LIGHTNOVELONLINE ! Emergency Request !
Sender: Senior Researcher, Benjamin Campbell
Recipient: ███, ████
Request: Requesting complete lockdown of Base 17 and large-scale strategic bombing, regardless of human casualties.
―Request denied
Reason for denial: Insufficient justification for the request
Additional message:
Researcher Benjamin Campbell, this is the fifth time now.
As you well know, Base 17 is home to numerous personnel of the Abnormal Phenomena Management Office, and like other bases, it manages countless oddities.
If you wish to make absurd requests like total lockdown or large-scale bombing in such a location, please bring proper evidence and justification instead of vague speculation.
I appreciate the trust you’ve built up to this point, but bear in mind that further unreasonable requests could lead to disciplinary actions.
Also, you are ordered to undergo a gamma-level or higher mental contamination examination within a week, so please comply.
―████, ████
After the chaos caused by the 1983rd entity swept through Base 17, the base had been quietly peaceful for the last few weeks.
Of course, there were not absolutely no changes. Abnormal phenomena in general tend to bring along various problems, so a few large and small incidents were essentially a given.
However, compared to the two previously occurring incidents, those were merely trivial problems.
Fortunately, without lockdown or deployment of the Special Task Force, Base 17 had been continuing a quite mundane daily routine as if it had received compensation for the chaotic events of the past few weeks.
As for the changes that had taken place with 163-19 during that time…
First, I can state that the number of people within the base who knew about entity 19 had significantly increased.
Well, that’s understandable. Like a few other anomalous entities before it, a harmless and cute entity is bound to attract positive attention from researchers.
Of course, it was still an anomalous entity that had been discovered less than six months ago, and similar to other anomalies, it was kept under controlled conditions with limited contact and isolation protocols.
However, the various tests and research records 19 had undergone clearly showed that it posed no threat whatsoever.
Thus, considering that the entity was essentially classified as completely safe, it wasn’t all that strange for other researchers to request to observe experiments under some pretext.
Among the researchers at Base 17, entity 19 was regarded simply as an ordinary girl who had crossed over from a dimension gate.
…Except for one person here.
Researcher Oliver Smith.
“….”
“It’s confirmed,” Oliver murmured confidently.
He was currently staring intently at the data related to an anomalous entity he had suspected for some time.
The unidentified girl who came through the dimension gate.
Referred to as 163-19.
Despite numerous tests conducted by the research department finding no notable traits or issues with her, he had noticed that something mysterious was happening around entity 19, including the escape incident concerning entity 871. Thus, he secretly began gathering data on the girl.
Now, several weeks after the incident involving the 1983rd entity concluded, he had come to firmly believe that the reason for the neutralization of the two anomalous entities was undoubtedly tied to that particular anomalous entity.
The logs of the position tracker filled with errors over a short period.
The camera in the cognition assessment lab, which had happened to be broken.
The interview records of the agents who escaped from the 1983rd entity.
All of this evidence pointed to the fact that entity 19 had definitely visited beyond the gate on the very day the last sudden incident occurred.
Now, all that remained was for him to decide how to handle that anomalous entity.
Oliver pondered carefully about what outcomes his decision might lead to.
‘But, why?’
The first question that crossed his mind was about Agent Henry.
The interior of 1983 was certainly not a place where any human could survive.
It was a space controlled by something incomprehensible, malicious, and dreadful.
No one who had entered 1983 had ever escaped alive, and due to the events that occurred during the last survey, the research department had given up on further explorations, simply trying their best to ensure that whatever was inside could not escape into reality.
Yet, a single anomalous entity that, through all tests and experiments, seemed nothing extraordinary did indeed go inside the unknown of the anomalous entity and smoothly emerged after rescuing an agent who had gone missing a few days prior?
Upon realizing the peculiar actions shrouded in mystery—actions whose motivations and reasons were unclear—Oliver began to feel a headache coming on.
‘For now, let’s put off figuring out how that was even possible.’
He prioritized his thoughts in his mind.
After all, she was an anomalous entity that came from a portal. It wouldn’t be strange for her to possess powers that could not be uncovered through regular tests.
The fact that she couldn’t be detected by the research department’s assessments was already much too far from the norm, but he still couldn’t totally dismiss that hypothesis.
What was truly important was why entity 19 acted that way.
If the anomalous entity were trying to inform him or show someone what it had done, that might have been more understandable.
It’s usually not too hard to handle beings that deliberately strive to show they are harmless and helpful.
Such beings often hide ulterior motives anyway.
But entity 19 was different.
It neither actively conveyed that it was harmless nor seemed friendly enough to approach anyone.
The researchers’ dealings with the anomalous being were solely due to its docile nature and appearance; records indicated that entity 19 did not particularly enjoy the touch of others.
However, considering that numerous personnel from Base 17 and the missing Agent Henry had survived during the previous two emergencies, it could only be viewed as her having caused beneficial effects for humans while intentionally trying to conceal that fact.
It was incomprehensible.
No matter how many times he thought about it, he couldn’t grasp the reason.
No, he might actually know.
Those who provide assistance without expecting anything in return do indeed exist in reality, albeit in limited quantity.
Perhaps among the beings referred to as abnormal phenomena, one that could finally understand humans had emerged.
However, that felt like, like――――
“――Name, Oliver Smith, Age, 48, Birthday, August 17, Hometown, Augusta, Maine…”
Suddenly, Oliver began muttering his personal information with his eyes closed. It was a self-diagnosis method for assessing mental contamination.
But after he finished speaking and the assessment concluded, he still found nothing unusual.
Of course, it was expected; he had undergone screenings for mental contamination several times.
He was already well aware that the powers exercised by that anomalous entity were not at least related to mental contamination.
So why did he suddenly execute a self-assessment method that held no use?
Well, even he might not precisely know that.
His experiences rolling in this field, his fixed notions about abnormal phenomena, and various other experiences.
It was as if he couldn’t accept expecting anything from an unidentified anomalous entity.
During the execution of the diagnostics, as he barely sorted out his thoughts, he opened his eyes again, wearing an expression filled with resolve.
Yes, an anomaly is an anomaly.
Humans are incapable of understanding them, nor do they attempt to understand humans.
The only way to handle those unidentified beings that refuse to acknowledge laws, rules, societies, or even human lives is to maintain control.
There was only one task he needed to undertake now.
After sending the data on anomalous entity 163-19 to the management office, he would temporarily elevate its danger level and set a corresponding alert status―――――
――ding!
At that moment.
A soft and clear sound resonated near Oliver, who was manipulating the screen in front of him.
‘…A bell sound?’
It was undoubtedly the sound of a bell.
Though small, it was clear enough to be unmistakably recognized—a bright, ringing sound.
Not knowing where or why it was ringing, he began to wonder if he had just imagined something or heard an auditory hallucination.
But the bell sound continued to resonate, spreading a clear tone around him regardless of his thoughts.
――ding!
The second bell sound rang.
Still small and gentle, but clearly ringing.
Thanks to the indistinct sound ringing in his ear, Oliver realized it wasn’t a hallucination, and soon recalled something connected to an abnormal phenomenon.
It was one of the anomalies stored at Base 20, which had been completely lost due to an incident, making it impossible to find again.
The moment it rang three times, it would incapacitate every human in a narrow radius.
And that incident was surely due to a theft by some hostile organization―――
“This is bad…!”
Upon realizing this, Oliver immediately reached beneath his desk.
What lay there was an emergency switch capable of triggering an alarm throughout Base 17 with just a press.
Thanks to his quick judgment and swift action, his hand reached the switch in no time at all.
――ding!
However, the sound of the third bell caused him to freeze just before he could press the switch.
“―――――”
Unable to move.
His heart raced, his breathing continued, and he felt sensations, yet…
His body refused to obey him, as if it had turned into stone.
If only he could move just a bit, he was confident he would be able to hit that switch, but his consciousness remained trapped within a body that had completely seized up, and he could only sit there in shock.
――knock knock
A cautious knock came from beyond the door.
Oliver had no way to respond.
After all, he literally couldn’t lift a single finger at that moment.
And someone on the other side of the door seemed to have already recognized that fact.
Despite not receiving any reply for the knock, the person opened the door without hesitation.
―click
With heavy footsteps, someone walked into the room.
Dressed in monk attire layered with a tactical vest, a peculiar individual masked their face.
It was an anachronistic outfit that could have passed for Halloween, but there was no colorful parts on the gun held in their right hand.
The strange, oppressive atmosphere flowing off them proved that they were not simply someone donned in an odd costume.
“….”
After moving the not-so-long distance, the monk finally reached Oliver’s eye level.
Despite his face being completely concealed by the mask, he stared intently at the frozen Oliver without any sign of difficulty in sight.
Then, raising his unarmed hand, he placed it together as if in prayer.
“Long time no see, Researcher Oliver,”
He began with a weighty, deep voice, delivering a simple greeting to the immobilized Oliver.
The owner of that voice remained imprinted in Oliver’s memory.
It undoubtedly belonged to a man who was the leader of an organization hostile to the management office.