▼ 1:32 pm
Area 1, Outer Ring
WE stare at each other in suspicious silence. A single gun has planted an unhealthy amount of distrust in everyone’s minds. Whether we can trust one another or not, the only path to survival requires us to work together.
I purposely address the group in a cheerful tone. “…Okay, looks like the gang’s all here except for Tachibana. Let’s have a brief meeting. Did you ladies on Team Moribe find anything?”
“Nope. Didn’t find any survivors or AD.” Moribe shakes her head sadly.
“How about you, Ukita?”
“What do you think when less than twenty minutes have passed since we parted ways? I didn’t find anything,” he snorts.
Sounds like the survivors are still giving us the slip. It’s so strange that we haven’t seen Natsuhiko Tenkawa or Mashiro Toba even once, or come across Yuuri. Where could they be?
“…Did anything else stand out to you during your search?” I ask what sounds appropriate for a rescue squad captain to say and get a very unexpected answer back from Moribe.
“Oh yeah, there was one small thing that I noticed… I completely stopped smelling that flowery scent.”
“What scent?” I cock my head. “Something in here smelled like flowers?”
“Well, you know, you can occasionally catch a whiff of it wafting around the facility. You never smelled it?”
“Oh, now that you mention it, it did have that kind of smell now and then,” Ukita acknowledges as he pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
“I’m not so sure… I don’t recall ever smelling something floral,” Miss Ena says, her statement a complete contradiction of theirs.
Puzzled, I crease my brow at their responses. We’ve been together almost the entire time, and yet Miss Ena and I never picked up on that smell, while Moribe and Ukita claim they have.
“This isn’t adding up… Can you describe the smell in detail?” I dig for more information.
“Meh, it’s seriously not a big deal, so don’t get hung up on it,” Moribe says lightly, shrugging me off.
It bothers me, but my thoughts turn to a more important matter, so I change the subject. “By the way, Miss Ena and I had a run-in with Salyu. But she fled again.”
“What? Agaaaiiin?” Moribe groans and shakes her head with a frown. “This is the second time now. Why’s that girl always running around when she’s injured?”
“I have no idea, but she looked pretty energetic when I saw her. I believe she’s injecting AD without a problem.”
“Oh, thank God! That’s one consolation, at least.”
“That being said, we have no way of knowing if she has enough AD on her to last. She ran in the direction of Area 6. The four of us should spread out and look for her.”
“Four of us? Oh yeah, where’s Lieutenant Tachibana?”
“She’s resting from an injury. I told her to return to the infirmary once she feels up to it.”
Area 6 just so happens to be very close to the infirmary. We can regroup with Tachibana if we head there after we finish searching Area 6.
“All right, let’s get moving, people. We’ve wasted too much time as it is.” At my instruction, the group starts walking toward Area 6.
Miss Ena is at the front of the group. She’s fiddling with her PDA. I walk up to her and whisper, “What’re you doing, Miss Ena?”
“Ah!” She jumps and jerks her head toward me. She shoves the PDA into her pocket and snips, “I was just checking to see if we can connect to the outside yet. Anyway, don’t just appear behind me like some creeper. You gave me a fright!”
“S-Sorry. On another note, are you sure it’s okay? You know, not telling the others about what Salyu said.”
“It’s fine. Things will only become more complicated. Probably shouldn’t mention that bomb either. Not after everyone was ready to jump down each other’s throats over me having a gun.”
“You think so? You’re probably right on that one…”
“But, in return, both you and I have to keep that bomb and what Miss Sannomiya said and did at the forefront of our thoughts, Captain Kasasagi.”
“Why’s that?”
“Miss Sannomiya must have a good reason for running away from us. And someone definitely set that bomb. We might overlook a critical piece of information if we let down our guard—something that will cost us our lives.” Her voice has a sharp edge that’s somehow different from her prior harshness. This is different from her spiteful jabs and hysterical whining—it possesses an unspoken intensity.
“Miss Ena, what are you getting at?”
“Be suspicious of everything around you, that’s what. Don’t believe the people around you, what LABO says it is, or what you think you’ve heard and seen. Preconceptions will lead you astray.”
“I see… That’s wise advice.”
I don’t want to doubt the others, but it doesn’t hurt to keep her advice in mind. Our conversation carries us through Area 1.
✦ ✦ ✦
▼ 1:36 pm
Area 6, Inner Ring
I searched Area 6’s inner ring alone with Moribe last time. Seemingly endless doors line the stark-white corridors. Once we get there, I promptly give orders to the group.
“All right, let’s go back to our teams. Moribe is with Miss Ena, and Ukita is with me. Search with your teammate.”
“…Roger. Then Ms. Tsubakiyama and I will cover the factory.” Despite Moribe’s affirmative response, she looks like she wanted to say something else entirely. Miss Ena seems like she has no complaints, though.
“…Catch you later, Captain Kasasagi. Be careful,” she whispers in my ear before leaving with Moribe.
After I see them off, I start checking the area with Ukita.
Going through each of the rooms doesn’t bring us any different results from before.
“I can’t believe we still can’t find her. Where’d Salyu go off to?” I mutter after reaching the last door.
“To the factory, maybe. Let’s go there and help the others look.”
Ukita talks me into leaving, until I catch sight of a computer monitor in the final room. “Hmm?” I didn’t notice it last time. The computer froze with the monitor on. Stuck on-screen is a text file someone had been editing.
✦ ✦ ✦
Test Subjects and the IGF2R Gene Type
○Subject A
Hereditary IGF2R Gene Abnormality Type S (Deceased)
○Subject N
Hereditary IGF2R Gene Abnormality Type S
○Subject Y
IGF2R Gene Type 4 (Discarded)
○Subject Y-II
Acquired IGF2R Gene Abnormality Type S
Observation Targets and the IGF2R Gene Type
○Special Observation Target Na
Hereditary IGF2R Gene Abnormality Type S
○Special Observation Target Na2
Acquired IGF2R Gene Abnormality Type S
○Special Observation Subject Yu
IGF2R Gene Type 4
○Special Observation Subject Ka
Hereditary IGF2R Gene Abnormality Type D
○Special Observation Subject Ma
Hereditary IGF2R Gene Abnormality Type B / Incomplete Ability Mastery Communicator Class 2
“…?!” I grimace at what I see.
I don’t understand a single word on the screen. And yet reading those entries sent chills creeping over my skin for whatever inexplicable reason. Standing here is frightening and so uncomfortable I feel the bile rising up the back of my throat.
“URGH…!” I go down on my knees.
Surprised, Ukita turns toward me. “Wh-What’s the matter, Captain Kasasagi?!”
“I-I don’t know! I suddenly felt sick…!”
“You do? Are you all right?”
“I-I’ll recover with a little rest… Go on ahead to the factory, Ukita…”
“I-I can’t just leave you—”
“Time’s not on our side… I’ll catch up later…”
Ukita hesitates over my request before eventually giving in.
I slump onto the ground for a while after watching him go. I puzzle over the sudden panic attack that hit me.
I’ve felt this way before…! When was the last time I felt like this? Right, it was when I charged into the contaminated zone in search of Yuuri.
Yuuri had said something bizarre to me then. And I experienced an abnormal level of fear in that moment. It only happened an hour ago—how the heck did I forget about it until now?
“H-How could I have…?!” No sooner do I utter those words than I sharply inhale.
What if my amnesia isn’t recovering with time, but—growing progressively worse?! I tremble with fear. But that’s not the only terrifying thing—I clearly experienced dread toward Yuuri in my lost memories.
“Wh-Why was I afraid of Yuuri…?!”
Even more incomprehensible phrases pass through my brain as if to confuse it further:
—The test subjects are too dangerous—
—They’re a completely different species from us—
—A monster caused that fire—
—Everyone will die if I don’t do it—
Wh-What was that just now?! What are these words in my head?!
The phrases surge up from the sealed depths of my mind along with an indescribable unpleasantness. I shake my head to erase them from memory.
No! No! I wanted to save Yuuri… I just wanted to save everyone! The chaos in my head makes it impossible to sit still. Staying in this place any longer will be damning.
I stagger to my feet and out of the room en route to the factory so I can see the others.