She comes across as a tough woman, but it’s only natural she’d be struck with concern for her students. She shouldn’t take out her anger on Ukita, but I’m all for finding a way to save the children.
“Okay, let’s go look for them right away!”
“Let’s do that!”
“Wait right there, you two!” Tachibana’s harsh voice stops us short. “There’s still an important factor we have to drill into your heads! Even if we regroup with them, we will require nine AD every hour to keep us all alive and well. However, we only have five AD on us.”
“Crap! That’s right…!”
“Ultimately, not only do we not have enough to give to those three, we’re lacking enough for the six of us present to survive the next hour.”
Miss Ena sharply inhales. “W-We only have five?!”
“I’m sorry to say so, but yes… We never expected to be caught in a situation like this.”
“How could you come so unprepared?! Aren’t you supposed to be rescue workers?!”
“…I sincerely…apologize.”
I grit my teeth as I watch Tachibana bow her head in dismay.
We need a minimum of six AD an hour to prevent radiation exposure for everyone here. With each person we rescue, the number of AD we’ll need increases.
“So basically, we need to find more AD while we’re looking for the other survivors, right?” I summarize for the group before the mood worsens.
“Yes, and as fast as we possibly can. Before their cumulative exposure exceeds fatal levels!”
“What’s cumulative exposure?”
Tachibana quickly explains: “What the Procyon shows us is how much radiation a person will be exposed to within an hour in their current location. In other words, we are being exposed to 1,605 mSv per every hour we stay in the present environment.”
“How bad is that?”
“Bad enough to be fatal. The fatality rate is about five percent when the cumulative exposure reaches 2,000 mSv, and it jumps to fifty percent at 4,000 mSv. And you have a ninety-nine percent chance of death at 8,000 mSv.”
“Ninety-nine percent?!”
“What it comes down to is that the more your cumulative exposure increases, the higher and quicker your risk of dying becomes. And it takes a long time for any radiation you have accumulated to go away.”
In our current environment, that means our cumulative exposure will reach 4,000 mSv within two and a half hours, and 8,000 mSv in five hours without injecting AD. We’ll all be dead in a few hours without AD.
“At least AD can almost completely detoxify radiation exposure up to 4,000 mSv,” Ukita mentions as I shudder. “Plus, it’s extremely useful at keeping you alive significantly longer in environments over 8,000 mSv. Our cumulative exposure won’t increase so long as we continue administering AD.”
“Are you positive about that? Do you have proof?”
“I know it’s hard to believe, but please trust me completely on this matter. AD is our lab’s greatest achievement.” Something like pride fills Ukita’s expression as he gives a fluid explanation of it. “AD is a medicine that protects the entire body from radiation exposure through stable iodine agents, chelating agents, nine types of Prussian blue anti-radiation drugs, and medical nanomachines. The formula circulates through your body from the vein you inject it into, protecting your cells, blood, nerves, and genes from radiation. Furthermore, it detoxifies all radioactive materials and compounds, which are excreted from the body through sweat and urine.”
“I can’t believe such a miracle drug exists!”
“It’s new and hasn’t been approved yet. I’m able to remain calm right now because I know how incredibly effective it is. Otherwise, I’d be running around in a panic.” Ukita doesn’t sound or look like he’s lying about this.
The most important takeaway here is that we can survive as long as we keep administering AD. But it’ll only be a matter of time before death comes for us once we run out.
In which case, this isn’t the time for us to be arguing with each other. We need to scavenge every last AD in the facility and share it with the kids too.
“Hey, Ukita, is it possible to search for other survivors with the surveillance cameras? Or maybe use the PA to talk to them?”
“Sadly, the PA’s not working anymore, and the majority of cameras are broken.”
“How did they break?”
“The fires and explosions probably had something to do with it. Most of the surveillance camera footage is gone for good too. The kids seemed to be headed for Area 6, from what I gathered from the scarce footage I was able to recover.”
“Area 6!”
That means they were headed much deeper into the facility than Area 3. But that works out fine for us. It’s possible there are even more survivors than just the three kids, and we’ll need to check every corner of all the areas to save them.
We’ve already checked Areas 1 and 2. We’ll have covered the whole basement if we search from Area 3 to 6. Not to mention, the other two rescue workers we got separated from should be somewhere around here too. I’m sure they each have the AD they were supplied. It’ll be reassuring once we can regroup.
“All right, Tachibana, Moribe! Let’s search Areas 3 through 6 with a fine-tooth comb!”
“Agreed!”
“Roger!”
“I-I’m coming too!” Miss Ena pipes up in a firm voice.
“But it’ll be dangerous for—”
“Do you honestly think now’s the time to be saying that? Isn’t it more effective if we move ahead with the search as a group?” She looks prepared to face the worst.
“Hold on. I’m coming as well,” Ukita joins in. “I can be of some use to you with my familiarity of the lab’s layout.”
“Me too…,” Yuuri quietly says. “I might not be all that helpful, but I’ll do whatever you tell me to.”
My team and I hesitate, but arguing the point will only waste precious time, so we decide to have them assist with the search.
And thus our various wills aligned to accomplish the two same goals: to survive and to rescue survivors.
Tachibana swiftly starts giving orders to bring us closer to accomplishing our goals. “All right, we are going to split into two teams. After taking balance into consideration, I believe that Captain Kasasagi, Miss Yuuri, and myself should be on one team. Moribe, Ms. Tsubakiyama, and Mr. Ukita will form the other team.” She confirms everyone is down with that plan before continuing. “My team will search the inner ring, so I want Team Moribe to handle the outer ring. We have four search objectives. The primary two are finding survivors and AD. The secondary two are finding a Level 5 security card and a route out.”
All four objectives are things we mustn’t neglect. I carve each deeply into my mind.
“AD can generally be found in iron medical boxes affixed to walls near the entrance to every room. We may be short on time, but please don’t panic, and always keep safety in mind. I’m counting on all of you to do your part!”
“Roger!”
United in our mission, we quickly depart the surveillance room.