Chapter 65
It was at the age of 6 that Mishima Kana first saw real light. Not sunlight of course, but real light nonetheless. She wasn’t even allowed to see the light from fluorescent bulbs. All for the sole purpose of verifying the abilities she possessed.
Developing Beastkin with superhuman abilities. After the rebellion of the second generation, the research institute’s top priority became developing Beastkin with abilities that could be controlled.
The first generation was too unstable.
The second generation was too powerful.
From this concept emerged the 『78th Beastkin Utilization Plan』 which was forcibly scrapped in 2040. If they could harness the imaginary-mass atoms of the Machine Beasts, they could create extremely powerful Espers. Then, if they cut off their arms and legs at birth, they’d have parts that could simply use those abilities. If this plan had proceeded, many soldiers might have wielded Beastkin with severed limbs as weapons in battle.
However, with a twist of the times, Kōmitsu ultimately prevented this plan. One of the experimental subjects was her – Mishima Kana.
Mishima Kana dashes through the rubble. Her target is none other than the 「Reformists」. However, contrary to what she told her adoptive father, she had a general idea of what was inside. The 「Reformists’」 attack on Hereafter in 2055, carried out alongside the plan. They were flushed out from their thorough hiding, but after that, there was no movement for 5 years. Judging by the fact that they started moving today, she could guess.
Intervention in 2040 via 「HAO」. Whether that takes the form of information or something else is unknown, but she glossed over it because if she mentioned it, her adoptive father who began treatment might notice.
「Don’t let them advance!」
「Have the reinforcements from 2040 not arrived yet?!」
「Enemy ambush from the north! 3 Cyborgs!」
The current 「Reformist」 headquarters, a 3-story building disguised as a fortress, won’t be easily breached. First of all, it can’t be found, and the armor used in the Apollyon Fusion is strung throughout the interior.
Furthermore, dozens of soldiers in powered suits are running around inside. It’s fewer than the anticipated number, but still a significant threat. In the first place, powered suits and Cyborgs are overwhelmingly stronger than 10 tanks from 2040 put together. The concept of enduring and shooting has collapsed as the firepower and evasion speed of individual units have increased too much.
Two Powered Armor Humans equip powered suits and rifles and round a corner. What assaulted them as they dashed to reinforce the northern ambush wasn’t a roar or vibration, but a silvery flash smoothly thrust in.
「Ah-」
Before they could form the word, knives slipped through their armor, slashing their throats. The origin of the blades was above. A girl standing upside down on the ceiling. With an expressionless face, she braced her feet against cracks in the wall and tossed the men into an inconspicuous corner.
『Headquarters here! What’s the situation on the north side?』
Connecting the device on the corpse’s chest to the terminal with a cord, Kana hijacks the communication audio. Then, placing a variant of the voice changer Orange used when he cross-dressed against her neck, she spoke.
「This is A186, rendezvoused with allies on the north side. Communications sog…」 (Beep- gaga) 「Due to combat…」
While generating deliberate noise by manipulating the terminal to eliminate any sense of oddness, she sows deceptive information. The 『Order』 communicator in her hand reports that the north has already been subdued. This should halt reinforcements for a while, making further destruction even easier.
Next, she takes off running based on the map obtained from the corpses. Around her, over 20 bodies have already piled up. Needless to say, the combat capability of Powered Armor Humans and Cyborgs is extremely high, let alone the 『Guardians』 of the 『Reformists』 who would rank at the top globally in terms of skill.
The power that enables her to achieve this is none other than Mishima Kana’s 『Passive Precognition』. That power, the same as Nakamoto Tsuyoshi’s, grants her combat experience that wouldn’t normally be possible, supplementing her Generation 3 level physical abilities to become an immense force. That’s precisely why Mishima Kana has been able to lead the 「Order」 as a 『Guardian』 of Kōmitsu and Orange’s faction.
Dashing through the corridor, she opens one of the doors. Inside were others like her. Not Beastkin, but people possessing 「Passive Precognition」.
Their brains.
It goes without saying that amidst dwindling resources on the Ark, there’s no way they could maintain living observers until 2060. Even if they could feed everyone, their numbers would decrease due to rebellion and suicide. There are also limits to using mechanical observers.
In that case, it would be ideal to have living observers that are easy to use. Ones that won’t rebel, can’t commit suicide, but will still use their superhuman abilities. By simply infusing the imaginary-mass complexes necessary for observation, they could be used – a concept ironically similar to the 『78th Beastkin Utilization Plan』.
「I’m sorry,」
Kana mutters, taking out explosives. By setting them and detonating them within a few minutes, she should be able to relieve their suffering. Even so, this is just one of the backups, not even a device essential to their plan.
Mishima Kana runs. The figures of the nearly 140 Cyborgs that should have originally been there have yet to appear before her.
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