“Come in.”
With the sound of a voice granting permission, the handle turns and the door opens.
The main facilities of Base 17, as well as most other bases, typically exude a near-futuristic atmosphere. However, there are still quite a few places with perfectly normal swinging doors.
“Did you call for me?”
The sound of clicking heels announces the entrance of a blonde woman into the room.
She has a tired, numb expression on her face. It was Researcher Sophia Brown.
Considering the difference in rank between the two, one might expect her to show a bit more politeness, but either she’s clueless or doing it on purpose, as she simply stares at the Responsible Researcher with a disinterested demeanor.
“I’m late, huh? I feel like I called you at least a week ago.”
“I’m sorry. Unfortunately, I don’t really remember much about what happened before and after the escape incident.”
“Was it really just a bother to come see my charming face?”
“Well, I’ll hold my tongue on that one. At least until Researcher Oliver tells me why he called me.”
After a few playful exchanges, Oliver chuckles softly. This was hardly surprising since the two had quite the history at Base 17.
To an outsider, it might seem like a deadly serious conversation between two frozen faces, but for them, it was just a casual check-in between a master and a disciple.
“So, I wonder how you’ve been holding up since that incident,” he said, probing lightly.
After all, she had been at the scene during the escape incident at Base 17. The difference in their experiences was that he was behind the firmly erected Barrier Wall, while she had barely made it past it, surviving by sheer luck from the whims of the Abnormal Phenomena, only to be later rescued by a recovery team.
“I think I’m doing alright. It would’ve been even better if I hadn’t undergone a barrage of check-ups for a week, though.”
“Can’t help that. If you suddenly mutated into an Anomalous Entity and tried to bite my head off, it would already be far too late for cleanup.”
“Don’t worry. No matter what I turn into, I don’t think I’d particularly want to snack on your noggin.”
“Is it because of our bond?”
“No, it’s because you don’t wash your hair that often.”
“…When busy, it sometimes happens.”
He deflected Oliver’s question with a somewhat amusing joke, but when Sophia recalled that day’s events, a chill ran down her spine once again.
After all, what had occurred that day was the occurrence number 871. The widely known escape incident of the Swallowing Shadow.
Danger level: IV.
While it varies by entity, most of the Anomalous Phenomena with this rating could cause major catastrophes. It was even noted that during the previous escape incident, all personnel who couldn’t make it to safety were declared missing.
If it hadn’t been for some sheer luck, she would have either died or faced something worse.
Though she remembered none of it and remained in confusion for days after being rescued, sometimes just being alive was something to be grateful for, especially in this line of work.
“Just in case I’ll ask, do you have any memory of that time—”
“Nothing to report, just as it’s written in the report. Really, I don’t remember a thing.”
“What’s the last thing you can recall?”
“Probably… I was talking with Researcher Arthur. The conversation was just about the research records from a while ago.”
Sophia frowned, digging through the hazy corners of her memory. She was certain her last discussion was about a new Anomalous Entity that had just appeared, which she had been talking about with her junior.
While she couldn’t recall the specifics of what they talked about, that was probably because the conversation wasn’t particularly important either.
It was just a typical chat with her junior.
And then came the abrupt ending of her memory, as if the film suddenly cut off, leaving no premonition or new occurrence.
That was all that Sophia Brown had in terms of memory.
“The research records, you’re referring to that new Anomalous Entity, right?”
“You know about it. Was that mentioned in the report too?”
“Why wouldn’t I know? I was the one who assigned you to interview that Anomalous Entity that day.”
“…Hmm, thinking back on it, I guess that’s true.”
As Sophia tried to bring up memories from that day, what had come crawling back was a new Anomalous Entity that had previously caused a severe disaster—one that came from a Dimension Gate.
When she received the assignment for the interview with it, she had honestly felt nervous.
However, upon entering the Isolation Room, she was greeted by an incredibly calm and cute little girl waiting for her.
Hmm, I wonder if I’ll see her again… But it might be tough.
She expressed a false sense of regret.
Among the dangerous Anomalous Phenomena, there are some that are harmless and safe.
The problem is that their numbers are very few.
Especially considering that among them, finding something as cute and docile had been exceptionally rare for her, who faced serious threats and often felt the ceiling might cave in any moment, her presence had felt like a ray of light and solace.
However, new Anomalous Entities always required frequent check-ups and interviews.
Therefore, no matter how much she claimed to have been the first one to meet the girl, it was a given that while she was busy undergoing all those check-ups, someone else would take over the research on her.
Determined to not let her disappointment linger, she thought about retrieving some video records from the little girl’s study files.
“Is that so? Then, do you remember everything about that Anomalous Entity?”
“Not much to remember, honestly. The interview wasn’t very long. And I also made sure to write everything down in the report.”
“Right, just a pile of requests in that report…”
“It was necessary. The Anomalous Entity couldn’t even speak due to amnesia.”
Sophia recalled the little girl who had been busily turning her head during the interview.
Even though she seemed unable to understand complex words, simple communication was possible, and she appeared very friendly to Sophia.
However, no matter how friendly, she couldn’t gather any information from a child who remembered nothing.
Thus, she hadn’t obtained any significant outcomes from her first interview and had requested access to the forbidden, previous research records.
As Oliver and Sophia faced each other, an uncomfortable silence lingered for a few seconds.
Finally, it was broken by the soft sound of a drawer sliding open.
Oliver opened the drawer to his right and pulled out a bundle of documents along with a storage device, holding them out in front of her with one hand.
“What’s this?”
Sophia asked, and he replied.
“What do you mean, it’s what you requested.”
“Huh? But wasn’t that research on the Anomalous Entity already being conducted by someone else?”
As she flipped through the papers, she found a plethora of research records and data she had never been able to access due to her rank.
She struggled to hide her excitement as she had planned to spend the next week sorting through tons of tedious research materials.
“Because too many personnel were removed from duty due to the escape incident. Yes, the new Anomalous Entity was serious enough to warrant additional staffing for research, but fortunately, the screening results didn’t indicate very dangerous possibilities.”
In a section of the documents marked differently, documented were the recent test results for hair, skin samples, and everything related to the Anomalous Entity.
And those results were all—
“Seems pretty normal.”
—Extremely ordinary for a girl.
“Right. It’s honestly hard to believe she came from a Dimension Gate. Honestly, I sometimes wonder if the Special Task Force just mistakenly brought back a girl with amnesia.”
“I don’t quite get it. In that case, there wouldn’t be any reason to assign this Anomalous Entity to me, right?”
Sophia inquired, genuinely curious.
Of course, her wish was to be assigned to the study of the little girl, and she didn’t want to miss out on that opportunity.
But she knew that the Abnormal Phenomena Research Department was always struggling with personnel shortages.
The required abilities far surpassed the number of lives being lost.
She was well aware she was a quite useful member, so naturally, she assumed she wouldn’t be called for such a task.
When faced with satisfactory yet perplexing questions from a subordinate, Oliver drumrolled his fingers on the desk a few times in apparent seriousness.
Then, with one brief statement, he answered her question.
“Instinct.”
A moment of silence hung in the air after that single syllable escaped his lips.
“…Huh?”
Sophia echoed back, as if she hadn’t understood.
Considering his demeanor since she started working here, that was only natural.
After all, he had always appeared cold and rational.
Though she wasn’t one to talk about being emotionally detached, she had always believed he was far more mechanical.
To hear such a word as “instinct” from him was enough to leave her a little dazed.
“I know. It’s an imprecise and unscientific word. It’s also something we should be most on guard against in our work.”
That was a reasonable statement. Their job was to interpret the illogical and unscientific, pulling it toward a realm they could understand.
For people engaged in such work, terms like intuition or premonition didn’t quite fit.
“But sometimes, while doing this work, we have moments where we must trust that instinct.”
It was a very flimsy explanation for answering someone else’s question.
This was probably why she seemed to frown slightly upon hearing it.
How could one explain something they didn’t even fully understand themselves?
“So, what is that instinct telling you about this time?”
“I don’t know. That’s why you’re the one who needs to come and figure it out.”
“…I can’t guarantee anything.”
“Well, I didn’t have high hopes to begin with.”
“Really, you could have just said that…”
With a look of exasperation, Sophia turned and started heading out of the room.
Thud, she heard a soft sound as the door closed behind her.
Immediately, the room was engulfed in endless silence.
As Oliver turned his gaze, he saw the stacks of many records and research logs that he had been looking for earlier.
And among those, one single piece of paper jutted out more conspicuously than the others, demanding his attention.
The only change that occurred at Base 17 during the escape incident of occurrence number 871.
A girl who had remained in the Isolation Room while all recording equipment was destroyed during the incident.
Oliver pondered whether this was something his instinct had sensed or merely an overreaction.
And if it wasn’t an overreaction, whose side it truly belonged to, as he began to add something beneath the report on the Anomalous Entity.
New Anomalous Entity.
Commonly referred to as 163-19.
This entity has shown to possess below-average durability and strength in the comprehensive screening.
This is similar to the findings of an average ███-year-old girl’s physical examination.
No other peculiarities were noted.
Given the lack of aggression and submissive nature indicated by the test results, the lowest risk level will be assigned to this Anomalous Entity.
Risk Level Classification: I.
