Chapter 158: Mommy, What Kind of Animal Is That?
[Resonance Interplay: Trailblaze & Elation]
After the trio cornered Scott and his subordinates, they weren't subjected to any harsh interrogation. Instead, Scott, ever the pragmatist, decisively planned to pay his way out of the situation.
"Pay your way out, huh?" Rekka drawled, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "No can do. What if we take your money and you turn around and claim we extorted you? Let's go, let's go. We're taking a little trip to the Ten-Lords Commission."
"No, I'm not that kind of person!" Scott declared with a straight face and a tone of righteous indignation.
Was he really so righteous? As anyone who knew him could attest, when Scott spoke, it was functionally no different from passing gas.
"Fine, then," Rekka said with a sudden, disarming smile. "You can go."
The reason Rekka was letting him off so lightly today was, naturally, because he had other plans. If he fleeced Scott now, the man would feel the sting for a couple of days at most and might even stir up trouble later. Even a harsh physical lesson would be wasted; the man never learned.
A far more entertaining fate was in order.
Rekka pulled out a familiar black notebook. 'Lyndon Scott... received an... affectionate text from Lakshmi.'
Lakshmi was Scott's colleague, an Automaton who was quite taken with him. However, for the sake of a promotion, Scott had decisively reported her, citing the department's strict prohibition on office romances.
But Lakshmi was also an eccentric character in her own right. The very thing she found most attractive about Scott was his utterly unscrupulous nature. What a pair of star-crossed lovers.
There was no need for formalities. It was time to go straight to the main course of suffering.
Rekka finished writing Scott's name in his Death Note, and alongside it, penned the "lucky" event that would befall him. This particular notebook was one Rekka had previously 'balanced' quite heavily; as long as he wrote someone's name, imagined their face, and wrote down a lucky or unlucky event, an equivalent but opposite event would occur.
And Scott's particular, niche preference was for Automatons.
That explained a lot. He was about to feel a secret, illicit thrill... and then he would meet with spectacular misfortune.
Rekka rubbed his hands together, practically vibrating with anticipation. Just what sort of interesting things would happen next?
After leaving unscathed, Scott couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. The thought that his adversaries might be plotting something else made him fume, but the immediate relief of escaping was stronger.
Beep beep beep...
His terminal chimed. It was a text message from Lakshmi.
"Scott, I happen to be passing through the Luofu. Why don't we meet up?~"
The message was followed by a long, effusive paragraph expressing her deep affection for him. He was already quite used to this sort of thing. While Scott did indeed harbor some feelings for Lakshmi, his greatest passion remained climbing the corporate ladder. Promotions and raises came first; everything else had to take a backseat.
'I'm very busy,' he thought, and decisively typed out a refusal.
However, he didn't notice that his terminal's network was acting up. After he closed the application, the message failed to send, a small red exclamation point silently marking its failure.
Moments later, while walking through a public square, Scott was suddenly entangled by an Aurumaton Gatekeeper. To be precise, Scott had carelessly bumped into the towering automaton and, in his stumble, let his hands wander to places they shouldn't have.
Aurumaton Gatekeepers—advanced constructs created with ancient, sophisticated engineering. One should never let their ornate appearance fool them; their combat power was terrifying.
But in Scott's eyes, this particular Aurumaton could be equated to... a tall, long-legged older sister.
Scott, whose tastes were decidedly niche, felt a jolt run through him. Part of it might have been a strange sort of pleasure, while the other part was likely due to the Aurumaton's metallic hand clamping around his neck, cutting off his circulation.
Still, he struggled to break free. Being held up like this by an automaton in public was utterly humiliating.
"What is going on?!" he choked out. "Is this thing malfunctioning? Someone come and get this thing off me!"
Now, was it possible for Scott to escape the Aurumaton's control? The answer, of course, was no.
The Aurumaton Gatekeeper, likely suffering from a faulty component, proceeded to do things to Scott that he found extremely embarrassing. Its movements were akin to a parent disciplining a disobedient child.
This was clearly a reward. (~~strikethrough~~)
This particular Aurumaton was likely equipped with a strict discipline module, so there's no need to elaborate on what, precisely, it was doing.
"Ow—! I am a specialist from the Interstellar Peace Corporation! You're committing assault!" Scott shrieked, his small sunglasses having long since flown off to who-knows-where.
On the Aurumaton Gatekeeper's featureless metal face, green indicator lights flashed wildly. A synthesized mechanical voice sputtered out intermittently, crackling with obvious static.
"Aaaaagh-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho—!"
Scott let out a miserable, almost inhuman scream.
"Scott..."
A female Automaton appeared before him, her hand flying to her mouth as she pointed at the scene in total shock.
"La—Lakshmi? Aaaagh-ow-ow-ow!!!"
"You... ah... I..." The female Automaton looked deeply, deeply grieved. "I really loved you so much! But... but you... Are you doing this just to make me give up?... I understand, Scott. I understand it all! But... but I can't accept it! How am I inferior to this?! Just because my parts aren't as big as this machine's, you actually... you actually..."
Lakshmi stared at Scott, her heart shattering into a million pieces.
"I wish you both happiness—!"
With a sob, Lakshmi turned and ran away crying.
"Wait—Lakshmi! Save me first! Aaaaagh! Ow-ow-ow-ow!!" Scott wailed, his voice cracking.
As Lakshmi's figure disappeared around a corner, Scott desperately reached out a hand, like a drowning man trying to grab onto a final piece of driftwood. But the Aurumaton Gatekeeper clearly had no intention of giving him that chance.
A crowd had gathered. People pulled out their phones to take pictures, others pointed and whispered, and several children had their eyes hastily covered by their parents.
"Mommy, what kind of animal is that?" a little girl asked, peeking through her mother's fingers.
"That's a piece of trash, child. He's not a normal person. Let's go, Mommy will take you to get some Tuskpir Wraps. Don't look at this, or you'll have nightmares tonight."
"You people—aaaaagh!!!"
"Is that sound a wolf or a dog?" someone in the crowd wondered aloud.
"Probably a dog," their friend replied.
After a full thirty minutes, the Aurumaton Gatekeeper finally ceased its operations, its green indicator lights flashing wildly as if it were caught in an error loop. A few moments later, a maintenance crew arrived to recover the malfunctioning automaton.
Meanwhile, Scott lay on the ground in a truly pathetic state.
Of course, he received no compensation. The crew offered a token apology, explained that he had accidentally triggered a bug in the machine's programming by being meddlesome, and then promptly left.
"Rekka, this move of yours is way too cruel," March 7th said, taking a bite of a Tuskpir Skewer as she watched the farcical scene unfold from a safe distance. "This has to be even more painful for him than making him pay money or bark like a dog."
"Who says there's no such thing as a perfect crime?" Rekka replied with a smug grin.
Stelle reached out and took the Death Note from the table. "Rekka, what else do you think we can write?"
"Hmm..." Rekka stroked his chin, thinking seriously. "Aha! I have another plan."
"Wait, wait, let me write it! Let me try, let me try!" Stelle was already itching to give it a go, her eyes sparkling with chaotic energy.
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