Rescue Fantasy (10)
"Hyun-woo, is the Heaven Central Sector always like this?"
Celestia hesitated, unable to cross directly over the boundary leading to Nexus. It was because of the scene sprawled before us.
"I've never actually been here before, but I doubt it's supposed to look like this."
I maintained my composure as I scanned the surroundings from left to right. Utopia looked more like something from a dystopia; it was a scene ripped straight out of the end times.
Chairs were strewn about in disarray, glass shards littered the floor, suitcases lay abandoned, vending machines and potted plants had spilled their contents. Broken security robots lay toppled, smashed through storefront windows.
Nothing was intact; it was as if the place had been looted.
'It would be lucky if it was just looting.'
Looking at the explosion-scorched walls, I knew well that what happened here couldn't be described as mere looting. There must have been a massacre, something far beyond just terrorism.
Countless people would have been killed by the pureblood supremacist attacks, and the few survivors who barely made it would've been torn apart by the ghouls that followed. The place must have echoed with endless, desperate screams.
Here and there, the dried, spattered bloodstains were deeply vivid, and an arm lay abandoned as if it hadn't been cleared away, intensifying the dangerous atmosphere.
I quietly raised my flashlight and shone it about. The interior was bright enough that I didn't really need the flashlight, but away from the holographic billboards, shadows still pooled.
'Monsters...'
None. Other than us, nothing registered on the detector.
Just as we were moving slowly forward, a billboard that I'd assumed was broken suddenly flickered to life. With a pop, a chocolate advertisement appeared. It was triggered by a sensor picking up movement.
Even in this situation, the billboards were diligently doing their jobs.
【"Irresistible Crunch! Add sweetness and crispness to your boring life! Real chocolate made from Enceladus cacao, try it now!"】
Dark chocolate. It was a premium treat, different in quality from the cheap chocolate that Nadia had bought from the store before all this happened. That one actually had real cacao and a sweet jam that oozed out when bitten.
'Chocolate, huh...'
Now that I thought about it, Nadia really liked sweet things. I peeked into the store, wondering if I could find something intact to take back for her. But, as expected, it was a wreck inside—so much so that I hesitated to even enter.
The idea of grabbing anything vanished immediately. Even if there were no mutants, other threats could be lurking. In quiet times, keeping quiet increased one's chances of survival.
I chastised myself for even having such a foolish thought. What was the point in picking up anything in here?
Celestia edged a bit closer to me, avoiding the crinkling packaging underfoot.
"No survivors... right?"
"If there's a store and it's sealed off on all sides, it's possible someone could still be alive. But even if there is, I doubt they'd be of much help to us."
I had already learned in the cargo sector that survivors can sometimes be a liability instead. When that survivor—Derrick or Darren or whatever—forced noise by smashing up the store, I'd felt utterly helpless.
Had I not made it into the bathroom in time, I wouldn't even be here now, I was sure. I didn't ever want to experience anything like that again.
"And what if they insist on coming with us, claiming they'd be helpful, like I did?"
"Well... we'd have to evaluate the situation then."
We weren't a rescue team. Like them, we were just people trapped on Titan. Everyone was isolated.
'Right now, getting the biocell comes first.'
Securing a biocell was my top priority. If anyone got in the way, I was prepared to act decisively. I wasn't going to gamble my life over uncertainties. I refused to be collateral damage.
Celestia, sensing this, gave a strong nod and balled her fist, as if to show that she would trust and follow me no matter what. At that gesture, a machine across from us responded for the first time.
With a tacky—no, just plain cheesy—effect, a giant phrase flashed, drawing our eyes as the lights popped on as if to demand our attention.
【"BALL! Test your luck!"】
It was a lottery machine, filled with numbered balls swirling like a waterspout. Unlike a regular BALL machine, this one let you see your prize right on the spot. Frankly, it was a knock-off.
Each ball corresponded to a prize, and the prizes were reset periodically. I'd never been to the central sector, but since these machines were also in the residential area, I knew how they worked.
They weren't that popular. Although a single try was cheaper than the regular BALL, there were a lot more dud prizes. Sometimes, if your timing was off, you might even get expired snacks.
'I don't know what they used to make those, but they tasted worse than what the store sold.'
I was muttering about their cursed flavor when, suddenly, the machine started running a lottery on its own—none of us having put in any credits.
The sudden clamorous noise shattered the silence. We were startled and stopped in our tracks.
'... Did someone leave credits in and power off the machine, and now it's turning back on?'
That didn't make sense. The machine had never been off in the first place. We never thought to turn off the power. Since the machine was bolted to the floor, we'd have had to tear up the tiles to cut the cable. It was much faster just to let the lottery end.
A congratulatory message flashed and then disappeared, and something thumped into the prize chute. The fact that we'd won wasn't surprising. Whatever came out of that machine, it always counted as a prize.
"......."
"......."
What tumbled out as the "prize" was a head, violently torn as if by brute force, the rough end showing. A face full of agony glared up at us.
The wide-open mouth was frozen in a silent scream. As if accusing us: I died because of you. As if demanding, why didn't you save me before it came to this?
After the head rolled across the floor with a couple of dull thuds, the gaudy effect abruptly switched off. Celestia, whose hand had been clenched tightly since the machine started, slowly released her grip and spoke in a low voice.
"Hyun-woo, do you know what 'liminal space' is?"
Liminal space. It described the sensation of alienation and discomfort you feel when a familiar place suddenly looks strange. If a space only imperfectly mimics reality, or feels incomplete, the sensation intensifies.
Right now, Celestia said she felt exactly that. She brushed her arm as if the deserted place—except for herself, Carry, and me—gave her chills.
A different tension than when facing mutants gnawed at my chest. It was as if an invisible hand had clenched tight around my heart.
I wondered if the stalker was playing with us, but nothing was showing up on the detectors. The machines running amok on their own weren't mimics, either. Smashing the offending lottery machine with a plasma cutter had only broken the machine.
I didn't know where the people who used to be here had all gone. The only things left were the machines reacting to our presence as we moved.
There was the playroom crowded with arcade games, the greenhouse connected to a hydroponics facility, a mid-sized hall for various events, a café for Heaven's visitors to rest, and, attached to that, a kids' room and toy shop.
We could see all of them from where we were—and we'd have to pass by all of them. Restaurant-type facilities were on the upper level, so, luckily, there was no need for us to go inside. We just needed to quietly pass by.
If we could just reach the passageway leading to the medical sector at the edge of Utopia, it would mean we'd already completed half the journey.
〈Utopia Playroom〉
【Multiple facility shutdowns detected. Energy cables have been severed. Operations have been suspended according to safety protocol. Status: Closed.】
Closed as it was, if you listened, you could still hear upbeat music from inside. There were thumping noises too, as if someone was using the facilities.
I'd thought we were alone, but clearly we weren't. It was so obvious, but seeing proof of it made me wish we had been.
Passing the kids' room, we noticed a message scrawled beyond a collapsed pane of glass: "Help us."
Even so, we didn't stop. Neither of us suggested checking it out.
Not that we would—the fact that faint laughter could be heard, despite all the blood-scrawled warnings, was chilling. What was so funny over there? Ha ha ha, giggle giggle. I could even faintly hear voices.
They rambled on about dedicating themselves to the holy tree's blessing, about having finally become pure beings, spouting that insane talk about the greatness of grace. The voices sounded so cheerful that I wondered if I was hallucinating.
But I'd never heard of a shared hallucination that multiple people could hear.
【"Discover your joy! Utopia has everything you're looking for!"】
As we crossed the arched cloud-bridge toward the middle floor, music began to play as if on cue. One speaker, knocked askew by a blow, struggled to broadcast the sound.
A gentle, flowing melody. Celestia softly murmured, "Violin."
Apparently, this was background music that used to play in Utopia.
I was too uneducated to recognize the piece, but I could sense the oddness of it. Every note seemed to prick at us.
So much for 'liminal space'.
That was wrong. This wasn't a strange-feeling place—it was an unmistakably strange place.
Enthralled, Celestia pressed a shaky hand to her forehead.
"... Hyun-woo, my head really hurts."
"Let's move faster. Take my hand and follow me."
Ignoring whatever was beneath the cloud bridge, I took Celestia's hand and pulled her along. Carry brightened his light. I made a point not to look down—just guessing at what was buried in mounds down there from the shapes and the stench.
As we crossed and came up against the bulkhead lowered by security protocols, the billboard we'd seen at the entrance suddenly gave a crackling sound and drew my gaze.
It was the holographic billboard advertising Enceladus chocolate. Beneath it, now facing us, sat a toy monkey that most definitely hadn't been there when we first passed.
Its surface was torn open, stuffing oozing out, its head soaked in bloody water. It was a toy monkey holding a pair of cymbals.
'The toy store is supposed to be up ahead...'
I aimed my flashlight at the toy store. Inside, toys that would normally lure children were instead stained with blood and unidentifiable flesh.
A coincidence? Maybe the monkey toy had been there all along and we'd just missed it. On the toy store's display stand, I spotted the very same model as the one under the billboard.
The monkey's wind-up key clicked as it turned. The sound resembled the ticking of a clock. Something about it sent chills through me, as if it were counting down the seconds.
This wind-up mechanism wasn't fake. It was a mechanical device, sans circuitry, the kind only used a long time ago—and in Heaven, it was a popular souvenir, crafted from leftover scrap metal. The metal was such high quality that it was more popular than you'd expect.
At least, that's what I'd heard before.
'The problem isn't that...'
The problem was that the monkey had to be wound by someone. There was no denying that. Yet, behind the monkey toy, there was nothing. Only toys on the display stand eyed us.
As the key finished winding, the monkey struck its fixed cymbals. The metal plates crashed with an ear-splitting screech that stabbed at my eardrums.
And at that very moment, the background music throughout Utopia abruptly stopped. The cymbals' piercing sound grew louder, chasing after us—my heart thumped in my chest.
〈Nexus—Central Plaza Approach〉
【"Welcome once more to Heaven. This place is always open. Please visit anytime."】
Even as we hurriedly burst through the approach door into the middle floor, the detector still didn't react.
-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
Damn, the stress.
【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】