Part 7[edit]
(November 10th – Oahu – Diamond Beach – Cell Phone Store – From the camera in a cell phone on the store’s counter)
America had simplified the cell phone business much further than Japan, so the stores were overflowing with prepaid models. A few sample phones were lined up in an open air stand type of store. A girl was using her index finger to fiddle with a sample smartphone.
Oftentimes sample phones were dummies, but being able to test out how using it felt was one of the major selling points for that smartphone. Perhaps some things were difficult to imagine just by hearing an explanation.
The girl had silver braids and brown skin.
She wore overalls directly over her bare skin and wore glasses.
“This thing is fun, but I’m not sure fun is enough to warrant buying a second phone…”
“It isn’t just a phone. You can think of it as a small internet terminal. Carrying a computer around all the time is a pain, right?”
“Those have gotten pretty small themselves, though.”
“It’s the same thing as air conditioning, cell phones, and convenience stores. You didn’t miss them when you had never used them, but once you start using them, you can’t get by without. A smartphone is another one of those convenient goods.”
“…You make it sound like I’d be better off never using one. That sounds like something out of a drug PSA.”
The brown girl and the clerk went through the standard dialogue.
The girl then made the screen slide to the side and had her interest grabbed by the preset applications.
“Hehh. You can bring up a map.”
“You can do anything. If you get lost with one of these, there has to be something wrong with your brain.”
“It’s amazing that such a small device can connect with the satellites up in space,” said the girl as she repeatedly swiped her index finger across the map.
And then something odd happened.
The map screen suddenly blurred and when the clerk tried to fix it, screen after screen he did not recognize appeared. It was not a mere malfunction. Some kind of different code had been overwritten into the device.
“Okay, if it’s this high level a device, maybe I can link it with my spiritual item. And it uses gold in the chips.”
“What are you—?”
“Brace yourself,” said the girl slowly just as a brilliant white light fell down from the heavens.
It struck a few kilometers away, but a shockwave assaulted them like from a lightning strike. The roof of the open air stand type of store was blown off and slammed into creaking palm trees. The clerk was knocked over, but instead of fear, his expression was that of someone faced with difficulty.
“I’ll take it.”
“Hah? …Hah?”
“I said I’ll take it. Oh, and I don’t need a contract. I’ve changed the settings so I can use it without one.”
At that point, a high-pitched noise like crystal being struck rang out.
The brown girl looked over to see an unnatural object approaching. It looked like a drum made of black stone.
It was unlikely anyone else there realized it was the result of utterly remodeling a human being.
The brown girl spoke lightly as if speaking to a childhood friend.
“Hey, you really are spoiled, aren’t you? If you keep following me around like this, a certain exhausted Dvergr might just have to sit down for a rest on you.”
Without waiting for approval, the brown girl sat right down on top of the drum.
She immediately brought her finger to the smartphone’s screen and started operating it with a gleeful expression. That aspect followed the stereotypical response of someone using that type of device almost exactly.
However, what she said after she made a call was clearly not normal.
“Hey. Saronia A. Irivika failed. As expected. Right now, they’re probably breathing a sigh of relief over having saved the United States. None of them would ever imagine that we achieved our goal back when Kilauea erupted,” whispered the brown girl with a smile. She seemed to be speaking to no one in particular rather than into the phone. “You would think they would find it odd. The Trigger was supposed to cause an artificial eruption in Kilauea, but the type of lava was changed as well. Normally, thick lava should have come spewing out, but for some reason smooth volcanic ash came out instead. Normally, you would think there was some other trick at play, don’t you think?”
“What about the output?”