Chapter 19: Echoes of Truth

“This is the Nexus Tunnel, where the tragedy occurred at noon today. The scene is in complete chaos.”

“As you can see here, the vehicles are severely damaged, and unfortunately, most of the drivers and passengers lost their lives in the tunnel.”

“The emergency rescue teams and police who rushed to the scene are working hard to rescue the injured amidst the chaos. Samples of the creature and the bodies have been sent to a nearby military science research institute for detailed investigation. According to experts, there is a high possibility that this creature is a new species never before discovered on Earth.”

“It has not yet been revealed where this creature came from or why it attacked humans. The united government will hold an emergency meeting to prepare countermeasures, and until then, we ask citizens to avoid the area and be especially careful.”

<EchoSphere, a space where the voices of the world resonate>

• Anonymous Voice 337317: The truth of the Nexus Tunnel tragedy. (Warning: graphic, cruel content)

[Video]

Anonymous Voice 343887: ¿Este video está editado por IA? ¿Es real?
(Is this video edited by AI? Is it real?) +905

Anonymous Voice 345628: Of course it’s fake. Tentacles came out of a person’s mouth. And where did they get those weapons? +524

Anonymous Voice 346211: 私はデジタルフォレンジックの専門家ですが、動画の品質や音声の周波数分析を考慮すると、AIで編集された可能性は非常に低いと思います。
(I’m a digital forensics expert, and considering the video quality and audio frequency analysis, I think it’s highly unlikely that it was edited by AI.) +1068

Anonymous Voice 348012: 死去的人不是应该遮住脸吗？
(Shouldn’t the faces of the dead be covered?) +2120

Anonymous Voice 348999: This looks real. The Allied Forces mark on their shoulders ddddd. And the samples were sent to a ‘military’ science research institute, of all places. +574

Anonymous Voice 349001: میرے خیال میں یہ کسی قسم کا گورنمنٹ کا خفیہ تجربہ ہے جو غلطی س عام عوام کے سامنے آگیا ہے۔
(I think this was some kind of secret government experiment that was accidentally revealed to the public.) +313

Anonymous Voice 349222: I know it’s not the time, but… who are they? Just, wow. +744

Anonymous Voice 349397: Wait, did anyone else just see them headshot that thing like it was nothing? Bro, they’re insane! +1041

Anonymous Voice 349400: Essa galera deve ser algum tipo de agente secreto. Na boa, só pode!
(These people must be some kind of secret agents. Seriously, how else is that possible?)

• Anonymous Voice 349486: I cut out just the heroes of the tunnel.

[Video]
When I zoomed in, it looks like the Allied Forces mark, but more than that, their gun stances are amazing. +9999

Anonymous Voice 351017: Heroes of the tunnel, can I repost this to other sites? I won’t get arrested, right? +5004

Views 1,354,864 Reposts 92,020
Views 25,564,867 Reposts 1,223,117
Views 59,284,363 Reposts 7,876,432.

We ditched the car somewhere appropriate and moved to a new motel.
I had to admit that we worked together seamlessly as we bought a multi-purpose wireless charger and charged our emitters and earpieces.
Neither of us wasted a single moment.
It was the same when we did the tactical training simulation in the tactical leadership class a long time ago.
Other team members even asked if we had met separately and planned it out.
But everyone shut up after seeing the expressions on our faces.
So it was still broad daylight when we came out to eat, wearing new clothes and with black baseball caps pulled down low.
We went into a bar in a corner of the slum, ordered food and drinks, and sat in a corner.

“There was some distance from the pub we came out of. Maybe there are several holes.”

Hannah said, unfolding a city tourist map she had picked up on the way to buy a hat.
She circled the place they first came out of and the tunnel with a blue marker.
Zakar glanced at the distance with his eyes.

“Even so, it’s uncertain if it’s still open. If we go back later, there’s a high chance we’ll just be playing whack-a-mole.”

“I know. I’m just saying it’s worth going back once. After about a week or two, when the investigation is over.”

At that moment, the food they had ordered arrived, so Hannah folded the map and added.

“I may not have a family, but you’re different. Shouldn’t you be the one who’s anxious to go back quickly?”

“Not really. I’m just thinking of it as a vacation to an exotic place.”

As she roughly mixed her rice with the tomato sauce, Hannah looked up in disbelief.
The nonchalant face of the man who had pushed back his hair and was wearing a hat was clearly imprinted in her eyes.
He was leaning back leisurely in his chair and was actually observing the bad-tempered shop as if it were a tourist attraction.

“Anyway, since those things have started to appear, we can’t leave Sector 17 for a while. Whether we find the hole connected to our world as you said, or go to the tunnel after a week, we’ll have to rush over as soon as the news breaks.”

Zakar’s gaze was on the screen in a corner.
23 dead, 9 injured.
The numbers had increased in the meantime.

“Until then, we have nothing to lose by enjoying what we can only do here. For example, buying a limited edition Kieran Jaxx album from this world.”

Hannah’s eyes widened slightly.
It was a name she had forgotten.
‘Ah, come to think of it, it all started when I heard a new song in the pub…’

“It’s amazing that you can even think of such a thing in this situation.”

She muttered it unconsciously.
It wasn’t sarcasm, but envy, because her mind was full of other things.

“I’m still thinking about that email. I don’t have the luxury to think about other things.”

“About the sender’s identity?”

“Yeah. Whoever it was that called us here, I have a feeling that they’ll find us even if we hide somewhere.”

The man’s fingers, which had been stretched out indifferently, twitched and then stopped.
He looked at her and tilted his head slightly.
His black eyes, which seemed to see right through her, always felt like they were lighting a fuse in her head.
Whoosh.

“Who do you want it to be?”

“What do you mean?”

“Literally.”

“It’s not about who I want it to be, I just want to catch the bastard who played such a prank. The question is wrong in the first place.”

After answering calmly, a strange heat stirred in her chest.
I thought it was because a fire had just been lit.
It was always like that with Zakar, even over trivial things.
I thought it had gotten a little better.

“Just tell me what you want to hear, don’t beat around the bush like you usually don’t.”

She gripped her fork tightly and muttered.
Zakar stared at her as if to test her, then slowly opened his mouth.

“With your penchant for feeling old-fashioned guilt after sleeping with me once, I thought you might be waiting for Ian Somerset.”

“……”

“The Abyss never opened here. Shouldn’t you have been the first to deduce what that means?”

“Are you trying to say that Ian might be alive? That I’m clinging to such an absurd hope?”

As she said it out loud, the anger that had been a simple heat quickly rose to the top of her head.
There are times like that.
When something has been pressed, but you don’t know what was pressed.
As Major Müller said, maybe it was just my pride that was scratched.
But isn’t that pride, to a human made of ego, everything they have?

“Don’t make assumptions without knowing anything. If I don’t exist, Ian doesn’t exist either. It’s just impossible.”

“Ah, as a result of that great childhood you two shared.”

Zakar had a knack for crushing people with a blank expression.
A talent for making people feel small without even sneering.
I felt like I was going to be sick.
It was my favorite food, but looking at the plate, my appetite was gone, and the tomato color, which resembled blood, made my stomach churn.

“Ian is dead. I dissolved his flesh in alkaline water and had a water burial with his half-eaten corpse, and I ground his bones in a military metal grinder that was originally used to crush steel or titanium. And those bones,”

She took a deep breath and then exhaled.

“I kept them and threw them into the sea with my own hands. So he will never, ever come back.”

As she stood up abruptly, the chair scraped with a grating sound.

“I guess I can’t eat while looking at your face. I’ll go ahead.”

She strode through the narrowly arranged tables without hesitation.
As she passed the screen, a subtitle was scrolling by, saying that they had decided to name the creature from the tunnel ‘Abaddon’.