“Attention, all personnel—this is the After-Action Review Division. A hero was spotted in Ikebukuro at a little past one AM today. There were seven victims, all of whom were commuters. Public video access has been restricted—now commencing transmission.”
An unnamed location, somewhere in Tokyo. One of several buildings in an industrial park populated with research facilities and warehouses.
Massive and brutal in design, the sign outside the building simply read EXTERMINATION BUREAU RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY CENTER. The ordinary-looking cafeteria inside had a plasma screen affixed to the wall that was displaying footage as a lifeless, robotic voice droned on.
The screen currently showed the boarding platform at Ikebukuro Station. Smoke rose from the scorched rubble and debris as several operators worked to clean up the aftermath.
“Relevant details to follow. Requests for further access should be made to general-rank officers or higher—”
“Oh. So yesterday’s hero fight happened in Ikebukuro.”
Two young women were watching the broadcast from a small table in a corner of the cafeteria. Both were dressed in white lab coats and had menus in front of them.
The woman with jade-green eyes spoke in an annoyed drawl. “Would you hurry up and decide, Kaguya? Lunch is going to be over soon!”
“Just give me a second, Mari! I’m almost ready. Almost…,” the other young woman muttered, furrowing her brow.
She was sophisticated, with violet eyes and bright scarlet hair that reached down to her back. Despite her classy appearance, which didn’t seem at all suited to cafeteria food, her face was an image of absolute seriousness as she pored over the menu options.
Judging from her expression alone, she might have been deciding the fate of the world.
“Should I go with Lunch Set A or Lunch Set B…? Lunch Set B is pretty caloric, but it’s hard to argue with a good tonkatsu. Then again, Lunch Set A comes with that seasonal pasta sauce… Oh wait, the omelet rice special with the salad looks pretty tempting, too…”
“Just choose already! I’m ordering!”
“Don’t rush me, Mari!! Lunch is a very important decision. One that can drastically affect your motivation for the rest of the day! Remember, you only get one choice… A decision like this shouldn’t be made lightly…”
“I’m pretty sure you’ll get to choose again tomorrow and the day after that. And probably every day after that, too, since you never leave the barracks on your days off anyway.”
“Well, you don’t have to be such a downer about it!”
“Fine, fine, I’m calling the waiter over now. Excuse me!”
“Ack?!” the scarlet-haired young woman cried, turning back to the menu in a panic.
Her name was Kaguya Shinohara. She was a lieutenant stationed with the Bureau’s Technical Research Lab No. 2, which was located within that building.
The young woman with her, Mari Ezakura, was a warrant officer stationed within the same laboratory. She was Kaguya’s junior.
The pair were taking a late lunch in the mostly deserted cafeteria. Despite being a stereotypical, run-of-the-mill mess hall, staff took orders at the tables rather than at the counter.
“I’ll have this, please,” Mari said, her voice echoing through the empty cafeteria. “What about you, Kaguya?”
“……I’ll take Lunch Set A, Lunch Set B, and the special.”
“You just ordered everything…,” Mari said, exasperated.
Kaguya chuckled, pleased with herself. “When you’re having trouble deciding, just choose every option available. That way there’s no regrets.”
“I don’t know what I was expecting. You’re as greedy as ever, Lieutenant.”
These weren’t appetizers, either. Kaguya had just ordered three full meals. All par for the course for Kaguya Shinohara.
“I know it’s your own business, but what happened to your diet? Remember, you said you were going to lose ten kilos in six months?”
“Mari, Mari, Mari, I say this to you as a scientist and an officer,” Kaguya began, waggling her finger in the air. There was a sparkle in her eye as she spoke. “As living organisms, the idea of purposely limiting our food intake is folly, sheer folly! All living creatures require sustenance to survive. And yet it is only we humans who try to lose weight. Why is that, Mari? I am simply reverting to the state nature intended—”
“Geez, all right, all right! I’ve heard this spiel a million times already,” said Mari, not even bothering to meet Kaguya’s eyes. “I’m not sure it really applies in your case, though. Most animals have lots of muscle mass, but you don’t seem to have any at all. You never exercise, you just get bigger and bigger and bigger.”
“Excuse me! What do you mean, bigger and—?”
Before Kaguya could finish, a chime played, and the image on the plasma screen changed once more.
This time, it showed footage taken from Extermination Bureau surveillance cameras. It was mostly video of the same fight against the hero.
Kaguya looked toward the screen, midsentence, just as the camera switched to yet another angle.
The Extermination Bureau had many different cameras throughout the city disguised to look like common items, including cameras hidden inside the electric signboards hanging over the platforms at most train stations. The current video was grainy and seemed to have been shot from above. Several young men and women appeared on the screen.
“Who are they—?”
“Members of the Tactical Infantry Branch, and as strong as ever, it seems…”
The squad members on the screen were dressed in turquoise uniforms. They were clearly visible despite the poor video quality.
Their performance in battle was impressive. In particular, the young soldier in point position was moving with incredible speed, and he seemed to be making short work of the three-meter-tall monster they were fighting. He was obviously very powerful.
“Wait a second,” said Mari, apparently recognizing the young man. “That guy’s famous in Tactical, isn’t he? I think I’ve seen him once before.”
“Is he? I don’t know how you can make out anything with this camera resolution.”
Kaguya couldn’t discern the faces of the members on the screen. Not that she had much interest in faces in the first place. Everyone might as well all look the same as far as she was concerned—she did, however, notice a silver cross earring dangling from the young man’s left ear.