▼ 1:10 pm
Area 3, Inner Ring
I return to the stairwell to investigate what caused the explosion. I examine the whole length of the stairwell and don’t come across anything remotely like explosive or combustible materials. The fire extinguisher had given me the chills for some reason, so I check it out as well. But there’s not much for me to learn from it after it’s been blown to smithereens.
The explosion’s cause remains a mystery. It bothers me to no end, but time is not on our side, so I set aside my investigation and recommence the search.
I exit Area 3 and move to Area 2’s inner ring.
Tachibana and Moribe were the only ones who searched the floor where they set up the makeshift base. Hours have passed since then, and I can’t ignore the possibility survivors might’ve moved into the area.
A particular door catches my eye during the search. “‘Reference Room’?” I hadn’t seen this room before. Some of the reference materials in here might cover possible escape routes. Doesn’t hurt to check.
Bookshelves dominate most of the sixteen square foot space. Books and research papers tightly line the shelves.
An Introduction to the Informational Field Theory, by Dr. Miyoko Tenkawa
Elementary Particles, Information, and Consciousness, by Dr. Miyoko Tenkawa
Supersensory Perception Synchronization Hypothesis, by A. Courbet
Cerebrum: Labyrinth of Physiology, by Ryoken Kashiwagi
A Well-understood Maxwell’s Demon, by Koki Sumida
Before Crime * After Days, by Chikage Sonomura
Particles, the Mind, and the Brain, by Shuuya Eriguchi
Reading the titles doesn’t help me even begin to understand what they’re about.
I was told that this facility is researching nuclear science and biology. About the only thing I grasped from those titles is that there are a lot of biology-related books. Although I do recognize one of the authors: Dr. Miyoko Tenkawa. That’s the name of Natsuhiko Tenkawa’s mother. When I saw her books, unease exploded inside me.
Why do I feel anxious just looking at a book? My heart is tripping an unsettling beat.
I hesitantly pick up the first book and flip through the pages until a particular portion jumps out at me.
✦ ✦ ✦
☢☢☢
An Introduction to the Informational Field Theory
Dr. Miyoko Tenkawa
Foreword
I have always hypothesized that the fifth force that exists in the natural world is “information.” The problem is that there was too little material to prove it.
However, this hypothesis has been reappraised in a way I had never expected—through the rapid social revolution that has occurred in recent years.
Namely, through the manifestation of “BC (Beyond Communication).”
In recent years, the ability BC has been widely recognized by society. As a result, it can be said that the concept of “information” and how it is communicated has experienced great change. And we have since seen countless people possessing abilities that we would have never conceived as feasible mere years ago.
The abilities of BC can generally be classified into two groups.
The first is telepathy: the ability to send your voice directly into another’s mind.
The second is empathy: the ability to read the voice of another’s mind.
When using BC, the user’s “thought information” is not converted into another medium. They communicate with their target by sending that thought information directly into the target’s brain by using elementary particles as an intermediary.
This is consistent with what I proposed in my “informational field theory” thesis paper. Two completed unrelated fields of study—parapsychology and elementary particle physics—are connected by BC.
Furthermore, while there are still only a few telepathy users, empathy users are even rarer. But the true number of users isn’t what’s important here.
What’s important is that an ability such as empathy actually exists.
And also that the existence of “information” referred to as the “voice of the mind” formerly known only to the thinker can now be observed by others.
The emergence of BC is the first and greatest paradigm shift in the twenty-first century.
✦ ✦ ✦
☢☢☢
“BC?!” I cry out in a trembling voice. The book’s foreword covers some surreal information.
Miss Ena had mentioned that ability when we first met. She said something about there being more than a few people who can use telepathy nowadays. But the other ability sounds more problematic to me.
Some people have the ability to read others’ minds? Shocked, I scan the bookshelf in front of me and find BC included in most of the titles. If this bookshelf is anything to go by, these abilities have become common knowledge.
Even if the rate of running into someone with that power is slim, it’s seems there are people in this world who can read minds. And now I finally understand the reason for my unease.
I get it… I was frightened of this empathy ability!
Maybe I had a traumatizing experience with this empathy before my amnesia. And even if I hadn’t, I don’t think there are too many people out there who’d be happy with someone spying on their intimate thoughts.
Which reminds me of the time Tachibana mentioned BC users are mostly kids for some reason, with adult users being extremely rare. If I’m to believe that, then there shouldn’t be any BC users among the adults in our group.
What about the kids? Does Natsuhiko, Mashiro, Salyu, or Yuuri have these abilities?
Miss Ena said Natsuhiko and the girls can use telepathy. Doesn’t that make it equally as likely that they can use empathy as well?
Thinking things over with this new information brings several doubts to mind. Why did Yuuri disappear on us? Why did Salyu run away from us? Why have we still not found any of the three high school students?
What if they have the ability to read minds?! Wouldn’t that mean the kids are running from us because someone in our group has evil intentions?! I hate to think that way, but it fits.
Say that theory is true: Who’s the one with evil intentions? I know it’s not me at least. I know myself. Does that mean one of the other four adults is out to do something horrible?
Suspicion only breeds more suspicion that eventually comes full circle.
Wait…maybe it’s the other way around? What if they’re the ones who are out to get us? Maybe, just maybe, these kids who can read minds have the motive and hatred to drive us into a corner? And if they do, can we even oppose them?
Going over it in my head is making me sick. As it is, we’re in one of the most toxic environments in the world, weird things are happening one after the other, people are dying—or being killed—and to top the craziness of this day off, there might be someone who can read our minds.
This whole crazy ordeal has surpassed the bounds of reasonable thought. I’m losing faith in everything around me.
“Dammit! What…should I trust?” I curse and stagger out of the reference room.