Chapter 44 - Underland 3

It must have been around noon by now. Yet Underland remained steeped in darkness. Hardly surprising, given that it had no sky.

Even without a sky, however, rain still fell. It was industrial wastewater dripping from the massive pipelines that filled the ceiling.

A city sunk in eternal darkness, with acid rain falling endlessly.

Perhaps that was why the occasional people passing along the road had not a trace of life in their faces. They merely shook out their raincoats or adjusted their gas masks. Every one of them had the eyes of the dead.

Ash drove the Revenant through their midst, recording the gloomy cityscape with his optical sensors.

"Oh. Turn right here."

He turned the wheel at Siren's direction.

They were heading to a sort of "parking lot." Siren had advised him that the Revenant, an armored vehicle built for exploring the Outer, stood out far too much in Underland.

The place they reached was a parking lot in name only: a dark, cramped space beneath a precarious tangle of elevated roads. That did make it seem an ideal place to hide the vehicle.

Meanwhile, Siren took out one of the gas masks stored inside the vehicle and put it on. It was a half-face model covering only her nose and mouth. Once she had it on, she absentmindedly took out another and offered it to Ash, then withdrew it with an awkward smile in her eyes.

"... You don't need one, do you, Mr. Ash?"

"I appreciate the thought."

With that brief reply, Ash switched off the engine. As the growling exhaust faded, he took the data chip from inside his clothing.

"Now, let us work out how to proceed. Our objective is to 'return' this data chip. But we do not know to whom we should return it, or even where they are."

In a sense, they were at a loss. They had reached Underland, but their only clue was the word [DREAMWEAVER] hovering above the chip.

"Information. What we need most at present is information."

Putting the data chip away, Ash continued.

"With that in mind, are there any information brokers here? All the better if you know one, my lady."

Siren nodded.

"One person comes to mind. She's an engineer who doubles as an information broker."

"An interesting way to put it. An acquaintance of yours?"

"Yes. She's the person I'm closest to. Like a friend."

"Hmm. A friend..."

Ash nodded.

"Very well. Let us go there first."

"Okay!"

Their brief conversation over, the two Pathfinders opened the vehicle doors.

* * *

"Eeeek!"

Siren led him to a workshop at the end of a winding alley. Every conceivable kind of cyberware hung from the ceiling and walls of the cramped shop, leaving scarcely room to stand. It was a little cyberware repair shop reminiscent of a tiny corner store.

A young woman repairing something at the back pushed up her goggles and shouted.

"Anna? Is that you, Anna? Seriously?!"

Her shrill squeal filled the repair shop. At that welcoming cry, Siren offered an awkward smile.

"It's been a while."

At that brief greeting, the woman flung even her goggles to the floor, rushed over, and swept Siren into a hug.

"Girl! How long has it been? I thought you'd never come back down here! What brings you here? Did Halloween fire you? Oh, honestly! What trouble have you gotten into this time?"

"Am I a kid? What makes you think I've gotten into trouble?"

Siren immediately began grumbling, but her lips had already curved into a broad smile.

"So what brings you to Underland... anyway...?"

Only then did the unassuming woman notice Ash, and her words trailed off. Ash offered a simple greeting.

"How do you do?"

"Oh, hello..."

She gave a perfunctory nod, then whispered to Siren.

"Hey. What's going on? Who's the tin can? Did you come together?"

"Don't call him that."

"I'm asking if you came together."

"Yes! So, he's... um..."

After a moment's thought, Siren answered.

"... My client? Yes. He's my client."

"Your client? What, are you trying to become a ninja? Did you really quit being an idol?"

"Oh, it's not like that! It's a long story."

"Long? Perfect!"

Smiling, the woman led Siren farther into the shop.

"I've got plenty of time. Let's hear this long story of yours! Want an energy drink?"

"Oh, hold on a second first."

Siren turned to Ash. Taking her look as his cue, he pulled out the data chip and handed it over.

"Do you know what this is?"

"Of course. It's a data chip."

"No, not that. What's written above it."

[DREAMWEAVER]

The woman studied the chip for a moment, then shook her head.

"Dreamweaver? Never heard of it."

"... Really?"

"Yeah. What is it?"

Siren couldn't answer. She didn't know what Dreamweaver meant either.

"... Then have you ever heard of anything similar?"

"Hmm... Let's see. Dream... dream..."

After pondering it for a long while, she finally gave up.

"Nope. No idea."

"... Okay."

"But I can tell you one thing. This is why you came down to Underland, isn't it? And here I thought you'd come to see me."

Siren flinched.

"That's..."

"Forget it, you silly girl. It's not like I was expecting you to. Besides, you came to me in the end, didn't you? That's enough."

With a broad grin, the woman settled Siren onto an old sofa, then turned the chip over in her hands.

"Have you tried opening it? There might be something inside that could give you a clue."

Ash answered that question.

"I am told an attempt was made. But encrypted access controls prevented them from checking its contents."

"Hmm. Encryption..."

The woman stared at the tiny data chip, then suddenly looked up.

"Come to think of it, I haven't introduced myself. I'm Jenny. As you can see, I'm a cybernetics engineer."

"Ash Blade. I work as a Pathfinder."

"Oh. A Pathfinder."

Jenny quirked an eyebrow.

"I take it you work with Siren? That would mean you're pretty strong."

"... Well, think what you like. More importantly..."

Ash changed the subject.

"Is there nothing you can learn about that data chip, then?"

"What exactly do you need to know?"

"Simply knowing who owns it would be enough."

"Huh? That's all you need?"

"Indeed."

Jenny scratched her head at his reply, then quickly nodded.

"Find Dreamweaver's owner? Okay. I'll put the word out to my contacts. Oh, and of course, my commission..."

"Will be paid."

"Haha! I like a man who gets straight to the point! Hang on a moment. I'll just—"

"Before that, a moment."

Ash held out a hand. Jenny tilted her head, and his electronic voice sounded.

"I would like the chip back now."

"Oh, right."

She handed over the data chip she was holding.

"I'll be right back, so wait here!"

She patted Siren's shoulder a couple of times, then left. Soon, only Ash and Siren remained in the little workshop.

"... Things seem to be going well, don't they?"

"I hope so."

With a little time on his hands, Ash looked around the workshop.

At first glance, it resembled Santa's Rest Stop, but the atmosphere was quite different. It wasn't simply the cramped space. Nor was it the dim lighting or musty smell.

It was the cyberware covering the walls. Every piece was badly damaged or rusted. One mechanical arm even bore unmistakable bloodstains that had yet to be cleaned off. There was a mechanical leg with pieces of someone's flesh still clinging to it, too.

"..."

Secondhand.

Every cybernetic product on display was "secondhand," and bore heavy signs of use. Knowing they had once been someone's arms and legs made them look strangely chilling.

Then Ash noticed a holographic flyer flickering erratically on one wall of the shop.

[WANTED]

It was a wanted poster, the kind he sometimes saw on the Central Hub's job board. Common enough, one might say.

Yet Ash couldn't take his eyes off it. The text below was particularly interesting.

[WANTED

DEAD OR ALIVE

ZERO

REWARD : 5,000,000 CD

-Memoryphilia]

'... Zero?'

The poster wasn't just text. It also displayed a detailed three-dimensional image of someone. And that figure looked very familiar.

A masked person clad head to toe in black techwear. Almost identical to the ninja Ash had encountered.

Except for one thing.

The mask was different.

The ninja who had broken into the rest stop and introduced himself as Zero had definitely worn a wolf mask. But the man in the hologram wore a tiger mask.

"Huh?"

Just then, Siren's puzzled voice reached him. He turned to find her standing in front of a metal cabinet, holding something. Apparently, she had been looking around the workshop as well.

It was nothing remarkable. Just an old shoulder patch bearing a design of three yellow interlocking gears.

The REST-men's insignia.

"W-why is this here...?"

Siren's voice trembled faintly with bewilderment.

Ash immediately extended his energy sense in every direction. And soon, he realized.

'... Gone.'

He couldn't sense Jenny's presence anywhere. Had she gone some distance away to contact people? Impossible. Merely going some distance wouldn't be enough to escape his fully extended energy sense.

Now that he thought about it, leaving to contact people in the first place was exceedingly strange.

In an instant, a flood of information flashed through his main core.

A shoulder patch used by the REST-men.

Cyberware stained with blood and flesh.

Jenny's disappearance.

The REST-men they had encountered on their way into Underland.

Their feud with Siren.

["Welcome home, Anna."]

Those words, which had seemed somehow loaded with meaning.

Fragments of memory gathered one by one, shifting and mingling.

'Jenny is a REST-man. Or she's working with them. They anticipated that Siren would visit Jenny. Because the two are close. In that case, this is...'

All his thoughts coalesced into a single word.

'A trap.'

Ash took hold of Siren, who was still staring at the patch in confusion.

"My Lady Siren."

At his low electronic voice, she abruptly turned her head.

"We must go."

Ash offered no explanation beyond those brief words. His silence was almost a wordless pressure: Surely you understand what is happening, too?

"Wait. She'll be back soon, and she'll explain every—"

"Do you know why betrayal cuts so deeply?"

His optical sensors shone with a cold light.

"Because it always comes wearing a familiar face. That is why we always recognize it too late. Perhaps we can call ourselves very fortunate now. We noticed relatively early."

"...!"

"We have no time for this. Let us move."

Siren took a brief, deep breath. By the time she exhaled, her expression had grown steadier.

"Let's go."

Neither delayed any longer. They rushed out through the entrance they had come in by and raced down the dark alley beneath the acid rain.