TRUE VALUE: 09/14/2030, 15:36 ♪ BGM: Languid Hours of Rokumei City ♫  Okay, then how should we conduct the search? Hold up, Mashiro. First we should get a feel for each other's abilities. What's the real extent of your ability? Me? In my case, I'd say-- 'Telepathy with an effective range of approximately 500 m', and 'empathy with an effective range of approximately 10 m'. I haven't been certified, but I'd say I'm around Ability Level 5. Huh!?Natsuhiko was surprised by that answer. ''Ability Level 5'' meant you were among the highest of the elites among all currently recognized Communicators. lf you could freely use empathy on a target at a distance, you were classified as Ability Level 5. There were said to be no more than 50 Communicators of that level in all of Japan. Hold on, that's seriously amazing, isn't it!? I'm surprised too. You must be a genius, Mashiro. N-no, I wouldn't go that far...Mashiro had mixed feelings, but she was mostly embarrassed. Say, guys... I certainly can use empathy... but don't be afraid of me, okay? Huh? I know it might be hard to believe, but I absolutely do not peek into other people's hearts without good reason. When I read the terrorist's mind, I just made an exception because I was worried about Salyu... So obviously, it's not like I read your minds or anything... Yeah, I understand. I don't have a mind with anything worth hiding in the first place. And of course we won't tell anyone else about it. We'll keep this our little secret. I see... thank goodness.Mashiro was relieved to hear their answers. ...Okay, then how's your ability, Natsuhiko? Umm, I'm not quite so sure myself yet, but... 'Telepathy with an effective range of approximately 2 km', I guess. T-two kilometers!? Seriously!? Yeah, apparently... Around what ability level does that correspond to? I've never heard of an effective range of 2 km before. That far surpasses my ability at Level 5. So, just maybe... could it be 'Level 6'?Mashiro looked at Natsuhiko with admiration. Now that he thought about it, Ena had mentioned that there could still be many unknown areas in the field of BC. Which meant that there very well could be Ability Level 6 Communicators and beyond. H-hold on a sec, Natsuhiko! Try sending me some telepathy! Okay, hold on a second.And with that, Natsuhiko put a finger to his temple and focused. (Mashiro, can you hear me!? If you can, then please answer!)He tried to focus hard on that message from the bottom of his heart. However-- How was that, Mashiro? Hear me? Huh? ...I'm sorry, I didn't hear anything. Huh?Apparently nothing happened. He didn't feel that odd sensation of his five senses dampening, either. Hmm... Looks like I still can't control it yet. I see... Maybe it was because you didn't have any message that you particularly wanted to tell Mashiro? I see. Maybe my ability only works when I absolutely need it...He wasn't entirely sure if that was amazing or an amazing letdown. At any rate, since he couldn't use empathy at all, it would be hard to classify him as Level 6 regardless. ...I'm kinda starting to regret not taking practice seriously now. Mmm... If only we could use telepathy to communicate, we'd be able to split up. No, Mashiro, you remember the terrorist's face. So we should act together anyway. Ah, you're right...! That's right, Mashiro. There's no point in us spreading ourselves thin after we finally managed to regroup. Let's all search together. Y-yeah! By the way, do you have any leads as to where to search? Not that I can think of, but... for now, how about we start with the places in town where incidents have happened recently? Okay, then let's go!And with that, the three of them headed into town.  Several institutions other than the BC Training Center had received the objectionable literature. They didn't learn anything more than what the trainer had told them, but...  ...Okay, let's sort through what we know. Okay, first of all-- 'The places that received objectionable literature were all BC-related facilities', correct?Natsuhiko nodded. Several facilities, each relating somehow to BC, had received objectionable literature. And all of the objectionable literature was apparently signed ''Q''. The receiving parties each had different reactions to the literature, but all of it was rounded up by the police or the city security department. Also, there have been several fires lately. And they all seemed to selectively damage BC-related facilities. That's worrying too...It might be a coincidence, but beginning with the city's largest research facility, the BC Development Center, three such facilities have suffered from fires. Maybe the reason the security department has been so desperately rounding up the objectionable literature was to not fan up anxiety? But I still don't understand. What's the purpose of distributing objectionable literature? ...Yeah, what's that all about?The objectionable literature and the bomb threat at school did indeed seem to be no more than the criminals taking delight in getting a rise out of people. But then Mashiro spoke up as if she had remembered something. ♪ BGM: Close to the Truth ♫ Wait a second, you two... What if causing all this panic itself was just a means to prepare for their goal? Prepare? Well, I get the feeling that this trick resembles how Q has carried out their terrorism in the past. It resembles it how? Twelve years ago, there was an incident called the 'Sarubetsu City BC Laboratory Explosion'-- Right before the incident, Q caused an arson panic all around the same city. Except the research facility that got bombed was a completely different place from the arson targets. They distracted the police and fire department with arson before blowing up their real target. So you mean-- It's all a diversion!?Natsuhiko gasped. True, if you caused panic everywhere around the city, the police and security department would have no choice but to spread their attention thin. Just collecting all the objectionable literature and tracking down its point of origin would require allocating a good amount of personnel. If their next incident is using that same trick, then their real target is elsewhere... Then where do you think that real target is!?The three of them thought for a second before speaking up all at once. --The Parapsychology Research Center!It was the largest BC research facility in town, and they had visited it on a field trip just a few days ago. If Q was after BC research facilities, there would be no bigger target. Let's go, guys! Yeah, we need to inform the staff members!And with that, the three of them dashed off.
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