City Series:Volume8a Chapter3
Chapter 3: Magical Sound Shower[edit]
Welcome back!
Straight from DT Prison’s cathedral, it’s time for “Ma’am! It’s the Oracle Message Board!” with Racter Nosrup Txt, member of the 13 Demigods and American with a bad Kansai accent!
Today’s topic is the same thing happening out in the city at this very moment: destruction. The ancient people really worked hard at cultivating the land, didn’t they?
A voice of one calling:
“In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord;
“make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”
(Isaiah 40:3)
Comments:
- My House! -Destructive Fighter
I just saw it! No, I’m seeing it right now from the office!
My house – ahhhhh! No, it’s happening in real time!!
The roof, no, and the wall, ahhhhh, its breaking away! Geh, even the porn hidden under my bed!
Hey, don’t kick that away! Ahhh!
It’s scattering in the wind!!
Will insurance pay for that!?
07/06/2000 DT 02:19 PM (-24:41)
Help Text[edit]
The 13 Demigods of the 9 Families
The Demigods are the undying, unaging people who partially fused with a portion of DT’s surface OS, instead of with DT’s city Lives, when the 1st Godtact Experiment failed.
They can be separated out as an external function of the DT OS’s program, so they cannot be destroyed as long as DT remains. Thus, they are the de facto administrators of DT.
None of the 13 Demigods’ origins have been revealed and, thanks to DT’s data restrictions, no one knows what they have done or how they have changed DT.
Also, the DT OS has given them each a Demigod Program, a powerful master type program, and they use their programs’ powers to resolve problems within the city.
Whenever anyone else uses these Demigod Programs, the DT OS will not provide boost support, causing it to consume a massive amount of heat energy. This generally prevents them from lending out those Demigod Programs.
The 13 Demigods are divided into the following 9 Families:
- Bubezleeb Family: 1 Member
Administrative District: All of DT. DT Dynasty Representative and Director.
- Telyb Family: 2 Members
Administrative District: Mostly in the East. DT Yard Representatives.
- Leab Family: 2 Members
Administrative District: Mostly in the South. Commercial District Administrators.
- Nosrup Family: 1 Member
Administrative District: West. DT Prison Chapel Representative.
- Noma Family: 2 Member
Administrative District: North. Diplomats who travel between DT and the outside world.
- Napaz Family: 1 Member
Administrative District: East. DT Municipality Representative.
- Suedomsa Family: 1 Member
Administrative District: South. Medical and Entertainment District Administrator.
- Laileb Family: 2 Members
Administrative District: West. DT Prison Representatives.
- Natas Family: 1 Member
Administrative District: None. DT Yard Member.
At the current date of July 5, 2002 DT, the 7 Demigods belonging to the 4 Families of Leab, Noma, Napaz, and Laileb are in the outside world as diplomats for the open release and the 6 Demigods of the remaining 5 Families are taking over their administrative duties while preserving DT from within.
Ogre Tyleb’s Word Mail: To All DT Yard Personnel[edit]
New orders for all DT Yard Personnel.
A giant creature thought to be a Live Break monster has been reported in the central residential district. All personnel in the vicinity are to report there immediately.
<Each recipient has been reverted to Board Mode>
Aoe’s Board Mode: In DT’s Central Detroit District[edit]
<Aoe’s Over Reload>
You are in 2629-E Street, a Top Page of the Central Residential District.
You are moving at high speed.
You just arrived on this street from 2630-E Street.
The street is lined with homes on both sides.
A single PC Body is using a weight reduction process to sit on your right shoulder. She is Yuo Natas Wav.
Aoe: “The enemy is nearby.”
Yuo: “Should I switch to Sight to monitor the enemy?”
Aoe: “No, I can Over Reload until the actual battle begins.”
Yuo: “That won’t work. Over Reloading does not receive data on adjacent Pages. Sounds and other data that arrive in this Page are a different matter, but you can’t see data that only exists over there.”
Aoe: “Really?”
<Aoe’s Over Reload>
The street is entirely deserted.
You are moving at high speed. Out of the corner of your eye, you see sand spraying into the air as far back as 5 steps behind you.
The loud footsteps and impacts coming from beyond the house roofs to the left are getting louder.
Aoe: “I see. Or rather, I can’t see. I can hear it, though, so does that mean we are close?”
Yuo: “Yes, it’s probably in the adjacent district. I’ll switch to Sight.”
Yuo: “Done. I opened a window to describe the situation for you, so Over Reload to view that.”
<Aoe’s Over Reload>
Yuo has typed text into a window and she points it your way.
Aoe: “Mh.”
<To Senpai. A spear-wielding knight standing 8 yards tall is 100 yards NW of here. The knight’s skin is badly discolored and he is gushing blood. It’s quite gruesome. The knight seems to go nuts whenever the blood gushes out. He may be rampaging out of pain.>
Aoe: “Mh? A giant knight?”
Aoe: “What is going on? Why would that appear out of nowhere?”
Yuo: “That’s what I want to know. From what I can see…”
<Aoe’s Over Reload>
The ferret on Yuo’s shoulder raises its front paw and several windows open. They are Word Mail windows.
Several Word Mails have arrived for Yuo. They provide disaster information and describe the Yard’s actions.
Yuo: “I think this is an NPC Body enlarging its display and effect ratios, but that should consume an awful lot of heat energy. He could even die from this.”
Aoe: “Do NPC Body’s commit suicide like automatons do?”
Yuo: “No, of course not. They can’t even Download. They might appear to have a will of their own based on their AI, but they don’t have a true will.”
Yuo: “I can only assume someone intentionally implanted this suicidal rampage inside him.”
<Three new gusts have entered this Page>
<Aoe’s Over Reload>
One PC Body has arrived. He is Algo Everquest Asb.
Two old-style NPC Bodies have arrived. One is Alternative Kobayashi Asb. She is using a shrunk-down old-style NPC Body as a terminal for her Mind Lives.
The other is set to anonymous.
Aoe: <Wha-?>
<Aoe’s Board Mode has ended>
Aoe’s Sight Mode: In DT’s Central Detroit District[edit]
<Aoe’s Over Reload>
Aoe stopped running after switching to Sight Mode.
He held onto Yuo’s legs on his shoulder and dug his sandals into the dirt ground.
The sub-programs controlling his legs were unable to handle the rapid stop and he nearly fell. He pitched forward and staggered like he was going to throw Yuo from his shoulder.
“Stand firm.”
A sound of shattering glass came from his feet and hips.
Download.
He felt a weight in his hips like he was holding a large stone, but that was his center of gravity.
He lowered his hips.
“Kyah!”
Yuo grabbed onto his shoulder and shifted her butt back to make sure she wasn’t thrown off.
He completed his stop.
Then he heard sounds of the city’s destruction from the left. They were the sounds of wooden columns and roofs splintering and stone walls shattering. The chorus of damage burst out like spraying water.
If he looked left, he knew he would see the giant knight Yuo had told him about.
But he didn’t look that way.
He stared forward, at the deserted street stretching out below the blue sky.
<Aoe’s Over Zoom>
Three people stood there.
One was an unfamiliar man in a black hooded robe. The hood hid his face, but the visible skin was the distinctive brown of a black person. He was wearing a black vest and trousers below the robe.
But the robed man wasn’t the problem. Aoe recognized the other two.
One was a young man in a white robe and the other was a miniature woman in a white dress seated on his right shoulder.
Aoe found himself speaking the name of the young man who stood there with his long blond hair flowing down his back.
“Algo.”
Yuo similarly spoke the name of the shrunk woman on his shoulder.
“Alternative.”
They both spoke quietly and Algo was the first to react.
He cleared his throat and placed a hint of a smile on his lips.
Then Alternative lowered her eyebrows as she stared at them.
The last to react was the robed man. He took a step back without removing his hood. And he gave a shallow bow as he did so. Almost like he was letting Algo and Alternative handle this one.
Destruction and an alarm could be heard from the city to the left.
But Aoe’s eyes remained dead ahead.
“Kh.”
Unable to speak, he clenched his fists. The action stretched his leather gauntlets, making them creak. Algo raised his eyebrows at the quiet sound. Amusement appeared on his face and then he started coughing.
“Excuse me. Were you hoping to attempt this again, Aoe-kun? When you are an ignorant Plus dropout?”
“Of-”
Before Aoe could say “of course I am”, small Alternative opened a window to speak.
<Don’t do this, Shouzou.>
He shut his mouth, his shoulders trembling. Yuo turned toward him.
“Senpai… Don’t forget that you have criminal settings at the moment. Your attack power is sealed unless I send you the unlocking program. You can’t punch him.”
“Mh,” he grunted, as if to say he would do it anyway.
After a moment, Yuo sighed and patted his shoulder just once.
A moment later, a transparent keyboard appeared in front of her.
He took a fighting stance in response.
Algo turned his head toward Alternative. He calmed his breathing after the coughing fit and spoke with exasperation on his face.
“Did you see how they communicated without a word?”
<We can do that too. For example, we agree what to do now, don’t we?>
“Of course. For now, we have no intention of fighting, Aoe.”
“So you’re running away.”
Aoe’s words were a statement, not a question.
Algo simply nodded.
Yuo asked a question, still typing away on Aoe’s shoulder.
“What do you intend to do, Algo?”
“To eliminate Alternative’s Words Warn- no, to erase the very disease of Words Warn from this world.”
<Aoe’s Over Zoom>
Aoe’s more detailed vision noticed a slight change to Alternative’s expression. Her gaze was directed toward Yuo on his shoulder. Her eyebrows were drooping a bit.
<Is she sad? No…what is that expression?>
Yuo must have noticed it as well. He could tell she was clenching the hand resting on his shoulder.
Aoe and Yuo were confused by this visual data, but then they heard a bitter laugh.
“You will find out soon enough what we are doing to achieve that. There is just one thing I can tell you at his point.” Still smiling, Algo shut his eyes. “We will be tearing away the false wilderness disguising DT and lay bare the wide, straight road build out of resignation.”
<Resignation?>
Algo answered Aoe’s question with a nod. And he lowered his hips.
“Yes, resignation. This Minus city once relied on resignation, but that fact was covered up. And the Demigods are using tomorrow’s open release to make their sins a thing of the past. They will claim the period of chaos has passed and it is all over, so they only need to apologize.”
Aoe heard the destruction of the city along with Algo’s words, so he raised his voice.
“What does that have to do with this terrorist attack on the city!?”
“The Kobayashi School teaches us that combat is the cornerstone of all things, Aoe. Fail to understand that and you will only taste defeat.”
Algo gathered strength in his body. His stance said he was planning to leap and then make his escape.
The robed man behind him had already disappeared at some point.
Aoe started forward to keep him from escaping, but then Yuo asked a question from his shoulder.
“What do you two claim to understand about this city?”
“You too will understand that, Yuo Natas…Demigod bearing the name of Satan.”
<Aoe’s Over Zoom>
Algo chuckled.
Aoe’s eyebrows rose at the man’s words and laughter.
“What’s so funny about Yuo’s last name!?”
Algo’s laughter stopped there.
“Hm. Satan is the loner of the demon army. But have you ever wondered why that is, Yuo?”
“Eh?”
“You might be interested to know that your name – Yuo – is the only wild name among the 13 Demigods. And the Natas name was only added after you were formatted in the 2nd Godtact Experiment.”
“…? Th-then I had a different last name before that!?”
“You can always wait for the open release tomorrow. Of course, it will be too late by then. You could say that is the last bit of deception that the Minus Elites who rule this city are betting their pride on.”
As Algo spoke those words, his body sank even further down.
Realizing he was about to flee, Aoe directed all of his body’s strength forward.
He prepared to run, but that was when Yuo grabbed at his shoulder.
“Don’t!”
He soon realized why.
A large boxy shape flew toward him from the left.
It was a house. The knight had kicked the stone house such that it flew overhead. The house was made of dummy data and was thus no more than a shape. It had already started to flash as it collapsed, but it wasn’t completely gone yet.
Aoe hesitated. Should he pursue Algo or avoid the house?
But just as the falling house’s shadow encompassed him, he threw all his strength to the left in order to dodge. His Downloaded legs were still active, so he gathered his strength in them and leaped left into an alley.
“Damn!”
After seeing that, Algo leaped in the opposite direction.
Aoe and Algo’s eyes met as the house fell between them.
The house hit the ground just as Aoe noticed a gentle smile in Algo’s eyes.
The splintering of the wooden roof and shattering of the stone walls rang loud.
A moment later, Aoe entered the alley Top Page.
<Aoe’s Sight Mode has ended>
Aoe’s Board Mode: In DT’s Central Detroit District[edit]
<Aoe’s Over Reload>
You are in 2529-E Alley 5, a Top Page of the Central Residential District.
You just entered the alley from 2629-E Street.
The alley is lined with homes on both sides. It is about 3 yards wide.
A single PC Body is using a weight reduction process to sit on your left shoulder. She is Yuo Natas Wav.
You hear the city being destroyed in the distance.
Aoe: <Damn.>
Yuo: “Senpai.”
Aoe: <Damn! Why did I chicken out and dodge!?>
Yuo: “Senpai!”
Aoe: “Mh?”
<Aoe’s Over Reload>
Yuo is beating you on the head.
Aoe: “Mh, what do you think you’re doing!?”
Yuo: “C’mon, snap out of it! They already ran away!”
Aoe: “Mh…mh.”
<Aoe’s Over Reload>
You are facing west.
The sounds of destruction come from about 30 yards away, beyond the roofs to the southwest.
Yuo: “I know you have a lot to think about, but we can’t ignore this threat to the city, can we?”
Aoe: “N-no, I suppose not.”
Yuo: “Right? Right? Saving people takes priority.”
Yuo: “I’ll help you investigate that other stuff later, so let’s take care of this, Sensei.”
Aoe: “So, uh, since when am I your Sensei?”
Yuo: “Heh heh. Don’t worry about it. So can you run?”
Aoe: “…Mh.”
<Aoe’s Over Reload>
You begin running.
On your shoulder, Yuo pulls a 2yd 2in strip of cloth from her pocket.
Aoe: <How did something so big fit in her pocket?>
Yuo: “The compression rate is different inside. Now can you circle around behind the knight?”
Aoe: “Mh.”
Yuo: “W-whoa, whoa, whoa! No need to rush! Just run normally!”
Aoe: “What happened to this being an emergency?”
<Aoe’s Over Reload>
You are running between simply-built wooden houses.
The one on the left has a Day of the Oracle digital clock sticking out over the sideroad.
The digital clock is approaching Yuo’s face.
Yuo: “Eh?”
<Aoe’s Over Reload>
You hear a loud impact. All the Word Mail windows open around Yuo disappear.
The broken digital LCD frame is dummy data. It flashes and then disappears after being launched by the impact.
Aoe: “…Yuo?”
Yuo: “…”
<Aoe’s Over Reload>
Yuo does not say a word. She is still holding a hand to her face.
Her Mouse has climbed down onto your shoulder, looking nervous.
But Yuo grabs the Mouse and pulls it back up.
Your Mouse is hiding behind your head.
Yuo: “Senpai. Do you mind?”
Aoe: “Mh…mh.”
Yuo: “Telyb gave me permission, so I’m not going to hold back.”
<Aoe’s Over Reload>
Yuo reaches her left hand into her pocket, pulls out a fingertip-sized silver paper wrapper, and opens it.
It contains a chocolate candy. The wrapper says “x5” on it.
Aoe: “I thought only kids in movies devoured candy that quick.”
Yuo: “I’ll use it all up with my boost soon enough. I’m about to show you what I can really do.”
Aoe: “Hey, don’t litter.”
Yuo: “I put it in my pocket.”
<Aoe’s Over Reload>
Yuo swings the cloth out in front of her and taps the program control panel at her hip.
<Yuo: Program: Batch Start: Run>
Yuo: “Okay, let’s get started! Switch to Sight!”
<Aoe’s Board Mode has ended>
Aoe’s Board Mode: In DT’s Central Detroit District[edit]
<Aoe’s Over Reload>
After switching to Sight Mode, Aoe was already running. When switching to Sight Mode while moving, his sense of sight and hearing were stimulated first. He still couldn’t keep up with his body’s senses.
His eyes saw an alley between wooden houses flowing backwards.
His ears heard his own footsteps echoing behind him.
It took 3 seconds for their voices and images to link with the senses of their PC Bodies.
Once they did, the sensation of his running traveled across his entire body.
Yuo was still seated on his right shoulder and he was running.
He was now actively running as part of Sight Mode instead of passively running as part of Board Mode.
Within those actions and movements, he saw window after window opening around Yuo on his shoulder.
<Yuo: Target Dummy Data Object: Range Set: Run>
Bluish-white light drew a grid pattern across the entire surface of the cloth she held.
<Yuo: Ranged Effect: Elemental Change: Mineral Conversion: Run>
<Yuo: Ranged Effect: Shape Change: Solid: Run>
The grid pattern moved and both ends of the cloth curved. The cloth formed a pair of solid arches.
<Yuo: Ranged Effect: Position Definition: Coordinate Input: Run>
She pulled the arches onto her shoulders. The cloth was still floating, but it stayed in place. The excess cloth in the middle acted as a rest for her back.
<Yuo: Ranged Effect: Texture Change: Keyboard: Run>
<Yuo: Ranged Effect: Internal Function Change: Keyboard: Run>
Keyboards instantly appeared on the two cloth arches.
<Function Generation: This matches the Keyguarder function with 98% accuracy. Is that correct?>
She slapped her palm against the Y button displayed in the air.
The large keyboards became shoulder armor.
“What the hell kinda magic trick is this!?”
“It’s not a trick! It’s a technique!”
Yuo crossed her arms and placed her fingers on the keyboards covering her shoulders.
She began typing rapidly and she sent out a Text.
“Faster!”
Emblems of light noisily appeared from her arms, hands, and fingertips.
Download.
The light scattered and her hand movements changed. They moved more, more smoothly, and more accurately.
The quiet sound of typing came from her fingertips.
Green light began to flow around her. The light formed letters. The letters formed long strings and the strings drew out circular orbits that rotated rapidly around her like something from a planetarium.
“That certainly is flashy.”
“It’s called a Celestial Program Activator. It’s a high performance technique that allows for high-speed processing and parallel processing, but it’s so complicated I’m the only one who can use it anymore. I’m uniquely skilled, Senpai.”
“I see, I see, I see. That’s a good girl. I’m so happy for you!”
“A-are you trying to tick me off!?”
He smiled bitterly at her response.
“Wh-what’s so funny?”
“Nothing. I was just noticing how little you’ve changed.”
“How little I have changed?”
She trailed off after that, but he didn’t pursue the matter.
After 5 seconds of staring at her glowing character strings, Yuo hit the “approve” key on both keyboards.
“Senpai, I’ll be providing back up from behind you!”
All the strings orbiting around her shattered.
And she hopped down from his shoulder.
A gentle wind blew in and she flew behind him.
She stopped while floating in the space behind his right shoulder.
She continued typing on her shoulder keyboards, met his gaze, and smiled.
“Don’t worry. I won’t leave you. My coordinates are locked to yours.”
“And what if I’m caught below a collapsing house?”
“Not to worry. I can shift my coordinates away from you with a cursor key and button combo. You can enjoy being buried alive on your own.”
“Is that so?” he sighed, raising his head.
His running feet would bring them behind their opponent soon.
“So what do we do?”
“I want to see who this is, so move as close as you can get.”
She hit the approve keys again. The character strings gathered in midair and took on a certain form: a yellow triangle of about 3cm.
She grabbed it out of the air and held it out to him over his shoulder.
He looked to the triangle held between her slender fingers.
“What is that thing?”
“Why, it’s a freshly-made program trigon. This one is dangerous and requires some real guts, so I don’t want to install it myself. Just eat it or have your Mouse eat it.”
“Dangerous? Guts? What are you having me eat?”
“You’ll see once you eat it. Oh, and ask your Mouse to remove it when the time comes. Also…it looks like you haven’t given your Mouse a name. That could be inconvenient.”
Aoe looked to the Mouse on his shoulder. He realized this was his first time really looking at him. He had mostly ignored the cartoony Shiba Inu until now and the dog stirred now that Aoe stared directly at him.
Aoe spoke to the small Shiba Inu.
“Your name will be…Monkey.”
“…Senpai.”
“Monkey is the natural name for an ambitious man’s servant. Right?”
The Shiba Inu looked him in the eye and nodded his head.
“I don’t like that he agrees… But anyway, a Mouse provides Word Mail and program support, but they can also turn into an ordinary-sized animal, so take good care of him.”
“Mh,” he nodded, placing the trigon in his mouth and biting into it.
Just as he noticed it felt like sand in his mouth, it melted away into nothingness. He detected a strong flavor that seemed to exit through his nose.
“I know this flavor.”
“Yes, it’s the miso ramen from the Boss’s place we used to visit back in high school.”
“You never did stop using a fork there, did you?”
“I practiced using chopsticks after returning to DT, so the owner won’t laugh at me anymore.”
“Mh,” he nodded, pouring more strength into his feet to approach the knight.
Then he leaped into the Other Page airspace above the city.
<Aoe’s Sight Mode has ended>
Aoe’s Board Mode: In DT Airspace[edit]
You are in Low Airspace – Urban Area, an Other Page of the city sky.
You have leaped 10 yards high. You are still ascending.
You can see three house roofs widthwise and three lengthwise. For more, please Over Reload.
You see the back of the black knight approximately 15 yards away to your left.
Aoe: <Mh.>
Aoe: “What the hell did you do to me, you idiot!?”
Yuo: “I used a simple multiplication program to add a x5 modifier to your movement programs. Like I said, this takes a lot of guts. Anyway, please return to Sight Mode!”
<Aoe’s Board Mode has ended>
Aoe’s Sight Mode: In DT Airspace[edit]
<Aoe’s Over Reload>
Aoe’s vision returned.
An artificially blue expanse was stretched out before his eyes. It took him a few seconds to recognize it as DT’s sky.
Then he felt the sensations of being thrown into the sky.
He slowly sucked in a breath and looked down to see the knight raising its right hand about 10 yards to the left.
He was now higher up than the knight’s head. He was almost directly above the top of its head.
<I can only do this so openly while its head is turned the other way.>
He memorized the distance between them and where the destroyed houses were located.
He heard Yuo typing on her keyboards and some text appeared in his field of view. It provided explanations along with arrows pointing to the roads, buildings, and people fleeing in the distance.
“This is where the Yard members I can contact are located. Everyone within 500 yards has been evacuated. The Yard’s main force will arrive in about 2 minutes.”
“Too slow. Can you show me what this place will look like in 2 minutes?”
An answer to his question arrived just before he reached the peak of his jump.
He looked down and an image of destroyed houses appeared over the intact ones.
<Prediction: This has a 58% chance of being accurate. Is that acceptable? Y/N>
He counted 37 destroyed houses. Every one within a 100 yard radius was destroyed.
“For the number of homeless, I would need to add in the mother and children from each house.”
“So what are you going to do!?” asked Yuo.
He felt his ascent end.
He twisted his body, moving his center of gravity left, toward the knight.
That diagonally shifted his parabolic vector, bringing the knight’s head and shoulders below him.
Then he fell.
“I get us out of here fast! And I do something about this knight!”
He aimed for the knight’s right shoulder. The shoulder armor was about a yard wide.
His momentum let him land perpendicular to the slanted armor.
The edge of his sandals slammed loudly against the shoulder armor, but the impact to his knees and ankles was almost entirely erased. He used his excess inertia to hold himself against the slanted armor.
Yuo opened a window at the same time.
<Yuo: Target Traits: Display: Run>
A window opened listing out the knight’s stats.
“Puppy! Copy!”
Yuo’s Mouse, a ferret named Puppy, gave a cry similar to a laugh, and copied the contents of that window. Then Yuo pasted the test onto her own transparent window.
“Got it! This knight is an NPC Body! A lot of his programs and data have been corrupted, but he is definitely an NPC Body. But why is he so big?”
Aoe gave a strong “mh” that silenced Yuo.
<None of this changes the fact that the city is being destroyed.>
With that thought, he kicked off the knight’s shoulder, jumping backwards.
After the second impact, the knight turned toward Aoe.
Aoe immediately moved 5 yards away and did a flip in the air to fall feetfirst instead of back-first.
<What to do now?>
As soon as he took his landing pose, the knight jabbed his spear out.
And that attack was accompanied by a Text.
“Harsh Strike Release.”
A sound like striking stone came from the hand holding the spear and the movement gained much more strength.
A red transparent coin emblem appeared on the back of that hand.
“A Download!? But I thought that wasn’t possible for NPC Bodies!”
In this Minus World, Aoe’s emotion of surprise delayed his midair evasion.
A giant blade was approaching from dead ahead. It was about a yard wide and thick.
The tip was badly chipped from all the destruction it had wrought, but it still had some sharp portions left.
Aoe did not hesitate.
He threw his fist toward one of the non-sharp portions.
<Break!>
He threw his right arm forward.
He aimed for a chipped part on the upper edge of the blade.
He slammed his right fist there.
He didn’t have the support of the ground since he was in midair, so he twisted his body, swung his other arm, and sent all his movement vectors into his right fist.
He swung just that one arm.
His will produced a Text.
“Hit. I’ll be mad if you don’t.”
Light scattered from his right fist along with the sound of shattering glass. A black see-through emblem appeared there.
Just then, he heard Yuo shouting from the air behind him.
“All of your attacks are blocked by security!”
His fist hit the approaching blade before she was even done speaking.
Something odd happened then. The sensation of the impact vanished from his fist.
<What the-!?>
He didn’t feel the force he had expected. That meant his blow hadn’t hit its target.
He checked in a split second and found the end of his outstretched arm was stopped.
His arm was extended and motionless, almost like it had been that way all long.
<Is this what you meant by removing my attack power?>
He understood now. At the same time, the blade’s movement vector arrived at his fist and pushed it back.
That heavy metal spear was wielded by an 8yd giant. He couldn’t stop that with his powerless outstretched arm. The arm was knocked back and the giant blade jabbed into his unguarded chest.
The blade had reached him.
“Mh!”
He grunted and attempted a defensive stance. Then he noticed an odd floating sensation.
He first felt it in his stomach and then found his vision rapidly rotating to the left.
<What!?>
He was not in control of this motion.
Someone’s unseen hand was spinning him leftward through the air. He had been facing the Knight, but now the city on the horizon to the left was coming into view.
He heard Yuo’s voice in his ear while he tried to figure out what was happening.
“I’m shifting your coordinates! Please don’t try to move!”
“Mh,” he replied as the color white filled his vision.
The white was the tip of the spear.
<We dodged it!?>
Then he started to fall. He saw Yuo overhead as he fell into the Page below.
<Aoe’s Sight Mode has ended>
Aoe’s Board Mode: In DT’s Central Detroit District[edit]
<Aoe’s Over Reload>
You are in 2529-E Alley 6, a Top Page of the Central Residential District.
You have just entered the alley from Low Airspace – Urban Area.
The alley is lined with homes on both sides. It is about 3 yards wide.
Your center of gravity is unbalanced.
Aoe: “Kh.”
<Aoe’s Board Mode has ended>
Aoe’s Sight Mode: In DT’s Central Detroit District[edit]
<Aoe’s Over Reload>
After switching to Sight, Aoe saw an earthen wall before his eyes.
Before he realized that was the ground, his hands reached it and his body bounced upwards.
His feet were already on the ground.
So he raised his upper body.
“Run.”
He forcibly drew out his leg and back strength while collapsed forward.
He directed himself toward the end of the alley.
He ran in a rapid dash given 5 times the speed thanks to the thing Yuo had fed him.
He kicked off the ground and leaped forward in an instant.
“Whoa!”
He relied on his sense of balance and his vision. Instead of using his vision to see, he used what he saw with his vision to predict what would happen next. It wasn’t a difficult thing.
<The Kobayashi School is all about seeking pure power without relying on Techs and Rhythms.>
With that thought, he crouched lower as he ran.
The maximum human sprinting speed was a bit over 20mph.
With a program multiplying that by 5, air resistance became a real problem.
100 miles per hour was about 50 yards per second. At that speed, the air resistance created lift that threatened to carry him from the ground.
He leaned even further forward.
Instead of running, he was basically pressing himself against the ground and “climbing” the earth.
Two seconds later, he heard an explosion of dirt from where he had landed earlier.
He did not look back.
He knew what had happened.
<He’s after me!>
He heard a second and third boom too. His foe was accurately pursuing his 100mph run.
“Y-yes! Th-the knight is after us!”
“In what way?”
“Um, do you remember that movie we went to see together a long time ago?”
“Oh, yeah! That one with the eccentric female prisoner! That was a good one!”
“No, I mean the kaiju one! Wait, he’s getting really close, Senpai!”
“Mh,” he grunted before taking a leap.
He did not jump high. He made a low dive to bring him as far forward as he could manage.
He still flew above the rooftops and could see the sky again.
First, he kicked off one of the roofs rushing by beneath him.
The spear jabbed in, trying to scoop him up from below.
But he was already airborne, so he ignored it. The spear shattered the roof, creating an explosion of sound behind him.
He twisted around in midair, turning to face the enemy while continuing to leap from roof to roof.
He checked on the knight while also moving away from him.
The knight was about 50 yards away with the waves of rooftops at about hip height.
“Mh,” nodded Aoe, viewing the city and noting the Yard personnel marker Yuo had created had only moved a bit closer than before.
After spotting a flat rooftop, he stopped moving his feet.
“The Yard is taking too long. The evacuees must be delaying them. Yuo.”
The wooden roof bent below him as it negated his inertia.
And he asked a question.
“If I defeat that knight now, Yuo, it will mean you supported my fist – the fist that once killed someone and the fist of a Plus dropout. Are you sure you want to do that?”
“…”
Yuo said nothing, but he could sense she was shrinking down.
He listened to her silence while watching the giant black knight race toward him.
The 8yd giant would cover the 50 yards between them in no time.
The knight’s massive body trembled and hemorrhaged blood, but he did not let go of his spear.
The hands holding that spear possessed a power so much like Downloading. The grip was a bit loose, but the movements had real life to them. These weren’t the lifeless movements of a subprogram.
His charge was about to reach Aoe and Yuo.
But Aoe ignored that and opened a window to his right. He displayed the knight’s stats that Yuo had copied earlier. The very top labeled the knight an “NPC Body”.
The stats gave a brief history for the knight.
<A security company employee with a home in the south district. His family includes an NPC Body wife and child.>
Aoe sighed and asked Yuo a question.
“How do you think he managed to utter a Download Text earlier?”
“I don’t know. An NPC Body shouldn’t be able to do this, but he’s doing it anyway. You could say we’re watching the unknown. And unfortunately, the Yard has given Level 3 authorization.”
“What does that mean?”
Yuo nodded and explained.
“It incorporates both Level 1, authorization to destroy the knight, and Level 2, authorization for the highest ranking officer in the area to take limited command. But…”
He looked up at her as she trailed off.
Her eyebrows bent sadly and she hung her head, so he prompted her to continue.
“But what?”
“Well, even in this state, that knight is still an NPC Body. He either underwent some kind of Break or someone intentionally changed him, but he has a personality of his own.”
“So you want me to save him?”
<Not possible.>
Aoe responded with his thoughts and his voice.
“My specialty is a deadly power. Keep that in mind when you ask me to do things.”
“I understand that. Your power is to fight, not to protect.” She took a breath. “Anyway, Level 3 authorization includes support from the DT Yard commander. That means Commander Telyb and Lieutenant Fooblicky will use their joint Grandload to activate their Demigod Program. Then they will install their power into you.”
“What is a Demigod Program?”
“Help: Demigod Program
“The unique programs given to each of the 13 Demigods. They are linked to the OS and thus unreproducible.
“Non-Demigods can use them, but it requires special authorization and a massive amount of virtual heat energy.”
“Now, Senpai. I have a question for you.” She took a breath. “When ‘not possible’ appeared in your window earlier, what tone were you thinking it in?”
“Well…”
He was hesitant to answer and heard her laughing quietly. When she spoke, there was exasperation in her voice.
“Hee hee. You don’t have to answer. I’m a little scared to hear the answer myself.”
<Aoe’s Over Reload>
Aoe faced forward without answering Yuo.
The giant knight was right in front of him.
The knight was two steps away. In that time, he heard a footstep behind him.
Yuo had canceled her coordinate setting and landed on the roof.
He turned just his head to look her way and saw her standing motionless.
She gave him a serious nod and opened her mouth.
“Let’s do this!”
<Yuo: Ranged Effect: Function Expansion: Wide-Range Control & Precision Magnification: Run>
Light raced along the surface of the cloth keyboard spread out over her shoulders as arching armor.
The green light drew out a grid.
<Function Expansion: Distributed Control: Celestial>
The glowing grid left the arches and expanded, forming a 2yd sphere surrounding her.
Light green letters and function keys appeared all across the spherical grid.
<Yuo: WAV Word Race Special Ability: Limiter Off: Activating High Quality Voice Output>
“I will now release the restrictions on your Word Race special ability, Senpai. Then I will create an attack restriction release program so we can both use our Grandloads.”
Aoe heard a pulsing tremor run through his body.
The cause was displayed on the window open in front of him.
<Aoe: ASB Word Race Special Ability: Limiter Off: Activating High-Speed Movement Resistance>
Then Yuo sang her Text.
She sang a voice input program that accelerated the spherical strings typed out by her fingers.
The distributed lines go to the multitude. The variable numbers bring us all together.
The power I produce goes to your pure arms and pure legs.
You carry no restrictions. This city has forgiven you. I have forgiven you.
I use the forgiveness of all as the signal for the running program.
She slowly moved her hands and feet to touch the spherical keyboard as she sang.
Like a dance, her movements and voice worked in harmony to send more strings flowing out into the air.
Her fingers and voice produced a program.
The program was created at twice the usual speed and its characters raced out along the celestial orbit.
She spoke from the center of all that light.
“Senpai, I will be providing sub support for your Grandload. I will be using a Text we both know, so try to keep up.”
“What Text is that?”
“The song of the Chancellor’s Officers League. Sing it with me to help create the Load Emblem.”
She opened her mouth and he followed suit.
They sent out their Texts at the exact same moment.
It was a Text they had once sung together.
I shall move ever forward.
A moment later, a black spear emblem appeared clearly on Aoe’s hands.
The emblems gave a roar. The high-pitched sound was like breaking metal.
A similar shattering sound came from Yuo’s throat.
With the glowing orbits surrounding her, something appeared behind her head along with a great wind: a transparent green emblem.
It depicted a prophet goddess facing left – the face of a divine princess who speaks only Texts.
Yuo’s voice rang far louder than before.
“I will directly release your attack restrictions! The program is a rush job, so it will only last 30 seconds!”
<Safety Unlock: Target’s Full Attack Approved: Time Limit: 30 Seconds>
A white transparent countdown of 30 seconds appeared over his head.
Then she signaled for him to sing with her.
“Sing the song of the forward march!”
––I shall move ever forward.
I shall move forward to accomplish something or to solve a problem.
No matter the strength or speed of my foe. No matter the destiny carried by my foe.
I shall move ever forward.
My hands shall tear down my foe’s every barrier and my feet shall trample their every trap.
I wield the defensive power to block any wind. I wield the offensive power to tear through any wall.
My power is a manifestation of my will.
My Lives carry all this power with them.
They carry the power of my hands, legs, head, and even the minute power of the tip of my toe.
I shall draw on all that power and surround myself in my own willpower.
I can fight.
I can fight.
So I shall move ever forward.
To accomplish something or to solve a problem.
That is why I sing this marching song of progress.
Any goal is achievable if you never give up.
<Multiple Load Emblems: Black Belt & Wish Bringer: Preparing for Simultaneous Use>
More sound roared from Aoe’s fists and Yuo’s back.
Hundreds of windows opened around them in an instant, whipping up the wind as they did. They displayed the program and authorization text needed to load reality into this false world.
There was no reason or need to refuse.
The Grandload began.
<Activation authorized for 256M Lives within the virtual space>
<Load Emblem: Activating: Run>
A window that said “run” opened.
Then text ran from the emblems on Aoe’s hands, reaching the back of his elbows.
■Type-AA0765: God-class: Black Belt■
<Activating Grandload of Aoe’s arm strength: Loading full Lives and releasing upper limit on striking power>
Three diskettes appeared on the ■s at his elbows and began to rapidly spin.
Yuo’s Grandload began as if responding to Aoe’s.
Strings raced out from either side of the emblem surrounded by a square on her back, circling toward her shoulders.
■Type-WB0573: God-class: Wish Bringer■
<Activating Grandload of Yue’s voice: Loading full Lives and releasing upper limit on voice strength>
The text rippled and shined once before two giant diskette programs opened above the emblem behind Yuo.
Her emblem was a collection of 2D images that rapidly spun with its character strings stretching out like wings.
A black line of light extended from the ■ at the end of their Emblems and joined together.
Their link was established.
It only took a moment.
A sound like shattering glass came from Aoe’s hands and feet and an impact ran through his body.
His hands stiffened at the vibration and he his body shook for a moment, but then…
“Gasp! My strength…my strength is back!”
Then he tensed his entire body. He had strength in his arms. He hadn’t felt this definite arm strength since arriving in DT.
…I can punch!
With that thought, a dull light washed across the texture of the emblems covering his hands.
He looked down and viewed the emblem and letters floating above his right fist.
<I have called you to this false world, my Plus dropout fist!>
He opened a window and looked back to meet Yuo’s gaze as she stood somewhat crouched within her celestial keyboard.
She glanced up and read his window, but…
“Senpai. You might be mad at me for saying this, but I don’t see it that way.” She shut her eyes. “This reminds me so much of the past. Of the mere 3 years I spent in Japan 600 years ago for me. Of the short time when someone actually had a need for me.”
She traced her fingers along the inside of the celestial sphere.
“What about you, Senpai? Can’t you trust in this moment as a Plus person?”
He froze for a moment.
He felt a gentle pressure in his fist. He felt his Load Emblem’s link with Yuo’s Load Emblem.
He placed his fingers on that faint power as Yuo asked again.
“What about you, Senpai?”
He hesitated.
His hesitation was broken by the grip strength he felt in his fist.
He felt his strength continuing to grow, like it threatened to break through his fingers from within.
But he also felt something else on his hand. He felt Yuo place her hand on his.
He doubted she would let go no matter how much strength there was in his fist.
So he frowned and lowered his gaze somewhat.
<I…>
Before he could continue that thought, Yuo saw his window and changed her expression.
She lowered her eyebrows and gave him an exasperated smile.
She shook her head, telling him he didn’t have to answer.
Seeing that, he stopped his line of thought and focused fully on his fists.
A few lines raced out into the sky as if in response to his shift in focus.
<Aoe’s Sight Mode has ended>
Fooblicky’s Sight Mode: At DT Yard[edit]
<Fooblicky’s Over Reload>
Fooblicky was standing in front of Telyb on the roof of the Yard building in DT’s east district.
A blue emblem forming a scales symbol floated in front of them. Some text ran along it.
■Type-Origin: God-class: Balance of Power■
<Activating Grandload of Ogre’s physical strength and Fooblicky’s willpower: Loading full Lives and releasing upper limit on precise judgment>
The two of them wielded a single emblem.
“DT gave us authorization to write our own original joint Load Emblem since we chose to share our settings when we exchanged our vows. It’s been so long since we last used this, hasn’t it?”
The emblem shined bright as she spoke. It absorbed the wind and the light intensified.
Out in front, she could see two young people in the city.
One was a man and the other a woman.
“I can hear them singing.”
“Yuo is going all out this time.”
“Do we have that Aoe kid to thank for that?”
“Who knows. But…she looks a lot happier than before she lost her memory. You know, back when she gave up on everything and fell to the Minus.”
“A good man can change a woman. …Okay, honey, we need to get going, so suck in that gut.”
Fooblicky reached out a hand and spread the fingers.
“Time to use our shared Demigod Program that takes this joint Grandload to even use.”
<5th & 6th Demigod → Aoe: Spell Breaker: High-Level Field Transfer: Run>
<Fooblicky’s Sight Mode has ended>
All DT Yard Personnel’s Sight Mod: Throughout the City[edit]
<Yard Leader’s Forced Over Reload for All Personnel>
All across the city, the Yard personnel assisting the evacuation or rushing to the scene realized they had been switched to Sight Mode. Before they could realize this was Spell Breaker, a line of light ran in front of their eyes. The light formed a mirror-like panel and a single line of text appeared in the center.
<Make your attack. In the unburdened Minus World, all power is swift and hits its mark>
It wasn’t much, but the Yard personnel all nodded after reading it.
Those with swords readied their swords. Those with guns readied their guns. Those with fists readied their fists.
Some had great power and some had little, but they all directed their attacks right into their mirror of light.
Then the mirrors shattered.
With a metallic crash, the mirror shards turned to light and raced across the sky.
Thousands or tens of thousands of miniscule lights covered most every part of the city’s sky.
And those who had wielded their power looked to the light’s destination.
At the center of DT, a giant knight readied his spear and ran toward a man who took a fighting stance in front of a woman.
<Everyone’s Sight Mode has ended>
Aoe’s Sight Mode: In DT’s Central Detroit District[edit]
<Aoe’s Over Reload>
Light rushed in.
Before Aoe could even question it, the light entered his right fist and then flames enveloped his entire right arm up to the shoulder.
“What in the world!?”
“That’s Spell Breaker! Telyb and Fooblicky activated their Demigod Program using their joint Grandload and gathered the entire Yard’s attack power here!”
Aoe grasped the gist of what Yuo was telling him.
<I don’t really get it, but that sounds strong!>
“It is!”
He looked at his fist. He did feel strength there for the first time in a while. And he had Yuo behind him.
<Just like 6 years ago.>
His Grandloaded fist was so much better than the Downloaded one and it reminded him of many things.
He recalled who he had once been.
And he recalled who he was now.
It felt like having a great weight dropped into his gut.
He wrinkled his brow and felt like something was going to spew from his mouth.
That something was a shout.
His emotional vomit was about to escape him in vocal form.
So he clenched his teeth and neutralized his expression.
<Mh.>
He faced forward. The knight was nearly within arm’s reach and his spear was raised.
So Aoe took action too.
He stepped forward.
The Dummy Data roof bent with the ideal curve below his foot.
The creaking of the wood combined with the whoosh of the spear through the air.
Aoe took a quick breath.
That was his start sign.
He gathered strength in his gut and stepped carefully on the wood panel to continued forward.
The knight was charging in to jab with his spear. He pushed his stomach toward the edge of the roof where Aoe stood.
He swung his spear with great speed.
But Aoe showed no fear. He didn’t have the time. He immediately stepped forward.
Feet, ankles, shins, knees, thighs, butt, hips, back, chest, right shoulder, right arm, and right wrist.
After crouching down, he successively gathered strength in each body part, throwing it all forward.
<Aoe’s Over Zoom>
The incoming spear tip flew over his head.
The knight’s gut was 2 yards in front of him.
Aoe took another step, but instead of sending the force of the step down into the roof, he clenched his fist harder and threw the force of the step behind that.
A sparking line of light ran through the black Load Emblem on his right arm. It ran from back to front.
Yuo took the same action as if pushed on by the racing light. The two Mice on her shoulders did the same. They all launched their right fist forward.
“Mh!”
Aoe’s fist shot out and broke through the upper limit that a program usually placed on destructive force. His fist landed at full strength.
<Aoe’s Over Zoom>
The fist struck the knight’s side and the force propagated out from there.
All the power in Aoe’s fist was slammed into the knight’s entire body, like he was pushing a cylinder.
At the same time, Aoe and Yuo’s Load Emblem symbols grew larger. But that vanished after a mere instant and they shattered into light.
The attack was already over.
All that remained was a sizzling sound.
The back of the knight’s armor had ruptured.
Fire was burning in the hole in his back.
His black skin and black blood were dyed crimson as they burned.
A scream erupted from his entire body as he began to collapse.
He burned and his data as an NPC Body broke down. The textures forming his armor, skin, hair, and blood came apart as tiny chips and scattered. They flashed in midair before disappearing.
The fire burned his entire body evenly and he finally exploded.
Light scattered from him, and…
“––––!”
Aoe braced for the coming blast.
Just then, Yuo opened a window behind him.
<13th Demigod: Ranged Effect – 5%: Shadow Keep: Degradation Seal: Run>
A wall of light appeared in front of him.
That was in fact one side of a giant cylindrical protection shield. The shield of bluish-white light towered high into the sky and had to be at least 100 yards wide.
In an instant, the impact struck the shield’s inner wall and the flames pressed against it.
The sound of the scorching wind and expanding air came from the blast and flames spreading beyond that wall.
But Aoe felt no heat.
<So this is the proof Yuo is a Demigod.>
“Yes, I couldn’t show you this in Japan since it’s limited to DT!”
Yuo shouted her response just as the 100m-wide cylinder transformed.
Aoe watched as the shield shrunk down to a single point only a yard away from him.
Past the flames and smoke and wind, the walls forming the cylinder degraded. With repeated sounds like glass breaking underfoot, the wind and flames were absorbed directly in front of Aoe.
In two seconds, all of the destruction was gone. The wind and smoke had all been concentrated down in front of him.
A single data trigon now floated in the air at his eye level.
The yellow pyramid of data shined once, rotated horizontally, and…
<Blast contained within shield: Transferring to your care>
It fell.
“Oh,” he said while reaching out and catching the falling data trigon.
<Aoe’s Sight Mode has ended>
Aoe’s Board Mode: In DT’s Central District[edit]
<Aoe’s Over Reload>
You are currently standing on a roof.
You feel a somewhat heated wind.
A 100yd radius hole has been torn into the city below.
Aoe: <I went to all this trouble and I’m no better than I was 6 years ago?>
Aoe: “Yuo, I…”
<Aoe’s Over Reload>
Yuo is collapsed at your feet in her shrunk form. The excessive heat consumption must have automatically shifted her into high performance mode.
She is sprawled out and sleeping alongside the two Mice.
The rooftop is nice and sunny.
Aoe: “Mh. You don’t make this easy on me.”
<Aoe’s Over Reload>
You have collapsed as well. You are sprawled out next to her.
The sky above is an adjacent Other Page, so you cannot see it in Board Mode.
Aoe: “That’s fine. I’m sure it’s a picture perfect blue. Sigh, everything here is so fake.”
Aoe: “This city is exhausting.”
<Aoe’s Board Mode has ended>
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