The Man Writing Papers in Prison (1)
Rustilla stepped between me and the man, blocking his path. “Don’t talk nonsense. Idel is not a possessed vessel!”
“He has been possessed. That much is certain.”
“I said he isn’t!”
A hand settled on Rustilla’s heaving shoulder. It belonged to her mentor, Naier Clark.
Naier let out a long sigh. “There is already evidence, Rustilla.”
“What evidence?”
“My husband.”
“You mean Instructor Isaac?”
Isaac and Kibel naturally joined the conversation. The two men exchanged glances, then extended a hand toward me.
“Show us the weapon you used aboard the Third Ship.”
“You mean the caliper?”
“Yes.”
I took out the caliper and handed it over. Instructor Isaac raised it high so everyone could see. Roughly three seconds passed.
Drip. Drip.
Blood trickled from the corner of Isaac’s mouth.
“C-Commander!”
Isaac immediately hurled my caliper to the floor.
— The ‘God of Wisdom and Curiosity’ is furious.
He quietly showed the hand that had been holding the caliper. Along with burn marks, the Zalgo characters symbolizing an Outer Deity were etched into his skin. I could read them clearly.
If you touch it one more time, I’ll kill you.
She seemed rather angry.
“I hope this serves as sufficient evidence.”
Rustilla fell silent. Even Sonia, who had been loosening her jaw to load up some venomous remarks, stiffened like a board.
Only one person remained unconvinced.
“Is this for real?”
Zernya. She alone frowned and staggered forward. Her body still hadn’t recovered from the wounds inflicted by Maylem; she could barely keep herself upright. Yet she grabbed my sleeve and glared at the man who wanted to restrain me.
“Fine, let’s say the instructor is right and this guy really is possessed by an Outer Deity. He’s still perfectly normal right now. He hasn’t killed anyone, his personality hasn’t gone haywire, and he isn’t seeing hallucinations or anything.”
“That state is called the incubation period or the dormant phase. If we don’t restrain him now, we won’t be able to handle it when the Outer Deity runs wild again.”
“But he could still stay normal until summer break!”
“Conversely, he could go on a rampage at any moment.”
The man’s argument was the more logical one. Even Zernya closed her mouth. She collapsed weakly onto a bench.
The man turned to me once more. “I’m sorry, but you’ll have to cooperate.”
My fate from this point on was obvious.
They changed me into a restraint suit, fitted me with a blindfold, shoved a gag into my mouth, and plugged my ears. With all five senses completely blocked, I lay down on the restraint cart of my own accord. The ride was surprisingly smooth and comfortable.
“Mmmph… mmph.”
“What’s he saying?”
It’s nicer than the dorm bed.
There was a reason I had let myself be taken so obediently.
— Outer Deities affiliated with the Maxwell Legion now harbor murderous intent toward you.
— Outer Deities affiliated with the Darwin Legion have begun to take an interest in you.
I could no longer remain at the academy. In truth, I had been prepared for this ever since the Celestine Incident occurred. If I continued attending the academy in this state, my friends would remain in constant danger until the Ether Belt was repaired.
So this was enough.
I hoped Rustilla would train hard in swordsmanship. I hoped Zernya would stop being so twisted. I wanted everyone to focus on their studies without worrying about attacks. And of course, I hoped Seti would wake up healthy.
Rattle.
Soon I felt the cart begin to move. After such an intense day, I was dying to sleep. I slowly drifted off.
When I opened my eyes again, I had already been changed into an orange prison uniform.
“Welcome to Alcatraz, you little shits.”
Alcatraz. One of the countless planetary systems located in the northeastern region of the Laniakea Union. The third planet in its Goldilocks Zone was itself a prison—a place meant to rehabilitate the poor souls who had been corrupted by Outer Deities.
“Idel von Rheinland. Illegal gambling, arson, verbal abuse, threats, business obstruction, defamation, and property damage. You’re quite the piece of work for someone who looks so harmless.”
“I have a criminal record?”
I’m a perfectly decent citizen, aren’t I?
“The logic of ‘innocent until proven guilty’ doesn’t apply here, kid.”
In the blink of an eye, I had become a twenty-time offender, a total bastard.
“This isn’t just a yellow streak—it’s bright red. You’re practically a commie.”
The man himself was wearing a red instructor uniform while calling me that. The muscular instructor pressed a pen firmly against my forehead.
“Ever heard of branding effects? With a record like this, even if you regain your sanity later, getting a job will be next to impossible.”
“Excuse me?”
“Why are you making that dumb face?”
Not being able to get a job? That was a bit of a problem.
“Does having a record here really make it that hard to find employment?”
“This is a prison, you idiot.”
“What about becoming a professor? Would that be difficult too?”
“What? You want to be executed by firing squad?”
This guy was hopeless. Conversation was impossible.
“Anyway, now that you’ve entered Alcatraz, you’d better steel yourself. You’ll have to survive here for at least six months—until the Outer Deity suppressed by the Ether Belt’s energy cancels its contract with you.”
— The ‘God of Wisdom and Curiosity’ scoffs.
After that, I learned a few things, including the prison rules. Or rather, I was taken somewhere.
Where? To a cell.
It was a prison with hundreds of solitary cells blocked off by iron bars, arranged across three floors. In the center stood a structure shaped like a golf ball—the control tower. Because the entire building was dome-shaped, it was vulnerable to loud noises. Apparently the design was intentional, to allow quick responses to riots or escape attempts.
“I’m bored.”
It had been three hours since I started rolling around in the orange prison uniform. I scratched my head and got up from the hard bed.
“Cartesia, come out and play a word chain game with me.”
“……Are you insane?”
“You don’t want to?”
“I don’t.”
Well, it’s true we don’t have time to play word games. I mustn’t forget why I came here.
I had come to this place to conduct research while avoiding the eyes of other Outer Deities. Theoretical physics doesn’t require much. No computers, no experimental equipment. Just a brain, a desk, a pencil, and a few sheets of paper.
The problem was how and where to obtain those things…
“Huuuuaaaaah!”
What the hell was that? I poked my head out past the iron bars. A deranged scream was coming from the second floor.
Waaaaaaaah!
Then a siren blared. Amplified by the dome, the sound slammed into my eardrums with terrifying force. If I hadn’t covered my ears immediately, my eardrums might have burst.
The instructors rushed to the opposite side of the second floor.
“You crazy bastard!”
“Won’t let go?”
Thud. Thud. Thud!
The instructors shouted as they unlocked the cell door and stormed inside. They began beating the man senseless. The sounds of violence overlapped with the siren, growing even louder. The commotion didn’t end there. Prisoners in other cells started screaming or shaking their bars in equally deranged reactions.
“Wow.”
The man in the cell across from mine dropped his pants and began urinating between the bars—
“Fuck.”
I lay back down on the bed. This place was hell. No pencils, no paper. The blanket smelled like rotten cheese. And there were way too many lunatics.
I had been naïve. The advantage of not being chased by countless Outer Deities was real, but everything has a price. I would have to live among these mentally broken people for at least several months. In an environment like this, research was simply impossible.
Ah… I miss Professor Feynman.
“You’re saying… Idel was dragged off to Alcatraz…?”
Tap.
“That’s what I said.”
Detective Terence nodded with a frustrated expression. Huuu. He exhaled cigarette smoke while still holding the cigarette in his mouth. The acrid scent filled the room.
Professor Feynman couldn’t make sense of what he had just heard. An Outer Deity’s trace was found? On that student? He was such a good kid who had never done anything crazy.
Feynman stood up in a hurry.
“Where are you going?”
“I have to save that student.”
Terence grabbed Feynman’s arm. “It won’t be easy.”
“I know. But I still have to go.”
“This time, nothing you do will work. Alcatraz is a fortress planet in its own right. You know that better than anyone.”
Of course he knew. Feynman tucked a pen into his pants pocket and replied, “Pulling him out directly would be impossible. Visiting him would be difficult too. But there are still a few things we can try, aren’t there?”
“Like what?”
Feynman walked over to the computer and brought up something on the screen. It was a paper that had just received publication approval. He printed it out, took a sip of cinnamon tea, and sat back down.
“What is that?”
“Read it.”
Terence took the paper and frowned. “I don’t understand a single word.”
“Don’t worry about the title or the content. Just look at the authors.”
“Only two names. You, and… Idel?”
Terence’s hand, which had been flipping through the pages, stopped. He couldn’t understand what the paper was trying to say. He wasn’t a physics major, after all. But his eye for detail was sharp, and he began smacking his lips.
“F-Feynman. You…”
Terence’s voice trembled.
“What journal did you submit this paper to?”
“Universe.”
The most authoritative academic journal in the Union—one even ordinary people had heard of at least once.
“I uploaded it yesterday, and the citation count has already passed ten.”
Feynman gave a meaningful smile as he said that. He gulped down the rest of his tea and stood up again.
“I’ll step out for a bit.”
Clack.
……
Terence and Feynman had been childhood friends who grew up together. Therefore, Terence could vaguely guess what his friend was thinking right now.
He was nothing more than a physicist. But—
“…If we borrow the power of the scientific community.”
—they could exert influence that even the leadership couldn’t ignore.
Terence accessed an academic search site and looked up the paper published by Idel and Feynman. It had clearly been published only yesterday. Yet the citation count was already approaching thirty. And just now it went up by one more.
“No way.”
Even in this era of vast galactic populations, it was nearly impossible for citations to increase this quickly. Terence had written a university thesis himself, so he knew that much.
“That delinquent… was actually a genius?”
As an outsider, Terence couldn’t know the full story. He would simply have to wait and see how things unfolded.