“…The truth behind the Alftheniarand Tragedy, eh…”
It was early morning, and the public zoo seemed so sparsely attended that one might think it completely empty. It was not a popular attraction, chiefly for the reason that it kept animals locked away in cramped cages. In front of the white lion’s enclosure—said to be the zoo’s most popular resident—Alexander was sweeping the path with a broom, muttering to himself. The Alftheniarand Tragedy. It was the subject of the latest case taken on by the Colt Detective Agency.
The Alftheniarand Tragedy. The name was quite literal, referring to a tragic incident that occurred in a place called the Alftheniarand Autonomous Region. Also known as 6.24, it was the day an entire town vanished due to an accident at the Abaddoselenium power plant.
According to the stories, the Alftheniarand Autonomous Region had been attempting to commercialise power generation using Abaddoselenium. Whilst detailed information about the plant was never made public, the prevailing theory was that they had found a way to influence the Abaddoselenium to create thermal energy, which in turn boiled water to drive a steam turbine and generate electricity. The technology was initially considered theoretically safe; unlike uranium-based nuclear power, Abaddoselenium did not cause nuclear fission and thus produced no radiation. But Abaddoselenium harboured a problem of a different dimension entirely.
When Abaddoselenium possessed high energy. Mankind could not predict what would happen next. Not then, and not now.
Abaddoselenium was a substance from another dimension, something no one had ever seen or even conceived of before—it possessed neither atoms nor mass, yet it existed. Even now, nearly fourty years after its discovery, what Abaddoselenium was, where it came from, and what caused its existence remained a complete mystery. It was said that even its discoverer, the senior technocrat Pellmond Varlozzi , did not fully understand the nature of Abaddoselenium.
And what is now passed down in history as the “Alftheniarand Tragedy” was a catastrophe that no one at the time could ever have predicted.
“…It’s an incident from over thirty years ago. And one that happened in another country…”
On that day, a great, pale blue, glowing hole opened in the sky above Boston, the principal city of the Alftheniarand Autonomous Region.
That hole, referred to as a Space-time Of Distortion, or SOD for short, appeared and swallowed the town, reducing the entire area to a barren wasteland. And once the hole had finished consuming the town, it summoned new inhabitants to the newly cleared land.
They were monsters of hideous appearance, omnivores with no capacity for reason. Such creatures began to fall, one after another, from the great hole in the heavens.
Subsequent research revealed them to be life-forms with DNA not found on Earth, and it is said they continue to ravage the lands of Alftheniarand to this day. The hole in the sky apparently remains, still summoning unwelcome guests from another world…
Alexander remembered learning as much in a primary school lesson. The Alftheniarand Tragedy was an event from the distant past, famous enough to be included in textbooks.
“Hmm.”
However, the event known as the “Alftheniarand Tragedy” is now definitively considered an act of terrorism, caused by a premeditated crime. One of the workers at the Abaddoselenium power plant, the source of the disaster, was said to have caused the horrific incident to unleash his frustrations against the state.
The man identified as the culprit was Thirouswadd Arthur Ertl. He was known as the son of Arthur Ertl , a far-right politician who was a United States of North American senator at the time. It seems he himself had a history of being condemned for his involvement in a scandal—allegedly, he was involved in covering up inhumane experiments conducted by a munitions company he worked for. And he was also, apparently, a friend of Pellmond Varlozzi.
Thirouswadd Arthur Ertl. His name was as famous as that of the senior technocrat Pellmond Varlozzi; it was said there was not a person in the world who did not know his name.
And the client for this new case was none other than Mr Lenny Ertl —Yuni’s uncle, Elaine’s husband, and the son of the man labelled a terrorist, Thirouswadd Arthur Ertl.
“It wasn’t a crime, it was an accident… even if he says so.”
As a child, Mr Ertl had lived through the “Alftheniarand Tragedy,” losing not only his home but also his father. After the accident, he and his older sister, Theresa, moved to the Federal Republic of Alusthogrun. There, they continued to investigate their father’s past, believing only that it was not a plot orchestrated by him, but simply an unfortunate accident.
However, Theresa, who shared his conviction, died in a lightning strike approximately fifteen years ago. Since then, Mr Ertl’s life had centred around the twin sisters his sister left behind, Yun and Yuni, and at some point, he had stopped looking into his late father’s affairs.
But recently, he had received an anonymous letter. It stated that a video tape, one which held a recording of the truth of that day, was being kept somewhere in Alusthogrun.
“…”
In short, the current job was to find the sender of the letter and determine whether the information it contained was accurate.
But Alexander was not involved in this matter. Or rather, couldn’t be. Her father had forbidden it.
“Something about this case is dodgy. There might be more to it than meets the eye. So I need you to stay out of it.”
Alexander had, of course, objected. You were the one who told me to be your assistant the other day, isn’t this a bit rich? But her father did not retract his statement.
“Alexander. There are things you don’t know yet, and things you’re better off not knowing, ever. This case is probably one of them… I’m sayin’ this because I don’t want to see you get hurt. Just listen to your old man for once, eh?”
Her father’s eyes had been terribly serious, and his words seemed to contain no falsehood. So Alexander did nothing more, held her tongue, closed her eyes, and covered her ears. And she quietly stepped away from the ship she had been about to board.
“An accident, huh.”
But the whole story was hard to fathom. And she couldn’t accept it. How on earth did this become dangerous?
With that thought, Alexander took a breath. Hmph. The air she exhaled felt heavy, and her mood sank even lower.
She wasn't her usual self. She knew it better than anyone, and it was a fact plain for any observer to see.
“…Well, I’m not involved anyway. Right, none of my business. So there’s no reason for me to be thinking about…—”
“What’s wrong, Alex? Muttering to yourself like that, it’s not like you, is it?”
A woman in overalls had appeared behind the distracted Alexander. She was a zookeeper, mainly in charge of the lions, Bengal tigers, and grizzly bears. She was also Alexander’s supervisor for her part-time cleaning job at the zoo. “Oh…”
“Don’t you ‘oh’ me. What’s up, Alex? You’ve barely made a dent in your cleaning. Your broom’s not movin’, and neither are your feet.”
“…Sorry, I was miles away.”
“I know, I’ve been watching you the whole time. It’s no good if the bit at your feet is clean when the main path’s in this state. Look, there’s some rubbish someone’s just chucked over there…”
The keeper pointed. Under a nearby bench lay three empty cans, likely left there deliberately by a visitor. How had she not noticed them until now? Alexander’s palms grew sweaty. “R-Right, I’ll get it now!”
“No need to rush. Wicked’s not scheduled for public viewing today, anyway. We won’t be gettin’ any visitors in this area.”
“…Not for viewing?”
Alexander asked, looking at the keeper whilst continuing to sweep properly. Wicked was the name of the male white lion, the most popular animal in the zoo and the master of the very enclosure Alexander was cleaning in front of.
The keeper replied to Alexander’s question.
“Wicked seems a bit under the weather today. He didn’t have much of an appetite for his brekkie, and his poo was harder and shorter than usual. So I don’t reckon we can put him out in front of a crowd. Better to keep an eye on him somewhere quiet for the day. Hope it’s just a bit of constipation…”
Wicked’s an old fella now, the keeper muttered, before wandering off somewhere. Watching her go, Alexander silently prayed that the keeper hadn’t overheard her earlier monologue.
“…Listen.”
Wicked had been constipated. The problem was solved after a vet administered an enema.
With that one worry lifted, Alexander returned home in a relieved mood… or so she had hoped.
“Alexander. Just listen to me. No matter what you are, your mother will never—”
“I’m telling you, you’ve got it wrong. It’s not like that. It’s nothing, seriously. Yuni’s just a friend. That’s all, honest.”
“Are you really, truly sure?”
“That’s what I’ve been sayin’, isn’t it? Don’t you start talking crazy like Dad…”
When she got home, Alexander was confronted with another problem. It seemed her parents were seriously misunderstanding her, and her relationship with Yuni.
“Alexander, you’re a teenager. Isn’t it normal for a teenager to fall in love once or twice? Most people fall for the opposite sex, but you know, there are kids who fall for the same sex, too.”
“Well then, maybe I’m just not your typical lovestruck teenager. Besides, not everyone has to have a romance in their teens, you kn—”
“But you’ve never had a girl as a friend before!”
“Yeah, true, I haven’t. But how does that lead you to this conclusion?!”
“But!!”
“For cryin’ out loud, I told you you’re wrong!!”
No sooner had she returned home than she was subjected to this bizarre interrogation from her mother.
The thing was, Alexander had never had a female friend before. Not since she was a little kid. Playing together, going out together, just talking nonsense—it was always with boys her age… or rather, it was always just Neil. In the first place, Neil was the only friend she had.
And the same was true for Neil. He probably had no male friends either, and Alexander was his only female friend. Because Neil was the sort of person who was always thinking about food and had little interest in much else. …Probably.
“Anyway, Yuni’s an exception. It’s just, well, there was a lot of stuff that happened with her twin sister…”
“But your father said that Yuni is a very sweet girl. I heard she’s so girly it makes you doubt she’s really just your friend.”
“Just a friend. Nothing more. A normal friend. Got it?”
“Oh, you’re not being honest, are you?”
Alexander shot her mother, who was desperately trying to make her admit to a fiction, a look of contempt. A single female friend, and her parents were like this. Alexander had no words left for them.
What on earth do my parents think I am? That was the only question that floated in Alexander’s mind.
“Oh, come on, Alexander. Don’t look at me like that.”
“But, you’ve been going on and on…”
“Alright, I’ll ask you this then. Alexander, is there anyone you like? And I don’t mean like as in family, or like as in a friend.”
The question was so abrupt it made Alexander flinch. It might have sounded like a joke, but her mother’s face was deadly serious.
“…Um, well…”
Alexander Colt. Currently seventeen years old. She had never once been absorbed in matters of love or anything of the sort. She had been indifferent to such things.
“Don’t tell me there’s no one?”
In the first place, Alexander had no interest in other people. She didn’t particularly enjoy socialising and hated joining groups where communication was a necessity more than anything. So she never made companions, never sought them, and was never sought by them.
And because of that, she had been incredibly free. She wasn’t tied down by unnecessary baggage, and because she never got too close to anyone, she wasn’t liked by anyone, nor did she dislike anyone. Alexander loved that freedom more than anything.
“…”
To Alexander, every person was simply another person. They could be nothing more; she neither disliked nor liked anyone.
Even if she were to take an interest in someone, she figured it would surely become a shackle, holding her back. She hated the idea of her actions being dictated by “someone else”—be it not wanting to leave someone’s side, or wanting to avoid someone at all costs. The very thought of her behaviour being influenced by another person sent a shiver down her spine.
Such a life would be terribly restrictive, and undoubtedly dull. A life where you couldn’t function without someone else, where you could do nothing on your own. Such a life was unthinkable.
…At least, that was what the current Alexander believed. And that is why she said:
“I treat everything equally. So I couldn’t possibly choose just one thing from all that.”
“…Pardon?”
“I’m not interested in anyone. And that’s fine, isn’t it? I don’t get why I have to love just one person, and I can’t understand it. Don’t want to, either.”
At Alexander’s reply, her mother’s face tensed into a frown. Her expression wasn’t one of disgust at having her own views so directly contradicted, but rather one of suspicion, as if she sensed something off about Alexander’s statement.
Her mother’s gaze was sharp, as if she could see right through to Alexander’s slightly warped heart. Under her mother’s intimidating stare, Alexander involuntarily took a step back.
“…Well, I suppose we’ll leave it at that for now.”
You really are a strange one, her mother muttered, her eyes still fixed on Alexander.
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