Case 00: Chapter One (5)

(What the hell do you mean?)

I shouted out loud, but my words were so fleeting they were scattered by the wind. I'm not even sure if they spilled over into the real world. But it seemed this girl could hear everything I say.

"I don't like being on the ground. Let's go somewhere we can look down on the world."

The girl in black stood up and held out her white hand like the belly of a dead fish.

And once more, she sneered. Her lips twisted like that of a red pomegranate.

"If a lady holds her hand out, it's considered polite to respectfully support it from below, isn’t it?"

As if enticed by those words, I reached my hand out, and at that moment—

--*Whooosh* A raging wind blew through.

I unintentionally covered my face. The raging wind smacked me from all four directions, and before I'd realized, my body, which originally felt no weight, was lifted off the ground. I couldn't open my eyes. It wasn't so much the strength of the wind as it was fear. An absolute fear that pierced through my sensory organs, which had become so devoid of emotion. Together with a sense of despair of not being able to resist no matter what I did -- Why was it? A different emotion overflowing inside me painted over that.

Once….before… I had been in the midst of this sensation...repeatedly. The feeling of going against the warning voice in my head telling me to stop, and stepping foot into the depths of darkness. With my eyes shut tight, and being enveloped in a sense of anxiety as my knees shook – In that world that made my lower stomach twist and turn, I grabbed the hand of the girl dressed in black. The feeling was also somewhat nostalgic. Ah, that’s right. When I was in the midst of fear, I always clasped someone’s hand. There was someone always next to me, someone who I could never trust, and yet, someone more trustworthy than anyone else in the world. However, that person’s hand didn’t have the dreadfulness of this young girl dressed in black. She was cold, like a corpse, but peeling beyond the dozens of layers of despair, it felt like there was endless warm blood.

“We’re here!”

A clear voice like that of a young boy echoed—

When I opened my eyes, I found myself on top of a tall building.

It must have been one of the commercial buildings in front of the station. I looked around and I could see the café I had just been in below me. You couldn’t tell unless you strained your eyes, but M and the others were still there. The four of them were laughing and drinking tea together. Confirming the situation from the handrail, I let out a deep breath.

--*Clang* A sound rang out next to me—

I looked to see the girl holding a black laced parasol softly leap on top of the handrail.

Her appearance with only one arm outstretched as she kept her balance looked innocent enough for her age.

“Ah, how nostalgic. I was playing around like this back then as well.”

…?

“You did it as well, didn’t you? You must have jumped off from there the same way I did.”

--What are you talking about?

As I stood there in a daze, unable to answer.

“…Hmm.”

She made a somewhat curious expression, and stood still.

“Oh, I see. It seems you are in an extremely unique condition. In the highest order and the lowest order – on the surface and underneath. You seem to have absolutely no memories whatsoever.”

…The highest order, lowest order? What are you on about? I have no clue at all what you’re talking about, but—Ah, you’re absolutely right. I have nothing. No body, no name, no memories… and even my emotions have diminished. Do you know who I am? What’s going to happen to me from now on? Why am I lost alone in the world like this despite being dead, and how can I end it all?

The young girl nodded once in response to my rapid questions.

“First, let me introduce myself.”

Then, while standing on top of the handrail, she curtsied by grabbing both edges of her skirt and raising them slightly.

“My name is Takamura.”

…Takamura?

“Written with the kanji of bamboo on top of the kanji for divine(篁) – well, I suppose those symbols mean nothing. I was merely called that when I was alive, it has no particular meaning to me right now.”

She muttered, sounding somewhat bored, thereupon she merely gazed at me.

“As for your name – let’s now say it out loud for now. If called by that name, you might end up taking form. For you people, the ‘name’ is what ties the target to the place, and if we do that, then all the trouble of peeping into this time period will all be for naught.”

…Hey, stop screwing with me. If making me remember my name is what gets me out of this situation, then hurry up and say it. Why are you tormenting me like this?

“Why? For what reason, you ask?”

In response, the young girl who went by the name of Takamura contorted her red mouth into a smile.

……..

“Isn’t it far, far more entertaining that way? Is there any other necessity for people to do something in this world?”

…This person was dangerous somehow.

Her way of thinking was fundamentally different from my own. It felt like the basis of the place she stood on was out of sync with the world of the living itself.

The cold thought made me unconsciously take a step back, when I suddenly realized.

--Huh? Did she say something about taking a peep just now?

“That’s right – Spiritual things sometimes transcend time and space, Mr. Nobody. Right now, you from the future are looking at the world ten years in the past.”

--Ten years in the past you say?

But with those words, I heard a sound like a block of ice melting in my head.

…Ah…was that it… was that what it was? The sense of unease I felt from the size of the television and the content of the news. The reason why I seemed to know all the information being broadcast on television. It wasn’t because the world was behind the times…. it was me who was present in the past?

“I’ll explain it for you, so do keep up.”

Before I’d realized, a shiny tea cup had appeared in the hands of the girl known as Takamura.

After taking a sip, she spoke:

“There is a chance that you might not be dead yet.”

…W, what did you say?

“I believe your brain is in a state where it judged – or rather, mistook you for dead. Well, if you were to return to your original world, you might truly end up dead. Whatever it is, it’s because you had once experienced this in the past. It became easier for you to connect with this place. And thanks to that, you were able to have a chance encounter with me.”

After smiling nostalgically, she made a silly face.

“I’ll say it once more – spiritual things sometimes transcend space and time, Mr. Nobody.”

With those words, it felt as if the earth suddenly shook. A warning sound blared inside me, telling me I shouldn’t listen to this girl any longer.

“In the first place, the human ego is merely the accumulation of weak signals inside the brain. And although invisible, there are countless signals constantly raining down on us in this world. From outer space, from natural materials, from electrical appliances – that’s how it’s filled with countless signals, and the humans with brains who can receive those signals are called ‘Denpa-san’* as the name implies, but that term is always used as mockery, right? No, to me, these humans are the species that have reached the next stage. In all likelihood, you will go through a life and death struggle ten years from now. And even though your body might still be alive, in the event that your mind receives the false information that you’ve died, people experience a phenomenon known as an out-of-body experience. There’s a way to consciously reach that point as well, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Because after all, what the mind believes becomes the entire reality of this world. However, humans have the useful mental condition of misunderstanding. In short, your main body is in the state of misunderstanding itself as dead. And your ego, the weak signals that have separated from your body – are, right now, accessing the information you wish to know most of all. That is to say, the vast data aggregate that sits at the center of the universe.”

--What’s that?

“They’re what’s commonly called the Akashic Records, but well, it doesn’t matter what they’re called. To put it simply, a single, minute part of the countless records of creation and destruction that have been etched into the record since the creation of the universe – you are accessing the data in the third planet from the sun, in far east Asia, Tokyo, July 2001, that revolves around a certain family.”

…No.

No, I understand the theory. But it’s unthinkable. It’s too absurd.

“If that’s the case Mr. Nobody, let me put it another way. The internet has rapidly become widespread in the past few years, correct?”

Takamura abruptly changed the topic at hand. With the long fingers of her right hand, she gestured as if operating an invisible keyboard.

“And it will probably evolve – nay, deepen, from here on. The moment I understood the gist of that technology, I thought to myself: Ah, humanity is headed further inwards.”

At that moment, a strange voice echoed inside my head.

“From here on, where is the human species heading?”

“Space? Another dimension? I think neither.”

“From now on, humanity is headed towards a more inner world.”

The words I had once heard somewhere some time ago, silently repeated inside my head. They continued to echo ominously inside my head, as if they were some kind of rhyming Kotodama.

“I can't help but feel that there is a strong similarity between the Internet and the spiritual world. I believe the protocols of the spirit world and the internet are very similar. The man known as computing’s Johnny Appleseed, the father of internet, J.C.R Licklider was also a psychologist. You are now accessing a vast amount of known information through the use of dark matter, which is known to exist but not confirmed. In short, all of what you are witnessing is past. Everything has ended. That’s why, no matter what brutal event befalls that family, there’s no need to be sad even if there’s a need to feel pity. There's nothing you can do about it; Everything has already ended from the point of your original timeline.”

--T, that was it.

What do you mean when you say that everyone in the family will die?

In response, Takamura raised her parasol, and spoke while skillfully maintaining her balance.

“That was a very, very strange incident – Publicly, it was known as the ‘The Mansion Hanging Massacre Case’. Even though ten years have passed since then, the real culprit is yet to be found, An inexplicable family massacre that shocked the world of the Heisei era.* Someone broke into a peaceful family from somewhere, killed the whole family including a small dog, and suddenly disappeared altogether. People in the world have no way of ascertaining the truth of what really happened, and even those with a little knowledge of the situation may only be aware that a graduate student appeared out of nowhere and settled the case like a great detective in the classics. However, the real truth was different, completely different.”

Under the blue sky, the young girl dressed in black sneered.

“The real culprit is still boldly strutting somewhere in your original world ten years from now.”

“In the first place, this is not an incident people should concern themselves with. Despite that, you will witness the entirety of the horror that happened to that family back then from here on. Along the way, you will despair of everything. And as a result, the last remaining vestiges of your individuality might be obliterated. Well, that can’t be helped.”

Why? Why would I--?

“Because you wished it, of course. I believe it’s your perverse disposition, but well, that’s what human curiosity’s all about. It’s not something to be critical of in others. Even if you were able to retain your self-consciousness until the end, you wouldn’t be able to bring those memories back with you when you returned to your world, as they will amount to nothing more than weak signals. Because the amount of information would be overwhelming, far beyond your capacity.”

--If that’s the case, then.

If what this girl called Takamura was saying was the truth, then I would be someone on the verge of death ten years from now, and if I was nothing more than weak signals peeping back into the past – then going through the anguish of acquiring that information, and not being able to take it back, that would mean that all my actions would be meaningless, wouldn’t it?

No, Takamura shook her head at that point.

“That’s not necessarily what I’m saying.”

She smoothly changed her posture, and sat down on the handrail of the building. She crossed her legs on the other side of the building, spun around the parasol on her left shoulder, pointed down at the expanding world below, and spoke:

“Say—take a look at those people down there. Those mere specks are living their own lives with their own distinct individualities, don’t you think it’s strange for them to have their own distinct troubles? Whether they kill themselves, get killed, or live out their natural lives, death is just death. Ever since the universe was born 13.6 billion years ago, its essence hasn’t changed. Even though they live their lives crawling through worries and suffering that are actually mere trifles when seen through the eyes of another, they can’t even look down upon themselves and laugh. Be that as it may, you all who are nothing more than mere microbes when seen from space, have a soul that trembles when shaken. Something engraved on your soul that suffers through everything, might knock down this hopeless reality, even if only a little.”

The young girl kept a cold gaze at my face as she smiled, and quickly reached out with her white hand. And it literally stretched right up to my eyes, which were a few meters away from Takamura.

“Don’t disappoint me now.”

Her long, slender fingertips grabbed my hair in a single jerk. I was unable to resist, as if the thought of putting up any resistance whatsoever was stolen from me, my face was pulled right before the eyes of the girl in black.

“Two weeks from now. Just what will you scoop out when you see a certain family’s last moments, the hidden truth with your own eyes. I’m very interested.”

“Struggle, writhe, and thereafter, fight back – Show me a fightback so magnificent that I fall in love with you.”