Chapter 39: Bridge

The bridge.

It was the section of a warship where officers and senior crew were stationed—the place from which the entire vessel was commanded and piloted.

"So? What do we do now? Hide until the ship reaches Kivotos?"

"Long story short."

"We don’t stop the ship and the world’s in trouble!?"

"…Thanks for the explanation."

In other words, aside from physically destroying the engines, attacking this location was the best possible way to bring the ship to a halt. If we could seize it outright, we could even take control. If the engine was the ship’s heart, then this place deserved to be called its brain.

"Hmm? So basically, we just kill the former director and stop the ship, right?"

"…That’s a bit violent… but yes. Stopping the ship is the objective."

Naturally, even this flying battleship had such a place—and it was our final destination, where the former PMC director was surely waiting for us.

"Oh, I can see it."

"Yes. Everyone, prepare for combat! We’re kicking the door in!"

Reclaiming this place and seizing control of the ship—that was our goal.

Or at least, it was supposed to be.

"Don’t move! Resistance is futile, I—huh…?"

The sight Kanna saw as she kicked the door open and raised her gun was—

"Tied up like a turtle… this is some hardcore bondage!!"

"Mmmphhh—!!"

—The former director and the PMC members, their bodies tightly bound by mechanical tentacles.

"…Heh. So this is what they call an AI rebellion…"

"──Access privileges unconfirmed. Intruders detected. Initiating response program."

"Tch! It’s a weird sight, but don’t let your guard down!"

Suspended in the center of the room, floating as if hung from the ceiling, was a spherical robot—the apparent owner of the tentacles. The flying battleship’s management AI revealed itself, its red mono-eye glowing as it prepared to act against us.

"Unit designation, Amari Komori… requesting access verification again… Disengage combat mode and transfer control of the ship…!"

"Verification failed. Unit Amari Komori does not possess access privileges."

"…!? That can’t be… don’t tell me—"

"Checking logs. A change was made one hour and thirty-two minutes ago. Amari Komori’s access privileges have been revoked."

Damn it. I knew it. The former director pulled a dirty trick. This outcome served him right—but still. I grit my teeth and glare at the control AI, but it merely returned my stare with its cold, red, inorganic eye. Looks like a fight was unavoidable.

"Sorry, everyone…! Please don’t break the machine if you can help it…!"

"Roger! Komori, fall back and burn this into your eyes—the handiwork of us senior members of Problem Solver 68!!"

"Commencing elimination."

"Wah!? It’s already firing!"

"S-S-Sensei! We need your orders!!"

"Roger that!"

From there, the battle began under Sensei’s command. Haruka and Mutsuki held the front line, using wide-area bombs and scatter fire with precision, careful not to destroy critical machinery, all while following Sensei’s directions to disrupt the enemy. Any units that slipped through were shot down by Kanna and Kayoko. After several cycles of attack and counterattack, most of the tentacles trying to skewer us were neutralized. Finally, President Aru delivered the finishing blow—a clean hit straight into the control AI’s red eye, practically screaming, this is my weak point.

The writhing tentacles went still, and the control AI’s main body—once suspended from the ceiling—crashed heavily to the floor.

It was overwhelming. Utterly overwhelming. A flawless suppression.

As for me and the Man in Black, we watched the whole thing from the corner of the room, sitting side by side in neat little crouches.

"…We really went up against that as enemies once…"

"…It’s a miracle we both survived."

That thing was probably a fairly powerful robot my other self had built to defend the bridge—the final bastion, after all…

More importantly, what was up with Sensei’s command ability? No terminal, no tablet—so he couldn’t use those game-like “skills,” and yet… my other self’s robot still went down. Seriously.

"It’s over, Komori-chan."

"Mm… thank you. Perfect… work…"

"Of course! There’s no job we can’t do!"

Alright then.

I kicked the former director—who was lying amid the wreckage of broken tentacles—square on his bald head (whether he was actually bald was unclear; he was mechanical), forcing him awake.

"Guh… to think I’d be saved by the likes of you… ghk!?"

"…I can guess why you betrayed us, so that’s fine… But I don’t know what happened here. Talk."

"Like hell I’d tell you—ghk!?"

"My fists are still stained with the blood from nearly beating a friend’s partner to death… How many hits do you think you can take?"

"O-Okay! I’ll talk! I’ll talk, so stop!"

What he hastily explained—just as I was about to bring down the third punch—was that the ship’s control AI had suddenly begun ignoring their commands, forcibly rerouting from Kaiser Headquarters to the Sanctum Tower in Kivotos. Right after that, the octopus-like monster appeared and restrained them. Apparently, the ship’s defense system was also what intercepted Aru-sama’s group. He claimed he knew nothing else.

"So we didn’t do a-ny-thing! So stop!"

"That’s not ‘nothing’… hmph!"

"That’s not what I meant—ghk!?"

You betrayed us—how is that “nothing,” huh?

"…And our belongings… where are they? We checked the cells, but they weren’t there."

"H-Here! I was holding onto them just in case!"

"I see… then…"

"I’ll give them back! I’ll give them back, so don’t hit me—gyah!?"

I planted one final punch square into the former director’s face and took the items from his hand: a handgun and a tablet. The gun’s name was Angelo. Unlike the janitor’s assault rifle, the SIG MCX Caduto, this one was my own partner. Its official designation was the H&K USP.

…What? Chuunibyou? No, no. In this world, naming and decorating your gun was totally normal. I just never did it before—I didn’t have friends, and I didn’t want to waste money. I didn’t even know people named them… Besides, it’s cool, right?

"Haah… fine. First things first—we need to stop the ship."

I handed the recovered tablet to Sensei, then sat down in what was probably the captain’s chair, still scarred with bullet marks, and activated the terminal.

"…As expected, control privileges here are revoked too…"

"How is it?"

"Sensei… mm… if I try hard enough, it might work… It’s a system I built… breaking through it should be… easy…"

── Beep. Unauthorized access detected.

"……"

── Beep. Unauthorized access detected.

"……"

── Beep. Unauthorized access detected.

"This damn thing!!"

"Komori-chan!?"

What the hell is this garbage-tier security system!? Just how much unknown tech did my other self cram into this thing!? Enough already!!

"Bzzzt… Warning. This unit is highly capable. Crude hacking attempts are not recommended. Report: had the defense systems undergone proper maintenance by the Master and remained in optimal condition, the annihilation of your group would have been trivial. Therefore, if access is desired, following authorized procedures is advised."

The moment the machine finished speaking, the display forcibly switched to a password input screen.

Damn it. This machine—losing with grace was clearly not a concept it understood.

"If facial recognition won’t work, then a password… What is this, an iPhone…"

"Do you know the password?"

"No… Lady Aru’s birthday… probably not. My other self still saw her as an enemy……"

"What!?"

"Sensei’s birthday… doesn’t seem likely either. They barely interacted…… and besides, it’s an alphanumeric input. Numbers alone won’t work…"

I rack my brain. It shouldn’t be one of those meaningless, overly complex passwords mixing random numbers and English. I’m me. I can’t remember passwords like that. Which means it’s probably a word my other self would never forget. Kivotos? Blue Archive? Janitor? Mystery? I run through the possibilities, but nothing clicks.

"…If only memories would just flood in at times like th—"

That was when it happened.

"—Gah!?"

"Komori!?"

"Komori-chan!?"

A sudden spike of pain tore through my head. Along with a splitting headache came an influx of unfamiliar scenes—memories that weren’t mine. The timing was impeccable. But if this was going to happen, I really wished I’d been warned in advance!

"The pass… word…! An important word…!"

"Komori-chan, your nose is bleeding!"

Search. Dig through the muddy torrent of memories and extract what I need. My first cigarette? No. The memory of locking eyes with Sensei from afar and realizing his Momotalk contact had somehow been added, filling me with dread? No. Sensei licking the legs of the dark-skinned disciplinary committee girl? No—he did that here too. Beating down those smug information brokers like Imo and turning them into corporate drones? No—wait, why is one of them licking my foot!?

I shove aside the overwhelming pile of useless noise and focus on what matters.

And then—like a single beam of light piercing the abyss—

I find it.

"Are you seriously going through with this?"

"…It’s far too dangerous."

A ceiling stained red.

Gazing up at it, standing slightly behind two girls, is the owner of the viewpoint—watching a small girl positioned ahead of them.

"Success probability: 3%. This is an extremely dangerous gamble. Do you still intend to proceed?"

The observer asks as well.

Three voices question her. The girl answers them with a smile.

Her face is obscured by haze, but there is no doubt—she is smiling.

"Ah, right. Too dangerous? A three percent success rate? None of that matters. If it’s dangerous, that just means the reward is worth it. If the success rate exists at all, then success is possible."

The girl laughs as she declares it.

"Then all I must do is carry out what needs to be done."

She spreads her arms wide, like an innocent child excitedly describing a dream.

"Beyond the removal of mystery, fear, and every other obstacle—that is where it lies!"

──Now, let’s go!

"────…To Shambhala…"

──This is it.

"I’ve got it!"

Ignoring everyone peering at me with concern, I turn back to the terminal and let my fingers glide across the keyboard.

What I enter is the name of a utopia.

The name of the utopia my other self pursued—but never reached.

The happiness promised by that word was never sustained. The king who sought that utopia was struck down by a god of destruction, and the wish was never fulfilled. Yet the fact that the wish existed does not change. Nor do the methods, the means, or the will behind it. All of that unquestionably existed.

That was precisely what this ark—Mastema—was.

─── Shambalah

"Access privileges acquired. Authorization successful."

…If you’re going to move the ship, you have to input a destination properly.

"We… did it…!"

"O-oh! We actually did it!!"

"…Good work, Komori-chan."

"Phew… thank you…"

"So? That means we can stop the ship now, right?"

"…Yes… I think so. I can issue proper stop commands now."

"Then let’s do it already. We’re really close to Kivotos—it was down to the wire!"

Lady Aru says this while looking at the map displayed beside the terminal.

She was right. It really had been that close. Just thinking about how we could’ve been too late makes my skin crawl.

"…Alright. Then, the stop button—"

Press the button, and the ship would halt its operation, automatically searching for a landing site and coming to rest. This area was a flat, snowy plain with little elevation change—there were plenty of places it could land safely.

So if my finger moved down just a few more centimeters, this ship would stop.

At least, it was supposed to.

─── BOOM!!

"Huh!?"

An explosion loud enough to violently shake the entire vessel.

At once, screens across the bridge began flashing red warning alerts, their alarms screaming urgency.

"W-What’s happening!? What just happened!?"

"—! Lady Aru, everyone, grab onto something…!"

Clinging to the desk, I peer at the screens flooding the bridge with emergency warnings.

An attack!?

The thought flashes through my mind—only to be blown away the moment I read the display.

"Damage detected to the port engine, port wing, and lower bridge levels. Port engine has ceased functioning. Altitude cannot be maintained. Cause presumed to be an explosive device."

─── And well, that’s what happened!

Lady Aru says this while puffing out her chest smugly.

Wait.

What did she say she did earlier? Rammed the flying battleship with a junk flight device to board it?

And she did that near the engine and the bridge!?!?

"What is wrong with you!?"

THIS IS YOUR FAULT!!!!

"…Lady Aru. An explosion occurred near the port engine. The engine is damaged and nonfunctional… the ship’s altitude is currently dropping."

"Ah… eh, eheh—? That’s… bad, huh."

Don’t look away.

It’s useless.

Everyone except the bound former director is staring straight at you.

"S-So what do we do about this!?"

Nice attempt at changing the subject.

"…For now, I’ll attempt an emergency landing. I don’t know if it’ll succeed, so everyone, hold onto something—ah!?"

It happens right as I finish that sentence.

Another wave of pain crashes into my head.

Far more frequent than before. Far stronger than anything I’ve felt so far.

I clutch my head and collapse, overwhelmed by a headache so intense it nearly drives me unconscious.

What—what’s happening!?

Through the haze of pain, supported by Sensei, I reach out toward the ship’s terminal. Speculation flashes through my mind—maybe something went wrong with the ship my other self built, maybe something else entirely—but none of that matters right now.

I have to land this thing.

If I don’t, everyone dies.

That thought alone forces my arm forward.

And because of that—

I don’t realize it right away.

The true cause of this headache.

The answer I should have already suspected when we escaped the prison.

"Komori!!!!"

By the time I turn toward the shout, it’s already too late.

What fills my vision is an unnatural, pitch-black hole suspended in midair, its depth impossible to see. From within it, a mechanical arm stretches straight toward me.

"…So… this is… it…?"

By the time I notice the angel bearing a blackened, broken halo—

Everything is already far too late.