Clank—!
A door burst open.
The Section Chief rushed in a moment later.
"Are you serious...?!" His voice held a mix of confusion and anger as he turned his attention towards a glass panel, where a certain figure lay on the opposite end.
"His conditions are stable. He is facing no serious injury. He passed out from the lack of oxygen."
It was only after he heard the doctor’s words that the Section Chief calmed down. Taking a few deep breaths, he turned back.
Several agents stood behind him, their expressions grave.
The Section Chief’s expression turned stoic right in that moment.
"Explain to me the situation in detail. Don’t miss out on any detail. I want to know everything."
This was all sudden to him.
In one moment, he was handling the paperwork and the arrangements for the upcoming Department Trials, and in the next moment, he received an urgent call, telling him that one of his most prized members had been attacked by an anomaly.
He wanted to understand how exactly this was possible when the anomaly should’ve been contained.
"That..."
A man stepped up after a moment of hesitation. He was the same man who had given Seth the guidelines and had been monitoring the situation. Taking out his phone, he played a certain video.
"If you look here, sir, you’ll notice the anomaly’s body suddenly begins to twitch. This occurred about thirty minutes in, and before anyone realized what was happening, it had already turned on the guest. I’m still trying to understand what brought this sudden change."
"...."
The Section Chief stared at the recording with a frown. Eventually, retrieving the phone, he took a better look at it.
That was when he noticed something.
"Is there no barrier separating the two? Just a yellow line?"
"Yes, that’s correct."
The agent replied, his expression serious.
"After extensive research and monitoring, we’ve confirmed the anomaly is contained. This isn’t the first time we’ve had visitors, and until now, nothing unusual had occurred. Even when presented with stimuli, VILE - 819 never reacted."
The agent calmly explained, the words rehearsed beforehand.
"Agents were stationed just outside, which allowed us to respond swiftly. Even so, it’s clear our protocol requires further improvement. This wasn’t something that we had expected to happen. I do apologize for this."
"Hmm."
The Section Chief grunted, keeping his attention on the recording. He was being unreasonable. He understood that this was a one-off situation that should never have occurred.
The Guild usually took tests repeatedly, and even had a special, dedicated cleaning squad that went into the room to clean it.
VILE-819 had been classified as a ’ contained’ anomaly after extensive research, which explained the lack of precautions. But it was now clear. They had gravely miscalculated.
’Or did we...?’
The Section Chief’s eyes narrowed as he stared at the video. The more he looked at it, the more he felt that something was off.
And then—
"Sound? Where is the sound...?"
"About that..."
The agent made an awkward face, and the Section Chief’s face fell.
"Don’t tell me..."
"It looks to be some sort of system failure. This isn’t something that I can control."
The agent lowered his head in apology. He really did try his best to check and retrieve the audio, but almost as if the microphone had broken down, he wasn’t able to pull anything out.
This was the first time something like this had happened.
He didn’t know what to do.
"..."
The Section Chief continued to stare at the agent. Eventually, he let out a short breath and didn’t pursue the matter further. He understood that this wasn’t something that the agent had control over.
Furthermore, the audio cut off was only for a short moment. It wasn’t for very long.
But still...
’Just what in the world happened for the situation to turn like this? Why did it attack all of a sudden when it never did moments prior?’
Narrowing his eyes, the Section Chief’s gaze eventually fell on the young man on the bed. He looked to be sleeping soundly, and after seeing his serene expression, he decided to question him later.
For now, he sent himself the footage.
There were a lot of things that he needed to take care of.
"Make sure to take good care of him. If you need anything or find anything, do contact me."
And with that, the Section Chief left.
It was also in that moment that everyone present sighed in relief.
"Looks like we’re keeping our jobs."
"...Thank god."
"I really thought I was going to lose it."
"Same."
***
"...."
Greeting my line of sight was an empty white wall. One where bright lights flickered above. I stared at those lights for a short moment before turning my head and looking around.
’Ah, so I’m here.’
This looked like a hospital ward.
I wasn’t unfamiliar with this place.
Closing my eyes, I felt my body. After checking, there didn’t seem to be anything wrong with it. I felt a lot more relieved knowing this.
’...I guess it wasn’t a bad decision to pass out.’
The Twisted Man never truly hurt me. From the moment it touched me, and I used my third node, the Twisted Man had already stopped moving. It didn’t hurt me at all. What happened was that I pretended to pass out right after the guards had entered.
It was the perfect chance to do so.
...And also, it was the best chance for me to avoid being questioned.
’Not that it won’t happen now. I’ll probably be questioned not long from now.’
But this was fine. I had prepared myself for this in advance.
Furthermore, with the additional time that I had managed to buy myself, I could think of a better way to handle this.
But most importantly...
’The situation is a lot more complicated than I expected.’
I thought back to what I had managed to see, and my heart tightened. That estate...
’...It’s the same one that Mirelle was in.’
I had no doubts about this. Having been to the place, I was well aware of the fact that the estate within the memories was the same one that I found myself in back in the gate where I had found Mirelle.
This was obviously no coincidence.
’I’ve always known that rich people owned the house, and that they were connected to the Guild, but I didn’t think that they were this twisted.’
Just thinking about it made me shudder. But that wasn’t the worst part, no.
The worst came with the final memories. As I lifted a trembling hand to my head, a sharp pain surged through me. It was there that I took note of the Cognitive Shard inside my head and thought about the final words from the father.
’You’ll be so much more when it’s done. You’re only feeling sick for a short moment. That’s just your Cognitive shard acting up. Once everything is done, you’ll be free.’
Not just the words, but his symptoms. From the coughs to the night sweats.
I could recall all of it.
And it was then that I came to a conclusion.
One that made my very own heart tighten considerably.
’The anomalies...’
I took a deep breath.
’...There’s a chance that they’re born from those who have Cognitive Shards.’
Just like me.