Chapter 272: Questions ; Planning (1/2)
Arriving at the infirmary, I find myself gazing at Reine as she types something into the computer through the keyboard while having moved over from the bed to the seat in front of it.
”You're here, Shin,” Reine says as she shifts her sight away from the monitor.
”Yes,” I respond while inspecting the content being displayed on the screen, ”Care to tell me the reason you've called me over for?”
”Look for yourself,” she responds while placing her finger on a piece of land surrounded by a large body of water - an island.
The moment that thought crossed my mind, I recall what Kotori had told me and how the island on this screen resembles the one I saw on Kotori's laptop that certain night.
”You tracked down the seismic energy waves on the island already?” I ask in a dubious tone.
”So, you're already aware,” Reine says as she proceeds to press a key on the keyboard.
Following that, the screen flashes for a millisecond before the image of an island from close-by is displayed, unlike the one from earlier which was in bird-eye view.
Inspecting the image, I find a tall white building along with numerous other facilities that make the island seem to be a rather 'secretive' one at first glance.
”This is the location that has been chosen for the upcoming school trip,” Reine explains, ”We hope that you prepare for trouble while over there.”
School trip? Nothing like that has been mentioned so far? Have they simply yet to announce it or is there more to the matter than just that?
Seemingly reading my thoughts, Reine focuses her tired eyes on my face and says, ”Originally, the school trip was supposed to be canceled, but it was recently decided that won't be the case.”
Canceled, huh? Could it be due to the influx of space quakes that have been occurring? That's the only plausible reason I could think of at the moment.
Shaking these thoughts from my head, I focus back on Reine, only to find her grabbing a small bottle of what seems to be sleeping pills and opening the lid.
Then, she takes out a few of them and casually throws them into her mouth.
”Hey,” I say with furrowed brows, ”Are you okay?”
AI had already analyzed her to be 'abnormal', so I'm not all that surprised by this weird quirk of hers. Nevertheless, seeing her just take sleeping pills like candy is an odd sight to behold.
”Yes,” she responds, ”This is normal.”
No, it's not.
”Is that so,” I say with a smile, ”Why do you not sleep and give some rest to your eyes?”
Hearing my words, Reine stares at my face for a few seconds before saying, ”I am unable to do that.”
”Why?”
”I'm not aware. It has just been like this for the past thirty years.”
How peculiar. Is there something supernatural affecting her? Or, perhaps something related to the abnormal energy detected by AI?
”I want to ask you something,” Reine suddenly says.
”Go ahead,” I say nonchalantly.
”What do you think of the spirits' existence?”
Hm? Looks like she has decided to face me directly.
”What do I think of them, you ask? Well, for starters, I believe that they're unfortunate beings in need of a helping hand.”
Or, so I claim, but the truth is that I simply don't want individuals with absurd powers just running around and battling some organizations.
My main objective for coming to this Platform is to meet up with Dominion and determine whether she is an ally or a foe.
So far, she has exhibited nothing worth noting as 'aggressive'. If anything, the battle with Kurumi was the most I have seen of her in action.
Other than her, I want to get a proper grasp of the rest of the spirits and their powers. Similar to the case with Dominion, if I find one to be bothersome, I shall do my best to get rid of them early.
The last thing I need is for pesky foes to group and make plans.
”Do you want to save them?” she asks without any change in her expression.
”That's what I am doing right now, aren't I?” I respond while beaming a smile.
”You're going to avoid answering the question, huh?”
Ugh. She realized.
”At least, you are honest,” she continues as she begins typing again.
Shortly, a new image appears on the screen, displaying a destroyed forest as well as debris from what seems to have been a small building.