▼ 10:12 am
Between Area 3 and Area 4, Inner Ring
Connecting Passageway
CLENCHING my fists to stop from shaking, I take in every last detail of the gruesome spectacle spread in the bloody corridor before me. “Oh God, this is sick…”
The two corpses lying in a puddle of blood are dressed in black business suits. They likely worked at this facility. Their bodies are filled with holes from head to toe.
Were they shot with a…gun?
Taking a good look around reveals bullet holes in the walls and floor too. Seems like the work of a gun to me.
Blood oozes from the various-sized holes in their bodies, and their discolored innards spill out from the biggest hole ripped open in their stomachs. Gray matter seeps from their cracked skulls, leaving a slimy stain of indescribable color and smell on the floor.
“Ghh!” I instinctively look away from the grotesque way they had died. But the other corpse farther down the passageway—the remains of our teammate Dojima—was left in an even more baffling way.
His limbs are torqued in unnatural directions, and his neck has been snapped right around. His hazmat suit is torn and ripped in different spots, while his helmet lies in a broken heap beside him, exposing his dead face for all to see. A trail of blood streaks his right cheek under his gouged-out eye like red tears. Agony distorts his face, his tongue hanging from the corner of his mouth.
What the hell happened here?! Why have they been murdered in such a vicious way?!
This doesn’t look like the work of a human. Only a heartless monster would be capable of such carnage.
But this situation doesn’t make sense no matter who—or what—is responsible for it. Why were two pumped full of bullet holes, while the third was killed in a completely different manner?
“What the devil happened here?!” I rasp.
“I don’t know,” Tachibana answers in a tight voice. “However, it appears he came down to the basement to rescue survivors after all.”
I take another look at Dojima’s remains and see a broken tool on the ground next to him. Since it was burned black, I can only tell it’s a piece of pneumatic equipment like the engine cutter.
“What’s that?”
“A jackhammer… He probably brought it with him to break down walls and doors.”
I pick it up, but it’s been broken beyond repair. One of the bullets had shot out the motor and ignited the gasoline, causing it to explode. And two broken ampoules are lying right next to where it had been.
“There’s AD…!”
One has been smashed into pieces, like someone had stepped on it, while the other is still in its original form, but the container is cracked and leaking the liquid inside.
Moribe glances down at the AD and quietly notes, “That looks like the AD we were given by the facility… I wonder if Dojima was administering it to them.”
“He might’ve been. I bet he took these survivors under his wing and was trying to come up with an escape plan as well,” I conclude from the information available to us.
“Just like we are… But why’d he have to die?! He was always so full of life! Why did such a great and cheerful person get killed?!”
I have no words to offer Moribe as tears well in her eyes. I don’t feel sad. One of my squad members is lying there dead in front of me, but it doesn’t feel real. It’s like I’m watching a crime drama I have no connection to. Without any memories, my teammate’s death is no different from witnessing the death of a stranger. I’m disgusted by myself.
Tachibana gently wraps her arms around Moribe’s shoulders as the younger woman buries her face in her hands.
“We mustn’t dwell on this right now. Seeing as Hiyama’s body isn’t here, he should still be alive. We can still try to save him at least.”
“…Yeah.”
“Let’s hold a funeral for Dojima and the other two before we go… I can’t bring myself to leave them like this.”
Naturally, we can’t hold a proper funeral inside this facility. Even so, Tachibana moves the three bodies to the side of the passageway and quickly strips off some wallpaper to cover them. We put our hands together and pray for their souls to find peace, when a voice suddenly echoes down the passageway behind us.
“Hey, Captain Kasasagi! What in science’s name happened here?!”
“Wha-?!” I glance over my shoulder to see Ukita running this way. He probably came looking for us because we were taking too long to return.
He grabs me by the collar and starts yelling in my face. “Three men are dead, and the jackhammer’s been destroyed…! You know something, don’t you?!”
“H-How could I know anything?! Calm down, Ukita!”
“How could I possibly stay calm in this situa—” Before he can finish ranting and raving, a sorrowful shout echoes around the passageway.
“P-Please stop!” I turn my head to see Yuuri on the verge of tears. In a shaky voice, she begs us to quit. “D-Don’t fight! P-People died there, right? If something like that happens again…!” Her face is strained with fear, but a clear force of will burns in her eyes.
Rationality returns to Ukita’s eyes when he sees her. “I-I’m sorry… To think I of all people would lose my head like that…”
“Nah, you have a right to be upset… Did you know the deceased researchers?”
“Huh? N-No…I don’t know them at all.”
“You don’t?”
“This lab has a huge staff. The odds of ever seeing someone who doesn’t work in your area are extremely low.”
Something about his attitude and explanation doesn’t sit well with me. Why did he get so worked up if he doesn’t know them?
Miss Ena joins the conversation before I have a chance to figure it out. “Hey, can we get to the important question here? Why were they killed? Was someone trying to steal their AD?”
“Nope, I don’t think that was it. We found some AD in the passageway with them,” I say, eliminating that possibility.
“The bigger problem is the murder weapon. Why did the killer have a gun…?” Tachibana says, hesitantly voicing what she’s most concerned about.
Ukita’s eyes suddenly widen in shock. “E-Everyone, stay on guard! The killer might still be in this facility!”
“How?!”
“If those three were killed after the lockdown began, then that’d mean the killer was trapped inside LABO along with the rest of us!” His declaration electrifies the air between us.
I quickly argue against his theory. “Hold on, Ukita. It’s too soon to conclude that the killer’s in here with us. The killer should be just as scared of fire and radiation as we are. What reason would they have to slaughter a rescue worker like this?”
“That’s one way to think about it, but—”
“Plus, all of Dojima’s AD was purposefully destroyed. The killer would have to be out of their mind to break the AD if they killed Dojima and the researchers after the bulkheads lowered.”
“So you think the three of them were murdered before the lockdown?”
“I do. And if they were, that gives the killer plenty of time to escape after the murder. I don’t know what the killer’s objective was, but we should assume they got out—”
An electronic beeping noise suddenly echoes through the passageway, cutting me off.