Vol 4 Chapter 1.1 (1/2)
These are English translations for the novel NO. 6 by Asano Atsuko.
Please hover over text to see annotations.
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We're coming back alive. Don't forget that...
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CHAPTER 1
Curtain Up
Howl, howl, howl! O, you are men of stones!
Had I your tongues and eyes, I'd use them so
That heaven's vault should crack! She's gone fore ever.
- King Lear Act V Scene III [1]
Beyond the gate was a world of darkness.
It was freezing. The man s.h.i.+vered, and flipped the collar of his jacket up. His coat was woven of the finest cashmere, and it was lightweight and warm. It was also equipped with an automatic sensor that registered the temperature of the body and outside air to adjust the temperature inside the coat accordingly. The sensor itself was smaller, lighter, and slimmer than a postage stamp.
He could feel the biting coldness of the air on his partially-exposed face, but the rest of his body was enveloped comfortably in the warmth of his coat. So when the man s.h.i.+vered, it was not because of the cold.
It was the darkness. It was too dark.
No. 6, where the man lived, was a city of light. It sparkled and brimmed with it, regardless of whether it was day or night. Light wasn't the only thing he had access to freely: thanks to leaps in biotechnology, a steady supply of food was always available, independent of seasonal or weather conditions, and he had access to any manner of foodstuffs. It was the same with energy supply. As long as they were inside the city, people were able to lead an abundant, secure and hygienic life. Apart from them, there were five other city-states in the world, but no other place had an environment as perfect as theirs. This was the reason behind No. 6's second name of the Holy City.
The man held an important position in the governing body of the Holy City. Inside the Central Administration Bureau, he held what was equivalent to the third most powerful spot. He was an elite of the elites. His son, who was turning three this year, had also scored highest in intelligence in the past Children's Examinations. The man was already receiving childrearing instruction through a Special Curriculum. If no problems arose ― no problems would arise, naturally, because in no way would anything unpredictable happen inside the Holy City ― then his son, as an elite as well, would be able to acquire a life which lacked nothing. It was promised to him.
The man couldn't stop s.h.i.+vering. How dark it was. How foreboding it was. He had no idea that nighttime could bring such fathomless darkness. He had had no idea, until he had stepped into this West Block.
What the h.e.l.l is he doing?
The man who was supposed to be there to fetch him, wasn't. He was usually waiting for him in the cover of darkness, but tonight, there was no sign of him at all.
Has something happened?
Maybe something has come up.
If so... then it isn't very good.
The man exhaled in the darkness.
It was best not to dawdle here any longer. He must pa.s.s back through the gates, and return to the Holy City. He must.
His reason commanded him to return, to turn on his heel, and go back into comfort and light. But the man could not move.
Just a little longer. I'll wait for five more minutes.
It was a lingering attachment. It was his attachment for the few hours of pleasure and decadence that he was about to enjoy. This attachment, for the few hours he spent fooling around with women in the West Block, weighed his feet down and prevented him from walking away. How enticing it was to spend the hours in a drunken stupor, in the company of women with hair and eyes in every colour. It was almost a year now since he had first been irresistibly drawn into this enticement. There was no way out of it.
The City's management was getting stricter. General citizens were restricted, naturally; but even the upper echelons, which had had considerable freedom, were being imposed with limitations. Travel between the city and the West Block was one of the things which limits had been placed upon.
All travel between other Blocks were prohibited unless with a clear reason and an application to do so.
When the man had seen that section of the city's notice, he remembered giving a small sigh. The Central Administration Bureau was a department that singularly managed all of the city's information. All personal files of the citizens were naturally gathered here as well. Each citizen's name, s.e.x, birth date, family structure, intelligence index, physical characteristics, physical measurements, history of illness, curriculum vitae, were all contained here. The daily actions of each and every individual were recorded without fail and internalized as data by the Central Administration Bureau, through the numerous surveillance cameras and sensors placed throughout the city, as well as the data-collection chips embedded in their ID cards. This system was already well-established.
Thorough management and centralization of data ― and whether for better or for worse, this man was near the heart of the system. He used his position to his advantage to overwrite his personal records numerous times. He had rewritten his file to say he had never entered the West Block. He had destroyed his records.
It was a crime, he was well aware. He was nervous of what would happen to him if this was exposed, and at the same time, he was confident that he would never be found out. He drowned himself in euphoric ecstasy. At the same time, he wanted to protect his secure life and cowered at its destruction. And underneath was the confident rea.s.surance that he was an irreplaceable member of the elite core, and that he would not be persecuted so easily. Many emotions jostled inside the man.
But in the end, he had given into his desires and pa.s.sed through the gates again tonight.
He's late, a little too late....
The man chewed his lip lightly.
I should probably give up for tonight.
Nothing was more dangerous than standing still like this for a prolonged time, wrapped in the darkness of the West Block. As the man turned to go back the way he had come, a low voice called his name.
”Fura-sama.” That was the man's name. The low voice carried over to him in the darkness. ”I apologize for keeping you waiting.”
Fura furrowed his brow, and hunched his shoulders slightly.
”Is it you, Rikiga?”
”Yes. I've come to fetch you.”
”You're late.”
”I'm terribly sorry. There was a slight delay.”
”Delay? What happened?”
He could sense the darkness s.h.i.+ft slightly as Rikiga shook his head.
”Nothing to worry yourself about. No trouble for you in the slightest sense, Fura-sama... actually ― ah ― you could say I was delayed for the purpose of your further enjoyment―”
”Which is to say?”
He could hear a vulgar laugh.
”It's taken me a bit of time to prepare a woman to your liking.” The vulgar laugh continued, and the darkness coiled slimily. ”But rest a.s.sured, it shall more than make up for the time I've kept you waiting. I'm most certain you'll be satisfied.”
”Is she that good?”
”Exquisite specimen.”
He swallowed. If he could, he would have raised his own vulgar chuckle like Rikiga, but he restrained himself.
His position was like the heavens in relation to Rikiga as the lowly earth. a resident of the West Block. He could not bring himself down to that level.
For Fura, although the West Block was place that provided him with lewd and luscious pleasures, those who lived there ― Rikiga, or the women ― were not the same humans as he. He saw them as insects, perhaps. No, that was too harsh ― they were rather close to cattle. Humans and cattle, the dominator and dominated. No. 6's surrounding regions existed to serve the city ― that was what he had been taught since childhood.
”―Shall we go, then?” Rikiga began to walk. Silently, he followed behind.
The outdated gasoline automobile was uncomfortable to ride, and b.u.mped and jerked ever so often. The road itself was full of potholes. Once in a while, the car teetered dangerously. When Fura had first begun frequenting the West Block, he had more than once raised his voice in complaint, but now, he thought nothing of it. As one who was used to the immaculately-paved roads of No. 6 and hybrid cars fully equipped with shock-absorption, the sudden b.u.mps and sways were new and refres.h.i.+ng. And more than anything, it tickled his heart with the antic.i.p.ation for things to come.
”So?”
Fura leaned forward in the back seat and questioned him.
”What kind of girl is she?”
”I daresay she's a perfect match for your tastes. I'm sure you'll like her.”
”The last girl wasn't so great.”
”I know. But this girl, she's exactly as you like them, Fura-sama. Small frame, slender ― and very young.”
”Young, huh.”
”Yes. Of course, this being the place it is, we're not sure of her real age, but she's very young, for certain. So she ― hasn't had experience with men yet.”
”Are you sure?”
”Absolutely. And not only that, it looks like she has the blood of the southern lands in her veins. She has that sort of appearance.”
”Ah.”
”We've many women with ripe bodies, but it's a little difficult to find the younger ones. I could never send you a scrawny, dirty brat to service you, Fura-sama, nor would I be able to just pluck one off the street. And besides ― to give this kind of job to a girl so young, and with no experience, it is quite ― well, it certainly doesn't bode well with my conscience, to say the least.”
Liar. Fura retorted in his head. For money, you'd do anything. Conscience, you say? Don't make me laugh.
Although he was no doubt deaf to Fura's words, Rikiga let a dry chuckle escape his lips.