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.

MANY ANSWERS: 09/16/2030, 15:52

Yuuri accosted him.

Hikorin... why did you talk like that to Captain Kasasagi?

I'm sorry... I lost my temper... When I saw how badly injured Mashiro was, I just couldn't forgive Watase for it...

Huh!? So Mashiron's injuries really were because of Captain Kasasagi?

Yeah, Watase shot her before he lost his memories.

Natsuhiko gave Yuuri a summary of the events that led him up to here:

Once Yuuri had heard the entire story, she spoke painfully.

Yeah. So, I know the current 'amnesiac Watase' is almost like a completely different person from the pre-amnesiac Watase, but... I really still can't find it in me to forgive him.

It tore his heart apart to look at Mashiro's pale face as she lay on the ground. It seemed that Mashiro had used up the last remaining bit of her strength to send that final telepathy. She had probably passed out as soon as she finished communicating with Natsuhiko.

Please be okay... Please wake up...!

Yes...

Natsuhiko and Yuuri held Mashiro's hands and prayed. --But they couldn't spend all their time praying. Natsuhiko was worried about Mashiro, but there were many things he needed to confirm if he wanted to escape outside with her.

...Hey, Yuuri...

♪ BGM: LABO Security Lv. 2 ♫

Mashiro and I know next to nothing about LABO. We don't know the true meaning behind what happened here today. But Yuuri, you've been here in LABO, so do you know anything about what's going on?

But there were still many mysteries left unsolved.

If there's no nuclear reactor, then what's spreading through the facility? What's the phenomenon that they've been calling a 'meltdown'?

...

I've come up with several questions, but... Do you know any of the answers, Yuuri?

...Yes, I know everything. I've learned all sorts of things through my nine-year stay at LABO. Including truths that have been withheld from society... and things I would rather not have known. Once you know the truth, there might be no going back, okay? Are you still sure you want to know?

...Fine by me. Tell me, Yuuri. Tell me what exactly is going on here.

Yuuri quietly began to answer Natsuhiko's question.

...I'll take it all one thing at a time, okay? First, I'll tell you exactly what a 'WX particle' is-- But before I get into that, you do know what 'BC particles' are, right, Hikorin?

Huh? Ah, yeah.

They're elementary particles that are molded and transmitted by the brain activity of all living animals, and thus humans. First of all, these 'BC particles' I've mentioned fill our surroundings and have the capability to move through all matter. Which of course includes your skulls and your brains within... Also, brain activity itself is 'thought information' which is generated by the brain's electrical signals. This 'thought information' is transmittable to the outside.

It was right after he said those words that Natsuhiko picked up on Yuuri's implication. LABO was a BC research facility, so for her to bring up BC particles meant--

WX particles are a type of BC particle. The amount of information, that is to say, the amount of energy transmitted by BC particles normally increases when a Communicator uses BC, but... The 'WX particle amplifier' can mechanically amplify that energy even in the absence of a Communicator. The BC particles are put into a state of blank information, but extremely high energy, which gives them distinct properties. In this state, they're called 'W-eXtreme particles', or WX particles for short.

--Now that she mentioned it, Natsuhiko's mother did talk about something like that in Yuuri's memories.

From what Natsuhiko could surmise, it appeared that WX particles were derived from W particles...

When you say they have distinct properties, what exactly do you mean?

For example, they amplify even the weakest of telepathy to strong telepathy. They also allow BC to be used continuously for an extended amount of time. For example, Hikorin, even though today was the first time you used Senses Sympathy, you were able to remain connected to Captain Kasasagi for over six hours, right?

Ah...!

Now that she mentioned it, it was quite an amazing feat for him to have pulled off. Especially considering how it took Yuuri an entire month of training as a child to obtain the same ability Natsuhiko obtained in a flash. Natsuhiko's BC ability did indeed advance rapidly-- but apparently he had at least some backing from these WX particles.

LABO used the WX particle amplifier to conduct various research and development relating to BC abilities. But you see, it's difficult to use that machine. Machine operation and energy management must be controlled via supercomputer... But today, they lost control of it.

Haywire?

Yuuri quietly nodded.

I don't know the cause, but an abnormal situation arose where 'WX particle generation continued for hours'. That is the truth behind what's going on in this facility. The phenomenon labeled a 'meltdown' was the unbridled generation of WX particles which spread throughout the facility.

Tips posted:

TIP: Meltdown Pt. 2
Category: Includes fiction

Proprietary LABO jargon referring to a state of extremely highly concentrated WX particle emission within LABO. The term also covers up such an event as a nuclear event.

WX particles themselves are capable of causing serious brain and genetic damage, but an even more dangerous situation arises if a meltdown occurs at the same time as a ''Case N''; the meltdown negates AD's protective effect against Subject N's NBC and Senses Sympathy. In the same way that the ''melt'' effect extends a Communicator's Senses Sympathy range, the ''falldown'' of WX particles generated by the amplifier also extends the range of BC, hence the name ''meltdown''.

So that's what it was...!

So it really wasn't a nuclear reactor meltdown at all. It was apparently just a one-word shorthand for ''extremely high-energy BC particle proliferation''.

That's correct, Hikorin. The Procyon isn't an instrument for measuring radiation exposure, but BC energy.

Tips posted:

TIP: Procyon
Category: Fiction

A BC energy measuring instrument developed by LABO. The artificial BC receptors installed in the device measure the atmospheric W and M particle levels, allowing the device to display a quantified BC energy reading. The value is measured in units of mSv (milliscalar values) and the maximum measurable value is 15000 mSv/h. As its appearance deliberately mimics a radiation measurement device, the members of Sirius accept it as such without question.

It's a device that measures and quantifies the amount of energy in the BC and WX particles in that area. Incidentally, mSv doesn't stand for millisieverts in the case: rather, it stands for milliscalar value.

Tips posted:

TIP: mSv (milliscalar value)
Category: Fiction

A unit used by LABO deliberately to deliberately cause the uninformed to confuse it with the more known mSv, the millisievert. The mSv used by LABO stands for ''milliscalar value'', not a unit of measure for the effects of radiation on the human body, but rather one for the amount of BC particle energy. The name for the unit was made with the intention of abbreviating it as ''Sv'', so the name itself appears to hold no particular meaning.

An N disaster at a nuclear power plant contaminates the land and food, leaving little positive prospect for the future. Rokumei City and LABO were doing something so dark that they would rather cover it up as an N disaster than let the truth be known... which was why Q resorted to terrorism to expose that truth.

A unit of information energy contained in BC particles.

LABO wasn't merely misrepresenting itself as a nuclear power research institution in name. Several parts of their research coincided with nuclear power science here and there.

...Was the identical abbreviation intentional? Or just a coincidence?

It was intentional, of course. Everything that could potentially be handed over to third parties, like the Procyon and AD, were designed to be disguised as things relating to nuclear power. All as part of the efforts that went into hiding the truth of LABO from society.

Now that Natsuhiko thought about it, that was right. There were probably several more similar countermeasures against industrial espionage in place. Such as the use of several secret codewords like ''Case N'', ''meltdown'', and ''AD''. LABO had been carefully hiding its true nature in consideration of worst case scenarios like this one.

AD is a drug that absorbs and neutralizes BC particle energy. As for its effects-- First: it prevents you from using BC. Second: it prevents other people's BC from affecting you. In other words, it's a drug that protects your mind and body from other people's BC at the cost of your own. That is what AD is.

I see. So that's what happened to me back then...!

Natsuhiko remembered. When his mind was connected to Watase's, Natsuhiko would sink into the darkness whenever Watase injected himself with AD. It wasn't that Natsuhiko's sensations would cut off; it was that Watase, the BC target, would become temporarily immune to the effects of BC. Natsuhiko's mind would try to connect with Watase's, but AD would reject it. As a result, Natsuhiko would be unable to receive any of the information that Watase's mind was supposed to be sending-- --and so without any information, Natsuhiko would be thrown into the darkness.

Is it true that its effective period is an hour?

It is. So is the fact that AD is effective in environments under 4000 mSv. Conversely speaking, that means that when BC energy surpasses 4000 mSv, the effects of AD disappear. You're once again prone to the influence of other people's BC, and if you're a Communicator, you can use BC again as well.

That would explain why Natsuhiko's consciousness returned every time Watase went into a contaminated zone. And how the two of them remained constantly connected once the facility's mSv value rose past 4000 mSv-- Both were a result of the conflict between BC, the ''power to connect people'' and AD, ''the drug that resists the power''.

...Ah, but now that you mention it...

What is it?

Why was the amount of energy in the facility gradually rising?

Well you see, that's because the 'BC insulator' could no longer keep absorbing the WX particle energy.

Tips posted:

TIP: BC insulator
Category: Fiction

A material developed and implemented by Miyoko Tenkawa. It contains W particles using artificial BC receptors as a medium. Those artificial receptors interact with atmospheric M particles, causing the M particles to decay into W particles, thereby preventing the transmission of BC. This mechanism is strictly different from thermal/electrical insulators, but for the sake of convenience, they are still called BC insulators due to similarity of function. The special classroom in Rokumei Academy called the BC room uses these insulators, thus allowing for the free performance and practice of BC. The BC insulated walls are essentially like soundproof walls but for mental voices.

LABO's outer walls, inner walls, and security gates are also made with BC insulator inserts. This use case isn't for the simple practicing of BC, but for the isolation of Communicators.

Huh?

Natsuhiko knew about BC insulators. He'd even had a conversation about them with Salyu just a few days ago.

The BC room's walls are made with a 'BC insulator', a special building material meant to block out BC.

You know how BC insulators obstruct BC? They do that by absorbing the energy from BC particles. WX particles are a subclass of BC particles, so they're no exception. The energy from the WX particles generated in Area N is being absorbed by the surrounding walls and security gates. But there's a limit to how much they can absorb. If they're continuously exposed to WX particles, their absorptivity gradually wears down. As the absorptivity decreases, the amount of energy from the WX particles leaking out of Area N increases proportionally-- Which is why the Procyon's value has been gradually rising.

Then what's with the disparity in values across the areas? Why did places like Area 4 have higher values than other areas?

The insulators in the more heavily damaged areas suffered further decreased absorptivity... causing WX particle energy to rise even further.

--Now that Natsuhiko thought about it, that did sound plausible.

Considering how much it had burned, a good majority of the insulator must have been damaged. The next highly contaminated area, B2 of Area 5, was right next to Area 4, and so the contamination may have spread all the way over there. There was no definitive proof, but Yuuri's conjecture seemed plausible enough.

Eheheh, well, I -have- lived here for over nine years, after all. It's only natural that I know a lot. ...Though I may have been locked up in here, it is technically where I live. I have grown a little attached to it.

Yuuri gave an ambivalent smile. Her smile pained Natsuhiko's heart as he asked more questions.

Thanks to you, I now understand more or less what LABO is and what WX particles are, but-- There's another important thing. What are the dangers of WX particles?

...!

The amplifier's manual said that WX particles were harmful to the body. And when Watase and the others went somewhere with a high Procyon reading, they displayed strange symptoms.

It had said the following:

Yes. They may not be radioactive, but they are still dangerous nonetheless. WX particles with enormous amounts of energy enter and affect the brain, causing various brain dysfunctions. Furthermore, they can also affect the genes, causing mutations and cancer... Perhaps that's why even Mr. Ukita was afraid of the values increasing, despite how he should be fully aware of the facility's true nature.

That in itself wasn't strange. What truly was strange was--

But then how come I didn't suffer any negative effects from staying in Area N for so long? I'm still perfectly fine now, and you seem fine to me too. I don't think I've gotten any 'genetic disorders' or 'brain dysfunction', but... why's that?

Melancholy shrouded Yuuri's face when she heard Natsuhiko's question.

...We're okay, Hikorin. You and I are the only ones trapped in this place who will remain unaffected no matter how high the WX particle reading gets. It's because we have Rank S Aptitude, you see.

...? What does that have to do with it?

The truth is, the negative effects of WX particles occur more easily the lower your BC 'aptitude' is. That's because WX particle resistance is proportional to BC aptitude. People with Rank F Aptitude have no resistance to WX particles whatsoever, but those of us with Rank S Aptitude have complete resistance. Our brains and genes are unaffected by the effects of WX particles. It's because of what happened nine years ago that we became like this.

Huh? Nine years ago-- So you mean the reason our aptitudes rose so high had something to do with WX particles?

Yuuri nodded.

When the particles come in contact with genes, they damage them.

They damage genes!?

In any case, once gene damage occurs, the body quickly works to repair that damage. Prolonged exposure to WX particles can overwhelm the repair process, causing fatal damage, but... With endless cycles of damage and repair-- the human body has, on rare occasions, gained resistance to WX particles. The brain also changes accordingly, and the functional disorders cease. And as resistance rises, aptitude rises in proportion... That was the process both your body and mine underwent when our aptitudes rose to Rank S nine years ago.

I see... Well, that finally puts that old mystery to rest.

Normally, aptitude doesn't change throughout one's lifetime.

So that's why you didn't like taking AD, huh. Because you didn't need it to begin with, and all it did was prevent you from using BC.

So if the two of us go to Area N, we won't get cancer or anything?

Right... as in we won't get any worse than we already are, that is...

Huh...!?

Natsuhiko had a terrifying feeling about what she was implying. For he felt that Yuuri was trying to tell him about the real danger of WX particles.

Any worse than we already are...? What do you mean?

Think carefully about what I just said, okay...? Having high aptitude means your genes have changed so that you can withstand an environment that normal people cannot. Your genes have gone through endless cycles of damage and repair, bringing them further and further away from their original form... So, in other words--... stay calm and listen closely, Hikorin... You and I already have considerable genetic abnormalities. You may even go so far as to say that all Communicators in general are the result of genetic abnormalities.

What determines whether or not somebody is a Communicator is the IGF2R gene. This gene relates to the structure of the brain.

Tips posted:

TIP: IGF2R Gene
Category: Includes fiction

A gene mapped on chromosome 6 that mediates induction and inhibition of the proliferation of certain cells. IGF2R stands for Insulin-like Growth Factor 2 Receptor.

A research team in London once published findings that the gene may affect IQ, but their research was later disproved. Geneticists say the research fell victim to a logical fallacy known as the ''chopsticks gene''. This fallacy is named after the anecdote of a researcher who claims to have discovered a gene that allows for skillful usage of chopsticks. But in reality, the researcher may have merely found a gene common in Asian people-- in other words, the roles of genes are too complex and intertwined to easily determine which genes play which roles.

Once IGF2R gene mutations were identified and confirmed to cause increased BC receptor development in accordance with Antoine Courbet's ''ESP synchronization hypothesis'', the IGF2R gene gained even more prominence. There is still no method of directly measuring the extent of BC receptor development, but the extent of IGF2R gene mutation has been codified so that BC aptitude can be calculated on a seven-step SABCDEF scale. Furthermore, it has been established through animal experimentation that mutation of the IGF2R gene causes an increase in cancer susceptibility, and thus research is currently being conducted to determine if it is a tumor suppresor gene.

Normally, there are nine types of IGF2R genes, numbered 1 through 9. But on rare occasion, people are born with a mutant variant form of that gene...

And those are Communicators...?

Yes.

The tone of Yuuri's voice gradually grew dispirited.

There are six degrees of IGF2R gene abnormalities. Depending on the extent of variation, IGF2R genes can also be ranked from Type E to Type S. As I've explained before, aptitude and resistance are directly proportional, but-- Basically, both things just point to how those IGF2R genes are mutated variants. That's the truth behind aptitude. IGF2R Gene Type E corresponds with Rank E Aptitude. Type D with Rank D... all the way to Type S with Rank S. And the higher one's aptitude... the more severe one's mutation... And the shorter that Communicator's lifespan becomes--

...!!

A chill ran down Natsuhiko's spine. And yet Yuuri kept painfully speaking the harsh truth.

♪ BGM: Psychological Warfare ♫

Communicators are extremely prone to cancer. The same goes for all sorts of neurological diseases. Though they may not show it when they're young, as Communicators age, their likelihood of death rapidly increases. So now do you understand... what I meant when I said we wouldn't get any worse? We were already burdened with a premature death sentence nine years ago. It's only been 16 years since the Grand Communicator Discovery. That's why most people in the world have yet to realize this fact... Most of the scant few Communicators who were born before the Grand Discovery have already died. I heard from the professor that your father was also a Communicator. Furthermore, he was a Rank B Aptitude Communicator, an even rarer existence at the time. That's why he died at the age of 32...

No way...! If LABO knows about that truth, then why haven't they announced it!?

Can they? They haven't even completely figured out the cause of the premature deaths. If they made the announcement regardless... then all the Communicators would surely despair over the looming fate of death.

...

Natsuhiko choked on his words.

(So that means we're already--)

Even if they escaped from the facility, they still wouldn't have long lives ahead of them. Their remaining lives would be shorter than his father's 32 years on this earth.

(15 years? 10 years? Just how much longer do we have left to live!?)

Natsuhiko was horribly agitated by the hopeless truth. Feelings of nothingness rended his heart into pieces. He held his head with a trembling hand. But at that moment-- He saw a wristwatch in the corner of his eye.

(...!)

When his mother gave this watch to Natsuhiko, she may have already known about his fate as a Communicator. Dr. Tenkawa cried back then, despite rarely ever crying. Natsuhiko felt like that was perhaps the most telling sign of her emotions. But even so--

(Dad told me to 'be strong'...! He told me to become a man that can protect and support others!)

His father's final message from that faraway day rekindled in Natsuhiko's mind. Natsuhiko took his crushed spirit and forced it back on its feet.

♪ BGM: LABO Security Lv. 2 ♫

Yuuri... it's been tough bearing the knowledge of this truth all by yourself, hasn't it?

Huh... Hikorin... it's not tough for you?

Sure, it's a shock. To know that you and Mashiro might die premature deaths. That part's a lot tougher than knowing about my own death. But... so what? I can't just give up on life here and now just because of that, you know?

...!

It doesn't matter if our remaining life is long or short. Let's just live it all we can. You think so too, don't you, Yuuri? That's why-- that's why you asked me to save you, wasn't it?

...Y... yes!

The anxiety on Yuuri's face finally brightened up. Natsuhiko breathed a mental sigh of relief, then spoke up in a firm voice.

Then to do that-- we need to do something about all the unsolved mysteries!

What do you mean by 'unsolved mysteries'--?

Why have the bulkheads remained locked down? Since there's no radioactive material, it wouldn't spread outside even if the bulkheads opened, right?

Hmm, honestly I'm not quite sure about that myself, but... I think it's probably to prevent the test subjects from escaping.

Huh?

It would be a huge incident if a test subject took advantage of a fire to escape from LABO, right?

So you mean 'Case N' refers to a system that prevents your escape, Yuuri?

No, not just my escape-- I think they had another girl in mind too.

...Another one?

Yuuri proceeded to answer Natsuhiko's question without the slighest hesitation.

That girl may have been a test subject confined in LABO just like me.

One of the casualties found in the facility had been a lone girl of unknown origin.

I've heard that there was another test subject in LABO besides me. She was wearing testing clothes, so I'm sure it was her...!

So the bulkheads weren't to prevent just your escape, but hers as well...!?

Yeah... though I don't know the reason why the lockdown has gone on for so long...

What Yuuri didn't know was probably whatever LABO thought would be bad for her to know. What exactly was a ''Case N''-- That had been a mystery up until now.

...In any case, that means the terrorists with Watase got locked in here thanks to that Case N announcement, right?

But something about that just doesn't sound right... Perhaps it was a fluke or something...

What exactly was their original goal...?

Judging by Q's ideology and creed, there would probably be no greater target than the world's strongest Communicator, Yuuri. And yet Watase said that his goal wasn't to kill Yuuri. He injected her with AD and left her where she was.

I still don't quite understand what it was the terrorists were thinking...

What if you restored Captain Kasasagi's memory?

I probably could if I wanted, but we shouldn't.

In truth, that vast malice had threatened to come back several times already. Just a small peek of the erased memories could potentially cause Watase to become ferocious again. After all, peeking into Watase's memories meant making him remember them.