Reality Surpasses Imagination
The torn dinosaur drawing Shumain had drawn was carefully taped back onto the wall. The clear line of tape running right down the middle was a bit of an eyesore, but a T-Rex that perfect wasn't the kind of masterpiece you could just draw again. It was a shame, but it couldn't be helped.
"They cleaned us out," Victor said, arriving late and looking around the office. He seemed to have expected this outcome all along.
"What exactly did they take?" I asked Victor, diligently tidying up my desk. None of my personal belongings were missing, so I couldn't really tell what was gone.
"Just this and that," Victor muttered vaguely, but I could see that the files on his desk had shrunk significantly. I'd like to think my memory is pretty good. The files containing personal information and the locations of the laboratories—all of them were gone. Amy's documents were the same.
I started helping Amy and Victor gather the trash into one place. Ruined documents and broken furniture were piled up in the office area.
Rain, arriving late, silently joined Shine and me. Her desk, which was pushed right against ours, was just as much of a mess. She began sorting through papers covered in footprints.
"Did you lose anything, Rain?" I asked, walking over to her side.
Rain scanned the documents with a calm expression. "Most of the files with important information are gone. The computer too. It looks like the backup USBs were taken as well."
Even as she said this, Rain didn't look particularly worried.
I thought to myself as I bundled the papers. Normally, important information isn't kept in a place like this. It's usually stored in a separate archive or backed up on a private server. That was the standard. I had plenty of backup data stored away myself.
So... I tapped my fingers on the empty desk. It was a highly familiar motion. My small fingers danced as if typing on a computer keyboard.
I rubbed my eyes and shook my head. Right now, I had neither a keyboard nor a mouse. The fleeting thought sank deep into my mind once more.
As I sat blankly in my chair, Shine came over and poked my cheek.
"Jeff. Aren't you going to clean?"
"Yeah. I will." I shook my head and stood up from the chair. It was time to get moving again.
With everyone pitching in, the office was clean in no time. Amy called someone to haul away the pile of trash.
The office felt much emptier than before. Looking around, I pulled some stickers out of my bag to decorate the newly brought-in desk. Lucy's sparkly magic stickers made the desk look pretty.
Rain put her manga books into a small bookshelf on her desk.
Shine did nothing. Her desk was as bare as ever. The only things on it were the crayon set, colored pencils, and a few small pens Amy had gifted her.
Victor brought in some new, heavy-duty workout equipment to replace the ruined ones. A massive dumbbell gleamed in the light.
Amy did her best to make the office look exactly as it had before.
Though the cleanup ended quickly, breakfast time had long since passed. I slumped over my desk, clutching my growling stomach.
"I'm hungry~"
Usually, we ate lunches prepared by Amy. But today, there were no lunchboxes. Amy hadn't prepared them.
Amy, who had been sitting with a serious expression, jumped up in surprise when she caught my gaze.
I looked at Amy and patted my small stomach. I am very hungry. I sent her a look carrying that exact message.
"I'm sorry!" Amy apologized, finally realizing she hadn't prepared our lunchboxes, and pulled out her phone. "I'm so sorry. I completely forgot. I'm really sorry."
Amy kept apologizing. I smiled awkwardly and shook my head. Skipping breakfast was a common occurrence in the past. Skipping a single meal wasn't a big deal, but Amy's reaction was incredibly dramatic.
"It's fine, Amy. You were super busy today."
"Is there anything you want to eat?" Amy asked, tapping her phone.
At her question, I looked back at Shine and Rain. It seemed today's first meal wouldn't be chicken breast and salad.
In my heart, I wanted pork cutlet, but that was just my personal wish. Something we could all eat, and something with few detractors. Pizza was definitely the safest choice.
"Pizza!"
Both Shine and Rain loved pizza. At my shout, Rain excitedly swung her short legs back and forth. Seeing her hips wiggle, she was already too excited at the thought of eating delicious pizza.
"But... will they deliver pizza all the way here?"
"Ah."
I asked Amy, suddenly struck by a doubt. This was our new location. Even if we were using the same building, the location was completely different, so we needed to find out exactly where we were. Though, to be fair, I hadn't known where the old place was either.
"Jin said it, didn't he? That this place doesn't even show up on satellites." I said, recalling the forest Allen had created.
Was there a delivery person who could make it through that massive forest? Even Jin's friends had apparently gotten lost in it.
"That is a problem..." Amy muttered in a small voice and began dialing a number.
The name that flashed on her screen was Jin. After a few rings, the call connected.
"Jin? By any chance, where exactly are we?"
Jin's faint voice drifted through the speaker. It was too far to hear clearly, but I could tell exactly what he was saying.
The faint electromagnetic waves emitted by the phone naturally flowed into me. I could hear Jin's voice as clearly as if I were holding Amy's phone directly to my ear.
This was a first. I knew my control over my ability had become much more sensitive, but I hadn't expected it to be this much.
Eavesdropping on someone else's phone call was a very bad thing. But right now, the sensation of my ability expanding blew those thoughts far away.
The sound grew even clearer.
"Here? It's roughly near District 2, I think."
"What? Here?"
"Surprised, right? I didn't know before I got here either, but when I checked the coordinates, it really was District 2."
"But there wasn't a forest this huge there."
"Exactly. There shouldn't be any room for a forest this big to exist—if this were a normal place, that is."
At Jin's words, Amy's face contorted strangely. I felt the same.
"What exactly are you trying to say?"
"Allen covered the entire city in a forest and vanished without a trace. You know about that incident, right?"
"Yes."
"There was someone who helped Allen back then. That person is my friend."
"The one who got lost in the forest yesterday?"
Jin spoke in a confident voice. He seemed truly proud of his friend.
"Yeah, that's right. Using her ability, she moved this entire forest and our building together. This place is District 2, yet at the same time, it isn't."
My mouth fell open at Jin's words. Hearing that she had moved the entire building and forest, Jin's friend seemed to be someone with the ability to manipulate space. And at an incredibly high level, too.
There was one common misconception people had. They often grouped the ability to manipulate space itself and the ability to warp across space into the same category. When I first started working, I used to classify them under the same branch as well.
"I had a rough idea, but... that's a massive scale."
"Reality always surpasses imagination. So? Anything else you're curious about?"
Amy let out a small sigh at Jin's question and answered.
"Can we... get pizza delivered?"
"Pi... Pizza?"
For once, Jin's voice sounded completely flabbergasted.
"Are you that excited?"
I nodded at Amy's question. Right now, Amy, Shine, Rain, and I were in the elevator heading to the top floor of the building, toward the forest, to pick up the pizza.
The elevator numbers began to climb.
40. 60. 70. 100. 120.
Ding—
The rapidly ascending elevator displayed the final number and opened its doors.
As soon as the doors opened, the rich scent of the forest washed over us. The gentle breeze blowing in wasn't artificial, but a natural wind carrying the essence of the wild.
Just as I was about to step out of the elevator, I realized a stranger was standing right in front of us and clung tightly to Amy's leg.
"Whoa!"
"Hello~"
Vibrant red hair cascading down to her waist and pale skin. Her eyes also held a faint reddish glow, as if harboring embers.
The woman wore a playful smile. Her legs, stretching as long as Amy's, were packed with solid muscle. She was taller than Amy.
Standing at what looked to be nearly two meters tall, her presence felt incredibly imposing.
"You're Shumain, right?" Amy said to the woman who was even taller than her.
Shumain. The friend Jin had mentioned. Probably an ability user with spatial domination powers.
Her chest was big. Extremely big. Even bigger than Amy's.
I stared up at her blankly.
"Jeff."
As I was taking in Shumain's appearance, Shine's voice cut in. At the same time, Shine's hand gently covered my eyes.
I couldn't see a thing. Shine's voice was filled with displeasure.
I gently pulled her hand away and asked, "What?"
"Do you like them that big?" Shine asked, pointing at Shumain.
I thought about it. I had wished to grow as tall as Amy, but a height of two meters felt a bit overwhelming.
"No. I think someone around Amy's height is best."
At my answer, Shine looked at Amy and nodded. "I think I can manage that much."
What exactly did she mean she could manage?
Anyway, after joining up with Shumain, we stepped out of the elevator.
Shumain was on the quiet side. She answered Amy's questions diligently, but she never initiated conversation. She occasionally glanced at Shine and me, but when I got startled and hid behind Amy, she quickly looked away.
Shumain's stride was incredibly fast. As she walked forward with her long legs, Shine, Rain, and I had to jog to keep up. Only Amy could walk alongside her.
As I ran behind her swaying red hair, which looked like a ponytail, I felt Shumain's gaze on me once more. At the same time, her pace slowed down.
"Sorry. Was I too fast? It's been a while since I've walked with others," Shumain said, giving me a small smile.
I returned her smile with an awkward laugh.
The massive forest parted to make a path the moment we stepped forward. A wide, open path. It was covered in soft grass, which felt great underfoot. The surrounding trees even shook their branches as if greeting me.
"Hello!" I called out to the trees, remembering what Allen had said.
In response, the trees rustled their leaves wildly. To me, it sounded like laughter.
After walking for a while, Shumain stopped at the edge of the forest. I poked my head out slightly to peer beyond.
There was nothing at the boundary where the forest ended. Only a blank, white space existed.
"I'll be right back, so wait here," Shumain said, reaching her hand forward.
Then, something amazing happened.
The pure white space began to warp, and a small line appeared at the boundary of the forest. The line gradually lengthened and then split open.
There was no violent distortion. A small passage opened up there with absolute naturalness.
Familiar air drifted in from beyond the split space. The faint smell of exhaust fumes. Cars and countless machines. The bustling noise of the city flowed in through faint electromagnetic waves.
News, phone calls, radio, and computers. The entire state of the surrounding area flooded into my head in an instant.
My mouth fell open in a daze.
Shumain stepped through the gap. She blended into the crowd of people with perfect ease. Aside from her height, no one seemed to find her unusual.
As Shumain moved further away, the space began to close.
"Jeff. Why are you standing there like a statue?"
At Shine's voice, I closed my mouth and shook my head. The sheer volume of information that had rushed in all at once required some time to organize. Most of it was useless noise anyway.
I massaged my throbbing forehead.
Shumain, who had stepped out of the space, reappeared carrying several large pizza boxes. This time, she emerged from a completely different spot.
"Here."
She handed the pizza boxes to Amy and disappeared back into the forest.