“Can you hear me?” Harold asked again. “Investigator Hieda, what happened?”
“Someone cracked Rig City,” Echika said, trying to remain as collected as possible. “They took over the management system and leaked code that’s supposed to be your neuromimetic system to the Your Forma. It’s probably a fake meant to corner us—”
But her words melted away in shock—because Harold looked up at her with an unstirring gaze. There was no surprise or unrest in his lakelike eyes. Not even a hint of those emotions.
No. It can’t be.
“It isn’t a fake,” the Amicus said clearly through his shapely lips. “Professor Lexie threatened me earlier. She said if I didn’t help her, she’d expose the secret of the RF Models.”
Echika’s mouth fell open, but she couldn’t immediately speak. “What—?”
“I thought it was a bold-faced lie, but…apparently, she was prepared to do just that.”
It was completely impossible—it had to be a bluff. As Echika there in shock, something Lexie had once told her crossed her mind.
“If you do change your mind, I don’t particularly mind if you publish the truth.”
Echika always assumed the professor had only said that on a whim, since it a wasn’t a logical thing to say for someone in her position. However.
“There’s something I realized a bit earlier. It’s probably not that big of a deal.”
Was that, in fact, what she’d always intended?
Everything grew distant, as though she was operating someone else’s body through the other side of a telephoto lens. She couldn’t open the window that popped up, which continued to transmit the RF Models’ system code.
Echika didn’t know how many people could meaningfully understand or decipher this code. But if Rig City’s management system had been temporarily hijacked to transmit it—
and if this wasn’t all just a terrible daydream—
then every Your Forma user across the globe just saw this in real time.
What was Lexie thinking? If all she wanted was to escape interrogation, she shouldn’t have needed to expose the neuromimetic system to the entire world. Still, now wasn’t the time for speculation. What was going to happen? The worst-case scenario streaked through her mind like a bolt of lightning. No. Not that. Never…
“Get up.”
Echika grabbed Harold’s arm, spurred by emotion.
“No.” The Amicus wouldn’t let go of Lexie. “We have to stop the bleeding.”
“When your system just got leaked to every Your Forma user?” Her voice came out raspier than she knew it could be. “Hurry up and get out of here. Go to a technologically restricted zone, or anywhere else where they won’t find you. Ohterwise, you’ll—”
“Investigator, have you forgotten why we decided to keep our distance from each other?”
Dread crept up her body.
“If my secret ends up getting exposed to the public, don’t try to hide it for me.”
Right. They’d gone their separate ways to protect each other. So that now, when this came to pass, Harold wouldn’t get Echika caught up in what happened, and she’d pretend to respect his choice so her feelings wouldn’t be exposed. She’d grabbed Harold’s arm on a whim, but that on its own was a breach of that promise, an act that would reduce all their efforts to nothing.
What she was doing right now was incredibly discourteous.
Echika finally released Harold’s arm, like she’d just remembered how she was supposed to be acting.
“I’ll tell you where the professor is hospitalized later, so for the time being, you should get away from here.” The Amicus’s eyes looked as artificial as ever. “For all we know, this indictment might be part of the Alliance’s plan. And if it is, they’ll try to pinpoint your whereabouts in the chaos that ensues. This could be the first phase in a plan to eliminate everyone.”
Cook had suggested killing Echika and the others and making it look like an accident. But even so, it didn’t take a genius to know what might happen to Harold if she left him here. The ambulance crew set to arrive at the prison would likely know about the RF Models’ system code. Sooner or later, he’d be made public.
But even so, if she was to respect Harold’s wishes, the right thing to do would be to do nothing. Even if she were to be interrogated about the RF Models’ system code, she’d have to insist she was clueless, and if they tried to look into her Mnemosynes, she would have to doctor and wipe them. That was all she could do for him now.
And yet.
Echika’s legs refused to budge, like they were frozen in place. A clear premonition kept gnawing at the edge of her heart—she knew that if she walked away now, there would always be a wall between her and Harold when they were together. At worst, this could be the last time she ever saw him.
Over the course of this last month, she’d stuffed her feelings into a glass bottle and corked them up. Humans couldn’t process things as swiftly as an Amicus could, but they could still adapt and get used to any situation or environment. It was always like this. No matter how suffocating her circumstances, she would eventually grow used to them. It had been like this when her mother left her, when her father refused to love her, and when she would fry the brains of her previous aides during a Dive.
So she could let even this flow by. Turn all her emotions into memories and let everything go. In fact, she’d been ready to do this when she finished her Brain Dive into Greg.
But that was all based on the premise of Harold spending his days in safety. If she couldn’t protect his secret, it would all be pointless.
“You are always such an utterly hopeless person.”
Harold’s emotionless whisper pulled Echika out of her thoughts. The Amicus took off his coat and tied it so as to apply pressure to Lexie’s stomach. Then he got up and instantly grabbed Echika’s arm with his bloodstained hands. His grip was so tight that she couldn’t shake him off, and it made her heart shudder. He started walking out of the room, dragging Echika along.
“Stop.” She tried to struggle, but he wouldn’t budge. “Aide Lucraft, don’t!”
“I keep telling you, I’m an investigation support Amicus now.”
Her attempts at resistance were in vain, and he hauled her out of the room. He pulled her along the corridor the guard had escorted them down and then out the entrance. Once they were outside, Echika was buffeted by a cold, prickling wind. The hilltop penitentiary offered a view of the slope and the attached stairs leading to the parking lot. On the other side of the fence surrounding the premises, Echika saw blue emergency lights approaching along the driveway, partially obscured by the snowfall. That must have been the ambulance she called.
What do I do? How do I get out of this?!
“Go on, Investigator.”
Harold finally released his grip on Echika’s arm. He pushed her along, sending her stumbling a few steps forward. The Amicus stood opposite her, his eyes meeting hers.
“My greatest wish is to not see you get involved in this anymore.” This machine, in all its supposed emotionlessness, furrowed his brows like he was suppressing something. “And if you claim to be my friend, you’ll respect that.”
Echika gritted her teeth. Despite the fact they were nothing more than colleagues, Harold had chosen this moment to call her his friend. She knew, of course, that he’d deliberately chosen that word to coax her into doing what he wanted. She could empathize with him—excruciatingly so; she likely would have done the same had she been in his shoes.
Walking away from Harold here and now would be the final gesture of respect she could make for him.
That was the only way to honor the last vestiges of mutual respect that lingered between them, even with their relationship broken as it was. She couldn’t let her selfish emotions take control.
Just tighten the cork on that glass bottle one last time. That’s all you have to do.
“…Fine.”
Echika blew that one word onto the snowy wind, but it was loud enough for the Amicus’s audio receptors to pick up on. Harold nodded. The wind toyed with his blond hair, brushing it against his eyes, which seemed to narrow with a hint of pain.
“Thank you.” His voice was serene, in stark contrast with his expression. “I’m glad…I got to meet you.”
It sounded almost absurdly forced. Echika bit the inside of her lips hard enough to draw blood.
I can’t…force the cork in.
“I have…only one request.”
“We don’t have time.”
As she spoke, Echika spread out her arms awkwardly. The wind blew into her sleeves, which were red with Lexie’s blood. She knew she was doing something extremely uncharacteristic; maybe that was why she was trembling slightly.
Still, this was her only option.
“Could you, um… Could you hug me?”
Harold’s eyes widened for a second. Distressed as she was, Echika couldn’t tell if it was from scorn or pure surprise. She’d fully expected him to refuse, or maybe realize what she was thinking—but as those thoughts raced through her mind, the Amicus stepped forward and reached out to her. His decisiveness caught Echika by surprise.
There were no words. Harold silently, softly embraced Echika. It was a confused hug—he brought his hands to her back but didn’t touch it directly, like he was afraid of something. Despite the circumstances, she thought back to how they’d reunited at the Pulkovo Airport roundabout after the sensory crime incident. It was the first time she’d seen Harold in months, and he’d hugged her without reservation.
Compared to that, he was quite careful this time. She could hardly feel the Amicus’s low body heat. Any excuse would have worked—so long as it got him within arm’s reach of her.
“…Thank you.”
Echika stood on tiptoe, wrapping an arm around Harold’s neck. For a moment, the Amicus stiffened—but then, she touched the force shutdown thermal sensor on the back of his neck.
Forgive me.
Harold tried to pull away when he realized what she was doing, but it was too late.
“Echika—”
Harold couldn’t finish his sentence. The shutdown sequence kicked in, and the Amicus lost the ability to remain on his feet and fell into her arms. Echika managed to catch him. As she wobbled a little from the momentum of his fall, she peered into the Amicus’s handsome face against her shoulder. His eyes were closing like he was going to sleep.
There’s no going back from this.
She had done something terrible; she’d trampled all over Harold’s feelings. And yet…
Echika breathed out a puff of white breath, trying to calm her racing heart. Even so, she wanted him to run.
She had to make sure he escaped.