A Misunderstood Rescue
"How old are you?"
Who was that woman who had just been waving at me with a gentle smile? And why was I sitting here? Cold sweat trickled down my back. Not only had I been captured by a terrorist group I'd only ever seen on TV, but I was now having a one-on-one interview with them. The small teddy bear they had thrust into my arms squished softly against my chest.
"Twenty-five. No, twenty-four."
The counselor sitting across from me scratched his cheek at my answer. Judging by the way his expression turned strangely awkward, it didn't seem to be the answer he wanted. My voice trembled because I was stiff with tension, but I wasn't lying.
"Hmm..."
He seemed to ponder for a moment, then began scribbling something on the documents on his desk. My hands were sweating from the anxiety. By the time the teddy bear in my hands was getting damp with sweat, he continued to pelt me with questions, starting with my name, then where I used to live, and so on.
"What about your parents?"
"They're both gone."
As always, whenever anyone asked about my parents and heard my answer, they would fall silent for a moment. Then they would wear a pitying, apologetic look, which I actually hated. My face scrunched up. Because this little girl's body was so honest with its emotions, I hid my face behind the teddy bear.
"I'm sorry."
"It's fine."
It really was fine. It was just a bit uncomfortable. So, I really wished they would just send me home.
"Could you... send me back to where I was?"
I was starting to get scared. They hadn't asked for any detailed secrets yet, but I didn't know when the torture would begin. There wasn't much information they could get from a low-level employee anyway. In fact, I probably knew less than they did.
"No!"
He barked firmly. His voice was a bit too loud, making me flinch in surprise. The teddy bear almost slipped from my grasp, so I flailed my hands to catch it.
"Sorry. Did I scare you?"
I blankly shook my head. There wasn't much I could say to the barrage of questions that followed. I simply did my best to answer questions about my favorite foods or what I usually did in my spare time.
"I usually stayed in the lab."
"And what exactly did you do in the lab?"
"I slept, ate, and read books."
*Sigh.* A deep sigh escaped the counselor. I wondered if I had said something wrong, but there wasn't a single lie in my words.
"Alright. Your name is Jeff?"
"Yes."
"Who gave you that name?"
I couldn't answer. Since when had I been using the name Jeff? I couldn't remember clearly. At some point, people just started calling me Jeff, so I simply went along with it.
"I don't know."
"Hmm..."
The counselor seemed lost in thought. The pen spinning rapidly in his hand caught my eye. As I stared blankly at the rotating pen, the counselor spoke again.
"Do you like your name?"
Like it or not, it was just the name I'd always been called. I had never really thought about it, so I had no complaints.
"Yes, since everyone calls me that..."
"I see."
A smile spread across his face. To think someone with such a genial face was part of a terrorist organization. He was truly a terrifying person. As I shivered, lost in my frightening imagination, he spoke.
"Did your identical twin also stay in the lab?"
I was about to answer honestly when a sudden sense of dissonance made me shut my mouth. It felt like a smoothly running car hitting a speed bump. Raising a hand to touch my lips, I spoke cautiously.
"Yes."
Twins... Twins? Wait, did these people bring me here from the lab not to extract information, but because they thought I was a test subject undergoing human experimentation? I recalled how strangely kind everyone had been. They had waved small dolls in front of me and even stuffed candies and chocolates into my hands. I had thought their behavior was odd, but my mind had been too clouded by the pressure of anxiety and the motion sickness from experiencing warp teleportation for the first time to think deeply about it. I felt the candies filling my pocket. I could hear the wrappers rustling through the thin fabric.
"You can eat those candies whenever you want."
To him, it must have looked like I was fidgeting with my pocket because I wanted a sweet. With awkward movements, I pulled out a candy and popped it into my mouth.
"Which of you two is the older sister?"
The sudden question made me drop the candy I was holding in my mouth. The fallen candy stuck right onto the fuzzy head of the teddy bear.
"Older sister...?"
"Yes."
Licking my lips at the lingering sweetness in my mouth, I fell into deep thought. When I peeked at him, he was still wearing that good-natured smile.
"Probably... me?"
Since my actual age was older, I was probably right.
"Great. Then what is your younger sister's name?"
"Her name?"
"Yes. Your sister seems very anxious. No matter how much we ask, she won't answer us."
I opened my mouth to answer his question. But no sound came out. It was that same feeling again. A sudden thump in my mind, like hitting a speed bump. It wasn't forced, but my thoughts naturally shifted.
"I think I should ask her first."
Shine hated letting others know her name. I had to ask her directly and get her permission.
"Alright. I'll see you again tomorrow, Jeff."
He tidied up the papers on his desk as if we were done. As I stood up hesitantly from my chair, he looked at me and said,
"When you open the door and go out, a pretty older sister will be waiting for you. Follow her, and she'll take you to your sister."
I headed toward the firmly shut door. The teddy bear in my hand swung back and forth. With that movement, the candy stuck to the bear's head fell off and rolled across the floor. The sticky candy rolled away and ended up wedged in a corner. After staring blankly at it for a moment, I took a deep breath and opened the door.
"Hello there."
A tall woman was waiting for me outside the door. I was overwhelmed by the small smile playing on her lips and the mischievous glint in her eyes. Swallowing hard, I answered slowly.
"Hello."
Her voice was identical to the woman who had run out of the lab holding Shine in her arms. It was her. Back then, she had been wearing a suit and a mask, so I couldn't see her face, but now she wasn't wearing any of that, allowing me to examine her features closely. The teddy bear in my arms fell with a soft thud.
"Follow me."
She picked up the fallen teddy bear, handed it back to me, and spoke. She wasn't overbearing at all. In fact, her voice was incredibly gentle. Yet, it carried a strange weight that made me follow her blankly.
The terrorist organization's building was quite spacious, and a massive number of people were bustling about. Their faces were always full of smiles, and they seemed remarkably free-spirited.
"I'm Amy."
Too busy looking around the building's interior, I failed to react to her words.
"What's your name?"
"Huh...?"
I looked up at her, replying a beat too late. Having introduced herself as Amy, she had stopped in her tracks and was looking back at me. I could sense her determination not to take another step forward unless I gave her my name.
"Jeff."
"Jeff?"
"Yes."
Was my name really that strange? No one had ever reacted like this before. As I was thinking that, I caught sight of my reflection in a large mirror hanging on the wall. It was the figure of a little girl. The teddy bear in my hand dangled. The girl, with long white hair cascading down, looked somewhat anxious. Ah. Only then did I realize why people reacted so oddly to the name Jeff. It wasn't a name you'd ever give to a little girl.
"Alright, Jeff. Let's get along well from now on."
Amy said, reaching out her hand. Her pale, slender fingers drew closer. I had seen with my own two eyes how a beam of light erupting from her hand had instantly sliced through specially reinforced glass. Shivering with anxiety, I imagined my body being pierced by that same light as I cautiously took her hand. Amy's eyes narrowed. She gave my hand a firm shake, then let go.
"Let's go."
Following Amy, we arrived at a small room. When she opened the door and I stepped inside, I found Shine sitting on the bed. Shine, who had been staring blankly at the wall, locked her gaze onto me the moment I entered.
"Ah..."
A faint groan escaped my dumbfounded, half-open mouth. The room's interior was dreadful. It was packed with dolls in every direction, and even the bedsheets were an obnoxious shade of pink. A fresh scent wafted through the air. On the desk sat an aroma diffuser meant to soothe the mind and body.
"Well, I'll come pick you up at dinnertime, so have fun playing together."
Amy said, then left the room. The door closed. It wasn't locked; it was simply shut.
This was the first time I had ever faced Shine directly. She and I had always been separated by a massive glass wall. Now, the distance between us was far too close. Keeping an eye on Shine, I sank onto the belly of a giant teddy bear sitting in the corner of the room. I was buried in its plushness. It felt like it could double as a sofa.
"Hi...?"
An awkward silence hung in the air. As always, Shine showed no reaction. Or so I thought.
Shine's sudden action caught me completely off guard. She got out of bed and walked toward me. Feeling a subtle sense of dread from the girl approaching in a straight line, I squeezed the teddy bear in my arms as if my life depended on it. Approaching me, Shine looked down at me, then squeezed herself right next to me. The plush teddy bear squished as we leaned back. Shine pressed herself tightly against my side. Her gaze remained fixed on me.
"Um..."
My words trailed off weakly. The moment I tried to stand up to avoid Shine's silent gaze, her arm wrapped around mine. My attempt to rise collapsed, and I fell back onto the giant teddy bear. Shine didn't do anything else. She just hugged my arm and watched me quietly. And so, time ticked away.
I had no idea how to handle this unprecedented reaction from Shine. As I let the time slip by in my flustered state, the plush texture of the giant teddy bear and Shine's cozy warmth eventually made me start to nod off.