√A Chapter 11: 【Past and Present】 9/16/2030 1:00

√A Chapter 11: 【Past and Present】 9/16/2030 1:00

Radiation Level: 4,744 mSv

Remaining AD: 30

Area 3, Inner Ring

THE explosion threw me and Tachibana against the floor.

“GUAGH! …Urghhh…” I force my consciousness back from the brink of darkness and peel my eyes open. Smoke and thick dust covers everything. The small fire seems to have ignited something, causing an explosion.

But there shouldn’t have been any explosive materials around…

“Ughh…” Someone moans beneath me—it’s Tachibana. I knocked her to the ground in a last-ditch effort to shield her.

“Are you okay, Tachibana?!”

“Y-Yes…but m-my leg…!”

I look down to see a scrap of iron about six inches long impaling her left thigh. Blood is seeping from the wound.

“I need to get you out of here!” I scoop her into my arms and carry her up the stairs and out of the stairwell.

“What happened? Are you both all right?!” Ukita asks in a panicked voice from where he’s pacing in front of the fire door.

“I’m fine, but Tachibana was injured.”

“Wh-What’s the state of her injury?”

“It’s not life-threatening, but her leg’s in bad shape. I want to treat it as soon as I put out the fire here.”

“That sounds time-consuming! Would you like me to continue searching the other areas in the meantime?”

“You sure? Will you be okay on your own?”

“I won’t go near anything dangerous. We’re running out of time and options.”

“You can say that again… All right, you have my permission to go. Take this with you.” I hand the Procyon over to Ukita.

“I’ll be going on ahead, then. Sorry for leaving you.”

“Don’t mention it. Be super careful out there.”

“Of course. Let’s meet up again in Area 2 so we don’t get separated too long,” Ukita says and takes off.

I drop my gaze to Tachibana. “Wait for me here, Tachibana. I’ll go put out the stairwell fire and be back in a jiffy.”

“Okay… I’m sorry for slowing you down…” I help her sit on the ground with her back against the wall before running back into the stairwell.

The explosion had weakened the strength of the flames. I make quick work of extinguishing the fire there and race back to her.

“All right, time to take care of you. Climb on.” I crouch down with my back to her.

“O-Okay…” She meekly leans her weight onto my back. I hurry to the nearest room, her weight and softness pressing up against me.

Area 3, Inner Ring

Surveillance Room

THE surveillance room was the closest to us. I lay Tachibana down on the floor.

“Sorry, but I have to roll up your pants,” I inform her before rolling up her left pant leg, revealing a painful wound that makes me grimace just looking at it. Her white thigh is drenched in bright-red blood. It’s too wet to apply the Chiron. “It doesn’t look good, Tachibana. I have to take you to the infirmary!”

“No, you don’t. It didn’t hit an artery, so…you can perform adequate treatment right here.”

“You need stitches—”

“You need training to properly stitch a wound closed. So, take this instead…” With shaking hands, Tachibana pulls what looks like a stapler from her pocket. “It’s a surgical stapler… Please use it to close the wound.”

“O-Okay.” Resolved to do what it takes, I accept the device from her. I press it against her wound and push down the lever. Her expression contorts with the click of the staple snapping into place. “Are you all right?”

“D-Don’t ask! Just do the next one… I can tolerate it…!” Tachibana whimpers with her eyes squeezed shut.

I shove my guilt into a corner and snap staple after staple into the wound. Seven staples later, the wound is closed. I rub about half a tube of Chiron onto it next, cleanly stopping her blood loss.

“All done.”

“Th-Thank you…”

“Still hurt like hell?”

“Somewhat… But it’s within tolerable limits.”

So she says, but I’m still worried about her. My staring brings a wistful smile to her lips. “…This makes me kind of nostalgic.”

“For what?”

“It reminds me of when I first joined SIRIUS. I frequently got injured like this and received firm scoldings from you… You often said, ‘You’re so reckless I can’t bear to watch.’”

“Huh. I’m surprised you went through a phase like that, too, Tachibana,” I unintentionally mention as if it’s not a memory associated with me. Tachibana’s expression darkens.

“…Captain, do you truly not remember anything?”

“Hmm?”

“How about your memories with me? Have you still not recalled any of them?” Tachibana pleads with her eyes.

“S-Sorry. I honestly can’t remember most stuff,” I confide the honest truth.

“…Is that…so?” Tachibana doesn’t say another word.

She’s acting a little odd. No sooner do I think that than a scene that’s not here suddenly flashes into my mind.

☢☢☢☢☢☢☢☢☢☢

I’m somewhere that looks like a public park. I can see Tachibana standing on the green lawn under the bright sunlight. She’s wearing a white blouse and navy skirt, not the SIRIUS uniform. She gives a little spin and self-consciously asks, “Um, does it look weird on me? I haven’t worn a skirt in ages…”

Someone answers her. “Not at all. You look really nice, Kazami.” The man who said that has the same voice as me.

Tachibana blushes. She briefly glances my way to hide her shyness and says, “…Th-Then let’s go. The movie will start without us.”

☢☢☢☢☢☢☢☢☢☢

That scene plays in front of my eyes and vanishes like a daydream.

Wh-What was that just now? A memory from my past? From when?

Tachibana peers into my perplexed eyes. “What’s the matter, Captain?”

“Nothing. One of my memories seems to have resurfaced, is all. A memory of you wearing a skirt…”

“Huh?! I-Is that from when—” Tachibana trails off. She clearly has an idea what I’m referring to.

“You know what I’m talking about? Please tell me what that was a memory of!”

“I-I know about it, but…that’s so cruel of you! Why did you have to go and remember that moment over something else?!” She’s blushing.

Her reaction pulls me up short. After a few seconds, I come to a certain conclusion that I’d never considered until now. “S-Say, Tachibana…could it be possible that we were dating?”

My question draws an exasperated smile from her. “…You finally remembered.” Affection fills her voice.

I’m shaken more than ever. “A-Are we still a couple?”

“No, we broke up a long time ago.”

“I-I see.” Finding the right words escapes me. A long silence hangs between us before I work up the nerve to ask, “…Why did we break up?”

“We were too much alike. That’s what drew us together in the first place, but we were so similar it became painful to be together… That was probably why we had to break up.”

Tachibana did tell me that, before my amnesia, I used to be “an intellectual rescue worker who always made rational decisions no matter the crisis.” That would make us very similar types.

“…But man, I must’ve been a total dumbass to let you go. Women as amazing as you only come by once in a lifetime, after all.” I meant that as a compliment, but it makes her frown.

“Where did you pull that pick-up line from…? It sounds nothing like what you would say, Captain. You’ve never said things like that.”

“Huh. I didn’t? Well, maybe rattling my brain did some good in making me into a more honest man,” I sniffle, earning a couple of laughs from Tachibana. A comfortable mood fills the space between us. But we can’t revel in the moment all day. Too much is riding on us. “…Sorry, Tachibana, but I’d better get back to the search soon.”

“Oh, then I’ll join—”

“Don’t push yourself with that fresh injury. Rest here for a bit.”

“B-But—”

“No buts. You’re ‘too reckless for me to watch’ right now.” I borrow the words of my past self to keep her obstinacy in check.

“…Very well,” she meekly concedes. “I will obey orders, Captain.”

“Good girl. Return to the infirmary once you feel up to it. Do me a favor and check the unbroken surveillance camera footage for survivors in the meantime.”

“Yes, sir. You can entrust that duty to me.”

I accept the spare Procyon from Tachibana and make to leave the room, but she calls out to my back. “Captain, um—”

“Hmm? What’s up?”

“N-Never mind… Please be careful.”

“You’ve got it. Thanks.” I grin at her and head out.

Area 3, Inner Ring

I return to the stairwell to investigate what caused the explosion. I examine the whole length of the stairwell and don’t come across anything remotely like explosive or combustible materials. The fire extinguisher had given me the chills for some reason, so I check it out as well. But there’s not much for me to learn from it after it’s been blown to smithereens.

The explosion’s cause remains a mystery. It bothers me to no end, but time is not on our side, so I set aside my investigation and recommence the search.

I exit Area 3 and move to Area 2’s inner ring.

Tachibana and Moribe were the only ones who searched the floor where they set up the makeshift base. Hours have passed since then, and I can’t ignore the possibility survivors might’ve moved into the area.

A particular door catches my eye during the search. “‘Reference Room’?” I hadn’t seen this room before. Some of the reference materials in here might cover possible escape routes. Doesn’t hurt to check.

Bookshelves dominate most of the sixteen square foot space. Books and research papers tightly line the shelves.

An Introduction to the Informational Field Theory, by Dr. Miyoko Tenkawa

Elementary Particles, Information, and Consciousness, by Dr. Miyoko Tenkawa

Supersensory Perception Synchronization Hypothesis, by A. Courbet

Cerebrum: Labyrinth of Physiology, by Ryoken Kashiwagi

A Well-understood Maxwell’s Demon, by Koki Sumida

Before Crime * After Days, by Chikage Sonomura

Particles, the Mind, and the Brain, by Shuuya Eriguchi

Reading the titles doesn’t help me even begin to understand what they’re about.

I was told that this facility is researching nuclear science and biology. About the only thing I grasped from those titles is that there are a lot of biology-related books. Although I do recognize one of the authors: Dr. Miyoko Tenkawa. That’s the name of Natsuhiko Tenkawa’s mother. When I saw her books, unease exploded inside me.

Why do I feel anxious just looking at a book? My heart is tripping an unsettling beat.

I hesitantly pick up the first book and flip through the pages until a particular portion jumps out at me.

☢☢☢

An Introduction to the Informational Field Theory

Dr. Miyoko Tenkawa

Foreword

I have always hypothesized that the fifth force that exists in the natural world is “information.” The problem is that there was too little material to prove it.

However, this hypothesis has been reappraised in a way I had never expected—through the rapid social revolution that has occurred in recent years.

Namely, through the manifestation of “BC (Beyond Communication).”

In recent years, the ability BC has been widely recognized by society. As a result, it can be said that the concept of “information” and how it is communicated has experienced great change. And we have since seen countless people possessing abilities that we would have never conceived as feasible mere years ago.

The abilities of BC can generally be classified into two groups.

The first is telepathy: the ability to send your voice directly into another’s mind.

The second is empathy: the ability to read the voice of another’s mind.

When using BC, the user’s “thought information” is not converted into another medium. They communicate with their target by sending that thought information directly into the target’s brain by using elementary particles as an intermediary.

This is consistent with what I proposed in my “informational field theory” thesis paper. Two completed unrelated fields of study—parapsychology and elementary particle physics—are connected by BC.

Furthermore, while there are still only a few telepathy users, empathy users are even rarer. But the true number of users isn’t what’s important here.

What’s important is that an ability such as empathy actually exists.

And also that the existence of “information” referred to as the “voice of the mind” formerly known only to the thinker can now be observed by others.

The emergence of BC is the first and greatest paradigm shift in the twenty-first century.

☢☢☢

“BC?!” I cry out in a trembling voice. The book’s foreword covers some surreal information.

Miss Ena had mentioned that ability when we first met. She said something about there being more than a few people who can use telepathy nowadays. But the other ability sounds more problematic to me.

Some people have the ability to read others’ minds? Shocked, I scan the bookshelf in front of me and find BC included in most of the titles. If this bookshelf is anything to go by, these abilities have become common knowledge.

Even if the rate of running into someone with that power is slim, it’s seems there are people in this world who can read minds. And now I finally understand the reason for my unease.

I get it… I was frightened of this empathy ability!

Maybe I had a traumatizing experience with this empathy before my amnesia. And even if I hadn’t, I don’t think there are too many people out there who’d be happy with someone spying on their intimate thoughts.

Which reminds me of the time Tachibana mentioned BC users are mostly kids for some reason, with adult users being extremely rare. If I’m to believe that, then there shouldn’t be any BC users among the adults in our group.

What about the kids? Does Natsuhiko, Mashiro, Salyu, or Yuuri have these abilities?

Miss Ena said Natsuhiko and the girls can use telepathy. Doesn’t that make it equally as likely that they can use empathy as well?

Thinking things over with this new information brings several doubts to mind. Why did Yuuri disappear on us? Why did Salyu run away from us? Why have we still not found any of the three high school students?

What if they have the ability to read minds?! Wouldn’t that mean the kids are running from us because someone in our group has evil intentions?! I hate to think that way, but it fits.

Say that theory is true: Who’s the one with evil intentions? I know it’s not me at least. I know myself. Does that mean one of the other four adults is out to do something horrible?

Suspicion only breeds more suspicion that eventually comes full circle.

Wait…maybe it’s the other way around? What if they’re the ones who are out to get us? Maybe, just maybe, these kids who can read minds have the motive and hatred to drive us into a corner? And if they do, can we even oppose them?

Going over it in my head is making me sick. As it is, we’re in one of the most toxic environments in the world, weird things are happening one after the other, people are dying—or being killed—and to top the craziness of this day off, there might be someone who can read our minds.

This whole crazy ordeal has surpassed the bounds of reasonable thought. I’m losing faith in everything around me.

“Dammit! What…should I trust?” I curse and stagger out of the reference room.

Area 2, Inner Ring

I glance at my watch in the corridor—it’s 1:15 pm. Almost time for the next AD dose. I inject one of the two AD I have on me.

Five hours to go until the lockdown lifts. We still have a long road ahead of us. My mental and physical exhaustion has been accumulating into unbearable levels, and my body feels heavier than lead.

I’m walking through the corridor sighing when I catch the sound of an unfamiliar voice.

“—n’t come any closer.”

The voice is coming from the corridor around the corner. Another voice echoes back.

“Wait. Why are you trying to run from us?”

That sounds like Miss Ena. Keeping myself hidden, I peek around the corner and spy on the people talking; it’s Miss Ena and—

Salyu?!

—the girl who ran from us in Area 4. Salyu, also known as Louise Yui Sannomiya.

I tamp down my surprise and strain my ears to hear their conversation.

“What are you even doing here, Miss Sannomiya?”

“Why are you here, Ena? You wouldn’t even give our tip-off the time of day yesterday.”

“That’s because…I told you then to leave the rest up to the adults, didn’t I?”

“And this is how you take care of it?” Salyu doesn’t act like a student speaking to her teacher.

“We can get into the details later. Come with me for now, Miss Sannomiya. It’s too dangerous for you to be on your own,” Miss Ena says persuasively.

“I refuse. Mashiro said, ‘Ena’s heart is closed off.’ I trust her judgment.”

“What? Miss Toba is with you?! Where is she?!”

“She’s not with me now.”

“…What do you mean?”

Salyu doesn’t answer.

Doubts surge within me again. Miss Ena’s heart is closed off? Has she been hiding something from her students? And what did she think needed to be left to the adults? Why isn’t Mashiro Toba with Salyu now?

“I acknowledge my heart is closed,” Miss Ena concedes, stopping the barrage of questions racing through my mind. “I have a reason for keeping it so… But I’m on your side. Won’t you trust me?”

Salyu stays silent for a long time before grimly warning, “…Let me give you one piece of advice out of consideration for Natsuhiko. Be careful around that ‘captain.’ He’s dangerous.”

An electric shock courses down my spine and I stupidly leap out from around the corner. “H-Hey! How am I dangerous?!”

Salyu and Miss Ena jump. Less than a second later, Salyu whips around and darts off like a rabbit.

“Ah! Wait, Miss Sannomiya!” Miss Ena sprints after her, but Salyu shoves her when she gets too close. “Kyaa!”

I catch her before she falls. Salyu takes that opening to flee into the connecting passageway leading to the outer ring. After steadying Miss Ena on her feet, I run full speed after her, but the security gate shuts in front of me.

“Ugh! Gimme a break, you piece of crap!” Miss Ena angrily slams her hands against the closed gate.

I swipe my card through the slot, reopening the gate. Salyu is already out of sight. “Let’s look for her! I bet she’s hiding in a nearby room!”

“O-Okay!”

We open every door we come across and search inside for Salyu.

“You care to explain why my student just warned me about you being dangerous, Captain?” Miss Ena probes while we’re looking.

“I have no clue. Sadly, it’s just as much of a mystery to me.”

“…I see.” Suspicion colors her voice. “But something definitely happened between you and her. Probably before your amnesia.”

“I agree, but I’m a rescue worker, you know? What do you think I did to her?”

“How should I know?”

We finish checking the floor before our conversation ends—and still no Salyu.

“Let’s search the other areas. We can ask her directly when we find her.”

“Before that…what happened to Tachibana and Ukita, Captain? Didn’t we decide to avoid traveling alone at all costs because of how dangerous it is?”

“Oh, as for that…” I explain about Tachibana’s injured leg and how Ukita went on ahead.

“I see. So you guys ran into trouble too…”

“You guys did as well?”

“Ms. Moribe was electrocuted by a shorted cable during our search of Area 6.”

“She was?! Is Moribe okay?!”

“Don’t worry. She’s currently resting in Area 6’s inner ring, but I believe she will recover soon.”

“That’s good to hear…”

Being told she’s fine does nothing to set my mind at ease. Something about Tachibana and Moribe getting hurt one after the other is very unsettling. It’s almost as if an “invisible enemy” is lurking in the shadows. But mentioning that aloud will only incite fear in the others. I’ve decided to give priority to urgent matters over theories.

“At any rate, finding Salyu’s the most important thing right now. She might still be close.”

“…I hope so,” Miss Ena says with worry and runs at my side.

We’re currently in Area 2’s outer ring. Considering the location, Salyu should’ve run into Area 1 or Area 3. Before I can decide which direction to go, I hear a disturbing sound from the direction of Area 1.

“What was that…?!”

“It came from that way! Let’s hurry, Miss Ena!”

We take off in the direction of the noise.

Area 1, Inner Ring

DROPS of fresh blood are splattered all over the floor in Area 1. Is it Salyu’s blood? The trail of blood continues into the stairwell.

“W-We have to find her, Captain Kasasagi!”

“Yeah!”

We storm into the stairwell.

The state of this emergency staircase hasn’t changed since its collapse. But Salyu isn’t here either. And at the end of the blood trail is—one of the blood transfusion packs from the infirmary.

“Wh-Why in the world is there a blood pack here?!” Miss Ena cries out in dismay.

The fire door slams behind us.

“What the?!” I whip around and dash to the door. It won’t open no matter how hard I try. It barely budges, as if something has been propped against it. “Dammit! We’ve been locked inside?! Was it a trap?!”

Panicking, we seek out another exit. Something uncanny catches my eye right away—a fire extinguisher left alone in a corner of the stairwell.

“A fire extinguisher—another damn fire extinguisher?!” A hollow voice slips past my lips.

“Captain Kasasagi? What’s wrong with fire extinguishers?” Miss Ena asks with a frown.

“I-I’m not sure… Just give me a minute to think, Miss Ena!”

Intense apprehension pierces my brain. A fire extinguisher had been at the scene when Tachibana was hurt by the explosion in the other stairwell. Is it possible that the fire extinguisher was the very cause of the explosion?

A hunch that’s little more than guesswork gets me to examine the fire extinguisher. When I flip it over, I see soldering marks on the bottom.

It was soldered? Something’s inside?!

I pick up a piece of debris from the staircase and work it into the soldered part until the bottom pulls off and something questionable appears within.

“Oh God!” This time, I’m terrified.

A cord is sticking out of what appears to be a digital clock, wrapped around several cylindrical objects that look a whole lot like TNT. I can tell at a glance that it’s a freaking time bomb.

Miss Ena lets out a horrified scream. “A-A bomb?! A bomb was planted inside the fire extinguisher?!” Just as she finishes voicing her shock, blood-red numbers flash onto the digital display. Together with a mechanical beeping, the number is counting down from sixty to fifty-nine, fifty-eight, fifty-seven!

“H-Holy crap! It just activated!”

“Can’t you disarm it, Captain Kasasagi?!”

“I don’t have that kind of training! We need to focus on getting out of here ASAP!”

“How are we supposed to do that?!” Flustered, Miss Ena does a sweep of the stairwell. The part of the spiral staircase leading up is a pile of rubble, and the fire door has been locked shut. The death countdown is heartlessly ticking away with no way out.

“DAMMIT!” I ram the door. “Open! Open up, you piece of shit!”

The fire door doesn’t budge. The time between beeps is growing shorter by the second.

Are we done for? Am I going to be blown up without knowing the answer to anything?!

“Move out of the way, Captain Kasasagi!” Miss Ena shouts and draws something from her skirt pocket.

I doubt my eyes—she’s holding a gleaming black pistol.

“You have a gun?!”

She pulls the trigger as I instinctively take a step back. Four silenced bangs take out the door’s hinges.

“Kick the door open! Now!”

“O-On it!” Flustered, I kick the door down with all my strength. And then I run like a madman with her.

How much time is left? Can’t be more than a few seconds.

I hear a high-pitched beep behind me.

“Get down, Miss Ena!”

“Agh!”

I throw myself into the corridor in order to shield her with my body.

Area 1, Outer Ring

OVER ten seconds have passed since the beeping stopped. But the only sound filling the corridor is our heavy breathing. We fearfully glance back at the stairwell from where we’ve fallen on top of each other on the floor.

“It didn’t explode…? Why?”

“I-I wish I knew… But it looks like luck is on our side.”

We wait a few minutes before moving, but the explosion never comes. I push to my feet and help Miss Ena up.

“Do you think it was a dud?” she asks in a voice drained of energy.

“It might’ve been, but something’s weird here… Something about it feels very different from everything else that’s gone wrong until now.”

Strange things have been happening left and right. The sprinkler system was off, the cargo lift’s control panel was busted—but unlike those times, I sense clear intentions to cause harm from this one.

But isn’t it too sloppy of a job for that?

Something that looks like a metal bar is lying on the ground next to the door I kicked down. Someone probably used that to jam the door. It feels too improvised for a trap.

And to top the weirdness off, the bomb in question didn’t detonate. If the person who set the trap was trying to kill us, they completely and utterly failed at it.

Is there a reason they didn’t spend much time prepping the trap? Did they give up on it halfway?

Approaching footsteps interrupts my thoughts. I jerk my head around to see Moribe running toward us from the other end of the corridor.

“Moribe?!”

“Did something happen, you two?! I heard a loud bang from over here!” Moribe’s voice is followed by another set of footsteps. Ukita is sprinting our way from the opposite direction.

“Oh, you’re all together?! I heard a jarring noise! What happened?”

They both said more or less the same exact thing. My eyes dart to Miss Ena’s hands. Moribe’s and Ukita’s eyes fly open in shock when they look at her.

“M-Ms. Tsubakiyama, where did you get that?!”

“I-Is that a p-pistol you have there?!”

Pressed by Moribe and Ukita for answers, Miss Ena recoils. “Ah, this is…well…” She fumbles over her answer.

Ukita jumps on her. “What’s the story with that pistol, hmm? Can it be…you’ve kept something that dangerous on you this whole time without telling us?”

“Wait! You’re jumping to conclusions! This isn’t my gun. I picked it up inside LABO!”

“You picked it up? Where?”

“In the room with the cargo lift. It was lying on the ground in the corner.”

“You really expect us to believe that? You mean you found a gun and pocketed it while everyone was focusing on conducting CPR?”

“Wh-What else can I say…? That’s the truth…” Miss Ena shrinks away from Ukita’s reproachful glare. Moribe is warily eyeing her as well.

Her story is full of holes, but I decide to back her up anyway. “S-Settle down, people. Let’s believe her story for now.”

Moribe shoots me a look of disbelief. “Huh? You’re gonna trust her? Did your brain go soft with your amnesia?”

“We don’t have many options here, Moribe. Since no one saw what she was doing at the time, we have no way to prove if she’s lying or not.” I put Moribe and Ukita in their place, then turn to Miss Ena. “But why did you hide it until now? That’s the bigger problem.”

“It wasn’t really the best time to bring it up… We’d only just found a dead girl, and our hope of escape was squashed… I felt like I needed a way to protect myself.”

Now that she mentions it, Miss Ena brought up the notion of there being a killer multiple times after we discovered the girl’s body. Did finding the gun solidify in her mind that there really is a killer? Or was it because she was plotting the best way to protect herself?

“…Well, whatever the case may be, the fact is that we have a gun,” Ukita states while I’m still puzzling things out. “It’s a dangerous weapon, so I will hold on to it for you.”

Moribe balks at his offer. “Where do you come off offering something like that, Mr. Ukita?! It’s only right for a rescue worker such as myself to confiscate it!”

“N-Neither of you has any say in this!” Miss Ena sharply raises her voice. “I know it’s not right for me to have a gun, but it’s just as dangerous for either of you to have it!”

“Why?!”

Threatening glares are shared among the three of them. I shudder just watching. People are going to start fighting over the gun for real if this goes on.

“Wait, guys. Stop right there! Something that dangerous should either be destroyed or gotten rid of!” I advise in a hasty attempt to stop them.

Moribe shakes her head. “Those are both bad ideas, Captain! Destroying it will render us all unable to oppose a terrorist if there really is one! And how do you propose we get rid of it in this sealed-off facility? Someone else will eventually find it.”

“Argh… In that case, er…”

Moribe still believes the terrorist theory. It’s an absurd opinion, but I won’t discount that we have enemies inside this place. I rack my brain and toss out the most reasonable answer.

“I know, how about we do this? First, we remove the magazine from the gun. Then we take the bullets out of that. That’ll leave us with three separate parts: a gun without bullets, an empty magazine, and just bullets. Each one of us can take a part for safekeeping.”

The three of them shoot me questioning looks.

“You want us to split it into pieces?” Miss Ena confirms.

I nod. “Yeah. That way in the off chance a terrorist does show up, and we’re all in agreement, we can reassemble the gun to fend them off. On the flip side, if a terrorist doesn’t show up, we’re all equally powerless. Isn’t this the least offensive method?”

“But, Captain Kasasagi—”

“Go along with my plan, Miss Ena. I want to finish this idiotic argument ASAP.”

Silence stretches between us. Miss Ena eventually lets out a resigned sigh. “…Fine. I’ll cooperate with you, Captain Kasasagi,” she says as she pulls the magazine from the gun. She empties out the bullets. There’s a grand total of eleven.

“Okay, the gun barrel goes to Ukita, the magazine to Miss Ena, and the bullets to Moribe.”

“What about you, Captain?”

“I’m good. I shouldn’t take anything as the one who suggested the plan.”

Moribe and Ukita accept my explanation. Miss Ena begins handing the gun barrel to Ukita and the bullets to Moribe. But my thoughts are elsewhere as I watch them.

Why was there even a gun lying in the lift in the first place? If this really does belong to a terrorist or some killer, would they seriously drop their gun and not realize it?

Wait a minute…did they leave it there? So that we would find it and fight over it…?

That gun seems like a carefully placed trap to put everyone at odds.