Volume 7, Epilogue
“The operation to track down the MIB is still ongoing. We will meet any resistance with force. We will send photos to confirm their deaths, so please check them against the list.”
“We are currently investigating the terminal facilities they used as bases. Surprisingly, we really did find two more Objects awaiting their final preparations. We also found over five hundred of the amplification facilities for the Flyby Collider. Given another twelve hours, they might have been able to release it all and bring war to the entirety of Oceania. Fortunately, we managed to defeat them before they could do so.”
“A large number of MIB members have been found in an abandoned factory near Sydney. We are hoping they will surrender. Please prepare to hold them as prisoners of war.”
“The night sky movement is calming down. We were warned it was a possibility, but I’m relieved it looks unlikely we will have to engage the civilians in combat.”
Froleytia puffed on her long, narrow kiseru while listening to the reports in the 37th Mobile Maintenance Battalion’s mission control room.
Her expression was no different from normal.
“Do you think we can bring this all to an end?”
“It’s mostly over already. The Black Uniforms are likely handling the sponsors hidden in safe countries. It may have helped that we managed to secure the Objects before they were completely ready. If they could have run off, they might have disappeared into the darkness.”
“Did that false hope lead the MIB personnel to be focused in those areas?”
“The Objects acted a lot like the...what do you call it? That sticky tape stuff you stick in the corner of the kitchen to catch roaches. Anyway, I’m glad we could bring an end to this chaos.”
Froleytia thought for a moment and then spoke.
“That means there is one remaining problem.”
“Yes, the one functioning MIB Object that Quenser and the others ran into. The Flyby Collider especially could cause conflict between the different world powers that want to get their hands on it.”
“I would love to take it for ourselves, but I doubt it will be so easy. Acquiring the technology and monopolizing it are two different things.”
Also, there was more than just the one Object. Even if they were incomplete, there were two Objects with reactors installed as well as hundreds of the amplification facilities. If multiple world powers tried to take them for their own army, it could easily cause another war.
Also, if the technology to scatter acid over a target area spread around the world, it could dry up farmlands and have catastrophic consequences on mankind as a whole. It would be best to destroy it so the foolish military officials would not covet it.
If everyone began thinking they needed the technology to stand up against the others who had it, there would be no stopping it.
“If only the MIB had tried to prevent their technology from leaking out by rigging a system to detonate all the reactors and acid tanks when a signal was sent over the internet.”
“Out of curiosity, would it be possible destroy everything they left behind and make it look like that was what happened?” asked Froleytia.
“If those are my orders, yes. But I wouldn’t want the higher ups to know about it. If they found out I abandoned new technology and blew up a veritable treasure trove, they’d string me up.”
“What if I was the one taking the risk?”
“Then give me the order. It is our duty to carry out your wishes.”
After a quick command, Froleytia ended the transmission.
She brought the kiseru back into her mouth.
A young female operator looked up at her worriedly.
“Y-you do not look very happy.”
“There is another problem,” she muttered.
(We still don’t know where the gold bars that funded the MIB were hidden.)
The predecessors of the MIB were said to have stolen a large number of gold bars during the collapse of the UN.
The upper levels of the military, the soldiers on the battlefield, and the captured members of the MIB had all dismissed it as an absurd illusion.
(But could they really maintain an organization of that size on nothing but a lie? I’m not about to say it’s completely true, but surely they would have had to show some people a pile of gold bars as “proof” to get them to believe the lie.)
If the truthful portion of that absurd story came to light, it could cause a large problem.
The current system of currency was based on a market where all those gold bars did not exist.
What if enough gold bars to fill the ocean suddenly appeared all at once?
(The price of gold would plummet and the current system of currency could easily collapse.)
It was a frightening “bomb”. It could cause a commotion on a level rivalling the collapse of the UN. But even if they interrogated all of the captured MIB members, it was unlikely any of them would say they knew where the gold was.
After thinking that far, Froleytia cracked her neck.
“That’s a dangerous line of thinking. Was it by wielding this sort of ‘reality’ that they gained so much power? It’s like a computer virus that eats into the human brain.”
“?”
After the helicopter crash and the defeat of the Son of a Bitch, Quenser, Heivia, and the rest of their group hurried back to the maintenance base zone.
They had lost the ability to walk on their own, so a rescue team came to retrieve them.
The military vehicles were a wonderful sight when they drove up.
They cried tears of joy that they belonged to a unit filled with outdated old-style weapons.
“Ugh, this is horrible. I’m covered in sweat, sand, blood, oil, and I don’t even know what else!! Hey, how many days of leave do I have left? Actually, do we even get any!?”
“Why would I know what your schedule is? I just want to take a shower and crawl into bed. I think I might be an idiot. I go to all that extra work on my own, but I still get paid the same as everyone else.”
When the vehicle came to a stop, the two idiots rolled out the door. The sandy desert ground awaited them below. Getting fine sand all over the stains covering their bodies only made everything worse.
They did not have it in them to stand back up, so they began wriggling like exhausted worms. As they did, the old maintenance woman walked up.
“Oh, c’mon. Why couldn’t we at least be greeted by the princess?”
“That’s because she’s taking a post-battle shower,” replied the old woman.
The two idiots immediately stood up and shouted in unison.
“That means it’s time for our reward!!”
“You two can try to peep if you like, but you’ll probably be shot in the name of protecting classified information.”
The two idiots were not using their brains for anything worthwhile, so they did not listen.
The old maintenance woman stood before them. That was valuable information. That eliminated the possibility of the greatest trap where they peeped on the women’s bath and found an old woman inside. That only increased the value of trying this now. Also, every woman other than the old woman was an acceptable result for the two of them.
They crouched down and began drawing up a detailed map with a fallen stick.
“Quenser, doesn’t this part go like this? The base is made up of over one hundred large vehicles, so what looks like a wall can actually be opened.”
“No, Heivia! We can’t use a camera! This is just a vacation event, so we need to keep it at the tried and true method of peering over the fence. A gentleman must follow the rules.”
“I think you’re disqualified as gentlemen the instant you try to peep,” sighed the old maintenance woman.
Quenser and Heivia continued their strategy meeting, but the old woman radioed Froleytia once their plans became a little more realistic. That was when everything went downhill. The two idiots were forced to run around while chased by a military vehicle driven by an especially muscular soldier and with Froleytia sticking her upper body out of the roof.
They shouted while running with all their might.
“What is wrong with her!? If she runs us over, there’s no way we’ll rest in peace!! And why isn’t she and her huge breasts in the bath!? Go wait in the women’s bath, you idiot!!”
“No, wait!! Do you think we can find a way to escape into the princess’s personal shower room? We might be able to get the whole intrusion thing written off as force majeure!”
However, the world they lived in was not that convenient.
The two enemies of women were ultimately cornered, taken away by muscular soldiers, and forced to clean toilets as punishment. Nothing could have been worse.
“But...”
“What?”
“We know it isn’t these MIB, but who actually knows why the world ended up the way it is? The people who experienced the atmosphere of the time are growing older and dying off.”
“It’s possible someone really was fighting to bring back the world police before those people took the name for themselves. They may have been buried in the shadows of history while still holding the truth of these wars, and now someone else used their empty husk and name.”
Quenser leaned up against the bathroom wall while speaking.
His knees trembled from extreme exhaustion and he felt as if he would end up kissing the bathroom floor if he relaxed for even an instant.
Nevertheless, he somehow managed to remain standing and stared off into the distance.
“While there’s still someone to ask, it might be a good idea to ask someone what it was truly like back then. ...We could ask the old maintenance woman, I suppose.”
Even as he spoke, the flames of the next war began to burn brightly in the darkness.
Those wars continued on and on with no one knowing the reason why.