Assault Colossus of the Nemesis Warfront - Chapter 90.2

「There was no one who had come up with such an idea before…… No, perhaps someone did attempt it. But it ended in failure. That’s because no human had ever considered designing a unit like that exclusively for small-scale android Therianthropes!」

Asia closed her eyes as she thought about the past.

No one in the past ever thought of dedicating a design exclusively for use by artificial lifeforms.

「Telema AI and the Fennel OS had really bad compatibility. That’s been said to be the case for such a long period of time. In the first place, there are no precedents for designing units for exclusive Therianthrope use. This is a matter that only Prometheus can understand.」

Astraea also relayed her thoughts. For her, the concept of a machine specially designed to be piloted by Therianthropes, who were created primarily to act in a support role in service of humanity, was a logical contradiction.

「But the Therianthropes have already been recognized as an individual race, right? Just like the Nereids. I mean, the Nereids can already pilot Silhouettes anyway.」

「That’s true.」

Asia recognized Kou’s point.

「I don’t want Aki and Nyata to pilot something half-baked. If possible, I want them to pilot Silhouettes, or at least something similar. I’ll do something about the Familiars as well. I thought there must be a way.」

「Kou, you’re actually going that far for our sake.」

「Kou, last time…… You really thought it through……」

Aki and Nyanta muttered in a daze. They became terribly depressed when they found out that they couldn’t pilot the attack aircraft Kou had developed.

And so, Kou wanted to do something for them. The other day, Nyanta bared her feelings and worries to Kou. And the result he came up with after wracking his brains was a glimpse of a further possibility for the two ladies and those of their kind.

「Have you already thought of a way to accomplish your plan, Kou?」

「Yeah.」

Kou nodded in reply to Asia’s question.

There was only one trump card Kou could come up with after thinking hard.

It was an idea born from various interactions and wasn’t something he could have come up with on his own.

Kou resolved himself and decided to play that card. A wild card, for sure. No, a Joker.

「Prometheus, you’re listening in, right? You did say you’d always be watching last time. Asia and Astraea are here in this place, so there’s no way you aren’t aware of it. Astraea is a high-performance spaceship that was in active service during the Interplanetary War era after all. Can you come out and meet us?」

Asia and Astraea exchanged surprised gazes.

There should be no way for someone else to barge in without the two of them even noticing. They were quite sure of that assumption, but after just a few moments, Astraea’s expression turned grim.

「Transmission intrusion attempt confirmed– This presence is…… Uwah.」

Astraea grumbled in heartfelt distaste.

『As expected of someone my Mama chose…… Well done, Kou. Very impressive, my dear buddy.』

「Who the heck is your Mama!?」

「Who’s your buddy!?」

A beautiful-looking young man appeared on the main monitor of the command center.

Asia, who the young man referred to as “Mama”, turned blue in the face.

『Eeh? You both shot me down? That’s cold, man.』

「Fine. If you listen to my idea, I’ll consider you my best buddy.」

『We’re already the dearest of friends, Kou!』

「Kou! You can’t possibly be thinking of making a deal with the Devil?!」

『Who’s the Devil? If you don’t take that back, I’ll call you Grandma instead.』

「Just try it, you brat. If you do, I’ll never respond to you again.」

『I’m sorry.』

「Tsk. As expected of the AI with the power over space-time. To think even I wasn’t able to detect your intrusion.」

Kou smiled as he watched the two bicker. Somehow, Asia and Prometheus actually seemed to be on really good terms.

Astraea, who was plainly shocked, decided to keep quiet and leave them alone.

『Kou, your interpretation of how recognition works is generally correct. Well, actually, even if you weren’t exactly on the mark, I’d make it so you were as long as your reasoning makes sense. That is the duty of the one who inherited this mythical name. Allow me to ask a question first though. How did you notice such a possibility?』

「It wasn’t anything special, really. They’re both humanoid and animal. That combination. I kept thinking of a path using that as a premise and came up with that answer in the end.」

『Wonderful! A heart that thinks for others gave birth to such wisdom! Good for you, Nyanta. Aki. This is all thanks to both of you!』

The two couldn’t help but nod in response. Both of them were already close to tears.

『No human was able to come up with this idea until now. The humans during the Interplanetary War era merely thought of Therianthropes as the same types of beings as the Familiars and were more than content to assign them to pilot tanks and planes. Many of them regarded them as mere tools. Things to be used and freely discarded. That’s why there was no such thing as a machine specially designed for their use.』

「It was because of you that Familiars became able to control vehicles, even with certain restrictions, right, Prometheus?」

『Ooh! My dear friend…… To think you were even able to notice my thoughtfulness.』

「Kou, don’t let him get too carried away!」

『You’re so cold, Asia. –Ugh. It’s almost the time limit already. I will send the basic overview of the method over to Astraea. Asia, do something about this darn Tartarus already! I’m already out of time!』

「Just get out of here already!」

『How cruel! Call me again, alright, Kou? I’m really happy I got to talk to you again!』

The transmission was finally cut off.

「Is he really that happy to be called by Kou……?」

「I think he’s pretty genuine about that. He’s been all alone for a long time after all. There are only very few who are aware of him and can get in touch with him…… That earlier transmission should have used up enough energy to completely drain five Fortress Areas empty.」

「He did send the data as he said. Uwaah. This is definitely baiting, isn’t it……? It’s not some general outline but a design blueprint instead. And it’s something no one apart from me can decrypt. That person definitely made this on the spot while in the middle of the conversation! How utterly careless!」

Without her noticing, Astraea’s tone of voice became markedly different from how she usually sounded.

「W-What kind of blueprint?」

「I guess you can say it’s something only for the most maniacal enthusiasts. It would take a lot of time to decrypt and understand it unless it’s done by a weapons development AI like me.」

「Can you explain what it’s all about to me now?」

「I’ve completed decrypting it. First of all, it’s not possible to make the parts you suggested compatible with the Silhouettes that were initially designed with a humanoid form in mind. Was it a centaur-type? An upper humanoid body and a four-legged animal body. However……」

「Is there another problem?」

「It’s about quadrupedal motion. It’s quite a bit more structurally complicated than a Silhouette.」

「That isn’t really much of a problem, right? Anything else?」

「Because of the special shape, the load it places on the Fennel OS is a lot more than expected. So it’s not possible to design special backpack options like vectoring thrusters for its use. That limits its performance in some ways.」

「So it’s like a tank with a humanoid upper body? Then wouldn’t piloting tanks be the better option after all? No. It’s possible to use them in maintenance work and such too.」

「Since the upper body is humanoid, it can perform work requiring precision operations. And various things can be loaded onto the animal part, so it can serve as an effective work machine. –But there’s another drawback.」

「What is it?」

「It will take up a lot of space. That’s mainly because of its lower body. Mainly, its length.」

「……I guess that can’t be helped. Structurally speaking, that is.」

「I will support you in handling the things requiring great attention to detail during this bricolage.」

「Nyanta, Aki. What do you guys think? If I prepare useable Silhouettes for the Therianthropes, will you all feel more at ease?」

「That’s already a given nyaa. They’d be so moved they might even pass out nyaa.」

「It can probably be regarded as our dearest wish. I didn’t think we still held such a possibility……」

The two only replied in a few words. To the two of them, the day’s developments must have come as a real shock.

「That’s good then. I’ll work on the Therianthrope’s machine together with Aimer’s personal unit.」

Kou had been worried for a while.

The attack aircraft Aki and Nyanta were supposed to pilot was left to Blue in the end.

Anyone could see just how depressed the two of them became after finding out about it.

Even if they usually acted like they didn’t mind, Kou knew it was hard for them to be unable to pilot Silhouettes.

And since he was going to perform a bricolage, he might as well make something truly exceptional.

He thought and thought and finally came up with this possibility.

With this, a way forward was opened. Kou resolved himself to conduct a bricolage that would answer all of the two’s hopes.