Cyberpunk: Nirvana of Shoko Toyokawa

【Timoris: Earthworm species, vitamins, and various analgesic, hemostatic, and antiseptic drugs were put into the self-owned warehouse. Various sundries were put into the self-owned warehouse. 7 equivalents of phenobarbital and other cyberpsychiatric antagonists were transferred to special posts in the residential area for distribution.】

[Mortis: 13 item components, 6 synthesis components, and 3 transmitter components. Already put into production.]

[Amoris: Food! No food - well, at least 4 security cameras are looking into my place! Maybe I can nibble on it when I'm really hungry!]

[Oblivionis: Got it. The meeting adjourned. 】

【Oblivionis applied to close the conference channel.】

[Server administrator Amoris rejected the shutdown request. ]

【Amoris:——Hey, hey! Wait, wait! Is this really just a meeting? We don’t want to chat anymore? Let’s chat!】

【Oblivionis: Chat?】

【Timoris: I didn't expect you to offer to chat in the middle of the night, Amoris. It's already 11pm. Last time we had a meeting at 10:20, you kept yelling, saying it affected the working of your hypothalamus.】

[Amoris: I've changed my mind now! Young women like us should stay up late at night chatting, talking on the phone, and talking about the people we like - Hey! No! ]

[Amoris: You know what I'm going to say! We found something so amazing during the day!]

【Doloris: ...Earthworm species?】

[Amoris: Doloris, sometimes I can’t figure out if you’re kidding! Of course you’re talking about the BCPD electric fence posts we confiscated! Posts!]

【Timoris: Ah... you mean that. After Mortis came back, did he verify the reproducibility?】

【Mortis: Yes.】

【Mortis: It has good reproducibility. 】

[Amoris: What I mean is that we can now dismantle the BCPD's electric fence! That problem that has troubled us for so long! Now, the BCPD can no longer stop us - the entire [Food, Fuel, and Processed Products Zone], we can enter freely! ]

[Amoris: If they want to defend, let them defend the passage to the main city! Or they can retreat to the [Residential Area] to defend! When will we attack the [Food, Fuel, and Processed Products Area]? ]

【Doloris:……】

【Amoris: What's wrong, Doloris? 】

[Doloris: It’s just a little unexpected. Amoris, in your previous actions, you have always been inclined to develop and not advocate war.]

【Timoris: This is the driving force of food. It's scary.】

[Amoris: If a person no longer has the desire for food, what is the difference between that and death? ]

[Oblivionis, Mortis, Doloris:...]

【Timoris: Amoris, you know what? You just offended three of our non-picky eaters in one go.】

【Timoris: Oh, including me, that’s four. 】

【Amoris: It's you guys who are not good enough! 】

[Amoris: So, when are we going to attack? The wheat plantation is a bit far away, but if we don't have time to go there, at least we can take down the protein factory, right?]

【Oblivionis: We don’t fight. 】

【Amoris: ...Huh?】

[Oblivionis: The fact that the BCPD electronic fence posts can interfere with the electronic fence in operation is a very critical breakthrough. We need to keep this matter confidential for the time being. ]

[Oblivionis: These pillars can do much more than just take over an area. ]

[Oblivionis: Next, I will let you use them yourself to conduct various infiltration operations in the [Food, Fuel, and Processing Products Area] bit by bit, including road investigation, personnel investigation, and poisonous antenna point inspection. ]

[Oblivionis: Infiltration must be done with extreme caution. Therefore, it will take a long time. However, once the infiltration is complete, we can perform an almost invisible infiltration operation.]

[Oblivionis: The problem of food, weapons and resources can be solved by sneaking into the BCPD's storage station. As long as the BCPD doesn't find us, this operation will be much safer and more stable than carjacking. The amount that can be hijacked at one time is larger, and there will be more choices. ]

[Oblivionis: Most importantly, these pillars can unlock the blockade including [going to the main city area].]

[Oblivionis: Going to the main city area won't be as troublesome as it is now, where you have to go through the tortuous and dangerous sewer pipes. We can just dismantle the guardrails that form the blockade.]

[Oblivionis: Now, we have a second way to solve our food problem: obtaining it from the main city. These two ways can ensure that we will not run out of food. ]

[Oblivionis: In this way, personnel expansion can be put on the agenda. ]

[Oblivionis: We can go to the main city to recruit believers. Of course, since the BCPD has not yet discovered that we can open the blockade, the recruitment of believers can be carried out as cautiously and low-key as possible. ]

[Oblivionis: Everything is based on the premise that we won't be discovered. The speed will be a little slower, but we can continue to increase our strength. It doesn't matter even if we only find one or two people a week. In this way, no one will know that we can recruit people in [Reclamation New Land Phase 2]. ]

[Oblivionis: The increase in personnel, the accumulation of resources and the growth of strength are the top priorities. With these, there will be room for maneuver in the future, whether it is to annex [Phase 2 of Reclamation New Land] in one go, or to continue to negotiate with [Seven Bands], or even to format some areas in advance and declare independence. ]

[Oblivionis: In the long run, this is definitely more stable. ]

【Amoris:……】

[Oblivionis: Any other questions? ]

[Amoris: ...Ah... Well. How should I put it? It's a very sound plan, though...]

[Amoris: I just thought that you would say something like "Time is opportunity, we must seize the time", "Territory is very important and is an indispensable part of snowballing", "We will attack them tonight", so I was shocked.]

【Oblivionis:……】

【Timoris: I was a little surprised too. I thought they would at least examine the believers’ strength before making a decision.】

[Doloris: The believers have accumulated a lot of combat experience in the confrontation with BCPD and city construction robots. However...]

[Oblivionis: I believe in the strength of the believers. However, our development now needs to focus on safety and concealment.]

【Mortis: Oblivionis, no more gambling? 】

【Oblivionis:……】

[Oblivionis: In the current situation, it is better to be more stable. ]

[Oblivionis: Any more questions? ]

【Doloris: No.】

【Timoris: No.】

【Amoris: Well... no, no. Anyway, this plan can also eat canned food, right?】

【Mortis: No.】

【Oblivionis: Good.】

【Oblivionis: The meeting is adjourned.】

【Oblivionis applied to close the conference channel.】

[Server administrator Amoris agreed to the shutdown request. ]

【The meeting is over.】

Chapter 326: Ashida Rika's Diary

[9 month 26 day]

I am back.

The unreality still lingered in my legs.

The live show in the abandoned building complex. What on earth was that?

Frenzy, crazy, joyful.

Once you take a look at it, you can't take your eyes away.

Is that the puppet's "carnival"?

From the depths of madness, I felt tenderness. I must have gone mad.

……if.

If, instead of running away, I had answered the call...

What will happen?

[9 month 27 day]

I told Runa about this.

Runa said it was just my fantasy.

What made me even more heartbroken was the fact that she didn't even look me in the eye when she was listening to me.

We used to be the best of friends.

Once upon a time, even failing the entrance exam to Hanegaoka wasn't that painful because I could go to the same high school as Runa.

When did we start to go our separate ways?

You were gentler in the past.

[10 month 21 day]

Tried it again.

The abandoned mansion is still there.

But there was nothing inside.

[10 month 22 day]

When I told this to Runa, she said, "Of course that's impossible."

I won't tell Runa about the puppet band anymore.

Three days have passed. The sound of that live performance is still echoing in my mind. Instead of weakening, it has become stronger.

It couldn't be my imagination.

How could I be so absorbed in my own fantasies?

I want to prove that I am right.

For this.

I'm looking for clues.

[10 month 23 day]

Search for keywords on online bulletin boards.

But it seems that everyone who went to that live event was very tight-lipped.

Got nothing.

[10 month 24 day]

Search for keywords on online bulletin boards.

[10 month 25 day]

Search for keywords on online bulletin boards.

[10 month 26 day]

Someone mentioned the live performance of the mysterious band.

Made an appointment to meet her offline.

[10 month 27 day]

When the gathering location was so remote, it felt wrong.

The guy who asked me out was a liar.

Once there, several traffickers emerged from a nearby pipe shaft.

Fortunately, I sensed something was wrong a long time ago and escaped by climbing over the fence.

The left ankle was fractured when he landed.

But fortunately, I ran out.

[10 month 28 day]

After I broke my ankle, I simply stopped going to school.

I stayed home and searched for the puppet band.