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This appears to be an electronics manual used by the engineers stationed in the engine room.
“Hmm, it’s hard to tell what the contents are by the title alone,” Tachibana quietly observes.
“We’ve got no choice but to check them all.” I press the touch screen and change what’s on display, pulling up a graph of a cylindrical machine. The manual’s table of contents appears beneath it, but there’s nothing of use to us there. “Dang it all, is there no manual for the sprinkler system?” I swipe through the different screens at random.
“H-Hold on, you two…,” Ukita moans from where he’s still firmly planted on the floor.
“Ukita? You okay?” I look over my shoulder at him and drop my hand from the screen.
“I’ve been better, but I’ll manage.” He slowly gets to his feet and shakes his head. “Anyway, I know where the sprinkler system is. They showed it to me during orientation when I first started here.”
“Good to know. That’d be great. Tachibana, look after the others while we check it out.”
“Roger that. I’m sorry for the inconvenience, Mr. Ukita, but please show him the way.”
Ukita nods and staggers deeper into the room. I follow him on equally unsteady feet. We weave our way through the labyrinth of pipes and machinery on course for the back of the engine room. Before long he points out a large tank down the path in front of us.
“…If memory serves me right, that tank is filled with fire extinguishing agents. The sprinkler system and subventilation systems are located around here too.”
“I see. Hey, what’s that awfully thick pipe for?” Above the tank is a three-foot-thick pipe that crisscrosses near the ceiling.
“I believe that’s a coolant pipe for the reactor. It brings in water from the nearby lake.”
“I know!” I snap my fingers. “Couldn’t we go through that pipe to escape into the lake?!”
“That’s unfortunately impossible.”
“Why?”
“You heard me when I said it was a coolant pipe, right?” he says with an annoyed sigh. “Water is circulating through it at high speeds. If you break a hole in the pipe, water will burst out with all the force of a tidal wave, submerging the basement floors and killing everyone alive.”
“N-Not good. Is there a way to shut off the water flow?”
“Escape would still be impossible even if we stop it. It’s around five hundred and fifty yards to the lake from here. Think you can swim that far while holding your breath?”
“What if we used air tanks—”
“We don’t have enough for everyone, do we? Even if we magically did, the water used by the coolant pipe is superheated by the reactor. I believe it’s around sixty degrees Celsius. Not a temperature we can hope to survive.”
“Tch! And I thought it was such a good plan too…” Escape through the pipe seems impossible in a number of ways. My shoulders slump with disappointment.
“My thoughts also went straight to finding a way out via the pipe. The only reason I never mentioned it was because it wasn’t doable from the start. Though I already held this conversation with you before your bout of amnesia, Captain Kasasagi.”
“You did? Sorry, but I don’t remember that either. I’ve forgotten everything…”
“You mean you still braved the danger to get everyone AD in your unstable state?”
“Yeah. I feel like I have to make up for my lack of knowledge with my physical abilities.”
Ukita stares at me long and hard before finally settling for a snort. “…That’s indeed quite impressive of you. I never thanked you. You have my gratitude.” He smiles slightly. It looks like he’s finally accepted me. He suddenly stops before I can enjoy the moment. “Whoops, we’re there already.”
I look at the tank and see countless valves beside it. The valves are closed for some reason.
“Do you think they were running an inspection earlier than planned?”
“Hard to say now. At any rate, the sprinkler system should reactivate if we open the valves. The room filled with lethal gas should get ventilated as well.”
“Great! I’ll take care of opening the valves.” I turn them one after another. The tank begins to groan, and the pipes connected to it start vibrating at once. It sounds like the sprinkler system reactivated. “I hope this takes out the fires in Area N too…”
Ukita shakes his head. “It won’t. Sadly, the sprinklers in that area are controlled by a different system.”
“They are? Can’t do anything about that, then. Let’s go inform the others.”
“I’m going to stay here for a bit to confirm the system is operating smoothly.”
“Okay. Please do,” I say and leave Ukita behind.
When I return to the group, Yuuri is still lying on the floor, but Moribe and Miss Ena are up and about. “Ooh, you ladies are back with us?”
“Yes, sorry for the trouble…” Miss Ena bows her head.
“I-I’m so ashamed of myself, Captain… It’s an unthinkable disgrace for me to go down in a fire zone…,” Moribe weakly mutters.
I pat her on the shoulder. “What’re you talking about? We got that broken door open again thanks to you. There’s nothing for you to be ashamed of.”
“R-Really? You sure are being nice today, Captain!” Moribe smiles, her face stark white.
“In any event, it’s a real relief everyone is okay,” Tachibana joins in. “We have enough AD for another hour, and the sprinkler system kicked back on.”
The danger of being done in by the fires will drastically decrease now. Better yet, with the fires extinguished, we’ll finally be able to walk around normally.
“Hey, Tachibana? How long do you think it’ll take to put out the fires and vent the rooms?”
“Good question. I estimate about ten minutes.”
I hate to waste ten minutes in one place, but I’m starting to feel the burn of fatigue. If even I’m sensing it, the women and children must be even worse off.