“Team Leader Cracker, we’re entering the island’s airspace.”
I felt like I’d only closed my eyes for a moment, and we were already at the island?
I stretched, intending to take a look at it.
But the island refused to show itself.
“What the hell? I can’t see a thing because of the fog.”
“It was covered in fog when I first came here, too. Looks like nothing’s changed.”
“I hate this place already.”
The sky over the island was already blanketed in fog, so thick it was hard to see even an inch ahead.
If something sprang out right in front of us, it would be difficult to react.
“Are we going to be all right? We can’t see anything ahead.”
“We’re following the route Area 469 gave us.”
“Hmm.”
“They said there wouldn’t be any problem as long as we followed the route, so we should be fine.”
Right. How much could people from elsewhere know about this neighborhood anyway?
For now, I decided to wait at ease.
“What’s the scrap-metal doll’s condition?”
“Stable. It’s hard to believe it caused such a commotion.”
“That’s a relief.”
We’d installed a camera so we could check the situation inside.
It was hard to believe, but the thing still wasn’t showing any movement.
“Ugh, how much longer?”
“I think it’ll take about ten minutes.”
Just then, the helicopter’s communication system switched on by itself and began emitting static.
“What is this? Where’s it coming from?”
“Well, I don’t know. It seems to have been forcibly breached.”
They breached the communication defense system?
We had put a kind of security measure in place to prevent the risk of eavesdropping.
And now that defense system had been neutralized.
Soon, a human voice began to come through instead of static.
“Your aircraft has violated a military protection zone. Leave this island immediately.
If you do not, you will be regarded as hostile and shot down.”
A military protection zone?
Outside, three or four helicopters were approaching us.
We had the advantage in numbers, but I wanted to avoid a fight if possible.
It would be troublesome if the identity of the scrap-metal doll we were escorting right now was exposed.
The pilot responded.
“The blue rabbit of the pine tree, the blue rabbit of the pine tree.”
“What did you just say?”
“Confirmed. Welcome to Area 469.”
Don’t tell me that was the passphrase?
Still deeply distrustful, I checked outside.
Sure enough, the helicopters that had been blocking our way were flying ahead of us now.
No, seriously, that stupid thing was the passphrase?
In a different sense, the director of Area 469 might really be a lunatic.
“How the hell did you know that?”
“When they told me the escort schedule, they gave it to me as a passphrase. They said if I told them that,
the other side would get out of the way on their own.”
“Huh. What kind of bastards only tell the pilot something like that?”
It wouldn’t have happened, but if we had responded preemptively...
Ugh, I didn’t even want to think about it. No matter how you looked at it, the responsibility would have fallen heavily on me as the team leader.
No, putting that aside, it would have been an unnecessary clash between allies.
“I really hate this neighborhood.”
Around the time the tension eased, the facilities of Area 469 began to come into view.
“Wow, it feels like something’s changed, but also like nothing’s changed.”
“The research facility is... unique, I guess.”
It resembled a tower half-buried in the ground.
Since there was no fog visible only around the research facility, it even had a mysterious feeling to it.
“We should start getting ready. We need to hand that thing over to them.”
“Yeah, we should.”
Maybe it was just my imagination.
It felt like my body was rejecting this place.
Like a warning that I should never set foot inside.
+++
Once the helicopter landed, armed personnel began emerging from inside.
Their dull black uniforms and skull insignias were striking.
“At a glance, they look like a procession of grim reapers.”
“True. That atmosphere might suit them better.”
One person broke away from the group.
He was probably the director here.
The number 469 and a skull emblem were set into both shoulder boards.
From the look of it, the emblem was engraved on the back of the uniform as well.
“You’ve had a hard time coming all the way here. The environment is quite harsh.”
“Not at all. Don’t worry about it. I’m Team Leader Cracker, in charge of the escort mission.”
“Good to meet you. I’m Chester, director of Area 469.”
I extended my hand first for a handshake.
Immediately after, I felt an incredible grip.
“Your grip strength is... impressive.”
“I hear that from time to time.”
Tch. I’d thought my own grip was pretty strong, but I take that back.
What the hell did he do to get like this?
“It seems it’ll take a little time for our newly transferred friend, so why don’t I show you around for a bit?”
“Ah, well. Shall we?”
Following Chester’s guidance, I headed inside the facility with the vice team leader.
+++
“Now that there are no eyes on us, feel free to ask anything you’re curious about.”
“Ah, well. Sure.”
“It’s damned annoying having to keep up appearances outside. Honestly.”
“What can you do? It’s the same everywhere.”
“New recruits never come, and even the ones who do run off before a week passes.
Meanwhile, the people upstairs are only racking their brains over how to dump dangerous bastards on us.”
“Thanks to that, we’re grateful.”
“Director in name only. My authority is small, and my responsibilities have grown like hell. If I could, I’d just
declare to the higher-ups that I don’t want to work anymore and run away.”
Hmm. Was he unexpectedly normal?
I thought this was a group where everyone had a screw loose somewhere and was full of lunatics.
Meeting someone normal like this felt strangely refreshing.
Of course, as the vice team leader had said, he probably had some lunatic tendencies in other areas.
“I took a rough look, and the information on the entities you’re keeping here is classified.”
“Ah, that’s because there are a lot of truly vicious bastards.”
“Meaning?”
“In the end, the entity information has to include the reason why it was designated dangerous.
As you probably guessed, if they write down the damage in detail, they say it lowers morale or some such.”
“No, but isn’t that information you can find out if you just take a slight detour?”
“You know how stubborn the higher-ups are. From the looks of it, they’re planning to use excuses like this entity being too hard to deal with
and stash it over here, too.”
“That’s how it turned out. I apologize.”
“No need to apologize. It really is something, how the bastards at the top all handle things like shit.”
Suddenly, Chester turned and began looking at the vice team leader.
After studying him for a moment, he seemed to realize who he was.
“By any chance, weren’t you dispatched here around last year? I feel like I saw you here.”
“Ah, yes. I didn’t think I’d end up coming back here either.”
“If we have someone with experience, that changes things. Have you heard of the Iron Insect?”
“Iron Insect?”
“Aah, looks like we’re reviewing this again after all.”
The vice team leader seemed to know something.
But I decided not to ask.
“It’s an insect made of steel. It lives by eating minerals like iron in mines,
and when a certain period comes, it uses humans as hosts.”
“There’s an insect like that?”
“It’s too early to be surprised. It’s not a simple parasite.”
“There’s more? It’s already disgusting enough.”
“Before it parasitizes someone, it cuts off their head.”
Ah, fuck.
Thanks to my overly vivid imagination, I could picture it.
That’s disgusting.
“Once it takes over the body like that, it injects the mineral components it has accumulated into the body,
slowly contaminates the host’s body, and completely takes possession of it.”
“You know it well. As expected, shocking content sticks in the memory.”
Had the vice team leader heard the explanation from Chester too?
Ugh, I felt like throwing up.
At most, I had imagined something that clung to a human, sucked out nutrients, and grew larger.
It was far more brutal than I had thought.
“So you’re saying that entity is here?”
“Right in front of us.”
A containment room surrounded on all sides by thick concrete walls came into view.
Even someone who knew nothing would surely understand.
That there was something inside that must not be allowed to get out.
“You mean it’s alive even without feeding?”
“It did show signs of absorbing minerals even after becoming an adult, but the purpose is probably strengthening its body
rather than replenishing nutrients.”
I wondered what that thing felt, listening to us talk about it right in front of it.
The thought suddenly occurred to me.
No, now that I thought about it, why was I curious about that?
I began to think I might have a screw loose somewhere too.
Just then, the sound of the radio came through.
“Team Leader Cracker, it’s about time to get ready.”
“Understood. I’ll be there soon.”
Still, I should see the scrap-metal doll contained before leaving.
I couldn’t feel at ease otherwise.
“You go ahead. I have something to check. I’ll follow shortly.”
“Then excuse me.”
I headed for the landing pad with the vice team leader.
“Tsk.”
“What are you smacking your lips for, Director? Feeling disappointed?”
A soldier in a black uniform appeared from behind a pillar.
“I thought we might be able to get along, but maybe there’s a bit of a gap after all, since they’ve had it easy. Adjutant.”
“Don’t you only trust the veterans of the Skull Unit to begin with?”
“You think I was like that from the start? I wasn’t some piece of trash sunk in distrust of humanity from the beginning.”
“I’m begging you, please say things like that behind closed doors. I’m genuinely worried someone might stab you in the back, Director.”
“Wow, they’d send someone all the way here just to knife me? I’d have to acknowledge their dedication, at least.”
“Haa, I know this is a bit much to say, but I wish you’d just go die.”
“Pretty rough for an honest opinion, isn’t it?”
“If you don’t like it, transfer me somewhere else. And this is a bonus.”
“Aah, an adjutant giving his director the finger. It seems I must have educated you poorly. But if I die, you’re the next director, you know?”
“Fuck, just insult my parents instead. What kind of horrifying bullshit is that?”
The director began heading toward the landing pad with a pleased look on his face.
Though the adjutant following him looked utterly disgusted.