Chapter 23

AFTERWORD Thank you for reading my first volume of the year, The Isolator: Realization of Absolute Solitude, Volume 2! But really, I can’t believe it’s already the year 2015… Since my first book was published in February 2009, when this book is published it will be a full six years since my debut. It feels like it all happened in the blink of an eye. At this rate, it won’t be long before we get to the year 2019, which is when Isolator takes place. I really hope that the consumption tax won’t have risen to 12 percent by then! Next, I’m going to touch on the story, so beware of spoilers from here on out. The “Igniter” arc marks the beginning of when the story really gets set in motion. While the nature of the headquarters and members of the SFD, which Minoru has just joined, has been mostly made clear, there was also a sprinkling of information about the enemy Ruby Eyes’ formation. Additionally, near the beginning of the story, the SFD’s acting commander, “Professor,” explained a little about how the Third Eye’s power manipulates objects on an atomic level. Last year, I went to see the KEK (High Energy Accelerator Research Organization) in Tsukuba City, and really, the more you learn about the world of molecules, atoms, and subatomic particles, the less you understand what anything is anymore! For example, the cover of the book that you are holding right now may be smooth, but if you zoom in to the atomic level, it’s a rough grouping of carbon, hydrogen, and metallic atoms, and if you zoom in even more, there are electrons and protons and neutrons that make up the atoms and you can’t even pinpoint where they exist at any given time… It’s like, what’s even going on? Currently, plans for the construction of the International Linear Collider (ILC), headed by the KEK, are proceeding. It is planned to be the world’s largest particle collider, consisting of an underground tunnel thirty kilometers in length, designed to collide electrons and positrons. So in other words, Third Eyes can see, touch, and manipulate a world of particles that you normally would have to go to these great lengths just to observe. If Igniter, who appeared in this volume, had just started a company to generate hydrogen gas from separating water molecules instead of going along with his plans to make Tokyo explode, he probably could have made a lot of money… Anyway, I’ve gotten off track. But even so, I think I’d like to continue writing The Isolator along the lines of a sort of science battle story. Since this author’s an “Absolute Liberal Arts” kind of guy, I get the feeling I’ll make a couple of mistakes along the way; if you could just send me a message on Twitter or something to correct me, that’d be great! I want to give my thanks to the illustrator, Shimeji, who has drawn all of the new characters full of charm and appeal, and to my editor, Miki, who has done a lot to help me draw out the charm and appeal of those characters; you have done a lot for me this volume! I also want to thank you, the reader, and ask for your continued patronage in 2015, this year as well! A certain day in January 2015 Reki Kawahara