I cock an eyebrow. “Hey, did you just call Tachibana your big sis? You don’t look like sisters and you have different last names. What am I missing here?”
Tachibana gasps and replies, “Ah, no…we just live next to each other and have hung out together since childhood. However, I have ordered her to call me lieutenant while on duty because I dislike our personal relationship coming up during work…”
“What’s the big deal? We’re on break. Right, Big Sis?” Moribe teases.
“And that’s why I always tell you to quit that. Sheesh!” Tachibana lets out an exasperated sigh and the rest of us laugh.
These are the first few minutes of peace we’ve had since coming to LABO.
✦ ✦ ✦
▼ 11:16 am
Area 3
Engine Room
PEACE never lasts long. Ukita’s voice drags us all back to reality. “Hey, you guys! The sprinkler system is running normally. We should be good to descend to the rooms below soon!”
I can see him running toward us from the direction of the tank. Tachibana’s watch alarm suddenly goes off in a round of electronic beeps.
“You came back at the perfect moment, Ukita. It’s AD time,” I greet him and hand out AD to the group. Each person injects themselves and Tachibana administers the dose to Yuuri. Yuuri’s eyes snap open when she does—probably from the pain.
“U-Um? Where…are we…?” She sits up and restlessly darts her eyes around the room.
Moribe speaks to her with a friendly smile. “You don’t remember? You inhaled a gas and passed out.”
“I did?”
“You did. But you’re okay now. All thanks to our captain here for carrying you out of harm’s way.”
“He did…?” Yuuri looks uncertainly from Moribe to me before timidly saying, “U-Um…thank you very much, Captain.”
“Don’t mention it. Anyway, do you think you can walk yet, Yuuri?”
“Erm… Yes, I think I can.” She slowly rises to her feet and takes two, then three steps. She seems to be functioning okay.
“Okay, with Yuuri awake now, we can discuss our plan of action,” Tachibana says, just as relieved to see her well. “Firstly, with the fires inside the facility extinguished, our searches will be much safer. Our primary problem is that we haven’t found any other survivors after combing over most of the areas we can access.”
“Good point. I’d like to expand our search into Area 5 soon… But not much we can do without a Level 5 card.”
“Which is why I recommend we go to the places we have yet to investigate and prioritize finding another card. Such as Area 4’s outer ring that was swallowed in flames. Exploring was the least of our worries the last time we visited that area.”
“I’m all for that idea,” Ukita says, raising his voice in agreement with Tachibana’s suggestion. “There were probably researchers in Area 4 who had access to Area 5. It wouldn’t be strange for someone to have left their card behind in all the chaos of the evacuation.”
Then there’s hope. “Okay, gang, I know it’s hard after what we’ve endured, but let’s push through and get back to the search,” I encourage them.
“Okay.”
“All right.”
“Indeed.”
The three civilians give reassuring responses. Exhaustion is probably catching up to them by now, but nobody lets it show. What we just went through brought us closer. Overjoyed to have grown stronger as a group, I leave the engine room with the others.
✦ ✦ ✦
▼ 11:20 am
Area 3, Outer Ring
Ladder Room
I descend the ladder into the room where I found AD. There’s no more smoke or lethal gas to worry about. Fire-extinguishing agents have been scattered around. It looks like the sprinkler system is running normally.
“Why don’t we check this room for a card first?” I suggest. “I was in such a rush to find AD last time, I didn’t stop to look for anything else.”
“Good idea. Please help us search the room, everyone.”
The group follows Tachibana’s orders and commences a thorough search of the room. We split into groups to dig through the piles of disorganized boxes. My eyes stop on a file I pulled out of a box in the corner. The letters are running because it was soaked by the fire-extinguishing agent, but I make out what I can.
✦ ✦ ✦
“July 7 LABO Fire Incident Report” July 9, 2021
All relevant parties are likely already aware of the fire that occurred in this facility two days ago. Although the worst possible outcome was averted at the last minute, there were inadequacies discovered in many syste■■■■■■■■■■■. This report compiles and summarizes a list of problems identified by the incident.
The cause of the fire is ■■■■■■ of Senior Fellow S. On April 12, S. had been appointed as an administrator of ■■■■■■. As a result, he had a great number of opportunities to come in direct contact with the research results ■■■■■■■.
About three months later, S. criminally took the generator gasoline stored in ■■■■■■■■■■ and ignited fifteen sectors within the facility ■■■■■■■; at the same time he set the amplifier to ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■,■■■■■■■■releasing ■■■■■■■. The motive is believed to be the death of S■■■■■■■■ and while this is nothing more than speculation ■■■■■■■■stealing the results.
(Note: these research results are ■■■■■■ designated as “N” among ■■■.)
Furthermore, while this is not directly related ■■■■■■■■■■■■, two ■■ had unfortunately sneaked into the facility during the day of the incident. ■■■■ to have found and exploited a hole in our security is ■■■■■■■■■.
This firmly proves that our security system is extremely faulty. As a result of ■■■■, two lives were lost.
We must learn a lesson from this incident. There is an urgent need to have the specifications of ■■■■se N reviewed and for the security syste■ to be enhanced. Otherwise, we may see a repeat of this horrible tragedy.
It appears to be a report on a fire that occurred in this lab in the past. If this part of my memory isn’t off, it’s currently the year 2030. A fire took place here nine years ago as well.
So they let that horrible tragedy repeat after all. If this report isn’t wrong, precious lives were lost during that incident too. That proves they never enhanced or fixed the problems in their security systems. Tch! I’ll just make sure more lives aren’t lost this time around.
With that oath, I rummage through more boxes but don’t come across any security cards. Neither do the others.
“No luck here. There isn’t any AD left or Level 5 cards lying around,” Tachibana says, as if she’s ready to give up on this room.
“Looks like it. Let’s make the most of our time and search Area 4 now,” I say and leave the room with the others.