86 - Volume 10 - Chapter 3.4

4

The Republic treated the Eighty-Six like machine parts, but even they knew better than to give combat orders to a squadron that had been reduced to a single Juggernaut. And so for the period until a new squadron was assigned, the Processor for that single Juggernaut—Shin—was left with nothing to do.

For the first few days, he hung around the maintenance crew since he’d decided that handling simple repairs for his rig wouldn’t be a bad skill to learn.

But then the Juggernauts for the next squadron showed up, and the maintenance crew became too busy with tuning and applying final touches to them. These were, after all, the Processors’ partners, which would function as their weapons and lifelines. So even if the Processors weren’t there yet, they couldn’t cut corners.

Touka told Shin to think of this as a vacation and just relax, but doing nothing made him restless. And so as a way of distracting himself, Shin went on a walk and stopped by an abandoned Republic base a good distance away.

Early on in the Legion War, the Republic military was wiped out, and the Republic evacuated into the eighty-five administrative Sectors. This base was abandoned at the time and overrun by lush foliage. Roosters that had long forgotten their fear and deference toward humans strutted around like they owned the place. Shin went through a gate that past Eighty-Six had busted open, and he entered the base’s concrete building.

He walked down the corridor that was by now familiar to him, with mice squeaking and skittering away as they fled from his approach. The place had been abandoned, but it served as a useful site for collecting preserved foods and small firearms… Places like these were where the Eighty-Six obtained pistols and rifles, which they were usually forbidden from possessing. But since the Republic soldiers didn’t do their jobs properly, they never checked or knew about this clear transgression.

Of course, the piles of rations had been whittled down after years of the war, but Shin soon found the ammunition box he was looking for and made to drag it out of its corner. But just then, he heard something metallic and heavy—no lighter than ten tonnes—noisily step through the warehouse.

“…?!”

Shin held his breath nervously and spun around. This had never happened before—the Legion never sneaked up on him or took him from behind like that! He slipped on the strap of his assault rifle and grasped its grip. He loaded the first bullet and prepared to aim the weapon…

…when he recalled that the Legion didn’t make footsteps.

Their high-fidelity actuators and shock absorbers allowed even Dinosauria, with their colossal weight of over one hundred tonnes, to move with the faint fluttering sound of bones rubbing against one another. In which case, the thing behind him…the thing he saw as he turned around was…

“Pi.”

…a charred, old-style Juggernaut.

“…”

An awkward silence settled over the place as the boy and the machine gawked at each other in the abandoned warehouse. Shin stood frozen and unsure of how to react as he stared into the round optical sensor.

He felt both relieved and tired all at once as he heaved a sigh.

“It’s you.”

The Scavenger he’d found and brought back from the last battle. It wobbled over to him with loud, clumsy footsteps, but Shin knew it couldn’t possibly answer him.

“There’s no sortie today, so you’re not ordered to follow me around. What are you doing here?”

“Pi.”

Scavengers weren’t equipped with a verbal-output feature, but apparently, that electronic beeping was its way of answering. It’d followed him here while disregarding its garbage-collection duties.

It turned its optical sensor about, looking restlessly around the warehouse with artificial yet somehow adorable movements, before settling its gaze on the crate of pistol bullets Shin had dropped when he’d held up his assault rifle. It then extended its crane arm, capable of picking up heavy 57 mm shells, and lifted the ammunition crate with ease.

The Scavengers’ role was to pick up shell fragments and machine wreckage from the battlefield and return them for recycling in the base’s automatic factory. Shin nearly raised his hand to stop it, but he paused halfway through and looked up at the large machine.

Apparently, it was thinking of bringing the crate back.

“Pi!”

It put the crate into its container with what felt like an enthusiastic, humorous sequence of movements.

“…Heh.” Shin was smiling before he knew it.

As he gazed into the optical sensor, he chuckled. The laughter just bubbled up within him, and as he let it surface, Shin wondered—how long had it been since the last time he’d laughed? It felt like it had been an eternity.

As he laughed aloud, he felt the corners of his eyes grow hot, and yet he pretended not to notice all the other emotions that wouldn’t run down his cheeks.

The Scavenger gazed at him wordlessly, like a faithful hound—which, again, made sense since it didn’t have a verbal-output feature—and Shin patted his hand on the machine’s flank, as one might do to a dog or a horse.

“If you’re going to carry stuff, I’ve got a lot of things I need to bring back. Help me out for a while.”

“Pi!”

As emotionless as it was, the Scavenger seemed to nod happily. Or at least, it moved its body up and down in an approximation of a nod. And once again, without him even noticing it, Shin curled his lips into a smile.

On top of the pistol and assault-rifle ammunition and spare parts, Shin stocked up on living ware, emergency rations, and canned food. Shin’s small body could only carry so much, but his reliable Scavenger loaded them into its container.

Shin returned to base while moving a bit more slowly so as to keep up with the sluggish Scavenger. He made his way back feeling slightly better than he did when he left, and he found Touka waiting for him in front of the hangar.

Seeing her fair features contorted in anger, Shin pursed his lips, feeling a bad premonition settle in. It looked like the Scavenger following him was shivering with fear somehow. He opened his canopy, and once he touched down on the ground, Touka parted her lips. Her pale features were stern, frightening, and indignant.

“Your change-of-ward order just came in.”