As I entered the room, a familiar face was waiting for me.
“Finally here.”
“Yeah, you called me.”
A succinct exchange of dialogue. Oliver made a brief remark before revealing the reason he summoned me here.
“First of all, I want to let you know that the project we talked about earlier has been approved.”
He held a piece of paper with bold letters indicating that approval had been granted.
Seeing that, I felt a pleasant surprise, but soon a question arose. He had previously mentioned that if the project got approved, I’d have more permissions, so this news was rather welcoming. However, simultaneously, I had also heard it would take a significant amount of time to get that approval.
“Didn’t you say it would take a long time?”
“That’s right. I thought it would take at least three months. However, it seems the report drafted this time has caught quite a bit of interest at the higher-ups.”
He responded. Was he referring to those bizarre experiments we had done not long ago? Honestly, even now, I wasn’t quite sure what they meant. But judging by his enthusiastic tone, it seemed they yielded some decent results.
“Originally, I should have been busy drafting a new report about you and selecting agents for establishing a unit, preparing various matters, but…”
He looked at the massive pile of documents stacked on the desk, let out a sigh, and then, after a moment, shook his head and pushed them to the corner of the desk.
“Coincidentally, we don’t have time for that right now.”
“Because of what you mentioned earlier.”
“…Exactly. The reason this project was rushed through was essentially because of that.”
The reason was obvious. He had told me there was an emergency at the abandoned nuclear base. No matter how long I had been away from my hometown, I hadn’t forgotten what the word “nuclear” meant.
“I’ll get straight to the point. An emergency has been reported from a nuclear base far away from here.”
The usual transparent screen appeared beside Oliver again. It displayed a filthy large, ominous-looking building. It was likely indicating the nuclear base he referred to.
“Beneath that building lies one of the most dangerous weapons in existence in this world. A horrific bomb filled with the essence of scientific technology and malice accumulated over humanity’s long history.”
The screen flashed and showed a massive mushroom cloud rising. Perhaps this was meant to vaguely illustrate the power of a nuclear weapon to me.
Coincidentally, I already had a pretty good grasp of that destructive capability.
“As long as it stays there, it won’t concern us, but there’s a problem. Those bombs can activate without any help and automatically aim at something every time.”
On the vast world map, several points were highlighted in red. If my memory was correct, those locations were mostly densely populated cities.
“And we’ve been disabling their targeting systems to prevent them from launching.”
While he continued explaining, I raised my hand for a moment.
I had a question.
“I have a question.”
“What is it?”
“Can’t we just disarm those bombs?”
It was a valid question. Of course, I knew nuclear weapons were dangerous, but they weren’t some unknown alien artifacts. They were simply things that people made and assembled themselves.
Whether the self-activating phenomenon was due to a system error or some unidentified ghost haunting it, I just couldn’t understand why such dangerous items hadn’t been disarmed yet.
“We’ve already tried. They should have been disarmed a long time ago. However, at the time we tried to disarm it… something big happened that I can’t really explain.”
Oliver replied to my question. So they indeed wanted to disarm the bomb, only to encounter some unforeseen issue during the process.
I was definitely curious about what that big issue was, but it seemed there was a reason he was glossing over that incident.
Despite hearing it was an urgent situation, I thought interrupting him out of personal curiosity wasn’t polite. So I decided to keep listening silently.
“Like I just mentioned, the attempt to disarm the bomb failed. No, it was about to cause even bigger problems.
However, we managed to prevent that somehow. Afterward, all attempts to disarm that bomb were banned.”
“Was there some kind of monster there?”
“That might be possible. The problem is, we can’t even determine if it’s really a monster.”
As I mumbled to myself, he said something that made no sense to me.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean exactly that. We couldn’t figure out what the source of the problems was there. What was recorded on the cameras was mostly phenomena that were beyond understanding, and most of those who entered that place vanished.”
When he waved his hand again, an odd scene began to unfold on the screen.
Scenes of people with the same faces slowly walking out of several elevators and drones that emitted the sound of a child crying while passing through the walls of the hallway.
Each video left me with more questions in my mind, but it quickly became clear that wasn’t an ordinary place.
“But you’ve managed to prevent the nuclear bomb from launching until now, right?”
“That’s because, after countless trial and error, we discovered certain rules.”
“Rules?”
“Yes. They’re chaotic and so bizarre that we can’t tell what they mean, but as long as we abide by those rules, it significantly reduces casualties due to phenomena of unknown origin.”
Oliver emphasized the word rules as he spoke. It sounded like the rules there had some unique traits compared to existing ones.
“So the Management Office has created a guideline and has been monitoring the base according to that guideline while managing the nuclear weapons below it—”
He continued.
The screen showed papers filled with complex rules and many faces of people stationed there.
In my mind, I thought, Am I supposed to go help these people?
But then he said, “Recently, all communication with the personnel stationed at that base suddenly cut off.”
After hearing his next words, I couldn’t help but furrow my eyebrows.
“The Management Office organized a special operations team to send support, but now those members have also lost contact.”
After he finished speaking, he gazed at my face. There seemed to be something he was hoping for.
“Alright, I get it. It’s obvious you’re asking me to stop that nuclear bomb that’s aimed at somewhere right now. Might as well solve the disappearance case while I’m at it.”
How lovely. What a light and breezy mission to give me from the get-go.
If by any chance a nuclear bomb were to launch due to my mistake, I could leisurely sleep with my legs stretched out.
“I’ll tell you in advance, but it’s possible to refuse. That abnormal phenomenon isn’t managed by our Base 17, and moreover, there are many who are hesitant to send someone like you into the field.”
“What happens if I refuse?”
“Final measures will be taken. There’s a possibility of failure, and even if successful, there will still be significant damage. Regardless, we can at least avoid the worst-case scenario.”
“…How long do we have until the bomb launches?”
“Approximately about a day.”
When I asked, Oliver provided an answer.
The worst-case scenario likely meant a nuclear bomb launching right into a densely populated area.
And the final measure probably referred to blowing up the base before the bomb could launch.
Though, as he said, there would still be great damage, it would at least be far safer than having a nuclear bomb land in a major city.
In contrast, I was only given a day.
If I agreed to his request, it meant I would have to enter a building far away from here, wrap everything up in roughly 24 hours.
If I failed? I would get front row seats to a spectacular fireworks show.
Honestly, I’d rather not test my durability like that.
“….”
To take the easy path or to take the hard and difficult road.
Faced with the obvious choice, I scratched my head for a moment before deciding.
“I’ll go.”
With a small sigh, I chose to accept Oliver’s request.
Alright.
Now that I’ve decided, I should at least have a look at the crazy jerk causing this inconvenience.
—
Abnormal Phenomena Report
4891 Abnormal Phenomenon
Alias: “The Powder Keg of Lost Souls”
Danger Level Classification: V (Extremely Dangerous)
—
The 4891 Abnormal Phenomenon is a nuclear base located in the ██ East.
This facility was originally created as a deterrent against nuclear attack but suddenly began to experience inexplicable phenomena from 19██,
and it has been publicly announced as shut down due to cuts in defense budget. However, in truth, it is under surveillance and control by the Abnormal Phenomena Management Office.
The facility contains █ hydrogen bombs that have yet to be disarmed.
These nuclear weapons automatically target densely populated areas on Earth every week and start a countdown simultaneously.
To halt this phenomenon, designated personnel manually operate relevant devices weekly to stop it.
Moreover, there are peculiar phenomena within the facility causing mysterious disappearances and extreme psychological changes without explanation.
Experimental results suggest that these bizarre phenomena can be partially suppressed by following certain rules.
—
Facility Containment Procedures
The 4891 Abnormal Phenomenon must undergo military control and isolation measures to prevent unauthorized access from outside.
The interior and surrounding areas of the facility must be strictly managed by specialized personnel from the Management Office, and it is permitted to immediately execute anyone found inside without authorization.
At the start of the first week, personnel working in the facility must stop the systems and inform the Management Office by midnight.
Any other attempts to prevent the launch have so far resulted in severe containment failures, thus currently, all unauthorized methods are prohibited.
If there is no contact with the Management Office by midnight,
the Management Office will presume that all personnel working at the facility are deceased and will initiate the final containment measures.
