Chapter 38: Anomaly Catching Anomaly

How to Kill What Doesn't Die (Intermission)

"It must be eliminated."

All eyes in the room turned to the speaker.

For a moment, a silence hung in the air, as if the room had frozen over.

"We must eliminate it before a situation like 163-18 occurs. We can't allow a disaster like that to happen again."

Ignoring the atmosphere and the gazes of those around him, he spoke again, making his will clear.

An entity that emerged from a dimensional gate and caused a massive disaster.

The previous Administration had to endure painful losses to stop it.

Fearing a repeat of the past, he was strongly advocating for the disposal of the newly appeared Anomalous Entity.

"But, I heard that Anomalous Entity is currently cooperating with the containment procedures."

"That's exactly why we need to eliminate it now. There's no guarantee it won't suddenly go berserk, is there?"

An old woman sitting across from him spoke.

According to the report she received, the Anomalous Entity that appeared at Site 17 had a rather docile personality, unlike previous entities.

But for the man who knew the dangers of dimensional gates and the Anomalous Entities that came from them, the contents of such a report were irrelevant.

Despite the woman's reasonable opinion, he still seemed unwilling to back down from his claim.

"Easy to say. But do you really know how to eliminate that entity for sure? If you fail, you'll just be stirring up trouble."

Another voice suddenly joined the conversation.

Unlike the voice of the man who had been speaking until now, it was much deeper and lower.

He didn't seem to like the man's statement very much.

The man who had been refuted also brought up past events to retort at the man who was raising objections to him.

"Have you already forgotten what happened last time because of your indecisive attitude?"

"Well, at least I'm not a moron who's so caught up in paranoia that I blow up an entire project that was going well, unlike someone else."

"Are you saying that's my fault―――"

The man's face twisted at his callous remark that touched on his sore spot.

And then, he too opened his mouth wide to say something else.

"That's enough. You didn't gather here to fight."

As a voice filled with a subtle strength echoed through the space,

The small commotion that had just occurred stopped as if it were a lie, and all eyes in the room turned to the owner of the voice.

"...Administrator,"

Administrator.

The highest-ranking supervisor and commander of the Administration.

Even in this meeting of those holding the most important positions in the Administration, his words were absolute.

The man who had been asserting his opinion until just now paused at the Administrator's words,

Soon, he opened his mouth again to persuade him.

"Administrator, you must understand the seriousness of this situation. You know very well, don't you? What the entities that came out of the dimensional gates have done in the past."

"I know. And I also know how much damage they've caused so far."

The Administrator affirmed the man's words.

The shadow of a major incident had already risen in his consciousness, and he knew everything that had happened before the dimensional gate was closed.

But, even so.

The Administrator didn't feel like handling the matter as the man claimed.

"However, I have a different opinion about this newly appeared entity. Octo?"

"Yes, Administrator."

"Would you tell us about the analysis results of the video recordings you mentioned earlier? If your opinion hasn't changed, that is."

When the Administrator called someone's name, the old woman answered.

She gestured at the desk a few times, and a large transparent screen appeared in front of them,

Soon after, the scene of monsters rampaging at Site 17 began to appear vividly on the screen.

"After collecting the videos that were not damaged, it seems certain that what appeared at Site 17 is Anomaly 744, which was lost in the past.

Of course, there were quite a few differences from the characteristics of No. 744 that we knew before... Considering what Omega-Minor has been doing, it's not entirely impossible."

"Those cultist bastards again. Couldn't find any remaining traces?"

"No. Except for a brief shot of them entering the containment chamber of Anomaly 321, they didn't leave any traces of themselves in any video recordings. Just like other times."

"Damn it. They're such a pain in the ass."

A deep, low voice clicked his tongue.

Thanks to that, the woman's words were interrupted for a moment, but she continued speaking without caring.

"No. 744, fused with Anomaly 321, immediately roamed Site 17 and massacred all the personnel in sight. In the process, numerous duplicates were created, and a threat level of Sigma or higher was almost triggered, but…."

On a blueprint that was an exact replica of Site 17, countless red dots representing duplicates were marked.

And the number of red dots began to increase more and more―

"...Anomaly Entity 163-19 neutralized all of the Anomaly and duplicates."

Centered on a certain point.

As if swept away by a wave, the number was decreasing at a faster rate than they were being duplicated.

"And after checking the bodycams of the agents who were fighting at Site 17, it seemed that Anomaly Entity 163-19 had other specific intentions besides dealing with Anomaly 744."

Another video appeared on the screen.

The scene of monsters filling the screen as before.

But the screen showed something that was smashing the monsters at a speed that was hard to keep up with, instead of people being massacred.

"It was showing something like... rescuing people."

Ending with the face of a girl stomping on a monster rushing towards the screen from above.

The woman's explanation ended with the video.

"...There's a possibility it's a trick. It might change its mind at any time."

"Of course, that's possible. There have been several such entities in the past. Thinking back to the incident that No. 1084 caused, I still feel sick to my stomach."

The man who still couldn't shake off his suspicion said.

The Administrator also agreed to some extent on that point, recalling some past event.

"However, it is also impossible to conclude that we should eliminate that entity just because of 'what if'. We already have the precedent of 032. Surely you don't want to repeat that case, do you?"

"That's, ...No. It's not."

But, he didn't want to overlap this incident with the past.

Above all, wasn't there already an irreversible event that happened because of that?

A hasty decision could be poisonous.

He had no intention of drinking the poison he had already swallowed once again.

"Then, what are you going to do from now on? I also think positively about the fact that it is cooperating with us, but that doesn't mean we can't prepare for a possible emergency."

The deep, low voice asked.

He also opposed the endless elimination plan that the man had been advocating for since earlier.

However, he couldn't just let an Anomalous Entity with such power run wild.

Anomalies are anomalies, after all.

From their position to protect humanity, a safety device was absolutely necessary to prepare for what might happen.

"You don't have to worry about that. We have a spacetime-locking stasis device. At least while we're using it, there won't be any major problems."

At the Administrator's answer, he nodded slightly as if relieved.

Certainly, with that device, it wouldn't be difficult to capture an entity with a physical form.

Of course, applying the device directly to a rampaging entity would be as difficult as putting a bell on a cat's neck...

Considering the report that the Anomalous Entity is showing a cooperative attitude towards containment, at least there won't be any problems in applying it.

"And, I also received a pretty good plan earlier…."

The Administrator glanced slightly at something placed next to him.

And then, he paused as if he had something to think about regarding that.

"For the time being, let's keep an eye on it."

With those words,

He didn't say anything more.

In a dark space.

People wearing equipment that would be used in modern warfare over anachronistic clothing can be seen gathered.

Their gazes are all fixed on one place.

A video of a girl smashing grotesque monsters.

They couldn't take their eyes off the screen that was broadcasting the video.

After the video was cut off based on the scene where a randomly flying fragment approached the screen and smashed the camera.

One of them who was watching the video finally broke the long silence and opened his mouth.

"...Huh."

A voice of admiration flowed from the one wearing medieval knight armor.

A pure exclamation that didn't even form proper words.

I thought I had become completely accustomed to this kind of thing.

But the figure of the girl on the screen far surpassed anything I had imagined.

"Astonishing, isn't it?"

A voice came from behind him.

A completely veiled bamboo hat, a tactical vest worn over a monk's robe that one might see at a temple.

It was the very same monk who had appeared at Site 17 not long ago.

"...I, I never thought something like that could exist."

The knight in armor muttered in disbelief.

But he realized what he had just said.

He began to apologize in a hurried voice, making it clear that he had not meant to say that.

"I-I didn't mean to doubt the revelation! I just thought there might be some figurative expression involved—"

"Whoa, it's okay, calm down. I didn't intend to test your faith, brother."

The monk calmed the knight, who seemed flustered, with an open palm.

Disbelief was a sin, but at least the monk didn't want to dwell on that sin in this instance.

After all, he himself didn't believe everything until he saw it with his own eyes.

"Are you sure you don't want to meet her? You could have contacted her easily in that chaos."

A woman in a nun's habit, her face completely covered with black cloth, asked the monk.

Her body showed graceful curves, and even without seeing her face, she was captivating.

But the equipment worn over her nun's habit reminded them that she was no ordinary being either.

"Yes. It wasn't an appropriate situation for a first meeting. And there wasn't enough time left."

"If you wish, I can arrange a meeting right away."

"No. It's alright. Patience is one of the important elements that makes the fruit sweeter. Conversely, rushing things can ruin them, wouldn't you agree?"

Despite the nun's repeated offers, the monk shook his head.

There was plenty of time anyway.

Forcing a meeting disguised as a coincidence wouldn't naturally lead to good results.

He would wait patiently for the right time to come.

"For the time being... let's just keep watching."

After the monk finished speaking.

The flickering screen went black.

At the same time, the faint light emanating from the screen also disappeared.

It was as if nothing had been there from the beginning.

Without any sound, only silent stillness continued.

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