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PrologueBlizzard
Every now and then, a thought blew through her mind like a violent gust of
wind: I never wanted to turn out like this.
“So based on the victim’s testimony, how many centimeters of snowfall are in
his room now?”
“About forty-eight centimeters before we applied the suppressant. The
blizzard is pretty terrible, so he’ll probably start exhibiting hypothermia
symptoms once the suppressant wears off.”
Much to her surprise, the Brebis Égarée Hospital didn’t reek of disinfectant.
Echika walked down the hospital wing’s corridor with her eyes fixed on the
two men ahead of her. One of them was a doctor clad in a white coat, and the
other was her partner, Benno Kleiman.
Benno was a twenty-five-year-old German man with squarish facial features
and short, tidy beige hair. His overall appearance gave a somewhat neurotic
impression. Two weeks had passed since he’d started working with her, but the
only thing Echika knew about him was that he had a girlfriend two years his
junior.
He continued. “…So we will connect to the patient’s Your Forma and attempt
to trace back the virus’s infection source.”
“I am aware of the procedure, yes. Brain Diving, correct? You trace back the
personal history and Mnemosynes recorded in his Your Forma to find where he
was infected… I have to admit, though. It’s my first time seeing a selfpropagating
virus that induces illusions of a blizzard.”
“That’s what the doctor in Washington, DC, said, too,” Benno replied.
“‘There’s no doubt that this is a new strain.’”
“DC was where it showed up initially, right? I’m glad we weren’t the first case.
We’ve learned how to handle it effectively through precedent.”
The Seine River flowed serenely outside the window. Rays of cold winter
sunlight sparkled against the water’s surface in an almost irritatingly calm
fashion.
“That said,” the doctor started, before pausing to stifle a yawn, “I’m sure you
two have it worse, but I’ve hardly gotten any sleep. I really hope you can
resolve this as quickly as possible.”
“Why don’t you leave the Amicus to handle the workload at night?”
“We’re letting them take the reins wherever possible, of course, but we don’t
want to overwork the poor things.”
“Poor things?” Benno asked, raising an eyebrow. “They’re just machines. You
lose out by not using them when you can.”
“Oh, I see, you’re a luddite. Well, personally, I’m an Amicus sympathizer, so I
can’t help but feel for them.”
Benno shrugged awkwardly and moved away from the doctor, approaching
Echika. Based on his expression, she could tell he was about to give her his
usual warning.
“Listen, Hieda. Only broach as far as their surface Mnemosynes. Find how
they were infected and look for clues on who did it.”
Yep, same old, same old…
“With all due respect,” Echika said, “I’m a Diver. It’s your job as my aide and
Belayer to decide when to pull me up. What I mean is, how deep I go is up to
you, not me.”
“I’m only saying this because whenever I try to reel you back up, you drag me
down there instead. You’ve almost fried my brain three times from the strain
already. Are you trying to kill me or something?”
“I’ve gotten people sent to the hospital before, but I’ve never killed anyone.”
“Makes sense no one works with you for long.” Benno spat the words out
bitterly. “Now listen to me, Little Miss Genius. While we were out investigating
something else, our colleagues were working their butts off, Brain Diving to
trace the source of the infection. You better produce results.”
“I always do.”
“Fine, let me rephrase that. Produce results without breaking your partner.
You follow?”
Having said his piece in a clearly one-sided manner, Benno walked back to the
doctor. Echika exhaled hard. He loathed her, to an almost refreshing extent. Not
that she made any effort to make herself likable. This meant her relationship
with him could only keep getting worse, but she didn’t mind.
After all, as unpleasant as it was to admit, he was right. Their partnership
wouldn’t last long anyway.
The doctor led them to a luxurious hospital room, where a young French man
was sleeping in a dull, undecorated bed. He was the source of the viral infection
in Paris. In addition to Echika and the other two, a nurse Amicus robot stood in
the room. Its appearance was modeled on a woman in her thirties, with a wellfeatured,
tidy face. It was a mass-produced model she’d seen quite often.
“Thank you for coming,” the Amicus said with a sociable smile. “We applied
the suppressant twelve minutes ago, and the patient’s condition has been
stable since. He’s already consented to Brain Diving.”
“A pleasure to meet you, Monsieur Ogier,” Benno said, flashing his ID badge.
“I’m Investigator Aide Benno Kleiman from Interpol’s Electrocrime
Investigations Bureau, and this is Electronic Investigator Echika Hieda. In
accordance with International Criminal Procedure Code Article 15, we will
exercise our authority to connect into your personal Your Forma.”
“He’s comatose,” the doctor said, snickering. “Was there a point to that?”
“It’s standard procedure. We get complaints sometimes if we don’t say it.”
“Let’s begin, Benno. Jack in.”
Echika reached into her coat pocket to produce her Lifeline—the Umbilical
Cord, a threadlike cable with connectors on both ends. Echika and Benno each
took an end and plugged it into the connector ports embedded in the skin on
the nape of their neck.
“Next, the Brain Diving cord.”
At Echika’s instructions, Benno plugged the Brain Diving cord into the boy’s
neck and tossed the other connector over to her. This one was a good deal
thicker than the Umbilical Cord. She plugged it into a second port on her body.
This manner of connection was colloquially known as a triangle connection, the
most basic form of attachment that the Brain Diver needed to investigate
someone’s mind.
“Hieda, what about the antivirus infection cocoon?”
“All green. It’s operating normally.”
“Then get going.”
Echika jerked her chin back; the next moment, she was plummeting into the
infected boy’s mind. The wintry trees of Luxembourg Gardens filled her field of
view, and the fluffy pleasure of stuffing her cheeks with a pain au chocolat from
a bakery flooded her taste buds.
The name of Paris’s index case—the first person to be diagnosed and the
source of the infection—was Thomas Ogier, a student at Grande École, an elite
French institution specializing in technology and the sciences. According to his
surface Mnemosynes—which detailed records of his activities over the last
month—having breakfast in this park was part of his everyday routine.
After eating, he would get in a carpool, which would make his heart race a
little with excitement. This began a day’s worth of fascinating research.
As the car sailed past the cityscape, advertisements of the latest Bluetoothequipped
sneakers, improved sleep earphones, and carbon-fiber sportswear
flew into his field of vision. They all sparkled and shone. These were all products
Ogier would likely be interested in.
Echika continued her free fall, letting his emotions flow past her without
allowing them to settle in. As she viewed his Mnemosynes, she traced his
footprints through the network, from his purchase history through e-commerce
sites to his browsing history in video-streaming services. She checked his social
media accounts by forcing open his registration info. As an aspiring engineer, he
had strong interest in technology. Because of this, he’d taken a prolonged leave
from work on All Saints’ Day to go to America, where he’d toured Rig City and
Clear Solution Inc.
But she discovered no clues pertaining to the virus. His mailing apps were
mostly full of exchanges from his family and friends, and even the few
advertisements she found there seemed innocuous.
I see, thought Echika. It’s just like the electronic investigator from Washington
said…
Even when they’d Dived into patient zero there, the investigators had found
no traces of either the culprit who’d infected them or even the virus’s method
of infection.
By this point, she’d finished browsing through the surface Mnemosynes, but
Benno wasn’t pulling her up yet. Their processing speeds were so disparate that
his monitoring couldn’t keep up with the rate at which she Dived. Echika
continued to plummet, accelerating with every second.
No good.
She sailed past the patient’s surface level, into the depths of the medium
layers of his Mnemosynes—when suddenly, she felt something jolt in the nape
of her neck.
“Aide Kleiman!”
She jerked her head upon hearing his name shouted. Her field of vision
dissipated, and she found herself in the hospital room again. Benno had
crumpled to his knees, the cord yanked out of his neck. The doctor hurried over
to him, but he was already unconscious and completely limp. The Amicus nurse
bolted out of the room, its expression alarmed.
Aaah. It happened again.
Echika stood rooted in place, not terribly surprised by what had transpired.
She had thought Benno would probably reach his limit any day now, and sure
enough, today was the day… Echika pretended not to notice the stinging in her
heart.
These kinds of malfunctions occurred when a Diver’s and a Belayer’s
processing speed didn’t match. Their abilities hadn’t been equal to begin with,
so Benno forcing himself to work with her was bound to wear him out
eventually.
Echika was used to seeing her partners break down.
Before long, several nurse Amicus hurried into the room. They brought in a
stretcher and carried Benno away. He would probably get out of this with a
week of hospital stay. That’s what always happens, Echika told herself as she
silently stifled the guilt bubbling up from the pit of her stomach.
“I’ve seen investigator aides exhibit these symptoms before,” the doctor
standing next to her said.
Echika took a silent deep breath as she felt his condemning gaze.
“Which one of them was it?” she asked. “Clidat? Algren? Cerbère, maybe?
Who else was there…?”
“Enough.” The doctor’s eyes had long since filled with disdain. “They told me
that there was a genius out there who fries all her partners’ heads and sends
them to the infirmary. That’s you, isn’t it? Electronic Investigator Hieda.”
She already knew how to give him the answer he wanted. What he wanted to
hear was something along the lines of, I’m not doing this on purpose or No one
enjoys seeing their colleagues suffer. Those kinds of lines, full of transparent
goodwill.
But no number of pretty words could sweep away the facts. That was
something she’d learned all too well a long time ago.
“Benno will recover. The Your Forma will mend his cranial nerves, and he’ll be fine,”
Echika said, her face expressionless to an almost cruel degree. “I’ll be taking my leave,
then. Thank you for your cooperation with the investigation.”
She walked out of the hospital room, not regarding the doctor, who stared at
her as if he couldn’t believe what she’d just said.
Tracing the information Your Forma records to find clues that would solve
criminal cases.
That was an electronic investigator’s—Echika Hieda’s—job.
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