Later that afternoon, Shimazaki visited Ota's office in Nagatacho. Not yet aware that Isma had died, he drew closer to Ota with an air of confidence.
"Now you've done it, Chief Secretary. Professor Feed has left the country!"
"You said that all you wanted is for his project to be dissolved, so what's the problem? I'd have thought you'd be pleased that he decided to leave the country of his own accord."
"That's true, but that high school student Nakajima has apparently disappeared..."
"Oh, come off it! Do you really think someone of my stature can be bothered with some high school student?" Ota's voice was laden with irritation.
"He might become a great interference in our plan."
"Our plan?" Ota looked at Shimazaki haughtily.
"I don't ever remember asking you for anything. Events just happened to turn in my favor, that's all. Rather than dealing with that sort of nonsense, rumors of the bizarre occurrences in Musashino Ward has become a real problem for the cabinet. Using Fujita and Hamano I've managed to keep things from getting out, but if things start spreading to the 23 wards, we can't just sit by and do nothing. You better ask your precious Saint to stop playing demon."
"I'll do what I can..." Shimazaki responded with a long face.
Without Isma, he had no teeth; Shimazaki could not approach the opening to the demon world. Furthermore, since he didn't know just how much power the demons had, if Ota put on a bold front, there was nothing he could do to counteract him.
"At this rate, we may just have to use the SDF." Watching Shimazaki's expression, Ota spoke as if trying to gauge his reaction.
"After all this, you want to oppose the demons!?"
"Too much of even the best medicine will make you overdose. It wouldn't bother me in the least of the demons just up and vanished."
"If the demons heard you saying something like that..." Shimazaki was clearly losing his compsore.
"Oh, don't worry. What I say now will never leave this room. At all..."
Baring his teeth in a grin, Ota snapped his fingers. A tall man who was waiting in the adjacent room approached casually. Ota pointing with a jerk of his head, the man slipped around behind Shimazaki. Shimazaki stiffened reflexively and a slight stabbing pain shot into his thick neck.
"What are you doing!?" Shimazaki leaped up from the sofa.
"I won't let anyone try to pull anything funny on me--even you, Mr. Ota!"
However, greasy blobs of sweat were already appearing on his red face, and his legs started wobbling.
"You'll die painlessly. That was an anesthetic they use to execute prisoners in Texas. Go ahead, take a nap...though you'll never wake up."
"Wha...t?" Shimazaki's body tumbled forward as he bit hard down on his lip.
"OK, Kuroda. I leave the rest to you. The Cabinet is waiting for me."
Acting as if nothing had happened, Ota strolled out of the room, not once looking at Shimazaki's corpse sprawled on the floor.
Monday, July 30, 2007
Part 6: Chapter 2
Early the next morning, two Cadillacs under heavy guard drove away from the mist-enshrouded American Embassy toward the west. One headed to the Yokosuka Military Base, and the other headed west down the Tomei Expressway. A black sedan tried to follow them, but perhaps was afraid of the guard, as it quietly made a U-turn as soon as the two cars split up to head to their respective destinations.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Part 6: Chapter 1
"There was nothing we could have done. If he hadn't sacrificed himself so that we could get away, neither of us would be alive right now." Feed's voice sounded distant.
Sitting on the soft leather sofa, Nakajima finally opened his heavy eyelids and looked outside the window in a half-awake, half-asleep daze. At some point the wounds on his arms and legs had been bound in bandages, but he had no memory of who had treated them or when they did.
As if unaware that Musashino had turned into a demon city, the cars on the freeway sped past, their headlights forming a river of light. For a brief moment, Nakajima thought he saw the smiling face of Narukawa-turned-Tsukuyomi in those lights. More importantly, Nakajima could not understand why Narukawa had gone so far to protect him, even in defiance of his own organization. He could only think that there had been some sort of connection between them that defied logic, much like his own connection with Yumiko. All he wanted to do now is cling to the hope, however, small, that Narukawa had survived somehow.
"Hey, where are we?" Nakajima opened his mouth as if something had just come to him.
"We're in the American embassy. We're safe here." Almost right after Feed's reply came a knock on the door. A tall, elderly gentleman entered the room.
"How is our guest doing, Professor?"
The man's gentle, slender face turned toward Nakajima, and Nakajima realized that he had seen this person on television several times before. It was Blackwood, the American Ambassador to Japan.
"He looks a lot better. Thank you." Feed responded with a calm expression that Nakajima had never seen on the man before. Looking at Feed speak so casually with an important American government official and getting a glimpse of just how broad the professor's world was, Nakajima felt a twinge of loneliness. He knew better than anyone else that he had no place that he belonged at the moment. As he hung his head in shame, the Ambassador appeared to have mistaken it for anxiety and came over to shake his hand.
"Everything's all right. Professor Feed has told me everything. We will never hand you over to the Japanese government, even if they demand it." Blackwood's Japanese was flawless.
Nakajima said nothing and took the man's warm hand to shake it.
"By the way, Ambassador, have you arranged for a jet?"
"We've got an F14 waiting. It'll depart for the US at 8 o'clock tomorrow morning."
"Thank you, Ambassador."
"No need to thank me. Say hi to the President for me."
As if waiting for the ambassador to disappear behind the door, Nakajima spoke to Feed.
"Are you going back to America, Professor?"
"Yes. About that..."
Feed sat down on the sofa across from Nakajima and leaned forward. His eyes were glittering like those of a mischievous child.
"I've finally discovered a fool-proof way to banish the demon."
"What!?"
"I know it's difficult to believe, but this is a sure thing. Remember what I said a while back? If there are two magnetic fields that simultaneously attempted to summon a demon, if the difference in their strengths was large enough, the demon would automatically be pulled to the field that was stronger. What is it that determines how strong the magnetic field would be?"
"The makeup of the atmosphere, gravity, the geomagnetic polarity...and the state of mind of the people would probably also have a large effect as well."
"You've got it. I'd have expected nothing less from my best pupil." At some point, Feed had decided that Nakajima was his student. Confused, Nakajima shook his head at Feed's words.
"Don't you understand what I'm getting at? Here, take a hypothetical example. What do you think would happen if you could create a magnetic field that had no interference from the atmosphere, gravity, and geomagnetism?"
"Well, of course, in theory it would be immensely powerful. But trying to artificially create such an environment would take enormous amounts of time and money, and..."
As if he had thought of something, Nakajima stopped in the middle of his sentence.
"I get it! In outer space! You're going to use a satellite!"
Feed nodded in satisfaction.
"There's no way to predict what a demon banished into outer space would do. But if we were able to pull Set onto a satellite raised into dead orbit, he would never be able to meddle on Earth again so long as the computer kept running. There would be plenty of time to develop a weapon capable of taking him out in the meantime. I have to return to the US to get the government's approval to use a satellite in dead orbit."
"Is there a satellite with a computer powerful enough to summon a demon?"
"Of course. My country has launched a satellite in geosynchronous dead orbit at 135 degrees East as a base to control the future SDI satellites. Currently it's only operating at 30% capacity. It'd be perfect for summoning Set." Feed's voice was full of confidence.
"What will you do? Trying to take on Set all by yourself at this point would be nothing but foolishness. I would think it be best for you to stay here until everything is resolved..."
As if chasing an illusion, Nakajima's eyes drifted to the window.
"I think your plan has a very high chance of succeeding. But there's something you forgot, Professor."
"What?"
"If you pull off your plan, Set's temporary body, which is currently fusing the human world with the demon world, will experience a tremendous shock as its environment suddenly changes. I think it would be safe to say there would be no chance of saving Yumiko, who is currently inside him."
Feed was silent.
"I'm going to fight Set again. But before that, I want to find the goddess Izanami. Izanami may have some wisdom as to what to do..."
"So I fight for humanity, and you fight for your girlfriend. Well, that's fine, then."
Feed stood up and offered Nakajima his hand.
Sitting on the soft leather sofa, Nakajima finally opened his heavy eyelids and looked outside the window in a half-awake, half-asleep daze. At some point the wounds on his arms and legs had been bound in bandages, but he had no memory of who had treated them or when they did.
As if unaware that Musashino had turned into a demon city, the cars on the freeway sped past, their headlights forming a river of light. For a brief moment, Nakajima thought he saw the smiling face of Narukawa-turned-Tsukuyomi in those lights. More importantly, Nakajima could not understand why Narukawa had gone so far to protect him, even in defiance of his own organization. He could only think that there had been some sort of connection between them that defied logic, much like his own connection with Yumiko. All he wanted to do now is cling to the hope, however, small, that Narukawa had survived somehow.
"Hey, where are we?" Nakajima opened his mouth as if something had just come to him.
"We're in the American embassy. We're safe here." Almost right after Feed's reply came a knock on the door. A tall, elderly gentleman entered the room.
"How is our guest doing, Professor?"
The man's gentle, slender face turned toward Nakajima, and Nakajima realized that he had seen this person on television several times before. It was Blackwood, the American Ambassador to Japan.
"He looks a lot better. Thank you." Feed responded with a calm expression that Nakajima had never seen on the man before. Looking at Feed speak so casually with an important American government official and getting a glimpse of just how broad the professor's world was, Nakajima felt a twinge of loneliness. He knew better than anyone else that he had no place that he belonged at the moment. As he hung his head in shame, the Ambassador appeared to have mistaken it for anxiety and came over to shake his hand.
"Everything's all right. Professor Feed has told me everything. We will never hand you over to the Japanese government, even if they demand it." Blackwood's Japanese was flawless.
Nakajima said nothing and took the man's warm hand to shake it.
"By the way, Ambassador, have you arranged for a jet?"
"We've got an F14 waiting. It'll depart for the US at 8 o'clock tomorrow morning."
"Thank you, Ambassador."
"No need to thank me. Say hi to the President for me."
As if waiting for the ambassador to disappear behind the door, Nakajima spoke to Feed.
"Are you going back to America, Professor?"
"Yes. About that..."
Feed sat down on the sofa across from Nakajima and leaned forward. His eyes were glittering like those of a mischievous child.
"I've finally discovered a fool-proof way to banish the demon."
"What!?"
"I know it's difficult to believe, but this is a sure thing. Remember what I said a while back? If there are two magnetic fields that simultaneously attempted to summon a demon, if the difference in their strengths was large enough, the demon would automatically be pulled to the field that was stronger. What is it that determines how strong the magnetic field would be?"
"The makeup of the atmosphere, gravity, the geomagnetic polarity...and the state of mind of the people would probably also have a large effect as well."
"You've got it. I'd have expected nothing less from my best pupil." At some point, Feed had decided that Nakajima was his student. Confused, Nakajima shook his head at Feed's words.
"Don't you understand what I'm getting at? Here, take a hypothetical example. What do you think would happen if you could create a magnetic field that had no interference from the atmosphere, gravity, and geomagnetism?"
"Well, of course, in theory it would be immensely powerful. But trying to artificially create such an environment would take enormous amounts of time and money, and..."
As if he had thought of something, Nakajima stopped in the middle of his sentence.
"I get it! In outer space! You're going to use a satellite!"
Feed nodded in satisfaction.
"There's no way to predict what a demon banished into outer space would do. But if we were able to pull Set onto a satellite raised into dead orbit, he would never be able to meddle on Earth again so long as the computer kept running. There would be plenty of time to develop a weapon capable of taking him out in the meantime. I have to return to the US to get the government's approval to use a satellite in dead orbit."
"Is there a satellite with a computer powerful enough to summon a demon?"
"Of course. My country has launched a satellite in geosynchronous dead orbit at 135 degrees East as a base to control the future SDI satellites. Currently it's only operating at 30% capacity. It'd be perfect for summoning Set." Feed's voice was full of confidence.
"What will you do? Trying to take on Set all by yourself at this point would be nothing but foolishness. I would think it be best for you to stay here until everything is resolved..."
As if chasing an illusion, Nakajima's eyes drifted to the window.
"I think your plan has a very high chance of succeeding. But there's something you forgot, Professor."
"What?"
"If you pull off your plan, Set's temporary body, which is currently fusing the human world with the demon world, will experience a tremendous shock as its environment suddenly changes. I think it would be safe to say there would be no chance of saving Yumiko, who is currently inside him."
Feed was silent.
"I'm going to fight Set again. But before that, I want to find the goddess Izanami. Izanami may have some wisdom as to what to do..."
"So I fight for humanity, and you fight for your girlfriend. Well, that's fine, then."
Feed stood up and offered Nakajima his hand.
Friday, July 20, 2007
Part 5: Chapter 4
All of a sudden, Narukawa extended his arms out wide toward the heavens and called out.
"Soul of the light of heaven and earth, light of the moon, come here to me, Tsukuyomi!"
Feed turned around in shock.
"So you've finally lost it." Isma also stopped the giant serpent, its mouth wide open and ready to swallow Nakajima, and turned to stare at Narukawa.
But the rumbling of the heavens and the earth that started the next instant wiped the sneering grin off his face.
The sky is falling, Nakajima thought as he looked up.
The stars in the sky, which were shining far more than usual, became a single band of light and shot down toward Narukawa, leaving a streaking tail behind it. Or at the very least, that was what it looked like to Nakajima.
"Mr. Narukawa..."
But it was no longer Narukawa that was standing up to fight the demon, but his identity in his former life, that of the moon god Tsukuyomi. Not waiting a moment, he threw the light that was gathered around his right hand at the enormous snake.
GYAAAAAGH!
Like a laser scalpel, the arrow of light split Typhon's body in two down the middle. As Isma tumbled to the ground, Narukawa showed no mercy as he launched another attack on him. With no time to even cast a defensive spell, in an instant Isma was wreathed in flames, and screaming in anger and pain, attempted to grab Narukawa as he crumpled to the ground in a lifeless heap.
The sight reminding him of the death of his mother, Nakajima shrank back as a sudden shock ran down his spine. The air around him suddenly compressed, and a surge capable of freezing body and mind alike shot through the ground.
At last, Set had decided to fight directly.
The surface of his protoplasmic membrane rippled, and as the tower of flesh undulated, it came over Narukawa's head like a tsunami. Not retreating a step, Narukawa fired an arrow of light at the fleshy pillar, which stabbed deep into it with a slimy sound. But that appeared to have done no damage to Set whatsoever.
"Hurry! Hurry and escape with Nakajima! Hurry, while I hold him off! He is an important warrior!" Narukawa cried out to Feed.
"...OK. Good luck!" Nodding regretfully, Feed smacked Nakajima in the back of the head with his pistol as he tried to run and help Narukawa.
"Kerberos, run!" Putting Nakajima's unconscious body on Kerberos' back with surprising speed for a man of his age, Feed leapt up onto the beast after him.
"Forgive me, Narukawa." As if in response to the tear-choked cry, volleys of light beams fired into Set's body again and again. But they soon became less and less frequent, and the Soga Forest was again surrounded in an eerie silence. The fleshy pillar writhed into the sky triumphantly, and increased the speed at which it fused the demon and human worlds together. In the center of that protoplasmic mass, Yumiko, tied to the Egyptian cross, cried tears of blood.
"Soul of the light of heaven and earth, light of the moon, come here to me, Tsukuyomi!"
Feed turned around in shock.
"So you've finally lost it." Isma also stopped the giant serpent, its mouth wide open and ready to swallow Nakajima, and turned to stare at Narukawa.
But the rumbling of the heavens and the earth that started the next instant wiped the sneering grin off his face.
The sky is falling, Nakajima thought as he looked up.
The stars in the sky, which were shining far more than usual, became a single band of light and shot down toward Narukawa, leaving a streaking tail behind it. Or at the very least, that was what it looked like to Nakajima.
"Mr. Narukawa..."
But it was no longer Narukawa that was standing up to fight the demon, but his identity in his former life, that of the moon god Tsukuyomi. Not waiting a moment, he threw the light that was gathered around his right hand at the enormous snake.
GYAAAAAGH!
Like a laser scalpel, the arrow of light split Typhon's body in two down the middle. As Isma tumbled to the ground, Narukawa showed no mercy as he launched another attack on him. With no time to even cast a defensive spell, in an instant Isma was wreathed in flames, and screaming in anger and pain, attempted to grab Narukawa as he crumpled to the ground in a lifeless heap.
The sight reminding him of the death of his mother, Nakajima shrank back as a sudden shock ran down his spine. The air around him suddenly compressed, and a surge capable of freezing body and mind alike shot through the ground.
At last, Set had decided to fight directly.
The surface of his protoplasmic membrane rippled, and as the tower of flesh undulated, it came over Narukawa's head like a tsunami. Not retreating a step, Narukawa fired an arrow of light at the fleshy pillar, which stabbed deep into it with a slimy sound. But that appeared to have done no damage to Set whatsoever.
"Hurry! Hurry and escape with Nakajima! Hurry, while I hold him off! He is an important warrior!" Narukawa cried out to Feed.
"...OK. Good luck!" Nodding regretfully, Feed smacked Nakajima in the back of the head with his pistol as he tried to run and help Narukawa.
"Kerberos, run!" Putting Nakajima's unconscious body on Kerberos' back with surprising speed for a man of his age, Feed leapt up onto the beast after him.
"Forgive me, Narukawa." As if in response to the tear-choked cry, volleys of light beams fired into Set's body again and again. But they soon became less and less frequent, and the Soga Forest was again surrounded in an eerie silence. The fleshy pillar writhed into the sky triumphantly, and increased the speed at which it fused the demon and human worlds together. In the center of that protoplasmic mass, Yumiko, tied to the Egyptian cross, cried tears of blood.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Part 5: Chapter 3
Right about that time in Yomotsuhirasaka, Izanami looked anxiously into the black skies. Her connection to the human world was largely dependent upon Yumiko's senses; so long as she was captured by demons, Izanami could not view it, nor could she possess Yumiko to save her.
The movement of the stars was the only connection between the human world and the netherworld remaining. And Nakajima's star was becoming visibly dimmer. Yumiko's star, right next to it, had dimmed so much it was not even visible without squinting. Meanwhile, the ominous red star around them was shining brighter and brighter.
"What happened!? I can't stand this. But I don't have the power to affect the human world..." Muttering with irritation, Izanami's eyes stoped at another star next to them, twinkling slightly.
"What's that...?"
Could it be another reincarnated god?
Kneeling, Izanami started praying frantically. "I don't know what god you are, but please awaken, for their sake."
As if in answer to the prayer, the star started glowing brighter and brighter. Momentarily, like a supernova, its light brilliantly lit up that area of sky.
The movement of the stars was the only connection between the human world and the netherworld remaining. And Nakajima's star was becoming visibly dimmer. Yumiko's star, right next to it, had dimmed so much it was not even visible without squinting. Meanwhile, the ominous red star around them was shining brighter and brighter.
"What happened!? I can't stand this. But I don't have the power to affect the human world..." Muttering with irritation, Izanami's eyes stoped at another star next to them, twinkling slightly.
"What's that...?"
Could it be another reincarnated god?
Kneeling, Izanami started praying frantically. "I don't know what god you are, but please awaken, for their sake."
As if in answer to the prayer, the star started glowing brighter and brighter. Momentarily, like a supernova, its light brilliantly lit up that area of sky.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Part 5: Chapter 2
The sun had already halfway set. The white Corolla that Narukawa had procured was driving westward down Ouma Highway. Afraid that they might be trailed, he had picked this car because it stood out the least.
"It doesn't look like they've set up any checkpoints to look for us." Trying to cheer up the dejected Narukawa, Feed spoke wtih an optimistic tone in his voice.
"If the've sent the CIRO special forces after us, it means they want to take us down in secret. However..."
With an expression as if it was all too much for him to handle, Narukawa passed the car in front of him.
"The man that was leading the group that attacked us was Saga, one of my subordinates. I can't believe that he would be lying. What could it have been that made the Chief Secretary give out such a drastic order..."
"A demon, most likely." It was Nakajima that spoke from the back seat.
"You're saying that demons have infiltrated the government?" Narukawa couldn't help but raise his voice.
"Look at how Nakajima's mother suddenly sided with Ohara. It all makes sense if a demon was using some sort of spell to control her. Ignoring the mass disappearances, the attempt to assassinate us, Chief Cabinet Secretary Fujita's sudden change of heart--it can't be a coincidence." Feed's voice betrayed clear signs of agitation.
"I just can't believe it." Narukawa sighed. For the first time since he met him, Nakajima sensed weakness in the man.
At about the intersection between Ouma Highway and Loop 8, the fog started to thicken. The number of cars on the road seemed to thin out significantly as well.
"I sense a demonic presence in this area as well," reported Nakajima anxiously, rolling down the window halfway. "There was nothing here when I scouted out the area two days ago though..."
As Narukawa's eyes darted to the rear-view mirror, his hands still gripping the steering wheel, Nakajima stuck his head out the window and stared at the empty sidewalk, letting the wind blow his hair back.
Shortly thereafter, the Corolla turned onto Inokashira Avenue. Devoid of light, the buildings in the area were like a ghost town.
"I don't believe this," Nakajima murmured to himself. "Day before yesterday, this place was perfectly normal...."
Soon, engulfed in fog, Narukawa had no choice but to slow the car.
"Don't you think it would be faster if we got out and walk?" Feed, impatient as ever, seemed as if he was about to jump out of the car at any time.
"Could be. Don't you think you should stay behind in the car though, Professor?"
"I'm sure what you mean to say is that I'd slow you down, but somehow I don't see the team of just a hero with a kidnapped girlfriend and a sidekick who knows nothing about demons producing any happy endings."
As Narukawa stopped the car, Feed took out his S&W magazine and showed it to them.
"This ammunition is full of mercuric sulfide. I'm sure it will work against demons a lot better than your handgun will..."
Narukawa bared his teeth in a grin and slapped Feed's shoulder.
"Mr. Narukawa, if you want to back out, now's the time." Nakajima was also grinning as he spoke.
"Right then. I'll run if the mood strikes me."
Now that I'm unofficially out of the CIRO, I really don't have any obligation to take on some unknown demon, but still...all I can say is that this seems like fate, or karma from a previous life. As if to keep his twisting anxiety in check, Narukawa considered his fate, which he decided to leave intertwined with that of Nakajima's.
The thick fog enveloped the three men, who had now left the car behind. It was heavy and slimy, and felt like the surface of plants in a swamp.
With Kerberos, who had been summoned from Nakajima's handheld computer, in the middle, the three proceeded toward the Soga Forest. Using only the light of the street lamps as a guide, they walked for maybe an hour. All of a sudden the fog thinned, and their surroundings clearly came into view.
But they were very strange surroundings. At the very least, they were nothing like any neighborhood in Tokyo they had known.
The lines of ginkgo trees along the roadside, which normally grew only slightly, receiving sustenance only from the carbon dioxide in the air, seemed far more robust than was to be expected; their branches were splayed out in every direction and their thick roots had shown themselves, having broken through the concrete of the sidewalk. The facades of the deserted buildings were covered in thick tropical vines, some of which were powerful enough to have shattered windows or even broken through the very roofs of houses.
"What is going on here..." Nakajima was the first to speak in surprise, having been here just a few days ago searching for Yumiko.
"It almost looks like the ancient Mayan ruins did when they were discovered...Eh? What's wrong?" Feed looked suspiciously over at Narukawa, who was pointing his Walther straight in the air.
"Look!"
Nakajima's trembling finger pointed at a whitish bird circling around them over head.
"What? It's just a nocturnal bird."
"Look at its face, Professor." Speaking in a calm and composed voice, Nakajima backed up Narukawa.
The bird, which was looking down at them with sparkling azure eyes, clearly had the face of a human woman.
"It's a harpy. I've seen them several times in Siberia before; it's quite beautiful, isn't it?"
Letting his guard down at Feed's blasé reaction, Narukawa lowered his pistol.
"Isn't it dangerous?"
"Oh, it would definitely attack given the opportunity. But we're safe so long as Kerberos is with us."
As if it heard Feed's voice, the harpy shook its wings as if to fake out the demonic beast and dropped its altitude. Without any forewarning, a brown beast leapt out from amongst the treetops and smashed the monstrous bird's wing with its thick arm. Caught by surprise, the harpy plunged to the ground. As it did, the brown, monkey-like monster quickly leaped to the ground and with its sharp fangs bit into the neck of the harpy as it struggled to get up.
Kyaaaeeh!
Crying out in a shrill voice, the harpy desperately beat its wings. But its opponent had a leg up on it. Within moments, its thick arms had snapped the harpy's neck in a quick motion.
"Well, now we have proof that there's a food chain in the demon world," Feed rasped.
Dragging the harpy's corpse with it, the demon monkey climbed up a tree. Right before it entered a vine-covered house, it turned around in curiosity and looked at Nakajima's group. The single, foul eye in its heavily-wrinkled faced darted all around, sizing up the three. As it made eye contact with Kerberos, it made a simian screech and bounded out of sight.
"Oh, my. At this rate there's no telling what might attack us. Let's go into the forest now. We're sitting ducks out in the open right here," said Narukawa in a surprised voice as he returned to his senses.
"No, so long as we have Kerberos with us we've got the advantage on the ground. If we go into the forest and get attacked from above we're done for."
Nakajima had a point, so Narukawa decided to go along with him, and the three men once again proceeded slowly along the broken sidewalk, taking care not to trip over the stones and boulders strewn about.
We're surrounded.
With the Soga Forest in front of his eyes, Narukawa's sixth sense was buzzing. Kerberos lowered his head and crouched into a fighting pose. Nakajima also felt hundreds of eyes staring at them from amongst the trees. And those eyes were drawing ever closer.
Gluf, Gluf
Crying in a voice that sounded like it was coming from a strangled throat, a monster appeared from out of the darkness. It looked like a human, but its body was covered in shiny black scales. Its extruding, crimson eyes burned as it stared at them, and the red tear through its face that was its mouth was distorted and ghastly.
Another. And another. As if they were creatures born of the darkness itself, the monsters emerged from the cover of the trees. Gripped by primal fear, Narukawa fired his Walther over and over again. The nine-millimeter ammunition buried into the stomachs of the creatures with a splatting sound, and thick, milky white liquid oozed from the wounds. But they showed not even a hint of faltering and approached, their arms stuck out in front of them. Unable to suppress his hostility any longer, Kerberos attacked the mob without any command from Nakajima, and in moments had downed several dozen of them.
"Mr. Narukawa, get back!" Realizing that he had no choice but to fight, Nakajima pictured the two blue spheres in his mind. Just from his concentration, an eddy of flame formed in the air and a moment later the Sword of Hi-no-Kagutsuchi appeared in his right hand. Gripping its hilt, Nakajima slashed the sword with a tremendous battle cry.
The chests of the monsters were cleaved in two, and like a wave being drawn back into the sea, their scales vanished, leaving only white skin behind. Just like Ohara had, until recently these monsters had been living as ordinary people. Only Set could have transformed them into such demonic beings.
"Damned demons..." Nakajima gripped his sword and bit his lips, his eyes filled with indescribable desolation. Looking over at Feed, Nakajima saw that he was firing his Smith & Wesson over and over again while gripping his ornate cross. The mecuric sulfide bullets instantly killed the monsters that they struck, but far more of them were missing their targets than aiming true.
"Professor, the battle is just starting," called out Nakajima. "Please don't waste your ammunition!"
Indeed, it appeared that no matter how many of the monsters they defeated, their numbers seemed only to increase. There were probably almost a thousand of them. Nakajima called Kerberos and took a step back, glaring back at what appeared to be a writhing, infinitely thick wall of creatures.
I'm just going to have to force my way right through them... Right as Nakajima had set upon a plan, the hostility vanished from the eyes of the monsters. As their arms flopped to their sides, every one of them turned around and shuffled back into the depths of the forest. Their empty stares were as if they were all in a trance.
Nakajima turned around, startled by a growl from Kerberos, and noticed that Feed and Narukawa also had a strange glimmer in their eyes.
"Professor! Mr. Narukawa!"
As if trying to cut through an invisible thread, Nakajima brought down the Sword of Hi-no-Kagutsuchi in front of their eyes. Suddenly returned to their senses, the two men looked at one another.
"That was close. We almost became enthralled by the demon as well." Shuddering, Feed flicked the safety of his pistol and put it in the pocket of his coat.
Following the creatures, the three continued into the Soga Forest, which was now an extension of the Atziluth World. Occasionally, a harpy flew overhead, beating its wings as if to mock them. Soon the fog cleared, and there waiting for them was a scene, bizarre far beyond any of their imaginations.
"That's....!!" At the same time, the three cried out in surprise.
Next to the shimmering red-and-green striped surface of the swamp, an enormous fleshy tower jutted dozens of meters into the sky. One by one, the pack of creatures were climbing it. Those that ran out of energy on the way up were slurped into the protoplasm right there and absorbed into the tower of flesh. The surface of the tower was covered in the half-broken bodies of the creatures and countless writhing tentacles, the latter of which gave it the appearance of an enormous one-celled organism.
Feed and Narukawa forgot themselves and were entranced by the repulsive sight as if possessed. However, Nakajima quickly brought them back to their senses, and noticed a silver-haired man approaching, appearing from behind the shadow of the fleshy pillar. Nakajima got the sense that he recognized this man from somewhere, and soon Feed's cry made clear why this was.
"So, you really were behind all of this, Isma."
So this man is Isma...Professor Feed's brother.
"Nakajima, there's no need to hold back," cried Feed, "so long as he lives, the world will never be safe!"
Isma grinned coldly. The black robe that enveloped him whipped in the wind.
"Get him, Kerberos!"
At Nakajima's order, Kerberos charged Isma, but all of a sudden, bounced away as if he had hit an invisible wall in the air.
"Ha ha ha!"
Isma's body appeared to float in the air as he laughed, and two unusual lights appeared by his feet. Covered in jet-black scales, the great black serpent Typhon stared at Nakajima with its golden eyes as it slowly rose into the air with Isma riding on its back, as if the earth had suddenly given birth to an enormous tree. With its head nearly extended to the full height of the tower of flesh, the huge serpent shuddered and assaulted Nakajima. The lower half of Isma's body had been fused into Typhon's; perhaps it was another sort of fusion the demon could do in addition to its innate ability to absorb the earth and the air into its own body.
The sword of Hi-no-Kagutsuchi could do nothing against Typhon's rigid scales. Nakajima had no choice but to flee, pursued by Isma's loud laughter.
"You must have been quite lucky to have been able to defeat Loki like that! Stop struggling and become the next sacrifice!"
Meanwhile, Feed, realizing the gravity of the situation, whispered something to Narukawa as he handed over his pistol.
"Whatever you're planning, it won't work, Charles!" cried Isma from atop the serpent's head. "I'll eat you right after Nakajima!"
Kerberos jumped in attack from the side, but was knocked away like a rubber ball by Typhon's whip-like tail.
"Die, Nakajima!"
Holding the Smith & Wesson with both hands in a firing stance and aiming it at Typhon's gaping red maw as it attacked, Narukawa pulled the trigger.
For an instant, the great serpent stopped as if in discomfort. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Nakajima leapt up and plunged the sword of Hi-no-Kagutsuchi into one of its golden eyes.
GYAAAH!
Crying out, Typhon whipped and spasmed. Sword and all, Nakajima was thrown aside, but Kerberos leaped into the air and caught him. Right at that moment, Nakajima got the sense that he heard Yumiko's voice from far away. Looking around in confusion, the image of Yumiko, bound to a cross and writhing in agony, appeared in his mind. Most likely, Set had sent him the picture of her current state as the core of his enormous protoplasmic temporary body. Nakjima noticed that one of the eyes in her lovely, terrified face was dripping blood.
"Hah, hah, hah! Brave young man, do not forget that Yumiko is Set's prisoner!"
Don't listen to him! The demons need my body! They would never kill me! Yumiko's voice cried out in Nakajima's mind, encouraging him.
Isma's laughing voice penetrated Nakajima's ears. "Indeed. The girl is needed to fuse this world and the demon world together. However, even if we cannot kill her, we can still torture her with unimaginable pain."
It was hard for Nakajima to withstand the awful sense of guilt and self-reproach he got when seeing Yumiko frantically trying to withstand the agony. Yumiko's remaining eye started to fill with tears of blood.
"Stop it!" Unable to withstand it any longer, Nakajima cast aside the sword of Hi-no-Kagutsuchi and dropped to his knees.
"Nakajima, wake up! You can't listen to them! If you give in, what will happen to this country? What will happen to the world..."
Listening to Feed yelling his lungs out calling to Nakajima, Narukawa was overwhelmed, and was punching the ground with his fist.
This sort of thing has happened before!
Try as he might, Narukawa could not shake off an overwhelming sense of deja vu.
I must have some sort of power. Some sort of power to save that boy! Someone--god or buddha, I don't care--please awaken my power! That power will surely reveal my connection with the boy as well...
"It doesn't look like they've set up any checkpoints to look for us." Trying to cheer up the dejected Narukawa, Feed spoke wtih an optimistic tone in his voice.
"If the've sent the CIRO special forces after us, it means they want to take us down in secret. However..."
With an expression as if it was all too much for him to handle, Narukawa passed the car in front of him.
"The man that was leading the group that attacked us was Saga, one of my subordinates. I can't believe that he would be lying. What could it have been that made the Chief Secretary give out such a drastic order..."
"A demon, most likely." It was Nakajima that spoke from the back seat.
"You're saying that demons have infiltrated the government?" Narukawa couldn't help but raise his voice.
"Look at how Nakajima's mother suddenly sided with Ohara. It all makes sense if a demon was using some sort of spell to control her. Ignoring the mass disappearances, the attempt to assassinate us, Chief Cabinet Secretary Fujita's sudden change of heart--it can't be a coincidence." Feed's voice betrayed clear signs of agitation.
"I just can't believe it." Narukawa sighed. For the first time since he met him, Nakajima sensed weakness in the man.
At about the intersection between Ouma Highway and Loop 8, the fog started to thicken. The number of cars on the road seemed to thin out significantly as well.
"I sense a demonic presence in this area as well," reported Nakajima anxiously, rolling down the window halfway. "There was nothing here when I scouted out the area two days ago though..."
As Narukawa's eyes darted to the rear-view mirror, his hands still gripping the steering wheel, Nakajima stuck his head out the window and stared at the empty sidewalk, letting the wind blow his hair back.
Shortly thereafter, the Corolla turned onto Inokashira Avenue. Devoid of light, the buildings in the area were like a ghost town.
"I don't believe this," Nakajima murmured to himself. "Day before yesterday, this place was perfectly normal...."
Soon, engulfed in fog, Narukawa had no choice but to slow the car.
"Don't you think it would be faster if we got out and walk?" Feed, impatient as ever, seemed as if he was about to jump out of the car at any time.
"Could be. Don't you think you should stay behind in the car though, Professor?"
"I'm sure what you mean to say is that I'd slow you down, but somehow I don't see the team of just a hero with a kidnapped girlfriend and a sidekick who knows nothing about demons producing any happy endings."
As Narukawa stopped the car, Feed took out his S&W magazine and showed it to them.
"This ammunition is full of mercuric sulfide. I'm sure it will work against demons a lot better than your handgun will..."
Narukawa bared his teeth in a grin and slapped Feed's shoulder.
"Mr. Narukawa, if you want to back out, now's the time." Nakajima was also grinning as he spoke.
"Right then. I'll run if the mood strikes me."
Now that I'm unofficially out of the CIRO, I really don't have any obligation to take on some unknown demon, but still...all I can say is that this seems like fate, or karma from a previous life. As if to keep his twisting anxiety in check, Narukawa considered his fate, which he decided to leave intertwined with that of Nakajima's.
The thick fog enveloped the three men, who had now left the car behind. It was heavy and slimy, and felt like the surface of plants in a swamp.
With Kerberos, who had been summoned from Nakajima's handheld computer, in the middle, the three proceeded toward the Soga Forest. Using only the light of the street lamps as a guide, they walked for maybe an hour. All of a sudden the fog thinned, and their surroundings clearly came into view.
But they were very strange surroundings. At the very least, they were nothing like any neighborhood in Tokyo they had known.
The lines of ginkgo trees along the roadside, which normally grew only slightly, receiving sustenance only from the carbon dioxide in the air, seemed far more robust than was to be expected; their branches were splayed out in every direction and their thick roots had shown themselves, having broken through the concrete of the sidewalk. The facades of the deserted buildings were covered in thick tropical vines, some of which were powerful enough to have shattered windows or even broken through the very roofs of houses.
"What is going on here..." Nakajima was the first to speak in surprise, having been here just a few days ago searching for Yumiko.
"It almost looks like the ancient Mayan ruins did when they were discovered...Eh? What's wrong?" Feed looked suspiciously over at Narukawa, who was pointing his Walther straight in the air.
"Look!"
Nakajima's trembling finger pointed at a whitish bird circling around them over head.
"What? It's just a nocturnal bird."
"Look at its face, Professor." Speaking in a calm and composed voice, Nakajima backed up Narukawa.
The bird, which was looking down at them with sparkling azure eyes, clearly had the face of a human woman.
"It's a harpy. I've seen them several times in Siberia before; it's quite beautiful, isn't it?"
Letting his guard down at Feed's blasé reaction, Narukawa lowered his pistol.
"Isn't it dangerous?"
"Oh, it would definitely attack given the opportunity. But we're safe so long as Kerberos is with us."
As if it heard Feed's voice, the harpy shook its wings as if to fake out the demonic beast and dropped its altitude. Without any forewarning, a brown beast leapt out from amongst the treetops and smashed the monstrous bird's wing with its thick arm. Caught by surprise, the harpy plunged to the ground. As it did, the brown, monkey-like monster quickly leaped to the ground and with its sharp fangs bit into the neck of the harpy as it struggled to get up.
Kyaaaeeh!
Crying out in a shrill voice, the harpy desperately beat its wings. But its opponent had a leg up on it. Within moments, its thick arms had snapped the harpy's neck in a quick motion.
"Well, now we have proof that there's a food chain in the demon world," Feed rasped.
Dragging the harpy's corpse with it, the demon monkey climbed up a tree. Right before it entered a vine-covered house, it turned around in curiosity and looked at Nakajima's group. The single, foul eye in its heavily-wrinkled faced darted all around, sizing up the three. As it made eye contact with Kerberos, it made a simian screech and bounded out of sight.
"Oh, my. At this rate there's no telling what might attack us. Let's go into the forest now. We're sitting ducks out in the open right here," said Narukawa in a surprised voice as he returned to his senses.
"No, so long as we have Kerberos with us we've got the advantage on the ground. If we go into the forest and get attacked from above we're done for."
Nakajima had a point, so Narukawa decided to go along with him, and the three men once again proceeded slowly along the broken sidewalk, taking care not to trip over the stones and boulders strewn about.
We're surrounded.
With the Soga Forest in front of his eyes, Narukawa's sixth sense was buzzing. Kerberos lowered his head and crouched into a fighting pose. Nakajima also felt hundreds of eyes staring at them from amongst the trees. And those eyes were drawing ever closer.
Gluf, Gluf
Crying in a voice that sounded like it was coming from a strangled throat, a monster appeared from out of the darkness. It looked like a human, but its body was covered in shiny black scales. Its extruding, crimson eyes burned as it stared at them, and the red tear through its face that was its mouth was distorted and ghastly.
Another. And another. As if they were creatures born of the darkness itself, the monsters emerged from the cover of the trees. Gripped by primal fear, Narukawa fired his Walther over and over again. The nine-millimeter ammunition buried into the stomachs of the creatures with a splatting sound, and thick, milky white liquid oozed from the wounds. But they showed not even a hint of faltering and approached, their arms stuck out in front of them. Unable to suppress his hostility any longer, Kerberos attacked the mob without any command from Nakajima, and in moments had downed several dozen of them.
"Mr. Narukawa, get back!" Realizing that he had no choice but to fight, Nakajima pictured the two blue spheres in his mind. Just from his concentration, an eddy of flame formed in the air and a moment later the Sword of Hi-no-Kagutsuchi appeared in his right hand. Gripping its hilt, Nakajima slashed the sword with a tremendous battle cry.
The chests of the monsters were cleaved in two, and like a wave being drawn back into the sea, their scales vanished, leaving only white skin behind. Just like Ohara had, until recently these monsters had been living as ordinary people. Only Set could have transformed them into such demonic beings.
"Damned demons..." Nakajima gripped his sword and bit his lips, his eyes filled with indescribable desolation. Looking over at Feed, Nakajima saw that he was firing his Smith & Wesson over and over again while gripping his ornate cross. The mecuric sulfide bullets instantly killed the monsters that they struck, but far more of them were missing their targets than aiming true.
"Professor, the battle is just starting," called out Nakajima. "Please don't waste your ammunition!"
Indeed, it appeared that no matter how many of the monsters they defeated, their numbers seemed only to increase. There were probably almost a thousand of them. Nakajima called Kerberos and took a step back, glaring back at what appeared to be a writhing, infinitely thick wall of creatures.
I'm just going to have to force my way right through them... Right as Nakajima had set upon a plan, the hostility vanished from the eyes of the monsters. As their arms flopped to their sides, every one of them turned around and shuffled back into the depths of the forest. Their empty stares were as if they were all in a trance.
Nakajima turned around, startled by a growl from Kerberos, and noticed that Feed and Narukawa also had a strange glimmer in their eyes.
"Professor! Mr. Narukawa!"
As if trying to cut through an invisible thread, Nakajima brought down the Sword of Hi-no-Kagutsuchi in front of their eyes. Suddenly returned to their senses, the two men looked at one another.
"That was close. We almost became enthralled by the demon as well." Shuddering, Feed flicked the safety of his pistol and put it in the pocket of his coat.
Following the creatures, the three continued into the Soga Forest, which was now an extension of the Atziluth World. Occasionally, a harpy flew overhead, beating its wings as if to mock them. Soon the fog cleared, and there waiting for them was a scene, bizarre far beyond any of their imaginations.
"That's....!!" At the same time, the three cried out in surprise.
Next to the shimmering red-and-green striped surface of the swamp, an enormous fleshy tower jutted dozens of meters into the sky. One by one, the pack of creatures were climbing it. Those that ran out of energy on the way up were slurped into the protoplasm right there and absorbed into the tower of flesh. The surface of the tower was covered in the half-broken bodies of the creatures and countless writhing tentacles, the latter of which gave it the appearance of an enormous one-celled organism.
Feed and Narukawa forgot themselves and were entranced by the repulsive sight as if possessed. However, Nakajima quickly brought them back to their senses, and noticed a silver-haired man approaching, appearing from behind the shadow of the fleshy pillar. Nakajima got the sense that he recognized this man from somewhere, and soon Feed's cry made clear why this was.
"So, you really were behind all of this, Isma."
So this man is Isma...Professor Feed's brother.
"Nakajima, there's no need to hold back," cried Feed, "so long as he lives, the world will never be safe!"
Isma grinned coldly. The black robe that enveloped him whipped in the wind.
"Get him, Kerberos!"
At Nakajima's order, Kerberos charged Isma, but all of a sudden, bounced away as if he had hit an invisible wall in the air.
"Ha ha ha!"
Isma's body appeared to float in the air as he laughed, and two unusual lights appeared by his feet. Covered in jet-black scales, the great black serpent Typhon stared at Nakajima with its golden eyes as it slowly rose into the air with Isma riding on its back, as if the earth had suddenly given birth to an enormous tree. With its head nearly extended to the full height of the tower of flesh, the huge serpent shuddered and assaulted Nakajima. The lower half of Isma's body had been fused into Typhon's; perhaps it was another sort of fusion the demon could do in addition to its innate ability to absorb the earth and the air into its own body.
The sword of Hi-no-Kagutsuchi could do nothing against Typhon's rigid scales. Nakajima had no choice but to flee, pursued by Isma's loud laughter.
"You must have been quite lucky to have been able to defeat Loki like that! Stop struggling and become the next sacrifice!"
Meanwhile, Feed, realizing the gravity of the situation, whispered something to Narukawa as he handed over his pistol.
"Whatever you're planning, it won't work, Charles!" cried Isma from atop the serpent's head. "I'll eat you right after Nakajima!"
Kerberos jumped in attack from the side, but was knocked away like a rubber ball by Typhon's whip-like tail.
"Die, Nakajima!"
Holding the Smith & Wesson with both hands in a firing stance and aiming it at Typhon's gaping red maw as it attacked, Narukawa pulled the trigger.
For an instant, the great serpent stopped as if in discomfort. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Nakajima leapt up and plunged the sword of Hi-no-Kagutsuchi into one of its golden eyes.
GYAAAH!
Crying out, Typhon whipped and spasmed. Sword and all, Nakajima was thrown aside, but Kerberos leaped into the air and caught him. Right at that moment, Nakajima got the sense that he heard Yumiko's voice from far away. Looking around in confusion, the image of Yumiko, bound to a cross and writhing in agony, appeared in his mind. Most likely, Set had sent him the picture of her current state as the core of his enormous protoplasmic temporary body. Nakjima noticed that one of the eyes in her lovely, terrified face was dripping blood.
"Hah, hah, hah! Brave young man, do not forget that Yumiko is Set's prisoner!"
Don't listen to him! The demons need my body! They would never kill me! Yumiko's voice cried out in Nakajima's mind, encouraging him.
Isma's laughing voice penetrated Nakajima's ears. "Indeed. The girl is needed to fuse this world and the demon world together. However, even if we cannot kill her, we can still torture her with unimaginable pain."
It was hard for Nakajima to withstand the awful sense of guilt and self-reproach he got when seeing Yumiko frantically trying to withstand the agony. Yumiko's remaining eye started to fill with tears of blood.
"Stop it!" Unable to withstand it any longer, Nakajima cast aside the sword of Hi-no-Kagutsuchi and dropped to his knees.
"Nakajima, wake up! You can't listen to them! If you give in, what will happen to this country? What will happen to the world..."
Listening to Feed yelling his lungs out calling to Nakajima, Narukawa was overwhelmed, and was punching the ground with his fist.
This sort of thing has happened before!
Try as he might, Narukawa could not shake off an overwhelming sense of deja vu.
I must have some sort of power. Some sort of power to save that boy! Someone--god or buddha, I don't care--please awaken my power! That power will surely reveal my connection with the boy as well...
Friday, July 06, 2007
Part 5: Chapter 1
The rays of the noontime sun scorched the interior of the Demon Banishment Project room.
Narukawa, who had been away from the Project for several days after having been called back by Chief Secretary Fujita, looked positively haggard as he approached the table where Nakajima and Feed were arguing about something.
"Oh! You're finally back, Narukawa!" Feed stood up from his seat and arms apart, welcomed Narukawa almost as if to embrace him.
"While you've been away, we've nearly pinpointed where the demon has been summoned. If you had come any later, it would have been too late; Nakajima was about to rush headlong into the demon's lair by himself, and I wouldn't have been able to stop him...."
As Feed spoke, Narukawa looked at Nakajima with a complicated expression on his face.
"Could you tell me where that summoning point is?"
In response to Narukawa's question, Feed silently pointed to the monitor next to him. On it was displayed a map of Tokyo, the middle of which had a red light which was blinking profusely.
"It's an area about two kilometers in diameter that overlaps Mikata City and Musashino City. Right in the dead center of that area, there's a wooded area known as the Soga Forest."
"I see...By the way, Professor, Nakajima, I would like you to listen closely to what I have to report." Handing a file to the two, Narukawa's voice sounded unusually impatient as he began to speak.
"In the past week, nearly ten thousand people have vanished from Tokyo, and that's only the those we've received notice of. Most of them are residents of Mitaka City, Musashino City, and Nerima Ward, but since yesterday there have been noticeable disappearances in Koganei City and Suginami Ward as well. Nakajima, when you were exploring those areas, did you notice anything out of the ordinary?"
"I did notice that there weren't a lot of people out, but since I was going out with Kerberos I had to do so in the dead of night, and I always assumed that was the reason I wasn't seeing anyone..."
"Still, ten thousand people..." Struck by the sheer size of the number, Feed looked over and exchanged glances with Nakajima.
"There have even been areas where as many as 2000 people have completely vanished."
"I'm surprised it hasn't been all over the news," said Nakajima.
"We've been doing everything we possibly can to keep it that way." So saying, Narukawa pulled a black-and-white photograph out of his pocket.
"Professor, you probably have heard about this. This is a photograph that was taken from America's Far East Spy Satellite."
In the center of the photo was an area that seemed to be wreathed in clouds. Feed groaned as he looked at it.
"This is almost the exact area that we've pinpointed..."
"This photograph kind of looks double-exposed." Just as Nakajima indicated, the center of the area in question looked indeed as if there were two different landscapes superimposed over one another.
"I can't explain why it came out like this, but this is indeed the point known as the Soga Forest. We've already sent out several operatives from the station to investigate the area...."
"This is way out of their league," spat Feed as he adjusted the photo in the light.
"Indeed, just as you say, not a single one of them has come back. It would seem that as soon as they get close to the Soga Forest their radios and sensors just cut out."
"How does the government intend to proceed?"
"Well..." Narukawa looked away.
"What's wrong?"
"Yesterday at the cabinet meeting they decided on a 'watch and wait' policy."
"What!?" Feed's white hair seemed to stand on end as he approached Narukawa.
"I'll go and persuade Chief Cabinet Secretary Fujita myself. No, strike that--I want to talk to the Prime Minister directly. I see that unless I explain in detail the danger of the demons, these stubborn politicians will never realize the gravity of the situation."
"Unfortunately that is impossible." Narukawa placed his hand gently on Feed's shoulder.
"That wasn't the only decision the cabinet made. They ordered the New AI Project--in other words, this Demon Banishment Project--to be dismantled as of today."
For several moments, Feed stood silently, his mouth agape. He couldn't understand just what it was that Narukawa was saying. Or perhaps it would be better to say that he didn't want to understand. Soon, in response to the cynical smile that had formed on Nakajima's face, he admitted to himself just how bad the situation had gotten and started speaking furiously in a mishmash of English and Japanese blended together.
"Why the hell did he break his promise!? Just why did those politicians think I came all the way to Japan in the first place!? As arrogant as it may sound for me to say it, I came to save this country from being overrun by demons! They don't give me the tools or manpower I need, and now they shut down the project at such a crucial juncture--what are they thinking!? Nakajima, come with me to America. I'm sure my country will let you use whatever tools we need."
Smiling slightly at the enraged Feed, Nakajima looked around the tense and chaotic room.
"Thank you, Professor. But I still have the responsibility to rescue Yumiko. I'm sure she was hurt far more than she should have been over what happened to my mother; at this point I'm the only one who can save her."
"Wonderful. Do you Japanese ever operate out of any other motive besides duty?"
"...Perhaps love is a type of duty." Perhaps even thinking his own comment to be a bit corny, Nakajima hid his face as he turned on his heels and put his hand on the doorknob.
"I'll come with you." Narukawa's voice echoed behind Nakajima.
"....?" For an instant, Nakajima looked back skeptically at Narukawa's determined face.
"I'm still a member of this project," responded bluntly, without adding the And I still feel strangely connected to you somehow that he was thinking.
"Geez, you two are so impatient." At some point, Feed had taken a handgun out of the drawer in his steel desk.
"A Smith & Wesson there, eh?...If anyone had known you had that, the Project would have been dismantled immediately," said Narukawa in surprise.
"Now that the Project is slated for termination anyway, there's no need to hold back. Besides, the ammunition in this gun is a little bit 'special.'" Sticking the magazine in his pocket, Feed smiled mischievously.
The elevator expelled the three men into the underground parking garage. Nakajima and Feed started to walk towards their car when Narukawa's arm shot out to stop them. As it did, Nakajima started looking around warily as if he had sensed something as well.
"What's the matter?" Midway through his sentence, Feed was suddenly shoved aside by Narukawa. That instant, a bullet whizzed over Feed's head and buried itself in the concrete wall behind him, leaving a hole.
"Looks like it's the Special Forces from the Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office, but I can't believe they'd actually shoot..." The second shot sped by Narukawa's face.
Narukawa dove behind the Crown parked next to him, pulling the other two men with him. His hand already gripped a Walther PP Super.
"I am Narukawa from the Second Unit of Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office. Did you know that when you shot at me?"
In response to his question a burst of bullets shattered the windshield of the Crown.
"I've got orders direct from the Chief. It's nothing personal."
"I know that voice--Saga, it's you, isn't it? Hear me out!" Narukawa started to stand, but Nakajima pulled him down. An instant later, dozens of bullets flew over their heads.
"We don't stand a chance against those full automatic Berettas. And there are at least five of them." Still, Narukawa didn't loosen his grip on the Walther.
"We're just wasting time fighting here!"
"There's no other way out!" Before Narukawa had fully voiced his irritated reply, Nakajima had entered a command on his handheld computer.
"Kerberos, go get 'em. Try not to kill them though."
The demonic beast that leapt from the liquid crystal display gave a great roar and bounded over the ground in the direction of the gunshots. Moments later, the underground parking lot was filled with cries of pain and splashes of blood.
Narukawa, who had been away from the Project for several days after having been called back by Chief Secretary Fujita, looked positively haggard as he approached the table where Nakajima and Feed were arguing about something.
"Oh! You're finally back, Narukawa!" Feed stood up from his seat and arms apart, welcomed Narukawa almost as if to embrace him.
"While you've been away, we've nearly pinpointed where the demon has been summoned. If you had come any later, it would have been too late; Nakajima was about to rush headlong into the demon's lair by himself, and I wouldn't have been able to stop him...."
As Feed spoke, Narukawa looked at Nakajima with a complicated expression on his face.
"Could you tell me where that summoning point is?"
In response to Narukawa's question, Feed silently pointed to the monitor next to him. On it was displayed a map of Tokyo, the middle of which had a red light which was blinking profusely.
"It's an area about two kilometers in diameter that overlaps Mikata City and Musashino City. Right in the dead center of that area, there's a wooded area known as the Soga Forest."
"I see...By the way, Professor, Nakajima, I would like you to listen closely to what I have to report." Handing a file to the two, Narukawa's voice sounded unusually impatient as he began to speak.
"In the past week, nearly ten thousand people have vanished from Tokyo, and that's only the those we've received notice of. Most of them are residents of Mitaka City, Musashino City, and Nerima Ward, but since yesterday there have been noticeable disappearances in Koganei City and Suginami Ward as well. Nakajima, when you were exploring those areas, did you notice anything out of the ordinary?"
"I did notice that there weren't a lot of people out, but since I was going out with Kerberos I had to do so in the dead of night, and I always assumed that was the reason I wasn't seeing anyone..."
"Still, ten thousand people..." Struck by the sheer size of the number, Feed looked over and exchanged glances with Nakajima.
"There have even been areas where as many as 2000 people have completely vanished."
"I'm surprised it hasn't been all over the news," said Nakajima.
"We've been doing everything we possibly can to keep it that way." So saying, Narukawa pulled a black-and-white photograph out of his pocket.
"Professor, you probably have heard about this. This is a photograph that was taken from America's Far East Spy Satellite."
In the center of the photo was an area that seemed to be wreathed in clouds. Feed groaned as he looked at it.
"This is almost the exact area that we've pinpointed..."
"This photograph kind of looks double-exposed." Just as Nakajima indicated, the center of the area in question looked indeed as if there were two different landscapes superimposed over one another.
"I can't explain why it came out like this, but this is indeed the point known as the Soga Forest. We've already sent out several operatives from the station to investigate the area...."
"This is way out of their league," spat Feed as he adjusted the photo in the light.
"Indeed, just as you say, not a single one of them has come back. It would seem that as soon as they get close to the Soga Forest their radios and sensors just cut out."
"How does the government intend to proceed?"
"Well..." Narukawa looked away.
"What's wrong?"
"Yesterday at the cabinet meeting they decided on a 'watch and wait' policy."
"What!?" Feed's white hair seemed to stand on end as he approached Narukawa.
"I'll go and persuade Chief Cabinet Secretary Fujita myself. No, strike that--I want to talk to the Prime Minister directly. I see that unless I explain in detail the danger of the demons, these stubborn politicians will never realize the gravity of the situation."
"Unfortunately that is impossible." Narukawa placed his hand gently on Feed's shoulder.
"That wasn't the only decision the cabinet made. They ordered the New AI Project--in other words, this Demon Banishment Project--to be dismantled as of today."
For several moments, Feed stood silently, his mouth agape. He couldn't understand just what it was that Narukawa was saying. Or perhaps it would be better to say that he didn't want to understand. Soon, in response to the cynical smile that had formed on Nakajima's face, he admitted to himself just how bad the situation had gotten and started speaking furiously in a mishmash of English and Japanese blended together.
"Why the hell did he break his promise!? Just why did those politicians think I came all the way to Japan in the first place!? As arrogant as it may sound for me to say it, I came to save this country from being overrun by demons! They don't give me the tools or manpower I need, and now they shut down the project at such a crucial juncture--what are they thinking!? Nakajima, come with me to America. I'm sure my country will let you use whatever tools we need."
Smiling slightly at the enraged Feed, Nakajima looked around the tense and chaotic room.
"Thank you, Professor. But I still have the responsibility to rescue Yumiko. I'm sure she was hurt far more than she should have been over what happened to my mother; at this point I'm the only one who can save her."
"Wonderful. Do you Japanese ever operate out of any other motive besides duty?"
"...Perhaps love is a type of duty." Perhaps even thinking his own comment to be a bit corny, Nakajima hid his face as he turned on his heels and put his hand on the doorknob.
"I'll come with you." Narukawa's voice echoed behind Nakajima.
"....?" For an instant, Nakajima looked back skeptically at Narukawa's determined face.
"I'm still a member of this project," responded bluntly, without adding the And I still feel strangely connected to you somehow that he was thinking.
"Geez, you two are so impatient." At some point, Feed had taken a handgun out of the drawer in his steel desk.
"A Smith & Wesson there, eh?...If anyone had known you had that, the Project would have been dismantled immediately," said Narukawa in surprise.
"Now that the Project is slated for termination anyway, there's no need to hold back. Besides, the ammunition in this gun is a little bit 'special.'" Sticking the magazine in his pocket, Feed smiled mischievously.
The elevator expelled the three men into the underground parking garage. Nakajima and Feed started to walk towards their car when Narukawa's arm shot out to stop them. As it did, Nakajima started looking around warily as if he had sensed something as well.
"What's the matter?" Midway through his sentence, Feed was suddenly shoved aside by Narukawa. That instant, a bullet whizzed over Feed's head and buried itself in the concrete wall behind him, leaving a hole.
"Looks like it's the Special Forces from the Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office, but I can't believe they'd actually shoot..." The second shot sped by Narukawa's face.
Narukawa dove behind the Crown parked next to him, pulling the other two men with him. His hand already gripped a Walther PP Super.
"I am Narukawa from the Second Unit of Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office. Did you know that when you shot at me?"
In response to his question a burst of bullets shattered the windshield of the Crown.
"I've got orders direct from the Chief. It's nothing personal."
"I know that voice--Saga, it's you, isn't it? Hear me out!" Narukawa started to stand, but Nakajima pulled him down. An instant later, dozens of bullets flew over their heads.
"We don't stand a chance against those full automatic Berettas. And there are at least five of them." Still, Narukawa didn't loosen his grip on the Walther.
"We're just wasting time fighting here!"
"There's no other way out!" Before Narukawa had fully voiced his irritated reply, Nakajima had entered a command on his handheld computer.
"Kerberos, go get 'em. Try not to kill them though."
The demonic beast that leapt from the liquid crystal display gave a great roar and bounded over the ground in the direction of the gunshots. Moments later, the underground parking lot was filled with cries of pain and splashes of blood.
Monday, July 02, 2007
Part 4: Chapter 8
The next day, the reporters in the Politics section of the Tokyo Daily were abuzz with the news that Hamano Masahiro, Minister of Foreign affairs, had pulled out of the upcoming elections.
"Now where the heck did I stick that file on Foreign Minister Hamano?" The young reporter Motoyama dug through a veritable mountain of manila folders piled up on his desk.
"Now Ota is a shoo-in for chairman," murmured the veteran reporter Watanabe while shaving. The phone in front of him had been ringing, ignored, nonstop.
From behind a desk, Imura chimed in. "That guy's just been on a roll since passing the National Secrets Protection Act."
"Don't you think this whole thing is Fujita basically giving his approval of Ota in light of his ability to get that thing passed?" responded Watanabe.
"So you think that Hamano abandoned his bid once Ota got Fujita's support?"
As the two grizzled veterans chatted amongst each other, Motoyama picked up the still-ringing phone next to them. With a skeptical look on his face, he listened to the voice on the other end of the line for a while before hanging up with a curt "You want the Society section for that."
"What's up?" Watanabe asked the question as if he wasn't too interested one way or the other.
"Oh, it's just more people talking about recent chains of mass unexplained disappearances in Musashino ward. It's probably just a load of crap, though."
"Come to think of it, I've heard that Tanouchi over in Econ hasn't shown up for work lately--doesn't he live in Mitaka city?"
Not thinking of the disappearances any further, the two reporters headed out to interview the politicians they were in charge of.
"Now where the heck did I stick that file on Foreign Minister Hamano?" The young reporter Motoyama dug through a veritable mountain of manila folders piled up on his desk.
"Now Ota is a shoo-in for chairman," murmured the veteran reporter Watanabe while shaving. The phone in front of him had been ringing, ignored, nonstop.
From behind a desk, Imura chimed in. "That guy's just been on a roll since passing the National Secrets Protection Act."
"Don't you think this whole thing is Fujita basically giving his approval of Ota in light of his ability to get that thing passed?" responded Watanabe.
"So you think that Hamano abandoned his bid once Ota got Fujita's support?"
As the two grizzled veterans chatted amongst each other, Motoyama picked up the still-ringing phone next to them. With a skeptical look on his face, he listened to the voice on the other end of the line for a while before hanging up with a curt "You want the Society section for that."
"What's up?" Watanabe asked the question as if he wasn't too interested one way or the other.
"Oh, it's just more people talking about recent chains of mass unexplained disappearances in Musashino ward. It's probably just a load of crap, though."
"Come to think of it, I've heard that Tanouchi over in Econ hasn't shown up for work lately--doesn't he live in Mitaka city?"
Not thinking of the disappearances any further, the two reporters headed out to interview the politicians they were in charge of.
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