EP.273 The Nation of Steel and the Faceless Humans - 14
Leaving Siati behind, I stood up and addressed the communication soldier beyond.
"You must have known that Captain Abi is acquainted with me, so why did you put the Captain forward? A hostage? Or has it been so long since you've directly met someone that you're so shy you can't hold a conversation without a substitute?"
The communication soldier IA maintained her composure even as Azi broke down the door and entered. The agitation I drew from her was only momentary. Having fully grasped the situation, the communication soldier deployed her Intrinsic Magic once again.
Intrinsic Magic: Spiderweb.
Dozens of thin, slender threads stretched out from her as the center. The threads touched the numerous communication soldiers nearby and wove together.
Memories, senses, and information flowed in against the slender threads. It didn't have as long an effective range as Captain Abi's morning glories, but it was a type of Intrinsic Magic that connected more closely than anyone else at a close distance.
IA, now connected as one with all the communication soldiers in this module, stood up and came out.
"You are wrong. This is the message we convey."
Even though it was her first time coming out of the dark room in years, IA finished her sentiment with only a slight furrowing of her brows. IA spoke in a voice as dry and emotionless as Captain Abi's.
"At present, this module has judged that the restoration costs for your terrorist activities have become overwhelmingly greater than the cost of maintaining the military nation's state secrets. Therefore, we have decided to reveal our identity to converse with you."
"I'm a bit disappointed. The military nation I knew would keep a secret even if beaten to death."
"Of course, it was not a decision made lightly. There were conflicts of opinion during the calculation process. Originally, there should never be conflicts of opinion among synchronized communication soldiers, but..."
Captain Abi's flower bud touched the thread extending from IA. Like a butterfly sipping nectar, IA extracted information and emotions from it and looked at me.
"Due to the strong assertion of the communication soldier Ivy, this module unanimously agreed to guide you here."
"Oh, it seems Captain Abi put in a good word. Must be high in the ranks?"
"There are no ranks among communication soldiers. Everyone synchronizes, and thus we are equal. However, differences in ability exist among individuals."
IA touched one of Captain Abi's flower buds with her thread. Intrinsic Magic shouldn't be visible to others, but it seems communication soldiers share a much closer relationship than others. The flower bud looked at IA and forced itself to bloom.
"Abi. She is one of the most powerful communication soldiers, closest to the original A. Her Intrinsic Magic is Erosion-type Wide-area Synchronization. Short-range, long-range, area of effect, number of synchronized entities. She possesses stats that exceed the average in every aspect."
"Oh. Did she persuade them to accept me with that ability?"
This is why people should always leave at least one string out in the open. As expected, this is my political victory for finding Captain Abi first and building a rapport...
"You are wrong. Communication soldiers are many yet one, and one yet many. No matter how outstanding her ability is, there is no meaning to strength in synchronization magic. Rather, due to its nature, the stronger she is, the more she is defeated. And she put up a resistance she could not win."
Was it not? Was it useless?
"By any chance, did Captain Abi end up like that because..."
"When her opinion was not accepted, she tried to fight back against all the other communication soldiers. However, it is impossible for a single communication soldier to resist the module. The more powerful the ability, the more impossible it is. After persistent resistance, she was stripped of Abi's position and assigned to fill the vacancy in the Inner Circle Module, where she is now working."
Assigned? She's practically a puppet.
I had wondered why the morning glory vines were forcing the Captain's body to move. She was caught in the backlash of the synchronization magic and ended up bound herself.
Right now, Captain Abi is no different from a golem. It's a relief she wasn't immediately disposed of, but... I didn't expect her to end up like this.
"Then that's strange. If Captain Abi's attempt failed, why did you call me?"
"...That is why. Pied Piper. I do not know what means you used to corrupt her mind, but if her mind has indeed been corrupted, keeping secrets from you becomes meaningless."
"You're treating a person like a disease."
Aside from my grumbling, I understood IA's words. Since I already knew the identity of the communication soldiers, there was no need to keep secrets.
"You are simultaneously gnawing away at the military nation from the inside and the outside. Therefore, I demand that you immediately cease your hostile activities."
"Hmm. Well, let's say that's the case. If this is a negotiation, you must have something to offer as well, right? What can you offer?"
"First, for smooth negotiations, I want to clearly know your demands."
"A mere Captain is going to listen to our demands? Forget it, call someone higher up."
Phew. To think the day would come when I'd call a Captain 'mere'. I've grown a lot. But really, with someone who might bring the military nation to ruin standing before them, having a mere Captain on the frontlines is a bit much, isn't it?
"Specifically?"
"Well. At the very least, the supreme commander of the military nation. If you call a member of the Command Headquarters, then maybe we can start talking?"
"Command Headquarters? Is that enough?"
"Because there's no one higher than that."
Like a troublemaking customer, I stubbornly demanded to see the person in charge. For only they could satisfy the curiosity of me and the others here.
However, IA's reaction was completely unexpected.
One of the spiderwebs extending from her body trembled. A very faint trace of astonishment crossed IA's face as she read the information from the micro-vibration. But only for a moment; IA instantly regained her composure and read the transmitted information.
"If so, speak to me. The qualification is sufficient."
IA verbalized the military nation's most covert and secretive information.
"Because the Command Headquarters is, in fact, 'us'."
The repercussions of mentioning the Command Headquarters were huge. Siati, the Princess, and even Historia. Everyone's eyes widened at the unexpected truth.
"To be precise, there is no individual or organization that commands and issues orders to all communication soldiers. However, if 'Command Headquarters' refers to an entity that combines information and makes value judgments beneficial to the military nation, that can only be the communication soldiers."
Therefore, the communication soldiers were the Command Headquarters—that was IA's claim. Even Historia had an expression of disbelief at the unexpected information.
"The Command Headquarters that has moved the military nation all this time... were the communication soldiers?"
"It is not an order made arbitrarily by an individual communication soldier. The information transmitted from dispatched communication soldiers goes through communication soldiers across the military nation to determine its veracity, and is then sent to the module to find the optimal future through simulation, and the corresponding orders are disseminated throughout the military nation. In other words, what is called a Command Headquarters order is the consensus of the 500 communication soldiers, and the very reason for their existence."
Once, I compared the communication soldiers to the nerves of the military nation. Because they were beings who delivered orders to every corner of the military nation through golems.
That metaphor was actually accurate in a slightly different sense. Because the brain of the military nation was an intertwined mass of countless nerves, much like a human brain.
"-Therefore. If you are looking for the brain of the military nation, the target is inevitably 'us'. Because the communication soldiers control, manage, and determine the classification of all information."
A Command Headquarters that has never appeared. Likewise, communication soldiers who have never been seen by anyone. The military nation's Command Headquarters appears only as orders. Like a ghost, or a metaphysical existence no different from a god.
However, their identity was revealed by the confession of the communication soldier standing before us.
"The military nation was a utopia. A country where everyone is ordered by someone."
From what I've observed while living in the military nation, only innocent people lived there.
The citizens suffer under all sorts of harsh rules. They work like oxen with nose rings, fattening the military nation. The soldiers who seem to exploit them are merely working according to the Command Headquarters' orders.
In the midst of all that, the ones actually issuing orders to everyone were the communication soldiers.
"But the communication soldier issuing orders to all soldiers, to the absolute military force of the Six Great Generals, is a mere Captain. A poor, frail existence locked in that tiny room, able to communicate only through golems for her entire life. What do we do, Siati?"
"We don't need to care about their circumstances!"
Siati, who hadn't yet fully grasped the inner workings, flared up in anger.
"What does that matter?! They killed my friend. I swore never to forget them! The military nation must repent its sins. If not by their own will, then by the will of others!"
Let's imagine someone swung a sword and committed murder. The sword has no sin. The blame falls only on the person who wielded it.
But the military nation treats all humans like tools.
All humans are tools. They merely work—no, function—according to someone's orders. Therefore, all humans existing in the military nation are innocent.
Even these communication soldiers who seem to be issuing orders...
"Siati."
"What!"
"Want to ask her age?"
"What difference does it make if I know?!"
"Yeah. It will make a difference. Just do it, even if you think you're being fooled. This is really the last time."
Siati, who had been glaring at me, clicked her tongue briefly and looked at the officer in front of her. Wearing a stiff uniform and looking at her with emotionless eyes, the existence before her seemed to embody everything Siati hated about the military nation.
"Fine. The kind of age that would be written on a tombstone before death. Your age?"
A conversation commonly exchanged in daily life. Asking about and evaluating the other person's age, the time they've lived. A question that might seem to contribute to the outdated evil practice of seniority-based hierarchy.
"Twenty-one."
However, just this much makes a huge difference.
Twenty-one. Children born three years after the military nation was founded became communication soldiers.
It had to be. Because the very existence of a communication soldier could only be obtained by oppressing and educating children in a perfectly controlled environment.
So, in other words.
"Younger...?"
Even Siati's blazing rage. Even if her anger alone was strong enough to devour the military nation, though her abilities might not be.
In front of a face younger and paler than hers, it could only lose its direction and wander.
At the time of that incident in Hameln, they too must have been receiving harsh teachings at the Communication Headquarters.
"If you're twenty-one, what about the Hameln incident?! You said you remember..."
"I remember it as information left behind by the previous communication soldier."
"Then, where is that previous communication soldier?!"
"The whereabouts of the previous communication soldier is classified, so even I do not know."
But it's easy to guess. If this precious talent, virtually the equivalent of the Command Headquarters, became too damaged to be of use, what would the military nation have done?
"They must be dead. Whether by their own will, or by the will of others."