Navigating Nascent Negotiations

The orange aura surged toward the coach, but after surrounding her body, it violently retracted. It zoomed toward me next. I could feel a pressure at the back of my head, as if something were trying to force its way in. But it was easy to push it out.

The dragon probably couldn’t possess someone against their will. It had only entered Robolina so freely because her systems were designed to absorb mana from her environment.

With nowhere to go, the aura rose into the sky and vanished.

“Is it gone?” the coach asked. I tried to answer, but my throat was locked tight from the shock of seeing Robolina shoot herself. Somehow, I managed to nod. The coach hesitated for only a moment, probably trying to come up with something to console me, before she took charge of the situation. “Listen up, br--prep school wimps. Yuumondou, get the principal here. Tsukinimimi, call an ambulance. Everyone else, set up barriers around the area until the authorities arrive."

It took most of them a moment to get over the shock of what they’d just seen, but after that, they sprang into action. Everyone had a role to play. Once again, I was the only dead weight.

With nothing else to do, I knelt down by Robolina’s head. Praying for her may have been pointless. After all, she had no soul. Maybe that was why no one else seemed upset by her death.

But I prayed. I prayed to every god I could think of to somehow undo this entire day. I prayed that if they couldn’t, that people would remember her fondly as a genius who revolutionized magic. And I prayed that, Mechanorians would become friends with other peoples like she wanted.

My prayers were interrupted by a warm hand on my shoulder. “Why are you just kneeling there, Sei?” Blooming Flame Blossom asked. “You should hurry and take her to the embassy before she runs out of power. They probably have a spare golem body or two lying around.”

“She’s still alive?” I hadn’t been able to bear looking directly at her head before, but sure enough, blue holographic eyes stared up at me from the ground. Robolina was even moving her mouth to speak, but no sound came out.

“Yeah dude. Her core’s in her head. You’re the fastest runner on the team, so--”

I didn’t wait for her to finish her sentence. I scooped Robolina up in my arms and ran for the front gate.

“It’s in Chuo Ward,” she called after me.

The closest subway station was a fair distance from the school, but was on the Airport Line in what felt like two minutes flat. After asking for directions at Tenjin Station, I found myself in front of a single-story building ringing the doorbell.

A tall, gunmetal-colored golem answered the door. “What do you want?” The way he glared down at me with his glowing red eyes made him appear very intimidating. But when he saw Robolina’s head, his eyes widened in surprise.

“Her body was destroyed. Please, help her.”

“Follow me.” He pulled the door open. “Ambassador,” he yelled, “code seven.” I trailed him down the hallway, where he ushered me into a small room with two chairs and a coffee table. “If anyone tries to talk to you, stay silent until I get back. For your own protection.” With that, he took Robolina’s head from me and locked me in the room.

With no clocks in the room, I had no way to tell how long I stood there. Not that it would have mattered. Minutes would have felt like hours as I worried about Robolina. Had I run here fast enough? Would I ever see her again?

After a while, the lock clicked open and the gunmetal golem returned. His face was stern, but when our eyes met, for a moment, it almost seemed like his expression softened.

Another golem followed behind him, this one had olive skin and black hair. He even wore a business suit, making him appear almost human. The contrast between them made me realize for the first time that the gunmetal golem was naked. I hadn’t noticed because, well, it wasn’t like he had anything to cover up.

“Mr. Yamaguchi, good to meet you.” The human-looking golem bowed, a gesture I instinctively repeated. “I’m 46S-HI9. On behalf of my government, I would like to commend you for your actions today. Please, have a seat.”

“Is Robolina going to be OK?” I asked.

46S-HI9 blinked. “She will, thanks to you. Repairs will take a few weeks, but she’ll make a full recovery.” He gestured to the chair. “If you would be so kind, could you fill me in on what happened?”

As I sat, I looked to the gunmetal golem for confirmation. After all, he’d told me not to talk to anyone. He nodded, so I said, “Her systems absorbed mana she couldn’t handle. She destroyed her own body to stop the reaction.”

The smile on 46S-HI9’s face widened ever so slightly. “We gathered that much. I was hoping you could explain the circumstances that caused the event.”

That would require admitting that a human had willingly allowed a dragon to possess him. And if Robolina was right, Mechanoria might decide that makes humans a threat.

“I believe I should consult with my government before answering that question.”

He leaned forward, placing his chin on his hands as he rested his elbows on his knees. “You have that right, Mr. Yamaguchi. But our technicians have already detected trace amounts of draconic DNA clinging to 6BO-LI7’s core. A report is already being prepared for my government. I’d like that report to include the story about how 6BO-LI7’s did everything in her power to help and save her. Believe it or not, I became an ambassador to prevent wars. Will you help me?”

Since they already knew about the dragon, there was no point trying to hide it. I told them everything, starting with how Robolina discovered my soul was attached to a dragon’s. When I finished, he fixed me with a stare.

“You really pointed the gun at yourself in an attempt to save her?”

“Yes, but I don’t think I could have actually pulled the trigger.”

“If anyone else asks you that question, I want you to say ‘yes’ and leave it at that.” He leaned back in his chair and looked up at the ceiling. “With any luck, we won’t just avoid a war, we’ll spin this into an alliance between our realms.”

“Because we fought a dragon together?” I asked.

“Because of your friendship with 6BO-LI7. Pardon my language, but no organic has ever shown such kindness to one of our kind. To go so far as to sacrifice yourself for her… When this reaches Mechanoria, it’s going to change how my people think about yours.”

“I’d like that,” I said. “Maybe it will lead to more friendships like the one Robolina and I have.”

“Don’t get your hopes up,” 46S-HI9 said. “Humans look nearly identical to our creators, the Maginorians. It will take most people a long time to get over the distrust, if they ever manage at all.”

“You distrust your creators?” This was the first I was hearing about this. But then again, much about the Mechanorians was shrouded in mystery.

“It’s not a nice story.” 46S-HI9 took a deep sigh and ran his hands through his hair. Both struck me as habits he must have picked up on Earth. “The Maginorians were more adept at magic than even the elves. They created us to do their manual labor, but they never saw us as more than disposable tools. Then one day, they decided to steal our bodies in an attempt to gain immortality. They tried transferring their souls into our cores.”

“Like a dragon tried to transfer his soul into my body?”

“Yes, and just as in your case, the soul transfer failed to overwrite the target’s consciousness. The Maginorians most likely taught the dragons the spell. After we took up arms against them, we nearly drove them to extinction. But then the dungeons appeared on Mechanoria for the first time, and our creators fled into them. In exchange for their lives, they allied with the dragons in their war against the witches.”

“And that’s why you’re so militant when it comes to the dragons,” I realized aloud. “But if the dragons were still at war against the witches, that means they hadn’t been put into cursed slumber yet. So why didn’t the dragons invade and wipe you out?”

“For the same reasons the Maginorians stood no chance against us. Our guns shoot dark matter. They annihilate even the strongest of spells.”

“Then why don’t you shoot the dragons in their sleep?”

“We would, if our guns functioned inside dungeons. Trust me, if we ever figure out why they don’t, the dragons’ days are numbered. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a report to edit. 5EI-MON here will escort you home.”

Once again, I followed the gunmetal golem through the hallways. There was a car waiting for us out front. I tried to tell the driver my address, but 5EI-MON stopped me.

“It’s OK. We know where you live.”

“How?”

“Same way we knew your name.”

I had to think about it as I climbed into the car. “You’re spying on Robolina?”

5EI-MON entered on the other side of the car. “Don’t get the wrong idea. We’re here to support her. She’s the reason why the embassy is here instead of Tokyo.”

“Huh. You must really care about her.”

He looked at me again with that soft, inscrutable expression. “She’s my cousin. Growing up, she was like a younger sister to me. But when she became obsessed with magic, I got angry at her. Who wouldn’t? Magic is what our creators used. Then society turned on her, and I wasn’t there for her when she needed support. I’m just trying to make up for it by watching over her now.”

We spent the rest of the car ride in silence. I didn’t know what to say. Apologizing to him didn’t seem quite right, but it wasn’t my place to forgive him either. When we pulled up in front of my house, he said one last thing to me.

“Thanks for being her friend.”

Not gonna lie, that warmed my heart. Despite everything that had happened today, it gave me hope for the future.

Then I passed by Kooririnshu’s shrine in front of my house and felt a chill run down my spine. It was probably just because he was an ice god, but it caused me to think about myself for the first time since the attack.

For all my concern about Robolina, I hadn’t given any thought to my own situation. Without her here to tutor me, it would take me longer to learn magic.

I’d been useless during the battle today. That alone was unforgivable for an elite magic school. Would I be much better a week from now? Two weeks? It was difficult to see how I could improve that quickly.

At this rate, I’d never pass Yuumondou’s challenge.