“The range is bad! Bring it closer!”
“Range.” The word alone was enough to kick my primal FPS-gamer brain into action.
I intuitively knew that before me stood our secret weapon. Shiiko had left the driving up to Tetsuko while she herself was busy doing something with her hands.
“Huh?!”
Suddenly, the lights went out.
Next thing I knew, a floodlight on the nose of the vehicle came to life, illuminating both me and the skeleton trailing behind. With a subdued growl from the engine, the satellite dish swung toward me—no, toward the skeleton.
“Get down!” Shiiko yelled, pulling on some kind of lever.
I instantly threw myself to the ground as sparks went off in the corner of my eye.
“Whoa!”
The skeleton zoomed right by me as though being whisked away by some invisible force. Sparks flew as its toes dragged against the floor.
Is this a magnet? Shiiko said something about exposing new subjects to extreme conditions for safety and durability tests in this place. That vehicle is probably part of the testing equipment. The satellite dish must be producing a strong magnetic field.
The skeleton dug its toes into the ground, coming to a full stop after being dragged around for over ten meters. Its upper body was tilting forward a bit, but besides that, it was pretty much stuck in place about three meters short of the vehicle.
“Wow!”
Might not be the time, but I can’t help but be impressed by both the car and the skeleton.
The skeleton lifted one of its legs up as it tried to take a step forward, trembling uncontrollably, only for it to snap back again. It could only have been described as an intense tug-of-war.
“I did my part! Now you do yours!” Shiiko shouted. “The auxiliary power source won’t last long!”
“On it!”
I took a good look at the skeleton. One of its eyes was still busted, presumably because regenerating a complex sensory organ was no simple process.
If I can find a way to destroy its central nervous system faster than it can regenerate, I might just be able to bring it down once and for all.
Just then, the skeleton started wildly flailing its arms around. I knew just how much force was behind each and every awkward swing, so I needed to proceed cautiously. Actually, the fact that the swings were awkward made them unpredictable and thus all the more deadly.
This looks like a job for a gun.
I picked up the Lightweight Stalker and took aim.
“Where are we aiming?” Shino asked, bringing her M700 up behind me.
“The missing eye!”
“Copy that.”
We pointed our guns at its hollowed-out eye socket.
Since it has already eaten a shot from the M700, an extra shot or two should be enough to penetrate into the cranium.
“C’mon!”
Either guessing our next move or following AI orders, the skeleton turned its face away.
I can’t get a clean shot.
“Look me in the eye, you worthless bag of bones!” Needless to say, the skeleton did not respond to my disparaging remarks.
“Hiroaki, quick!” The vehicle’s floodlight started flickering, signaling that the battery was running low.
Do we have enough time to move to the side, or do we just aim for its body?
“What the—Otoha?!” I saw her whizz past in my peripheral vision. “No, wait, don’t!”
Clutching her shovel, Otoha... smiled. A profound sense of accomplishment was oozing from every pore of her pretty face, telling me she had been born for this very moment.
Wow, she’s so cute when she—ahem!
Next thing I knew, Otoha pounced right at it.
“Don’t be shy now.” Her shovel smacked the skeleton across the face, forcing its face our way.
“Watch out!”
The skeleton’s arms, seemingly autonomous, caught her by the cuff.
Act fast, or Otoha’s going to die!
“Fire!” Screaming at the top of my lungs, I pulled the trigger.
Even I had no chance of missing from this distance. The Lightweight Stalker’s and the M700’s 7.62 mm rounds went right through the socket and into the cranium.
“AAAUUUGHHH!”
The skeleton, which had been quiet until now, cried out in pain. How? I wasn’t entirely sure.
Did we do it?
Its limbs began convulsing. Whether this was the skeleton writhing in pain or the magnetic field dissipating was unclear. To put it out of its misery, I operated the bolt only to realize I was out of bullets. Shino appeared to be out of bullets, too.
Do me a favor and die! Please, just die already! I begged and pleaded. I pulled out my—admittedly, rather useless—Makarov and watched, hoping for a miracle.
“I can’t hold it any longer!” Shiiko cried as the magnetic field vanished altogether.
With the magnetic pull now gone, the skeleton fell to the ground. I heard the sound of tearing fabric, meaning Otoha had been released.
“Otoha!”
The fact that she had managed to escape was nice and all, but the skeleton started shakily moving toward her, despite the fact that its body and head were riddled with bullets.
What gives?! Do you have some kind of spare circuitry hidden away in your body?! The skeleton popped its jaw wide open, revealing what appeared to be silver fangs. It’s going to sink those in like a vampire and inject her with nanomachines!
Having sprained her ankle, Otoha was resting against a wall and showing no signs of movement.
“Otoha, run!”
She’s gonna get turned.
A shiver ran down my spine as I imagined cutting off Otoha’s rotting neck with her very own shovel.
You asked for it!
“Hey, Otoha!” I lobbed my last grenade, which I had saved in case suicide became the only way out. “Promise me you won’t do anything stupid!”
“Watch me!” Otoha knocked the grenade back with her shovel, lodging it inside the skeleton’s gaping jaws with comical accuracy.
She remembered.
“Get down!” I exclaimed, pushing Shino down to the ground.
KABOOM!
The noise and the shockwaves were further amplified by the indoor environment.
After a few solid seconds, the ringing in my ears began to subside. I lifted my head up and saw the skeleton motionlessly gazing up at the ceiling.
Did we do it for real this time?
The skeleton’s head moved slightly toward us.
No freakin’ way! But I’m all out of ass-pulls! Is this the end for our heroes?!
“The eye,” Shino said.
The light in its remaining eye flickered a few times before fading completely.
Silence filled the room. The thirty or so seconds that ticked by felt like hours.
“We... did it?” I murmured in sheer disbelief.
The skeleton, as though it had been waiting for those very words, collapsed to the floor. Either because of deterioration or magnetic field exposure, its skull popped off its body with a loud clang, rolling over to my feet.
I kicked it for good measure. No response.
“Nice pitch.” Otoha gave me a thumbs-up, poking the lifeless body with her shovel.
“Nice swing.” I gave her a thumbs-up back. “You’re the best.”