“…?”
Arthur stares at Sophia with a face full of questions.
No, to be more precise, he was in a state of complete confusion regarding what his superior had just said.
Soon enough, he asked her why the girl, who was suddenly called the 19th entity, had popped up during their conversation.
“What are you talking about? Why is she brought up all of a sudden?”
“Um? But didn’t someone named Nine just say they secured the child?”
“That’s right. But what does that have to do with the 19th entity?”
“Oh, you didn’t know? That child was secured by the 19th entity.”
“…???”
A few exchanges bounce back and forth between them.
However, despite the numerous words exchanged, his confusion only grows, rather than dissipating.
Why did his superior know information that even he, the task manager, didn’t?
He even felt as if she was questioning him for not knowing it.
After a brief moment of dizziness, he held his head in his hands.
Then, he took a couple of deep breaths to gather his thoughts.
In the calmest voice he could muster, he began to ask her his questions one by one.
“Okay… Let’s say I didn’t hear about that in advance. But how do you know about it?”
“What do you mean? Didn’t you read the materials I handed over with the task directive? Everything’s in there!”
“There was material in the task directive? I don’t remember receiving any of that!”
“Seriously, think about it. I definitely handed over the documents that were here to you――”
Clack-clack, Sophia opens the drawer at her desk, sticking her hand in.
She mimics her actions from earlier when handing over the task directive to her subordinate.
Recreating the scene, she moves in a way that is almost identical to that time, pretending to pull something out from inside.
She makes a gesture as if holding a thick stack of documents, but in reality, she is showing him her empty hand.
“…”
Looking at the nonexistent stack she had pulled out, she couldn’t continue her sentence, frozen in place, staring at it――
Bam!
Soon, seemingly unfazed, she puts the imaginary stack back into the drawer, quickly shuts it, and starts clearing her throat like nothing happened.
“Ahem! So, where did we leave off?”
For a moment, a chilling silence lingers in the office.
Of course, it wasn’t that Sophia’s farcical response worked on Arthur.
He was just taken aback by her blatantly brazen behavior.
Not long after, recovering quickly, he shook his head and began to unleash his anger toward her.
“Are you serious?! Do you really think you can just brush that off after showing me that?!”
“Calm down! You know that going to Arthur isn’t that dangerous anyway.”
“Calm down? I almost fainted several times today!”
Avoiding the furious gaze of her junior, she pulled her chair back, mumbling excuses.
However, of course, her small excuses weren’t enough to cover for the mistake she made this time.
As he vented his anger towards his superior, he eventually seemed to regain some composure after a few minutes.
Sitting in his chair, he let out a deep sigh, feeling drained.
“…Right. I wondered why the security regarding the entity’s abilities was so lax; it all makes sense now.”
Thinking about it logically made it seem a bit odd.
They hadn’t provided proper information about the entity, and yet the security and monitoring personnel were so inadequate.
Of course, at the time, he hadn’t realized those strange things amidst the tension. But now that he reconsidered, it was almost nonsensical.
“Still, don’t you think it was a good experience? To be honest, I wanted to take over that task instead of Arthur.”
“Now you’re just saying things you don’t mean. Senior, you’ve never even seen what that entity looks like, right?”
“No, I participated briefly in the examination conducted by Researcher Oliver.”
“Then how can you say that after seeing it?!”
Arthur blurted out, incredulous at Sophia’s words.
The appearance of what he had seen in the isolation room wasn’t something he could casually brush off.
Even though he knew it wasn’t a dangerous type of entity, he’d almost had a heart attack several times due to its appearance. To him, her words sounded nothing but deceitful.
“…What? Didn’t it look cute?”
However, the reply he received from her was far beyond what he’d anticipated.
He wanted to scold his superior for talking nonsense again, but then he noticed there was not a hint of deceit or pretense in her expression.
With a face full of question marks, he simply stared at her.
“Isn’t that the same cute look as the child that 19th brought? I thought 19th was experiencing some kind of split!”
Sophia began spewing an elongated statement.
She seemed to be recalling the appearances of the girl called the 19th entity and the entity she brought with her.
Arthur, overhearing the mumblings of his superior, felt a solid sense of something being very wrong.
He started mashing the button under his desk at a furious pace, out of sight from her.
“With a heart like mine, I wanted to take care of that child, but for some reason, Researcher Oliver said it couldn’t be me.”
Not long after, two burly men emerged from the corner of the office.
Dressed in dark outfits, they scanned the area briefly after entering, looking for something.
Before long, they spotted the two men and women sitting in one corner of the office and marched right over.
“Oh, by the way, did that child mention anything she likes? If possible, I’d like to take that with me later――”
Thud thud
Just then, as they reached her side, Sophia, who had been speaking in a trance, finally noticed the two men had come close.
“Oh, aren’t you the security agents? What brings you here…?”
She looks back and forth between the two standing on either side of her, curiously speaking to them.
However, before she could receive an answer, the two men grabbed her arms with their strong arms and lifted her from her seat.
She, now completely caught off guard, struggled to comprehend what was happening.
“Sophia Brown. We have received a report of potential mental contamination. You must come with us, please.”
“Wait?! What in the world…?”
When she realized she could no longer move due to their strong grip, a panicked voice slipped out of her lips.
“Calm down, senior. I called them, after all.”
Arthur reassured a bewildered Sophia, and at the same time, she turned to him with a speed that could break the sound barrier.
Naturally, she wanted to demand an explanation for the current situation.
“W-What do you mean?! What is all this about, Arthur? Do you not know that false reporting can lead to disciplinary action?!”
“Well, given the circumstances, this is entirely your fault… If it was your parents here instead of you, they would’ve acted exactly the same.”
“That’s nonsense?! I just wanted to have an interview with that child, and now all of a sudden, you want to take care of her?!”
“What’s that supposed to mean――”
Sophia is dragged out, struggling against the agents.
For some reason, she seems to be significantly misunderstanding the current situation.
However, Arthur, neither understanding how this mess had escalated like this nor able to clear up her misunderstanding, simply muttered something like, “Oh boy, here we go again…”
“See! I knew this would happen! Just watch! When I come back, I’ll be the one taking care of that child! I won’t even let Arthur pat her head!”
A voice full of resentment echoes behind her as she is dragged away.
It’s a scene reminiscent of a cheap comedy.
People around begin to turn their attention toward the commotion, but soon realize the center of the uproar is Sophia Brown.
With responses like “What’s up with Sophia again?” they quickly retreated back to their places.
“Arthurrrrrrr―――!”
An empty shout, ignored by everyone, echoes through the office one last time.
Arthur feels a headache coming on for some reason and starts typing back on his keyboard to keep working.
—
Anomalous Entity Report
Date: November 12, 2███
Reported by: Senior Researcher, Arthur Wilson
The anomalous entity (henceforth designated as 4891P-1) appears to have spent a considerable amount of time underground beneath the restrained 4891th abnormal phenomenon, and seems unaware of matters outside the facility.
4891P-1 identifies itself as “Revi” and, through written communication, seems capable of detailed interaction, suggesting an intelligence level of at least that of a young child.
The entity possesses dangerous features such as scratching visible physical force-blocking panels or even ignoring them entirely, yet it displayed remarkably obedient responses during the interview, leading to the expectation that a high-pressure containment is unnecessary.
Risk Level Classification: Currently Pending
Note 1: The entity took my tablet. It seemed harmless and was likely just an act of curiosity; however, it may pose a problem later on, so please inform any other workers before they conduct interviews.
Note 2: Regarding Sophia, is that really okay?
—
――Note 2 Response Received.
Surprisingly, she showed no abnormalities during this mental contamination examination either.
I feel troubled too. Researcher Arthur.
– Responsible Researcher, Oliver Smith
