Devyat' North Section 3: Rodion's Story

Ya really are one weirdly dedicated gal, huh~?

I hardly expected you to follow me all the way out here when it's so cold out.

Consider it an extension of my… duties as a professional.

The interviewer replies, sniffling and shuddering, one hand holding tightly onto her notepad.

They're in one of the Backstreets of the northern part of the City, a place of an almost unending blizzard.

Not even the poorest of the poor would dare choose this place to fall asleep.

The child, her colleagues, and the interviewer were trudging through the snow and the cutting wind.

Hmm... I guess for how popular the Devyat' is, people don't really know how we really run things here.

Yeah! Most people only know you guys as the Fixers who deliver expensive or rare items to any place in the world.

Yeah~ Safer deliveries are usually handled by more familiar transportation companies or Fixer Offices.

So it's gotta be a pretty dangerous job, huh? Why did you find work in this Association, if there are other options -

Mm... 'Cuz the pay is good?

... She wasn't lying about the pay being good, of course.

But she also intentionally omitted the fact that many Fixers who are in heavy debt end up working for the Devyat' Association.

She didn't want to go into detail about her wilder past here, of course.

... Ooh, the wind is subsiding.

Guys! Let's take a quick break here and get something to eat.

The child shouts at her colleagues nearby, who all sigh in exasperated unison before reaching out to open their delivery trunks.

Ooh...! So they're the famous Courier Trunk, huh?

Yeah, well. It's a fancy name for what's just a glorified delivery trunk. It's convenient when you're carrying a lot of stuff... Hup!

[Unauthorized lock release outside of delivery coordinates detected.]

Shush! Be quiet.

Did that bag just..? Oh, it's AI-activated, huh?

While Artificial Intelligence with a similar sense of self as humans has been outlawed since a long time ago...

... simple, minor assistant-level Artificial Intelligence was still used quite often in the City.

An example of one such Artificial Intelligence was that trunk the child was lightly tapping on.

Mmhm~ This girl's called Poludnitsa. I bet most people don't know about these things.

Ooh, yeah, yeah! I heard some witness reports of Devyat' Fixers talking to their trunks... So they're called... Polud... nitsa... got it.

We all thought that you guys had all gone... you know, insane. Making these grueling treks day after day has to get to you eventually, right?

... Had no idea that's what people think of us.

She sighed deeply, her white breath scattering into the air, and pulled something from the trunk.

It was smaller than a bean at first, but it grew larger as it emerged from the bag...

... and soon grew to the size of a palm-sized energy bar.

I knew it. So those trunks weren't just any old containers!

Yeah, we're an Association, y'know? You can stuff an item that's five times the size of this trunk into this thing.

Besides, even when transporting items that are hundreds of kilos... once we manage to stick 'em in here, we can hardly feel their weight.

Hmm... the functionalities of this bag can bend space itself, and the item's mass within is barely felt... hm... I see!

T-those are some complicated concepts, huh... I remember the article about Dieci South leaning a bit less on the technical side of things.

Ah, I studied science and engineering in the north. I guess that bleeds into my articles sometimes, ha ha. Even our editor reprimands me for losing track of what I'm writing.

... W-want an energy bar or something?

[Warning. Storage of unauthorized items is not recommended.]

That, uh... Poludnitsa doesn't seem to like that idea.

Eh, don't worry about it. The Association usually lets these things slide, especially if a mission takes us straight through harsh environments like this.

After all, the only thing that matters... is that we make the delivery on time.

The interviewer easily caught on to the fact that the child's voice briefly turned dark.

What... happens if you don't make it in time?

Ya keep salting my wound, you know that...? That's...

That's when an aggresive sound of something rushing toward them pierced through the ambient noise.

Uhh...

[Hostile forces detected. Activating Poludnitsa high-power delivery mode maneuvers.]

Ugh. Speak of the devil, huh? I guess thieves are coming out of the woodwork now that the blizzard's somewhat subsided.

The child stuffed the remaining half of the energy bar into her mouth, jumped up, and swung the giant delivery trunk over her shoulder.

Polu, rupture energy unlock!

[Authorized. Verify that there are no items at risk near the exhaust.]

Only stuff that's risky for me if kept alive!

Just as she finished her sentence, a massive blade exploded out from one end of her trunk,

which she swung against her enemies without hesitation.

Ooh...

... Hey, you. Ya sure it's safe for you out here? Aren'tcha scared?

Yep! This is my expertise. I've seen stuff like this pretty often.

Hard life, huh?

It also helped that my interview subjects were all very strong, which meant that I had nothing to worry about. I'm sure it won't be any different today!

... That wasn't true, but the interviewer knew the right things to say to get the answers she wanted.

Hmph, look at you tryna butter me up~

Fine, I'll let you in on some more info!

The child does not stop swinging her trunk around even as she explains the functionalities of the Courier Trunk.

Every time! We're about to be late for a delivery! This talking trunk!

Kuhhh...

Enhances our strength! Because! Bein' late for a delivery! Is dangerous!

So... I'm tryna get my delivery done ASAP!

I see!

So... why is it dangerous...?

... Um.

Well, you don't want to get on your boss' bad side, right? Same deal.

I-I guess so...

The child lied.

The less and less time they have for the delivery, the greater the amount of energy expelled by the trunk.

The energy builds and builds until it starts harming its user... and eventually, leaving nothing but the trunk in their place.

What, ya thought there was something special to it? C'mon, aren't we all motivated by our aversion to getting reprimanded by our bosses?

But she didn't want to have to share that fact.

Because doing so would also show her anxiety about how many users this Poludnitsa has had in the past...

... or how she might be joining the ever-growing list of its 'former users'.

And the interviewer would definitely catch onto that anxiety and write it in her report. She would prefer to avoid that if possible.