For a prison cell, the amenities here were way too good.
It had a fire crackling in the fireplace, a magnificent bed, and a sofa. There was an en suite bathroom and shower, and they gave me three meals a day. I couldn’t use any electronic devices, but they’d given me books to read.
It was a room just for me, set up in a certain facility.
I had guaranteed freedoms here, but this place was still a prison. I couldn’t leave. A thick door cut me off from the outside world.
“…………”
The electronic lock on the door couldn’t be opened from the inside, and the only time it was deactivated was when the guard brought in my meals. I’d already had my last meal of the day, though. I wouldn’t see anyone else today—or so I’d thought.
A buzzer rang.
That sound was used in place of a knock at the door. When I didn’t respond, a man came in. He was a Federation Government dignitary in a white robe, but he wasn’t wearing a mask. There was no need to hide his identity from me now.
“Lot.”
This was the official who’d once told me how to reach the control tower where the Akashic records slept. He was also my father, who’d disappeared a decade ago.
“You haven’t eaten yet?” he murmured, looking at my untouched plate. His face was expressionless. “Eat. There’s no point in getting any thinner.”
“No way. I don’t know what’s in that.”
I put all the sarcasm I could muster into my voice. I’d die if I really didn’t eat anything, so I’d had a slice of fruit that morning. I knew my limits. I was keeping my meals to the bare minimum of what my body needed to keep functioning and was mainly just drinking water.
A full month had passed since they’d brought me here. I didn’t have cuffs on my wrists or ankles, but that didn’t change the fact that I was trapped in this prison where I was free to do anything except leave.
“You seem to have a lot of free time,” I said snarkily from where I lay on the sofa.
Didn’t he have official government things to do?
“I’m carrying out my duties at this very moment. My job, Charlotte, is to talk with you.”
“I have nothing to say to you!”
I didn’t really have the strength to yell. Even so, I refused to yield on that point.
“No matter how times you ask, I’m not getting on that Ark of yours.”
I’d gotten careless during my pursuit of Fuubi and ended up being kidnapped by the Federation Government’s underlings and brought here. I hadn’t any idea why I’d been snatched until I’d learned several shocking facts from the dignitaries Ice Doll and Lot.
They’d told me huge secrets of the world that no one else knew yet, right up there with the Akashic records. About the crisis the world was in right now. About the Federation Government’s policy regarding it. And about the Ark, which was a vital part of that process. However, it was those last two issues that I found particularly inexcusable.
“Why not?” my father asked. “Boarding the Ark would solve everything. Once you’re onboard, your safety and freedom will be assured. So why…?”
“The ‘why’ should be obvious,” I replied. Then, from behind a sofa cushion, I pulled out the gun I’d taken from the guard who’d brought in my dinner. “I can’t trust someone who can’t even protect his own family!”
I had no illusions that I could win against him.
I didn’t know when he’d assumed his position as a Federation Government dignitary…but regardless, this man had once been the strongest soldier. I’d never beaten him in a fair fight. And so—
“Good-bye.”
I trained the gun on him, pinning him in place for a few seconds, then engaged the electronic door lock from outside the cell. I’d watched the guards do it plenty of times before.
I left the room behind, finding myself in a long, desolate corridor. All I had to do now was run.
“…Maybe I should’ve eaten a bit more.”
My feet suddenly threatened to trip up beneath me, and a faint pain ran through my lungs.
“Ma’am.”
At times like this, I always thought of that noble detective. I’d always tried to follow in her impressive footsteps.
But she wasn’t the only one who kept drifting in and out of my heart right now.
There was the other detective who burned brightly with emotion and the idol who protected our ordinary days with her songs and her smile. There was the good-natured but perennially uncool detective’s assistant, who sighed but couldn’t turn a blind eye to other people’s problems.
Lots of other faces came to mind, too. I’d resolved never to have friends. I’d thought true strength was something you won when you were all alone…but look at me now. It was soul-crushing being all alone. I wanted to see them all soon. Was that proof of my weakness? Had I thrown away my strength?
“No.”
No way. My friends were why I was running right now. Their existence was the reason for my strength.
“I swear, I’ll make it home.”
My breath was turning whiter. My feet were growing heavier. But I could still run.
Finally, I found a door. It was silver and mechanical, and I shot the electronic lock, destroying it. Using what little strength I had left, I kicked down that cold slab of metal.
“—Oh.”
The outside world appeared before me, the sky dark with snow.
I was sure I’d lose all sense of direction if I walked through that blizzard for even a minute.
I should’ve known this was a continent of ice. A place with nowhere to run. That unrestricted prison was just a distraction. There was nowhere to go.
“I’m not giving up.”
The next thing I knew, I’d stepped out into that land of ice.
The word “cold” didn’t even scratch the surface. My body was clearly registering the frozen air as pain, and it snatched away all my body heat in an instant. I’d been weak to begin with, and I swayed dangerously where I stood.
It didn’t even take a minute. I’d only managed a few steps before I was blinded by the blizzard and darkness, and my knees buckled against my will.
“Charlotte.”
Someone called out my name right behind me. The voice didn’t belong to any of the people I’d thought of. It wasn’t a voice I wanted to hear now.
“Get on the Ark and come to the sanctuary with us. To Eden.”
The chill and pain in my back eased a little. He’d probably draped a coat over me.
So before refusing, I at least asked him for an explanation.
“Why are you going there?” Wearing the coat over my shoulders like a cape, I slowly got to my feet and turned to face my father. “No matter where you go in that Ark, you won’t find Noah.”
I only managed to stay on my feet for a few seconds.
Before I heard his answer, my body shook again, and I lost my balance. Just before my vision went pitch-black, though…somewhere in the distance, I thought I heard a familiar-sounding gunshot.