Chapter 60 - Resolve 3

While Akina was wandering around the rest stop, Santa and Ash stood on the rooftop, silently surveying Sanctum for a time.

All trace of his usual sly demeanor gone, Santa slowly lit a cigarette, his expression grim.

"When you work as a Pathfinder, sooner or later a thick line gets drawn. A line dividing your allies from your enemies."

Gray cigarette smoke drifted against the city's dazzling panorama.

"Rookies who haven't even been at it a month, and first you get mixed up with Halloween, then Vortex... Looks like you two are going places."

"That is not an amusing joke."

"I'm not joking. You've got to swim in bigger waters if you want to grow."

"Or die young. Is that not so?"

Santa chuckled at Ash's retort.

"That's true too."

"I have a question, Master Santa."

"I'll answer as honestly and fully as I can."

After a moment's thought, Ash decided to work through matters step by step, beginning with what could be called the starting point of their current situation. He pointed at his torso.

"Let us start with this. How did you acquire this part? Vortex seems to be hunting for it with a vengeance. Surely this is not something one would find in an ordinary Gateway District workshop?"

Santa glanced sidelong at Ash's torso, then turned away and exhaled a deep lungful of smoke into the air. Only when the drifting gray cloud began to dissipate did he speak.

"... I took a commission. An analysis job."

"A commission?"

The unexpected answer prompted another question from Ash.

"Did you not tell me before that you acquired it through a deal?"

"It was a deal too. I'm paying off an old debt."

"... Then what was this commission?"

"They wanted me to analyze Vortex's new technology inside it. KERS."

"Who did?"

"Foundation."

Ash's optical sensors flickered briefly.

"Foundation? Foundation Systems? You mean one of the Trinity?"

"Surprised? Bigger fish than you were expecting?"

"... I cannot deny it. But why would Foundation commission such a thing?"

"Hmm."

Santa dropped his cigarette butt and ground it out underfoot, then immediately took out another cigarette and lit it.

"There's the official reason, and then there's the real reason. Which one do you want?"

"I will hear both and judge for myself."

"If you like."

Santa shrugged and continued.

"First, the official reason. Vortex has no intention of selling products equipped with KERS on the open market. They're only planning to use it within their own Society."

"Hm? Why is that? From what little I have used it, it seems an excellent technology. Surely it would sell like wildfire?"

"In the short term, yes. Not in the long term."

Santa turned to look at Ash.

"Vortex supplies Sanctum's power. So what happens with KERS? Sure, strong sales would be nice at first. But what about the long run? What if KERS wasn't just used by individuals like you, but installed in critical corporate facilities and factories everywhere?"

Ash nodded.

"... Power consumption would fall."

"They'd be lucky if that was all. Once KERS hits the market, people will take it apart and try to steal the technology. Individuals, corporations, you name it. The more people research it, the more efficient it'll become. And the more that happens..."

"The more Vortex's profits will decline."

Santa nodded.

"From their perspective, KERS is a new technology they'd actually be better off without. But it's undeniably attractive too. That's why they want to keep it to themselves. Inside their Society. In secret."

Ash stroked his chin, considering this. After a short while, his electronic voice sounded.

"Then you are saying Foundation stole this unit and commissioned you to analyze KERS in order to break Vortex's technological monopoly? That sounds somewhat strange to me. The reasoning does not follow, does it?"

"Of course it doesn't. Like I said, that's the 'official reason.'"

"Then what is the real reason?"

Santa regarded Ash through his sunglasses and answered in a voice much graver than before.

"The real reason is..."

He worked his mouth for a moment before speaking.

"Vortex is going to announce a hostile M&A soon."

"... Against whom?"

"Foundation Systems."

The name left Ash momentarily speechless.

"... Mergers and acquisitions."

Watching Ash murmur under his breath, Santa continued.

"KERS is the core technology of a weapon Vortex is secretly developing. Foundation will soon be fighting an M&A war against them, and they want to know what that weapon is beforehand."

"Wait. Wait a moment. You sold us a torso containing technology of such critical importance? Why, when you should have been keeping it under the tightest wraps..."

Ash's voice module abruptly fell silent.

He had remembered the three conditions Santa had set when selling him this torso. The second stood out with particular clarity.

["Gather data. And share it with me."]

"... Ah. Damn."

Ash held his head and shook it slowly.

"You played me for a fool."

Santa approached with an awkward laugh and laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Ha. Haha. Ash. That wasn't the only reason. Back then, you know? That Akina was hounding me so much. I was just trying to recommend the best model..."

"Remove your hand."

"Should I? Probably for the best, huh? Ah, there was some dust there. Did it without thinking."

Santa hastily withdrew his hand.

Ash lifted his head a little and fixed Santa with his glowing turquoise optical sensors, all but glaring at him.

"They say there is no one you can trust in Sanctum. Must you really prove them right?"

"I was going to tell you!"

"When? Five months from now, when the installments are paid off?"

"Sooner than that! And honestly, why would a rookie Pathfinder ever run into Vortex? I figured you'd poke around a bit in the Level 1 Outer at most!"

"So what, this is my fault?"

"I'm just saying it was bad luck. No need to get so..."

Santa trailed off. Ash's optical sensors were still glaring at him. Was it his gaze? Whatever it was, those turquoise lights flashed so fiercely that Santa could hardly meet them.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I mean it!"

Which was why Santa never realized that about half the anger Ash was displaying was an act.

He was not truly furious. Destroying Memoryphilia in Underland had already doomed him to enmity with Vortex. The torso had merely brought that moment forward a little.

But Ash did not tell him that. Now was the time to make the most of the situation and extract whatever he could.

"Enough."

Ash cut off Santa, who was still making excuses.

"What is done is done. What good would blaming anyone do now? It is not as though you did it deliberately."

"R-right?"

"Still, that does not mean we can simply let this pass."

Ash tapped his torso.

"I understand the situation well enough now. Looking at it, we were helping you gather data rather than buying a product, were we not? In that case, should we not settle the accounts again?"

"Huh? What accounts?"

"I mean that we ought to be receiving credits instead."

"Credits? Okay! You got it! I'll even return the four hundred thousand credits you paid for the first month!"

"And the room where Zero and the others will be staying. Is it not a little cramped? There are four of them, after all. And one is a woman."

"How about remodeling the second floor to give them more space? Or we could put a modular housing kit in the backyard. How's that?"

"My anger is gradually subsiding."

Just as Santa was about to sigh with relief, Ash added,

"Oh, and one more thing."

"What else is there? Come on, man, isn't this a bit much? How much are you planning to squeeze out of me..."

"I need your help."

"... Help? What kind of help?"

"You appear to have some connection to Foundation, Master Santa. Am I correct?"

Santa fell silent for a moment. He pushed up his sunglasses before answering Ash's question.

"Less a connection than a debt, I suppose. Why?"

"I have given this some thought. Now that we have made an enemy of Vortex, how should we respond? I arrived at four possible courses of action."

"That many?"

"First, return this torso. But that is not a viable move. We have already destroyed Dreamweaver. Merely returning the torso will not spare us Vortex's threats."

"True enough."

Santa nodded.

"Second, remain in Sanctum without venturing into the Outer. But that is only a stopgap. For Miss Akina's dream and my own goal, we must eventually go into the Outer."

"That's true too. You're Pathfinders, after all."

"The third option is to join hands with Vortex. Become part of Vortex ourselves."

Santa tilted his head.

"I'm not keen on that one."

"Nor am I. The moment we place ourselves under them, we lose all control. That is not the path of fighting back, but of becoming their dogs."

Ash paused briefly before presenting his final option.

"Thus, the fourth and final path is to advance undaunted. To meet the enemy's threats head-on. I see no other way. What do you think?"

"So in the end, there's no choice but to fight them."

"Correct."

"Hmm. I see what you're getting at. But why ask about my connection to Foundation?"

Ash answered his question.

"Just as Memoryphilia had Vortex backing them, I wondered if we might secure Foundation's backing. Judging by what you have told me, do they not need my data as well?"

Santa's eyes widened, then he burst into hearty laughter.

"They called in 'Daddy,' so we should go get 'Mommy'? Is that it?"

"A flippant way to phrase it, but yes."

"Hehehe. Fighting fire with fire by making the whole thing even bigger. Okay."

Santa gave a vigorous nod.

"Don't worry about that. I'll bring you one hell of a tough mommy."

Just then, a loud voice rose from the parking lot below.

"Big Brother!"

Ash looked down and saw Jack O' Lantern waving. Akina was beside him.

Spotting Akina, Ash raised a hand and turned his voice module's volume up to maximum.

"Did you sleep well?"

Akina waved both arms, apparently having heard his greeting. As the girl sprang out of the armored vehicle and ran into the rest stop, Santa turned away.

"Oh boy. That noisy little brat's coming up here. I'm off, Ash. We can discuss the details bit by bit. There's still plenty of time before the active season."

Ash nodded, and Santa waved a couple of times before disappearing through the rooftop doorway.

* * *

Having raced upstairs in one go, Akina sat beside Ash and chattered about all sorts of things. Most of it concerned the conversations she had overheard on her rounds.

She told him everyone was talking about him, looking oddly proud of herself, and Ash let out a low chuckle.

Seated side by side, the two continued their idle conversation with Sanctum as their backdrop.

"By the way," Akina said at one point. "Were you talking about something serious? Grandpa Santa looked kind of strange when I saw him coming down."

"Master Santa? What sort of expression did he have?"

"Um... How do I put it? Like this."

Akina mimicked Santa's expression. Her wide, glaring eyes paired with a smiling mouth made quite an impression.

Watching her, Ash gently placed a hand on her shoulder.

"We must deal with Vortex now, must we not? I needed his help with that, so we discussed a number of things."

"Right! Vortex!"

Akina sprang to her feet.

"Upgrades! We're going to need more upgrades! We've got a fair amount of credits, so which parts should we replace this time?"

Ash answered quietly.

"This time, upgrading me alone will not be enough."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

After gazing steadily at Akina's face for a while, Ash stood. Then he took a step toward Sanctum, glittering with countless lights.

Somewhere amid those dazzling lights, the enormous predator called Vortex would be waiting with its jaws open. Perhaps the abyss called Omni-Cell, more terrible still, was there as well.

"..."

Until now, Ash had cut his way through everything with his sword alone.

But now...

His strength alone might no longer be enough to protect everyone. Before he knew it, far too much had come to rest upon his shoulders.

He could not lose it all again.

After surveying Sanctum for a time, Ash spoke.

"A powerful enemy threatens us. We can no longer rely on my abilities alone and hope for good fortune."

He slowly turned and met Akina's eyes as she watched him.

"And so, I have made a decision."

His cryptic words made Akina tilt her head.

"What decision?"

Steel-like resolve filled Ash's electronic voice as he answered.