Chapter 21: “Repairing a Broken Situation”
“…Nagisa?”
My voice was swallowed up without a trace by the ceaseless rain and the roar of the muddy torrent being sucked into the massive hole.
There was no reply.
Naturally.
Just a few minutes ago‚ right next to my ear‚someone had been scattering incoherent “daily noise” like “My life HP—” and “Parfait—”.
That presence had now vanished into the brown flood.
On my fingertips‚ the heat from when I had grabbed her collar still remained.Like a curse.
The world was unnaturally quiet.
Once‚ this very silence had been the peace I had longed for.Time to read a book without interruption‚ listening only to the sound of rain.But when that silence returned—
It sounded like an unpleasant noise‚ as if needles were stabbing into the depths of my ears.
“…Too quiet. It’s ringing in my ears.”
Walking alone.For me‚ this had been the most familiar “default setting” in this world.And yet now‚ I couldn’t even sense my own stride.
Nagisa—uncontrollable‚ illogical‚always producing the maximum deviation‚ a “huge variable.”
With her gone‚my survival equation kept spitting out an unrecoverable error.
(…The calculation doesn’t match.Without Nagisa‚ I can’t control the variable…?No way… Well‚ the only fool here is that girl…)
I told myself that my trembling knees were due to the cold rain.There was no time to cry.Moving my emotions would just waste oxygen.
Now‚ while my hands can still move‚I must fix this “bug.”
From that quagmire where Nagisa had leapt to save a child who didn’t exist‚I needed to pick up the scrap called “life” that she had left behind.
(…Move‚ Rin.I have no choice but to clean up the chaos Nagisa left.)
The rain didn’t stop.The silence continued.The noisy variable had vanished from my world.
Crawling through the rubble‚ I found a “corpse.”
A flashy orange delivery drone.Some child had probably played with it once.Three of its propellers were broken‚ its camera lens crushed with mud‚and the body was soaked and cold‚ as if it were declaring‚ “I died here.”
(…Nagisa would definitely have said‚ “It’s a crab drone!”Shut up. Don’t replay in my head now.)
“…Move.”
With trembling hands‚ I pulled a small screwdriver set from a waterproof case.The sensation in my fingers was nearly gone from the cold.But that was actually convenient.
If I didn’t feel pain‚my hands could continue to work as “parts of a precision machine.”
“…Bypass the circuit.Connect the spare battery for the flare.Adjust the propeller pitch…”
The words I murmured were not for Nagisa to hear.They were inorganic symbols to tie my consciousness to this one task of “repair.”
(If I don’t speak‚ my thoughts will automatically flow to Nagisa.That… would be fatal for me right now.)
But the toy drone alone wasn’t enough.It couldn’t detect heat sources or receive survival signals.
“…A toy brain isn’t enough.”
I dragged out the remnants of the “underwater searchlight” I had assembled from discarded bottles in that underground mall.Its optical sensor was still alive.And the “radio” I recovered from the backpack Nagisa had carried—the receiving circuit that picked up Momiji’s voice.
(The junk my past self left behind… now it all becomes a lifeline.)
“…Optical sensor transplanted.Radio receiving circuit reused.With this… I have the minimum to ‘search.’”
Denying what Nagisa often called the “excitement index‚”I exposed the circuit boards and forcibly rewrote the toy’s brain to specialize in “survival.”
(Nagisa’s sketchbook is lost.Our “past” was swallowed by the flood.Then… at least the “present” must survive…)
Even from the mud‚ I pulled it out.
“…Connected… Command input.”
Burning my fingertips on the solder‚I forcibly activated the system.
The broken motor tore through the rain’s sound‚screaming a high‚ sharp wail.
(I’m the one who wants to cry‚ though.)
The sound seemed to say:“I can still move. I’m not dead yet.”
I silently nodded.
(Yes. Move.This is the result of your “play.”Fix it and prove it.That Nagisa… is still alive.)
“…Rin. Rin‚ can you hear me?”
From the radio came a voice laced with noise.It was Momiji.
This communication working wasn’t a miracle.The observation tower forcibly woke the emergency booster.Or the “dead relay station” at my feet was merely still breathing.
“…I hear you. Sync the data.”
“Calm down. Your heart rate has been over 140 for a while.…I know Nagisa isn’t here‚ but if you collapse‚ it’s really over.”
(Heart rate? I don’t care.Right now‚ my heart is just a “fuel pump.”As long as it doesn’t stop‚ that’s enough.)
“…No lectures.Do a wide-area scan for heat sources.Sector 20 downstream‚ radius 500 meters.”
A voice colder than I expected came out of me.
Even Momiji’s concern would now just slow me down with “noise.”Nagisa would have seen my face now and laughed‚ saying‚“Rin-chan‚ scary!”
(…Laugh.Right now‚ I need that “noise.”)
“…Understood. Sending wide-area data.But controlling the drone in this magnetic storm will be difficult.…Rin‚ are you sure you’ll do this?”
“…It’s not ‘do it.’I’m fixing the broken situation.”
I pushed the lever on my homemade controller.
The drone had originally been a large six-blade toy.Three blades were broken‚ and the remaining three struggled to grasp the air.Unstable‚ dangerous‚flying almost exactly like Nagisa’s reckless self.
(…See.You don’t need to become “Nagisa” too.)
Still‚ it rose into the rainy sky.
“…Nagisa will die.…I refuse to accept that calculation.”
The words that slipped out of my mouthwere a prelude of “rejection” leading to the despair yet to come.
I stared at the gray world on the monitor‚forgetting even to blink.
(Move. Search.Drag out the answer called Nagisa’s “survival” from this world.)
Only the sound of rain pushed me forward.
The drone’s camera showed the collapsed city.
The shopping district I once walked with Nagisa.Roofs we sketched together.Under an old streetlight where we told silly stories while taking shelter from the rain.
All of it had sunk into the bottom of the brown mud.
“…Scan start.…No heat sources inside the buildings.No biological reactions in the rubble.”
Momiji’s report echoed like a merciless countdown.
(Zero. None.Numbers can declare “death” so easily…)
The world on the monitorseemed emptier‚ more worthlessthan the world where I once read books alone.
“…The search isn’t enough.Increase the sensitivity.”
“If you go any higher‚ noise will block everything!”
“…Increase it.”
I deliberately slipped the drone into the dangerous gaps among collapsing buildings.
At that moment—The three remaining propellers scraped against the walls.
The drone shook violently‚the motor screaming in high-pitched agony.
(…Don’t fall.Don’t rush in and die like Nagisa.)
Still‚ I pushed the lever.
(Nagisa.You always ignored my warnings and laughed.Each time I said “It’s dangerous‚” you stepped forward…Yet you never let go of my hand.)
Then‚ I too—ignored my own warnings.
Logically‚ the probability she survived the flood was nearly zero.
(But… Nagisa never believed in probability even once.)
She always laughed at my “rightness” and overturned it.
“…You forced the world you believed in onto me.…Then take responsibility. Don’t end things on your own.”
The drone’s battery indicator began flashing violently.Power was at its limit.
The view was filled with noise‚mud caked the lens‚the screen was almost a “sandstorm.”
(…Don’t end.Don’t end.I’m not finished yet.)
Beyond that sandstorm—something seemed to flash for just an instant.
(…What?)
I held my breath.
Beep‚ beep‚ beep.
A short‚ sharp electronic sound came from the controller.
“…A heat source?”
“…Got it! Rin‚ Sector 22!Top floor of a building left isolated like a lone island!”
Through the noise on the monitor‚a tiny‚ tiny red light lit up.
A biological reaction.
(…Nagisa’s “life HP” isn’t zero yet.)
“…Ah.”
I clenched my back teeth to withstand my knees almost giving way in relief.
The drone’s battery looked ready to die.The battery icon flickered like a death rattle at the edge of the monitor.
(Don’t fall… keep working…You’re already “Nagisa’s replacement.”)
“…Fix the coordinates.…Momiji‚ keep monitoring Nagisa’s vitals.…I’m going there now.”
“Wait‚ Rin! With this ground‚ you can’t walk there!”
“…I’ll decide if it’s impossible.”
I threw the controller aside and re-hoisted the mud-covered backpack.
Nagisa was alive.
Just that alonemade the unpleasant error called “silence” vanish from my world.
(…She’s back.Even if it’s just an auditory hallucination of noise.As long as you’re alive‚ that’s enough.)
The rain still hadn’t stopped.But in my eyes‚the rooftop of that muddy buildingshone as the clearest destination in the world.
“…Wait there‚ Nagisa.”
With legs still trembling‚I stepped into the sea of collapsing rubble.
The blinking of the battery levelpulsed like the only heartbeatat the bottom of the dark night.
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