Editing HEAVY OBJECT:Volume7 Chapter 1 (section)

===Part 12===

There was a proper way to go about reconnaissance.

And Quenser, Heivia, and the others did not have the proper equipment.

So…

“Who would have thought we would get our equipment at their black market?”

“I kind of think it’s our own fault.”

They bought military reconnaissance equipment centered on parabolic microphones and laser bugging devices. They also made sure to negotiate them all down to half the asking price. Unlike normal souvenir shops, the night was the busiest time for the black market. The hot night produced an odd passion in people which intertwined with the heat and filled the air with an oppressive atmosphere that permeated one’s body.

“I’m burning up… I thought the desert was supposed to be cold at night.”

“This area is filled with concrete, so it gathers heat like an urban heat island.”

“All these lights are outdated incandescent bulbs and everyone’s using diesel generators. I wonder if that’s adding to it.”

Quenser was in charge of haggling.

He was knowledgeable about machines and had a better sense of what things were worth due to his life as a commoner.

“I’m afraid of running into one of those Black Uniform women who were sent to the maintenance base. If they found out about this, they’d shoot us on the spot without bothering with a court martial.”

“How about we buy some uniforms, too? They have Information Alliance and Capitalist Corporations ones here.”

“Be my guest. But if anyone finds out, it’ll cause an international incident. Personally, I’m not gonna start a war.”

As a drunk was beaten by some of the shop owners for using shoddy counterfeit money, they bought some bottles of cider and other drinks stuck in a cooler of ice and received a radio transmission from Sewax.

They had asked Myonri and Sewax to gather some general information ahead of time.

“In an unstable country like this, the currencies of safe countries are popular. It’s a bit frustrating that the Capitalist Corporations’ dollars are better received than the Legitimacy Kingdom’s euros, but I got some interesting information.”

“Damn, it’s gone flat.”

“What?”

“Just talking to myself,” said Heivia evasively. “So did you come across some bottom-level member of the criminal organization?”

“I didn’t go that far. I talked with some of the people working in the rubble called the Mouth of Truth. To help the country recover, a few of the docks at the international harbor are opened to the general public, but it seems one of them is being monopolized by a shell corporation. If they were transporting something they wanted to hide, they wouldn’t need to do that.”

“Do you have any proof the corpse extras are being shipped out there?”

“Not if ordering a few dozen more fast food hamburgers than usual doesn’t qualify as proof. It seems they also carried in a bunch of water and salt.”

Heivia and Quenser exchanged a glance.

“So once they’ve eaten, they get stuffed in a container for the long cruise?”

“If they just stuff in them in like that, will they really make it to the destination?”

“That depends on where they’re being sent,” replied Sewax. “My guess is half would die during the first two weeks and a tenth of the survivors would die off each day afterwards.”

That guess was anything but funny.

The criminal organization was not selling cheap laborers or toys for perverts. They were selling extras to play the role of corpses. Selling them alive would be best, but they could be sold at a reduced price if they were frozen after they died. When a corpse was gruesomely roasted, you didn’t have to worry about rigor mortis or anything like that. It was possible an autopsy wouldn’t even be performed.

“I also got my hands on a map of the harbor. I have a few guesses where the ‘products’ will be loaded, but I don’t know for sure. We need to go see for ourselves.”

“Well, we can’t use the military satellite without restriction,” said Heivia.

“We know the shortest course, so having to take such a roundabout route is just plain exhausting,” added Quenser.

Each time the two boys bought another piece of junk, they crossed off another item on their list.

“It looks like we’ll be able to get everything we need. Is there anything you want us to get outside of the standard reconnaissance equipment?” they asked Sewax.

“A beautiful blonde, a barrel of sherry, brandy that’s at least eight years old, cigars without any unnecessary filters, and a villa with a pool,” said Sewax perfectly casually. “Oh, and a bow and arrow set.”

“?”