Chapter 30

“Ah…i-i-it looks like the USB drive is done copying the data.” On top of the desk in the north side of the room, the USB flash drive had stopped blinking; it seemed it had finished copying the laptop’s data and had returned to a state of hibernation. “…But if she goes to use the computer, she’ll notice it’s there…” “…Probably.” Was it Minoru’s imagination, or was Suu’s tone a bit chilly as she responded, “We should attempt to retrieve it now if at all possible”? “Y-yeah. But…in order to take it out, I’ll have to deactivate the barrier…” “You can’t do it from inside the shell?” Relieved at least that the conversation had continued, Minoru shook his head slightly. “I…don’t think so. Turning a door handle is one thing, but extracting such a small object…” “…” Since Suu had fallen silent, Minoru risked another glance toward the sofa. Her stockings removed, the woman was sitting on the sofa in her underwear, a small mirror now set up on the glass table. She took some kind of cream out of her bag and began rubbing it over her face. It looked like she was taking off her makeup—in which case, she would be occupied for some time, giving them a chance to retrieve the flash drive. After a moment, Suu spoke up thoughtfully. “…I don’t think the coefficient of friction for the shell is fixed at zero. You might be able to change it.” “…Change it?” “Yes. Think about it… When you walk, your feet don’t slide around at all. It’s much steadier than I’d imagined. Do you remember what the Professor said before this mission? That the shell’s elasticity might be changeable?” “…Y-yes… I guess so, but…” “If the same is true for its friction…you might be able to change it to suit your needs, so that we can retrieve the memory stick while still in the shell.” “To suit my needs…” Listening to her explanation, he did feel as if it made some sense. When they had infiltrated the Igniter Yousuke Nakakubo’s former home, Minoru had been able to descend the stairs of the flooded basement while still in the shell. The stairs had been slick and moldy, and in theory he would have likely slipped on them even if he hadn’t been in his protective shell, but instead his feet had stuck to the rotting steps like suction cups. If he focused now like he had then, was it possible…? “…I’ll try.” Minoru glanced at the sofa again. The woman was busy rubbing cold cream on her eyes, her face turned away from the computer desk. Minoru rose into a crouch and slowly began to edge along the wall toward the northern side of the room. Spacious though the living room was, the distance to the desk was still only about forty-six meters, but right now that felt incredibly long. Arriving in front of the desk after about ten seconds, Minoru twisted his body and stretched his invisible right hand toward the laptop. He spread his thumb and index finger out wide and attempted to pinch the USB flash drive in between them. As he started to glance toward the woman’s back again, he heard Suu’s voice. “I’ll keep an eye on her. You focus on controlling the shell.” “Ah…all right.” Minoru nodded and slowly, carefully moved his fingers until at last he felt resistance on his fingertips. Stick together. Stick together. Willing his fingers to hold on to the drive, he pulled back his hand, but it slipped right through, with as little friction as oil on glass. I knew it wouldn’t work, he thought with a sigh, then pulled himself together to rethink the situation. Okay. When I was walking down those stairs, I didn’t have any awareness of feeling the surface of the shell or its friction. If anything, I felt as if the soles of my feet were sticking to the ground. So instead of trying to use the shell to grasp it…if I think about holding it with my fingertips… Reaching for the USB again, Minoru focused on the nerves in his fingertips this time. In reality, they were three centimeters away from the drive, but if he focused his mind on reducing that distance to zero… “…!” He felt resistance in his right hand, stronger this time. “I-I think I have it!” he exclaimed in a low voice. Suu’s reply was immediate. “Good. She’s almost done with her lips. Pull it out and put it in your pocket quickly!” Minoru nodded and quickly but carefully pulled out the USB flash drive. A cheaper connector would have stuck in stubbornly at a time like this, but luckily, the Professor’s drive was gold-plated and polished, so it slid smoothly out of the laptop’s port. If that woman was to look this way now, she’d see a USB drive floating above the desk. Minoru held his breath as he pulled the drive away and slipped it into his jacket pocket. Immediately, it entered the field of Suu’s refraction ability and vanished. Exhaling deeply, Minoru started to move back toward the southwest corner of the room, when Suu cried out suddenly. “Ah…the cord!” Without his noticing, Minoru’s right leg had gotten caught on the LAN cable that stretched from the laptop to the wall, and his movement had pulled it ever so slightly. It looked as though the cord had caused the laptop to move a little as a result. Minoru and Suu wouldn’t have been able to hear it, but if it had made a noise, the woman might look their way. Clenching his teeth, Minoru quickly turned to look at the sofa. The woman had paused her movements, but her face was still pointed toward the mirror. She could just be checking that all her makeup had been successfully removed, or she could have been pricking her ears up to listen. “…We don’t know what that Ruby Eye’s power is…,” Suu murmured, her voice low and tense. “We’d have to beat her to the punch. If she comes over here, circle around behind her and deactivate the shell. I’ll neutralize her with my Taser.” “…Okay,” Minoru responded briefly, still crouching and clenching his teeth. Before long, the lingerie-clad woman rose from the sofa. However, instead of turning to the left toward Minoru and Suu’s hiding place, she turned right and walked toward an adjacent kitchen. Leaning over the sink, she turned on the faucet and began to wash her face. Breathing a small sigh of relief, Minoru carefully eased back into the shadows of the wall. After a minute or so, the woman dried her face with a towel and strolled back over to the sofa. Then she let down her hair, brushed it out for a moment, and parted it into a simple ponytail with a black hair tie. …That hairstyle doesn’t seem like it’d match the suit she was wearing very well… Minoru thought to himself rather nosily, and indeed, the woman pulled out a new change of clothes from her shopping bag, producing a navy-blue skirt of some kind that she shook out briskly. In a moment, Minoru’s eyes again widened in surprise. His astonishment seemed to be passed on to Suu, who gave a small gasp over his right shoulder. The outfit the woman had pulled out of the bag was unmistakably a sailor suit—a high school uniform. The two trespassers were dumbfounded. Unaware that she was being watched, the woman first pulled on the snug top, tugging her hair out of the neck hole, zipping up the side, and fastening the three buttons on the chest. Then she pulled on a pair of black stockings and stepped into the blue pleated skirt, finally taking out a white scarf that she tied around the collar and pulled through the front loop of the shirt. As she shook out her hair and stood up, she was no longer the young businesswoman they had seen enter the room. Without the makeup, her face looked fresh and clean, and her simple hairstyle and knee-length skirt made her nothing less than the perfect image of a prep-school student. She reached into the bag again and pulled out a pair of black thick-rimmed glasses to complete the look, then neatly put away her chic suit and cosmetics with practiced ease. “Wh…which one is the real her?” Minoru asked, hoping for some feminine wisdom from Suu, but she simply shook her head. “…I don’t know… Since Third Eyes invigorate their hosts’ bodies, it’s hard to tell someone’s age from their looks…” After a moment, she seemed to pull herself together. “But if she really is in her twenties, I would think it would be intensely difficult to walk around dressed like that, even for a Ruby Eye.” …Is that right? Minoru thought drily. Before his eyes, the career woman–turned–high school girl picked up her repacked tote bag, closed the blinds, and at last began to walk toward the computer desk. If she started up the laptop now, there should be no traces left to indicate it had been tampered with. Despite knowing this, Minoru was still sweating as she approached, but instead of sitting in the mesh computer chair, she simply tore off a single sheet of paper from the memo pad on the end of the desk and wrote something out with the attached ballpoint pen. Then, still holding the note, she strode briskly toward the door to leave the room.