Vol 6 Chapter 3.2 (2/2)
”Right.”
”An ultramarine sky. It was a really beautiful blue. And wings buzzing... and a song. I couldn't tell whether it was man's or woman's voice. It was a strange voice. It almost sounded like the wind, crossing the plains, or crawling across the ground, or showering down from the heavens. I... I was always just standing there... listening to that song...”
A song of the wind which crawled across the ground, and showered from above. Maybe...
”Was it a song of offering?” s.h.i.+on said. It was mostly instinct. The spark of an idea turned into words, and spilled from his lips. ”A song offered to Elyurias... either to praise or appease her... am I right?”
The elder's chest swelled and deflated. It looked like he was taking several deep breaths. Is he agitated? Confused?
”Sasori,” the elder called. The sand-coloured man materialized like a blot in the darkness. ”Provide these two with food and rest.”
”Rou―”
”They will probably not have much time to rest... but that cannot be helped. Provide them whatever they wish for, to the best of your abilities.”
”Why?” Sasori yelled angrily. ”Why do you help them? Nezumi is one who has once left this place. He left, vowing never to return again. He was forbidden to return, was he not?”
”Yes.”
”But he did return. Bringing a demon with him, nonetheless. Rou, can you not understand? He is evil itself. He brings calamity and destruction.” Sasori's finger pointed squarely at s.h.i.+on.
”Did you see his eyes just now? Those are the eyes of evil. The eyes of wicked darkness. Nezumi is being puppeted by this demon.”
”Now you listen.” s.h.i.+on was now feeling more than cross. ”You've been repeating yourself all this time. I only glared at you a little, and you're making me sound like I'm some monster. Kind of rude, don't you th―”
Sasori cut s.h.i.+on off by shaking his head. His face contorted, as if every word s.h.i.+on uttered was a curse.
”The very picture of a monster. Rou, I am fine with Nezumi. If you command me, I shall obey. I will provide him rest and food. But I cannot do that for him. If we do not kill him now, then he will bring misfortune upon us. He may obliterate us entirely.”
”Sasori.” Nezumi stood up. ”Sometimes poison and medicine can come from the same plant. Sometimes you can't tell if it's going to be poison or medicine until you drink it. Right?”
”...What is your point?”
”There's no need to reveal s.h.i.+on's so-called true ident.i.ty, whether he's a demon or not. His ident.i.ty doesn't matter. Right now, all I care about is that he's kept alive. That's all.”
”Why?”
Nezumi's fingers grasped a handful of s.h.i.+on's hair.
”Inside this head, Sasori, is information about the inner structure of the Correctional Facility. The most up-to-date stuff. I can bet it's probably as accurate as computer data. I wouldn't be able to destroy the Correctional Facility without it.”
”Destroy the Correctional Facility―” Shock spread across Sasori's face. Just for an instant, it the expression made the sand-coloured man actually look human. This man had shown the same reaction to Nezumi's words as Rikiga and Inukas.h.i.+ did. Ah, I see, s.h.i.+on thought.
His skin and eyes were a strange colour, but those were the only differences. This man was made of flesh. Blood coursed through his body, and he gave off heat. He would feel pain if he was wounded, and he had both emotions and intelligence. He was a human, just the same. Skin and eye colour were such small differences, they didn't even seem to count.
”Surely you are not really thinking of doing that?” he said in disbelief.
”I am,” Nezumi said promptly. ”In fact, that's probably all I've been thinking about. The Correctional Facility isn't just a prison. It's also a research organization that's connected to the core of No. 6. If we destroy it, it'll put a crack right in No. 6 itself, for sure. We're going to use that crack as a foothold to throw No. 6 into its grave. And to do that, I need s.h.i.+on. I told you before, Sasori, I won't let you kill him that easily.”
The elder opened his mouth before Sasori could.
”There may already be a crack appearing.”
”What? What do you mean?”
”No. 6 may disintegrate even before you strike a blow, because of Elyurias.”
”Rou!” Nezumi barked irritably. ”Speak in a way I can understand. So far you haven't clarified a single thing.”
”Nezumi, perhaps it is fate that you have returned with s.h.i.+on. Perhaps it had already been decided beforehand.”
”Beforehand?” Nezumi retorted. ”Who the h.e.l.l can decide how I'm going to live? I'd like to see anyone try. I'll never bow down to cheap words like G.o.d or Fate. That's enough, Rou. No more word-play. Stop your mysterious nonsense and answer my question. You were involved in the birth of No. 6, correct?”
”Yes.”
”How?”
”Be seated. You too, s.h.i.+on. Be at peace. I will give you water. You are probably thirsty.” Before the elder even finished his words, a pair of slightly bigger bowls were being handed to them. They were filled with clear water.
s.h.i.+on felt a powerful thirst return to him.
He hadn't realized how badly he had wanted water. He felt like all the moisture had been wrung out of him in the numerous experiences leading up until now. He was so thirsty, he felt like his throat was chafing. When he had fed Nezumi water earlier, he had not wanted any for himself. He had completely forgotten his thirst. But now it was like his parched state was a reaction to that; he felt like he was burning up.
”Water―” s.h.i.+on held the bowl in both hands and greedily gulped it down. It was cold and delicious, like the water that Nezumi had fed him over and over during his battle with the wasp―the water that ran near Inukas.h.i.+'s ruins. It had the same taste. It was delicious, and it quenched him.
He drained it in a single draught. More water was poured into his empty bowl. s.h.i.+on was so grateful he felt he could cry.
”Good, isn't it?”
s.h.i.+on found himself nodding vigorously in answer to Nezumi's question. It was too good to put into words.
”There's an underground lake here. Lots of minerals. ―Geez, you must have been thirsty.”
s.h.i.+on finally stopped to take a breath after he had had several bowls of water. The elder must have been waiting for him, for now he opened his mouth to speak.
”This will take a rather long time. I had intended not to tell anyone for my whole life... but I must tell it now. However, before that... Nezumi.”
Nezumi lifted his chin.
”There is a path leading to the Correctional Facility, but it is only connected partway. The Facility has built a door from their side sealing the way off. It has not been opened for decades.”
”I know.”
”There is no other way into the Correctional Facility unless you open it. You know that too, I presume?”
”Naturally.”
”It is impossible to open it from this side. Nor will it ever open from the Facility's side. It absolutely will not happen.”
”The thing with doors―” a wan smile spread across Nezumi's lips, ”is that you don't just wait for them to open politely by themselves. You force them open.”
”Have you a plan?”
”I'm not unprepared.”
”I would not have expected you to act without some strategy. But I cannot imagine how you would open the door.”
”s.h.i.+on.” Nezumi crouched down, and put a firm hand on s.h.i.+on's shoulder. The startled mouse hastily hopped down out of his way. ”The door we're talking about: it's the only point on the map that connects the blank s.p.a.ce underground to ground-level. You know where it is, right?”
”Yeah.” The floorplan appeared in his mind, the one of the Correctional Facility that Nezumi had commanded s.h.i.+on to memorize as if his life depended on it.
”It's in location po1-z22. From the Facility's side, it was labelled Point X.”
”You remember the energy circuits which were connected to that point too, right?”
”Yeah. It was a single circuit, an old system. There are no auxiliary circuits.”
”The unopenable door doesn't need a carefully-crafted backup system,” Nezumi said. ”Efficiency is paramount. Remove everything else that isn't absolutely necessary. Both people and machinery.” He chuckled. ”Sounds like something they would think of. But this is where it works to our advantage.”
Nezumi snapped his fingers.
”The unopenable door opens. We'll pry it open. Rou, we'll fight our own battle. You have nothing to worry about.”
”Only death is waiting.”
”For us?”
”For many people. Many more people will likely die, more than you can imagine. Perhaps you are the only ones who can stop that. Nezumi, fate does exist. Fate has brought you together, and you are here because of fate. It was fate that Elyurias and I met. Let us begin with that story first. Listen well, and make haste, or else it will be too late. You must hurry....”
Then the elder began to speak. It was a story of No. 6.
s.h.i.+on and Nezumi huddled together and grew still, like children listening to their grandfather tell a tale of the past. Only their ears strained hard to listen.
It was a story of No. 6.
A tale of destruction and creation.
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