We've reached this game's final episode, the one where we'll (hopefully) get all the answers we want. As you can see from the image above, we're around halfway through this game text-wise, so we can only wonder how long this episode will turn out to be. Now, let's begin, shall we?
"It was a tough case... But Lieutenant Kazami, together with Detective Kogure, splendidly succeeded in rescuing Yuusuke-kun."
"Onis live in Man's heart. That was the answer that Lieutenant Kazami drew."
The man's voice, echoing in the darkness, recalled the incident. It was an unbelievable case, but I didn't think the man was lying.
The more I listen to the man's stories, the more I can't deny the strange phenomenon completely, thinking "Maybe..." or "Somewhere in this world, perhaps..."
How stupid! ...But, no matter how much I try to deny it, the darkness that has seeped into my heart continues to linger without peeling away.
Why am I unable to refute it!? If I've actually seen the unrealities that the man talked about myself, then I'm not sure if I'm just an ordinary...
I'm just an ordinary... I'm...
"It seems you've noticed, even if with some difficulty."
No way... I couldn't...
[Every single main character flashes on screen]
Memories that should have been missing began to swirl tempestuously.
I... I...
"Indeed. You are Lieutenant Junya Kazami."
[Screen flashes white]
It was as if I had awakened from a long, long sleep. I couldn't instantly recognize where I was.
It seems to be a hospital bed...
"Looks like you've regained consciousness, Junya."
"Sir! I was so worried! I was! I was...!"
Mr. Kogure was moved to tears. What is this? What the hell is going on here?
"It appears you don't have a clue what's going on. You collapsed at the main entrance of this hospital four days ago."
"Your consciousness was hazy, you couldn't even recognize who you were. However, after a thorough checkup, we found no abnormalities in your brain, and there also were no external injuries..."
"You were in perfect health, and yet you had lost all memory."
"So I decided to put you through retrogressive hypnosis with the help of Professor Matsuura."
"Greetings." That distinctive face, unforgettable once seen, flaunts a smile that is anything but flattering or refreshing.
"I thought maybe remembering what you've been through would help you regain yourself."
My brother performed retrogressive hypnosis...? Then, was it he who kept talking to me in that closed space?
That dark concrete room with no way out may have been a projection of my consciousness that wandered into that deep darkness.
"Detective Kazami. You seem to have had a very valuable experience. By all means, let's have a meticulous talk over a few drinks..."
"Professor. Thank you very much. I'll take care of the rest, please leave us."
"Oh, Shikibu-kun, I just wanted to..."
Professor Matsuura was like a child who had his toys taken away from him, but his strict mother, that being Ms. Hitomi, would have none of it, and he was readily locked out.
"Sorry, Hitomi." My brother smiles wryly as he expresses his gratitude.
"It's no problem. If left unchecked, he might have used Junya-kun as a guinea pig for god-knows-what kinds of experiments."
I wasn't so sure about the hospital having such a person as a professor, but I thanked him from the bottom of my heart since he seemed to have helped me too.
"Moreover, as we've discussed before, excessive retrogressive hypnosis can be very taxing on the subject."
"I thought Dr. Shikibu was a scary person, but she's surprisingly kind."
"That surprisingly was unneeded, Kogure-kun." I witnessed her heel stomping on Mr. Kogure's toes.
"Brother, Ms. Hitomi, Mr. Kogure. ...Thank you. Everyone's saved me again."
"You're sounding a little distant, sir. We're already friends, aren't we?"
"Welcome back, Junya. For a while, I wondered what would happen to you."
"Er. I'm really sorry... but how did this happen...?" My brother's face clouded over. Something bad must have occurred, it seems.
"...Do you know the abbreviation "F.O.A.F."?"
"Eh...!? Eff oh ah eff...?"
Ms. Yuuka once told me that "F.O.A.F." served as a spreading device for rumors... the so-called friend of a friend. And those were the words I heard in my shut-off consciousness as well.
"What's wrong? Do you know something?"
"...Is there a problem with those words? Brother...?"
"No... It's just that, before losing consciousness, you were mumbling that a lot..."
"Mumbling... a lot...?"
Why would I do such a thing...? But when the man asked me about it inside my cognition, I was astonished at how wary I was.
When I heard those same words from Ms. Yuuka, it wasn't like that at all...
What happened before I blacked out...?
Even as I sit here, I can feel the cold sweat beading on my hands as I clutch the sheets of the bed.
"You don't need to try to remember something you don't know. ...Speaking of, when was the last time you can remember?" Ms. Hitomi changed the question as if she was trying to protect me.
"Let's see, if I'm not mistaken..."
Metropolitan Police Department Unofficial Case Record Na-13
"Nameless Station"
I was off-duty on that day for the first time in a long while.
However, since I didn't have a girlfriend, I was going to spend the day in a daze, doing nothing.
My cell phone started making a lot of noise as if it could see that I was free.
"Hello?"
"Junya-kun? It's me, Yuuka."
"Ms. Yuuka?"
An unexpected person spoke on the phone. But I didn't get a bad feeling.
"I heard you were off-duty from Professor Kirisaki, so are you free today? You're free, right? There's absolutely no way you're not free!" Certainly, she's not wrong that I have some spare time, but she didn't need to be so assertive...
"If you're free, will you go out with me for a minute?" Go out with me? Is that an invitation for a date?
"So, is that fine with you?"
"Y-yeah, it's fine."
"Nice, it's decided. Then, the meeting place and time will be, let's see..."
[Fade to black]
I hurriedly finished my preparations, took the subway, and arrived at the rendezvous point.
[Junya looks left and right]
Looks like Ms. Yuuka still hasn't come. I may be a bit early.
It's been a long time since I've met up with a girl. My heart's beating kind of fast, is it because I'm nervous or because I've been running...?
Nevertheless...
......
......
......I'm still free.
I've been so busy with cases that I haven't had much time to think about anything. Suddenly, when I have more free time, I feel rather absent-minded.
"Junya-kun, here you are!" Ms. Yuuka greets me with a fresh smile.
Cheerfulness is her natural disposition. Even I was caught up in it and smiled.
"Now, let's quickly move onward!" Her arms pointed straight up to the blue sky.
I didn't think she would be the one to suggest that we head somewhere.
"Where are we going, Ms. Yuuka?"
"That's something you'll have to wait until we get there. It's a secret, a secret♡"
With a smile full of hidden meaning, Ms. Yuuka took me back to the subway platform.
A secret, huh? That could be fun too. Is the destination a movie theater or an amusement park? I feel like I'm back in my school days.
[No way, Junya actually got some game? He's moving up in life!]
While being rocked by this train running below the metropolis, I wondered how much time has passed.
"...When we passed by that out-of-service train, I saw a white figure for a moment. How was it? Wasn't it amazing?"
After getting on the train, Ms. Yuuka has been endlessly sharing rumors about the subway.
Just how can there be so much idle gossip in the world?
And Ms. Yuuka, who talks about it proudly, is a little strange too.
"Ah!! That face! You don't believe me, do you? You're Professor Kirisaki's brother, why don't you believe me? Occult cases are your specialty, aren't they!?"
It's not that the occult is my field of expertise. Yuuka has a rather biased misunderstanding of the Police History Archival Office to which I belong.
While we certainly specialize in bizarre cases, we don't intend to investigate everything as occultic.
I believe it's our job to be flexible in our investigations of bizarre cases.
"Junya-kun. If you're not interested in the occult, then let me substitute you. Detective Yuuka Mamiya. Sounds pretty good, doesn't it?"
Becoming a detective so easily would be out of this world.
[Screen shakes]
The train's brakes commented on my behalf. The braking seemed to be steeper than usual.
The doors open by themselves without any announcement of the arrival station.
I looked around and saw no one on board.
"Huh? What is this station...?"
"We're getting off here, Junya-kun!"
Ms. Yuuka's eyes lit up and she pulled my arm forcefully.
"This place is...?" This unmistakably seems to be a subway station, but there's no one on the platform.
No passengers or employees, of course, but there weren't even any advertisements or signboards. It feels as though ruins abandoned mid-construction.
Naturally, the train departs, leaving us behind. The premonition that we will never be able to go back again haunts my mind.
"It's true! It really happened!" Despite my misgivings, Ms. Yuuka was overjoyed. She was as excited as an adventurer who had just discovered treasure.
"Ms. Yuuka, what station is this...?" Making an eerie laugh, "fufufu", Ms. Yuuka proclaimed sonorously.
"The {nameless station}!!"
"Nameless station...?" I tilted my head.
When I asked if the station was unfinished, Ms. Yuuka denied it by waving her index finger from side to side.
"This station is what it is. From the beginning, it had no name."
That's absurd. I gave her a suspicious look.
"Ah, your eyes don't believe me at all. Okay, I'll tell you."
"Junya-kun, have you ever heard of this? Urban legend says that the subways are equipped with a capital defense function and that tanks are stored in the Nagatachou subway station in case of emergency."
"No way, don't tell me that this station is related to such a {fantasy}..."
"It's not a fantasy! The nameless station really does exist!"
"After {meticulous investigation} and information gathering, I've finally found it! My deduction was right!"
"But, I thought going in alone could have been potentially dangerous... So, on that point, bringing you with me would be more secure, wouldn't it?"
"And, since you're pretty much a detective, getting into places where the general public can't will be a walk in the park with his police ID."
I may be "pretty much a detective", but a police ID is not such a convenient thing. Are you sure you didn't mistake it for a free pass or something?
However, rebuking Ms. Yukari, who's now flared up after discovering the nameless station, would only add fuel to the fire.
More importantly, the fact that what I thought was a date turned out to, in reality, be Ms. Yuuka's fieldwork exhausted me. [Lmao, good luck next time!]
I, with my questionable expectations, was saddened, and miserable...
"Hm? Is something wrong, Junya-kun? What's with the clearly dejected face?"
"Oh, I was just sure we were going to a movie theater or an amusement park..."
"Eh?" The poor lighting made it somewhat hard to see, but I feel like her face went a little red.
"W-what are you saying!? That makes it sound like a date! Why would I have to ask you out!?"
Having utterly denied the date theory, Ms. Yuuka turned her back on me.
"No more nonsense, let's go!"
"Go where...? Wasn't this place your goal?"
Despite my questioning, Ms. Yuuka, same as ever, kept her back to me.
"The nameless station is just the beginning. My real goal is the truth that lies ahead. It was my search for that truth that led me here..."
"...must...ahead..." Ms. Yuuka called what lay ahead "..." [Screen flashes white for every "..."]
---Huh?
"..."?
What was "..."---?
I could remember only up to there. My memory following that disappeared somewhere.
"And...? What happened to Mamiya-kun? Did she say what was beyond the nameless station?" My brother pressed the question in an uncharacteristically anxious manner.
"You can't remember? Where is the nameless station?"
"Kirisaki-kun, calm down."
"Ah... Sorry, Junya."
"What's wrong, Brother...? If you wanted to know that, couldn't you ask Ms. Yuuka?"
An uncomfortable silence swayed the room. No one dared to speak as they quietly exchanged looks.
"I-is something wrong?"
"Sir... That girl, we can't reach her..."
"Since four days ago... that is, when she left with you, her whereabouts have been unknown..."
Ms. Yuuka's gone missing...? I slowly digested the meaning of those words in my head.
"No way...! Why isn't Ms. Yuuka here, even though I am!? You didn't find us together!?"
"No, we found you alone. There was no one else with you. We don't even know if you walked here on your own or if someone brought you here."
"Why was it only me...!? Then, is she still in the nameless station!?"
"Yeah. Considering your story, that seems to be the likeliest possibility."
"In that case, Mr. Kirisaki, let's ask sir once more for a detailed account of that location, that way, we can begin our search for the little lady."
"Wait a minute, Mr. Kogure. I'm going too."
"Wha!? That's asking too much, sir! Until a while ago, you weren't even conscious, and yet...!"
"It's alright. That shouldn't be a problem by now. Besides, now that I know that, there's no way I can rest."
"What do you think, Hitomi?"
"Well... There are no external injuries, and the complete physical shows no irregularities. His consciousness is tightly secured..."
"If he is to be accompanied by a trusted doctor, then conditional permission to leave may be granted."
"A trusted doctor...?"
"Yes, me. Do you object?"
[Fade to black]
The spot where I met with her.
The subway train I rode with her.
I was unsteadily repairing my fragmented memories while retracing the footsteps of me from 4 days ago.
"Are you really sure it was this train, Junya?" This was the third confirmation since we boarded the subway train.
And I answer for the third time. "Yeah, definitely. This is the train, Brother. It came at the same time and in the same direction."
"Sir, the next stop will be the last."
The announcer signals the name of the terminal station, and soon the train stops.
"---Please be careful not to leave your baggage behind when getting off the train. Please watch your step when getting off the train---"
"---Note that this train will reverse its direction and become an outbound train---"
"This train is going to turn around. What are we going to do?"
"...Let's just get off for now. There's not much we can do about it turning back."
We got off the train, weaving our way through the passengers who were trying to board the outbound train.
"Is this the nameless station?"
"No, it's not..." Because this terminal station had a name.
The nameless station literally had no name. And there were no station staff or passengers. It's not like I got on the wrong train, but... Could there be other requirements to get on that train?
"Hey, Junya-kun. Are you really sure this isn't the nameless station?"
I cannot confidently answer "yes" to that question. After all, some of my memories are still lost.
"Sir, look at that." Mr. Kogure pointed in the direction of the subway tunnel. It was an ordinary tunnel with nothing special about it.
"Don't you find it strange, sir? The tracks continue up-bound."
"This is the terminal station, and the train from earlier just turned around too, so why are up-bound tracks needed?"
I see. If you ask me, Mr. Kogure's doubt is quite reasonable.
"Not bad, Kogure-kun. You've got some keen insight."
"No, you don't need to go that far..." Mr. Kogure doesn't seem entirely displeased by the rare compliment from my brother.
"But it could be the tracks that go to the depot. After all, subways have depots, too."
"That may be true, but if Junya's memory is correct and there really is a nameless station, the only place I can think of is at the end of those tracks."
"I'm not going to wait here for things to happen. I'm going in."
Without waiting for our answer, he went down to the track. Neither the station staff nor the passengers noticed anything unusual at the end of the platform.
Although I can't shake off even a sliver of anxiety about my own memory, I'd only be wasting my time if I kept wondering.
Ms. Yuuka's life grows closer and closer to danger by the minute. I looked at Mr. Kogure and Ms. Hitomi with determination.
"Understood, sir, I'd follow you to the ends of the earth." Mr. Kogure saluted with a smile, and his huge body dived down the platform.
Ms. Hitomi said nothing, except letting out a sigh, and followed Mr. Kogure with light steps.
Thus, we stepped foot into a space unknown to us---
We kept walking through the tunnel enclosed in darkness with only a single light. I wondered if a completely lightless world would be as dark as this.
An all-encompassing dark. Perhaps this darkness will last forever. Such anxiety haunts me.
Is the nameless station ahead of us? Even after all this time, such a question still sprouted up in my head.
"S-sir, this tunnel... how far does it go?"
The first to falter was Mr. Kogure. Everyone wanted to say something, but they had been restraining themselves.
"Scared, Kogure-kun? Your cowardliness doesn't fit your appearance."
"Wha!? I-I'm not cowardly at all...!!"
"Shh. Be quiet, you two." Ms. Hitomi calmly restrained Mr. Kogure, who was about to protest vehemently, with a single index finger.
"Can't you hear it, Junya-kun?" I strain my ears as she says, but I don't hear anything.
"Look, can you hear it? Something is coming from far away."
I strain my ears once again and hear a faint noise.
As Ms. Hitomi said, the noise does indeed sound like it's getting a little closer. What on earth is that sound...?
"Sir, a light's coming from over there..."
"Oy, that light's getting bigger. It's coming here."
[Train sounds]
"Move!"
It was just a hair's breadth away. If Ms. Hitomi hadn't pushed me away, I don't know what would have happened...
"Ms. Hitomi...!? Are you okay!? Brother, Mr. Kogure!?"
"Yeah, somehow..."
"Here too. It was a close call. I thought Kogure-kun was going to crush me."
"E-excuse me! I was trying to protect you...!"
I was relieved to see that everyone seemed to be safe. I had no idea that a train would come barreling through at such high speed...
But if you think about it, this is a railroad track. The tracks are there for trains to run on. By all rights, it was our fault for walking in such a place.
"By the way, did you see that train? There were human silhouettes inside."
"Of course, the train was running, so someone must be driving it."
"No, that's not what I mean. There were---"
[Brief flash]
"There were multiple white-clothed silhouettes..."
"You were able to see in that situation? You've got some great kinetic vision." My brother exclaimed in amusement.
"Don't mock me! ...Were whose surgical gowns? But they were white... They don't use those anymore."
According to Ms. Hitomi, the clothing used in modern surgery is blue-green. Come to think of it, I think the clothes Ms. Hitomi was wearing during the autopsy were blue-green too.
I heard it's because of something called the complementary color afterimage effect, which alleviates the flickering afterimage of the opposite color of a certain color after continuously viewing it.
It's said that after the surgeon continuously sees the color of blood during surgery, the opposite color, green, plays the role of erasing the afterimage.
"A surgical gown not of the modern era... Perhaps it's 'that'."
It's my brother's bad habit to say things mysteriously. "Brother, what's 'that'...?"
"I planned on keeping quiet, but when Kogure-kun pushed me down, my feet were still on the tracks."
"What did you say!? Then, how are your feet...!?"
"Yes, by all rights, I should have parted with me for good, but somehow, they're still attached to my legs."
"W-what do you mean, Mr. Kirisaki...?" Mr. Kogure asks with a pale face.
"I think that, perhaps, that train wasn't a physical thing. A so-called ghost train."
"Ridiculous... It's not worth talking about." Ms. Hitomi ruthlessly dismissed the ghost train idea.
A figure in a surgical suit and a ghost train, huh... I was prepared for this, but the clouds were slowly growing menacing.
It's becoming hard to believe that what lies ahead is just an ordinary subway depot. However, it would be a waste of time to try to get an answer here.
The only choices we've been given are to turn back or move forward---
For how long have we walked by now? Walking in the dark, with no destination in sight, was more taxing than I had imagined. Both physically and mentally...
I probably walked less than two kilometers, but my entire body felt the fatigue of walking ten times that distance.
"S-sir...! Something's fallen down ahead!" Mr. Kogure pointed ahead in a half-cracked voice.
"It's a person! Someone has collapsed!" Ms. Hitomi's voice was strained. As I approached, I saw that it was indeed a person.
Could it be... Could it be Ms. Yuuka...!?
Fortunately, my bad premonition was wrong. It was a man who was lying on the floor.
Ms. Hitomi takes a pulse and checks it, however, "...It's no good. He's dead. Judging by his temperature and rigidity, he's been dead for quite some time."
The amount of dust on the {corpse}'s clothes indicates that this isn't something that happened in the last couple of days.
He didn't appear to have been hit by a train, as there were no signs of trauma...
"Oh? How strange... This corpse has an odd cavity near the abdominal area..."
Ms. Hitomi found something suspicious and began to carefully remove the body's clothing.
What is this---!? The cadaver had a gaping hole in its abdomen.
There is nothing else out of the ordinary. Only that part is cleanly missing. Not even the slightest trace of blood can be seen.
"Ms. Hitomi... What the hell is this...?"
"...He seems to have his internal organs removed with an extremely sharp-edged tool."
"I'd have to do an autopsy to know the details, but... I've never seen such a skillful cut..."
Ms. Hitomi, a coroner, could not hide her bewilderment at this never-seen-before medical case.
"It's {cattle mutilation}." A combination of words I never heard of before escaped my brother's mouth.
"Cattle... what did you say?"
This story is too flippant for anyone to follow. To say it's aliens, no matter what the circumstances, is too far from reality.
"The theory states that the Earth is being monitored by aliens, and from time to time they conduct {dissection experiments} to learn more about life on Earth."
"In fact, livestock have been found gutted in the same way in both the U.S. and here in Japan."
"Whether or not aliens did it has never been proven, but similar phenomena certainly do occur."
Whenever my brother talks about this sort of thing, there is one person who can never stay silent.
"Come on, aliens? What nonsense." Ms. Hitomi flatly rejects my brother's hypothesis.
"Hoh. Then, what do you think it is, Hitomi?"
"Let's see. We won't know how they did it until we perform an autopsy, but I think it was done by a criminal organization involved in {organ trafficking}."
"I hear about the black-market channels of organ trafficking from time to time, too, so..."
"Organ trafficking? Have you been watching too many suspense movies or something?"
"Aren't you the one who's been watching too much science fiction?" Here we go again. This is what always happens when these two get together.
I was getting used to it by now, so I left them alone and looked at the body lying on the floor.
Right now, the search for Ms. Yuuka is the top priority. However, it's also true that a body in an abnormal state exists in front of our eyes.
What should I do as a detective, as a human being? I felt like my judgment was being put into question.
I decide---
>That the search for Ms. Yuuka was the top priority.
⬢ >To look for clues on the corpse.
⬢ >To offer a respectful prayer.
There's got to be something for us to work with.
>To look for clues on the corpse.
Perhaps there might be a clue to finding Ms. Yuuka on this corpse. I carefully examined the body with the intention of not missing even a speck.
Then--- a single strange something was found.
A tattoo-like mark was seen on the inner side of the body's right wrist.
The tattoo is just a number, {1103}. What does this number mean? It doesn't seem to be a reminder of his birthday...
I was unable to find anything that looked to be a clue other than this tattoo.
"We have no choice. This is an emergency. At this point, let's leave the body alone and give top priority to rescuing Ms. Yuuka."
Although I was a little concerned about the tattoo, I decided to put the search for Ms. Yuuka first.
I felt sorry for the departed, but the living are more important for now.
I offered my condolences to the body, at least as a gesture of sympathy...
After passing through the tunnel, we find---
A familiar station. [Flashback] There's no mistake. It's the station from back then. "Brother, this is it! This is the nameless station!"
"I'm shocked... To think there really is such a station..."
"N-no one seems to be around... I wonder what's the purpose of this place?"
"Well, we don't know yet, but I'm pretty sure it's not a station for salarymen to commute to work."
Everyone seems more than a little surprised that the nameless station actually existed.
"But couldn't this station just be a station under construction, or whose construction was halted for some reason?"
Ms. Hitomi's opinion is very rational. Normally, I would think so. Normally..."
However, my memory suddenly came to an end at this station. And, similarly, Ms. Yuuka disappeared here.
Something happened in this place. Something unnatural---
We decided to search inside the station. Since the nameless station existed, Ms. Yuuka will without a doubt be found here, too.
I just wandered around the locale, clinging to the hope that was almost like a prayer.
Ms. Yuuka and I came here four days ago. If she went without drinking or eating, she must be in an extremely dangerous condition.
There's no time to spare. However, the more we rush, the more our ability to think decreases.
It was a few dozen minutes later. Thanks to a cursory search of the station, we discovered a passageway that was clearly different from a typical station's facilities.
"It looks like a tunnel under construction... No way, sir... You're telling me we're going inside...?"
"If you don't like it, I won't force you to go. But I'm going."
"N-never...! Of course, I'll accompany you! Yessir!"
I felt sorry for Mr. Kogure, but without those words, his scared legs wouldn't have moved forward at all.
And so, we four decided to yield ourselves to the darkness once more.
Despite having to walk through the dark, we didn't spend much time.
After going through the messily dug-up passageway, which we thought abandoned mid-construction, there we found an immense space extending out.
"T-this is...!" In unison, we all expressed our shock.
It was a graveyard. A massive {underground burial site} lined up with several tens to hundreds of grave markers. Why would graves be in such a place...?
The noise made by the slight wind leaking out from the passage sounded like the lamentations of the souls buried here.
"Junya-kun, look at this." Ms. Hitomi pointed at the date engraved on a nearby grave.
"One One Zero Three, Death, Shouwa 23"
[The Shouwa or Showa era was the period between 1926 and 1989]
A search of the other graves revealed that the majority of people here died in between Shouwa 20 to Shouwa 35.
"I see, immediately after the Second World War, huh..."
It seems my brother's passion as a folklorist began to clamor. Alongside some kind of incomprehensible muttering, he investigated the graves with an earnest expression.
"One One Zero Three, Death, Shouwa 23" I looked towards the engraved words once more.
One One Zero Three... 1103...
That's right. The corpse we found on the subway tracks. That's without doubt the same numbers as the tattoo on his wrist...
Does that mean that corpse was dug up from here? That's impossible... It wasn't an old-enough body. If it was dug up, then it would have been decayed and skeletonized.
The tattooed number and the engraved number... I wonder what's the meaning behind their correspondence?
"Shouwa 20, after the war... Considering that period, I can't think of any connection with organ trafficking." Ms. Hitomi dismissed her own opinion.
"Of course, the same applies to the alien experiment theory. Aliens don't seem to be the kind of beings to go out of their way to make graves for Japanese people, do they?"
"I'll admit, this doesn't look to be the work of aliens. I think it's reasonable to assume it was a state-sponsored facility that was built for some purpose in the past."
"For example, a military facility operated in absolute secrecy built after losing the war..."
Ms. Yuuka perhaps came here in order to {investigate the truth}.
"Ms. Yuuka!!" I shouted as loud as I could, in hopes that it would reach her, somewhere in this underground world.
My voice reverberated throughout the whole subterranean graveyard, before gradually fading to obscurity. The only response to my shout was the silence of the dead...
[Fade to black]
We're now walking through the old facility lined up with laboratories.
It didn't take us much time to find a path that continued to the building interior from the cemetery.
That's because a single iron door was open as if inviting us in.
It appeared that my brother wanted to investigate the cemetery a bit more, so he went off on his own for a time.
Right now, we three, Mr. Kogure, Ms. Hitomi, and I, are moving forward.
This facility certainly seems to be something from after the war. Dust covered everything, without a trace of use in decades.
"Move." A low female voice paralyzed our bodies for an instant. It's as if the woman's voice hid magical powers within.
A cold pressure was exerted from behind me. It's the first time I've experienced this shiver. Is this bloodlust...? Will I be killed...?
"...Oh? If it isn't Junya and Kogure." The voice completely changed, turning into a familiar Osaka dialect.
Then, strangely enough, freedom returned to my body, which had been unable to move.
"I-Inspector!? What are you doing in this place!?"
"Well, I was returning from the pachinko parlor, and, y'know" Inspector... If you're going to tell a lie after all, please tell a more serious lie.
"Ah, Dr. Shikibu, this person is our superior, Ms. Inspector {Ranko Indou}."
Hearing Mr. Kogure's introduction, the Inspector and Ms. Hitomi exchanged standard greetings.
"...So, what's your true objective, Ms. Inspector? Naturally, you already know about this facility, don't you...?"
"You might regret it if you thoughtlessly stick your nose on people's business." Abruptly, a man's voice interrupts the conversation.
With a sharp glint in his eye and samurai back-knotted hair dyed white. And an aura that doesn't let people come near...
The man's appearance reminded me of a soldier who had experienced many battles.
"What's it, old man? I went to the trouble of hiding you and you still came out." The man seemed to be an acquaintance of the Inspector.
"Um, Ms. Inspector... Who is he?"
"This is the first time we've directly met. My voice is familiar, isn't it, Inspector Kazami?"
His voice... could it be... the man on the phone...!?
"You seem to have noticed. "Yes, I'm that {man on the phone}." The man confessed his identity.
"It was my job to advise you from the shadows, however... Perhaps by the gods' mischief, we ended up meeting each other like this..."
"I didn't expect to see you here. I thought you were still in a hospital bed..."
This guy even knew I was in the hospital. Who the hell is he? Why is he with the Inspector...?
"Inspector, who is this man?" I couldn't hold back any longer and asked her.
"Oh, this old man? Well, what can I say... He's an old business associate of mine."
"Is he affiliated with the police?"
"Uhh... Well, that's a matter of privacy, so you won't be hearing it from my mouth..." The Inspector's explanation was not an explanation at all.
"Ranko-kun, that explanation will make them only the more suspicious."
"Lieutenant Kazami. As I told you before, I belong to a certain organization. An organization that has been largely involved in many of the strange things you've seen."
"Now, as part of one of the organization's projects, there has been a move to restart the {research} that was done in the past at this facility."
"I absolutely must stop them from doing just that. That is why I came here with Ranko-kun."
"But, aren't you a member of this organization, too...? Why would you act to obstruct their project...?"
"I am a heretic. And I'm not the only one. The will of the organization is not necessarily one."
"The research here should be buried in the dark, along with the past. That is why Ranko-kun and I decided to manipulate the dragon vein to {collapse this facility}."
"Dragon vein...?"
"Dragon veins're from Feng Shui. To put it simply, they're places where the land's energy flows through. And, the places where that energy gathers're called dragon's dens."
"To put it in another way, dragon veins're blood and nerves, and dragon's dens're pressure points, this should make it easy for y'all to understand."
"This facility was laid out to release negative energy outward, accordingly with Feng Shui, but we manipulated that flow a while ago."
"Originally, this place was impure land. Many miserable souls rest here. I won't take much time before it collapses."
"Be it dragon veins or Feng Shui, there's no way those things can bring this place to collapse. At any rate, you've probably planted explosives, haven't you?"
"However, what could this facility have researched to make someone go to such lengths to try and destroy it?"
Her interest as a doctor piqued, Ms. Hitomi inquired as if cross-examining him.
"{Demonic experiments}... You would be better off not knowing." The man spoke as though spitting out the words.
"All right, this conversation has gone long enough. The manipulated dragon vein's activity should begin at any time now."
His words referred to the collapse of the underground. I panicked. We still haven't found Ms. Yuuka yet...!
"Inspector! You didn't happen to catch sight of Ms. Yuuka, did you!? She has a short haircut and is around 18 years old! We came here looking for her!"
My threatening attitude made even the Inspector flinch. "N-no, we didn't see anyone. But, since we also didn't look around the whole place..."
"What do we do...? At this stage, it's impossible to {manipulate the dragon vein again}..."
"I understand. We'll continue our search either way. How much time remains until that dragon vein thing starts its activity?"
"You have one hour left. By then, you must make it above ground without fail. Got it?"
"Ranko-kun and I have more jobs to do, so we'll be unable to help you, and... you will die."
Leaving those words behind, the man turned his back on us and walked away.
"Kazami. Be careful. Remnants of the demonic experiments still live..."
The Inspector muttered words that seemed like some sort of strange incantation before following after the man.
It didn‘t take even a minute after seeing off the Inspector for us to cross paths with my brother.
"My bad for being late. I ended up losing myself by mistake..."
"How was it, Brother? Did you find any leads?"
"No, I got nothing related to Mamiya-kun. What I did find was that there was nothing but graves, which were all crude to the extent that whoever made them must have done only the bare minimum."
"I see..." I let out a sigh, not bothering to hide my disappointment.
I told my brother about the dragon vein. If we're to believe that man, then our grace period is one hour... We have little time remaining.
We can't afford to stay still in a place like this. Even though I restrained my panicked feelings, I fastened my pace and advanced into the interior's darkness.
Ms. Yuuka, please be safe...!
Let's stop here. We've finally met the man on the phone, and he's a bit different than expected but still pretty cool. However, I do have to say, this episode is going pretty fast, we've only had a single choice up to now. That doesn't mean the pacing's been bad, I'm kinda glad, honestly. I do wonder how things will develop.
Anyway, see you next time!
No comments:
Post a Comment