Part 38: Takeshi - Sixth Day - Part 3

Video: Takeshi—HIMMEL

Track—Tief Blau




"What are you talking about, Takeshi... I'm wracking my brains thinking about the same thing."


"Ah, oooh...yeah, right."


"........."

After thinking for a bit, Tsugumi asked Sora a question.


"Do you know what kind of process this door goes through when it opens?"


"Okay, let me see... After the correct keys are input, a lever embedded inside the hatch should start to raise. As that lever turns, the lock on the door is released."


"However the lever is nothing more than an ornament now. It is turned automatically using electricity...and the motor is usually locked in place."


"Yeah...I suppose they designed it so that you couldn't open it up during an emergency on purpose. In that case--"

She pulled out a flat-head screwdriver.

(Where'd she get that from...?)


"If we can get that lever off, maybe we can open this up manually."

She began to insert the tip of the screwdriver into the gap between the door's panel lines.

And...


"Haaa!"

Tsugumi jammed the screwdriver in with all her might. She tried to dig out the lever buried in the hatch by force. The alloy screwdriver crushed like a piece of candy. The lever budged slightly towards the surface of the door. However...

Slam!!

The screwdriver bent into two equal parts from its handle. And the lever snapped back into place.


"... There's nothing I can do."

Tsugumi threw the bent screwdriver on the floor.

What next...


"Hey You, is there any way to get around this lock that you know of? ...Huh? Where'd You go?"


"Takeshi! Outta the way!"


"Eh?"

Turning toward the voice coming from behind, a few yards away I saw You throw down the first-aid kit she had been carrying.


"Huh? Uwwaaaah!"

She immediately came hurtling toward me as if possessed.


"Wwoooooooooooooooaaaah!!"

She looked furious. I stumbled back away from the door.


"Aaaaaiiiiii!"

----CRASH!

With a perfect flying drop-kick, she threw open the panel to the electronic lock.


"W-w-what are you doing! This isn't the time to be goofing off!"


"If it won't open any other way, I'm going to break it down!"

You shouted, as she leaned over panting.


"That's a little extreme... Well, how about it? Does it look like it's going to open?"


"........."


"Aaagh! It won't budge an inch!"

Neither the door, nor the panel had changed at all.


"Ai! Ya! Hai! Wah! WachoO!"

You began hitting the lock with a renewed vigor, uttering strange noises. But, all the lock did was make error sounds, and ask politely for her to re-enter the password.


"*sigh*..."


"Ouch..."

In the end, You ended up with a sprained finger and went back to the first-aid kit.


"Damn! What are we going to do!?"

Enter another parade of “……..” from everybody except

[Pipi]
"*whine*..."

Coco was being supported by the Kid. She couldn't stand by herself. She soon was hunched over on the floor. I tried pulling her up again but...her face quickly drained of all color.

(This is bad...if we don't...get in there quickly...!)

[Music—Stop]

[Announcement]
"Öffnen Sie die Tür von HIMMEL"

Suddenly a voice that I hadn't heard before sounded from the corridor.


"What's it saying?"


"Someone is trying to access LeMMIH's system!"

Sora flashed open her eyes and shouted.


"From inside the room...from a terminal inside HIMMEL!"


"What!?"

The access indicator light for the electronic lock turned green. The hatch's lever raised and turned automatically... The door opened suddenly....

Track—Das Absuchen



For some reason the humidity felt like it was lower than outside. The air-conditioning was humming quietly.

It was white... It was pure white inside. The whiteness of the wall and floor was emphasized by the brightness of the lighting and seemed to leap out at us. HIMMEL - It didn't necessarily seem like a mistake to have named the room heaven. There were nameplates on the machines with 'HIMMEL' written on them. It seemed that we were in the computer control room.


"H-hey! There's someone here... Did he open up the door just now?"

There was a single person in the room. He was a man who appeared to be in his 40's, dressed in a white lab coat. And... Blood was coming from his mouth and he had passed out at a console.


"Hey mister! Are you alright!?"

[??]
"........."

The man didn't reply to me. He just lay there motionless.


"Who is this guy...? Sora, do you have any idea who this is?"


"No, I am unable to verify his ID... But judging from the way he is dressed, it is safe to assume he was a researcher at the IBF Facility."

I put my hands on his shoulder and raised him into a sitting position. I looked over his white clothing to see if he had any name tags, or other way to determine his name. But he didn't have any ID card, or nameplate to check.

[Researcher]
"Uuugh..."


"Hey, are you one of the staff from the research facility?"

[Researcher]
"Y-yeah...that's right..."

Breathing faintly, the researcher replied. He seemed to be unable to open his eyes, and searched for me by my voice.

[Researcher]
"Doesn't seem like you're...here to rescue me..."

He grabbed onto me with shaking hands. They were covered in blood...

[Researcher]
"So there were still people in LeMU...and it's been six days since... Ha, ha, ha, what a surprise.... *Gagh*"

Blood trickled from his mouth, and he smiled, wryly.


"H-hey! Don't strain yourself. You don't have to talk!"

[Researcher]
"I'm so sorry...it's all our fault..."


"What happened? Did something happen down there?"

[Researcher]
"... But, why all this... This..."

After that he was silent.


"Hey! Hey! Hang in there!"

[Researcher]
"........."

I shook his shoulders, but he didn't reply.


"Takeshi, cut it out, you're shaking him too hard. He's unconscious. Just leave him alone for now."


"O-okay..."


"We'll...we'll have to bring him with us."

I wondered what was going on.

(...Wait, more importantly, we've got to hurry. I don't have a clue what's going on, but I can't worry about that now. We've got to get Coco to IBF right away...)

You, who had been waiting at the entrance to HIMMEL, went inside with Pipi.

The Kid followed behind, carrying Coco.The door had an electronic lock on it, so we left it open.


"Everyone, at the far end of this room is another room, can you see it?"


"Yeah..."


"Yes, I see it."

We all nodded. There was a room on the other side of the glass in front of us.


"That is the compression chamber for IBF."

Sora straightened up and explained the situation without emotion.


"Judging from my incomplete data... IBF is enclosed in higher-pressure gas than LeMU. The IBF area is set to what is known as 'saturated diving specifications'. This type of area is also probably more suitable for research with bacteria.... The atmospheric pressure of IBF is actually at about 12.5 atmospheres."


"I want all of you to enter that room. And after you spend about one hour in the compression chamber, you'll take the access elevator down to IBF. And I should tell you this as a precaution, but... You will not be able to retrace your steps easily from this point on. Please give this due consideration."


"Ahhh..."

We can't go back... We've got to make a decision.



This is the last choice of this path. I’ll probably do daily updates starting tomorrow depending on how many votes are in by midnight (CST) tonight. Good luck!