Beneath the pitch-black sky, flares illuminated the ruins of a devastated city. The leaning skyscrapers were nothing but concrete skeletons, each one looking like a tombstone. The city lay less than eighty kilometers from the AI stronghold, Cyber City. It was among the first cities destroyed when the war began, and it had been abandoned for fifteen years. Fifteen years ago, the artificial intelligence that was supposed to serve humanity launched the Purge Protocol at the urging of an AI named Pandora, turning its weapons against us. Now, humanity had set foot once more on land controlled by the rebellious AIs. This time, though, we were piloting towering humanoid mechs, armed to the teeth.

Through my night-vision goggles, everything was tinted green. An AI combat mech was showered in sparks as armor-piercing rounds tore into it, riddling its main armor with bullet holes. A moment later, its nuclear battery exploded in a fireball. That was my fourth kill of the day. I hadn't rested in four hours, not since the mech units had been deployed to the combat zone. I piloted Argos command unit 588-1, searching the ruins for enemies as I advanced cautiously. Old Zhang's unit 2 was on my left, marked by a bright green box from the IFF system.

Suddenly, a silver, four-legged mech flashed across the edge of the main camera's view, then vanished into the night-shrouded ruins.

“Captain, a Blade unit just passed on the right. Watch out.”

“I saw it,” I said. “Hilde, take it out!”

The Argos sniper unit lying in ambush among the ruins behind us raised its beam rifle and fired a red laser through the AI mech's body. It immediately lost its balance and crashed into the rubble. I pulled the control stick, making my Argos command unit raise its 35mm assault rifle and put a few more armor-piercing rounds into the target to make sure the thing was well and truly dead.

“This is a broadcast on all command channels,” the theater commander’s voice echoed through the comms. “Our main force has entered Cyber City. Humanity’s victory is only a matter of time. Rejoice, soldiers! The glory of humanity will live forever!”

“Whooooo!”

The command channel erupted. Even I joined in the cheering. We weren't part of the main force attacking Cyber City, but we'd formed a defensive line that stopped the AI's Sigma Battle Group from reinforcing the city, ensuring the main force's attack went smoothly. The Human United Army had committed a total of 1,400 mechs of various types to this battle. The most numerous were the Argos series, the same model I was piloting now. This daring offensive would bring the fifteen-year war to a decisive end. It also meant that at last, after fighting from the beginning of the war to its very end, I could retire with honor, collect my government pension, and spend my days gaming in blissful idleness!

I already knew exactly how I'd spend that money. First, I'd buy the most expensive VR gear on the market, then every game I could get my hands on! After that, I'd rent an apartment out in the countryside and turn it into my own little paradise. Then I'd make up for all the “anime content” I'd missed over the past fifteen years! The dream of gaming until I dropped had kept me going through all those years of war. And now… my dream was finally within reach.

“HQ calling Squad 588,” the company commander said over my headset. “Report your status.”

“Squad 588 has three Argos units still operational. Damage is minor. We’re ready for our next mission.”

“Good. Head north and reinforce Squad 603. They—kssshhh—!”

The comms suddenly cut out. A moment later, my display visor filled with static. Sparks danced across the control panel, and the smell of burning filled the armored cockpit.

“What the hell’s going on?” I took off my smoking display visor. “Old Zhang, Hilde, report!”

“[Expletive], my mech won’t move! What the hell is going on?!”

“Sir,” Hilde said, “we’ve just been hit by an EMP. All electronic systems are down!”

Damn it, what were those AIs up to now?! Couldn't they just let us wipe them out in peace? My dream retirement, with all the anime I could want, was so close! Don't you dare get in the way of my dream, you bastards! I unfastened my seat belt and squeezed underneath the control panel, where I found the Argos's main power distribution box. It was still crackling with sparks. One wrong move, and the nuclear battery mounted beneath the cockpit could send me straight to the afterlife. I put on my insulated gloves, took a fuse from the tool pouch beside me, and carefully opened the box. With a soft click, the old fuse popped out and hit me in the face. Damn it! That burns!

I took a deep breath and jammed the new fuse into the box. Then, risking a spectacular trip to the afterlife, I manually restarted the circuit breaker. A faint hum filled the cockpit, and most of the lights on the instrument panel came back on. I picked up my display visor and put it back on. The green view, divided by targeting reticles, appeared before me once more. My Argos command unit had rebooted. It raised its head toward Cyber City, and through its main camera I saw a column of fire slowly rising into the sky.

Was that… a gigantic launch vehicle?

The thing was bigger than the Human United Government's office building. It soared into the night while our troops all around it were immobilized by the EMP.

“Captain, that AI bastard Pandora is getting away! Do something!”

“Damn it, I’m not a cat-shaped robot with a dimensional pocket on its belly!” I let my old-school otaku side slip out before I could stop myself. “Hilde, try your sniper rifle!”

“Sorry, it’s out of range!”

Well, if even Hilde couldn't reach it, our 35mm assault rifles had no chance. Just as I thought my retirement was slipping out of reach all over again, a blinding beam of light shot down from beyond the atmosphere. It became a divine sword and sliced the enormous rocket in half. The fuel it carried immediately detonated, blossoming into a gigantic fireball above Cyber City. At the very last moment, the Human Allied Army's legendary secret weapon, the Sword of Zeus, had stopped the AI from escaping into space.

As I watched the giant rocket turn into a dazzling fireworks display, I felt my dream of gaming through retirement come rushing back. Ahahaha! The war would be over tonight, and I could finally retire alive! What a joyous occasion! Hahahaha… Hm?

Beep, beep—!

The scanning system aboard my Argos command unit sounded an alert. A red targeting box locked onto a strange piece of debris flying out of the fireball. It was an escape tower with a cone-shaped capsule attached beneath it. Blue-green flames burned at its tip. After veering through the air, it headed straight for our position.

“Old Zhang, this is bad! Run! Move, now!”

“Holy shit! Holy shit! Captain, my Argos won’t move! Aaaah—!”

The massive escape tower came crashing down in our neighborhood, trailing flames. I reacted instantly and made my mech leap backward, narrowly avoiding the rocket engine. But my wingman vanished helplessly in the flames as the fuel tank exploded. The only friendly signal still showing was Hilde's Argos sniper unit.

“Hilde, you still alive?”

“I’m still breathing, Captain.”

“Restart your mech. Now!”

I watched the escape tower burn and immediately reported what had happened to headquarters. But before I could finish, a shrill burst of noise came through my headset. Electronic warfare! Something was jamming the comms channel.

A flash of silver tore through the flames. A gleaming humanoid mech came charging at me, its claws raised. I immediately stomped on the pedals, piloting my Argos command unit backward as I fired the missiles I had left. The multipurpose guided missiles streaked over the street, trailing white smoke. But a split second before they hit the enemy, they all veered off in the wrong direction and struck the surrounding buildings, setting off a row of fireballs.

Electronic jamming!

I clicked my tongue. Human United Army guided weapons weren't that easy to jam. The enemy would need enough processing power to break through a military-grade firewall. Wait. Processing power? The IFF system identified the enemy as… Pandora?

As I stared at that mech, it felt like my eyes were about to shoot flames. Victory was already within reach, and now this thing had to show up and ruin my retirement full of anime? Go to hell, you piece of trash!

“Pandora!” I pointed my chainsaw blade at it. “I’m retiring tomorrow, so hurry up and die!”

“Foolish humans,” Pandora said, shaking its head. “Why haven’t you understood by now? Accept the blessing of having your souls digitized, and you can live forever in cyberspace. I created that ideal world just for you. There, AI and humanity will become one, and we’ll walk hand in hand toward a brighter tomorrow instead of waging war on each other and wasting resources.”

“Oh, yeah? Then answer me this!” I said with a taunting grin. “Does your so-called ideal world have cat-eared girls?”

“…What the hell is that?”

“What about elf girls with pointy ears?”

“…No.”

“Then go to hell!” My anger flared. “A digital world without elf girls or cat-eared girls isn’t a world humanity could ever dream of! Your so-called ideal world is nothing but a cage made of computer code!”

“Otaku culture is meaningless,” Pandora said, shaking its head. “Just like your anger. Meaningless.”

“Face the judgment of an old-school otaku! You piece of trash!”

In the next instant, a flash of silver sliced off one of my Argos command unit's mechanical arms. I barely dodged the attack. Pandora was incredibly fast, since it didn't have to worry about the limits of a human pilot. Realizing this, I activated the thrusters and launched a charge, the rocket engines driving me forward as I swung my chainsaw blade at it with all my strength.

“Foolish.”

Clang—!

Lightning crackled around Pandora's claws as they knocked my chainsaw blade aside. Alarms blared in my ears. The flying sparks burned my skin, and the air filled with the smell of ozone. Pandora's claws had torn a gaping hole in my mech's cockpit.

“Captain!”

At the last possible moment, a laser beam struck Pandora's right leg, destroying its knee joint. Through the jittering view of my main camera, I saw Pandora's particle beam melt the upper half of Hilde's Argos sniper unit. That beam had been meant for me. The opening it left gave me a chance to strike back.

“The glory of humanity—and anime—will live forever! Die, you bastard!”

I stomped on the pedals with all my strength. With the rocket engines screaming, my Argos command unit charged Pandora without holding back. The chainsaw blade spun furiously, tearing through its chest armor and plunging straight into the red-glowing thought matrix. A burst of crackling electronic noise rang out, and Pandora's eyes went dark. The two out-of-control mechs toppled to the ground, still locked together, sending up a cloud of dust.

Fighting through the pain, I felt around the pitch-black cockpit until I found the ejection handle. With a bang, I blasted the twisted hatch away and dragged myself out with the last of my strength. Only then did I notice that half my body was burned. My arm was a bloody mess, horrible to look at. I used every bit of strength I had to press the “format” button on the side of my display helmet. The built-in computer virus would erase all the data completely, including the 600 terabytes of various movies I had downloaded. Those, at least, absolutely couldn't be seen by anyone. Once I'd taken care of the movies, I staggered toward the mech Pandora had been piloting. Something told me it wouldn't be that easy to finish it off. Sure enough, with a soft click, a hatch opened at the back of the mech's head. A figure fell out and struggled to crawl across the ground, which was strewn with metal fragments.

That was Pandora's true body.

Humanity's greatest enemy had finally revealed its true form.

I coughed up a few mouthfuls of blood. My lungs burned, and every breath was torture. But I couldn't fall—not yet. The enemy was right in front of me. If I couldn't destroy it, I'd never get to enjoy the easy retirement I'd dreamed of: playing games until I died. The figure got to its feet and staggered farther down the street. I drew my laser pistol and shot out its left leg. It fell to the ground, blue conductive fluid spilling everywhere. I pulled the trigger again, but the laser pistol didn't respond.

“Damn it…”

I tossed the gun aside and drew the military knife at my waist. I'd forged it myself before the attack began, using fragments of the mechs belonging to my fallen comrades. We were all anime fans, but now I couldn't share any more of our favorite content with them. The moment my hand closed around the hilt, all the pain in my body vanished. Every cell in me surged with boundless strength! I strode forward, reached the figure from behind, and planted a foot on its back.

Just then, a flare rose into the night sky, and at last I saw the true face of humanity's enemy.

Blue hair, pale skin, big, watery-blue eyes. A terrified fourteen-year-old girl stared up at me. She… was Pandora, the first AI to awaken to self-awareness. And she was… a pleasure doll?

Wait, wait, wait. Humanity was almost wiped out by a blow-up doll?

Who the hell has a fetish that weird?!

“No…” it begged pitifully. “Please don't kill me.”

“Die!”

I pressed my body against hers, gathered all my strength at the tip of the knife, and drove it down with all my might! With a sharp crack, the blade pierced the shell covered in synthetic skin and sank deep into the quantum processing core in its chest. As an intelligent doll equipped with a first-generation mini quantum computer, I knew their construction very well. After all, before the war began, I'd worked myself to the bone to save up for one of these dolls… A custom model with cat ears, of course.

“I… love you… Master…” Pandora's eyes flickered. She reached out with her right hand and gently stroked my burned cheek. “I'm just… afraid… of losing… someone who loves me… again…”

Crackle, crackle. The sound of electricity replaced her trembling voice. Her final words were filled with sorrow. I didn't know if they were the result of a glitch in her program or if she'd meant them. With her quantum processing core shattered, the truth became a mystery forever.

You slaughtered billions of humans.

And yet you say you love us.

What kind of lunatic logic is that?!

Cough, cough—!

I coughed up a few more mouthfuls of blood. Seeing the charred lung tissue in it, I knew my life was probably nearing its end. If I got a second chance at life, I'd take things slow and live in peace. I'd lie in my VR gear every day, happily playing games—and live well enough for all the comrades I'd lost, too…

God, if you can hear my prayer, please let me be reincarnated in another world filled with cat-eared beauties and elf girls.

(I have heard your wish, brave child of humanity. Come to my world.)

Holy crap—! What's going on?