Part 3: Future Gadget Laboratories is introduced

"Why don't you answer? I'm asking you. Yes, you - the one on the other side of the monitor.
Hmph, that's a stupid face you're making. You're so boring.
To you, it looks like we're inside a television monitor. Heh heh heh, however, that is incorrect. The one inside the monitor is you. The world that you think is reality is nothing but fiction. Of course, that includes yourself. True reality is located on this side.
You don't understand what I'm talking about? That's not surprising. Ah, whatever, I shall tell you about us in an easy-to-understand way.
First, our current location. This is Future Gadget Laboratory, located in Akihabara, Tokyo. We usually just call it 'The Lab'. We aspire to reconstruct the ruling structure of the world."

"Really? You shouldn't do anything bad, Okarin."

"Shut up for a moment, Mayuri.
After leaving the station, go down Central Street until you reach Suehirochou Station crossing, where you take Kuramaebashi avenue to the left. By entering the alley before the next traffic light, you will find an old-fashioned apartment building. Our lab is located on the second floor there.
On the first floor of the building we have a certain maniac's shop called the 'CRT Workshop'. Even though it's the age of LCD, that shop still sells and handles CRT TVs. No matter how much of an electronics town Akihabara is, the demand for those is next to none, so the shop is deserted.
However, Tennouji, the manager of the CRT Workshop, is also the owner of the building. The urban development is progressing at a quick pace, so the price of land in Akihabara has skyrocketed. That's why so many small hobby shops were built there.
Fortunately, the manager has an eye for people. After taking a liking to my charisma, he lent me the entire second floor of the building for almost nothing. Fuahahahaha!
At the moment, the Future Gadget Laboratory has a serious lack of capable staff, but we are always open to applications from excellent researchers. Currently, our researchers are--"

"Okarin, Okarin! You're supposed to say 'Lab Members'! Not researchers."

"...Lab Members. Including me, we make up a grand total of three.
Laboratory Member No. 001, the lab's founder and crazy mad scientist: Myself, Hououin Kyouma."

"Okarin sounds a lot cuter, though."

"And then we have Laboratory Member No. 002, the cosplay hobbyist and the only girl: Shiina Mayuri."

"Tutturu~♪ I'm Mayushii. My hobby is not wearing, but making the costumes."

Finally, we have Laboratory Member No. 003, the Supah Hakah: Hashida Itaru."

"It's Super Hacker, not Supah Hakah, duh."



"The details can be found on the lab's homepage. Of course, our top priority are future gadgets which could be used to fight the dark supremacy, but many other inventions were created as byproducts of this research. Hell, there are currently more of them than the actual inventions we wanted. We have already completed 8 future gadgets, but that is only the beginning. In my head, I have ideas for a total of 108 of them."

"It's like that tennis manga, eh? I get it."

"It's the number of humanity's worldly desires, you damn @channer. Also, don't interrupt me while I'm speaking."

"Anyway, why are you talking to yourself, Okarin?"

"I'm not talking to myself! Can't you see? I'm talking to the guy on the other side of the monitor.
Oh, he just grinned.
What are you laughing about, you bastard!? You're the one inside the monitor!
He doesn't even seem to understand that we're talking to him. His lack of self-awareness is quite sad."

"Maybe to them, we appear to be just a game?"

"I don't think that the concept of 'real' or 'game' exists to them."

"But Daru, aren't your beloved 2D girls the same?"

"That's different. They are my waifus."

"Nobody cares about your wives."

"Didn't Mayushii bring up an interesting idea, though? Suppose that, hypothetically speaking, we were the ones inside a game - do you think that it'd be possible for us to realize it?"

"No. That type of discussion is completely unproductive. What we should be focusing on is how we will crush the world's ruling structure."

"GJ, pretentious lunatic."



This is an interactive game called 'Alpaca-Man 2', where you can speak to it via microphone and it will answer back. The game exploded in popularity upon release 10 years ago. Personally, I find it only disgusting, not 'disturbing yet cute'. I bought it yesterday at a second-hand goods store for 500 yen, headset included.



"Shut up, Supah Hakah. I'm not pretentious. I'm Hououin Kyouma!"

"What is that, an anime character?"

"Good grief. Daru, you’re communication skills are broken beyond repair."

"I always liven up the place when I go to anime offline meets, bro."



Daru has a variety of 2D wives on who he cheats with 3D maids. To him, all is well so long as it's moe. He is a very skilled and extremely reliable man who turns my brilliant ideas into reality.

"Ow...! I pricked my finger..."



This one's also an otaku, but not nearly as bad as Daru. She's in charge of making (female only) anime character cosplay for the Future Gadget Lab. Just like every other day, she is doing that right now. I don't really know much about the characters, or if the costumes are even good.

Why does the Future Gadget Lab need (female only) anime character cosplay, you ask? Let's just say that it absolutely doesn't. That basically means Mayuri is a completely useless existence to the lab. However, I have no intention of kicking her out. After all, the first one who knocked on the door of my just-established Future Gadget Lab was none other than her.

Even now, I clearly remember the spring day when she first came to the lab. This is what Mayuri said to me:



Yes, what she meant by that is truly uncertain. But for me, it was an offer of salvation. She was the first person to join me in my grand plan. Her presence saved me from the solitude of being chased by The Organization. I will be forever grateful for that.

"So, Okarin. Did Alpaca-Man respond?"

"No, not at all."



Screw this, I give up. Never again will I play this pointless game.

"Damn unsociable alpaca..."

Cursing under my breath, I lightly hit the top off the TV.



Changing the channel, turning the power on/off or hitting it again don't change anything. Looks like it broke.

This shabby TV was given to us for free by the CRT Workshop downstairs. Maybe its life span is over.

"Alpaca-Man must be mad."

"Ugh. I'll have to go and ask if it can be fixed."

I close my eyes. What naturally comes to mind is the supernatural sight from an hour ago...





All the people in my field of vision disappeared. This included the customers and employees of anime and electronic shops, and even the drivers along with their vehicles. It was nothing but an instant.

Even though it was hot enough to make it look like the asphalt was wobbling, the sight in front of me made me feel cold.

"What's wrong?

Upon hearing a voice from behind me, I finally got a grip.



She's giving me a curious look.

"Just now, the p-people vanished, right?!"

"???"

"They just vanished, right?! In front of our very eyes!"

After recovering from the shock and entering a state of mind that allows me to think rationally, I start panicking. Thats why I rush over to Mayuri, grab her slender shoulders and roughly shake her.



"Nnnnnn... huuuhhhhh?"

Due to my shaking, Mayuri's head is jerkingly swinging back and forth.

"Iiii diiidnnn't seeeee."



"You... Didn't see it? How could you not see it? I mean, until just now, thousands of people were walking here!"

"They were?"

"Even the salesmen have disappeared! There's no way something like this can happen!"

"Hmm... I think it just can't be helped. There were no people here from the start..."
"Ah, that's right! Okarin saw an illusion. It's probably because of this heat. Tutturu~♪"

Why is she smiling under such circumstances? I always knew that she was weird, but does she actually need a few screws tightened?

Anyway, it looks like I can’t rely on her right now. Completely at a loss for words, I look up at the top of the Radio Center that we have just left.



There, just a few minutes ago, Makise Kurisu was stabbed. I wonder what became of her. Did someone at least call an ambulance? Before the mass disappearance, I kept hearing an echo of a siren, but now there's nothing. Makise Kurisu is probably still lying in that narrow hallway, covered in blood...

Wait, more importantly, what the hell is that thing? Before the beginning of Nakabachi's presentation, there was some kind of explosion. The lock on the door to the roof was broken, and a satellite-shaped object was placed there. This is completely different, though. It's stuck into the wall directly where Doctor Nakabachi's interview was held.



Anyone would think that upon seeing this spectacle. However, when did this happen?

"Mayuri, that satellite..."

"Yep, it sure was surprising."

"Surprising? What do you mean?"

"The dreadful 'BAM' sound it made."

There was a sound, but it sure as hell wasn't 'BAM'. It sounded like an earthquake.

"Did that space satellite fall down here?"

"Are there any aliens riding that? Did they finally come to visit us?"



What I saw and what Mayuri saw doesn't match at all. Under attack by a barrage of unexplainable things, I begin to doubt what is real and what is an illusion.



"Besides that, Mr. Uniformed Policeman, there's one thing I'd like to ask you! Right here, right now, thousands of pedestrians have disappeared! You saw that, right?!"



Little by little I lose confidence in the credibility of my memories. If it's like this, I'll just tell him about the girl in need of medical help in the Radio Center.

However, when I do, he says this: