Volume 1, Chapter 18: Why Would a Simple Checkup Set Off an Alarm?
1:27 p.m.
The Linjiang Security Technology Center.
Shuichi stood in the lobby, tilting his head back for a few seconds to look at the glass curtain wall, a full two stories tall.
It was very different from what he remembered.
No underground passage entrance, no multi-layer identity verification, no staff in matching uniforms who even walked at what seemed like a prescribed speed.
The lobby even had an automatic coffee machine and a few healthy-looking potted plants, and the young woman behind the reception desk was explaining to a visitor how to handle their parking voucher.
No matter how you looked at it, it was just a fairly large research institution.
"What have you been looking at this whole time?"
Yusei stood beside him, filling out a visitor registration form.
Shuichi pulled his gaze back.
"The interior design."
"Nice?"
"It's all right."
Asakawa Mio was on the other side putting on a temporary visitor pass, and at that she glanced up at the lobby too.
"More normal than I expected."
"What did you think it'd be?"
Yusei asked.
Mio thought about it.
"All white walls, no windows."
Shuichi glanced at her.
Pretty close, actually.
But that had been many years ago.
At least this place obviously wasn't one of the facilities Nexus had once been in charge of, back in his memories.
In a certain sense.
They really had done well for themselves.
"Shuichi."
Yusei handed him the pen.
"Hm?"
"Emergency contact."
"You fill it in."
"Put who?"
Shuichi glanced at the form.
There really was an empty field under the phone number.
Yusei's parents didn't live in Linjiang; if anything actually happened, the closest person really was only...
"Put me."
Shuichi said.
Yusei lowered his head and wrote his name.
【Shuichi】
Phone number.
Relationship.
The pen tip stopped.
"What do I put for relationship?"
"Neighbor."
Yusei looked at him.
"Just neighbor?"
Shuichi looked back.
"Then what do you want to put?"
"Friend?"
"Either's fine."
In the end, Yusei wrote friend.
Mio happened to be standing beside them and saw the field.
She didn't say anything.
For some reason, she felt that, the way the two of them got along right now, writing just "friend" was a little too simple.
But if you asked her what exactly was too simple about it.
She couldn't say.
Kamiya Risa soon came out from an internal corridor.
Today she wasn't in yesterday's suit, but in a grayish-white research center uniform with an ID card hanging on her chest.
"You're early."
"Didn't want to be late."
Yusei said.
Shuichi stood to the side.
"He's the one who dragged us out the door early."
"You didn't get up until 1:20."
"We made it."
Kamiya couldn't help glancing at him.
Then her gaze moved to Mio.
"Ms. Asakawa came too."
"Mm."
"Today's examination will take about an hour. The two of you can wait in the second-floor lounge."
Kamiya looked at Yusei. "As a rule, unrelated personnel aren't allowed in the examination area."
"Sure."
Yusei agreed readily.
But Mio asked one thing:
"What if something abnormal happens partway through?"
Kamiya smiled.
"The examination will be stopped immediately."
"And he can leave at any time?"
"Of course."
Only then did Mio nod.
Yusei looked at how clearly not-quite-reassured she was, and suddenly reached out and pressed lightly on the top of her head.
"Don't be so tense."
Mio's body stopped.
"Who's tense?"
"You."
"I'm not."
"Your eyebrows are about to knit together."
Mio reflexively raised a hand to touch the spot between her brows.
Then realized what she'd done.
"Why are you two both staring at my eyebrows lately?"
Shuichi stood to the side.
"It's obvious."
"..."
Mio suddenly regretted coming along a little.
Kamiya, standing across from them, took in all three of their reactions.
She didn't say anything.
Only, as she turned around, the corners of her mouth lifted slightly.
"Follow me."
***
The second-floor lounge was even quieter than downstairs.
An entire floor-to-ceiling window faced the east side of the city, and in the distance a few cordoned-off areas left by the Mother Hive incident could still be seen.
Part of the roads had already reopened, but a few buildings still had temporary hoardings up outside.
Mio sat by the window.
Shuichi sat beside her.
Before going into the examination area, Yusei made a point of looking back once.
"Message me if anything happens."
Mio frowned.
"Shouldn't we be the ones saying that to you?"
"Close enough."
Shuichi leaned back in his chair.
"Hurry up and go."
Before leaving, Yusei gave his hair a quick ruffle.
"Don't fall asleep."
Shuichi slapped his hand away, expressionless.
"Get lost."
Yusei walked off laughing.
Mio watched the door close.
It was a while before she looked away.
"You're really not worried at all?"
"A little."
Shuichi said.
Mio turned her head.
The answer actually surprised her.
"Couldn't tell."
"Showing it wouldn't help."
"That line again."
"It's practical."
Shuichi slouched a little deeper into his chair.
He hadn't gone to bed that late last night.
But for some reason he was still sleepy this morning.
Maybe he really had been a bit tired the past few days.
He closed his eyes.
Mio looked at him for a while.
"You're not seriously planning to sleep, are you?"
"Mm."
"Here?"
"The chair's pretty soft."
"You can sleep anywhere."
"It's a strength."
Mio couldn't do anything with him.
She went back to her phone.
About two or three minutes passed.
The person beside her suddenly tilted a little her way.
Shoulder touched shoulder.
Mio's hands stopped.
Shuichi still had his eyes closed.
Then he shifted a little more her way.
Until finally, very naturally, his head came to rest on her shoulder.
"..."
Mio looked down.
Shuichi didn't move.
"Shuichi."
"Mm."
He actually wasn't asleep yet.
"What are you doing?"
"Borrowing this."
"There's a backrest over there."
"Bad angle."
"You could sit up straight."
"Sleepy."
Mio was silent.
"Leaning on Yusei is one thing."
Shuichi opened his eyes a little.
"Why is leaning on him one thing?"
Mio was stumped.
Right.
Why?
Out of nowhere, the image of Yusei holding Shuichi's hand to wipe it yesterday flashed through her head, and of Shuichi asleep on Yusei's shoulder the afternoon before that.
In the end, all she could say was:
"You two are closer."
"We're pretty close too."
"..."
He said it so naturally.
For a moment, Mio actually didn't know how to argue.
Shuichi closed his eyes again.
"Ten minutes."
"You're even setting a time?"
"Mm."
"After ten minutes, get up on your own."
"Okay."
That was what Mio said.
But her shoulder didn't pull away.
It was only a little stiff at first.
After a while, once she found Shuichi really was just leaning there quietly, she slowly relaxed instead.
There was no particular smell to him.
Just a very faint trace of shampoo left from recently washed hair.
His hair brushed against the side of her neck, a little ticklish.
Mio raised a hand to push him.
When her fingers touched the hair over his forehead, she stopped.
In the end, she only brushed aside a strand that was about to poke her in the chin.
After doing it, she froze for a moment herself.
Then quickly pulled her hand back.
A female visitor sitting diagonally across from them happened to see.
Her gaze paused on the two of them for an instant.
Then politely moved away.
Mio noticed.
For some reason.
She suddenly felt a little self-conscious.
But Shuichi had no such awareness at all.
Having found a comfortable position, he even nestled a little farther into the curve of her shoulder.
"..."
Mio looked down at her phone.
Oh well.
Ten minutes.
Just ten minutes.
***
At the same time.
Inside the examination room.
Yusei stood in front of a grip strength tester.
The researcher recording the results looked at the screen.
"One more time."
"Again?"
"That might have been an equipment problem."
Yusei looked down at the tester in his hand.
"I'm already going really light."
The researcher was silent.
The screen read:
【Out of Range】
This was the third one.
He had squeezed the first into protective shutdown.
The second had simply thrown an error.
This one was an industrial-grade testing device that, in theory, already far exceeded the range of anything an ordinary person could use.
It was still out of range.
Kamiya Risa stood beside them, taking notes.
"Skip the grip strength item for now."
The researcher nodded.
"And reflexes?"
"Just finished."
Another staff member pulled up the data.
Kamiya glanced at it.
She didn't say anything.
His neural reaction speed was clearly beyond the normal human range.
But strangely, his brain, muscles, and neural electrical signals showed no corresponding degree of enhancement.
As if his body wasn't simply "getting stronger."
But had forcibly gained performance far beyond what its own structure should be capable of, with the support of some external system.
"Have you felt unwell physically lately?"
Kamiya asked.
"No."
"Insomnia, tinnitus, hallucinations?"
"None of those either."
"Have you ever occasionally felt a heartbeat, pain, or emotions that don't belong to you?"
Yusei had been flexing his fingers.
His movements suddenly stopped.
Kamiya noticed.
"You have?"
"..."
Yusei didn't answer right away.
Because he had.
He could feel Asakawa Mio.
Very faintly.
Not all the time.
But when she was injured, tired, mentally tense, or when her power fluctuated noticeably, that golden connection was like an extra nerve in his body, passing certain things straight to him.
Even now.
Through two walls.
He could feel she wasn't especially tense.
Instead...
Her heart was beating a little fast.
Why?
Yusei instinctively glanced toward the lounge.
Kamiya followed his gaze.
"Your friends are outside."
Yusei pulled his gaze back.
"I get some strange feelings now and then."
"Specifically?"
"Hard to describe."
"Since when?"
Yusei thought about it.
"Around the Mother Hive incident, I guess."
That wasn't a lie.
But he didn't mention Asakawa.
And he definitely didn't mention the connection.
Kamiya went on:
"Have you had direct contact with any other abnormal individuals or transformers?"
Yusei looked up.
"No."
His answer was perfectly calm.
Kamiya looked at him.
A few seconds later, she nodded.
"All right."
She didn't press.
But inwardly, Yusei let out a quiet breath.
He didn't know what Nexus really was.
Until he was sure.
Asakawa's identity wasn't his to give away.
It certainly wasn't his place to speak for her.
***
The blood draw was far more normal than the other items.
The only problem was that Yusei stared at the few tubes of blood for a long time.
"You need this much?"
The nurse smiled.
"It's a normal amount."
"I have a shift tonight."
"It won't affect it."
"Then it's fine."
When the needle came out, a small white adhesive bandage was stuck on his arm.
The next item was the so-called "abnormal energy residue scan."
Kamiya led him into a room that was clearly of a higher grade than the previous labs.
There was only a single chair in the center.
In front of it stood a sensor panel that looked like black glass.
"Just put your hand on it."
Yusei stood in front of the device.
"Is it going to shock me?"
The researcher beside them was taken aback.
"No."
"Explode?"
"...Also no."
"Then okay."
Yusei pressed his right hand onto it.
Cold.
Nothing happened.
A few seconds later.
A large number of waveforms began appearing on the screen.
The researcher's fairly relaxed expression slowly changed.
"Chief Kamiya."
"What?"
"These values..."
Kamiya came closer.
The screen was generating a structural map that had never appeared before.
It wasn't the kind of outward-radiating energy common to ability users.
Instead, it looked like countless extremely fine golden lines extending from inside Yusei's body toward some direction that didn't exist within the room.
Most of them were empty.
Only one of them—
Was actually connected to something.
Kamiya looked at that line.
"And the other end?"
"Outside the scan range."
"Trace its direction."
The researcher began adjusting the equipment.
Yusei saw the screen too.
For the first time, his heart really tightened.
That thing...
Looked far too much like what he'd seen the first time he grabbed Asakawa's hand.
"No need."
He said.
The researcher looked up.
"Sorry?"
"Stop this test for a moment."
Kamiya immediately looked at him.
"Are you feeling unwell somewhere?"
"No."
Yusei took his hand off the sensor panel.
"I just don't want to keep going."
Very blunt.
Kamiya paused for less than a second.
"All right."
She nodded to the researcher.
"Stop."
The equipment disconnected.
The golden lines on the screen began to disappear.
Yusei glanced at her, a little surprised.
He'd assumed he would at least have to explain himself a bit.
But Kamiya only said:
"As I said before, the examination can be stopped at any time."
"Mm."
Yusei smiled a little.
"Thanks."
However, in the instant before the main equipment shut down completely.
At the very bottom of the screen.
An old module that had been hidden for who knew how many years suddenly started up on its own.
【Compatible signal detected】
【Invoking legacy protocol—】
The researcher frowned.
"What's this?"
Before Kamiya could answer.
The lights on the entire floor suddenly flickered.
BEEP—
A piercing alarm went off without the slightest warning.
***
The second-floor lounge.
Mio's head snapped up.
Almost right before the alarm sounded.
The connection that had been faintly there deep in her chest suddenly pulled taut.
As if someone on the other end had yanked it hard.
Her heart skipped a beat.
Shuichi, on her shoulder, opened his eyes too.
"What's wrong?"
Mio had already stood up.
With nothing to hold it up, Shuichi's head nearly smacked into the back of the chair.
"The connection."
Mio lowered her voice.
She said only that.
Shuichi's drowsiness vanished instantly.
The other visitors around them were starting to look up.
The indicator lights on the ceiling changed from white to yellow.
It wasn't an evacuation alarm.
It was more like an internal equipment fault.
Staff members quickly came out of the corridor to calm people down.
"Please don't be alarmed. A piece of experimental equipment triggered an abnormality warning; there is currently no danger."
Mio didn't even hear the rest.
She took out her phone to contact Yusei.
The screen lit up first.
【Yusei: I'm fine.】
Her hands stopped.
The next message came right after.
【Yusei: Don't barge in.】
Mio stared at those three words.
For some reason, the foot that had already been ready to walk straight in really did stop.
Shuichi saw from beside her.
"What did he say?"
Mio showed him the phone.
Shuichi read it.
"He knows you pretty well."
"..."
Mio pulled her phone back.
"I was only going to ask."
"Mm."
Shuichi didn't call her on it.
Her foot had already taken a step out.
While the two of them were talking, the whole building trembled faintly again.
This time.
The laziness on Shuichi's face disappeared completely.
Not because of the tremor.
But because he felt a certain very familiar fluctuation.
Very weak.
So weak that an ordinary transformer might not even sense it.
Yet it made a small patch of muscle in his back tense up on instinct.
That wasn't Yusei.
It wasn't Asakawa either.
It was underground.
That core.
***
Basement level two.
The black core that had been fixed in the isolation chamber had completely broken free of its base.
It floated in the center of the transparent chamber.
A golden thread inside it shone clearly visible.
Every monitoring instrument went off at once.
"Resonance rate forty-seven percent!"
"How did it suddenly get this high?!"
"There's no contact source!"
"The source is upstairs!"
A researcher rapidly pulled up the system.
The scan data Yusei had just generated automatically popped up on the screen.
The next second.
The two sets of waveforms began to overlap on their own.
Match.
Match again.
Finally.
A red alert box popped up.
【King-type signal confirmed】
【Matches legacy search protocol】
【Target located】
The lab went instantly silent.
Nobody knew what it meant.
Only a man in his fifties standing at the very back suddenly changed color.
He was the deputy director of the Linjiang Security Technology Center.
And one of the very few people at the Center who had stayed on all the way from the early days of Nexus Group's founding.
"Who opened this protocol?"
The young researcher looked blank.
"Nobody opened it."
"Shut it off."
"Not enough authority."
"Then cut the power!"
"If the isolation chamber loses power, it'll—"
"I said cut it!"
It was the first time he had ever raised his voice like that in the lab.
Everyone froze for a moment.
The next second.
The main power was forcibly cut.
The entire underground lab sank into red emergency lighting.
The golden thread inside the black core flickered a few times.
And slowly went out.
The man stood in the red light.
Sweat had already broken out on his forehead.
"That test subject just now."
He asked.
"What's his name?"
"Yusei."
"Who brought him in?"
"Chief Kamiya."
The man turned and walked off.
"Notify Kamiya."
"Stop all examinations."
"Now?"
"Now."
The young researcher didn't understand.
"But we haven't even—"
The man stopped.
He turned back.
"If that field is real."
"Then it's not something we're allowed to keep examining."
***
By the time Yusei came back up to the second floor.
Twenty minutes had already passed.
The alarm in the lounge had long since stopped.
Mio stood up almost the instant he appeared.
Shuichi stayed seated.
But his eyes kept landing on the space behind Yusei.
Kamiya Risa followed him out too.
Her face still held its calm, but she was clearly a good deal more serious than before she'd gone in.
"It's over?"
Mio asked.
Yusei raised his arm.
"Over."
The first thing Mio saw was the adhesive bandage in the crook of his elbow.
"They drew blood?"
"A few tubes."
She reached out, took hold of his wrist, and bent her head to check.
"Does it hurt?"
Yusei looked at her.
Then suddenly laughed.
"You're asking me if a blood draw hurts?"
Only then did Mio realize.
Given everything the three of them had been through, the question really was a little absurd.
"Just asking."
She let go.
But Yusei turned his hand and gave hers a squeeze instead.
Very brief.
"I'm fine."
Just that.
Mio quieted down.
Shuichi, sitting beside them, watched the whole thing.
Then held out his hand.
"Let me see."
Yusei: "What are you looking at now?"
"The needle mark."
"What's there to look at?"
That was what he said.
But he held his arm out anyway.
Shuichi grabbed his wrist and lifted a corner of the white adhesive bandage.
Yusei immediately frowned.
"Keep your hands to yourself."
"No bleeding."
"Obviously."
Shuichi pressed the tape back down.
"Still alive."
Yusei turned his hand and clamped onto Shuichi's wrist.
"Do you have to poke at it every time?"
"Confirming."
"Confirming, my foot."
Kamiya stood to one side.
For some reason, she suddenly felt rather superfluous standing there.
She gave a light cough.
Only then did the three of them look at her again.
"Today's examination ends here for now."
Kamiya said.
Mio immediately caught that phrase.
"For now?"
"An old piece of equipment malfunctioned, so some of the data needs to be reconfirmed."
Yusei asked:
"And the alarm earlier was an equipment problem too?"
"You could put it that way."
Shuichi finally spoke.
"What old equipment?"
Kamiya looked at him.
"A compatibility system."
"How old?"
"..."
It was a slightly odd question.
Kamiya paused.
"At least twenty years."
Shuichi said "oh."
He didn't press.
Over twenty years.
That fit.
Among the things Nexus was using now, there really were still some old protocols that hadn't been completely cleaned out.
The only question was—
Why had it reacted to Yusei?
The answer really wasn't hard to guess.
But Shuichi didn't much like that answer.
Kamiya went on:
"So far, the examination hasn't found any obvious danger to Mr. Yusei's health. The official report will be sent later. If further confirmation is needed, we'll contact you again."
Mio asked:
"You'll contact him again?"
"Possibly."
Kamiya answered honestly.
Yusei didn't seem to mind much.
"Okay."
Then, as if remembering something.
"Oh, right."
"Earlier you asked whether I'd had contact with transformers."
Mio's eyes shot over.
Kamiya looked at him too.
Yusei smiled.
"My answer's the same."
"No."
"And if it's just a regular checkup in the future, maybe don't ask in so much detail."
Kamiya understood.
He was plainly warning her.
Even if there was something.
He wasn't going to say.
"Understood."
She nodded.
She didn't make things difficult.
After Kamiya left.
Mio immediately turned to Yusei.
"You didn't tell them?"
"Tell them what?"
"About me."
Yusei looked at her strangely.
"Why would I tell them about you?"
"They asked whether you'd had contact with a transformer."
"So what?"
Mio paused.
Yusei slid both hands into his pockets.
His tone was very natural.
"Haven't you been hiding your identity this whole time?"
"I went in for a checkup myself. I'm not going to sell you out while I'm at it."
Mio looked at him.
For a few seconds she didn't say anything.
Yusei, if anything, grew a little self-conscious under her gaze.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"Why do you keep saying 'nothing' lately too?"
Mio looked away.
"It's just..."
She paused.
"Thanks."
Yusei laughed.
"There's nothing to thank me for."
With that, he reached out and very lightly touched the back of her head.
A little pat on the ends of her hair.
"Let's go."
Mio stood where she was.
Watching him walk toward the elevators.
The thing that had been pulled tight inside her ever since the alarm went off inexplicably loosened.
Shuichi walked past her.
"Stop staring."
Mio immediately caught up.
"Who's staring?"
"You."
"I'm not."
"Oh."
"What's that 'oh' supposed to mean?"
"Nothing."
Mio glared at him.
Shuichi took two steps.
Then his shoulders suddenly sank.
Yusei had doubled back from up ahead and draped an arm straight around his neck.
"Did you sleep in there just now?"
"Mm."
"Didn't I tell you not to sleep?"
"Not for long."
"What did you lean on?"
Shuichi raised a hand and pointed at Mio.
"Her."
Yusei stopped walking.
So did Mio.
The air went quiet for an instant.
Yusei looked down at Shuichi.
"You slept leaning on Asakawa?"
"Mm."
"Why?"
"Shoulder."
"I know it was her shoulder. I'm asking why you leaned on her."
Shuichi thought about it.
"Softer."
Mio: "..."
Yusei: "..."
Shuichi added one more thing.
"More comfortable than the chair."
Yusei pressed his neck down with his arm.
"Can you say something that sounds human?"
"It's a fact."
"Oh, it's a fact now?"
"Let go."
"Apologize."
"I was complimenting her."
"How is that a compliment?"
Mio stood behind them.
Her ears were already starting to burn.
Yet she didn't know which of them to yell at first.
In the end, all she could say was:
"Don't fight at the elevator, you two."
Only then did Yusei loosen up a little.
But his arm stayed draped over Shuichi's shoulders.
The three of them walked into the elevator together.
Two research center employees were already inside.
One of them looked at Shuichi, with Yusei's arm hooked around his neck.
Then at Mio, standing on the other side with her ears still a little red.
And silently turned their gaze back to the floor numbers.
***
3:22 p.m.
There was still over an hour before the evening shift.
The three of them didn't go straight to the supermarket, and instead found a noodle shop nearby.
The moment they sat down.
Mio took Yusei's examination sheet and read it over again.
"Muscle strength exceeded the equipment's range."
"Mm."
"Reaction speed abnormal."
"Mm."
"Abnormal energy..."
She turned to the next page.
Blank.
Mio frowned.
"Why is there no result here?"
"That's when the alarm went off."
Shuichi sat across from them.
He took a sip of water.
"What did they see?"
Yusei looked at him.
"Golden lines."
Shuichi's hand stopped for less than half a second.
Mio looked up immediately too.
"Same as the connection?"
"Really similar."
Yusei said. "Lots of empty lines on the screen, and only one of them connected to something outside."
Mio went noticeably quiet.
No explanation was needed.
What that one line was.
All three of them knew.
"Could they trace it?"
Mio asked.
"They didn't."
Yusei looked at her.
"I stopped it."
Mio was taken aback.
"Because of me?"
"Who else?"
He picked up his water glass and took a sip.
"I had no idea whether going on would lead them straight to you."
His tone was still very ordinary.
As if he'd just casually made a decision that was only natural.
But Mio suddenly didn't know how to respond.
After a while.
"You actually could have kept going."
She said.
"Why?"
"It's a problem with your body."
"But that line's connected to you."
Yusei answered quickly.
"If I really need to be examined in the future, I'll tell you first."
"Not let other people follow what's in me to find you."
Mio looked at him.
This time she really didn't say anything.
Under the table.
Shuichi looked down at the menu.
He suddenly felt like he was a bit superfluous again.
So he reached out and pressed the call button.
"Ordering."
Mio was interrupted.
"You're hungry?"
"Mm."
Yusei took the menu away.
"Didn't you just say whatever?"
"Now I want fried chicken."
"What kind of fried chicken are you eating at a noodle shop?"
"There are side dishes."
"That's for two people."
"You eat some too."
"Why should I—"
"Is Asakawa eating?"
Mio glanced at the picture.
"Sure."
Shuichi pushed the menu to Yusei.
"Two to one."
Yusei: "..."
When did this become their standard line?
In the end, they ordered it.
***
4:45 p.m.
The three of them showed up at the supermarket's staff corridor right on time.
Tanaka Makoto saw them come in together, checked the time first.
Then looked at the three of them.
"Aren't you on the five o'clock shift today?"
"Yeah."
Yusei said.
"Good."
Tanaka lowered his head and went back to his forms.
Takahashi Misaki ran right into the three of them as she came out of the changing room.
She hadn't had a morning shift today and had only just arrived.
Her gaze landed on them first.
All three were in regular clothes.
Clearly having come over from somewhere together.
"Where did you guys go?"
Mio: "Errands."
Shuichi: "Hospital."
Yusei: "Checkup."
All three spoke almost at once.
Then glanced at each other.
Misaki: "..."
"So which is it?"
Shuichi thought about it.
"More or less the same."
"All three of you went for a checkup?"
"Just him."
Shuichi pointed at Yusei.
Misaki looked at Mio.
"So you two went with him?"
Mio nodded.
"Mm."
Misaki was silent for a few seconds.
Then suddenly laughed.
"You three really are like a family."
All three of them stopped at once.
Yusei: "What?"
Mio: "Like what?"
Shuichi didn't say anything.
He only glanced down at himself.
A family?
What kind?
Misaki had only said it offhand.
But seeing how strongly the three of them reacted, she wanted to laugh even more.
"Nothing."
"Go change, you're going to be late."
With that, she ran off.
Leaving the three of them standing in the staff corridor.
A few seconds passed.
Shuichi spoke first.
"Hasn't she been a bit strange lately?"
Yusei: "I think it's you two whose relationship is strange."
Mio immediately looked at him.
"Why am I included?"
"You let him sleep on you today."
"That was—"
For a moment, Mio couldn't find an explanation.
Shuichi stood beside them.
"Ten minutes."
Yusei turned his head.
"You actually set a time?"
"Mm."
"Why didn't you lean on me?"
"You weren't there."
"So if I'm there, you'll lean on me?"
"Sure."
The answer came too fast.
It was Yusei who froze.
Shuichi had already walked past him.
"Changing."
"..."
Mio stood behind them.
She saw Yusei stay still for two seconds before following.
For some reason.
The corners of her mouth started lifting again.
This time Yusei noticed.
"What are you smiling about now?"
"Nothing."
"You definitely are."
"I'm not."
"Asakawa."
"Hurry up and change."
She walked off.
***
And while the three of them returned to the price tags, cardboard boxes, and promotional announcements.
Basement level three of the Linjiang Security Technology Center.
A records room that hadn't been used in many years lit up again.
The deputy director in his fifties from earlier stood in front of an old terminal that wasn't connected to any current network at all.
Only Kamiya Risa was beside him.
"What exactly is a King-type?"
Kamiya asked.
The man didn't answer right away.
He inserted a physical key.
The screen flickered a few times.
An extremely antiquated system interface appeared.
【Nexus Seventh Dock Research Collaboration System】
It was the first time Kamiya had ever seen the name.
"This is..."
"What Nexus used back before it was Nexus Group."
The man said.
"Back then, we were only a research collaboration unit."
He said it very quietly.
He didn't explain whom they had collaborated with.
He entered a search term.
【King-type】
The screen froze for a good dozen seconds.
Then returned only three results.
The first two both displayed:
【Insufficient authority】
The third one finally opened.
【M-03】
【Operator-compatible specimen】
【Link count: 2】
【Status: Deceased】
【Note: Participated in Zero connection-compatibility experiment】
Kamiya's gaze stopped.
"Zero?"
The man didn't answer.
But his face looked even worse than before.
Kamiya kept reading.
All the experimental details that followed were locked.
The only thing visible was one note left behind many years ago:
【Upon discovery of a King-type individual, peripheral collaborating units may not, on their own authority, contain, control, stimulate, or attempt to establish a long-term research relationship with it.】
Below it was one more line.
【Report to Headquarters immediately.】
Kamiya frowned.
"What is Headquarters?"
The man's hand stopped on the keyboard.
It was a long time before he spoke.
"Something from before."
"It doesn't exist anymore?"
"..."
He didn't answer that question.
Instead, he kept scrolling down.
At the very bottom was an automated program that had been grayed out for many years.
【King-Type Discovery Protocol】
Its status should have read:
【Disabled】
But at this moment.
It had changed to:
【Pending transmission】
The expression on Kamiya's face finally changed.
"Transmission to where?"
The man stared at the screen.
The address was a string of old code she couldn't make sense of at all.
No domain name.
No institution name.
Nothing.
Just an internal destination number.
But he recognized it.
Because thirty years ago.
Back when Nexus still only handled peripheral data for others.
Everything that truly mattered—
Ended up going there in the end.
The man reached out.
With almost no hesitation.
And yanked the physical cable out of the back of the terminal.
The screen went black instantly.
Kamiya looked at him.
"What are you afraid of?"
The records room fell silent again.
The man stood in front of the dark screen.
It was a long time before he answered.
"It's not Yusei I'm afraid of."
"Then what?"
He didn't say anything more.
He only looked at the old machine, now without power.
Because there was one thing.
That hadn't been written in the file just now.
But everyone who'd had even the slightest contact with Headquarters back then knew it.
The reason peripheral units had no right to handle a "King-type" on their own wasn't because such people were so precious.
It was because—
Once one was discovered, Headquarters would come in person.