Cyberpunk Martial Hero Chronicles

[DATA RECALL: Sanctum Pamphlet]

[DATA RESEARCH. . . NOW<<<]

//*

Welcome to Sanctum!

Humanity’s last light, the city of order and safety!

The cradle of your future!

▶Worried about ionic storms? Don’t worry! Sanctum is safe! We have “Veil”, a state-of-the-art plasma barrier that perfectly protects the city 24 hours a day!

▶The AI system [ZOT], which monitors the entire city, guarantees your everyday safety! You no longer have to fear crime!

(*All citizens are considered to have consented to the collection and use of their personal data for the efficient operation of [ZOT].)

▶The dream of owning your own home! Residential environments and facilities optimized according to each citizen’s rank! Your merits will never betray you!

(*Citizen rank is adjusted monthly according to the “Individual Merit Evaluation”, and the services provided may be subject to restrictions.)

▶We’re always recruiting Pathfinders! Discover forgotten legacies and obtain the reward that rightfully belongs to you! You are the hero of Sanctum!

(*All responsibility for accidents occurring during an expedition shall fall upon the explorer, and under no circumstances shall the Sanctum Administration assume any legal liability.)

▶The Sanctum Administration is your friend!

*//

“Sir!”

Akina’s voice rang out.

Ash’s consciousness returned to reality.

Sanctum.

Gateway District.

The two of them were there.

“Why are you standing there staring into space?”

Akina tugged on his steel hand.

“I was simply observing. It is a scene completely unfamiliar to me.”

“Hehe! Isn’t it eye-catching?”

Ash could not take his eyes off the panorama of Sanctum stretching out before him.

“……Certainly.”

The city rising before Ash was completely different from any place he had known during his life.

It was a city that shone by itself.

Buildings dozens of stories tall rose toward the sky in strange and extravagant shapes. The images and letters covering their surfaces emitted lights of countless colors and inevitably drew the eye.

And that splendor was not limited to the scenery.

The crowds moving through the streets were equally dazzling.

Practically everyone had one or two pieces of Cyberware installed in their bodies.

Arms, legs, and even eyes glowed.

People who had replaced parts of their bodies with gleaming metal or carbon hurried through the streets.

To Ash’s eyes, it looked like a procession of ghosts.

A rather peculiar impression coming from a humanoid whose entire body was a machine.

However, all that splendor was merely the surface.

What truly caught Ash’s attention was none of that.

It was the people passing beside him at that very moment.

The strange intensity emanating from all of them.

According to the data he had received, Sanctum was a stage of poverty and desperate struggle.

A hell where people constantly suffered to obtain credits and risked their lives in exchange for what they needed.

However, one only had to look around.

Not a single passerby had a lifeless gaze.

On the contrary, Ash perceived in them a strange vitality unlike anything he had ever experienced.

It was not a vitality born from tranquility or comfort.

It was an energy born from desperation.

Like a lamp on the verge of going out that, before disappearing, consumed every last drop of fuel to produce its final glow.

That was why Sanctum overflowed with vitality.

It even created the illusion that absolutely everything in those streets was alive.

“This truly is an extraordinary world.”

It was a complicated sigh.

Too dry to be considered admiration.

Too warm to be called cynicism.

“Sir!”

Akina hurried him along again.

Ash moved his steel feet once more and, allowing himself to be led by the girl’s hand, entered the crowd.

Into that strange intensity.

***

After walking for quite some time along the main street of the Gateway District, they finally reached their destination.

A violet neon sign flickered as though welcoming them.

[Santa’s Rest Stop]

When they pushed open the old metal door beneath the sign, they heard faint music.

To Ash, that rock music was completely unfamiliar.

“Miss Akina.”

“Yes?”

“Is this really the place?”

“Yes. This is it. Why?”

“Didn’t you say it was an inn?”

“What’s an inn?”

“A place where they serve alcohol.”

“But this place is a bar.”

“……However, it doesn’t seem very different from your workshop.”

And that truly was the case.

The interior looked nothing like what one would normally imagine when thinking of a tavern or bar.

It was much larger than it appeared from the outside, but that enormous space was filled with all kinds of objects.

One wall was covered with all kinds of Cyberware.

On the opposite wall were firearms.

Vehicle parts and even exposed engines could also be seen, covered with oil-stained cloths.

Did that mean there was no alcohol?

There was.

Behind the counter were about ten bottles in total, consisting of cheap liquor and beer.

“……”

Perhaps it could be said that the proportions were considerably off.

However, Ash decided not to mention it and simply observe for the time being.

Then, he heard a conversation coming from behind the counter.

—Ah! Aaaagh! Old man! I’m telling you, it hurts! Are you listening to me?

—I don’t listen to anyone weaker than me.

—What the fuck are you……? Aagh!

—I’m almost done. Hold on.

—Then at least turn off the music! My ears are killing me!

—What did you say? I can’t hear you very well.

—Aaaagh!

A conversation of unknown origin.

Ash and Akina moved a little farther inside and looked behind the counter.

There, they saw a man lying on a crude medical table and an old man installing Cyberware in his arm.

“Grandpa Santa!”

At Akina’s shout, the old man turned toward them.

First, he looked at Ash, who was standing beside the girl, and then turned his gaze back toward Akina.

After a brief silence, the old man slapped his forehead.

—Damn it. So you actually went through with it in the end. My damn mouth is to blame.

After muttering to himself, the old man shouted.

—You stay right there! Don’t move! And don’t go anywhere!

The old man, Santa, began tinkering with his ‘client’s’ arm with even greater enthusiasm.

The man’s screams grew even louder.

Rock music and shrieks.

The two sounds blended together in a strangely harmonious manner.

“Miss Akina.”

At that moment, Ash called out to Akina.

“Yes?”

“Is that old man the person you were looking for?”

“Yes.”

“……As I understood it, he owns a tavern. Why is he performing Cyberware procedures?”

Akina thought for a few moments before answering.

“Hmm…… because he knows how?”

“How so?”

“Grandpa Santa knows how to do tons of things. He says he learned all kinds of stuff when he was a Pathfinder. That’s why he sells weapons, repairs vehicles, performs surgeries, installs Cyberware…… Anyway, he does everything.”

Why, among all those things, had she not mentioned that he sold alcohol?

It was a mystery.

While Ash and Akina were having that brief conversation, Santa finished the procedure and emerged from behind the counter.

“You damn old man! I’m never coming back!”

Santa gave the middle finger to the grumbling client as he left, put a cigarette in his mouth, and lit it.

At the same time, he stared intently at Ash.

“Hi, Grandpa!”

“Yeah? Well, I’m not exactly doing well.”

Although he responded to Akina, Santa did not look away.

Ash did not avert his eyes either.

He truly was a striking old man.

His head was completely shaved, and he had a neatly trimmed white beard.

He wore a skull-shaped earring in one ear and, on top of that, black sunglasses.

And what could be said about that silk shirt covered in extravagant floral patterns?

He was so flashy that, when looking at him, it was difficult to decide where to focus one’s gaze.

“……”

“……”

However, Ash was not observing him solely because of his clothing.

The cybernetic body that could be partially seen beneath that flashy silk shirt was not made up of crude modifications haphazardly assembled together.

A single glance was enough to recognize that it was top-quality, perfectly refined Cyberware.

But above all, there was the faint flow of the electromagnetic field emanating from the Cyberware covering his entire body.

That force called ‘electricity’, which Ash had recently begun to perceive, told him that the old man before him was no ordinary person.

He possessed a solid and dense presence that contrasted completely with his frivolous appearance.

Ash’s optical sensors glowed.

‘He is no ordinary man.’

Ash reached that conclusion after observing his appearance and his gaze.

“……So, this is your answer?”

Santa finally spoke.

Akina replied cheerfully.

“Yes! Introduce yourselves. This is Grandpa Santa. And this is Mr. Ash.”

Ash took a small step forward to introduce himself.

“I am called Ash.”

At that unexpectedly old-fashioned greeting, Santa raised an eyebrow.

“Santa Claude. Bartender.”

After that brief introduction, the two men fell silent again.

It could be described as a peculiar battle of nerves as they attempted to evaluate each other.

However, there was one girl who cared very little about any of that.

“Whatever! Grandpa, you remember what you said last time, right? Now write me the recommendation letter.”

Santa frowned.

Only then did he take his eyes off Ash and look at Akina.

“So, you’re really determined to become a Pathfinder?”

“Of course!”

“……And you’re going to do it with this humanoid made of scrap as your only partner?”

“Mr. Ash isn’t scrap! Do you know how well he fights?”

Akina began imitating with both hands the movements Ash had performed the previous night as she reenacted his fight against the REST-MAN.

“Huh? First he did this! Huh? And then swish, swish! And suddenly a man ended up cut in half! Does that even make sense? He cut a person with a pipe! Isn’t that incredible? Isn’t that insane? So hurry up and write me the recommendation letter.”

Santa grimaced as he watched that childish reenactment.

Then he slapped his forehead again.

“God…… This damn mouth of mine. It’s all my damn mouth’s fault. Why the hell did I make such a promise……?”

He continued complaining for quite some time.

The reason for those complaints was fairly simple.

Apparently, Santa had promised Akina that he would write her a recommendation letter to obtain a Pathfinder license if she managed to find a ‘competent partner’.

He had assumed that no Pathfinder would agree to team up with such a young girl and that, sooner or later, Akina would eventually give up.

But against all his expectations,

the girl had ended up personally ‘building’ her own partner.

Santa continued muttering for a while until he suddenly raised his head.

He had found a loophole in the promise he had made.

He addressed Ash.

“Fine. You said your name was Ash, right?”

“That’s right, Elder Santa.”

“Is what Akina says true?”

“What are you referring to?”

“That you’re a competent partner.”

The solution was simple.

He only had to prove that Ash was not competent.

“I suppose you’ve already understood the situation from what we just said. This brat intends to make you her partner and become a Pathfinder. Frankly, I don’t like the idea at all. Outer is far too dangerous.”

Ash nodded.

“I agree. In fact, until this very moment, I did not know that Miss Akina’s goal was to become a Pathfinder.”

“……Oh, really? Perfect!”

Santa’s face lit up.

It seemed the situation was going to resolve itself much more easily than he had expected.

If that scrap humanoid decided to withdraw of his own accord, Santa could not have asked for anything better.

However,

Ash’s next words deviated completely from his expectations.

“But that changes nothing.”

His electronic voice was low and firm.

“I am indebted to Miss Akina. If one intends to consider oneself human, one must know how to repay the favors one has received. That she wishes to become a Pathfinder is certainly something I did not expect, but I have an obligation to repay my debt to her. Therefore, I have no reason not to accompany her.”

Santa’s mouth fell open at that lengthy speech.

Then he looked at Akina.

“……Why does your friend talk so well?”

“Yeah, he’s kind of like that.”

Santa shook his head and turned back toward Ash.

This time, his attitude was much firmer.

“Ash. Do you really have to do this?”

“That’s right.”

“I see…… Then there’s nothing to be done.”

Santa gathered his thoughts.

After all, that had never been his true objective.

“Akina.”

“What?!”

“You haven’t forgotten our promise, have you? I said I’d write the recommendation letter if you brought me a competent partner.”

“Of course!”

“The partner part is fine. All right. I’ll admit that. But now we’ll have to check whether he’s actually competent, won’t we?”

“That’s why I just told you! He took out the REST-MAN by himself in an instant……”

“I can’t know that just from what you tell me.”

Santa stood up.

Then he took off his sunglasses.

One eye constructed entirely from mechanical components emitted an ominous glow.

“Come outside. Let’s see how competent you are.”