Chapter 18
August 17th, AD 2092 / Okinawa - Naha Airport
While listening to the announcements of plane arrivals and departures, I was recalling the events of six days ago.
After Sakurai-san went to be Onii-sama’s guard, the person who manipulated the screen for us disappeared; so I could only see what happened next from the images streaming on the news.
Suddenly, at the water line a light brighter than the sun erupted.
In the middle of that light, the enemy ship vanished.
The transformed terrain of the beach was washed by breaking waves.
It was an anthem of victory.
That was the official report shared with us and the world in general afterward.
What was not shared with the world is the truth known only to us, what we were told is that the light that destroyed the enemy was made by the power of Onii-sama.
The transformation of mass into energy, the enormous energy that burned everything into nothing is the strategic class magic ‘Material Burst’ wielded by a strategic class magician. That indeed is the true power of Onii-sama, the name of its true form.
The one hailed as a hero for driving away the enemy is Onii-sama.
And also the sad event only we know of.
Afterward, Sakurai-san never returned.
At the joint funeral service for the victims, the cremated remains of Sakurai-san were in accordance with her will completely scattered into the ocean.
The one who returned Sakurai-san to Mother Ocean was Onii-sama.
Onii-sama never showed pain in his face.
He gently comforted me who broke down crying.
Onii-sama might not be sad. Or else it might be that he could not become sad.
No, it does not matter which one it is.
Because I have decided.
While watching Sakurai-san become ashes, I had an insight.
I, at that time, had died once.
I lost the life that Okaa-sama gave me; I received a new life from Onii-sama.
Therefore, all that I am belongs to Onii-sama.
"Miyuki, it is about time to get inside."
"Yes, Onii-sama."
When Onii-sama called out to me, I stood up off of the sofa in the lounge.
Okaa-sama no longer makes a face when I refer to him as ‘Onii-sama’. The truth is that I think it probably still pains her. However, I no longer worry about Okaa-sama’s feelings concerning it.
As usual, Onii-sama is handling all of our luggage and only he is in commercial class, but that no longer troubles me.
Because after all Onii-sama says that he prefers it.
Because Onii-sama’s wishes are absolute.
I took the hand of Okaa-sama who is not in perfect physical condition and trailed after Onii-sama.
For now, there are still words that are not spoken. Words that cannot be spoken.
Nevertheless, I have already decided.
—Onii-sama, no matter where you go, no matter how far; I, Miyuki, am going with you—
Untouchable — The Nightmare of 2062
The eldest daughter of the Yotsuba Clan, Yotsuba Miya, gazed at the western sky from the window of her own room with her childish face clouded. She is currently twelve years old. She just became a middle school student this April, yet the anguish on her face is unsuited for her age.
She is fretting about her younger twin sister, whose whereabouts are unknown, Yotsuba Maya. Three days before, she was kidnapped by anonymous perpetrators in Taipei when she was visiting as part of a cultural exchange program sponsored by the Asian branch of the International Magic Federation. That this was not a disappearance due to unknown reasons, but rather, a violent abduction, was obvious to anyone. Because Saegusa Koichi, who was visiting Taipei with Maya, is suffering from lacerations and broken bones in his right hand and right leg and the loss of his right eye due to his battle during the kidnapping.
Koichi's condition is still worrisome. After all, Koichi is not only her younger sister's boyfriend, but also her fiancé. Rather than Koichi, who was severely injured while escaping the abductor's grasp, her worries were naturally more concentrated on Maya, who the kidnappers had made off with. To be honest, she was gripped more by feelings of anger and bitterness toward Koichi than feelings of worry. He brazenly returned alone from his cowardice while her sister was taken away.
She understood that it was not Koichi's fault. To require such a thing from a mere fourteen-year old boy was cruel and, from looking at the situation, the criminals placed more importance on Maya. It could be said that Koichi got entangled in Maya's kidnapping and was left with one eye for all eternity. Nevertheless, she was not at an age where reason could overcome emotion. Since the identity of the abductors had not been attained yet, it was all she could do to keep her anger from bursting free.
Unexpectedly, she felt a fuss in the corridor. Quicker than a knock could be made, Miya turned toward the door.
"Pardon me."
The voice of Maya's personal maid trembled with such violence as it passed through the door — it seemed like she was shrieking. These past three days, panicked voices and excited voices could be heard throughout the mansion, but there was something a little different about this tone compared to the others — something like hope was mixed in it.
"Please enter."
As a reply, Miya opened the door in the twinkling of an eye. Even so, she did not do anything as vulgar as rushing into the crowd of servants employed by the Yotsuba family in the room. Before crossing the frame of the doorway, she vigorously shook her body. Still, impatience could not be kept off her face and her feelings of impatience returned at the same time.
"Maya-sama has been rescued!"
Upon hearing those words, Miya's mind went blank. Miya could not remember what she did after that. When she became aware of herself again, she was approaching the head of the Yotsuba Family, her father, Yotsuba Genzou.
"Otou-sama! I have been told that Maya has been found; is it true!?"
In the conference room that the family elders use for meetings, Miya interrogated her father under the intent gazes of the aunts, uncles, and other elder relatives.
"It's true. I have just received word from Juuzou."
"From Oji-sama of the Kuroba?"
As she heard that, an expression of pure relief arose on Miya's face. Kuroba is the branch family in charge of supervising the intelligence division of the Yotsuba Clan. Kuroba Juuzou, in addition to being the head of that branch family, is Genzou's brother in law. If word had come from Juuzou, then there could be no room for doubt.
Even so, Miya soon found a reason to feel indignant, and once again she confronted her father.
"Why was I not informed!"
"I don't understand what you mean. Didn't I just inform you as soon as possible?"
"Do not try to fool me please! I have been told that Maya was rescued today, which means that as of yesterday at the very latest, you probably knew the criminal's true identity! Why did you not tell me this!?"
"Because telling you would be meaningless."
"Wha...!?"
"Telling you would've been meaningless. Or do you believe that you would've been able to help save Maya?"
"I would have..."
Miya snapped her mouth shut with regret. Certainly, she was still a child; Miya understood that herself. Even if she had been told where Maya was being held, she could have done nothing. Nevertheless due to her blood ties, she felt that she should have been told the whereabouts of her younger sister, right? A whirlpool of bile swirled within Miya's heart.
"I believed not telling you was for the best."
However with her father's next words, the bile was pushed aside by a premonition of dark clouds on the horizon.
"Although I do not wish to tell you this, Miya, brace yourself."
It seemed like he had something awful to relate to her. Something terrible had happened to Maya. Miya's heart was no longer trembling from a premonition but from a conviction. An impulse to cover her ears assailed Miya's heart but, as her father told her to, she girded her nerves and prepared herself for her father's next words.
"Maya was found in Quanzhou [20] ."
"Dahan's..." [21]
Dahan is a portion of the southern half of China that, after the world was beset by a firestorm of outbreaks of warfare, was quickly able to break away and establish itself as an independent nation. The Great Asian Alliance has been dominating the northern part of China continent and the Korean peninsula since two years before, and has taken possession of Tsushima [22] half a year ago. Since then Japan and Dahan, although not formal allies, had shared a common enemy in the Great Asian Alliance and had cooperated militarily.
"Maya had been imprisoned in a research laboratory placed in Quanzhou that is a subdivision of the Kunlunfang Institute [23] ."
Miya's face quickly paled. Kunlunfang Institute is Dahan's magician development group. The evil rumors of that place would not die any more than the ones about The Fourth Institute which the Yotsuba are now the actual masters of, but are entirely different. The content of those rumors with regards to females is so bad that Miya could not bear to hear them fully.
"Maya is suffering from deep wounds. The damage to her body is also severe, but I am more worried about the wounds to her spirit..."
The tone of Genzou's voice, which until then had been level while he spoke, went wild. Sounds similar to teeth grinding in anger and cries of pain were mixed in his words. A rage that could not be appeased by teeth grinding, a sorrow that howling in pain would not abate.
That prompted in Miya the feeling that the worst was yet to come.
"Maya has been used as a human guinea pig for experimentation."
"How terrible!?"
"It was an experiment in magician manufacturing. It was not merely a scientific experiment. The truth is—"
"That's enough!"
No matter how prepared she had decided to be, any more than this would be unbearable for Miya. To hear any more of what happened to her younger sister would be too much.
She glared at her father with eyes full of tears. Miya widened her eyes and let tears flow from both eyes.
From both of her father's hands, blood was flowing from his own fingernails which he was digging into his own flesh.
Miya averted her face. After she did so, she saw her uncle's face. Fury swirled in her uncle's eyes. She looked at the opposite side. The people who are cousin to her father housed raging hatred in their pupils.
"Miya, there is something only you can do."
"—Yes."
Miya took numerous deep breaths to calm herself. Everyone is outraged on her younger sister's behalf. It was a minor balm, but it allowed herself to recover her sanity.
"Maya is locked inside herself. While her eyes are open, she does not respond to anyone's voice. She does nothing out of her own will, she does not even respond when we treat her wounds."
Miya firmly ground her back molars. She did so to hold back the urge to scream.
"Miya, take away everything she felt for the past three days from Maya's mind with your magic."
Miya closed her eyes and took one huge deep breath.
"If it is something that can be done, I believe it is something I too wish to do."
Miya's voice was flat with little emotion in it. By crushing her feelings, Miya was finally able to voice a reply.
"But, my magic is manipulation of the structure of self. There is no way to take away memories by changing the structure of self."
She had no power to take away memories.
"Not take away her memories. If she was aware that her memories were taken, I doubt she could maintain her sanity. What we would have in our midst would be like a ticking bomb that could go off at any time."
Genzou also understood that Miya could not wipe out memories. Still, he ordered her to do it.
"Don't take away the memories, separate the feelings from the memories. The memories of things people have done themselves naturally have emotions attached to them. Reconstruct 'the experiential memories' into 'informational memories'."
Don't take away the memory, take away the sense of reality from it.
"But Otou-sama, I cannot do such a precise operation. Although I could transmute all 'the experiential memories' Maya possesses into 'informational memories', reconstructing only those three days into 'informational memories'... manipulating 'memory' in such a way is something that is impossible for me."
Miya looked away as she answered. The rightness of what her father ordered, Miya understood with an acuity beyond that of a child. For that reason, her inability to do so with her power vexed her.
"Then change all of Maya's 'experiences' into 'information'."
"But that!?"
Miya stared at her father with disbelieving eyes. Nevertheless, Genzou did not flinch even a little from the utmost censure he received from his daughter.
"Miya, I understand your feelings. I myself am aware of the regret and guilt I will feel by taking away Maya's recollections. Even so, the way things are, Maya's spirit will definitely be destroyed."
"..."
"Tomorrow Maya will arrive at this mansion. Look at the Maya who has returned to us, Miya, and decide. No matter what your decision is, I will bear all the responsibility."
Miya bowed without a word and left her father's presence.
In the conference room Miya left, Genzou remained there surrounded by the gazes of the clan who remained.
Everyone gave Genzou a nod of approval.
"Our adversary is the central administrative institute of Dahan's magic research. Unlike the single Fourth Institute which we are the product of, it has numerous research laboratories, so the first problem is the difference in numbers."
Genzou began with their definite disadvantages. Before Asia's dissolution into North and South, the Kunlunfang Institute had been the nexus of all modern magic research on the continent. With the Kunlunfang Institute attached to Dahan, the Great Asian Alliance had lost almost all of its expertise in modern magic. For that reason, Dahan could stand toe to toe with the Great Asian Alliance despite its inferior resources. It could be said that the Kunlunfang Institute is the nucleus of Dahan's military power.
"Even so, I cannot let the savagery directed at us to pass. Although we are weapons, we are not slaves. And I refuse to be livestock. We, ourselves, are the masters of the laboratory that produced us."
As Genzou stopped speaking, all that were there again gave a nod of approval.
"This is a personal grudge. I am the parent of a daughter who has been defiled; this is my vengeance in order to cleanse my bitterness. Nevertheless, that is not all it is. I wish to show my mettle to the foolish 'Nation' who treats magicians like domesticated livestock."
"Genzou-dono."
The one who opened his mouth was the eldest of his generation of those assembled there, Genzou's uncle.
"I do not consider this matter as Maya's personal tragedy. With this incident, our entire clan of Yotsuba has been insulted right now; our honor has been sullied."
"Itoko-dono." [24]
His female cousin, who was younger than him by a decade, was the next one who wished to orate.
"I, too, have a daughter; therefore, I too do not think of this as someone else's business. My daughter is not even old enough to go to school, but when I think of my child's future, I cannot overlook this meaningless tragedy."
"We are weapons and assassins."
A voice rang out from near the lowest ranks.
"For us to make an appeal to humanity would probably be a fool's errand. No matter how selfish it is, make no mistake; those who dare to attack us can mock us from the depths of hell. But, you know that, don't you!"
The gazes from the others contained understanding and approval.
"Command us, our Master! Grant to me a part in your honored daughter's revenge!"
"Restrain yourself, Genzou-dono."
That voice exploded from next to Genzou.
"A novice like you will end up dying a dog's death. Aniue [25] , first give me, your younger brother, your orders. I will show those ruffians of Asia hell."
"Genzou-dono, our feelings are the same as yours."
"Everyone who had anything to do with Maya's abduction must die."
"The magicians of Asia who acted as pawns for the rapist will be annihilated."
"Please leave our government to me. I will silence those who chant about diplomacy and military cooperation."
Genzou made a deep bow to all that had assembled in this place.
Then, he raised his head to proclaim.
"The enemy is the Kunlunfang institute and the Dahan government. We will eradicate our enemies with the full power of the Yotsuba."
"... Maya... Maya."
The voice is calling me. I feel as if I haven't heard this voice in a really long time, but for some reason I did not feel as if I have been longing to hear the voice.
I open my eyes. The hospital room looked familiar, and if my memory is correct, that face belongs to my elder twin sister.
"Nee-san... this place is the treatment room in the Fourth Institute?"
At the first word from Maya's mouth, Miya relaxed and, at the same time, her face became tearful.
"That's correct, Maya. How do you feel? You don't have a headache or anything like that, do you?"
Upon being questioned by her elder sister, Maya's expression became suspicious.
"I don't have... a headache. Both my mind and my memory are clear."
As Maya spoke the words "my memory," Miya's face looked troubled.
Miya looked at Maya with fearful eyes, and Maya gazed back up at her with a face of amazement.
"Nee-san, I... have been raped."
Maya related this blandly and Miya averted her eyes.
"And my body has been messed with all over. Even the inside of my body has been disturbed. There is no place in my entire body that has not been fouled."
Miya struck her knees with both hands with a slapping sound. As if she was afraid that her body would get up off the stool and run away, and was restraining it from doing so.
"I remember all of it. Despite that, why, I wonder? It feels somewhat unreal. Like I am merely watching a movie, thinking things like horrible or pitiful even though it all happened to me."
Miya could not raise her eyes.
"Nee-san."
Maya did not take her eyes off her elder sister.
"What was done to me? Nee-san."
"...Your memory has been transmuted."
Perhaps she was finally resigned to the task, so Miya began to speak while gazing downward.
"Within the persona, there are various processes used to store memory. The memory of an individual person is not a single unit. Given that, the process for storing your own experiences and the way knowledge gained from texts and images accumulates into memory storage differ in form."
"To me, this cannot be anything but conjecture, however... if Nee-san says so."
Within the Yotsuba clan, this magic is Miya's unique gift, self structure manipulation. Miya, who was able to change the structure of self, could sense how a self is structured. No one other than she could understand it, but it was certain that she understood it.
"I cannot peek inside the contents. What memory is stored where is something I cannot know. What is known to me is whether a stored memory is 'experience' or 'knowledge' only."
"...And so?"
At this stage, Maya had a vague idea about what her elder sister wanted to say. Nevertheless, she was going to make Miya say it.
"Maya, I do not know what you experienced. But, I knew that your spirit would remain broken if I did not use magic. Therefore I—"
"Therefore Nee-san?"
Miya hesitated to speak. Because voicing it was unendurable. Even so, Maya demanded her sister tell her what her sister had done in her own words.
"...Your 'experiences' have been changed to 'knowledge'. The memory storage of experience has been transmuted into memory storage of knowledge... the shape of your memory has been reconfigured."
"I see..."
Maya whispered only those words.
There were no words denouncing Miya.
Miya timidly raised her head and Maya faced the opposite wall.
"All that I have been until now has become simple data."
Her younger sister's words pierced Miya's core.
"My delights, my tempers, the moments of enjoyment, the moments of sorrow; all of them have become data..."
Despite what she heard, Miya could not make her escape from this place.
"Certainly, the memory of what was done to me was too much for me to bear. In that condition, my spirit was dead."
"Maya..."
"Therefore, before the memory of that rape could kill me, my elder sister killed me."
"Uh!?"
Miya grasped for air.
Maya was casting her eyes at Miya again.
"That's what happened, right? A person is formed by their experiences. There is who I was, and there is who I am now."
Miya tried to avert her eyes. Nevertheless, Maya's stare would not allow that.
"Experience being changed to mere knowledge means that my past has changed to data. All that was within me of who I was until yesterday has vanished except for the me that remains."
Maya's gaze punctured deeply into Miya's heart.
"The me I was until yesterday has been killed by my own elder sister."
Miya stood up from the stool. Turned on her heel and ran for the door as fast as she could go.
To flee from Maya's presence.
It was not something that could be apologized for.
It was also not something one would be thanked for.
They could not even share tears over it.
—The chance to restore the bond between these two people that had been severed on this day would not come for all eternity.
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