Thud!
The man kicked off his shoes carelessly and sat at his computer without even washing up. Then he began searching for everything Professor Stranov had researched.
Quantum gravity experiments.
Department of Physics.
"Physics department?"
Not medicine, not biology.
"Resonators effective against Maxwell and Descartes types..."
A research he'd never heard of before.
Had word already spread?
On one site, a fundraising campaign was underway.
[We plan to begin research this summer. We ask for your continued interest and support.]
[Additionally, we promise rights to use the resonator according to contribution amount and waiting list position. The expected research completion time is within 1-3 years.]
[Thank you. / Regards, Callis Stranov.]
Starting this summer.
Waiting list based on contribution amount.
Rights to use the resonator.
Research completion in one to three years.
The donations were displayed in ranking form. Some had already contributed over 100 billion.
The man blankly scanned the donation page.
Though anonymous, most people donating here were likely in the same situation as him.
Because they, their family, lover, or someone dear had been harmed by Outsiders.
That's why they had no choice but to rely on research that reeked of fraud.
The man checked his account.
10 billion.
Money saved through years of others' deaths. It seemed almost wrong for a funeral director to earn so much, but then again, that many people had died.
"..."
Anyway, this money was his life.
What father wouldn't risk everything for his child?
***
[I'm sorry, sir.]
It was about a month after research had begun.
He'd heard the resonator itself was completed quickly due to sufficient technology, but he felt an inexplicable uneasiness from the phone call.
[Through our research, we've discovered that one resonator can only contain 10 Outsiders maximum. We plan to contain about ten Outsiders during the test run, so during the safety verification stage—]
"Hey! Are you crazy?"
The caller's voice sounded young. Whoever it was had terrible manners.
"I don't care about test runs or whatever. Let my child be tested first. Do you think I invested 10 billion just to hear this kind of news?"
[I'm sorry, sir.]
"Fine, whatever. Where's the professor? Why are you calling? Put that person on the phone right now!"
[The professor is currently busy and unable to speak. I'm truly sorry, sir.]
It seemed to be a graduate student from the lab.
Pitiful, perhaps.
But my daughter is more pitiful, you bastards.
The graduate student on the other end repeatedly apologized and promised to return the invested money if desired. That was only right. If they didn't return it, he planned to sue for fraud and blow himself up too.
No, forget that too.
What good would getting the money back do? His heart was already broken.
Hehehe.
When would news of his daughter's death arrive? He couldn't even die peacefully until then.
His wife's face was now blurry in his memory. He wondered how he'd ended up marrying a woman from the border region.
Hehehe.
Perhaps everything was the Outsiders' doing. They found prey, possessed them, enjoyed the suffering, and discarded them when drained.
This wasn't even cheap melodrama.
For Outsiders, this was pleasure, happiness, everyday life.
Someone once said: when one person falls victim to an Outsider, it's a tragedy; when tens of millions suffer, it's just statistics on paper.
He too would soon become a government statistic. Someday, a government official would turn on a remote, display a PowerPoint, and explain:
'Ladies and gentlemen, this many people have died from Outsiders. We must establish countermeasures. Family members are likely to suffer mental illness. Since many victims are from border regions, we must focus on welfare in those areas.'
Go ahead, you bastards. Quote me all you want.
[Next news item.]
Yes, I existed here. I existed as a number. I existed as a number to marginally justify your armchair theories.
[The Iryuel Quantum Gravity Research Team has announced plans to expand production of quantum gravity resonators.]
My time stops now. With my daughter's death, I'll head beyond the Milky Way forever. The past ten years fighting Outsiders was truly futile.
[Currently, four units are under construction, and contributors will receive text messages according to their donation amounts.]
I just want peace now.
Buzz.
He felt his phone vibrate and slowly raised his hand.
[Hello, Mr. Bromwell Hendrick.]
"...?"
[We've resolved material shortage issues and can now produce additional resonators.]
A text message had arrived.
[We will treat your daughter, so please attend Alcatraz Prison #3 on the designated date below.]
"Wh-what...?"
Life is full of unexpected turns.
The man's time began flowing again.
***
Someone thought:
This war must end.
'We'll complete it by this week somehow. Pour in as much budget as needed—don't think about costs, just meet the deadline.'
Yet no one dared to take on the challenge.
The enemy was too powerful, and humans were infinitely weak.
'This design is wrong. Don't you know angles are the most important part of a resonator? If it's off by even one billionth of a degree, hundreds of billions will be wasted. Got it? If you understand, reassemble it correctly!'
They were opponents who couldn't be defeated no matter how many constellations one commanded.
They were monsters no skilled soldier could defeat.
That's why they were terrifying, that's why they were darkness.
'We've discovered a mode that can vibrate up to fifteen Outsiders by increasing reflectivity. This will improve efficiency.'
Nevertheless.
There were people trying to overcome that fear and illuminate the darkness.
'Tell the Southern Biology Research Institute to stop their inspections. Irregular polyhedron supply takes priority. Let's have them bring everything they've made so far.'
'Let's add alloy to the irregular polyhedrons. If we increase the entropy of the solid itself, we can make mirrors of the same efficiency using less irregular polyhedron film.'
'Request additional custom polarizing film production. Let's hurry before the Outsiders notice.'
Scientists.
"This is the last one."
"It's finished."
"Haven't seen my wife's face in two months. Sigh."
They were called scientists.
"I'll now present a general overview of our results."
Alcatraz Prison #3.
Amid a flurry of camera shutters, a female professor with dark circles under her eyes read the results in a flat voice.
Participating universities:
Stellarium, Iryuel, Callisto, Dartrich, Ellogodos Academy, and 37 other colleges.
Research institutes:
Southern Outsider Biology Research Institute, Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute, Outsider Countermeasure Science and Technology Institute, Descartes Intensive Research Institute, Maxwell Response Engineering Research Institute, and 138 other research institutions.
A total of 175 research facilities.
And.
38,722 Ph.D. holders.
Additional processing period: 68 days.
Total budget invested: 80.18 trillion credits.
Number of resonators produced:
20.
Therefore, the total number of Outsiders that could be contained:
"...300."
The female professor collapsed backward as soon as she finished the briefing. Another professor caught her. Then that professor also collapsed like dominoes.
It was a funny situation, but no one laughed. Everyone was sipping their coffee.
"D-daddy. Daddy? It's Daddy. H-hehehehehehe."
The man, Hendrick, stood in the waiting area watching.
Watching his daughter, withered and twisted like a rotting old tree, emerge from solitary confinement and enter the resonator.
And.
And...
***
And Ireh saw it.
"Daddy, Daddyyy—!!"
"Lisa! Is that really my Lisa? Lisa—!!"
A father and daughter reuniting after three years.
"Sis, I-I'm here..."
"You bastard! Where the hell have you been all this time?! Waaahh!"
A brother and sister embracing each other after five years apart.
"Honey, is it really you? My goodness, am I dreaming?"
"You've been waiting for me all this time...?"
A woman who had waited alone for her husband for thirteen years finally embracing her family.
Everyone had their own story. Each was a tragedy, but from now on, they would become stories of hope.
"..."
Ireh Hazlen caressed her hand.
She had used up all the coins the constellation had given her.
There were many abilities she had wanted to enhance with those coins.
"In the end..."
I used them in the right place.
"Professor Stranov, thank you so much. Thank you so much..."
Ireh smiled faintly and glanced to the side. There stood a black-haired, golden-eyed man gulping down strong black coffee.
Eidel von Rheinland.
While others were thanking Professor Stranov, she knew he was the hidden hero behind this research.
Ireh carefully approached him. Perhaps caught up in the moment, she felt no hesitation now.
"Don't you want to go show your face to those people?"
"...It wasn't just me who did this, you know."
Haah, Eidel sighed.
"38,000? If we write a paper on this, we'll have to list names in alphabetical order. Let's see, the first letter of my name is... ah, damn."
Ireh chuckled.
What a real oddball.
At this historic moment when people possessed by Outsiders were being cured, the healer himself was only thinking about writing papers.
It reminded her of her past self, who struggled to save a collapsing universe even as her own body was breaking apart.
She had collapsed once.
But she was able to rise again.
Thanks to the person standing right beside her.
"Ms. Hazlen."
"You can... call me Ireh."
"Ireh Hazlen. Thanks to your help, we have this scene before us today. Everyone here now owes you their lives."
"That's not..."
No. I didn't do anything that amazing.
"The same goes for me. Actually, the reason I can't proudly go before those people is because I'm embarrassed. Even now. But thanks to you, at least I don't have to worry about being stoned in my sleep."
Everyone is looking only at Professor Stranov. To those who don't know better, she must appear to be the hero who saved humanity.
But in this world, there are far more heroes who quietly do their work behind the scenes.
"Ah, I need to write the next paper."
Just like him right now.
"Need to write it, but I'm so tired."
Plop.
Eidel dropped his head where he sat. Just then, the 300th inmate received a clean bill of health, and cheers and applause erupted.
Woooooo!
Clap clap clap clap clap.
Amid the applause, the hero closed his eyes peacefully.