Ch. 1 End of childhood
by AfuhfuihgsChapter 1 – End of childhood
How did things end up like this?
My thoughts traveled back in time to a week ago.
* * *
The time I remember was 4:00 AM.
At that ungodly hour, I was abruptly awakened by the sudden ringing of the doorbell.
I groggily got up from bed.
The doorbell was still ringing loudly.
Who would come to my house at this hour?
“…A delivery?”
But it was strange.
If I had ordered something online, I would definitely remember. I’m not the type to frequently use such services.
As for gifts or products from elsewhere, my social life was at its lowest.
Mechanically moving between indoors and outdoors was all I did, fulfilling only my social obligations.
What could a hopeless introvert like me possibly have?
‘Besides, what kind of delivery comes at this hour?’
I couldn’t understand why someone would ring the doorbell.
Who would wake someone up at this ungodly hour?
“…It’s not some weirdo, is it?”
Maybe I forgot something.
Thinking that, I was about to head outside when I stopped.
Ah, I’m only wearing underwear.
I hurriedly grabbed the tracksuit hanging on the clothes hanger and put it on.
Ding-dong~
While rustling and struggling to put on the tracksuit, the doorbell rang again in the empty house.
Frowning, I hurriedly got dressed.
Seems like they’re quite an impatient person.
Grumbling, I opened the front door.
“…?”
But.
‘What the? There’s no one here.’
When I opened the door, all I saw was an empty hallway.
A cold breeze seeped through my tracksuit.
‘A doorbell prank?’
For a moment, I thought that.
Then, something caught my eye below my line of sight.
I blinked for a moment.
It was a person.
‘A girl?’
A white girl.
That was the only way to describe her.
A strangely looking girl with an expressionless face was quietly looking up at me.
‘…Whoa, you scared me.’
Startled by the sudden situation, I stepped back.
Her white hair immediately caught my attention.
It was so long that it reached her thighs.
And her red eyes.
A face you could never forget once you saw it.
And above all, she was cute.
I couldn’t describe her beauty any further.
It was as if she had floated out of reality, an unreal beauty.
‘So, who is she?’
With such a unique appearance, I would have remembered even if we had just passed by…
But I didn’t.
She was a complete stranger.
‘Why did she come looking for me?’
Did she get the address wrong?
I should just send her away.
“Who… ahem, ahem.”
Maybe because I hadn’t used my voice in a while, it got stuck.
I cleared my throat unnecessarily and opened my mouth.
“Um… who are you looking for?”
“….”
“It seems like you’ve come to the wrong address….”
I waited for the girl’s response while gauging her reaction.
I couldn’t even make proper eye contact with people, so even though she was younger than me, I kept glancing at her.
But.
“…….”
“Hey….”
Only silence responded.
The girl showed no reaction at all.
I was completely ignored.
Only the sound of the cold wind echoed in the quiet hallway.
“….”
A strange atmosphere.
It wasn’t your average situation, so fear crept up my spine.
Gradually, my mind began to realize the incongruity of the situation.
‘A child alone at this hour?’
She was only wearing a shirt.
She wasn’t even wearing shoes.
Despite her ragged appearance, she was incredibly clean.
As if she had just popped into existence here.
Everything was out of place.
In short, the strange fear I felt now might be due to the uncanny valley.
Yet, I wanted to maintain a semblance of normalcy until the end.
I could have just closed the door and ran, but I maintained my manners until the end.
“I don’t know who you’re looking for, but if you have the address written down, could you check it again? The floor or unit number must be different….”
“…….”
“Sorry I couldn’t help. Well then….”
Just as I was about to close the door and leave.
Click!
Right before the door closed, a hand slipped through the gap.
“Time limit expired. It’s time to proceed to the next stage.”
Crazy, crazy, crazy…!
As expected, this isn’t normal. Something’s wrong.
What kind of speech is that? Is she human? Is this some kind of act?
What kind of messed-up act is this!
I panicked and pulled the door handle harder.
“Wh-what are you doing! This is dangerous!!”
“The designated time limit has expired. You must promptly return to the main body.”
Creak, creak…!
But no matter how hard I pulled, the door wouldn’t close.
No, rather, it felt like I was being dragged.
Hearing the strange sound of metal bending, I looked down and saw the door twisting under the girl’s strength.
‘Wh-what the.’
And the moment I saw that, my already spinning mind came to a complete halt.
Can an ordinary person bend a thick iron door with their bare hands?
Ah, no. Even if it’s not entirely impossible.
This girl, who’s much smaller than me.
Whoosh!!
And then, the moment I let my guard down, the door handle slipped.
The door was flung open at an incredible speed.
‘Po-police.’
Should I call the police?
But will I be safe until they arrive?
Did she come to harm me?
More importantly, what the hell is going on?
My mind was in complete chaos.
“Ar-are you looking for me?”
“Affirmative.”
“Ar-are you some kind of machine? An android, or an escaped experiment from a lab… or….”
In this absurd situation, I started bringing up fantasy elements.
The movies and comics I’ve seen weren’t just for show. Without realizing it, I started weaving a tapestry of imagination filled with clichés.
Completely rambling, spouting whatever came to mind.
I shouldn’t be doing this.
‘Get a grip. First, figure out what’s going on.’
As I was spouting nonsense, I suddenly came to my senses and cautiously asked.
My dry throat swallowed.
“…Why, why did you come looking for me?”
“….”
“I don’t know you, or what’s going on right now.”
No answer.
What is she trying to do?
This is the first time I’ve experienced something so unreal.
I had no reason to be involved in such a situation in the first place.
It’s a fantasy that came out of nowhere.
When watching movies, I thought I’d be calm in such situations.
But when actually faced with it, what came was unexpected: fear.
The unknown that arises when the mind can’t keep up with the situation, and the fear of it.
Seeing me like that, the girl suddenly spoke.
“Process terminated. Promptly return to the main body. Proceed.”
“So… why me?”
“Because the process has been terminated.”
Her way of speaking is driving me crazy.
It reminds me of a certain Japanese politician.
Calm down.
First, calm down.
Prioritize the thoughts in my head.
“…Return to the main body? What does that mean?”
Swish.
When I asked that, the girl silently held out her wrist.
What does she want me to do?
“If you don’t explain, I won’t understand.”
“Make contact.”
“Ah, okay.”
Return to the main body.
Let’s think about it.
‘Main body’ is a term usually used for artificially created bodies, like in SF novels.
A term you’d only see in SF novels.
Does ‘main body’ mean that this girl’s body is also of that kind?
A machine? An android? Something like that.
Return means…
‘What the hell does return mean?’
This is my body.
There’s no way a person could have a different body from their own.
At most, it’s a story from the distant future or a work of fiction.
“Return, huh….”
Really.
Really, I have no idea what’s going on.
What the hell is this situation, and what am I supposed to do?
There must have been some huge mistake. Because of that mistake, I’m now caught up in this strange situation.
A government secret project, or some damn fantasy, or whatever, whatever…!!
‘Damn it……!’
I can’t make a rational choice here.
I need time to think calmly and leisurely.
But the girl blocks the door and doesn’t give me a choice.
Literally forcing me.
‘Let’s just run away first.’
She’s small.
If I play my cards right, I can shake her off and get outside, right?
Just as I was calmly assessing the situation.
“Judged to have no intention. Enforcing mandatory measures.”
“What?”
Suddenly, the girl lunged at me.
A smell like formaldehyde wafted through the air.
Thud!
In an instant, she grabbed my collar and pulled me up to her eye level.
Her grip was absurdly strong.
“L-let go!!”
I tried with all my might to break free from her grip, but.
The next moment, I held my breath.
Click, click.
The girl’s shoulder decomposed into a grid pattern and flipped over.
Not just the girl’s body, but my body in contact with hers did the same.
I tried to scream, but at some point, no sound came out.
I tried to push her arm away, but the moment my hand touched it, it too decomposed and crumbled.
‘This is insane.’
In this crazy situation, I could only gasp for breath and watch.
All I could see through my eyes was the decomposing and mixing forms of the girl and me.
Even then, the girl’s red eyes were staring at me.
With an expression and eyes that seemed devoid of any soul.
Click!!
When the checkerboard pattern reached my neck, my consciousness couldn’t take it anymore and snapped.
* * *
And when I opened my eyes again.
When I opened my eyes in shock at the incredibly soft skin.
When I realized I was wearing light clothing and approached the mirror in the hallway, I saw.
The small girl who had just been holding me and wouldn’t let go.
The girl’s beauty, unrealistically flickering, remained unchanged even in the mirror.
“Hah, hahah. Hah.”
The clock pointed to 5:00 AM.
The sun hadn’t risen yet, and the world was still in twilight.
Thinking it was some strange nightmare, I chuckled, but unable to accept the situation, I banged my head on the shelf and fainted.
AlucardLovesFish
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