The Terrible Snails (4)

“Waaah! Just where the heck am I?!”

I'd been in the sewer for roughly thirty minutes now.

And I still hadn't found the source of the problem. It was definitely somewhere around here, but I couldn't see it, and it was driving me crazy!

Because of that, fury welled up from deep inside me, and I stomped my foot against the floor again and again. It only eased my mood a little — it solved nothing.

“Uuugh… Fine, there's no help for it!”

My tail, which had been thrashing with anger, stilled, and I began to peer into the future.

What I was about to do was a method I didn't normally use. To be precise, it was a method I found too much of a hassle to bother with.

Namely: using the same technique I'd used to escape the research lab — viewing a vast number of possible futures. The problem was that, unlike the door I'd peered into back then, I had to look through far, far more futures now.

Which was only natural. A door has, to some degree, a limited future. But did a being capable of moving about freely have a limited future?

Of course not.

If I chose A, that didn't mean future B was guaranteed to come to pass. There were far too many variables — futures C, D, E and beyond could come calling instead!

Mind you, doors had their share of variables too, but nothing like as many as a freely moving creature like me. Which was exactly why I found this method such a chore.

Ah, though of course escaping the lab was an exception. That one couldn't be helped.

Anyway, I began sifting through futures of mine beyond counting, discarding one after another that veered wrong or down bad paths, searching for a single future that worked.

About ten minutes passed like that?

At last, I found the future I wanted!

But something else's future was tangled up in it. It seemed the reason I'd been able to find my way so quickly was this being.

She appeared to be a woman — in a sense, she'd become a guidepost for my future-sight.

“Hmm…. Well, that's a shame.”

This person had about a 99% chance of dying. The very person who had, for all intents and purposes, guided me here.

Of course, there was roughly a 1% chance she survived. But almost none of those futures showed her coming through unscathed — in most, she was seriously injured.

“Hmmm…. Well, first things first — let's hurry.”

On the off chance, I started running to try and save the woman completely. Though I was half-resigned to the fact that I couldn't.

The truth was, I could barely interfere with human futures or fates. I could nudge small changes in behavior, but a future this close to fixed was beyond my reach.

So all I could do was pray for her to survive against impossible odds.

Praying silently that she would live, I picked up the pace.

Hopping along through the sewer, I followed the path I'd glimpsed in the future. After running for a few minutes, there — in front of a certain room — was a snail, of all things?

That room was probably where the woman was. So I immediately dropkicked the snail.

The snail took my kick and died on the spot! Stepping on its corpse, I landed inside the room.

And there I beheld an astonishing sight. The woman who, in countless of the futures I'd seen, had died or been gravely injured was alive and completely whole!

“Oh, you're alive. Talk about impossible odds.”

Wagging my tail, I observed the woman. Thankfully, she wasn't hurt anywhere. A genuinely lucky person.

Well, as long as she lived, that was what mattered.

I flung the snail's corpse far away to clear a path out of the room. Then I smiled lightly and said,

“Now then, off you go. I don't make a hobby of eating humans.”

My plan was to look for the orb once all these people got out. That's why I'd cleared the way for them — when suddenly the woman in front of me threw her arms around me?

“Thank you so much!”

Hm. This was a first since I'd become an Anomaly.

The woman was so overjoyed she was crying. I tried to peel her off, but she absolutely would not let go. Ugh, what a bother.

But she clearly wasn't letting go anytime soon, so I awkwardly returned the hug. Temporarily giving up on detaching her, I let my gaze drift past her shoulder.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Behind her were roughly a dozen or so people. Every one of them was looking at me with strange expressions. Most were horror or dread — they were clearly terrified of me.

Which made the woman currently hugging me the odd one out.

Anyway, I pried the woman off again, and this time she didn't resist.

“Go on, hurry.”

“Okay. Everyone! Let's move!”

At her words, everyone headed for the exit even as they cowered from me. They just wanted out of this situation as fast as possible, I supposed.

So they all filed past me and out the door. Even as they left, they kept eyeing me warily — proof that the woman who'd hugged me really was the strange one.

“Whew. Now then, shall we wrap this situation up?”

The room felt empty once everyone had gone.

They'd all make it out fine. I'd sorted out the route on my way here, so they should be okay.

Since I had business of my own, I swished my tail and headed out as well. After walking a short while, I arrived in front of yet another room.

“Ahem. Here it is.”

The instant I flung the door open, I saw it — a purple orb. The orb floated in midair, radiating a dark violet glow.

I walked up to the orb. Then I raised my fist and thrust it straight out.

“Hyaah!”

WHAM!

With a tremendous sound, the orb cracked… no, it didn't crack at all. If anything, it seemed to shine even brighter.

“Grrr…. What is it so hard?!”

The impact rebounded straight back into me and my tail shot bolt upright. Worse, the tail started buzzing with static, and I had to stroke it with my hand to smooth it back down.

If Jia had been here, she would have given it a massage.

Of course, I didn't forget to glare at the orb that had inflicted this pain on me. And as I glared at it for a while, a theory occurred to me.

“Hmmm…. Could it be… this thing rejects Anomalies?”

Why, though? The question nagged at me. Normally, an Anomaly would never attack ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠another Anomaly, so while this thing blocked human attacks, this was different.

Well, did it matter right now? Solving the problem was what mattered.

So, having no other choice, I started searching the area for something made by humans. Anything man-made would probably do.

After a brief scan of the floor, I acquired a single iron pipe!

“Yes! This'll do the trick!”

Looking at the iron pipe in my hand, my tail swayed with a flicker of anticipation. And my instincts were telling me this would work, too!

Standing before the orb, I swung the iron pipe straight down.

CLANG!

A clear, ringing note filled the room. But the orb didn't gain a single scratch. I raised the pipe for a second strike, and just then—

CRACK.

“Just as I thought!”

Exactly as I'd predicted, the orb split with a web of cracks and shattered. At the sight, not only my face but my tail wagged joyfully too.

Still, just to be safe, I pricked my ears up and gathered every sound around me. A moment later, I confirmed that the unpleasant chorus of snails had gone silent!

What's more, some were dying in real time — some letting out agonized screams.

“So this orb was what moved the snails.”

Not that it mattered. I'd already smashed it!

Finally, I was rid of those insufferable snails! Overjoyed at the fact, I threw my arms up in triumph!

“Alright! Time to head home!”

Now it was time to return to the research lab!

Time to go eat pudding~.

Excited at the thought of pudding, I bounded and hopped all the way back to the lab.

“Ack! Let go!”

“Nope~. I'm holding on a while longer!”

The moment I got back to the lab, I headed straight into the quarantine room. And just as I was about to happily dig into my pudding… Jia grabbed me.

I thrashed and struggled to break free, but there was no escaping her. Just how strong had this girl gotten, exactly?

If I actually put my strength into it right now, she'd go flying into the distance — but she didn't seem to care one bit.

So I sighed and asked why she was hugging me. If her reason was at least something I could understand, I was willing to indulge her.

And her reason was that she hadn't seen me for an entire day.

“At the very least, let me eat my pudding!”

“Okay, okay.”

Through negotiation, I barely managed to free my right arm and immediately raised my spoon. Then I dove into the pudding, one blissful spoonful at a time.

“Mmm..! That's the stuff!”

“Ack..!”

Wiggling my legs and ears, I slowly savored the pudding. Jia's face bumped against my ears from behind as she hugged me, but I didn't particularly mind.

While munching on my pudding, I focused on the news drifting out of the screen. The airwaves were buzzing with talk of the snail disaster I'd resolved.

Lots of chatter, sure — but every broadcast came down to the same question: where, why, and how had the snail Anomaly appeared?

Whether it was because I'd resolved things so quickly, or for some other reason, I couldn't say — but apparently no one knew the cause of the snail Anomaly's appearance at all.

The only thing they did know was that I'd been nearby when the whole incident broke out.

So they were pairing me with the snail Anomaly and spewing every theory imaginable. Of course, the bulk of it was bad press.

Roughly along the lines of: Didn't Spoiler Fox show up leading the snail Anomaly?!

Jia clearly didn't like hearing it, though.

“Grrr. This fox is so adorable. How could they say such things!”

“Mm-hm. Totally agree.”

Not that I had any intention of clearing my name. My goal, after all, was to implant the perception in people that I was dangerous, so that no restrictions would be placed on my movements.

And that goal was currently cruising along splendidly! Hence my freewheeling escapes and wanderings.

Nom.

“Mmm..!”

“Agh..!”

Pudding really is delicious!

My ears started wiggling again and brushed against Jia's face, but I paid it no mind.

So I kept watching the news as I ate. I could have switched channels, but it was morning, and nothing fun was on.

“Hm?”

Then, as I watched, I glanced at the desk. A newspaper lay there — probably left out by Jia for me to read.

But that wasn't the important part. In one corner of the front page, there was a story about me!

So I set down my spoon and picked up the paper. And I began to read the article printed there.

“Huh? What's this?”

“What? What is it?”

I tilted the paper so Jia could read it too, all while feeling a strange sense of wonder. Because what was written here was praise for me!

To summarize: it was a speculative article suggesting that, in fact, Spoiler Fox might not be a bad Anomaly.

Well, there was plenty of rambling, but the conclusion was this:

“So it was a human I saved, huh.”

Probably written by that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠pretty woman. Who knew she'd turn out to be a journalist?

When Jia read the article, she was thrilled that at last someone had recognized my true worth. But I felt a complicated, murky tangle of emotions.

Wait. Me? An Anomaly?

I revised my internal assessment of her — from curious woman to woman with very strange tastes.

What a bizarre person.