BCST 44

chapter 44

Batterfall

A place where steel never dies, where cyberware and electronics gain a second life.

Most of the broken or discarded items from District 56 end up here, repaired and modified before being sent back out.

“Whoa. This is nice.”

The group that had entered Batterfall couldn’t hide their fascination, their eyes quietly scanning their surroundings.

Zzzt-zzzt-

On every street, people perched on sidewalks or inside shops, clad in grease-stained overalls, were disassembling or assembling cyberware.

The sounds of welding and clinking echoed here and there, and wherever one went, the air carried the scent of metal and oil.

Though some buildings rose to a considerable height, unlike the clean downtown areas, most had long-peeling paint, black streaks from rain marking the passage of time.

As we passed through alleys below, John, who seemed a little intimidated unlike the excited Kin, finally spoke.

“By now… do you think they’ve noticed?”

The subject was omitted, but I understood what he meant and lightly nodded.

“Probably. If someone was tracking you, there’s been enough time for them to notice.”

It had been some time since we left Edge Line and arrived at Batterfall.

Anyone skilled enough could have noticed us by now.

“Then… we’re in danger, right?”

John’s face fell, but I casually shook my head.

“No. Even if they know we left Edge Line, they probably don’t know our exact location here.”

John perked up at that and asked,

“…Why?”

“It’s because of the nature of this place. Look over there.”

I gestured lightly toward a spot, and John followed my gaze.

There was a man with tightly curled, darkened skin, handling metal pieces while smearing them with grease.

One of the common technicians frequently seen around here.

John, watching intently, cautiously spoke.

“Yes, I see him, but… is it because he looks like he hasn’t washed in a long time? We’re clean… so fewer traces? No smell?”

I unconsciously opened my mouth, staring back at John.

What is he even saying?

But John stared at me as if asking whether he was correct.

His eyes were completely innocent.

Truly an expression free of malice.

“Hmm.”

This kid…

I’d better keep a tighter rein on his mouth.

If we let our guard down, it could be dangerous in unexpected places.

While I was wary of John’s nonsense, Kin interrupted with an answer.

“It’s a firearm, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

He recognized it immediately.

“Huh? A firearm?”

Yet John still tilted his head, confused. As a pharmaceutical company researcher, he wasn’t familiar with this kind of thing.

Still, it was understandable. I pointed at the technician again.

“Look at the parts in front of him. Mix them a bit, but try combining the remaining parts after removing any duplicates of the same shape.”

John squinted, concentrating.

Then, suddenly realizing, he exclaimed,

“…Ah! It’s a firearm!”

But his voice had been a bit too loud.

Swish.

Immediately, the surrounding area fell silent.

“….”

“….”

“….”

Looking around, everyone’s gaze on the street was now fixed on us.

John stiffened.

“What? Why? Wh-what are you looking at?”

Kin quickly drew his gun, threatening the crowd.

Naturally, the gazes softened.

It was as if this was a typical scene here.

Kin looked puzzled at how everyone had immediately quieted down.

Tap.

“Well done, Kin.”

“Huh? What? What did I do?”

I lightly praised Kin and then focused on John, who seemed quite startled by the sudden attention.

“Don’t speak too loudly or in a fancy way to draw attention here.”

I tapped John’s shoulder lightly.

“As you can see… this is a sensitive area.”

Clomp.

We continued walking, moving away from the attention we had drawn.

Once I confirmed no one was following us, I spoke softly.

“This place… on the surface, it repairs and sells cyberware and machines.”

Swish.

I slowly took in the surrounding scenery.

A place I had seen countless times in games, familiar yet simultaneously new in real life.

A scene straight out of my dreams, and I forced a calm expression while speaking.

“The main business here is illegal weapons manufacturing, illegal cyberware modifications, and illegal chip tuning. It’s a hotbed of underground trade. Because it handles important capital flows for District 56, people look the other way.”

Half of the district was effectively under the domain of illegality.

So most of the technicians here were also criminals.

“The monitoring systems here are disabled. Even though their craftsmanship is so skilled that they could create demand for corporations… there’s no way authorities would leave surveillance facilities alone.”

Considering the clientele, this made perfect sense.

“Ah…”

John finally seemed to understand.

“So that’s why people reacted to that guy’s voice earlier. He sounded too… fancy.”

Kin was right.

“Yes. And they saw your casual demeanor, so they didn’t care. Once again, well done. It worked out thanks to you.”

“…Wait, is that a compliment or an insult?”

Kin looked confused, but I didn’t answer clearly, simply continuing.

“Anyway, thanks to that, we can leave no trace here.”

While Lrelada Town relied on semi-analog methods to avoid surveillance, Batterfall hid people in the shadows.

That’s why we had chosen this location within District 56 as a hiding place.

“I see. Got it, Wizard.”

Kin sounded convinced.

“So, do we just hide here until we move outside?”

“Yes. And…”

I took in the greasy street stretching before us.

“Even after leaving here, we need to find an artisan who can make equipment to hide us the same way.”

Although there was a one-year time difference, the technician I knew was surely active here now.

Meanwhile, at the Sicario Bros.

Rex, the youngest of the Sicario Brothers, detected an anomaly while monitoring the Edge Line fixer office.

John Scoige’s last confirmed location was suddenly 1.5 km away from the Edge Line in an unexpected area.

Crunch-

Rex stuffed some Jing-Jing Chupchup snacks in his mouth and radioed.

“Did you guys see that? The target moved like teleporting.”

Max, the second oldest, responded.

“Just confirmed here too. What the hell? Too far to be an escape route.”

Rex chewed, thinking.

‘Weird…’

The longest secured escape tunnel was 500 meters. Usually, emergency escape paths were around 50 meters.

So finding John 1.5 km away was strange.

‘No way he teleported… Signal spoofing?’

Maybe it was an attempt to deceive us with false signals.

But Rex realized it wasn’t spoofing; his analysis program confirmed the movement was human.

Could the target have blocked tracking while moving?

“No way.”

If John’s chip allowed it, there was no reason he wouldn’t have used it earlier.

Max’s next radio message came.

“Anyway, he left Edge Line on his own, so let’s proceed with retrieval. No need to stay here.”

“Roger.”

Though unanswered, the mystery remained. But staying longer wouldn’t change anything, so Rex prepared to leave.

Then…

“…What’s that?”

Rex spotted someone near the window, looking at the sky.

An android assisting Edge Line’s handler.

“What? An android? Can’t scan it… maybe a higher model? Huh, no way…”

A theory briefly crossed Rex’s mind.

“Rex, what are you doing? Pack up, the target’s moving!”

“Roger… going now.”

Before fully processing the thought, Rex obeyed.

The android wasn’t our concern; it was connected to Mia Dunlevy.

He cleaned up the sniper spot, tracking the target through his interface.

But something about the movement was odd.

“Why’s he going the wrong way? Doesn’t make sense.”

Max noticed too.

The expected route was Lrelada Town—most rational and likely.

But the target moved in the opposite direction.

‘Guess he’s a civilian…?’

Then Dex, the eldest, spoke over the radio.

“…Interesting.”

“Huh? Big brother?”

He rarely spoke unless necessary. Why now?

Dex continued:

“Seems the target hired a capable fixer. We’ll move to Batterfall.”

“Ah! Batterfall!”

Indeed, a good hiding spot.

Max responded:

“Batterfall? Could be annoying… Should we deploy the others, sir?”

After a pause, Dex replied:

“No. Just the three of us. Group movements are risky after the Neuroteca 58 incident.”

‘Indeed…’

Recently, the Neuroteca 58 collapse caused upper management to be wary.

Rex rose, ready to move lightly.

Edge Line’s highest-level personnel was just a single Rank 3. Our team had two Rank 3 and one Rank 4.

Rex recalled the faces of Rank 3s they had already neutralized.

“…Should be easy. Better buy some more snacks.”

This mission seemed like a light outing.