Chapter 14: Turning the Tide
Nao grunted as she awoke to the sound of the tiny dog door in her prison being opened to deliver another meal that she would ignore. Her cell-like room did not have a window or clock, so she had no idea what time of day it was or how long she had been there. There had been chili, then eggs, then stew, then porridge, then this meatloaf-like slop, but she was certain she was missing a few meals in between. The room contained a small cot, a toilet and sink, a small writing desk and chair, and a bookshelf with three books, a mug, and an extra blanket.
Nao had not done much since arriving. Yuuta was dead - that was bad enough, but she had been kidnapped by a strange agency, and there was an false Nao running around, pretending to be her. Perhaps she wouldn't be so depressed if she had a plan of action, a goal to work towards, but all of her pondering had yet to reveal any way she could help her situation.
Mostly, she slept. The first few nights she had nightmares of Yuuta's murder, of his blood running down the street carried by the rain, and of that robot girl transforming into her. Sometimes in the nightmares Nao was killed too, and she woke up sweating. The first few times she tried to sleep it was difficult, but she was improving. In fact, she probably spent more time asleep than awake now.
There was no windows, no knob or visible lock or hinges on the door. Nothing in the room was a viable weapon, and besides, they only opened the small door, never the actual door. Once, she broke the mug, cut herself with a shard, and left blood on the plate, in hopes that someone would come to check on her and she could rush them, but either no one noticed, or no one cared. It was then that Nao thought that perhaps if she died here, it wouldn't particularly matter. That was when she began to become truly frightened, and began to fear the door opening.
That was the reason why, ten minutes after the meal was delivered, Nao sat on her cot, paralyzed with fear as she heard the lock turn on the other side of her door. She reached for something, anything, and her hand locked around the large chunk of the broken mug. She would have half a second, perhaps, to throw it, and she needed her throw to hit. The lock clicked open, and the door opened slowly. There were multiple voices, whispering to each other. Just let me set eyes on the leader… she told herself, steeling herself to attack. The door opened wider, and Nao paused, the ceramic shard forgotten in her raised hand as her gaze settled on Midori.
Nao looked at Midori, Akira, and Takumi in confusion as they made the same expression towards her. "You're… here…" said Akira quietly.
"But we saw you today at Fuuka on the projector," added Takumi.
"That wasn't me. It was an android, like Miyu."
"No time to talk," said Midori. "We can debrief once we're out of here." She handed Nao a steel pipe. "It's not a traditional weapon, but it'll have to do."
They padded through what seemed like an endless maze of hallways. Midori assured them that she had hacked the security cameras to play the same thirty minute loop of nothing happening to avoid detection. Finally, they emerged in an aircraft hanger. "What now?" asked Nao.
"We need to get into the woods."
The four of them nodded, ready to proceed, and bolted across the moonlit runway, hopped the fence, and dashed into the woods. Takumi got hung up on the fence for a moment, but by some miracle, he managed to clear it a second later, and joined them in the foliage. Midori reached into her pocket and pulled out a handheld radio. She changed the frequency and fiddled with it as they continued to run deeper into the trees.
"Come in, A-1, come in!"
"M-1, I'm here, at the specified location," said a timid voice.
Midori led them another mile or so through the trees, and then they emerged behind a small train station. Akane emerged from a phone booth, and handed them each a ticket.
"Thanks," said Midori, mussing Akane's hair affectionately.
Kazuya emerged from inside the station. "It's arriving, get going!" he encouraged them.
"Thank you, both of you, really!" Midori said. The four escapees ran through the station onto the train, and waved at Akane and Kazuya as it pulled away. They looked out the window as the train took them away from the strange and nefarious research facility.
"How?" asked Nao, stunned.
"It was all those two," said Akira, smiling proudly. "Takumi faked an illness and was allowed to stay in the infirmary overnight, then he managed to get the keys from the night guard. He let Midori out, and she messed with the computer terminals and security cameras to allow us to get out. It was amazing."
"Thank you," Nao told them all, genuinely. "But, well, if you thought I was at Fuuka, then how did you know to come to my cell?"
"Well, we knew there was someone else held hostage from Fuuka. We thought it was this middle schooler Yuuta, who one of the men mentioned was missing," explained Midori.
Nao looked at her feet. "Yuuta isn't missing," she said, her voice low. "He's dead."
Natsuki was certain this Nao was an imposter. Natsuki was riding her motorcycle, speeding, no less, and Nao was still ahead of her, on foot. This 'Nao' was sprinting faster than any human should be able to move. They raced along the elevated road that hugged the cliff and looked over the ocean. One of the most beautiful roads in Fuuka City, and for Natsuki, one of the most tragic. It was a full moon tonight, Natsuki noticed.
Natsuki pulled out one of her revolvers and shot at the fake Nao. Her aim was true, and the bullet struck Nao in the back of the calf. She expected the girl to trip and fall, and she instinctively slowed down to avoid hitting her, but the girl kept running, and metallic clink resounding distinctly. A robot! Android, maybe…
Finally, the girl slowed, and Natsuki did as well, pulling into a small observation platform. She realized as she stepped off her bike that this was where Nao had held Natsuki captive, trying to torture her, all those months ago during Carnival.
Natsuki looked at the girl, who was truly identical to Nao. She had a million questions. "Why did you run?" she asked. Why did you ask that? She chastised herself. It doesn't matter why, there are so many more important questions.
"I wanted to talk to you, alone," said the fake Nao.
Natsuki continued to hold her revolver. Despite doing no damage to this… thing, the cool metal gave her comfort. "Where is Nao?"
"I am Nao," the girl said, a little pointedly.
"The real Nao!" Natsuki yelled. A large bus sped by the observation deck, throwing her a little off balance with the gust of wind it produced. The fake Nao's hair did not blow in the wind.
"Are you an android? Like Miyu Greer?" Natsuki asked. "Where is she? And where is Yuuta?! Why are you here?" Now that she was frustrated, the questions began spilling out.
"The boy is out of the picture, and I told you, I am Nao. Also, quite frankly, I'm tired of answering questions. Now, I have a question for you, Natsuki." The android seemed to smile as she said this. "What is it you love most in this world?"
Natsuki was taken aback by this question. She felt the spray of a crashing wave. "What I love most in the world?" she repeated.
"Yes. Someone important to me wants to know. He says that Natsuki-san is an enigma. She does not care at all and yet she cares very much."
"If someone important to you wants to know, then I definitely do not want to say." Natsuki walked back to her bike. The fake Nao was behind her in a second, her arm transformed into some kind of sharp blade, which she held in front of Natsuki's neck.
"Not so fast," the android said. Natsuki fired the revolver at the android's foot, but again, the bullet ricocheted off with a clink, and the fake Nao swatted the weapon from her hand.
Natsuki held her breath. Now, with the android this close, she could feel the immense strength of the synthetic body. It was like a vice. Unexpectedly, the android laughed. "Perhaps this is an impossible question?" she taunted. "Natsuki has people she talks to, but not friends. She has classes she goes to, but no ambitions. She has a desire for family, but none to speak of. Perhaps there is nothing you love in this world."
Natsuki cursed, trying to wedge herself away from this girl. The blade only pressed closer, until Natsuki was certain it would draw blood.
A car stopped at the observation deck, with Mai and Shizuru emerging from it. "Stay back!" Natsuki yelled. "This isn't Nao, she's an and-" Natsuki stopped talking as she felt a sharp pain in her neck. The blade had definitely cut her.
"Let her go." Shizuru's voice was cold and serious. It reminded Natsuki of the Carnival. Of a scene that had played out at this very location between herself, Nao, Shizuru, Julia, and Kiyohime. Duran was absent then, as well.
"Hmm, how interesting," the android teased, turning, but not releasing her hold on Natsuki. "Perhaps the question has been answered."
Natsuki considered lying, telling this Nao that she hated Shizuru, that she would never forgive her, but she couldn't bear to let Shizuru hear those words, even as a lie to protect her.
"I'm sorry," was all Natsuki said, in the end. The android released her and she fell to the ground, too disappointed in herself to continue to stand. She watched as drops of her blood rained down on the pavement before her, appearing black under the moonlight.
The fake Nao jumped over the railing and took off down the beach, but neither Shizuru nor Mai pursued her. "Natsuki!" called Mai, rushing forward with Shizuru.
Natsuki looked up at them, her face set. "We need to take her out before she hurts anyone," she told them.
"Alright, but let's go home for tonight," said Mai gently. "It won't do to charge after her like this."
Natsuki stood and Shizuru embraced her. "Don't go doing dangerous things like that by yourself!" she said, obviously hurt. "I was so frightened."
Natsuki surprised herself by hugging Shizuru back, and burying her face in Shizuru's jacket. "Ok," she agreed, quietly.