We spent the next few days taking it easy in our suite. Perhaps thanks to that sedentary approach, nothing of particular note happened during those days. We had Iga Security assign us a skeleton crew of guards, while the other employees we’d hired were tasked with hunting down those “rats” or whatever who were looking into us.
Then, two days before the Black Lotus’s upgrades were scheduled to finish, Ota arrived at our suite before noon and informed us of what he’d found.
“Remnants of the Association for the Protection of Artificial Life?”
“Yes. They’re, well…small fry, basically.”
According to Ota, his people had noticed suspicious individuals the day after beginning their search. After that, they used various methods—which he wouldn’t share with me—to track those individuals and investigate their backgrounds. Last night, they’d managed to unearth both the group behind the operatives and the group’s base, which was why he was here today.
For the record, the man with fully artificial organs, Killam, was present as well, his business suit bursting at the seams as usual.
“So what do you want to do about them?” Ota asked.
“What do I want to do about them, eh…? They’re from the same terrorist group that committed that bioterror attack before, right?”
I faintly recalled the Association for the Protection of Artificial Life being the perpetrators of that incident involving white monsters running amok in this colony last time we’d been here.
“Yes. The police want their members for terrorism.”
“Then how about reporting them to the police and letting them handle it? I’m a mercenary, but it’s not my line of work to scrap with people like that unless I’ve been requested to.”
“Huh? It isn’t?” Tina asked.
“Really?” Wiska asked.
“Yes, really.”
The twins seemed doubtful, but I reaffirmed my stance. If a member of my crew had been kidnapped, that would’ve changed things, but that wasn’t the case here. It would also be a different story if we were dealing with space pirates, but these were just normal people. Wait—maybe, if they were terrorists, they weren’t. I supposed they kind of fit into the same box as pirates.
“We’ll report them to the police, then.”
“Do that.”
I waved dismissively as I saw Ota and Killam off. So is the problem covered now?
“Why are those guys monitoring us, anyway?” I wondered. “Do they have a grudge against me for defending the city in power armor last time?”
“Hmm…who knows?” said Dr. Shouko. “But if they’re still nursing a grudge, then it’s likely against me for making those extermination nanomachines. Oh—or maybe the fact that I’m a designer baby leaked?”
“Is that a real possibility?”
“It’s not impossible. At least, plenty of people at the company knew.”
Since these were members of the Association for the Protection of Artificial Life, were they looking for an opportunity to “protect” Dr. Shouko by taking her away? If so, what would they even be trying to protect her from? It wasn’t as if anyone was threatening her.
“Who cares anyway?” Elma asked. “We can just leave the rest to the colony’s public law enforcement or the star system army.”
“That’s true.” I nodded at her comment. “But either way, we’re staying put in this hotel until the Black Lotus is ready to go.”
Then Mimi and Kugi looked over. Hmm?
“Um…isn’t it already safe for us to head outside?” asked Mimi.
“Iga Security may inform law enforcement, but that doesn’t mean those informed will act immediately. We should stay put at least until we hear news of the group members being arrested.”
“I see… How unfortunate.” Kugi’s ears drooped in disappointment.
Seeing her so despondent was painful. But terrorists weren’t exactly logical, so there was no telling what they’d do. In some ways, they were even more dangerous than Granny Celestia.
I definitely wasn’t refusing to leave the suite to avoid fulfilling Kugi’s wish to visit the cultured meat plant. Definitely not. Really. “The upgrades should finish in two days, and then we can say goodbye to this cramped lifestyle. Hang in there.”
“Yes, my lord.” Kugi’s ears perked up again as she nodded.
Her expression elegantly conveyed to me her assumption that I’d take her to the factory when our ship was ready—which hurt. Please don’t look at me with such sparkling eyes. Just imagining how that light would leave that bright gaze once we were actually there is painful.
✦ ✦ ✦
Nothing of particular note happened, and the date when the Black Lotus’s overhaul would be complete finally arrived. As for the members of that terrorist organization? The police arrested them without incident. I wasn’t sure whether they’d captured every last one, but the previous evening, the colony’s news channel had spent quite a bit of time covering the arrest. Now we were in the hotel lobby to check out.
For some reason, we found Granny Celestia waiting there for us. Nicholas and Lattis were with her, naturally.
“About time,” said Celestia. “Hurry up.”
“Why…?”
“I’ve yet to assess your abilities fully,” she told me. “I’ve seen your close combat skills; now I need to see your piloting skills.”
“What’re you suggesting…?”
The old lady smirked. “There’s only one way for a mercenary to demonstrate their skills. Let’s get to work.”
I’m getting déjà vu. She and the emperor really are siblings, damn it. Looking up at the lobby’s high ceiling, I cursed internally.