Chapter 13: Tasaki Yamane

Night had fallen. S, dressed as an office lady, walked down an utterly deserted alley. The sharp clatter of her high heels rang out with startling clarity in the surrounding silence.

Then, just as she reached a corner, a figure suddenly sprang out. Without a moment’s hesitation, he threw a straight punch and immediately prepared to continue the assault.

“Wait, wait!”

The miserable K covered his nose, his face twisted in despair. “That was way too violent!”

S’s brow twitched. She replied disdainfully, “You call that violence? You dared to ambush me, and I haven’t even let you experience anything truly violent yet.”

Jin emerged from the shadows nearby. Seeing K in such a sorry state, he could not help thinking that the fool had wanted to recover the dignity he had lost during the day by winning one back against S. The result was obvious: S, an expert in hand-to-hand combat, had knocked him out with a single punch.

“You two really are—never mind. Let’s find a bar and discuss the situation.”

Amused by the blood pouring from K’s nose, Jin snickered twice and headed first toward a bar beside the street.

S remained where she was, giving K several provocatively challenging looks. Without saying a word, she followed Jin.

K had no choice but to trail after them.

“When did you infiltrate the company?” Jin asked, swirling the glass in his hand as he looked at S.

“I told you already. I began investigating this incident a long time ago. I infiltrated Nanocybertech ages back and am currently working there as a low-level female employee.”

“As for you two...” S extended a finger, pointing at K, who was still clutching his nose, and Jin, who was holding his glass. “Your behavior today has already aroused President Tasaki’s suspicions.”

“Ah, what a woman filled to the brim with violent tendencies.” K asked the waiter for a damp towel and held it over his nose. Only then did the pain in his face ease a little. He could not resist grumbling, “With you being this violent, no one’s ever going to want you!”

“What did you say?”

S was an older single woman, and one eyebrow rose sharply. Her gaze fixed on K’s face as an aura vaguely resembling killing intent began to emerge.

“Ha, ha! What I meant was—what have you discovered from infiltrating Nanocybertech?”

K hurriedly changed the subject. He had no desire to take another punch. The first time they had met, she had nearly ruined his prospects for having children; the second time, she had nearly destroyed his face. If it happened several more times...

He hardly dared imagine it.

S could not be bothered to argue with him. She took out a piece of chocolate and put it into her mouth.

“President Tasaki and Secretary Yamane are aliens. They infiltrated Earth a very long time ago.”

Jin took a sip of his drink. “How do you know they arrived so long ago?”

S smiled and looked at him. “You have to understand that human beings have their own etiquette. After confirming that they were aliens, I discovered that they knew customs such as having an office lady like me serve them tea. That means they must have been imitating humans for quite some time.”

K said nasally, “They imitated humans themselves? Could it really be that simple?”

“Then how do you think they imitated human beings?”

K felt that his nose had improved somewhat and lowered the towel. “So you mean they observed human movements and copied them?”

The corner of S’s mouth twitched as she looked at him with contempt.

“That’s a monkey.”

Jin summed it up. “In other words, there is still no conclusive evidence proving any of this, correct?”

“Having only half the information brings nothing but danger and death. That’s common sense.”

S nodded slightly and continued, “I’ll try infiltrating Nanocybertech again tonight to find out exactly what they’re plotting. Once I’ve confirmed it, I’ll risk my life to get the information to you.”

“What do you think? Hmm, Big Monkey?”

K was rendered speechless. His expression seemed to say, Fine, you’re the boss. Do whatever you want.

Meanwhile, on one of the darkened floors of Nanocybertech, President Tasaki was speaking to Yamane with evident excitement.

“It won’t be much longer. Once we can replace these bodies in a single operation, Earth will have no choice but to accept us. The agreement we reached with the Galachias collective consciousness will take effect as well. With their assistance, our Shiner-5 has already become popular throughout the world.”

“We were the first to take it, so we’ll be the first to replace our bodies. After that will come most of Earth’s elite. They will all be replaced by aliens, allowing us to tighten our control over the planet. In return, we’ll gain a place to survive on Earth. For us, this is a win-win situation.”

“The birth of the Galachias race’s collective consciousness has already suppressed humanity’s collective consciousness completely. In the dark corners of Earth, unknown to humankind, we aliens are gradually devouring humanity’s living space. With our help, large numbers of humans will be transformed, further suppressing humanity’s collective consciousness. The current situation is exceedingly favorable.”

Secretary Yamane nodded, looking somewhat surprised. “I never expected those mechanical spiders to develop a collective consciousness of their own. What good fortune.”

“They merely took advantage of a loophole. Still, there’s no denying that this is an excellent opportunity for us aliens.”

The following day, in a brightly lit office, the female employee beside S spoke with an expression of deep admiration.

“Shiner-5 is a program personally championed by the president. Ever since it was launched, our company’s performance has shot upward like a rocket. This year’s bonuses should be enormous. Just thinking about it makes me excited!”

“What do you think of Secretary Yamane?” S asked in a coy, girlish manner.

“Ah—don’t tell me you two are...” The female employee immediately wore an expression of understanding and pressed her two index fingers together.

The employee opposite S looked perplexed. “No way. I always thought Secretary Yamane was into men. I never imagined he liked you.”

S looked intrigued. “Could you tell me more?”

“That man is really unusual. Every morning, he holds a ‘meeting’ with the president—the two of them, alone. It always gives people the feeling that...”

As she spoke, she looked up and noticed an unfamiliar young man standing at the door. She raised her voice and asked, “May I ask whom you’re looking for?”

“Ah, I’m delivering a letter!”

The young man hurriedly raised the letter in his hand and ran over.

“Thank you. Please put it in the basket over there.”

S glanced back without paying much attention.

When she turned around again, her face held a look of anticipation. “If I took Shiner-5, I’d be able to work faster!”

The female employee beside her laughed. “You actually believe that?”

“It can’t be true. It can’t be! Even employees who’ve been here for ten years can’t get any.”

Elsewhere, K stared intently at the computer screen, both hands flying across the keyboard.

“Low-frequency waves have been detected beneath the Nanocybertech office. They’re ultra-low-frequency waves, far beyond the ordinary range, and the transmission point is still active.”

Jin speculated, “Could these ultra-low-frequency waves be emitted by a living organism?”