Inaba, Police Station, after school, April 12.
Ryotaro Dojima stood there, his face displaying complete shock. A virus known as the Atma Virus had infected his nephew and he was sure that there were going to be symptoms of the infection. Heat continued, "The Atma Virus, once it infects a human, grants them the power to turn into demons. Along with this power comes a terrifying hunger that cannot be satiated except by consuming life forms that are rich in a mysterious substance known as Magnetite-Sigma. Should this hunger be resisted by an infected human, the infectee will be weakened and if the hunger is resisted long enough, then the infected persona will be permanently transformed into his or her demon form. Once it gets to that point, the only solution is to kill the host as there is no cure for the Atma Virus."
Dojima asked, "Just how did the virus come into existence?"
Heat said to Dojima, "We'll talk about this in a more public location along with your nephew and the other infectees because if I try to explain here, it might seem like an interrogation."
"Sure." Dojima replied before heading to a small holding cell where Yu was in and opened it. Inside was his nephew and the Hanamura kid, still unconscious from earlier. Yosuke stirred before he got up and woke up Yu. Narukami said, "Ugh, what happened?"
Detective Dojima said to Yu and Yosuke, "There's someone here who want to all of you."
While Dojima went off to get the other three infectees, Yu and Yosuke found Heat close to the desk by the entrance and Yu asked him, "Are you the one who wants to see me?"
"Yes." Heat replied.
"So who are you? My name's Yosuke Hanamura." Yosuke said to the red-haired man.
"My name is Heat. I'm a member of the Embryon tribe."
Dojima returned along with Chie Satonaka, Saki Konishi, and Yukiko Amagi.
"Excellent, Dojima. Is there a public area that we could use that is in town?" Heat said to the detective.
"The food court at the Junes Department Store might suit your needs." Dojima said before shifting his attention to Yu and the others and saying, "In any case, there won't be any criminal charges brought against any of the five of you because of the circumstances of what had happened."
Ryotaro then left. Yu decided to follow Heat as he left the police station and Yosuke, Yukiko, Chie, and Saki went with him. Once at the Junes food court, Heat said to them, "Yosuke already introduced himself to me and I pretty much know about Yu from his guardian, Detective Dojima, so I'm gonna ask you three girls to introduce yourselves. My name's Heat and I was sent here on orders from Serph, the leader of the Embryon tribe."
After Saki, Chie, and Yukiko introduced themselves, Heat then said, "It's nice to meet all of you. In any case, you might have already suspected it, but that demonic power that you all have is the result of an infection."
Yu then said, "The Atma Virus."
"Exactly. The Atma Virus has infected all of you and given you the power to transform into demons." Heat explained before he went into further detail of how the virus functioned, from the Atma Brands that would appear on an infected person's body to the the eternal hunger for organisms rich in Magnetite-Sigma that would, if resisted long enough, would cause a permanent transformation.
Saki then asked, "So where did the virus originate?"
Heat then explained, "Have you not noticed that most people in this world actively avoid going to the United States like the Bubonic Plague became an epidemic in that country? That's not only because that's where the virus originated, but also because of events that occurred eighty-five years ago, starting when the sun turned black."
"That happened eighty-five years ago!? Yet why is it normal now?" Yukiko asked.
"Everything in this world is composed of data. When a person dies, their data returns to the sun, where a super-being known as Brahman awaits. The sun had turned black because the sadness and anger of a young girl reached him. That girl was a Cyber Shaman, a person that could speak with Brahman, and her name was Seraphita. For five years, the sun, shining black, shone on the planet, turning any humans who had direct contact with the corrupt solar data from the sun's rays into stone. Eventually, eighty years ago, another incident occurred that angered Brahman, but this new one angered him to the point that he started absorbing data from the planet itself. It only lasted for a single day though. Brahman was calmed down before the planet was completely absorbed and not only did the data absorption stop, but it reversed and the sun's rays no longer turned to stone anyone who had direct contact. There were still issues in the world, but they could now be focused on since the sun was no longer a problem."
"So that's why there were mentions of a black sun that plagued Japan and the rest of the world for five years in the history textbooks at school." Chie said in a surprised tone.
"In a previous life that I lived in, I died when I was defeated by my teammates in the Embryon Tribe. My data returned to the sun with them and we faced Brahman in a long and tough battle that we ultimately won. The Atma Virus itself was created during the crisis with the black sun by a scientist known as Jenna Angel, the Chief Technical Director of a now-defunct organization called the Karma Society. They were primarily based within Karma City, now a living reminder of the planet's strife under five years of a black sun that withered plants that were directly touched by the corrupt solar data in the rays of the sun. One person was turned into a demon as a direct result of when Seraphita, or Sera's anger and sadness reached Brahman. His name was Serph Sheffield, an amoral man who is now dead. Later on, two other humans were also infected. One of them was a person whose name has been lost to the eternal abyss of time itself while the other one, a leader of a group known as the Lokapala by the name of Greg, lost control of the demonic power and died as a result."
"Were there other organisms that were affected by the Atma Virus?" Yu asked Heat.
"Humans were not the only ones affected by the virus. Animals were also infected, but they weren't turned into demons. The virus cannot transmit itself through the air normally, so it infects animals with the intention of eventually reaching a human host. The virus is also capable of reproducing itself should it infect an animal instead of a person, so in a twisted way, the relationship between the Atma Virus and non-human animals is commensalistic. That purple gas that was in the containers that crashed in town is a mix of oxygen, nitrogen, and another element that allows the virus to be transmitted through the air."
"So that explains the subsequent infection when the gas had been breathed in."
"And why I felt weak when I tried to resist it to get away from Hana-Chan before he transformed." Saki added.
"Oddly enough, I had eaten a few steaks yesterday so I wasn't affected as much as everyone else." Chie also added.
"By now, some of the local wildlife may have been already infected, so there's a good possibility that demon violence will inevitably start up. It also seems that the hunger induced by the infection can be sated by any meat and not just Magnetite-Sigma-rich organisms. I'm not much of a details guy, so another member of the Embryon, Gale, will be in town. By the way, the TV announcer that disappeared, Mayumi Yamano, does anyone know about her?" Heat said.
"She did stay at the inn." Yukiko answered.
"Well, she was found dead on a TV antenna earlier, but the police are around that area now."
When Yu got home, dinner had already been prepared. Nanako confirmed that it was fish recently bought from Junes, so Yu mentioned that it should work in satisfying his hunger. After dinner, Yu went up to his room and slept, aware that in the morning he would wake up with that hunger and only eating meat would calm it down. Yu then thanked Omoikane that he wasn't Christian and neither was his family because before even a single Friday of Lent would be over if they were, he would have permanently transformed and have eaten a whole bunch of people before dying.