Sasaki and Peeps - Volume 6 - Chapter 6

<Home and Family>

Leaving the mountains of Chichibu, we headed straight for Karuizawa. After explaining everything that had happened to Miss Hoshizaki, she’d told us she wanted to see her little sister first, so that’s where Type Twelve had decided to take us. In a few minutes, we were back at Ms. Futarishizuka’s villa.

The terminal landed in the mansion’s expansive yard, after which we disembarked and headed to the living room. There, we found the sister still lying on the sofa, presumably unconscious but breathing peacefully and regularly. To the side were my neighbor and Abaddon, watching her.

“Welcome back, mister.”

“I’m glad to see you’re all safe.”

Once we’d confirmed everyone’s safety, we breathed a collective sigh of relief. Then, suddenly, we realized someone was missing.

“Wait, where’s Peeps?” I asked.

“He went up to the roof to keep watch,” said my neighbor.

“Oh.” It seemed the distinguished Java sparrow was really working hard.

As if in response to my question, the bird appeared a moment later. No sooner had he fluttered down the hallway than he was on my shoulder again. He must have seen us return.

“It would seem your task is complete,” he noted.

“Thank you for helping us out,” I told him. “Everything’s wrapped up now.”

“Then all is well.”

Everyone involved in the incident was currently in Ms. Futarishizuka’s living room. Naturally, our attention shifted to the younger sister sleeping on the sofa.

“Would you mind keeping all this a secret from her, Miss Hoshizaki?” I asked.

“Nothing would make me happier,” she replied. “I want her to live in peace.”

“But won’t she be in danger if she doesn’t know what’s going on?” asked Ms. Futarishizuka. “Next time, she could be the one kidnapped instead of you. For as lonely a life as these others and I lead, you stand out.” At this, she glanced at my neighbor and me.

She was right; neither my neighbor nor I had any kin worth speaking of. In a sense, that made us very resistant to potential hostage situations. For my part, I had no other friends or acquaintances, and I assumed something similar could be said of my neighbor as well.

“I… I’ll protect her!” insisted Miss Hoshizaki.

“While you’re at work?” countered Ms. Futarishizuka.

“But… It’s just…,” she stammered, desperately trying to hang on. You could see how much she loved her sister.

At that point, Type Twelve made a suggestion. “Then you should rely on me, Hoshizaki.”

“What do you mean?”

“In response to recent events, I will develop additional points of contact and terminals, manufacture them, and have them protect your sister in secret. It is possible to guard her on a twenty-four-hour basis wherever she may travel in her day-to-day life, such as her home and school.”

“Oh. Um, huh. That…sounds pretty nice, I guess.”

Miss Hoshizaki couldn’t hide her uncertainty toward the unilateral goodwill Type Twelve was showing her. Our coworker probably didn’t realize she’d done anything at all—the alien had suddenly grown fond of her, and she didn’t know how to handle it.

“I will begin the development process immediately,” continued Type Twelve. “Should you have any requests regarding their functionality, please inform me of each in turn.”

“In that case,” I said, butting in, “would you be able to station one point of contact or terminal at this mansion and give it the ability to communicate with any additional ones you plan to produce? That way, should anything happen, one of us will be able to move out immediately.”

“Understood,” said Type Twelve. “I will station the terminal used for transportation at this location.”

It was reassuring to have a security system run by an advanced mechanical life-form. I doubted there’d be a problem even if a group armed with guns tried to charge in, and I was sure it could deal with most psychics, too.

Of course, if a rank-A psychic like the nerd showed up, all bets were off. Still, it was far more reassuring than hiring psychics from the bureau. Miss Hoshizaki’s sister would be able to live her life as usual now.

With that matter out of the way, Abaddon said, “I’m worried about my partner’s lifestyle, too.”

I felt the same way. My neighbor and Miss Hoshizaki’s sister were in similar positions. Everyone in the death game had wildly different power levels depending on if they were inside or outside an isolated space. If a group armed with guns attacked her on her way home from school, she’d be helpless.

“After all, demons can’t do that much outside of isolated spaces, you know?”

“If Type Twelve is telling the truth, then Miss Kurosu’s information is already in the bureau’s database,” I pointed out. “And if other organizations have it, too, then tightening up our own defenses might well end up harming her instead.”

“Then I am willing to protect her,” said Peeps, weighing in. “But that may be difficult when I am away with Sasaki.”

He was right—while we were away in the otherworld, we couldn’t participate in events here. A situation might arise where we were gone for an entire day, and I wanted to set something else up in the meantime.

As I mulled it over, Type Twelve spoke up again. “I plan to impose on Kurosu for some time. Thus, she may rely on me as Hoshizaki does.”

“Oh. Really?” I asked.

“I-impose on me? Um…” The neighbor faltered upon hearing Type Twelve’s declaration.

Ms. Futarishizuka and I both knew that the two of them had discussed some kind of deal, but we didn’t know the details. What had transpired at my neighbor’s school? I was still curious.

“Time to go digital and automate our jobs with AI!” said Ms. Futarishizuka.

“If the one in charge is okay with that, then I don’t have any objections, either,” I said.

“Hey, if she’s got your seals of approval, I couldn’t be more thankful,” said Abaddon.

His agreement meant Type Twelve would be looking after Miss Kurosu as well. It wasn’t clear how she’d protect her, but mechanical life-forms never lied, so I was sure she’d get the job done. I was a little anxious, though, given how airheaded the alien could be at times. For all her gusto when she had the advantage, her first thought was to run when the tables turned.

“Oh, and by the way,” said Ms. Futarishizuka, taking out her phone and turning to Miss Hoshizaki. “Did you know you’ve made your TV debut?”

“Huh? W-wait, what does that mean?” our senior coworker replied in confusion.

Ms. Futarishizuka started tapping the screen. After a moment, she held it out for our coworker to see. From the side, I could tell it showed a photograph of Miss Hoshizaki—the one of her face that we’d seen on TV a few hours ago. Apparently, Type Twelve’s big hijack was a hot topic on the internet.

After getting an eyeful of one such news article, Miss Hoshizaki cried out, “Wait! Wh-wh-what’s going on here?!”

“Ooh, no point getting mad at me,” said Ms. Futarishizuka. “The culprit is the machine girl.”

“Hoshizaki, why do you glare at me?”

“This is my picture! And my name! And now they’re both all over the internet…”

I did a quick check using my own phone. People online had already started trying to figure out who exactly she was. Her superthick makeup was inspiring some unkind remarks here and there. They’d even thought up a nickname for her, with some going on about how cute she was.

The way things were headed, Miss Hoshizaki’s social life was about to be destroyed.

“Hoshizaki, are you troubled?” asked Type Twelve.

“Of course I am! How can I ever go out in public again…?”

“I can deal with it,” said the alien.

“You may not know this, but once a photo spreads on the internet, you can’t take it down anymore!” Miss Hoshizaki had tears in her eyes. “You can try to erase every single one, but if you set people off, you’ll only make it worse! This stuff ruins people’s lives!”

She was holding her head in her hands as she tried desperately to explain. She looked for all the world like a normal high school student, a fact I found oddly relieving. It had been pretty crazy to see her out in the mountains—her face covered in blood, unfazed as she stared down her enemy.

“If they fire me from the bureau for this, how am I supposed to pay rent and tuition?”

Never mind, I thought. She’s thinking like a breadwinner, not a high schooler. While I’d imagined my coworker’s objections being a little less serious, considering her family issues again made me realize something. She was a far more respectable member of society than me for the simple fact that she had a family to take care of.

Not only was she my senior at work, she was my senior in life. The thought made her seem so much bigger, somehow, when I looked at her again.

“You won’t necessarily get fired, dearie,” said Ms. Futarishizuka.

“How can you say that? The ship has sailed! There’s no bringing it back now, is there?”

“The machine girl hardly saved you. In fact, you were the one who saved her. I think we’re owed a little more effort from such an impressive, advanced mechanical life-form, yes?” Ms. Futarishizuka turned to Type Twelve. “Could you show us the extent of this technology or whatever that’s supposedly so far beyond our own?”

She’s betting on the alien’s superior technology, I thought. In a hacking sense.

“There is no need to ask,” replied Type Twelve. “I will adopt Futarishizuka’s viewpoint.”

“Wait a minute,” interrupted Miss Hoshizaki. “What do you mean, adopt?”

“I will delete all your personal information currently spread across the humans’ network.”

“You can do that? But isn’t that illegal?”

“Within half a day, I will be able to delete over ninety percent of the data on mainstream media. I will commence deletion of the rest of the data, little by little, by deploying surveillance. Your personal information will never appear on any network ever again.”

“That’s a very fast ETA,” I noted.

“One computer installed in this point of contact easily exceeds the abilities of any computer existing on this planet. The bottlenecks will be primitive forms of communication such as optical and wireless, as they are known in local terminology.”

“Right,” said Ms. Futarishizuka. “Let’s just throw our planet’s entire infrastructure into the trash, I guess.”

“Personally,” I said, “that statement makes me curious about the future of cryptocurrency, since that technology is wholly based on computer resources.”

“What? You mean you’re not shorting the market?” asked Ms. Futarishizuka. “During this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?”

“Are you, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Of course I am! You’d have to be an idiot not to, in our position.”

Suddenly curious, I checked the prices, but they hadn’t changed much. Still, Ms. Futarishizuka’s excitement was unfading. Her expression literally had “Seriously, are you a moron?” written all over it.

Maybe it was best if I sold while I had the chance. Unfortunately, I didn’t have an account to make the transactions.

“Sasaki, what in the world are you talking about?” asked Miss Hoshizaki.

“Oh, uh, nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

If I explained, we’d wind up adding cryptocurrency trading lessons to our English conversation sessions. That could only lead to disaster, so I dodged the issue entirely. Her money was for rent and her sister’s tuition—and nothing else.

“Hold on,” said Miss Hoshizaki. “If you do this and erase all my pictures from the internet, won’t that cause problems? Won’t you have to hack into other companies’ servers? I don’t want any big corporations to sue me.”

“We can ask the bureau about it,” I offered. “I don’t think Mr. Akutsu will want to abandon you, either. If you explain what happened, he could probably deal with the aftermath of Type Twelve’s actions.”

“You think so? I don’t know that our section chief cares that much about individuals.”

Our boss had once abandoned employees by the dozen just to get ahead. Miss Hoshizaki’s objection made sense, but things were different now. She’d evolved into Super Hoshizaki, for one. In pure combat strength, she’d rate even higher than Ms. Futarishizuka thanks to her versatility. And since she was friends with the UFO, keeping her safe should be his number one priority. I doubted even Mr. Akutsu would let her go that easily.

“Now that your psychic power has leveled up, I doubt even the chief can take you lightly. And I’m sure he already views your relationship with Type Twelve as extremely important.”

“Do…do you think so?” Miss Hoshizaki was clearly happy.

As her junior, this was my chance to seal the deal. “You squared off with a rank-A psychic and beat him, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, I did! My power might be kind of boring, but maybe I still have potential.”

“I’ve always thought your power was wonderful because of its versatility, personally.”

“You say some pretty good things every now and then, huh, Sasaki?”

Despite how blatantly I was buttering her up, she was now smiling ear to ear. I bet she was overjoyed that her power had improved. A pay raise was clearly in her future; high-ranking psychics were all paid very well in order to prevent headhunting by other organizations—though at the moment, her friendship with the UFO seemed even more valuable.

In any case, I got the feeling we could do whatever we wanted to the internet now that we had Type Twelve’s help. It was a dangerous thought, and one that had me shifting my attention to Ms. Futarishizuka. She had a crooked, gleeful grin plastered on her face. I could tell she was plotting to trick the juvenile mechanical life-form and exploit her for all she was worth.

“That pretty much solves all our current problems,” she said, “so why don’t we have dinner? I could eat a horse.”

“Would you mind if we joined you?” I asked.

“It’s a little late to be feigning restraint,” she replied. “You’ve already gotten more free meals out of me than I can count.”

“Could I take my sister back home while you’re getting dinner ready?” asked Miss Hoshizaki.

“Hoshizaki, should you require transportation, I can assist,” offered Type Twelve.

“Oh, just one thing,” interrupted Ms. Futarishizuka. “Can mechanical life-forms eat food?”

“They can,” the alien answered. “This point of contact is equipped with a full suite of features to communicate with humanity.”

“In that case, there’s one, two, three, four…five in all, plus one bird.”

After counting us up, Ms. Futarishizuka headed off to the kitchen. I assumed she’d left out the little sister and counted herself, Miss Hoshizaki, my neighbor, Type Twelve, Peeps, and me. Abaddon didn’t eat, after all.

Without anything else to do, I followed her. “Let me help.”

“Oh, then I’ll join you,” said my neighbor right away, coming after us.

Abaddon stayed at her side, floating in midair.

“You know what they say about too many cooks in the kitchen,” remarked Ms. Futarishizuka, eyeing Abaddon.

“Oh, but it’s pretty big in there. There shouldn’t be a problem.”

In any case, I was enormously relieved we had all gotten back safely.

After Miss Hoshizaki got her sister back home, the girl woke up, and the two of them had a minor quarrel. According to our coworker, her sister had been distraught at first, but after seeing her elder sister safe, she managed to calm herself down.

In regard to the incident, Miss Hoshizaki explained that she’d been mixed up in a crime. She obviously couldn’t pretend nothing had happened, and she managed to spin a tale that convinced her sister while concealing the presence of psychics and mechanical life-forms. I sincerely hoped the bureau would proactively support her statements down the road.

As for the all-important report to our boss, we figured we’d write it up first thing in the morning, since it was already so late. My company phone was still sitting in the hotel. The last time our boss had contacted us, he’d told us to head for Atsugi. But that was in the past now; I assumed Captain Mason had already given him the rundown on the night’s events.

And so once Miss Hoshizaki got back, we enjoyed a late dinner.

Arriving in the villa’s dining room, we all took our seats around the table. Miss Hoshizaki had slipped out of her condo and headed back in no time at all. She’d used Type Twelve’s terminal to make both trips; the alien was more than happy to be her chauffeur. Can’t say I’m not concerned about our impish coworker’s huge new playground.

“After wandering around in the cold for so long, this stew really hits the spot.”

The earthenware pot boiled and bubbled on the portable stove at the dining table’s center. I had to agree with Miss Hoshizaki—the piping-hot ingredients were warming me to my core. This mix of soft boiled cabbage, green onions, and enoki mushrooms is the absolute best.

“Well, dear, you were the MVP today,” said Ms. Futarishizuka. “Eat as much as you like.”

“I can’t eat too much. My sister’s at home making dinner.”

“You could have invited her here,” I suggested.

“That would be pushing my luck,” she replied. “And after I finally managed to smooth everything over. Also, I noticed we have a lot of ingredients, but I’m not sure these usually go together. What kind of hot pot is this?”

She had a bite-size bamboo shoot clutched in her chopsticks. As she’d indicated, it was an unusual ingredient for the dish. Personally, I was happy to have them, since they were crunchy, fresh, and delicious.

“Earlier, we had to stop making dinner halfway through, remember?” Ms. Futarishizuka said. “I just wanted food in my belly, so I threw everything in. Don’t you think the shrimp and shellfish are doing a fine job adding some umami?”

“They are,” said Miss Hoshizaki. “It’s too bad I’ll have to stop early. I’d love to have some noodles or rice at the end.”

“If you’re pressed for time, I can make you a separate pot,” I offered.

“No, it’s not worth all that.”

We’d prepared thin noodles for our finisher, which we’d boiled and then firmed up with ice water. I was one hundred percent certain they’d be good.

“There’s a big shrimp hidden near the bottom,” my neighbor told me. “You can have it.”

“No, no,” I said. “Feel free to take it.”

“Then would you like this crab meat?”

“They’ve been hitting it off ever since she came back, eh? I can understand your desperation.”

“Please be quiet, Abaddon.”

Personally, it bothered me that Abaddon was the only one without any food. According to him, angels and demons didn’t need to eat. He never even picked up a pair of chopsticks; he just sat calmly next to his partner with a grin on his face as he looked at the table.

Meanwhile, my own partner was head over heels for the meat. “This thinly sliced beef is quite good,” he said. “I could eat this for days.”

“There’s always one, isn’t there?” said Ms. Futarishizuka. “The guest who picks out all the most expensive meat in the pot. And while everyone else is holding back, too.”

“Hmm. Was this all you had, then?”

Seeing the sparrow suddenly stop eating and act guilty was really cute. And using his feet to slide his plate away? I thought. That’s criminally adorable. I really wish I could record this.

Our dinner continued harmoniously, with everyone gathered around the earthenware pot.

Our bellies were quickly growing full, when suddenly Type Twelve spoke up.

“I am currently feeling a sense of fulfillment that is difficult to describe.”

She hadn’t said much after sitting down, preferring to eat in silence. As a result, everyone now stopped talking and looked at her. The lively dining room grew several times quieter. I was sure we all felt a significant degree of tension, because despite sharing a meal with us, she was still unpredictable. It was Miss Hoshizaki’s presence alone that tied us all together.

“It seems to be an emotion directly opposite to loneliness,” Type Twelve continued, putting her chopsticks and serving plate down. The rest of us simply sat there, wondering what she was going on about.

“Fulfillment often follows a group accomplishment like this,” said Ms. Futarishizuka.

“Do you mean to say that humans live sharing these emotions with one another on a daily basis?”

“That’s right. Though, I suppose there is some variation.”

I thought back to the Hoshizaki rescue mission in the Chichibu mountains. The chain of events seemed to have left even Type Twelve with plenty to think about. If it had given her a sense of unity with our group, then we couldn’t be happier—especially if that would reduce the planet’s current danger level even slightly.

Personally, I wanted to request that she go back to her home planet immediately. But if I was too forceful and got on her bad side, it would ruin everything. For the time being, it seemed best to continue building a good relationship with her and wait for a better opportunity to make the suggestion. I’m pretty sure Ms. Futarishizuka is thinking the same thing.

“Sasaki, Futarishizuka, the increase in loneliness I felt through my dialogue with the two of you is now trending downward. Enough, at least, for me to consider postponing the destruction of your dwelling for the time being.”

“I couldn’t be happier to hear it,” I replied.

“For the time being, she says,” mumbled Ms. Futarishizuka. “I’d rather you scrap the idea completely.”

The problem that had been weighing on us for some time now had just been resolved. Type Twelve had declared she wouldn’t destroy humanity. She didn’t touch on the issue of the crater, but since I’d been certain we were next, I was very grateful for the current turn of events. And it was all thanks to Miss Hoshizaki.

“It is evident,” continued Type Twelve, “that I am not in a familial relationship with you all.”

“Well, naturally,” replied Ms. Futarishizuka.

“Despite not being family, however, I have, in this short period of time, been able to dramatically soothe my loneliness.”

Type Twelve looked across at us as she spoke.

Ms. Futarishizuka, Miss Hoshizaki, and I sat across from her, with Abaddon and my neighbor on her side. Peeps maintained his vigil next to me atop the table, as he always did.

“Eating a meal in this manner is more desirable than previously estimated.”

“Conversation’s the best part of hot pot, right?” said Miss Hoshizaki. “My sister and I have it sometimes, but eating with so many people is a completely different experience. And more people means you don’t have to contribute as much.”

“Ah, then you’ll take on part of the cost of the ingredients?” asked Ms. Futarishizuka. “They were quite expensive, if you didn’t know.”

“Oh. Um, well, I…” She began to stammer in response to our coworker’s banter.

Now that I thought about it, a lot had changed in my life. The only times I ever had dinner with anyone else had been company drinking parties. But lately, it happened almost every single day.

“My point,” said Type Twelve, “is this: Were this ‘family’ relationship to be present, I could hope for even greater results.”

“……”

I doubted my neighbor, with her family issues, would accept such a statement very easily. Her gaze was cold, but silent, as she watched Type Twelve continue. I felt bad for her. Even Abaddon, who usually never stopped chattering, kept his mouth shut.

I was somewhat similar in that regard, so I understood where she was coming from. If the family Type Twelve observed had been the Kurosus, Earth probably would have been in a billion pieces by now.

Completely unaware of her feelings, the alien continued profoundly. “Through observing the relationship between Hoshizaki and her younger sister, I feel confident in saying that the presence of a family is still a crucial factor in soothing one’s loneliness—and that there is worth in experiencing its workings subjectively through a point of contact rather than viewing it as objective data.”

Maybe she had made additional discoveries, beyond our previous conversations, while ferrying our coworker and her younger sister home. She remained impassive as she spoke, but I could feel a tiny bit of momentum in her tone.

“Regarding the latter, I referenced the viewpoints I received recently from Sasaki and Futarishizuka.”

“What are you getting at, then?” asked our host.

“……”

The girl in the kimono’s expression seemed to say, “You have a pretty annoying personality for a machine.” Did the alien want us to figure it out ourselves? If so, that would be quite irritating.

At this, Type Twelve fell silent for a few moments. But then, modulating her voice just a little higher, she looked at everyone at the table in turn.

“I will be direct,” she said. “I desire a familial relationship and to enact household dynamics with all of you.”

Ah, I thought. Another bolt from the blue. Does this mean she’s after a pseudo-family, or a fake family, or something like that?

“I shall be the daughter, and Hoshizaki shall be the mother. I will not yield on this point. I may compromise on the other roles, however.”

Wow, she didn’t waste any time snatching up the best position, either.