Dear Mr. Tenkawa, Miss Toba, and Miss Sannomiya,
This is your teacher, Miss Ena. It looks like we all got caught up in the same horrible disaster today. I’ve been looking for you guys this whole time but haven’t had any luck. So if you happen to find this note, please stay right here. I’m leaving a radiation exposure inhibitor known as AD for you. It’s medicine we’ve been using to protect ourselves from radiation damage. It will work for one whole hour if you inject it directly into a vein.
Wait in this room for help to come while injecting this medicine every hour, okay? I hope we can meet up soon.
Sincerely,
Miss Ena
“How about it? It’ll lower our chances of completely missing them again if we post this on the outside of the door,” she says with a smile.
“It’s worth a shot,” I say. We use some tape in the room to post the note to the door and head out.
We split up all the gear we’ve obtained until now, starting with the security cards. I keep the Level N card on me and hand out a Level 6 card to the other four. My team takes two of the Procyons and Moribe’s team takes the third.
“Okay, we’ll be heading to Area 4, so I want you two to search in the direction of Area 6.”
“Got it. Our goals are to look for AD, survivors, and an exit. We’re off, then.” Moribe walks toward Area 6 with Miss Ena at her side.
“…We should get moving, too, Captain.”
“Yeah.”
My team heads in the opposite direction.
✦ ✦ ✦
▼ 12:46 pm
Area 4, Outer Ring
I step into Area 4’s outer ring for the third time. This is the same area where Salyu fled from me, I ran into a flashover, and I discovered Hiyama’s corpse. The futuristic interior is scorched black, and stillness hangs heavily over the passageway.
A look at the Procyon shows it’s 6,610 mSv here. The contamination has grown worse. Obtaining a large supply of AD doesn’t change the impending dangers. I need to be even more careful about not wasting time.
“Let’s start searching. Finish within three minutes.”
“Yes, sir.”
We hastily set about inspecting the floor. This particular area isn’t as difficult to cover with its few rooms. After circling all of them, we head for the elevator hall. Hiyama’s body is still there.
“What the—?!” I doubt my eyes. Something that was supposed to be here isn’t. It only takes me a second to realize what that something is. I know I left Hiyama’s fire axe next to his body as a grave marker. “The axe is gone?!”
My voice draws surprised looks from Tachibana and Ukita.
“Oh no… Why?!”
“S-Someone took the axe…?”
The six of us have been together all this time. That leaves one of the three high school students or Yuuri as the one who made off with the weapon.
What do they need an axe for? Each of my guesses is more unsettling than the last.
“…We don’t have time to spare. Let’s keep moving.”
“I-I agree.”
With that decided, we recommence the search.
We move to the inner ring after finding nothing in the outer ring. This is the floor where the supercomputer Brain Cell is located. We come up empty-handed there too.
We have no choice but to move on to Area 3. Tachibana stops walking when we reach the connecting passageway.
“This is where…” Her voice trails off.
This is the passageway with Dojima and the two researchers’ bodies. The scenery here hasn’t changed one bit. Wallpaper covers the three bodies covered in blackened blood. A rusty smell still lingers in the air.
I don’t experience fear at that sight as I had the first time.
Dojima…how you must’ve suffered…!
Regaining a portion of my memories brings out the sorrow I didn’t feel before. My regret over being unable to save the two researchers is stronger than ever.
Tachibana is biting her lower lip—she must feel the same way.
“Tachibana… Let’s have a proper burial for Dojima and the others when this is all over,” I whisper.
“…Yes, we should. For now I will concentrate on the search…!”
We give each other encouraging looks and walk past that place. Ukita watched over us in silence.
✦ ✦ ✦
▼ 12:50 pm
Area 3, Inner Ring
THE connecting passageway takes us into Area 3’s inner ring. This is where we came across Ukita in the surveillance room. There are only two rooms here.
“Let’s start with the first one, then hit the surveillance room.” The other two follow me into the nearest room.
It’s a large laboratory. There are too many blind spots to tell at a glance if anyone has fainted or is hiding, so we commence a more thorough check.
But there’s nobody and no AD.
Grr! Fine, I’ll look for more information while I’m at it.
Several documents are scattered around the lab. I’m hoping they might contain some hints on an unexplored escape route. So I pick up page after page and scan them. The titles of each aren’t much help:
“Area 3 Personnel Social Gathering”
“Senior Fellow Training Seminar: Accepting Applications”
“Dr. Miyoko Fanclub: Meeting Notice”
“Seven Wonders of Rokumei City: Outline”
“Special Observation Target Na2: 4th Periodic Report”
“Concerning the Abolition of Print Media”
The paper topics either confuse me or serve no purpose for us. And on closer look, they’re all dated around 2020—nearly ten years ago.
They even have documents on the abolition of the print medium. I guess most of their documents have been digitalized by now…
Thinking I shouldn’t get my hopes up for finding anything useful, I pick up a booklet from the floor. It’s titled: NBC Outbreak and Security Manual.
What’s this?
“What are you looking at, Captain?” Tachibana asks.
“I honestly have no idea. What’s NBC?”
“Oh, NBC stands for nuclear, biological, and chemical. So, for example, whenever you hear about an NBC disaster, they’re using it as a general term referring to a disaster caused by nuclear, biological, or chemical substances.”
In other words, this is a manual describing the security measures to be taken during a disaster much like this one. Though I always thought they were supposed to prioritize evacuation over security in these kinds of situations.
“What are you doing over there?!” A sharp voice at my back jolts me into spinning around to where Ukita is angrily glaring at me.
“Uh, well, I figured I could find a hint about how to get out of here.”
“We don’t have the time for that. And besides, all the paper documents in this facility are outdated. They abolished print nine years ago and decided to digitize everything after that.”
“Huh? Then what about the disaster prevention manuals? The ones we found were 2030 editions…”
“The latest disaster manuals are distributed in print format in case of an emergency. But everything in this facility is top secret, including the manuals. You’re only inviting trouble if you read them.”
“But this is an emergency situation—”
“I’m not simply threatening you for the heck of it! I’m warning you for your own safety!” Ukita interrupts me in a razor-edged voice. He continues his tirade despite Tachibana flinching away from him. “You shouldn’t take a government-run facility lightly. Not if you want to live in peace once you get out of here!”
His warning packs a serious punch. It’s almost as if he’s hinting to us that the world contains far more horrifying situations than the one we’re already in.
His intensity overwhelms me into backing down. “F-Fine. Let’s finish up this room and move on.”
Aggravation prickled the air between us, but we leave the room behind. Except, the moment I step outside, I catch a whiff of a disturbing smell. A burnt odor is wafting from somewhere.
“Is it just me or is something burning?”
“You’re right… Where in the world is it coming from?”
I follow the source of the smell to an emergency staircase and cautiously open the fire door. A thin layer of smoke has built up on the other side. I glance down the stairs and spot a small fire flickering behind the staircase.
“Looks like a small fire broke out. It’s dangerous, so wait for us up here, Ukita.”
“All right.”
I have Ukita wait for us at the door, and I descend the staircase with Tachibana to confirm the state of the fire.
The fire is burning in a hole in the cracked floor at the bottom of the spiral staircase. The cables embedded in the floor are fueling the fire.
“Did the embers reignite or something?”
“So it appears. The sprinklers weren’t able to put it out entirely because it’s in a hole behind the staircase.”
Putting out such a small-scale fire should be a piece of cake. Out of the corner of my eye I spot an extinguisher sitting right next to the cracked floor.
…A fire extinguisher?
Shivers race down my spine at the sight of it. Warning alarms blare inside my head. Tachibana sends me a questioning look as I stand there shuddering. “Captain? What’s the matter? We need to put out the—”
Her voice snaps me into action and I shout, “Tachibana, RUN!”
“What?!”
Right after I lunge at the fear-stricken Tachibana, a white light flashes behind me and a roaring explosion shakes the stairwell.