“Dr. Pevalossam told me everything. You were the one who figured out Yun’s problem was some kind of dissociative thing, weren’t you, Alex?” The next day, during lunch in the cafeteria, it was Yuni who spoke to Alexander.
Her pale face was even more ashen than usual, with dark circles under her eyes. She staggered over and sat down in the seat opposite Alexander. Then, instead of food, Yuni placed a pile of books on the table.
“I rushed to the bookshop last night and gathered these up. All sorts of books related to that dissociative disorder thing. But I can’t get my head around any of it. Multiple personalities I can sort of get, but what’s ‘enactment’? Attachment, perversion, transference and counter-transference, separation, defence, context, narrative… it’s all just gibberish to me…”
“I’m not that clued-in either. I’m just as confused as you are.”
Indeed, the spines of the books Yuni had brought were emblazoned with the word ‘Dissociative’. They ranged from accessible paperbacks and introductory guides to academic tomes, a wide selection. As expected of a rich man’s daughter.
To Alexander, who was struggling to make ends meet on her meagre allowance, Yuni seemed incredibly enviable at that moment. And so, Alexander found herself staring blankly at her. Perhaps misinterpreting her gaze, Yuni looked awkward.
“And, I’m really sorry about yesterday. I completely lost it. I said some awful things to you.”
“It’s fine, really. Don’t worry about it.”
“...So, where’s Neil?”
“Oh, him? Doesn’t look like he’s in today. Probably chucked a sickie.”
“Right. Well, that’s good.”
Yuni rested her cheek on her hand and, with a sigh, confided in Alexander in a low voice.
“For some reason, the ASI have been chasing us since we were little. Not Lenny, not Elaine, but me and Yun. This bloke, Patrick Lerner, is especially persistent. He shows up everywhere we go.”
“Huh. Patrick Lerner, you say…”
“When I first met Neil, I thought something was off. You, Alex, you don’t put on an act or anything; your bluntness feels really natural. But Neil, he was acting so familiar with me, even though we’d never met. And that, in itself, felt unnatural.”
Yuni’s observation made Alexander start.
Come to think of it, Neil had been overly familiar with Yuni at the time. But Alexander had thought nothing of it, assuming it was just his usual way. He’s like that with everyone, she had thought. But from the perspective of a stranger, such behaviour would certainly seem odd.
“That vibe he has. It reminded me of Patrick Lerner. And what do you know, bingo. …Just thinking about Neil’s face makes me so unbelievably mad.”
Letting out a particularly loud sigh, Yuni, practically fuming, looked at Alexander with her crimson eyes. You’d never betray us, would you? Her gaze seemed to plead. But Alexander looked down, avoiding a direct answer.
Instead, she asked Yuni a question.
“By the way… How’s Yun been since? Is she alright?”
“Um, well, about that…”
Yuni gave an awkward, wry smile and scratched her temple.
“She hasn’t woken up yet. The psychiatrist came, and he gave Yun a sedative. She fell asleep, and she’s been asleep ever since. If it’s the usual pattern, she probably won’t wake up for a few days…”
Just as Yuni had said, Yun remained asleep.
If one were to point out a difference from the last time Alexander had seen her, it would be the presence of an oxygen mask, at most. She lay on her back, her arms placed neatly by her sides, the big toes of both feet pressed firmly together. It was the exact same posture Alexander had seen yesterday, a clear sign that she had not moved at all.
She looks like she’s dead, Alexander thought. For a corpse does not move. Especially not once rigor mortis has set in. And Yun’s current state was strikingly similar to that of a rigid corpse.
But she was not dead. Her heart was beating steadily, and when touched, her pale skin was still smooth and soft. It lacked the taut texture peculiar to a dead body.
“Strange, isn’t she? It’s been like this for her, over and over again, for years.”
Yuni said, looking down at her twin. “She’ll wake up, and things will be stable for a while, and then all of a sudden she’ll become emotionally unstable, go on a rampage like a completely different person, and then fall into a long sleep.”
“...Right.”
“And then she wakes up again, becomes unstable again… —For about ten years now, it’s been an endless repeat. There’s really no end in sight. I wonder how much easier it would be if it would just end.”
If it would just end. Whether those words meant a complete recovery from the illness or alluded to the finality of death, Alexander deliberately chose not to press her. She could see the tears welling in Yuni’s eyes.
Alexander had vaguely sensed that Yuni found her twin to be something of a burden. She was no doubt exhausted by the pathological relationship, forced to deal with an uncontrollable illness. It was, in some ways, unavoidable.
But Alexander also believed she understood that Yuni loved Yun more than anything. Which meant Yuni was now caught in a struggle between love and hate.
Had they been lovers, they could have chosen to break things off. But they were sisters, twins at that. Such ties could not be so easily severed.
That, too, was likely pushing Yuni to her limit.
As Alexander stood there, silently watching Yuni’s profile, the watch-style device on her left wrist vibrated, signalling an incoming message.
It was from the zookeeper, the woman who supervised the part-time student workers.
Excusing herself, Alexander turned her back to Yuni and opened the message. The ominous subject line read, I’m sorry, Alex. The content of the message was just as foreboding.
“What’s wrong, Alex?”
“...Nah, it’s nothing. Just got the sack from my job because of that incident the other day.”
“The incident… you mean when the white lion was shot…?”
“Yeah, that’s the one. Apparently, the shock was too much for the old lion. He died.”
Alexander spoke dispassionately, feigning composure. But inside, her heart was in turmoil.
The message stated that Wicked had died. And that, due to various circumstances, they had no choice but to let Alexander go. The end of the message repeated the words from the subject line.
—I’m sorry.
“...I really don’t know if I’m lucky or unlucky.”
Alexander muttered, closing the message. Just then, a new message with a photo attached arrived. She opened that one as well. Instantly, her eyes widened in shock.
“Alex, are you really okay?” Yuni asked.
“...No, this time I might not be.”
“Eh? What do you me—?!”
The new message was from ‘Neil Archer’. But Alexander knew at once it was not from him.
The subject line was blank. Neil always filled in the subject line, even if it was often just a single letter like ‘a’ or ‘e’. But as a rule, he always put something.
Furthermore, Neil always attached a photo to the end of his messages. It was always the same picture: a close-up of his pet cat’s pink nose.
But this message had no cat nose photo. Instead, attached was a picture of Neil himself, his face covered in what looked like bruises from a beating, slumped weakly on the ground.
And the message read:
—Come to the Sunrays Research Institute ruins. Alone. Otherwise, he… well, that’s up to you.
“Alex, what’s that photo?!”
Yuni, who had caught a glimpse of the photo of the battered Neil, let out a high-pitched cry that was almost a scream. Alexander tried to brush it off with a forced smile.
“This is something a posh girl like you shouldn't get involved in. Someone’s just picked a fight with me, that’s all.”
“Neil! Where are you?!”
As night fell, Alexander strode through the darkened forest track, shouting. Behind her, her father, his presence concealed, followed her, silencing his footsteps.
The ruins of the Sunrays Research Institute. They were located on the outskirts of the area where Alexander lived. A rural spot a little way from the city centre, surrounded entirely by forest, with no houses nearby. It was hardly a place for an unarmed Alexander to venture into alone, and so her father, pistol drawn, was following close behind.
She could not be sure how genuine the photo was, but if it was real, and if she were to leave Neil to his fate… it would sit badly with her. Even if he had betrayed her trust, for her own peace of mind, this was the only thing she could do.
She wanted to avoid any lingering regrets at all costs.
“Two hours of searching and still can’t find him. Where the hell are ya… Was it a fake after all?”
Alexander mumbled, illuminating the path ahead with the torch in her left hand. She could not hear her father’s footsteps behind her, nor was there any reply. But she could feel his presence, could sense that he was there.
“And why the hell did they pick a creepy place like the Sunrays Research Institute ruins? Gives me the bloody creeps…”
Once, a research facility called the Sunrays Research Institute had stood here.
It was a laboratory that had specialised in Abaddoselenium engineering. It was said to have been developing a system to efficiently extract energy from Abaddoselenium, planning for the practical application of that energy, and investigating the mechanism of the ‘space-time distortion’ that had opened up during the ‘Tragedy of Alftheniarand’. At the time, the Sunrays Research Institute had been a leading force in the Federal Republic of Alusthogrun’s Abaddoselenium engineering—for the man known as Pellmond Varlozzi had been on its staff.
However. In Alexander’s time, the Sunrays Research Institute no longer existed. It had happened about fifteen years ago. On a rainy afternoon, amidst a thunderstorm, the Sunrays Research Institute had suddenly vanished.
According to one witness, it had lost its form in an instant and disappeared without a trace. According to another, just as steam began to rise, the institute building had evaporated, turning into water vapour along with all the staff inside.
All that was left after the institute was gone was an empty clearing in the forest. The torrential rain that had fallen then had long since stopped, and the rainwater from that day was likely wandering elsewhere by now. No one knew the details of the accident, and everyone who had belonged to the Sunrays Research Institute had disappeared on that day.
Only one person remained. That great genius, who had now vanished from the public eye and was living a life on the run, hidden in the shadows.
“Neil, if you’re here, answer me! Hey, I’m asking if you’re here!!”
Into the cold, silent night air, only Alexander’s heated shouts echoed emptily before dissipating. She had been doing this for two hours. She had circled the entire forest surrounding the Sunrays Research Institute ruins, but there was still no sign of Neil.
Maybe Neil really isn’t here. The thought occurred to Alexander, and she stopped walking. She turned and looked towards her father, who had been following her all this time. He emerged from behind a tree and tilted his head at a forty-five-degree angle. His expression, too, seemed to say that he did not believe Neil was in a place like this.
“...So it was a fake. Suppose we should head back.”
Alexander muttered, then turned her palms upwards in a gesture of surrender to her father. Just as she pointed in the direction where she had parked the car, it happened.
The air, until then silent, suddenly began to stir. Birds that had been sleeping in their nests awoke at once; crows that had been perched quietly on branches squawked and took to the deep navy sky in a panic. At Alexander’s feet, a small animal, likely a wallaby, scurried out of the forest in a hurry, and countless insects also took flight, fleeing somewhere. From deep within the woods, a sound like a koala’s cry could be heard, and the presence of other wild animals also changed to one of bloodthirsty agitation.
Then, from the depths of the forest, two gunshots rang out. The first was a warning shot, fired into the air. The second was the sound of a shot fired at a target.
“...A gunshot...?”
A gunshot meant that there was a person deeper in the forest.
Alexander met her father’s eyes once more. He nodded silently and released the safety on his pistol. If there was someone there, it was highly likely to be the culprit who had sent that photo of Neil. Both father and daughter came to the same conclusion.
This time, Alexander stopped shouting and focused on concealing her presence. Keeping the torch beam to a minimum, she and her father moved quietly in the direction of the gunshots.
A few minutes passed. Alexander noticed someone approaching them from beyond the thin mist that hung in the forest. She and her father immediately hid behind a giant tree, holding their breath, waiting for the person to pass…
—but.
“I know you’re there. Stop hiding and come on out.”
The footsteps stopped in front of the giant tree where they were hiding. Then, they were told to come out from behind it.
“There’s an injured man. Lend a hand.”
Alexander looked at her father, troubled. He frowned and said in a small voice that it would probably be best to comply.
Her father stepped out from behind the tree and appeared before the speaker. Alexander peeked out from behind the tree and saw him. Her eyes widened.
“It’s been a while, Douglas Colt.”
A black fedora pulled down low. A long, black trench coat and black slacks. White leather shoes and black-rimmed spectacles. What Alexander saw was the man in black she had passed in the hospital that day—Elaine’s father, a founding father of Alusthogrun, Senior Technocrat Pellmond Varlozzi.
“...Yes, indeed. It has been a long time, Senior Technocrat.”
“To think the rookie cop who cried on someone’s doorstep is now a respectable father. Time seems to have passed much faster than I thought.”
Alexander’s father showed a look of bewilderment before Pellmond Varlozzi. In contrast, Pellmond Varlozzi wore a smile that could be taken as sarcasm.
“There’s no reception around here,” he said. “Now that the Sunrays Research Institute is gone, the communication network in this area doesn't work. The emergency lines are down, too.”
“...So, what do you want us to do?”
“It’s simple. You guys drove here, right? Then take this kid to the hospital. It’ll be faster than calling an ambulance.”
With that, Pellmond Varlozzi slowly lowered something he had been carrying on his back to the ground. The object, once on the ground, let out a pained groan. Looking closely, the shadow was Neil Archer, his face and body badly beaten.
After setting Neil down, Pellmond Varlozzi looked down at the bruised boy. Then, glancing at Alexander’s father, he said,
“You can get the details from the kid over there. And if you get a chance to see Patrick Lerner, tell him to quit ruining the futures of minors.”
“Yes, I’ll tell him. If I get the chance, that is.”
“And one more thing, Douglas Colt. Consider this a warning.”
The smirk that had been playing on Pellmond Varlozzi’s lips suddenly vanished. Her father, tense, clenched his fists.
“The one they’re after isn’t you, it’s your daughter. If you don’t want her in danger, shut down your detective agency immediately. And keep her away from those twins, Yun and Yuni. …Or else your daughter will be devoured by the darkness.”
Finally, Pellmond Varlozzi glanced at Alexander with his dull, blue eyes. A particularly strong gust of wind blew towards her. Alexander closed her eyes, shielding them with her arm. Her father, too, closed his eyes against the wind.
When the wind died down and both father and daughter opened their eyes, Pellmond Varlozzi was gone. Only Neil, groaning, remained where he had been.
“…”
But Alexander spotted something. A black shadow, like a wolf, running through the forest. As it fled away from them, she felt a stir of unease in her chest.
↑