On top of the Jackalope and the destroyed Allrounders they’d originally come to recover, loading the defeated enemy units left no room in the transport vehicle to spare.
Prioritizing units like the Heavy Rounder-series Keeper — which burns through battery fast — for spots in the vehicle, the Allrounder, whose selling point is that it can keep moving even in poor conditions, ends up running alongside the transport vehicle on the way back.
Guess I can’t play games on the way back, Chihaya thinks vaguely, her Allrounder running to the right of the transport vehicle.
The Jackalope’s Actor reports over voice chat.
“We’d need to analyze the attackers’ black boxes to be sure, but they’re probably mercenary Actors affiliated with Yakugi Technology.”
Yakugi Technology is a Japanese weapons manufacturer for Actanoids, also taking on Actanoid modification work — a mid-sized company.
The Allrounder’s Actor driving the transport vehicle mutters in a tone that doesn’t hide their distaste.
“Yakugi Technology. Haven’t heard great things about them.”
“Aren’t they connected to the Kadohara Group? I’ve heard rumors they do whatever they want because anything gets swept under the rug.”
“Kadohara Tameyuki — the Diet member. No proof, but it smells bad. More importantly, it might have been a problem to take down Yakugi Technology’s mercenaries. No choice given the situation, but still.”
Chihaya’s body stiffens.
She’s the one who directly destroyed Yakugi Technology’s Actanoids. If there’s any retaliation coming, she’d be the first target.
“There are Actors who had their Actanoids relentlessly wrecked by Yakugi Technology until the debt forced them out of the New Frontier Development Zone, right? That’s why everyone avoids them.”
“Hold on. We don’t actually know it’s Yakugi Technology yet, do we? The black boxes haven’t been analyzed — why do you think it’s them?”
A fair question, but the Jackalope’s Actor prefaces the answer with a request for discretion.
“Everyone here took this job through Unison Human-Machine Technology. What you may not know is that this isn’t the first time — apparently Unison Human-Machine Technology has been getting hit repeatedly by Actanoids believed to be from Yakugi Technology.”
“So that’s why the loss rates have been so high. But the fight today happened because the attackers were hiding the Kukumerka grove — it shouldn’t have anything to do with Unison Human-Machine Technology.”
“That’s exactly why I’m not certain. However, information from the black box of a Berlet that Actors on a Unison Human-Machine Technology job destroyed a few days ago showed traces suggesting Yakugi Technology affiliation.”
“I see. So regardless of who today’s attackers belong to — we’re on a Unison Human-Machine Technology job, which means we should return with Yakugi Technology attacks in mind. Though we were already braced for ambushes from the start, so not much changes.”
With one exception, the Keeper’s Actor adds — and the whole group goes quiet.
Chihaya realizes what’s being implied and, unable to take the silence, lets out a small laugh.
“heh heh”
“Well, you probably don’t mind. More like you’d welcome it, from the look of things. We don’t want to get dragged in further, so this job is where our involvement ends.”
I don’t welcome it at all, Chihaya nearly says — and swallows it back. Disagreeing would open a conversation she’d be dragged into against her will. The socially anxious person’s way of navigating the world.
Chihaya distributes her attention across the monitors more than necessary and starts watching for ambushes.
The Allrounder driving the transport vehicle jerks a thumb back over its shoulder at the captured enemy units in the cargo bed.
“So what do we do with those?”
“If you’re worried selling them will make things worse — bit late for that. Are you asking about splitting the sale proceeds?”
“That’s it. I mean, it’s basically all the Bomber’s doing, so we’re happy to cut ourselves out of the split.”
The Bomber — who? Chihaya thinks for a moment, then realizes she’s the only one who used grenades in that fight and the pieces fall into place.
Nobody notices her confusion, and the Keeper carries on.
“I don’t want any more of that grudge on my hands either — count us out of the split too. Bomber takes the whole thing, I’d say.”
“What do you think, Bomber? Either way, we’ll get everything to the Korogeiwa Garage.”
“……y-yes”
“Hm? Little interference there? Well, no issue for you, Bomber.”
The conversation wraps up cleanly, and Chihaya is on the verge of tears. The sale proceeds and the grudge — both hers to keep.
The Korogeiwa Garage they eventually reach is built on a stretch of hills.
The surrounding land is well-drained, dotted with rocks of all sizes — and it houses an experimental farm belonging to the Amashiro Agricultural Development Group, the owner and operator of this location.
Beyond the warehouses for docking Actanoids, the facilities for researching and analyzing crops from the farm are ringed all around by barbed wire and wooden fencing. Heavy machine guns are mounted at intervals — the defensive setup is serious.
They drive the transport vehicle in and carry the cargo to the Actanoid maintenance workshop inside.
Chihaya sees the other team members off as they confirm the Unison Human-Machine Technology job complete and disperse, then sells off the captured enemy units.
“it’s, over……. that was rough……”
Exhaustion hits all at once. Chihaya docks the Allrounder in the warehouse and disconnects.
She presses a hand to her stomach and reaches for a sports drink.
Takes a sip to settle herself, then slumps down onto the pressure-sensitive mat and stares at the floor.
“why am I the one fighting……?”
Whether this is even worth it, she wonders.
Right then, the assessment of the captured units comes back already — the valuation appears in her Actors’ Quest account.
“……f-five million, three hundred thousand yen?”
The Conductor, being Rannoid-series, had come through almost entirely intact, which drove the valuation up considerably.
“heh heh……maybe it was, worth the effort?”
Chihaya mutters with a faintly pleased expression.
Choosing not to think too hard about the grudge she’s bought, for now.