Page 103 of Pandion

All right, the moment of truth. Kagesawa steadied himself.Go ahead, I’m already on my way. I’ve got a raft here so don’t wait up.

It was getting a little too hot for comfort, but he trusted Ayase to project something suitable out to Satoru.

I’m sorry Ayase. I was hoping I’d be able to provide you with something better, but at least we saved a whole bunch of people, right? It wasn’t all for nothing.

The easiest, fastest death would probably be to let the docking robot be squashed, but he had to wait until Satoru was safely on a life raft before he could let go of the controls. That meant having to deal with the heat for a while longer.

I’m not happy, but I understand. I would not have helped if I disagreed. Would you like me to do something while we wait?It was a kind offer, but there was nothing to do.

It was annoying that he’d gotten this far and gone through so much, yet it was all going to end right before he could pass the finish line. He certainly hadn’t expected to go down like this. Why was this even happening? All of this trouble to sabotage a ferry and for what? To sink some random idiot in a docking robot… Kagesawa chuckled.

You’re not a random idiot,Ayase said. It was kind of them to say.No, I mean you’re not random. Based on what we know, this points to JufO, and you are the target.

We know this?

Yes. I could confirm it for you if I had access to the ship’s WiFi, but I don’t have the password.

Kagesawa sighed. Not random but definitely an idiot.

So, I’ve had someone tailing me without realising it, and I’ve placed everybody in danger by boarding this ferry?Ah, shit. Fuck. Fucking hell.He’d been secretly hoping for this to be his redemption arc after all the times he’d royally fucked up in his life, but he’d been the cause of this wreck instead?Fuck. Well, it doesn’t matter. At least I’ve made sure no one else got seriously hurt.He closed his eyes.

Chapter 38

You absolute barrel of garbage, why are you lying to me?Satoru’s projection was like a sharp kick in the groin.

What? I’m not…Oh, for fuck’s sake, why did Satoru have to be so perceptive? Couldn’t there be at least one thing that went right in this mess?

There’s no other life raft. Where the hell are you? Still somewhere down there?

Don’t mind me, idiot. Get in the goddamn raft!

I’ll get in the goddamn raft as soon as you do!

I’m fucking stuck here! You need to go!

Well, I’m not leaving without you.

You promised me you’d take care of yourself!

No, I didn’t!

Yes, you did!

No, I most certainly did not. You’ll have to put your fucking back into it and save yourself because I’m not leaving without you. What an ass.

Fuck, fucking fuck… Fuck.What the hell was he supposed to do now?You piece of fucking shit, goddammit…Was there a way to force Satoru on that raft, through the link?Ayase, we need to project something over the link to make him leave, fucking anything…!

Don’t even think about it. I’m going to dampen this thing into oblivion if you try something fishy!It was useless to try to keep anything private when Satoru was specifically paying attention.

Fuck you!Furious beyond reason, Kagesawa let go of the pile of trucks and let the docking robot fall so that the cockpit dragged against the hull and screeched to a halt just short of the deck.

The landing was rough enough to knock the wind out of him, and he spent a good few minutes gasping for air and coughing. The window in front of him cracked, and its safety glass popped off like corn kernels in a hot kettle. The ferry keeled back to a more extreme bank angle as the trucks slid across the deck. The noise was deafening.

Once he managed to breathe again, Kagesawa pulled himself out from the seat and squirmed, squiggled and bent his body in unnatural and ridiculous ways to fit through the opening.

The heat outside the robot was overwhelming. He scrambled to a more upright position and searched for anything he could use for his escape.

Now that the ferry was almost on its side again, he cringed at the thought of what might have happened to the people boarding the last life raft somewhere above.

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