Part 98: Episode 90: Library Clues

I haven’t had much of sense of time passing since the dome appeared, but… it’s already evening.
The atmosphere in the maintenance office is tense.

The doctor said he’d be waiting deep beneath the surface… Does this building have a basement?
Certainly not one that appears on the official plans. But maybe…
Under the medical center? But that one’s blocked off with concrete…
It does not seem to me that the medical center is an entirely independent building.

Missed something… or forgotten something. Somewhere I forgot to look…?

Oh.

That’s right! The encyclopedia from the library, in the medical center…
…and the chronology and the medical records. I’d like to talk to Nageki again.

You’ve thought of something?
Yeah, I need to go check. Sakuya--

I turned to Sakuya with a question, but I went silent as I saw his condition.

He hasn’t spoken since what happened in the infirmary.
I can’t blame him… I know how he feels. Better to leave him alone.
I suppose I’ll search for Nageki on my own. Hopefully he’ll appear for me again.



…I know. I’m worried about it, too.
………
You’re fading again. Where are you…?

I entered the library, hearing Nageki’s voice.

Nageki!

I’ve found out a lot about the school… and about you.
…I see.


I suppose you… know who I am, then?
Sort of, but… there are things I need to ask you. That’s why I’m here.

The fire five years ago, and the dome today. How are they related?
Nageki must know something about the secrets this school holds.

You… aren’t really here anymore, are you?
…That might be so. Or it might not.
I saw, in the school records. It says you… died, five years ago. In an accident in the medical center.
……

You stopped your…?

In other words--

…At the very least, I took my life through my own will. I am… almost sure of that.
So you didn’t die in the accident…?

He hangs his head in silence. Looks like he can’t remember everything from before he died…

I need a clue. There must be a basement under the medical center, and I need to get in there…
Oh, that’s right… the encyclopedia.
The encyclopedia?
You used to go to the medical center, right? Did you switch one of the encyclopedias from there with one here?

That’s what I want to know! I guess I’ll just tell him.

Look, you know how the encyclopedias here are out of order? There are two copies of volume nine, and no volume six.
The medical center has the same encyclopedias?
Yeah. There are two copies of six there, and no nine.
… How disorderly.
Yeah… Anyway, one of the copies of volume six there has a library sticker on it. Someone must have taken it from here.

……
Mr. Kawara. Try… reading this copy of volume nine.
Looking’s worth a thousand spoken words, I guess.

But when I made to open the book…

…Huh?

This isn’t right.
It looks like just another book when it’s closed, but…

It’s… a box…?

It’s full of files. Some sort of documents…?

There all from five years ago. These must have been…
What does it say? That one.
Let’s see…

This is talking about… using carrier individuals as biological weapons… to fight humans…?

It has the same title as the file in the headmaster’s office. But I never expected anything like this…

Meaning… this school has been being used for biological weapons development for at least five years.
2180: New strains of Sumatera Influenza isolated.
2183: A new strain has been isolated from Fujishiro Nageki. It is lethal to humans, and has been named the Charon Virus. It has entered research at St. Pigeonation’s Medical Center.
…Charon Virus?
…Humans I met… would always get very sick…
Are you remembering something?

I think I was the one who brought that book here. The birds with me in the medical center often did… secret things in the reference room.
I wanted to… tell someone. Tell someone important what was happening in the center--
…What was it? My family…? It must have been my family…
……

…Why didn’t I notice? Did I need your help to see…?

He paces nervously in circles, rambling on to himself.

If you’ve realized something, it would help me to know what it is…