Baccano! - Volume 8 - Chapter 2.6

INTERLUDE I

IN THE DARKNESS

Alcatraz IslandUnderground

On Alcatraz Island, there was a group of special segregation units that had been dubbed “the Dungeon.”

These were dark, solitary cells that were unanimously feared by convicts who had been too much for prisons all across the country to handle.

In the depths of the jail, below the cellblock with the long corridor that would later be nicknamed Broadway, were cells for solitary confinement that had been created by remodeling storerooms.

This place was surrounded by brick, a relic of the building’s days as a fortress, and there was absolutely no light. Prisoners who caused trouble were thrown into this darkness.

Because the brick walls crumbled more easily than concrete, raising the possibility that some intrepid prisoners would dig a tunnel and escape, the convicts’ legs were completely restrained in the gloom.

Warden Johnston was against the custom of chaining up prisoners, and once the new block of segregation cells—D Block—was completed, the Dungeon would no longer be used.

However, that was still in the future, and at present, the Dungeon was the source of the darkness the convicts feared, along with various rumors.

Below that darkness, in the very heart of the prison, in a place that wasn’t recorded on any layout drawings inside the facility—

—he was there.

A special cell built for just one man. There were rumors that it had originally been a hidden storeroom for the fortress, or a space to hide noncombatant VIPs, but no one really knew.

It was about the size of a hotel room, too spacious to really call a cell.

In exchange, the only facilities in the room were minimal—a bed and running water—and as with the other cells, the only small articles in sight were things like soap and a tin cup. Unlike in the Dungeon, however, an electric bulb shone brightly, somewhat staving off insanity.

In this area, to which even prison guards were admitted only rarely, a man spoke quietly.

“And? How does he look?”

The light of the electric bulb illuminated two men.

“The immortal named Isaac spotted him, and then he spoke with, um…with Ladd Russo, but he hasn’t done anything particularly notable.”

One of the men was inside the cell. The other was outside it.

The uniformed guard was bathed in the electric light that came through the sturdy glass of the window.

Their voices traveled through the service slot under the window that was used to deliver meals, and the conversation was going relatively smoothly with the man inside—Huey Laforet, who was sitting a small distance from the door.

“What about the three prisoners who came in with him?”

“I don’t know any details. At this point, they haven’t made any suspicious moves.”

“…You mean even your network hasn’t been able to locate them?”

“No, I mean I’ve been able to check into their past histories, and I didn’t find anything particularly suspicious. It’s just…the selves I’ve had infiltrate Washington and Chicago are being erased one after another. There are accidents and sudden deaths while I’m asleep… From their methods, it’s probably safe to assume our enemies understand beings like Hilton and myself.”

For a while, the prisoner and guard continued their suspicious conversation. Then the prisoner inhaled lightly and temporarily put an end to their discussion.

“I see. Please continue your observations, then, Sham.”

“Yes, Master Huey.”

The guard bowed his head respectfully, turned in a gesture so mechanical it seemed faked, then disappeared down the hallway that led upstairs. All that remained in the corridor were the echoes of his footsteps.

Listening as the footsteps gradually disappeared, Huey quietly spoke to the figure that was curled up on the bed in the corner of the room. It was a built-in bed, just like the ones in the other cells.

“Leeza… Leeza, wake up, please.”

“Ugh…”

The voice that issued from the bed belonged to a girl, one who sounded very young.

She rubbed at her tired eyes, but in the next moment, oddly, she spoke so clearly that she might as well have been awake all along.

“Oh, Father. Good morning!”

The girl, who’d woken instantly, bowed to her father with a bright smile that really didn’t suit the gloomy room.

In contrast, Huey gave an artificial smile and spoke to the girl in an impassive voice.

“Good morning. How do things look over there?”

“They’re taking the bait pretty nicely, and Sham seems to be doing well, too! The only thing is, there are some kinda strange guys.”

“Strange guys?”

“Everybody else is checking into them, so I can’t say much… But if they’re enemies and we all work together, I think we’ll be able to finish them off really fast, so don’t worry!”

The black-haired, golden-eyed girl spoke like a child, but she was saying things that weren’t childlike at all.

Huey thought for a little while, but his thin smile didn’t fade. The girl came over to him, and he set his left hand lightly on her head.

“All right. If you learn anything, let me know, please.”

“We’ll do it just like we planned, then!”

The child nodded as if she was really and truly happy, then she trotted over to the corner of the room.

As he watched her back, Huey’s expression tensed slightly, and he spoke the name of a certain immortal.

“I doubt he’ll be able to reach you this time, but…do be careful of Victor.”

At that, the girl did a precise about-face and said exactly what she felt, her face shifting through a kaleidoscope of expressions.

“Okay! I’ll be careful! That Victor guy—he’s super nasty, isn’t he?!”

“Ha-ha… Yes, he is.”

Responding with a smile, Huey remembered an earlier conversation with him.

It had been the last time they’d spoken alone together, right before he’d been pushed into this cellar.

“Weep, rejoice, and lick my shoes, Huey. I got a special room at Alcatraz just for you.”

Well, well. So you’ll be dissecting me for research in there? Or is it torture? True, no one will hear the screams on such a remote island, and no information will get out, but…

“Neither of the above, you moron. Sure, some of the country’s top brass want to mess around with your body, and it sounds like the folks at Nebula have a ton of questions for you. But don’t worry. And abandon all hope. If you’ve got the leeway, be grateful to me. I’m not letting anybody pull crap like that. No matter what.”

…By “abandon all hope,” you mean…?

“Listen up, scumbag. You’re an idiot who doesn’t understand other people’s feelings or pain, but you’re also genius, dangerous, crazy, and damn easy on the eyes, too, which means everyone just flocks to you. Not only that, but you’re a skilled actor; plus, if it meant getting research results in a year’s time, you’d be fine with spending the other three hundred sixty-four days killing yourself. Same goes for using other people.”

……

“Just try giving a guy like that to politicians or researchers. With your wiles and that silver tongue of yours, you’d make them your faithful servants inside of three days. First, you’d whisper sweet words, and when they start to listen, you’d pour in the poison, drop by painstaking drop. By the time one researcher starts thinking, ‘He’s a good person. If I talk to him directly, I might be able to get information out of him,’ your venom will have already melted his brain so that it’s dribbling out his nose. Then your restraints get loosened juuust a little bit, and the next day, whoops, everybody in the lab is dead. Oh hey, you’ve evaporated into thin air, too! And suddenly, everyone’s yelling at me and it’s ‘Find him, find him, goddammit, what the hell, Talbot, what’s wrong with you, this is all your fault…!’ I’m not gonna mince words: No fucking thank you! I’ll say it one more time! No fucking thank you! One more for the record! No! Fucking! Thank! You!”

You give me too much credit. Your imagination’s as robust as always, Victor.

“Ha! Imagination? It’s still nowhere near enough to help me understand the stuff you do! If there’s anybody out there who can read your actions completely, then let’s hear the guy’s name! Well?!”

Elmer. Or Denkurou…

“Don’t actually give me examples! You’re making me look like a dunce! Seriously, what have you got against me anyway…?”

I have no grudges. In any case, I don’t have the ability to deceive people that way.

“I doubt it. To folks who live and die in the usual way, our immortality alone makes us poison enough. I was good and bottled up my corrosion, but you’re volatile, and you run around doing whatever you want like slime mold. You think I could leave you on the loose?”

In that case, why haven’t you eaten me?

“This is you we’re talking about. There’s no telling what kind of trap you’ve rigged your memories with. Say there’s some kind of powerful hypnotic suggestion in there, and after something triggers it, I’m brainwashed into thinking I’m you. One day, you’d just hijack everything I was. The memories are complete, so all you need to do is switch the perspective. Talk about a smooth takeover.”

……

“What’s the matter? I nailed it so well you’ve got nothing to say?”

No, no. That idea hadn’t occurred to me, and I’m genuinely impressed. You may have the makings of a playwright, Victor. That’s truly fascinating.

“I see. In that case, just sit tight and let yourself be locked up.”

I’d like to request a more logical conversation.

“Denied. I’m pretty sure I couldn’t beat you at logical conversation. Fortunately, we’re the ones who caught you, and I don’t plan on trying to get you to understand anything or understanding anything about you. In other words—I’m putting you on ice, bold as brass, through an irrational action.”

You’re as uncouth as always, aren’t you?

“Well, you won’t be seeing the sun for a while, and to be honest, I feel sorry for you there. Don’t worry. I dunno how many years it’ll take, but… Once we do something about the lot from Nebula, I’ll let you walk right out.”

Remembering Victor’s triumphant expression, Huey gazed nostalgically into empty space…

Then, continuing that conversation, he spoke.

“Being unable to see the sun isn’t such a painful thing.”

He kept murmuring to himself in a voice no one else could hear.

“However…I’ve begun to miss the stars at night, you see.”

The man chuckled, smiling a little, and slowly got to his feet.

“I’ve made up my mind. I’ll be leaving this place soon, Victor.”

Then, in a commanding voice, he spoke to the little girl who was sitting on the bed, swinging her legs.

“Leeza, send a message to the twins.”

“What is it, Father?!”

The girl happily jumped up from the bed. Huey murmured quietly.

“Starting now, the areas and people I previously designated…are my research subjects.”

There was no trace of delight or sadness, or even resolution, in those words.

They were simply indifferent.

The declaration had been made in the voice of someone carrying out a routine task.

Arbitrarily. Far too arbitrarily…