“Who are they?”
“The students I’m responsible for. The boy is Natsuhiko Tenkawa. The girls are Mashiro Toba and Louise Yui Sannomiya.”
“Natsuhiko, Mashiro, and Louise, you say?” All those names sound familiar to me. I feel a kinship with them, as if I’ve known them for a long time.
I think I may have come down here to save these kids! That feeling strongly settles within me.
“Truth be told, I’m acquainted with these kids as well. The boy’s mother is my coworker here,” Ukita informs us.
“Seriously? Why in the world have people who know one another gathered in this facility today of all days?”
“I’m as clueless as you are. I don’t know why Natsuhiko and the girls came here either… All I can say is that there is more footage just like this. And the last footage was taken at 7:20 am, in Area 5.”
After hearing that, I immediately know what he’s trying to say. If there is footage of them at 7:20 am when the bulkheads lowered at 7:00 am, then—
“You mean there are at least three more people locked inside this facility aside from the six of us?!”
“Yeah, that makes nine total,” Ukita answers in a tight voice.
I turn my eyes back to the three kids on screen. What were they doing here? Did they come to see the boy’s mother? Or did they have another agenda?
“…Hey, Ukita, are you positive these kids are trapped in here with us?”
“I can’t say for sure. If only we could contact the outside, we could confirm whether they evacuated…”
“Oh, that gives me an idea!” Miss Ena speaks up as if suddenly struck by an idea. “Can anyone here use BC?”
“‘Bee Cee’?”
“Right, like telepathy. We can learn more about the situation if we use that to contact the outside.”
My eyes go round at that unrealistic comment. “T-Telepathy? How can you joke around at a time like this?”
“Oh dear, your amnesia’s so bad you’ve forgotten common knowledge? It’s not that unusual for people to be capable of using telepathy nowadays.”
“HUH?!” In shock, I look at the others. No one else is surprised. “H-Hey, Tachibana, is she telling the truth?”
“She is. The telepathy she’s referring to allows the user to send their voice to people in distant places.”
“S-Seriously?!”
“But only one in twenty-five thousand people are capable of using it. Plus, while there are a lot of child BC users for some reason, adult users are about as easy to find as a needle in a haystack.”
The others nod along with Tachibana’s explanation.
“Naturally, there isn’t anybody on our squad who can use it—including you,” Moribe adds.
“I regrettably can’t use it either. How about you, Yuuri?” Ukita asks her.
“I-I can’t use it. I’ve never been taught how…,” she mutters.
Everyone took the question seriously. I’m struggling to believe in this telepathy stuff, but their reactions tell me it’s not a bald-faced lie or childish joke.
“Okay, so are there people who can use other superpowers? Stuff like teleportation, telekinesis, and the works?”
“Of course not,” Miss Ena demurs. “That stuff stays purely in the realm of the occult.”
“And telepathy isn’t?”
“For your information, BC has been scientifically proven. There’s nothing super about it. Essentially, it’s the ability to mentally communicate with people at a distance. There’s nothing more to it.”
This BC stuff appears to have very limited use, and it’s not on the level of superpowers. Though being able to use such a half-baked power would still be useful…
“…Well, it’d be too convenient if we had someone with us who happened to be one of the lucky one out of twenty-five thousand who can use it.”
“But those kids can use telepathy!”
“Seriously?! Then we can contact the surface if we find them?”
“Only if we find them… Ugh, I feel so pathetic. Things would be so much easier if I could use BC myself.”
The sound of static and a voice coming from Tachibana’s chest pocket abruptly follows Miss Ena’s words.
“—is SIRIUS Commander Murakami. Tachibana, do you read me? Over.”
“What was that?!”
“The radio! It’s finally receiving transmissions from the surface again!” Tachibana pulls the PDA from her pocket and answers the transmission. “Loud and clear. This is Lieutenant Tachibana of SIRIUS Team A.”
“Tachibana! Sounds like you got your radio running again!”
“For now—the reception is extremely unreliable down here. It could give out at any minute.”
“Then let’s make it short. Give me a status update.”
“Roger. At present, we are—” Tachibana quickly fills the commander in on everything that has transpired down here, including how we rescued Yuuri, Miss Ena, and Ukita after she reunited with me. She keeps my amnesia out of this report. After she finishes, she asks, “Have you heard anything about why the bulkheads locked, Commander?”
“A lot of information is still unclear for us, too, but…there’s one thing I need you to know,” Commander Murakami starts, then pauses as if it’s difficult for him to tell us. “We’ve learned the reactor in the basement underwent a meltdown about two hours ago. I know it’s not something you want to hear, but it’s been confirmed.”
“I knew it…!”
“Right after the explosions occurred at 6:19, LABO’s engineers tried initiating an emergency shutdown of the reactor from the remote control room located on the surface floor. But after that, about everything that can possibly go wrong did. The engineers did everything in their power to prevent the meltdown, but…their desperate efforts ended in vain.”
Tachibana’s expression twists with the news.
“…And the radiation leakage prevention system activated when the meltdown occurred. That’s what caused all the bulkheads within the facility to go into lockdown mode.”
“Is it possible to temporarily open one of the bulkheads for us to escape?”
Hope fills everyone’s faces at her question. But Commander Murakami’s bitter response douses it. “It pains me to say this, but…that’s impossible right now.”
“Impossible?! Why?!”
“A huge fire caused by the meltdown is still raging within Area N, where the reactor is held. The security system is going haywire because of it, making it impossible to access externally.”
“The biggest fire is in Area N?!”
“The system will stop fritzing out if the fire is doused, but since the sprinkler system in Area N broke down, we can’t expect the fires to be extinguished on their own. LABO’s entire staff is doing everything they can to restore the system, but…”
“What’s the time frame for the system restore, sir?!”
“About…another nine hours or so.”
Everyone gasps. Tachibana loudly snaps, “D-Don’t joke like that! Please open an escape route for us, even if it means blowing up a bulkhead!”
“I’m really sorry, Tachibana! We can’t do that!”
“Why not?! A plastic explosive should do the job just fine!”
“The floors and bulkheads separating the surface and basement levels are made of eight-layer-thick heat-and-shock-resistant composite steel plates! Those damn plates are designed to even withstand steam and hydrogen explosions. Plastic explosives won’t even nick the surface!”
“H-How can that be…?” weakly mutters the always cool and collected Tachibana. Grasping at straws, she appeals his decision. “We have several survivors down here! Including children! Isn’t there anything you can do for us…?!”
“We’ll do whatever we can, but—time…limited…” Terrible static suddenly cuts into his voice.
“Commander Murakami?! I didn’t catch that!”
“—ception’s unstable! –o time. I have a message from LABO’s staff!” Commander Murakami starts talking faster as he realizes our transmission is reaching its limits. “—ere’s AD lying around the facility for emergencies! Keep injecting yourselves and stay away from contaminated zones! –oing that will keep you alive! –lease help the surviv—”
The transmission cuts off with a hiss of static. We stare blankly at each other.
Nine hours to go until the bulkheads open?! I have to rot in this godforsaken hole for nine more hours?!
We’re in a situation where we’re practically sitting ducks next to a nuclear reactor that’s undergoing a meltdown. Now we’re being ordered to survive the long hours until we’re freed from here—to endure the radiation exposure by injecting the limited supply of AD.
No one says anything in the face of our hopeless situation. After the death of the radio, oppressive silence dominates the surveillance room.