HEAVY OBJECT:Volume12 Chapter 6

Status: Incomplete

2/9 parts completed

   

Day 6

Part 1

“Hey, if we’re gonna do this, let’s borrow a really nice one. Look, there’s a cruiser designed by an F1 maker.”

They felt like pirates.

Quenser and the others set out into the dark sea in one of the private possessions of Veneto Dandelion, the man who had sold god’s love.

It was just past two in the morning.

“There’s a party set in the fridge. There’s tons of ham, olives, and cheese, so it’s all perfect to go with some drinks.”

“Don’t grab the alcohol itself. We’ll be rocked by the waves all the way back and you’ll get a nice greeting from Frolaytia’s iron fist if you return to base smelling of alcohol.”

“I guess we’ll have to save that to use as an offering to that busty commander. What a waste. There’s some that aged for 20 years in a sherry cask! It’s clearly a Legitimacy Kingdom product. We’re taking back artwork stolen by an enemy nation, so why don’t we get a chance to enjoy it!?”

“Oh, there’s a big fishing set too. Looks like it’s for trolling.”

“Now that’s more constructive. Can you catch tuna around here?”

“Think I can catch something?” asked Evans as he quickly began attaching some of the food as bait and casting the thick wires out into the dark ocean. As long as the boat was moving, the electric reels would lure the fish in and reel them in on their own, so it was quite convenient.

Static ran through the ship’s radio.

“There it is,” said Heivia as he bit into some of the chilled chicken.

A moment later, a familiar voice arrived over the device.

“You, civilian ship, stop right there! Oh ho ho. The route to Second Venice is currently off limits in accordance with an Information Alliance military-…bffh!? Wh-what!? But you…? How did you get out there!?”

Blinding light danced through the air.

A mountain-like silhouette appeared in the darkness. Large floodlights shined down from it. These were far more than theatre spotlights. They could not even open their eyes or tell which direction led to Second Venice.

“Damn, my head hurts. My temples are burning. This is a real pain, so you deal with that lonely girl, Quenser.”

Heivia grimaced, removed the radio’s wired microphone from the hook, and tossed it to Quenser.

The student scratched at his head as he spoke into it.

“Sorry, sorry. I know it’s wrong to cheat, but this bastard in my pants just won’t take no for an answer. All I did was take a quick trip over to my mistress’s place and it’s getting late, so could you maybe open up the front door for me?”

One of the rapid-fire beam Gatling cannons opened fire and water vapor exploded near the cruiser.

“Do you want to diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiie!?”

Without thinking, Quenser removed the microphone from his mouth and voiced his surprise.

“She forgot to say ‘oh ho ho’.”

“Do you not understand at all how a girl’s heart works!?”

For some reason, Myonri snapped back at him even though she was supposed to be on his side.

“So in this scenario, who’s the wife?” Heivia sounded fed up with it all. “The Princess? Or maybe cute Catherine?”

“Catherine’s my little sister, you creep!!”

“Why are you questioning my sense, you pervert!?”

“Bh, kh, kh… How much…how much do you have to humiliate me before you’re satisfied, Legitimacy Kingdom? This is information warfare on the level of sneaking into a strictly guarded summit meeting room, leaving behind a plastic bottle instead of a bomb, taking a picture, and revealing it to the world to mock our inadequate security. And you chose the Information Alliance as your opponent!?”

“Hey, you idiot. She’s getting worked up in a weird direction now.”

“M-Miss Oh Ho Ho? Isn’t it about time you played your latest bewitching Idol Elite music video to give us guys some hopes and dreams?”

Quenser tried to make a course correction in a coaxing voice, but it was too late.

A dull sound rumbled through the late night sea and the giant silhouette began to move. Even with the powerful light shining on them, they could not overlook such extreme motion. The two rapid-fire beam Gatling cannons were correcting their aim. They were clearly targeting the cruiser as it moved quickly along the ocean. They could tell all too well that the cannons were slowly turning to match their movement.

The cruiser’s speed had exceeded 100 kph as it seemed to skip along the waves, but that meant nothing if the amphibious Second Generation locked onto them. They could not escape an Object if it was serious about destroying them.

But Quenser and the others were not actually given a watery grave.

The battlefield underwent a change.

It started with an unpleasant sound reminiscent of gas bubbles in a rotting marsh.

The Rush’s various floodlights scattered and then focused on something other than the cruiser. They focused on the very center of the change. Countless air bubbles rose to the surface, creating an area of white in the dark sea. To Quenser, it looked like a jellyfish rivalling a small island in size.

But that was not what this was.

Something appeared as it broke through the dark sea of death.

It was the undead skull that had overcome death several times before supposedly being sunk by the Old Fashion.

It had a single coilgun on the front, four long floats that stretched back behind it, and bug-like legs that spread out to the sides.

Quenser groaned its name.

“The Zombie Object… The Faith Organization’s Lizard Tail!?”

As soon as it appeared, the Rush mercilessly opened fire with her two rapid-fire beam Gatling cannons.

Part 2

As a strategy, it was overwhelmingly correct.

Before the enemy Object could get up to combat speed, the Rush fired its main cannons over and over. A normal Object would have been helplessly destroyed.

But the Lizard Tail was not a normal Object.

This was the Zombie Object. It did not fear destruction and it even built up its legend of immortality each time it was destroyed.

So it did not even try to dodge.

With a roar a lot like rain pouring down on a thin metal roof, the armor surface danced madly about like the katsuobushi on top of the Island Nation style of pizza known as an okonomiyaki. The energy that should have gathered as a beam weapon was randomly dispersed and the damage could not reach the inside.

“Dammit, it’s just a bad match!! Lasers and beam weapons can’t defeat that zombie!!”

“Whose side are you on, Quenser? Who cares if the Information Alliance and Faith Organization kill each other?”

“That thing hijacks the defeated Object and uses the firepower for itself! If Oh Ho Ho is defeated, that main cannon will target us next!!”

“What!? That’s just scary! Hurry up and do something about it!!”

Frightened Heivia continued to guide the cruiser toward Second Venice as quickly as possible, but no matter how far they fled, they were still right in front the Objects which could move at 500 kph.

“Do something? But what can I do against something that doesn’t stop even after you kill it?”

As a habit, Quenser ended up kneading some Hand Axe in his hand, but he could not even picture what kind of shape would be useful here. Even if he sliced the thing in half or blew it to smithereens, he could only imagine it crawling back up from the abyss. He was not even sure it had a cockpit and reactor. Those weak points logically had to be there, but after seeing it killed before his eyes so many times, he started imagining it had some kind of occult power. And that may have been a very Faith Organization way of thinking.

As Quenser hesitated, he realized the plastic explosive was turning into a 1/8 scale version of the G-cup idol. He was even using the fountain pen and paper knife he found in the cruiser to recreate the face and ringlet curls.

Meanwhile, Myonri commented on the battle between the Rush and the Lizard Tail.

“Hmm. If there’s no way to defeat the zombie, maybe we should defeat the Rush first. If we’re afraid of its main cannon being hijacked, it might be best to destroy that main cannon ourselves…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“Ah!? …N-no, I didn’t mean it, everyone. That was just a clever joke to get a discussion started. It’s a thought experiment where you eliminate the impossible ideas first until you can start to see the outline of a successful idea! I can’t have you taking me seriously!! Tee hee! Smile☆”

Myonri frantically waved her hands back and forth in front of the guys who began arguing with each other: “This might not be the same as listing ‘education history, bloodline, and salary’ as her first three factors for deciding who to marry, but the reality in a girl’s mind can be enough to send a shiver down my spine.” “Isn’t that a lot like saying we should behead the survivors now to prevent more zombies later?” “Stop it. React to that kind of phrase and you’ll get some female company president in London yelling at you.”

Myonri may have only made the comment because she was so exhausted.

(But if we were really going to do it, how would we?)

Quenser gulped as he looked to the Lizard Tail illuminated by the floodlights. It used a design philosophy of deflecting damage instead of dodging attacks, so that Zombie Object was not unharmed. It could not fully deflect the rapid-fire beam Gatling cannons, so its spherical main body had lines torn across it like the stitches on Frankenstein’s monster.

It also had the giant holes from the Baby Magnum’s low-stability plasma cannon and the Old Fashion’s compressed metal cannon. It had damage in more places than not, so it was creepy seeing it moving around like that. If the reactor and cockpit were located somewhere other than the center, where were they? Quenser was reminded of the magic trick where someone got inside a large box while swords were stabbed in from the outside.

“Wait. Could it be…?”

In most of those box magic tricks, the assistant would actually escape outside the box before the swords were stabbed inside. There might be stairs to climb out the top or a space hidden below it with mirrors.

In that Zombie Object’s case…could it be in the ocean?

Could a thick power cable and a communications cable for piloting extend down into the ocean where the cockpit and reactor had escaped to safety? If a wire was dangling down like that, it would get dragged along during the high-speed movement and might rise up above the surface. But he just had to look at the fishing lines extending behind the cruiser. If the wire was attached to the end of the shark anchor reaching far down below, it would still be around a dozen meters below the surface even when stretched out horizontally.

Quenser grabbed the microphone to the ship radio.

“Listen, Oh Ho Ho. Fire a few of your secondary cannons into the ocean! If that zombie bastard overreacts, then there’s some secret in the dark ocean!!”

“You dare speak to me after treating this world-class idol like a runner up!?”

She complained, but she swiftly complied.

The secondary cannons on the Rush’s side poured a barrage down toward the ocean around the Lizard Tail instead of at the Zombie Object itself. Even though the thick seawater slowed the shells down, they would be plenty destructive at around a dozen meters down. They could easily tear apart any cables unprotected by armor.

But…

“Ho…ho ho. It didn’t respond at all, you moron!!”

“Hmm. Then I guess that isn’t it…”

“That is no way to treat me!!”

Quenser was too lost in thought to listen to Oh Ho Ho’s protests.

Lowering the cockpit and reactor and then reeling them back in if the enemy caught on had seemed like a good idea, but it must not have been the answer. It looked like the Lizard Tail’s weakness really was inside the spherical main body.

“Come to think of it…”

“I refuse to help you any further! Oh ho ho. No matter what!!”

“The Lizard Tail floated up out of the ocean, didn’t it? …But how did it do that? An Object weighs 200,000 tons and it’s filled with onion armor, so it shouldn’t be able to float.”

“I-ignoring me only makes it worse!!”

“That lady-killer is manipulating her pretty well,” commented Heivia. “Anyway, doesn’t it just have some kind of spare part? Like a float. Just before fully surfacing, it probably cut it away.”

“But then the buoyancy would come from the spare part. It would be floating around here somewhere.”

Myonri leaned out and shined the large signal light around, but there was nothing evident in the dark ocean. Lifting the 50 meter Object would take something quite large, so they would not simply overlook it.

“Does the Zombie Object itself act as a float?” asked Evans with a frown. “Maybe it puffs out like a blowfish.”

“We’re getting closer and closer to a zombie now. Blowfish poison was used to make zombie powder, right?”

“This thing is connected to the Greek sect, so I doubt that’s related. But it’s not a bad idea. If it isn’t using some kind of spare part, it means the zombie itself floated up. And the fastest way to gain buoyancy is to fill it with a ton of air. That’s true of swim rings and nuclear subs alike.”

“Wait, you mean…?”

“That’s why no one can hit the cockpit or reactor no matter how much they shoot it. And even if those are main cannons blasts, it was weird that they blew open those giant holes so easily.”

In other words…

“That spherical main body is hollow. I bet the reactor and cockpit are made so they can move freely around inside.”

It was a bold theory.

It was so bold that it took some time for Heivia, Myonri, and Evans to catch up.

“Hold it. Then what are you saying? That the Zombie Object is like a hamster running around in a ball!?”

“If anything, the spherical main body probably has a ton of protrusions on the inside that the small gear-shaped reactor and cockpit use to move around with the interlocking teeth. We’ll know soon enough. We need to focus on the Lizard Tail’s movements.”

Myonri was the first to notice.

She spotted a moment when the Zombie Object made an especially sharp turn.

“H-huh? Can it really turn that quickly? That looked like it had more to do with a misplaced center of gravity than the air cushion engine.”

“You’re probably right. By shifting the positions of the ‘weights’ inside during a turn, it can intentionally alter its center of gravity. That allows movements that a normal Object couldn’t pull off. And with most of the inside being hollow, its overall weight is a lot lower too. With that much power, it’s probably harder to keep the entire Object from hopping up when it moves at full speed.”

Even if the weak point could freely move within the spherical main body, the Zombie Object’s main purpose was to shift its weak point to avoid any real damage. Without the ability to make quick movements, one lucky hit could sink it.

It was an expert at taking advantage of its own damage. By intentionally allowing a hit while shifting its weak point out of the way, it could finish off its opponent before they could move again. This risky Second Generation was always a step away from death.

“So it makes a show of being immortal?” Heivia gulped. “Is that really so attractive, Faith Organization? The Pilot Elite is clearly wearing away their own life.”

“It’s exactly what you would expect from them. A release from the fear of death is a standard religious idea. That’s the whole point of heaven and reincarnation.”

An immortal soldier that could return to the front line no matter how many times they were defeated had always been an excellent way of increasing the fighting spirit of one’s troops. That seemed to damage their score, but it was still effective at providing courage for the people. It may have had an overwhelming charisma different than an Object that reigned supreme and unscathed.

If it could continue coming home alive, then people would believe in miracles on the battlefield. And they would believe that the son they sent off to war would also return.

The zombie quickly rotated around in search of living flesh.

And its target was of course Quenser and the others on the cruiser heading toward Second Venice.

“Shit! It’s targeting us first!?”

“But why!? Does the Lizard Tail have any reason to go after us first!?”

“Because we have the Argeiphontes antidote?”

“But why start now, Evans? And either way, the deadly mold can’t spread to the whole world with the blockade around the infection base. Surely it isn’t still thinking of burning Second Venice to the ground so the scorched corpses carry the mold back to their families…”

Even as Quenser suggested it, he was rejecting the idea.

After all…

“But then why did it surface here? If it could make a surprise attack from the bottom of the ocean, why didn’t it get as close to Second Venice as possible to attack the city where the Rush couldn’t interfere?”

“It almost seemed to be waiting for us, didn’t it?”

“War isn’t always about efficiency. It might have been nothing more than a personal grudge. Remember that…what was his name? Anyway, that Hermes Pharmaceuticals trash whose legs we broke in the attack on the Olive Garden. If he has a connection to the zombie, I wouldn’t be surprised if he ordered it to take revenge.”

Their speculation was fine, but the most pressing problem was the fact that they were being targeted with pinpoint accuracy by a Second Generation Object. The Lizard Tail was designed for close-range battles, but it was not made to attack tiny cruisers. The Rush stood in its way, but that Object would be destroyed if it took all of the shells, including main cannon shells, meant for the cruiser. Plus, the Information Alliance Second Generation was not obligated to protect the Legitimacy Kingdom idiots.

Thus, the Rush escaped horizontally away from a main cannon blast.

Immediately afterwards, a barrage of smaller shells poured down toward the cruiser like rain.

“Dwah!?”

The Zombie Object may not have accurately locked onto them, but just one coilgun shell falling nearby would be enough. It would form a frightening wave which would capsize the racing cruiser. They did not even have time to think about turning the helm to recover.

“Dammit, jump out!!”

“No, not the booze aged for 20 years in a sherry caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaask!!”

There was nothing they could do.

As soon as the four idiots jumped into the dark ocean, one of the randomly falling metal shells supplied a finishing blow to the cruiser. The wreckage erupted like a volcano, one of the wooden planks hit Quenser, and he experienced one of the double jumps he had thought only existed in games.

“Agfrbaehah!!”

Except it slammed into his back and he started seeing an angel.

By the time he realized the angel veiled in light was unexpectedly macho, quite hairy, and had a butt chin, he came to in the dark ocean.

“Uooaaaaaahh!? Y-you’re kidding!! If you’re going to come for me, at least make the angel a beautiful woman!!”

“You didn’t know, Quenser? Most angels are androgynous. Gabriel is apparently the only one clearly described as a woman.”

“Seriously? Now I can see why people fall into depravity. All the demons are really sexy.” Quenser sounded annoyed. “Anyway, what do we do? I doubt that was it for the zombie bastard. It’ll attack us as soon as the Rush gives it an opening. And we’ll be turned into fish food next time.”

“Why is it even attacking us over the Rush? That threat assessment order is way off.”

“Um, do you think it has to do with this?”

Everyone reacted to Myonri’s words.

She held some kind of paper soaked with seawater. In fact, papers were floating all around the wreckage of the cruiser. It was more than just five or ten pages.

“What? Where did all this come from?”

“The cruiser may have had a hidden safe. And given who owned it…”

“Veneto Dandelion. So are these secret Hermes Pharmaceuticals documents?”

How much Hermes had to do with this was still a mystery.

They had developed the Argeiphontes that provided the toxicity for the deadly mold and they provided a lot of financial support for the Faith Organization’s Kerukeion special forces that had been working in secret in Second Venice’s infection base. Since the Lizard Tail had entered Second Venice via the asteroid to support Kerukeion, it was likely connected to Hermes as well.

But why would Hermes Pharmaceuticals want to spread the deadly mold carrying Argeiphontes?

They were the only ones with an antidote, so a worldwide pandemic might prove profitable, but it was already known that Hermes had developed the Argeiphontes. Everyone would know who was behind it, so they would be unable to profit from it. In fact, repeating the same disaster was more likely to destroy them beyond recovery this time.

Not to mention that Quenser’s group had been handed a card with something like 3D printer designs rather than the antidote itself. That suggested that Hermes was not prepared to mass produce it.

In that case, their goal was a mystery.

Did Veneto Dandelion actually hold a grudge against Hermes Pharmaceuticals, so he wanted to see the corporation crash and burn? If they were setting aside that sort of self-destructive desire, there was no apparent reason for this master plan.

But the documents about to tear apart from the seawater were on an entirely different level.

They said the following:

“Level 6. A pessimistic report from Hermes’s Secret Division concerning the development of Pilot Elites and how to handle the fast approaching upper limits of human evolution.”