Perpendicular Destiny

It was past sunset yet there were streaks of crimson flares glaring along the horizon. It wasn’t the sun anymore.

Tomoe caught sight of the Encrypt lab being consumed by fire. He couldn’t believe he saw it with his own eyes. What’s more horrible was the scene of randomly scattered lifeless bodies of scientists and the guards. There were still others who were alive and screaming for help. But all in all, it was a horrific sight.

Tomoe ran a safe distance away from the scene. He grabbed his phone and made an anonymous call to the police, despite the thought that the authorities might already be fully aware of the situation.

Later on, he heard a faint siren coming from the direction of the city proper. The Himalian authorities already knew. Although Tomoe wanted to check what happened, the lab was still on fire, and “I couldn’t bring myself to be involved in such a way as being on the site of the incident,” he thought.

As he went downhill, Tomoe heard approaching vehicles so he hid behind the bushes. When they passed through, Tomoe got up but then he stepped onto a little black contraption. He picked it up and noticed that it was a fragment of a data tablet from the Encrypt lab.

It contained a series of codes and some readable words like [SOPHOS] and [HDT-0***-*9**-6]. He had no idea what HDT means but he’s well aware that “Sophos” is very important data for the Encrypt lab.

Tomoe thought of bringing it back to the lab but all of a sudden, he was intercepted by a mysterious individual.

“Give it back,” the individual demanded while pointing toward the contraption Tomoe was holding.

Tomoe asked, “Are you affiliated with the Encrypt lab?”

“Yes, of course. Here’s my ID.”

Tomoe examined the ID. “I see.”

“So, could you give it back?”

“No.”

“No? Young man, that’s not a toy. That’s an important data piece. Someone like you shouldn’t have that. So give it to me.”

“I would if you’re an Encrypt employee.”

“Huh? I am. Didn’t you look at my ID?”

“I did and it’s weird because I know that person in the ID. My friend and I talked to him just an hour ago. Your voice and his were completely different. You’re also shorter than him. Besides, that person is already dead.”

The mysterious individual laughed. “I underestimated a high schooler like you.”

“Not really, your methods were just too obvious and stupid. Even a child wouldn’t fall for that.”

“Calling it stupid hurts my heart but I guess so.”

“But even if you didn’t say a thing, I would still recognize you.”

“Really?”

“Yes. The authorities hid an important fact from the public. And because of the second explosion, everyone will now see a contradiction. A fact over a facade. Good grief, you really made a mess of this peaceful city, Decryptor!”

Decryptor. Tomoe just gave a clever nickname to the infamous mastermind of the two explosion incidents. Decryptor, the one who steals data from Encrypt.

“Decryptor? What a genius wordplay! What’s your name, young man?”

“Yuno. Yuno Tomoe.”

“I see. Yuno, what a nice name befitting a genius like you!”

“A genius? I can hardly call myself a genius.”

“Yes, you are. However, I couldn’t let someone of your wit live, or else, you’ll be a threat to our plans.”

Decryptor closed his distance to Tomoe. His eyes glowed and pointed a gun at a point-blank distance toward Tomoe. He said, “Goodbye, genius!”

“INITIATING SEQUENCE”

“How futile! All my efforts toward gaining knowledge about this world ended in vain. Goodbye, everyone!”

Just as when the bullet was about to hit his head, a voice echoed from the sky.

“I won’t let you die, human!!”

Then, in a blink of an eye, Tomoe disappeared, leaving the contraption he was holding until the very end. The Decryptor guy, perplexed as he may have seemed, picked up the contraption and left the scene.

On the other hand, the fire on the Encrypt lab was completely put out. The remains of the dead were transported to the city morgue while the survivors were brought to the hospital.

There was a huge mourning in the Encrypt main headquarters complex the following day. The still recovering Dr. Blanchett expressed his deep grief upon the death of his colleagues and subordinates.

Moreover, the rumor about the missing Altair Academy student started to spread in the city.

☆ ☆ ☆