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===BREAK===
Each step I took as I left the Belov estate felt inexplicably heavy.
Meeting with Tatiana Belov stirred strange thoughts in me.
"Peace, huh…"
A word I'd never even considered before.
No—was something like that even possible for someone like me?
The word peace, which I had never dared to dream of, was causing ripples inside me.
'Come to think of it…'
I still remember it vividly.
The day I first fell into this world.
「"Carl! Stop spacing out and catch this!"」
「"Why are you giving this to me…"」
「"Damn it! You still sore just 'cause the old man gave you an earful? This ain't the time to sulk, just get ready!"」
「"…Get ready? For what?"」
「"Shit! Do whatever you want!"」
Everything was awkward, everything confusing.
I had no idea why I was here, or even where here was.
「"Just hold on a bit longer! We're almost at Ark!"」
「"Hey."」
「"Dammit! What now?!"」
「"Did you just say we're heading to Ark?"」
「"For fuck's sake! What the hell are you babbling about? Of course it's Ark!"」
The moment I learned this was the world of The Defense, I survived—and immediately set my mind on protecting Ark.
That's why I spared no means or methods to defend it.
Because that was the only way to clear The Defense.
「"…We really survived."」
「"It's Ark!"」
Maybe that's why.
Up until now, I'd never once questioned the absolute necessity of protecting Ark.
I knew this world far too well—so much so that it was suffocating. I knew Ark, humanity's final stronghold, had to be preserved at all costs in order to survive here.
There was never room for doubt.
Only duty.
But the words Tatiana Belov had spoken to me made me think of what came after.
Because I believed I already knew enough about this world, I'd paradoxically stopped thinking about it any further.
If I managed to protect Ark until the end—what would happen then?
Would I return to the world I came from?
Or remain here?
Or was there some other kind of ending waiting for me?
I had no answer.
And because there was no answer, I never allowed myself to dwell on it—I simply did what had to be done.
But what Tatiana said forced me to think about what came next.
And that was probably because I sensed that the end of this world—the conclusion of this game—was now much closer than before.
["What's got you thinking so hard?"]
"…Nothing."
["Come on, your face says otherwise. You look really serious."]
Suddenly, I felt the urge to spill everything to Esther.
She'd been with me longer than anyone—maybe it was okay to tell her the truth.
More precisely, the weight of this enormous secret was becoming too heavy to carry alone.
'…How ridiculous.'
I shook my head.
The fact that I'd even considered that thought made me laugh at myself.
Even if I did tell Esther… what would change?
I'd only be handing her another burden of despair.
["Master?"]
"…Let's go. Things are settled with the Belov Family. Time to see Carmen again."
Esther narrowed her eyes.
["Carmen, huh… Since when were you two on a first-name basis?"]
"…What else should I call her?"
["I dunno, something like "that cultist woman," "conniving con artist," or "a two-faced snake with a pretty mug"—"]
"Shut up."
["Hit a nerve, didn't I? It's the face, isn't it? Oh, definitely the face. I didn't think you were the type to fall for a fake face. Poor Commander Isabel, seriously."]
"…I told you to shut it. And what does Isabel have to do with this?"
["Tsk tsk, the more you say that, the more pitiful she seems. I'll go comfort her myself."]
Seeing Esther act the same as always made all my recent worries feel utterly pointless.
Still, I now knew at least one thing I needed to do moving forward.
'After this is over, I should find time to meet with Lania.'
Until now, I hadn't even realized it—but my obsession with Ark had always been a little strange.
It was as if Carl Marcus's soul was being drawn toward it by some unseen force.
Meeting with Lania was part of that same pattern.
Whatever secrets the Marcus family held, there was no doubt they were deeply tied to Ark.
["There it is again—you go all quiet, must've hit the mark, huh?"]
"No, you didn't."
["Like hell I didn't—eek!"]
Only when I pulled out the Experimental Round GHOST-157—something I hadn't used in ages—did Esther's chatter finally stop.
'Should've done this earlier.'
I silently praised GHOST-157's effectiveness and resumed walking.
It was time to meet Carmen.
* * *
After contacting Carmen via the ID she had given me, I received a message from her not long after.
—I'll see you at the Rose Line.
The Rose Line, huh…
An unexpected place, but a reasonable one for a hideout.
Following the address in the message, I headed to a military-related company located within the Rose Line.
As Ark's front line, the Rose Line naturally housed countless military contractors, and the one listed in the address was one of them.
[Sentinel Protect]
Sentinel Protect was a company that developed personal security equipment and civilian defense tools—normally, it had no relation to the Machine Cult.
More precisely, it was a small subcontractor buried under layers of suppliers beneath the Tarkov Megacorp, the creators of the Ark-15 series.
'So, the Machine Cult really has grown beyond what I knew.'
If they had influence even over regular companies in the Rose Line, I didn't need to wonder just how far their power had spread.
"What brings you here?"
"I have someone to meet."
"Name, please?"
"Carl Marcus."
At the sound of my name, the front desk staff immediately made a call and then guided me.
"This way, sir."
Once in the elevator, the staff pressed several buttons at once and scanned their ID card.
"Where are we headed?"
"The research floor. The person you're meeting is currently there."
"I see."
The elevator arrived shortly after, and the doors opened.
"They're waiting inside."
"Understood."
The staff returned to the elevator and left, while I walked into the research lab.
Before long, I found Carmen in the center of the lab, caring for the cult followers.
"You arrived sooner than expected."
"I didn't know the Machine Cult had a hideout in the Rose Line."
"If you want to hide a tree, you hide it in a forest. With the population and cargo flowing through here, even a group like ours can move unnoticed."
"Fair enough."
Just as she said, with the Rose Line's massive daily traffic, the Machine Cult's followers wouldn't draw attention even if they moved all at once.
Of course, to any force already monitoring the Machine Cult, it would make little difference—but it was still better not to be obvious.
"Did everything go well?"
"Yes. There will be no more threat from the Belov Family."
"You've done well. That couldn't have been easy… You seem to have quite a history with them."
Carmen looked at me with a knowing smile.
It was surely an unsettling gaze, yet I didn't feel repulsed.
Probably because Carmen not only controlled her voice and words—but even her gaze and movements with precise intention.
"Let's just talk business."
I didn't want to bring up what had happened with Tatiana Belov, so I changed the subject.
"Very well. As promised, the Machine Cult's technology will be provided legally to companies in the Rose and Red Lines, with proper royalties."
"You'll be selecting which companies to deal with yourselves, I assume?"
"Yes. That should also be more convenient for you. If you wish, we're also open to exclusive conditional contracts with select Rose Line firms. What do you think?"
Carmen was clearly probing.
Trying to see if I'd be willing to offer perks to the Tripathi family, with whom I had ties.
Granting some favors wasn't a bad idea, but there was no need to play into her hands.
"That won't be necessary."
"Understood."
Without surprise, Carmen nodded obediently.
As expected, dealing with highly advanced AI like Carmen was mentally exhausting.
"That wraps it up then. Unless there's more?"
Carmen shook her head.
"No. A contract is a contract. At this stage, breaking it would serve us no purpose. The agreement has been successfully established."
"Good to know you're not playing games."
"There's no benefit in using cheap tricks against someone like you."
Normally, the Mechanical Revolution episode would have involved a far more complex and difficult process. But the unexpected arrival of the Messiah had made things go surprisingly smoothly.
Messiah Carmen.
Whether she would help or hinder my plans in the future was unknown—but for now, her presence had proven helpful.
"Oh, and one more thing."
Just as I was about to leave, Carmen stopped me.
"Carl Marcus, there's something I want to tell you."
"What is it?"
"I debated for a long time whether to share this. But… after much thought, I decided you, at least, deserve to hear it. After all, in my database, no one cares more deeply about Ark than you."
"That's a bold claim. What's this about?"
Carmen spoke.
"I once succeeded in accessing the White Line and Red Line databases."
I already knew that.
Barbara Claudia's request to me regarding the Machine Cult had stemmed from that very matter.
"And within those databases, I discovered several keywords tied to Ark's core secrets."
Important keywords…
I had some ideas already—but I kept them to myself.
There was no need to say them aloud.
"Project Noah."
Carmen added.
"I found some information related to it in the database."
===BREAK===
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