Fifteen hours after laying down on the cold table, a blue light on the ceiling signals Emi is fully charged. Heavy from the drug-enhanced sleep, her eyelids open lazily. Queen Bee’s voice is soothing, until the words begin to register. “You have survived another twenty-four hours. Interest Accrued: 48,380.7672. Average Viewers: 69. Followers Gained: 6. Favorites: 1. Popularity Ranking: 60,288. Bonus Applied: ￥1,000. Balance: -￥100,849,846.”
Baka! Why is the interest so high?
“Interest Accrued: 48,380.7672. Interest Rate: 0.002% per hour.”
How much interest was added during the time it took me to get the bonus yesterday?
“100,793,265 times 0.002% equals 2,015.8653.”
It cost me a thousand yen to get the bonus.
“1,015.8653. And created an enemy out of a man willing to volunteer for Hachijo Prison.”
Baka! What’s the point of doing what the voters…what the voter wants at this point?
“Most successful business endeavors must first spend money to make money later.”
Huh?
“Keep your viewers happy. One is better than zero.”
You mean entertain them.
“As best you can, while you have them, whatever the cost.”
As if hearing a command programmed to awaken him, Nygil’s voice is too precise to be anything but artificial. “Recharge rates are one-hundred yen for one percent. You won’t find anyone cheaper, so don’t bother sleeping around.”
Emi suddenly is up and alert, remembering the reason—other than spending nearly ￥10,000 recharging her health—she came in here. She lunges for RatBoy, which is a slur she uses for traitors, grabs him by the throat and shoves him with more force than is normal for a human female body to exert. Sparks fly from his back when it slams against the stack of servers that he cares for like a mother should her child. She’s too angry to notice her increased strength or consider the value of the contents kept within the wall.
He speaks like all systems are normal, as if no one is throwing a temper-tantrum in his operating room. “You found some clothing to cover your wiring…a waste of effort, but job well done all the same. What further can I assist you with Inmate Number 392689?”
She smiles, blood that spilled from her mouth in the recharging process staining her teeth, and points at the gaps where her canines should be. “First time I didn’t wake up in this room with something missing, Doctor.”
“I am not a doctor—"
Queen Bee speaks in Emi’s head, muffling his continued explanation of the education and training requirements that differentiate a cyberneticist from a medical doctor. “Bonus opportunity available: When confronting Nygil, Seek Empathy.”
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.
Emi loosens her grip on his central wire, moves him to his chair and points at the screen where her thoughts are displayed as commands. I miss my old teeth. What happened to them?
“Teeth whitening is only ￥200. I will be happy to prov—"
She pokes her head in front of the screen, sticks her tongue through one of the holes, drawing his attention to the missing fang. You know exactly what I am talking about.
“You must be more precise in your language.”
She moves back, clearing the way for him to see her thoughts. How much longer do you estimate the empathy path to take compared to threatening to rip out his wiring?
“Information unavailable.”
Nygil, these teeth were my mother’s. When she died, they were all I had left of her. And they were my first blades as an assassin; they still carry the DNA of every kill I ever made. Without them, I have no rank, no power…I have nothing.
Nygil replies with his complete lack of emotional intelligence on full display. “Even if you had your missing blades, though I recall their sharpness, cutting through my chrome skeleton would prove a difficult process.”
Emi has her answer: Seeking empathy will never yield results.
“That is because I did not take them, Inmate Number—”
What’s his mental state?
Queen Bee is as calm as the one Emi is threatening to threaten. “If you’re asking if RatBoy is telling you the truth, the answer is no, not completely.”
"Who is RatBoy?"
RatBoy doesn’t feel the need to close his eyes when a second surge of adrenaline fueled by her anger and powered by her enhancements lifts him from the chair and sends him stumbling toward the operating table. His chrome legs meet the metal slab and send him face first, eyes open wide, onto it with a loud thud.
“Bonus opportunity failed.”
Emi yanks the handsaw, which is often used for removing both broken and fully functioning body parts, from the operating cart and presses the blade to Nygil’s throat.
Queen Bee speaks from the loudspeaker, as if wanting to separate herself from the actions of her assigned user. “It’s not plugged in.”
Emi grabs the power chord hanging from the saw, jabs it into one of the ports in her side and gives the trigger a short squeeze that sends the blade spinning a few hundred times.
“Health: 99%.”
Nygil removes his head from the metal pillow that seems to have memory of the shape of his head. “That was a one-hundred-yen non-threat.”
Gotta spend money to make money.
Nygil’s unchanged expression nods at the sharp blade, the main tool of his trade. “That will never cut through me.”
Want to test that theory?
“It is a fact; I have tested it.”
Is that supposed to make me feel sorry for you?
“What are feelings?”
Fluttering in the electricity moving through your circuitry.
“I can perform diagnostics to identify your faulty wiring for just ￥5,000.”
Emi hops to Nygil’s wall of processors, the power cord swinging beside her like she carries a jump rope loose in her taupe pocket, starts the blade spinning.
He starts to move forward—these processors hold her data, not his. After all his effort, it would be a shame to see his work disappear so soon...and before he has even received a single payment. So, he tells her what she wants to hear. “I didn’t take them, but I know who did.”
Where do I find them?
A large red triangle with a tail leading from it pops into her eyes.
Queen Bee sounds like she was starting to enjoy the show and is saddened to see it ending so soon. “Level 1 Final Boss Identified. Main Objective Updated: I Need a Weapon. Waypoint added.”
Why’s the waypoint flashing?
“I cannot wait for the tutorial to be over; you are such a slow learner.”
Impersonating my father again?
She sighs. “A flashing waypoint means someone is in the same room as the objective. They are teeth; he could be wearing them.”
You’re wrong, it’s not a ‘he’.
“Contrary to the myths about the tooth fairy popularized by the capitalists after the lucrative burning of Japan, men are statistically more likely to steel teeth from the mouths of sleeping children.”
In my experience, it’s never men who do the stealing. She moves to door, Nygil’s handsaw still docked in her sideport where a rib bone once hung. It’s a rat we hunt.
Nygil’s squeaking voice steals the moment. “Technically, you’re the ones heading into a trap.”
Which outfit in her inventory should Emi equip to take on the Level 1 Final Boss (and take back her stolen fangs)? Warning: This will be the outfit Emi wears for the remainder of Level 1 and the first mission of Level 2.
