Finally, the Surface (1)
We said our goodbyes to the Original Chimera, still groaning from its injuries, and left the Demonstration Arena behind.
With the collapse of the Central Staircase, every route to the surface had been severed.
And yet Arwen led me somewhere with complete confidence.
"Here we are."
Before long we arrived at nothing more than an ordinary corridor.
Aside, that is, from the enormous crack carved into its wall.
"You've got to be kidding. You want me to go in there?"
I ran a hand along the inner wall of the fissure, gaping open like the maw of a demon.
Cool rock.
Blanketed in damp soil.
"It's a naturally formed cave, opened up by an earthquake. It goes all the way through to the surface. The Original Chimera told us about it."
"Hmm... the incline's steep, but it'll do. At least it's nice and cool."
I cautiously set a foot past the edge of the crack.
It was wide enough for two or three people to move around comfortably.
"Still, this feels way too sketchy. It's not going to collapse, is it?"
The space was narrow to be called a cave — so tight and lightless that it could have triggered claustrophobia in anyone.
"The surrounding bedrock is fairly solid, so it should hold up fine for a while. The Chimeras have been through here many times, I hear."
"Really? How long until we reach the surface?"
"The Chimeras can't tell time, but... a rough calculation puts it at around forty minutes? Since we'll be moving diagonally, it'll take a little longer than the staircase would have."
Not bad.
Tap. Tap.
The cool, dark cave.
Our calm footsteps echoed long and slow through the passage.
With not a single ray of light anywhere, I had no choice but to cling to Arwen's hand — the only one who could see through the darkness — as we walked.
It made me feel like a little kid again.
Phew. If I were alone, I wouldn't have even dreamed of coming in here.
I bumped against the tunnel walls every time they narrowed, letting out stifled breaths.
The darkness was bad enough, but the way the passage would suddenly constrict forced all sorts of ominous images of what might come next into my head.
Still, it was a shortcut. I had to bear it.
"The Original Chimera said something strange. Apparently, even if we reach the surface, we won't be able to get outside."
"What's that supposed to mean? Ugh!"
Thud.
Damn it. I couldn't see a thing, and I smashed my knee straight into the wall.
I rubbed the throbbing knee for a moment.
"I'm not entirely sure either. A Chimera would hardly use figurative language..."
"Weren't you able to hold conversations with them?"
"Communication with the Chimeras is rather rudimentary. It doesn't extend to proper dialogue. Unable to go outside... I wonder if something is enveloping the surface like a barrier? As far as my records go, there was no particularly unusual equipment installed up there."
"Haah... something's up there, all right. I just hope there aren't any more 'events' waiting for us..."
My mental reserves had already been entirely drained by the bloody battle with the goblins.
From here on out, I wanted nothing more than for things to proceed smoothly.
All I could do was pray the Chimera had simply been mistaken.
Ah. Every time I think like this, something always happens.
Surely an earthquake wouldn't strike right at this moment and bring the cave down on our heads.
I glanced up at the ceiling I couldn't see.
Fortunately, my worry proved to be just that — mere worry.
I tensed up whenever bits of rock broke loose from the ceiling above, but...
nothing happened at all, all the way until we passed through the light-filled exit.
"Finally! The surface!"
A monumental step.
At last, I emerged from the dark cave.
Brilliant light surged in from every direction.
"Ugh. It's blinding..."
I shielded my darkness-adapted eyes with my hand, protecting them from the sudden intensification of light.
Given how harshly the sunlight beat down, it must have been daytime outside.
"Good heavens."
Unlike me, Arwen had no need to shield her vision.
She looked around, then let out a dazed gasp.
"Please tell me nothing strange is happening."
"I'm afraid there is. I hardly know how to explain it... it would be best if you saw for yourself."
"Hold on a second. It's too bright."
I kept my head bowed against the blazing light.
Even cupping both palms over my face, the sheer brilliance made my eyes sting and water.
Though... light this intense is strange in itself. Huh? The shadows...
As I squinted and slowly adjusted to the light, something odd caught my eye.
The shadows cast by me and Arwen — there wasn't just one of them.
There was no way this could happen unless there were multiple light sources.
"Now what the heck is this."
My eyes still stung, but once my vision recovered enough, I surveyed our surroundings.
Like Arwen, I couldn't hide my dumbfounded astonishment.
And no wonder — in the sky above, multiple suns hung suspended, each in its own arbitrary position.
That was why light poured down from all directions.
"I don't suppose... this is Earth?"
"It is."
And here I'd thought I'd reincarnated into another world again.
But if this really was Earth, then what on earth were those suns?
"Over there."
"Hm?"
"Something strange is visible over there."
Arwen, who had been turning her head this way and that, stretched out a finger and pointed at a spot.
To my left stood a modest circular structure.
From its center, a thin, slender beam of light rose toward the sky.
Is it connected to the sky?
The ambient light was so overwhelming that the beam seemed faint by comparison.
If Arwen hadn't pointed it out, it might have taken me an eternity to notice.
"...It looks like it's generating a barrier of some kind."
Looking closer, the top of the beam seemed to strike against a transparent glass wall and scatter in every direction.
Fragments of dispersing light.
Only then did I realize it: the entire research facility lay beneath a translucent, dome-shaped veil.
"That's what I see as well. Though I can't imagine what kind of barrier would make the sun appear multiple times."
"I don't know what it is, but that place is clearly the source of this bizarre phenomenon."
It was an assertion without any real evidence — but no other anomalies could be observed beyond that beam of light.
When in doubt, the suspicious thing is the culprit.
"According to the records, there should be nothing built there. It must have been constructed after I was deactivated."
"Let's check it out."
With sunlight streaming in from all sides, it was getting hotter by the minute.
Stay out here much longer and we'd end up with actual burns.
We hurried on our way.
Goooouuung—!
"Fortunately, the Director's card works."
As Arwen held up a card of translucent material, the massive iron door groaned open with an eerie sound.
A door of tremendous thickness.
It looked like something guarding the vault of a bank in a movie.
"Ahh. Sweet survival..."
The moment we scurried inside, we were finally liberated from the sweltering heat.
The structure was evidently built from material designed to block heat effectively.
"Hmm..."
"Any idea what this place is?"
"Hard to say. Judging by the layout, it seems to be some sort of laboratory. We should head for the center."
The route to the center was fiendishly complicated.
Perhaps out of fear of intruders, maze-like corridors and all manner of security installations stood in our way.
Every now and then, traps still very much alive would activate, chilling me to the bone.
"Without that security card, even ten lives wouldn't have been enough."
"I couldn't agree more. What on earth did they hide here that warranted security this thorough...? In any case, the building is so compact that we've arrived quickly. This is the final door."
Grrrung—
Arwen brandished the card, and this door too yielded without resistance.
"So this is the place..."
Inside, a small chamber came into view.
This had to be the very heart of the circular structure we'd seen from outside.
An utterly ordinary, empty space, devoid of any equipment whatsoever.
Yet at its center floated a peculiar object.
What is that?
A jet-black cube — a perfect rectangular solid.
Each side was a good meter long, and the massive cube hovered in midair.
Looks just like one of those cube monsters from video games.
The cube was spewing a column of pure white light upward.
No doubt that light was the source of the beam we'd seen from outside.
"What is this thing? Think it's safe to touch?"
It wouldn't suddenly activate and attack me, right?
"I have no idea."
I glanced back at Arwen, but predictably, she knew nothing either.
For now, I crept closer.
Nothing's happening.
Despite the suffocating tension, even with me standing right in front of it, the unidentified cube showed no reaction whatsoever.
Touching it with my hand feels too risky. Maybe I'll give it a poke with my sword instead.
BEEP—!
The moment my hand closed around the sword's hilt, a shrill alarm split the air, grating on my ears.
And simultaneously, blue light erupted from the floating cube toward us.
"What the—! I haven't touched anything yet??"
I sprang up, reinforcing my body, and stumbled backward in a hurry.
Yet no matter how much time passed, no pain came.
"Please calm yourself. It's only a hologram."
"A hologram?"
I looked up, and just as Arwen said, a massive holographic screen had unfolded before my eyes.
On the screen was a middle-aged woman.
Her faded, dingy blonde hair grew down to her shoulders.
She manipulated something for a moment, then opened her mouth.
"!"
We couldn't help but be startled by the very first words spoken by a middle-aged woman neither of us had ever seen before.
A completely unforeseen situation.
"Don't tell me there was a living person here? Do you know her?"
"No. This is our first meeting. She's not in my records either. Ah — could it be?"
Arwen seemed to have a suspicion, but before she could voice it, the woman on screen beat her to it.
"Good heavens — Dr. Ilena?"
"Who?"
"The doctor who designed me. You might say she's like a parent to me. She was a beautiful woman, too... well, time spares no one."
When I asked in a whisper, Arwen likewise lowered her voice and answered quickly.
Clap, clap.
Ilena clapped slowly, a warm smile spreading across her face.
"...How does she—?"
"..."
So the hologram had been made in the past, after all.
And yet the Ilena on screen adjusted the pacing of the conversation as though she were looking at Arwen directly.
Which meant she must have known Arwen extremely well.
Kukukung--
The sound of the earth groaning faintly reverberated through the small chamber.
I braced for yet another disaster, scanning in every direction — but embarrassingly, the noise had come from the screen itself.
The sound quality was pointlessly good.
The lighting on the screen flickered repeatedly, dimming and brightening.
The hologram's unnecessarily high resolution even captured gray dust drifting down past Ilena's shoulders.
She appeared to be in quite a dire situation.
And yet Ilena's expression remained utterly serene.
What a shame. I really wanted to know why the facility ended up like this.
"!"
Dr. Ilena had pinpointed Arwen's problem with surgical precision.
Which meant, surely not...