Ch.130Become a Science Girl (4)

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 experiment.

Department of Physics.

“Department of Physics?”

Not medicine, not biology.

“A resonator 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 your contribution amount, with waiting list positions assigned accordingly. The current estimated research completion time is within 1-3 years.]

[Thank you. / Regards, Kallis Stranov.]

Starting this summer.

Waiting list positions based on contribution amount.

Rights to use the resonator.

Research completion in one to three years.

The contributions were displayed in ranking form. Some had already donated 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, their lover, or someone dear to them had fallen victim to an Outsider.

That’s why they had no choice but to rely on research that reeked of fraud.

The man checked his account.

10 billion.

Money he’d saved through the deaths of others. It seemed almost wrong for a funeral director to earn this much, but then again, that many people had… died.

“…”

Anyway, this money was his life.

What father wouldn’t stake his life for his child?

***

[I’m sorry, sir.]

It was about a month after research had begun.

He’d heard that the resonator itself was completed immediately due to sufficient technology, but he felt an inexplicable uneasiness in the phone call he received.

[Through our research, we’ve discovered that one resonator can contain a maximum of 10 Outsiders. During the test run, we plan to contain about ten Outsiders, so in the safety verification stage—]

“Hey! Are you crazy?”

The voice on the phone sounded young. Whoever it was had no manners.

“I don’t care about test runs or whatever, I want my child tested first. Do you think I invested 10 billion just to hear this kind of news?”

[I’m sorry, sir.]

“Fine. Where’s the professor? Why are you calling instead? Put him on the phone right now. 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.

It was pitiful, 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’s how it should be. If they didn’t return it, he was planning 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 in peace until then.

His wife’s face was now blurry in his memory. He wondered how he had ended up marrying a woman from the border zone.

Hehehe.

Perhaps everything was the Outsiders’ doing. They found prey like him, possessed them, enjoyed the suffering, and discarded them when they’d had their fill.

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 be counted in government statistics. 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 need countermeasures. Family members are likely to suffer mental illness. Since many victims are from border zones, we must focus on welfare in those areas.’

Go ahead, you bastards. Quote me as you please.

[Next news item.]

Yes, I existed here. I existed as a number. I existed as a number to provide minimal justification for 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 will forever head beyond the Milky Way. The past 10 years fighting Outsiders were truly trivial.

[Currently, four units are under construction, and contributors will receive text messages in order according to donation amount.]

I just want peace now.

Buzz.

He slowly raised his hand when he felt his phone vibrate.

[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 the designated date at Alcatraz Prison #3.]

“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.’

But 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 that couldn’t be defeated no matter how many constellations one commanded.

They were monsters that couldn’t be defeated no matter how skilled the soldiers.

That’s why they were terrifying, that’s why they were darkness.

‘I’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 the inspection. Procurement of irregular polyhedrons 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.”

Their name was scientists.

“I’ll now present a general overview of the results.”

Alcatraz Prison #3.

Amid a flurry of camera shutters, a female professor with dark circles read the results in a flat voice.

Participating universities:

Stellarium, Iryuel, Callisto, Dartrich, Elogodos Academy, and 37 other colleges.

Research institutes:

Southern Outsider Biology Research Institute, Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute, Outsider Countermeasure Science and Technology Research Institute, Descartes’ Intensive Research Institute, Maxwell Countermeasure 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, was standing in the waiting area watching.

Watching his daughter, withered and twisted like a rotting old tree, come out of solitary confinement and enter the resonator.

And…

And…

***

And Ireh saw.

“Daddy, Daddyyy—!!”

“Liza! Is that really my Liza? Lizaaa—!!”

A father and daughter reuniting after three years.

“Sis, I-I’m here…”

“You bastard! Where the hell have you been all this time?! Uuu, uhuhuhu!”

A brother and sister embracing each other after five years apart.

“Honey, is it really you? My God, am I dreaming?”

“Don’t tell me you’ve been waiting for me all this time…?”

A woman who had waited alone for her husband for 13 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 her 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 concentrated black coffee.

Eidel 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.”

Haaa, Eidel sighed.

“38,000? If I write a paper on this, I’ll have to list authors in alphabetical order. Let’s see, the first letter of my name is… ah, damn.”

Ireh chuckled.

What a real weirdo.

It was a historic moment where people possessed by Outsiders were being cured, yet 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, ultimately.

But she was able to rise again.

Thanks to the person right beside her.

“Ms. Hazlen.”

“You can… call me Ireh.”

“Ireh Hazlen. Thanks to your help, we have this scene before us now. Everyone here owes you their lives.”

“That’s not…”

No. I didn’t do anything that amazing.

“The same goes for me. 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 now.

“Need to write it, daaaamn.”

Thump.

Eidel dropped his head where he sat. Just then, the 300th inmate received a clean bill of health, and cheers and applause erupted.

Woooooooo!

Clap clap clap clap clap.

Amidst the applause, the hero closed his eyes peacefully.