Let's go Beyond Communication in Root Double -Before Crime * After Days-

TheMcD: May 4, 2013; Monaca / Subject N 2024
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Despair will never let you down.
Malice will never disappoint you.

First Impression: 09/16/2030, 09:18

♪ BGM: LABO Security Lv. 3 ♫

The man screamed this and was about to rush into the flames- but was interrupted by someone grabbing him by the collar.

But if we don't do something quick, that girl will--

I'll take care of it!

Once he heard her say this, the man--

Well, what did the man do? The people have spoken, and they said this:

code:
Watase Top, Jun Bottom: II Watase Top, Jun Top: II Watase Low, Jun High: II Watase Low, Jun Top: II Watase Bottom, Jun Bottom: I
That doesn't really help. So instead, I'm going to assign the numbers that the positions are on the slider to the votes and run averages. The result of that is:

code:
Top = 8 High = 6 (Middle = 4) Low = 2 Bottom = 0 Watase: Top: II High: Low: IIII Bottom: I Average: 3.42 = 3 Jun: Top: IIII High: II Low: Bottom: III Average: 6.28 = 6
That really is a much nicer result.

...Got it, I'm counting on you!

Gave that answer instinctively. He felt more at ease leaving it up to her.

Alrighty, leave this to me!

The female rescue worker quickly brushed the man aside, dashing into the room.

Lieutenant, back me up with the hose!

You might notice that the text box is now fully opaque. That is because I'm now using OCR software to save my fingers some... a lot... A WHOLE loving LOT of typing. So far, in limited tests, it's done almost perfectly. I love it.

The lieutenant pointed the hose upwards. The jetstream shattered apart when it hit the ceiling, scattering into a spray.

In this little bit, Moribe moves from the left side of the screen to the right in pretty much under a second. It was kinda hard even getting a shot.

The female rescue worker then ran into the room, as if clad in that water.

(What an amazing technique--!)

It was perfect teamwork. The female rescue worker then ran up to the girl through the mist and steam--

Aw yeah! Survivor secured!

Tips posted:

TIP: Survivor
Category: Nonfiction

People found alive and in need of rescue during an incident who cannot by their own power evacuate from the danger that threatens to kill or otherwise harm them. Those involved in rescue efforts, be they firefighters, rescue workers, or other individuals, are trained to treat survivors like family. But on the scene, these workers must leave their real family behind. So in that regard, survivors are temporarily more important than family.

And shouted triumphantly. That dramatic rescue had happened in the blink of an eye.

♪ BGM: LABO Security Lv. 2 ♫

Don't worry miss, you're safe now.

Are you hurt?

The man stood a short distance away, observing them.

...

In the end, he'd been completely useless-- both at putting out the fires and at saving her. So he figured the least he could do was talk to her.

Umm... er, well, I'm glad you're okay.

!?

Another frightened look engulfed the girl's face at that moment.

...? Did you do something, Captain?

Huh? No, nothing, honest...

Try not to scare her, okay? Your face is already scary enough as it is.

Oh, uh... sorry. Guess I gave you a little shock there.

You know, call me suspicious, but I think that's not the issue at hand here.

But you can take it easy now. We're on your side. We came here to save you. Probably.

The girl's body shook with a start upon hearing that.

Captain! Why would you ever say something like that?

Yeah, you've been acting weird ever since you woke up. Not knowing what�s going on is one thing, but you've been no help at all either.

S-sorry...

After giving a brief apology, the man fired off another question.

By the way, can I ask you guys a question? You've been calling me 'Captain'... so does that mean I'm the captain of a rescue squad or something?

Huh? The heck you talking about?

What... do you mean by that?

The man thought hard once he heard their surprised answers. But as he'd feared, he couldn't locate any information about himself in his head.

Well, the thing is... I don't know anything. Not who I am, or even where I am...

Huh!?

The women's faces twitched at that proclamation.

Y-you don't mean...

You've got amnesia...?

The man mulled over that word.

(So that's what it is...?)

But for some illogical reason, the answer no, that's not it suddenly popped into his head.

(It's more like... my mind's denying me the right to think about who I am...)

It was a strange feeling. But since it didn't look like he could explain what'd happened to him very well, he reluctantly decided to go with their suggestion.

Y-yeah... I guess you -would- call this amnesia...

C-c'mon Captain, quit pulling our legs!

No, I really wish I -was- joking...!

Wait... you mean you're totally serious!?

P-please hold on a moment, Captain! Did you hurt your head by any chance!?

My head...? Now that you mention it, I did have this really bad headache a few minutes ago...

I knew it...! There's a possibility that you hit your head on something. That's probably why you're feeling so dazed and having trouble remembering things. Then that means your memories should return in time.

I-is that how it works?

Yes. It appears that retrograde amnesia caused by physical trauma goes away fairly quickly on its own without requiring any particular treatment in most cases.

Tips posted:

TIP: Retrograde Amnesia
Category: Includes fiction

A memory defect caused by the disturbance of consciousness due to injury or illness, preventing one from recalling events prior to the disturbance. There are three processes of memory. The addition of information into the brain is called ''encoding''. The retention of memory is called ''storage''. Finally, the retrieval of that information is called ''recall''. The loss of the ability to recall information is called a ''memory lapse'', which can for example be caused by disorders in storage and recall.

Memories stored in the human mind can either be episodic memories which relate to oneself as an individual, or procedural memories which relate to skills and processes (the so-called muscle memory). Watase appears to have lost not only his episodic memory, but some of his procedural memory as well. In contrast to retrograde amnesia, there is also anterograde amnesia, which is the loss of the ability to remember new events that happen alter the onset of amnesia, or in other words, a disorder of encoding.

The lieutenant calmly explained that as she threw around a few technical terms here and there.

...Then you're saying this is only temporary?

Yes. But if you suffered brain damage by any chance, it's possible that your amnesia could be permanent. And I believe there have been a few cases where death occurs if the brain damage is left untreated.

...!

The man felt a shudder run through him at those words.

What the hell? That's horrible...! Captain, how bad is your headache? Do you feel like throwing up?

No... my head doesn't hurt at all right now, and my stomach feels fine.

Th-then I guess he's in the clear?

No, we can't be sure of that just yet. If you'll please bear with me for a moment, Captain.

The woman grabbed the man by the arm, rolled up his sleeve, and looked at his wrist. He hadn't noticed it until that moment, but he had some kind of wristband-like object wrapped around it.

What's this?

Tips posted:

TIP: Vital Checker
Category: Fiction

A piece of medical equipment in the shape of a wristband that allows for the automatic inspection of the wearer's health. The device measures four of the wearer's vital signs (pulse rate, respiration rate, blood pressure, body temperature) and calculates a comprehensive fifth signal based off those four. The device is not distributed to the general public, but only to emergency teams and rescue workers who frequently race against time. The inspection is strictly for first aid purposes only, so follow up treatment at a hospital is preferable.

A closer look revealed there were several numerical readings and five green lights on the device.

--Status all green. No issues with your pulse, blood pressure, or anything else... you're completely healthy.

Then it looks like we don't have to worry about him dropping dead or anything like that for now, right...?

But we can't be optimistic about that without an expert's opinion. Please get yourself a proper examination and treatment later.

The female rescue worker's eyes widened as soon as she heard the lieutenant's reply.

...Oh crap! Almost forgot! Lieutenant, we need to give this girl some 'AD' fast!

The lieutenant's face froze at those words.

Oh no! How could I have been so careless...!?

The lieutenant wasted no time in taking something out of her pocket.

Please hold out your arm.

N-no... I don't want that shot...

You can't be like that! You'll be in grave danger without it!

The girl turned around and tried to run, but the lieutenant grabbed her before she could. She then rolled up the girl's sleeve without giving her a chance to speak and pushed the tip of the ampule into the girl, injecting her with its contents.

Aah...!

The girl's eyes widened and her body trembled. Feeling rather unnerved by her reaction, the man spoke up.

... What's that drug?

Hey there, just letting you know I'm still here. Right now, the game is doing a lot of speaking for itself, so I'm just hanging back for the moment.

It's called AD. Put in simple terms-- It's an 'anti-radiation' drug.

The man felt an ominous echo in those words.

Did you say an anti-radiation drug...?

Yes. It was given to us by members of this facility's staff for this mission. We can't survive in here unless we keep injecting ourselves with this. Because--

The lieutenant surveyed her surroundings, then continued in a bitter voice.

--Because this facility is currently contaminated from top to bottom in radiation.

What!?

The bad feeling he'd gotten earlier only intensified with that statement.

H-hold on a sec... 'Radiation'? 'Contaminated'? What are you talking about!? What the hell kind of facility is this place!?

The lieutenant took a good hard look at the bewildered man-- and followed up with a clear answer.

A nuclear energy research facility equipped with a small-scale nuclear reactor used for research purposes. And nearly two hours ago, that very same reactor-- went through a 'meltdown'.

Tips posted:

TIP: Meltdown
Category: Nonfiction

Also known as a nuclear reactor core meltdown. Refers to when nuclear fuel melts into the base of its pressure vessel container due to errors like cooling system failure. Unless handled promptly, the radioactive material is at risk of spreading outside, causing an extremely serious nuclear disaster. A worse situation is a melt-through, when the nuclear fuel penetrates beyond the pressure vessel container and through subsequent barriers. Even worse is a melt-out, where the nuclear fuel breaks through the entire reactor and leaks into the ground. Furthermore, meltdowns are not limited to just the nuclear reactor core. Pools of spent fuel also hide the risk of a meltdown if not properly cooled.

You know, it's good the game is explaining all this poo poo for me.

Even though it was supposedly his first time hearing that word, it still managed to send shivers down the man's spine.

A-a meltdown...!?

Simply put, it refers to when something causes a nuclear reactor to melt, resulting in the nuclear fuel inside leaking out. It is an extremely serious accident that is frequently accompanied by explosions and fires-- and it also spreads 'radiation' that has harsh negative effects on the human body. The entire facility is currently contaminated with such radiation.

Tips posted:

TIP: Radiation
Category: Nonfiction

A general term referring to alpha rays, beta rays, gamma rays, neutron rays, and other particle beams and electromagnetic waves. Radioactive materials have unstable structures and thus decay over time. Radiation is the emission of energy or particles after such decay. Examples of radiation include alpha rays, beta rays, gamma rays, and neutron rays, each with their own degrees of penetrating power and effects on the human body. In terms of penetrating power, gamma > neutron > beta > alpha.

Alpha rays can be stopped with a thin sheet of paper, thus there is no need to fear alpha radiation exposure as long as it is not internal. In contrast, beta rays are stopped by things such as aluminum; Neutron rays by water, boron, and carbon; Gamma rays require steel or lead... And thus the difficulty of radiation shielding varies greatly between these types. In terms of harm to human bodies, alpha > neutron > beta > gamma.

Neutron rays rank highly dangerous in both categories. The neutron bomb uses neutron radiation, which is why sci-fi writers often prefix the names of fictional weapons with the word ''neutron''. Radioactive material decays at a fixed probability over a given length of time. Thus, the time it takes for a particular proportion of a given material to decay is approximately constant. The length of time it takes for half of a material to decay is called the material's half-life. Half of a radioactive material decaying means the material's danger to humans has been reduced to a half. Thus, the half-life of a radioactive material is one criterion in deciding how to handle it.

For example, Iodine-131 (I-131) has a half-life of approximately 8 days. Cesium-137 (Cs-137) has a half-life of approximately 30 years. Some nuclides don't reach their half-life for thousands or millions of years. Also, it's incorrect to assume that since half of Iodine-131 decays in 8 days that all of it decays in 16 days. At 8 days, you have 1/2, at 16 days, you have 1/4, at 24 days, you have 1/8, and so on... The decay is exponential and thus it takes an extraordinary amount of time for the emission of radiation to stop completely. Whenever unnatural radioactive materials are involved, it is wise to measure radiation dosages and plan appropriately for radiation exposure.

Did somebody want science? I think I heard somebody wanting science.

That can't be! You say this place is contaminated, but it doesn't look that way at all...!

Radiation is odorless and invisible to the naked eye. But it's definitely there, eating away at our bodies.

The lieutenant then took some sort of device out of her pocket.

Tips posted:

TIP: Radiation measuring instrument
Category: Nonfiction

Since human senses cannot detect radiation, we need to use dedicated radiation measuring instruments to properly plan for safe precautions in radioactive environments. Such handheld devices are called survey meters, and are generally known as Geiger counters. However, Geiger counter is not the general term for these devices, but rather refers specifically to those that use Geiger-Muller (G-M) tubes. Aside from G-M tubes, other survey meters use scintillators or ionization chambers.

As the name suggests, the Geiger counter counts the number of radiation events. However, since it only counts the number, and not the strength of the events, it cannot measure the amount of radiation energy, and tends to overestimate actual radiation dosage (to account for measurement error). The Geiger counter is relatively cheap and aimed at personal ownership.

A scintillation counter measures radiation energy based on the pulses of visible light released by a scintillator in response to radiation. An ionization chamber survey meter calculates radiation dosage by the amount of ions generated from radiation passing through a hermetically sealed containers of gas. Nuclear power facilities and monitoring posts at every prefecture measure radiation dosage periodically, even outside of crises. Almost all such facilities use scintillation or ionization chamber measuring instruments.

Tips posted:

TIP: mSv (millisievert)
Category: Nonfiction

There are three indispensable units when dealing with radiation exposure: Bq (becquerels), Gy (grays), Sv (sieverts). The Bq measures the amount of radiation a radioactive material releases in one second. The Gy measures how much radiation energy a particular object absorbs per kilogram when exposed to radiation. The Sv and the Gy are both units that describe radiation absorption, but whereas the Gy measures absorbed dose, the Sv measures equivalent dose, which accounts for how much harm the radiation harms a human body. Sv measurements are typically given in μSv (microsieverts). mSv (millisieverts) and Sv (Sieverts) are rarely used. In the same way that body heights are typically given in cm and body weights in kg, the need to use mSv or Sv instead of μSv says something of the abnormality of the situation. You wouldn't expect someone to be 100 m tall or weigh 2000 kg. mSv/h (millisieverts per hour) denotes radiation dose over the span of an hour.

Holy poo poo, it's like physics classes all over again. But yeah, I'm really impressed that they actually go into detail explaining all this poo poo for everybody that doesn't quite know so much about radiation and that kind of poo poo.

This is approximately over 20 million times more radiation than what exists in nature.

20 million...!?

Even under normal circumstances, there are faint levels of radiation in space and on the earth's surface, but the dosage is so low that it has almost no effect on the human body. But when in a situation where you're exposed to such abnormally strong levels of radiation like the 1108 mSv surrounding us, it's known as 'radiation exposure'-- Which causes severely negative effects on the human body.

Tips posted:

TIP: Radiation exposure
Category: Nonfiction

Refers to exposure of the human body to radiation. One basic classification of radiation exposure is external or internal. External exposure occurs if the radiation is emitted from an outside source while internal exposure occurs with the inhalation or ingestion of radioactive material. The human body is unaffected by small doses of radiation, but large doses have negative effects. In the case of systemic radiation exposure, the effects are said to be as follows:

Systemic symptoms:
10000 mSv...100 percent death rate
4000 mSv... 50 percent death rate within 60 days
3000 mSv... disturbance of consciousness
1000 mSv... nausea, fatigue
500 mSv... temporary reduction in white blood cell count
<200~250 msV... no symptoms
2.4 mSv... natural radiation dosage (global average)
note: 1000 μSv = 1 mSv = 0.001 Sv

Radiation damage is said to cause cancer, leukemia, cataracts, and infertility, but due to the impossibility of running radiation clinical trials with informed consent, much about radiation damage is unclear. Radiation can damage DNA, but cells are capable of automatic DNA repair, thus the general opinion of scientists today is that unless the dosage of radiation is high and happens all at once, the risks of DNA damage can be suppressed. It is important to both know the risks of radiation damage and to proceed with appropriate caution.

This includes skin inflammation, nausea, organ failure, brain cell damage, vision impairment, neurological disorders, genetic disorders, and cancer.

...!

The lieutenant's matter-of-fact explanation caused all the hair on the man's body to stick up on their ends in fear.

--These health problems can occur when you're exposed to 100 mSv and above. Meaning that the levels we are being exposed to right now are particularly strong. This environment is so deadly that we normally wouldn't be able to take even a single step in here. And though some areas in this facility have less radiation than others, it's completely impossible to avoid exposure, no matter where you are.

W-we can't get away from it...!? Are you making GBS threads me!? How the hell can you be so calm at a time like this!?

Please wait! Please remain quiet until I've finished explaining!

The man instantly shut up at the lieutenant's firm voice. She gestured to the empty ampule in her hand and continued.

But this AD drug offers almost 100% protection against the effects of radiation exposure-- granted that you're in an area with lower radiation levels, that is.

Tips posted:

TIP: Radiation inhibitor drug
Category: Fiction

Alone Desire, or AD for short. An anti-radiation exposure drug developed by the pharmaceutical company Betelgeuse New Treatments and packaged in ampules. It contains medical nanomachines which, when administered, neutralize and expel up to 4000 mSv/h of radiation, protecting the user from internal and external exposure. The effect lasts approximately 60 minutes.

The drug was approved in 2021, but still has not been distributed to the general public. However, starting with LABO in Rokumei City, nuclear power research institutes are allowed to use it experimentally. Nuclear power may indeed be useful, but the bottleneck in its implementation is definitely the fear of radiation exposure. If only nuclear fission could be used to its fullest extent without fear of radiation...

Up until now, that thought had not been a reality, but merely a desire alone-- hence the name Alone Desire-- However, AD is slowly making that desire a reality. Dispelling the fear of accumulated radiation exposure also ties to the training of veteran nuclear engineers (through increased safety nets). Thus, much is expected from this drug in the future.

100%!?

This is no ordinary drug. It contains medical nanomachines that detoxify and expel the radiation received by the human body. That said, it's only effective for a mere 60 minutes, and we don't have a lot of it either.

Well, what did the man do?

VOTING

Alright, this time around, it's a bit simpler. I've now decided that the averages system will be what will be used for tallying votes - especially since we need a bit of a general opinion towards a character for the blue segments, which I won't do voting on.

So, are you buying what Tachibana's selling? Yuuri didn't, and she seems to know something. Then again, we bought what Moribe was selling, and that worked out fine. Hm, decisions, decisions...

Please vote for one of Bottom, Low, High, Top for Kazami Tachibana. How much do you trust her?

← # ? Oct 6, 2016 21:42