Part 89: Kid - Entrance to Final Route - Part 2

Track—Gedaechtnisschwund



I protested.


"There are only five people that didn't escape in time! But the bio scan is showing six. So there has to be somebody else in LeMU!"


"Huh? Why do you say there are five people?"


"Sora, Tsugumi, Takeshi, the Kid, Nakkyu...and me. That's six."


"No. Sara...that's wrong…The thing is, Sora is..."

The words jumped out of my mouth.


"The thing is, Sora is...Sora is...She's not really here."


"She's not here...?"


"What're you talking about, Kid?"


"Sora is...she's an RSD-generated image."


"W-what?"


"RSD!?"


"It's a system that uses semiconductor lasers to project an image directly onto a person's retina. In other words, the Sora that we are seeing is just an image."

Sara and Takeshi's jaws dropped and they blinked again and again. Being an employee of LeMU, I figured that You had known this from the start. She didn't look surprised, but just gazed off into the distance.

As for Sora...


"Yes. It is exactly as the Kid states. I am not flesh and blood. I have no form...I am merely an image. My thoughts and personality are all controlled by an AI program."


"No way..."


"You don't believe me?"


"Of course not! I mean, Sora, you're here..."


"Actually your disbelief is really quite a compliment."


"But Takeshi...it is a fact."



Looking scared, Sara reached her right hand out toward Sora. Her arm met no resistance as it plunged into Sora's body.


"Wow..."

Sara reflexively snapped her hand back...


"Now do you understand?"


"........."


"........."

Takeshi and Sara froze, immobile like they were cutout pictures.


"Hey. You got it, right? So Sora isn't detected by the bio scan sensors."


"That's right..."

You finally broke her silence.


"Sora shouldn't be counted by the bio scan sensors so this number... '6' can't be the right number."


"I told you so. So that means that somebody else is here besides us."


"Stop!"


"Were you listening to what I just said?"


"???"


"By 'can't be the right number,' I mean that there is some kind of malfunction."


"Think about it. It didn't just display the number six, right?"


"The first time we looked, it was saying seven, too. Then it would jump between five, and six and seven."


"How do you explain that?"


"........."


"Even if, like you say, there were other people that didn't get out of here in time...You think somebody would suddenly appear, disappear or split into two people?"


"Well...how am I supposed to know...?"


"See."


"But if somebody else were here, what would you do? Why don't we just search, and if we don't find anyone then we can call it quits. I don't see any reason that you could have against searching."


"I'm not against it. But this is just a computer glitch and I don't think we should let it go controlling us and making us all upset."


"So you really are against it."


"I said I'm not."


"........."


"Geez...fine. I got it. Enough of this...Alright, shall we go search for this 'someone'?"

I gave a big nod. At that point...


"Uh...what about Tsugumi..."

Sora said it hesitantly.


"Oh, that's right."


"The reason we all came here was to find out where Tsugumi went."


"Correct. So wouldn't it be logical to search LeMU while we determine the location of Tsugumi?"


"Okay. Sounds good. Well, let's get started then. Tsugumi was on Zweite stock, right?"


"Yes."

Sara and Takeshi didn't react at all. I imagined they still couldn't quite swallow the idea that Sora was an image. The two were frozen stiff with their eyes completely absorbed by Sora.


"What are you doing? Hurry up! Let's get going!"

I tugged Sara and Takeshi by the arm, leading them from the control room.

[Music—Stop]



Only Sora remained in the control room, thinking of ways to escape, establishing communications, rechecking the complex and trying to get the malfunctioning systems back on-line.

Track—Zweitestock



And when we did, a voice came from the speaker above the corridor.


"Right now, Tsugumi...seems to be in the Security Office."

I figured Sora was using the complex intercom system to announce Tsugumi's location.


"Alright. The Security Office, huh?"

You said this toward the ceiling.



Takeshi said -


"Hey, that surprised the heck outta me... Sora being AI."


"I know, it's crazy to think that she's only an image. I mean...she said something about a laser projected on to the retina or something..."

Takeshi and Sara were as excited as two kids experiencing Halloween for the first time.


"But You knew, right? That Sora is RSD-generated."


"Yeah. I work here after all."


"Well, why didn't you tell us?"


"Well...basically..."


"I didn't think it was what Sora wanted. Sora herself didn't say anything about being AI or RSD, right? The fact that she has been quiet about it tells me she probably wanted to keep it a secret from everybody."


"If she didn't, than she would have told you all about it long ago. Don't you think?"


"So I didn't tell you. I didn't think I should be the one to tell you."


"Hmmmm...."


"I get it..."


"So I shouldn't have said that?"


"What?"


"You said that Sora wanted to keep all of the AI and RSD stuff a secret, right? And I went and told everybody all about it...Sora might be mad..."


"That's silly..."


"Not in the least, Kid."


"S-Sora...!"

Suddenly Sora appeared before everyone. We stopped, surprised...


"It is something that I thought that I needed to tell you...Besides, it is not something that I was desperately trying to hide."


"So please, try not to worry about it."


"Wait just a second..."


"So how did the Kid know about Sora's identity?"

[Music—Stop]


"...Uh...I...?"


"Kid, you should not have any memories from before you fell into the pond, correct?"


"Uh, yeah..."


"So that means that somebody must've told you about Sora after that."


"No one...told...me..."


"So how did you know?"


"That...uh...I...um...."

Track—Traum In Der Dunkelheit






"I don't know how I know...How could I know? What is there in my past? Somebody...tell me..."

The four of them looked at each other.


"You guys, this is really WEIRD for SURE! And it's not just this...the Kid knew my name, too."


"He knew your name, Sara?"


"Yup."


"What was it he had? Life amnesia or something?"


"That has to do only with the loss of memories that are directly related to the person, right? But he knew about me and Sora..."


"Wait a second, Mayo. I told you not to pressure the Kid."


"But...maybe it's just the opposite. Maybe he needs it. I mean...he found the cut-off point of his memory. Maybe if he doesn't try to pull stuff back from the other side it'll disappear for good."


"Takeshi, I know what you are talking about. But think about our situation right now."


"I agree with You. There is no one here with specialty knowledge of this disorder nor capable of counseling."


"In other words...if the Kid's condition were to worsen, there is nothing we could do to help him."


"So we have to stick with what we've got. He can still get his memory back after we get out of here."

Sara and Takeshi didn't looked satisfied. Maybe I had gotten used to this kind of thing. My head didn't hurt and I didn't feel confused. But I was terribly tired. I was absolutely beat and there was no way I was getting any closer to my memory. My memory was like a lone island shrouded in a fog.


"Well, if that's what you think... then that's fine."


"Besides...we've got things to find before his memory."


"Things to find?"


"She is referring to Tsugumi."

Track—Das Absuchen



Tsugumi was there.


"What are you guys doing here?"


"What are YOU doing here?"


"Do you want me to tell you?"


"Yeah."


"I was trying to find out what you are plotting."


"Oh...you're still stuck on that, huh?"


"Are you sick in the head? Paranoid maybe?"


"........."


"Let her look. That'll be the best anyway. Then she'll realize that we are not scheming anything."


"........."


"Tsugumi, what is it you are so suspicious about? What do you think we did?"


"It has nothing to do with you."


"Don't say that!"


"I wish you...wouldn't talk like that..."

Sara clenched her fist and her shoulders shook.


"That's not what I meant."


"...Huh?"


"You...your name is Sara, right?"


"Y...yes."


"I'm not suspicious of you, Sara. So this thing has nothing to do with you."


"What do you mean?"


"You came here on a field trip or something, right?"


"So...you are here by chance."


"It would also seem that You, Takeshi, the Kid, and everyone also failed to escape 'by chance.'"


"What are you saying?"


"There is no way that something like this could occur by chance."


"What do you mean 'something like this'?"


"Everything! Everything that is happening here!"


"So, you're saying that the accident and all didn't happen by chance?"


"Of course that's what I mean."


"You mean, like, somebody planned it?"


"Not somebody.... YOU ALL did."

[Music—Stop]


"AH, HA, HA, HA...."




"It's...I mean..."


"You have to laugh."


"........."


"Hey, Takeshi. How old are you?"


"Who? Me? I'm 20."


"I'm 18."


"Nobody knows the Kid's age...but he's definitely younger than me. You think the three of us could cause this kind of massive accident?"

Track—Drittestock


"Well, with just the three of you it might be impossible. But..."


"But Sora - Sora could do it."


"Sora?"


"Sora?"


"Sora?"


"Sora could?"


"..............."


"Sora is one of LeMMIH's programs. The only one that could do whatever they wanted with the LeMU system is you, Sora."


"I...I...I..."


"Tsugumi! Don't be stupid!"


"I've already told you, I'm not saying this has anything to do with you Sara."


"Of course it has to do with me! Everybody that is here right now is working together to get out of here!"


"We're not just strangers anymore!"


"But...but you just..."


"........."


"Anyway, I want you to quit spouting out these crazy ideas to everyone."


"You've got it all wrong..."

Sara stared intensely at Tsugumi. Tsugumi avoided her eyes. It was a period of awkward silence...Everyone scanned each other's faces trying to gauge what the others were thinking.


"I'm sorry, Sara..."

Tsugumi left the Security Office with her eyes down.


"Tsugumi, wait!"


"Tsugumi!"

[Music—Stop]

You and Sara dashed out of the room after Tsugumi. That left Sora, Takeshi and I. Again silence enveloped us. We tried to get rid of the awkwardness by staring at the monitors, picking our nails and fiddling with the lint on our clothes.


"Well...I'll go back to the Control Room. As soon as I learn anything, I will contact everyone..."

Sora left Takeshi and I, leaving us with those words. Takeshi looked at me and shrugged.

Track—Ersteboden


"Here we go again..."


"..."


"Okay, whaddya wanna do?"


"What do you mean?"


"Should we go after Tsugumi?"


"I think the same thing would just happen again..."


"Then, what?"


"I don't know..."


"For now, we could take a look around."


"Yeah. We still haven't figured out the problem with the life scan number."


"You mean that mystery somebody, the one who didn't escape?"


"Yeah. So let's check around LeMU one more time..."


"You wanna split up and look? I could take the bottom floor and you could take Zweite stock..."


"Sounds good."

[Music—Stop]



We agreed to meet up at 9:30 p.m. We were to meet in front of the Security Office.




"Is there anybody there? If so, answer me!"

I made the rounds of all the rooms...But I didn't find anyone. And it was about time to meet up with Takeshi.



But...




"Hey! Takeshi!"

I called out to him, but there was no answer. Glancing at the door of the Security Office, I saw that it was open. I decided to peek inside.




"Hey! Sora! Do you know where Takeshi went?"

I called out to the empty ceiling. I was betting that Sora might be monitoring me from the Control Room. But it didn't pan out...The speakers in the ceiling remained painfully silent.

Track—Insel Null



I thought as I wandered walking through the corridors.

It’s the same location search as previously seen in Kid’s routes, but in a slightly different order. New content starts at the s.







Tsugumi was there. Her back was to me and she was looking at the entrance. I called out to her loudly.


"Want to ride the gondola?"

Tsugumi turned to look at me. But she immediately turned on her heel and walked away.


"Wait a minute..."

Track—Qualle


"I already told you."


"?"


"I said don't ever talk to me again."


"But..."

Tsugumi started walking again.


"Hey! I said wait!"


"What is it? You are so irritating!"


"You met You and Sara, right?"


"So what?"


"Why didn't you listen to them?"


"It's none of your business..."


"Is that why you stopped me?"


"No... The real reason is something else..."


"........."


"Before you said something about 'those guys' or something, right? What...did you mean by that?"

Tsugumi stared at me intently. She narrowed her eyes almost as if appraising me. Intimidated by her intense glare, my body stiffened and I swallowed.


"What is with you...?"


"I don't know. I wish I did know..."


"..............."


"..............."


"Fine. Well, if you aren't lying...then I'll warn you about one thing."


"Those guys...they are probably using you."


"U...using me? So...so who do you mean when you say those guys?"


"I can't say more than that. I still don't trust you 100 percent yet."


"And I don't want you trusting me either..."


"........."


"Anyway, look after yourself. If something happens, I'm not going to help you..."

Saying only that, Tsugumi turned and left. Having no idea what had just happened, I simply stood there.

[Music—Stop]







(I don't expect anybody is here, but... What's that?)

The watertight door at the entrance was slightly open. I was sure it was closed when I had come by here with You and everyone.


"Is anyone there?"

I softly opened the door.

Track—Kosmisher Wal




"Huh? Sara?"

Sara was inside. She was sitting on top of a pile of boxes. I didn't know if I'd surprised her, but her face seemed to stiffen.


"Oh, Kid...don't scare me like that."


"S-sorry..."

After shooting me a slight glare, Sara stuck her hands in her pockets and dropped to the floor.


"But what are you doing here?"


"Huh? Oh...I just wanted some time alone."


"Alone?"

(You had said almost the same thing...)


"What happened with Tsugumi?"


"Nothing really."


"Well, you seem pretty down..."


"In the end, she didn't tell us anything. We were just running in circles...and it wore me out..."


"I see..."

Feminine intuition aside, not even the two girls had been able to get through to her. Even though there was no apparent reason for Tsugumi to hold a grudge... What could Tsugumi have been so angry with us about?