反応も示さなかった。
『これでも駄目か。アキラが言ってみて』
アキラが手元の端末を見る。しかし何か変化が起きているようには見えなかった。
『端末の受信部に反応はないわ。残念だけれど、この端末が受け取れる形式の情報ではないみたいね。もう諦めて帰る?』
『アキラを経由して情報を受け取る手があるわ。彼女の姿が見えている以上、アキラには情報の受け取りが可能よ。ただし、さっきも説明したとおり一定の危険はあるわ。私が可能な限り安全にするけれど、絶対はないわ。どうする?』
「......やる。ここまでやってよく分からないで帰るのは気になるし、ハンター稼業に危険は付きものだろう」
『分かったわ。情報は少しずつ送るよう厳命してね。何か異常を感じたら、すぐにその場から離れること。恐らくアキラがその場所に立っていないと情報が送られることはないはずよ』
アキラが覚悟を決めて口に出す。
「......その情報端末ではなく、俺に情報をできるだけ少しずつ送ってくれ」
まりました。情報を送信いたします』
アキラは何かあればすぐにその場を離れられるよう身構える。しかしその決意と覚悟は裏腹に、特に異状は感じられなかった。頭痛も吐き気も覚えない。意識もはっきりしている。視界がぼやけるようなこともない。
『アキラ。もう終わったわ。大丈夫よ』
『途中からアキラを介さずに直接私が情報を受け取れるようにしたからね。アキラを経由した通信を最小限に抑えて、簡単に説明すると、先に連絡先だけ交換して後は私が連絡を取って直接いろいろ聞き出せるようにしたのよ』
「そうか。結局彼女は何だったんだ? 姿も消えているし」
『話すと長くなるから、今日はもう帰りましょう。直接お金になるわけではないけれど、結構収穫は多かったわ。今日は情報収集機器を試すだけだったのに、予想外の成果があったわね』
Akira went to Higaraka Residence Ruin using his bike to test the information gathering device that he bought the other day from Elena. Relics in that ruin were hidden among the wreckages and the monsters that roamed the area were relatively weak. It was the perfect place to get himself familiar with his new information-gathering device.
It was his first time visiting a ruin other than Kuzusuhara ruins. Thus, Akira could not help but get a bit excited. He was looking forward to seeing a ruin with a different scenic view. But he was only half satisfied when he arrived there.
"It's... Somehow different to Kuzusuhara ruins."
Akira looked a bit disappointed as he walked through the ruin. Although it was true that it had a different scene compared to Kuzusuhara ruin, all the crumbling and abandoned buildings that were packed close to each other in the area reminded him of the Slum city. Thus, it was a huge letdown for him since he was looking forward to a ruin filled with advanced technologies.
"What do you mean?"
"Just like the people of the current era who are trying to rebuild their civilization using the technology that they retrieve from the relics of the old world, the people in the past also did the same. So the people who built Kuzusuhara ruin and the people who built Higaraka residence ruin are from 2 different eras. Even the Kugamayama city where you live right now might be called Kugamayama ruin and regarded as a ruin of the old world 100 years from now."
"...I see. So it's like the civilizations in the eastern district were annihilated not only once but many times, huh?"
"Yep, that's correct. That's why don't expect to find the same kind of relics that you found in Kuzusuhara ruin here. But since our main aim here is not to collect relics, let's take it easy for today. I'll be adjusting the information gathering device, so you can just walk around randomly the area."
Akira then pointed his finger at a small-sized binocular-like visor that he was using.
"Do I really only need to put this on?"
The visor was a part of the information gathering device set that he bought from Elena, it was basically some sort of an information display device. The visor part was made of a clear and transparent material so that it did not reduce Akira's ability to see. Akira was also able to just lift it up if it was blocking his view. It might be because it was originally Elena's that it was relatively small, making it a comfortable fit for Akira.
"You can take it off if it bothers you. After all, I can just display my scan result of the area directly to your vision even without that visor. But you can also keep it on to avoid people from getting suspicious about where you get your information from. Even if you remove it, you can just say that you're using contact lens-type information display."
"Well, it's not really bothering me, so I'll keep it on. Not to mention that I don't want to deal with all the suspicion, so I think I need to get used to it. Alright then, let's go."
Akira stopped his bike under the shadow of an abandoned building in the outskirts of the ruin and put a camouflage sheet over his bike. He then started walking deeper into the ruin.
"These buildings are pretty sturdy, I wonder if there are people who live here in secret."
"As long as they can secure enough food, water and ward off the monsters, I'm sure there would be a lot of people who want to live here."
"...So the slum city is still better, huh?"
"There might be people who can find a solution for the food and monster problem and cannot live in the slum city for some reason. So they might have decided to live here, you know. There might be traps that are left by those people, so you should be careful."
As Akira moved deeper into the ruin, he found a dead greedy crocodile corpse lying on the ground. It was pretty big, it was even bigger than the monster that Akira kicked and killed the other day. It was obvious how scary it would be if it was alive. Akira would have approached it carefully had its head not been half destroyed.
"So it's like those weapon dogs, huh? But this one has no gun on its body though."
"It's a type of monster that greatly varies individually after all. I think this one hasn't eaten that many monsters with guns. Or the Hunter who defeated this monster might have cut off its guns and took them home. After all, many of the guns growing out from this kind of monsters are good guns, so there's a chance that the one who killed this monster was actually aiming for its guns from the start. That's also the reason why only its head is badly damaged, it might be to make sure that its guns are still intact after killing it."
"I see, I wonder if I can kill it too."
"Since I'm with you, I'm sure you can do it. But it's a different story whether you can take its guns home or not. After all, that will be impossible with a bike, unless if you're planning to carry them yourself back to the city."
"No thanks. So it's impossible until I either buy or borrow a vehicle, huh."
Akira then left that area and continued his exploration. In the midst of exploring the ruin, he thought of something and asked Alpha.
"Alpha, it seems that you're very knowledgeable about the monsters. I wonder if you know the origin of these monsters."
"Only a part of it. And I only know it as a second-hand knowledge. It's not like I've investigated it myself and there are a lot of guesses embedded in it. But my information source is a secret, okay? It'll be too much trouble to explain it, so don't ask about it. But of course, I don't mind telling you if you're ready to hear 100 years of oral explanation with a lot of permissions and confirmations."
Alpha smiled invincibly at Akira while he just smiled back bitterly.
"I won't ask you where you get that information from. So then, why do monsters like that greedy crocodile exist?"
"They might originally be test specimens that ran away from some experiment. I bet they were planning to make some kind of cyborg for military purposes. Or it might be from an experiment where they tried to make a machine that has the same regeneration ability as a biological creature. Or adding an organ that would allow it to regrow its own body parts so that they didn't have to do any maintenance and then planning to install that organ in a human. I think they were trying to create a nanomachine that would make that possible. It's common sense for such research to be tested on animals like a dog or a crocodile first before testing it on humans. It's also possible that a war broke, and these test subjects managed to escape from the lab. This could have happened when they just finished the nanomachines and were about to test it on humans. But well, of course, there's a chance that someone released it to the wild as a horrible prank."
Akira imagined a lot of stuff as his face frowned.
"...Whatever it is, it gives us a lot of trouble. What the heck were the people of the old world thinking?"
"Compared to the technology of the current era, the technology of the old world was abnormally advanced. Since they had the means to do a lot of things, it made them want to try everything. I believe that part of humans stays the same whether it's for the people of the current era or the people of the old world. And if they make a blunder because of their curiosity, their current civilization will be wiped out and become a part of the old world civilization."
"So you're saying that someone might just make a big mistake and destroy the whole civilization tomorrow?"
"...I at least want the current civilization to not get wiped out before I die though."
Akira just mumbled out his real opinion, but there was nothing in this world that would guarantee that.
As Akira continued his exploration, he found a mansion that looked completely different from the other abandoned buildings around it. Although, just like the other buildings, it was abandoned and was deteriorating for years, it gave off a look that someone rich had lived in that mansion in the past.
But his expectation was immediately shot down. Although there were many rooms inside the mansion, all of them were more or less empty. Most of the other Hunters also thought the same and had fought each other for the relics inside this building, that was why it was left with nothing. They even took all the relics that they would have normally ignored. The mansion was left with nothing but dust and dirt.
"Akira, wait, go to that room."
Akira then entered the room that Alpha pointed. Since Alpha even told him to go inside that room, he thought that there must be something there. But he was bound to get disappointed after he scanned the room, it was indeed empty.
"Is there anything in this room? I can't find anything."
"It has a secret door. I believe that the door leads to a secret room in the bas.e.m.e.nt."
"Is this it? How did you find it?"
"I just used my high calculation ability to analyze the image data from the information gathering device. Ain't I amazing?"
Akira grabbed the secret knob, pulled it up and entered the bas.e.m.e.nt. No sunlight was able to reach the bas.e.m.e.nt, making it completely pitch dark. The faint light that entered the room from the opened door was not of much use either.
Akira thought that since it was a secret room, he could hope to find some unclaimed expensive relics and used a portable flashlight to check the room.
"Yep, there's nothing here, someone must have found and emptied this place before us... But it's not my fault."
Akira actually was not planning to blame Alpha at all, thus he felt a bit sorry when she awkwardly tried to make excuses to him. So, he casually replied with a little bit of joke.
"...Ah no, I was just wondering if there's another secret door."
"According to my search, I don't find anything though. But, do you want to try looking around a little more? If you can find another secret door that I didn't detect, then it means that the information gathering device is faulty. Try to check the walls and the floors as closely as you can."
Since Alpha's answer sounded hopeful, Akira decided to check the room one more time. He checked the walls and the floors very closely that his nose was almost touching them. He was looking for any grooves like the one from before. But he could not find anything in the end.
"...Nope, nothing. Alpha, do you find anything?"
Akira then turned off his light and was about to climb up the ladder when he suddenly stopped. He then extended his hand outside and pulled the trap door close. As the only source of light in the room was gone, the whole room went totally dark.
Akira then scanned the whole room, but he could not see anything.
"That didn't work, huh. I thought that if there's any groove, there should be some light leaking out from that groove. But now that I think about it, we're in the underground now, so I guess that's to be expected, huh."
Even inside that completely dark room, Akira could see Alpha clearly. After all, she was actually some kind of image data that was displayed directly into Akira's vision, thus her image was not affected by the brightness in the place. In the next moment, the room which had nothing but Alpha and darkness was projected as a black and white image into Akira's vision.
"I've expanded your vision, this is an image made from the data gathered through the information gathering device. Although it has no colour, it should be enough, right?"
In his vision, Akira could clearly see Alpha who was bursting with colours inside that black and white world. It was weird for him to see how only a small part of his view was coloured.
"...Well, it's true that I can see better now. So, what did you find?"
Alpha then pointed her finger to the floor. When Akira shifted his gaze there, he could see a circle with something that looked like a footprint in the centre of it.
"It's painted using fluorescent material. Although it's painted with such material so that it's easy to see, but since we're in total darkness and there's a limit on how sensitive the information gathering device can be, it's still rather hard to notice its glow."
"...Is it telling me to stand there? Who painted such a thing in this bas.e.m.e.nt? Is it a cultural thing from the old world?"
As Akira stood on the place that was painted on the floor, suddenly, a girl in a maid uniform appeared out of nowhere inside that bas.e.m.e.nt where there should not be anyone else other than Akira and Alpha. But even so, Akira was only a little surprised, after all, his first meeting with Alpha was far more surprising. As he thought that it was one of Alpha's jokes, he quickly shifted his gaze to Alpha.
"Alpha, what kind of joke is this now?"
Akira glared at Alpha, but it seemed that she genuinely did not know what he was talking about.
"What do you mean by 'what'? That girl in front of me-"
Before Akira was even able to finish his sentence, Alpha suddenly took control of his augmented suit and forcefully pulled him away from where he was standing.
"Whoah, what was that for?!"
It was really out of the blue when Alpha suddenly moved his augmented suit. Thus Akira could not follow its movement and his body was subjected to intense stress which left his body in stinging pain after that. He looked annoyed because of her sudden move and his pain as he glared at Alpha.
"Akira. Can you still see the person that you saw just now?"
Akira shifted his gaze to where that maid girl was standing, but she had completely vanished.
"...No, I can't see her anymore. So, what was that exactly? Why were you so panicked?"
"L-lost my life? What do you mean?"
"There's actually some kind of wireless receiver inside your brain. I've told you about this before, right? That's the special power of the people who can connect to the old world domain, and someone tried to abuse that power just a moment ago that it might even kill you."
Akira was taken aback when Alpha said that he almost got killed, she then continued her explanation.
"So then, how is it connected to why I almost got killed just now? Even if what I saw just now was something that only people who are connected to the old world can see, that doesn't explain why that would kill me, right? If I'm going to die because I see one, then I should've been already dead after seeing you so many times, right?"
"Everyone who is connected to the old world has a different threshold of how much information and what type of information he or she can process. And in your case, fortunately enough, you have a high level of compatibility with me. The person that you just saw might be someone from the old world domain. People of the old world used to get help from those entities with no corporeal bodies to expand their vision and sense of hearing or to provide them with other kinds of support. They might also exist as a part of a facility as a guide, to provide explanations about that facility. Some might even be sent to gather information or other kinds of jobs. I bet there were a lot of people who were connected to the old world domain during the old world era."
"It sounds nothing but good things though, so, what's so dangerous about them?"
"The person that you saw was invisible to me, so what kind of person was it?"
"It was a girl in a maid uniform. She didn't look dangerous at all."
"Well, they were originally not dangerous after all. The problem is that she was an entity from the old world, thus she was created for the people with old-world equipment. In short, they might be not compatible with the people of this era. But since you were able to see it, it meant that you could receive information sent by her without any trouble. Hypothetically speaking, if that girl was the manager of this mansion and asked you if you need any information about this mansion, then what would you answer?"
"You might be killed the moment you answer back with that, you see."
Akira was shocked by that unexpected answer, Alpha continued her explanation while giving him a warning.
Akira was completely shocked. It took sometime before he came back to his senses as he tried to calm himself down by taking a deep breath. Alpha just waited for him until he finished.
"Are you feeling better now?"
"Let's see, I think you should say no in that case. Either that or you should request the information to be displayed in the simplest form so that you can process it through your vision, maybe something in the form of blurry images. Or you can also ask the information to be sent to your information terminal and then ask it to explain the details through that method. There are many methods that you can request so that it won't overload your brain. But even so, I still can't say that you'll be safe for sure. It might be alright if they ask you for permission for every information that they will send, but there are cases where they don't, you see."
"...If I meet one like that, then what should I do? Can I do something about it?"
Akira's face looked grim. It was because he was just told that he was someone who was connected to the old world domain. But there was a danger of sudden death that came with it and there was no way to avoid that sudden death.
Alpha suddenly started talking in a monotonous voice with an expressionless face. It was completely different compared to her usual self.
Akira remembered something similar had happened to him before, thus he swiftly answered back without waiting for Alpha to finish.
"Permission confirmed... Well, this will do the trick."
"The reason why you didn't do that back then was because you didn't have the permission to ask for the same, huh?"
"Of course, there are still a lot of things that I need to ask for your permission. But it's not like I can tell you all the details, but you do know the reason, right?"
"Yeah. Because that'll take 100 years of oral explanation and you don't have the permission to ask for the same, right?"
Akira knew that the thing he was seeing was not real, it was just like Alpha. He was looking at that maid girl full of curiosity.
"Alpha, you can't see her, huh?"
"It's okay, because of the permission that you just gave, I can see her just fine now. But it's not like we know for sure if she can see me or not. So be careful."
"Alright. But that means to her I might look like I'm just talking to myself, right?"
"That is if she can also see you. If it's only a video data, then it's the same as those holographic human-type signboards."
"Now that I think about it, she's not moving at all. Uhmm, can you hear me?"
When Akira spoke to her, the maid girl bowed politely and gracefully.
Akira did not understand what she was talking about. But he remembered what Alpha just told him not too long ago, so he decided to refuse it for now.
"No. I just want to ask you some questions..."
That maid girl bowed gracefully once more to Akira before vanishing completely.
"...What in the world was that?"
"It has no real body, it could react when you talk to it, and it vanishes if you refuse its offer. Try to step out from there and then step back in again, but this time try to be more positive and ask for an explanation from her."
"I guess I'll try that."
Akira took a step out of the circle before stepping back in. That maid girl immediately appeared in front of him again.
"I want to ask you something."
Alpha suddenly interjected, but the maid girl did not respond at all.
After Akira took out his information terminal, Alpha's voice then came out from the terminal.
Alpha said that not through telepathy but from the information terminal as her voice echoed inside the bas.e.m.e.nt. But the maid girl still did not respond back.
"Even this doesn't work, huh? Akira, you go ahead and try asking it."
Akira then looked at his information terminal, but nothing happened. Alpha also confirmed the same.
"There's nothing in the terminal. Unfortunately, it seems that the data is sent in a format that this terminal can't receive. So let's just give up and go back home."
"We can try to download the data to the terminal through you. Since you can see it, it means that you can receive information broadcasted by that maid girl. But as I explained before, it's an extremely dangerous thing. I'll try my best to keep you safe, but I still can't guarantee your safety. So what will you do?"
"...Let's do that. It will bother me if we give up and return back without understanding anything like this, not to mention that facing danger is quite normal in this line of work."
"Alright then. Be sure to tell her to only transfer the data bit by bit, okay? If you feel nauseous, quickly step away from that place. I think the data transfer will stop if you step away from where you're standing now."
Akira made his resolve and said.
"...Send the information to me rather than to my information terminal, but do it in small amounts."
"Certainly. Sending the information now."
Akira prepared himself to step away from that place in case anything bad happened. But unlike what he expected, he felt nothing at all. He did not feel nauseous nor any headache at all, and his mind and vision were still clear like usual.
"Akira, it's finished, it's alright now."
"I intercepted and received the data straight to me without passing it through you. The amount of information that went through you was kept to a minimum. To make it simple, I immediately took over the line after you exchanged address and established a connection with that maid girl."
"I see. So in the end, what exactly was that girl? Not to mention that she already vanished too."
"It'll take a long time to explain everything. Let's just go back home for now. Although it's not like it can be exchanged for money right away, we have received good results for today. That was rather an unexpected result since we originally came here just to test the information gathering device."
Rebuild World (WN)
リビルドワールド
https://www.novelupdates.com/series/rebuild-world/
Action Adventure Drama Harem Mecha Mystery Sci-fi Seinen
Abandoned Children Adapted to Manga Adventurers Alternate World Anti-social Protagonist Apocalypse Artificial Intelligence Beautiful Female Lead Cautious Protagonist Child Protagonist Dense Protagonist Determined Protagonist Distrustful Protagonist Futuristic Setting Gangs Gunfighters Harsh Training Lack of Common Sense Male Protagonist Manipulative Characters Monsters Near-Death Experience Older Love Interests Poor Protagonist Poor to Rich Ruthless Protagonist Shota Sudden Strength Gain Survival Twisted Personality Unlucky Protagonist Weak to Strong
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n9736dt/
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