It wasn’t a deep lake. Even a child would only go to his chest if he stood up.
Like they were getting into the bath or swimming in a pool, they went out to the center of the lake and crouched, sinking of their own will into the water.
A line formed. They weren’t going over the fence one by one, but one group would go out and sink, and then the next group would follow.
Moritsuka was no different. He walked out into the middle of the lake like it was the most normal thing in the world and sank down in the water. His body collided with one of the others who had already sunk, and he looked up from the bottom of the lake towards the surface.
You could see the moonlight on the lake’s surface. The waves formed by all the people entering the water made the moonlight seem to waver. But his view was quickly blocked out by the next victim who came after him...
“What is this?”
I forced the memory to come to an end.
I’d been able to replay his memories. I’d heard the sound of him stepping on the dried leaves, the sound of him falling into the water. But I hadn’t heard any voices...
It wasn’t just spoken words. With my psychometry, I could hear the internal voices of the dead. But this time, I’d heard nothing at all. There was no strong desire to end it all, no sense of relief at escaping into death, no reason to die, no emotions driving him toward death...
No fear of death, even. There was nothing at all. Nothing but emptiness.
Moritsuka had died empty.
“Well?” Shinoyama said. I stood up.
This didn’t make sense. It didn’t make sense at all.
This had never happened when I was at the FBI. Were my powers fading because I hadn’t used them? Or...
“Th-The others,” I wrapped my arms around my body and pleaded. “Go ask if there are others you’ve already ID’d that I can touch. Please.”
“Okay.” Shinoyama looked a little suspicious, but he went to talk to what appeared to be the man in charge.
I was given permission to touch several more bodies. A teenage girl. A young boy. A middle-aged corporate worker. A punkish-looking young man. A part-timer, a government worker. Their bodies, their possessions, their clothes. I used my powers on them all.
But all the movies I saw were the same as Moritsuka’s. Everything was silent. Their hearts weren’t moving at all.
There was nothing. They’d thrown themselves into the lake of their own will, silently and mechanically.
They had no reason to die at all. My powers hadn’t faded.
Everyone’s mind wavers a bit when faced with death, to a greater or lesser degree. A death chosen deliberately, even a peaceful one, was no exception. But...
It was like the 256 dead victims weren’t even human.
Suddenly, my vision blurred and my knees buckled. I almost collapsed on top of a coffin.
“Are you okay?!” Shinoyama quickly grabbed me, which was the only reason I was able to stay upright.
“I’m sorry. I’m just a little tired.”
“You’ve done enough for today.”
“Yeah...” I brushed my bangs out of my eyes and realized my forehead was soaked with sweat. I’d been pushing myself harder than I’d thought. I’d never used my powers on a dozen bodies in a single day before.
Pain ran through my chest with each beat of my heart. It hurt a little to breathe. It was easy to imagine what would happen if I used my powers any more today.
But I still hadn’t learned anything...
--Bzzz--bzzzztttt---bzzz
I heard an unfamiliar static in the quiet hall.
I looked around. It felt surprisingly close.
There was something large in one of the plastic cases near me that held the deceased’s possessions. I went over to it, trying to control the pain in my chest.
“Hey, Kizaki.”
“Let me check just one more body,” I said, as I took a look at the case.
A keychain with what looked like a house key. A package of Kit-Kats. And...
A machine far larger than a dictionary.
What was it? I didn’t know much about machines, so I couldn’t tell what it did. Whatever it was, though, it was covered in switches.
“What is this?”
“It’s an old radio,” Shinoyama said. I stood up. “You don’t see them around much anymore. It’s the kind they used to sell when I was a kid. If it’s here, it means it fell in the lake with the body. The water would have destroyed it.”
The radio was in a plastic bag. I lifted it up. It was heavy. It probably wasn’t because it was waterlogged; it was just this weight to begin with. The radio itself was inside a case with a shoulder strap so it could be carried easily. A doll from some kind of anime was wrapped around the strap.
It was an old radio, but anything electronic like this was likely to leave good records. Maybe I could learn something from it that would help.
“May I borrow this for just twenty-four hours?”
“Do you need to?”
“I want to take a closer look at it.” But I’d used my psychometry too much today. Ideally, I would use it right now, but my health probably wasn’t going to allow that. But tomorrow...
Shinoyama sighed and nodded. “I’ll come up with something to tell the chief. Bring it back in mint condition.”
“Thank you.” I was surprised that Shinoyama allowed me to do anything that would mean extra work for him. Maybe my psychometry demonstration yesterday had paid off.
That said... I moved my gaze back to the body in the coffin. It had already been ID’d. “Yuta Gamon,” read the nametag on the plastic case next to the body. From the look of the body, he wasn’t that much older or younger than me.
Why was he carrying this radio then? Was he just really into radios or something?
I put my hand into the coffin and touched his cold forehead.
— Begin the performance.
And what I saw was...
Nothing.
...Nothing.
......Nothing.
Nothing at all.
— Performance complete.
“What?!”
What was that? I hadn’t seen a thing! No images. No sound. No voices. Nothing. This had never happened before.
Why? What was this boy?
And then...
“Th-That’s me...”
I heard a voice in front of me. I looked up, and standing there, was...
“Huh?”
A boy who looked just like the one I’d just touched...