Shin Sekai yori

We rode in windowless boats like the ones used when we were taken to the Temple of Purity. It seemed that there was no intention to keep our destination a secret. There was no repet.i.tion of meaningless course changes or other deceptive movements. Traveling along the waterways normally, we were able to roughly estimate what vicinity we were in.

When going ash.o.r.e too, a normal boat dock was used. Upon noticing that we had not even been taken outside of the Holy Barrier, I felt a little disappointed.

Glancing to the sides, I saw the town hall where father works and the library where mother works as we crossed the town"s main street entering a narrow alleyway.

The Ethics Committee was located at a place slightly separated from the heart of Chinowa(Grain Ring) village. Looking from outside, it seemed to be no more than a normal townhouse but, upon pa.s.sing through the front gate to the interior, the wood paneled corridor leading inward stretched along like an eel"s den, revealing the fact that this was a building of considerable size.

What we finally arrived at was a quiet room with the feel of an inner parlor. It was filled with an aroma like burning sandalwood. An alcove was adorned by a hanging scroll of "Kanbotan"[1]

The light from the window of a paper sliding door illuminated a large lacquered table, at the foot of which were lined up three Bellflower colored cushions.[2] We sat respectfully at seiza.[1]

"Please wait here for a moment."

The woman who had been leading(unofficially taking)[3] us said before closing the sliding door.

"So. What is going on here?"

With just the three of us in the room, Maria and I questioned Satoru from both sides.

"How could we not once before have heard that Satoru"s grandmother was the chairman of the Ethics Committee?"

"There"s no way that it"s because you were reporting on us in detail, is there?"

"Please, wait just a minute."

Satoru had become overwhelmed.

"I didn"t know about this either."

"Didn"t know about what?"

"About my grandmother...... that is, that Asahina Tomiko-san is the chairman of the Ethics Committee."

"That can"t be true"

"Is that possible? You didn"t know? Even though you"re her grandson?"

"Please, listen to what I"m saying"

Being interrogated from both left and right, Satoru retreated as though frightened and slipped off the cushion.

"The point is, even you two didn"t have any idea who the Ethics Committees chairman was right?"

"That may be true but,"

"Unlike other government posts, the members of the Ethics Committee are not public knowledge. And none of the committees members would ever say that they were."

"Even so, somehow, isn"t that the kind of thing you would know?"

Maria said, eying Satoru suspiciously.

"Somehow, I had absolutely no idea."

Satoru said defiantly, sitting back up.

"But, she really is your grandmother, isn"t she Satoru?"

Maria said insistently.

"No, that is, I don"t really......"

"Excuse me"

Hearing a voice from the other side of the sliding screen, Satoru hastily returned to sitting atop the cushion. Maria and I also turned to the front and resumed a dignified posture.

"I"m sorry to have made you wait."

Opening the sliding screen, the woman from earlier entered the room. In her hands was a tray with a tea set. She placed cups of hot green tea and dried teacakes in front of the three of us.

"We would like to hear from you one at a time so, would each of you come with me in turn?"

I wondered what they would do if we said no but, of course, we didn"t have that kind of choice.

"Well then, first will be Watanabe Saki-san."

Although I was thirsty and very much wanted to drink some tea, I had no other choice but to stand up. Following behind the woman, we made our way down a long corridor.

"The person who was going to talk to all of you is Niimi-san, the man who was with me earlier. Although such things are his job. Oh. I still haven"t introduced myself have I? I am called Kimoto. Nice to meet you."

"h.e.l.lo"

I greeted her with a quick bow of my head.

"......In any case, when I reported to the chairman, she indicated that she wanted to speak with you in particular herself. So we"re going to the chairman"s office now."

"Eh. Satoru"s...... Asahina Tomiko-san you mean?"

"Yes. She"s a very kind and good natured person so, there"s no need to be nervous."

She could say that but, it was a hopeless request. Although I would hesitate to say my heart was in a calm state before that moment, it began thumping harder and harder.

"Excuse me."

Kimoto-san knelt down in the corridor and placed her hands on the wooden door. I too hastily got down and waited behind her.

"Please come in."

The voice that responded was that of a nonchalant sounding woman.

She opened the wooden door and we entered the room. It was larger all around than the tatami room we had waited in earlier and had the feel of a study. On the left was an elegant alcove within which was a study. Opposite it, a set of staggered shelves were mounted to the wall.

"Leave her there, please."

A grey haired woman sitting facing the writing desk commanded as she raised her head.

"Certainly"

In the center of the room was a low table the same size as that in the previous room. I went and took a seat on a cushion to this side of it.

"Well then, please excuse me."

Kimoto-san quickly withdrew from the room. After being left behind alone, I felt like a person who had been abandoned in a cage with a wild animal. I felt a chill through my limbs and my throat went dry.

"You"re Watanabe Saki? Mizuho-chan"s daughter."

The grey haired woman asked me as she raised her head.

Aside from marionette lines extending from the side of her nose to her mouth, she had no noticeable wrinkles, giving her a surprisingly youthful appearance.

"Yes"

"There"s no need behave so humbly. I"m Asahina Tomiko. I hear you"ve always been good friends with our Satoru."

Quietly standing up, Tomiko-san came to my left-hand side and sat down in an elegant manner with the alcove behind her. Wearing a shark patterned outfit of silver-grey color that matched her hair, she was prettily dressed enough to draw admiration.

"Satoru with...... I"ve been friends with Satoru since we were children."

"Really"

Tomiko-san smiled. I guessed her to be in her mid-sixties. With large eyes and well-ordered looks, she must have been honored as quite the beauty when she was younger.

"Just as I imagined. Your eyes have a very good look to them. A strong light."

I had often been praised for my eyes. Probably because there wasn"t much else about me worth praising. That my eyes had a light to them too, I had often heard but, if ones eyes were completely devoid of light, wouldn"t person would without a doubt be dead.

"Thank you."

"I"ve wanted an opportunity to speak with you for a long time, you know?"

I was bewildered. It didn"t seem that she was merely being polite.

"Why is that?"

"That would be because I would like for you to be my successor."

I closed my gaping mouth. I had no idea how best to reply to something so sudden.

"Are you surprised? However, I am not by any means saying this on a sudden whim or as a joke."

"That kind of...... There"s no way someone like me could be suitable for it."

"Hohohoho. That"s the same thing that Mizuho-chan said. It seems you can"t argue with blood."

"Do you know my mother very well?"

I leaned forward while asking her. At first, I was quite reasonably extremely nervous but, the person called Asahina Tomiko had a peculiar atmosphere about her that seemed to clear away ones emotional barriers.

"Yes. Quite well. I knew Mizuho-chan from the day she was born."

While watching my eyes intently, Tomiko-san spoke in a voice that seemed to reach the very bottom of my heart.

"Mizuho-chan, more than most others has a wonderful disposition. Even now, she continues to do an impeccable job as head librarian. But, there is something special one must have to fulfill the responsibilities of my position. On that point, there isn"t any other person more suitable than you."

"Someone like me...... How could that be? There"s no way that my results as a Zenjin Academy student could be that spectacular."

"Results? Are you talking about Jyuryoku? It"s not as though you particularly want to become someone like Shisei, is it?"

"That is...... Even if I wanted to, I wouldn"t be able."

"Jyuryoku skill isn"t the only thing we test you on at school you know. One of the others is a thing we call the Personality Index. Although this is something that the pupils themselves are by no means allowed to know about."

"Personality Index?"

Tomiko-san smiled beautifully, revealing teeth that were very white for her age.

"With each generation in turn, what is sought in good potential leaders is not some special ability, but a high Personality Index."

All at once, I felt as though everything before my eyes had become brighter. Because I had before this been under the weight of a many-faced inferiority complex.[4]

"Would that be, for example, something like intelligence, or sensitivity, or leadership ability?"

I asked animatedly. Tomiko-san shook her head in an elegant manner.

"Not at all. It has absolutely no connection with intelligence. And certainly is not related to sensitivity. Moreover, the social skills that make for good leadership, are a thing best developed through practice, after experiencing various kinds of situations oneself."

"Then......?"

"What we call the Personality Index is a numerical value that indicates to what extent a person"s personality is or is not stable. Whatever unexpected events may occur, whatever mental or emotional crisis one may face, whether or not one can consistently function without loosing sight of oneself or suffering a mental breakdown. The extent to which one is capable of this is the number one most important quality in a leader."

Somehow, I was not very happy. I remembered how Maria had said that I was a strong person before we came here. Weren"t they just saying that I was thickheaded?

"That Score, is mine very high?

"Yes. Magnificently so. It may well be the highest ever seen since the founding of Zenjin Academy.

Suddenly, Tomiko-san"s eyes shined pointedly.

"But, it isn"t just about that. The amazing thing about you is the fact that even after learning about everything, the height of your Index retained almost no long term Damage."

I was so startled that it felt as though all the blood were draining from my face.

"By everything, what are you referring to......?"

"When you learned about mankind"s blood-stained history from the False Minoshiro, and came to know how thin the ice upon which our society treads is, along with what was done to obtain our present peace and stability. After you returned, thorough psychological testing was conducted on all of you and your progress observed. After that shock, your Personality Index recovered in a splendidly short amount of time. The other four remained in a faltering state over a considerably longer period."

With that it was confirmed, they knew everything that had happened, and had observed us like guinea pigs? I had to some extent expected this, nonetheless I felt as though I had received a blow to the top of my head.

"That...... possibly, could it be that everything was pre-arranged from the beginning?"

"Of course not"

In an instant, Tomiko-san returned to original gentile expression.

"Whatever else may be, we would never make that kind of dangerous gamble. We understood from the beginning that you were planning on committing some kind of breach of the rules. But, by no means did we think you would be able to catch a False Minoshiro....... A Library Computer Terminal of the Ancient Era. No one antic.i.p.ated that.

Was it the truth? I still did not feel that I could trust her words completely.

"But, to decide such a thing by Test results alone......"

"Not at all. In order to shoulder the highest responsibility for the fates of all the town"s people, one must be broad-mindedly magnanimous and possess the nerve to accept the truth without faltering. You posses these qualities."

Broad-minded is a convenient term to use. But, if a thing is pretty, anyone would be magnanimous. The point is, that does not mean a person will be able to calmly handle things that are distasteful.

"We violated the rules and learned things that must not be known as a result. Yet despite this, Why weren"t we disposed of?"

Just now, my manner of speaking had slipped as I flared up emotionally, but Tomiko-san did not appear to have taken offense.

"I understand what you are trying to say. I have no intention of explaining in detail but, the ones who make decisions about your disposal are not us, but the Board of Education."

Tomiko-san said as though admonishing me.

"Their Chairman, Hiromi-chan, is someone you know, is she not? That child has been very p.r.o.ne to worrying since she was quite young. Although I can"t say I haven"t had the feeling that she might be going a little too far these days."

Hiromi-chan...... I had heard that Torigai Hiromi-san was on the Board of Education but, I had not known that she was its chairman. As friend of my mother"s, I had countless memories of her coming to our home an eating dinner together with us. She was a short, thin, introverted seeming woman, with a voice so quiet her words could be hard to follow.

That person wielded the authority of life-and-death power over all of us students, handing down often ruthless decisions? It was very difficult for me to believe.

"The Ethics Committee is the towns highest decision making body, however, decisions reached amongst the Board of Education are essentially beyond our influence. But, with regard to all of you, there is an exception. I made a request of them, asking that they not seek your disposal."

"Is that because Satoru is with us?"

"No. I would never allow my personal feelings to interfere in this kind of important decision. The reason for all of that is you. It"s because you are person who is necessary for the future of this town."

Still, we had been at a place just barely short of being eliminated. That thought alone was enough to turn my mood bad.

But in truth, why exactly should we have been exempted from disposal? It"s hard to believe so suddenly but, is it really because I really am a valuable talented person as Tomiko-san says? Having never received such flattery before now, it was incomprehensible to me. It was attractive to suspect that, by some chance, my disposal could not be ordered simply because I was the daughter of the Head Librarian. ......But if that were the case, than the situation would have been the same in my sisters case as well.

"However, please, don"t think badly of Hiromi-chan and the others. It"s just that they are driven by a kind of Paranoia."

"Paranoia......?"

To say that there exist abnormalities in the minds of people with the authority to decide the life and death of others?

"Yes, although my choice of words may have been a little poor. Indeed, I too am a person who feels that same terror."

"Then, what is it that they are so terrified of?"

Tomiko-san looked at me with a surprised expression on her face.

"Well, isn"t it obvious? There are but two truly dreadful existences we need fear in this world, are there not? Fiends, and Karmic Demons."

I was left speechless. Remembering the pair of fairytales I had been told repeatedly from childhood.

"But Hiromi-chan and the rest have never seen a real Fiend or Karmic Demon themselves. That"s where they differ from me. That is the reason why I always call what they feel mere paranoia."

"Then, in reality......?"

"Yes. I saw them with these very eyes. From quite close up at that. Would you like to hear the story?"

"Yes."

Tomiko-san closed her eyes for a short while, then began speaking in a peaceful voice.

Up until now, there have been nearly thirty doc.u.mented cases of Fiends throughout the world. Among those, all but two were boys. However much they may struggle they cannot escape the curse of aggression. I think this well denotes the burden of those of the male gender.

That pupil too, as you would expect, was a boy. Sad though it may be, I cannot remember his real name. Although this story is from long ago, I still clearly remember the details of the events themselves. Why it is that his name alone is beyond my recollection is a mystery to me. Perhaps it is because, on some level, I may want to forget.

The Library contains but one file in which the details of this incident are written, and even in that, nothing but the Initials Y.K. remain. It isn"t even known which initial represents his given name and which his family name. I am not certain how this came to be back then but, in another report, before the pa.s.sage of the measure enforcing the Ethics Regulations, it was indicated that it may be the result of something called "Juvenile Law Article 61" of the laws of Ancient j.a.pan which had been provisionally restored just before that time.[5] Talking about this may seem silly but, well, I suppose this kind of thing doesn"t really matter.

For the time being, lets just call that child K.

At that time, K was a first year student at Shidou Academy. Shidou Academy was the predecessor the present Zenjin Academy. As for his age, I think he had just turned 13. ......That"s right. That child was still one year younger even than you are now.

At first, K seemed to be an inconspicuous, perfectly ordinary pupil. Abnormalities were first discovered when Rorschach Tests were conducted on the first year students. Although we no longer use it, this is a Psychological Test in which an ink plot is pressed between two sheets of paper and personality characteristics investigated based on what a.s.sociations one makes from the images.

From his responses to other tests, we were able to determine that K had been under an extremely great amount of stress compared to normal. But, we could not clearly determine what was causing it. On the other hand, many of his a.s.sociates in the Ink Blot test were strangely violent. Presumably, he was being faced with the desire for destruction and slaughter coiled within his subconscious. But, not knowing what it meant, his abnormality was not considered particularly important at the time. His test results too, were only given attention during the investigation following the incident.

During the practice in the use of Jyuryoku at Shidou Academy, particularly in regard to control, K"s abnormality was gradually becoming clear.

His results in Jyuryoku ability were always just barely average or somewhat below. But, there were situations in which, under circ.u.mstances that left normal students bewildered, K continued energetically. Although we have no information on specific episodes, there were even cases during various games in which it seemed he had caused harm to others, and though Jyuryoku had been used, he still showed no hesitation at all.

Soon after noticing his abnormality, the teacher in charge repeatedly reported to the Board of Education of the time that some kind of precautionary measures should be adopted. But at the time, not a single effective policy had yet been enacted. Several reasons and considerations for this have been found.

First is the fact that at that time, more than 80 years had pa.s.sed since the last appearance of a Fiend. Memories little by little weathering, sense of impending crisis had been lost. Second is the fact that K"s mother was an extremely vociferous member of the Town Council. At that time, everything was determined by the Town Council, making it very difficult for the School to take drastic measures. Third, use of the principle of Peace-at-any-cost was prevalent in the Bureaucracy that controlled the school. Although, historically speaking, it"s exceedingly doubtful if there was ever a time when this wasn"t the case.

And fourth, at that point in time, no effective plan of action had been established for such situations.

In the end, aside from regular counseling sessions, nothing was done to deal with K. They merely continued watching over him genially.

And so, one day, just seven months after his enrollment, the incident finally occurred.

Looking up at the ceiling, Tomiko-san sighed deeply. After that, she stood up to take a small teapot and two cups from the small cupboard to the side of the writing desk. Pouring hot water from the pot she had placed atop the low table, she prepared some green tea.

My mouth watering at the aroma of the good tea, I waited for her to continue speaking.

To tell the truth, the remaining records about the incident are extremely limited. In regard to the early portion in particular, almost nothing is known. How did it all begin? What was the sequence of events by which the damage spread? Although all of this is limited to the realm of speculation, we are certain of the fact that it happened. As a result, the sad truth is that more than a thousand precious lives were lost.

The fact that the first victim was the teacher in charge of his cla.s.s is almost certainly correct. Although due to the excessive violence with which the remains that were found had been mutilated, it seems there was difficulty in confirming whether or not it really was that person. From there was the other 22 students in the same grade, followed by the second and third years. A total of approximately 50 students were found, in a state that was heartbreaking to behold......

That K was a genuine Fiend too, is without doubt. He was a complete regression to our ancestral state, a monster without any Attack Inhibition when confronting other humans. Moreover, it seems that the Death Feedback mechanism was defective in him from birth, rendering it completely non-functional. The probability of a child being born with both of these dreadful abnormalities is said to be just one in three million. By simple calculation, there should have been almost no possibility of such a person appearing in Kamisu 66. But a probability, from the beginning, is nothing more than a probability.

His family at least, should have known quite well about K"s abnormality. K"s mother in particular, seems to have been aware of it since he was still a baby. Because of this, he was made to undergo psychotherapy and various other corrective measures from a very young age. A thing close to brainwashing also seems to have been among these. And, the effect that all this had, is that throughout his childhood, K"s violent nature was suppressed.

But, it remains doubtful whether that was truly a good thing or not. There was much speculation that the immense stress revealed in K"s Rorschach Test might somehow be the result of having had his violent nature suppressed against his will.

And, on that fateful day, as a result of some unknown impetus, his deceptive suppression snapped apart.

Rather than to say that his human disguise suddenly broke, it may be closer to the truth to say that the Fiend emerged from within him.

As with all of the other examples of Fiends, one way or another, it always seems to begin with just one person. In truth, there have also been cases where it didn"t go this way. A human being lacking Attack Inhibition and Death Feedback can still avoid murder by means of reason and good sense.

But, once that first murder has been accomplished, once that mental switch has been flipped, they will continue to slaughter without limit. Nothing short of the Fiend"s own death can bring it to a conclusion. This too is without exception.

K first used his Jyuryoku against the teacher in charge, pulling her arms and legs in all directions and twisting them off before crushing her head like an overripe piece of fruit. After that, it seems he lifted up the terrified students one by one and slammed them against the wall of the cla.s.sroom. Such force was used that the bodies were completely flattened, some sticking to the wall.

The scene was like a perfect portrait of h.e.l.l. Later, nine of the people conducting the investigation and autopsies were diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) of such a degree that they eventually retired from work and lost all motivation......

K, whose transformation into a Fiend was now complete, left the cla.s.sroom and wandered about the school in search of additional prey. He continued to slaughter the children, who were now running and screaming in confusion, as though it were some kind of game. By positioning the corpses of those he had killed, he used terror to manipulate the stream of children, causing such a panic that many jumped to their deaths or were trampled. Herding them like livestock, he gathered them all into one place where he ma.s.sacred them all simultaneously.

In that time, not one person was able to confront the fiend and inflict an effective counterattack. In terms of Jyuryoku, there were many students far better than K, however, since all of them possessed strong Attack Inhibition and Death Feedback, their arms were tied so to speak..... In short, an attack on the Fiend"s person was impossible.

However, looking at it from K"s side, it may be that lacking Attack Inhibition himself, he succ.u.mbed to the fear that he might receive a counterattack from another at any time, continuing to preemptively attack the people around him until all of them had been killed.

By a different theory, as a result of the endorphins secreted by his own brain, K may have become intoxicated by the bloodshed, and wound up unable to stop the endless chain of murders. It is for this reason that Fiends, the proper name for which is Rahman-Kurogius Syndrome, have also been called "Fox in the Hen House" Syndrome.

Incidentally, the Rahman and Kurogius[6] I mentioned are not the names of researchers. Rahman and Kurogius are the names of boys who committed the ma.s.s killing of tens of thousands of people in India"s Mumbai and Finland"s Helinski respectively. The names of the two most terrible Fiends in history were crowned as the name of the World"s most abominable disease.

Compared to the world record holders Rahman and Kurogius, the number of victims claimed by K was quite small. However, I don"t think he was at all different from them on the point of brutality. Compared to the metropolises of the closing years of the Ancient Civilizations, Kamisu 66"s population density is extremely low, a fact that proved unexpectedly fortunate...... a.s.suming the word fortunate can ever be used in reference to the deaths of 1000 people.

And one more thing; K was stopped by a single person who risked, or rather gave, his own life in order to do so. We are all in his debt for that supreme sacrifice.

Taking a deep breath, Tomiko-san slowly sipped the now cooled tea. Only now being overwhelmed by the story I had heard, I straightened my posture and realized I had forgotten even to breathe.

Hearing more of this dreadfully sad and disturbing story would be agony. Nonetheless, my desire to know its conclusion was equally strong.

Abruptly, I was. .h.i.t by the question of why she should tell me such a story. What she had said about wanting me to be her successor might actually be true. If so, this might be a Test for that purpose.

Having visited death upon everything that lived, K left the school that was now engulfed in silence. And, in a very natural looking way, began walking down the street. Among the people who laid eyes on K at this time, just one was miraculously left alive. However, it seems he truly didn"t notice anything abnormal at all. Just a short boy, walking down the street normally. It looked like no more than such an ordinary everyday scene. But, it seems that what occurred immediately after that, was something that he had never imagined could happen in this world.

As K was going down the street, some people casually came along from the opposite direction. When the group of agricultural engineers returning from work at Myouhou Farms came to a distance of 40 or 50 meters from K, the upper body of the man in the lead suddenly exploded into tiny pieces, raising a great spray of blood.

The warm moist mist rendered the surroundings dim, and the group of people, not knowing what had happened, stopped where they were. Within this, K alone continued to walk towards them without even changing his pace, and one by one, reduced the remaining people to hideous lumps of meat.

Before long, K"s figure vanished from sight around a bend in the street. At that time still thinking it to have been an accident were two witnesses who had been hiding under cover. One of them however, rushed out in order to seek help.

The other person seemed unable to move.

As he did, K, who should have already walked away, suddenly appeared. Most likely, sensing the presence of someone hiding, he must have acted in such a way as to lure them out. And having succeeded, plucked the head from the neck of the witness who had jumped out as though picking a piece of fruit.

K once again turned and walked around the street corner, leaving alone the one witness, who as a result of the emotional shock, seems to have become completely unable to move. Well into the next day, he was finally discovered and rescued. However, for a long time after telling the details of what he had witnessed, it seems he was left in a near invalid state.

Countless times I have gone over the this event in my mind, considering every detail. So that now, I might be able to clearly describe it. K, while also a literal Fiend, was also a Demon.

Though I have said it before, K"s Jyuryoku itself, was of a level no more than slightly below average. If you were to look at his old report cards, you would find the evaluation "Lacking in Imagination and Creativity, Childish." However, making use of that Jyuryoku, I think that the skill he showed in accomplishing that unprecedentedly large number of murders was surely a stroke of genius.

I wonder if it isn"t imprudent to speak of this in such a way? But, the evil designs K executed, were so ingenious as to put true Demons to shame, demonstrating quite clearly that from the beginning, K had planned on annihilating the entire city.

K first blocked all the waterways by destroying specific buildings, then, by starting large fires, limited the possible escape routes to just a single direction. And, setting loose his evil desires while showing incredible patience, began a b.l.o.o.d.y slaughter in a way that makes me sick just to think about it.

The excessively terrified people, recklessly beginning to flee, could well already have been said to be dancing in the palm of K"s hand.

At this time, if everyone climbing over the rubble and running through the gaps between burning homes had scattered in all directions like a swarm of baby spiders, a considerable number of people would surely have been saved. But, not one person made it out in that way. Driven by panic, in an act of mob psychology, all of them ran in the same direction. Pa.s.sing down the sole open major street.

At its end was a dense forest of many large trees. Taking refuge within the forest, everyone seems to have been under the illusion that they were safe. But, in the situation of being hunted by a Jyuryoku possessing Fiend, that was a fatal mistake.

After confirming that enough people had taken refuge in the forest, K set fire to it. At a distance great enough that it was doubtful anyone had gone farther, he surrounded the area in a wall of flames, trapping everyone within. After that, he shrank the ring, tightening it little by little. In what I think was the act of a true Demon, K did not burn everyone to death in that way, but created an opening at one place facing him.

Driven by the need to escape the fire and smoke, the people fled back towards the opening, not even realizing that what they were doing was none other than jumping into the very jaws of death.

"Well? Do you still want to hear more?"

After hesitating for a short while, I nodded.

"Just listening to this is making you uncomfortable isn"t it? I can tell by looking at you. Why is it you say yes despite that?"

"......I would like to know, how exactly it is that K was finally stopped."

"Alright"

Tomiko-san Smiled.

Having finished killing the people who took refuge in the forest to the last, K once more returned to the city center. And, wandering round and round about the city center for the entire day, thoroughly sought out and eliminated survivors. At the time, the season was just changing from fall into winter. Drunk on slaughter, K seemed to have forgotten to wear sufficiently thick clothing. In the dead of the night, he realized that he had caught a very bad cold.

K turned and headed towards the city"s hospital, which had already been partly destroyed. By no means would anyone have expected to find a doctor present. He had probably planned on just searching for medicine. But, two medical personnel still remained within it. Desperately trying to help those people on the verge of death who somehow continued to draw breath. This doctor named Tsuchida saved the city. And from right at his side, I watched every detail of it.

Are you surprised? I worked as a nurse in those days. At that time, aside from those patients who were unconscious or too ill to be moved, only Doctor Tsuchida and I remained in the hospital. The one who came to us there next, was K.

I could tell that he was a Fiend with just a glance. His Eyes were in some way different from those of an ordinary person. Though the irises were elevated, they were not rolled back so to speak. In a condition similar to Sursumvergence, it was as if most of the white of the eye had been torn to such an extent that I wondered if he could even see clearly. Furthermore, I feel I should mention that I never once saw him blink.

His hair contained oil-like globs in it and his face had taken on a spotted pattern. Upon realizing that both were human blood, my legs began shaking uncontrollably.

Pa.s.sing by right in front of me, K silently entered the examination room. Attempting neither explanation, bribery, nor coercion, K simply said that he had caught a cold and wanted treatment for it. Although I could not see Doctor Tsuchida"s face, I could hear his voice asking K to take a seat.

Though I had not been called, I entered the examination room thinking that the Doctor would be unable to handle it alone. Doctor Tsuchida glanced at my face, but did not say anything. Then, asking K to open his mouth, examined his throat. K"s throat was a shockingly deep red. He must have had a considerable fever. And although it was warm, he could not stop shivering as though he had the chills.

I have no idea whether what K had truly was a cold or not. But, in the process of killing innumerable people, K must have inhaled some of the large clouds of blood mist and may have caught something or had an allergic reaction to some material within it. If that was the case, then it was as if K"s victims had indirectly accomplished a bit of revenge.

Doctor Tsuchida spread an Iodine-Glycerol solution in K"s throat. Then, he turned and ordered me to go get some antibiotics from the interior medical supply room. I hated the thought of wasting valuable medicine for the sake of a Fiend, but went to get the Penicillin as I had been told. Our regularly stocked amount had been almost entirely exhausted in treating injured people, so I spent quite a while searching for the expired batch we had planned to dispose of.

As a result, I did not see for myself what happened next. But, from the evidence that was left behind, the truth was obvious.

Doctor Tsuchida took the first aid kit from the storage shelf and pulled out the Pota.s.sium Chloride pills, then dissolved several times the lethal dosage in distilled water. And, telling K it was just cold medicine, administered it by intravenous injection.

Suddenly hearing screaming from down the hall, I dropped the box of antibiotics I had finally found and immediately rushed back to the examination room.

In the next moment I heard the sound of a violent explosion, and through the door, could see that the examination room had been dyed deep crimson. K had blown Doctor Tsuchida"s head off.

After that, a dreadful voice began ceaselessly screaming. Although experiencing the agony of his death throes, K would not easily die. Hearing that disgusting voice, I could only think that the Fiend must be cursing the loss of the human body it depended on. Before long, it became steadily more feeble, changing into the sobbing of a child. And at last, faded to the point that I could no longer hear it......

Having completed the story, Tomiko-san stared fixedly into the teacup held firmly in her hands.

It felt as if there were a mountain of questions I wanted to ask but, I was unable to summon even a single word.

"......For the town to recover from the atrocious ravages left behind by the Fiend, patient efforts and a long period of time for the sadness and grief to fade were necessary. The first thing that we did was to completely extinguish K"s lineage from amongst the surviving people.

"Extinguish his lineage......?"

I repeated like a parrot.

"K"s lack of Attack Inhibition and ineffective Death Feedback mechanism were the result of two critical genetic defects. The likelihood that the people closely related to K also possessed one or both of these defects was very high. Therefore, tracing K"s lineage back five generations and eliminating every branch was an absolute necessity. Please don"t misunderstand, this was not simple revenge. It was the embodiment of our firm determination to be certain that a Fiend never be allowed to appear once again.

"But, those people, how were you able to......?"

The slight shaking of my hands resting atop my knees was reflected in her eyes.

"Hmmm. Well, having already said this much, I suppose there"s no point in hiding the rest any more. At that time, we used the Bakenezumi. A force of around forty was formed by selecting the strongest warriors from the colonies most loyal to humans. And, giving them equipment for a.s.sa.s.sination, commenced an a.s.sault on all of the humans of corrupted lineage in a single night. Of course, if noticed by their opponents, the Bakenezumi could be dispatched without difficulty so, the strategy was one of secrecy and stealth above all else. Nevertheless, half of the Bakenezumi were lost. However, since the remaining individuals had to be disposed of either way, it might as well be called a perfect success."

Tomiko-san disinterestedly explained as though she was speaking of nothing more than the town"s garbage collection schedule.

"However, that alone was not sufficient. Just eradicating K"s bloodline was no guarantee that a Fiend could not appear again. Because of that, we conducted an extensive review of the schools and educational system. Abolishing Shidou Academy, the new Zenjin Academy at which all of the students could efficiently be monitored was established. Drastically expanding the Board of Education"s authority, it was reorganized so as to be exempt from pressure by any source other than the Ethics Committee. Furthermore, a part of the Code of Ethics was revised, delaying the official start of fundamental human rights."

"What do you mean?"

Adding new hot water to the small tea pot, Tomiko-san poured two cups of green tea.

"Under the former Code of Ethics, human rights began 22 weeks after conception. This was relevant in determining the period in which an abortion was allowable, however, under the new Code of Ethics, This was changed to 17 years after birth. It thereby became possible for a child to be disposed of under the authority of the Board of Education any time before their 17th birthday.

The shock of learning that as a minor, I was legally not yet recognized as human, no different from an embryo, is something I cannot possibly give a full account of here. At neither Harmony Elementary nor Zenjin Academy had I ever been taught about this kind of thing. Had I ever considered questions such as "what age human rights begin from" or "whether one already has human rights yet" to begin with?

"And, the method of disposal too has been made much more refined. However loyal to humans the Bakenezumi may be said to be, permitting living things with that degree of intelligence to murder can only become a source of evil in the future. Therefore, starting with ordinary house cats, Jyuryoku and selective breeding were used to produce the ImpureCats.

ImpureCat...... That word triggered strong feelings from within the sealed portion of my mind. Terror. And, Sadness.

"After that, we thoroughly endeavored to remove all dangerous elements in advance so that a Fiend might never again appear. However, one other dreadful event occurred. That time is still fresh in my memory, being an incident that happened a mere twenty years ago."

Sipping her tea, Tomiko-san once more began a story.

The danger posed by Jyuryoku Leakage seems to have been identified back in the closing years of the ancient civilization. But, the thing we call Bad Spill, was overlooked for a long time and severely underestimated. At most causing frequent breakdowns in precision equipment, these distortions affecting the surrounding environment were not believed to pose any harm to living things. And in truth, that has proven true for the vast majority of cases.

However, in the case of one girl named Izumi Kutegawa, this did not apply. Her Jyuryoku contaminated everything in her surroundings as though it were some form of radioactivity. At that time, Izumi was the only child of a family of farmers who lived on the outskirts of Kogane Village. There at, beginning after the arrival of Izumi"sBlessing Spirit when she entered p.u.b.erty, deformities began appearing in the livestock at an abnormally high rate. Many of the crops became blighted as well and, at first, it was suspected this might be the result of a disease caused by some new kind of virus.

At Zenjin Academy too, everything in Izumi"s surroundings to a distance of about ten meters underwent bizarre transformations. After a short time, desks and chairs ended up unusably deformed, and in the later stages, the surrounding walls and floors began bubbling and forming eyeball-like patterns, while protuberances like the mold called the "Devil"s Whiskers" grew on one side creating a nightmare like scene.

The Ethics Committee and the Board of Education a.s.sembled specialists to begin an investigation. The result of that investigation, confirmation of the fact that the Bad Spill of Izumi"s Jyuryoku could even damage human DNA, caused an uproar. She was immediately suspended from Zenjin Academy and made to study the curriculum herself at home but, during that time, the size of the area affected by her Bad Spill ended up becoming outrageously large. At one point, the gears within a clock tower six kilometers away from her suddenly twisted themselves into spirals, rendering the hands of the clock completely unable to move.

We once again held a meeting. The result of that was the official acknowledgement that Izumi Kutegawa was suffering from Hashimoto-Appelbam Syndrome, and the conclusion that as such, nothing could be done but to dispose of her as a Karmic Demon. As the one in charge of the Ethics Committee, I had to face Izumi and convey that fact myself. But, as it had already become too dangerous to approach her, we used a remotely operated puppet to exchange letters.

Remembering what happened at that time, my heart aches even now. She was a truly honest, good, and kind hearted child. Judging from the known examples, that kind of child actually seems to have the highest chance of becoming a Karmic Demon.

Upon learning that the lives of many people were at risk because of her, Izumi herself suggested that she would cooperate in any plan to dispose of her.

Having become ground zero so to speak, every living thing near Izumi Kutegawa ended up dying off. Although her parents and the farm workers had temporarily left Izumi behind to take refuge, they had been infected by a strange disease in which the entire body"s muscular system rapidly changed into fiber, and had already pa.s.sed away. However, we never told Izumi of that fact.

Near the end, I caught a glimpse of the farm buildings from a distance. They had morphed into an indefinite amoeba-like form that appeared as though it were oozing along, swallowing up everything along it"s perimeter.

At that far away point, I placed five pills atop a half melted table within the cabin by remote control. Along with them was a note explaining that they were a tranquilizer made to suppress the effects of the Bad Spill. Just one among them contained a lethal dose of poison. The instructions said for Izumi to take a dose of one pill each day.

On the very first day, Izumi took all five pills. Being a very intelligent girl, I think she must surely have realized what was in the medicine. a.s.suming that to be true, she may have been afraid that her Bad Spill would cause the medicine to deteriorate, loosing it"s effectiveness......

Tears were running down my cheeks.

Why that was. I didn"t even know myself. This girl named Izumi who I had never once met, I sympathized with her from the bottom of my heart. However, it wasn"t just that.

My heart was wavering tempestuously, like a small boat caught in a storm. One after another, the tears just kept on streaming down.

"That pain and sorrow you feel, I know it well."

Tomiko-san said.

"It"s alright. Just cry as much as you need to."

"Why......? Why do I feel so very sad?

Tomiko-san shook her head quietly at my question.

"That, I still cannot say. But, when people are confronted with great sadness, in order to accept and move past it,

mourning like this is a necessity. That is why your tears are necessary now.

"Is there some connection between that and the incident that was erased from our memories?"

"Yes, there is."

The image of the faceless boy rose to the front of my mind.

"Please, restore my memories."

"That, I cannot do."

Tomiko-san smiled sadly.

"It wasn"t just your memories, information regarding that child was removed from every record, even reaching things like Akizuki Maria-san"s journal, because the memory of that incident was too was too visceral and shocking. The memory of the incident itself would become a Trauma, and although all of you are children, it could still create instability in the minds of the town"s people, making way for additional tragedies to follow. Like knocking over the first in a line of dominos......"

I felt as though I had saw a wave of darkness run across Tomiko-san"s imperturbable face.

"You would likely be able to bear even that. But, if I loosened the seal on your memories, would you be able to keep it a secret from your friends? eventually, everyone would learn of it."

"......But"

"Think hard on the meaning of the stories I told you. A chain always breaks at the weakest link. We must always watch out for those who are weakest."

"The weakest ones...... is it?

Tomiko-san gently stroked my hair as though to console me.

"Sakki, when I said that I wanted you to succeed my position, it was not by any means a joke. If that time comes, you will be allowed to regain your lost memories."

"There"s no way I could possibly manage as your replacement Tomiko-san."

The Personality Index must have been a mistake. I knew better than anyone that my own mind was not that tough.

"I can understand the feelings that make you say that. I felt the same way before I undertook this job. But, eventually, without fail, the time comes when there is no other choice but to do it. Because, this is a job that no one other than you can do. Alright? Remember this when that time comes. How far would you be willing to go for the sake of preventing another Fiend or Karmic Demon from appearing again?"

Tomiko-san"s words resounded powerfully within my heart.

That"s it for chapter 2, although it could probably still use some editing. I"m quite satisfied with how Tomiko"s stories turned out.

-Dusanh