Irene Curious

• Discussion of human trafficking in episodes 3 and 4

Clack, clack, clack.

The sound of shoes knocking against the iron floor. Her breath turning to clouds in the bone-chilling cold, a woman in a white lab coat ran down a hallway lit by red emergency lights. She led a young girl by the hand, followed by several guards. When they reached a door at the end of the hall, the woman pulled out a keycard and tapped it to a panel on the door. After a small beep, the door opened without a sound.

The room was quite spacious compared to the hall. Countless pipes ran along the corners, and a machine sat at its center, enshrined by gigantic pipes and various measurement devices. The woman in the lab coat moved toward the machine and prepared to activate it immediately. Then, an explosive sound and a tremor rang from the hall behind her. One of the men guarding her checked the hallway from his position by the door, and shouted.

"Ms. Maria! Start the accelerator at once!"

The woman in the lab coat—Maria—didn't respond, and instead instructed her daughter Irene.

"Irene! Check that gauge!"

"Okay!"

Irene followed Maria's instructions, reading out figures from the machines.

"Mom! What do I do next!?"

"Come this way!" Maria called, heading for the spherical machine at the back of the room. Pipes and thick cables were connected to it, and it thrummed faintly. She grabbed the hatch at the center of the sphere and opened it, then instructed Irene when the girl made her way over.

"Go in here," she said.

"Inside...?"

Maria hurried her inside the sphere. Despite its appearance, the interior was rather narrow, and difficult for adults to fit into.

"Wait...are you going to—"

Somehow, Irene could sense a "will" from within the structure. When she turned around to ask its creator her true intentions, Maria placed her hands on Irene's. Maria's hands were shaking.

"Mom..."

She squeezed Irene's hands once. Then, she let the stunned girl go and closed the hatch.

"No! Mom!"

Her voice didn't reach her through the thick metal walls. Still, as she shouted her mother's name with all her might, Maria's voice echoed through the sphere.

"Irene, we don't have much time left. So, I need you to listen very carefully."

Her tone of voice was detached, but gentle, with none of her mother's usual strictness.

"Solaris has fallen. Our world cannot escape ruin. But I don't want you to walk the same path."

"—Maria! They're—they're coming—"

"Quickly! Activate the accelerator!"

Several gunshots and shouts rang out behind her. There was a noise like something ripping apart, then the sound of high-pressure steam bursting from the pipes.

"You are about to travel to another world. I wanted—with you—but—so sorry. Make—dreams—true—nh!?"

Maria's groan mixed with her fragmented speech.

"Mom? Hey, what's happening? Mom!"

"Remember...this one thing——I'll always wish—you—be happy—"

"No, no no no! Please! Answer me!"

Her mother was in some kind of crisis. Irene screamed with everything she had, but her hopes were in vain—Maria's mouth would never open again. The already narrow sphere felt more stifling still.

"Mom... Mom..."

As Irene wept, she noticed a faint glow inside the sphere. It grew brighter and brighter, until it began to vibrate.

"What's...happ—"

Irene's consciousness was interrupted. When it returned, she found herself fluttering through a torrent of light.

Huh? What's...going on...?

As much as she willed it, her body wouldn't move. She could only watch as she drifted somewhere. As she idly wondered if this was the afterlife, something flashed in the distance.

An explosion.

By the time she realized what it was, her body was swallowed up in the shockwave. The whole space seemed to shake as sharp vibrations assaulted her body. There was no pain. Irene merely stared as her fingers and toes began to dissolve into particles. The particles mixed into the light before melting away entirely. When only her head remained, Irene mustered all her strength to pray for her mother—and vanished into particles.

Blistering hot sun. A vast desert as far as the eye could see, etched by ripples of sand dunes. There was a single person among them—Irene, reclining on the smallest dune in her sleep. The wind brushed against her cheeks, rousing her to consciousness.

"...Mm...hm..."

The first thing that flooded her vision was an ultramarine sky without a cloud in sight.

"Wha..."

A sense of liberation and exhilaration she had never felt before ran through her whole body. Irene was drawn in by the azure of the endless sky.

"How pretty... The blue sky Mom talked about really does exist."

Irene, born and raised in an underground city, only knew of the sky from picture books, and memories recounted by her mother and others older than her. The sight of the unending blue expanse was so beautiful she had forgotten to breathe. She gazed up at the sky for some time, but slowly, one question arose.

How was she here? She was sure that she had been caught in an explosion and her body had dissolved.

"It...doesn't hurt."

Her body was perfectly healthy. She didn't have a single injury.

"Am I...dreaming?"

As she walked aimlessly along the dunes, wondering whether she was dreaming, Irene came to understand that this was the real world, whether she liked it or not.

Grrrowlll.

A great big sound like the snoring of a monster in a cave...was coming from her own stomach.

"Eep!? Oh..."

From its desperate sound, she was sure that if her stomach had its own mind, it would be saying feed me, now!

"Ah...!?"

The strength suddenly left Irene's legs. Her support gone, she crumpled over onto the sand. Her body had lost all its energy at once.

"Ah..."

She needed to get something in her stomach. As she looked at the grains of sand in her vision, the supplements she ate in the underground city came to mind. They were the same color, so maybe they were edible. Instinctively, she scooped up sand in her hands and vigorously brought it to her mouth.

"...Ack! Guh, bleh...!"

It didn't seem very edible. She had to find something else to eat. Irene lay on her stomach and put all her strength into her arms to crawl forward.

Swish.

Something made a noise from the dune overhead. Irene timidly turned to look, and saw someone standing there with the sun at their back.

"Ah...p-please... Help..."

"Hmm? Here I thought it was a sand rat, but this is a rare sight. I can't believe such a beautiful doll is lying out in the Wasteland."

Irene couldn't tell who they were, but the voice's owner ran straight down the dune toward her. It was a tall woman with a tan cape, goggles over her eyes, and a black veil covering her mouth.

"Wow...she's even more beautiful up close. What studio's work is this?"

She slid her goggles up and examined Irene eagerly.

"What youthful skin...no scratches or stains. She must be expensive..."

She poked Irene's skin.

"Nn...ah..."

"Hmm!? You're alive!?"

The woman went on guard and jumped back a step, put a hand on the sword at her waist, and asked, "What are you doing here without any protective clothing? If I don't like your answer—"

Grrrowlll.

A monstrous snoring sound came from Irene's stomach again. The woman couldn't help but laugh, swearing under her breath and pulling a thin tube and some jerky from her knapsack. She opened the tube's lid and held it to Irene's mouth.

"...?"

"It's water. Drink some."

"...Nn..."

Irene gave a small nod, and spent some time downing the water and jerky.

----------

"Th-Thank you so much. You really saved my life," Irene said.

"It's nothing. Now that you can talk, I need to ask—what were you doing collapsed in the middle of the desert?"

"I don't know... When I came to, I was lying here."

The woman put a hand to her chin in silence. For just a moment, the tanned skin visible between her goggles and the veil over her mouth seemed to twist upward for a moment.

"Hmm...no strings attached, eh...?" she muttered.

"Um, did you say something?"

"It's nothing. Just seems like you don't have anywhere to go back to. Want to come back to my place? I can prepare some food and a bed for you."

"R-Really!?"

"Of course. Can't survive if we don't help each other in this barren land," she said, reaching out to Irene. "The name's Velwitschia. I'm a Wasteland merchant."

Riding on the back of Velwitschia's tamed sand rat, a creature far taller than the petite Irene, the pair came to a building constructed between huge, steep rocks. It stood out of the sunlight, and had the curious appearance of domes attached to each other.

"Whoa...!"

Irene slid down to the ground along the sand rat's tail, and her face brightened like a blooming flower.

"It's so springy and cute! Miss Velwitschia, this is your home!?"

"I told you before not to make a fuss. Next time you start squealing, I'll throw you to the sandworms."

Everything Irene saw was new and fresh. She had reacted strongly along the way as well. Sights that were commonplace for Velwitschia, like the three moons in the sky or sandworms swimming through the desert, brought out cheers of excitement from Irene. Velwitschia had lived in this world a long time since birth, so the smiling, starry-eyed Irene couldn't feel more different from her. Just where had she lived until now?

"You gonna keep dancing around in circles? I still have a job to do, so come quick," Velwitschia ordered.

"Oh...of course!"

Irene followed after Velwitschia into the house. Velwitschia lit the lamp at the center of the room, gradually revealing its interior. The living room was in a sorry state, with clothes strewn everywhere and what appeared to be her merchandise in disarray. Just looking at the room was enough to tell her personality.

"Let's find an empty room... Hmm..."

Velwitschia disappeared into the hallway along the outer edge of the dome. Her humming echoed inside the dome and made it sound like she was right next to Irene. After a while, she announced, "Here it is!", and Irene started down the dimly lit hall. She hadn't been able to tell from the outside, but the building was bigger than she expected. There were a number of small rooms inside the dome, each with thick curtains at the entrance that grazed the floor, hiding the inside. When Irene reached the last room, Velwitschia beckoned her in.

"Come in here."

When Irene peeked inside, the only things of note were a simple bed and a lamp hanging from the ceiling. Since it was in the building's interior, there were no windows.

"There's not much here, but use it as you like," Velwitschia said.

"Thank you so much. I'm surprised there are so many rooms. Do you live with your family?"

"No." She shook her head and replied, "I use the leftover rooms as storage."

"Now then," she continued after a moment, "I have some work to finish up. I'm going out for a bit, so wait patiently for me here, will you? If you're well-behaved, I'll make you a nice dinner."

"D-Do you have jerky?" Irene asked.

"Wow, you liked it that much? Sure, I've got jerky—sandworm steak, too."

Irene swallowed back saliva.

"Um...I understand!"

"Hmm, that's a good girl."

As Velwitschia made to leave the room, Irene suddenly called out, flustered.

"Um—!"

"What is it?"

"Please, let me pay you back!"

"Hmm?"

"Miss Velwitschia, you found me out in the desert. You shared your food and water with me. You even gave me a place to sleep. I can't just wait here doing nothing," Irene said, lightly clenching her first in front of her chest and looking up at Velwitschia. "It's like my mom would say—be helpful to someone, someday."

She wanted to be helpful. That was her wish since she was young.

"The place I lived in was underground. It was the sort of place where everyone had to survive by helping each other out. But it was only adults around me, so when I said I wanted to help, they wouldn't let me do anything..."

"Hmm, I hear you. But—underground, eh? Never heard of a place like that. Do you want to go back?"

"Yes. But...I don't know how..."

Irene tried to recall what happened, but it felt like her memories were in a fog. She had lost her mother, the city, and its people in an instant—and she hated that she couldn't remember how. Tears welled up in her eyes.

"Please. Let me help you, Miss Velwitschia!"

"Hmm..." Velwitschia put a hand to her chin in thought, then slowly answered, "Would you let me have a lock of your beautiful hair?"

"Huh?"

Irene blinked at her unexpected request.

"My...hair?"

"It's lovely, like gold thread—I'm quite captivated by it. Would you mind?"

"I understand. If you like my hair, then by all means!"

"Hmm, that's a good girl. Then, I'll take some."

Velwitschia pulled a knife from an inner pocket, held it in a reverse grip, and lowered the blade into Irene's lustrous silver hair. She made a cut halfway down, collecting the bluish-silver hair in her palm. It glowed with a glossy sheen in a strange pattern running down to the tip, like light trapped inside a gemstone.

"How beautiful..." Velwitschia uttered, her eyes fixed on the hair.

"Um, Miss Velwitschia?"

Velwitschia seemed to come back to her senses and grabbed her cape. She cleared her throat in embarrassment, said, "Don't leave the house, it's dangerous outside," and left the dome.

"She's gone..."

Left alone, Irene quietly laid on the bed. The sheets smelled of dust, and something sour. Even so, the smell was novel to her.

"Wonder when I can go home..."

As she stared absentmindedly at the wall, she thought back to the underground city. The memory was dim, but she had seen an explosion amid the torrent of light. Could it have been the destruction of Solaris...?

"No..."

She could groan about it all she wanted, but it wouldn't turn up any clues. As she turned her unanswered questions over and over in her head, her pent-up frustration slowly boiled to the surface. Irene suddenly stood upright.

"...She only said not to leave the house," she said to herself, leaving her gloomy room and heading for the clothes-littered living area.

"Miss Velwitschia said I didn't have to clean up, but I think she'd like it if the room and merchandise were all tidy. Let's do it!"

When had it happened? Irene had taken care of her mother as she poured her heart and soul into her research, all while holding the position of mayor.

"Mom would always leave clothes around like this when she changed... If I didn't say anything, she would just wear the same clothes again like it was nothing."

The sad spectacle of the living room was an awful lot like Maria's room. Velwitschia was surely the same type as her mother. As Irene thought that, she realized she was seeing her mother's face, and laughed softly at herself.

----------

Some time later, Irene had finished gathering the clothes and sweeping the floor, and began folding the clothes on a threadbare sofa. After folding a few pieces, she suddenly felt that something was wrong.

"Hold on..."

There were at least twenty dust-proof capes, making up most of the clothing. The designs ranged from plain to brightly colored. Some among them were tattered, and appeared to be children's sizes, too small for the tall Velwitschia.

Irene had a bad feeling and turned back to the hallway at the back of the room. She entered a small room hidden by a thick fabric curtain, and spotted a box big enough for a person to fit inside. She gulped, and cautiously checked the contents. Inside the box were people of all sizes, naked and folded up flat against each other.

"Eeek—!" Irene stifled her cry, and heard a voice from behind her.

"Hmm... Looks like you couldn't behave after all, Irene."

"Ah...Miss...Velwitschia...?"

Velwitschia stood in the living room at the other end of the hall. Irene couldn't read her expression through the goggles and the veil. But she understood one thing—that Velwitschia was now her enemy.

"You didn't obey my instructions. You've been quite a bad girl."

"W-What are you doing here?" Irene stammered.

"Hmm? This is business. Every object of value here becomes merchandise. Even a human corpse, for instance."

Velwitschia slowly closed the distance to Irene. Her body blocked off the hallway. Even if she left a gap, the knife in her grip would stop that.

"Are you...going to kill me?"

"Oh, no. You're worth enough for me to share my precious food and water. You'll be my livestock here."

"Livestock...?"

"That's right. I'm going to let you live a long time, so I can find the right ones to breed you with."

Breed. Irene didn't know what she meant by that word, but it was clear from the way she spoke it that it wasn't anything good. Irene looked at Velwitschia with disgust in her eyes.

"Is this world really so impossible to live in without going so far!? There has to be another way, Miss Velwitschia!"

"If there were, you would be long dead by now. But you were a sheltered little thing, weren't you? How happy you must have been living underground."

"..."

"You just don't get it. Every living thing uses all its power to survive. My business is just a means to an end."

Velwitschia drew ever closer.

"P-Please, stay back!"

"This is the only place you'll get to give it your all. You'd better be ready to work for me, Ire—"

Crrrack.

Suddenly, there was a wet crunching sound from Velwitschia's direction. Irene timidly opened her eyes after she had covered them in fear. Velwitschia seemed to have been knocked over.

"Miss...Velwitschia?" Irene asked when she saw that she wasn't moving.

"Eeek!"

Her body was twisted from the waist up in a clearly unnatural manner.

"Wh—Wha, what happened...!?"

"That was a close one, huh?"

"!?"

Irene spun around reflexively to see a group of men standing there, armed with guns and pale brown armor.

"No way... Did you do that to Miss Velwitschia...?" she asked.

A brown-skinned man at the center of the group walked toward Irene with a grin. There was something uncanny about his smile, as if it were cut and pasted there.

"If I hadn't dealt with her, you'd be dead by now. Show a little gratitude, will you?" he said, spreading his arms and waiting for his deserved thanks from Irene. However, her words weren't the ones he expected.

"Why... Why would you kill her!?"

"...Huh?" His smile vanished. "That's all you have to say?"

Irene spun her pent-up anger into her words.

"She wasn't going to kill me. If you hadn't taken her life, I might have been able to persuade her..."

"The hell? What were you even gonna say?"

Irene couldn't help but duck her head away from the sharp gleam in his eyes. Still, her outrage at the irrational murder didn't go away.

"Miss Velwitschia saved me!" Irene shouted, her whole body shaking. She couldn't trust someone who would kill without question.

The brown-skinned man sighed. "Real pain in the ass..."

He made a show of taking a deep breath, then wrapped a hand around Irene's neck.

"Huh...?"

"Just shut up for a sec."

"...Nn...Ha...agh!?"

He pushed harder with his thumb, and her face contorted in anguish.

"This is your fault. I really don't want to do this, you know."

"Nh..."

When Irene seemed to lose her will to resist, he declared, "You're mine now. You try to run for even a second, and I'll do what I did to her to each of your fingers, one by one."

He turned to the other men, said, "We're leaving," and began using a device attached to his arm. Irene watched powerlessly, imagining the future that awaited her as if it were someone else's problem. These people would trample all over her life. It could be even worse than it was now. Eventually, she might walk the same path as her. She gazed at Velwitschia, lying pitifully on the floor.

Every living thing uses all its power to survive, she said.

When she closed her eyes, she recalled her days in Solaris. In that sunless underground world, everyone worked together so desperately to share their resources and survive.

Both Mom and the people who protected us gave their all... Then, what about me? Have I given it my all...?

Weakly, but surely, Irene shook her head in resistance to the unfair future awaiting her.

No, not yet! I haven't lived to the fullest! For the ones who couldn't survive, I have to live—!

The moment her heart cried out—

Irene stood in the desert, surrounded by sand dunes as far as the eye could see.

"...Huh?"

The scenery had changed completely, as if replaced with the press of a button. She could see the rocky area where Velwitschia's house sat. Just what could have happened? As Irene tried to grasp the situation, she noticed that the space next to her was shaking.

"What's...that...?"

The moment she touched it, a shadowy figure appeared inside it.

The brown-skinned man, who only moments ago had his hand around Irene's neck, opened and closed his hand over and over, checking for any fleeting heat from her skin. She had suddenly vanished from Velwitschia's house.

"Tch, just my luck. Awakened already."

"Ankh, sir."

"Yeah, yeah."

The man—Ankh—responded to the man waiting behind him, and raised the armor on his forearm up to chest height. There were a number of symbols on the device embedded in his armor. He pressed the conical cursor symbol, and a pale orange light emerged, forming a three-dimensional image—the desert of Wasteland. When he saw one spot in the desert glowing, a wicked grin crossed his face.

"I've got her location. Let's get her."

----------

Meanwhile, Irene stood opposite the figure in the space before her.

"What's...that...?"

The silhouette was distinct, but she couldn't make out anything else. It seemed to be looking her way, and as she moved left and right, the figure swayed within the space.

"What's going on...?"

From the front, the undulating space looked quite extensive, but when she looked at it from the side, it was paper-thin, like a flat plane.

"It looks three-dimensional from the front, but...how strange..."

Irene drew closer, hoping to get a better look at the inexplicable space. Then, the figure waved at her.

"Hyah!?" Irene cried, falling backwards. "S-Startled me..."

She wanted to protest at the apologetic-looking figure, but her momentary peace vanished all too soon. The men who attacked Velwitschia were getting closer.

"How did they find me...?"

There was no time to think. She had to leave as quickly as possible. Irene took off running madly through the desert. However, her opponents were an armed group, and she was only a powerless child who lived her whole life underground.

"Hah... hah...!" she panted furiously.

She should have been far away, but she could faintly hear the brown-skinned man's voice. Her heart pounded violently. She could only run for so long.

"Not yet...!"

Just then, her vision seemed to flicker, and a sand dune appeared straight in front of her.

"...Huh?"

She was going to crash. She squeezed her eyes shut and braced for impact, but it never came.

"Why—didn't—I—"

The scenery was changing in the blink of an eye.

It continued for some time, but she steadied her breathing and began to calm down. Slowly, whatever strange phenomenon was happening to her subsided. She checked her surroundings once again. She was still somewhere in the dunes, but she couldn't see any sign of the men pursuing her. Even though she must have traveled quite far, her limbs weren't tired or sore. Suddenly, Irene recalled a story from a picture book her mother read aloud to her as a child.

"Maybe this is like... No, that can't be it..."

It was about a girl who could teleport to her favorite places, no matter how far away she was.

"D-Did I...teleport—!?"

Suddenly, Irene was overcome by intense pain, as if her whole body would be torn apart, and collapsed to the ground, writhing in agony.

"Agh—aaaaaahhh!!"

Even the relentless sunlight brought her only pain. She didn't know why, but it seemed this teleportation put a great strain on her body. If she kept doing it, she might even die.

"...I don't...want...to die..."

Irene got to her feet, enduring the pain, and resumed running away, with no destination. Ahead of her loomed a dull gray structure.

"Where do you think you're hiding, huh?"

"N-No!"

Irene arrived at the gray structure at nearly the same time the brown-skinned man caught up with her. There was nowhere to run anymore. She wished she could teleport, but that mysterious power wouldn't respond to her feelings.

"You sure wasted my damn time," he spat.

Irene gasped.

He looked different from when she encountered him at Velwitschia's house. He wore a hood over his eyes, and his armor had changed from gray-brown to the color of rust. What truly worried her was that he was acting alone now. The other armed men weren't around him or in the dunes surrounding the structure.

"How...? I was so far away..."

"Hah, it doesn't matter how far you run. I can pinpoint your location easily."

She had run so desperately, enduring the pain. Even so, her resistance was trivial to the man standing before her. Despair filled her heart.

"W-What do you want with me?" Irene pleaded. "There's no reason for anyone to chase—"

"You and your reasons. Hardly makes a difference to me!"

He pointed the muzzle at her. Irene stared down the dark hole of the barrel and knew it could take a life with minimal force.

"No... Please..."

Terror gripped her heart. He hadn't put his finger on the trigger yet. Still, even if he didn't intend to kill her, it was enough to make her keenly aware of death.

"..."

When he saw her shrink away, he began operating the device on his arm, assured of his victory. Suddenly, the space near him began to waver. The device emitted a cold, mechanical voice.

"Deploying portal."

"Wha...?"

Irene recognized the space that had suddenly appeared. It looked just like the flat plane she encountered while running away.

"Let's get going!"

The man drew closer to Irene. With his well-trained body, there was way she could escape any longer.

"Eeek! S-Stay back. If...if you come any closer, I'll—"

"Bite your tongue and kill yourself? Hah! You'd never. I'm quite acquainted with peoples' lives and deaths. I can instantly recognize the eyes of someone who hasn't given up on life."

He spoke with a certain grandiosity as he gazed at her from under the hood with dark, murky eyes. "It's called hope. Pesky little thing, really. Doesn't matter how desperate the situation is, it'll turn anyone's thoughts around."

He pointed the gun at her once again, then moved his aim down to her leg.

"Why don't we start with a leg?" he said, putting his finger on the trigger.

Irene was about to feel unimaginable pain. She closed her eyes, hoping to avoid the pain for even a moment, as though it were happening to someone else—

Bang!

Sounds of an intense explosion and someone yelling came from an unexpected direction. The man turned around on reflex and used the flat space as a shield as he observed.

"They're still alive!? Damn it!"

Enraged, he headed toward the dune the sound came from, watching his surroundings carefully. As soon as he left, the flat space disappeared as well.

"..."

Irene was dumbfounded by the entire chain of events. After he chased her so persistently, she never expected him to leave on his own. She wouldn't pass up her golden opportunity.

I have to run... But, but...

He would be able to catch her even if she teleported. Maybe it would be easier to give herself up after all. She had given it her all. She tried to convince herself with that excuse, but—

"You there!"

"Huh?"

Someone suddenly called out to her, cutting her negative spiral short. She turned in the direction of the voice to see a boy about her own age standing there.

Wh-What's going on...?

Irene was baffled. The boy who stood before her bore the same face as the man who just disappeared beyond the dunes. A different kind of terror from the fear of death ran through her body.

"Eee—"

"Wait—don't. He'll hear if you scream," the boy said in a hushed voice.

Irene realized that the more he panicked, the calmer she felt. She looked at him again. He was dressed lightly and unarmed, nor could she sense any hostility from him like that man. His skin wasn't tanned from the sun—in fact, he was quite pale. In other words, they were two different people with the same face. It made sense the more she thought about it.

"Who...who are you?"

"I'm William. William Winthred."

"I-I am...Irene Curious."

"Irene? That's a nice name," he said, smiling brightly in spite of the dire situation. "I'll explain while we run. We've gotta get out of here before he finds us."

William extended a hand to her.

"Okay..."

Irene took his hand without hesitation. Why she took the hand of a boy she had never seen before, she didn't know herself. But when that man's words flashed through her mind, the reason instantly became clear.

It's called hope.

Hope shone in William's eyes. Irene had felt it unconsciously, and taken his hand.

A boy had suddenly appeared in the middle of Irene's crisis—William. Together, they pressed on through the desert, heading for the portal to another world he had crossed through to arrive in Wasteland.

"So, um—how did you find this place? I was—"

Irene's words were cut short by a monstrous noise from behind. A shrill jalalalala! shook the air. The master of the desert Velwitschia spoke of on the way to her home had appeared—a sandworm.

"Yes, it's here!" William cheered.

"You mean...that was your doing?"

"Yeah. That gunfight was just a movie I left playing at high volume."

"Moo-vee?"

Irene wasn't quite sure she grasped everything, but William explained how he lured out the giant sandworm. He used some strange words, and Irene had the urge to ask about each one, but she was content for now understanding how he used the sandworm's behavior to their advantage.

"He should be facing that monster right about now," he continued.

Hearing the pride in William's voice, she had just one concern. Perhaps that man's power that twisted Velwitschia's body in an instant could be used on the sandworm as well. He might immediately chase her again.

"William, we need to hurry!"

"Yeah, of course—"

There was a sound between them, like something slicing through the wind.

"—!?"

Bright red blood dripped from William's cheek. The brown-skinned man had shot him from far away. He was lucky it wasn't fatal, but he was deeply shaken by a new kind of terror.

"No way... He already beat that thing...?"

He had effortlessly dispatched a beast many times his size. William's legs locked up in fear, just like Irene had when she first saw his madness up close.

"Wh...What?" William stuttered.

"William!"

William staggered over, tumbling to the base of the dune. Irene hurried to check on him and saw that he was shaking like a leaf.

"...I...my baseless confidence..." he muttered to himself, his gaze detached from reality. "Took him too lightly... No, I looked down on him..."

Irene felt a sense of familiarity at his figure. Back in the underground city of Solaris, there was a room where only she and her mother Maria would go. For Maria, both mayor and researcher, it was a sanctuary from her titles and pressures.

Right now, William is disturbed by the fear and pressure of death. There must be something I can—

Softly, Irene laid her hand on William's, as he sat unresponsive, head hanging.

"Please get a hold of yourself!"

"I-Irene..."

Memories of her mother sprang to mind. Irene had supported her when she anguished over the state of her research, and her mother supported her when a scary picture book kept her from sleeping.

That's right. We've always lived by supporting each other!

William reacted ever so slightly. Still, his eyes were deep in despair.

"My mom always shook when she was scared, too," she said. "That's when I would put my hand on hers like this, and she could face her fears. So, let's do it too. We're both scared, so let's support each other."

Irene hoped to reassure him. She gave him the biggest smile she could muster.

"...Sorry," he said after a moment..

"Huh?"

Those weren't the words Irene was expecting to hear. She felt dejected.

"Oh, no, no! I'm apologizing because I'm ashamed of myself, so—!"

William realized his choice of words and hurriedly clarified. Irene, amused by him growing flustered, smiled wide.

"Uh, no time for excuses. Let's keep going, Irene!"

Together, they hurried ahead. Where the sky and desert of Wasteland should have stretched on indefinitely, she noticed a gaping black hole floating in midair. Inside, she could see buildings of a different style from those in Wasteland.

"There?" Irene asked.

"Yeah, if we go through—"

"How naïve!"

By the time Irene recognized the voice, she had fallen onto the sand.

"William!"

William had gone flying even farther than her. He was on one knee in front of the black hole, painting, face to face with the brown-skinned man.

"For a little twig, you sure take a beating huh?" the man taunted. "Thought you'd try and bite at me? Well, whatever."

Irene would need to pass him first if she wanted to reach William.

"Little shit with your stupid traps!" he continued. "How dare you look down on me! I'll give you this in return!"

With those words, the sinister blade attached to the tip of his gun made a booming sound. If Irene didn't run to help right away, William would die for sure this time.

Irene clutched a hand to her chest, closed her eyes, and asked herself, What should I do—jump?

She wanted to save William with her power to teleport. She focused her mind on the components of her body, and thought to herself. Back then, she had been overcome with a splitting pain as a result of jumping so frenetically, but now that pain had eased up.

It'll be okay. I believe in myself.

The sensation, the precision—there were so many factors to think about. She vividly pictured herself using that power for another's sake, just like the girl from her childhood picture book. Irene would give it her all to survive. Surely the power would respond to her strong will.

"Pf—haha! Gyahahahaha!"

The man's laughter rang out, interrupting Irene's inner dialogue. She took off, running frantically, and once again prayed with all her might.

I want to save William!

She didn't want him to die. She wanted to save William from that hope-scorning man who wore his face!

"Please, jump—"

William, who had been separated from Irene, stood opposite the brown-skinned man. Right now, he held William's life in his hands. Even so, William showed no trace of fear or anxiety.

"I can't stand that look in your eyes," the man sneered. "You still think you can try something!?"

"That's right! No matter how many times I fail, I'll keep fighting 'til I succeed!"

"Irritating little—"

"Enough of that! I'm gonna take you down and protect Irene!" William shouted, glaring straight at him.

As he spoke, he noticed something strange. For a man so quick to anger, he was unusually quiet. William became wary of his ominous silence when the man suddenly grabbed his stomach and roared with laughter.

"Pf—haha! Gyahahahaha! To think I'd run into you here of all places! It must be fate!"

"What are you talking—"

Just then, an especially strong wind blew. The man's hood fell back.

"—abou...huh?"

His face was so similar to his own, he thought he was looking at his reflection.

"Don't make that awful face at me," he said. "Is this brat really my 'parallel'?"

"Para...llel...?"

"You don't need to know. I'm gonna kill you here and now anyway!"

The moment he moved to attack William, a sandstorm whirled between them.

"What!?"

The sand blew against him like a geyser. It raged around him until he was forced to inhale it, and stopped moving.

"Gah...! Piece of shit...what the hell...did you do to me!?" he choked out.

William was stunned speechless at his sudden accusation. As he searched for a way to strike back through the winds blurring his vision, he heard Irene's voice.

"William!"

She leapt out from the cloud of dust.

"I-Irene!?"

"Take my hand!"

He did as she said and grabbed her hand back.

"You did that?" he asked.

"Yes!" Irene answered assertively, closing her eyes and preparing to teleport once again. "Whatever you do, don't let go, okay?"

"O-Okay!"

Her goal was the wide black hole. Their surroundings were hazy from the sandstorm, but she remembered its relative location from before she came to get William. There was just one point of concern—whether it was possible to teleport two people at once.

"Don't even think about it!"

The moment she was about to jump, the man appeared once more from the sandstorm.

"That should be my line!" Irene cried.

When he ran to grab at Irene, William used the spray attached to the self-defense keychain from his pocket. A spray of irritating liquid popped out with a satisfying pshh.

"Oww!? Gaaauuuaaagh!?"

"Irene!"

"Yes!"

Irene prepared herself once more.

"Let's gooooooo!"

"Fucking die!"

The moment the pair tried teleporting into the hole, the man used his power.

"!?"

A fierce shockwave ripped through the hot sand, tearing lacerations in the ground. But no one remained to see it.