Old Comrades

“Case report number seven hundred fifty-five, May 16th, 2308,” I recited once more to the camera.

“This are contagion investigators Isayama Tore and Katy Shimizu from Division 3 reporting,” added my partner.

I think it was the first time we recorded a report without stumbling over our words.

Fully focused, we outlined every detail of our latest cases in that dimly lit room.

We stayed there for about fifty minutes.

“Conclusion for case seven hundred fifty-five: success.”

“Conclusion for case seven hundred forty-eight: success.”

We both sighed in relief, finally done with our biggest challenge to date.

“Finally…” my partner breathed.

“I think this might be the happiest day of my life…”

In silence, we took a moment to rest after the monumental effort.

“High five,” she said, holding out her hand.

POOM

Just as I went for her hand, she pulled it away, causing me to smack my hand into the table.

“Damn it, that was my good one!”

She burst out laughing, clearly proud of her little prank. Defeated, I had no choice but to laugh along with her.

Once the recording was done, we headed back to our rooms to freshen up before going out. As I had told Katy earlier, I wanted her to accompany me somewhere that evening.

“Ready?” I asked when I saw her step into the hallway, where I was waiting.

“Yeah.”

Together, we descended to the ground floor. Once outside the building, we encountered a sight we thought we’d forgotten.

Not again…

“No more implants! Science kills humanity!”

The protesters chanted in unison, once again gathered at the gates of our company. Signs, whistles...

“I’d almost forgotten about them…” Katy remarked, gazing at the sunset, its light mingling with the smoke and glow of their flares.

“Better to just ignore them,” I replied.

“They’ll never understand…” she murmured. “But it’s not easy for us either…”

“Don’t worry, I get it,” I said, trying to downplay the situation.

…

Without wasting any time, we dived straight into the sunset, reflected in the glass towers of the central districts.

A few minutes later, we arrived at a familiar spot: my favorite piano bar.

After the obligatory disinfectant vapor at the entrance, we walked a few steps to a corner table near the bar.

“I see Yamaguchi-sensei was right,” I smiled at the man at the table. “You’ve wasted no time following in his footsteps, Tatsumi.”

“Hi, Isa. Please, take a seat,” he said, standing up to greet us, surprised that I wasn’t alone.

“So, he lets people call him Isa…” Katy murmured. “Nice to meet you. I’m Katy Shimizu. Isayama’s told me a lot about you.”

“Isa’s talked about me? N-nice to meet you too.” They shook hands.

“I didn’t even get a chance to introduce you…” I joked.

“I didn’t know things were going so well for you at your new job…” my friend muttered, giving me a suspicious look.

Tatsumi’s definitely reading too much into this…

“Ahem, let’s get to the point. Time might not be on our side.”

“R-right…” The three of us sat down. “So, Isa, what’s going on?”

“It’s about our boss at Division 3. He’s been getting sicker lately.” The atmosphere turned grim instantly, catching Katy off guard.

Tatsumi paused to think before responding.

“You think it might be…”

“I think it’s a possibility…”

“Isayama, what are you two talking about?”

“In short, I suspect Shinpei might be infected with the fifth evolution of the S-Flu…”

“What? W-why didn’t you tell me?”

As Katy pressed me for answers, I looked to Tatsumi for support, but he just watched us silently.

“It’s still too early to draw conclusions… I don’t want to cause panic over a false alarm, but Shinpei’s condition worries me. The best we can do is collaborate with Tatsumi and the other doctors researching unusual symptoms…”

“Even so, you should… Never mind. So, what now?”

“Tatsumi, based on what I’ve observed, our chief’s issues range from fatigue to tremors, particularly in his hand implants.”

“I see…” My friend gave me his full attention, as if something had clicked for him.

“At first, we thought it might be a malfunction in his implants or extreme stress, but given the persistence of the issues and Shinpei’s reactions, I think there’s more to it… What do you think?”

“It’s too early to confirm, one, that the fifth evolution exists, and two, what its symptoms might be. Based on the pace at which cases with atypical S-Flu symptoms are being diagnosed, the spread rate seems low, which suggests we could be wrong.”

“So you need more time to establish a diagnosis…”

“Exactly. Even if everything points to the fifth evolution, we need to stay cautious.”

While I discussed the case details with Tatsumi, Katy stayed quiet. She must have realized that I’d invited her along to help her start grasping the situation too.

“Despite that, I have bad news, Isa…”

“Huh?”

“The symptoms you described match perfectly with what Yamaguchi-sensei has been experiencing lately…”

We all fell silent.

“Loss of motor function, fatigue… It’s exactly what’s happening to him…”

“I see…” My mind wandered back to the image of Yamaguchi-sensei trembling the last time I saw him. His defeated, vacant expression…

“Still, he’s obsessed with this investigation. He spends all day locked up, writing nonstop… Don’t worry, Isa. We’ll find a solution before anything happens to him. That man’s indestructible.”

“You’re right… Let’s take note of all the symptoms and ideas we come up with. It’s all we can do for now…”

And so, the three of us began listing and discussing the little we’d observed in both cases. I didn’t need to say anything; as expected of a good friend like Tatsumi, my father’s name never came up during the conversation.

Once we finished, deep into the night, we paid the bill and got ready to leave.

What the…?

In the distance, I locked eyes with the young man sitting at one of the tables near the piano. The blonde with delicate skin raised his glass in greeting.

I hadn’t seen him since that afternoon… Wait, what’s Touji doing at the same table as Irina?

Sure enough, the music-loving young man was sitting with Irina Kaft, who was laughing as usual with the rest of the group. They were all dressed sharply, just like the first time I saw them.

How strange, I didn’t know they knew each other…

The image of Irina in the rain came back to me, alongside the drones and quarantine team, the day they apprehended Kenzo Miura…

Does Touji know I work with Irina?

I didn’t dwell on it. Tatsumi and Katy were already waiting for me outside, so I chose not to keep them waiting.