Wreckage maiden, sparkle, bottom of the world. ch1

Onto our next headline.

Avatars On Sale to the Public

Mechanical bodies that people can transfer themselves into by converting their brainwaves into data,
also known as "Avatars",
have gone on sale to the general public starting today.

Will Avatars
become the savior of mankind?

p2-3

Six years later.
!

In a stagnant and grey town,
the girl I encountered was damaged all over, yet still pure...

You're awake.
Are you okay!?
I found you outside ealier,
all beaten up.

As for your memory data...
?

Let's get married.

!?
Are you still broken or something!?

Eh!?
Wasn't Ari
supposed to get married you!?

Did Ari get it wrong?
Ari's sorry...
...

...I'm Ao.
My job is fixing Avatars.

You're lucky...
you wound up at my place.
While checking your internals for any abnormalities,

I discovered that pretty much all your memory code had been deleted.
Is there anything you remember besides marriage?

...
Erm...

Ari knows
that her name is Ariadne, [tn: Named after the daughter of King Minos from Greek mythology.]
that she's a girl and...

p10

Ari doesn't know.

Where is
this place...?

p11

...Erm...

Ari will ask a policeman!
A policeman would surely know!

Thank you do much for helping Ari.
Ari will take her leave-
The police

is useless.
Putting aside the middle and top layers,

here on the bottom layer, public organizations like that
may as well not exist.
Really!?

p12

...
There is someone who's taken good care of me.

That someone
should be able to fix the damage to your arm and face.
Woah, you're right.

It's pretty late tonight,
so I'll go ask that person about you tomorrow.

That okay with you?

p13

Y-
Y-
Yeah.
Oh, that's right.

I was about to buy dinner when I found you.
I need to go back and buy some, so come with me.

! Okay!
...!

...
...??
What is it?

p14

Ah, um...
Don't mommies
usually make dinner for children?
Just how old is your sense of values?

...
My Dad's dead,
and my mother left,
so it's just me.

Ari sees.
That must be tough for someone so small.
Small?
...
Hey, uh.

Sorry, but
try not to get too close.
I'm not very good with Avatars.

p15

Hey.
This is the place

p16

where I found you.
Anything look familiar to you?

Erm...
Hmmm...
Hmmm...

Ari doesn't know anything.
Ari's sorry.

Sorry
for being useless...

p17

...
I'm sorry for making you say that.

It's not what's "inside" of you that I'm bad with.
You're not useless.

You didn't do anything wrong.
I'm sorry...

...
Just now,

there was
something sad "inside" of Ao.
Eh!?
No...

p18

Do Avatars have a function letting them suck up sad feelings?
They don't.
The heck does that even mean?

...
I appreciate the sentiment, though.

Thanks.

p19

...Do you eat or not?
Actually, do you know... what "chips" are?
Eh!?

Avatars don't necessarily need to eat,
but there are microchips that allow them to at least enjoy taste.

A-Ari wants to eat the same thing as Ao.
But the money...
I'll treat you this time.

Ari will make sure
to pay Ao back tenfold~
What gives?
It's fine. Bottom layer folk look out for each other.
That'll be 8560 yen...
!

p20

...

?
What's wrong?
Ah, don't worry about the cracks.
Come on. Let's go.
...Please come again.

The cracks are one thing,
but Avatars on the bottom layer are a rarity in general.
So that's why!

Ari was wondering why nobody
had ears like Ari.

p21

Some models don't need antennae, so it's not like all Avatars have...

Fork over
that Avatar.

Wah!
Eh...!?

p22

Wh-
Why does he want Ari?
For the money, obviously.
Keep quiet and don't move!

...No thanks.

This is the Avatar I tinkered with, after all.
Hey!

p23

Ao.
Ari thought you hated Avatars?
Never mind that.
We need to get somewhere crowded right away.

!?

Ng.
Nnng...
Eh!?
What're you...

p24

Here.
Get yourself some money with this.

p25

Uwah!

Ah.
Sorry.
C-Come on, let's go!

p26

We should probably...
be safe here.
...

Um.
Ari is sorry for breaking this body
that Ao went out of her way to save.

Ari just wanted
to help Ao no matter what...

p27

I thought that was
a great idea.

I know that's not something
someone who repairs Avatars for a living should be saying,
but he might've caught us if you hadn't done that.

Thanks.

p28

Okay, let's head home.
We should take a detour to be safe.

...
Amazing.

Every time Ari hears Ao's words,

this sparkly town
becomes even more sparkly.

p29

Even though Ari doesn't remember,
this is the first time Ari's heart
has ever shone this brightly.

If Ari could also

make Ao's world
shine just as brightly,
it would make Ari really happy...

p30

...Uh,
yeah.
Thanks...

p31

Um...

Ari is scared
of sleeping alone.
Ari wants to sleep with Ao...

But Ao doesn't like Avatars,
so you needn't force yourself to say "okay".

Nah, it's fine. Come here.
!!
Really!?

p32

If it's you...
I think I'll be okay.

Come to think of it,
who was Ari was supposed to marry, she wonders~
Ari is looking forward to getting her memory back
and getting married~

Because marriage
means really fun things are waiting, right?
It depends on the person.

p33

So
how does Ari sleep?
If you think "I wanna sleep" hard enough, you should fall asleep.

Ari will try.
Good night!
Yeah.

Just what
are you...?

p34

If Ari
could also make Ao's world
shine just as brightly...

I wasn't able
to accept that sparkliness all too well,
but it did feel kinda nice.

If the world could be bathed in that,

p35

maybe I could have a good night's sleep
even in a filthy town like this.

Warning