√A Chapter 04: 【Carnage and Corpses】 9/16/2030 10:12

√A Chapter 04: 【Carnage and Corpses】 9/16/2030 10:12

Radiation Level: 1,798 mSv

Remaining AD: 5

Between Area 3 and Area 4, Inner Ring

Connecting Passageway

CLENCHING my fists to stop from shaking, I take in every last detail of the gruesome spectacle spread in the bloody corridor before me. “Oh God, this is sick…”

The two corpses lying in a puddle of blood are dressed in black business suits. They likely worked at this facility. Their bodies are filled with holes from head to toe.

Were they shot with a…gun?

Taking a good look around reveals bullet holes in the walls and floor too. Seems like the work of a gun to me.

Blood oozes from the various-sized holes in their bodies, and their discolored innards spill out from the biggest hole ripped open in their stomachs. Gray matter seeps from their cracked skulls, leaving a slimy stain of indescribable color and smell on the floor.

“Ghh!” I instinctively look away from the grotesque way they had died. But the other corpse farther down the passageway—the remains of our teammate Dojima—was left in an even more baffling way.

His limbs are torqued in unnatural directions, and his neck has been snapped right around. His hazmat suit is torn and ripped in different spots, while his helmet lies in a broken heap beside him, exposing his dead face for all to see. A trail of blood streaks his right cheek under his gouged-out eye like red tears. Agony distorts his face, his tongue hanging from the corner of his mouth.

What the hell happened here?! Why have they been murdered in such a vicious way?!

This doesn’t look like the work of a human. Only a heartless monster would be capable of such carnage.

But this situation doesn’t make sense no matter who—or what—is responsible for it. Why were two pumped full of bullet holes, while the third was killed in a completely different manner?

“What the devil happened here?!” I rasp.

“I don’t know,” Tachibana answers in a tight voice. “However, it appears he came down to the basement to rescue survivors after all.”

I take another look at Dojima’s remains and see a broken tool on the ground next to him. Since it was burned black, I can only tell it’s a piece of pneumatic equipment like the engine cutter.

“What’s that?”

“A jackhammer… He probably brought it with him to break down walls and doors.”

I pick it up, but it’s been broken beyond repair. One of the bullets had shot out the motor and ignited the gasoline, causing it to explode. And two broken ampoules are lying right next to where it had been.

“There’s AD…!”

One has been smashed into pieces, like someone had stepped on it, while the other is still in its original form, but the container is cracked and leaking the liquid inside.

Moribe glances down at the AD and quietly notes, “That looks like the AD we were given by the facility… I wonder if Dojima was administering it to them.”

“He might’ve been. I bet he took these survivors under his wing and was trying to come up with an escape plan as well,” I conclude from the information available to us.

“Just like we are… But why’d he have to die?! He was always so full of life! Why did such a great and cheerful person get killed?!”

I have no words to offer Moribe as tears well in her eyes. I don’t feel sad. One of my squad members is lying there dead in front of me, but it doesn’t feel real. It’s like I’m watching a crime drama I have no connection to. Without any memories, my teammate’s death is no different from witnessing the death of a stranger. I’m disgusted by myself.

Tachibana gently wraps her arms around Moribe’s shoulders as the younger woman buries her face in her hands.

“We mustn’t dwell on this right now. Seeing as Hiyama’s body isn’t here, he should still be alive. We can still try to save him at least.”

“…Yeah.”

“Let’s hold a funeral for Dojima and the other two before we go… I can’t bring myself to leave them like this.”

Naturally, we can’t hold a proper funeral inside this facility. Even so, Tachibana moves the three bodies to the side of the passageway and quickly strips off some wallpaper to cover them. We put our hands together and pray for their souls to find peace, when a voice suddenly echoes down the passageway behind us.

“Hey, Captain Kasasagi! What in science’s name happened here?!”

“Wha-?!” I glance over my shoulder to see Ukita running this way. He probably came looking for us because we were taking too long to return.

He grabs me by the collar and starts yelling in my face. “Three men are dead, and the jackhammer’s been destroyed…! You know something, don’t you?!”

“H-How could I know anything?! Calm down, Ukita!”

“How could I possibly stay calm in this situa—” Before he can finish ranting and raving, a sorrowful shout echoes around the passageway.

“P-Please stop!” I turn my head to see Yuuri on the verge of tears. In a shaky voice, she begs us to quit. “D-Don’t fight! P-People died there, right? If something like that happens again…!” Her face is strained with fear, but a clear force of will burns in her eyes.

Rationality returns to Ukita’s eyes when he sees her. “I-I’m sorry… To think I of all people would lose my head like that…”

“Nah, you have a right to be upset… Did you know the deceased researchers?”

“Huh? N-No…I don’t know them at all.”

“You don’t?”

“This lab has a huge staff. The odds of ever seeing someone who doesn’t work in your area are extremely low.”

Something about his attitude and explanation doesn’t sit well with me. Why did he get so worked up if he doesn’t know them?

Miss Ena joins the conversation before I have a chance to figure it out. “Hey, can we get to the important question here? Why were they killed? Was someone trying to steal their AD?”

“Nope, I don’t think that was it. We found some AD in the passageway with them,” I say, eliminating that possibility.

“The bigger problem is the murder weapon. Why did the killer have a gun…?” Tachibana says, hesitantly voicing what she’s most concerned about.

Ukita’s eyes suddenly widen in shock. “E-Everyone, stay on guard! The killer might still be in this facility!”

“How?!”

“If those three were killed after the lockdown began, then that’d mean the killer was trapped inside LABO along with the rest of us!” His declaration electrifies the air between us.

I quickly argue against his theory. “Hold on, Ukita. It’s too soon to conclude that the killer’s in here with us. The killer should be just as scared of fire and radiation as we are. What reason would they have to slaughter a rescue worker like this?”

“That’s one way to think about it, but—”

“Plus, all of Dojima’s AD was purposefully destroyed. The killer would have to be out of their mind to break the AD if they killed Dojima and the researchers after the bulkheads lowered.”

“So you think the three of them were murdered before the lockdown?”

“I do. And if they were, that gives the killer plenty of time to escape after the murder. I don’t know what the killer’s objective was, but we should assume they got out—”

An electronic beeping noise suddenly echoes through the passageway, cutting me off.

Between Area 3 and Area 4, Inner Ring

Connecting Passageway

“WHAT’S that sound?!” I spin around to take in our full surroundings.

“Apologies. That’s my watch alarm. I set it to go off when we need our next dose of AD,” Tachibana says and clicks off the alarm.

I glance at my watch—it’s 10:16 am.

“I understand you are all very stressed out right now, but please take this time to inject yourselves with AD. I know some of you took AD less than an hour ago, but we should do this together to be on the safe side. Our next required dose will be at 11:16 am.” Tachibana hands out the AD, which Ukita and Miss Ena immediately inject into their arms. Only Yuuri refuses to inject herself. Tachibana frowns at her. “Yuuri, what’s the matter?”

“No…I still don’t want to do it…”

“You’re still saying that after everything that’s happened?! Very well, I hate that it has to come to this, but I’ll inject you instead!”

“N-No…”

Tachibana injects Yuuri with AD without hearing her out. Now we only have two AD. Tachibana, Moribe, and I exchange looks.

“We ran out damn fast… How do you want to handle this?” I ask.

“There’s no question here. Captain, Moribe, please inject yourselves with it,” Tachibana orders us, her mind made up.

“Wh-Why us?!”

“I can’t have you pushing yourself in your current state. And Moribe has the smallest body among us. So we should assume she has a weaker resistance to radiation.”

“B-But then what will you do?!”

“I will use this,” she says, picking something up from the floor. It’s the AD with a damaged ampoule that was with Dojima’s things. Less than half of the leaking liquid remains inside the cracked container.

“D-Don’t be a fool! You’re not seriously considering keeping your body protected with only half a dose, are you?”

“Will it protect me, Mr. Ukita?” Tachibana turns to Ukita for advice.

“Hmm… In most cases, if the drug’s dosage has been halved, the effects should be halved as well… Or it could be the effective time that’s halved instead. I honestly don’t know, as it hasn’t been tested.”

Moribe is horrified by what she’s heard. She’s checking the reading on the Procyon as she sputters, “W-Wait just a minute! It’s far too risky, Lieutenant! The Procyon is currently at a reading of 2,035 mSv and rising! It’s already at a life-threatening level as it is! If that AD doesn’t take effect, you’ll—”

“Do you have any better suggestions? We don’t have enough AD—that’s the cold, hard truth. If no one has any other ideas, I will be the one taking the damaged AD, no ifs or buts allowed.”

“But—”

“Don’t argue with me, Moribe!” Tachibana sharply cuts her off. Moribe flinches. “We’re being exposed to radiation as we speak! If you want to help me, please inject yourself with AD and continue searching for more!” Unwavering determination burns in her amber eyes. That’s enough to tell me it’ll be impossible to talk her out of it.

“…Moribe, let’s follow her orders.”

“O-Okay…”

Moribe and I reluctantly inject ourselves with AD, and Tachibana does the same with the damaged ampoule. The other three gravelly watch on.

“…I apologize for causing a scene,” Tachibana says to them, then takes control of the situation. “Let’s discuss our next move. With our supply of AD depleted, I would like to hurry along our search of Area 4. I want to make sure everyone is up for it, though.”

Everyone falls silent for a moment, but Miss Ena’s the first to break the silence. “O-Of course we are up for going with you! We can get the search over with faster with more people looking!”

“It seems dangerous out there, but probably safer than being alone,” Ukita agrees as well.

Yuuri hesitates for a long moment before finally muttering, “I-I’m coming too.”

It’ll be hard on them, but it’s a huge help to have them with us. After what’s happened, keeping all the survivors nearby is for the best.

“…All right, let’s get a move on, then, people.”

We nod to each other and set off for Area 4—leaving behind our squad member who died before he could realize his ambitions and the two survivors we failed to save in time.

Area 4, Inner Ring

WE pass through the connecting passageway and set foot inside Area 4’s inner ring. It’s a futuristic space completely unlike anywhere else we’ve been until now. The glossy blue walls end at an immaculate, polished black floor that seems to cover an expansive space as large as a 2,200-square-foot house.

In the middle of this ridiculously large floor is a square area surrounded by walls. At first glance, it looks like a giant blue box, but seeing as it has a door, it must be a room.

By all appearances, this room is the only one in this space. The only other things here are the connecting passage to the next area and the emergency staircase.

The Procyon is giving off a reading of 2,164 mSv. As we feared, the radiation levels are gradually growing, and there’s no telling how high they’ll go.

We have to find at least six more AD before 11:16 am or we’re doomed. We’ve got no time to grieve the loss of our squad member. That’s why Tachibana is putting on such a brave front too.

“—his is SIRIUS Commander Murakami. Kasasagi, do you read— …sagi, do you read me?” A voice suddenly emits from my PDA.

“…Ah!” It’s a transmission from the commander. He probably contacted me instead of Tachibana because she informed him that I was okay during the last transmission. I frantically pull out my PDA and respond. “Ah, ah! This is Kasasagi. I read you.”

“—sasagi…been trying to reach you for…—…finally got throu—” The radio waves have clearly gotten worse. Commander Murakami starts relaying orders through broken clips. “—port your status.”

“R-Right. We found bodies inside the facility!” I give my report over the unstable transmission, informing him about the three dead bodies we discovered, how one of the corpses belonged to Dojima, and how they looked like they were murdered with a gun. “…The killer might have escaped to the surface. Please investigate if anyone who left the facility had a gun on them.”

“—check…for guns…right?! –derstood, I’ll handl—”

I’ve managed to get the abnormality of the situation across to the commander. The transmission’s almost at the end of its life, so Commander Murakami changes tactics and starts rattling off information as quick as he can.

“—of LABO’s…vivors…—…mong the survivors…—…protect…se—”

“I didn’t catch that, Commander! Please repeat!”

“—the girl—! …—…protect the girl…—…—”

“Protect a girl? You’re talking about Yuuri, right? Okay! I will!”

“—ounting on…—…sasagi…—…—”

The transmission dies there. I pocket the PDA and address the group. “…Did you guys catch all that? Let’s get Area 4’s search over with quick.”

Tachibana nods and puts a question to Ukita. “Mr. Ukita, what kind of area is this?”

“Oh, this is where we handle most of our data processing. There’s a supercomputer in here called Brain Cell.”

“A supercomputer? Where is it?”

“In that blue room right there. Let’s go inside,” Ukita says and shows us to the room.

Area 4, Inner Ring

System Control Room

AS soon as he opens the door, my eyes are filled with nothing but huge screens. About nine 100-inch computer screens cover the walls. Vast amounts of data are flickering on and off at dizzying speeds.

“Hey, Ukita, what does this supercomputer do?”

“It takes care of the batch processing for all the information handled by this lab. It manages everything from test data analysis and calculations to the infrastructure systems, such as electricity, lighting, HVAC, plumbing, and so on. Take a look at these numbers for example.” Ukita points to some numbers on the side of the biggest screen. A time stamp, indicated in military time as 18:16, and 14,581 mSv are listed beside each other. “This number ‘18:16’ refers to the time the lockdown is scheduled to lift at.”

“Roughly eight more hours to go, then. That more or less coincides with the commander’s estimate.”

“Indeed. He said our engineers are currently trying to restore the system from the surface, but…the data here is calculating ‘the time it will take for repairs to be done and for the lockdown to end.’”

“Is there any chance it’ll end before the estimated time?”

“Not easily. The mass majority of the processing necessary to cause a system restore is managed by Brain Cell here, which is what calculated the estimate in the first place. Artificial error may cause it to take longer, but I doubt they can do it any faster.”

“I see…” I sigh and bring up another question. “Okay, then what’s this 14,581 mSv number telling us?”

“Oh, that’s…” Ukita hesitates for a moment before answering me. “…the radiation level in Area N.”

“What?! The contamination in Area N is that high?!” I shudder.

The supercomputer’s basically telling us that close to 15,000 mSv of radiation is swirling around inside Area N. It’s become a death zone we can’t even step into without forfeiting our lives.

“…I guess LABO has its own Elephant’s Foot now,” Moribe quietly notes.

“Elephant’s Foot?”

“That’s what they called the mass of radioactive material expelled from the reactor during the Chernobyl disaster. It reached close to 80,000 mSv at its highest level. The numbers we’re dealing with are way better in comparison, but…we’re still screwed if we set foot in Area N.”

The difference between 15,000 mSv and 80,000 mSv doesn’t mean much when it comes to radiation. Either amount and anything in between is a lethal dose. Both Chernobyl and LABO are crazy worlds where abnormal levels of radiation roam freely.

“In any event, we should be glad that Brain Cell is still intact given our horrible situation,” Ukita mentions over our silence. “The security gates are controlled from here, so our search will be permanently finished if this ever breaks down.”

Latching on to what he said, Tachibana rushes to ask, “It controls the gates? Is it possible to open the bulkheads from here as well, then?”

“…!”

Her proposal gets wide-eyed looks out of the whole group.

“Can that be done, Ukita?”

“I don’t know! But it’s worth trying!” Ukita walks over to the control panel, saying, “I’ll try to figure it out. The rest of you should continue the search. There’s no point in us all wasting time here.”

“Good point! We’ll start with a search of Area 4 while you work on it.”

We leave the system control room and Ukita behind.

Tachibana gives orders once we’re back in the corridor. “All right, let’s break into two teams again.”

“We’re down to five people now. How do you want to split up?” I gesture to our group.

“Taking team balance into consideration, I will join up with Yuuri. Moribe, please take your team to search the outer ring.”

“Roger!”

“You’ve got it!”

“Okay!”

We promptly split into teams and get to work.

Area 4, Between the Inner and Outer Ring

Connecting Passageway

MORIBE, Miss Ena, and I head straight to the outer ring. We pass through the connecting passageway without issue and arrive at the gate. I jump back when I get to it—I can feel heat radiating from the door. It sounds like something is popping and crackling. All signs point to a fire burning on the other side.

“Moribe…will a backdraft occur if we open it?”

“I don’t think so,” Moribe answers, her expression serious. “It’s unlikely the entire outer ring has been completely sealed off… But it’s dangerous nonetheless. Please stand back, you two.”

Moribe has us back away a couple of feet before she carefully opens the security gate. An intensely hot wind slams into us from the other side.

Purgatory lies beyond the opened door. The entire spacious floor has gone up in flames, and the air is filled with plumes of copious black smoke. Fire devours the floor, walls, and ceiling, and sparks are flying everywhere. Oppressive heat pours off it in waves.

“H-Holy crap! Don’t we need to get Tachibana over here for this?” Right after I say that, the Procyon lets off a shrill beeping noise in my pocket. Startled, I look at its display and see a reading of 4,331 mSv—that’s over the first danger standard! “Wh-What the hell?! Has this area been overrun with radiation?!” I shout over the roaring fire.

“Don’t panic, Captain!” Moribe shouts back. “That number shouldn’t be a problem with AD!”

“R-Right. Then we’d better put out this fire—” I turn my eyes toward the rolling flames and sharply inhale.

A blonde girl is standing on the other side of the hungry inferno.

“Ah…!” The girl and I both let out a startled gasp. She freezes in place and carefully studies us like a deer caught in the headlights.

“M-Miss Sannomiya?!” Miss Ena cries out in surprise.

I recognize that name. Louise Yui Sannomiya is the name of one of the high school students trapped inside LABO. Her blonde hair cascades to her waist, complementing her almost transparent white skin. She has the beauty of a French doll, but there’s a sharp glint in her blue eyes and an unforgiving expression on her hardened face. I assume the outfit she has on is the uniform from the high school she attends. She’s wearing a short white skirt and dark-blue blazer. Dark-red blood is oozing from her left shoulder.

“Are you hurt?! Can you walk? Come over here if you’re able to!” I shout as loud as I can so that she’ll hear me, but she turns on her heel and runs for it. I doubt my eyes. “Wh-Why is she running away?! Does she speak a different language?!”

“She speaks perfect English and Japanese!” Miss Ena points out.

“Enough chitchat! We need to go after her, Captain!”

“Y-Yeah! Wait here, Miss Ena!”

We have Miss Ena wait on the safe side of the gate, and we pursue the girl. She’s weaving her way through the gaps in the flames to escape. We frantically chase her while enduring the overbearing heat and suffocating levels of smoke.

“Wait, girl! Why are you running away?! We’re rescue workers! We came to save you!”

My shouts do nothing to slow her feet. She flees without looking back.

Our game of chase eventually takes us to the security gate leading into Area 5. The girl pulls out a security card and swipes it through the slot. The gate pops open and she disappears into the passageway beyond it.

She has a Level 5 or higher card?! Where did she get that?!

The gate is closing behind her. I speed up to follow her through when—a voice suddenly reverberates in my head.

<Stop! Don’t follow her!>

What the?!

It’s the same voice I heard before—the one that echoed in my head when I was trying to save Yuuri. And yet it’s trying to stop me from rescuing this girl.

<Don’t pursue her! Stop where you are!>

“Sh-Shut the hell up!” I shake off the voice’s warning and chase after the girl. But crippling pain courses through my head a second later. “GUAH!”

I stagger and slam my hand against the wall to hold myself up. Light flashes in front of my eyes, sinking my vision into darkness.

Wh-What in the world is this pain?!

I’m in tremendous agony as if my very brain is being burned from the inside. Unable to bear it any longer, I collapse to the ground.

“Captain?!”

I hear Moribe’s voice in the distance as my consciousness rapidly plunges into nothingness.