Chapter 31: “Repair by Self-Weight the Counterweight that Lifts Tomorrow”
“F-fweeeh… My right leg—every step I take it goes ‘mugyu’ or ‘pekon‚’ like the four plastic bottles are crying out with a pathetic ‘mugyu’ sound…”
I pushed my right foot—wearing the clumsy plastic-bottle shoe‚ Nagisa-style “Puka-Puka Hover No.1”—onto a wet step of the grand staircase.
The buoyancy unit forcefully pushed back the muddy water‚ but the shock traveled straight into my thigh‚ tightened by a tourniquet (AC adapter)‚ delivering a merciless “electric-eel retort.”
“Nagisa‚ your center of gravity is shifted about four centimeters to the right. If my weight leans that way‚ the energy efficiency for climbing a single step drops by twenty-three percent.”
Haru-kun‚ with his arm around my shoulders‚ spoke calmly into my ear—though his voice carried a hint of apology.
Protecting his fractured right leg‚ he was using me as the “latest cutting-edge carrier‚” after all…
“It’s okay‚ Haru-kun! I think of this weight as a ‘deposit for the future’! …Though the interest is starting to pile up so much my knees might go bankrupt soon…”
“…Stop chatting. Control your breathing. If oxygen supply drops‚ lactic acid will build up and you really won’t be able to move.”
Rin-chan‚ walking in the lead‚ said that without turning back.
Her waterproof jacket had no sleeves. On her bare white shoulders‚ the marks from the towing rope when she pulled one hundred forty kilograms yesterday were still there—fresh red-purple like a tattoo.
When we reached the landing‚ we finally stopped.
Outside the window‚ the “black wall” looming in the western sky writhed ominously like a shadow giant swallowing the world.
Perhaps because of the magnetic anomaly‚ the compass at Rin-chan’s waist still spun wildly—like “a dog’s tail waiting for a snack.”
“Still… Rin-chan‚ look at this.”
I lifted my motionless left arm with my right hand and pointed at my head.
“My blue hair’s completely clumped together from days of rain and humidity… Look‚ touch it! It’s rock hard! At this point it could write directly in Haru-kun’s notebook as a ‘weaponized brush!’”
“…There’s too much oil for it to be a brush. It’s just that sebum mixed with exhaust particles and the surface tension of the hair has exceeded its limit.”
Rin-chan stopped and pinched a lock of my hair between her slender white fingers.
“—Hyah.”
Even though she’d been standing in the cold rain‚ her fingertips were surprisingly hot.
Heat rose from her bare shoulder and brushed my cheek.
Every time we pressed close together on the narrow landing‚ my “excitement index” threatened to throw an error—for reasons unrelated to survival probability.
“…Is it unpleasant?”
“N-not unpleasant… but I feel like my ‘maiden HP’ is being chipped away through another route…”
“…If we find baking soda‚ it might work as a dry shampoo. Sodium bicarbonate emulsifies oils and removes them. There should be some in the administrative office or the kitchenette upstairs. Let’s look.”
Rin-chan‚ showing no concern for my reddened face‚ presented the repair plan in a matter-of-fact tone.
“Wash my hair with baking soda!? I’m not about to be turned into parfait ingredients‚ am I?”
“We don’t have the luxury of turning you into pancakes. …Let’s go. That ‘iron box’ is waiting for us.”
Where Rin-chan pointed.
At the end of the corridor in the administrative area stood a heavy metal door keeping silent.
The elevator.
“Let’s call it the Nagisa-Haru Exclusive Direct Flight to Sky Parfait (temporary)! Rin-chan‚ will this thing even move?”
“…Electronic control is dead. The circuit boards are probably fried by the magnetic anomaly. But—”
Rin-chan placed a hand on the elevator door.
“…The principles of physical gravity and pulleys aren’t dead. If it won’t move‚ we’ll just ‘fix’ it by force.”
Her fearless smile made me shiver a little.
It was the signal announcing the start of an outrageous repair called “vertical escape.”
“…Alright. To maintain the output of this single organism (team)‚ we’ll deploy ‘fuel’ once here. Nagisa‚ sit.”
Rin-chan stopped when we found the remains of a kitchenette in the administrative area.
She took off her backpack and pulled out a rusted can with its label half peeled—the one we’d found at the market yesterday.
“Yay! Food time! My stomach’s been waving a ‘vacancy available’ sign with all its might!”
I sat down on a battered chair borrowed from the reception counter‚ cradling my marshmallow-like left arm.
The plastic-bottle shoe on my right foot made a weak “pekon” sound.
“…Don’t get carried away. This is the last can. …No seconds until we finish repairing the lift.”
Rin-chan deftly pried open the can with a survival knife.
Inside was stewed beans.
She divided it into three portions and handed them to us.
“Rin-san‚ with this caloric intake we can only replenish thirty-two percent of the estimated kinetic energy required for manual elevator operation… It’s not efficient.”
Haru-kun placed his notebook on his knees and calmly analyzed while eating the beans one by one.
“Haru-kun‚ that’s not right! Meals aren’t just about calories—they’re a ritual for replenishing ‘excitement’!
Look‚ when you chew these beans‚ don’t they taste ‘alive’?”
“…They only taste like iron.”
“That’s just the rust from the can! …Hey‚ Rin-chan‚ are you eating properly? Aren’t we getting more than you?”
When I leaned over to peek‚ Rin-chan had already swallowed her share and was rummaging through the kitchenette’s chemical shelf.
“…I’m fine. More importantly‚ I found it. …Baking soda.”
What she held up was an old bag of powder‚ probably for cleaning.
“We can substitute it for dry shampoo. Nagisa‚ once the work is done I’ll repair your hair with it. …So eat for now.”
“Rin-chan… Got it!
With just this one bean‚ I’ll produce horsepower equal to five ponies!”
After finishing the meal‚ we finally stood before the heavy iron door of the elevator at the end of the corridor.
When Rin-chan pried open the landing door with a special tool‚ a bottomless vertical shaft opened there—its darkness filled with the smell of oil and the dust of long abandonment.
“Eee… it’s pitch black down there‚ and when I look up there are thick wire cables hanging everywhere…”
“…Naturally. It’s the apparatus that lifts three people and this iron box (the cage). …But watch.”
Rin-chan took out her compass.
The needle spun wildly like “a dog’s tail waiting for a snack.”
The magnetic anomaly from the western “black wall” had infiltrated even the depths of this building.
“…Just as expected. The control panel’s circuit board is burnt out by induced current. Electronic startup is one hundred percent impossible.”
“Then… the parfait express is cancelled after all?”
“…No. If the circuit board is dead‚ we simply create a physical bypass. Force the brake open and apply torque directly to the pulley.”
Rin-chan grabbed the giant brake lever of the hoisting machine.
The muscles of her bare shoulder tightened with creaking tension.
“…Nagisa. Haru. To move this box‚ we must directly interfere with the counterweight at the end of the cable. …According to my calculations‚ your body weight will be converted directly into ‘power.’”
“Our bodies… power?
Wait‚ does that mean I run inside this big gear like a hamster!?”
“…Could you do that with your right leg? …The method is even more irrational—and brute-force.”
A sharp mechanic’s light shone in Rin-chan’s eyes.
Outside‚ the water level steadily swallowed the grand staircase‚ driving our escape route into a single direction: vertical.
“…Nagisa‚ Haru. Sit side by side there. …Press close together. We must gather the center of gravity in one place.”
Where Rin-chan pointed was the dark inspection opening of the shaft beside the hoisting machine.
There hung a massive metal frame connected to the cage by wire—the counterweight—like a giant iron heart.
“Sit there!?
Wait‚ you mean we’re becoming a ‘two-serving human counterweight set’!?”
Cradling my marshmallow left arm with my right‚ I peered into the narrow iron frame.
Below was an open drop down to the lobby far beneath‚ where muddy water roared like a starving beast devouring the building.
“…Yes. According to Haru’s calculations‚ mud water has infiltrated the cage side and increased its weight. The original counterweight alone lacks torque. Adding your combined ninety kilograms will finally balance it.”
“Rin-san‚ physically that is correct‚ but our safety factor becomes negative.
If the wire exceeds its elastic limit‚ we’ll go straight into the underground mud… literally a ‘sinking.’”
Haru-kun hugged his notebook to his chest and looked up at Rin-chan with a pale face.
“…That’s why I’ll control the brake. Just get on. Time is precious.”
Without room for argument‚ Rin-chan wrapped a spare rope around my waist.
She pulled Haru-kun close as well‚ physically linking his body with my motionless left arm.
“Hyah…! Rin-chan‚ you’re so close!
My ‘heart-pounding fuel’ is about to reach full!”
A cramped machine room. The smell of oil and rust.
And the violent body heat rising from Rin-chan’s bare shoulders.
Each time her chest brushed my back‚ my heart hammered like a construction-site drill.
“…Quiet. Don’t move‚ the heat will escape. …Alright‚ connection complete.”
Rin-chan’s hand touched my right foot—the plastic-bottle-wrapped “Nagisa Hover.”
“…Nagisa. Hook that ugly shoe onto the edge of the iron frame. …It will be your ‘anchor.’”
“Roger!
Who would’ve thought my new leg would become the ‘wedge’ that moves an elevator!
This is the ultimate in recycling—right tool‚ right place!”
I stretched my trembling right leg and forced the plastic-bottle unit into the gap of the frame.
The empty bottles crushed with a “mugyu‚” then pushed back with solid elasticity—a stopper preventing our fall.
The duct tape creaked and the AC adapter dug into my flesh‚ but strangely I wasn’t afraid.
Beside me were Haru-kun’s trembling shoulders supporting me.
And behind me was the “heat” of Rin-chan determined to complete this outrageous repair.
“…Good. Preparations are complete. …Haru‚ how’s the weight distribution?”
“…Three‚ two‚ one… Currently the weight ratio with the cage side is one to 1.05.
…A mere five-percent load difference‚ but if it exceeds static friction‚ gravity will carry us.”
The scratching of Haru-kun’s pen across his notebook cut through the sound of rain.
“…Here we go. Nagisa. Haru. …Fulfill your duty as living weights.”
Rin-chan grasped the giant brake lever with both hands.
The red rope marks carved into her shoulders glowed eerily—and proudly—under the faint emergency light of the machine room.
A singularity in a sinking world where the smell of iron and sweat mixed.
Right now we were about to fight fate using our very own “mass” as a weapon.
“…Brake—release!!”
With Rin-chan’s sharp shout‚ the giant hoisting lever snapped upward.
CLANG! A heart-stopping jolt.
The next moment‚ the iron frame we were sitting on sank slightly toward the abyss under gravity.
“H-hyaaa!? We’re falling! We’re seriously falling!!”
“…Falling… is fine!
That falling energy… from potential energy into kinetic…!”
Beside me‚ Haru-kun clung desperately to my shoulder as he shouted back.
But after dropping a few centimeters‚ the frame stopped‚ defeated by the resistance of rusted pulleys.
The wires screamed‚ suspending our lives in midair.
“…Not enough! The static friction coefficient exceeds expectations… The pulley is seized!”
From the back of the machine room‚ I saw Rin-chan grabbing the huge gear‚ trying to turn it with all her body weight.
Her bare shoulders were burning red under the overload.
(No… at this rate Rin-chan’s body will break first…!)
I focused every last bit of consciousness into my right leg wedged in the frame.
My thigh tightened by the AC adapter should have long since “closed shop” on sensation‚ yet now the violent pain erupting from it was the only circuit left.
“Here we gooooo! Electric eel party—encore time!!”
I slammed my plastic-bottle shoe—“Nagisa Hover”—against the iron edge with all my strength.
A crimson lightning bolt shot through the leg that should have felt nothing.
It hurt.
It hurt more than devouring ten thousand parfaits at once.
But that pain was the greatest proof that I was alive here as “power.”
“Haru-kun‚ sync with me! On three—slam!”
“…Roger! Three‚ two‚ one… now!!”
We became a single lump of flesh and plunged the center of gravity of our linked bodies downward.
Ninety kilograms of mass bared its fangs called gravity.
Gii… GIGIGIGI!!
Iron screamed.
The giant gear that should have been dead yielded to our desperate will to live and moved—slowly‚ painfully slowly—just one tooth.
“…It moved! The weight of mud in the cage exceeded static friction!”
Rin-chan leapt onto the frame and yanked hard on the rope tied to the brake lever.
CLANK! The brake released.
At that instant‚ the cage loaded with tons of muddy water plunged into the abyss—
And in exchange‚ the iron frame carrying us shot upward toward the “vertical sanctuary” at tremendous speed.
“…Record updated!
Cage side: falling!
Counterweight (us): ascent initiated!
We… are not sinking!”
“…Ah‚ we’re rising. We’re pulling away… that awful muddy sound that was chasing us…!”
Our bodies on the frame rose rapidly‚ and from the darkness below came the dull crash of the cage slamming into mud water.
In its place we heard only the steady friction of wires‚ like the heartbeat of a single organism (team).
The pulley stopped‚ and we arrived at the inspection hatch of the observation floor.
“…Nagisa. Haru. Get down. …Vertical evacuation‚ phase one complete.”
Steam rose from Rin-chan’s bare shoulders where sweat had evaporated from overload.
Supporting Haru-kun‚ I climbed down from the frame and stepped onto the wide observation floor.
It was another world compared to the muddy corridors until now.
Beyond the full glass windows stretched the entire view of the sinking city and the “black wall” covering more than half the western sky.
The evening light painted our mud-stained clothes with an orange lie.
“Wow… It’s a great view… but it feels kind of lonely… like when someone already ate the strawberry on top of a parfait…”
As I murmured at the window‚ Rin-chan approached from behind.
In her hand was the bag of baking soda she had found earlier.
“…Nagisa. A promise is a promise. I’ll repair that ‘weaponized brush.’ Sit.”
“Now!? With this amazing view behind me‚ I’m going to be turned completely white with baking soda!?”
“…If we don’t reduce the discomfort index‚ it will interfere with the next task. …Haru‚ check the surrounding structure. Cracks in the glass‚ signs of flooding.”
Rin-chan sat me down in a chair and sprinkled baking soda powder onto my blue hair without hesitation.
“Hyah! Cold… but somehow…”
Her hot fingertips gently yet firmly massaged my scalp.
The powder absorbed the oil‚ and the clumped hair gradually regained its original softness.
Around the cramped chair‚ Rin-chan’s body heat touched the back of my neck.
The smell of sweat‚ the slightly powdery scent of baking soda.
And the indescribable feeling of being “cared for” transmitted through her fingertips.
My “excitement index” overheated along a completely different route from survival probability.
“…Rin-chan… your hands are really hot…”
“…It’s the heat needed to shut you up. …Alright‚ that’s a little better.”
When Rin-chan’s hands left‚ my hair had been repaired—from a “brush” back into “Nagisa’s hair.”
She turned her gaze outside while shyly trying to hide her sleeveless shoulder.
“…Nagisa. Look.”
Where Rin-chan pointed was the floor of the observation deck.
There‚ a massive “underwater observation window” had been installed‚ peering down into the aquarium area sinking into twilight.
Beautiful—and then—
Crack.
In the silence‚ a dreadful sound echoed.
A long‚ sharp fracture ran across the enormous glass of the observation window.
“…Huh? No way—the ‘underwater parfait viewing seats’ are about to break now!?”
“…The calculations don’t match. Water pressure exceeds expectations. …Nagisa‚ Haru. Break time is over. The next ‘repair’ target is decided.”
The sharp light of an engineer returned to Rin-chan’s eyes.
Beyond the window‚ in the black sea‚ something was writhing.
It seemed our Day 2 wasn’t going to be allowed to end yet.
End of Chapter 31
|