In the Dark: 06/16/2030, 16:21 Ena put forth her effort into her commissioner work once again. She analyzed data from all students, not just those in her class, but everyone from elementary to high school. She also scoured archival data to find if any students in the past had shown signs of N-ification.  ♪ BGM: Ominous Ambience ♫  (A female student of this school died nine years ago...? And she met with a fire that happened in LABO...?)The student's name was said to have been ''Yuuri Kotono''. For some reason, this knowledge stuck in Ena's mind. LABO was supposed to have been protected by perfect disaster prevention and security systems, so why would a fire happen there? (... I'll go look into it a little.)Ena began a personal investigation into the matter.  ♪ BGM: Anxious Times of Rokumei City ♫ As she fished for documents and gathered information here and there, various unusual points came to light. (... Mr. Tenkawa was there too at the time of Yuuri Kotono's death? And immediately afterwards, Mr. Tenkawa's aptitude rose...)Furthermore, LABO's performance improved soon afterwards. It became the top performing BC research facility in Japan, releasing innovation after innovation: Development of the BC-inhibitor, ''AD''. Development of the BC particle energy measuring instrument, the ''Procyon''. Development of anti-BC suits. Improvement of BC insulators. Enhancement of the WX particle amplifier output. Verification of the informational field hypothesis and upgrading it to the informational field theory. Among many other results. --How was LABO able to produce so many different results? Ena couldn't find the connecting thread among all of these facts, but she really didn't think it could've been a coincidence. (There was another time when LABO'S performance improved this much... A year after LABO was established in 2016. When Communicator A was still alive and confined as a test subject within LABO...)Around that time, the AD prototype was made and the WX particle amplifier's output was vastly strengthened. But with Communicator A's natural death in LABO in 2017, they had no results that stood out all the way through 2020. (But starting in 2021, their productivity rose again-- and it's still rising to this day. It'd be great to write it all off as a ''coincidence'', but...)But there was one other thing that bothered Ena. After A's death, thirteen years passed without them confining ''a single test subject''. That in itself might have been a joyous occasion, but it instead felt unnatural. Communicators who demonstrated Senses Sympathy were all confined to various labs. And each lab's administrator reported the confinements to the ESP Bureau. That was the secret law of the nation. But Rokumei City, with its 350 Communicators-- --had not reported a single Communicator demonstrating Senses Sympathy. Was that not odd? (Have there really not been any appearances of Ability Level 6 Communicators in Rokumei City... Or has one really appeared, and they're already confined in LABO? And LABO has merely neglected their obligation to report it to us at the ESP Bureau...?)There was only one reason to neglect the obligation to report. (They must be doing something they really don't want us to know about...)Ena's skin broke out into goosebumps the moment that thought crossed her mind. --Human experimentation. That was the term that came to mind. (No way, that can't be...?) But as Ena had traveled across the country as a Commissioner, she had encountered a similar incident before. She had arrested researchers that had abducted and entrapped a Communicator to perform illegal experimentation. (The same exact incident's happening in a government designated top secret city!?)It was just baseless conjecture without proof on her part. But as soon as she had harbored that suspicion-- Ena's eyes changed from that of a teacher... to that of a commissioner. --After that, she continued her investigation even further. And after three months of investigation, she brought her results to ESP Bureau headquarters.  ♪ BGM: Psychological Warfare ♫ Yes.Ena gave a clear answer to Kuroda's doubtful question. First, concerning 'Yuuri Kotono', a victim in the LABO fire nine years ago-- By putting the heat on the company that carried out her funeral service, I found out something quite interesting.Kuroda: That being? Yuuri Kotono's funeral service was a complete farce. When she was laid in that coffin, she wasn't dead. They gave her sleeping medication, applied funeral makeup, and passed off the real Yuuri Kotono as her own corpse.Kuroda: They what!? And before they cremated her body, they replaced it with a monkey's corpse. The bereaved family believed those ashes to be the remains of Yuuri Kotono and laid them to rest. And thus, she was dead to the world.Kuroda: Impossible... Isn't that too elaborate for an act? Yuuri Kotono's death was a sudden accidental death, wasn't it? It appears the funeral service company had prepared for the opportunity beforehand. Somebody had commissioned them to do it. They did not disclose any information about the client... but it was probably somebody from Rokumei City, or perhaps LABO.Kuroda: So then you say they feigned Yuuri Kotono's death and confined her in LABO? The possibility's extremely high.After hearing Ena's report to the end, Kuroda took a deep breath. Kuroda: Tsubakiyama... you investigated this far on your own? In my spare time as a teacher, yes.Kuroda: Well I'll be... You're not the same type as your father, but you seem to be quite capable in your own right, I'll give you that. As Kuroda smiled wryly, Ena continued. ...More importantly, how should we handle this case, Chief Kuroda? Our duty is, first and foremost, to protect Communicators... Any illegal experimentation on them must be exposed.Kuroda: ...Yes, of course. Then we should conduct an on-site inspection of LABO posthaste. Given the ESP Bureau's authority, that shouldn't be much of a--Kuroda: We can't, Tsubakiyama. Ena's eyes widened at Kuroda's response. Kuroda: Higa and I have already suspected that LABO and Rokumei City are up to no good. But even if we requested a compulsory inspection, the higher ups wouldn't approve it. Why!? Are we not a national agency!? So why are we unable to search a facility administered by a local self-governing body!?Kuroda: Normally, we could. We do have the authority to inspect every government designated top secret city and research institution. But for some reason or another, Rokumei City's LABO is the only place that's off-limits to our inspection. The reasons for the top brass' refusal seem to be 'insufficient evidence' and 'to ensure LABO's secrecy'. Impossible... Even for just a simple inspection? If they don't have anything to feel guilty about, then there shouldn't be a problem at all...Kuroda: Yeah. So what I'm thinking... is that even the top brass here at the ESP Bureau have probably fallen to LABO's side. Perhaps by bribery or by blackmail. ...!When Ena became speechless, Kuroda continued. Kuroda: ...LABO is an independent administrative institution. Strictly speaking, they're not under the rule of a government agency like us. Naturally, at first they received national guidance and were set up in accordance with national policy, but they gradually grew out of our control. Currently, LABO's management is handled by Rokumei City, but the research results are sold over to a corporation called Betelgeuse New Treatments. In short, LABO is a commercial corporation posing as an administrative institution. Furthermore, since it's protected by the city, LABO can withstand all sorts of strain. It's an extremely nasty secret research facility. Then... the facility that my father wanted established to protect Communicators... has been reduced to a sinister corporate entity, performing human experimentation for profit?Tips posted:TIP: LABO's True Face Kuroda: We only have circumstantial evidence, but yes, that appears to be the case. Ena gritted her teeth at those words. --When her father was alive, he and the BC researchers he worked with all supposedly attended to the Communicators with good faith. Did the researchers' ethics decay through the sixteen years following? Based on the nature of the facility, if LABO so wished, they could conduct inhuman experimentation without anyone being the wiser. Had they gone so far off the deep end to do just that...!? Kuroda: ...There's also another reason why the higher ups are reluctant to do a compulsory inspection. Huh?Kuroda: National interest. Regardless of what happens internally in there, LABO undeniably produces results. Do you know just how much foreign money the development of BC insulators and AD earned? Roughly 800 billion yen. A sum that large more than compensates for the abduction of one or two Communicators in the eyes of the Japanese government. Even if the confined Communicators become N-ified, it should be fine if they've been shut away from the beginning. Public safety shouldn't waver. An' nobody bats an eye. Nobody's sad, and they all lived happily ever-- Please don't joke like that!Ena's angry voice interrupted Kuroda's cynical sneering. What happens to abducted Communicators...!? True, Communicators at risk for N-ification should be confined. We can't have a repeat of the tragedy 16 years ago. But Yuuri Kotono had Rank C Aptitude, you know!? There wasn't any need for her to suffer confinement! If I just ignore this incident, then LABO could even start abducting my own students one day for all I know! So please... I don't care what anyone says. I can't let LABO's crimes pass!Once Ena finished shouting all of that in one go, Kuroda gazed at her hard. Kuroda: ...You've really become a 'teacher', haven't you, Commissioner Tsubakiyama? Huh? Ah...Kuroda: So I take it you place priority in the dignity of the confined Communicators as individuals over the nation's agenda, then? ...I do. Is that so wrong? What about you, Chief Kuroda? Commissioner Higa? Do you feel nothing? It is our duty to protect Communicators, is it not?Kuroda answered Ena's plea. Kuroda: ...Exactly... And Higa nodded as well, finaly breaking his silence. Higa: Tsubakiyama. You are correct. Huh...?Higa: I didn't know your father, but I've read his journal several times. According to his accounts, Communicator A was unmistakably 'someone in need of protection'. Regardless of how dangerous she may have been. ...Higa: I was transferred from Public Security. From an objective position, the national agenda is absolute, and I believe that the safety of the public should receive priority over everything. But unless it comes at the cost of the safety of the public, the dignity of the individual should be protected with the utmost care as well. Two types of people live in this country. The great majority who does not know the truth, and those of us who do know. Those who do not know the truth should be allowed to live in public peace in blissful ignorance, unaware of both justice and evil. But we're different. Among those who know the truth, we are the only ones who can execute justice. If we forget justice, it means the decay of ethics. Isn't that correct, Tsubakiyama? Y...yes!Kuroda smiled at Ena's response. Kuroda: Heh, guess that settles it... We don't need no stinkin' permission. Let's make that compulsory inspection. Higa: With which members? Kuroda: Well, we don't know who's in the pockets of the Rokumei City government. So let's just go with the three of us. It's a dangerous mission, though, so you don't have to come with us if you don't want to, you know, little missy...? No. I'll go with you.Ena answered without hesitation. For she believed that was what her father wished for...  ♪ BGM: Ominous Ambience ♫ Early morning, September 16. A fateful day for Ena's division, as it was the anniversary of her father's death. Their prepared provisions included a forged inspection warrant-- and a single handgun for Ena's self-defense only. Tips posted:TIP: SS12 Sagitta Kuroda: LABO is a den of demons. We don't know what's waiting for us in there. If worse comes to worst, you need to be prepared to use this. And with those words, Ena steeled her heart.
|
|
| ← # ? May 1, 2017 13:42 |
|
