Paradox-Roid | Chapter 11

[healingbonds]

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Owen: ............

Owen’s body freezes in a split second, and then lurches sideways.
Bradley supports his body while deftly plucking the mana plate out of his glowing chest.
Owen doesn’t move an inch. He seems more like a frozen corpse than a doll.
I reel with shock. When Rustica stopped him earlier, his mannerisms had been filled with kindness, trust, and respect.
But this is just awful — treating Owen like he’s an object, even though he was moving up until a moment ago......

Bradley: Here. Load this into my car.

Police: Yes, sir!

Bradley hands Owen over to one of his subordinates and turns around to look at Rustica.

Bradley: Mister. I’ll turn a blind eye just this once, but the next time you come across a signal-less Assist-Roid, report it immediately. Even if it’s brought in by a police officer.

Cain: Boss, Rustica didn’t do anything wrong. All of this was m—.......

Bradley: Course he didn’t. All of this is on you. Don’t go losing your head over a piece of scrap iron. You got a thing for playing around with dolls, missy?

Bradley slaps Cain’s cheek lightly with the back of his hand. Cain flushes red at the humiliating treatment.
But before he can protest, Bradley leans in and whispers into his ear, his voice as syrupy-sweet as if he’s pacifying a cat.

Bradley: Forget about what happened tonight. Here’s some allowance. Your shift is almost over, right? Go get yourself a drink. You must be tired.

Bradley says, closing Cain’s hand around some bills. Cain glares sharply at Bradley.
But instead of returning them like I thought he would, he hurriedly stuffs the bills into his pocket and sighs shortly.

Cain: ......Roger that, Boss.

Bradley: Good boy. Drink, go home, and go to bed.

Bradley slaps Cain on the back and briskly strides out of the laboratory. On his way out, he pauses in front of Heathcliff.
Without warning, he grabs Heathcliff’s chin and tilts it upwards.
A dog-shaped robot immediately comes bounding out of nowhere. It starts barking ferociously at Bradley, trying to protect Heathcliff.

(Woof, woof)

Heathcliff: Stop it, Shino!

Barely doesn’t even spare the dog-shaped robot a glance as he roughly shakes Heathcliff’s chin from side to side.

Heathcliff: .............

Bradley: Have I met you before?

Heathcliff: ......I wonder. I’m a citizen, after all. Perhaps we’ve crossed paths on some occasion, Chief.

Bradley: I don’t think I’d forget a face like yours.

Heathcliff: I could say the same about you.

Bradley: That’s true. My scar makes me strikingly handsome, right?

Bradley laughs shortly before departing.
Looking relieved, Heathcliff lets out a heavy sigh and hugs the dog-shaped robot.
My gaze darts between Cain, who is standing frozen to the spot, and a motionless Rustica being embraced by Chloe.
At this rate, Owen is really going to be taken away.

Akira: (Cain is part of the police, after all, so maybe he can’t go against his superior. I have to do something.......)
(I don’t want this to be our goodbye......)

Steeling my resolve, I prepare to dash out beyond the shutters. But at that moment......

Akira: .............!

Cain grabs hold of my arm.

Cain: Shh.

Cain holds a finger up to his lips. I thought he had been beaten down, but his eyes burn with an intensity that’s stronger than ever.

Cain: Don’t reveal yourself yet. Once we hear the sound of Boss’s engine, we’ll tail him in stealth mode.

Akira: Huh......?

Cain: What’s with that face? Did you really think I got bought off? That was just to make him let down his guard.
He’s really sharp, so he might fully anticipate my actions, but. If that happens, we can deal with it then. ........

That’s when I hear the hiss of steam being released — the sound of an engine starting.

Cain: Looks like it’s time to go. Akira, are you coming with me?

Akira: Yes!

Cain: Rustica, Heath, I’ll check in with you guys later! Chloe, I’m leaving them to you!

Chloe: I got it!

Heathcliff: Be careful.

Rustica: ............

We hop onto Cain’s airbike, chasing after Bradley’s aircar.
I’m not quite sure what stealth mode entails, but the airbike’s outlines glow like a nocturnal insect.
Does this mean no one can see us? I was just getting used to thinking of myself as a robot, but now I feel like a ghost.
Bradley’s aircar speeds single-mindedly down the highway without any of his subordinate’s cars following suit.
It looks like he’s taking Owen someplace other than the police station.

Akira: ......Are you sure it’s okay? Going against your superior.......

Cain: Who knows...... But I can’t just ignore what’s happening. Like..... I don’t really know how to describe it, but.
I’m a police officer. Whether it’s a human or an Asssist-Roid, there isn’t a single voice that should go unheard.
He said he didn’t want to be stopped.

I nod, biting my lip. Owen’s wide-eyed gaze and voice replay in my mind.
—No. I don’t want to be stopped again.
He did say that.

Cain: Besides, it’s not just Owen. .......This city has been strange lately.

Akira: This city has been strange......?

Cain: Yeah.

Cain narrows his gaze, gripping the handlebar.

Cain: The other day, we got an unofficial request to escort someone. Boss was really vague about it, but my mission was to escort an Assist-Roid belonging to some VIP of an underground organization.

Akira: But you’re a human, Cain. You were escorting an Assist-Roid......?

Cain: You see, the upper class views the working class as beneath their Assist-Roids.
I went to meet the target in a really sulky mood. But that Assist-Roid was a child: he was a boy named Arthur.

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