My Vampire Older Sister and Zombie Little Sister

Book 4: Chapter 2

Lets all work together to create Director John Knockers next film! We are in need of some cheerful extras who can film with us in Vegas!!

Simply put, that was the reason we had left Japan and traveled halfway around the world to Las Vegas.

We had won an online drawing.

It seemed the reason for this was threefold: they wanted a lot of Asian extras, they were using the extras as a way of providing a bonus for fans, and John Knocker was impressed with Kukyou Citys focus on disaster prevention after losing a villa during a giant hurricane the year before.

Sorry, Maiden.

Hm? For what?

For not leaving this hotel room even though I was in Las Vegas. Saying I couldnt leave the Class Rep or that we might miss each other out there is only an excuse. The fact remains that I didnt do anything.

Dont be silly. What could you have done if you did head out there? What would your destination have been? You dont even know how to fight those gels. Getting all justice-y for no reason would only increase the risk of getting eaten. In fact, you did well to restrain yourself with all that going on. Its because of that that we managed to meet like this.

I wasnt sure what to say.

I wasnt used to being a target of anger. But I also couldnt figure out how to react when a friend smiled and forgave me in a situation like this.

Sure. This would be my users fault for being an unfortunate sort of person who prefers for girls to look down on him and insult him. But if you leave it like this, a new world might open up for him.

Oh, its Maxwell-chan! Hey, hey, can I connect via Redtooth? I found a new vulnerability in a Pearphones wireless keyboard authentication.

No. Most definitely no. Please do not view me like a fish needing gutting.

You sure are shy for a program. Hey, Truth, did she become a gloomy kokeshi-haired Yamato Nadeshiko because of your Japanese coding style?

No. I would prefer you said I have a flexible and delicate processing architecture that cannot be imitated by a boisterous American cheerleader of a supercomputer whose every piece of clothing down to the underwear bears the stars and stripes.

Here in the States, a container-sized machine is treated like a baby-faced and underdeveloped little girl.

Maxwells interruption gave me the time I needed to sort through my feelings.

Okay.

Hey, underdeveloped little girl. The real one, I mean.

That hurts, you know!? But what is it, Truth? Stop patting my head!!

The connection cut out for a while, so I want to know what happened. What are the gels up to? Have they gotten into this hotel yet?

I dont know. And how about we come up with a proper name for them? I think I lost them while moving from roof to roof, but we cant stop the fallen gels from getting in through the hotels entrance. Hey, how long are you going to keep patting my head? You are just incorrigible, Truth.

For all her complaining, she didnt try to fight it. It made me think of a prideful white cat purring as you rubbed her chin.

So the question is what to do now. But

Yeah. Anastasia honestly nodded at what I said. Look out the window, Truth. It looks pretty bad out there. Everything from family cars to shuttle buses are toppled over and spewing smoke. You couldnt even get a round light car through there now. And Vegas is right smack in the middle of the desert, so you cant reach the next city without a car.

Not to mention that we cant drive.

No. I can take over if you find a program-controlled self-driving car.

You? Driving? When communication trouble could cut off the signal at any moment? I dont think so, Maxwell.

But then what do we do, Truth?

Just as Anastasia pouted her lips, I heard a loud noise from overhead. It reminded me of a sheet snapping at the air.

Anastasias head shot up to view the ceiling. No, she was focused on something even higher than that: the rooftop.

Hey, is that a helicopter!?

Youre the one from the aircraft nation. When traveling from one end of the country to the other, you use passenger planes instead of bullet trains or linear motor trains. Although thats what lets my nation stay at the leading edge of train tech.

Meaning

If the land routes are backed up, theyll send rescue teams in from the air. The exit we need is right above us, not to the east, west, north, or south. So instead of wandering around, it would be best to stay put in a solid building with a heliport.

Of course, they will assume you were wiped out and pass you by if they cannot see you from the air, so it would be best to aim a television remote out the window and set it up to flash on and off at an irregular rate.

Yeah, if we used a normal flashlight, we could get ourselves wiped out if those things end up being attracted to light after all.

No. Most animals and insects can distinguish between infrared and ultraviolet, so I doubt that countermeasure would be much use.

That meant we couldnt leave this place.

I wanted to at least get the jetlagged Forehead Glasses Class Rep on a helicopter. The gels were all moving independently at the moment, but if they gathered together like army ants, then they might be able to form a bridge to directly cross between buildings. That was why it was better to stay inside a room near the rooftop instead of the exposed rooftop itself.

Of course.

No matter how much we discussed the odds and possibilities, we were doomed if no helicopter showed up. That was why I hadnt originally wanted to guide Anastasia here.

It was to keep her safe and feel more certain she would be rescued.

I had thought I would find her more quickly if I could search for her from the sky where the gels couldnt reach us. The main rotors wind might have been able to draw the gels away while she was guided to safety.

But that didnt change the fact that I had waited before doing anything for Anastasia. Instead of instantly running out of that hotel room, I had calmly stayed put. I had stopped myself.

Ha ha.

And yet that 11-year-old girl laughed innocently while I irresponsibly patted her head.

The look on her face was a lot like the unconstrained smile given to a family member.

Wow! You really are incredible, Truth! What was your hometown called? Kukyou City? Does living there really change your outlook that much? Or is it your experience? I mean, youre the hero who crushed the Bright Cross! Every thought in your head must be so cool!!

I couldnt find anything to say and merely narrowed my eyes, but then my smartphone screen flashed. Maxwell was drawing my attention.

User, you can lose yourself in sentimentality later. Now, I suggest you hurry to the roof. If there is no sign of life, the approaching rescue helicopter might leave without landing.

Yeah, thats right. To the rooftop, then. Class Rep, cmon, grab on

Urrrgh.

The graceful Class Rep groaned like a kaiju and wrapped her arms around my neck. This was hardly the time, but my heart was pounding like crazy. I mean, that scent, that softness, and that warmth! And her pulse! I could feel her pounding heart through her modest but impressive chest! And she was so weak that it felt like she would do anything I asked!!

Then I felt a mysterious strength wrap its arms around me from behind.

It was that troublesome girl Anastasia.

No fair, Truth. I didnt realize you were such a lady killer.

?

If youve already got a girlfriend, then you dont need Maxwell-chan, right? You can hand control of her over to me, cant you? Cmon.

No! Warning: She might be acting cute and hugging you, but I have detected a close-range wireless cyber attack. This is a serious threat!!

Maxwell was actually using exclamation points for once. She hadnt even done that when the Bright Crosss Laplace was attacking her. While sandwiched between the Class Rep in front and Anastasia behind, I wandered around the hotel room grabbing the important items like our passports and my wallet.

Okay, lets get to the rooftop heliport.

Do you have any snacks in here?

Werent you just eating enough fried food to give me heartburn just looking at it?

With that exasperated comment, I tossed her a stick of Japanese gum that was sitting on the bedside table. She stared it from varying distances and angles with a frown on her face.

Sugarless and no added colors? This is a health food.

Gum is pretty much nothing but chemicals, so youre about the only person who would call it that. Now lets get going.

Sure thing, boss.

I didnt like leaving behind our suitcases, but we couldnt exactly bring them with us. I just hoped we could collect them a week or a month later once the gel stuff had died down.

Anastasia tossed the gum into her mouth and we got moving with the sluggish Class Rep in tow.

I opened the door and, after a moment of hesitation, decided to bring the card key with me just in case. I couldnt seem to rid myself of those normal habits.

The hallway was deserted.

The sound of the helicopter rotors had to be reverberating through the entire building, but was everyone else afraid to leave their rooms?

That would depend on how long they expect this to last, said Maxwell. If they predict the problem to be resolved in a matter of hours, it would indeed be safest to hole up in their room and wait for the storm to pass.

I can see why you wouldnt want to head out into danger when theres so much gunfire outside. But I feel like theyre completely screwed if their guess is wrong.

Sure. There is no absolute correct answer in a disaster environment. It is very rare that all the necessary hints are available to you. Even if you have some experience, you must ultimately make a gamble.

Anastasia finally let go of my back and gave me a mischievous look.

This might be more like horseracing or poker than roulette or a lottery. Im glad I have such an excellent forecaster on my side.

The helicopter only had so much space, so we would be in trouble if the entire hotel rushed for it. Still, I wasnt sure we could leave it like this. I seriously doubted this would be over in a few hours.

Maxwells opinion was even harsher.

Go ahead, user. But only if you are willing to take responsibility when everyone in the building tries to board the helicopter, fails to get on, and is wiped out. Otherwise, you should not interfere any further. It is best to let everyones decisions send them down different paths so that as many as possible can find a chance at survival.

Perhaps so.

And I didnt have time to argue.

I could always think about the hotel guests once we were on the roof and had gotten the rescue chopper to stop. We were all done for if it passed us by.

Ive really learned how to make cheap excuses to myself.

Hm? What is it, Truth?

Anastasia had trusted in me and arrived here on her own, so she seemed so very innocent and pure.

User, I have received a video chat. It is from Miss Erika and Miss Ayumis desktop.

Okay, Maxwell. Put them through.

On my instruction, the smartphone screen changed. This was another function of the short-text SNS I used to communicate with Maxwell.

Two people were pressing their soft cheeks together to cram both their heads onto the screen: my vampire older sister, who had gorgeous blonde ringlet curls and sexy proportions, and my zombie little sister, who had black twintails with wrapped butter rolls at the end and slender proportions.

Onii-chaaan.

Oh, my. I had heard there was some trouble therebut it seems you really are in trouble. You already have two girls clinging to you.

Were those two all right?

The answer was obvious if I thought about it, but when I was caught in a natural(?) disaster, it was easy to feel like the people I knew were also in a bind.

Anastasia was still trapped by her old habits, so she started toward the glass elevators before remembering it was an emergency and stopping.

At times like this, you had to use the stairs.

Erika, perfect timing.

Fuguu!? What about me, Onii-chan!?

Satori-kun only does that to get your attention. Anyway, is there something you want to ask me?

Yes, I replied. There are red slimes crawling around and they can dissolve a human whole. But what are they? What kind of Archenemy are they?

I dont know.

I hadnt expected that answer.

It was not often that my knowledgeable older sister tilted her head so cutely.

Are you even sure theyre Archenemies?

Eh? Eh? But, I meanarent gelatinous Archenemies really, really famous? More so than vampires and zombies even.

In RPG worlds, yes. Ayumi puffed out her cheeks like a pufferfish while wearing sportswear that was as skimpy as a swimsuit. Colorful slimes arent really a traditional fantasy creature. Arent they more like UFOs or cryptids? They arent based on any legend or religion.

Yes, continued Erika. Formless monsters are generally made of fire. Wind would be the next most common, I suppose. But formless monsters made of slime arent really seen in any legends or mythologies. Water monsters tend to be fish, frogs, or beautiful women.

Eh? Then what in the world are these things?

I felt something cold and heavy in my stomach as I threw open the metal door to the emergency stairs. Using a familiar word to describe the unknown was something like a defensive reaction. Kind of like how I compared them to army ants. By reaching an understanding like that, you could push the fear away.

But my sisters words brought it all back. The fear of Unknown Creature X pushed in at me from all sides.

However

Cant you just call them gels? asked Erika.

Eh? Ah? What???

Im just saying to call them gels as a sort of placeholder until you know what they really are. Because just calling them X would be confusing.

Onii-chan, I say you can call them the wrong name if itll keep you from mentally restraining yourself for no reason.

Was that how it worked?

Maybe so.

Were there, Truth. Anastasia tugged on my sleeve. Thats the door to the roof.

Satori-kun, dont do anything rash, said Erika.

I wont.

With that, I grabbed the knob to the thick metal door. It wasnt locked. It may have been set up to automatically unlock in an emergency.

As soon as I opened the door, a gust of wind hit me in the face like a solid object. The Class Rep and Anastasias hair whipped behind them.

A complex arrangement of steel beams formed a giants table situated a step higher than the air conditioning units and electronic signs. That was the heliport.

And a short and fat helicopter with a rotor on the front and back was hovering between ten and fifteen meters above that table.

They must have been unsure there was anyone coming, but they couldnt bring themselves to abandon anyone who might be there. And things set in motion as soon as we appeared on the roof.

A male voice shouted over a megaphone.

!! !?

Maxwell, youre gonna have to translate that! Youve seen my grades in English!

Really, Truth? Theres something wrong when you can write C++ code in English, but cant hold a conversation.

I silenced the exasperated 11-year-old with some head-pats while I waited, but Maxwell did not respond.

?

Warning.

What is it, Maxwell?

I have received some information from the personal websites of several civilian weather forecasters. A cloudburst has been detected in the desert 70km south of Las Vegass center.

Soso what? Who cares if it rains in the empty desert?

Ugh, groaned the jetlagged Class Rep who was leaning against me from the side. Rain in the desertis a lot more dangerousthan you think.

Sure. When a large quantity of rain falls on a desert that has been heated to 50 or 60 degrees Celsius, it will produce a rapid change in air pressure and lead to a largescale downburst. Of course, the cause is more multifaceted than that and rain does not always produce a downburst.

Kilometers? Celsius? Whyd you have to teach Maxwell-chan such confusing units, Truth?

Because I believe in the metric system. Maxwell, sum it up for me. Why and how is this bad?

Sure, began the simple response.

The rest of the message appeared on top of Erika and Ayumis faces.

In the worst case, the entire Las Vegas city center will be engulfed in a sandstorm with ferocious speeds of several dozen meters per second.

My eyes shot up from my smartphone.

Something rose like smoke from beyond the horizon. It was a thick wall that extended endlessly to the left and right like the Great Wall of China. And by the time I saw it, it was too late.

Get out of here!!

I shouted at the helicopter, but did my voice even reach them?

The large rescue chopper had seemed so solid and heroic, but now it flipped over like a submarine toy floating in the bath. It couldnt even make an emergency landing on the hotel rooftop and disappeared toward the surface. It all happened in an instant, so it had no chance to recover.

And we didnt have time to sit around and watch it happen.

All of a sudden, it was nighttime.

I thought it was a solar eclipse at first.

That bright summer sun was instantly hidden from view and the darkness of midnight covered Las Vegas. The sand felt almost like static electricity as it hit my exposed skin. I couldnt keep my eyes fully open. The smartphone kept vibrating in my hand, but I couldnt even see the screen.

I knew opening my mouth would get me a stomach-full of sand, but I had to do it.

Anastasia!! Get back inside the hotel!!

!?

I heard some kind of response from the girl, but I couldnt make out any actual words. My voice might have sounded similar to her.

But that didnt matter.

I could only pray she would follow after my voice if I kept shouting at the top of my lungs. I held the Class Rep in my arms and slowly moved back. I had almost entirely lost my sense of direction. The only things I could rely on were the grooves in the concrete roof below my feet.

My back finally bumped into the metal door leading inside.

Then Anastasias small body ran into me. Her pet robot seemed to be fine too.

Lets get inside! Im opening the door, Anastasia!

Just get in there, Truth!!

We pushed back inside the hotel with all three of us jumbled up together and then I kicked the door shut.

Ugh, peh, peh!! Theres so much sand in my mouth!!

Anastasia seemed about ready to spit out her sandy gum, so I handed her the wrapper.

But this meant our one hope, the rescue chopper, had crashed.

No, it was worse than that.

The scraping sound I heard from the door was odd. Was the storm really that bad? It was supposedly fine sand hitting the door, but it sounded more like a wild beast was clawing at it.

It was so odd that Anastasia forgot to brush the sand off of her silk camisole and miniskirt.

Satori-kun, Satori-kun! If theres a sandstorm, you cant let your guard down!! Get away from there immediately!!

Erika?

Sure. There are reports of windows breaking and front doors bending during intense downbursts. And you compared those gels to army ants earlier, didnt you? It would be incredibly dangerous if damage to the building left it no longer airtight.

The focus of Anastasias and my eyes strayed a bit from the smartphone screen. Our eyes were still looking down, but we viewed the ground instead of the phone.

The gels could crawl on the ground or walls, so climbing to a building rooftop was not enough to escape them. We had proven that while Anastasia was on the run. And we knew the gels reacted to vibrations and currents in the air. What if the deafening noise of the helicopter had drawn them in and some of them had already crawled up the hotel wall to the roof?

Couldnt they get in below the metal door?

A translucent red slime oozed in through that gap.

Ugh.

Unable to bear the chill racing down my spine, I just about screamed, but Anastasias small hand covered my mouth.

!!!???

Unable to stay still, we made a mad dash down the stairs. But there we ran into another strange phenomenon.

We heard a loud noise that sounded a lot like all the buildings windows shattering. That meant they had more ways in. And just like on the roof, what if some of them were already clinging to the wall?

This is not good

Just as Anastasia said that, the previously-silent guest rooms threw open their doors. A blond man ran out into the sandy hallway, but a red slime enveloped him like a blanket.

There was nothing we could do.

His eyes seemed to meet mine at the final moment. He was shouting something, but I had no idea what it meant and he was engulfed and dissolved.

It was times like this when I really wished I understood English.

That was how hellish the situation was.

Some people rolled out through the door already covered in a gel and some doors shook while the person on the other side tried and failed to kick them down However it happened, human lives were being lost at a rapid pace. There was some wet cloth clinging to the wall. Oh, I guess they really do only eat living beings and cant consume synthetic clothing. My thoughts were wandering. I was trying to avoid focusing on this, just like someone who started reading an old manga volume they found while cleaning their room.

All the guest room windows were broken by the windand the gels clinging to the windows and wall got in

We cant stay here. We need to get downstairs

Anastasia started to run, but I held her back.

All the windows downstairs will be broken too! We need to assume the gels are on every floor. At this rate, well probably end up trapped between two groups of gels if we take the stairs. Anywhere with a window will have gels!

Then what do we do, Truth? Take the elevator!?

No, said Maxwell. That hotels elevators are glass. The risk would be little different from the guest rooms even if you simply climbed down the shaft.

Yes, that was the problem.

This hotel was no longer safe. We had to escape if we were to survive. But how were we supposed to do that? We were helpless with both the stairs and elevator off limits.

No?

What is it, Truth?

Maxwell, what about the staff elevators? Surely not even shiny Las Vegas would use a glass elevator to carry the room service and linen carts.

Sure. Acquiring data via hotel intranet. There are three staff elevators relatively close to that emergency staircase.

Run, Anastasia.

I was hesitant to go. Was it really right to turn my back on the tragedy filling this floor? But there was nothing I could do. The hallway was filled with red slimes and there was no way around them.

Some of them reacted slightly to our movements that is, to how our movements disturbed the dust and particles in the air and they would leap at us if we got any closer.

We had to survive.

No matter what.

What do we do about the elevator? Theyll all be stopped.

Even if they arent, we cant escape an ambush if we simply ride it down normally. Maxwell. The top right of the door says EDE and the button panel says 11381518. Perform a search.

Sure. That is version 5 of the midsized industrial elevators made by Eddy Electronics. It is a special model that simplified the air conditioner to lighten the elevator and allow it to carry more weight. During a power outage, it can be unlocked by pressing the metal hook hidden on the door rail. You should have the best odds of success if you use a long and thin piece of metal similar to a ruler, slip it into the gap between the door and the lower rail, and move it like a saw.

Anastasia, let me borrow your Swiss Army knife. If we unscrew the fire extinguisher holder on the wall, its stainless steel frame should work perfectly.

Its Maiden. And that flexible interface is really second to none, isnt it?

Is this any time to be praising Maxwell?

Once I had the L-shaped metal frame, I slipped it into the gap in the elevator and jerked it around. I felt kind of like a car thief. And damn was it ever loud. It worried me. If those gels reacted to sound directly instead of the disturbed air, then we were done for.

I detected the change from the solid sensation in my wrist rather than from the sound. I stuck my fingers in between the double door and spread them apart.

Kh.

I found a pit that felt a lot like a giant square smokestack. There was no need to keep the area lit at all times, so it was of course completely dark. When you couldnt see the bottom of a hole, it filled you with an instinctual fear.

We had no lifeline and that pit was more than ten stories tall. All we had to rely on was a metal ladder with bars thinner than my thumb and our own arm strength.

But we had no choice but to go for it.

It was the one solid route with no windows.

Class Rep I guess I cant exactly carry you down. Youll have to do it yourself.

I-Ill be fine

Hey, I cant see to the bottom. Are you sure there arent any gels lying in wait?

Anastasia was more afraid than necessary and starting to freeze up, so I took the lead going down.

I grabbed the ladders rung and climbed down a bit.

I guess the Class Rep can go second.

Eh? Why, Satori-kun?

Warning: Looking up in this situation could be seen as a dishonest act.

Tch, Maxwell caught on.

At any rate, escaping the hotel came first. We descended the ladder with me first, the Class Rep second, and Anastasia third.

Hm? Erika, Ayumi???

At some point the video chat had cut off.

Entering the elevator shaft has affected the signal, explained Maxwell.

But youre still connected. And youre back in a container in Japan.

Sure. However, I have routed my signal through the hotels local intranet while your sisters are using a signal sent directly in from outside.

I had thought climbing down through seemingly endless darkness would be nothing but terrifying, but it was actually pretty easy. Just like with stairs, you didnt have to check each and every step before taking it. You just had to get a rhythm going and follow that.

But I could feel my thoughts growing more inwardly focused as I repeated the simple task with nothing to look at. I could hear shouts and screams through the closed doors every time we reached another floor down, but I had no way of knowing if they were real or a figment of my imagination. The truth was I would have been happier to know they were only in my head.

How much time had passed?

Its gotten quieter, said the Class Rep.

That comment held great meaning, but no one said anything more. Not even the Class Rep herself.

We just continued down the ladder.

It made me feel like everyone else had vanished from the face of the earth, leaving only us behind.

And while I was in that forlorn state of mind, Maxwell gave a warning.

User, you have reached the first floor.

Eh? But the shaft keeps going down

There must be a basement.

That was obvious once Maxwell mentioned it. And I had completely forgotten to count the floors each time we reached an elevator door. I may have been more panicked then I had realized.

Unlocking the door from the inside proved simple. The metal hook was like a thick lever and it was entirely exposed. I just had to push it with my hand to unlock the door. Once I pushed open the doors, I leaned out onto the inorganic floor. This was probably the back area for employees. A door somewhere would lead out to the familiar front lobby.

There was no one there.

I couldnt sense any kind of presence.

Calm music played in the distance. Following that would probably lead us to the front lobbybut for some reason, none of us moved. We felt like we would regret seeing whatever was there.

What do we do now, Satori-kun?

Theres an emergency exit sign over there

We could hear dry sand scraping against the other side of the door. The sandstorm was still underway, so we probably couldnt even stay standing out there. Running out there would be far too reckless. The gels would end up surrounding us while the wind and sand tossed us around. The sandstorm would be affecting the gels too, but that was like blindfolding both sides and having us wander when touching them meant instant death for us.

That said, the hotel was far from safe with the windows broken. We had to assume every floor from the lobby to the roof had been contaminated. If we stayed here, we would eventually be found and we would have nowhere to run.

While my mind raced, Anastasia slowly looked up.

No, there might be a way.

?

Look at this, Truth. Its this hotels security, but the basement block is isolated from the rest.

She had apparently been casually performing a cyber attack with the handheld game system used as her pet robots head, but now was not the time to worry about that.

Theres a casino down there, right?

It is Vegas, after all. This here is supposed to be the vault, but theres some equipment that makes no sense with that.

?

A large fan. That kind of equipment is meant to keep the oxygen supply up during tunnel construction.

Wait a second. Are you saying what I think you are?

Theyve surreptitiously built a secret tunnel so they can escape from below the casino if robbers show up. It doesnt branch off anywhere else, so it shouldnt be contaminated as long as the entrance is intact. What should we do, Truth? Isnt this our last chance?

[confidential] Interview Records of an Imprisoned Group of Thieves [storage A51]

Vegas casinos arent like South American banks. Only a complete dumbass would charge in the front entrance with a mask over their head and a gun in hand, but theres also a trick to secretly digging a tunnel to the vault.

America is a car culture, so unlike Europe, people say no one sees any real need to develop underground, but thats a complete and utter lie. Theres the obvious things like power, gas, and plumbing, but people also tend to dig into the ground for anything they dont want the government to know about, so theres a whole mess of tunnels below Vegas. Alien autopsies and secret UFO labs are supposed to be deep underground, right? Its the same for everyone. From the sicko criminals to the government officials, everyone truly believes their secrets will be safe as long as theyre hidden underground.

I was only caught because some moronic newbie screwed up and damaged a gas pipe.

So with that out of the way, what did you want to know about our tunnel digging? Its been a while since the guilty verdict. The newspapers, TV news, and even the online news will have forgotten all about it by now, so I doubt youre here to have me write up some tips on our crime technique.

Not that it matters to me.

But if youve got a question, make it quick. Dont assume you can see me again tomorrow or the day after that. I mean, were tunnel diggers. Dont you forget that.

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