Kitty Killer Isn't So Cold

While most people focused on what contributions Andy could make to the Originium Organ Project, the manager and Number Seventy-Seven, because of Nana, were both paying attention to the other pathological and clinical symptoms in this medical report.

"Andy Bruce held on for at least ten years, though he probably only received effective treatment during the first three. The conflict between the lesions in his brain and his immune system not only caused him pain, but also dragged his emotions deeper and deeper into hallucinations caused by neural compression... If his interactions with his eldest daughter Kate as a child are taken as the standard for his original personality, then I can only describe his current interactions with Matilda as 'tragic.'"

"...So I can't persuade him... For Andy, this land holds nothing but pain."

Rarely lighting a second cigarette, the manager looked at Number Seventy-Seven, who had lowered her head slightly as though in mourning, with a nostalgic gaze.

"So the blank sheet of paper from back then, that cold and dull antisocial girl, can now speak words of empathy... From a work perspective, it may be hard to put into words, but keep your heart as a human, Seventy-Seven."

Frowning at the manager, Nana closed the documents before her, which could only add to her troubles. Andy's pathology report and the unsigned, invalid contract concerning the Bruce family were returned to the folder.

The girl asked a question.

"...If it's just killing people, anyone can do it... So why did you have to make me understand all this pain?"

"Because the ideals of my faction within the organization are this—before becoming some ideological vessel, some 'instrument of the state,' what we need first is a 'person,' not a 'machine'..."

Shrugging, the manager pulled out today's work and tossed one of the documents to Number Seventy-Seven as she spoke.

"I once discussed this at an organization meeting. The technology companies' original intention to fight Catastrophes was good, but if we continue letting them act unchecked, these companies will become 'monsters' even more terrifying than Catastrophes."

"...Because Catastrophes never target humanity, but the 'monsters' created by humanity will only destroy their creators... That is the nature of monsters."

Nana's response made the manager happily snap her fingers. As today's documents were opened before them, another technology company appeared before Number Seventy-Seven—one different from Loken Watertank, marked by the symbol of "infinity."

"...Rhine Lab... They shouldn't have any laboratories in the district under our responsibility."

"But their actions have severely provoked Loken Water Tank Laboratory..."

"...The Flame Demon Project."

Reading out the name, which was obviously designed according to military aesthetics, Nana glanced further down. Most of the entire file had been redacted... The manager had clearly gone to great lengths just to let Number Seventy-Seven know this existed.

"I see. Loken Williams is competing with Rhine Lab for the military's new round of experimental troop enhancement plans..."

"Mm-hm... As a researcher, Dr. Williams is by no means inferior to Rhine Lab's researchers... But objective conditions vary, and the progress of different projects is also at the mercy of luck... Loken Watertank has been hitting walls everywhere, while Rhine Lab seems to have already completed the first stage of its experiment."

Hearing that, the black-haired girl rarely sighed... "Number Seventy-Seven" rarely showed emotion before her partner. This was an expression belonging to "Nana."

"So Loken Williams is going to keep going mad."

"More than sixty pieces of Originium Prime... Although ICA has canceled the contract that might have brought in a large number of outside armed personnel, Williams has still bought off every government and social group that might obstruct his experiment..."

"To defend against possible outside interference?"

As she said this, Nana's gaze fell on the infinity symbol before her... But she immediately abandoned that guess.

Unlike the "usual business warfare" of second-rate companies that sabotaged others when they failed at their own work, then called it fair competition, Rhine Lab possessed military forces of its own.

Even taken separately, its Security Department would be a match for security contractors above the second-rate level. It was not something Loken Watertank could counter simply by suddenly throwing around money.

But it did not make sense to say such a grand display was merely to defend against attacks from competitors... Loken Williams himself ran the largest technology company in the region. No one in this small city built around a Landship supply station would dare defy Loken Watertank.

The factories here produced Loken Watertank's goods, the advertising displays in the commercial district were filled with Loken Watertank ads, and even the walls of the residential areas had nothing but Loken Watertank recruitment notices.

Loken Watertank was this city's financial pillar, and Loken Williams was its uncrowned king... Who would gather a huge force, travel across mountains and rivers, and deliberately smash themselves against a wall built from more than sixty pieces of Originium Prime just to interfere with an experimental project whose success rate was unknown?

"The organization suspects this may be Loken Williams's personal decision. Employee reports say he is extremely anxious right now... I imagine this project is an 'obsession' Williams has persisted with all this time... It is only natural that he would react this way."

Unlike the manager, Number Seventy-Seven would not casually use speculation to sketch out the truth, nor would she comment on things too vague to grasp.

In the past, once information had been exchanged to this point, Nana would have more or less decided to go home.

But today was different. The young assassin did not want to return to that place where she could hear sobbing next door...

Under the conference room lights and the fluorescent lamps outside imitating sunlight, Nana lifted her Backpack from the floor and placed it on the table. She took out her maintenance tools and began caring for her weapons, though she had done so just this past Wednesday.

Seeing that Nana was not leaving, the manager took out her laptop and began typing as she spoke.

"...How rare. Even a shut-in has days when she doesn't want to go home... Have you considered traveling for work like before?"

"Didn't you say that once I settled down here, I wouldn't have to run all over the world anymore?"

"...And I did let you settle down. But compared to you, these field employees have terribly low mission success rates."

"You said back then that my mission success rate was too high..."

Seeing the girl's utterly familiar expression as she turned around and lectured her instead, the manager's eyes drooped into a dead-fish stare. The twenty percent success rate in the task reports on her laptop truly made her feel that being a manager was difficult.

After all, even counting the training assessments the organization used to make things difficult for her, along with those bizarre commissions to search for nonexistent objects or simply have the girl carry them out as a salesperson, the girl's overall contract success rate was still above sixty percent.

As for the contracts truly handed to "Killer Number Seventy-Seven," their success rate was undoubtedly one hundred percent.

If this had been a militarized organization like a PMC, people might have praised it as a first-rate military contractor... But placed on a lone assassin, those results were absurd.

The manager had once wondered whether she possessed a talent for commanding from behind the scenes, but seeing these ICA field employees still perform like this even with her full support... Clearly, Number Seventy-Seven herself had simply been too unusual from the beginning.

As the manager reminisced, her laptop suddenly gave a special alert tone.

Out of professional instinct, the manager glanced at the time. It was now two in the morning... Nana, who had just finished maintaining all her equipment and had dozed off, also raised her head.

At home, Nana often rested through the night sitting on a chair, but the conference room chairs did not even have backs. When Nana woke up, she felt as though her entire body had cramped.

As Nana braced both hands on the conference table and stretched her stiff body, tail and cat ears standing straight up... she saw the manager's expression turn complicated after operating her computer.

"...What is it?"

"Loken Watertank's experiment succeeded."

The young assassin was not surprised by the news. It was a project Loken Williams had pursued for years, and this time he had even spent a fortune bribing and buying off the medical system to find Andy, the ideal experimental subject. If it had still failed... then it could only be called fate.

"...Isn't success a good thing? Didn't you say your organization... and the military were all looking forward to it? Why are you making that face?"

At Nana's question, the manager took a compact mirror from her handbag and adjusted her expression. After the serious woman took a deep breath, Nana heard news that instantly set her mind racing.

"The plan to turn organs into Originium was declared successful at one-thirty this morning, but Andy Bruce was pronounced dead at eighteen twenty-five yesterday..."

"...Didn't they say this project would let people use Originium Arts freely without suffering from Oripathy... Why did Andy die while Loken's experiment succeeded...?"

Nana's tone was not truly questioning. She probably knew why, but she did not want to admit it. She needed the information-holding manager to give her a definite answer... and the other woman did exactly that.

"It seems... Andy Bruce was that Originium organ."

The two stared at each other for quite a while. It took Nana roughly two seconds to realize that she was venting her anger through her gaze at the manager, who had nothing to do with this.

That realization made the young assassin irritably rake at the ends of her hair.

"So this can still count as success?"

"I don't know how Loken defines success... But I know the military definitely does not want a lump of Originium Crystals shaped like internal organs..."

By this point, they could both see a trace of panic in the other's expression... Nana felt she might have figured out why Loken wanted to recruit combat personnel, while the manager... was worrying about the assassin before her.

Today, Number Seventy-Seven had shown the most panicked expression she had displayed in all the years they had known one another.

"...So... Did anyone get saved because of Andy's organs? Did anyone... get free of Originium Disease? Or stabilize Originium Arts they had previously been unable to use?"

"Not that I know of... Loken Williams merely cultivated Originium Organs, declared the first stage of the experiment successful, and loudly announced that the next stage would begin soon... Of course... we all know how astonishing it is to keep a piece of Originium retaining the vitality and function of its original organ..."

"That is indeed worth celebrating... Maybe, perhaps, possibly... What they are celebrating, what they call a success... is only that part..."

Seeing that the manager still refused to acknowledge the possibility they had both guessed, the young assassin's face had already turned frosty.

"So... the next stage of the experiment, the person who will receive this organ... the people most compatible with it are..."

"Without question, the Bruce family."

Though only three seconds passed, voicing that possibility made the manager feel as though she had hesitated for three years.

As the black-haired girl's expression returned to indifference, she once again became the assassin in order to think calmly.

"...Although all subsequent developments are only our speculation for now... What will the organization do?"

"The question isn't what we will do, Seventy-Seven. The question is what you will do.

"As you can see, while we are talking, Loken Watertank's experiment is steadily progressing... Even if we stopped ICA's broker operation, Loken has enough funds to handle every contingency here.

"But if events truly unfold as we suspect, even excluding those within the organization who have expectations for Loken Watertank, the faction I belong to has no reason to stop them... The military is watching."

"What about the judiciary? Even if Andy volunteered... the next situation may no longer care whether they volunteer or not... Can the judicial authorities intervene then?"

Merely bringing it up made Nana painfully knit her brows, and she refuted her own argument.

"No. Compared to the laboratory's actions, judicial departments would lag behind from the moment they filed public charges... With the military blocking them as well, even if they truly took the public prosecution route to punish Loken Watertank, Matilda's family would not escape this experiment..."

At that, Nana picked up her Backpack again.

"But you said it, Manager... It is because the law sometimes has nowhere to strike that killers exist..."

"...It seems you have made up your mind too..."

With that, the black cat girl showed a slightly unfamiliar smile. This was the first time the girl called "Nana" had taken the initiative to make her "disguise" act.

"One hundred thousand Lungmen Dollars. If things truly get worse, help me post a commission on ICA."

Hearing this, the manager also returned to work mode. The business-suited woman cheerfully gave a thumbs-up and returned to her seat at the other end of the conference room, then began typing three times faster than before.

"Mm-hm~ The client is Miss Nana from the Finance Department of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory... What is your commission?"

"If... I mean if... Loken Watertank truly intends to use illegal means to take the Bruce family for those disgusting experiments, then expose the details and have the best employees guarantee the Bruce family's safety."

The crisp clatter of keys intertwined with the young assassin's voice. For the first time, Nana set a goal for herself.

"...Because Loken Williams bought off the medical system, we cannot rule out the possibility that other public authorities will become his accomplices. As the largest and only research company in the area, if this proves true, no one will come to help that poor family."

As though playing a melody only she knew, as though weaving fate itself, the manager typed on her keyboard. Her tone shifted into the same tone she had always used when introducing assignments to Number Seventy-Seven.

"Clearly, opposing Williams here means opposing the entire city. If events truly unfold as the client suspects, this will undoubtedly turn into a confrontation with the police and perhaps even the military.

"Although Williams's plan to hire manpower through ICA was interrupted, more than sixty pieces of Originium Prime will draw everyone with expectations of money like moths to a flame.

"Fortunately, ICA has enough employees in Loken Watertank to provide intelligence. Number Seventy-Seven, you should have enough time to stop this tragedy from happening."

Clicking Enter to save the task draft, the manager smiled as usual at the assassin, whose head was slightly lowered. Her eyes were hidden beneath the shadow of her bangs, yet the blue light in them remained clearly visible.

"Even if Williams's successful research can truly change the coexistence of Originium technological progress and the suffering of Oripathy, involuntary sacrifice will only make it painful, and pain can only breed monsters that destroy themselves...

"If Williams truly does that, then he has undoubtedly abandoned the ethical standards a proper researcher should possess. Besides, that poor family is not without people who care for them. Even if the husband is gone, they still have neighbors and friends.

"So go save them... and save the client's heart, which has grown numb to this land...

"Number Seventy-Seven, I will not disturb your preparations."

PS: The turning point and phrasing of this chapter have been revised many times... It has been very unfriendly to both the author and readers... But I still hope that if you see this note, you will refresh the chapter... You might see a new hairstyle when you read it again.

PS2: Since I wrote a PS anyway, I might as well ask for votes. I will still prioritize the reading experience and try not to write PS notes in the future... But please give me more votes too... If the data is too poor, I really will have nothing but the northwest wind to eat.

Rosemary's Embrace: Tomorrow and Accident, Which Comes First?

DL-13... That was the name of the city beneath Nana's feet on the map.

It had been given this name fifty-eight years ago when it was entered into the Landship transportation system. As a "local" who had lived here for five years, Nana still preferred to call it "Laisenton."

It was said that the name came from the original Victorian pioneers, though the truth could no longer be verified... After all, Columbia did not force Victoria to recognize its status as an independent nation through war until 1050. This country was only three years older than Nana's official age.

In her early years, Nana had either been dealing with the organization's training and deliberate difficulties or traveling across the world at the manager's command. By the time Nana settled down, the manager's directly administered business district—Laisenton—had already completed its transformation from a traditional mobile city platform into a modern city with Loken Watertank's support.

Efficient Originium power stations supplied streetlights connected to public lighting, buildings made from carbon materials towered into the clouds, brilliant neon lights illuminated theaters and nightclubs, and even workers earning only the legal minimum weekly wage of three Columbian Dollars could not be stopped from waving small bills and coins around to drink themselves senseless at every cheap street stall...

The streams of pedestrians and the taxi cabs flowing like water provided Killer Seventy-Seven with considerable convenience. Although the Backpack on her back gave the girl an inexplicable sense of separation from the lively night view, once she loosened her tie and walked with arrogant strides, who would care about a delinquent girl from a public school wandering the streets at night?

[What a surprise. The road to Jackson Apartments is still open. Perhaps Loken Watertank does not intend to make this too ugly.]

Because people were coming and going around her, Nana, who had entered mission mode, had no time to refute the manager's excessive optimism.

The girl quietly went to a convenience store and bought a carton of milk. As she inserted the straw and sucked hard while looking around, she resembled a clueless newcomer visiting the night market for the first time and unsure what to do. Nana deliberately let her gaze linger on several people, while the cat-ear hanging in-ear headset, equipped with combat recording, video, and transmission functions, pointed out the suspicious details to the manager.

[...Police... And traffic police, criminal investigators, and SACA personnel are all gathered here... The night market can still operate with so many public officials wandering around nearby... Should we praise the good security in our district, or complain that the citizens have no sense of crisis?]

The intersection leading to Jackson Apartments is completely under surveillance. There are too many people at the night market, so we cannot rule out plainclothes personnel.

Having no interest in chatting with the manager, Nana held her phone in one hand and typed at a speed that made it seem as if her thumb could leave afterimages. But after tossing away the milk carton, the girl immediately yawned, her ears drooping into airplane ears as her slightly conspicuous Feline fangs showed...

This was not a disguise or preparation for action. She had gone to the manager's warehouse operation base early that morning, and she had not rested well these past few days because of the Bruce family... Perhaps what she needed more now was coffee.

[So, even after confirming that the area is sealed off, how do you plan to return to your safehouse... Will you activate the emergency route?]

No.

After sending the message, Nana stretched again... She waved away a second group of drunken men inviting her to a nightclub, adjusted her Backpack, and walked straight toward the intersection guarded by a group of public officials.

Without question, the corrupt cops closing in on her looked exactly like wolves surrounding prey...

"Miss, please stop... Put your hands somewhere we can see them... Good. Now you may slowly take out your driver's license or similar identification... Where are you going so late?"

Facing the police, who wore soft light armor and had surrounded her with a complete set of questioning and alert procedures, Nana obediently raised both hands and answered them with utterly genuine exhaustion in her eyes.

"Of course I'm going home. I live in the apartments ahead... Here are my documents. May I ask what happened?"