Chapter Text
Author's Note: Apologies once again for the delay! It turns out it's a little tricky to plan out exactly how the climax unfolds.
I am trapped in an elevator with a Vampire, in a world where they're apparently all telepathic, for as long as it takes us to travel up to the Skytree's observation deck. There's not even music to distract my mind, and keep her from reading it.
Time to be the distraction, then.
"So, my little kitten ~ " I take two steps forward, backing Erika-chan up against the wall. Then I put my hand on it, over her head, looking down at her as she squirms and blushes.
"Y-yes, Kamikoshi-sama?" She's trying to meet my gaze, and blushing harder and harder as she does so.
"Are you quite alright? You look flush." I caress her cold, blushing cheek. "That can't be healthy for one of your kind."
"I-I'm a little distracted!" she stammers, swallowing hard and looking away from me.
A holographic window next to her shows that she has no heart rate, and yet that's a lot of blood in her cheeks. Plus, she still seems to blink and swallow saliva. My machine cortex compiles all this info on SCI-I-121-3 instances diligently, in the text that scrolls upwards beside her.
"Whatever could be distracting you?" I grin, feeling slightly flush with arousal myself. Being up close and personal with a monster girl will do that to you.
"W-w-well, you should know ... "
"Me?" I put the hand that was caressing her cheek to my chest.
She swallows again and nods, looking up at me timidly. "You had us make that medicine and inject it before you got here, remember?"
"Has it truly affected you this much, my dear?" I put one hand to her forehead, leaning in to examine her face as though checking for signs of a fever.
Pretending as though I know what she's talking about.
Ignoring Toriko's giggling.
I move my hand aside as Erika-chan nods quickly. And when she next speaks I have trouble paying attention, because I'm staring at her sharp fangs. It occurs to me that being this close to them may be hazardous to my health. Or relationship status. Or species.
My machine cortex replays what she said at 3x speed, for my distracted organic mind. "It doesn't just keep us from reading your mind, us Vampires I mean ... it also made everyone feel kind of dizzy and sick! Or h-hot, on the inside."
Ah, so that's why she's wincing.
And why the enforcers up front looked dazed, and were using their radios.
"You are indeed 'hot' for such a cold little girl, my dear." I pull back away, standing up straight and grinning as I watch her clutch her chest. "I have important things to attend to here, though, and I'm sure you remember what they are. Yes?"
"Y-yes'm!" Erika-chan nods quickly.
"Well, then. Why don't you lead the way, once we get there?" I take her hand gently, and put my other hand over it.
The elevator dings.
Soundtrack: Ru'Lude Gardens (Final Fantasy XI Online OST)
Theme of Walpurgisnacht's Ball
The music increases in volume as Erika-chan hurriedly walks us out, through a claustrophobic wooden passage that feels like we're inside a knothole. Then a blast of high-altitude air hits me in the face, as we step outside of the Star Tree's trunk and onto a wide, donut-shaped covered platform built all around it.
I didn't realize Walpurgisnacht's dolls could play the violin. Or wind instruments. But there's a whole squad of them on a stage to the side, dressed up in some kind of black formalwear. They have speakers and amps set up beside them, with smaller speakers wired up in the platform's eaves, playing loud enough that I can hear them over its creaking and the wind's rushing.
ACTIVE NOISE CANCELLING
I try to take in the scene quickly, still holding onto Erika-chan's hand. My machine cortex is constructing a 3d automap, of this platform and the stairways and paths to the others surrounding it, out on the Star Tree's branches. The buildings look almost tropical, with pointed roofs, but everything is made out of dead grey wood and withered red reeds. Those must be painted, as I can see chevrons and triangular designs in the same red paint on the floor. Are these the styles from Walpurgisnacht's homeworld?
Either way, there are a lot more people up here than I expected. Most of them Succubi and their Incubus partners, in various stages of nudity; there seems to be a rule against having your chest or crotch covered on the dance floor across from the stage. Either that, or those came off long ago and haven't been put back on.
I count nine ... no, ten of the same Incubus, all of them doting on two voracious Succubi and a girl with horns and a scaly tail. And by "doting on" I mean both making out and eating out all of their orifices. This is what Brad said Doppelganger Potion is for, right? They don't seem to be able to control theirselves, either. They're ravenous.
A Succubus in a red dress flies up from the wall of black mist below us and lands on the edge of the platform, setting her Incubus husband down next to her. I immediately realize why the way we came in looked abandoned. And why all the monster girls up here appear to have wings.
Well ... all except the half-dozen girls with wolf ears and tails, wearing leather jackets and hot pants. And apparently nothing else. They're holding a naked human girl down, in an open-air lounge on our right, chanting "BITE! BITE! BITE!" while one of them ravages that girl's neck.
Toriko whistles, stepping up beside me and looking out at them. "Those girls are bad news. I had hairy knuckles for a week after they all bit me at once."
DISPLAYING SUBTITLES
The wind and the music are so loud up here, I have to read what she says. Then I raise my eyebrows at Toriko. "Their mamono mana got through to you?"
Toriko blushes, and grins sheepishly. "The Resistance thinks it's a virus. I had to be quarantined until-"
"Kamikoshi-sama? Archer-san?" Erika-chan's tugging at my hand, and looking between me and Toriko. "L-let me take you to where the prisoners are ... " She casts a nervous look over at the wolf girls, who are holding the human with the bloodied neck down as she starts to convulse.
Are Werewolves and Vampires rivals in every isekai?
"Very well, kitten." I nod to her, keeping my eye on them as well, before glancing over at Toriko. "With me, 'Archer.'"
"Of course, 'Kamikoshi-sama' ~ " I blush, as she wraps her arm in mine.
Erika-chan leads us quickly past the seating arrangement the wolf girls have to theirselves, as fur starts to sprout from the the former human girl's hands and feet. I turn to look behind me as we circle around the Star Tree, and see Shouta-kun blushing and staring at everything while Alisa gives me a questioning look.
I reach the hand that I'm holding the briefcase with up to my ear, while giving Alisa an intent look.
She reaches up and grasps her headset radio, then "oh"s and nods quickly before tugging on Shouta-kun's arm. A second later I hear her voice over my internal radio. "Special agent Alisa, reporting for duty!"
"Find Walpurgisnacht," I tell her. "Over."
"Roger that, over!"
"Try to keep your dist-"
I wince, as the pack of wolves howls. It drowns out everything else, for a long few seconds.
"-k-keep your distance from her. Over."
Toriko's covering her ears and wincing as well.
* * *
Believe it or not, it isn't unheard of for TYRANT-2 units to be infected with lycanthropy. T-2 178 and 261 both got incidental bites or scratches, while trying to fend off werecreatures on nights of the full moon. Or on the moon, in 178's case.
They both died agonizing deaths within two minutes of infection.
This is because the process of building a T-2 endoskeleton involves infusing it with the properties of alchemical silver and cold iron. It makes our built-in weapons much more effective, against fey creatures and lycanthropes. It just also means a T-2 Werewolf effectively has lava for bones, and lives about as long as the proverbial "transporter accident."
I was very glad to put the monster girl versions of Werewolves behind me, as Erika led us across a sturdy rope bridge to a long wooden building stretched across two huge branches. Even Zombification would be preferable to that death, I thought.
Monsterfucker that she is, I could see Toriko kissing a Zombie.
I can't see her kissing my skeleton. Even if it's still alive and conscious.
* * *
Soundtrack: Where Lords Rule Not (Final Fantasy XI Wings of the Goddess OST)
Theme of Walpurgisnacht's Stronghold
The rope bridge connecting the Star Tree's trunk to a building across its boughs is narrow, but surprisingly sturdy. Even at more than a hundred feet long it barely flexes under my weight, there are no visible gaps through the precision-made wooden rods that make up the floor, and it sways so little in the wind that I only have to hold on with one hand.
Which is good, because I'm still carrying the weapons briefcase with the other. Does Erika-chan think it's full of unmarked 10,000 yen bills? Because I sure hope so.
I glance to the side, over the railing and past the diagonal ropes anchoring it to the canopy every few metres. There are two other main buildings surrounding the Star Tree and several smaller platforms, along with a flat wooden surface we're passing directly over. Red and green hexagonal markings on top of it aren't quite visible enough for it to be a landing pad, plus the bridge obstructs it partway, so I have to assume this is the "massive warehouse" Brad mentioned they were building earlier.
A hologram map of the entire Star Tree complex rotates above it, visible only to me, as I glance between it and the feed from the MQ-9 Reaper drone Nu-7 has in the air. I could almost do my hair using its camera, if I zoom in enough. If worst comes to worst I can have it alpha strike Walpurgisnacht, but the assholes loaded it down with Hellfires and fucking napalm of all things. It's kitted out for mass civilian casualties, not a precision strike against a solitary Wight. And while fire is usually effective against animate corpses ...
... I wouldn't put it past Walpurgisnacht to just dodge.
She's tiny.
What the hell even is she? I wonder. Besides a Wight that's not bound by the monster girl rules, and an "interdimensional warlord" according to Nara. And when is she going to show herself?
At any rate, it's my fault Nu-7's quadcopters are out, and I don't regret it at all. But their helicopter gunship is having some issues getting off the ground right now, and I'm not having them storm the Skytree on foot, or bombard it with their tank cannon loaded with HEAT shells. So all that controlling SCInet gets me is a third-person view of myself.
I shouldn't underestimate Walpurgisnacht or her forces, I think. One of those dolls could probably take out a gunship all on its lonesome, depending on what their range is. Her technology looks wooden and primitive ... but just like this rope bridge, it's a lot sturdier than it seems.
And just like that, we're at the end of it and back on a platform. Toriko entwines her arm with the one I have holding the briefcase again, now that we can stand side by side.
This platform's completely solid, just like the one at the trunk. It doesn't even creak under my weight. The wooden building that Erika-chan is leading us to seems to take up most of it, and looks a bit like a longhouse, or a squat, stretched-out barn. The lights are on, and look extremely bright.
There's only one other "person" here, a single doll in front of the door. It steps aside for Erika-chan.
She pauses at the door, and gives me a nervous look. "J-just so you know ... someone else came looking for you earlier."
"Oh?" I raise my eyebrows.
"She asked for you by name. A-and she looked just like you." Erika-chan blushes and looks away.
Toriko audibly stifles a giggle. She's smiling when I glance over at her.
"What's so funny?" I want to ask her. But I don't.
Instead I caress our Vampire chaperone's cold cheek again, and gently turn her to look at me. "Erika-chan. Kitten. Do you know the name 'TYRANT' by any chance?"
Her red eyes light up. "Oh! That's who Walpurgisnacht-sama is meeting with right now!"
I gag on my tongue.
WARDIALING ALL LOCAL WIRELESS NETWORKS
RESULTS:* 5 (FIVE) MOBILE WI-FI HOTSPOTS* 0 (ZERO) STATIONARY WIRELESS ROUTERS* 0 (ZERO) TYRANT UNIT TRANSPONDERS
I cough discreetly into my hand a few times, and try not to lose control of my breathing, as I glance over the hologram beside Erika-chan's face. "I-I see ... I assume she is having a, um, a phone call? O-or videoconference? Since I didn't detec-" I cough. "Didn't see any other, uhh ... "
I don't sound nearly as suave as I did just a minute ago.
Toriko giggles. I really don't see what's so funny.
"I wouldn't know! She just said she was not to be disturbed, while she speaks with TYRANT." Erika-chan nods. "Um, why do you ask, Kamikoshi-sama?"
"There's a killer robot who's out to get me! She's called TYRANT and looks just like me!"
... is what I don't say. Because the alibi I was going to use just got a lot more complicated.
Is Sorawo working directly with my core unit, still? I think back to the dream I had, which was apparently a vision of the two of them meeting for the first time in the Moon Cell. A lot can change in eighty years, but I can't tell if the two of them are at odds from just what Erika-chan said. And I can't exactly ask her!
I take a deep breath. "Let me put it this way. Do you know what TYRANT is?"
"W-what TYRANT is?" She says it like she'd assumed my core unit was a "who," not a "what."
"She's an artificial consciousness developed by the Americans. I don't know if you've seen 'Terminator 2,' but she is basically Skynet."
I've learned a little bit about this world's pop culture, over the last few days. And its uncanny similarity to my nature.
Erika-chan's eyes widen as I go on, my hand on her shoulder now. "There is a rogue TYRANT unit in this city. A Terminator, you might call her. She is trying to kill me."
"Oh my gosh!" Erika-chan puts her hand to her mouth.
I am blushing as hard as she is, at her cuteness. "If you see her, do not let her know that I'm here. And be sure to tell me immediately. Do you understand?"
"Y-yes, ma'am! Of course!" She salutes quickly, almost bumping her hand into my arm.
I am actually going to die of how cute this "young" Vampire girl is.
"V-very well," I say, taking my hand off her shoulder but still blushing hard. "Now, um. Would you be so kind as to show me the prisoners?"
"Of course! Right this way."
I'm watching her closely, on the visible spectrum and thaumic, to see what kind of security this building uses. If she's carrying a ward of some kind, or swiping a hidden NFC keycard. But as far as I can tell, it has ... none. Zero security whatsoever. She just opens the door, and covers her eyes as she steps in.
Walpurgisnacht's widely disliked, I think, as I cover my own eyes and squint at the light. So either monster girls have an extremely high-trust culture, or they really don't want to fuck with her and her dolls. Or else-
Fuck.
There are electrical cables connected to a gas-powered generator, through an open window on the other side of the building. Somehow I didn't notice, between the loud music, the wind, and my own performance anxiety. But I do notice what it's hooked up to.
Sunlamps.
Erika-chan dons a pair of sunglasses she had in her pocket, as her bright purple glow on thaumic dims to a shade of blue almost matching Toriko's. Losing her powers in the artificial sunlight doesn't seem to cause her discomfort, but she does glance uneasily over at the prisoners ... all of them Vampires, just like her.
There are eighteen of them lined up next to the walls, those solid gold collars still attached to their necks. No chains, no bindings, just hay put down beneath them. Which makes me imagine mortal prisoners losing control of their bodily functions as they stand here, helpless to even scratch their noses, and dolls mucking the building around them.
In the light, I imagine they're even less able to break free. Like Eiko-chan did earlier, just for a second, in order to save me. And now she's-
Toriko covers her mouth, as she gasps.
Yep. Eiko-chan's here, about halfway down the building. Still in the same dress as before, although her plush bear is nowhere to be seen.
She's just staring straight ahead. She doesn't acknowledge us, or glance over at us. Either the collar has that much power over her, or wearing it this long has broken her. Or both.
I start to walk towards her, but Erika-chan tugs on my arm. "Be careful! You can't touch them while their security collars are on, they'll push b-"
I throttle Erika-chan, and slam her against the wall. "Free them," I order her. "Now."
... at least, that's what I want to do.
I am vividly imagining it. What's she going to do, squirm? She's practically human under these sunlamps. I could crush her throat, break her skull right in half, with no effort.
CONTEXTUALLY RELEVANT AUDIO
"If they really resented her rule," the American-Israeli spec ops agent tells me, "they'd put a stop to it. But they don't."
Give me a reason not to destroy you, I think, as I look down at the deceptively-adorable Vampire girl. Give me a reason to think that if I let you persist in undeath, if I let you stay after Walpurgisnacht's gone, you won't deserve a war crimes trial. Just for imprisoning Eiko-chan like this.
It seems I like cute little Vampire girls so much, I am ready to murder even another cute Vampire girl for hurting one.
"U-um, Kamikoshi-sama?" Erika-chan lifts her sunglasses just a little. "The look you're giving me's kind of scary ... "
My voice is measured, as I gesture at the sunlamps. "Isn't this cruel and unusual punishment for your kind?"
That's the most polite I am capable of being, right now.
"Uhhh." Erika-chan clutches her throat, as she looks away. "W-we don't ... "
She coughs to clear her throat, looking far away from me as she speaks. "Us Enforcers don't really ... w-we don't go out on Nights of the Hunt, we don't make the decisions for who's taken prisoner or how they're kept ... " She takes a deep breath, which I assume she just needs to in order to talk. "I-I was just thinking, 'I'm glad that Walpurgisnacht conscripted me, or I'd be collared right now!' Except I don't really know what you want these Vampires for, s-so maybe I'd rather go with y-"
I look over at her, as she covers her mouth quickly. "Oh gosh," she says through her hands.
I blush hard, squeezing my eyes shut as I look away.
"Archer," I say.
No response.
"Ar. Cher." I give Toriko a pointed look.
"Oh, uh. Yes, 'Kamikoshi-sama?'" She gives a half-hearted salute, and a questioning look.
"Step outside for a moment, will you? Keep an eye out for the 'rogue TYRANT unit.'"
Toriko glances between me and Erika-chan, giving me a look that's like "are you sure?"
I just nod.
"Okay, then! I'll ... leave you to do whatever it is you're going to do."
I wait until she's out the door and shuts it behind her, looking down at Erika-chan the whole time.
Erika-chan gulps.
"What do you have to do," I ask, "for me to pick one of them out? Is there a key, or a magic word, which unlocks the collars?"
"O-oh!" She glances between me and Eiko-chan. "The collars are keyed to Walpurgisnacht-sama. Anyone who has her authority can just order them to unlock! Like me, or another Enforcer."
"What if ... "
"Y-yes?" Erika-chan blushes intensely, as I step right up next to her and tilt her chin upward.
"What if I've already picked out the Vampire I like best?" I say, in what I hope is a seductive whisper.
She swallows hard.
"My dear. Little. Kitten." I smile with half-lidded eyes. "We are going to have so much fun together."
"I-I-" She's visibly sweating, and glancing to her left and right frantically.
"It's alright." I grin evilly. "You know you can't hide your arousal from a Succubus, even in human disguise."
"I-I'm too young to have a husband!" she squeaks, giving me a look that's just terrified of how turned on it is.
I press my fingertip to her nose. "All girls lie about their age."
"N-n-no I'm serious, I was a f-first-year in junior high when I got-"
I kiss her.
Just enough to run my tongue seductively over her fangs. Just enough to give her a taste of the Essence contained in my saliva. I'm practically dripping with it thanks to Brad's potion, aren't I?
"O-o-oh gosh." She covers her mouth with both hands, once I pull back.
I am enjoying this more than I thought I would. My evil grin is one hundred percent genuine.
"Don't you want to leave all this behind?" I ask her. "The fighting, the prisoners, the things that come with 'conscription.' Just for a night, and if you don't like it you can come back without another word."
I am dangerously close to getting that forever monster girl partner I didn't want, aren't I?
She takes several shuddering breaths, sounding like the start of a panic attack.
Without a word, I pull her into a gentle hug.
"It's okay," I tell her. "You can do whatever you like. Just don't keep the prisoners around for my sake. You can let them go, now."
While hugging Erika-chan like that, I give Eiko-chan's vacant eyes a desperate look. Begging her to understand what I'm doing, here.
I don't know why I'm worried about what she thinks. It just feels like she might be jealous.
"I-I ... " Erika-chan's voice quavers.
I pull back and put my hand on her cheek again. "Yes, my adorable little kitten?"
She swallows hard, squeezing her eyes shut. "I want ... "
WARDIALING UPDATE:
2 (TWO) TYRANT UNIT TRANSPONDERS INCOMING
* T-1 121 (PRIORITY: TERMINATE)* C-2 101
Oh, crap.
Foxily Anticipated Questions for Chapter Thirty
Q. Are the Skytree and the Star Tree two separate things?
A. The Skytree is an actual building in Tokyo, a huge radio tower with observation decks that are open to the public. The Star Tree is the colossal dead tree that Walpurgisnacht planted, which grew all around the Skytree. At the level of the top observation deck, the Skytree itself is pretty much buried inside of it, which is why you have to walk out through a knothole to get to the wooden platforms beyond.
Q. What does HEAT stand for, again?
A. High Explosive Anti-Tank. They're ironically pretty bad against modern main battle tanks' frontal armour, but they're a not-terrible choice if you want to blow buildings up and/or burn them down.
Mina doesn't particularly care if the Star Tree survives, but she does care about the protestors at the base of it. And, to a lesser extent, the partygoers.
Q. What's a C-2 unit?
A. You'll C.
Q. Is that a pun on "you'll see?"
A. ... yes.