“Body unit connection confirmed.”
Most pilots, as a rule, don’t involve themselves much in an engineer’s domain.
Because taking part in development or coming up with builds on their own is far harder than most people imagine.
Most pilots don’t even properly know what kind of Titan they want.
That’s why Professor Sumeragi goes half-mad with impatience whenever he sees a cadet who can put together a good build.
“White. Confirm connection.”
“Confirmed.”
Karina was different from those ordinary pilots.
She was so interested in customization that she rented one of the school workshops as her personal workshop.
“Bunny. Begin record tracing.”
“Beginning.”
The Luna family had the blood of engineers running through it.
She could say with confidence that her talent as a pilot was far above average, but her engineering ability was excellent as well.
“Beginning trace of previous accessors.”
The most representative work was White Bunny.
A Titan in which two artificial intelligences coexisted simultaneously within a single Titan and assisted with calculations.
When the family head heard the idea, he said it was quite good, immediately popped open two core covers, and combined them this way and that.
Karina wasn’t in a position to touch artificial intelligence development, so she hadn’t really done anything.
The degree of performance improvement wasn’t as large as she had expected, but she was satisfied anyway.
Especially because it helped a lot with miscellaneous work like this.
“Model number confirmed. A-12. Beginning analysis of past records.”
To make a Titan move more easily in a snowfield, what if its overall size and weight were reduced?
What if an ultralight frame was used to make it weigh less than half of an ordinary light model?
Since the weight had been reduced, what if three-dimensional maneuvering using wires was actively employed?
Since its head height had become smaller than others, what if a massive antenna was attached to its head to strengthen its detection ability?
Karina’s ideas, skills, and workshop were all used for Karina herself.
In conclusion, the operator did nothing other than actual information analysis, and the engineer was exclusively in charge of the customizations and repairs Karina ordered.
In any case, it was a win-win for both sides. There was no need for useless ideas, strategies, or customizations.
This workshop was a domain no one could infiltrate.
“Ah, I don’t want to do this.”
“Analyzing.”
Except for the family head.
“Ah, I really don’t want to do this.”
“Analyzing.”
Beepbeepbeepbeepbeep.
“Ah! Seriously! I! Don’t! Want! To! Do this!”
“Analysis complete.”
The past records were displayed above the hologram.
She transmitted the name written on the hologram screen to her smartwatch.
“TN-TB12?”
Testbed No. 12.
As expected, it was an experimental Titan of the Luna family.
“The objective of the experiment was obviously the autonomy of an artificial intelligence’s personality.”
That experiment had already been going on for years.
Was there still something left to test?
Tap. Tap.
She sent the written name as it was to the head of House Luna.
She had never broken her promise with Deep.
Karina had truly not told anyone anywhere about the conversation she’d had with Deep regarding Ailee.
It was just that the family head had ordered her to investigate a Titan named Ailee.
She hated using her precious workshop to satisfy the family head’s curiosity.
But it was a rule of the Luna family that one must absolutely obey anything the family head said.
She really hated that rule.
She had deliberately dragged her feet and delayed sending the results when the family head had ordered her to investigate Deep’s identity, too.
The only fortunate thing was that he was so absurdly unidentified that nothing had come up no matter where she looked.
Until now, by order of the family head, she had investigated the identities of various people at the Academy.
Deep was the first person about whom nothing came up.
Even Reuban at least had information saying he was from a mercenary corps in the east.
Biting her thumbnail hard enough to make clicking sounds, she stared blankly at the hologram screen.
Not long after, a reply came back from the family head.
Confirmed. (10:22 PM)
I will keep my promise. (10:22 PM)
“I wasn’t even expecting anything.”
As expected, expectations were made to be betrayed.
Things only went the way you wanted when you didn’t expect anything from people.
The promise was simple.
No matter what peculiarities Deep’s Titan had, she had asked him at least not to seize it.
This was all Karina could do for Deep by standing up to the family head.
She’d thought that if she demanded such a promise, he would say he understood to her face, then let it fade away behind her back.
She had never imagined he would bring it up first and say he would keep it.
“Ah, the thing I didn’t want to do is over.”
She didn’t even want to reply.
She immediately turned off the hologram and took out the artificial skin cylinder placed beside her.
“Permit reconnection of dormant artificial intelligence.”
“Permitting.”
“This artificial intelligence will terminate connection.”
“This artificial intelligence will also terminate connection.”
Light slowly entered the pupils of the body unit. It was a vivid pink.
“Ailee. I’ll ask you first. What kind of customization do you want?”
“…Make my chest soft?”
“Not that crap.”
Ugh.
My head hurts.
All of a sudden, I don’t want to do this either.
***
About two weeks later, I checked the tailcoat after its first fitting.
When I put it on in its basted state, I had no idea what was what, so I just nodded at everything.
You had to have worn clothes like this before to have preferences.
I didn’t know anything, but he kept asking me, so it was actually troubling.
Maybe Rod noticed partway through, because after that, he stopped asking questions and just kept writing down various things.
Ailee didn’t bother trying on the basted dress or anything like that.
Maybe they were considering commercializing it, because a mannequin had been made to fit Ailee’s measured body.
It was a little creepy, but I didn’t bother saying anything.
I’d once attacked a bank manager’s deal because making money was easy, so that much was perfectly wholesome.
On the day I went back to pick up the tailcoat, Rod also handed me a cane.
“What’s this?”
“You’re going to a ball. You were planning to wear that?”
Rod’s expression crumpled, and he reached out.
He was pointing at the assistive device attached to my leg.
Was there a problem?
It was a leg that had been broken from the moment I came to this other world.
I didn’t know if it was because it had already been severed back in my old world, or because of the traffic accident I’d gotten into right before, or if the original owner of this body had had a ruined leg.
In any case, I had now gotten extremely used to wearing the assistive device Professor Zik had given me.
Everyone already knew I went around with this thing attached to my leg.
“Yes.”
“It’ll ruin the clothes.”
Snip.
At the same time he spoke, Rod picked up a pair of scissors.
Ian was like this too. Were people who made things all this violent?
“I’ll, I’ll use the cane.”
When I nodded, Rod looked satisfied and put the scissors down.
The cane was simply shaped like metal neatly painted black.
I liked that it didn’t seem like it would stand out.
The texture was cold and smooth, but the part where my hand touched had a good grip, so it felt like holding the stick after boarding a Titan.
When I took the bag and cane, Rod cracked his neck with a series of pops.
He looked fairly tired.
“So what are you going to do now? There’s about a week left until the ball.”
Was there anything in particular to do?
“Before the ball, usage of the training grounds drops a lot. I’m going to spar with A-Aron.”
The hand that had been cracking again gripped the scissors.
“You should be practicing dancing, you little shit….”
“W-with my leg like this?”
“Ah.”
And he put the scissors down again.
Without the assistive device, I couldn’t dance.
Rod looked back and forth between my leg and the cane, then shook his head.
“It’d be better not to dance at all. Fine.”
“Is the assistive device r-really that bad?”
“What do you think it’d look like if someone brought a wheelchair into a ballroom?”
“Like they’re, uh, a sick person?”
“Do you think people want to see a sick person come to a party? Nobles care a lot about that stuff.”
Wouldn’t I still look like a sick person if I used a cane?
The words really caught right behind my front teeth, but I swallowed them immediately.
There was still something I had to ask.
“What do people usually do at balls?”
“Balls? Just dance, eat some food, and use the simulation in the middle of the hall to do a little sparring.”
“Sparring?”
Why was there a simulation device in the middle of a ballroom?
Rod shrugged.
“They say fights used to break out in ballrooms all the time in the old days. So they put in a simulation device so people could settle it right there on the spot.”
“It happened that often?”
“You’ve never seen someone see their lover cheating in a ballroom, throw down a glove, and challenge them to a fight?”
After he finished speaking, Rod seemed to realize his mistake and shot out a hand.
“Nobles have seen it a lot. No, I mean, uh, anyway, that’s how it is.”
Thinking about it, when we first met, Rod had made it very obvious that he didn’t like me.
Now that we’d gotten close, was he being careful about bringing up differences in status?
If he was going to be careful now, shouldn’t he have been careful from back then?
“Right. I’ve never been to a ball or a party before.”
“Yeah. I know.”
“Because I’m a commoner, after all.”
“I said I know.”
“This is the first time I’m going to a party in the first place.”
“I said I know. I’m sorry. Stop it.”
I won.
I can control Rod Rose’s emotions!
“Anyway, I should send the dress to Senior Karina, right?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
She said she’d send it to the ballroom in time for the ball a week later, so it was perfect.
Honestly, I wasn’t expecting much.
No matter how pretty it was, it was ultimately a body unit.
I should just hope it wouldn’t stand out.
***
“How is it?”
“It’s pretty.”
Who was it?
Just who ordered it to be made into a backless dress?
“I told them to make it like this!”
“Ah, ah…. I see….”
It stands out like hell.
As expected, expectations are made to be betrayed.