On the way to the bus stop, on her morning walk to school, a young man with a bandana on his head—Neil Archer, recently discharged from the hospital—came up behind a solitary Alexander. He tapped her on the shoulder, peered into her face, and asked, “...Hey, Alex. Have you changed or something?”
“What are you on about?”
“Were you that shocked that I got out of hospital?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Well, ever since I got out, you’ve been kind of down. I mean, am I a nuisance or something?”
“I’m just knackered from juggling work and school. So tired I could die.”
“It’s not just that, is it? What’s up?”
“You’re annoying, just leave me alone.”
“And ‘that person’ has been showing up around you lately, hasn’t he? Did you do something?”
“I told you, I didn’t. You’re being a pain in the arse.”
For the past month, Alexander had followed her father’s instructions and had not met with the twins, Yun and Yuni, at all.
In the meantime, Neil Archer had been successfully discharged from the hospital and had returned to school. And Alexander and Neil’s relationship had returned to how it was before she had declared it over.
“Anyway, are you still spying on me?”
“I swear, I’m not. It’s just that ‘that person’ keeps catching my eye.”
“Right. …Well, I’ll take your word for it, for now.”
As she spoke, Alexander let out a huge yawn. Stretching her arms upwards, she recalled the events of the past month.
First, after her friendly chat with Patrick Lerner in the garden in front of the psychiatric ward, she had been caught by her father upon returning home and had been given a severe scolding. However, in front of her mother, Alexander had revealed the story of the listening device hidden in her watch. This time, it was her mother who had shouted at her father.
‘Spying on your own daughter at her age, and even bugging her! You absolute bastard! I’m divorcing you! I’m definitely, definitely, definitely divorcing you! I’m getting custody of Alexander. I’ll refuse joint custody. If you understand, then get out of this house now, you useless piece of filth!’
‘Don’t say that! You know how much I love y—…’
‘My love for you ran out a long time ago! If I say I’m divorcing you, I’m divorcing you! I’ll call a lawyer, right now!’
‘Please don’t! Please, just calm down, Ilya!!’
‘Get lost, you bastard! I’ll take you and… and…! You just wait!! You bastard!’
‘Ilya, please listen to me, Ilya!!’
After that, her mother had actually contacted a lawyer. And now, divorce proceedings were underway. Because of this, Alexander had not been to the detective agency recently. Since her mother had stopped making her father’s breakfast, Alexander had no reason to go to his office anymore.
“...Hah.”
“Come on, Alex. Sighing like that, it’s not like you.”
“...My parents are fighting about divorce and all that at the moment. Mum is dead set on it, and Dad is crying and begging her not to. I’ve got no idea how it’s going to turn out.”
“Crikey. Well, that’s, uh, you know… hang in there.”
“...That’s why I didn’t want to tell you.”
But even after that, Alexander had met with Patrick Lerner several times. Each time, she had managed to get a little more information about the Senior Technocrat from him.
As it turned out, despite what he had said, Patrick Lerner had been visiting the psychiatric ward frequently. On his way back from seeking Dr. Carlo Santos’s opinion, he would whimsically stop by to see Alexander and show her that notebook. And he would often tell her, without holding anything back, information and anecdotes related to the man known as Pellmond Varlozzi.
The story of how he had been ordered from above to monitor the Senior Technocrat, only to be found out on the very first day and subjected to an endless stream of sarcasm. The story of how he had gone to bust an illegal Abaddoselenium deal, only to find that the Senior Technocrat had got there first, taken down all the dealers, and made off with the Abaddoselenium. The story of how he had gone to bust another illegal Abaddoselenium deal and had run into the Senior Technocrat by chance. Of all these, Patrick Lerner had told her in detail about the time he had encountered Pellmond Varlozzi at the scene.
‘We received intelligence that an illegal Abaddoselenium deal was going to take place, so I went to the scene alone. And then, by sheer coincidence, I ran into none other than Pellmond Varlozzi himself. We were both about to raid the scene. It was, you could say, a case of bad timing.’
‘As for weapons, all I had was a single pistol. He, on the other hand, had two pistols, a machine gun, and two sabres strapped to his back. I suggested we should wait for backup from the ASI, but he insisted on going in. After a silent standoff to see which of us would go in first, it was decided that he would storm the scene and I would provide support… but in the end, my support was completely unnecessary.’
‘He took down everyone there by himself. He incapacitated them all, but he did it without killing anyone. Then he collected the tanks of liquefied Abaddoselenium and made off with them.’
‘He was strange at that time. His eyes were dead, he had no energy, and yet he dispatched his work with brisk efficiency. —Until then, I had only thought of him as a difficult chemist, but at that moment, I was forced to revise my opinion. He was not a Senior Technocrat, but a soldier, playing a role assigned to him. A soldier who had no regard for his own safety. I can only think that he has been subjected to some form of brainwashing.’
‘He did not escape unscathed that time. He had rushed into the scene lightly equipped and had taken several bullets from the enemy. He must have been hit in the left thigh, the right shoulder, and the left side. But he paid no mind to the blood flowing from his body and showed no sign of favouring his injured parts. It was as if he felt no pain at all. And then, having accomplished his objective, he left without so much as a glance in my direction. …After that, the tanks of liquefied Abaddoselenium he had stolen disappeared without a trace. We still don’t know where they went or what they were used for. We don’t even know what his objective was in stealing them.’
‘If one were to define pure evil, I believe he would be the most fitting candidate. He is controlled by ‘something’, and he is merely acting as its subordinate. As it is, he has no will of his own. That is why, if possible, I want to chain him up. I believe that, deep down, he himself wishes for it.’
Listening to Patrick Lerner’s stories, Alexander had realised something. The man named Patrick Lerner was, just as the psychiatrist had said, a serious person with a proper sense of justice, and the demonic figure he presented was nothing more than an act.
“My folks were fighting over divorce and stuff more than ten years ago, too. So, you know, I’m hoping it doesn’t turn into a messy court battle like it did for my parents.”
And every time Alexander met with Patrick Lerner, she would receive an email from her father.
—What are you thinking, Alexander?! I told you that man is dangerous! Whatever happens, I’m washing my hands of it!!
She would receive about fifteen such messages each time they met. Eventually, it became too much of a hassle, and Alexander had finally blocked her father’s email address.
Not long ago, she had thought of her father as somewhat great, but now, the only word that came to mind was “old bastard.” The small fragment of respect she had once held for him had been blown away by the wind.
“...I’m hoping for the same thing.”
In short, Alexander was currently unstable.
Lately, perhaps due to Dr. Carlo Santos’s enthusiastic influence, she felt herself being drawn into the world of observing the human mind. But at the same time, she was beginning to be consumed by a sense of distrust, an inability to believe in anyone. She had never been one to trust others easily, but recently, her suspicion had been escalating. She could no longer even trust the people she had once trusted from the bottom of her heart—her parents, her friend Neil.
A suspicion that they were doing something wrong in a hidden world she knew nothing about was constantly bubbling up, and it would not stop. And yet, she was trusting people she had only just met.
Dr. Carlo Santos, Patrick Lerner. The very people that others were spreading rumours about, calling them suspicious, were the ones Alexander was now beginning to trust. Or was it that she had no expectation of not being betrayed by them, which made them easier to deal with? If so, then right now, she was… —
“Alex?”
“…”
“Alex. Snap out of it.”
“...Ah, right. Sorry. I was spacing out.”
There was no sense of security anywhere. She constantly felt as if someone was targeting her, and she could not let her guard down. And she had a feeling that if she ever found herself in a tight spot, no one would come to her aid.
Having lost the vague sense of security she had once held without any real basis, all that remained was a sense of distrust that she could not shake.
“...Hey, Alex.”
At that moment, for some reason, Neil squeezed Alexander’s hand. He held her hand like they used to when they were in primary school and walked beside her.
“If you’re free, that is. After school, you wanna go out somewhere, just the two of us? There’s a new fancy café on the main street. Everyone’s saying their tiramisu is amazing, but it’s a bit hard for a bloke to go in on his own. You wanna come with…”
“I’ve got work today.”
“Then, some other day.”
“I don’t think I’ll be free for a while. I’ve basically got shifts every day except Monday and Sunday, I want to study on Mondays, and I want to sleep in on Sundays. Besides, you can go and eat cake by yourself. No one’s going to care if you go alone.”
Alexander violently shook her hand free and spoke to him in a dismissive tone. Turning her back on him, she walked on ahead, not caring in the slightest what expression Neil was making behind her.
“You know, you could have just taken the day off. To turn down a date invitation like that, you’re quite the heartbreaker. He must have been terribly hurt.”
Patrick Lerner smirked as he spoke, his gaze fixed on the bundle of documents in his hands. He did not meet Alexander’s eyes.
“What are you on about?”
Alexander, who had just finished making the beds and was on a short break, muttered as she made coffee for three people.
It was getting late in the afternoon. The staff in the psychiatric ward were unusually busy, and the air was filled with a tense atmosphere. Dr. Carlo Santos’s eyes, fixed on the same bundle of documents as Patrick Lerner, were also tense.
On the other hand, the one person who was completely relaxed was the outsider, Patrick Lerner. He watched Alexander preparing the coffee and teased her.
“My, my, you seem to be quite a dense girl. Don’t you think so, Carlo?”
Dr. Carlo Santos replied without looking up from the documents.
“Yes, I do. Dense.”
The two old blokes are on about something. Alexander brushed it off and focused on the task at hand, determined to ignore them. But Patrick Lerner’s annoying jibes were not over.
“Neil Archer. He’s in love with you. Do you understand if I say he has a crush on you?”
“No way. That’s just creepy.”
Alexander dismissed the jibe with a cold sigh. But Patrick Lerner was not deterred.
“Hah, this is why you’re… You’re incredibly dense when it comes to matters concerning yourself.”
Even in the tense situation, Patrick Lerner continued to play the fool. As he flipped through the documents, a smile played on his lips. But his eyes could not hide his tension—his brow was furrowed, a crease between his eyebrows, and the corners of his eyes were turned up.
What on earth is going on today? With that thought, Alexander carefully placed the mugs of coffee where they would not be in the two men’s way. Just then, another member of staff who had been watching her called out.
“Alex, could you get me one too, please?”
“Coffee?”
“Yeah, that’s right. No sugar, thanks.”
“Oh, could you get me one too!”
“Can I get one too?”
“Right then. I’ll make black coffee for everyone, and you can add your own sugar.”
Alexander took down enough mugs for everyone from the shelf, quickly prepared the instant coffee, and boiled the water in the electric kettle. Behind her, the two men were muttering something over the documents. The first thing she heard was Patrick Lerner’s voice, now filled with a seriousness that was a world away from his earlier tone.
“About the boy’s half-sister. Her name is Camilla Elster. Twenty-nine, female. She was burnt to a crisp by high-voltage electricity, and the body was in a terrible state, but we managed to reconstruct her face from her skeleton and confirm her identity.”
“And her profession?”
“According to Canberra City Police… she worked as an Abaddoselenium Engineer at the Goldman Institute until three years ago. It seems she was in the new drug development department. But she complained of an unexplained illness and resigned. After that, she bought a house, took custody of the boy from his father, who was suspected of abuse, and adopted her younger half-brother, living a modest life with him. Until the day she died.”
“…Hmm.”
“According to the autopsy report, the circumstances suggest she was simply unlucky enough to be struck by lightning. But in the last two months, there have been no thunderstorms in Alusthogrun…”
“None.”
“Yes, that’s right. It’s easy to conclude that it was an accident, but there’s no evidence to support that.”
“…I see.”
“I just can’t understand it. I can’t help but wonder if she really was struck by lightning. And there have been more than a dozen other bodies found in a similar condition in Alusthogrun. The age and gender vary. But there is one thing all the victims have in common.”
“Oh. And what’s that?”
“They are all Abaddoselenium Engineers. And they all complained of an unexplained illness for several months before their deaths. Fatigue, high fever, vomiting. …Doesn’t it sound like the situation thirty years ago?”
“It might be. When there was that fuss about all the albino children being born, one of the parents of the albino child was always in a profession that handled Abaddoselenium. …So, you’re saying this is an Abaddoselenium-related incident?”
“Yes.”
“And you ASI are looking for evidence.”
“You’re very astute. Although, it’s more me personally than the ASI as a whole.”
“…Then, instead of relying on a simple psychiatrist like me, shouldn’t you be relying on a doctor who also has a qualification as an Abaddoselenium Engineer? In fact, there’s a suitable person right here in this hospital, Aristide Pevalossam. Shall I give you his contact details?”
Dr. Carlo Santos glared at Patrick Lerner and made the suggestion. Alexander, feeling a sense of unease at his words, looked at him.
—He said a while ago that Lerner was a detective and a journalist. But now he’s calling him ASI. This guy is definitely not just a psychiatrist!
“Excuse me. You shouldn’t underestimate me. I’ve already made arrangements with Dr. Pevalossam.”
“You work fast.”
“I’m a top-class professional, after all.”
“…Don’t get too full of yourself.”
“So, Carlo, what I need you to do is to help with the boy. …We need to find and collect the evidence before it’s destroyed by ‘someone’. To do that, we need to get some clues from the boy. But…”
“The boy has developed aphonia and can’t speak. He grew up in the slums, so he can’t read or write, which makes communication by writing difficult. …His sister, his only family, died in front of him. The shock is immeasurable. He needs time.”
“We don’t have the luxury of time.”
“But, Patrick, he’s just a child.”
“I agree, it’s a terrible thing for a boy not yet six years old. But if we don’t do this, we’ll never know the cause of his sister’s death.”
Beep, beep, the water is boiled. The electric kettle made a loud noise, announcing that the water was ready. Alexander gripped the handle of the kettle and poured the hot water into the mugs, which already contained instant coffee.
The hot water in the mugs let off steam, dissolving the powdered instant coffee and turning it into a black liquid. The rising steam carried the unique smell of instant coffee—a cheap, oxidised aroma—and diffused it throughout the room.
Alexander then picked up a stirrer, stuck it into one of the mugs, and began to stir the hot water. As she did so, she pricked up her ears and eavesdropped on the two men’s conversation.
“So, Patrick, what’s the boy’s name?”
“I used every connection and threat I could to get the information disclosed. You should be thanking me. I had to whip those slave pigs into shape and give them orders—”
“I don’t need that information.”
“...Right, this is it. Please look at this document.”
“…”
“His identity was confirmed from the birth certificate issued by his mother, who abandoned him in the house of an abusive man who was not his biological father and is now enjoying a life as a glamorous celebrity wife. The boy’s name is Leonhard Elster. Five years old, male. According to the neighbours, he was a quiet and well-behaved child, or to put it negatively, a withdrawn and unsociable child. It’s likely that his life with his father, who would have beaten him if he cried, had an influence.”
“That’s quite an age gap. Even for half-siblings, twenty-five years… They’re more like a parent and child.”
“Yes. Most of the neighbours thought they were a single-mother family. The boy apparently called his sister ‘Mum’. And although they were half-siblings by blood, on paper they were parent and child through adoption. So it’s not entirely wrong to say they were parent and child.”
“...Mum, eh? So for the boy, she was more of a mother than a sister. That makes it even more tragic…”
Dr. Carlo Santos placed the documents on the table and sighed. He then looked at Patrick Lerner and said,
“I’ll tell you now, don’t get your hopes up. Traumatised children don’t talk much about bad experiences. And when they’re dealing with an old geezer in his forties like me, they’re more likely to keep quiet even if they do remember. So…”
“So you’re saying there’s a chance he’ll talk if it’s not an old-looking geezer like you.”
“But, Patrick, even with your baby face, I think you’ll be met with suspicion. If an adult in a full black suit appears in front of a child…”
“You’re absolutely right. To a child, an adult in a black suit is intimidating. Even a short, baby-faced person like me would seem scary. So I’m not going to do it. Besides, there’s a suitable person right here.”
Alexander’s hand, stirring the coffee with a stirrer, stopped for a moment. She sensed a bad feeling. —And then she heard an unpleasant voice. Patrick Lerner.
“Alexander. You were eavesdropping on that conversation just now, weren’t you?”
“Wait. She’s not even an intern. And yet…”
Dr. Carlo Santos tried to intervene, but Patrick Lerner grabbed Alexander’s arm.
“You heard a fragment of the information. So you’re going to help. —The daughter of the one detective that Pellmond Varlozzi is wary of, Douglas Colt. Why don’t you show us what that strong luck of yours can really do?”
Patrick Lerner’s laughter reached Alexander’s ears. Trembling, she turned towards them, a stirrer still in her hand, her face pale.
Alexander was led into the first consultation room, which was dimly lit by indirect lighting. A moment later, two more people entered the room: a blond, blue-eyed boy and a young male staff member accompanying him.
The young staff member bowed to his superior, Dr. Carlo Santos, who was waiting in the room.
“Dr. Santos, sorry we’re late.”
“No, it’s fine. So… —Mr. Baker, how is he?”
“He seems to be okay for now. He’s calm. He’s started to make a few sounds.”
“I see. He’s a strong boy.”
The young staff member guided the boy to the sofa in the consultation room and prompted him to sit down. The blond, blue-eyed boy sat down silently, perching on the edge of the sofa.
Alexander knelt down in front of the boy and looked into his face. Behind her, Dr. Carlo Santos whispered to Patrick Lerner, who was standing beside him.
“—…But, Patrick, are you really going to do this? I don’t agree.”
The boy’s gaze, with dark circles under his eyes, was fixed on the floor. His gaze did not waver, and there was no light in his eyes. He had a dark shadow about him that was not appropriate for a child his age.
As Alexander knelt there, looking at the boy in silence, Patrick Lerner, standing behind her, nudged her in the back with his knee. Resigned, Alexander began to speak to the boy.
“Are you Leonhard?”
The boy nodded, but his gaze did not move. What should I do? Alexander fell silent again. Dr. Carlo Santos watched them from a short distance away.
Then the boy began to speak in a small voice. With a voice that seemed to be squeezed from his throat, he said,
“...Camilla’s dead, isn’t she? The man with the glasses said so.”
The man with the glasses. At the boy’s words, Patrick Lerner, standing behind Alexander, reacted.
Does he want me to get a name? Guessing this, Alexander gently wrapped her hands around the boy’s small, trembling hands.
“Do you know his name? If you do, I’d like you to tell me,” she asked.
Alexander moved to a position where she could meet the boy’s eyes and looked intently into his blue eyes. The boy averted his gaze. And in a voice that was almost a whisper, he said,
“...I don’t know his name. But he said he was just a ‘passer-by’.”
“A passer-by?”
“...Yeah. He was wearing a black hat and black clothes. And he had a beard.”
It can’t be him, can it? —The boy’s words struck a chord with Alexander. She turned to look at Patrick Lerner, who was standing behind her, to gauge his reaction. Patrick Lerner met her eyes and nodded silently.
He took out a photograph and showed it to the boy.
“Was this the man?”
“...It was that man. How do you know?”
The boy looked surprised and looked up at Patrick Lerner. In response, Patrick Lerner said,
“He’s a famous person. All the adults know him. He’s a bad person. —I’m just glad he didn’t do anything to you.”
Patrick Lerner put the photograph away in his breast pocket. He then silently pushed Alexander aside and gave a hand signal to the young male staff member who was standing by the boy, telling him to leave. The young staff member glanced at his superior, Dr. Carlo Santos, as if seeking confirmation, but when his superior nodded, he reluctantly left the room. After confirming that the young staff member had left, Patrick Lerner sat down on the sofa next to the boy. He then stroked the boy’s head.
Alexander watched them and moved to stand next to Dr. Carlo Santos.
“...In the end, was I really necessary?” she asked.
“No, you were not,” Dr. Carlo Santos replied instantly. He then lowered his voice and whispered in her ear, “It’s his usual trick. He prepares a pawn. And if anything happens, he blames the pawn. You were in danger.”
“...If you knew that, why didn’t you stop him...?!”
“Do you think he’s the kind of man who would listen to anything I say?”
“...You’re right.”
The man in the photograph that Patrick Lerner had shown the boy was Senior Technocrat Pellmond Varlozzi, in a white coat, pointing a gun at the camera with a demonic expression on his face.
Under what circumstances had such a photograph been taken, and why had he chosen that particular one? Alexander had many questions, but she swallowed them.
If I interfere now, Patrick Lerner will do something to me. That was the feeling she had.
“...Is that man really a bad person?”
The boy brushed away Patrick Lerner’s hand, which was stroking his head, and muttered with a frown.
“...Because that man, he was trying to help Camilla. He did a lot of things for her, until she couldn’t handle the power anymore.”
“What do you mean? What was this ‘power’ Camilla had…?”
At the boy’s words, Patrick Lerner showed a hint of confusion. A different possibility, one he had not anticipated, had emerged. And to the bewildered Patrick Lerner, the boy told him what he had seen.
“Electricity came out of Camilla. At first, it was just a little, like static electricity, but it got stronger.”
“…Electricity from a human body…?”
“When the man came, Camilla couldn’t control the electricity. So he taught her how to control it. He told her to breathe deeply, to imagine a coil running down her spine, and to imagine the electricity flowing from her brain to the ground. He said a lot of things.”
“…”
“After listening to the man, Camilla’s electricity calmed down a bit. So the man was about to leave, but then Camilla started to glow, and then…”
“She burned. So you ran to the neighbour’s house and got them to call an ambulance. Is that right?”
“Yeah.”
When the boy nodded, the colour drained from Patrick Lerner’s face. His already large eyes widened even further. While the boy’s trembling had stopped, Patrick Lerner’s clenched fists now began to convulse. He looked away from the boy and muttered in a low voice.
“...The thing I feared has finally come to pass—!!”
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