"..."
The high of Chouko's victory begins to fade.
For a while, Chouko's felt delirious. Drunk on her victory and reveling in her deranged triumph over the pitiful waste of bloodied human flesh before her. Charles's killer was dead, once and for all. She defeated him and the rest of his men, a culmination of determination and sheer luck swirling together into some sort of wine glass, the taste of the aftermath a deep and rich flavour reminiscent of Hampshire. A joyous feeling.
But this delirium fades... disappears almost immediately as she sees the pink, remembering the closest thing she can recall that is connected to pink. Shortcake. The lights were coming from the android in this most darkest of rooms, shining out from her pink eyes.
From overwhelming ecstasy to subdued composure, the woman feels an immediate sense of calm as she looks over her shoulder, tracing the source of pink light to the android. The lifelike doll still dressed in her clothes, donning Chouko's leather coat. Wearing her streetwear, albeit one size smaller, with not a hair on her head- but hair stowed away in Chouko's possession.
"... i... is it over...? A-Are you- are you done...?" Shortcake asks.
Is she done?
Chouko thought about that for a while, lost in deep thought. Certainly, it wasn't over yet, she still had a lot to do. It isn't enough to kill just the bastard... and there is truth to his claims. People will be targeting her the moment her foot steps outside this building.
The aftermath of jobs like these... hell, the aftermath of THIS job is going to be a walking hell. No part of this says "done", with dozens of corpses in the building, a careless gunshot wound to the shoulder, a small window of time to make the most out of her funds before Charon confiscates all of it for her failure- and the ultimate question of finding Kuroiwa. Each step a pit of burning rock, coal set ablaze for the bare feet of her wandering soul... a hellish inferno to roam.
For now, that's what she needs to do... walk. Take that first step, leave the building... plan accordingly from there.
... before that first step, however, Chouko's natural red gaze meet an artificially bright pink. The walking debt sitting before her, left on her knees in the corner. One of the main reasons why she potentially has no access to Charon anymore...
She has yet to answer the android's question, if she's "done" as it says, the two staring at each other for the longest while as Chouko thought. All Chouko can see, as the office remains dark otherwise, is Shortcake's glowing lights for eyes. Lights that shone rather brightly as the rest of her was nothing more than a bald silhouette with hands behind her back and ankles forced together...
"... they have you restrained... huh?" Chouko mumbles, staring at the android's ankles as she approaches her and crouches down to get a closer look, seeing if it's- possible to get them off with what she has on her...
... mm.
Actually, better idea. Chouko recognizes the restraints on her ankles as the same kind the mercenaries were about to put on her. Mechanically locked, with some magnets forcing it shut. A brand that she's read quite a bit on, due to how common these are. A model released about a year ago, approximately.
These cuffs were standard grade, distributed in bulk by the dozen. Quite the "coincidence" that they'd have these on hand... and it required a sort of card to disable and unlock. Some technical nonsense Chouko picked up in a manual says the cuffs cannot work if the card isn't used to lock it first. They have no reason to dispose of a card this quickly... especially if the same card was going to be used to lock Chouko. The card is definitely in the other room, unless the bastard behind her was going to lock it himself...
Meaning, if she finds the card... it has a serial number. A code that the company behind these mark for security and safety purposes. They are sold by the crate, after all- either the cuffs themselves or the card will have that information.
Chouko grins widely, her eyes gleaming with- joy, at this lead. Fundamentally, if she follows this, she'll be able to find the delivery addresses of where these are sent- all of them, if the bastard is secretive about it.
Ah, but for now, best to free the android and all. Chouko reaches for the artificial wig she's kept on her person, having tucked it in the back of the shirt. The matter of changing clothes back will be handled later, with time being of the essence.
"... well, then, I'll have these off of you in just a moment, so do sit tight and-"
Chouko... Chouko's words cut off as she looks at Shortcake's face, also getting a better and closer look. A look at Shortcake, a look at something that is...
... utterly harrowing.
The android's hair is disheveled and bloodied, Chouko's hand seeping with red and staining the android's white. Her eye simply... twitching at the sight, involuntarily twitching as waterfalls of deep crimson seep down her hair and face. A sight that deeply, deeply unsettles her.
Chouko also now better sees the horror, the utterly terrified expression that the artificial robot was making. Its human, life-like face almost frozen with fear and fright before Chouko, complete and utter worry on its face. Every subtle cue more of a blatant one, a blatant sign that the android is experiencing what can only be described as utter distress, deeply disturbed by what she's seen.
After all... it... it did ask if it was over...
...
Witnessing the android's fear on full display, Chouko... thinks about the conversation on the truck, a conversation recent and fresh in her mind, happening only a short while ago. The android said it didn't care, it was pleading- pleading for her to not leave it alone, that it didn't hate her. But those words are likely meaningless, now that she's a front-and-center spectator to the very act. Now, since the android was in this corner, restrained the whole time... Shortcake saw every single heinous moment.
What the android saw was what Chouko claimed she was from the very start. A monster, an irredeemable monster. Chouko knows for certain that it fears her, that its subtle fidgeting indicates... fear. That it now understood what Chouko told it, that it had a firsthand account of the fear one must have towards a woman like Chouko. Fear of a ruthless, bloodied mercenary with deaths on her hands, hands that are frozen in place. A hand that is holding the android in its palm and such as it's restrained, while it can't do a single thing.
... and... and it was... it's just an android, Chouko thought... its semblance of emotions are fake, false, artificially made. It didn't matter if... it really didn't matter if this thing felt any fear towards her. It was nothing more than just a silicone shell with metal bits inside of it, some complex machinery inside. Nothing about it is real, nothing about it is...
"I- I'm sorry! I'm sorry- please- please don't-! D-Don't hurt me! Please-"
...
Slowly, Chouko pulls her hand away, and... and gazes at both of her hands. Stares at the stained palms for a moment, a while... eyes widening at the sheer amount of blood on them. The inhuman amounts of it coating her fingers, blotching over her palms, trailing down her wrists and dripping down her elbows. The liquid feeling weighs down on her, as if her hand held several liters each.
The pain in her shoulder aches from the bullet lodged into it, with her entire body left sore and exhausted... every muscle in her body feels tense and stiff. A rigid statue of cracked stone, which was once a wall.
"C... Chouko?"
And as Chouko kept staring at her own hands, witnessing the android's distress and reminiscing its miserable crying, Chouko felt utterly... shaken. The chill, the ghastly chill of it all going down her spine. From her hands to her shoulders, shoulders to neck and spine, a cold- freezing chill, even.
Chouko slowly looks back at the bloodied remains of the Executioner, staring at what she's done. What Shortcake saw her do.
And... and... it... it feels...
...
No- no, it isn't the same, it's not the same. It's not the bloody same, Chouko thought! The parallelism doesn't apply to this scenario whatsoever!
Back then, what Chouko saw was a man shooting her father in cold blood! What this is, is simply her vengeance on a man, a man that Shortcake should have no connection to! This man isn't Shortcake's father, this man threw her into the back of a truck for God's sake! There's no connection between the two, no reason that Shortcake should mourn for the man's death! Chouko's the only one that sees any "importance" in the man!
So why is Shortcake- unsettled? Why does she have that expression?! That look, that familiar look of utter despair and anguish?! That expression that Chouko... had... when- when she...
... no, no, NO. Every thought in Chouko's head went haywire, rushing through her head and swirling with each hyperventilated breath. A thick fog of panic coming to Chouko's mind, causing her rationality to hide itself as she- as she stares at the android. As she sees what emotions it's created, what expressions it's adopted. Shortcake's face, in that moment, was a cruel- cruel reminder of what Chouko was, what... what she... what she's become.
"Look at me..."
...
N...
No...
"Look. At. Me."
No-
No, no... no. Perish- Perish the thought. Charles would never-
This- this should- this is a high, this is a victory!
Chouko's done it, she- she's exterminated the killer, made it so he wouldn't- do it again...! This shouldn't weigh on her conscience, she- she did it, she made him pay for what he did, she- she...
... she- this- this feeling- it- it doesn't matter, it shouldn't matter! And the android shouldn't matter, furthermore! Shortcake doesn't- it's- she- she's not Chouko, the android isn't Chouko. This parallelism isn't- it's not real, it's not, it can't possibly be- no, no- nonono, it- Chouko's blowing this out of proportion, this isn't something she- ghkk...!
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
Chouko already KNEW that she would be going into this being as heinous as the bastard was, but- why- why is it... why does it feel like this, now, of all times...?!
Experiencing a severe physical response to this- Chouko's teeth clench hard before her eyes start to ache and strain again. Her crimson gaze cracks and shatters, the effects of using the butterfly dust still prevalent in her veins. The power she's used has faded, and the effects start to compound and crash onto Chouko, coming in all at once. Feeling each moment carving letters into her flesh, lighters burning at her skin, each moment passing in utter agony.
"C-Chouko...?!" Shortcake exclaims. "C-Chouko!"
... the voice echoing out in Chouko's head. Calling out, crying out for her, a panic- frantic voice shouting out. The sound just echoing out into her head as if it were shouted into a cave.
Chouko- Chouko began choking up and coughing, hacking out all of the air in her lungs as her eyes- her eyes strain further. As she feels the blood rushing to her head, weighing down on her heavily... feeling the ability just- tearing her apart from the inside.
"Chouko?! W-what's going on? W-What are you-?!"
The android seems to be calling for her, and... and as the android calls for Chouko, as the android stares at Chouko in concern...
... "Kuroiwa" immediately composes herself. Her tense face easing up as she takes a calm, soothing breath... pushing it all away.
The lunacy fades, and Kuroiwa - taking a slight glance at the body behind her - just gets up and walks over to the Executioner. Walking to check his pockets, to search through his belongings. A calm... blank... empty feeling just numbing herself for the time being as she searches.
"C... Chouko...?"
... Kuroiwa slips her hands into the bloodied pants pockets, only to find a phone and a set of keys. "I'm... alright, Shortcake. Consider it a bit of adrenaline, seeing that- you're here."
"... I... I see-" the android hesitantly asks, fear still present in her voice. "U-Uhm... s-so-"
"Right, right... your earlier question. I am done, yes," Kuroiwa tells Shortcake, before- looking around the room. "For now, I simply need to find the card necessary to unlock your restraints... in theory, it should be in this man's possession, so-"
"U-Uhm- a- a card? Like, a b-blue one?"
... Kuroiwa nods. The cards are uniformly sky blue, yes. "You've seen it, then?"
"O-Oh, y-yeah... I- I saw him put it in the desk... o-one of the drawers..." Shortcake answers to the best of her ability. "I- I don't know which one, t-though, b-but... uhm... he-"
"Thank you, Shortcake," Kuroiwa interrupts, before getting up from the corpse. Walking around the desk to search, opening drawer after drawer in search for it.
The desk had four drawers. Two of them were large rectangles meant to serve as filing cabinets and such, while two of them were smaller ones to contain pocket-sized items. Kuroiwa safely assumed the card would be one of the higher, smaller ones, so she starts to check through those.
Not a lot of note to bring up... and the card isn't in the smaller ones. Could it be in the filing spaces, then? Hmm...
...
Free the android, then walk away. Let it panic all it wants when its arms and legs are unrestrained- possibly make it pretend it has no knowledge of what happened. Maybe even wipe its memory so it can be completely innocent of all this...
... n-no, no, it won't work, there's blood in her hair... and the matter of clothing's still an issue, especially with how bloodied the Shortcake outfit is... tch... she needs to bring Shortcake with, regardless of if she wants to or not. At the very least, clean the android and its clothes up to have it presentable to be in another's care...
...
Kuroiwa looks at the rightmost cabinet, the one with the keyhole... and cycles through the Executioner's keys, looking for any "temporary" ones. This office is a rental, after all, so there definitely needs to be a key he has... ah. Found it. Kuroiwa sticks the key in and turns, opening the cabinet.
"... hm." And there it was. The card to the magnetic cuff restraints, put inside on top of a paper file- as well as Kuroiwa's weapons. Baton, knife, gun...
Tch... actually... when she doesn't have access Charon's resources anymore, obtaining ammo magazines for the gun will not be easy anymore. Without this thing, Kuroiwa's made great use of the mercenaries' guns- and, in fact, the conservation of bullets is affectionately noted when she takes the other person's guns...
... eh. No harm in an emergency... plus, it's a nostalgic keepsake.
"..." A keepsake she'll properly pick up once the android's free. Kuroiwa takes just the baton for now, using her other hand to hold the card. She walks back over to Shortcake and swipes the card over the restraints- with a deactivation sound echoing out.
Shortcake, once her restraints just- fall off of her hands and ankles, just- stands up, taking a moment to "stretch" now that she's out of that position...
... and Kuroiwa goes back to the desk, picking up the rest of her belongings. Retrieving the weapons, and- taking out that file, actually, curious about what'll be on it.
"..." Actually... now that Kuroiwa thinks about it, she takes takes a moment to actually- reassess what belongings she still had on her. Apart from weapons, the phone was still in her possession- a phone that Charon likely could use to track her.
Why would Charon receive this information and respond by taking everything away? Well- again... it was a blunder, an utter mistake that costed a client high amounts of wealth. Even if this constitutes an emergency, as detailed- there's no mistaking it that being responsible for $300 million dollars going up in flames is... problematic. And if Charon discovers- this massacre, it... well... her chances of survival aren't high.
Charon isn't an ally anymore.
At least- in theory. But it's an idea, a thought that needs to be carefully pondered over more clearly, a process that- needed to be prepared for. Best case, nothing changes. Worst, all underground services are denied to Chouko going forward, and she'll be a wanted woman under "kill on sight".
With this, Chouko no destination in mind- except three potential places. A backstreet surgeon to treat Chouko's wound, a- a possible public shower to wash and clean off the blood on her and Shortcake, and- a secluded place to hide away for the night.
"... tch..." And some place to purchase food...
Now with phone in hand... Kuroiwa realizes that the Executioner was- rummaging his own office for the essentials, items that he was going to flee with before she shot off his finger... what was he- oh, there it is. A brown knapsack, just...
... picked up by the android, and being put on.
"... t... this seemed important..." Shortcake quietly noises, staring with a faint smile. "S-So- is it- okay that I picked it up...?"
"..." Kuroiwa nods slowly... given her current condition, Shortcake is the best one to carry all of that. "Yes... it's more than okay."
"Y-Yay..." Shortcake noises, beaming a little and looking around. "U-Uhm- y-your clothes have quite a few pockets, s-should I pick up anything else in pa-particular?"
"... these items, actually." Kuroiwa walks over with her arms full, moving to put the knife and baton in Shortcake's possession- as well as the Executioner's phone in one pocket and slipping the file into the knapsack. Kuroiwa keeps the gun in her possession, so the firearm isn't found if the android's spotted...
And Kuroiwa does so with- no resistance. The android isn't... it isn't fighting back or anything of the sort. It stopped panicking a while ago.
The android's being helpful...
... it's feigning cooperation, Kuroiwa thought. Either programmed to act beneficially, or it's simply feigning it... very likely, it's still terrified and is going along with her to avoid dying.
And... well, no point in stopping it... if Shortcake is helping, Shortcake is helping. Kuroiwa carries on.
"... okay. One more thing," Kuroiwa tells the android. "I need you to- focus on me. All of your- sensors... on me, specifically. No sight, hearing, or any other... tech... things... actively noticing anything except me."
"Huh?" Shortcake noises, tilting her head. "Why?"
Because if the bastard's death is disturbing in a graphic quality, then a gruesome quantity will simply make it worse...
"Just trust me on it..." Kuroiwa answers.
"O... Okay... uhm... uh... sure..."
Kuroiwa starts to walk out of the office, just sighing. The conflicted feelings aside, Kuroiwa just... she's ready to just walk along. "Alright. Let us be off, then-"
...
Shortcake... had walked up right behind her, and reached out to hold Chouko's hand.
The android stays close, its pink eyes dimmed and turned off- likely deafening itself as well, as ordered. In a way, very much openly trusting Chouko- with a sudden: "Just have me sit down and... I'll know to open my eyes again..."
"..."
... a thought and a conversation to have much later...
For now... C... Chouko- n-no, Kuroiwa- no, Chouko- tch- Kuroiwa. Kuroiwa takes a moment to walk... walking down the hallway, idly thinking of the escape plan. She and Shortcake definitely need to flee with a vehicle...
Kuroiwa can't drive the truck outside... and if they even brought the pickup truck, it'll still be trackable. Either by Shortcake's seller, buyer, or people employed by either one...
... hm... what other means of transport did these mercenaries have...?
Something she'll have to figure out as she heads to the stairs, as Kuroiwa takes a glance at the bodies she's leaving behind, as she-
... footsteps.
Kuroiwa can hear footsteps... she's taken too much time here. Either it's some surviving mercenary, or- very much could just be law enforcement...
"I-Is something the matter, Chouko...? W-We stopped-"
"Shh-" Kuroiwa quickly and quietly noises. "Quiet... someone's... here."
"..." Shortcake nods, clinging to the woman's arm...
Kuroiwa just tenses up as she looks into the stairwell, as she tries to pinpoint who exactly would be in the stairway. The pitch, dead silence on the forefront of her mind as she cautiously stares at the-
"U-Uhm- C-Chouko- Choukochoukochouko-!" Shortcake frantically calls out.
"Tch- what is it, Shortca-...?" Kuroiwa asks the android, looking at it and- ... w... what the...
Kuroiwa stares forward and tenses up as she stares straight, straight at a walking corpse. Blond hair, bright blue eyes, the entire bottom half of his face shot off with aggressive sparks coming from the side of his head...
... Griffin...
Shortcake looks visibly frightened by this, frozen stiff in place, her pink eyes gazing at him in horror- looking behind him to see the rest of the bodies sprawled all over the fourth floor. Frozen stiff in fear again as she processes the bodies.
Kuroiwa- meanwhile, stares with a furious- furious expression. Gazing at him in utter- shock. "How... the bloody hell... are you still-?!" Kuroiwa exclaims as she draws her gun and-
Griffin lunges forward, forcibly grabbing Kuroiwa's wrist with all of his might, gripping it tightly. His blue eyes utterly deranged, left speechless as mechanical whirring sounds out in proximity.
Kuroiwa- Kuroiwa tenses up. Was Griffin an android?! ... no, no, this- he's human, fully human. The blood of his jaw and the visible- brain- matter give away that he's just a cybernetic man...
... w... what in the hell is...?!
Griffin forcibly throws the gun out of Kuroiwa's hand, and lunges a hand to Kuroiwa's throat. Overpowering her severely, pulling and pushing her into the stairway. Pushing her back against the stairwell railing, glaring her down with soulless eyes- his expression still frozen in its dead face.
There- there was no life in his eyes, none in his face- no remaining semblance of being anything but a dead body. By all accounts, Kuroiwa is utterly bewildered at how this is happening... the only explanation possible being "technological bullcrap" with cybernetics she didn't understand. Even then, a whole person coming back to life is- she-
"Ghhk-!" Kuroiwa noises as Griffin pushes her against the railing, his body pushing right into her. Attempting to blindly, aimlessly throw her over the railing, to send her over the railing itself. His last struggle, his dying struggle long after he dropped dead- now aiming to kill Kuroiwa through a four foot story drop against concrete and marble.
Kuroiwa tries to struggle out of this, but- completely disarmed, on top of the injuries her shoulder faced, and the unfortunate positioning of this very moment leaves her unable to do anything to Griffin. Her feet lifting up from the floor, body starting to slide over the railing itself- powerless to do anything against him.
Griffin's soulless eyes glare forward... as his moving corpse continues pushing, ever so mindlessly pushing as- as Kuroiwa's ever so close to falling, the railing right against her waistline- gravity not on her side. Just one more moment before Chouko's body is sent over the railing, and-!
Whack.
"...?!"
Kuroiwa watches as the side of her pistol whacks against the side of Griffin's head, striking the exposed wound in his head. A weak sounding whack that didn't have any strength behind it, no noticeable sound or anything- just the side of a gun hitting a bullet lodged in a man's skull.
And it was this moment that a spark sounds out, that Griffin's body suddenly- releases Kuroiwa and causing her feet to drop back down to the ground. The man's body going stiff, the violent crackle of static electricity sounding out- arms going limp, body slumping forward with decaying and burning flesh.
And with him going limp- Griffin's left easily able to be pushed. Kuroiwa quickly- quickly pushes him off of her. Having him fall forward and over the railing, his body descending over and falling down with several... metallic thuds echoing out, his head hitting the stair railings of the lower floors.
"..." Kuroiwa- utterly shocked and bewildered by this, breath- ragged... easing her nerves and calming down after that, staring forward at- at her savior, staring at Shortcake. Eyes seeing the android w-with gun in hand...
... as Shortcake- grabs Kuroiwa's hand... and tries- tries to pull her from the railing.
"U-Uhm- I- I got you- I- I got you...!"
...
Kuroiwa just steps forward, sparing the android further efforts of her- pitiful lack of strength. Just- staring at the android for a moment, bewildered by this sight. "... Shortcake, you-"
And Kuroiwa is interrupted by Shortcake- lunging in for a hug, wrapping its arms around her body.
The two locked into a hug, Shortcake burying her face against Kuroiwa with frantic shivering and shaking. Starting to sob after... that...
"..." Kuroiwa is... left... speechless... and...
... and Chouko... just... wraps her arms around Shortcake, pulling the android into a hug as well.
