Black Bullet - Volume 1 - Chapter 4.2

2

Kisara added one thing after another using present progressive tense as the events were happening. According to what she said, at almost the same time the JNSC council room celebrated the defeat of the Kagetane pair, they received the report of the appearance of the Stage Five, and everyone’s faces paled.

The instant the nonstandard-size Gastrea’s head appeared in Tokyo Bay, missiles, poison gas, and torpedoes were fired, but the missiles and torpedoes barely scratched it, and those scratches healed in a second. The poison gas was a VX nerve gas, the worst known to man, but after taking in the gas, the Gastrea virus analyzed its components in a second and developed a resistance to it. The dependable Varanium armor-piercing ammunition was repelled by the Gastrea’s hard skin. Kisara ended by telling him that the people in the meeting room had fallen into a panic.

Rentaro looked from the port to the faraway horizon of Tokyo Bay. It was true that he could see light and hear soft sounds of explosions in the night. The battle had already begun.

From what she said, he gathered that Kisara had somehow been invited into the JNSC situation room. While they were talking, Rentaro could hear frantic screams and angry shouts arguing back and forth incessantly in the background behind her. It was probably only a matter of time before people started trying to run away.

“Is it all over for us? Is there no hope left of saving Tokyo Area?” Rentaro shut his eyes tightly and prayed as he waited for her answer.

Finally, she spoke, her voice with its usual dignity. “It’s too soon to give up. When I asked the Seitenshi if the plan I just came up with was physically possible, she said, ‘I daresay we can do it.’”

“We can survive…? H-how?”

“We can see you and Enju from here. You can see the answer if you look southeast.”

He turned his head in the direction she had given. Then he understood her plan and was taken aback. No way… It’s impossible, Kisara. There’s no way it’d work.

Two parallel rails 1.5 kilometers long stretched out and pierced the sky at an angle of elevation of about seventy degrees. From where he stood, thin clouds were in the way and he could not see through to the tip. A relic of the last stages of the Great Gastrea War, the massive weapon was completed but had not even been tested once before it was unavoidably abandoned and left to watch over the loss of the war. It was called the Stairway to Heaven.

It was also known as a Linear Electromagnetic Projectile Device. It was a railgun module that could accelerate and fire metal projectiles eight hundred millimeters or less in diameter at near light speed.

“You two are the closest to the target location. There’s no time to lose. You’re going to do it, Satomi.”

The electric lights of the facility turned on all at once as Rentaro and Enju approached. Using the power supply network from the mainland, it was the first time in ten years that they had been turned on. Because the thick power cables were securely shielded and buried underground, they did not suffer any damage from the Gastrea running wild aboveground and could still operate now, ten years later.

The facility sat atop a small mountain, and a deep forest spread around it. The pure white outer walls with spikes on top rose sternly to refuse entry, but unfortunately, it did not take into account the jumping powers of a girl with a Rabbit Factor. Enju quickly carried them over the wall, and they went inside.

From the air, Rentaro could see the whole facility for an instant. The giant base of the Stairway to Heaven that was propped up by supports was connected to a round object about a hundred meters in diameter, which was probably used to store power of some kind.

However, compared to the impressive railgun module, the adjoining research facility looked smaller even than the grounds of Rentaro’s school, Magata High. The mystery was soon solved when he looked at a map of the facility that had been sent to his phone. The facility stretched belowground like an ant nest, and the building that showed its face aboveground looked like it was just the tip of the iceberg.

“Satomi, hurry,” Kisara said from Rentaro’s cell phone.

Rentaro dashed inside the facility with Enju. Inside was a tangled, complicated maze, as though its designer had been afraid of guerrilla occupation. The room they were looking for was on the second floor of the basement. Following the map and Kisara’s guidance, Rentaro reached the middle computer room, panting.

The dome inside was spacious, with computers and other equipment set up around the room. On the front was a giant angled electroluminescent panel spread out, and surprisingly, even after being abandoned for ten years, there wasn’t a speck of dust accumulated on it.

Rentaro hurried to the control panel in the center of the room, stretched out the external connection terminal, and connected his cell phone. When it suddenly asked for a twenty-digit password, he was flustered, but Kisara’s clear voice over the phone did not show a moment’s hesitation.

He could hear other people’s voices behind Kisara. Apparently, in the midst of this confusion, Kisara had been made responsible for this plan. Which meant that the Seitenshi and everyone else present were probably staying back and relaying information to Kisara. The password went through easily and the green bars extended, completing the link. Transmissions between the facility and headquarters began.

“…the electricity supply from the unmanned transformer station underground looks good, and there are no irregularities with the power supply network, either. The vacuum flask for the liquid helium also looks good. This will work. We will carry out the launch sequence on our end.”

As they were getting a handle on the condition of the facility, Rentaro fidgeted nervously. Kisara’s voice was far away. On top of that, there were fewer transmission signal indicator bars showing up than he had expected. At first, he thought it was because of the large amount of data, but it seemed to be a problem with the signal. But why? A satellite phone was never out of area, so he didn’t know why the data would transfer so slowly. He had a bad feeling about this. If his connection to Kisara was cut off right now, it would be all over.

While all this was going on, an alert lamp lit up in the facility and a synthetic female voice echoed through the halls. “We will now commence the activation of the Linear Electromagnetic Projectile Device. Workers in the interlock portion of the superconductor flywheel power storage system should evacuate immediately. Sequence, moving to Phase One. We will now commence energy storage.”

There was a circular indicator displayed on the right side of the panel showing the percentage of energy stored. Even though Rentaro wasn’t touching anything, the touch-panel screen was tapped and flicked at dizzying speeds. Headquarters was controlling it remotely. A joystick stored in the housing of the control panel suddenly popped out, and movements of an invisible hand firmly pulled and pushed it. The rhythmical movements were like a car’s gear changes.

Rentaro swallowed. His skin pricked with the enthusiasm of the people on the other side of the phone with Kisara, and after all this time, he finally understood that this was not a lie or a joke, but that what was happening now was a critical moment for the survival of Tokyo Area.

Suddenly, a shock that made the earth reverberate assailed Rentaro and Enju from below, and they both staggered. Looking at the view on the front panel, he saw that the base of the Stairway to Heaven, which had been fixed at an angle of elevation of seventy degrees, had started to move slowly with a grinding sound. However, the movement was so slow that it made him want to go to the place himself and move it.

Finally maintaining a distance pretty much level with the ground, the feet of the two tripods installed on the lower parts of the long rails on the left and right were brought down with amazing speed into the ground, digging deep into the ground and leveling a hill as they stopped. In order to prepare for the recoil of the blast, the railgun dug itself in deep.

“Changing to online mode, linking data with satellite. Activating the CYCLOPS system. Showing target on the main monitor.”

Before long, the front of the three-sided panel changed, and seeing the zoomed-in image there, Rentaro almost had to look away. Just how many tens of thousands of species’ genes had been incorporated into that body? The Gastrea’s dark brown skin was cracked and had warts all over it that made it look like it had smallpox, and there were objects sticking out of it. Eight sickle-shaped barbs stuck out all over the grotesque body in random places—on the neck, head, right eye, and other places. Its head was swollen beyond strange, and something shaped like a curved beak projected out near its mouth. The remaining left eye was so small that it looked almost sad. On the screen was a horrifying giant walking on two legs.

Based on the scale, it was probably about four hundred meters tall. As it pushed its way through the ocean, it brushed off the flying missiles cutting through the night sky with its feelers. Smoke from the explosions scattered, and the ocean water near it evaporated. But Rentaro could not see anything that looked like damage.

Enju, gazing dumbfounded at the monitor, looked at Rentaro with a pale face. “R-Rentaro, what’s that?”

“A Stage Five,” said Rentaro, “also known as the Zodiac Gastrea: Scorpion. Ten years ago, it was one of the monsters that wreaked havoc on the world.”

It was originally used by the U.S. Department of Defense and the Japanese government as a code name to tell them apart, but before they knew it, it had become a household name that everyone used.

Rentaro made a tight fist and gazed at the repulsive angel of death. If a whale that swam in the ocean was brought onto land, it would die, crushed by the weight of its own body. It went without saying that the same should have been true for something with a frame many times the size of a whale’s.

Suddenly an unbelievable view came into sight. Just how tough was that Gastrea, such that it could support that vast body weight and still move? It was probably harder than anything else that existed on earth. There was no way an existing weapon could kill that. As the Scorpion suddenly stopped, the feelers all over its body stood straight up perpendicularly, and it pointed its giant beak toward the sky. The next instant, Rentaro cursed the fact that these facilities were equipped with a sound collection device.

“Hyooooooooooooooooooooo!!” It was a loud shriek of a monster that seemed to unnerve everyone working hard around Japan. An earthquakelike vibration shook the whole facility, and a cold sweat broke out all over Rentaro’s body. There was anger in that howl. The roots of his teeth clattered loudly. He didn’t even have a chance to scream.

“Did you hear that? Don’t lose focus, Satomi!” Rentaro came back to his senses with Kisara’s cry. Even Kisara could not completely eliminate the panic and irritation that were mixed into her voice. “Satomi, listen calmly. We’re in a bad situation. There’s no Varanium armor-piercing ammunition in the chamber.”

“Wh-what do you mean?” Rentaro asked.

“There’s nothing that can be shot out of that railgun! In other words, it prob…can’t be used…like that. S…plea…secu…it……self……” Suddenly, Kisara’s voice became so faraway that he couldn’t tell what she was saying. Not knowing what was going on, Rentaro pressed the phone harder to his ear.

“Kisara? Kisara?! What’s wrong? Hey, Kisara!” Glancing left and right, he looked suddenly at the control panel and stared at the screen. All the blood suddenly left his face. The indicator bars that had been steadily showing their wireless data transmission had come to a complete stop. The data transmission had been interrupted.

“Right now, we can’t enter anything remotely… The transmission is probably…being affected…the supermagne… The rest is up…to yo…Satomi……” Even as she was breaking up, he could pick up what she was trying to say.

Rentaro clutched the cell phone in his hand like his life depended on it and screamed. “Kisara! No, Kisara! Stop! Please stop! I can’t do it. Don’t leave me alone!”

“Satom…… The world…depen……… please…”

There was static, and then their call was cut off. Rentaro gazed at his cell phone with unbelieving eyes. He was suddenly enveloped with chills. But this was not the end of the terrible situation.

Suddenly, a piercing alert echoed, and when he looked up, the status screen on the left panel seemed to be red with rage. “Coolant leak in power storage system confirmed. Please abort experiment immediately. I repeat—Coolant…”

On top of that, the synthesized voice said, “Fire-control system UNTAC is not activated. Please reactivate it or abort the experiment.”

“Railgun firing angle, eleven degrees above ground level. Energy eighty-eight percent filled.”

Rentaro forced himself to take deep breaths and calm down. He couldn’t let this abort now. He didn’t know how much the coolant leak would affect the firing, but looking at the status screen, it was only leaking slightly. He could probably shoot once.

But at the same time, he knew if he missed, he would not have another chance. He prepared himself. Opening his clenched fist, he checked to make sure he could move all five fingers.

He stretched his black artificial arm straight out in front of him and narrowed his fingers into the shape of an arrowhead. With his left hand, he felt around behind his humerus, where his triceps would have been, and pushing a button he found there, his arm turned counterclockwise and popped out. The connection whirred and came loose, and Rentaro’s right arm came off from the elbow down.

Rentaro stared for a while at the nerve connector terminal, insulation, shock absorber, and other parts in the cross section of the arm. Finally, he opened the universal bolt connected to the chamber next to the control panel. Rentaro then set his disconnected right arm into it and pushed the LOCK button. His right arm was sent to the chamber and locked into place.

“Rentaro, don’t tell me you…?” Enju said, her voice trailing off.

“Yeah, I’m using my right arm as a bullet,” said Rentaro. “Super-Varanium should be good enough.”

As if approving of Rentaro’s sacrifice, the composition analysis results were displayed. This material would be able to withstand up to five percent below light speed.

“Still no response from the fire-control system. Switching to manual trigger control system. Energy one hundred percent filled. Ready to shoot.”

Another joysticklike object came out of the control panel. All this stick had was a trigger like that of a gun. Rentaro prayed as he gripped it hard.

The indicator flickered one hundred percent on the screen. The whole facility shook with the powerful energy of a mass of billions of tesla volts of energy looking for an exit. The fire-control system that allowed for automatic aiming to hit the target was not responding, which meant that Rentaro would have to manually hit the target.

He couldn’t do it.

Rentaro squeezed his eyes shut. There were almost fifty kilometers between this facility on Boso Peninsula and the target in Tokyo Bay. In the world of shooting, where hitting a target a kilometer away was already considered a miracle, even if the target was large, how was he supposed to hit it from fifty kilometers away? Manually, he didn’t even have a fraction of a percentage of a chance of hitting it.

The panel showed the Scorpion trying to land in Tokyo Bay, with a firing line rushing at it as the battle with the self-defense force at the water’s edge progressed. Beyond them was the line of jet-black Monoliths standing silently to protect Tokyo.

At that moment, the Scorpion shot out one especially long sickle-shaped feeler and mowed down all the artillery batteries and missile silos crowded around the coast of the bay at once. Dense clouds of sand and rocks were stirred up and Rentaro could tell that the state of the war was starting to take a dire turn for the worse. Replaying the Scorpion’s hate-filled war cry in his head, he gripped the joystick so hard it almost broke. He wiped the sweat from his hand holding the joystick on his clothes.

The coolant loss alert was annoyingly shrill in his ears. It was as if it was urging him saying, Hurry up, hurry up.

He heard a ragged sigh come from his own throat that sounded like that of a wounded animal and clenched his teeth. He could not let that organism step on the land of Tokyo Area. If he quit here, what in the world had he been fighting for this whole time?!

Do it! Do it! You can do it, Rentaro Satomi!

The tips of his fingers seemed like they had solidified and wouldn’t move. Rentaro finally fell to his knees, still clinging to the joystick. “It’s no use……… I can’t do it. I’m……”

He wanted to run away.

Suddenly, a small hand was placed on top of Rentaro’s. Surprised, he looked next to him, where Enju was looking at Rentaro with an unusually kind expression on her face. “Rentaro, I am here.”

His mouth was parched. The corners of his eyes felt hot, and looking down, he hugged Enju and squeezed hard. “If this misses, it’s the end for us.”

“It won’t miss. You can do it.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Of course it’s impossible. First of all, how can you believe in a weapon that was inactive for ten years that never even had a test run? One wrong step and the bullet could shoot toward Tokyo Area and cause an unprecedented disaster there.”

“But you can do it.”

“How can you always say such irresponsible things? I’m…”

Enju suddenly brought her face so close they almost bumped heads. She focused on him with her eyes wide and bit her lip. “I have not said a single irresponsible thing. It is what I always think. You are the only one who can save this world. No one else but you, Rentaro.”

Rentaro was surprised and covered his mouth. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath to calm himself. “Enju…I definitely don’t want to lose you.”

The tension left Enju’s tense body and, at peace from the bottom of her heart, she closed her eyes and put her arm around Rentaro’s neck. “Don’t worry. I love you, too.”

Her body felt so hot he thought he would be burned, but he also felt relief like being wrapped in down. He didn’t know how long they stayed like that. Suddenly, Enju let out a strange sound and pressed in on Rentaro’s face. “Rentaro, let us be clear. I can interpret what you said just now as a proposal, right?”

“Uh………………. D-d-dummy! Of course it just means I like you. Interpret it in a familial way! What does a ten-year-old kid have to say about love, anyway? Besides, before you can even think about feelings, the law says…”

Enju looked dissatisfied as she stared at Rentaro with the corners of her mouth turned down. “Then, do you love Kisara?”

Rentaro gave a start. “Don’t say that……!”

Enju thrust a victory peace sign in front of Rentaro’s nose. “Two years. Within two years, I shall make you like me more than Kisara!”

Rentaro smiled wryly and scratched his head. “When you’re twelve and I’m eighteen, huh? The older I get, the more criminal it seems, doesn’t it?”

“I can’t wait longer than that.”

“Okay, okay, I get it. I expect a lot from you.”

Enju smiled faintly and slowly peeled her body away from his. “Are you still scared…?”

Rentaro looked at the palm of his own hand and was strangely moved. The trembling had stopped. Rentaro closed his eyes. “No… Thanks. Give me your hand. We’re gonna end this.”

Lifting his face, he looked at the panel. He even felt pity for the raging Scorpion.

Sorry we made up a name for you. But I can’t die yet.

The energy that was about to run wild earlier had started shaking like an earthquake right below them.

Rentaro gripped the joystick again, and Enju put her hand on top. They put their fingers on the trigger together.

Rentaro closed his eyes. Strangely, he felt good. He felt like he couldn’t miss. “Enju.”

“Yeah,” she said.

They slowly pulled the trigger.

He felt so light and comfortable that it would be a disservice to compare it to floating. He lost all sense of time.

Finally, everything was enveloped in light, like a blessing.