THE STORY · EPISODE 02
Many bridges spanned Update Canyon.
Mana had never thought bridges could be so busy. Even as people crossed, surface panels were replaced one by one, guide lights renewed, and old railings quietly carried away. Here, the city repaired itself while still moving.
Now all of it had stopped.
At the entrance, a young woman about Mana’s height was splitting the flow of people into two lines. Her red hair was tied high, the sleeves of her off-white and dark green jacket rolled up. Freckles flashed into the sunlight whenever she moved.
“The inner route is blocked. This way! Hold the railing if you can walk!”
“I’ll help.”
The young woman looked up at Mana’s voice.
“Thank you. I’m Yuki. And you?”
After they introduced themselves, Yuki noticed the mark on Mana’s encyclopedia.
“You’re a Secure Star. I’m still preparing for the test. I can’t give battle commands, but I can guide people.”
Before she had finished saying what she could not do, her hands were already doing what she could. To Mana, that quickness was almost dazzling.
White bands wound around the bridge in layer upon layer, tangling the legs of people trying to move forward. The same words repeated along them.
“Critical update required.”
Beyond them stood a red button.
“The instructions said pressing it would release the bands.”
The attendant at the bridge entrance looked troubled.
Mana spotted a little hand sticking out between the bands. Someone was clinging to the railing. Another band was about to wrap over that hand.
“Hold on!”
She ran toward the red button.
A shield slid into her path.
“Have you forgotten yesterday’s domain, don?”
There was no accusation in Securidon’s voice. That was precisely why Mana stopped.
“But they’re in pain.”
“I can see that too, don.”
“Securidon, use your shield to hold a gap so they aren’t crushed. I’ll check the notice!”
At her instruction, Securidon slipped his shield beneath the bands and lifted the white layers away from the small hand. His arms soon began to shake. Yuki pulled one small person through the opening and guided them to the safe side, where the doctor waited.
Other people were still caught by the feet farther along the bridge. Removing the shield would close the gap they had just made. Yuki went back and called to the next person who could move.
“Mana, you handle getting these undone, don.”
It was not that there was no need to hurry. They were dividing the work that needed to be done urgently.
Episode 2, Illustration 1 | Rescue in Update Canyon
While the doctor and the attendant helped people evacuate, Mana copied the product name, proposed update version, and destination shown for the button into her notebook. She did not press the red button. She picked up her blue pen instead.
The bridge administrator returned to the control terminal on the safe side. Mana explained that she wanted to check somewhere outside the notification.
“Could you show me the product this bridge uses and its current version? Where do you normally open the official advisories?”
The administrator checked the bridge identifier in the management register, then opened the terminal’s product information: “Bridge control software / Current version 2.4.1.” The product name in the notification was the same.
Next, the administrator opened a bookmark already listed in that register. The official distribution address read “updates.cybarin.example.” They had not used the notification’s link to get there.
The official advisory said, “Affected version: 2.4.1 / Fixed version: 2.4.2.” This bridge’s current version was one of the versions needing the fix. There really was a problem that required an update.
“It’s borrowing the part that really is dangerous...”
Point to a genuine problem, pretend to solve it, and lead someone through a different door. That was what made people rush—especially when they were told their delay would get someone hurt.
Mana compared the two columns in her notebook. The notification recommended “2.5.0” at “cybarin-update.example.” Both differed from the fixed version “2.4.2” and source “updates.cybarin.example” that the administrator had reached independently.
“The current version and the fixed version are supposed to be different—we’re updating it. What we need to check is that our 2.4.1 is covered by the official advisory, and that 2.4.2 is the fix for it. We don’t choose the notification’s 2.5.0 just because the number is higher.”
The administrator nodded. Mana underlined the matching product name, then circled the different versions and destinations beside it.
Mana showed the administrator both the notification and the official advisory.
“The update really is necessary. But that doesn’t prove this red button is right. Even if the product name matches and the notice tells us to hurry, we still have to check where the update comes from.”
“Then we’ll use the update whose target we checked in the official advisory. I’ll check the recovery preparations too.”
The administrator moved the notification out of the work area on the screen. Mana stood alongside and recorded the checks in her notebook. The administrator held the authority to update the bridge. Yuki continued guiding people off it, while the doctor and the entrance attendant received them on the safe side.
Yesterday, she would have looked to the doctor at that point.
Today, she looked at her notebook first. Check outside the notification. That part was the same as yesterday.
An Attack choice lit up in the encyclopedia. Destroying the red button alone would leave the bridge’s weak points unfixed. They had to decide how to repair it safely and give their companion secure ground from which to fight back.
OPTIONAL QUESTION · 02-A1Update source and versionThe bridge uses version 2.4.1. A known official advisory lists affected version 2.4.1, fixed version 2.4.2, and updates.cybarin.example. An urgent notice instead offers 2.5.0 at cybarin-update.example. How should you proceed with the bridge administrator?Open illustration & choices
Interactive answer checks and saved progress load with JavaScript. You can continue reading without answering.
“C. We won’t use the notification’s button. We’ll use the official route we checked to confirm the right fix for this bridge and its source. After checking the recovery preparations, I want the administrator to apply it.”
The administrator opened the management register’s entry for the saved configuration from normal operation and the recovery procedure. They actually read the saved configuration, checking the bridge identifier, save date, and normal settings against the records.
“I can read it. These are the settings for this bridge. If the update stops it working, I’ll restore them from this terminal using this procedure.”
The administrator traced the recovery steps and checked the required permissions and access to the saved files. Mana wrote down the administrator’s name and the location of the saved configuration. Having a record for a different bridge would not prepare them to restore this one.
“So just saying there’s a backup isn’t enough. We need to be able to read it here, and know who can restore it and how.”
“If you don’t know how to restore it, it’s rather like an umbrella left on the far side of the bridge.”
The doctor’s answer made Mana smile for a moment.
“Have you done that, Doctor?”
“We’ll discuss umbrellas another time.”
Mana looked back at the other choices in the encyclopedia.
“A takes the true part—the need for an update—and uses it to trust the fake button too. B stops the proper fix as well, so the bridge keeps its weak point.”
“And D’s file isn’t established as safe just because its name matches,” the doctor said. “We haven’t checked who brought it or where they obtained it.”
“C brings together three checks: whether this bridge is covered, where the fix comes from, and who can restore the settings if needed.”
Mana placed a small mark beside each check. Because they were in a hurry, they needed an order to follow before pressing anything.
By the time the correct update was ready, a small puddle had formed around Securidon’s feet. Sweat.
“Let me take a turn.”
As Mana approached, he shook his head.
“If I pull the shield out now, it’ll tighten, don.”
“Then don’t pull it out. I’ll help support it from the side.”
Together they held the shield’s edge. When their hands touched, Mana thought Securidon felt colder than she did. He was not unafraid. He was staying there despite being afraid.
The bridge administrator obtained fixed version 2.4.2 from the verified official source. After checking the bridge identifier and intended target once more, the administrator applied the patch using their own management permissions. Mana heard the signal while supporting the shield from the side.
One of the white bands lost its strength and drooped.
“The update has been applied. Product information now shows 2.4.2. I’ll check the guide lights and bridge controls in order.”
The black shadow had not vanished. But repairing the weak point loosened the bands’ grip. Yuki guided each person who could now move toward the safe side.
“Apply the patch from the official source.”
Mana read the sentence on the screen aloud.
“Use the proper source for the fix. This time, we’re actually repairing the bridge.”
“The last person is over here too!”
At Yuki’s call, the doctor and the attendant checked the number of people. No one remained beside the shield. The administrator confirmed that the footing and controls were stable.
“Securidon, no one is left in the gap you’re holding open. Pull the shield out slowly.”
Mana removed the hand she had held against its side, and Securidon drew back the shield. The bands did not tighten again. At last, he could turn the shield from supporting the rescue to fighting back.
“Securidon, push the shadow’s bands back from the edge of the repaired section!”
At her command, blue light raced from his shield. It was their first attack using ground made secure again by an update. The false button disappeared, and the remaining shadow bands were pushed back. The cleared walkway opened, and the stalled guide lights came on in sequence.
They did not all light up at once. One came on, was checked, and then the work moved to the next. To Mana, that slowness looked far more dependable than the earlier countdown.
Beneath the last band crouched a black shadow. Moving as though trying to wrap something protectively, it had bound itself as well.
Securidon’s counterattack pushed the shadow bands back from the repaired bridge. Only then did Mana offer Securies to the remaining black shadow. It stirred once. The purifying light passed through gaps in the bandages and untied the knots from within.
A small brown companion wearing a yellow helmet emerged. A green cross, a large adhesive bandage, a first-aid kit. The moment he opened his eyes, he looked at Securidon’s arm before looking at Mana.
“Let me see that hand.”
“I’m fine, don.”
“Then if the hand is fine, showing it will be fine too.”
Mana could not help laughing. Securidon seemed to search for an argument and fail to find one.
“Patchron. That’s my name.”
With that brief introduction, he treated the hand reddened by the shield’s rim. COL-022: Patchron lit up in the WS Encyclopedia. Two companions registered. Only after seeing his face did Mana write his name in her notebook too.
Episode 2, Illustration 2 | Patchron’s first treatment
Before they left the canyon, Patchron stopped beside a streetlight that was still dark.
“This one isn’t fixed yet.”
“They said the repair staff would come later.”
“Yes. I’ve told them. But I’ll make it visible.”
He carefully placed a marker at the unrepaired spot. He would not finish by pointing only to what was done. Watching his back, Mana found herself liking the word repair a little more.
Patchron’s first-aid kit tapped softly as they set off.
Yuki joined them. She had finished handing over the evacuation work, she explained. Learning that Mana was also twenty-two softened her previously tense expression.
“May I travel with you for a while, starting today? I want to see how you check things in practice before I take the test.”
“I don’t know enough to teach anyone yet.”
“Then we can figure it out together.”
Mana smiled. Apparently, friendship in this world did not require a perfect introduction.
“Your notebook has a hole too, Mana.”
“Huh? Where?”
“The corner of the cover. You scraped it earlier, didn’t you?”
Patchron applied a little repair tape.
“Thank you. I was going to write my new companion’s name in it.”
“Then it should last a long time.”
Securidon peered in and proudly puffed out his chest.
Patchron closed the repaired cover, then opened it again, checking whether the tape was so tight that it made the pages difficult to turn.
“So fixing the cover isn’t the end of it.”
“It’s a notebook. It needs to open.”
He said it as though it were obvious, and Mana nodded. Streetlights, bridges, this notebook—all were things people used. They did not exist merely to receive a mark saying they had been fixed.
Securidon found the page with his name.
“My name is at the top, don.”
“That order has nothing to do with treatment priority.”
Patchron answered so quickly that Mana laughed again.
Before the laughter faded, the doctor’s device chimed.
The message had come from the Log Archive District. Its records contained an unknown login. It was not a report that someone had broken into the terminal they had updated at the bridge.
The message included a displayed time that appeared to fall just after the bridge update. But the doctor said he had not yet examined the original log. Here, they could not establish whether the order in which the news arrived matched the order of the actual events.
Patchron stopped.
“Was it because we fixed things?”
Mana almost said no at once, then swallowed the words. Wanting to reassure him was not enough to determine a cause.
“I don’t know. Let’s check where it happened and when, using the original records. News arriving afterward doesn’t tell us that fixing the bridge caused it.”
With her blue pen, she first wrote down the time they received the message. Below it, she copied the time displayed for the log separately. She did not mark the two times as equivalent, leaving space to check the sequence in the Log Archive District.
END OF EPISODE 02