Watching the morning news over breakfast, Tatsuya found himself nodding in unconscious agreement with the broadcast. He caught the movement and stopped abruptly, but fortunately, Miyuki's attention was fixed on the screen; she didn't seem to notice his lapse in composure.
"Could it truly have been a mechanical failure?" Miyuki mused. "The weather seemed perfectly clear—no storms or heavy fog to speak of."
"It's unlikely that their entire instrument suite would fail at once," Tatsuya replied. "It was likely a failure in the propulsion system. In an age of such advanced automation, losing steerage through human error alone is almost unheard of."
As he watched his sister nod, accepting his words with a guileless expression, Tatsuya felt as though his own battle-worn spirit was being cleansed by her presence.
(Even so... even with an explicit order from my Aunt, this response was far too fast.)
Based on the time the drifting ship was "rescued," the Yotsuba had completed the entire operation—from the initial raid to the final cleanup—in less than six hours after Tatsuya's call to Hayama.
The opposition wasn't some local militia or a small-nation army; they were the elite units of a global superpower. Even with the formidable efficiency of the Yotsuba's operative teams, such a timeline was impossible if they had started from zero.
(This means they already had their forces in position before I even picked up the phone.)
He couldn't be certain of their intent. It might have been a simple matter of timing, or perhaps they had maintained a stance of non-interference until the very last moment. There was even the possibility they had been waiting specifically for Tatsuya to bow his head and ask for help.
(If that was the case, I don't intend to feel particularly indebted to them,) he thought.
Whatever the background, the situation had been resolved in his favor, and for Tatsuya, that was enough.
(Miyuki, however, is likely letting it weigh on her...)
While Tatsuya had felt a twinge of guilt earlier at her innocent display, he suspected that Miyuki had actually known about the "incident" well before the news aired.
(There's no way my Aunt wouldn't have reported this to her. That's how she keeps Miyuki under her thumb.)
Miyuki wouldn't know exactly which Yotsuba agents had been deployed, nor would she be told the specifics. She would only receive a report from Maya herself stating that the USNA threat surrounding Tatsuya had been neutralized. By delivering this news personally, Maya ensured that Miyuki had no choice but to feel a profound sense of gratitude.
(I was the one who asked for the help, yet I can't shake the feeling that my actions are being used to tighten the leash on her...)
It irritated him. He knew Miyuki was likely retreated into her room now, dressing for school while burdened by the thought that she—and Tatsuya—had incurred a heavy debt to the Main House.
While Tatsuya's morning was occupied by family politics, his arrival at school brought a different set of headaches. The source sat at a nearby desk: Erika Chiba.
"Tatsuya-san, what do you think is wrong with Erika-chan?" Mizuki whispered.
Erika was the picture of foul-tempered defiance, resting her chin on one hand and radiating an aura of palpable irritation.
"Who knows? Maybe something happened at home," Tatsuya answered.
He had a very good idea what was bothering her, but he hesitated to share it with Mizuki.
(She really does have a complex about her brother, doesn't she?)
During the Nine Schools Competition, the friction between Shuji and Erika had seemed to stem from Mari's presence between them. But having seen Miyuki tease her about it later, Tatsuya had realized that Erika's attitude was likely born of simple jealousy—the frustration of a sister seeing her beloved brother "stolen" by another woman. Now that her brother had been caught up in a midnight skirmish and injured, her mood was predictably volatile.
"It's best not to provoke her right now," Tatsuya said, glancing toward Leo. "Or you'll end up like him."
"Oh... right. Poor Leo-kun," Mizuki sighed, watching Leo being used as Erika's verbal punching bag.
Tatsuya took his seat, fully expecting Erika to corner him for an interrogation during the lunch break. When noon arrived, however, he broke his usual routine. Instead of eating with the whole group, he finished a quick meal with only Miyuki and Honoka. After parting ways with them, he headed to the Robotics Club garage to retrieve Pixie.
He wasn't taking her out for a stroll; he was there for an interrogation. Since Pixie's usual "maid" attire was far too conspicuous for a stealthy questioning, he had dressed her in a school uniform borrowed from the Art Club's modeling supplies. He led the HHH (Humanoid Home Helper) to a vacant classroom in the laboratory wing.
Tatsuya had quickly acclimated to the strange sensation of active telepathy echoing in his mind. What he couldn't quite get used to, however, was the "heat" in Pixie's gaze—the way her inorganic optical sensors remained fixed on him with what felt like intense devotion.
He focused his questions on the "Vampire Incident." Specifically, the mystery of how the victims lost massive amounts of blood despite having no significant wounds.
"Was the blood loss the work of the Parasites?"
『Yes.』
"Why was human blood necessary? Do you require it to sustain yourselves?"
『The blood loss was not intentional. It was a side effect of a failed attempt at proliferation.』
"Explain the process."
『Our reproductive process begins by detaching a portion of ourselves and injecting it into a recipient. This fragment spreads through the circulatory system, absorbing Psions and Pushions from the blood. It attempts to assimilate the host by replacing the blood with its own essence.』
"Wait," Tatsuya interrupted. "Replacing the blood? You are information-based entities; you possess no physical mass. Where does the mass of the displaced blood go?"
『It is consumed during the physical metamorphosis of the host body. If the assimilation fails, the matter is expelled from the recipient's body as 'vital energy' along with the fragmented essence.』
"I see... a total biological rejection. Continue."
『Once the physical penetration is complete, we can seize control of the Eidos—the informational 'ghost' of the host.』
"The interaction between the physical and the informational. The same principle as magic."
『The ghost serves as a gateway to the spirit. If we can access the recipient's spirit through the ghost and achieve total unification, the proliferation is a success. However... there have been no successful cases thus far.』
"Why?"
『The reason is unknown. I wished to know this as well. For some reason, that desire alone survived within me; it is all that remains of my original intent.』
"How many of your kind are currently in this country?"
『At the moment I inhabited this body, there were seven others. Eight, including myself.』
"Can you communicate with one another?"
『Yes.』
"What is the range?"
『Communication is possible as long as we are within the borders of this nation.』
"Where are the others now?"
『Current locations: unknown. Since inhabiting this vessel, my connection to the others has been severed.』
Pixie answered without hesitation. Though her face remained an expressionless mask of silicone and metal, Tatsuya could tell her thought-waves were vibrating with a sense of joy. He didn't know to what extent telepathy could convey—or forge—genuine emotion, but as far as he could perceive, Pixie seemed truly, deeply happy to be of use to him.
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