No. 259 Memory Discrepancies 記憶齟齬

Ayame Park

That’s was pretty quick, Gouto-kun.

×Chihiro

I checked the corpse at the police station.

It was yours, Ms. Morimura. There’s no doubt about it.

Is that so…

You don’t seem too shocked about your death.

Well, it didn’t exactly stop me. Here I am, safe and sound.

I suppose that’s true.

×Chihiro

So.

What did the police say?

△Police Records→Chihiro

The cause of death was a gunshot to the abdominal area.

No bullet was found in the body.

…Though it’s easy to imagine why.

The murder weapon was likely from beyond this time. Beyond material bullets.

Estimated time of death is approximately 1900hours.

You were witnessed running off somewhere with a short-haired student.

According to a pedestrian’s eyewitness account, anyway.

They found a witness?

This era’s police really did their due diligence.

△Witness Statement

An acquaintance of Ms. Morimura…

Described as a short-haired male in a student uniform…

Most likely Ei Sekigahara.

×Chihiro

There should have been that drone tracking her movement.

So… anything helpful in its footage?

The timing couldn’t have been worse.

It looks like it was monitoring the government’s movement at the time.

So she wasn’t even under surveillance…

I see.

…Any thought as to our primary suspect?

×Chihiro

Who do you think did it?

Well…

△Ei Sekigahara→Chihiro

The witness statement matches the description of Ei Sekigahara.

It did seem like something was wrong with Ei Sekigahara’s memories.

…I wouldn’t be surprised if he was our murderer.

Though it raises the question of why he’d bother to lure her out.

Surely a murderer’s optimal scenario is to avoid being spotted at all.

Well, maybe it wasn’t premeditated. He could’ve killed her by accident.

While he certainly is the type to brood over things…

I can say he’s not enough of an idiot to shoot someone on impulse.

×Chihiro

Who else could it be?

That man with that… callsign? Some numerical name?

…Logically speaking…

He would naturally be another potential suspect.

△426

He did attempt to eradicate all the compatibles.

He’s a dangerous individual. And he’s still at large.

All that’s left of 426 is his consciousness.

I don’t think I could reliably predict his behavior. He’s desperate enough to do anything.

△426→Chihiro

426 certainly isn't above killing.

If Ida-san were here…

I'm sure he’d declare 426 our primary suspect.

We know he killed at least four people.

That’s why I shot him dead, in the end.

If he resurrected himself as an android, maybe…

That would give him a chance at revenge.

As a motive, it sounds pretty clear-cut.

△The Four Victims

Aside from Ms. Morimura and Ida-san…

Four others came here for refuge 16 years ago.

By the time I’d started assisting Ms. Morimura’s efforts…

They’d already lost their physical bodies.

Fortunately, we were able to use the data stored in Sector 0.

This allowed us to meld their replicated consciousness with AI.

…As for how they lost their bodies in the first place…

Reported 426’s doing. He destroyed them all in one fell swoop.

According to Ida-san’s account, anyway.

But if No. 16 is to be believed…

That’s not what really happened.

And Ms. Morimura should be aware of that…

×Chihiro

So you believe 426 is the most likely suspect?

Barring Ei Sekigahara.

Who else could be?

△426→Chihiro

△No. 16’s Statement

I spoke with the pilot of Sentinel No. 16.

Back then, she gave Ms. Morimura something nobody else would…

The truth…

No. 16’s statement…

Recall

Not now

△The Four Victims→Chihiro

I’d like to revisit something you just mentioned…

About 426 killing at least four individuals.

Do you… really not remember?

Remember what?

You've read my files, I presume?

I gathered quite a lot of material in the past.

Most of it is rather outdated.

Including Ida-san’s statement concerning those victims.

In other words, your answer is objectively incorrect.

Really…

Well, can you blame me?

Look at this body I'm stuck with. I'm bound to have some memories counfused.

×Chihiro

If you have some comment on this form, then by all means.

…No.

That’s not what I meant…

△426→Chihiro

Ms. Morimura… I have one more question.

What is it?

Regarding 426…

Would you say you had any particular feelings toward him?

Feelings?

Well, he has certainly a good friend. I felt like he really understood me.

Well… used to, anyway.

Where’s this coming from?

…That… doesn’t make sense.

According to No. 18… or should I say, Tamao-san…

△Tamao’s Statement

I had a hunch about Ms. Morimura’s feelings…

And my discussion with Tamao-san only confirmed my suspicions.

Tamao’s statement…

Recall

Not now

△Tamao’s Statement→Chihiro

When Juro Izumi lost his memories…

You aimed to use him to revive 426. Make one a vessel for the other.

…

One reason seems most likely.

You harbored romantic feelings for him.

Me? With him? You're joking.

That Chihiro Morimura was mind-hacked, remember?

You said so yourself.

×Chihiro

My goodness, romantic feelings? For him…?

Haha… No. God no. Not my cup of tea.

△Memory Manipulation→Chihiro

If you recall… I suggested that Ms. Morimura was mind-hacked.

That idea was based on a certain piece of evidence I found.

One particular log.

What log?

If you really are Ms. Morimura, then you should already know.

Two years before you were born…

Ida-san extracted some information from 426.

That in turn led to the discovery of the datalog in question.

×Chihiro

…So why again does this matter?

You're about to find out.

△Future Log→Chihiro

As for the log itself…

It contains footage from the year 2188.

It was found buried in the mainframe data during the analysis of 426.

…

You seemed very disturbed by me seeing that file.

So much so, in fact…

…that you ended up deleting all of your logs.

Would you mind telling me why you did that?

I don’t know… I don’t remember.

Well, at the very least, its contents suggested a connection to 426.

Or even that he had been manipulating Ms. Morimura.

The log contained a very interesting report…

Apparently, Juro Izumi downloaded memories onto Chihiro Morimura’s clone.

△Report Log

Ida’s report…

Recall

Not now

The log inconveniently revealed one of your secrets.

One you were desperate to keep me away from.

So you deleted it. That’s my theory, anyway.

×Chihiro

…426 was the one who overwrote my memories?

So what does that mean? What are you trying to say?

Your Morimura and I are both 426?

△Compatibility→Chihiro

Remember where this all began?

It was the compatibility experiment. The one that produced you.

Based off Ms. Morimura’s footage and your own admissions…

I've completely misjudged the situation.

All this time, I believed you were her.

But even from the very beginning… you've been your own person.

…So what are you saying? I'm not Chihiro Morimura?

×Chihiro

…If I'm not a duplicate of Chihiro Morimura…

…then who, exactly, do you think I am?

△Chihiro Morimura→×Chihiro

You are Chihiro Morimura.

Well, there you have it.

No… not Ms. Morimura, the teacher.

Professor Chihiro Morimura.

The one from the year 2188…

And the central figure of Shikishima’s interstellar development project.

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