√A Chapter 13: 【Tribulation and Determination】 9/16/2030 2:16

√A Chapter 13: 【Tribulation and Determination】 9/16/2030 2:16

Radiation Level: 6,002 mSv

Remaining AD: 1 (per person)

Area 2, Inner Ring

MISS Ena and I had escaped their pursuit and are now hiding in a room located in Area 2. I listen for sounds in the corridor with my ear pressed up against the door. I don’t hear any footsteps. We both let out a long sigh after confirming we’ve shaken them off our tail.

“…Everyone’s moods suddenly took a scary turn, huh?”

“Hard to blame them for it… Death is suddenly at their doorstep. I can understand why they’ve lost it.”

Miss Ena sharply narrows her eyes at me. “Don’t underestimate the situation. We very likely would’ve been killed if they had caught us there. You realize that, right?”

“Killed? …C’mon, you think they’d kill us?! They’d never take it that far!”

“You still don’t get it, Captain Kasasagi? What’s truly horrifying under these horrendous circumstances isn’t the fires, the smoke, or the radiation. It’s the madness laid bare by people who’ve been driven into a corner that’s the most terrifying.”

I gasp.

I had believed our greatest hope in this death trap of a facility was “people’s determination to survive.” But hope can be turned on its head when the situation grows so desperate it pushes people to the brink.

What happens when the determination to survive transcends morals? Will people choose to kill another so that they can survive? Or will they start to think it’s okay to kill someone in order to protect someone else?

Under normal circumstances, neither Ukita nor Moribe would even consider that. But now that everyone’s lives are in real danger, morals are teetering on cracked, thin ice. One wrong step and people can justify murder.

Dammit! How the hell did it come to this?!

I had thought of everyone in our group as allies, but they definitely don’t view me that way.

I let out a heavy sigh and say, “…Hey, Miss Ena? Can I ask you a question?”

“What is it?”

“Why did you defend me back there? I come across as mighty suspicious after what was shown on that camera footage.”

“……”

“Aren’t you the one who told me to doubt everything? So why would you stand up for me then?” It’s exactly because I’m starting to doubt my own memory that I want to know her real intentions.

She answers me in a voice steeped with hesitancy. “…Because I also want to know your real intentions.”

“Huh?”

“Say, Captain Kasasagi, you said you saw Miss Yuuri’s dead body, right? What are your own thoughts on that?”

“That was…probably a hallucination like Ukita said. I’ve got amnesia on top of my frequent visits into highly contaminated zones. It’s not odd if I’m starting to see things now.”

Tachibana told me before that vision impairment, neuropathy, and brain cell damage are among the adverse effects of radiation on the human body. Those effects are probably making me hallucinate.

“…Besides, I occasionally have auditory hallucinations too.”

“Auditory hallucinations?”

“At first, I thought it was related to those BC abilities you explained to me. Someone sending me telepathic messages would explain the voice I’m hearing, but…that theory is called into question by the incident with Yuuri’s body. Is there a BC ability that can make people hallucinate?”

“…No. BC is nothing more than the ability to read and speak into people’s minds, after all.”

“Then, that pretty much proves it… My brain’s been screwed up.” I’m consumed by helplessness. All of a sudden my skin starts to tingle, and my brain starts hammering in my head—just like when I’ve set foot into a contaminated zone. I glance at my watch and realize it’s past the time we should’ve taken our next AD dose. “Shit! Miss Ena, inject AD, stat!”

“O-Okay!”

We fumble with our last dose of AD and shoot it into our arms.

My headache instantly subsides, but the Procyon reading is 6,026 mSv. Quite a bit of time has passed since the radiation levels exceeded the first danger standard at all times. I’ve spent hours in radiation levels that not even AD is proven to protect against. Hallucinations might just be a part of the overall package.

I shudder at the thought.

“Hey, back to what you were saying…,” Miss Ena quietly starts.

“Hmm?”

“You said it’s not odd for you to start seeing things between your amnesia and visits into the contaminated zones, but what if your hallucinations aren’t caused by radiation?”

“…What do you mean?”

“I once read about the effects of radiation exposure. Radiation definitely causes impaired vision, but in the form of narrowed or hindered vision. I’ve never heard about it making people see things that aren’t there.”

“Then what’s causing me to see things?”

“You don’t have any ideas?”

“I don’t know… Maybe it’s the result of brain cell damage or neuropathy. Won’t damage to the brain and nervous system cause you to hallucinate?”

“It can… But there’s something even more concerning than that. Could you take a look at this for me?” She pulls out her PDA. A few swipes and a paragraph appears on the LCD screen.

“…What’s this?”

“A file I copied off a LABO computer. I obtained it during the time I was roaming the facility alone after Ms. Moribe got hurt.”

“Why did you do something like that?”

“Because I’ve always felt that this was no ordinary accident. Think about it: Isn’t it extremely strange that the lockdown won’t lift for nine whole hours? It’s not like radiation will clear in that time either. So I was starting to think there’s another reason for it.”

“That’s true enough…”

“But all the computer data was encrypted. I tried to decrypt it, but most of the data broke in the process.”

I caught Miss Ena messing around with her PDA earlier. So she was trying to decrypt data instead of checking the maps?

“I still found some data in there that’s barely readable. Give it a read.” She hands me the PDA.

Some sort of broken proposal is displayed on the screen.

Ca＊e N Specification Revision Pro＊＊sal

Aug. 1＊, 2＊21

＊＊＊ken Kashiwagi

＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊ At the same time, ＊＊＊＊＊＊this chance to reevaluate the danger of＊＊

＊＊＊＊＊＊＊searcher S＊＊＊＊＊ook this opportunity＊＊use their own＊＊＊＊＊BC＊＊.

＊＊＊with “＊＊＊pathy＊＊＊＊’s ability＊＊＊＊the Communicator can＊＊＊＊the target’s brain ＊＊＊＊＊.

Subject＊＊was born inside LABO. However＊＊＊＊＊sire to go outs＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊

＊＊what we should be cautious of is the test subj＊＊＊＊＊.

Several phrases pique my curiosity: “Subject＊＊was born inside LABO” and “what we should be cautious of is the test subj＊＊.” I haven’t the faintest clue what any of it means, though.

“None of this makes any sense. What are they even talking about?”

“It appears to be a ‘Case N Specification Revision Proposal’… It goes on endlessly like this with mostly unreadable sentences. The same goes for the rest of the data.” Miss Ena swipes her finger across the PDA, changing the screen. “I’ve managed to extract several lines with the tools I have on hand…and several strange terms popped up. This is the part I really wanted to show you. Does any of this mean anything to you?” she asks as she pulls up a fully comprehensible list of words.

“…!” Chills crawl down my spine with each phrase I read.

Subject N! IGF2R Gene?!

There are multiple unknown terms mixed into the list, and it gives me a strangely intense sense of discomfort. But that feeling is immediately washed away by another emotion.

Negative feelings spring up from the depths of my heart like a geyser. They’re a pitch-black explosion of fear, rage, and hatred.

“Captain Kasasagi, do you recognize these terms?!” Miss Ena asks as I begin to violently tremble.

“Y-Yeah— AGH!”

Before I can explain, a sharp pain pierces my brain as if my flesh and body are refusing to remember that information. I push through the agony to find what’s hidden beyond it, but I can’t pull on any related memories.

“N-No… I don’t.”

“…I see.” She sighs as if she is truly disappointed.

I wait for my headache to retreat before asking, “Do you know what any of this means?”

“I don’t either. I thought it might be related to your amnesia and hallucinations because it mentioned ‘brain dysfunction’…”

“But I can’t remember anything… I really think my hearing and seeing things is the result of something wrong with my brain.”

It feels like everything, from my constant headaches to frequent memory defects, is due to a problem with my brain. I hang my head and hopelessly murmur, “And if it is my brain malfunctioning, I might not have even noticed that I stole the AD.”

Fear suddenly fills me the moment I voice that thought aloud. I can’t be one hundred percent sure that there’s not some dark recess in my heart that thinks it’d be okay as long as I alone survive.

What if there’s a wicked side to me that I’m not aware of—one that’s deciding all my actions on its own and driving everyone to their deaths? That’s a far more frightening thought than my own death.

I cover my face with my hand and tremble in fear. But Miss Ena reaches out, softly removes my hand from my face, and hugs me. “Get a hold of yourself, Captain Kasasagi. You’re not that kind of person.”

“Huh…?” I lift my head and see Miss Ena’s face right in front of me. Her eyes are clear of suspicion and doubt. She rubs my back as if she’s soothing a sobbing child.

“You are unquestionably suspicious. Especially when it comes to the security camera footage and your amnesia. But I want to place my trust in you regardless of that.”

“Why? I haven’t done anything to earn your trust, have I?”

“You have. It’s the undeniable truth that you have been pushing yourself to the brink to save everyone. And you even charged into a contaminated zone to save a student of mine you don’t even know.”

“……”

“Your amnesia and hallucinations are trivial things in the face of what you’ve done for us. As long as you stay the way you are now…as long as you are ‘Captain Kasasagi’…I am on your side,” she says with a tender smile.

I become all choked up and can’t bear to look her in the eyes. “Thank you, Miss Ena…”

I have someone who says they’ll trust me when I can’t even trust myself. I couldn’t have asked for better words of comfort at this time.

“…But what should we do now? Moribe and Ukita seriously suspect me of being a murderer, you know?”

“I know, that’s why I’m going to…” She breaks our hug and announces in a determined voice, “…go convince the two of them.”

“Wait, that’s too dangerous! Ever since the gun incident, they’ve become pretty suspicious of you too. Who knows what they’ll do to you if you go out there?”

“But what other choice do we have? The way things are now, we can’t search for AD, survivors, or an exit. Nothing will change if I don’t persuade them.”

This is definitely the worst possible situation to be in. Even if she successfully convinces the others, our AD problem won’t be solved. Everyone will be exposed to high levels of radiation in less than an hour. I’ve done everything within my power until now, but when I really think about it, not a single problem has been resolved.

None of the remaining survivors have been found, and Yuuri has practically vanished. I don’t even know where the killer with the gun is hiding. All the squadmates I should’ve been able to rely on and the people I’m supposed to save have now become my enemies.

What the hell am I supposed to do?! Is there no way for all of us to survive in this situation?! Just as my thoughts hit rock bottom, I recall what Commander Murakami said over the radio transmission in the surveillance room. His words spark to life a new possibility.

“…Ah!” The second I reach that genius idea, I smile from ear to ear.

“Wh-What’s gotten into you, Captain Kasasagi? You’re grinning for no reason,” Miss Ena asks me in a dubious tone.

“Well…I just came up with the way to solve everything, Miss Ena.”

“You did?”

“The answer was there from the very beginning. I’ve long since known the way to save everyone.”

“Wh-What are you talking about?! Why would you hide something like that?!”

“Shh!” I press my finger against my lips. Miss Ena falls silent with a start. “Don’t speak so loudly. It’s over for us if Moribe and the others catch on.”

“Is there really a way to solve things…?” She raises an eyebrow at me.

“Yeah. I’ll let only you in on it. Lend me your ear.”

Miss Ena reluctantly leans over. I bring my mouth next to her ear and softly whisper, “All it takes is…throwing away my life.” I circle behind her before I finish speaking and wrap my hands around her neck.

“Ghh!” She moans painfully, but I continue squeezing her neck anyway. “GAGH! W-W-Why?!”

“Sorry. You’d stop me if I told you, Miss Ena. I really hate to do this to you, but I need you to sleep.”

“Don’t do this… What are…you…”

Her body goes limp before long. I gently lay her down on the floor.

The usual nagging voice comes back to shout in my head. <Wh-What are you doing?!>

But it’s not surprising anymore. I leave the room without giving it the time of day.

Area 3, Inner Ring

I close the door behind me and destroy the electronic control button. Now anyone who comes by the room won’t be able to get in and hurt Miss Ena. She’ll be safe.

No sooner do I think that then the auditory hallucination echoes again.

<Hey, answer me! Why did you knock out Miss Ena?! What are you trying to do?!>

Hmph… I’m getting pretty close to being a crazy guy, talking back to my auditory hallucinations and all…

I answer the hallucination with a bitter smile. “You heard what I said to her. I’m going to save everyone.”

I pull a security card from my pocket—the Level N card the dead girl had on her. Commander Murakami’s words replay in my mind.

“A huge fire caused by the meltdown is still raging within Area N, where the reactor is held. The security system is going haywire because of it, making it impossible to access externally.”

The answer to our problems lay there all along. Once we put out the fires raging inside Area N, the security system will stop going haywire and the lockdown will end. My auditory hallucination seems to have picked up on my intentions because it starts rambling in a panicked voice.

<Don’t tell me you’re so insane you’re planning to go into Area N alone?!>

“I’m that insane.”

<Don’t! You’ll die! There’s no way you can put out the burning reactor flames all by yourself!>

“There’s no other option.”

<Even if you succeed in extinguishing the flames, an enormous amount of radiation is enshrouding Area N! You can inject over a dozen ampoules of AD and your body still won’t survive the damage!>

This voice has guided me more times than I can count. I defy the voice whose owner I don’t know. “…Sorry. I won’t obey your commands this time.”

<Why?!>

“Someone’s got to do it. Everyone has tried so hard to survive the last five hours, and look where it’s gotten us.”

<Are you that desperate to die?! You’re okay with dying if it means saving everyone else?!> The auditory hallucination intensely questions me.

I answer it with a wry smile. “Maybe you can’t understand, but…it’s not like I have a death wish. I just want to save everyone.”

<Huh? Why are you going so far…?>

I had the same question tossed at me a few hours ago. “But why…why are you going so far to save me?”

Yuuri’s question feels nostalgic now. She asked me that when we were crushed under the ceiling debris in the factory. It’s a memory of the time before everyone was at each other’s throats—from when we were all searching for the road to survival together.

I whisper the answer I couldn’t come up with then. “…All I’ve thought about is saving people. Ever since that moment you told me to save Yuuri.”

For me, someone with no memories of his past, the few hours since I woke up have essentially made up my entire life. The few memories I’ve recalled have all pertained to events inside LABO. This poorly lit basement facility is my entire world.

Perhaps I would’ve made a different choice if I had lived a peaceful life. But I woke up in this hellish place engulfed in fires and radiation with the responsibilities of a rescue squad captain on my shoulders.

“I just want to fulfill my duties as captain. I’m fed up with my powerless self for being on the run from fires, explosions, and smoke…but I still want to save everyone.”

I’ll leap into the inferno if I find a survivor.

I’ll search through lethal gas while holding my breath if we’re short on AD.

I’ll put my own body on the line to shield Yuuri from being crushed under debris.

That’s how I’ve put saving the lives of others first and foremost.

<……>

The auditory hallucination goes silent. I don’t blame it. Whoever the voice belongs to, they can’t understand the depths of what I’m feeling.

I’m a blank slate who was suddenly dropped into this nightmarish environment without my memories. I’m a soul who doesn’t even know a thing about myself, and yet the one thing I have to hold on to is my mission to save people.

That’s me—Watase Kasasagi.

The injuries I’ve sustained in the process of fulfilling that mission hurt again. The burns on my left hand, my cracked ribs, the lacerations on the back of my head, and the bruises all over my body cry out as painful reminders. My throat stings from thirst and vomiting, and my body feels heavier than lead from my amassing fatigue.

And still I put one foot in front of the other. Because that determination to save others is the last leg I have left to stand on after losing faith in myself.

“…I don’t want to see anyone else die. It’s just as bad if someone dies because I didn’t take action. If putting out the reactor fire is what it takes to save everyone, then that’s what I’ll do.”

Even if it costs me my life in the process.

The auditory hallucination seems to sense my resolve, because it speaks for the first time in a ghost of a voice. <…Watase, you…>

“Get it now? Please stop talking to me if you do… Talking about it will only dull my resolve,” I declare and break into a run in the direction of the area with the blazing reactor.

Between Area 2 and Area N

Connecting Passageway

THE Procyon’s warning alarm screeches at me the second I set foot inside the passageway leading to Area N. Displayed is a reading I’ve never seen before—12,210 mSv, a number that far surpasses the lethal limits.

My head is killing me, nausea forces me to clasp my hand over my mouth, my skin tingles, and my eyes blur over.

“…Tch!”

I flip the switch on the Procyon to “OFF” and push forward. It’s not long before I can make out the security gate through my watering eyes. A melted nuclear reactor, raging hellfire, lethal radiation. I shudder as I imagine the hell on Earth awaiting me up ahead.

But I came here prepared to face all of it. I keep myself from shaking, pull a hose from a nearby fire hydrant, and direct it at the security gate with my left hand.

“…Extinguishing preparations all set. I’m ready to do this.”

My determination doesn’t wither even in the face of genuine danger. Boundless courage courses through me.

I wonder if I’ve finally…become a real rescue squad captain now.

With the card in my right hand, I open the gate to nuclear hell.

Area N

IT feels as if I’ve just opened the door to a raging energy storm. An invisible force crashes over my body with the earth-shattering power of a tidal wave. I dig my feet in, hold my arms down, and force my eyes open until they can take in every detail of the spectacle beyond the gate.

“…?!” The breath is ripped from my lungs.

This should be where a reactor melted down. The place where a fire is burning so out of control it made the security system go haywire. When in reality, the air is fresh and clear. Fire and smoke are nowhere to be seen.

“Wh-What the hell is this place?!”

On the other side of the opened gate is a gigantic hall filled with the faint sound of running machinery. A transparent cylinder stands in the center of the hall, surrounded by six towering spire-like installations. The installations are all connected to each other near the ceiling, forming a hexagram.

“Wh-What’s the meaning of this?! Wasn’t Area N supposed to be on fire?!” I throw the hose aside and walk over to one of the towering installations.

I don’t have any idea what a nuclear reactor is supposed to look like. But something tells me that the machines in this room aren’t it.

Doubts suddenly race through my mind. H-Hang on…wasn’t there something like this in that data Miss Ena showed me earlier…?!

I rack my brain to recall the data. I’m fairly certain the list included terms like Case N, meltdown, brain dysfunction, Subject N, WX particles, particle amplifier, WX particle proliferation, and so on. Now I finally realize the source of the uncomfortable feeling I had when I first saw the search list.

It’s too strange…!

Though the words Case N and meltdown appeared on the list, the other terms that should’ve been there weren’t. There hadn’t been a single hit on words pertaining to nuclear reactors, radiation, radioactive materials, or radiation exposure. And this is supposed to be a facility that designed an anti-radiation drug!

Instead, there were a ton of hits on mysterious terms like WX particles and particle amplifier.

This is clearly strange. There’s no explanation for it. But I have a hunch the answer lies in this room.

“It’s not just that there’s no fire! Could it be that…there was never a nuclear reactor here to begin with?!” I shout out loud.

Countless questions race through my already confused mind. Were we tricked? By who? For what purpose? Who deceived us? Commander Murakami? Why would he lie about this? No, the people at LABO are more suspicious. Then was Ukita in on it…?!

My head aches before I can finish my train of thought. “Ghh! AGH!” The pain is a thousand times worse than before. Every muscle in my body begins convulsing. “Sh-Shit…!”

I dart my eyes around the room in search of an exit. Just then, I catch a whiff of a disturbing stench. I’ve smelled this stench more times than I would’ve liked to in the past few hours—it’s the smell of spilled blood. A very bad feeling balloons within me as I follow the scent trail.

“No…!”

A boy in a blood-soaked school uniform is unconscious on the ground behind one of the whirring machines. His eyes are closed beneath his wire-rimmed glasses. His name and face match up perfectly with my memory of him.

Lying in a pool of his own blood is one of the three high school students trapped inside LABO—Natsuhiko Tenkawa.

“Hey, boy! Are you all right?!”

He doesn’t respond to my calls. I remove my glove and press my fingers against his carotid artery, but there’s no pulse, and his body is growing cold.

I quickly lay Natsuhiko flat on the ground and begin CPR. I do it just like Tachibana and Moribe did. Fifteen heart compressions. Two rescue breaths. But I get no reaction out of him.

Dammit…dammit!

I withstand the headaches and convulsions racking my body in my desperate attempt at CPR on the boy.

Fifteen compressions. Two rescue breaths.

Fifteen more compressions. Two more rescue breaths.

Fifteen more compressions. Two more rescue breaths.

“Please, please don’t die on me…!” I cry out as I throw myself into every compression. And then, somewhere along the way, his pulse faintly returned. “I-I did it!”

I hold my hand over his mouth, and his shallow breath slightly brushes along my skin. I may have gotten him back for now, but it’s still a life-threatening injury. It’s a miracle he’s still alive after how much blood he’s lost.

How did he get so severely injured, though? I examine his body and find several bullet holes in his uniform. He was shot by someone too! As soon as that realization hits me, I spot something lying on the ground beside him.

“Th-This is…!” I pick up that black glimmering piece of deadly metal and feel its weight in my hand. It’s a different model from the one Miss Ena had, but this is a pistol nonetheless. “Did the same killer get Natsuhiko too…?!”

In any event, I have to carry him somewhere safe. I pocket the pistol and put my hands under his body to lift him up.

Suddenly, I sense someone’s presence behind me. Startled, I jerk my neck to the side and see a petite figure charging straight at me with an axe.

They swing the axe down toward the crown of my head.

“Are you insane?!” I roll to the side just as the axe hits the floor. I spring to my feet and confirm who it is from a distance. Standing before me is the blonde girl who ran away the two times I’ve come across her. “It’s you!”

Standing off with me with a bloodied axe is one of the survivors—Salyu, a.k.a Louise Yui Sannomiya.