Hajime clutched the NPU tightly, her breath coming in sharp, shallow gasps as the doctor robot loomed over her, its long, spindly arms twitching but not advancing. She blinked, barely processing why it wasn’t attacking her.
It’s because of this, she realized, staring down at the NPU in her hands. The machine was hesitant. As long as she held it, it seemed... reluctant.
Her eyes darted to Mike. Does he get it? Surely, he must’ve figured this out too. She hurried over to him, pressing the NPU into his hands.
But instead of using it as a shield, Mike—sweet, clueless Mike—did something she hadn’t anticipated. He walked straight to the ENCEPHALON and inserted the NPU into the slot.
Hajime’s eyes widened in horror. “No, Mike! What are you doing?!”
The realization hit her like a hammer to the chest, and she erupted. “バカ野郎! 何やってんだ、このアホ！やめろってば、馬鹿！死にたいのか！ふざけんな！”
Her heart pounded in her ears as she watched the NPU sink into place. There was no taking it back now. Hajime grabbed Mike by the arm, tugging him toward the bunks in desperation. Think! Think! Her mind raced, then it struck her like lightning.
The headsets. Maybe... maybe if we log into the simulation ourselves...
She didn’t waste any time. “Mike, you need to distract it, now!” she commanded, already moving toward the bunks. “Sing! Dance! Just do something stupid!”
As she scrambled to plug in the first headset, she threw a glance back at Mike. He was flailing his arms around, humming some tune she vaguely recognized. It was ridiculous, but it was working. The robot paused, its mechanical limbs hesitating for a brief moment.
“Which bunk?” Mike asked, his voice rising in panic.
“The bottom one!” Hajime snapped, then immediately thought to herself, At least if I’m on the top bunk, there’ll be one person between me and that thing if it comes after us. She shuddered at the thought, trying not to dwell on what would happen if that plan didn’t hold.
Hajime slammed the headset onto Mike’s head, locking it into place as fast as she could. The device activated with a soft beep, and Mike’s body went slack. For a second, she felt a glimmer of hope.
But then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw the robot twitching again. It was getting closer. Oh no.
And then it hit her. “Oh yeah!”
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Hajime snapped her fingers. The magnet box!
With frantic speed, she dug the small device out of her pocket and hurled it toward the robot, slamming her finger onto the activation switch just in time. The box stuck to the ground, anchoring the robot’s back leg to the floor. The machine jerked to a stop, frozen in place, just two feet away from the bunks.
She let out a shaky breath of relief. Hajime finally removed her helmet.
There was no time to waste. Hajime threw herself into the top bunk, locking the second headset onto her own head. Her fingers trembled as she twisted the knob to activate it.
Please work. Please, please work...
And then everything went dark.
EPILOGUE TO THE INTERLUDE:
Some time after Mike’s tragic end, Hajime’s body stirred. The AVP technology captured the moment in real time—her eyes snapped open, wide and unfocused. The movements were slow, uncertain, as though her body wasn’t fully under control.
She sat up in the top bunk, her hands clutching her head as if suffering from an unbearable headache. Her body trembled, dry heaves wracking her frame as she fought to find some balance, some coherence. Tears welled in her eyes, streaking down her face. She opened her mouth as if to speak, but the sound that emerged was a shrill, grating screech, nothing like her usual voice.
Without hesitation, her body hopped down from the top bunk. A long, thin metal cable that had been wrapped around her waist fell slack as she landed, slipping onto the floor. Her eyes darted around the room, movements jerky and distressed.
That’s when her gaze landed on Mike.
His headless corpse lay sprawled on the floor, the blood still fresh and sticky. She recoiled instantly, stumbling backward, her hands flying to her temples in a silent cry of horror. Her breathing became shallow and rapid, panic overwhelming her as the reality of what she saw sunk in.
And then she noticed the children.
Four small, identical figures emerged from the shadows, their long blonde hair streaked with blood, their tiny faces smeared with what remained of Mike. They moved on all fours, their animalistic gait betraying their inhuman nature. They stopped a few feet from her, staring up at her with wide, eerie eyes.
Her body froze, paralyzed by fear. The children smiled, their mouths spreading into unnervingly innocent grins, as though this was all some twisted game to them. It was too much. Her legs gave out beneath her, and she collapsed to the floor in a heap, unconscious.
The recording continued as the children, curious and unafraid, crawled over to Hajime’s motionless form. Their small hands reached out, tugging at the slack cable around her waist, unwinding it and playing with it like a toy. In their exploration, they inadvertently dragged the end of the cable toward the robot.
The doctor robot, which had remained still all this time, suddenly sprang to life.
One of its long, mechanical arms shot out, snatching the loose cable in its grasp. The children scattered, retreating from the robot’s sudden movement. It pulled Hajime’s body toward it, her limbs limp and scraping against the floor as it dragged her into its reach. Its scanners flickered, and another arm reached back to retrieve a silver cylinder from one of its cells.
The silver NPU gleamed as the robot brought it forward, positioning it over Hajime’s head. Her body twitched slightly, as if resisting, but it was brief. The moment passed, and her body went still once more as the machine completed its task.
The recording continued, documenting the sterile efficiency of the robot’s movements as it finished its work. In the shadows, the children returned to their games, seemingly oblivious to the horror they had witnessed.