Chapter 18 No Choice in the Matter

Shachiku’s head snapped toward the mountain. Around him, chaos erupted. Colleagues screamed, their voices blending into a cacophony of panic. Papers flew as people dove under desks, their instincts kicking in despite the absurdity of hiding from an explosion miles away. The coffee machine toppled over, spilling steaming liquid across the floor. The sharp scent of burnt coffee filled the air.

Shachiku didn’t move.

Not after seventeen years of corporate slavery. Not after being ground into dust by the endless cycle of deadlines, meetings, and soul-crushing monotony. A mere explosion wasn’t enough to shake him. He had survived worse—or at least, things that felt worse. The daily grind had numbed him to chaos. But then, he saw it.

Smoke.

Thick, dark plumes rising from Kuro Mountain, twisting and writhing like some monstrous serpent. The sight sent a cold jolt through his chest. His coffee cup slipped from his fingers, shattering against the floor. The sound barely registered.

Helios-9. Something inside it had just exploded.

Normally, Shachiku wouldn’t have batted an eye. Normally, he would have sighed, muttered something about it being none of his business, and gone back to stamping papers. He had spent years perfecting the art of detachment, of burying his head in the sand. It was how he survived. How he kept going.

But not this time. Because this time—Dr. Ichiban was there.

His mind raced. Ichiban. Her sharp wit, her unshakable calm, the way she always seemed to see right through him. She had been at Helios-9 working on whatever top-secret project had consumed her. She hadn’t answered his messages. She hadn’t called. And now this.

Shachiku shoved past his panicked coworkers, ignoring their confused shouts as he sprinted toward the office exit. His heart pounded in his chest, each beat echoing the urgency coursing through him.

He didn’t care about work. He didn’t care about the stack of documents waiting for him or the meeting he was supposed to lead in an hour. The only thing that mattered now was getting to Helios-9.

But just as he reached the parking lot and spotted his car—

BOOOOM.

The second explosion hit.

The ground lurched violently, the force nearly knocking him off his feet. The sky itself seemed to shake as another deafening blast tore through the air. Shachiku stumbled, catching himself against a nearby car.

“What the hell now?!”

Sirens blared in the distance, their wails growing louder by the second. People were screaming, running in every direction, their faces etched with fear.

Shachiku didn’t stop. He couldn’t.

He jumped into his car, his hands trembling as he turned the ignition. The engine roared to life, and he floored it, the tires screeching as he peeled out of the parking lot. Whatever had just happened—whatever was going on in Helios-9—he had to get there.

As he sped through the chaotic streets, his mind raced with possibilities. What could have caused the explosions? A malfunction? An attack? And why hadn’t Ichiban answered his messages? The questions swirled in his head, each one more unsettling than the last.

But one thought drowned out all the others.

"Please be okay."

Shachiku’s tires screeched as he slammed the brakes. The road ahead was completely blocked. A makeshift military checkpoint had turned the highway into a fortress—armored trucks, sandbags, and barbed wire cutting off all access to Helios-9. Soldiers stood at attention, their rifles at the ready, eyes scanning every car that dared approach.

His pulse hammered in his ears. This was far beyond any normal security measure.

A soldier banged on his hood.

 “Turn the car around! Now!”

Another rushed up to his window, face obscured by a dark helmet. 

“This area is under lockdown. Civilians must evacuate immediately!”

Shachiku’s breath caught in his throat.

"Lockdown? What the hell is happening?"

He yanked open the door, stepping out—only for a soldier to shove him back inside.

“HEY! WHAT THE HELL?!” Shachiku barked, slamming a fist against the dashboard.

Another soldier—a higher rank by the looks of his uniform—strode forward, eyes sharp as steel. 

“Get back in the car and leave the area! This is not up for debate!”

“I need to get to Helios-9!” Shachiku snapped. 

“I have clearance, I’m a contractor for—”

The soldier cut him off with a scoff. 

“You don’t have clearance for this! No one does!”

Shachiku’s stomach dropped.

“What do you mean ‘for this’? What happened in there?!”

The soldier didn’t answer. He simply lifted his rifle slightly—a warning, not a threat.

“Back in the car. Now!”

Shachiku gritted his teeth. 

“Listen, my colleague—Dr. Ichiban—she’s inside that facility! If you’re locking it down, I need to know if she’s okay! I need to—”

“I said GET BACK! We don’t have time to babysit some goddamn salaryman!” Another soldier stomped forward shouting and slammed his fist against the roof of his car. 

“Then tell me what’s going on! You can’t just block the road and—”

“We CAN and we WILL.”

The higher-ranking officer stepped closer, voice low, deadly. 

“This is not your concern. You need to leave. NOW. Or you won’t have a choice in the matter.”

Shachiku clenched his fists, his entire body trembling with frustration. His mind screamed at him to fight, to argue, to demand answers—but then he saw it.

More troops. More armored vehicles rolling in. This wasn’t just an accident. This was something else.

“…You’ll be contacted by Dr. Ichiban when things clear up,” the officer added, his tone mechanical. A lie. A way to make him leave without causing trouble.

Shachiku’s nails dug into his palm. Every instinct told him not to back down. But even he wasn’t stubborn enough to argue with a goddamn military blockade.

Jaw tight, he sucked in a breath and raised his hands. 

“Fine, I'm leaving. You're lucky I forgot my briefcase, thing would have gone much different way if I hadn't.”

The officer held his stare for a moment before stepping closer. The other soldiers followed his lead, rifles rising.

Shachiku hands were shaking as he gripped the wheel. He wanted to scream. To force his way through. But he wasn’t stupid. For now, he had to turn around.

As Shachiku grudgingly twisted the wheel and turned his car around, his eyes flicked up toward the sky—just in time to see a helicopter rising from Helios-9.

His breath hitched.

It wasn’t a military chopper. This one was different—smaller, sleeker, its dark body flying away from the facility. In that suspended moment, a single thought surged through him. 

"Survivors, who else would be in that chopper?"

His mind raced—evacuation was the only explanation. Could someone, anyone, have escaped the disaster? The possibility ignited a spark within him, a cocktail of hope.

"Survivors… maybe even Ichiban," he muttered under his breath.

In the morning, before the accident.

The morning sun cast a golden glow over the university gates, and Kataomoi stood at his post, his posture straight and his uniform neatly pressed. He had been working as a security guard at the university for years, and while the job was often uneventful, there was one part of his routine he always looked forward to: Professor Ichiban’s arrival.