Ch 122

The chemical light rolled on the floor faintly illuminating the room.

Seated with his back against the wall, bathed in the light from the light source on the room's wall, was Moore. He had spread out a coarse blanket on the floor and was assembling the parts of a disassembled assault rifle, polishing each piece with a cloth.

As expected, a blizzard raged outside. It seemed that the snow clouds had covered the village where they had set up camp.

Meals were finished, and the maintenance of the wet pistol was complete. All that remained was to finish the maintenance of the assault rifle before bedtime.

After polishing the inside of the barrel and ensuring there were no residues in the rifling grooves, Moore quickly began assembling the assault rifle.

As he passed the firing pin through the breechblock and confirmed it was secured in the hole made by the cam pin, Crow's figure suddenly appeared in the corner of his vision.

Beside her, a wide-mouthed Jackal lay on its back on the floor, with a cold-weather combat jacket draped over its belly. Its tongue dangled from the corner of its mouth, but Moore worried if its throat was not dry.

Viper lay on the floor, folding its legs, leaning its back against the wall, making quiet sleeping sounds.

Among the exotic ones, only Crow was awake—her face illuminated by the mobile terminal she held. She seemed to be looking at something, but he couldn't discern what.

The assault rifle was gradually taking shape in front of him. He inserted a buffer and a thick spring into the collapsible stock, aligned the split action, and then secured it with a pin. He pulled the charging handle and the trigger alternately, checking the single shot, burst, and safety functions.

At the right edge of his field of vision, excluding Rapi on sentry duty, Anis and Neon were sleeping side by side, leaning on each other. It couldn't be helped if the sounds of maintenance disturbed their sleep.

"What are you looking at?"

As the charging handle was sharply pulled, and the dry metallic sound of the hammer falling echoed in the room each time the trigger was pulled, Moore's low voice was directed at Crow.

She noticed it, and with a sidelong glance at him, who was performing maintenance on the assault rifle, she spoke.

"...Oh, we've got the latest information about the Unchained we've been diligently searching for. Want to see it?"

With a meaningful smile, Crow lifted her hips, and eventually, she sat down next to Moore, shading the screen of the terminal she held in front of his eyes.

The user would be almost the entire population of Ark, at least over 80% of it, as a major video-sharing service offered a live-streaming video. However, the video, which had a loading sign on the LCD screen, remained paused in the middle.

[Misilis Stock Price Dramatically Changes! Situation Overview (feat. Unchained, Metis, Erosion)]

When Moore's eyes met the title of the video, a quiet voice emanated from Crow's side, shaking his eardrums.

"...It started with praising Misilis, but then this guy named [JohnD] appeared, and the atmosphere changed completely."

"...JohnD... quite an interesting name. John Doe, unidentified corpse, isn't it?"

With irony in his words, Moore spoke, and Crow, who seemed to like something, faintly smiled.

"...Come to think of it, I didn't ask for your name."

"...I did tell you."

Already forgotten, perhaps. While Moore loaded bullets into the magazine slot of the assault rifle, which he had finished assembling and checking the operation, he looked sideways.

"Not the family name. The first name."

"...It's Shaw, right?"

"How do you spell it? Like 'show'?"

"...No, it's 'a,' not 'o.'"

"Shaw Moore, huh? I see. Interesting name."

It's not often that someone praises a person's name as interesting, but Moore agreed. He shrugged lightly, bit the cigarette that jumped out of the soft pack, and lit it with an oil lighter.

"Combining it becomes something like 'wetland fragments.' I don't know why you chose such a name in the first place... In the first place, the first name should be the family name."

"It's the other way around."

"Yeah, it's the other way around."

Returning the nod, Crow smiled again and resumed the conversation.

"...Shaw... Do you know about NIMPH?"

"...To some extent."

"I see. Then the story is simple."

There was no need to conceal anything. Information about the effects of Unchained and where Unchained brings those effects has already been disclosed. However, it seemed that the effects of NIMPH on Nike and the constraints were a different story.

Calling his name, Crow casually pointed to her own temple.

"They implanted nanomachines in here to modify and erase our memories," she said.

"...That understanding is correct," Moore replied.

"If you ask, Rapture seems to be spreading it too, thanks to this NIMPH. Unchained is supposed to treat erosion by destroying this, but..."

Once she paused, Crow shifted her gaze from him to the LCD screen of the mobile terminal she held.

"Here, JohnD raises a question. Will Nikke, who unknowingly became free from human control by destroying NIMPH with Unchained, continue to serve humanity in the future?"

Listening to Crow's narration while he folded the coarse blanket and pushed it into his backpack, Moore felt like stretching his legs. He threw both legs out and let the purple smoke from the cigarette he held in his mouth waft through the air.

"Rather than holding a grudge against the humans who exploited us so far and trying to blow up Ark with anti-Rapture weapons... What do you think? It's quite an interesting story, isn't it?"

"Hmm... Well, it's worth considering, but... even if the direct effects of NIMPH, which are close to brainwashing, disappear, it won't change that easily."

"Oh? Why do you think that?"

With an interested look, Crow sent her gaze to Moore, and then suddenly straddled the thighs he had thrown onto the floor.

Stretching her thin arms to her neck and looking down at him, Crow urged him to continue.

"...It becomes the issue of Nikke herself."

"Go on."

With a whispering voice, urging her to continue, Moore removed the cigarette he had in his slightly dry lips with his thin fingers, discarded it on the floor, and then unabashedly sat on his thighs.

Thinking that it was good that his body was sturdy, he sent a gaze from his deep brown eyes to Crow's eyes, which were right in front of his nose.

"...It's a story that there are other forms of brainwashing besides NIMPH. For many years—over several generations, if they were human—there should have been a discrimination consciousness built up in Ark that Nikke is not human."

Crow's lips, which were projected large in front of him, loosened slightly—then, he raised the cold weather combat jacket she was wearing and found the hem of the shirt. Inserting her slender fingers into it, she started to crawl up the deep groove of the abdominal muscles, a sensation that—frankly speaking—was like foreplay.

"...Those Nikke who continue to bear that discrimination consciousness will naturally have a consciousness of being discriminated against. In other words, it's a... preconception. Even if NIMPH is removed, they themselves—unconsciously—will put limitations on their own thoughts and actions."

"So, it won't change that easily?"

"I'm not an expert. Ask a researcher for details. And... probing into that area should be done after becoming even closer."

The hand and fingertips that had escaped from the shirt continued to move—Moore's hand, sensing the movement of trying to loosen the belt of the cold weather combat pants, grabbed it.

"What? Don't you like the idea of me, Nikke, as a partner?"

"I'm just someone who can consider the situation. ...Step back."

"You're a boring guy. Well, whatever."

Sniffing, Crow obediently withdrew from the top of his legs, and sat down again. Watching her off, Moore picked up the cigarette dropped on the floor, bit it back into his slightly dry lips, and made the dying embers flare up.

"Anyway, this guy JohnD is talking about this conspiracy theory in quite a few communities. Moreover, he even brings out supposed photos and research reports. Whether it's true or not is known only to Enic, but... most people seem to believe his claims."

"Mainly Nikkephobia, huh?"

Conspiracy theories of that kind—of course, it's a story that can't be decisively determined, but individuals, groups, or communities fueled by such thoughts and consciousness always exist. In this case, as Moore suggested, those who embrace such ideologies and consciousness would likely be the primary candidates.

Having thrown the partially smoked cigarette into the portable ashtray, Moore, who exhaled the lingering purple smoke from his lungs, was peered at up close by Crow, who was sitting beside him.

"...Let me make a prophecy."

Capturing the vivid emerald eyes that were close enough to see, gazing into the deep brown eyes, she opened her well-formed small lips.

"When you find the Unchained and return to Ark, by then, no one will welcome you. Instead, they'll probably try to burn the Unchained you've struggled to find. Yet, will you still search for Unchained, Shaw?"

"...Haha."

At such a close range, where their breaths intertwined, he was lightly snorting. No, he showed a mocking smile.

"Even if I finish a mission and come back, there were no triumphant welcomes. It's an old story. Such a trivial matter won't be a reason to stop searching. I will definitely find it."

"...I see."

After a brief silence, Crow moved away from Moore and stood up.

"...Heh, understood. What kind of human you are."

Returning to her original place, she sat down. Watching her, Moore put on the body armor that was leaning against his backpack and then slung the backpack over his shoulders.

With the headset, helmet, and other gear still on, he gripped the assault rifle and, closing his eyes, began to take a nap.

Indeed, his appearance was that of an exhausted corpse.

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The authort: "Is Captain Moore really devoid of sexual desire...?"