√A Chapter 06: 【Reunion and Separation】 9/16/2030 11:08

√A Chapter 06: 【Reunion and Separation】 9/16/2030 11:08

Radiation Level: 2,852 mSv

Remaining AD: 0

Area 3, Outer Ring

Oxygen-Deficient Room

I hold my breath and descend the ladder into the deadly air, believing AD is somewhere in the room below. I jump the last few rungs and rake my eyes over the area. The room is cluttered with cardboard boxes. Tucked away in a corner is a medical box. I lunge for it and flip the lid. AD is inside! But only two!

Not enough!

I stuff the AD in my pocket and throw the medical box aside. Four more AD to go if I want to save everyone. Biting the inside of my cheek, I scour the room.

I consider returning to the engine room first, but I don’t want to risk letting the lethal gas inside by constantly opening and closing the airtight door. Searching until I can’t search anymore is my best bet.

But I can’t find a single AD even after flipping over every box and checking every nook and cranny.

Dammit all! Are there none here?!

My second round of anaerobic exercise is a test of extremely painful endurance. My heart feels like it’s about to burst, and my lungs crave oxygen like a bad addiction.

How soothing it would be to take just one breath. Pushing back the craving that could see me killed, I turn over more boxes. A medical box spills onto the ground from the last box I dumped. Throwing it open with shaky hands reveals five AD.

I found some! More was here!

With seven AD, I’ve secured everyone’s safety for another hour. I jam the AD into my pocket and start climbing the ladder.

But I have no strength left. Lack of oxygen to the brain causes my consciousness to fade. My arms feel heavier than lead, tears fill my eyes, and even my vision is going out.

Sh-Shit…I’m done for!

The strength leaves my arms. I’m starting to fall back from the ladder when someone grabs my hand.

Startled, I look up. Through my narrow vision I see Tachibana. She had opened the airtight door and caught my hand as it let go of the rung. She clenches her jaw and pulls me through the door with a voiceless scream.

Area 3, Attic

Engine Room

JUST as the airtight door seals behind me, I take a deep breath. Tachibana catches her own breath before saying, “Captain, are you all right?”

“Y-Yeah… Thanks, Tachibana…!” I say through ragged respiration as I pull the AD from my pockets. “Here, take this…AD! …Now we can save everyone!”

Tachibana’s brows snap together. I’m prepared for her usual stern lecture. “Good grief, you really are always so reckless…!” she says with a sweet smile. Her unexpected expression and comment catch me completely off guard.

“Y-You’re not going to scold me?”

“I don’t endorse heroics, but I can’t deny that your actions deserve merit this time.”

“Is…that…right? Good to hear.” Relief and joy well up inside me at the same time. I’ll admit I was being reckless, but I unquestionably took the necessary action to save everyone.

I clench my fists at the first sense of accomplishment I’ve felt since losing my memories. Tachibana is looking at me with kind eyes like a superior officer who takes pride and joy in her subordinates’ growth. It’s a tad embarrassing, but it doesn’t feel half bad.

After catching my breath, I take another look around the spacious but cluttered engine room. Pipes, steel beams, and cables run endlessly in all directions, with some connecting to giant machines placed in different locations in the room.

No doubt this is where the sprinkler system and power generators are housed. Each machine is letting out a low, eerie droning noise.

And Moribe, Yuuri, and Miss Ena are lying on the floor not too far away, while an exhausted Ukita is sitting on the floor beside them.

Tachibana removes her Vital Checker and wraps it around everyone’s wrists in order. I watch with bated breath as she monitors everyone’s blood pressure and temperature.

“…Examination completed. Everyone checks out as all green,” she reports with relief. “They are all unconscious, but they will recover with some rest.”

I breathe a huge sigh. “Phew! I’m glad everyone is okay… They don’t need antidotes or anything like that?”

“They will recover as long as they continue inhaling clean air. Oxygen-deficient air is extremely harmful to the human body, but it’s not poisonous.”

“Good. Then why don’t we start up this sprinkler system before they come to?”

“But where is it? This place is a maze…” Tachibana examines our surroundings.

True enough, there are pipes of various sizes and pieces of equipment strewn all over the place without rhyme or reason, making it impossible to tell where anything is. I survey the area in hopes of finding a blueprint somewhere and spot a small monitor on the wall.

“What’s that?”

Tachibana and I run over to the machine and read what’s written on the screen.

Electronics Manuals Screen Menu

○ Operation Manuals Overview

○ Emergency Power Generator Operation Manual

○ Switchboard Operation Manual

○ Pipe Maintenance / Inspection Manual

○ WX Particle Amplifier Operation Manual

○ Filtering Mechanism / Forced Circulation Pump Maintenance Manual

This appears to be an electronics manual used by the engineers stationed in the engine room.

“Hmm, it’s hard to tell what the contents are by the title alone,” Tachibana quietly observes.

“We’ve got no choice but to check them all.” I press the touch screen and change what’s on display, pulling up a graph of a cylindrical machine. The manual’s table of contents appears beneath it, but there’s nothing of use to us there. “Dang it all, is there no manual for the sprinkler system?” I swipe through the different screens at random.

“H-Hold on, you two…,” Ukita moans from where he’s still firmly planted on the floor.

“Ukita? You okay?” I look over my shoulder at him and drop my hand from the screen.

“I’ve been better, but I’ll manage.” He slowly gets to his feet and shakes his head. “Anyway, I know where the sprinkler system is. They showed it to me during orientation when I first started here.”

“Good to know. That’d be great. Tachibana, look after the others while we check it out.”

“Roger that. I’m sorry for the inconvenience, Mr. Ukita, but please show him the way.”

Ukita nods and staggers deeper into the room. I follow him on equally unsteady feet. We weave our way through the labyrinth of pipes and machinery on course for the back of the engine room. Before long he points out a large tank down the path in front of us.

“…If memory serves me right, that tank is filled with fire extinguishing agents. The sprinkler system and subventilation systems are located around here too.”

“I see. Hey, what’s that awfully thick pipe for?” Above the tank is a three-foot-thick pipe that crisscrosses near the ceiling.

“I believe that’s a coolant pipe for the reactor. It brings in water from the nearby lake.”

“I know!” I snap my fingers. “Couldn’t we go through that pipe to escape into the lake?!”

“That’s unfortunately impossible.”

“Why?”

“You heard me when I said it was a coolant pipe, right?” he says with an annoyed sigh. “Water is circulating through it at high speeds. If you break a hole in the pipe, water will burst out with all the force of a tidal wave, submerging the basement floors and killing everyone alive.”

“N-Not good. Is there a way to shut off the water flow?”

“Escape would still be impossible even if we stop it. It’s around five hundred and fifty yards to the lake from here. Think you can swim that far while holding your breath?”

“What if we used air tanks—”

“We don’t have enough for everyone, do we? Even if we magically did, the water used by the coolant pipe is superheated by the reactor. I believe it’s around sixty degrees Celsius. Not a temperature we can hope to survive.”

“Tch! And I thought it was such a good plan too…” Escape through the pipe seems impossible in a number of ways. My shoulders slump with disappointment.

“My thoughts also went straight to finding a way out via the pipe. The only reason I never mentioned it was because it wasn’t doable from the start. Though I already held this conversation with you before your bout of amnesia, Captain Kasasagi.”

“You did? Sorry, but I don’t remember that either. I’ve forgotten everything…”

“You mean you still braved the danger to get everyone AD in your unstable state?”

“Yeah. I feel like I have to make up for my lack of knowledge with my physical abilities.”

Ukita stares at me long and hard before finally settling for a snort. “…That’s indeed quite impressive of you. I never thanked you. You have my gratitude.” He smiles slightly. It looks like he’s finally accepted me. He suddenly stops before I can enjoy the moment. “Whoops, we’re there already.”

I look at the tank and see countless valves beside it. The valves are closed for some reason.

“Do you think they were running an inspection earlier than planned?”

“Hard to say now. At any rate, the sprinkler system should reactivate if we open the valves. The room filled with lethal gas should get ventilated as well.”

“Great! I’ll take care of opening the valves.” I turn them one after another. The tank begins to groan, and the pipes connected to it start vibrating at once. It sounds like the sprinkler system reactivated. “I hope this takes out the fires in Area N too…”

Ukita shakes his head. “It won’t. Sadly, the sprinklers in that area are controlled by a different system.”

“They are? Can’t do anything about that, then. Let’s go inform the others.”

“I’m going to stay here for a bit to confirm the system is operating smoothly.”

“Okay. Please do,” I say and leave Ukita behind.

When I return to the group, Yuuri is still lying on the floor, but Moribe and Miss Ena are up and about. “Ooh, you ladies are back with us?”

“Yes, sorry for the trouble…” Miss Ena bows her head.

“I-I’m so ashamed of myself, Captain… It’s an unthinkable disgrace for me to go down in a fire zone…,” Moribe weakly mutters.

I pat her on the shoulder. “What’re you talking about? We got that broken door open again thanks to you. There’s nothing for you to be ashamed of.”

“R-Really? You sure are being nice today, Captain!” Moribe smiles, her face stark white.

“In any event, it’s a real relief everyone is okay,” Tachibana joins in. “We have enough AD for another hour, and the sprinkler system kicked back on.”

The danger of being done in by the fires will drastically decrease now. Better yet, with the fires extinguished, we’ll finally be able to walk around normally.

“Hey, Tachibana? How long do you think it’ll take to put out the fires and vent the rooms?”

“Good question. I estimate about ten minutes.”

I hate to waste ten minutes in one place, but I’m starting to feel the burn of fatigue. If even I’m sensing it, the women and children must be even worse off.

“Well, why don’t we rest for ten minutes since Yuuri isn’t conscious yet either?” I suggest.

“I can agree to that plan. It’s not like we can move around right now anyway,” Tachibana says and sits on the floor.

And so, we decide to take a break in the engine room until the sprinkler system does its job throughout the facility.

Two hours’ worth of exhaustion washes over me the second I sit down. A sharp ache shoots through the ribs I banged up when the flashover blew me back. With how long the pain has lingered, I must’ve cracked a rib or two. Fatigue isn’t the only thing that’s been building up—so have my injuries.

“…How are you ladies faring?” I ask the women sitting in a circle with me.

“I’m as good as new—except for my numb fingertips.” Moribe shakes out her hands.

“Same here. I won’t have any complaints if I can rest a little more.” Miss Ena stretches her arms over her head.

Tachibana rubs her arms as she answers. “I can keep going as well. The numbness in my arms seems to have gone away after I injected AD.”

Then our fears were correct—Tachibana’s various health issues were caused by radiation damage.

“Then that proves AD works as advertised. I’m surprised it kicks in right away,” I note.

“It’s working too fast if you ask me. Perhaps the radiation’s negative effects and the drug’s effectiveness are just products of our imagination. A placebo effect, if you will.”

“Placebo or not, it’s better to be safe than sorry. We’ll be in bad shape if we don’t keep up the injections.” I glance at the Procyon. The reading has jumped even higher. “Look, it’s at 2,929 mSv now. Doesn’t seem like we have long before it passes the first danger standard of 4,000 mSv.”

“I see… There were people who stayed in an environment over 4,000 mSv to minimize damage during the Chernobyl disaster as well,” Tachibana says.

“What happened to them?”

“According to one theory, the mortality rate for all the workers who stayed was one hundred percent.”

Each person’s expression freezes.

Miss Ena quietly remarks, “…The longer I’ve been down here, the more I’ve grown indifferent to the reality of it, but we really are being exposed to a tremendous amount of radiation. I sure hope Tenkawa and the girls have access to AD.”

“Don’t panic, Miss Ena. The very fact we’ve been finding empty medical boxes and used AD means there’s a high chance they’ve been getting a hold of AD too.”

“Th-That’s true…” She offers a weary smile. Even someone who’d been so argumentative with us in the beginning has started to listen more now that exhaustion has caught up to her.

“…Hasn’t this been pretty tough on you, Miss Ena?”

“Honestly, it has been. Running around nonstop is taking a toll on me… And while I’m at it, I haven’t had a thing to eat since morning, so I’m getting hungry.”

Mentioning food makes me conscious of my own hunger. I don’t know when I last had something to eat, but my stomach feels empty.

“…The thirst is getting to me over hunger. My throat is dried out after inhaling smoke and running from fires. I want to get my hands on some water.”

“Please give up on that idea,” Tachibana scolds me.

“Huh? Why?”

“In all likelihood, the water within this facility has already been contaminated by radiation. Drinking contaminated water will expose your innards to radiation.”

“Seriously?”

“It’s called internal exposure. AD might not protect you at that point.”

That means we can’t even get a sip of water while we’re trapped in this facility. We have at least seven more hours to go before the lockdown lifts. Knowing that is extremely depressing and distressing.

“Oh my gosh, why did my life come to this?” Miss Ena groans in a gloomy voice. “I had such a peaceful life up until yesterday too. I guess it’s true what they say about how you never know what the future holds.”

Depression hangs heavily over us. Moribe and Tachibana force the conversation in a cheerful direction to stop the group from giving in to despair.

“C’mon, Ms. Tsubakiyama, let’s stop with all the gloom and doom talk. We’ll definitely rescue your students and get out of this hellhole.”

“Moribe’s right. I give you my word as a professional that we won’t let a single person die.”

Their encouragement strikes a chord with Miss Ena. She lowers her head and meekly mutters, “Thank you, both of you… And sorry for all the rude things I’ve said to you until now. I’ve been all talk and no action…”

Moribe’s eyes widen at the unusually modest teacher. “D-Don’t let it get you down, Ms. Tsubakiyama. Anyone would be on edge in our situation.”

“But I’ll be sure to listen to your instructions from now on.”

Moribe and Miss Ena have finally opened up to each other after being at odds since the moment they met. Relieved, I toss out an idea: “Well, since we have the time, why don’t we have a fun chat?”

“A fun chat? Okay, I can think of a good topic for that.” Miss Ena grins. “You were very cool back there, Captain Kasasagi! Hero of the hour for carrying two of us at once!”

“Oh, you were still conscious?”

“Barely. You were very manly and dreamy.”

“D-Dreamy? This coming from the woman who called me undependable?”

“Those are the types who come across all the more dreamy when they do something unexpected when it counts, no?”

Heat rises to my cheeks. But it’s not uncomfortable being complimented.

…Wow, she’s pretty cute when she’s not being standoffish. Did my face melt into a dorky smile by accident? Tachibana is shooting daggers at me with her eyes.

“Captain, please don’t grin like a lovesick boy while we’re on duty. It’s unbecoming of you.”

“U-Unbecoming?” My jaw drops.

Miss Ena giggles beside me. “Oh dear, is that you being jealous, Ms. Tachibana?”

“D-Don’t be foolish! Me, jealous? Never.” Red-faced, Tachibana falls silent.

“You’re off the mark with that one, Ms. Tsubakiyama,” Moribe cheerily chimes in. “My big sis here is a workaholic. She’s just bad at handling anything remotely romantic.”

I cock an eyebrow. “Hey, did you just call Tachibana your big sis? You don’t look like sisters and you have different last names. What am I missing here?”

Tachibana gasps and replies, “Ah, no…we just live next to each other and have hung out together since childhood. However, I have ordered her to call me lieutenant while on duty because I dislike our personal relationship coming up during work…”

“What’s the big deal? We’re on break. Right, Big Sis?” Moribe teases.

“And that’s why I always tell you to quit that. Sheesh!” Tachibana lets out an exasperated sigh and the rest of us laugh.

These are the first few minutes of peace we’ve had since coming to LABO.

Area 3

Engine Room

PEACE never lasts long. Ukita’s voice drags us all back to reality. “Hey, you guys! The sprinkler system is running normally. We should be good to descend to the rooms below soon!”

I can see him running toward us from the direction of the tank. Tachibana’s watch alarm suddenly goes off in a round of electronic beeps.

“You came back at the perfect moment, Ukita. It’s AD time,” I greet him and hand out AD to the group. Each person injects themselves and Tachibana administers the dose to Yuuri. Yuuri’s eyes snap open when she does—probably from the pain.

“U-Um? Where…are we…?” She sits up and restlessly darts her eyes around the room.

Moribe speaks to her with a friendly smile. “You don’t remember? You inhaled a gas and passed out.”

“I did?”

“You did. But you’re okay now. All thanks to our captain here for carrying you out of harm’s way.”

“He did…?” Yuuri looks uncertainly from Moribe to me before timidly saying, “U-Um…thank you very much, Captain.”

“Don’t mention it. Anyway, do you think you can walk yet, Yuuri?”

“Erm… Yes, I think I can.” She slowly rises to her feet and takes two, then three steps. She seems to be functioning okay.

“Okay, with Yuuri awake now, we can discuss our plan of action,” Tachibana says, just as relieved to see her well. “Firstly, with the fires inside the facility extinguished, our searches will be much safer. Our primary problem is that we haven’t found any other survivors after combing over most of the areas we can access.”

“Good point. I’d like to expand our search into Area 5 soon… But not much we can do without a Level 5 card.”

“Which is why I recommend we go to the places we have yet to investigate and prioritize finding another card. Such as Area 4’s outer ring that was swallowed in flames. Exploring was the least of our worries the last time we visited that area.”

“I’m all for that idea,” Ukita says, raising his voice in agreement with Tachibana’s suggestion. “There were probably researchers in Area 4 who had access to Area 5. It wouldn’t be strange for someone to have left their card behind in all the chaos of the evacuation.”

Then there’s hope. “Okay, gang, I know it’s hard after what we’ve endured, but let’s push through and get back to the search,” I encourage them.

“Okay.”

“All right.”

“Indeed.”

The three civilians give reassuring responses. Exhaustion is probably catching up to them by now, but nobody lets it show. What we just went through brought us closer. Overjoyed to have grown stronger as a group, I leave the engine room with the others.

Area 3, Outer Ring

Ladder Room

I descend the ladder into the room where I found AD. There’s no more smoke or lethal gas to worry about. Fire-extinguishing agents have been scattered around. It looks like the sprinkler system is running normally.

“Why don’t we check this room for a card first?” I suggest. “I was in such a rush to find AD last time, I didn’t stop to look for anything else.”

“Good idea. Please help us search the room, everyone.”

The group follows Tachibana’s orders and commences a thorough search of the room. We split into groups to dig through the piles of disorganized boxes. My eyes stop on a file I pulled out of a box in the corner. The letters are running because it was soaked by the fire-extinguishing agent, but I make out what I can.

All relevant parties are likely already aware of the fire that occurred in this facility two days ago. Although the worst possible outcome was averted at the last minute, there were inadequacies discovered in many syste■■■■■■■■■■■. This report compiles and summarizes a list of problems identified by the incident.

The cause of the fire is ■■■■■■ of Senior Fellow S. On April 12, S. had been appointed as an administrator of ■■■■■■. As a result, he had a great number of opportunities to come in direct contact with the research results ■■■■■■■.

About three months later, S. criminally took the generator gasoline stored in ■■■■■■■■■■ and ignited fifteen sectors within the facility ■■■■■■■; at the same time he set the amplifier to ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■,■■■■■■■■releasing ■■■■■■■. The motive is believed to be the death of S■■■■■■■■ and while this is nothing more than speculation ■■■■■■■■stealing the results.

(Note: these research results are ■■■■■■ designated as “N” among ■■■.)

Furthermore, while this is not directly related ■■■■■■■■■■■■, two ■■ had unfortunately sneaked into the facility during the day of the incident. ■■■■ to have found and exploited a hole in our security is ■■■■■■■■■.

This firmly proves that our security system is extremely faulty. As a result of ■■■■, two lives were lost.

We must learn a lesson from this incident. There is an urgent need to have the specifications of ■■■■se N reviewed and for the security syste■ to be enhanced. Otherwise, we may see a repeat of this horrible tragedy.

It appears to be a report on a fire that occurred in this lab in the past. If this part of my memory isn’t off, it’s currently the year 2030. A fire took place here nine years ago as well.

So they let that horrible tragedy repeat after all. If this report isn’t wrong, precious lives were lost during that incident too. That proves they never enhanced or fixed the problems in their security systems. Tch! I’ll just make sure more lives aren’t lost this time around.

With that oath, I rummage through more boxes but don’t come across any security cards. Neither do the others.

“No luck here. There isn’t any AD left or Level 5 cards lying around,” Tachibana says, as if she’s ready to give up on this room.

“Looks like it. Let’s make the most of our time and search Area 4 now,” I say and leave the room with the others.

Area 4, Outer Ring

WE’VE returned to Area 4’s outer ring. This block has been utterly desolated by the flashover’s explosive flames. Though the fire was put out, the walls and ceiling are charred, laying waste to the futuristic interior.

The entire floor is in ruins, but there are several doors along the blackened walls. It’s worth a look if the rooms are still intact.

Warning beeps have been going off from the Procyon for a while now. At 5,322 mSv, the radiation level here is much higher than the other areas.

Crud. The contamination is growing out of control in this block as we feared… But it’s at a level we can tolerate with AD.

Tachibana checks the readings before handing out orders. “All right, we are going to search this block in teams. Mr. Ukita and Yuuri will search the rooms on this half with me. Captain, Moribe, and Ms. Tsubakiyama are to take care of the other half and the elevator hall.”

“On it.”

We immediately get to work without argument.

My team combs the crispified floor. Anxiety eats away at me as I walk around. Just because the sprinkler system kicked on doesn’t guarantee the survivors are safe now. They might very well be dead already if they were trapped in any of the areas surrounded by fire.

Moribe must’ve been thinking the same thing because she speaks up in a paper-thin voice: “I’m worried about those kids… I wonder if Louise and the others are okay.”

“It is worrying, but if the security camera footage is anything to go by, they’re likely in Area 5 or deeper. The fires shouldn’t have reached there yet.”

“It’s not just the fires I’m worried about—it’s the radiation. I mean, isn’t the Procyon reading over 5,000 mSv now?”

It’s true that you don’t want to stick around long with exposure to the 4,000 to 8,000 mSv range of the first danger standard, even with AD. The reality still hasn’t settled in yet, but these are normally absurd radiation levels to be walking around in.

“…You’re right. We shouldn’t stay here too long either—especially me and Ms. Tachibana,” Miss Ena says dismally.

“Hmm? I understand why Tachibana shouldn’t, but why not you?”

“Did you already forget, Captain Kasasagi? I was down here without AD until you guys showed up.”

Moribe and I gasp. I’d forgotten that Miss Ena didn’t even know a meltdown had occurred until she met up with us.

“Whoa, hold up, Teach. Aren’t you putting yourself in serious danger?! I’ll let Tachibana know so you can skip out on searching this area—”

“Oh, don’t give me that load of crap. I’m not going to sit on my butt while everyone else is working.”

“…!” I closely study her face. She has more gumption than I gave her credit for. “…You’re amazing, Miss Ena. I’ve had the wrong impression of you all this time.”

“Flattery won’t get you anywhere with me. Anyway, let’s hurry and get this over with.”

“Y-Yeah.”

While we were chatting, we finished our search of this block. The elevator hall is up next. It’s located at the far end. The flashover didn’t damage the door. As we get closer to it, Moribe sniffs the air.

“Huh? What’s that smell?”

“Hmm?”

“You know, it smells like something delicious has been cooking—” Her expression instantly freezes over.

I catch a whiff of that smell too. On a conditioned reflex, saliva fills my mouth and my empty gut aches, rousing my appetite.

But an icy cold chills my spine. The delicious smell my nose caught a whiff of was—that of cooked meat.

…Oh God, I hope I’m wrong.

The smell is wafting from inside the elevator hall. Some sort of burnt meat is in there. The worst possible outcome races through my mind, my body trembling.

Miss Ena catches on and croaks, “C-Captain K-Kasasagi, the door…!”

“Y-Yeah…!” We nod to each other, and I resolutely open the door.

“Ahh…” A hollow moan comes from all three of us.

The elevator hall is completely untouched by the fires. It’s sparkling clean, to the point I wouldn’t have believed a fire had been raging outside it if I hadn’t witnessed it for myself.

But what lies deeper within is unmistakably the result of a fire: legs burned to charcoal, melted body fat dripping to the floor, a horribly charred hazmat suit, a burned fire axe gripped firmly in hand—my hunger instantly turns to nausea.

“H-Hiyama!” Moribe cries out.

That name tells me on the spot that he was our other teammate who’d come down to the basement floors.

My voice rips from the back of my throat. “HIYAMA! Hey, Hiyama!” I run over to him, but he doesn’t even twitch at me screaming his name. It doesn’t take long for another voice to echo behind me.

“Wh-What’s wrong?!” Lured by our shouts, Tachibana and her team come running over. They let out breathless cries and stop right in the doorway.

Paying them no attention, I touch Hiyama’s body. I can tell he’s completely stiff through the hazmat suit. He’s clearly dead.

“We’re too late… He’s already dead…,” I wrench out in a thin voice.

“I can’t believe it... We’ve even lost Hiyama…!” Tachibana moans.

I hear Moribe stifling her sobs. And yet, jerk that I am, I can’t grieve his loss either. I merely examine his body while feeling like crap. His charred legs have been bent into a strange shape at his knees.

His legs were broken?!

He’d probably been trying to escape from the fires until the bitter end. He came across the inferno in Area 4, and yet crawled his way to the elevator hall, trying to cling to whatever hope of living he had left—and then breathed his last here.

“Hiyama…!” I cry out his name, lamenting the death of a teammate I don’t even remember.

And lying next to his body as if it’s his last parting gift to us is—a Level 6 security card.