Chapter 1
(TL: I hope you enjoy. If there are any grammatical errors, do feel free to point out since my English isn’t good. Thank you. :D)
When I opened my eyes, I saw a dirty ceiling.
The wood grain of the dark ceiling was whirling like a river drawn on a painting. While chasing the flow of the wood grain, I remembered that long ago the grain of the ceiling looked like something of an eyeball.
My body was heavy. When rolling over, the sheet rubbed directly on my bare skin. It seemed that I slept without wearing anything last night. Light is shining through the gap from the green curtain covering the window. The light colored the end of the shaking curtain from dark green to light green and drew a wave pattern on the white sheets.
The engine sound of the air far away and the voice of cicadas outside the window. When listening to that orderly sound, the sleepiness overflowed me as though a tide was filled up.
How long will I start doing something, I wonder.
It seems that the cicadas’ noise and the sunshine are getting stronger but only ever so slightly.
The inside of the room is still cool, but the outside air warmed by the summer sunshine and the radiant heat of the asphalt is beginning to enter the air inside through the shaking curtain.
I have to get up. I pressed my forehead against the floor. The coldness of the tatami is transmitted through the sheets. I have to get up.
……I have to get up.
My body is beginning to sweat. But I kept pushing my forehead against the cold floor. It feels as though there’s mercury contained in my head… Mercury, a harmful heavy metal, causes a poisoning in the brain.
Is that it… an addiction?
I have to get up.
I have to get up…….
Pull your elbow and wake up.
My hair slides down the skin like running water.
The mercury in my head flows backward. I tried making my body strong as I pinned my nails on the floor.
My underwear was torn down in the corner of the room. Sheets wrapped around my body as I opened the screen door and got to the veranda before tossing them into the washing machine together with the acc.u.mulated laundry.
From the veranda, you could see a dirt road crossing the front of the apartment and a blue sky along with the sun. Escaping from the summer sunshine, I quickly return to my room.
I decided to head to the desk until the washing was done. There were a few things in this room. Apart from the fluorescent lights, calendars, hangers hanging on wall brackets, a broken radio and a small chest of drawers, there were also two desks.
One is a so-called Shabu-shabu type(TL: Google is your best pal) that me and him used for meals. The other is a small desk exclusively for me. It is about half the size of a tatami mat and the legs were trimmed to the height such that a chair was not needed.
I sat down in front of the desk and pulled out a notebook and a writing utensil from the drawer. Properly opening its pages, they were packed tightly with small letters. I turned to a new page and filled in today’s date.
There is no t.i.tle for this note. Just writing the cover page shows the purpose and number of this note. “Observation diary No. 13 “. The object of observation is me and him… and the relationship between us.
My name is Ayaka Hanamura. A 25-year-old woman and a graduate in my profession. My specialty lies in the a.n.a.lysis of the evolutionary style of an artificial life form….
Although it will be described later in detail, it is only necessary to think that it is to numerically simulate and explore the evolution of living things. I have left university and am doing some experiments now.
This room is an experimental flask itself. I lie down in this flask and observe on my own what kind of change would happen to me. By the way, I have never been outside the room for these two weeks.
The proposition of this experiment is summarized as follows: “What is the meaning of life?”. That’s it. I received that question with an impression like a literary work that’s too abstract and second-rate.
Correction. “For what purpose does human live and seek?” I feel that this is also different. To be honest, I do not fully understand what I am asking for the results of this experiment.
The course of the experiment defines its aim and directions… It seems there is no choice but to expect this. Like many of the experiments that brought about great discovery, they gave rise to the great development of the later human society.
Although I do not know if my experiment would be enough to convey to later generations.
Suddenly, at that moment, I came up with a good summary example of a proposition for this experiment. I feel close to its core rather than the two philosophical questions above so I will mention it here.
“Why should I relate to other people?”