[783] Alpha Fish (1)
Ex Machina was a cube—four meters by four meters by four meters—and weighed seven tons.
Its surface was smooth metal, black with the angelic script Hena etched across it in gold.
"Looks like a massive metagate."
Shirone's remark drew agreement from Minerva.
"Even if Archangel Kariel made it, the tech still relies on mecha systems," she said.
Worin added, "The Mecha people like hexahedral forms. There may be technical reasons, but the shape itself reads as mecha."
Thinking of the mecha civilization they'd encountered in Heaven and of the magic warehouse Istas, everyone nodded.
"Let's begin."
When the Reaper opened the Ex Machina, there was room for five people.
Those who had already run the card-game demo went in first, and Iruki stepped in last.
"Iruki, hang in there."
Four people sat in a row on the second level while Iruki took the center seat on the first level. He laid his palms on the hemispherical glass armrests and a drone-like device descended from the ceiling.
A brainwave sensor covered him down to his nose. Iruki flipped his right hand and gave a thumbs-up.
"No need to overdo it from the start."
At the Reaper's cue the Ex Machina's exit closed, and a terrifying mechanical howl began.
Shirone covered his ears and slowly backed away as the noise filled the large warehouse.
The sound grew louder with time, and when the vibrations reached the point of shaking the seven-ton mass the Reaper shouted.
"Damn it! I told you not to overdo it!"
His lips barely moved from how loudly he was yelling, but the seriousness of the situation was clear.
"Iruki..."
Twenty minutes flew by. When the hellish noise finally stopped and the exit reopened, steam billowed from the iron door and Iruki stumbled out.
"Ugh! Ugh!"
He collapsed on the floor and vomited gastric fluid; people rushed to his side.
"Iruki! Are you all right?"
He stared at the floor with shocked eyes, not yet fully aware he was back in reality.
"What happened?"
Shirone demanded, eyes full of reproach, and the card players came down with wry expressions.
Guido looked down at Iruki and said, "You passed."
It was a monstrous level of cerebral function.
"The tutorial we gave was to manipulate the winner of a four-player card game," he explained.
"And?"
"Midway through, Iruki deviated from the expected play—said it was boring—so we scaled the scenario up."
Nes continued, "The test was this: in a tournament of three hundred participants, change the final winner to whoever we designate."
Agaya added, "You had to manipulate the outcome of every match, the real-time finances of all three hundred players, even the raffle draws. We picked seventeen people—those blinded by greed, the foolish, the beautiful woman, and so on—and made them the champions in sequence. He ran the simulation and pulled it off."
"You did that whole simulation in twenty minutes?"
Shirone's head throbbed at the sheer volume of data; in the real world it would have taken at least a month.
"Ugh, my head's spinning."
Iruki wiped his lips and stood up, supported by Shirone, who snapped angrily.
"Tell me straight—did you use overdrive?"
If sparks from the cortex were escaping through the pupils, nobody could keep going for long.
"It's fine. This level is manageable."
Manchowol—surpassing the barrier of a particular realm—applies here; overdrive falls into that category. But Iruki's transgression wasn't against some cosmic plane; it was against the biological realm—his own body.
"What do you mean 'manageable'! It wasn't even a real fight—what if you'd pushed yourself in a test? I—"
Shirone's memory of Iruki using overdrive during the graduation exam still hurt.
"If something had gone wrong with you—!"
Shirone's eyes grew hot.
"Listen, Shirone. My father used to say there are many people in this world who want to but can't."
"Just because something comes to me doesn't make it mine," Iruki continued. "If those who can do it don't step up, humanity will never move forward."
Shirone remembered the first day he met Iruki.
Right—he was that kind of person.
In the solemn silence, even the card players acknowledged him.
'I thought it was childish bravado…'
A young man willing to shoulder a burden as heavy as his talent—he was a partner worth fighting alongside.
Iruki tapped Shirone's shoulder.
"Anyway, I've adapted. You can rest assured—no more antics like this."
Nes said, "No, you really did well. When we first activated the Ex Machina it knocked us out for almost an hour."
Agaya said, "We'll start proper training tomorrow. Today we'll do a briefing. Follow us."
Now that they'd accepted him into the team, Iruki had to know what the card players knew.
"See you later, Shirone."
Iruki followed them, glancing back and giving Shirone a wink.
"...."
It was a sign: don't run.
* * *
From the tower the imperial capital was almost pitch-black like the deep sea, the only lights scattered like fireflies.
"Amy..."
Shirone couldn't sleep; he knew why Iruki had insisted on meeting tonight.
"Sorry. The meeting ran long."
Iruki slid down from the tower's peak like a slide and stopped with a foot on the railing just before dropping.
"Whoa. Is this your room?"
Iruki lay back on the slope with his arms under his head; countless stars glittered in his eyes.
"Nice. Not cramped at all."
Shirone smiled.
"Did the meeting go well?"
"A meticulous plan. The problem is locating the Alpha Fish won't be easy."
"The one who loves Habitz the most?"
"Right. Alpha Fish are also called pilot fish. When you keep ornamental fish, the pilot fish go in first to set up the aquarium environment."
Iruki raised a finger. "Getting the start right is important. You can find Beta Fish—those who hate Habitz—if you look, but..."
Sensing the conversation was veering into work, Shirone steered it back to what he really wanted to ask.
"How's everyone else? Nade's developing tech for the torpedoes, Dante got a job with Tormia's national intelligence. I've had a few meals with him, but..."
Shirone missed their days at Alpheas School of Magic.
"Maya turned down a famous foreign agency and signed with a performance planning firm in the Kingdom of Tormia. Fermi seems to have left the kingdom, and then—"
Because Iruki handled matters for the torpedo unit at the national level, he was up to speed on their classmates' situations.
"They're all busy."
But when it came to the one person Shirone really wanted to hear about—Amy—Iruki kept quiet at first.
"...How's she doing?"
Shirone finally asked.
"Ha."
Iruki's expression grew heavy.
"Since you said goodbye in that dream, she passed the civil exam. And not long ago, while training as an officer in Tormia's magic corps..."
"In the middle of training?"
Shirone swallowed.
"She apparently met another officer and is seeing him. She told me that if she ever met you, she wanted me to pass on her thanks."
"A-Amy?"
Shirone went pale.
"Puhahaha, I'm joking! Amy wouldn't do a thing like that without telling you."
Shirone was genuinely furious.
"You…! Even as a joke, that—!"
"It would've been nice if it were true, though," Iruki cut in. "But really—she left the training center and came to me. She had a recruitment notice from the Order. She said she needed a recommendation, so I got one written through someone I know."
"You mean the Holy Order—the Valkyries?"
"Yeah. You get it, right? Tormia isn't desperate yet, but the Order goes to battlefields. It's a place where your life can be at risk."
Amy's voice echoed like a dream.
—I'll go.
"You went to see me because you'd called me. Because you needed someone. But Amy wasn't just following orders—she threw her life into becoming someone you would need."
Iruki sat up and looked down at the capital.
"I wanted to stop her, but I couldn't. When you called me in that letter, it felt…good. So I understand Amy's feelings. Nade too—we all want to fight together."
Shirone had no reply.
"Why not visit the Valkyries? Talk to the queen. She's the leader of the Order, right?"
"That would be the opposite."
Everyone knew Worin's feelings; showing an interest in Amy now would be a bad idea.
'No, she probably already knows.'
She wasn't the sort to ruin things out of petty pride; there had to be a reason she hadn't told Shirone.
"It's not decided yet. She has a royal recommendation, but everyone does. If she fails Valkyrie training, she'll be sent back to Tormia."
"She'll pass."
Even without invoking the Karmis family, Amy wouldn't give up on meeting Shirone.
"...Right. That's the problem."
The two young men sighed.
"You said my father's words made you feel good when I called?"
"He did."
"Same here. I'd feel the same. If a day comes when you can face Amy with pride..."
A bright light kindled in Shirone's eyes.
"I truly need Amy. I believe she will pull through."
If that day comes.
"Spring's already here."
It was an earlier dawn than yesterday.
* * *
Southern Kashan.
The city of Harmattan was dense with the empire's military facilities and home to Valkyrie Army Headquarters.
"Line! Column! Attention! Line! Column! Attention!"
Amy stood among Valkyrie applicants from across the world as they shouted and marched into the training center.
"Move! Move it, you bastards!"
There were about three hundred applicants, and unlike ordinary armies, over thirty percent were women.
"Men this way! Women that way!"
After handing in recommendation letters and receiving nametags, a terrifying drill instructor barked orders, separating men and women.
"Hurry, hurry! Why are you so slow? Do you think you're the kingdom's pride now, you idiots?"
All the applicants were people favored by the king, but none lacked the ability to serve in the Order.
'This is no different.'
They'd gone through their countries' special schools and passed the civil exams; competition was as familiar as breathing.
'It's just about climbing higher.'
Amy recited the formation cadence calmly; none of the recruits showed emotion.
She waited with her nametag pinned to her chest while the instructor pointed his baton at the iron gate.
"This is your grave!"
A sign hanging under the arch read, "We Welcome You Who Applied to the Valkyrie." Someone muttered, 'They spelled it wrong.'
It was the creepiest thing she'd seen since arriving.
"All inside!"
As the military band began to play, the instructor threw his arms wide and shouted, "Welcome to hell, corpses!"