One thing was certain: we could exert influence over creatures.

We probably did it through what I privately called my sixth sense—the sense of being “connected” to another being far away. In fact, I could vaguely tell which direction Kyle was in right now.

The problem was that I had completely forgotten how to use that sense.

Some creatures definitely came from my old world, though I couldn’t remember when they had arrived on Earth. Would facing more of them jog my memory?

When I explained what I knew, Yun remained silent, his arms folded. Then he abruptly asked,

“Going to play it a second time?”

“... Once the emotional shock has worn off a little. I haven’t found all the Easter eggs yet.”

“Let me have a look before then.”

I readily handed over the cartridge. Now I was curious about the developer too. If I left it with Yun, he would find something out, even if it was only the date the game had been made.

I wanted to know everything there was to know. When it was made, how it was made, what set this game apart. He nodded when I asked him to tell me anything he found, and took the cartridge from me.

* * *

Late November came in no time.

The weather grew colder, the days shorter. A year-end atmosphere was beginning to settle over the city. Until the day of the mission, I focused on training and kept stray thoughts at bay.

I liked feeling my body grow faster, however gradually. I also liked training to exhaustion and then sleeping as though I’d passed out. These days, every dream was a nightmare, so I preferred not to dream at all.

Even the dreams that weren’t nightmares were unwelcome. Memories of my old world kept surfacing in them. It was probably the influence of FROM E, but after dreaming of Ray and Kyle, I wanted to give up on everything.

Some memories were painfully detailed.

Kyle, snorting with confidence at the people who said no one had ever returned from the castle alive. Ray, who hadn’t so much as blinked at the grotesque Plague God, but had jumped at the sound of dripping water echoing through the castle. Me, laughing at them and eating their shares of the pie.

What good did remembering any of that do me now?

That was why I was glad the mission was approaching. It would keep me grounded in reality. I wanted to do something that helped someone. Or, even if it didn’t help anyone directly, something that would benefit society in the long run.

Not that it would erase my past wrongs. I counted down the days to the mission.

* * *

The day of the mission.

I arrived at the train station at eight thirty in the morning. We had to catch the nine o’clock train to reach the arena around seven or eight that evening, when the matches began. Center Core was absurdly vast. And this was on a high-speed train, supposedly the fastest available.

Even this station was quite far from headquarters.

The station was quiet. My breath now came out in white clouds. Though I had followed instructions and worn civilian clothes over my thin combat uniform, I could still feel the chill. Still, standing in the morning sunshine felt nice.

It wasn’t hard to spot my senior standing in the white-washed station, yelling furiously at someone on the phone in the deserted concourse.

“Fuck off, you bastard!”

Bobby Winter was fighting with her boyfriend.

“Shut up! I was an idiot to take you back!”

Should I pretend I hadn’t arrived yet? Her back was turned, so she probably hadn’t seen me. I wasn’t so oblivious that I would walk up and say hello in a situation like this.

I edged backward, my eyes darting around. I’d hide in the bathroom for a while. Check my clothes in the mirror or something.

“The gifts? Come get them! Take every last one!”

Just until the others arrived...

“That cheap crap!”

“Rookie.”

I whipped my head around at the voice behind me.

“Let’s stay out of the way for a bit.”

He was strikingly tall. I took in my senior’s tired blue eyes and fine silver hair.

Achille Fisker. A former detective. Junior to Bobby but senior to Aki, and a Badger who had been stationed in a different core until last month.

He wore a rumpled gray jacket and held a steaming coffee in one hand. I quietly bowed my head.

“A pleasure to meet you, sir. I’m Hildebert Taleb.”

“Let’s get out of the way first.”

He ambled over and stopped behind a station pillar. There was something funny about how tired every movement looked. I thought I understood what Ami meant when she said he had a similar air to Iho Chang. Though apparently Iho was the type to laugh loudly and enjoy a drinking party, while Achille would give a tired smile and go home.

He beckoned me behind the pillar with a tilt of his head, and I hurried over.

“Looks like another rocky romance.”

As I stopped beside the pillar, Achille took a sip of coffee and spoke as if to himself. I looked at the pale-featured man and blinked.

“She seems to be the passionate type when it comes to romance.”

“She has strange taste in men.”

Maybe she liked men with a temper.

Our blond senior was still arguing. She seemed a little calmer than before, but her irritated voice kept reaching us. Only after I heard her say, “Don’t call me again,” did I turn my head.

As I checked on Bobby, Achille said, “You can hear the details from her yourself later.”

“Yes. I’ll ask her if I get the chance.”

I gave the sensible answer. Then I turned and met his eyes.

“Would you mind if I asked you a few things too, sir?”

His pale blue eyes slid toward me. I let my new acquaintance study me in silence. According to Ami, this former detective was “prickly on the outside, but actually a really good person.” But he was also the Badger who had grabbed Yun by the collar out of nowhere, for some unknown reason.

He gave me a look that said he’d never seen such an odd recruit.

“What do you want to know?”

“Just this and that... I’d like to get to know you, sir.”

His bewilderment deepened at my blunt, sincere reply. My senior, whose physical age looked to be somewhere in his early to mid-thirties, was silent for a while.

“Just ask whatever you want when it’s convenient.”

“Achille.”

CLICK-CLACK.

The sound of heels quickly grew louder. I looked at my senior, her stylish blond hair twisted up in an unusual arrangement, her makeup heavy. Her black jacket with its plunging V-neck went well with her bright red lipstick.

“And the weird recruit.”

That would be me. I smiled as she deftly lit a fresh cigarette and put it between her lips.

Bobby Winter had been at the safe point when I went to Area D. That meant she was a Badger who had seen the safe point surrounded by creatures with her own eyes.

Surprisingly, she had quite a few years of service behind her. Ami had described her as “outgoing, fun-loving, and honest about her feelings, but also a bit childish and careless.” She narrowed her eyes at my smile.

With the cigarette between her fingers, she scrutinized me from every angle and said, “Those clothes are awful.”

“Oof.”

Harsh. I hadn’t seen that attack coming. It actually stung a little. I’d thought the varsity jacket I’d picked out was a safe choice.

I gave a hollow laugh and rubbed my neck.

“Sorry. I’m not particularly interested in clothes...”

“Not you. Though your clothes aren’t great either. But Achille... are you on your way to a crime scene in the financial district?”

“I’m the one liaising with the police anyway, so does it matter?”

Achille rolled his eyes as he drank his coffee.

“It’s not like I’m going into the arena with the rest of you.”

That was true. The mission instructions hadn’t specified “civilian clothes over combat uniforms” for no reason. My seniors were regulars on this assignment, so we couldn’t hide our identities completely, but the three of us still needed to blend in with the audience as much as possible. Bobby, Riccardo—who had yet to arrive—and I had to enter the arena that evening.

Into the crowd enjoying matches between creatures and illegal transplant recipients. The trouble was, I didn’t own any clothes suited to that sort of thing.

“You should buy a leather jacket,” Bobby advised, closing her bright red lips around the fresh white cigarette. “A jet-black one. It’d look good on you.”

“Oh, yes. Thank you. I’ll keep that in mind next time I go shopping.”

“If you’re done with your call, let’s board.”

Achille pushed away from the pillar and pointed toward the station entrance with the hand holding his Americano.

“There’s Riccardo.”

Finally. He was here. I turned to follow Achille’s gaze, and my eyes widened at the sight of my senior walking into the white station.

Since falling into this world, I’d seen him almost as often as Ami, yet Riccardo looked unfamiliar as he approached the waiting train. A black mask, a black field jacket with lots of pockets, jet-black boots. And silver piercings that stood out all the more against that outfit.

On his hand was the snake-shaped ring he always wore. The outfit was quite a departure from his usual taste.

The green-eyed man stopped in front of the train and waved at us. Looking at his eyes, narrowed in a smile, I started toward him and let my thoughts slip out.

“A punk...”

Dressed like that, he really did look like some swaggering punk.

* * *

The express train to the outskirts was nearly empty too.

We had booked the best class, so once again we each had a private compartment. Until we reached our destination, we spent the time attending to our own needs in our compartments. We also agreed that only those who wanted company for lunch or dinner would gather in the dining car.

As it turned out, Achille and I were the only ones who showed up for lunch. In the quiet, pale dining car, with three or four civilians in sight, he bought me a boxed lunch.

He waved away my thanks and asked about my background as we ate.

“Oh, you were in another core when I introduced myself.”

“Not many Badgers were there for your introduction.”

Really? They’d filled the auditorium. And hadn’t everyone been told to attend if possible? Perhaps reading my thoughts, my silver-haired senior added a blunt explanation.

“The Badgers in other cores, outside the cores, or even in Center Core but far from headquarters didn’t attend.”

“Oh, of course. I didn’t think of that.”

“So what did you do before becoming a Badger?”

I rattled off the fabricated details of my official records that Yun had given me. Achille’s expression darkened a little as he listened to my false past. On paper, Hildebert Taleb had indeed led a rather unfortunate life.

But it was all made up, so there was no need to look so grim. I hastily added that I’d had a happy childhood and changed the subject.

Achille readily answered my various questions. Why he’d decided to become a cop, what he’d done as a detective. His blunt but detailed answers emboldened me. I’d ask one last question, and if the mood was right, I’d bring up Yun.

“Why did you leave the police to become a Badger?”

But that question was a land mine. His face quickly darkened. An unnatural silence fell in an instant.

And that was the end of our conversation. I apologized for asking a sensitive question, then had to eat the rest of my lunch watching Achille’s mood as he grumbled that it was fine.

Afterward, I read a mystery novel provided on the train until we arrived. Sure enough, the train didn’t reach our destination until after dark.

On the walk from the train to the abandoned house being used as the arena, I listened to Bobby talk about her love life. She said she liked men who were a bit of a challenge. Seeing that I didn’t understand what she meant by that, she explained.

“Among the Badgers, I’d say Senior Jason or Senior Riccardo.”

“Oh.”

Jason Tvein and Riccardo Sordi? I looked at Riccardo’s back as he led the way a few paces ahead. Tvein and Riccardo...

“So you mean you don’t care about the software at all, just the hardware—”

“Hilde~...”

Riccardo’s voice reached me before I could finish the words I’d let slip.

“Getting pretty comfortable in the organization now, are we~?”