Paradox of the Spiral (before battle)
...!
As we were battling our way through the escaped Peccatula...
... Gregor came to a sudden stop.
Wait, do you fellas hear something? Sounds like... breathing. It's faint.
... Mm. I hear it.
In this general direction.
Meursault stared at the giant containment chamber door where it lay on the ground, smashed in and knocked loose.
How likely is it that it might be a Peccatulum or an enemy combatant?
Unlikely. The breathing is unstable and shallow, like that of a wounded human.
Hm...
Hey, Outis. It'd only be right that we try to save them if there's even the smallest chance that they're a survivor, right?
... I suppose that could leave a... not-so-negative impression of us on the HQ.
We knelt around the fallen door, slipped our fingers under the debris, and lifted - the door rose with a loud, metallic creak.
...!
Underneath the door was a woman, her breathing shallow.
... Hey, she's...
She was one of Hohenheim's researchers who guided us through the regular check-up.
... Alyssa... I'm Alyssa. Yeah, I didn't think you'd... remember my name...
Alyssa slowly shared her name, her voice strained as if she was squeezing the air out of her lungs. She was covering her chest with her hands, overcome with pain.
... Okay, Miss Alyssa. Are you...?
Every breath... hurts so much...
... I couldn't... call out... for help.
Reminds me of what... boss used to say... "We're not the main characters of this story... so upon the proverbial... coin flip... we can only wait to see if it'll... land heads... or tails..."
Alyssa let out a brief, dejected chuckle before wincing with pain.
Lady, seems to me you're in plenty of pain. This is hardly the time to be joking about - hold on. This stake...?
Alyssa's hand was grasped around the same, spiral-shaped rod that the bodies in the hallway were holding.
What happened here?
The alarm system...
The alarm didn't go off.
Even the smallest accidents... or issues... trigger the alarm to go off... in our department.
Boss... Hohenheim... was adamant about installing that system... Said that... he didn't want to repeat... the fall of Lobotomy Corporation.
A pained grimace crept into Alyssa's expression as she tried to calmly continue her explanation.
It wasn't just from what was staked through her chest.
The alarm system didn't go off... not even when the employees realized that the facility was under attack.
... No. It's not... supposed to behave that way... It wasn't...
We waited quietly as Alyssa caught her breath and calmed down.
The lights... suddenly died.
We thought it was the experiment... we were conducting.
Boss groused from... time to time about... how much energy it eats.
Hah. Dammit, I should've... noticed then that something... was off.
Alyssa blamed herself to no avail, her voice growing faint.
So I thought it was just... a temporary power outage...
No one... thought much of it... Because...
... Because it didn't trigger the alarm system. Yeah, it's understandable.
I was heading to the Research Hall... to retrieve something, and...
That's... when I heard...
... heard the sound of... dress shoes, click-clack... echoing through the dark hallway.
Not too slow, not too fast... A relaxed but disciplined gait. No one... in our department walks like... that. We're always... so, so busy... that we always walk... in a slight jog.
Then... a terrible, dying scream followed...
... before the massacre began. Like... a hellish nightmare that just... wouldn't end.
No one... knew what was going on...
Help...
W-who's there?!
AAAAAGH!
AHH!
All I knew was that... I had to run...
And... something... whistled through... the wind, and...
... felt something hot... across my chest... I looked down and saw... this thing had pierced me...
Then I passed out. When I woke up... someone had forcibly... unlocked all the containment units...
Abnormalities, Peccatula, even... Distortions running amok... and I was pinned down by... a containment unit door... that got knocked off its frame...
So, you weren't with Hohenheim or other people when it occurred.
Boss... ah, boss must've been... by the conference hall.
... Could you... Get the pen and paper from... my pocket?
Alyssa drew a simple map on a piece of torn paper.
I don't know... if the others are safe. But... follow this map, and... you should at least... be able to see for yourself. Or... at least get a clue of what happened.
There, there. We get the general idea. Now let's have a look at that wound.
Gregor replied calmly.
Bollocks, the wound keeps bleeding... This ain't your usual weaponry.
Oi, you recognize this?
Heathcliff asked Outis with palpable concern.
…….
From the way it looks... the more the victim moves, the deeper it will drill into their flesh.
Perhaps a Workshop product - designed to stall and take combatants out of commission, rather than to kill outright.
If the assailants had the wherewithal to use weapons like this, then... they could've very well easily killed the victims then and there, too.
Was the purpose really just to stall them, or... was it some sick fascination?
Hm... it seems that staying still is what saved your life. That was wise of you.
Yeah, I don't know about "wise"... It hurt too much to... even think about moving, anyway.
... Perhaps aught that closes a wound or rapidly heals it be the remedy, were we to extract the vile weapon?
Yeah, you're not gonna walk around with that thing in your chest forever, right? Let's pull it out, get that wound treated, and -
It's no use.
Ryōshū spat out a reply.
It's no use...? Is it the kind of device that physically can't be removed?
No. Pulling it out isn't the hard part.
It's just inadvisable.
If we force it out of her, then... she'll end up like those bodies in the hallway?
Yeah. This spiral... burrows endlessly to reach the other side, but paradoxically, it cannot punch through all the way. Because it will never arrive at that point.
Sweetheart. This... is called a "spiral."
Once it is lodged inside the body, even the slightest of movements will make it burrow deeper into the flesh... forcing the victim to remain perfectly still.
It may not sting any worse than a prick of a thorn at first, but the more you try to yank it free, the further it drills into the body.
But no matter how much it keeps digging in, it will never make it to the other side.
The closer it gets to the end, the slower it becomes - it can never meet its endpoint.
You know how to unlock it, yes?
I'll give you the @#$%#$ once you return with the job done.
Remember, if you try to pull it out... without the @#$%#$...
It will tear out everything it tangled itself with as it bored through.
So stay put exactly as you are if you want to live.
<…….>
All I could see were these fragments of her memories... its remnants.
If you try to pull it out... without the @#$%#$...
If you try to pull it out... without the matching @#$%#$, then...
Once again, I recalled Ryōshū's shattered memories, with the distinct feeling of drawing something up to the surface.
The scenes from her... mutilated memories.
As it was generally the case, I didn't know how exactly I did it.
It just... came naturally to me, the moment I wished for it to happen.
Hm. See anything, Clock?
<Ryōshū, what if that spiral...>
<... needs a certain combination of numbers, like a password?>
...!
To resolve the spiral's paradox, you'll need to find the correct pair.
If you try to pull it out without a matching number, then...
The sword and the scabbard; yin and yang; the past and the future; me and you. Everything, regrettably, is paired together with an awfully stubborn connection.
Do you understand what it means to die?
What it means to sever something?
For a brief moment, an odd expression appeared on Ryōshū's face.
White hair.
... Do speak.
The spiral can be disabled. It must have something to do with numbers, like the Clock said.
But... I don't exactly remember what it needs.
Know anything about a spiral-shaped weapon called the "Tortoise Spiral?"
... It seems that you've come to understand, if only marginally, how Faust is to be used.
As I have visually observed the device, and Ryōshū has provided certain keywords to narrow the results, Faust can now know.
Did you say how you're... "to be used?"
Ignoring the curious looks from the Sinners, Faust carefully walks up to a body and unclasps a spiral from their hands.
"Zenon's Tortoise Spiral," is what Faust calls this device.
After some time, Faust pulled the bottom part of the spiral, opening its hatch.
It is a lock. This spiral requires a seven-digit combination to release.
Also, the spiral's infinitely burrowing nature, despite its inability to ever penetrate the heart, explains why Miss Alyssa's bleeding will not stop.
... If it is "locked," can't we use a Fairy to open it?
<Fairy...?>
She speaks of F Corp.'s Singularity.
If the spiral is "locked," as you say, then would not a technology to "unlock" anything make for the perfect countermeasure?
... Theoretically, a Fairy should indeed be able to unlock it. However, what must first be considered is the value of the technology applied to this spiral weaponry.
... Then only an expensive Fairy would guarantee a successful outcome. Which... would be hard to come by at this immediate moment.
…….
Ryōshū and the rest of us stared at the spiral lock with a degree of trepidation.
We weren't going to be able to brute force a seven-digit lock...
This probably won't work, but... can't we just start from 0 and go from there?
As it is the case with most locks, a certain number of incorrect attempts would -
Tsk, point taken. It's death, innit.
Don't... leave me alone... I'm... scared. That's... honestly, what I'd like to ask.
But... there might be... survivors by the lab.
You know... our boss. He won't... go down so easily.
Just... go help them... instead.
But if we leave you like this -
Well, this isn't... the worst way to go. This way, at least... I won't be going into some trivia... book of stupid deaths like... 100 Dumbest Researcher Deaths.
Perhaps working under Hohenheim has influenced her to put on a mask of aloofness even in situations like these, but it was clearly taking considerable effort on her part to maintain it.
Were we in any other situation, I would've asked what those 100 dumb ways to die were to alleviate the tension, but...
... I held my breath and embraced the painful silence.
…….
We shall return to thy side, young Alyssa.
... What?
I give thee my word. So...
... hide as best as thou canst when enemies approach. Thou mustn't yield now, I beseech thee.
…….
You'd better listen to the lass. She ain't one for empty platitudes.
Yeah, okay. I... won't give up. Thank you...
c-485.
Ryōshū quietly muttered to herself.
Clock. Ever play a game of escape room?
<What?>
This is very much like a game of escape room.
To find the solution, you begin by gathering the clues.
<A game, huh...>
You want to save that researcher, don't you?
Then you'll need the serial number on that spiral.
Every step we took away from Alyssa as she suffered a slow death was painful.
I wasn't even sure if we could save her life.
Shadows beset the path ahead.