Chapter 109
[I was honestly surprised. I didn't think you'd say that much.]
I didn't think you'd say that much...
It was a Meaningful phrase. As if to say,
"It sounds like you already knew."
[I had guessed to some extent.]
The Dragon President spoke in a calm tone.
[First of all, I knew you weren't from Neo Tokyo. I've been to Neo Tokyo before.]
Sasha Dragon, true to his nature, was like an onion—no matter how many layers you peeled back, new information endlessly popped out.
It was a World where Connections between cities had been severed.
In a disconnected era where the City-State a person lived in was practically their entire worldview, being able to travel from one city to another—an incredible feat.
It was an achievement in itself that proved the person held a high social Position or possessed immense wealth.
And if that other city he had been to was Neo Tokyo, the Utopia called Sky Paradise in Dusk City, then it was even more so.
It wasn't for nothing that people's eyes sparkled whenever I mentioned I was an immigrant from Neo Tokyo.
That background Alone was enough to give others the impression that I was someone amazing.
"Even so, it couldn't have been easy to be absolutely certain that I wasn't from Neo Tokyo."
At my doubtful words, the Dragon President shrugged.
[Tōzen (Of course) I wasn't absolutely certain; I just felt you were different. The people of Neo Tokyo all have... a common characteristic, I guess you could say. There's something like that.]
"A characteristic?"
[Yeah. First, they have a very strong sense of pride in their own culture. If you speak to them in a language other than Japanese, they pretend not to hear you.
They all seem somewhat quiet and timid, and while they are kind to outsiders, Wakaranai (I don't know) what their true inner thoughts are. It's not easy to get close to them.]
I thought that was a bit Unexpected.
Since Dragon President was a massive otaku who always mixed bizarre, butchered Japanese into his speech, I figured he would have a good impression of Neo Tokyo, but he seemed to evaluate the people there more negatively than I thought.
Did he have some bad memories or something?
[And there's this... tone? Speech style? Something unique to the people there, but I didn't see it in you at all. That's how I noticed.]
"Speech style? There's something like that?"
As expected, someone who had experienced Neo Tokyo firsthand was different.
I marveled and urged him to explain the speech style of the people of Neo Tokyo.
Since my data stated I was from Neo Tokyo, I figured that if I learned a bit about it here and applied it when speaking with others, I could lessen the worry of my Fake ID being discovered.
Dragon President looked a bit troubled, then let out a deep sigh and began to explain.
[So, it's like they are Different on the Inside and Outside. They mainly use Euphemism, but this is too extreme. For example...]
After that, Sasha Dragon's personal anecdotes followed.
When asked what his hobbies were, he answered that he watched anime and read manga, and was praised with, “Oh my, you enjoy such Interesting hobbies. You live a fun life.” He had felt good about that for a while.
Only to find out later that the Praise was actually Indirect Speech, meaning, “Seeing as you call things meant for kids your hobbies, you must be living a truly unwholesome life,” which left him in shock.
Or being praised for having an outfit full of personality, only to realize it was an indirect insult meaning, “You have absolutely no fashion sense, seeing as you walk around wearing such terrible clothes.”
[...Because of that, it was hard to adapt. Just thinking about it now makes me shudder.]
"You went through a lot."
[I really did, Hontō ni (Really).]
At Dragon President's faint voice, I unconsciously reached out and patted his back, though I wasn't sure if he could even feel it because of the armor.
My thoughts after hearing all of his tearful stories were...
'Isn't that Kyoto, not Tokyo?'
It felt like it should be called Shin-Kyoto instead of Neo Tokyo.
Textbook examples of the Kyoto-style Speech famous in the Previous World were popping out of Dragon President's mouth.
Was it that the residents of Neo Tokyo, built after Old Tokyo was submerged, were mostly immigrants from Kyoto or something?
Either way, it was quite shocking.
It was shocking to think that the residents of Neo Tokyo, praised as Sky Paradise in Dusk City, were so devilishly Different on the Inside and Outside.
No wonder I got caught.
From the perspective of Dragon President, who had bitterly experienced the local culture firsthand, the speech of someone like me, who claimed to be from Neo Tokyo, must have felt alien.
He must have thought I was too Direct.
[I wouldn't go so far as to call them devils... it's just because I was an outsider. If you stay there long enough, you do get a feel for whether it's a genuine compliment or if they're indirectly saying something else.
Well, anyway, that's why I felt something strange about you. It clearly said you were from Neo Tokyo, and you said so yourself, but I didn't see the unique speech style or personality of the people there at all. I liked that about you, but it was Suspicious in many ways.]
Good lord, to think I ended up being suspected precisely because I was easy to deal with.
This wasn't an easy problem to solve, which made my head ache.
It wasn't like I could suddenly change my way of speaking to that Kyoto-style Speech now.
I had already revealed to the employees of Dragon's Lair that I wasn't from Neo Tokyo, so there was no need for acting with them, but...
Just as I was contemplating whether I should avoid revealing my Nominal Origin to customers from now on, just in case there was someone who knew about Shin-Tokyo-style Speech.
Dragon President continued speaking.
[So that's how I knew about your Origin. As for the Microchip... I scanned your body once before.]
"What? A scan?!"
Startled, I moved my butt to the edge of the bench, distancing myself from him.
I wasn't just overreacting.
In Dusk City, scanning someone else's body without permission was incredibly rude, and depending on the situation, it could even be a Criminal Act.
You could think of it as being similar to stalking or Illegal Filming in the 21st century.
In a Cyberpunk World overflowing with cyborgs and Ravers, secretly finding out characteristics that could be fatal weaknesses, such as the cyberware and Bioware in someone's body, was inevitably a dangerous and shameless act.
"Apologize right now!!!"
[Uh... I apologize. Gomen ne (Sorry). But you're a Natural anyway, so it doesn't really matter, does it?]
"Hmm, I suppose that's true."
He had a point!
Come to think of it, I hadn't undergone any Body Modification, and even if I was scanned, there were no weaknesses or shameful secrets to be found, so I had nothing to hide.
I did have Fake Dummy Data, but that was Military Technology that couldn't be found with a simple scan in the first place.
I almost unconsciously agreed, but quickly shook my head vigorously.
I couldn't just let it slide this easily.
"No, even so, you shouldn't just scan someone's body without permission. Exactly when, how, and why did you do it?"
At my aggressive barrage of questions, Dragon President laughed awkwardly and explained.
He said he was curious about what kind of person the New Employee was, wondering if I might be a dangerous individual, and since his suit happened to have a function that could scan through physical contact, he used it to check.
He hadn't intended to dig deep enough to find out intimate Details like Physical Characteristics or weaknesses,
he just wanted to check what my Modification Level was and whether I was carrying any high-risk cyberware...
"A scan through physical contact? No wonder!"
I glared at Dragon President, feeling a deep sense of betrayal. I had thought he was touching me a bit too often.
At first, I even wondered if this Yangban had feelings for me.
Later on, I just figured that was his usual personality and brushed it off, thinking he was just Open-minded like a true Duskian. But to think there was such an ulterior motive hidden behind it!
"You scanned me then, didn't you!"
[...When?]
"When we were doing the Cleanup on my First Day of Work, you suddenly gave me a shoulder massage. I thought it was Suspicious. It was all a calculated move. Hentai (Pervert)!"
[Don't copy my way of speaking. And it wasn't then. It was when we first met and drank together. I scanned you then.]
"No wonder you were feeding me alcohol! I thought something was weird. You shameless creep!"
[I was just in the wrong...]
Dragon President admitted defeat and raised the white flag.
After rubbing his hands together and apologizing, saying he had committed a deadly sin against me, he continued speaking.
[So, as a result of scanning you, I felt that there was a small piece of metal in your head. It passed by In a Flash so I wasn't certain, but I thought there was something there.]
He didn't know it was a Microchip, but he had figured out that something metallic existed...
That was amazing in its own right.
I had felt this for a while, but that Powered armor suit of Dragon President's was somewhat strange.
Not only was it clearly a Regulated Item, but it hadn't been confiscated by the DCPD.
More than anything else, its Performance was excessively good.
When he was observed utilizing the suit's functions from time to time, it seemed to Possess a level of multifaceted utility and power that surpassed even that of the exoskeletons of a DCPD Patrol Officer.
To think he managed to discover a concealed Microchip—one that could only be found through a Detailed Examination by the Isiho Group—using just the Scan Function built into his armor, especially this time.
Even if he had only caught a momentary glimpse of it, it was absurd. If you thought about it, wasn't that a kind of Over-Technology too?
Just how many people with over-tech cyberware were in this single bar?
While I was Shaking my head, Dragon President spoke up.
[The conversation got sidetracked... but originally, I wanted to say thank you.]
"Pardon?"
[Thank you. For showing trust. For trusting me and the employees, and telling us your secret. That's why I gave you such a big bonus.
Originally, I was going to call it even at around fifty thousand city dollars, but what you did today was so endearing that I couldn't help but give you double, even though...]
Even though?
When I tilted my head, he continued.
[...you didn't tell us everything.]