Sasaki and Peeps - Volume 6 - Chapter 5.0

<Free-for-All>

After we witnessed the scene of Miss Hoshizaki’s kidnapping, the living room erupted into chaos. Her little sister had it the worst—she was flipping out.

“You owe me an explanation, Mr. Sasaki!” she shouted, rising from her stool and glaring at me.

Type Twelve’s midair display had disappeared once the culprits’ vehicle left the frame. In its place, an argument broke out over our kidnapped coworker’s safety.

“Is this some kind of prank?” the sister continued. “Are you trying to get back at me for last time?! That’s fine, if so. Just let me see her right now! That video, that thing floating in the air—that was all your doing, wasn’t it?!”

“Please calm down,” I said gently. “Unfortunately, that video was real.”

“How could it be?! This! You people! All of it is really, really fishy!”

The sister appeared to doubt both the midair display and the reality it had shown us. Or maybe she simply didn’t want to believe that her elder sister had been abducted. Given how close they were, I could understand her reaction.

Seeing her desperation, Type Twelve said, “I envy Hoshizaki.”

“Wha—? Why would you say that?!” demanded the sister.

“I envy the worry her family member has just shown for her—and the true love, beyond doubt, that she enjoys. You treasure Hoshizaki. If she has built a family like this with you, then I am certain she is able to ease her loneliness every single day. I yearn for such an environment.”

“You… What, are you making fun of her now?!”

“Not at all. I simply output my unaffected viewpoint.”

“You’re weird! How can you go on about stuff like that right now?!”

There was pure murder in the sister’s eyes as she watched Type Twelve. I recalled the time she told me she’d kill a man for her elder sister. Watching her rage like this, I realized she hadn’t been bluffing. I could see a lot of Miss Hoshizaki in that sharp gaze she had fixed on us.

Meanwhile, Type Twelve, as always, just kept moving to the beat of her own drum.

“Hoshizaki’s safety is of utmost importance to me, as well. I will conduct a search immediately.”

“No! No, we have to…we have to call the police!” cried the sister, pulling out her phone.

If I could, I wanted to prevent her from making that call. It would only complicate the situation. I unconsciously glanced at Ms. Futarishizuka, wondering if she could temporarily knock the girl out with her energy drain ability. With any luck, when she woke up, it would be like nothing had happened. I didn’t think Miss Hoshizaki would be happy if she found out, but I really didn’t want anyone calling the police right now.

“Fine, fine,” said Ms. Futarishizuka, catching on to her useless coworker’s intentions. The sister was looking down at her phone, her hands busy fiddling with the display as she tried to make the call. Coming up behind her, Ms. Futarishizuka reached out for her neck. As soon as her fingertips brushed the girl’s skin, her legs buckled, and she fell to the floor.

Ms. Futarishizuka just barely caught her in time, then turned back to me. “Personally, I’d like to rescue her sister before she wakes up, wouldn’t you?”

“I would, indeed.”

The sister showed no reaction to our conversation. She was out like a light.

“But who did it?” the girl in the kimono mused. “I can think of far too many who would.”

“Maybe the Kraken incident is to blame?” I suggested.

“That little swim we took in space yesterday wasn’t much better.”

“A swim in space?” repeated Abaddon. “Seems your travels have been taking you pretty far afield.”

“Abaddon, please don’t make his job harder,” my neighbor chided.

“It’s okay. We’re not doing anything at the moment,” I replied. “Feel free to chat.”

“I just thought of something,” said Ms. Futarishizuka. “What if angels and demons exist on other planets, too? Though, from your names, it seems you’re definitely a product of Earth. And your view of the world seems to necessitate the existence of humanity…”

“Oh, who knows?” replied Abaddon.

I’d been curious about that, too. My attention shifted to him, but he casually deflected the question. He seemed unwilling to answer honestly. And because of how much Ms. Futarishizuka valued her relationship with him and my neighbor, she didn’t press the issue.

Instead, she turned to Type Twelve. “So what kind of search can you do?”

Like before, the alien was impassively standing in the middle of the living room. It looked like she was just spacing out, gazing at nothing. But if her previous remark was to be believed, she was internally doing some kind of super science to try to find Miss Hoshizaki.

“Searching nearby feeds for moving bodies. Three thousand fifty-two moving bodies of similar design identified within a five-kilometer radius. Once I have sorted each individual by their chance of involvement, I will use terminals to gain confirmation.”

“I didn’t see any identifiers in the video,” observed Ms. Futarishizuka. “No license plate. Nothing.”

“How will you verify it’s them?” I asked.

“I will approach and confirm optically.”

In other words, she’ll check with her own eyes? I wondered. I assumed she would dispatch a terminal to the target, then have it peek in through the vehicle’s windows. If the vehicle had been a little more unusual, we might have been able to find it relatively quickly—but it was a business van, and there were tens of thousands of those all over the city.

“How many usable terminals do you have?” asked Ms. Futarishizuka.

“Only a few. I withdrew most of them in preparation for global annihilation.”

“Gee, guess it’ll take a while, then…”

“I am using one to check camera feeds installed in the neighborhood. By referencing this data, we can sort potential targets by probability, thereby increasing search efficiency.”

“But if they switch to another vehicle somewhere the cameras can’t see, won’t you get stuck?”

“…I cannot deny that possibility.”

Judging by the time stamp on the surveillance video, it had been a while since Miss Hoshizaki’s kidnapping. It was possible the culprits had transferred vehicles already. They might have even switched to public transportation.

Thinking along those lines, I was hesitant to leave the search entirely up to Type Twelve. “Ms. Futarishizuka, I think we should ask the bureau for help.”

“I suppose in the end,” she said, “cases like these call for the strongest of all solutions: regular checkpoints.”

She was right. If the police in each region mobilized their officers to set up checkpoints on all the main roads, it was highly likely they’d be able to find our coworker. They could do the same with air routes and sea routes, too. And the advantage of using the bureau was that we could chalk it all up to terrorists or what have you.

“Are you certain?” I asked.

“Well, sure. Why not?”

With her approval, I took my phone out of my inside pocket, selected my boss’s name from the contacts list, and pressed the CALL button. A few rings later, I got through to him.

“This is Akutsu. Should I assume this number is Sasaki?”

“Yes, sir. We have an urgent situation. Do you have a moment?”

“You don’t often sound so rushed. Is there a problem?”

“Miss Hoshizaki has been kidnapped. We have no information on the culprits.”

“Oh, that is bad. Where did it happen?”

“Close to her home. We used surveillance camera records to confirm that she was tased and put into a car. I’ll send you the video once I hang up.”

“All right. I’ll prepare a search at once.”

“Thank you, sir.”

After a very brief conversation, I lowered the phone from my ear and pushed the END CALL button. The screen showed the notification of the call ending, along with how many free calling hours I had left this month. As I looked at it, I suddenly thought of something. I’d just promised him the video feed from the camera. How was I going to get that?

“Excuse me,” I said to Type Twelve. “There’s something I’d like to ask you.”

“What?”

“Could I have the video data from earlier?”

I had to try. If I could get it in a form that could be displayed on a TV or computer, that would be great. Type Twelve wouldn’t suddenly grow an output port somewhere on her body, would she? I didn’t want to take a recording of the midair display itself if I could help it, since I wanted to keep our cooperation with Type Twelve a secret from the bureau for as long as possible.

“Would it be to Hoshizaki’s benefit?” she asked.

“It would.”

“Then yes.”

“Thank you. But I’m not sure how I would access said data…”

“I will infiltrate this home’s network and secure free space on that device.”

I followed her gaze to the television sitting in the living room. Did she mean she’d worm into their home network through their wireless LAN setup and copy the video to the external storage used to record shows? That was the same method she’d used when fishing around for our personal information in the bureau’s database.

Internet-connected local area network waves were pretty much all over the place in modern times. I supposed that meant every single device with an internet connection was essentially at her beck and call.

Ms. Futarishizuka quickly picked up the remote control. She turned on the TV, then started messing around pressing buttons on the menu screen. And there it was, just as Type Twelve had said—a notification that part of the recording storage data had been accessed.

We waited for ten or twenty seconds. Then another video file appeared. Ms. Futarishizuka pressed play on it, and the surveillance footage from earlier began to play on the TV.

I guess with all the tech she’s got, it’s a piece of cake to imitate the protocols we use here on Earth. Once I recorded the video on my phone, we’d have to erase it before the home’s owner or her little sister saw it.

“I’m going to send this to the boss,” I said.

“I can see problems arising if he starts fishing around for the source,” Ms. Futarishizuka remarked.

“Well, we can’t do much about that right now.”

I wanted to keep our interactions with Type Twelve from the section chief if I could. Ms. Futarishizuka and I both hoped to send her back to her home planet in secret before humanity realized what was going on. Nothing good would come out of her sticking around here, after all.

If our involvement with her was exposed, then given our positions as members of the bureau, I could easily imagine all kinds of requests coming in to us from other organizations and the like. I doubted even Mr. Akutsu would be able to repel them.

But for now, our top priority was saving Miss Hoshizaki’s life, so I turned to the TV and readied my phone.

Then Type Twelve asked, “What is your plan, Sasaki?”

“I’d like to share this video with my place of employment, then have them use their resources to mobilize the public in order to pinpoint and secure the ones who took Miss Hoshizaki. Humanity has a playbook for how to handle situations like these.”

“I see. This area is very densely populated, so there is a good chance of success.”

“But if possible, could you keep on searching for her as well?”

“Of course. Hoshizaki’s survival is my top priority on this planet.”

“Thank you.”

A casual remark from Miss Hoshizaki had secured Earth’s fate by a single thread—a tightrope we’d been walking ever since the day before. My heart was still pounding.

Eventually, the surveillance camera video on the TV came to an end, and I finished filming what I would share with the boss. The file size wasn’t that large, so I attached it to an email and sent it to his address.

“While we’re looking after her little sister, I suppose we might as well watch some TV, hmm?” suggested Ms. Futarishizuka.

“I suppose we could. For the moment, we’re just waiting on a report from the chief.”

She’d already laid Miss Hoshizaki’s sister down on the sofa. We watched her sleep as we spoke. There wasn’t much else we could do. I felt bad for overstaying our welcome, but our only option was to sit patiently until the situation improved. Neither my neighbor nor Abaddon raised any opposition to the idea.

Ms. Futarishizuka used the remote to switch to the TV feed. “Not expecting anything good to be on at this hour, though,” she murmured.

“Yeah, it’s well before prime time,” I said.

“It’s all reruns of old anime. Makes this old lady want to shrivel up.”

“They always go back to the first episode before reaching the last one, for some reason.”

“Right?! I do not understand why. I end up getting curious about the ending and buying them all on disc.”

She changed the channel, we watched for a little while, and then she changed it again. Several programs went by as we stared at the screen, doing nothing of interest.

Then, suddenly, a familiar video appeared.

“Isn’t this the video from before?” I asked. “From the camera?”

“Oh, that’s quite odd,” she mused. “All I did was change the channel.”

On the screen was the video from the surveillance camera we’d had Type Twelve copy onto the TV’s external storage. It showed Miss Hoshizaki getting shot with a taser, followed by unknown men carrying her away.

Some words in one corner of the screen immediately caught my attention—they were meant to identify the channel we were currently watching.

The next thing we knew, a voice began to play.

“I am the being Earthlings refer to as the unidentified flying object. I will now announce the necessary conditions for the continued survival of all humanity. I repeat, I am the being Earthlings refer to as the unidentified flying object. I will now announce the necessary conditions for the continued survival of all humanity.”

“Wait, what the heck is this?!” cried Ms. Futarishizuka.

This wasn’t the video copied onto the TV’s storage. No, this was actually playing on the channel we were watching. In another corner of the screen was a map of the city, showing an icon that seemed to point to a certain camera. Even someone clueless about the situation would realize the video had come from a camera located at that point on the map.

“Where have I heard that voice before?”

“Mister, um, that can’t be…her, can it?”

My neighbor and Abaddon joined in as everyone looked to Type Twelve.

Under our stares, she said flatly, “Sasaki, I adopted your viewpoint. I, too, will use humanity to search for Hoshizaki.”

It sounded like she’d just hijacked a TV station. Where was she broadcasting from? If one of the so-called terminals near the surface was sending the signal, I doubted it could reach very far. But if it was that big ship up above the atmosphere doing it, this video could well be showing all over the world right now.

“If the life of the abducted human in this video is threatened, I will wipe humanity from the Earth within twenty-four hours. I repeat. If the life of the abducted human in this video is threatened, I will wipe humanity from the Earth within twenty-four hours.”

The announcement, in Type Twelve’s voice, emanated into the room from the TV speakers.

Talk about bringing out the big guns.

A moment later, the video cut away to a portrait of Miss Hoshizaki. The picture showed her in work mode, done up with thick makeup and wearing a suit. Her expression was sharp and reliable.

I assumed Type Twelve had gotten it from the bureau’s database. Come to think of it, I remembered her headshot—the one used in the bureau’s internal files—looking something like that.

“And now her face is on TV,” Ms. Futarishizuka said in alarm. “If she wasn’t up shit creek already, she is now.”

“…You’re right.”

What now? I thought. Miss Hoshizaki just made her television debut.

To Type Twelve, this probably felt like sending a dog to round up some sheep out grazing in the pasture. But as a result, she was about to ruin the social life of the person most important to her.

My neighbor and Abaddon watched the screen in astonishment. The two of them hadn’t been abducted or brought up into space, so this must have been like a wake-up call as to how dangerous the alien girl really was.

Soon enough, the phone tucked in my inside pocket began to buzz. Someone was calling me. I checked the display—the section chief. Figured he’d contact me, I thought. So quick to respond, too. He really knows how to do his job.

“Hello, this is Sasaki.”

“I won’t waste time. Is there a TV nearby?”

“We’re already watching it, sir.”

“I can’t say any more over the phone. Sorry, but could you come to the office? Immediately, if you would.”

“Understood.”

“And if you can, bring you-know-who with you.”

Even over the phone, his tone left no room for argument. He was sure of it now—the owner of the UFO all over the news was acting alongside his own subordinates. After all, the video on TV was the exact same one I’d just sent him. If he checked the time stamps in the metadata, he’d easily figure out it was from before the waves had been hijacked.

“I’ll try to secure her help to an extent that won’t endanger humanity.”

“Please do so.”

After that brief conversation, he hung up. This call had been even shorter than the last one. As I tucked my phone away, I mapped out our plans in my head.

At this point, I just wanted to run away to the otherworld. I wanted to laze about and languish in listlessness at our inn in Baytrium. I wanted to dine at Mr. French’s restaurant every day. I wanted to go sightseeing in fantastical locales while enjoying my little chats with Peeps.

My escape from reality lasted several seconds as I stared at my phone display. Then, finally, I turned back to Type Twelve.

“Excuse me, but could you stop this broadcast immediately?”

“Why?” she asked. “You said you wanted to help Hoshizaki. Your suggestion contradicts that intention.”

“As the situation stands, this will only endanger her position.”

“Humans lie daily.”

“Look, I wish I was lying. I really do.”

“……”

I locked eyes with her; she was as impassive as ever.

But she was the first to break. “…Understood. I will adopt your suggestion, Sasaki.”

“Also, I’d like to change locations. Would you mind coming with us?”

“Is this change of location related to Hoshizaki as well?”

“We’re headed to her place of employment. As I explained before, they are also carrying out a search for her. Better to get as much information as we can rather than wait here twiddling our thumbs. Will you come?”

“All right. I will accompany you.”

“Thank you.”

As soon as she agreed, the picture on the TV changed. The still image of Miss Hoshizaki’s bust and the surveillance camera clip of her being kidnapped, which had been cycling back and forth until now, disappeared from the channel in an instant, and it switched back to what seemed to be the news program originally running.

A news studio was visible, with the announcer looking very out of sorts after the hijack. He apologized profusely for the confusion, explaining several times that the content Type Twelve had injected didn’t represent the TV station. This must have been a real disaster for them.

“I’m fine with going to the office, but what shall we do with the girl?” asked Ms. Futarishizuka, looking at Miss Hoshizaki’s sister still lying on the sofa. “She should wake up on her own if we leave her, but if she comes to before we’ve rescued her sister, she might cause problems. It’s even possible they could kidnap her next.”

“Hmm…”

“Mister, why don’t we watch her instead?” offered my neighbor.

“I’d be very grateful, but are you sure?” I asked.

“We don’t have anything else to do. Besides, we’re the ones who brought her here,” she replied, glancing at Type Twelve. Abaddon remained silent; he probably had no objections.

But after a moment, I reconsidered. The three of them still seemed too vulnerable. “On second thought,” I said, “I’ll ask Peeps to watch her instead.”

Abaddon was invincible inside isolated spaces, but outside of them, he was only about as powerful as a mid-rank psychic. The same went for my neighbor. If anyone stronger showed up, they’d almost certainly lose.

Humanity was already in an uproar over the crater. After seeing Type Twelve’s TV broadcast, more than a few other countries and organizations would now have their eyes on Miss Hoshizaki. I was hesitant to leave her relative in my neighbor’s and Abaddon’s hands alone.

“That would be more certain,” agreed Ms. Futarishizuka. “That sparrow packs one hell of a punch.”

“Could you two wait with him at the Karuizawa villa?” I asked my neighbor.

“All right,” she said. “If that’s what you’ve decided, mister, then that’s what we’ll do.”

“Yup! I’d be happiest with that, too.”

Fortunately, my distinguished Java sparrow already knew where Miss Hoshizaki lived. I could shoot him a text, and he’d come right away. And if he teleported, he could retrieve the sister without anyone finding out.

I felt bad imposing on him, but since someone’s life was on the line this time, I needed his help.

“Right,” said Ms. Futarishizuka, turning to the alien. “Then could you call that crazy craft of yours again?”

“Understood,” replied Type Twelve. “I will summon the transportation terminal.”

“If possible,” I said, “please consider putting it down somewhere cars won’t collide with it.”

Just then, from outside the living room window, we heard a loud crash.

After leaving Miss Hoshizaki’s residence, we got into Type Twelve’s vehicle. Then, as Mr. Akutsu had instructed, we set off toward the bureau. The trip only took a few minutes, even faster than our earlier flight from Karuizawa to Tokyo.

Type Twelve set the craft down in a park right next to the bureau’s building. We sneaked out under the cover of night so no one would see us and walked the rest of the way on foot. We encountered no problems along the way. I doubted it would have gone as smoothly if we’d used public transportation or a car.

My neighbor and Abaddon, meanwhile, had met up with Peeps and headed to Karuizawa. Just before leaving for the office, I’d informed the sparrow of the situation and left Miss Hoshizaki’s little sister—and the two others—in his care. He’d sounded especially reliable as he replied, “Very well, I shall handle it.” With the Starsage’s seal of approval, I left for work worry free.

Now we were in the office in our usual meeting space. Type Twelve, Ms. Futarishizuka, and I sat on one side, with Section Chief Akutsu facing us across the table.

“You got here awfully quickly, Sasaki,” he said. “It was only a little while ago that I contacted you.”

“This girl has been very hospitable, sir. She gave us a lift.”

Ever since we entered the office, the chief’s attention had been glued to Type Twelve. He always maintained a cool persona, and even now he was feigning total calm. Still, I sensed a stiffness in his expression. It was a lot like when I first brought Ms. Futarishizuka into the office. I could get used to this, I thought.

“Sasaki, please explain the relationship between this human and Hoshizaki in your own words,” said Type Twelve.

“He is her superior at our workplace, and his name is Akutsu.”

“Yes, I am Akutsu,” said the chief. “If you don’t mind, could you please tell me your name?”

Whoa. He just got really polite, I thought. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him act like this. Feels sort of…fresh, in a way. We never ran into anyone of a higher rank than our boss while working in the field.

“To state my name in accordance with the rules of your language, I am Independent Multipurpose Early-Model Frontier Sector-Pioneering Long-Range Space Cruiser Type Three-Seven-Six-Nine. However, this point of contact possesses a unique manufacturing name.”

“May I ask about this ‘point of contact’ as well?”

“To state this point of contact’s name in accordance with your language, it is Humanoid Point of Contact Type Twelve, based on Independently Operational Small Point of Contact Basic Design Three-Five-Seven-Eight-One, whose primary objective is to facilitate communication with local life-forms.”

“……”

I totally understood how the boss felt right now. It was so hard to figure out what to call her. Neither of us had referred to her by name yet; even Ms. Futarishizuka seemed hesitant to call her by a nickname.

Ignoring the boss’s predicament, Type Twelve continued. “I have confirmed from Sasaki that you and your organization are performing a search for Hoshizaki.”

“Yes, we are.”

“If you can confirm her location, I would like her positional information.”

“Unfortunately, we still haven’t pinpointed her location. I’m sorry.”

“Then I would like to know your prospects.”

“I’ve given the order for emergency checkpoints to be deployed on all main roads leading in and out of the Kanto area. Based on the location of the incident and the culprits’ estimated vehicle speed, it’s highly likely they are still in Tokyo. There’s a good possibility that we’ll be able to arrest them.”

As I’d expected, he was keeping an eye on all incoming and outgoing traffic. Emergency checkpoints—it was just like something out of a detective show. I bet traffic jams were forming all over the city right about now.

“I would like you to inform me as soon as you locate her,” replied Type Twelve.

“I can do that. But in exchange, there’s something we’d like to ask of you,” said Mr. Akutsu.

“I do not mind hearing your request.”

“Today, we sustained a unilateral attack—one you carried out. I would like to ask that you refrain from such acts in the future. We are willing to adhere to your wishes and would appreciate your acceptance of our good will.”

“I will consider it once Hoshizaki returns.”

“Not to be rude, but what exactly is your relationship to Hoshizaki?”

“Her advice was extremely valuable to me. I would like to thank her. And if possible, I would like to continue obtaining words of advice from her.”

“……”

Now his gears are really turning, I thought. The chief was very smart, and he was probably reading pretty deeply into what she was saying, though I doubted he’d ever imagine that a lonely alien had come to Earth seeking love from humans. Speaking of, I was quite curious what sort of experience she’d had at my neighbor’s new school.

But having the boss get too familiar with Type Twelve would cause problems, so I decided not to help him out by explaining. Ms. Futarishizuka appeared to agree, and we both zipped our lips. Our little faction wanted her to go back to her home planet as soon as possible, after all. In fact, maybe I ought to try to change the subject.

Just as I had that thought, the chief’s phone started vibrating in his pocket. At the very same moment, Type Twelve stirred. And then, before the chief could even pick up, she delivered some shocking news.

“I have confirmed a combat situation between humans several dozen kilometers from here.”

“What?” said Ms. Futarishizuka.

“If you observed the scene using a terminal,” I said, “would you please show us the video?”

“Yes. Given the location and time, there is a chance Hoshizaki is involved.”

No sooner had she agreed to my request than a display appeared in the middle of the meeting table. The two of us had seen this happen before, so we were used to it. Mr. Akutsu, on the other hand, was so shocked he sprang out of his chair with a clatter.

The display showed a mountainous area. Through the middle ran what looked to be a narrow logging road; the recording was being taken from above. Smack-dab in the center, we could see a car, flipped over onto its side and covered in flames.

It wasn’t the same vehicle we’d seen on the surveillance cameras. Instead of an unadorned business van, it was a standard family minivan. But it was possible the culprits had switched vehicles on the way, so we couldn’t make any judgments just based on the model.

Several armed helicopters painted with a camouflage pattern hovered in the air, surrounding the flaming minivan. Type Twelve was right—it seemed likely the incident was related to Miss Hoshizaki’s kidnappers.

“Where is this?” asked Ms. Futarishizuka. “That ridge looks like something around Chichibu.”

“Displaying current location now.”

A map appeared in the corner of the display. My coworker had been correct—it was a mountainous area between Hanno and Chichibu, both cities in Saitama prefecture.

I was astounded by her speedy recognition. Even limiting the location to somewhere around Tokyo, the display showed only a featureless logging road. Had she driven around the area on her bike or in a car a lot when she was young? If she’d only been there once or twice, I couldn’t imagine she’d be able to pinpoint it so quickly.

“I’m surprised you could identify the location at a glance,” I said.

“I used to drive around there a long time ago,” she explained.

“I see.”

Apparently, I had been right. But when was “a long time ago”? Had she been a street racer? I bet she had.

“Sasaki, to confirm,” said the chief, “is this a live video of the site?”

“As far as we can tell, sir—yes.”

“It seems our visitor from beyond the solar system has some incredible technology.”

The section chief sat back down across the table, evidently able to see the video from his side, too. He reached out toward it, and his fingertips passed right through the screen. I went to do the same thing, but then stopped after considering the potential health risks.

“I bet they took the Nerima interchange to the Kan-Etsu Expressway, then got off somewhere near the Kawagoe interchange and headed down the mountain,” said Ms. Futarishizuka. “If you keep going, you’ll reach the Sea of Japan. Only locals ever use those roads—you’d be able to avoid the checkpoints.”

“Then I’m surprised they were located so easily,” I pointed out.

“It’s a minivan on a logging road at night with its lights on. Any optical satellite would catch it, don’t you think? I’m sure they didn’t predict that every agency in the area would get this desperate over one kidnapped bureau member.”

“Are you implying Miss Hoshizaki’s home and neighborhood have been under surveillance this entire time?”

“The boss warned us about this quite recently, if you recall.”

“Your concerns are reasonable,” said Mr. Akutsu, “but I have yet to hear a word about this matter.”

“I hope you’re telling the truth,” replied Ms. Futarishizuka.

Miss Hoshizaki’s neighborhood had only recently been the site of a big psychic fiasco. I had a feeling that everyone, enemy and ally alike, had eyes on Karuizawa as well. My neighbor’s transfer to her new school had gone through all the regular channels. If the bureau’s database had a record of it, then naturally the section chief knew as well. That meant other organizations friendly with the bureau would also be in the know.

“In that case,” I mused, “perhaps the TV broadcast earlier wasn’t completely pointless.”

“As I thought, my judgment was correct,” said Type Twelve.

“That’s definitely your emotions talking,” said Ms. Futarishizuka.

“Futarishizuka, remarks such as those make my heart lonely.”

“Ack! That was a lie. You know we humans love to lie. Seriously, I was just kidding, okay?”

Type Twelve’s broadcast must have felt like cheating to the kidnappers—like when someone puts out their hand a second late in rock-paper-scissors. I still had no idea who they were, but I was sure they were panicking right about now.

Personally, though, I was more interested in the helicopters hovering above the minivan as it continued to blaze. What on earth had led to the present situation?

“The people returning fire from the ground are one thing,” I said, “but aren’t you curious where those helicopters came from?”

They certainly weren’t civilian craft, like the kind news organizations used. These were painted with camo and armed with machine guns and missiles. And it wasn’t just one of them—there were three surrounding the flaming vehicle from the air. Plus, as we watched, their machine guns were going rat-tat-tat-tat. It was like watching a scene from an action movie.

Not a moment later, nearby trees were uprooted and rose into the sky. I assumed a telekinetic psychic had arrived on the scene, but since it was night, I couldn’t see the ground very well. At one point, though, I thought I caught a glimpse of a figure between the trees.

The helicopters frantically ascended higher into the air. One of them moved too late, however, and a tree struck its rotors. Having lost its means of propulsion, the helicopter plummeted to the ground and exploded, catching fire.

“There aren’t many groups that can fly helicopters wherever they please inside Japan’s airspace,” said Ms. Futarishizuka. “If they’re already engaged in combat, and our boss still hasn’t heard anything, it seems pretty obvious.”

“I see.”

The first person I could think of was Captain Mason, who we’d met at Atsugi Base. He’d mentioned he was usually in Yokota.

“Things might be different on a proper battlefield with bomber jets and missiles and the like,” she went on, “but these days, with guerrilla warfare being the main mode of combat, it’s way more efficient to use psychics to fight other psychics. How many do you think they could they have hired for the price of that one crashed helicopter?”

“I’m starting to understand why we keep getting scouted everywhere we go,” I said.

Though I’d witnessed several instances of psychics fighting one another, this was the first time I’d seen them face off against modern weaponry. As I watched them holding their own against military helicopters, I couldn’t help but be impressed.

If the total population of psychics was a little lower, perhaps their existence wouldn’t be so much of a factor. But as things stood, there were a fair number of them, and their population continued to increase at a fixed rate, more or less, each year. If one person decided to use them for their own ends, others would be forced to do the same.

“If Hoshizaki is involved, then her survival is at risk,” said Type Twelve as we all sat watching the video in shock. “This point of contact will proceed to the location to investigate.”

“I agree with her,” the chief added immediately. “Sasaki, Futarishizuka, get on the scene as quickly as possible. You are to confirm Hoshizaki’s safety and work to gather information and cover up the psychic presence there.”

“Are you sending us to die?” demanded Ms. Futarishizuka.

“Aren’t you supposed to be indestructible?”

Normally, I would have balked at the boss’s order, but my colleague and partner was in a life-threatening situation. We had to act. Plus, her survival was linked to the continued existence of humanity.

If they had heard and understood Type Twelve’s intentions, I doubted any group or organization would want to endanger Miss Hoshizaki. But seeing that car in flames had me worried.

“Yes, sir,” I said. “We’ll head there now.”

“I’m happy to finally hear a confident response from you, Sasaki.”

“In exchange, please keep this girl’s existence a secret until we’ve rescued Miss Hoshizaki and brought her back here. If you can’t promise me that, then unfortunately, I may be forced to abandon my position at the bureau.”

“You have my word.”

I wasn’t sure how much his word was worth, but we’d gotten his understanding regarding Type Twelve’s treatment. Once that was settled, I rose from my seat.

A moment later, the alien looked up at me and said, “Sasaki, Futarishizuka, I understand that a portion of humanity possesses unique abilities.”

Apparently, she already had an understanding of psychics. I guess that makes sense—she was fishing around in our database, after all. She must have known of our powers, too, since they would have been listed. My ability to produce water aside, Ms. Futarishizuka’s talents shone in guerrilla situations like these. In fact, I couldn’t think of anyone stronger. I tended to forget, but she was one of a select handful of rank-A psychics.

“The chances of successfully rescuing Hoshizaki will increase if you use those abilities,” Type Twelve continued. “Conversely, should you not use them, the expected probability will lower. I would counsel you both to cooperate with this point of contact while on-site. Should you decline, the loneliness inside me will—”

“We will, don’t worry,” I assured her. “You didn’t even need to ask.”

“You could have just asked us to save her, you know,” said Ms. Futarishizuka.

“……”

Having secured our agreement, the alien fell silent. Apparently, she hadn’t predicted such a response. But that reaction only lasted a moment.

“…Sasaki, Futarishizuka, please, save her,” she said, her tone a little more polite.

She’s so honest, I thought. It seemed she was telling the truth when she insisted that mechanical life-forms didn’t lie. Her face, as always, was emotionless. But her slight hesitation before she gave her response provided a glimpse of the emotion she talked so much about.

“Never fear,” said Ms. Futarishizuka. “This will be duck soup!”

“That’s a weird metaphor,” I said.

“Never heard it? It’s cousins with ‘piece of cake.’”

“Was it trending before the Showa era?”

“What? No. I’m in brand-new Reiwa mode right now.”

“Are you sure you’re not just making things up?”

Whether she was hiding embarrassment or just half crazed with desperation, her response was very chipper. I suspected it was a little of column A, a little of column B. If she’d been anyone else, the chief wouldn’t be asking so much of her, either.

“Sasaki, Futarishizuka, thank you both for your cooperation,” said the alien girl.

And with that, we headed out with Type Twelve to rescue our coworker.

After leaving the chief in the meeting space, we exited the office right away. To reach our destination, we once again boarded Type Twelve’s strange flying craft. Its body remained invisible—all we could see was the shape of the entrance and the empty space within. In minutes, we had arrived in the Chichibu area.

Inside the airborne craft, a display appeared beneath us showing the ground, making the floor appear transparent. Like the earlier feed, it showed the burning, overturned car and the helicopters hovering at a safe distance.

We could see periodic flashes in the darkness, but I wasn’t sure if they were from firearms or psychic powers. Along with the video, the sound of explosions and screams came through from somewhere, putting me on edge. It was possible several different organizations were all locked in a chaotic battle down below.

“It will be very difficult for this terminal and point of contact to descend alone, secure Hoshizaki, and withdraw. It would be possible to manufacture additional points of contact and deploy them, but that would require time. I would prefer to ensure Hoshizaki’s rescue is successful by—”

“Yes, yes, we understand already. You want us down there with you, right?”

“Futarishizuka, your thinking is correct.”

“How do we get down?” I asked. “It looks like we’re pretty high up.”

“We will now land,” said Type Twelve as the flying object, previously hovering with absolute stillness, began to move once again.

Below us, the ground on the display grew closer and closer. We weren’t attacked on the way down; just like when we boarded, nobody seemed to notice us. Since it was nighttime, I wouldn’t be surprised if many of those present had been issued thermal night goggles, but there was no response at all. I assumed that meant the alien tech included countermeasures for such devices.

When the flying craft eventually touched down, the inside became pitch-black. If our last glimpse of the ground was to be believed, we’d landed right in the middle of the chaos, very close to the flaming minivan. I’d verified that no people were out on the pavement, at least.

Just then, the craft’s exit opened back up, and we could clearly hear the tumult from outside.

“Sweet!” exclaimed Ms. Futarishizuka. “Let’s charge!”

“I’ll provide backup,” I told her.

She burst outside as though it were a race. Whatever she might have said, she clearly wanted to ingratiate herself with Type Twelve. I didn’t want to play second fiddle, either, and ran out after her. A quick glance over my shoulder told me Type Twelve was following us. Once everyone was out, the craft’s entrance closed back up.

Our first destination was the burning minivan. We gave the inside a quick check.

“One dead in the driver’s seat,” said Ms. Futarishizuka, “but no sign of our dear colleague.”

“Is there another vehicle nearby?” I asked Type Twelve. “Can you detect anything?”

“I have been using the terminal to check the surrounding area. There are currently no humans or objects moving away from this location. However, I detect several heat sources approaching.”

If this whole disturbance amounted to a fight over Miss Hoshizaki, it was very likely she was still being dragged through the mountains by one party or another. Our first task was to get a read on her general location.

Incidentally, I’d activated my barrier spell on all three of us already. Since there were no streetlights in the vicinity, I felt we were likely safe from bullets unless someone attempted to shoot us at very close range. However, if there were any psychics able to fling around fireballs or the like, that might cause an issue.

Just as the thought crossed my mind, there one was, flying right at us—a roaring, blazing sphere of flames about the size of an exercise ball.

“We’re sitting ducks on the road!” shouted Ms. Futarishizuka. “Get to the side!”

“Understood.”

“I will follow Futarishizuka’s judgment.”

Ms. Futarishizuka began running toward the side of the road. A fireball burst right next to her, gouging a hole in the asphalt with a boom. Since we were protected by my barrier spell, though, we were fine. We used the explosion to cover us as we fled into the mountains.

We ran down the road leading up to the pass, which didn’t even have guardrails, and wound up sliding down a sharp, several-meter-long slope. Somehow, we managed to get back together and come face-to-face again somewhere along the side of the mountain.

If I was to disengage my barrier spell now, we could die instantly. I decided to keep it up permanently and play it off as some super technology provided by Type Twelve.

“If you have eyes on the ground,” Ms. Futarishizuka said, addressing the alien, “can you bring up a heat map of the area as seen from above? I want to know how many rivals we have in the search for our dear colleague.”

“Yes.” Type Twelve nodded, and a display instantly appeared in the air in front of us.

It showed a map of our surroundings, plus numerous visible heat sources, likely either people or animals. The data was being sent from the terminal in real time, it seemed, and you could tell when those hidden nearby so much as shifted their weight.

“Well, that’s quite the crowd,” said Ms. Futarishizuka.

“I had no idea so many people would be hiding here,” I agreed.

“Seems we’re in the midst of a full-fledged battle royale, eh?”

“There have been a lot of games like that in recent years, haven’t there?”

“You’ve been playing those, too? Tell me which ones when we’re done with this.”

“Oh, actually, I’m terrible at those kinds of games, so…”

There were a significant number of heat sources displayed on the map. Some of them were alone, while others moved in groups. There had to be thirty or forty of them, all hiding in the mountains, doing their own thing.

Even if Miss Hoshizaki was among them, it wouldn’t be easy to confirm her location in the pitch-black wilderness. The only light source was the moon’s glow filtering through the dense foliage above. We couldn’t see more than a couple meters in front of us—which was probably why our opponents were having such a hard time escaping.

“If we bring down the helicopters, we should have free rein of the place,” pointed out Ms. Futarishizuka.

“If anyone finds out,” I said, “Captain Mason will give us the scolding of a lifetime.”

“I can use my terminal to capture and disable them,” said Type Twelve.

“I see. Shall we, then?”

“I rather like this side of you,” mused Ms. Futarishizuka.

“Now disabling the aircraft and transporting them outside of our area of activity.”

A few seconds later, we noticed a change in the two helicopters overhead—specifically, their rotors suddenly stopped moving. And yet, mysteriously, they remained hanging in the air. Type Twelve must have been using the same technology to keep them floating as when she’d abducted our swan boat. The UFO was able to re-create Earth’s gravity in its interior, after all, and the terminals had the ability to nullify inertia in the case of sudden stops.

We could easily lay the blame for the helicopters on Type Twelve and her concern for Miss Hoshizaki’s safety. After all, the UFOs were all over the news. I doubted even Captain Mason could say much about that.

“Whoa. Looks like we’ve got a battle starting up nearby,” said Ms. Futarishizuka, pointing to a spot on the midair display’s map.

“All those new heat sources have to be psychic powers,” I agreed.

One of the groups moving through the mountains had encountered another stationary party. A moment later, we heard far-off explosions. As we kept our eyes on the map, it zoomed in, enlarging the area in question.

The heat sources, appearing from nowhere, flew between the two groups. Bullets would be too fast to show up on the map, and the projectile motion we were seeing implied some sort of heat-related psychic powers, like the fireballs we’d encountered on the road.

The clash only lasted a few moments before one group stopped moving. The defenders had turned the tables on their attackers.

“Sasaki, Futarishizuka, I have determined that it is unwise to continue waiting.”

“Then what say we start hunting?” said Ms. Futarishizuka. “Closest ones first.”

“We’ll stand a much better chance that way,” I agreed.

With Type Twelve cracking the whip, the three of us began to move toward a group of heat sources about ten meters away.

We were up against a three-person team. Once we’d gotten close enough, Ms. Futarishizuka launched into a dash. Despite the slope of the mountain, she rushed toward them with the speed of a wild animal.

The counterattack came from a psychic; specifically, one with the power to manipulate nearby plant life. When we arrived a moment later, we saw enlarged, gnarled tree trunks and branches protecting people who had already expired. Our companion must have wasted no time sucking them dry.

“Well, it wasn’t them,” she said.

She had one scrape on her cheek. I didn’t have to use healing magic, either; it vanished quickly on its own thanks to her restorative powers. I found myself wondering if she’d genuinely been forced to sustain the wound or if she was just trying to gain points with Type Twelve.

As I thought about it, I realized I could no longer sincerely trust her. While she wasn’t as bad as Type Twelve, she probably led a pretty lonely life.

“I doubted we’d get lucky on our first try,” I replied.

“I have determined we should hurry on to the next group,” said Type Twelve.

“Roger that,” replied Ms. Futarishizuka.

We continued, attacking three more groups. Miss Hoshizaki wasn’t in any of them. Two had psychic assistance; when Ms. Futarishizuka questioned them, both groups admitted to being foreign agents. We had them swear an oath of silence—they’d seen nothing, heard nothing, and would say nothing.

My biggest concern right now was the nerd—a rank-A psychic. If we ran into him with our current group, we’d be sure to lose. Ms. Futarishizuka, however, insisted that if he had been present, the struggle would have quickly come to an end.

We were just heading off through the mountains toward our next targets when suddenly all the gunshots and explosions went quiet.

Everything around us was now dead silent.

The midair display was also affected—the map disappeared, replaced by a white void. We had to stop; we’d been relying on its information for all our movements.

“Another one of those, is it?” mused Ms. Futarishizuka.

“Highly likely,” I replied.

We exchanged nods. A death game instance had just begun—a true, no-holds-barred battle royale.

“All connections aside from this point of contact have been lost. Switching to stand-alone operation,” said Type Twelve, addressing no one in particular.

She looked right, then left, then froze, seeming to space out for a few moments. Her face was devoid of emotion, as always, but soon enough, her attention came back to us.

“Sasaki, Futarishizuka, what is happening?” she asked. “All external communication has been cut off.”

“Think it’s a coincidence?” I wondered aloud.

“I would assume it’s due to Disciples someone mistook for psychics, kind of like you,” said Ms. Futarishizuka.

“That’s definitely possible.”

Disciples who accomplished feats during the proxy war received various bonuses, or rewards. My neighbor had used this system to gain what was essentially the power of flight. If you didn’t know any better, you might easily mistake such an ability for a psychic power.

I wouldn’t be surprised if others were using the title of psychic as a cover, just like I was. If two or more such Disciples from different factions were included in this operation, an isolated space would form.

“Sasaki, Futarishizuka, if you understand the situation, I request an immediate explanation.”

“Wait, you’re not panicking, are you?” teased Ms. Futarishizuka.

“During stand-alone operation, this point of contact’s actions are significantly limited. I am concerned that my available resources for rescuing Hoshizaki have been greatly diminished. I cannot provide geographical information in this state.”

As she spoke, Type Twelve remained stone-faced. But somehow, I got the feeling she was restless. It seemed as if her knees were shaking almost imperceptibly.

“You’re panicking like a kid whose social media account got suspended,” replied my coworker.

“To her, it must feel like her eyes and ears have suddenly disappeared,” I said.

“Sasaki, Futarishizuka, the loneliness is pressing down on me at this very moment, and my heart is—”

“It’ll be fine. You’ll be fine,” said Ms. Futarishizuka. “Neither you nor your terminals are broken.”

“I request to know your grounds for that assertion.”

“I believe we’ve been temporarily moved to another location, cutting off our connection with the outside world,” I explained. “We’re not that familiar with the process, but we know that these situations are temporary. If we wait it out, everything—including the surrounding environment—will go back to normal.”

“I wish to confirm how long you estimate ‘temporarily’ will last.”

“I don’t know, unfortunately.”

“You said you were in stand-alone something or other, yes?” said Ms. Futarishizuka. “If your point of contact can operate independently, it must have been designed with situations like these in mind. Why, then, are you panicking?”

“Futarishizuka, that is incorrect.”

“What is?”

“Regardless of my design, loneliness is constant.”

“Uh-huh.”

Type Twelve is really letting her emotions go wild, I thought. I hope she can preserve her mental state through this.

“Anyway,” continued Ms. Futarishizuka, “even we can’t afford to be careless inside this space.”

“I hope the partner of the Disciple who created it isn’t too strong. If they’re as powerful as Abaddon, we’ll have to flee.”

“Sasaki, that information serves only to accelerate my loneliness.”

“What’s one wrecked point of contact for you anyway?” asked Ms. Futarishizuka. “If your mothership is still safe, what’s the problem? Weren’t you just talking about a core module or something? That’s not inside the one here with us, right?”

“Futarishizuka, that is incorrect.”

“What is?”

“At this moment, I am lonely.”

“Look, if there’s nothing you can do, could you just be quiet for a little while?”

“……”

Type Twelve stared at Ms. Futarishizuka, face serious, before clamming up.

At that moment, something stirred in the soundless world. We began to hear the rustling of tree leaves in the distance—whoever it was, they were heading toward us, and fast.

“Ms. Futarishizuka,” I said, “keep her safe.”

“Mm. I’ll let you handle it from here.”

After leaving Type Twelve in my colleague’s care, I turned in the direction of the sound. Within the isolated space, the ban on my otherworld magic was lifted. Maintaining my barrier spell, I got my laser beam spell ready to fire.

And then, who should appear but a familiar face.

“It’s the magical middle-aged man. What are you doing here?”

“Don’t tell me,” I said. “You saw the chaos and came to take out some psychics.”

“Yes. I will kill them all.”

From out of the trees appeared the pink magical girl—the one who had settled here in Japan. Levitating with Magical Flight, she’d been using Magical Barrier to part the leaves and branches. The latter of these abilities had likely resulted in her presence here inside the isolated space.

No sooner had Magical Pink shown up than we began hearing noise from another direction. This time, however, it was explosions. Did the angel and demon start fighting?

“Ack!” exclaimed Ms. Futarishizuka. “Now I’m hearing something else!”

“I will kill the psychics.”

“Wait a moment,” I said. “Would you mind if we came with you?”

“Why?”

“We’ve seen things that are more terrifying than psychics in this soundless world. And that noise is probably them fighting. You want to bring down as many psychics as possible, right? Then could you help us so that we all survive?”

“Sasaki,” said Type Twelve, “this is not what you said before. The danger level is rapidly increasing.”

“Look, I’ll protect you,” Ms. Futarishizuka said. “So just pipe down for a moment.”

“Is that true, Futarishizuka?”

“Oh, it’s very true.”

“Understood. I will remain silent for a time.”

“A little kindness goes an awfully long way with you, eh?”

Having joined forces with Magical Pink, we all headed off in the direction of the noise.