Estimated reading time: 9–11 minutes
Chapter 7: Kōmitsu Momiji
「Speaking of which, did you decide on a university? 」
Reina asks me out of the blue. It’s quite unexpected. Even though we’re neighbors, since Reina herself doesn’t go to school, I thought this topic was taboo.
「Oh yeah, I got accepted off the waitlist to the national university right over there by the train station.」
「That one huh. You worked pretty hard.」
Reina makes some vague murmuring noises, like she wants to say something. More than trying to speak, it seems like she’s debating whether or not to say it. Her ears keep twisting back and forth.
「Well, actually, I also got accepted there.」
「No way, so we’ll be classmates? ! 」
Whatever she was hesitating about is interesting, but this fact is more important right now. None of my high school friends are attending the same university – some went elsewhere and some didn’t get in. But if Reina’s there, it’ll be reassuring.
「So what department are you in, Reina?」
「Um, uh, what about you?」
「I’m in the engineering department studying mechanics.」
「I see! What a coincidence. That’s great. Let’s get along over the next 4 years! 」
「Huh? Yeah, likewise.」
I don’t really get Reina’s weird attitude, but the point is we’ll be university friends. I’ve acquired someone to get homework answers from! Though I don’t really know how smart she is.
We round the corner. Lining the edge of the road are beggars and stalls selling mysterious, grimy parts. Cutting through them is a single shop. I see – the people gathered here want the patrons’ spare change and cast-offs. After all, anyone coming to a weapon shop must have some money and interest in odd parts.
The shop with the Kōmitsu Solutions Main Branch store sign is a rugged concrete building with cracks. The shutters are closed with an OPEN sign swaying. The emblem with the character for “steel” written over the image of a powered suit painted on the shutters is starting to fade.
Wondering if I’ll get added to the blacklist again… I open the door. Contrary to the exterior, the interior is brightly lit. Merchandise lines the black resin-coated tables. To the left are counters, with someone doing maintenance or something. Noticing us, she calls out “Welcome!” We’re the only customers – no alarms go off either. I feel a little relieved.
Unsure what to do, a girl in work clothes comes trotting over.
「Welcome! How can I… Oh! 」
「President, that’s our job! You still haven’t recovered your memories, so please, take it easy! 」
Huh, is this huge gap in status really okay? Reina beside me keeps a neutral expression, though her ears perk up. The girl who came to ask what we needed, called “President”――was a Player.
I got treated like that by an NPC, but this girl is called “President”??? What’s with this difference in treatment?
I take a seat at the counter. Reina is next to me, while the girl called “President” sits across from us. She’s a gentle-looking girl with black hair and a quintessential Japanese beauty. She’d likely suit a kimono even more, but the standard Player work clothes and the tattoo-like lines running over her body – the markings of a Cyborg – offset that impression. She looks familiar somehow… I open my mouth while thinking that I can remember something.
「There’s a ‘President’ skill?」
「Nope. If there was somethin’ like that, everyone round here’d be presidents~ Let me introduce myself. Player name’s Kureha. Been a while, huh Kanji?」
「A while….? Kureha? Wait, the powered suit!!!」
「Yeah, that’s the only thing ya remember. You really liked those a lot.」
I flinch a little when she says my name, but her name and face make me recall some very old memories. I stand up without thinking. Seeing me remember, Momiji smiles bashfully.
At the same time, I recall why I feel some connection to Kōmitsu Solutions. Kōmitsu Momiji – we weren’t exactly childhood friends, but we were in the same elementary school class for 6 consecutive years. Calling it a “chance encounter” feels like a stretch. After all, Momiji was the one who sparked my interest in machines and giant robots. If I hadn’t met her, I probably wouldn’t have been interested in robots at all, let alone played this game seriously, much less uploaded my consciousness.
And of course she’d be here at Kōmitsu Solutions. As the daughter of Kōmitsu’s president, it makes sense that her status would carry over into the game world. Though it’s pretty nonsense that real life links like that influence the game… this crappy game is way too realistic.
「Ka-Kanji. Do you know her? 」
「Why’re you so worked up? We were classmates in elementary school. I think I told you about it before – that incident where some old guy in a prototype powered suits dashed across the field cradling his daughter.」
「That was embarrassing…」
Reina, why are you calling me by my first name? What exactly are you competing against here?
But that was an incredible spectacle. Seeing that middle-aged guy run faster than a car across the field wearing some kind of experimental powered suit… I was captivated by the movements of that artificial musculature. That marked the beginning of my journey into robotics – through games, anime, and eventually concluding that bigger is cooler. Though the old guy sure glared at me for saying that.
Momiji leans in, laying her hand over mine and caressing it while pointedly ignoring Reina’s presence.
「Come to think of it, it’s about time for college, huh? Did you get in anywhere?」
「Yeah, a national university just north of Osaka. Studying mechanical engineering there.」
「No way! That’s where I’m going too! What a coincidence!!!」
「Seriously? ! ! It’s a miracle! I’m so happy about this!」
「…Did you already know where he was going, Kureha?」
「Hm~? What do you mean?」
Reina asks suspiciously. Momiji responds innocently. Seems like there’s some bad blood between these two. Having my friend and old friend on such poor terms makes me not want to contemplate us all being at the same university. I should probably plan some kind of reconciliation.
Oh well, I’ll burn that bridge when I get there. Procrastination is my nature, after all.
「Anyway, you got something I’m looking for in stock?」
「Whatcha want, honey? I’ll buy anything for ya!」
「You really are a mom, huh Momiji? If I called you that, bet you’d buy me anything.」
「That feels a little creepy coming from an old classmate though… Isn’t it kind of horror movie-esque to call your long lost friend ‘Mom’?」
「I suppose you’re right.」
「「Don’t get all sentimental!」」
I wish she wouldn’t look at me with such expectant eyes. Did I somehow flip her maternal switch? I didn’t think she was the doting type, but she’s always been like that, I guess. In that sense she hasn’t changed… Just progressing in a weird direction. Getting off on old classmates calling you ‘Mom’ is pretty advanced stuff.
For now, I ask for AP parts, a powered suit, and some handguns. Momiji cheerfully relays the order to the old man craftsmen out back. Within minutes, the counter looks like a trade show display.
First, 4 handguns and an AP catalog sit atop the table. Behind that stand 3 different powered suits models. They’ve clearly been carefully polished – not the kind of thing you’d find for sale around here. Weren’t the suits other Players had worn several tiers below these, more used and secondhand?
「I’ll start by explaining the handguns nearby. Dunno why you want handguns instead of assault rifles, but these are the 4 models we handle. The bigger the caliber as you go right, the more the recoil and fewer bullets it holds, got it?」
「You seem pretty knowledgeable about this.」
「I’ve seen the designs for stuff around here. Now, there’s an issue with the ammo. Kanji, you know what incendiary weapons are?」
「Think the manual mentioned it, but I forgot.」
Incendiary weapons – also called liquid propellants. Since normal gunpowder apparently wasn’t enough to defeat Machine Beasts and the like in this world, they developed higher firepower guns. That’s incendiary weapons – instead of solid propellant, they launch bullets using gasoline-like liquids.
When you pull the trigger, the specialized chemicals mix and react with the gasoline extremely quickly, achieving double the muzzle velocity of normal bullets. So why call them “combustion” weapons? Originally they lacked those specialized chemicals, so they produced oxygen within the devices and injected that to achieve the same effect. Hence the distinction from normal gunpowder weapons.
Nowadays except for older models, all vehicle and emplacement weapons use incendiary rounds.
「Now you don’t need the oxygen injection, so it’s easier. The downside though is each shot has way more kick.」
「More than normal weapons, huh.」
「Yeah. So for Machine Beasts, compact incendiary handguns are best, but for people, even normal gunpowder weapons should be enough.」
「Then the highest caliber normal gun sounds good. I want the firepower but excessive recoil’s no good either.」
「Alrighty then, single action revolver it is.」
A moment of silence hangs between us as we exchange glances, then a high five. As expected of Momiji, she gets it.
I was about to ask her to explain the powered suits, but… Reina shut that down with a firm NO.
「They’re designed to interface with the brain, so wearing a powered suit makes it impossible to pilot an AP.」
So does that mean I can never defeat Reina with raw power? My only path to victory is stomping her with an AP? I fall to my knees. It hits the floor with a dull thud. Ow, that hurts.
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