Chapter 5: Chernobog

Kouki Arakawa’s Point of View

The captain and I decided that the former Moscow Station in the old city would serve as our base of operations.

At first, the only work I had to do was to enter my password into a terminal when asked so that some money could be transferred.

Then things began to happen. Roughly three hours after that, we finished rounding up Chernobog’s remaining members. Then the bald man, whose name was Joseph, transported a large number of weapons into the station. Joseph was the one who’d called Anton to Russia in the first place.

I’d only looked at the list of equipment for a few seconds while making the payment, but I remembered that, in addition to personal firearms, the list also included an attack helicopter and a personnel carrier.

Meanwhile, New World was no doubt going to come at us using powered suits. It was hard to see how we were going to cope with nothing but those old-fashioned weapons.

Then again, I know these weapons are old-fashioned, but I’d love to know where they all came from.

The captain might have known, but she was nowhere to be seen.

While everyone else was gone, I was left waiting alone and helping myself to the pirozhki and the sickly sweet Russian tea that had been passed around.

“Arakawa, we’re ready.” The captain burst into the room and threw a new terminal at me. “I’ve come up with a declaration just like you planned. Now we just need to contact Noa.”

I guess they don’t want me to know the particulars until I’ve sent the request for asylum to my mom. In that case, first we should send a transmission to Noa over an unencrypted channel.

“All right,” I said. “I’ll send a transmission.”

I used my terminal to contact Noa over an ordinary channel, and the operator on duty soon appeared on the screen.

The operator looked surprised to see my face.

Sorry, but there’s no time to explain.

I ignored the operator’s questions and asked to be put through to my mom. I heard some sort of argument going on among Noa’s staff, but eventually my tired-looking mom appeared on the screen.

“Kouki!” Mom cried. “I’m glad you’re safe. Who are those armed people you’re with? Please tell me they aren’t New World.”

“They’re not. But I can see how you’d think so. The balaclavas they’re wearing almost make them look like an old-fashioned terrorist group.”

I couldn’t blame her for looking so worried. If Mom were to say that the captain and her people looked like Afghan guerrillas from the 2000s, I wouldn’t be able to argue. It probably looked like the enemy had me.

I did my best to sound full of confidence as I spoke so that Mom’s anxiety would be lessened somewhat.

“These people used to fight alongside Anton as part of Chernobog’s combat unit. Well, some of them are part of the espionage unit. They’re cooperating with me, and we’ve set up camp here in Old Moscow.”

“Kou! Stop! You’re transmitting over a standard, unencrypted channel. Don’t you realize that New World could be listening to our entire conversation?!”

Of course I realize that. I’ve thought it through, so calm down.

To keep the discussion moving forward, I didn’t give Mom any more opportunities to share her concerns. I turned to the captain, who was standing beside me with her arms folded, looking menacing, and I asked her to indicate our location on the map. Then I spoke at the screen in the rudest tone I could manage.

“To Dr. Sandra Zelenskaya, the leader of New World. I’m sure you’re listening. I imagine you must have felt quite frustrated when I escaped from the hotel? Well, I thought I’d give you another chance. I’m right here in Old Moscow. I don’t know whether you’re planning to capture me or kill me, but whatever you’re planning, you know where to find me.

“I don’t want to waste too much time on a researcher stupid enough to believe in occult notions such as reincarnation and the soul. That’s why I’m going to wait here and let you come to me. In exchange, I’d like you to bring Anton Bortkiewicz, Yakov Tarkovsky, and Yuri Pamfilova with you. If they’re already dead, there’s nothing to discuss. I’ll change location immediately. However, if they are still living, release them near Bechet Lake in the old city.

“The time from their release until I manage to move to a new location is the time I’m giving you to capture me. Reply within the next two hours. I’ll leave it to you to decide how exactly you get your message to me. I know you’re not the smartest woman around, but I’m sure you’ll figure something out.”

I’d said all that I needed to say, so I cut off the transmission. I then sent a document describing our planned course of action to Mom’s personal address, hoping that she’d notice.

The document included my request that asylum be given to the captain and her people. The document also suggested a pretense that the Russian army could use when offering us support and details of what I wanted the Russian army to do for us.

Next, I had to worry about when Dr. Sandra would give us her reply. I’d have to discuss that with the captain.

**

I checked the time on the terminal that the captain had given me and saw that it was 9 PM.

Our base of operations was partially underground, making it hard to know what was happening outside, but I expected that it would soon get dark.

It’d been one hour since we’d made our declaration to New World. I expected they would take action within the next hour.

“I’m so tired,” I said to myself while rubbing my eyes.

I realized that I hadn’t slept in roughly two days because I’d been working on the anime and trying to help Anton. Toughened soldiers like Macho Man and the captain were probably used to this kind of thing, but it was a struggle for a frail commoner like me.

Just as I was considering taking a nap, the captain burst into the room with such force that I worried she might have bent the door out of shape.

“What’s wrong?” I asked her.

“We’ve had a response from New World! They’re transmitting a satellite broadcast that anyone can view from anywhere using a terminal. They’ve hijacked Russia’s broadcasting systems!”

Really...? Why do geniuses have to turn everything into a spectacle? You’d think a terrorist group would try to draw a little less attention to themselves. Hijacking broadcasting systems is the kind of thing my mom would do.

My head felt heavy from lack of sleep as I took the terminal in my hand. The signal was a little noisy, but sure enough, a man with his face obscured was being shown on every channel.

I don’t see Dr. Sandra. This looks like a prerecorded video. Maybe they had a reason for not showing her? Or maybe she just wasn’t around at the time?

“I repeat,” the man on the broadcast said. “In 30 minutes from now, we of New World will release Anton Bortkiewicz, Yakov Tarkovsky, and Yuri Pamfilova to the Russian force surrounding the hotel. Upon their release, we will begin moving towards Old Moscow together with our comrades remaining in the hotel. We are acting on the basis of an existing arrangement. If our actions are impeded in any way, we will retaliate with a devastating, indiscriminate attack. I repeat...”

So they’re going to release Anton and the others at the hotel, and then they’ll attack us as soon as they reach the old city. Broadcasting this across the whole of Russia means that the Russian government won’t be able to attack them while they’re on the move. If they’re forced to choose between me and their own people, they’re obviously going to protect their own people. The ordinary civilians living in the city are more important.

“Captain, the hotel is—” I began.

“We already have people in position near the hotel to keep us informed. They’ll let us know as soon as the hostages are released.”

“We need—”

“Everyone is ready and in position. We’ll fight by tunnel warfare using the subway tunnels and sewers, just like you planned. They’ll serve as our trenches. If we fight defensively, we should be able to hold out for five hours or so.”

Let me finish a sentence! Maybe you can guess what I’m worried about, but you should still let me say it instead of assuming, I thought indignantly. Forget it. I need to get myself some weapons so I can at least defend myself. If this building that we’re using as our makeshift headquarters is captured, it’ll mean total defeat. In that case, I’ll at least need a weapon to turn on myself.

With that in mind, I was about to leave the room and fetch a weapon, but the captain stopped me.

“Where do you think you’re going?” she asked coldly.

“I was about to fetch myself a weapon. I only know how to use a shotgun, but that’s better than being unarmed, right? And I might need it if worst comes to worst.”

“Worst comes to worst?”

“I don’t like thinking about it, but they might capture this building,” I said. “If everyone else dies fighting, I’ve no intention of being taken alive. I’ll take my own life.”

The captain was left speechless.

Did she think I was planning on running? Every member of Serp must have been thinking the same thing. Now I see why they’ve been keeping all the details of their plans from me... I don’t have time for this! I get that their own country betrayed them, but we’re allies here! Can’t they see that we have to work together to stand any chance here? I can’t take this anymore.

As intimidating as the captain looked, I had a terrible feeling that I’d come to regret it if I didn’t say something now.

**

Joseph’s Point of View

“Where do you think you’re going?”

I could hear the conversation between Arakawa and the captain through my radio. Because we didn’t trust Arakawa, the captain had arranged things so that everyone would hear all of his conversations. We were hoping this would give us a better idea of his true intentions.

“I was about to fetch myself a weapon,” Arakawa said. “I only know how to use a shotgun, but that’s better than being unarmed, right? And I might need it if worst comes to worst.”

“Worst comes to worst?”

“I don’t like thinking about it, but they might capture this building. If everyone else dies fighting, I’ve no intention of being taken alive. I’ll take my own life.”

Take his own life? He’ll commit suicide?

The captain must have been too surprised to say anything.

I was shocked, too. Arakawa intends to share our fate, no matter what? But why? Why would he go so far for us when we’ve only just met? It makes no sense.

“Captain, stop messing around!” he snapped. “I know that no one in Serp trusts me, but I won’t just run. You have to start sharing information with me! I’ve told you already, we’ll all be killed if we don’t all cooperate.”

“You’re the one who’s messing around!” the captain yelled at Arakawa in response. “You suddenly show up and expect everyone to trust you! You’ve given us no assurance that we’ll get asylum if we survive this! You’ve given us no assurance that your plan will even work! You’re in no position to demand trust from us!”

I understood what Arakawa was trying to say, but his motivations were beyond my understanding. The captain had said the same thing in a briefing two hours prior.

There was a sound from the radio like something being kicked over, followed by Arakawa’s voice. He no longer sounded friendly; he was enraged.

“I wish you’d shut up about assurance! I promised I wouldn’t lie, so let me be honest with you. This isn’t my first battle! I fought alongside Noa in an inter-racial war to prevent a genocide. I won’t get scared and run away. And saving you doesn’t have to be part of some grand plan. I’m here because Anton asked me for help and I’ll look bad if I let him down. So please... I’m not as intelligent as my mom, so I don’t know how to say it clearly, but you have to believe me... I want to help you.” Arakawa sounded tearful, and his last words were hard to make out. “At this rate, we could lose everything.”

When was the last time someone cared enough to cry for me?

I vaguely remembered that just before joining the army, my mother had cried when seeing me off from the station. She’d kissed me on the cheek and then said something that I couldn’t recall.

I looked to my side and saw that Ivan, the soldier assigned as the gunner, was sobbing.

“Ivan, are you crying?” I asked.

“Yes. I grew up in an orphanage. I joined the army so I wouldn’t starve. Listening to Arakawa reminded me of a nun who cared for me in the orphanage. She cried when I left to join the army. She was sorry for not sending me to school. I don’t know why, but somehow Arakawa reminds me of her...”

I placed a hand on Ivan’s shoulder as I looked at the other soldiers who were with us. Everyone was wearing a similar expression.

Maybe we should believe in Arakawa... If we were fighting for him, maybe we could go on fighting just like we always have. I need to tell the captain. I can only speak for the soldiers around me, but we believe in Arakawa, and we’re ready to fight for him.

I was about to hit the transmission button on my radio when someone else started transmitting instead.

“This is Squad 2. Captain, we trust Arakawa.”

“Squad 3, here. We feel the same.”

“This is the sniper outpost team. We believe in him, too.”

We were all having the same thought.

I took another look at the soldiers around me. My subordinates were tired, but they all nodded, and their morale was still clear to see on their faces. Seeing that made me remember what it was my mother had said between her tears.

“I hope you can make some good friends.”

And then I’d left to join the army in order to pay back the debt my father had left us.

How many years has it been? I wondered. It took a while, but I’ve finally found such comrades.

“Captain, this is Squad 1. We also believe in Arakawa.”

After sending my transmission, I heard two clicks from the radio. It was our usual way of signaling acknowledgement.

Now it’s up to the captain. Though something Arakawa said makes me curious. What does he mean when he says he fought alongside Noa to prevent a genocide? As far as I know, there hasn’t been a major conflict in several years. In that case, could it have happened when he was transported to the other world during the particle research that we recently learned about? I thought he was only gone three days. He’s so young, and yet I can’t imagine what hell he might have gone though.

It was chilling to think about. I took a cigarette from my pocket and placed it in my mouth.

“Arakawa, every member of my unit is listening to this conversation,” said Captain Yulia at last. “We didn’t trust you, but after what you’ve just said, I think we’re all ready to believe in you. I’d like to apologize on behalf of Serp. Please forgive us.”

“C-Captain?!” Arakawa exclaimed. “Please raise your head! I should be the one apologizing. I got over-emotional for a moment there!”

The captain herself is bowing to Arakawa?! I can’t believe this. I wish I’d asked to be there in headquarters! I’d love to see it with my own eyes.

“I wish I was there in headquarters,” Ivan mumbled to himself with tears still in his eyes.

As if she’d sensed the relaxed atmosphere coming over the unit, the captain began to yell at us: “Attention, all personnel! There’s going to be a change of plan. Objective 1 is to ensure that Arakawa... ‘Arakawa’ is hard to say. Let’s change Arakawa’s codename. His new codename is ‘Volga.’”

Volga... That’s the name of the river that flows through Russia and gives it life. Arakawa is giving us life, so it’s a fine choice of name for him.

“Objective 1 is to ensure that Volga can escape from the combat zone. You got that? Whatever happens, even if the last man standing has to resort to suicide bombing, we’re sending Volga back to Japan! And for Objective 2... we make sure every last one of us gets out of this alive. Once we’ve been given asylum by Noa, we’re going to live out our lives however we please.”

It sounds crazy. Objective 1 goes against Objective 2. But I get it. We’ll protect Volga with our lives, but we’ll all get through this. It couldn’t be simpler. The pigs among the top brass have always had us fighting for such vague goals that the most we could hope for was to live to see another day. But now we have something to fight for.

“This is the communications team. We have confirmed release of hostages in front of hotel. All three are unharmed.”

Looks like that moron, Anton, is safe. It’s all thanks to Volga’s good heart. The pigs would have abandoned him and run off to Japan by themselves. Now that he’s free, it’s time to fight for our survival.

I turned up the volume on the radio and concentrated on the voice of the operator from the communications team.

“New World immediately began moving from the hotel site. Our basic radar has detected six planes. I believe these are the V/STOL transport planes that were reported. And— What?! This signal... I don’t believe it! The enemy’s powered suits are already surrounding the old city. I count—”

There must have been an EMP strike, because the radio suddenly stopped working. Now the only equipment left usable would be new devices equipped with high output electromagnetic wave jammers.

But they were underestimating us. The enemy was powerful, but if they thought this was enough to throw us into disarray, they had about as much of a clue as a single-celled organism. It was rare that we were ever able to make it through a battle with our radio communications working until the end. In fact, I couldn’t remember such a thing ever happening.

A question came to mind. I turned to Ivan who was busy wrapping a grenade in tape to prevent it from being set off by accident.

“Ivan, does Volga know the official name of our unit?”

“I’m not sure. I doubt he knows. If he knew, he’d relax and leave the fighting to us.”

Good point. Volga mustn’t know.

The official name of our unit was the “Prototype Reinforced Solder Solider Unit, Serp.”

We were the strongest special forces unit, born out of the Reinforced Soldier Project that had achieved genetic improvements and the Alice Project that had achieved an advancement in evolution.

In this day and age, our unit was the only remaining unit designed with the threat of nuclear war in mind.

The enemy had already started shelling us. I grinned as the subway tunnel around me shook.

New World might think of us as little more than bugs to be exterminated, but they’re about to realize that they’ve messed with the wrong people.

**

Kouki Arakawa’s Point of View

New World had begun their offensive. Each time a mortar shell hit the old Moscow Station area around me, I could hear the explosion and feel the building shake.

If the report we received from the communications team is correct, there must be a good number of powered suits surrounding us. Will we be able to hold out? Now that there’s no communication between squads, how are we going to fight back?

My concern must have been visible on my face.

“Volga, your father’s a colonel,” Captain Yulia said. “Did he teach you how modern battles are fought?”

“Well... the thing is... I’ve experienced a modern battle firsthand. a while ago, I took part in battles that used powered suits as the main weapons.”

“Before you were born, 150 years ago when there were no powered suits, do you know what kind of battles the people of this world fought?”

I don’t know what reference to use when it comes to talking about “this world” 150 years ago. I suppose there weren’t so many differences back when there were no powered suits. I’ll use the world where I spent my previous life as a reference...

“I think an air force would be used to gain air supremacy, and then ground forces would occupy crucial sites while receiving air support.”

“I’ll give you 7 out of 10 for that answer. In general, you have to consider the entire military, including the navy, but we’ll forget about that for now. The next question is: How does a nation fight when they are defending themselves against a nation with overwhelming power?”

I didn’t know where the captain was going with this.

A nation with overwhelming power? In that case, they can only use guerrilla warfare like we’re doing. But I don’t want to hear about military tactics and strategy; I want to know how we’ll contact squads on the ground. Wait. There were more things that weren’t around 150 years ago. The personal terminal I’m holding, for one thing... Those didn’t exist in my previous world. Instead of modern terminals, everyone used cellular phones. That’s it! I’ve got it.

“Telephone lines...”

“Now you get a 10 out of 10. You geniuses really are something else. Most people wouldn’t even think of the telephone. I’m surprised that a researcher like you would know about devices from the past like telephones.”

I didn’t know how many years it had been since people stopped using telephone lines. According to an article I’d seen in my mom’s room, all civilian voice-based communications had transitioned to using satellite networks by the year 2020, with the exception of a very small number of emergency lines. Roughly 80 years had gone by since then, and now it was unusual for anyone my age to know anything about telephones.

“I was going to ask you a lot more questions, but you’ve reached the answer already, so I don’t have to,” she said. “The people in our communications team are trying to put our squads in communication with each other using the telephone lines that run throughout the old city. Everything is going as we expected, so don’t look so worried. Now, there’s something else I’d like to ask you.”

“What is it?”

“You said something a while ago. Noa was part of an inter-racial war?”

“I can’t share the details without permission from my mom, but it all starts with Noa’s formation...”

I explained the true nature of Noa to the captain. I gave her a long-winded description of how the search for a safe place had increased in scale, and how the Hakone base wasn’t Noa’s main headquarters, but was actually a fortress built to protect a gate connecting to another world. If she was going to join Noa, she’d eventually learn everything anyway, so I saw no reason to hold back.

I went on to tell her about our dealings with non-human races in the world of G-88 and about the multi-race coalition.

The captain listened, frowning the whole time.

Talking while ignoring the sounds of the mortar shells striking nearby helped me to feel better about this bizarre situation I’d found myself in. I gradually became calm once more.

The captain probably started asking me questions because she knew talking would help me calm down. And here I thought I was the one saving her...

**

Captain Yulia’s Point of View

“This is a little hard to believe...” I couldn’t help saying as soon as Arakawa was finished with his story.

Even so, the boy in front of me smiled warmly without showing any sign of irritation.

It was likely that everything he had just said was true. If he’d been lying, he would have come up with something more believable, and the fact that he was now calm was further proof.

Someone who’d never been on a battlefield would never be able to speak calmly while shells were raining down around them. I was forced to conclude that it was all true.

Just as I closed my eyes to think, one of my subordinates placed a nostalgic-looking telephone on the desk in front of me.

“Captain, we’ve established a wired connection.”

This is no good. I have to concentrate on the battle in front of me...

To regain my focus, I ordered the communications team to give me an update on the status of each squad.

“Squad 1 and Squad 2 have not sighted the enemy. They are on standby.”

“We have contact from the sniper outpost squad. They have sighted an enemy company of powered suits and are moving into offensive positions.”

So the sniper squad is about to engage? I noted. If we can just keep their attention away from this place, we can move to the next stage of the operation. But what happened to Squad 3? Why haven’t they contacted us?

“Give me the status of Squad 3!” I called.

“Please wait a moment, I’m establishing a connection,” the com officer said. “Squad 3 is engaging enemy powered suits! The enemy unit is on the scale of a platoon, so Squad 3 is feigning retreat while moving to detonation point 1-3 as scheduled.”

The idiots are really falling for it... Keep chasing them, and it’ll be the end of the line for you.

Powered suits couldn’t be destroyed using ordinary explosives, but detonating explosives in a subway tunnel would leave the powered suits buried under the rubble and unable to move.

We would have to reduce the enemy’s power as much as possible before they saw through our plans, otherwise our situation would rapidly worsen.

It’s about time I give orders regarding the helicopter...

“Prepare the helicopter! Make sure it looks like a good prize. It’s completely useless to us, but it should look like a valuable target. Naturally, it should be surrounded by explosives.”

“Understood!”

All right... Looks like we’re still in control of the battlefield. Now we need to find the right timing to dispatch Arakawa. Come to think of it, he’s been quiet for a while now.

Feeling worried, I began to look around for him, and saw him concentrating on a pamphlet that must have been dropped in the station.

“What’s up?” I asked him.

“...Operation Highjump. The German Third Reich,” he murmured. “No, it can’t be...”

“What are you talking about?”

He looked at me, and I saw the fear on his face. “Captain, did the United States of this world send their military to Antarctica sometime after 1940? It doesn’t matter whether it was done in public or in secret!”

“Antarctica? If I remember rightly, they went there in 1948 and 1951. The expedition made in 1951 was kept secret, I believe.”

“On what scale?”

“I don’t know the details, but there are records of a large force including several aircraft carriers being sent out. Why does it matter?”

“Give me a moment. I’m thinking it through. I have one more question... My mom will probably ask the United Nations Army to rescue us. I suspect several nations will participate in the rescue to earn favor with Noa. In that case the main force will be—”

“The United States Army.”

Arakawa closed his eyes and seemed to be thinking hard about something.

Meanwhile, we continued to receive constant updates from each squad.

We’ve just barely got the upper hand here, I thought. Putting up such a good fight against powered suits could easily land us in the military history books.

After about five minutes, Arakawa spoke. “Captain, there’s no escape for us,” he said, sounding quite certain. “I think— no, I’m sure— we’ll all be killed.”

“What are you talking about?” I demanded, glaring at him.

My glare didn’t scare him. The genius calmly told me the reason.

And that was when I finally learned the truth.

That was how I came to realize why they called this boy a monster.

**

Kouki Arakawa’s Point of View

“What are you talking about?” the captain asked while glaring at me.

The fact that her right eye was mechanical made her look all the more frightening, but this was no time to worry about that.

How do I explain something like this?

I doubted she’d believe me if I told her I had memories of my past life. And what I was thinking of was mostly just speculation. But when I thought about the scale of New World, I knew I was right.

I suppose I’ll get my thoughts straight while talking about it with the captain.

“Captain, did you know that the Germans had a huge submarine fleet during the Second World War?”

“Yes, I did. But the war came to a quick conclusion, so they must have been barely used. What does that have to do with anything?”

“The German submarine fleet intended to make their base in Antarctica. However, that information soon leaked out to allied forces. An attack led by the United States on the base was planned. It was known as Operation Highjump.”

The captain took a drink from a bottle of water and then nodded to urge me to continue.

“But it’s like you said. The fleet was never used in actual combat because the war quickly reached a quick conclusion. It’s also rumored that the submarine base was never built. Despite that, the United States still sent their forces there...”

In a world that never had a Cold War, there would have been no need to train in artic warfare on Antarctica, unlike in my previous world. With no need for such training, no one would have needed to do anything as expensive as going to the South Pole.

“They’ve claimed that base as their own?” she asked.

“I can’t be certain,” I said. “They might have claimed it, or they might have completed its construction. In any case, I think there’s a base there. And that base must be New World’s main headquarters.”

“How can you be sure?”

“They have to be somewhere that not even my mom, Noa, my dad, and the United Nations could find them. Wouldn’t it be the perfect place? They could accommodate at least as many personnel as Noa. It would be possible to construct a facility deep underground where reconnaissance satellites wouldn’t see them. And New World could also accommodate an impressively large fleet of submarines there.”

“So the United States is conspiring with New World?”

“I can’t be sure about that, either. But I suspect New World has members quite high up in the United States government. Other nations also have observation stations in the area, so the United States might not be the only traitor. If we want to understand New World’s aims, we should take this into consideration.”

I hadn’t been able to understand New World’s intentions at all so far. If they had just wanted to kill me, they could have had a sniper take me out from far away. The same was true of Alice. Instead, they had halfheartedly abducted her and then let her escape. Even now, they were halfheartedly fighting us and with a halfhearted offensive.

It’s beyond me. This whole situation is too much for someone with my level of intelligence.

I regretted having been too proud to let my mom deal with everything. As if my lack of rest had suddenly caught up to me, I began to feel dizzy and had to sit on a nearby chair.

The captain lit a cigar and asked me, “A moment ago you mentioned ‘the United States of this world.’ What did that mean?”

I said that...? Damn. It’s hard to think straight after going two days without sleep. Not that it matters anymore. We’re surrounded by New World and the United States Army. The situation is completely hopeless. What’s the harm in sharing the more surprising details of my life in my final moments?

“Captain, did you read the research article that Dr. Sandra published?” I asked.

“You mean the crackpot one about reincarnation of souls?”

“That’s the one. Let’s forget about whether it’s a crackpot theory or not. It is accurate. I can’t give you conclusive proof, but I do have evidence to support it.”

The captain eyed me suspiciously. But then her expression turned to surprise, and the cigar she was holding fell to the ground.

Looks like she figured it out.

“Before we fight alongside each other, let me reveal my true nature to you. I, Kouki Arakawa, was reincarnated after having lived my life in another world.”

For a few seconds the captain was completely frozen, but then she suddenly started laughing.

I knew it. She doesn’t believe me.

Everything I was saying was true, but if the captain came at me yelling, “You expect me to believe that crap?” I would probably wet myself.

“Heh heh...” she chuckled. “Ha ha ha! Now I see. Now I see why people call you a monster. You constructed the same theory as Sandra in another world, and then you tested it on yourself. Now you’ve been born to the most eminent researcher in this world: Miki Arakawa. You were already a genius, but then you were able to learn a completely new body of scientific knowledge from a genius of another world. So that’s what makes you a monster.”

“No... Captain...”

“Say no more. I can see from the look on your face that you want this to remain secret. I’m guessing you haven’t even told your parents. Well, I give you my word, your secret is safe with me.”

Now what? The captain has jumped to her own conclusions, and now she’s happily accepted everything. If I tell her, “I’m just an ordinary person, I’ve never been exceptional, and my mom knows everything already,” I feel like she’ll yell at me. But at the same time, I feel like I should tell her the truth.

As I was frantically trying to decide, we heard crashing sound from inside the building.

The captain’s smile vanished. She removed her gun from its holster and stared up at a ventilation shaft.

“Is it... the enemy?” I asked.

“I don’t know. Stay back.”

I nervously hid behind the captain’s back and stared at the ventilation shaft over her shoulder.

“I’m coming down,” said a voice. “Don’t shoot me.”

Whoever it was spoke Russian but with a terrible English accent.

I know that voice.

There was another crashing sound as a duffel bag landed on the ground in front of us. A woman climbed out after it. She was covered in dirt, presumably from crawling through the old ventilation shaft.

When I saw her face, I couldn’t help but cry out: “Clare?!”

“That’s right,” she said. “You thought you could escape me, Kouki? Thanks to you, I’ve been swimming through the sea and spelunking through caves. Let’s go straight home so I can shower.”

After two days without seeing Clare, she was now standing in front of me with her usual smile, wearing a combat uniform instead of her usual suit.

**

Clare’s Point of View — 48 Hours Earlier

“There’s not much time, so I’ll be brief,” I said. “If anything is unclear, ask Anton about it later. I’m currently flying at an altitude of 13,000 meters, but I’ve been intercepted by an aircraft of unknown origin. It’s not responding to my transmissions or my IFF system. The unknown aircraft has launched air-to-air missiles. I’m taking evasive action, but I expect I’ll be shot down. Kouki, Anton, please find a way to escape Russian territory without my help. I don’t care how you do it, Anton, but protect Kouki and get him back to Noa headquarters at the Hakone base. Clare out.”

After quickly explaining the general situation, I ended the transmission and hurried to the cockpit, which was full of the sound of the alarm.

“What’s the situation?” I demanded.

“Evasive action is in progress. Our missile defense system is active, but the attack is coming from beyond the horizon... It’s difficult to counter it with this aircraft’s defense systems.”

“Descend! Prepare for an emergency landing at sea.”

We’ll have to survive this attack before we can attempt any kind of landing... I reminded myself.

My thoughts focused on finding a way we might get out of this alive.

If the emergency landing succeeds, they’ll probably attack from—

“More unknown aircraft detected! At 10 o’clock... there are... 5, 12, no, 15 craft in total! Damn! Stealth planes?! High-speed projectiles are breaking off from the unknown aircraft! They’re probably missiles!”

“Evade them!”

“I can’t! There’s no time. The missiles are on us!”

I instinctively closed my eyes tight as I braced for the impact... but it didn’t happen. I could still hear the shrill sound of the alarm as I opened my eyes.

I was so tense that my throat had dried up, but I somehow managed to speak. “Did they miss?” I asked the pilot.

“No, the missiles passed close by us and then headed for the missiles fired by the unknown aircraft behind us.”

“We have a response from their identification on the friend or foe systems,” said a crew member. “The aircraft ahead are from the Russian Space Defense Forces.”

“They’ve shot down the missiles behind us,” another one added. “The unknown aircraft is moving away at high speed.”

They saved us? Why would the Russian military save us? And why would the Space Defense Forces have aircraft here? I don’t know what’s going on.

“The Space Defense Force craft are about to come flying alongside us,” the pilot reported.

I looked out of the window and saw a newly developed Russian aircraft flying by us. I’d only ever seen aircraft of that type pictured in reference data.

For some reason, there were no markings on the aircraft to indicate the country or unit it belonged to. The whole thing was jet black.

“Now I see...” I murmured.

The aircraft that had saved us wasn’t actually from the Russian space defense agency.

That means the next transmission we’ll receive should be...

“Expect a transmission to come through on the frequency of the Strategic Rocket Forces,” I ordered.

“But... Ah, there it is! A transmission from the Strategic Rocket Forces. This is—”

“Have we got a rendezvous point at sea?” I interrupted. “We need to abandon this aircraft! Have all crew members prepare to disembark!”

If my worst fears are true, Kouki is in great peril right now. If I’m not there to support him, he could be assassinated by the extraction team.

**

Clare’s Point of View — 4 Hours Earlier

After abandoning our aircraft and enjoying a swim in the sea, my subordinates and I were rescued by a powered suit carrier ship that appeared to be a Russian ship with all of its markings erased. After that, I was confined to quarters aboard the ship.

Based on the size of the room and the furnishings, the room I was in appeared to be the quarters of a high-ranking officer, so you could say they were showing me warm hospitality.

“Excuse me...”

There was a knock, and then the door to the room opened. The man who entered was wearing a military uniform bearing no rank insignia of any kind.

The man sat on a chair facing me and produced a file that he was carrying with him.

“Can I ask a question before I take a look at that?” I asked him.

“Please go ahead.” The man put the file down on top of a desk and looked at me somewhat nervously.

“I want to check that I’m right about something,” I said. “You speak fluent English with no accent, your aircraft and this powered suit carrier have no identifying marks, and there’s no insignia on your uniform. You must be with the Russian Internal Troops. Your unit must be a secret unit attached to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Is this true?”

He was silent.

“Based on the scale of this unit, I’m guessing this is the National Security Unit?”

The man stayed silent. I took this as an affirmative.

I picked up the file on the desk and looked through it. It contained a lot of detailed information that hadn’t been available to me during my confinement. The man then gestured towards a personal terminal he was carrying so I could access digital records on the memory chip that was included in the file.

I don’t know what’s on this thing. I’m glad I can avoid putting it in my own terminal.

“Please go ahead,” he said.

I placed the memory chip into the terminal and accessed the data. It contained details about the Alice Project, records of the Chernobog combat unit that Kouki was working with, and detailed documents regarding the unit’s members.

I need to take this memory chip back with me...

“Would it be possible for me to keep this memory chip?” I asked.

“Please do. We’d also like to give you a map of an underground tunnel of Old Moscow prepared by the administration, which is where Mr. Arakawa is currently under siege. We can also prepare a powered suit with counter-EMP capabilities and some combat gear that we think you’ll need.”

“This is all very kind of you. What do you hope to get out of this?”

“We hope we can rescue someone who this world considers precious.”

“You’re misleading your own president into thinking our aircraft was shot down just for the sake of rescuing this important person? I find that hard to believe.”

The man was clearly troubled by this. He looked up at the ceiling and sighed before he said anything. “Our main concern is the long-term survival of our nation. The nation is currently in a deep crisis. A terrorist organization known as New World has found their way into the high offices of our government. There have already been several high-ranking officers arrested on the orders of government officials. If the information known to Mr. Arakawa were to leak out, we would go from being recognized as a federation to being considered a rogue state. If we were suppressed by force—”

“The United Nations would get involved... and Kouki’s mother, Miki Arakawa, has an immeasurable influence over the United Nations.”

“Exactly. In that case, a third world war would break out. In the worst-case scenario, the Russian Federation would be pitted against the entire world. Even if Mr. Arakawa is able to escape by himself, we anticipate there’ll be devastating retaliatory measures taken against us.”

Indeed, it was clear from his data that the only reason New World had been able to break through our forces surrounding the island during Alice’s abduction was because of having support from the Russian Navy. If Kouki found out about this, he would no doubt take retaliatory measures, just as this man said.

On top of that, our methods had changed lately. If we were to broadcast propaganda over Noa’s satellite network to paint Russia as the enemy, we could manipulate the public opinion however we wished. Judging by the effect our broadcasts had on sales of cosmetics, you could say that we were capable of something close to brainwashing.

“I understand,” I said. “Let me ask again: What’s your goal and what would you have me do?”

“Our goal is to rescue Mr. Arakawa and send him home safely. We will deliver all documents related to the Alice Project and New World, along with all relevant personnel. Any officers in the Internal Security Unit found to be affiliated with New World will also be handed over to Noa. In exchange, we ask that you refrain from taking retaliatory measures.”

“Very well. I accept your conditions.”

The man relaxed.

Now I need to study these documents to find a way to get Kouki out... I pondered. If I use these underground passages and then blast a passage halfway to Kouki’s location, I can travel the rest of the way to the underground subway station using the ventilation shafts.

The problem is what to do after that. To round up all members of Chernobog and escape, I’ll probably need immediate assistance from the National Security Unit.

Once I’ve rendezvoused with Kouki, I could contact Miki and I could ask her to dispatch the commander and his unit...

**

Kouki Arakawa’s Point of View

While Clare was introducing herself to the captain and explaining what had happened to her, I went over the situation in my head once more.

It seemed that New World had found their way into positions of power in more countries than just Russia and America. But I couldn’t understand why so many people would cooperate with New World despite the obvious risks. There was no benefit to doing so.

“Clare, how does New World reward their collaborators?” I asked.

“With money and anti-aging drugs.”

“You mean...”

“Yes. New World has developed a drug similar to the one Noa developed for the sake of living on G-88. But New World found a different use for it.”

Information about the drug described how it stopped time within the body. But the drug could only suppress aging; it couldn’t be stopped completely. And having to take such a drug continuously made it potentially harmful.

As I was thinking it over, Clare stopped working at her terminal and turned to look at me. “Kouki, New World’s technology, scientific knowledge, and personnel could be on the same level as Noa’s,” she said solemnly. “The difference is that none of our people are so sly or deceptive.”

“Noa’s fight won’t be over until you’ve defeated New World,” the captain added.

Clare smiled and corrected her. “Captain Yulia, aren’t you on Noa’s side? You should call it ‘our fight.’”

“You’re right. And we can’t afford to lose. What’ll we do? Right now, my subordinates are using delay tactics against the enemy to give Arakawa a chance to escape. But now you’re telling me that the extraction team we expected might include assassins from New World...”

“You’re right,” Clare said. “We need to change our plans. I think we can break through the forces encircling the old city by heading north through the underground passage that I used to get here. To pull it off, we’ll need to withdraw from each area simultaneously. It’ll be hard to determine the best timing without knowing what’s happening overhead.”

While the two of them were holding a strategy meeting, I suddenly had a realization about Clare’s story. She’d been constantly on the move, and hadn’t told the extraction team or research team that I was safe. That meant that New World might not be aware that Clare was still alive.

“Clare, do you think New World knows that you’re alive?” I asked.

“Good question... I don’t think they know. I’ll need to make contact with some people before we escape, so they’ll find out then. Captain, the equipment we have is...”

They really don’t know, I realized. What if I died here...? What if we tricked New World into thinking I died here? What would they do? If their objective is to kill me, perhaps they’ll show their hand once they think they’ve succeeded. If we just knew what their objectives were, we could make plans to stop them... or at least my mom could make plans.

“Captain, is there somewhere safe where we can find supplies?” I asked. “It doesn’t matter how far away it is.”

“Hm... There’s a secret base in Chelyabinsk, Ural. Our allies in the National Security Unit control it, so I think it’s safe. Lieutenant Colonel, I’m sorry. If my soldiers die in battle, I can live with that, but I can’t deliberately sacrifice...”

It’s about 1,900 kilometers from Old Moscow to Chelyabinsk... If we can get onto Highway M5, it should be easy to get there, I reflected. First, we need to cause confusion to give us time to move. Me dying would be the most effective thing. This world is always misunderstanding me. For once, I should deliberately spread a misunderstanding throughout the world myself.

“Could I make a suggestion?” I asked. “I’ve got an idea.”

I waited for both of them to stop their discussion and look at me.

“Right now, we don’t fully understand New World’s intentions,” I said. “Allowing them to achieve their first primary objective could give us a chance to learn their true intentions. Let’s make it appear that everyone including me died in this battle, and then we’ll retreat to Chelyabinsk.”

“I see,” Clare said thoughtfully. “We’ll watch how New World acts after we’ve all died, and then use that to determine their intentions?”

“Right.”

“But how would they be sure that you’ve died in battle?” Captain Yulia asked. “We don’t have time to be dressing up corpses.”

“A while ago, you set off explosives within the subway station to slow down the enemy, right? Let’s set off all of our remaining explosives next time they attack. We can make this whole area cave in. They’ll be fairly sure that we’re dead, but the extraction team will definitely dig through the rubble to find our bodies. I’m sure the Russian government will also have the fire department, police department, and the military dig through the rubble so that my body can be returned to my mother.”

“So we’ll buy some time, and we’ll limit their movement at the same time,” Captain Yulia said. “Before the search even begins, the Russian military and the extraction team will have to fight New World. It’ll be total chaos. I didn’t realize there was such a devious mind behind that cute face of yours. I guess this is why they call you the demon child.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment. Well, what do you think?”

I thought it was the best plan we had, but the final decision would be up to Clare and the captain.

“This could work,” Captain Yulia said.

“I think it will work,” Clare agreed. “But I have one question.”

Clare was looking at me sternly.

I know... I know. I’m worried about that myself, but we’ll just have to believe in her.

“What about Miki?” Clare demanded. “Do you think she’ll stay calm if she learns you’ve died?”

“I’m sure she’ll continue to believe I’m alive until the body has been found and DNA tested. During the Arakawa particle incident, she never stopped believing I was still alive.”

“Very well,” said Clare. “We’ll consider this an acceptable level of uncertainty. Now, Captain, let’s begin planning our response to the next attack. Be ready to send word to your subordinates when the time comes.”

“Understood.”

As I watched the two of them hastily figure out the details of our strategy, my thoughts turned to my family and friends.

I’m sure a genius like Mom will see through my plan. She’ll know what to do. And I know Macho Man will stay calm and remain ready to sortie at any time. But what about Shingo and Aikawa? They’ll worry about me. And Alice... I’m sure she’ll cry.