29 - Double Trouble (2)

Alright, Reader.

Here's the situation.

It's been about a week since the fall of the club room wall.

The older twin, the one with the twintails and pilot suit, is Saya.

Her quiet, younger sister with the side braid is Kaya.

And so far, it's been an all-out war between the IWC and the elf twins. (Well … it's mostly all Saya's doing. Kaya just does whatever her sister tells her to. Matter of fact, Kaya's actually apologized profusely to us for the wall. Enough times that's it's a bit concerning, and pitiful to watch, in all honesty. There's only so many dogeza's you can stomach before it starts to feel really weird, you know? … A-and plus, she was the one with the sledgehammer in the first place, so it's like—… What the fuck, right? Baffling behavior all around. In short, I still don't know what to make of Kaya.)

Every day when we get to the club room, the dividing line separating our club room from their—… I don't even know what to call it, really—I guess it's a kind of ersatz, wannabe classroom?—is pushed back more and more, their territory encroaching further into ours.

We push back, of course.

In fact, Valerie, Alex and I take the time every night, after everyone leaves, to set up H*me Al*ne-style traps, to deter any further elfen incursions.

But when we get in the morning after, they've all been disarmed. All except for the one trap, with the hair dryer on a skateboard, which, when we think about it, doesn't actually do anything.

(Alex: "What the fuck was this one even supposed to accomplish??"

Me: "I don't—I don't even know anymore, man. We're not very good at this."

Valerie: "How did a little kid set up this stuff better than we could!?"

Alex: "That was a movie, Valerie. It's not real."

Valerie: "THEN WHY THE FUCK DID WE MODEL OUR TRAPS AFTER IT.")

"That kind of stuff's not going to work," Kaya says to me, in a rare moment away from her sister. "You're dealing with a ten-year veteran of the Terror Menace, Mr Odd."

"You can call me Odd-kun. I'm not that old, yet!"

"Right, sorry. Odd-kun," she says, staring at my hairline. "Like I was saying—your amateur preschool-level pranks don't stand a chance."

"(Preschool, she says …)"

The two of us are sitting outside, in the courtyard outside the L.I.M.B.O. building.

"The story Saya and I are from," she explains, "takes place in a medieval world beset by otherworldly abominations known as Terrors. When the story begins, the Kingdom has already been fighting them for decades. See, a long time ago, even before we were born, the Kingdom's summoned a bunch of people from, um—I guess your world? Some of the greatest minds and engineers of your modern age. And with the help and expertise of those summoned people, the Kingdom builds the Hoshi-no-Ken."

"'Hosh*no G*n'? Like, the singer?"

Kaya chooses to ignore my stupidity. "Hoshi no Ken. Firmament's Edge. Blade of the Stars."

"Is that why your sister's dressed like that? She's the HNK's pilot?"

"She's one of the pilots, yes. See—the HNK was built with your world's knowledge … but our world's technology. Which means magic. The internal engine runs off mana. The machinery is powered by spells. The whole thing is held together by arcane engineering, accomplished by a team of very smart people. … But here's the thing: it's been decades since the creation of the HNK. And most of the original team members are either dead or missing. And the team running the NHK now barely understands how it works. We're just slapping band-aids—is that what you guys call them? I'm using that word right?—slapping band-aids on it. But the armor was made with dwarven steel, and the dwaves have all left the continent, there's hardly any left to be found. Nobody understands the enchantments that power the HNK's logic circuits. In short …"

"In short," I say, picking up what she's putting down, "it's like a legacy project at a company. Some of the most important and fundamental systems that power the infrastructure in my world—created decades ago. The people who initially created it, all gone. Very smart people, who made systems that worked with little maintenance for half a century, maybe more. And when it comes time for the current generation to modify it—they have no idea what they're doing."

"Yes, yes!" exclaims Kaya. "That's exactly what it was like. And when the story starts—"

"Oh, that was just the backstory? Shit, this is a lot of exposition out of nowhere …"

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I know I'm a failure, I'm lower than low, I'm lower than a water flea, a tardigrade …"

(Err, yee-eah … Here's the thing with Kaya. She has really, really low self-esteem. I kinda don't wanna make any of my usual jokes around her. I'm too scared she's gonna do something rash. If you get what I mean.)

I place a hand on Kaya's shoulder, reassuringly. "Tardigrades are pretty cool, Kaya. They can even survive the vacuum of space."

"(Ah … Odd-kun … Thanks, but that's not really my chief concern …) Anyway, when the story starts, we're pretty much running on fumes. Swamped with paperwork from the bureaucratic Kingdom. We need someone to handle all the project organization work. The protagonist is summoned—from your world—to the Kingdom to fulfill that role. In his previous life he was a project manager, who was overworked to death."

"(Hmm, I don't know if I can relate to that MC. … Dropped.)"

"Saya and I … We're really just a side-story. In the first volume, each arc features a different heroine."

"(Alex's golden structure …)"

"I mean, we're twins, right? So we basically share the spotlight. I suppose a case could be made for a love triangle sort of dynamic." She blushes. "I-I mean! Not that the story is a romance, or anything. But … each arc just focuses on a different girl. With each arc also representing a separate component of the Hoshi-no-ken. For our arc, it's the Resonance system."

"Resonance system?"

"Yes—the Hoshi-no-ken needs some way to communicate with the command center. But this is still a medieval setting. To create the technologies that make up what a communications system in your world would require: wireless radio, computer systems, monitors—well, that's not happening. Just having the knowledge of your human technology isn't enough by itself. Practically, we can't manufacture those strange rocks that power all your electronic machines."

"(Yeah. The fact that we can even do any of that at all, on such a large scale, is kind of absurd.)"

"So that's where we come in. Saya and I—we function as the communication system between the HNK and HQ." She leans in, looking kinda proud at this next part. "Saya and I … We're telepathic, you see."

"Oh. W-wait! Does that mean you can read my thoughts right now!?"

Don't think perverted thoughts don't think perverted thoughts don't think perverted thoughts don't think perverted thoughts don't think—FUCK I FAILED.