(It remains in fragments in my memory, but when I came to, I had been taken home by Naomi-san.)
Seeing me desperately trying to open the drawers of memory, Koyomin looked somewhat—no, quite—exasperated.
“Um, Kanako… we’re the parties involved.”
“W-well, the people involved are the ones who forget! You know, they say ‘it’s darkest under the lighthouse.'”
“If it was originally dark, there’d be no point in having a lighthouse… sigh“
After inserting one sigh, Koyomin picked up the documents.
“These are documents from the kidnapping case where we underwent modification surgery. The photos and other things closely resemble what we saw at that mansion, so there’s almost no doubt.”
Being told it was a kidnapping case… I scratched the tip of my nose, not really feeling it.
“I see, so it was a case. Since I was sent back in half a day, it doesn’t really hit home.”
“It certainly wasn’t made public either. It seems Naomi-san was being considerate, saying ‘if the paranormal abilities got out to the public, you two would have a hard time.'”
If she’s going to be considerate about that, I wish she wouldn’t drag us into cases… Oops, I’ll save my complaints for when Naomi-san gets back.
“It didn’t make the news, wasn’t in the newspapers. The only thing that changed was that I got a cute little sister.”
“Yes, yes, I’ll investigate.”
Lightly dismissed by Koyomin, I decided to flip through the documents.
————
Serial Abduction of Individuals with Special Abilities
A kidnapping case originating from an inhumane plan by police executives.
Hereafter, this case will be referred to as Case A.
Case A was conducted by Ataoka Hiroshi (56), who had been expelled from academic circles for advancing human modification experiments. It is presumed that police executive Hijikata Koshizo (65), who took notice of this research, secretly provided research funding.
Ataoka Hiroshi died of a heart attack caused by the sound of police kicking down the door during the raid.
Originally, Hijikata had invested his private funds to treat his aging body using human modification technology, but when he learned that the research involved implanting “paranormal abilities” and “superpowers”—supernatural research—he began embezzling police budgets to satisfy his desires for “conquering Japan” and “eternal life.”
The misappropriation of funds and unaccounted expenses──
————–
“Japanese conquest and eternal life… Hijikata Koshizo and Dr. Ataoka are pretty childish people, aren’t they?”
Having read the documents partway through, I voiced my honest impression.
“When people’s remaining years become short, it wouldn’t be strange for anxiety to cause them to lose their ethical sense.”
“The first half sounds so ominous, but the second half is too fantastical. I can’t quite follow it.”
But from the perspective of someone who was actually modified, it’s not “fantasy” but “reality.”
Koyomin had a convinced expression as she read through these documents.
“This clears up several questions. The large amount of funding was for research.”
“But even after Dr. Ataoka died, they were still pouring research funds in, right? Maybe Hijikata Koshizo had someone else continue the research?”
“And Hijikata Koshizo was killed, made to look like suicide… Whoever continued this plan must be the mastermind.”
“Right… Oh, this part is written about us, the victims.”
I decided to read another set of documents.
This document didn’t seem to be compiled by Naomi-san, but rather appeared to be research notes by the researcher “Ataoka Hiroshi.”
***
Oba Kanako.
A simple girl lured by food. Since she seems physically robust, she will undergo physical enhancement modification surgery.
In case of rampage, use chemicals that temporarily nullify the nanomachines’ effects. If control becomes difficult, disposal should be considered.
Ando Koyomi.
Secured after being expelled from a facility. Since she has no family, this is convenient. In reference to her name Koyomi (calendar), I’ll try giving her telepathic abilities.
If she rebels and becomes a future obstacle, it’s essential to keep anti-telepathy devices on hand as a countermeasure.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.GITHUB.IO
“???”
Looking at these notes, I was extremely confused. It’s not that I was angry about being called “simple”… well, I am annoyed, but it’s not wrong, so…
That wasn’t the problem.
“Hey, Koyomin. Isn’t this backwards? The telepathic ability is mine, right? This is wrong, isn’t it?”
According to the text, I’m supposed to be the cyborg, but what does this mean?
As I tilted my head in confusion, she gave me an exasperated look.
“Don’t tell me you don’t remember?”
“Ah, no, I remember that day. It’s just the before and after the modification that’s vague.”
“Sigh Well, it is you, Kanako, so I wasn’t expecting much…”
My sister looked like she thought there was no point in being that exasperated…
With a sigh, Koyomin explained what happened that day.
“Kanako, you came and sat on my examination table because you wanted fresh caramel, didn’t you? So I thought ‘how annoying’ and moved to the opposite examination table──”
“Ah, so that’s how we switched places. I do feel like this ability suits you better, Koyomin.”
If anything, she’d probably be rich by now. Like from mahjong or something.
“If the physically robust Kanako had my physical enhancement abilities, she’d be completely uncontrollable. You could probably destroy a town or two.”
“Don’t imagine weird things. Let’s find something that could be a clue about the mastermind.”
Saying that, I tried reading other documents… But Dr. Ataoka’s research was truly, truly crazy stuff that even my sister, who doesn’t show much expression, frowned at.
“Cyborg development, brain digitization, extraction of only the mind—’thought entities,’ and even physical restoration and eternal life…”
“Yikes, it’s like he’s tried his hand at every mad scientist thing he could think of… Maybe he was driven by some strange sense of mission?”
“However, whether due to lack of funds or being fickle, he seems to have repeatedly started things and then abandoned them. The research that’s progressed properly could be counted on one hand.”
“Even one hand is honestly impressive, though. The cyborg and telepathic abilities were actually successful.”
But even reading through the documents, we couldn’t find clues about the mastermind—or rather:
“Hijikata Koshizo and Dr. Ataoka… most of the ringleaders are dead. No wonder Naomi-san hit a dead end.”
“Well, there are a few people involved in the case who are still alive.”
Saying that, Koyomin smoothly pointed at the documents.
There, the names of Naomi-san, Inspector Gori, and Ugo-honjo-sensei were listed.
“Eh!?”
“Even if they’re not the mastermind, these three people might be connected to the mastermind. They were at the scene on the day of our kidnapping.”
I hurriedly read the section Koyomin was pointing at carefully.
“Naomi-san broke into the research facility with Inspector Gori and Ugo-honjo-sensei in tow… Ah, what a relief. These are just the names of the police officers who raided the scene that day. But still, I can’t believe any of these three would be related to the mastermind!”
“However, only these three people are still alive… In fact, Ugo-honjo-san did commit the outrageous act of letting lawyer Arima escape.”
Having read her mind and knowing she wasn’t thinking anything mastermind-like at all, I flatly denied it.
“There must be someone else, definitely! Let’s read more documents!”
“That’s what you say, but all that’s left are Naomi-san’s hastily scribbled notes.”
“What kind of hastily scribbled notes?”
“Information we already know and things about her poor health.”
The memo read as follows:
一I convinced the higher-ups to let me take Dr. Ataoka’s research materials from the storage facility – the mastermind behind the kidnapping incident and human experimentation. I also destroyed the data backups, leaving only this evidence as the original. This should delay their research somewhat.
Hijikata Koshizou, who’s obsessed with Dr. Ataoka’s research out of a ridiculous desire for cheat abilities, will surely make a move someday. When that time comes, I’ll catch him by the tail and bring him to justice.
一Something’s not right.
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