Can opener

Although Soda immediately tensed up like a shaken soda can after hearing Mukibutsu, she was still able to relax her mind. Because she understood the importance of keeping her cool in battle.

The elder sister was the first to break the silence, even though they were twins.

"The distance to the target is on your screen…"

"I see. How did you figure it out? From your miracle space again?"

"Not a miracle at all! How many times do I’ve to repeat this? This is a regular Internet network with a direct connection to the brain and virtual, augmented reality!"

“Blah, blah, blah. Hee, hee, hee."

"So-da!.. In general, I hacked public cameras from ATMs, street cameras and metro stations. However, he was nowhere to be found, as if he’d disappeared. "

"Invisibility camouflage?"

"More likely, he hacked the cameras too. I’d to sweat and check the cameras at almost all the stations from Kyoto to Tokyo."

Thanks to which, by chance, Keshita and Miku were able to board the Shinkansen unnoticed and escape from Mukibutsu.

"I didn't expect anything else from the Goddess of Hacking."

"You're pestering me with your nickname again! Call me by my call sign on missions too!"

"Okay, okay, Mellow."

Mellow is short for Marshmallow, a nickname and a call sign Kamiko chose for her because of her unusual white hair, connected to a device on her head that resembled marshmallows. It also had two antennas sticking out of it, complementing the parfait with chocolate-covered cookie sticks, Pocky.

Unlike her sister with her sharp features, Fumiko's were more rounded, also complementing her "marshmallow image". Kamiko loved to squeeze her cheeks and the funny sounds of elasticity that came with it. Soda set the marshmallow avatar as Fumiko's contact when communicating via video link. In retaliation, she used a jar.

Kamiko was already driving through the city of Shingu and on the way to the railway she was doing parkour to shorten the distance and also to train her body and brain.

"…was anyone else hurt?"

"No. But the dead had families…"

"The dead can’t be brought back." Kamiko said sharply. "We’ll end Mukibutsu once and for all!"

"Why are you sure it's them? There are dozens of destructive organizations operating in Japan."

"Intuition. We walk the path of the gods, and they walk ours."

"There is no evidence, but the logic is clear. The "Soul of the Earth" was found by our expedition in Siberia. Its radiation signature is similar to "magatama."

Magatama — from Japanese "curved jewel", beads made of amber, glass and other materials. Sun Guardians several decades ago discovered " artifacts " made of a material with unusual properties. Under electric voltage or other special parameters of pressure, temperature, humidity, this substance behaved strangely, as if not obeying the laws of physics or chemistry. Or rather, they didn’t know how it worked.

The material was incredibly dense and held an incredible amount of energy, which was nevertheless difficult to use. Because of its supernatural nature, they called it magatama, one of the three sacred regalia left by Amaterasu to the imperial family. The Kamiko Inka bot was made using it.

Kamiko jumped off the platform and onto the train tracks and spoke the command. More precisely, the devices carried by Soda read her thoughts through the brain implant. But for greater effect, she often shouted the words for heroic effect.

"Boots code: train wheelset!"

Boots transformed into a train wheel pair, but on a smaller scale, while remaining similar to roller skates. Lateral stabilizers were also added for better control. Kamiko gripped the rails and braced herself. Her long legs were fully spread to reach the rails. Soda felt a certain awkwardness in her position.

"The track is three hundred and sixty-eight millimetres wider than standard! How it pinches your legs… I feel awkward."

"Don't forget that the power comes from the batteries in your legs, the supply is very limited, don't overdo it! And what do you’ve to be embarrassed about, you're invisible?"

“But I can’t hide anything from you…”

"What?.."

"Start!"

The treads on the back of her boots suddenly spun, sending up a plume of smoke and sparks as Soda lurched forward. Once she’d her balance, Kamiko gradually picked up speed until she reached the Shinkansen speed of 300 km/h. To keep her batteries fully charged, Soda occasionally stopped and plugged into the public power grid. Her goggles and hood protected Kamiko's face from the wind and dust, but she could still feel the intense pressure, even though her mind was elsewhere.

"There's something else… Since he also hacks cameras, I’d to look for other clues. That's how I discovered an unusual ghost train."

"Eh? You mean it was translucent and flew?.."

"…no. One of the Shinkansen left passengers at a technical transfer, but after a while new passengers appeared on it without stopping the train."

"How so?"

"Perhaps he belongs to the organization to which the enemy belongs."

“Then we need to hurry, he’s going non-stop, right?”

Kamiko accelerated, like lightning, distorting space with invisibility. The girl deftly jumped to the next tracks when a train was moving towards her. Passing one of them, she felt something strange. She considered it just an obsession.

"Yeah, sorry, I was busy… I was looking for the train's connection to Mukibutsu, but I only found some blueprints… You won't like this."

"What? Don't keep us in suspense, we're almost there!"

"It's transforming."

"What? The enemy?"

"Shinkansen!"

"What!? Into a robot or something?"

"There’s not enough data! It’s not known whether they’ve completed the project and…"

"Rendezvous point!"

"A-a-a! What to do!?"

Kamiko activated the thermal imaging camera in her glasses and scanned the train.

"No people found! He-he. That's even better!"

"What?.. What are you planning?"

Kamiko picked up a comfortable speed for the collision and brought her hand behind her back, grabbing the hilt and pressing the button to prepare the katana.

"I'll cut that tin can open before she can do anything!"

"Wha-a-at!? Are you crazy?"

“Better help me with the calculations, I can’t handle it myself in the remaining seconds!”

From the silence and the changing data on the screen, Kamiko realized that her sister had taken up the task. she’d to choose the exact moment to jump, otherwise…

" I'll do everything right or I'll go broke! "

Mellow sent Kamiko a calculation. Soda reacted instantly. The moment was close. Every millimeter of her body had to behave as it should, otherwise…

"Nanobots ready. Activated functions: metal absorption, copy creation, jet propulsion…" Kamiko's brain implant OS reported.

"Just in time!"

Soda suddenly braked and flew upward by inertia.

"A microsecond before death!"

Kamiko jerked the silt out left hand, released a jet of air from her glove and swung her katana, piercing the train in the middle. Soda soared into the sky and completed a powerful blow with her katana, which flew along the train.

Fumiko worried as she swept the paving stones and looked deep inside herself. Calculations flashed through her cybernetic lenses, which she rechecked for the thousandth time.

"I wasn't mistaken, was I!?"

The nanobots applied to the blade quickly split the metal of the train, absorbing it and producing copies of themselves. Thanks to their inertia and mobility, they cut the Shinkansen in half at incredible speed, leaving behind clouds of smoke.

"Can opener!"

Soda shouted the signature phrase.

"What kind of catchphrase is that!? Are you five years old or something?"

Amidst her sister's screams, Kamiko landed in the gap of the train, using it as rails.

"Here comes Soda!"

Looking down, Kamiko passed over the heads of the panicked passengers reaching for her.

"They don't seem happy to see me, even though I'm invisible!"

Soda scanned them and found an active chemical reaction inside them.

"Gas! Watch out, there's going to be an explosion!"

Kamiko reached into her shoulder pocket, and the passengers began to explode one after another, releasing acrid smoke.

The stranger prepared himself, activating his blades, and waited for his opponent. Because he realized that with such a suitcase he wouldn't be able to run far anyway, and on his own territory he’d the advantage. Suddenly, Soda jumped out of the smoke in a mask, swinging her katana, and the stranger swung his blades.

"I'll cut you into pieces!"

The blades met with a ringing sound. Soda pushed the enemy back, crashing into him with inertia. She curved and flew behind the enemy's back and with a precise movement pierced his heart.

Soda heard the grinding of metal.

"Tsk…"

The enemy suddenly turned, unnaturally twisting his body and head, like an owl, and swung his blades, flashing his predatory red eyes.

"…he’s an android after all!"

The battle for the Soul of the Earth has begun!