Body and Soul: 09/16/2030, 05:56 In the early hours of September 16, Ena headed to LABO with Kuroda and Higa.  ♪ BGM: Psychological Warfare ♫ They were stopped at the entrance by a LABO security guard... But using the false warrant, they half-forced their way inside.  But once they had arrived there, the researchers called them to a halt once more. According to them, not even ESP Bureau commissioners could be allowed further in, ''for the sake of preserving secrecy''. Now that it had come to this, Ena was about to threaten them with her gun and force them to open up the path to Area N, but-- Before she could, she suddenly heard a thunderous roar.  !!? Wh-what's that sound!?As if to answer that question, more and more sounds echoed forth. The automatic disaster prevention system began broadcasting warnings like mad. Automatic PA: --Intense tremors detected in B1 Area 1. --Intense tremors detected in B2 Area 3. --A fire has broken out in B1 Area 2. --Intense tremors detected in B2 Area 2. ♪ BGM: Approaching Death ♫ --Ena was caught completely off guard. She had not expected such a thing to happen today of all days. Was it a coincidence? An inevitability?-- Either way, the ESP Bureau members got dragged into the terrorist attack.  Kuroda: Wh-what in the world... is going on here!? I-I don't know... but it might be a Q terrorist attack...!Higa: Q!? You mean those bastards know this place is a BC research facility!? That's only a possibility.Ena, Kuroda, and Higa had heard rumors that Q had infiltrated the city. But while Q may have infiltrated the city, LABO couldn't have just conspicuously strengthened security. That would be the same as installing a sign saying ''This is a BC facility''. And perhaps LABO had maintained security at normal levels for that very reason, but-- (Did they take advantage of that window of opportunity...?)Kuroda: ...Tch! Then let's just look for an exit for now! Higa: In case we do encounter any terrorists, well, it might be completely out of our scope of work, but... I guess let's try and see if we can apprehend them. Understood!The commissioners broke off into a run to search for an exit.  Ena got separated from Kuroda and Higa. Chief! Commissioner Higa! Where are you!?Voices called out in response to Ena from across the fire. Kuroda: Tsubakiyama!! We can't regroup like this! Let's split up and search for exits separately! Higa: Wait for us on the surface! G-got it!And a little while after they parted-- --an ominous siren blared out. Automatic PA: --A 'Case N' has just been detected. In accordance with this emergency, security has shifted to Blockade Mode. Looking down all gates and bulkheads. And thus, Ena became trapped underground.  *cough*! *cough*!! Ugh, drat... it... Like hell am I gonna die here!Ena tossed off the lab coat given to her by LABO and made a mad dash away from the fire and smoke... And then she pulled the hose out of a hydrant and began fighting the fires herself. After extinguishing the fires, she began planning how to escape from the connecting passageway-- --when eventually, rescue workers appeared.  ♪ BGM: Looming Crisis ♫ ...'Ena Tsubakiyama'. And you guys? I'm Lieutenant Tachibana. This is Ensign Moribe. And this girl is Yuuri, a civilian we found trapped down here. A civilian? So there's someone besides me who was caught up in this incident? Y-yes...The girl named ''Yuuri'' looked at Ena with fearful eyes. (Yuuri... The same name as ''Yuuri Kotono''? Something's bothering me. Looks like the best course of action is to put on the veil of an ordinary person for a while and work with them for now.)Besides, she had to search for an exit anyway, and she was also worried about Kuroda's and Higa's safety as well. Ena decided to work with this group. --She took the AD just as Kazami had instructed. Through her work experience, Ena had already gained knowledge about the dangers of WX particles and the effects of AD, among other things. And naturally, she also knew how LABO had maintained the facade that it was all related to nuclear power. (But it's not like I can tell everybody about that...)If any ordinary person were to know about those things, they'd immediately be targeted by LABO for the purposes of concealing information. In any case, the dangers were still real, and they still had to keep administering AD either way. With that thought in mind, she decided to play along and kept going for a while... And eventually, she saw Kuroda and Higa again.  ♪ BGM: Evil and Nightmares ♫ Ena couldn't help but scream. For when she saw them again, Kuroda and Higa's appearances had completely changed. Perhaps they were masquerading as LABO researchers, considering they were still wearing their provided lab coats. But the lab coats were no longer white, having been stained deep red by the blood oozing from their countless gunshot wounds. (They were shot...?)Given that they were lying with their heads turned towards the door, it was possible that they'd been trying to escape from the room. The various sized holes in their body, especially the big ones in their stomachs, exposed their rust-colored viscera. But Ena couldn't peel her eyes from the dead bodies. (... What's any of this supposed to mean...!? Why were Chief Kuroda and Commissioner Higa shot to death, but the rescue worker alone had his neck snapped? I can only think of two answers... All three of these people were together when a terrorist came in, shot Chief Kuroda and Higa, and massacred the rescue worker. Or perhaps the rescue worker was the terrorist himself... Chief Kuroda and Higa tried to apprehend the terrorist and fought him barehanded. And the scuffle ended a draw-- with all three of them dead.)--She had a feeling the answer was more likely the latter. If she remembered correctly, her father's journal stated that Kuroda had transferred from the National Police Agency and had been an expert in martial arts since childhood. And Higa used to be with Public Security. It wouldn't have been surprising if he had matching strength too. (I don't know the truth of the situation... but there's one thing I know for sure: Chief Kuroda and Commissioner Higa were killed by the terrorists...!)Ena gritted her teeth. (... Please rest in peace... I swear I will avenge you...! I swear I won't let there be any more victims than this...!)Tips posted:TIP: Tetsuyoshi Kuroda Tips posted:TIP: Ryo Higa She decided to keep up the facade of an ordinary person as she searched for the culprit. Or at least she tried to, but--  ♪ BGM: Ominous Ambience ♫ Watase looked at the dead body and muttered dumbfoundedly. Wh-who is this girl...?Ena didn't know either. But she had a hunch. (This girl's clothes... look almost like a hospital gown...! Could it be that this girl... was a test subject confined in LABO!?)In that case, it was highly possible that Q had killed her. (Then was Ms. Yuuri a test subject too...!? Could the cause of Captain Kasasagi's amnesia be related to the test subjects? If his amnesia is due to Senses Sympathy... then who erased his memories, and why? Was it this girl before she died...? Or could it have been Ms. Yuuri?)Several doubts seized Ena's mind. She considered revealing her true identity and using her gun as a threat to seek out the criminal-- but that was too risky. If any of the members of their group were either a terrorist or an Ability Level 6 Communicator, then that whole plan had a high chance of backfiring on her. (... Now that I think about it, everyone here right now is suspicious... If that rescue worker was a terrorist, then Captain Kasasagi, Ms. Tachibana, and Ms. Moribe might be with the terrorists as well. And then there's Mr. Ukita, a possible sleeper agent, as well as Ms. Yuuri, an unidentified girl... There's nobody here I can rely on as an ally...!)She was only armed with a single gun. She couldn't risk an offensive when she didn't even know her enemy's numbers. (But still... I will apprehend the culprit, at all costs. It's part of my job as a commissioner.)Ena felt the weight of her gun as she made her decision. (... Protect me, Father...!)And thus Ena began her lonely battle, knowing that anybody could be an enemy. 
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| ← # ? May 2, 2017 17:32 |
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