Editing City Series:Volume2 Chapter 5 (section)

===Part 1===

A plain concrete workroom existed on Scotland Yard’s first basement.

The underground room was small but well equipped, so it somewhat resembled a medical examination room.

That room was Klausl’s “home”.

A waist-high table had a white sheet laid over it and Klausl lay on it after having lost her left arm.

Amon stood next to the table and he tapped his fingers in annoyance. Based on the bandages wrapped around his body, his treatment seemed to be complete.

He glared at the partition set up in the back of the room. There must have been someone behind it because sounds of movement could occasionally be heard.

“Are you still not ready? I’m already done.”

A face poked out from the side of the partition. It was an old man who had likely been human to begin with. He had a gentle face with sage-like features that made it impossible judge his age.

He opened his narrow eyes wide and glanced at Amon.

“Don’t get so worked up, young one. With a daughter of mine, an injury like this is nothing to worry about.”

And…

“It’s just been so long since Klausl was damaged this badly that my repair tools are scattered all over the place. …Oh, here’s the wrench I need.”

The old man tossed a few tools over the partition and onto the floor. A wrench, pliers, a drill for making screw holes, and others clattered loudly to the floor.

Amon frowned at the racket.

“Hurry it up, old man!”

“My name isn’t old man. It’s Flandre Aileppoc.”

“Who the hell’s gonna use a weird name like that?”

“You’re not going to use my name? Don’t be so embarrassed, young one.”

Flandre vanished behind the partition again.

Amon intentionally Opened his thoughts so the man could hear.

…''I guess I shouldn’t be surprised an idiot has an idiot for a father.

Suddenly, the door opened.

Amon quickly Closed his mind, turned around, and saw something that should not have been possible.

Klausl stood in the room’s entrance.

“Eh?”

With a truly foolish look on his face, he quickly turned toward the Klausl sleeping behind him.

The girl with her left arm missing was still sleeping there.

Meanwhile, the Klausl who had entered the room bowed toward him and walked past him toward the partition.

“Father, the coffee is ready.”

She Overrode a tray of cups and turned back to Amon.

“I prepared some for you too. I will leave it over here, so feel free.”

“S-sure.”

Whether she heard his response or not, the moving Klausl looked at the identical girl lying on the table and sighed.

“I hope she gets better soon.”

She then jogged out of the room.

As she passed by him, Amon looked carefully at her face. But no matter how close he looked, she looked identical to the Klausl on the table. Even so…

…''She’s different?

He had a feeling something was different. There was some kind of gap between the two Klausls.

“Hey, old man.”

“I know what you’re Opening.”

“Who…was that?”

“Klausl. She’s the 29th, so the third from last.”

“The 29th?”

Flandre stepped out from behind the partition while wrapping wire around a thick metal rod.

“You saw the arm of the one on the table there, right? Klausl is a Sein Frau. She’s a mass-produced doll.”

“!”

Amon had no words. He Closed all of his thoughts and looked to Klausl in front of him.

“You can’t believe it?” asked Flandre before continuing as if testing Amon. “A Sein Frau is a doll machine that simply carries out its orders and has no life of its own. They’re like a golem.”

He took a breath.

“Do you know why a Sein Frau with no life of its own was with you?”

A normal person would have said a Sein Frau had no heart and thus anything they did was part of a job.

But Amon did not give that answer. He stared silently down at Klausl’s face.

She was always smiling, but now her expression was one of faint exhaustion.

“…?”

He suddenly remembered her making a similar expression before. It had been that morning when she had lent him her lap. She had made this expression while suffering from a nightmare.

“!”

At that very moment, he clenched his fists and spoke with a decisive look.

“Enough nonsense. Hurry up and start healing her.”

“You sure are impatient. You must clash with Klausl a lot.”

The old man was dead on.

Amon clicked his tongue and frowned, so Flandre said more.

“I’ll be ready once I finish wrapping this. Then I can start fixing her right away. You remove her blouse.”

“What?”

Flandre turned toward Amon’s confused voice.

“Can’t you do it? I’d rather not let other people see my daughter’s body either.”

“Keh. So you’re a perverted old man who wants his daughter to himself?”

“Shut up and do it already.”

“Then why don’t you do it?”

Even as he said that, Amon moved behind Klausl and weakly lifted her. She was completely limp. He rested her head against his chest and her soft blonde hair swayed a bit.

The sweet scent of her hair faintly reached him.

“…”

She was strangely feminine at times like this.

He intentionally kept his movements businesslike as he corrected her posture and removed one shoulder strap of her apron skirt. The left strap had already come off, so the apron skirt fell down to her waist.

And suddenly…

“Don’t get any funny ideas, young one.”

“Sh-shut up!”

He clicked his tongue again and turned to Flandre.

The old man had his back to him.

Amon tilted his head before getting back to work. He tried to remove the crimson scarf from her blouse collar.

“Hey, old man.”

“What?’

“Do you know how to remove a scarf?”

“I’ll only tell you if you ask more politely.”

“…Please tell me.”

“I don’t know either.”

“I’m gonna kill you!”

“You only asked if I knew. You really are a lot of trouble. Just tug on it randomly.”

He did as the man suggested.

“I’m pretty sure this is strangling her.”

“Then pull the other way.”

He did so and the scarf did come off even if he still doubted the validity of the man’s instructions. He draped the red cloth over his shoulder and reached for the blouse’s buttons.

Just as his hands hesitated in front of the first button, it happened again.

“Hey, young one.”

He jumped.

“Wh-what?”

“Are you good with your fingers?”

“Of course I am. I’m not old and frail like you.”

“I am not old and frail. I’m just farsighted and my fingers tremble a bit due to my high blood pressure.”

“That’s what being old and frail means!”

He sighed, but the exchange must have helped him relax because he casually unbuttoned Klausl’s blouse and removed it.

This exposed her slender shoulders and her chest. He supported her back with a hand and her skin felt damp and warm.

Even if she was unconscious, he could not exactly stare. He quickly looked to her left shoulder instead. Looking back at the break, he noticed it was a little melted.

Her arm had likely burst from the heat more than the impact.

He imagined being hit by something similar and gulped.

“…Sorry.”

“Hm? Did you say something?”

“Nothing.”

“Remove her bra too, young one.”

He said nothing in response and did so with no inappropriate thoughts. He then lay her white body down on the table.

Her body seemed like the ideal form of a young and quiet woman.

“What do you think?”

“Eh? Oh, she’s beautiful.”

“What are you talking about? I mean her left arm.”

Flandre turned toward him with a bitter smile.

“Now, let’s get started.”

The old man placed an arm on her side and looked at her body as if inspecting it.

“Hm.”

“Don’t just say ‘hm’. How is she?”

“Just watch.”

The skinny arm of an old man reached out and the dried fingers poked lightly at Klausl’s left collarbone and below her chest.

“!”

Cracks ran along her skin.

Flandre turned to Amon.

Amon said nothing, so the old man gave a satisfied nod and drew his thumb deep along the cracks. His thumb ran from her left shoulder, to her left collarbone, between her breasts, below her left breast, to her left side, and back up to her left shoulder.

The sound it made was the irresponsibly commonplace sound of a box opening. The skin surrounding the cracks opened like a panel.

“What?”

It looked like a piece of a sculpture and Flandre placed it below the table. It had been as soft as real skin before, but for some reason, it made a metallic sound.

“Surprised?”

It was a strange sight.

There was a lung-shaped hole in the left side of Klausl’s chest and a skeleton, gears, rims, and other objects made of different colors of metal were visible inside. It almost looked like a clock had been tied together with wire and stuffed inside a human body.

Also, it all moved, stretched, contracted, and pulsed with a rhythm much like the beating of a living creature’s heart.

The machine was alive.

“Look.”

Flandre pointed toward the left side of Klausl’s chest.

There was a red wooden gear there.

It was small enough to hide in the palm and it turned with a tempo much like a beating heart.

“I believe this gear is her heart,” said Flandre.

[[Image:City_v02_185.jpg|thumb]]

“Her heart?” asked Amon.

Flandre gave a deep nod.

“I can tell you about that later. More importantly, the left shoulder connector was damaged on the inside too. We’ll need to replace some parts in here.”

He then said something unbelievable.

“You fix her, young one.”

“…”

“Here, you’ll need this wrench first.”

When he saw the tool he was handed, Amon came to his senses and frantically shouted back.

“D-don’t be stupid! Why do I have to fix her!?”

“Because I’m ‘old and frail’. My fingers aren’t too steady anymore.”

Amon was speechless and Flandre smiled.

“Don’t worry. I’ll tell you what to do.”