19. "Be Useful" (2)
Oto and I received the goldfish from the boy who ran the flame stall.
Inside a small transparent plastic bag was a single cooling fan, gently humming.
And within that—swimming, or rather burning—was a goldfish made of fire.I lifted the bag close to my face and peered inside.
The outline of the fish could just barely be seen, flickering deep within the flame.
It wasn't really a fish anymore—more like a small sun, blazing and alive.
The heat from the bag seeped softly through my palm; I thought absently that in winter, it could probably serve as a hand warmer.When I handed the bag to Oto, she cradled it carefully and began to walk.
We went in search of the next stall.
And even before she spoke, I somehow knew what she was going to say—
as if her words were not her own, but a divine revelation sent to me from somewhere else.
It wasn't prediction. I didn't have precognition functions.
It was something subtler—an inevitability that hummed in the air, a script already written into the world's circuitry.So, even before her lips moved, my eyes were already searching the row of stalls ahead.
And the instant I found what I was looking for, her voice arrived, right on cue, like a perfectly timed line in a play."I want a candied apple."I raised a finger and pointed.
"There. That stall."We started walking.
Everything happened exactly as it should—
as prophesied, as programmed, as destined.
And yet, I didn't feel manipulated.
It wasn't control.
It was more like harmony—
like drifting with the current of the universe itself.At the candy apple stand, we exchanged the fiery goldfish for two bright red treats.
Fitting for the Blood Festival, the syrup coating them wasn't just red—it was blood.
Warm, freshly drawn, steaming faintly.
The color was the purest red visible to any optical sensor—
no noise, no interference, a perfect HEX: #ff0000.I bit into it.
Crunch.
A dry sound—hard and brittle, like biting through a skull.
And from within, sweetness oozed out—
thick, rich, and metallic.
The taste filled my mouth with the density of oxygen-rich blood,
like the rush in a heart pierced by Cupid's arrow."How is it?"
Oto asked, speaking not with words but through the faint bandwidth of telepathy between us.
"Venusian apples taste good, right?"I nodded again and again.
It was beyond description—delicious in a way that was terrifying.
The kind of taste you wanted to force on someone else,
just to make them understand."Blood is… this sweet?"
Before I realized it, I had finished the whole thing.
You were supposed to savor it slowly, but I couldn't stop myself.
All that remained was the stick.When I looked down, I noticed something engraved on it,
like the winning sticks from old Earth's ice candy."You are useful."Oto peered over, smiled softly, and said,
"A winner. Lucky you.""What about you?"
"I'm still eating," she said, laughing lightly. "I want to enjoy it a bit longer.""I see."
I nodded and turned toward the next stall.This time—it was a shooting gallery.But the targets were grotesque.
They weren't paper cutouts or toys.
They were organs.
Hearts, lungs, livers, kidneys, a brain—
and even something that looked like a tangled bundle of intestines.
Each one glistened with a living sheen, pulsing slightly,
dripping faintly with blood.They looked alive.
Or maybe they were holographic reconstructions of bio-robot interiors.The price to play—
was the candy stick I had just finished.
The one that said "Be useful."
Apparently, that was currency enough.I picked up the gun and took aim.
My target: the heart.
Among all the organs, it beat the strongest—and the most beautifully.
Its surface shimmered with deep crimson light,
each pulse radiating like a heartbeat between me and Oto.
It looked like a symbol of an invisible heart-shaped contract connecting us.I adjusted my aim and pulled the trigger.
The bullet—a bead of beryllium alloy,
light, elastic, and nearly frictionless—
cut through the air in a straight silver streak and struck the heart.A perfect hit.
But the heart didn't break.
It was tougher than expected.
The bullet ricocheted,
a dull metallic clang shaking the whole booth."…Missed?"
I murmured, glancing at the shopkeeper.The stall was run by a humanoid girl—
ordinary-looking, almost sleepy.
She stood there with her arms folded, dozing lightly.
I hesitated to wake her, so I just smiled wryly and looked to Oto.Oto spoke softly.
"Well, these things are usually nailed down, you know.""Ah," I said, catching the pun.
"So that's what they call being nailed to a fixed idea."We both laughed quietly.Then I adjusted my strategy.
If the heart itself wouldn't break—
I'd target the nails holding it in place.I shifted my aim downward,
toward where the invisible supports must be.
I exhaled, steadying my hand, and pulled the trigger again.The bullet curved slightly,
gliding under the heart—
and hit the joint connecting it to the shelf.Clang!
The sharp sound of metal-on-metal rang through the booth.And then, from beneath the heart,
a single nail pushed itself out.
It grew, branched,
multiplied—
an entire forest of nails spreading like roots through flesh.The heart, once unshakable from outside force,
couldn't withstand the invasion from within.Bang!It exploded.Blood sprayed in every direction.
A crimson rain poured down, painting the entire booth red.
The drowsy shopkeeper jolted awake,
her body drenched in blood.
Oto and I, too, were splattered head to toe.
Our bodies—already red—became a deeper shade,
as if lacquered in another layer of life.When the blood mist cleared,
the shopkeeper stared blankly at the carnage.
Then, with a sigh that sounded like resignation and admiration mixed together, she muttered,
"…Jackpot. Guess I'm out of business."Even so, she smiled faintly, turned to us, and said—"You are the most useful humanoid robot in this Blood Matsuri!"Her English was clumsy,
but the meaning was perfectly clear.Oto and I smiled at the same time.