Reassurance in the Maze
"Everyone's having a meal, I see?"
.. We've finally arrived. No, since we haven't escaped yet, "arrived" isn't quite the right word. Anyway, the first living people I've met since entering this place, and seeing the field team members I'd seen before, there's no denying how reassuring and welcome this sight is.
From office workers to students in uniforms I've seen around here before, people of various genders and ages are sitting in a circle under the central lighting, eating what looks like energy bars with water.
Among the people, voices of anxiety rise at the appearance of a new someone, and above all, the field team's guns are all pointed this way, so before I can step forward, the Team Leader reveals her identity first.
"I've never shown my face without the mask before, but won't you lower your guns?"
".. Excuse us."
Tock tock. 'While talking casually with those people over there, please check if there are any suspicious individuals.'
Following the Team Leader's instructions, which she gave while showing her ID and mask to ease their guard, in a way only I could hear, I carefully approach the people gathered in the center.
Perhaps because my face shows tension, or because the atmosphere is different from the field team members I've been with, I feel their interest in me. After all, my face is fully visible.
".. Hello, my codename is Counselor."
"Ah, finally someone who seems like we can talk to!"
"...?"
But that interest seems a bit excessive, as the man in a suit who looks like an office worker is the first to stand up and try to approach me.
Click.
Of course, his action is stopped when one of the field team members nearby points a gun at him. When I gesture that it's okay, they lower the gun quickly, but the man is already at a distance.
"Phew.. Guns at the slightest thing.. Who the hell are you people? What the hell is this place?"
"..."
A question comes, but without experience, I don't know how much I can answer. Fortunately, the Team Leader's advice that follows puts me at ease.
"Wow, quite a crowd here. Please take care of them, Counselor."
'If we can reassure them and get information with the response team leader here, it shouldn't be a problem.'
It was easy to understand that it meant using Yerin's ability to erase their memories, so I could relax a bit. First, I need to reassure them.
But I'm not that great at acting, and it's hard to immerse myself in pleading, so I don't want to lie if possible. To ordinary people suddenly dragged into a place like this.. It seems quite difficult, but there's no doubt that I'm better suited for this role than the Team Leader.
"We're here to rescue you. If not, we wouldn't have provided water and food either."
"If you're really here to rescue us, why have you kept us gathered in one place and unable to move for hours? Where are the police and what are they doing?"
The man's words are met with nods from others, probably because they've already felt anxious under the field team's coercive control where no answers come even if spoken to. It's rare to see people not in military uniforms holding guns. Checking phones with no signal, fiddling with plastic water bottles making noise, and having been here for hours without detailed explanation, it's understandable why they're uneasy. But that doesn't mean they want to go back to wandering alone. Now that they're with the field team, they have the luxury to complain.
"You are currently in a special situation. You've all seen and experienced it, so you understand that fact well enough, right?"
"For now.. yes."
"We are reliable experts who respond to such anomalies. However, we haven't fully grasped this situation yet either. Nevertheless, we've entered here, risking the same dangers as you, to find a way for you to return to your normal lives."
"..."
At my answer that there's no clear solution yet for this maze-like space, everyone stirs, but the fact that we're in the same boat and risking danger to save them prevents them from becoming aggressive anymore. If we can't get out, neither can they. In a way, we're just a bit more accustomed to this situation, and that shared fate seems to have succeeded in gaining empathy.
"Of course, there are people outside working hard to find a solution even now. Since we have little information at the moment, please understand that we have no choice but to control your movements to prevent any possible accidents."
".. In the end, you're just asking us to wait quietly."
This request is non-negotiable. Even if it's inconvenient now, it's a matter of life and death, so I can only hope they'll follow the control. So, I need to show concession in other ways to ease their emotions.
"But if there's anything really uncomfortable, I'll ask the field team members to improve it. That is, if you promise to follow instructions well from now on."
"Then.."
Blocking them from leaving the room freely is still necessary, but even when using the makeshift toilet installed in one corner, having a field team member always nearby to monitor seemed like it needed some improvement to me, and they also requested at least minimal information sharing. It's natural they don't want to wait blindly without knowing anything. After all, it's their own lives, and no one will take care of them in a real emergency.
While receiving various complaints like that, I also obtained quite a bit of information, and was able to talk with each of the six missing people gathered here. While conversing, I carefully checked the voices in their hearts, but nothing suspicious stood out. And finally..
"Um.. Have you seen my friend? She's wearing the same uniform as me..? We were together, but we got separated, and everyone else came but she's the only one who hasn't.."
"I'll definitely find her, so don't worry too much. It must have been hard being alone, right?"
"Hic, uwaaah.. Those people with guns too.. It was so scary... Thank you, oppa.."
"O-Oppa?"
After comforting the girl who literally started bawling for a while, my first mission was successfully completed. Perhaps because I comforted her for a long time without getting annoyed even once, I was able to gain the trust of the others as well.. Something like snot on my clothes is a minor issue.
When I finally joined the Team Leader, who had been getting information from the field team members separately, we had more information in our hands than when we first arrived here.
"Was there anyone who looked suspicious?"
"No.. I talked with everyone once, but there wasn't anyone particularly suspicious. Instead.. they said there's still someone who hasn't returned. It seems to be the remaining one of the seven missing people."
"I also heard that the field team leader hasn't returned for quite a long time. Seeing that they've arranged for everyone to gather in one place, she should have returned by now.."
I guess that's just like the field team leader, whose style is to jump in alone and solve incidents by experiencing them with her sturdy body.. They say she left her tails here with instructions to prioritize protecting the civilians and went alone, occasionally returning with missing people, but after bringing back the sixth missing person, she hasn't returned since.
"For now, I've received the map."
"Map.. the one you mentioned before?"
Flap!
"Ooh.."
"Yes, this is where we are.. the multi-purpose room on the 3rd floor of the building... And the arrows marked on each door indicate the connected rooms. It's still incomplete, but quite a lot has been drawn."
"..."
Holding the quite long paper that shows all floors up and down, which is more like a map if movement is only on each floor, but since the entire building seems thoroughly mixed up, the arrows jump several floors at once and are complicatedly tangled.
"It's incredibly messy.."
"Indeed, I'm not sure if this will be helpful at the moment."
".. Then what do we do?"
I thought that just meeting up with the other field team would improve the situation to some extent, if not reverse it, but it doesn't seem like much has changed. At my worried gaze, the Team Leader boldly folds the map.. Well, folding it once wasn't enough, so after folding it a few more times, she roughly stuffs it into my inner pocket and changes the subject.
"While listening to the people, was there anything particularly helpful for clearing this place?"
"Clearing..? No, I didn't hear any particularly unusual stories. After all, the current situation itself is the most unusual."
There is a sense of discomfort I've been feeling since entering here.. but that must be because of the deep darkness that doesn't match the time and the space that keeps changing randomly.
"That is true, but it's strange. They're not even stopping anyone from entering further.. and there's no sign of trying to check this gathering either..."
'If it's a trap, there must be a reason they're not touching it even now.. They don't particularly care even when people gather like this...'
Following the Team Leader who stands with arms crossed, looking at the long corridor beyond the door in front, I too was looking at the corridor that looks like something out of a horror movie.. when suddenly the Team Leader presented a different assumption.
'Or.. there's simply no need to do that?'
.. And at the same time, I accidentally voiced a fact that I too had suddenly realized.
"The doors in this corridor.. can't they be closed? I know they lead to other places, but it's creepy, so..."