Vol 7 Chapter 3.1 (1/2)
CHAPTER 3
. . . but he who, provoked and nettled to the quick by an offence, should fortify himself with the arms of reason against the furious appet.i.te of revenge, and after a great conflict, master his own pa.s.sion, would certainly do a great deal more.[1]
The shutters closed.
s.h.i.+on sprang up, and took in his surroundings. Teal walls and a teal hallway stretched out before him. The floor was made of a smooth, glossy material polished to a spotless sheen, and reminded him of the cleanliness of a hospital.
However, unlike a hospital, there were no windows or doors.
He felt like he had been shut into a durable box. No, it wasn't like a box―this was a box, a sealed box. There were three barriers between where he stood now and the prisoners' wing up ahead. Once all of them came down, the box would further seal itself into multiple compartments.
These were s.p.a.ces designed to capture escaped prisoners, if not execute them on the spot.
The barriers, far from being just walls, were also designed to release high-voltage current. This beautiful colour, close to indigo dye, was the colour of the execution grounds.
The alarm went off.
The barriers began to roll down.
”Nezumi, run. We have to make it through.”
Nezumi kicked off the ground. They ducked past the first barrier. The second one was halfway down; the third one was already two-thirds of the way down.
”Why?”
s.h.i.+on and Nezumi had reached the end of the hallway by the time the third barrier had closed completely.
”Why, s.h.i.+on?” Nezumi asked. ”Why are the barriers so slow? Getting through them is easy, at the speed they're going.”
”It might be... easy... for you...” s.h.i.+on gasped. His heart was straining in protest from running through the hallway in a single dash. He couldn't breathe. It was far from easy for him―he was almost at his limit. If the barriers had fallen a second earlier, s.h.i.+on would have been caught between the barrier and the floor, his back snapped in half.
”But this speed doesn't make sense. Why is it?”
”That accident... it's thanks to... the commotion about the smell...”
”What do you mean?”
”I copied and sent... the emergency signal that the third-floor computer recorded... to the fourth-floor monitoring system. Along with a deactivation signal, too. Right afterwards, the sensors would register us... and then notify the system of an emergency again. Activation, deactivation, and reactivation...”
”I see. And that took up a bit of time. But I don't know how you could have done it in such a short while. The third and fourth floors operate on different systems, don't they?”
”...Yeah, well, I managed.” s.h.i.+on had not expected it to go this well. He had figured it was all or nothing and given it a try, but he himself was surprised that such a simple deception tactic would work against a leading, cutting-edge defence system.
G.o.d's hand?
That's absurd, that would never happen. But...
s.h.i.+on.
Safu?
No way, I'm hearing things.
Nezumi narrowed his eyes. The sharp glint in them condensed.
”And the door we're making for?”
”The wall up ahead, on the far right.”
Nezumi ran a hand against the wall.
”Oh, here.” It was almost indiscernible from the teal wall, but there was certainly a slight crack there. ”There aren't any handles or sensors. How do you open it?”
Yes, there were no handles or sensors. And ever since the computer-operated maintenance system had been completed, this door had gone out of use and lost all meaning.
”There might be an old-fas.h.i.+oned lock on it,” s.h.i.+on suggested.
”My, my. How careless of them.”
No one would be able to get this far without a legitimate ID chip. Even if they had, no one would take notice of this door. This was No. 6's judgment, and also its folly.
”―which means we might be able to open it pretty easily. Ah... it's just like you said. There's a keyhole here. Looks like it'll break easily.”
”Can you do it, Nezumi?”
”Probably. I can't let you steal all the spotlight. But before that, I think we have to deal with those over there.”
”Huh?” s.h.i.+on tried to turn around, and was shoved in the shoulder instead. He staggered.
Ping.
A ray of light whizzed past s.h.i.+on's eyes. It hit the wall, and left a small burn.
”Well, well. Look what you've done to the wall, and it's polished up so nicely, too. That would cost you a written apology, wouldn't it?” Nezumi hunched his shoulders in mock exasperation.
Three gunmen stood before them. They were clad in military gear―dirt-coloured combat uniforms and boots. Two barrels were pointed at Nezumi, and one at s.h.i.+on.
”Don't move. Put your hands up.” The man in the lead stepped forward, and took aim with his gun.
”Huh?” Nezumi said in mock surprise. ”Oh, hey, will you wait a minute? You gonna shoot me right here? Aren't you getting a little ahead of yourself? I think I'd like to talk to my attorney first.”
The man wordlessly wrapped his finger around the trigger.
”You sure about that? We're valuable samples.”
The man stopped mid-movement. He had responded to the word ”sample”.
”Sample... you say?”
”Yeah. You guys are collecting samples, aren't you? For the Almighty Mayor's project?”
The men all s.h.i.+fted uneasily, and exchanged furtive glances. For a split second, there was a moment of vulnerability.
Tsukiyo sprang forth from inside Nezumi's s.h.i.+rt, dashed along the length of the gun, leapt up, and bit down on the man's nose.
”Whoa!” The man leaned back. Nezumi's knife slashed through his wrist. Blood splattered everywhere, patterning the wall. s.n.a.t.c.hing the gun from the falling man, Nezumi took aim a second ahead of the men behind him, and pulled the trigger.
He shot one man through the shoulder, and the other through his hand; both men cried out in pain. Nezumi spun around on one foot as if doing a dance, and this time shot the laser gun at the wall. He swung a kick into it next. Tsukiyo scurried up his shoulder.
”It's open.”
A s.p.a.ce revealed itself, wide enough for an adult to get through if he crouched. It was pitch-black inside.
”Ugh... it hurts...”
”S-Somebody!”
”Help me... help...” The men were groaning. s.h.i.+on could hear the sound of rapid footsteps. More soldiers, each with a gun in hand, were rus.h.i.+ng onto the scene.
There was a curved handle on the inside of the door. s.h.i.+on pulled it as hard as he could. The door closed with a screech and a bang. They were shut into complete darkness.