Because of the discovery of electricity, human cities in the 21st century all became sleepless cities.
All kinds of neon lights illuminated cities that would otherwise be swallowed by night, making the nighttime streets lively and bustling.
However, because the living-dead crisis erupted during the day, once night fell, aside from a few systems that still lit up automatically, the city was naturally much darker than it used to be.
After a full day of chaos, even more lights went out.
And so, under this kind of night sky, anything glowing as it streaked past overhead became especially conspicuous.
Most people could recognize what it likely was, because it was not exactly rare. Occasionally, when some country launched a rocket to send a satellite into space, you could see a trail across the sky.
In the daytime it might not be very obvious, but at night it was extremely striking.
But now the world had already collapsed. Under normal circumstances, there should not still be any rocket launch plans.
That meant what they were seeing now was more likely the trail of a missile—something with technology comparable to rockets.
In peacetime, even if you saw a missile trail, you would not worry too much. You would assume some country was running a test.
But now, there were no longer any functioning "countries" left in this world.
So it might well be a real warhead-bearing missile, and very likely carrying humanity's most vicious, most brutal weapon—nuclear.
Watching that arcing trail, it was clear it was not heading straight for Tokonosu City.
So Saya, who witnessed this, could only hope it would continue over Tokonosu City's sky and fly farther away.
It crossed from one end of Tokonosu City to the other very quickly, and in that direction there was a base. That was probably the actual target.
"Looks like it's not attacking us," Shizuka said dully.
The instant her words fell, the night world suddenly flared white, brighter than daytime.
"Ah!"
Shizuka's scream snapped everyone back.
She screamed because her phone was smoking, and anything related to electronic devices started malfunctioning.
That abnormal "daylight" also vanished quickly, and darkness swallowed everything again.
In that moment, the world truly went black.
The city had still had some lighting before. Now even that was gone.
"This is beyond awful," Saya's voice broke the pitch-black silence first. In the end, they still hadn't been able to avoid it.
"It's an EMP attack."
Mikoto's voice came out trembling as well.
Now it was over. Unless an electronic device had special protection, the vast majority of equipment with electronic components had been destroyed in this instant.
So Mikoto immediately moved to open her briefcase, but a hand pressed down on it.
"Wait before you open it. If you open it right now, it might have been fine, but the moment you open it you could get caught by a lingering wave."
Kain explained it like that.
The laptop Mikoto carried was stored inside a special-case box that could protect it from EMP damage.
And there was not only one such case. Saya also had one in her hands, with a laptop inside.
In addition, a third case held various electronic parts and devices, such as radios and a satellite phone.
All of those cases were provided by the Takagi household.
"Miss, look after yourself, will you?"
"What do you mean 'what should we do'? Didn't I tell you before we set out? We might run into this. Do exactly what I said. And keep your voices down!"
Saya scolded the people behind her who had scrambled out of the vehicles, her tone edged with anger.
And to keep the convoy calmer, she began directing them.
So the team was quickly given light again.
It was not because they had prepared a bunch of flashlights and similar gear in EMP-proof cases, or because those items had avoided electromagnetic interference.
Instead, the lighting came from kerosene lamps—things that had nothing to do with electronics.
In the blink of an eye, the convoy was moving again.
There were three vehicles total. Two had been acquired by Shizuka's side, and the third was a large truck.
The reason the two cars could still start was because their owners had modified them further, adding anti-EMP measures.
The truck, of course, had not. Even though they had spare parts stored in metal cases, it still looked like it could not be repaired anytime soon, at least not in the short term.
After that, they forced their way through all kinds of obstacles along the road. Even steel barriers were directly melted by the bullets from that special gun.
"What kind of bullets are those, exactly?"
Mikoto stared in disbelief at the metal obstruction that had been melted away.
If that hit a person—no, even a living dead—calling it "melting" was not quite right. It was closer to vaporization.
And the melting effect they could see was only because the obstacle had enough mass and thickness for the liquefaction to be visible.
With a weapon like that clearing the path, they reached their destination quickly: the largest general hospital.
…
The NieR world.
A cargo-type aircraft came to a stop in front of A2.
As the hatch opened, 2B and 6O pushed a box down the ramp.
It was a metal container with an unusual design.
Then, right in front of everyone, 2B activated the metal box. With a series of clacking mechanical sounds, it transformed, reconfiguring itself into a set of power armor that did not fully cover the entire body.
In terms of silhouette, it looked like a VTOL fighter that had transformed into a humanoid mode.
In fact, it really could transform into a fighter configuration as well—a compact, mini Flight Unit.
Then 2B turned her back to the power armor and merged with it, immediately beginning real-environment ground testing on the spot.
This was the newest weapon system Commander White had the android research center produce.
In these two days, White had the researchers working themselves to the bone, forcing it into a finished, usable form.
So now 2B was testing it directly on the surface. If there were no issues, A2 would transmit this equipment to him.
That golden energy coin had already filled earlier, half a day ago, when he took part in a small-scale clash against Machine Lifeforms and maxed it out, obtaining one.
With this, safety should improve at least somewhat.
Because this equipment also carried a force-field defense system. You could practically say it let you survive even being gutted.
But since it was a prototype machine, the force-field generator had been miniaturized to the point it could be mounted, which meant it could only be deployed briefly.
If it was pushed to maximum defensive output, it would last at most five seconds.
But in that world—worse than hell itself—given the brutal environment he would face the moment he returned, even that would help him endure the hellfire that blasted skyward.
Even one second would do.
That one second might be the hope that kept him alive.
(End of Chapter)
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