Chapter 9 - The Cave
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What had happened when he drove home that night? Why hadn't he answered the phone? Surely he must have been in the car!
He tried to recall the evening. After the theater, he had driven Saori home. They had reached her appartment about 11p.m. It had been rainig slightly, when he escorted her to the door, so he had carried an umbrella. She had asked him to come inside, and he had agreed. He remembered their conversation clearly, they also had a cup of coffee. Around midnight he left. He forgot the umbrella, because it wasn't raining any longer. Actually he hadn't thought about it until Saori had mentioned it a few minutes ago.
He had driven home, and couldn't remember anything unusual about it. In his mind, he could follow the way from Saori's place to his. He had driven it many times. But those many times had mixed inside his mind, and he didn't know which one was yesterday.
Things would have been easy, if there had simply been a black hole in his memory. But there wasn't. His memories had faded somewhere during the drive, and he couldn't say at what point. When you did something as trivial as driving a familiar way, you didn't think about it all the time, and you didn't lock every moment into your memory. He only was sure he did not remember reaching his appartment and going to sleep. The next thing there was, was waking up Sunday morning. At least a couple of hours were missing from his memories.
And after Rei's visit on Sunday, there had been other things on his mind. He hadn't thought of Saturday night anymore.
The star-shaped clock. He had taken it with him, he was sure about that. That was how the clock got involved
It looked like the different parts of the puzzle were finally coming together.
Had Rei taken away his memories? Was she trying to protect her secret? How was she powerful enough to do that? Or had someone even more powerful helped her?
He couldn't sit and wait any longer. It was time to do some more chasing around.
About seventeen minutes, Saori had said. She was as exact about time, as she was about money.
He drove towards his apartment, trying to remember Saturday night. Seventeen minutes. That meant his memories ended shortly after leaving Saori's neighbourhood. Maybe there was a certain place, were it felt strange to pass by.
About an hour later, he gave it up. It wasn't to possible to find out, where his memories had faded. It looked like he had found another dead end.
His problem was linked directly to the way the human memory worked. You couldn't keep everything, so you kept only the things that seemed important to you. And a drive from A to B was not, especially if you knew the way so well.
He had taken the tape with him. Tanaka had mentioned a cave, and the Senshi had talked about it, too. Maybe the answer was inside this cave.
But he didn't know if the tape would be enough to find the way. If directions were mentioned, they were rare and confusing. The only one he could ask was Tanaka.
He decided not to call Tanaka as not to chase him away, but drove directly to the appartment, where he had met with him. An old man answered the door and told him, Tanaka had left Tokyo. He had, of course, no idea at all, where he had gone, and when he would be back.
It looked like another channel had been sealed.
Why, just why hadn't he talked to Tanaka before? He was still missing so much information. He had thought himself so close to the truth, now he realized, he knew nothing. He didn't know, what was real about Tanaka's theories and what was not. The being the professor had talked about, was definitly Queen Metallia, he couldn't have made that all up. About the other things, the spaceship, or the conspirations he didn't know anything.
But if the Senshi had fought Metallia down there, why the hell didn't they just tell him? Why did they make up that stupid earthquake? He had asked himself that question before.
His lost memories! There was something wrong with that, yes, but that still wasn't a proof, that he had been anywhere near the place it had happened. His only hint was the clock. But the only hint about the clock was Tanaka's spaceship story. And it sounded so unbelievable. He didn't want to admit it, but the only reason why he hadn't simply dropped that story long ago, was another one. If Usagi had left in this spaceship, she wasn't dead.
He drove to the warehouses again. His only link was to find that cave on his own, no matter what was waiting in there. If the earthquake had originated from there, the cave couldn't be too far from the place the house broke down. Actually it had to be right below it.
Down the manhole, he followed the corridor, until he reached the pipeline were he had hidden. The corridor was one long straight line. But it led away from the area. The cave was surely closer than that. So he turned around exploring the corridor the other way. There it split, and the two new corridors split again. An endless maze going into different directions. But all of them led away from the center of the earthquake.
He remembered the substance Tanaka had taken from the wall. He checked the place, finding something grey, that looked like it was once liquid and dried later. He tried to scratch at it with his Swiss knife, but nothing came off. Carefully he touched it, it was as hard as rock. He didn't like the way it felt. It gave him the creeps.
Normally he wouldn't have worried too much, but he had become more sensitive to things like that This substance had been part of Queen Metallia, whether she had been lava, hydrogen or just pure energy, it didn't matter. There still was some kind of evil aura around it.
If she had been inside this cave, it had to be close.
Tanaka's directions didn't help him right now. He tried to recall the talk of the Senshi he had overheard. They hadn't said anything about were the cave might be. But had he listened closely? He had been worried, that they would discover him. One look up, and they could have.....look up! Or in his case look down! Never think two-dimensional!
He examined the floor of the corridor, starting out at the manhole and working his way towards the spot with the grey stuff. No surprise, there was another lid. He ran his hands over it, trying to find a way to pull it out. It was hard to move.
The entrance was small and it went straight down. He pulled himself through, his feet searching for something to stand on. There were iron rungs fastened into the wall. He put his flashlight into his pocket, to have both hands free. Carefully he started to climb down. It was quite a while until he reached solid ground again. And the temperature was getting higher.
He turned around, took out the flashlight and gave his surroundings a look.
This was no sewery. This was a natural cave, looking like the inside of a vulcano. A black and grey lava-like substance covered the walls and the floor in strange patterns. Part of the cave had crumbled, there were rocks broken from the ceiling and more rocks blocked the way in one direction.
In the other direction, the ground split open to a huge pit, that seemed to have no bottom. He threw down a rock, it made ghostly sounds bouncing back and forth between the walls. They grew softer and softer, until they faded into nothingness.
But it wasn't the sound that made his blood freeze. It was the knowledge that this place was not new to him.
He had been here before.
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What had happened when he drove home that night? Why hadn't he answered the phone? Surely he must have been in the car!
He tried to recall the evening. After the theater, he had driven Saori home. They had reached her appartment about 11p.m. It had been rainig slightly, when he escorted her to the door, so he had carried an umbrella. She had asked him to come inside, and he had agreed. He remembered their conversation clearly, they also had a cup of coffee. Around midnight he left. He forgot the umbrella, because it wasn't raining any longer. Actually he hadn't thought about it until Saori had mentioned it a few minutes ago.
He had driven home, and couldn't remember anything unusual about it. In his mind, he could follow the way from Saori's place to his. He had driven it many times. But those many times had mixed inside his mind, and he didn't know which one was yesterday.
Things would have been easy, if there had simply been a black hole in his memory. But there wasn't. His memories had faded somewhere during the drive, and he couldn't say at what point. When you did something as trivial as driving a familiar way, you didn't think about it all the time, and you didn't lock every moment into your memory. He only was sure he did not remember reaching his appartment and going to sleep. The next thing there was, was waking up Sunday morning. At least a couple of hours were missing from his memories.
And after Rei's visit on Sunday, there had been other things on his mind. He hadn't thought of Saturday night anymore.
The star-shaped clock. He had taken it with him, he was sure about that. That was how the clock got involved
It looked like the different parts of the puzzle were finally coming together.
Had Rei taken away his memories? Was she trying to protect her secret? How was she powerful enough to do that? Or had someone even more powerful helped her?
He couldn't sit and wait any longer. It was time to do some more chasing around.
About seventeen minutes, Saori had said. She was as exact about time, as she was about money.
He drove towards his apartment, trying to remember Saturday night. Seventeen minutes. That meant his memories ended shortly after leaving Saori's neighbourhood. Maybe there was a certain place, were it felt strange to pass by.
About an hour later, he gave it up. It wasn't to possible to find out, where his memories had faded. It looked like he had found another dead end.
His problem was linked directly to the way the human memory worked. You couldn't keep everything, so you kept only the things that seemed important to you. And a drive from A to B was not, especially if you knew the way so well.
He had taken the tape with him. Tanaka had mentioned a cave, and the Senshi had talked about it, too. Maybe the answer was inside this cave.
But he didn't know if the tape would be enough to find the way. If directions were mentioned, they were rare and confusing. The only one he could ask was Tanaka.
He decided not to call Tanaka as not to chase him away, but drove directly to the appartment, where he had met with him. An old man answered the door and told him, Tanaka had left Tokyo. He had, of course, no idea at all, where he had gone, and when he would be back.
It looked like another channel had been sealed.
Why, just why hadn't he talked to Tanaka before? He was still missing so much information. He had thought himself so close to the truth, now he realized, he knew nothing. He didn't know, what was real about Tanaka's theories and what was not. The being the professor had talked about, was definitly Queen Metallia, he couldn't have made that all up. About the other things, the spaceship, or the conspirations he didn't know anything.
But if the Senshi had fought Metallia down there, why the hell didn't they just tell him? Why did they make up that stupid earthquake? He had asked himself that question before.
His lost memories! There was something wrong with that, yes, but that still wasn't a proof, that he had been anywhere near the place it had happened. His only hint was the clock. But the only hint about the clock was Tanaka's spaceship story. And it sounded so unbelievable. He didn't want to admit it, but the only reason why he hadn't simply dropped that story long ago, was another one. If Usagi had left in this spaceship, she wasn't dead.
He drove to the warehouses again. His only link was to find that cave on his own, no matter what was waiting in there. If the earthquake had originated from there, the cave couldn't be too far from the place the house broke down. Actually it had to be right below it.
Down the manhole, he followed the corridor, until he reached the pipeline were he had hidden. The corridor was one long straight line. But it led away from the area. The cave was surely closer than that. So he turned around exploring the corridor the other way. There it split, and the two new corridors split again. An endless maze going into different directions. But all of them led away from the center of the earthquake.
He remembered the substance Tanaka had taken from the wall. He checked the place, finding something grey, that looked like it was once liquid and dried later. He tried to scratch at it with his Swiss knife, but nothing came off. Carefully he touched it, it was as hard as rock. He didn't like the way it felt. It gave him the creeps.
Normally he wouldn't have worried too much, but he had become more sensitive to things like that This substance had been part of Queen Metallia, whether she had been lava, hydrogen or just pure energy, it didn't matter. There still was some kind of evil aura around it.
If she had been inside this cave, it had to be close.
Tanaka's directions didn't help him right now. He tried to recall the talk of the Senshi he had overheard. They hadn't said anything about were the cave might be. But had he listened closely? He had been worried, that they would discover him. One look up, and they could have.....look up! Or in his case look down! Never think two-dimensional!
He examined the floor of the corridor, starting out at the manhole and working his way towards the spot with the grey stuff. No surprise, there was another lid. He ran his hands over it, trying to find a way to pull it out. It was hard to move.
The entrance was small and it went straight down. He pulled himself through, his feet searching for something to stand on. There were iron rungs fastened into the wall. He put his flashlight into his pocket, to have both hands free. Carefully he started to climb down. It was quite a while until he reached solid ground again. And the temperature was getting higher.
He turned around, took out the flashlight and gave his surroundings a look.
This was no sewery. This was a natural cave, looking like the inside of a vulcano. A black and grey lava-like substance covered the walls and the floor in strange patterns. Part of the cave had crumbled, there were rocks broken from the ceiling and more rocks blocked the way in one direction.
In the other direction, the ground split open to a huge pit, that seemed to have no bottom. He threw down a rock, it made ghostly sounds bouncing back and forth between the walls. They grew softer and softer, until they faded into nothingness.
But it wasn't the sound that made his blood freeze. It was the knowledge that this place was not new to him.
He had been here before.