I Have Returned, but I Cannot Lay down My Gun

Chapter 610

"Everyone really has a knack for biting onto clues. All we did was show a little bit of Norway, and now they’re having a lively debate about whether the Mecha youngest will appear or not... tsk."

"It seems humans really love snakes. Heh, not a bad feeling."

"As for me, I'm more curious about how things ended up this way..."

New York, Central Park HQ.

It was getting to be a bit of a habit coming here lately, and today was no exception—it was as noisy as ever. The snow had melted long ago, and just a little while ago, New York had been in subzero temperatures. But now, it had warmed up to a solid 10°C or more, and unusually, the weather was clear.

Two days had passed since we set foot in Norway, and the entire Dagger team, myself included, had returned to the Central Park headquarters. The week-long stay I had predicted had proven to be far off the mark. As a result, everyone except me had been groaning in exhaustion from jet lag.

Well, it wasn’t just me. The other Awakeners and Mecha youngest had no major issues.

Anyway, leaving that aside, there was someone—or rather, a unit—at Central Park HQ who was extremely busy these days.

"Ugh. So busy, so busy. Why are you all just sitting around? Don’t you have anything to do here?"

"That’s the correct answer."

"Then take a look at the new city plan I’ve drafted. The original should come take a look too."

"Ugh..."

It was a bit awkward to say, but Gaia... was a workaholic. A serious one, too.

No, it was more like she found fulfillment in life through work. Well, considering her origins, I suppose that makes sense. Terraforming, after all, is fundamentally about creating livable spaces for humans—and Gaia was the project’s head.

In other words, she was the best person to reorganize this overflowing Manhattan full of abandoned skyscrapers and uninhabited housing.

Of course, Gaia didn't yet have the power that came with being in charge. In other words, she didn't have the necessary foundation yet, like the factory platforms in Norway. Although, she was preparing to cross the Atlantic in real-time.

I heard she was planning to quickly move everything via drones before a tropical depression fully activated.

While I was lost in these trivial thoughts, Gaia unfolded a rolled-up hologram projector.

The skyscrapers surrounding Central Park’s lower levels were displayed in an instant.

"I’m planning to clear most of these uselessly tall buildings here. Probably starting around June. By the end of this year, we should be able to remove all the buildings that are just taking up space."

"So, Manhattan’s skyscrapers will all disappear from history?"

"We can't maintain them. But turning Central Park into a military base and a neighborhood for civilians wasn’t a bad decision. To be honest, there was no other area where we could use these spaces like this."

"That's true. It makes me nostalgic..."

As she said, I didn’t remember every detail from after the Omega virus outbreak, but I was familiar with the transformation of Central Park. Early on during the virus outbreak, Central Park had served as a screening site for the infected.

Initially, gathering patients inside buildings for testing would have turned the place into an incubator for the virus. That’s why, despite having a lot of suspected cases, Central Park remained relatively under control compared to other locations.

While I was thinking about that, Gaia glanced around and added:

"By the way, I heard you’ve already explained a bit about what happened to the older ones? I’m pretty curious about the transformation of Central Park. I wonder how the infrastructure development was affected by the external factor of the virus."

"...Alright, I haven’t told you yet, so let me briefly explain. What’s on your mind?"

"The most curious thing is how the neighborhood that was used for the screening sites transformed into New York’s largest military base."

"Well, that’s actually quite simple."

Surprisingly, or maybe not, the reason was very straightforward.

Because of an external attack, Central Park had to be defended, and naturally, it transformed into HQ.

Of course, that was a very brief explanation, so to give a more detailed account, we needed to understand what Central Park was like at the time and what the U.S. was like then.

The screening sites were crowded with people, and there were many medical staff working to diagnose the infected.

But just having medical staff wasn’t enough for the operation to run smoothly. There were many more staff members, including police for maintaining public order. Therefore, at least at the beginning of the outbreak, Central Park had temporary storage warehouses to hold supplies, and they were full of valuable goods.

However, what happened as security started to deteriorate?

"How many people do you think tried to raid those supply warehouses?"

"...Hmm, I think I have a pretty good idea of what happened next."

"Well, at some point, things got easier. Most of the infected died, and there were only survivors who turned into looters and bandits. The biggest reason for that was the President staying here."

"Ah, I see. Well, that makes sense. If things had broken through, it would have been a big problem. I heard the President couldn’t return to Washington D.C. and had to stay here, but I didn’t know it was tied to Central Park becoming a fortress. Interesting."

"You got it."

In hindsight, it was to be expected.

When the President’s aircraft landed here not long ago, the Capitol had been destroyed. There was no choice but to stay here.

Logan had joined our group because of that. Initially, he was sent to protect the Central Park HQ where the President was based, but he got delayed after being caught up in the body mutation events happening across the country. Still, I’m glad he eventually made it.

After that, things naturally fell into place. Central Park was fortified, and with various prototype technologies, a defense barrier was created, allowing them to survive the turmoil.

That’s basically the story.

"But I’m surprised you just naturally started calling them 'older sisters.'"

"Well, I came here first. I’m not really particular about titles, so it’s fine. I mean, I mostly just learned from books, and my emotional simulation doesn’t really care what I call someone."

"Glad to have a younger sister who listens well and works hard."

"Heh, getting them to listen... well, you need to dangle a carrot."

At the same time, Gaia's eyes lit up.

Her personal color was green, and I found myself staring into her glowing eyes. Something about it didn’t feel right. What was it? It felt like I might suddenly be bombarded with a request that would be really troublesome.

I decided to just listen for now.

And, as I was silently waiting, Gaia suddenly added:

"I’ve heard that the older sisters like to go on trips to the other world often."

"...Well, they’re already part of the Dagger team, so it’s no big deal for them to wander around the base."

"Are you trying to pretend you don’t know?"

"I’d really love to pretend I don’t."

...Those talkative robots.

The moment I heard that, I could tell immediately. It was likely that Jin, Rain, or Nasty had been blabbering about it. I excluded Mav from suspicion because, at least intellectually, they were quite mature. But Jin and Rain? They were still at a middle school level.

At this point, it wasn’t really important how much they had said. No matter what or how much they said, it would have been enough to pique the curiosity of these potential troublemakers.

But, regrettably, today I had to draw the line.

"I know what you’re asking for, but it’s impossible."

"...What? Why?"

"Unlike those kids, you haven’t... built up enough reason to go out there yet. I can allow you to move around with us in this world, but going to the other world is almost impossible, except in very rare cases."

"...Not difficult, just impossible..."

I’m glad she picked up on that subtle difference.

Anyway, from Gaia’s reaction, I could roughly figure out how much the Mecha youngest had blabbered. They probably didn’t talk too much. If they had, they would have made more specific demands.

I wasn’t sure, but I had to think that way for now.

As I was thinking about that, Gaia, scratching her head, added:

"Well... it’s fine. What I envy is the time you spent with the original in the other world. I don’t envy the world itself, though. I’d rather create that world myself than experience it."

"Thanks for understanding, I guess."

"Of course, I haven’t given up yet... but I’m okay with that. I came up with something even more amazing."

"Amazing, you say?"

I couldn’t resist asking, but Gaia, without hesitation, continued:

"I’m thinking of creating an amusement park here."

"Ah..."

Yeah, that sounded about right. It wasn’t surprising at all. She had spilled all the beans, after all.

Today, once again, I was tied up with the blabbermouth Mecha youngest.

"Well, infrastructure construction and building construction are my specialties... It’s a bit of a shame, though. The engineers and army folks would probably appreciate it more than I would."

"Trying to tie everything to special operations, huh? Just like usual. Now I see why you called us here..."

"I’m more curious about how Lorentina can communicate so smoothly with her otherworld self."

With the expo nearing its conclusion on March 1st, things were getting interesting in the dark zone town.