Chapter 173
I practically lived in Lapis’s maintenance room for an entire day. This place was filled with unused monitors, terminals, and computers.
Drk, drk.
I pulled together a bunch of monitors with tangled wires onto one table. When compiling data for long periods, physical display monitors were better than holograms.
I output all the data I had gathered last night onto multiple monitors. The only thing left was to review and compare it repeatedly.
For the past few years, the murderer had consistently posted cri scene photos. I filtered out only the school schedules that matched the dates and tis in the photos. Especially since vacation periods were publicly announced, I could eliminate a large number of schools where the tiline didn’t match. This kind of task could be left to the AI chip embedded in the computer.
I examined the schools I had narrowed down.
‘It must be a strict private school attended by the upper class of Border City. The posts go up as early as Sunday, at the latest by Monday or Tuesday. That ans the murders happen over the weekend before being uploaded. The killer is likely a child of Bellato’s high-ranking officials or wealthy elites who live in a dormitory with curfew restrictions. Judging by the murder cycles and dates, they seem to have unleashed their repressed desires freely during vacations.’
The outline of the murderer beca clearer in my mind.
They pursued their own sense of beauty and had a great deal of vanity. Even in the short sentences of their posts, their refined grammar stood out, and there were occasional uses of sophisticated vocabulary.
Assuming they followed a student’s schedule, their murder cycle was eerily regular—like having als at fixed tis. They must have their own set of rules.
Click.
The lights in the maintenance room flickered on, breaking my concentration. Lapis, who had gone to sleep, had co back to work.
“You stayed here all night, didn’t you? At least eat sothing. You’re going to wear yourself out like this.”
Lapis placed a Jafa Burger bag beside .
“I’m almost done with the final steps. If I stop in the middle of sothing, I can’t even sleep properly.”
I pulled out the burger, manipulating the monitor screen with my other hand.
“Because of Akies Victima?”
Lapis unwrapped her own burger as she spoke. She knew about Akies Victima too. Well, I wasn’t the first Akies Victima user hired by Jafa Corporation.
“That’s part of it, but it’s just how I am.”
I stuffed the burger into my mouth, chewing roughly. The bun was savory, and the at was tender. The layered flavors wrapped around my tongue before sliding down my throat.
Even though I was eating in a hurry, I could still taste how good it was. No wonder Jafa had Border City’s restaurant industry in its grip.
“I don’t know what kind of work the detectives hired by Jafa do... but none of them seem to have a good ending.”
"I’d like to say I’m different, but nothing in this world is certain."
I muttered as I took a sip from my straw. The taste was strange, so I checked the packaging. It was a new product from BamBam Drinks. Apparently, it was an energy tonic made by boiling snakes for over 100 hours and extracting their concentrated essence.
"Still, out of everyone who’s co through here, you seem to be the most skilled. Just look at what you’re doing now. This isn’t the kind of workload anyone could handle in a single night."
Lapis spoke while biting into a mini burger. Seated on the table, she swung her legs idly.
Crunch.
I picked up a piece of fried snake skin and chewed on it while staring at the monitor.
...Annoying. The fried snake skin was delicious. The frying itself wasn’t anything special, but the seasoning powder was exceptional.
Sucking my thumb clean, I refocused. As I examined the posts, one detail stood out—a one-year gap.
"After that one-year break, the murders resud steadily. But from this point on, the cycle and pattern changed completely. They beca looser, more erratic. That ans they had more personal ti."
The most likely explanation was "graduation." The killer had graduated from a school in Border City and spent a year away before returning. They must have missed the ease of killing in Border City.
Here, if an underclass citizen without a "security firm contract" died, no one bothered investigating. But outside of Border City, things would be different. For example, in the Federation’s capital, Bellato City, the police and public security forces wouldn’t be as lenient.
I input my paraters and let the AI handle the rest.
Clap!
I clapped my hands to reset my focus. Now, all that was left was to wait.
"How’s the prosthetic feeling?"
Lapis had finished eating and was now hanging a pair of goggles around her neck. Looked like she was about to start her own work.
Her job was to custom-make and repair various chanical equipnt for Jafa Corporation. In imperial terms, she was essentially running a "private armory workshop." Even Equessians would occasionally visit her to get their weapons and gear serviced.
"It’s excellent. Feels light. But that doesn’t an it’s any less powerful."
"It’s designed for agile use. But it’s also a difficult prosthetic to control. I was told by Jafa that the user would be soone ’extrely’ proficient with prosthetics, so I was able to build it accordingly."
Lapis put particular emphasis on the word "extrely."
"Yeah. With this level of signal exchange speed, responsiveness, and high output... an ordinary person’s nervous system would be completely fried."
Humans sotis send signals to their bodies that push their muscles to the point of rupture in monts of crisis, unleashing superhuman strength. High-output prosthetics must constantly exchange signals of that sa intensity. A normal human central nervous system wouldn’t be able to handle it.
"Can I extract the internal records from your prosthetics?"
I nodded without hesitation and opened the ports on the inside of my wrists and ankles, taking out four chips. It was just my prosthetic usage data—nothing classified or secret. In fact, sharing this data with a technician would only help optimize the prosthetics further.
Most cybernetic prosthetics had an extrely closed security structure. They didn’t use wireless signals and moved solely based on signals from the brain. At most, a few wired ports were left for maintenance.
’Since physical interference is impossible, there’s no need for constant security updates, and no matter how skilled an electronic warfare expert might be, they wouldn’t be able to hack a prosthetic.’
As I pondered this, Lapis was already analyzing my prosthetic records in a holographic display. From my perspective, all I could see were fluctuating numbers and chaotic graphs that made no sense to .
"You really are impressive. Your output control is as smooth as if you’ve been using this for years. And your signal fluctuation graph... it’s fascinating. Before you even consciously increase output, the signals are already strengthening, and you’re utilizing a wider bandwidth. That makes your sudden bursts of power much smoother, reducing the strain on both your nervous system and the prosthetic. It’s like you have a 0.2-second precognition ability or sothing."
"It’s not precognition. I don’t have so Force-like superpower."
"That’s why I said ’like you have one.’ Before you even consciously register the need to fight, your instincts and intuition are already analyzing the situation and sending combat signals to your prosthetics. That ans you’re controlling them at an almost biological level. In many ways, the Empire is terrifying. Not that I’ve ever been there."
Lapis narrowed her large eyes. Since her irises were completely black without any whites, the expression should have been eerie, but her small, well-proportioned face made it less unsettling.
"The Empire’s not as bad as you think. If you’re well-off in Border City, you’d be fine there too."
My twisted sense of patriotism slipped out. I couldn’t help it—my birthplace and upbringing had shaped .
"For soone like Luka to have this level of prosthetic adaptability at your age... that ans your limbs must have been removed and replaced with machines from an early stage of developnt. And then to go even further, abandoning a perfectly functional body to replace everything with full-body prosthetics..."
Even though Lapis was a prosthetic engineer herself, she still showed clear discomfort toward full-body prosthetics. That was the typical stance outside of the Empire.
"It’s just a difference in perspective."
"Soday, the Empire will pay the price. The price of carelessly discarding its natural flesh."
"It’s already paying. No one understands better than the Empire how full-body prosthetics destroy the mind."
I twisted my lips into a smile. I knew the Empire’s nobles well.
Noblen who underwent full-body prosthetic procedures lived twice as long as a normal human lifespan. But they lacked vitality. The older they got, the duller their emotions beca, and their humanity withered like a dried husk.
I had seen firsthand the lengths they went to in order to maintain their sense of humanity and emotion. They craved endless stimulation, envied the flesh and blood they had willingly abandoned. Even those who seed perfectly composed displayed an obsessive fixation on their lost humanity. In short... they beca twisted.
"Do you ever regret it?"
"Even if I could go back, I’d make the sa choice. If I didn’t have power, I would’ve been just another corpse rotting in so back alley. Flesh, blood, a ‘natural body’—none of that matters. Once you’re dead, that’s it. You have to be alive to regret anything at all. Moral superiority is a luxury for those who can afford it."
"Moral superiority, huh...."
Lapis bit her lip.
"I’m not blaming you. I’m just saying what I think. I have no intention of lecturing anyone. I’m in no position to do that—I haven’t exactly lived a righteous life."
"You don’t have to be so hard on yourself."
Lapis tried to comfort . If I were the kind of person who could let out a sad smile in response to her words, maybe things would be different. But I wasn’t.
"I kill people easily. I don’t feel guilt. If necessary, I’ll kill the innocent, and I’ll kill if soone pisses off. I’ve taken countless unnecessary lives, and I will continue to do so. The only thing I’ve learned in life is violence, and I know it’s the fastest and easiest way. I have no intention of changing the way I live."
"Then if I refuse to help you, will you use violence against too?"
"If that turns out to be the most effective thod, I won’t hesitate."
Lapis’s energetic movents ca to an abrupt halt. She stared at , her gaze piercing.
"You know it’s wrong, but you keep repeating the sa mistakes?"
"Lapis Lazuli, of the Tarfa species. I’m sick of this conversation. Let’s not pretend either of us is innocent. You’re a prosthetic engineer. And not just any engineer—you create high-performance combat prosthetics. That makes you a weapons manufacturer. These prosthetics can tear a person apart with bare hands."
I gripped the edge of the table with my fingers and increased the output.
Screeeech!
The tal table let out a horrific screech as it twisted under the pressure.
"I...!"
I stood up. Right on cue, the AI finished compiling the data.
"I’ll keep killing while pretending to have a conscience, so you can sleep easy pretending the machines you build aren’t used to take lives. That’s how you survive in this world."
On the monitor, the personal details of a young man who had just reached adulthood appeared. I focused on it.
"...You should get to work, Luka. We can talk later."
Lapis watched with a gloomy expression.
"Yeah. I’ll take the prosthetics you made and go kill the bastard on this screen. Well, at least this ti, he actually deserves to die."
I pulled the chip from the system and slipped it into my pocket. The monitor powered down.
I could feel Lapis’s gaze on my back. She kept staring until I walked out of the maintenance room. I raised my hand slightly in farewell.
Thud.
The door closed. I shut my eyes, then opened them again.
Damn it. Fucking hell, Luka. You did it again.
A wave of self-loathing hit . Did I really have to say it like that? Where the hell did my barely-learned social skills go? Ever since waking up in Border City, my personality had gotten even nastier. Maybe it was because I had no superior to keep in check anymore.
And beyond that, a constant, sticky fog of anxiety, impatience, and depression clung to like a shadow. But even without that—fuck, I don’t even know what I’m trying to say.
To be honest, I hate people who pretend to be good. No, I don’t even mind people who are actually good. It’s just that standing next to soone genuinely kind makes feel even more like a piece of shit.
I wish the whole damn world was full of selfish, evil bastards. A place where everyone was scum who deserved to die would be my paradise. That way, I could justify my ugly craving for violence.
It would’ve been easier if Lapis had just tried to use . But instead, she showed concern, acting like she actually cared—and that was what made uncomfortable.
...Yeah. I really am a fucked-up person.
Step, step.
My pace quickened. I wanted to kill soone.
And the filthier the bastard, the better.
Soone so vile that even their own mother would agree to their execution. That would be perfect.
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