"Ohayo, professor and three people"
A crimson-eyed girl in a white coat enters the room with her coffee pot and a tray with cups in her hands, and cheerfully greets her.
"Oh! "Yukioka-kun, you've come to just the right place!" 』
There was no one in the room, but voices echoed through the speakers.
"Mine and Sakaguchi are no more! "My brain has reached its limit!" "The ideas have become too impoverished, and you and I won't be able to keep up with you anymore!" 』
"What are you talking about! "You idiot!" 』
``When you can only come up with outlandish ideas and eccentricities, why are you so bossy! 』
Innumerable consoles are lined up in the room, and dozens of 3D displays are floating in the air. In the center of the room, there were three large cylinder-like containers filled with liquid, each containing a floating brain with many tubes attached to it.
"Are they fighting again, these guys?"
Following the girl, a small boy in uniform entered the room.
"Seriously, don't you just remember how to talk to superiors!? "Junko, train this guy well!" 』
One of the brains shouted in a high-handed tone. The boy who was called Shin took the coffee pot in his hands, expressionless and speechless. When Makoto presses one of the buttons projected in the air, the lid on the console opens. Makoto tilts the pot into it.
"Oh, oh, oh, oh! 』
"What are you doing!? "Kid!" 』
"And this is black coffee, which I hate! 』
"Ha! "This would be a nightmare if it had sugar and milk in it!" 』
The brain-only "professors" yelled at each other. It was Makoto who shared their tastes and poured the hot black coffee into the taste transmission box at once without letting it cool down.
"Are they getting too noisy? I wonder if they're just having a brain and not a body, so they're feeling overwhelmed."
"Shin in a matter-of-fact tone."
"You were arguing all night? I don't want you to waste electricity."
"No, it's no fun"
When the girl--Junko Yukioka said it in a joking tone, one of her brains apologized.
They were so-called mad scientists, just like Junko.
Over the past few decades, an excessive ecology boom has become popular, creating a trend that the development of scientific civilization is bad, and various regulations have been established. Many mad scientists who worked hard appeared.
The three mad scientists here were recognized by Junko for their talents, refused to die at the end of their lives, and were given eternal life with only their brains, and decided to cooperate with Junko forever. They are
"Well, it's the revolutionary you mentioned."
While sitting in her chair and pouring coffee into her cup, Junko cuts out her smile.
"Ah, the mouse in question has come to this country, just as Junko-chan said. Tsukinami Mika Tsukunamika has already contacted me online. Everything is as you expected.』
One of the brains answered as if to anticipate.
"It's boring if everything goes as planned. The possibility of irregularities is what makes it interesting."
Junko said with a mischievous smile to the brain inside her container.
"What kind of development is the most uninteresting for you? I would like to ask as a reference to hinder your play."
Makoto asked with a voice lacking in intonation.
"Of course, it's a development where nothing happens huh?"
After giving her a glance at Makoto and saying that, Junko put her mouth to the cup.
＊＊＊
After returning to Japan for the first time in a while, Amano Yumio and Shijuman Takahiko headed for Anrakuichi by train from Narita.
Anrakuichi, located in the western part of Tokyo, is a dark designated city created by merging multiple municipalities.
A designated dark city refers to a city where the backstreet organizations and residents are particularly concentrated, but from the perspective of the main street residents, Anrakuichi can only be seen as an ordinary city, and it is said that there are many backstreet residents. But it doesn't come to mind.
From the point of view of the residents of the back streets, it would be inconvenient to do too much harm to the residents of the main streets, so I try to distinguish between the front and back of society as much as possible. Therefore, many residents of the main street do not know the existence of the back street. When a gunfight breaks out in the city, it's enough to understand, "Oh, it's a backstreet conflict."
"Don't be surprised when you come back for the first time in a while. Was Japan such a stifling country? Everyone always looks like he doesn't know if he's alive or dead. Oh no."
As the sun sets and the platform of Anraku Station is filled with office workers heading home, Takahiko gets off the train and sighs.
"Come on, come on, you're louder, Takahiko. It's true that Banara's face was much more lively and shining. Yeah. Even under oppressive rule."
The reprimanding Yumio had the same thoughts in his heart.
He doesn't know when he's in Japan, but when he comes back from a long stay abroad, he feels a sense of incongruity with the country where he was born and raised.
When I was a student, I couldn't help but feel annoyed when I heard a transfer student who had returned to Japan boast about studying abroad and criticize Japan, but now I understand a little more.
"Well, they were fighting with the hope of national liberation. But - if that country were to become as modern as Japan in the distant future, they might end up living their days with rotten eyes like the people of this country. You don't?"
Takahiko's last line was meant as a joke, but Yumio thinks it might happen.
"It's better than being under the ass of a dictator. Well, dictators aren't necessarily bad, and there are good dictators who aren't caught up in selfish desires."
In reality, Bowman has never met such a good dictator, but there are some dictators who are somewhat likable among historical figures.
"Though it's a different story. There was a time when we lived in the backstreets, but Japan is well-behaved, even in the underworld. People in the backstreets just flirt with each other, but Katagi can do it. There is even a promise to clearly separate the front and back without causing trouble as much as possible."
Exactly 10 years ago, Yumio and Takahiko fell into a backstreet at the tender age of 15.
For five years there, he was one of the most popular occupations in the backstreets, a trader of all things, but in search of further stimulation, he flew abroad and traveled across battlefields.
"Another five years of walking across the battlefield."
As for the oppressed weak, he has repeatedly accomplished revolutions that overturned the political situation of a country and the liberation of ethnic minorities. He became a famous revolutionary who was even praised as "the one who did it was justice" and "the real ally of justice".
"That's what they call it. I think it comes from the Japanese national character of maintaining harmony. It's convenient for both of us to do it that way. The police are also killing each other among the residents of the backstreet. For the time being, I have done it without interfering too much.」
"We've been interfering so much, haven't we? How many times have you been caught by the juvenile division?"
"He was strangely strict with minors.
"It's nostalgic. The days in the back streets and the Anraku market."
The two were born in Anraku City, and were based in this town even during the time they spent in the back streets. And the target of this time, the arms trafficking and manufacturing organization "Hachiku no Ikoi", also has several hideouts in Anrakuichi.
After getting off the station, Yumio and Takahiko visit the dealers of the weapon manufacturing smuggling organization "Wheelchair Nanabetsu", which they used to favor, and ask them to sell guns, ammunition, plastic bombs, and clothes woven with bulletproof fibers. rice field. Security checks were strict when entering the country, and no weapons were allowed in the country.
"There are a lot of handguns on the market, but things like machine guns, assault rifles, and grenades are still strictly restricted. It would be a consideration for
Entering the hotel's twin room, the two exchanged conversations while checking the items they had purchased.
"Even pistols have stray bullets. Really, this country's way of thinking is strange."
"I love the fuzzy and gray parts of Japan, but yeah."
"I don't agree with you... So, did you think you could trust the collaborator?
Takahiko asked while frowning after watching a music program on TV.
"Yeah. I didn't talk to you directly, but as far as I tried to contact you on the internet, it seems that I can trust you. I only contacted you by e-mail.
Takahiko agreed that if Yumio said that much, he would be fine.
"The circumstances in the back alleys have changed a lot in five years, too. Celebrities from the time we were there have disappeared, and people I don't know are popular."
Looking up at the ceiling, Takahiko looked somewhat lonely.
He recalled many memories of working in Japan and the people he met.
To be honest, when we were working in the back streets, the two of us weren't that great, but I have many memories of that time.
"Rather than being a collaborator, it would be better to call him a comrade.
While Yumio is doing preliminary research on the organization called Hachiku no Ikoi, he learns that Hachiku no Ikoi is currently suffering enormous damage due to the hands of a single person, and he joins hands with that person. I was thinking about it.
It may sound like insanity for a single person to antagonize an organization, but it's not impossible. Both Yumio and Takahiko have confronted and destroyed criminal organizations many times with just the two of them. There is no doubt that the person responsible for it must be a skilled person on a level close to theirs.
"Shall I give you a taste of the honor of partnering with the legendary revolutionary?"
"Oh, what a coincidence. He's on TV right now. Here you go."
Takahiko, who was watching TV, urged Yumio to look at the screen.
"You're on TV... you're a backstreet cleaner, aren't you? What do you mean by that?"
The archer looked suspiciously at the screen floating in the air.
"No matter what, it's like this. Did you come in contact with me? I should prepare more properly for the person I'm going to meet."
said Takahiko with an astonished face.
On the screen, you can see a bobbed comedian host and a girl with semi-long hair.
She is a beautiful girl who wears a simple outfit consisting of a short-hemmed indigo T-shirt and pure white shorts, and does not wear any make-up. She didn't have the celebrities' standard amiable smile, and on the contrary, her sharp eyes and serious expression impressed Yumi. She is a girl to whom the word gallant fits perfectly.
"Long time no see~. How about those who work behind the scenes~? 』
"It's thriving! "Since my last appearance, I've had about 11 shootouts!" 』
"Buh... what is this?"
Judging from the exchange at the beginning, the bow man blew. Next to him, Takahiko was grinning amusingly. No matter how you look at it, it's unheard of for an entertainer to openly say he's doing backstreet work on public airwaves.
"Well, your business is important, but please be safe. Please don't make your fans sad as a singer."
"Not to worry! "I will never lose to anyone!" 』
With a lot of enthusiasm, the girl said while looking at the camera. She looks like she's glaring at the viewer. Maybe that's the performance.
"Then Mika Tsukinami, tonight is the first new song on TV."
"agreement! "This is another positive song!" "Listen to me!" 』
"I wonder why this person is screaming every time, isn't it? It's painful to watch her, and it's even making me feel unruly."
"That's the art style, isn't it? I like it, like this."
"Hmm. I can understand if it's an MC, but if you talk with the moderator like that, is that the kind of character you're making?"
The song eventually ended, and the moderator called out to the girl.
"Well then, shall we do the usual publicity?"
"If you have trouble in the back alley, don't hesitate to come and talk to me! "It will definitely help you!" 』
The girl who is holding the microphone and pointing at the camera vigorously and declaring in a powerful tone. The sweat that trickled down her cheeks after her enthusiastic singing seemed to glisten to her archer.
Yumio knew only the girl's name and her reputation in the back alleys.
Mika Tsukinami - a freelancer with a relatively high ability evaluation.
I thought she must be very talented because she can deal with an entire organization by herself, but she has appeared on TV as a musician, and even has a side job on a national broadcast. The act of exposing what is being done is quite insane.
She said, "Didn't she really know? She's quite famous."
"I should have looked into it more. Or rather, this information site is sloppy.
"More importantly, isn't this guy similar to us?"
Takahiko looked at Yumio and smiled meaningfully.
"Ah, did Takahiko think so too? Me too. The same smell is puffing up. There are still people in Japan like this."
Yumio smiled as he agreed with Takahiko.