“Does this place even have an end? I keep walking and walking, but the path just won’t end.”
I was simply walking along the path without much thought, but the facility seemed far larger than I had expected.
Large enough that I wondered whether I could finish exploring it today if I just kept walking.
Now that I had come this far in, I could no longer hear any human voices, so if there was one advantage, it was that I could at least move around at ease.
‘Hm?’
That was when a staircase came into view.
It was already dark enough as it was, so seeing stairs leading underground felt a little strange.
In situations like this, going down usually led to something bad happening.
But I didn’t have enough time.
For today, I’d be satisfied with just going down those stairs and then heading back.
Slowly, I descended the staircase one step at a time.
At the same time, I began to hear a sound whose source I couldn’t identify, and my curiosity about what might be at the end of these stairs grew stronger.
‘Don’t tell me they’ve got something even worse than that guy from earlier locked up down here?’
Though, if that were the case, they would have blocked it off, and it wasn’t exactly in a place that was hard to spot.
Still, this was deep inside the facility, so it wouldn’t be strange no matter what was here.
And when I finally set foot at the bottom of the stairs, I found the source of the sound.
‘What the hell is that?’
Good grief.
Why does it have eight arms?
A boulder the size of a car with arms attached to it like that gave off an incredibly grotesque impression.
Though, honestly, my own body wasn’t exactly easy on the eyes either.
As I approached to get a better look, the thing seemed to notice something strange and raised its head.
“That’s a face I haven’t seen before. Who are you?”
The creature blinked, then looked as though it had been scared out of its wits.
“Wait! How in the world did you get here? Don’t tell me the facility has been taken over already?!”
“Whoa, whoa. Nothing like that happened. Not yet, anyway.”
After hearing my words, it shrank back as if disappointed.
“I thought I might finally be able to escape from here, but I suppose I should give up after all.”
“You can hear what I’m saying?”
“Hm? Was there some reason I shouldn’t be able to understand you?”
That’s strange.
Humans couldn’t understand me no matter how much I shouted at them.
Looks like Unknowns can more or less communicate with each other.
If that’s the case, conversation just got a lot easier.
“No, never mind. I’m Scrap Metal Doll. You could say I snuck out for a bit.”
“I’m Bakus. One thing led to another, and I ended up in this state.”
He looked strangely exhausted, so I examined Bakus’s body closely.
All of his arms were straining to hold up an iron ball, and judging by the way his arms were trembling and the size of the iron ball, it looked burdensome to anyone who saw it.
“Wait, then you’ve been holding it up like that this whole time?”
“What else can I do? There’s no point in the one who got captured making demands.”
If the strength left his arms even by accident, the iron ball would crush Bakus flat.
I wanted to help him, but since I didn’t know what he really was, it was awkward to help him recklessly.
Though he didn’t seem like the sort of being who killed people for fun.
“How did you end up captured?”
“It seems the humans discovered the dwelling where I lived. Thanks to that, several humans attacked me, and just as I was about to attack in response, they got me.”
“Mm, I see.”
“What about you? How did you end up being transported here? As far as I know, you usually have to cause human casualties to be brought to this place.”
“It’s a bit of a long story, but one thing led to another, and I caused an incident.”
“Sounds like you have complicated circumstances.”
“Something like that.”
“Haa. If only I could put down this damned lump of metal, things would be bearable.”
After hearing his story, he didn’t seem like such a bad guy.
Maybe I should help him for a moment.
I estimated the thickness of the walls of the isolation room where Bakus was confined, shed my husk, and stepped inside.
When I showed him from right in front of him, Bakus stared at me as if impressed.
“Ah, so that’s how you escaped? What an enviable ability.”
“Pull it forward just a little. I’ll set it down behind you.”
Together, we lifted the iron ball Bakus had been holding and carefully lowered it behind his back.
Once he confirmed that the iron ball had touched the ground, Bakus stretched out his arms and began to laugh.
“I feel bad for not being able to help you in return.”
“This was a great help. But if I leave this place, your safety will become troublesome. Don’t worry about it, friend.”
“By the way, what kind of ability do you have?”
“Ah, how should I put it? I suppose I exist to punish those who are far too realistic.”
What kind of nonsense is that?
What, is he saying he chases romance or something?
But there’s no way that’s an ability.
“I’m not really sure what you mean.”
When I scratched my head and made a gesture showing I didn’t understand, Bakus nodded as if accepting that it was only natural.
“If I told you imagination could become a weapon, would you believe me?”
“Imagination?”
“Yes! Imagination! Exactly as one imagines it. Hasn’t everyone imagined something like that at least once? Wanting to become a king who rules the world, for example. At the very least, everyone has some sort of wish, don’t they?”
“Well, people do have wishes precisely because they’re hard to fulfill.”
“Exactly. A dream was nothing more and nothing less than imagination. But I am different.”
Bakus tapped the area of his chest with his fist and cleared his throat.
“Suppose you wanted to see the sight of a forest spread out before your eyes, but the circumstances didn’t allow it?”
“I’d try to see one, but if there truly were no way, I’d leave it as a mere wish.”
“Wouldn’t you want to see it, even as an illusion?”
Seeing the scenery I had wanted to see, even as an illusion.
Even if I was aware it was an illusion, it seemed like it would be pretty nice.
“I suppose I would.”
“I can show that. Whether one believes it or not is up to the individual.”
“That’s possible?”
Bakus stretched out both arms and proudly shouted while floating slightly above the ground.
“If you believe it exists, then it becomes real!!”
Wow.
Um, how do I put it?
The Wandering Swordsman felt like an extreme realist, but Bakus seemed to be the complete opposite.
If I put those two together, I feel like I’d get to see quite an amusing scene.
“If I had even a little more strength left, I could have shown you right here. What a shame.”
“If I get the chance, I’d really like to see it.”
When the time comes to leave this place, I want to ask him again.
Whether he’d be willing to come with me.
No matter how absurdly overpowered an ability might be, I don’t particularly want to bring along someone who toys with people or kills them for fun.
It would be too much of a waste to stay in this place forever.
Though I don’t know whether this body even has a lifespan.
“By the way, don’t you need to go back? If you get caught, there’ll be hell to pay.”
“It’s fine. I’ve taken measures, so I won’t be found out right away.”
Come on, what could possibly happen in such a short time?
Thinking that, I continued chatting idly with Bakus.
+++
“How much longer until shift change?”
“Thirty minutes left.”
“Are you insane? There’s still thirty minutes left? Fuck.”
One of the squad members who had been lazing around looked at the clock, rubbed his eyes as if he couldn’t believe it, and checked the time again.
“Haa, time is crawling like a motherfucker.”
“Thirty minutes will pass quickly. Please stop grumbling.”
“What? Must be nice for you, since time passes so fast.”
He shook his head and tossed some snacks into his mouth.
His face was full of dissatisfaction.
“Please keep proper watch. I’m worried something might actually happen if you keep this up.”
“Hey, don’t worry. Absolutely nothing is going to happen. It’s this peaceful.”
“That said, didn’t the Wandering Swordsman get onto the island?”
“That’s an exception. No matter how much you look down from the guard post, how are you supposed to visually track every single individual that’s only about the size of a person?”
“That doesn’t change the fact that you’re slacking off.”
“Hey! You’ve got a hell of a lot to say. Then you make it fun.”
“Then there won’t be anyone on duty.”
“You boring bastard.”
“I told you not to drink coffee here. Shift change is almost here.”
When the man didn’t even respond, the other gave up and began keeping watch again.
At that moment, the sound of a glass cup shattering rang out.
“Seriously, enough already. Now you’re even breaking cups—”
The squad member who turned around froze on the spot.
The reason the coffee cup had shattered was, naturally, because it had fallen to the floor.
The only difference was that it had not been a mistake.
The area around the seat where he had been sitting was dyed red, and it began mixing with the coffee splattered across the floor.
“Fuck, fuck!”
The squad member realized something was wrong and hurriedly tried to radio in.
At that moment.
Something shot through his head at high speed, and he soon collapsed limply to the floor.
A voice flowed into the silent guard post.
“Is there a problem? This is the control room. Respond. Is anyone there?”
+++
“Two squad members on standby at the guard post, eliminated.”
“What about the facility?”
“No unusual signs. Waiting to land according to plan.”
“We’ll be arriving soon. The objective remains as scheduled: eliminate all personnel and seize the specimens.”
“I’ll report if anything unusual occurs. Out.”
After confirming the situation on the island, the landing craft moved toward it.
It was filled with personnel armed with firearms.
When the island came into view, they lowered their masks and glared at it.
“We finish this fast and leave. Kill them all within two hours, then select the ones we’re taking with us.”
+++
“What is it? Why is it like this?”
“What happened?”
“It’s a transmission from the guard post, but no one’s saying anything.”
“Maybe they called by mistake? Who’s on duty right now?”
“The people currently out there are—”
“Isn’t it almost shift change? If you’re that worried, tell the replacement team to check.”
“Ah, should I?”
Those in the control room had no way of knowing.
What was soon about to descend upon them.
Nor how many people would die.