“Don’t you think you should get some sleep?” Shuuichi asked as he entered my room.
I hadn’t been to bed in some time. It had been 72 hours since the underground rail tunnel where Kouki was holed up had collapsed.
That’s the limit... Humans can’t survive for more than 72 hours without food and water...
Now that three days had passed since the cave in, Kouki’s chances of survival had fallen below six percent.
The chance is still higher than zero... I’m sure he’s alive.
“Don’t worry about me,” I said at last. “Is there any news?”
“There was a report from the engineering department. They’ve finished their analysis of the powered suits New World was using. They were using sixth-generation suits. We believe their commanding officer was using a suit roughly equivalent to an eighth-generation suit.”
“I see... Now we know how they caused so much harm.”
“Yeah. They destroyed 80 percent of the elite powered suit company that the United Nations Standing Army sent out to extract Kouki. In the end, New World lost 65 powered suits while our side lost 241 suits.”
We barely put up a fight, I thought grimly. What a joke. But if the experiments Alice and I are performing can succeed, the difference in powered suit performance will cease to be important. I need to finish collecting data as quickly as possible...
“At 1 PM, we’ll perform a test of the Type 0 on Noa Island,” I told Shuuichi. “Please order everyone to leave the island except for the relevant personnel. Be ready to deal with it if something goes wrong.”
“But the system is incomplete,” he objected. “Don’t you think that’s too dangerous? And Alice isn’t to blame for what happened to Kouki. And I still don’t understand why you told the children about the Alice Project! What’s gotten into you?!”
“They would have found out sooner or later. I thought it better to tell them now so they don’t feel as though we’ve kept secrets from them. Besides, Alice herself demanded to be involved in the experiment, and I can’t stop her now. She feels responsible.”
“Kouki will blame us...” Shuuichi muttered. “This is exactly what he wanted to avoid. He was trying to protect Alice’s secret. But now...”
I don’t need you to tell me, I sighed. But if Kouki really has escaped, he’s going to need the Type 0 suit. And the children truly believe that Kouki is alive. We have no choice but to move development forward several years. Whatever it takes, we’re going to finish it within a day.
Shuuichi still looked unconvinced as I pushed him out into the corridor.
In frustration at my own powerlessness, I bit my lip without thinking.
Somehow, I felt a little better as I tasted blood in my mouth.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Are you ready, Kon?” I asked. “Give it all you’ve got.”
“Kyuu.”
I smiled at the image of Kon on the display and then nodded to Miki so she’d know we were ready.
“Initiate the testing sequence,” she ordered. “Activate the converter!”
“Activating converter,” an engineer said. “Output stable. The Type 0 suit is now operational.”
It really worked!
The originally planned antimatter reactor hadn’t been ready on time, so the suit was using a magical energy converter fueled by Kon’s magic that we’d created at the last minute. At least Miki had told me that. At any rate, it was working.
Now I can do my part and help everyone!
I felt relieved, but I noticed Miki was looking at me sympathetically.
Is she still worried about me?
“I’m all right!” I told her.
“Sorry... This is all my fault.”
“I’m the one who suggested this. I’m not like ordinary people... not that it bothers me. Let’s just get this suit up and running.”
“Thank you, Alice. I know I’ve explained this already, but you’re about to be physically connected to the Type 0. All of its systems will be managed by your brain. Naturally, those systems include the weapons management system and motion control system. Your brain will also be managing the communications system.”
“It’s like I’m a living computer,” I said. “No, I’ve turned into a cyborg. That sounds way cooler.”
I realized that Miki’s eyes had glazed over while I was talking.
I was just joking around... Kouki would have laughed at something like that, but Miki’s reaction just makes me feel bad. I regret saying anything now.
“The load placed on your brain will probably be more than you’re used to,” she said at last. “We’re using a device from the moon relic that facilitates brain operation, but in the worst-case scenario—”
“Honestly, I’m fine! The measurements we took yesterday showed that my brain capacity surpasses ordinary human brain capacity. This should be easy.”
“I have surpassed humanity.” That sounds pretty cool. I’ll have to tell that to Megumin if this experiment succeeds. If I have more brain capacity than even Kouki, then maybe I have what it takes to become a genius? Maybe I’ll become like Miki if I work hard enough. I need to make this experiment a success so she can teach me things!
“All right, here I go,” I told Miki.
With some help from the research team, I climbed into a capsule that formed the back part of the piloting unit.
The large helmet I put on covered not just my head, but my entire face. I took a moment to calm myself before speaking into the in-built microphone.
“I’m ready.”
“Understood. Ultrafine needles will enter your brain to inject the nanomachines,” Miki said. “Make sure you don’t move.”
“Got it.”
✦ ✦ ✦
I braced myself, expecting it would hurt, but there was no pain at all. Instead, I felt a sort of cold feeling for a moment, and then the world came into view.
“Awesome! I can see everything! Even things behind me!”
“Alice, calm down! Right now, your senses are extended by the external cameras of the suit. Now we’re going to switch the power supply from low-output mode to ordinary mode.”
“O-Okay.”
“Switch in 5... 4... 3... 2... 1. Switched to normal mode. The Type 0 is fully operational!”
I don’t feel anything different. Is it really working?
I started to worry, and then a red dot appeared in my vision centered on Miki in the control center.
What is this thing?
As I stared at the red dot, I realized that the researcher stood beside Miki was trembling. When I looked at him, another red dot appeared. The trembling person suddenly appeared to be having a fit.
“Alice, I don’t how to say this, but...” Miki said.
“What is it?”
“The weapons control system is online. You’re locking on to us.”
Uwah?! How do I get rid of this? I feel like I know how, but I can’t get it right.
As I was getting increasingly flustered, a message log stating “system optimization complete” appeared at the edge of my vision. Suddenly, I knew exactly what to do. I quickly disengaged the lock on using the method I’d just learned, and put the weapon control system offline for the time being.
“I’m sorry,” I said quickly.
“It’s okay. It’s your first time using the suit, after all. Now that the optimization is finished, we— Excuse me for a moment.”
Miki turned away and began talking with someone excitedly over an internal communication channel. Then she looked back at me, and for the first time since Kouki’s disappearance, she was smiling in her usual way.
“Alice, we’ve found Kouki! He’s in Chelyabinsk. He’s alive and well.”
Kouki! I’m so glad he’s okay. I knew he would be. I knew that believing in him and getting this suit ready was the right thing to do.
I felt ready to explode with happiness as the message log reappeared at the edge of my vision: “Explosion requested. Would you like to overload the reactor?”
Uwaaah! I want out of this suit...