Mardock Scramble

“Looks like we’ve managed to lose them completely. The first lot, at least,” Oeufcoque muttered thoughtfully, still giving directions as a Nav.

–Are you saying there are more?

Balot curled up anxiously, still gripping the Nav.

“Here and there I smelled something unusual. A sense of purpose completely without emotion—as if it were merely observing us.”

Suddenly Balot’s senses noticed that a car was drawing near. It cruised along at the same speed as them about a block behind.

–There’s a car stuck to our tail—an enemy?

“No…this smell…”

At that moment the car that was tailing them abruptly moved into the same lane.

It maintained its distance a few cars behind, precisely.

–Oeufcoque?

“It’s him—I’m sure of it,” Oeufcoque whispered in a subdued, serious voice that she had never heard from him before.

Before they realized it the car behind had gradually closed in.

At length Balot turned around and saw the driver with her own eyes and gasped.

It was the driver from that night—that night she was burned to death in the car, when Shell got into another AirCar, driven by his bodyguard.

“It’s Dimsdale-Boiled. OctoberCorp’s Scramble 09,” Oeufcoque muttered quietly. As he did so the car behind flashed its headlights.

–What? He’s asking us to stop?

Balot’s eyes widened. At that moment, the comm device in her car started blinking.

“As a fellow Trustee with responsibility for solving this case, I demand my statutory rights to Information Disclosure.” The voice was distinctive and hailed them from the car behind. Balot was startled. Oeufcoque was silent. The voice coming through the comm device continued, “We’ve already made our background checks on that rental car. If you refuse to participate in the Information Disclosure then the public rental car agency will testify as to your cooperative attitude.”

–What’s he talking about? Why can we hear his voice? What is this person saying?

“In order to come to a peaceful resolution wherever possible, Trustees in charge of cases will often negotiate with each other, exchanging certain prescribed pieces of information,” Oeufcoque explained. “Refusal to do so counts as a big minus in court.”

–What are we going to do?

“Let’s stop the car up here. We’ll just have to have a little chat,” Oeufcoque said, turning back into a glove that covered Balot’s right hand. At length Balot timidly pulled the car over onto the hard shoulder.

05

Boiled pulled up two car lengths behind Balot’s car.

Balot got out of the car, and Boiled emerged at the same time and stood in the shadow of the door.

They waited in silence as another car went past.

The giant man, his face inhuman, stared down at Balot, expressionless, and Balot was overcome by a fear that made her legs tremble. It wasn’t so much just a fear of being killed. Rather, it was a fear of being killed without being able to put up any sort of resistance at all. Indeed, that very fear sapped her will to resist, draining all her strength from her body.

“Don’t worry, Balot. As long as I’m here he won’t do anything lightly,” Oeufcoque said, as if he had read her innermost thoughts.

At that point Boiled’s eyes moved for the first time. He looked straight at Balot’s right hand.

“So that’s where you’re hiding, Oeufcoque,” Boiled said, his voice floating across the air. An oppressive, expressionless tone of voice that made Balot feel like she was looking down the barrel of a gun.

“When did you submit your application to become the Trustee for the opposition?” Oeufcoque asked.

With cold light glinting in his blue eyes, Boiled replied, “This afternoon. That’s your employer, is it?”

Boiled jerked his chin slightly toward the girl, unimpressed.

“She’s the Concerned Party in this case. What’s the disclosure you’re requesting, Boiled?”

“I want you to revoke the Life Preservation Program,” said Boiled.

“That’s intimidation. Not a request. As ever, you really think that’s the best way to solve the case?”

“I’m not here to solve the case. Just suppress it. I want you to tell me what charges you are bringing against Shell-Septinos.”

“The district attorney’s office will publish that information in due course. Wait for the official announcement,” replied Oeufcoque, calm.

“I want to know in advance what the procedures will be in the event that the Concerned Party dies or absconds.”

“We’d still proceed with the prosecution, if that’s what you mean,” declared Oeufcoque, and the cold glint in Boiled’s eyes seemed brighter than ever.

“Are you frightened?” Boiled’s eyes suddenly moved toward Balot as he spoke.

Balot’s legs started shaking more violently than before. She did her utmost to keep her composure and return Boiled’s gaze.