Constellation of Silence

Chapter 1: Clear Morning
Today was like any other day in Kivotos, the sun rising to a clear morning. The trees swayed gently, with leaves the color of a campfire, some breaking free and slowly swaying and twirling to the ground. The Schale building towered over it all, like a guiding beacon for students to visit. On this day, two particular students met one another, unaware of what today would bring them.
Chihiro had arrived early to do a routine security check before going to Sensei’s office to help him as the student rep today when she noticed a strangely familiar student, and waved to her, who responded in kind and came over.
“Good morning, I’m Kagami Chihiro from Veritas, a hacking group in Millennium.” The student smiled before introducing herself, putting a hand to her chest to emphasize her greeting. “A pleasure to meet you. My name is Yurizono Seia from the Tea Party, and I’d like to thank your school for allowing ours to visit.” Chihiro smiled, and Seia could tell it wasn’t entirely pleasant, as though she was looking for the right words to bring up a certain topic without causing an incident.
Seia spoke up first to try and alleviate the tension. “It is unfortunate we eluded one another during the expo, but perhaps that delay is fortuitous for the both of us,” Seia began. “Shall we away to the elevator? I have a feeling we have many a thing to say to one another.” Chihiro nodded, and the pair’s footsteps were the only thing breaking the silence of the empty building.
When they entered the elevator and begun to ride to the floor that Angel 24 and Sensei’s office was, Chihiro continued the discussion. “I’m sure you enjoyed seeing everything Millennium had to offer.” Seia opened her mouth to speak, but Chihiro continued. “Some of the places- no, some of the people- you met are secrets that only those who know Millennium like the back of their hand would know.” Seia nodded. While she eluded detection during the expo, a security audit after the fact, especially by someone who knew her stuff, would have noticed even the smallest of inconsistencies.
Even so, Seia indirectly confirmed this, seeing no reason to hide, but also knowing better than to be blunt about it. “Quite. The various clubs I met had such incredible energy, like the Game Development Department and their riot of a game, or the Engineering and Fitness clubs.” Seia couldn’t help but shudder at remembering her near misses as the elevator indicated they were at their floor, and the pair walked to Angel 24.
Chihiro smiled again, this time more earnestly. “They’re certainly a handful, but that’s Millennium for you. The reason I bring this all up is to thank you, actually.” Seia blinked despite her intuition telling her she wasn’t going to be lectured about this. “Whatever for?” “You helped the expo run as smooth as it could, as well as reveal some security vulnerabilities. Too often in my line of work, clients get mad over their flaws being pointed out. It’s only until they’re exploited do they care enough to fix them. That, and anyone who earns her trust has earned mine, especially with how secretive she is.”
Chihiro extended her hand out, and Seia took it as the pair shook hands. As they entered Angel 24, Sora waved them over. “Hi! Umm… Can you two check in on Sensei? Normally he buys a bento breakfast by now, but he hasn’t come by today.” The pair nodded, and the both of them ran to Sensei’s office, surprised by what they saw. Or rather, what they didn’t see.
Chapter 2: Step by Step
Sensei’s office was normal, except for a few things subtly off. The most obvious being that Sensei was missing. Another thing was something Chihiro immediately noticed as she began to go to the computer. “Sensei wouldn’t have left his computer on overnight. The GSC makes it clear to turn it off before heading home.” The hacker smirked. “At least he has his account password protected, but that won’t stop me. I’ll ask for forgiveness later, the circumstances are too serious.”
Seia nodded and looked around the room before coming to the calendar. This was how Sensei kept track of who was going to be on duty, and every day would have only one student. Every day for at least two weeks ahead would be written in manually for Sensei to, in his own words, “Better remember who’s on duty.” Today’s rep was written in marker to be Chise. “Pray tell, do you ever go by the name Chise, Chihiro?” Chihiro cocked an eyebrow, still looking at the computer monitor. The sticky note with a rabbit drawn on it caught her attention, especially how it said “Remember me” underneath. “No, why?” The 1, 4, 7 and 9 keys were clearly more used than the others as she began her guesses, but she couldn’t figure out what that had to do with a rabbit, of all things. “Because the student rep for the current day is Chise. The strange thing, though, is that I myself also got a notification that I am the student rep today.”
The PIN wasn’t 1479, but Chihiro tried 1497 and got in. She made a note to lecture Sensei about having a more secure password as she opened Sensei’s Momotalk metadata to look through recent messages. “Two student reps today, huh…” Chihiro pondered this for a moment before noticing one that seemed worth looking into, from a student named Rumi. Chihiro then ran a command to check recent files modified in case there was any clues there.
Seia continued to look around, next looking at the weapons rack. There were always a few here, meant for more special maintenance. There was also a log meant to keep track of whose weapons were here. Every gun’s owner seemed like a reasonable lead, those being Aoba, Haruna, Momoi and “...Nagisa.” Seia froze at this. She wouldn’t… Right?
“Did you say something?” Chihiro looked up from the screen as she had some time before the process completed. “Ah, sorry. I just thought these guns might reveal a clue.” Chihiro nodded. “You’re probably right. I actually recognize that pink gun there, that’s Momoi’s, though you already knew that. I just hope that’s a coincidence,” Chihiro stated before looking back at the computer screen. “As do I, Chihiro. As do I.”
Chihiro clicked through some of the files, not paying much mind to them until she came across one that made her freeze. A list of students, with no rhyme or reason, and a link to each of them. She scanned the list, and clicked on the link next to Himari’s. Chihiro was stunned at the wall of text that she received, skimming through it, then another entry. She couldn’t hide her surprise, and Seia walked over to see what brought Chihiro such a shock.
Chapter 3: Crucial Issue
The pair remained in stunned silence for what felt like hours, unable to comprehend what they had just uncovered. A list of students and links to pieces where Sensei would analyze them. Some going on for thousands of words, almost all of them beginning with the same general piece: “Today I want to talk about…”
Seia staggered, but this caused her gaze to meet the trash bin near Sensei’s desk. “That bin is emptied every night, is it not?” “That sounds right to me, yeah. Whenever I’m here in the morning, it’s always near empty, save for some energy supplements that Sensei takes to help him throughout the day.” Chihiro then noticed what Seia had. “But if that’s the case, then why is there an empty can of Youkai MAX in here? That’s not something Sensei normally drinks, especially late at night; he prefers canned coffee.” Chihiro seemed lost in thought at this, so Seia continued the momentum.
“Let us head back to Angel 24 and both relay what we have learned to Sora and review our clues.” At this, Chihiro nodded. “That’s a good idea. I could also use a cup of coffee, too.” The pair made their way to Angel 24 as the sun continued to rise into the sky and the day began for most Kivotos residents. Sora heard the automatic jingle indicating that someone had entered the store, and saw the duo.
“W-welcome back! Was Sensei in his office?” Sora questioned, unaware of all that had transpired. “Unfortunately, Sensei is still at large. However, Chihiro and I chanced some oddities that we would like to go over with you, in case you might be able to render aid upon our investigation.” Seia explained as Sora frowned at the negative news, before brightening up at being told she could help the two high-schoolers. “Gladly! Whatever you need, I will try my best!” Chihiro cleared her throat, then began.
“Thank you. First, Sensei’s computer was on when we entered. Would you happen to know anything about that?” Sora thought about it for a second before answering. “W-well, it’s not supposed to be, right? I remember that if Sensei left his computer on and tried to clock out, he’d be unable to, leading to him coming back up and leaving again. He’d always make a joke whenever this happened.” Chihiro wrote this down. “I expected as much.” Seia spoke up. “Would that not mean, then, that Sensei has not clocked out since yesterday?” Sora’s eyes widened in surprise. “Y-you’re right! Now that I think about it, Sensei didn’t come back. Wouldn’t that mean the GSC is going to look into this?”
Chihiro bit her lip at the idea. If the GSC started to investigate this, it would quickly become a massive ordeal, potentially forcing the culprit- and Sensei- further into hiding. “Yes, but we want to solve this before it comes to that. Going by how long the GSC takes, an investigation would probably begin tomorrow, which might be too late.” Sora frowned, but Seia picked the mood up.
“Worry not, Sora. I am most positive we shall uncover the truth before then. Speaking of, what knowledge have you about the student rep calendar?” Sora’s frown lightened, but didn’t completely vanish. “Not much, sorry. Just that one student is expected to be the rep on any given day.” Sora’s eyes lit up as if she recognized the inconsistency. “Ah! Wait, then why are you two here today? S-shouldn’t only one of you be here?” Seia smiled upon hearing this. “Right you are, Sora. One of us should be here; or rather, neither of us, as today was supposed to be for Chise to be the rep.”
Sora tilted her head before Chihiro explained. “We think that something might have changed the system, leading to us being called up instead, though we don’t know why as of yet. Though that’s a good time to bring up another clue,” Seia was curious how Chihiro would refer to the information she obtained, since it was technically a massive violation for her to have gone through Sensei’s computer. “How often does Rumi visit Schale?” Sora had no idea where this was going, so she started her explanation.
“Rumi makes it a point to come by every week. She usually buys some food, then goes to Sensei’s office to make him a meal. She’s normally busy running a restaurant in Shanhaijing, but is always punctual to make lunch for him.” The two investigators looked at one another, before Seia probed further. “Pray tell, when does Rumi grace the store with her presence?” Sora glanced at the clock, which read 07:15. “W-well, I’d say maybe 10:30? As for the date…” Sora’s eyes widened. “Yesterday!”
The pair didn’t expect such a directly damning date, and their faces showed as much. “Y-you don’t think she did it, do you?” Seia quickly regained her composure before assuaging Sora’s concern. “At present, we cannot discount the possibility. However, we do have more things to ask about. For example, the weapon maintenance logs.” Sora was quick to respond to this. “I wouldn’t know anything about those, as they’re brought in personally by the students, who then get a temporary leased gun to help them if trouble arises. Sorry!” Seia expected as much, but asked a more important question.
“Would you be able to have the students we asked about come visit? Being able to directly commune with the parties of interest would assist as opposed to us travelling from school to school.” Sora seemed uncertain, but nodded. “I can do that, but how do I ask them to visit?” Chihiro perked up, having done her fair share of vishing for penetration testing. “What if you make it a promotion for these students? If they take some time out of their day to answer our questions, then they can have an item on the house.” “Y-you think I can do that? I might get in trouble with my boss for letting things go!” At this, Seia rose. “Then I shall be the one to purchase whatever they choose. That way, your boss will be none the wiser.” Sora gulped. “O-okay… Who should I call first?”
Chapter 4: OHAYOU Daily morning
Nagisa was the first to arrive, as Seia had personally messaged her to come by Angel 24. Chihiro watched this from the store’s CCTV, as Seia requested her not to be there with her due to her knowing Nagisa well. One look explained why, as it was clear that Nagisa was also a Tea Party member, if her fancy outfit was anything to go by. The next thing she noticed was how nervous Nagisa looked, scanning the store as though a surprise party would appear, and even glancing at the cameras.
“Welcome, Nagisa. Forgive the sudden request, but there has been a matter that has just arisen which I must inquire about.” Seia led Nagisa to an empty office room that Sora had identified as a reasonable place to conduct interviews. When Seia closed the door behind her, Nagisa sat down and, not a moment after Seia lowered herself on her chair, began her questioning. “Seia, we both know how busy the workload is for me in Trinity. I had to make absolutely sure everything was in perfect order before I came over. Speaking of, why are you here today? Normally we tell one another when we’re assigned. What’s going on, Seia?”
Seia took a deep breath, and calmly responded, having expected this from Nagisa. She couldn’t deny that Nagisa was incredibly busy- she had helped with the workload when politically acceptable to do so- but she also knew this was more important. She also knew not to directly mention Sensei’s disappearance to Nagisa unless she wanted Nagisa to tear Kivotos apart looking for him.
“I cannot deny my visitation here is strange, but I could say the same about you, Nagisa.” Seia motioned to Nagisa’s holster to emphasize this point, leading to a perceptible shift in tension in the room. “And whatever does my gun being maintained have to do with you being here? Is this some attempt to usurp power, Seia?” “Of course not, Nagisa. I meant no ill intent behind asking. It is just that Sensei has been acting peculiar as of late, and I want to know if you have any idea about why this could be the case.”
The tension remained, but wasn’t nearly as dangerous. “No, unfortunately I have no idea about that. As for my gun, I had requested Sensei to inspect it for any anomalies. While I do not use my firearm often, it would not hurt to have it inspected, especially by a trusted third party like Sensei. I am sure you can agree with that.” Seia slightly nodded. “Indeed. And I am sure I do not have to ask, but I will nonetheless- this was your only interaction with Sensei recently, yes?” Nagisa chuckled. “That is correct, Seia. After the courier awayed with my firearm and I received my spare, an incident had kept me busy in trying to mediate it. At least, until now.” Nagisa put it out passively, but was obviously implying that if there was nothing else, she’d like to go now. “Thank you for your time, Nagisa. If you desire, feel free to have something from Angel 24 as a treat of mine.” Nagisa cocked her eyebrow at this show of generosity, but said nothing of it as she begun surveying Angel 24 for anything she thought interesting.
Chapter 5: Coffee Cats
A few minutes after Seia and Nagisa departed to an interview room, Chihiro entered the main store as her first interviewee arrived. If the reports were anything to be believed, the student who had entered was an infamous terrorist who would destroy restaurants for meals she deemed subpar. However, those same reports would label Veritas as renegades who like to hack the planet, so she figured this was overblown. The pair exchanged pleasantries before going into a room of their own.
“So what is this about?” Haruna asked before continuing. “Let’s not beat around the bush; if this was about whatever lies you’ve heard from Valkyrie or Kronos, you wouldn't sit me down in an office in Schale.” Chihiro couldn’t help but smile at the acknowledgment that the two of them were obviously on opposite sides of the law. The honesty was refreshing. “Don’t worry, I’m not here to cause an incident. I just want to know what you’ve been doing the past few days regarding Sensei.”
Haruna chuckled at the bluntness, finding it like an aperitif. “Good question. Why don’t you ask him yourself?”
Chihiro gave a look that Haruna knew well enough from whenever she and her fellow gourmets said something that implicated them, even if they hadn’t gone to a restaurant that day. “You can’t be serious. You think I might have kidnapped Sensei? First, why would I send in my gun if my intent was to then keep Sensei to myself? Those leased guns aren’t half as good as the real thing. Second, do you know how quick I’d be found out and suspended or worse? Gehenna’s a school that values freedom, but none of us are dumb enough to try something like that. Third, and most important, if you force someone to sit down and dine with you, the atmosphere is too awkward and the meal tastes bad as a result! So if you want to find whoever took him, then it’s probably not anyone who gave their weapon to him!”
Chihiro was used to having clients explode on her, so she waited until Haruna finished before poking at the potential hole. “Weapon list? I didn’t say anything about that. I just wanted to know if there was anything at all that you did involving Sensei in the past few days.” Haruna’s face contorted in discomfort, as she’d accidentally revealed that. It then loosened in resignation, as she accepted that she lost this battle, sighing before describing her trail. “Very well, I could use a good meal after all this. Breakfast wasn’t as good. About a week ago, I was doing the same thing I normally do in finding the best places to eat around Kivotos.” Chihiro furrowed her brow, but Haruna was used to that reaction, and continued.
“Long story short, the Prefect Team came after us in our pursuit, as they always do. I tried to help cover my fellow gourmets, but one of my shots had gone wide, and before I knew it, I had accidentally caused a fight between the Pandemonium Society and the Prefects after I hit one of their officers. I think her name is Iroha? I succeeded in letting my clubmates getting away, but causing a fight between those two wasn’t my intent, so I asked Sensei if he could inspect my rifle, and to possibly explain to both the Prefects and Society that it was an accident.”
Chihiro remained neutral hearing Haruna’s story, and calmly responded. “Nothing else?” Haruna shook her head. “In that case, thank you for your time. You’re free to leave, but feel free to grab something from Angel 24 for cooperating.” “Thank you for the offer, but it might take a bit for me to find something. Is that all right?” Chihiro nodded as the pair returned to Angel 24.
Chapter 6: Let me think about it
“W-welcome! Enjoy the free item!” As Sora said this, Chihiro and Seia were busy in the security room, reviewing what they had learned. “Haruna does make a good point. A party using the loaned guns would have great difficulty in absconding with Sensei. However, I find the idea of a kidnapping unlikely in that case,” Seia said while chewing on a biscuit. It helped ease her nerves to have tea, even if it wasn’t the standard fare for her.
Chihiro nodded as she swallowed a bite of her onigiri, reclining in her chair as she searched the names they had. “The suspect list we have seems to support that, too. You said Nagisa provided nothing of value, so I’m pretty sure it’s neither of you. Sorry about suspecting you, by the way. It was just something in the back of my mind, but if you and Nagisa were responsible, it would have made more sense for you to give a red herring as opposed to nothing. That, and I’m sure you three would instead prefer that Sensei come to you and entrap him somehow, rather than the other way around.”
Seia couldn’t tell if this was a slight or just a lucky guess, so she erred on the side of caution. “I cannot deny that the idea of having Sensei being the one to give chase does sound nice, but if we are sharing fantasies, then what of yours?” Chihiro chuckled at this. “My fantasy? I’d prefer us to meet one another halfway. I’m not sure if Sensei would be able to pick up on any hints I give him, though.” Seia laughed in kind. “You know him quite well, then. He is quite the clueless individual in that regard.”
Chihiro looked back at the computer screen. “There’s not a lot of students who could even try a kidnapping. Going by what I’ve seen, Rumi would be the only one with the manpower to stage such a thing. At the same time, I can’t help but think about Momoi. She has a strange way of getting ideas for games, so maybe she’s been keeping Sensei ‘hostage’ for some game they’re making.” Chihiro added air quotes around the word “hostage”, suggesting that she expected it to be a willing situation. “And I tried to get into contact with Hare, but she might still be asleep. A ping of her phone put her in the Veritas club room.” Chihiro sighed at this. “Honestly, she really should take better care of herself…”
“What of that rabbit notepad on Sensei’s monitor?” Seia queried. Chihiro shook her head. “Sorry, I’m not sure if that is meant to represent anyone, but I can’t help but find it familiar somehow.” Chihiro finished her onigiri before putting the wrapper in the trashcan, then washed it down with some water. Seia did the same with her biscuits and tea, and the pair returned to the shop area of Angel 24. “Did you two get any ideas who I should call next?” Before they could respond, the automatic doorbell indicated a new student, followed by a voice.
“Hello, little Sora!” The rustling of plastic wrappers from Haruna stopped when she heard that voice. “G-good morning, Rumi! What brings you here today?” Chihiro immediately looked at her wristwatch, which said that it was 09:37. Rumi’s voice made her look back up. “Ah… And you have helpers today? How strange… Good morning, you two!” Rumi’s smile failed to mask her apprehension. “I am here because I forgot my mortar and pestle here. I didn’t want to bother the Eastern Alchemy Society. However, you seem busy, so I’ll come back later!” Seia tried to speak up as Rumi turned around, but another voice commanded the room. “Stop right there.”
Chapter 7: The Dragon Express
Rumi knew this voice quite well. The two were on relatively friendly terms, despite the barrel of Haruna’s rifle being aimed right at her chest. The store was quiet for a second, before Chihiro snapped out of the shock first. “Haruna, what do you think you’re doing!?” Chihiro rushed to aid Rumi, but Rumi motioned her to stay. “I believe this is our fourth time meeting each other outside of my restaurant, yes?” Haruna nodded. “That’s correct, and I had hoped it would’ve been under a better situation than this. No hard feelings?”
Rumi laughed heartily. “Of course not! You and your group are valuable customers to me! And I’m sure you have your reason to keep me in here, even if we both know that I’ll lose time preparing for the lunch rush.” Haruna’s smiled before offering her demands. “The two back there,” Haruna motioned with her gun as a way to point at Seia and Chihiro. “They have some questions for you. In exchange, you get an item for free here. To be honest, none of these interest me, but if you could make something with two items, then I’d use my item to help you out.”
Rumi weighed her options as Sora and Seia exchanged a look, before Seia got close to whisper. “Sora, could you see about bringing Momoi here? I feel as though she will arrive at an appropriate time.” Sora nodded. Rumi then shrugged her shoulders and walked back to the counter. “Very well. Little Sora, could you please go around and get some plain ramen, shredded cabbage, an egg, and some deli ham?” “But you’d still have to pay for some of that!” Seia interjected. “I will pay for her. I am most curious about what manner of meal she will make.” Rumi’s eyes sparkled at being given the go-ahead as Sora and Haruna begun looking for the items Rumi requested. “Thank you! What is your name, by the way?”
“My name is Yurizono Seia, and I am from the Tea Party in Trinity.” Rumi’s excitement only continued to grow. “The Tea Party of Trinity? You do tea ceremonies?” Seia smiled at the enthusiasm, while Chihiro smiled but kept mostly to herself, the topic of tea ceremonies and tea parties going over her head. She preferred coffee, after all. “Something like that,” Seia replied. “I would love to know more about your tea ceremonies, little Seia! Will you be free sometime in the future?” Seia hid her bemusement at being called little, surmising it being a difference in cultures. “I can try to make time in the future, but I make no guarantees.” “That’s the best I can ask for, thank you!”
Haruna and Sora returned with the items. “Little Sora, are the sauces free?” “Yes! B-but please don’t use them all!” Rumi laughed at that. “Don’t worry, Sora. Too much sauce would overpower the dish! I’ll just take these.” Rumi took a packet of soy sauce, sesame oil and chili flakes before heading to the kitchen and starting the oven. “So what do you two want to talk about?” Chihiro opened her mouth, but Seia motioned for her to be the one leading this questioning. “Sora told us that you partake in weekly visitations to Schale for Sensei, is that right?” Rumi beamed at being able to explain her cooking. “That’s right! Sensei doesn’t eat too well, so I come by weekly to make sure he’s doing well and make him lunch. It’s a good change of pace for me, lets my clubmates learn leadership skills, and Sensei gives good advice for franchising!”
Rumi finished up as Haruna entered and sniffed the air. “The fact you could make something this aromatic with what was in there is nothing short of impressive.” No worries! I’m used to this from working with whatever’s in Sensei’s fridge.” Rumi poured the stir-fry noodles into some bowls before looking at the clock, which said 10:44. “Oh dear. I have to go soon or I’ll miss the lunch rush! Seia…” Rumi pointed at Chihiro. “Chihiro.” “Chihiro! Can I go?” The pair nodded as Rumi cleaned up her station. “Thank you! Good luck on whatever you are doing!” Rumi then left the room as everyone enjoyed the meal she made for them.
Chapter 8: Pixel Time
Momoi met Chihiro, Seia, Sora and Haruna right outside the elevator. “Huh?! This isn’t Angel 24!” Chihiro nodded. “You’re right, let’s get back there.” Momoi’s eyes widened, and she begun to press the button to go down, before Haruna entered the elevator and shoved Momoi out. “No! I’m too young to die! Help!” Momoi’s shouts continued until she noticed Seia. “Huh? Oh, hi Seia! Why are you here?” Seia smiled and picked her words carefully, knowing Momoi might cause a goose chase if she wasn’t calmed down.
“Chihiro and I were talking about a game you were making, and Sora was interested as well. Please elucidate us on this game.” Momoi stared blankly. “You guys do? I wouldn’t expect that, but… Okay! Wait, uhh… How did you know we were making a game, anyways?” Chihiro couldn’t help herself. “Because that’s what your club does. It’s the Game Development Department. You develop games.” Momoi beamed. “Oh yeah! That’s a good point! Thanks, Chi-chan!” Chihiro glared at hearing that name. “Do NOT call me that.” Momoi was shocked at this response, like a child calling their mother a hag without knowing what the word mean.
“So the game we’re working on is a mystery game!” Momoi begun as they started walking to the store. “Me and Midori were thinking on how to make an engaging plot, but Aris helped with that! The idea is that Sensei has gone missing, and two detectives need to figure out where he is!” The trio in front of Momoi kept quiet as she continued to explain. “It’s meant to be a game submission where you make a game in 48 hours, so we decided to make the game’s setting take place in one day! I think the clues were really well thought out, not to brag.”
“The detectives were called in by a freak glitch to help Sensei, but they soon realize that neither was supposed to be there, as that day was meant to be for someone else. One of the detectives is a hacker, sort of like Chihiro-senpai, and she decides to check his computer to see if there was anything that would lead to a clue. The keyboard has keys worn, and while we were deciding on what to make the code, Koyuki came by and suggested 1497, so we went with that. To help guide the player, Midori made a sticky note on the monitor with a rabbit on it that said ‘remember me’ under it, and if you looked at the various features of the rabbit you would see the numbers from top to bottom!”
“While the hacker was doing that, the other detective trusted her gut a lot and saw the weapon log, with four names on it! I got that idea after I had requested Sensei inspect my weapon. It was a stroke of luck, too, as an opening came up just that day, something about that student’s weapon being serviced more intimately? I don’t know, but anyways! She sees her friend’s weapon on the rack and is shocked while the hacker checks Sensei’s momotalks and sees that a recent read message came from a chef. We weren’t sure where, but we thought to do somewhere mysterious like Shanhaijing.”
The hacker then checked recently modified files and saw that Sensei had a huge list of students and their hair. This one is actually a core mystery, but then is figured out later by the shopkeeper the pair visit to have a secret with who’s on it! The pair are horrified at the potential scandal, and take a minute to recollect themselves. Before they leave, they notice that the trash can- which we all know is emptied every night- has a drink in there, which the hacker recognizes but stays quiet until much later because she didn’t think much of it!”
The quartet entered Angel 24. “I don’t want to give too much away, but that’s how it opens! Pretty cool, huh?” Chihiro’s expression was hard to explain and Sora’s eyes were wide like saucers, but Seia tried to get a bit more out of Momoi. “I think I know how this goes. The pair then interview suspects…” Momoi nodded. “The one with a good gut feeling interviewing her friend, and the hacker interviewing someone who accidentally realizes that Sensei is missing…” Momoi nodded again. “The chef is held at gunpoint by that aforementioned individual who requests she stay…” Momoi was reminiscent of a bobblehead. “And after that, they bring in a game developer who incriminates herself after she explained the intro to the game she was making, which mirrored the incident to an uncanny degree.”
Momoi jumped up in excitement. “Wow, how’d you know? The next thing that happens is that the game dev slowly realizes that she’s accidentally made herself a suspect, and… Wait a minute…” Momoi’s face froze. “Uh-oh. Uhh…! Umm…!” Seia leaned closer, looking ever so slightly down at Momoi as Chihiro stormed off in the direction of Sensei’s office. “What happens next?” Momoi was a shaking mess as she squeaked the next parts out. “T-the game developer is found to be innocent because one of the clues doesn’t match the scene! And… And…!” Seia put her hand on Momoi’s shoulder as she started to sob.
Chihiro checked the sticky note on the computer and saw nothing even close to 1497. She took the time to process what Momoi said. “The hacker then reviews the weapon maintenance log and her blood runs cold!” Momoi blubbered. “That can’t be… But if that’s true…!” Chihiro moved as fast as her legs could carry her back to the Angel 24 security room where her laptop was. “After that?” Momoi shook her head. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know after that. However, I do know how it ends, and it’s a happy ending, trust me!” Seia smiled. “And what exactly happens in the ending?” Momoi lowered her voice. “Promise me that you won’t tell anyone else until it releases? Knowing the end of the mystery would ruin the fun.” “I promise.” “Thank you. First? Sensei is alive and well. Second? The detectives find his location at night, two hours before the deadline. Third...”
Chapter 9: Blooming Moon
Sora cautiously entered the security room as Chihiro furiously tapped at her laptop’s keyboard. “H-hey… Chihiro.” Sora responded politely, trying not to detonate the deputy director’s short fuse. Chihiro sharply inhaled. “What is it, Sora?” “That sticky note… I think it’s unrelated to the case.” Chihiro continued to rapid-fire on the keyboard as she scanned the Veritas clubroom for active sessions and devices. Sora took this as a sign to continue. “A frequent customer we have goes by the RABBIT Squad.” Chihiro laughed coldly as she remembered that night when those same RABBITS tried to infiltrate the Halo Festival. “Go on.”
“One of those RABBITS… I think her name is Miyu? She has an issue with being forgotten by everyone. So I think that the rabbit with ‘Remember me’ on it was meant for Sensei to not forget Miyu!” Chihiro paused, then quickly browsed the KSPD’s special operations roster; being trusted as she was, she was able to check this, which quickly made it all snap together like a jigsaw puzzle’s final piece being inserted. “1 4 9 7, January, April, September, July… The birth months of the squad, going by their dossiers. Sensei’s PIN is a constant reminder to himself to not forget Miyu! Impressive work, Sora. Now let me get back to this.” Sora obliged and closed the door behind her, looking at the clock, which read 15:59.
It was two hours after Momoi had left with a chocolate capsule with a toy in it. When Sora asked what the two talked about, Seia stated that it was some tips on how to write a compelling puzzle. After that, Seia had asked for Chise and Aoba to be brought in. Aoba had arrived first, but there was nothing of interest learned from this interview. She did stay a while, though, because, as she put it, “Those officers are really driving me up the wall, saying that my engineering methods are suspect! Don’t they realize how ridiculous they’re being? I make the trains run just fine, yet they think because they have rank they can criticize my methods?”
After a time, Aoba finally left, leaving just Seia and Sora in the store. Due to Sensei’s disappearance, most GSC members who would be in the building were instead either on the ground looking for Sensei or trying in a vain effort to get the bureaucracy to move faster, but the monthly budget reports were an unmovable object and needed to be done before an official investigation could begin. Sora had warned that Chise might take a while to arrive, as she was apparently fascinated by anything and everything, so Seia decided to take the time to analyze the list of students.
Chihiro’s probe revealed that Kotama had been following a schedule that was appropriate for her, her “Audio Receiver #12” indicating that she would have had no window to have brought Sensei anywhere, as well as her needing another lesson in respecting privacy. The next one was Hare, who had shown up as an active, logged-in session since 07:00. Sure enough, Athena-3 was also pinging on the network, meaning that she was also there in the clubroom, leaving just Maki. Sure enough, Maki was unaccounted for. But something about this felt off. She knew her clubmates well, and they wouldn’t be nearly as honest about this. She more thoroughly inspected the sessions, and realized that the MAC addresses for the sessions were all incorrect.
Supposedly, there was a secret with the list. At least, if Momoi was correct about it being important. Seia returned to Sensei’s office and started looking at the list. It took a bit for her to figure out how to find certain phrases and keywords, but when she did, she decided to look for herself, only to find nothing. She then went through to check every student that was on the list, and while a lot of them were familiar names, Mika in particular, there was something about the list that bothered her.
She wasn’t sure what it was she was looking for until she searched up Chihiro’s name and saw three words: “Phrase not found”. When she input Sora’s name and got the same result, it slowly begun to dawn on her what Momoi meant by this list being a clue. The names weren’t the important part, it was instead the names that weren’t on the list. Everyone who’s been on this floor today, and even everyone currently under suspicion, wasn’t on this list. Seia wondered if this had any further meaning, so she decided to look at the weapons log again.
The name that caused Chihiro to lose her composure and have her furiously analyze the Veritas club room was apparently someone named Maki. However, when she looked at the list further, this didn’t make any sense, because Maki had already gotten her gun inspected not even a month before. The second contradiction was that the name of the gun had changed from then and now. A month ago, it was “Auto Lacquer”, but the recent entry referred to it as “Auto-aimer”, which was quite the different shift in tone for a student. That, and Seia never heard of any student who changed the name of her gun.
She had an idea, but wanted to confirm it with Chihiro to be sure. As she was walking to Angel 24, she could feel a palpable shift in the air, as though a kindred spirit was near. “A presence that’s new / A thinking mind understands / A presence that’s old.” Seia smiled. “You must be Chise, then?” The blue-haired oni turned around and nodded slowly, as the two begun to converse in a way that, to Sora, looked like the two staring at one another. For Chise and Seia, however, they were communicating in a way only they could understand.
Chihiro realized before long that she was being thrown off the trail actively- her underclassmen had realized that she was trying to break in, and were naturally trying to stop her. However, she used that to her advantage to try and deduce who wasn’t working to keep her from figuring them out. One of the techniques being used was trying to analyze the data before it could come in and turn it into noise. While that could indicate a firewall, the aggression on this method was clearly Kotama. The other technique seemed to be diverting the traffic to other devices, which didn’t tell her much until she decided to get the info for the devices she was being redirected to. When she saw all manner of unorthodox bots like smart lamps, AC units, watches, and most damning of all, retro game consoles, she got her answer, as Seia opened the door.
Chapter 10: PACHAD
“The paint was a lie / A diversion led to truth / But where is Hare?” Chise was still in Angel 24 after her interview with Seia, which led to the pair agreeing that she could stay to see the conclusion. Chihiro was eerily calm, like how a guillotine’s blade will remain inert until it is given the ability to strike. “Why would Maki and Kotama help her kidnap Sensei? Why would she kidnap Sensei in the first place?” Seia pondered it, but already had an idea. “Maybe this was never a kidnapping, and Sensei had willingly gone with Hare.”
“A stolen item / The most precious of them all / She stole Sensei’s heart!” Chise triumphantly claimed, to which Chihiro, Seia and Sora gave her a look, though she was already looking at the potato chips. “I think she’s right, though.” Seia commented. “Think about it. Why would that energy drink be in the can, unless she was already here before us?” Chihiro continued where she left off. “And that would explain why Momoi was able to get her weapon on the service rack; Sensei wanted to spend time with her as well as inspect her weapon.” She rubbed her fingers on her chin. “But then what about that list?”
Seia had already figured this piece of the puzzle out. “First, nobody who we have interviewed today was on that list. Not even us. Second, the list took a pause some days before this, so Sensei likely had something special planned on this day.” It was now Chihiro’s time to add something. “That’s certainly one explanation. So if the who is Hare, the why is that they were taking the day off…” Recognition flashed on Chihiro’s face as she quickly checked the networking logs from today. Sure enough, Sensei and Hare had worked together to change the student rep at the last minute to be Seia and Chihiro.
“Sensei was too late/ So he made an adventure / He could not clock out.” Chise was now looking at the candies, but the haiku clearly indicated she was paying attention to the discussion. Seia interjected. “That would hold water only if Sensei had burned the midnight oil to where he was now registered as working today.” Sora piped up. “T-that’s right, actually! Sensei had purchased energy drinks late last night!” Chihiro raised her eyebrow at that. “Do you ever go to sleep?” Sora nodded. “My hours are made to be close to the same as Sensei’s, but I’m allowed to leave at 23:00 if he’s still in the office. Yesterday, right as I was about to leave, Sensei came by and purchased his drinks.”
Chihiro sighed at this, earning some respect for the store clerk working such ridiculous hours. “Irregardless of the hours Sensei works, the conclusion is the same. Sensei had brought us both here to try and solve the mystery of his disappearance ‘ere Kivotos caught wind. Which would be in…” Seia and Chihiro looked at the clock in Angel 24, which flatly showed 19:07. “We’ve got just under 5 hours,” Chihiro said, shocked at how quick the time was going by.
“So we know the matter of who and why, but now is the question that matters. Wherever is Sensei and Hare?” Chihiro thought about this. She decided to try pinging any of Hare’s electronics, but they all came back to be in the Veritas club room. Sick of these games, she instead decided to get it from someone who was there, and started to call Maki. The phone rung for a few seconds, before being picked up. “Hey, prez! What’s up?”
“Hare. Where is she?” Chihiro’s voice made it clear that she was not in the mood for this, yet Maki tried a final defense. “Uhh… Right here with us, of course?” The grip Chihiro had on her phone made it clearer than her expression that she was going to have choice words after. Maki seemed to feel the presence coming from Chihiro through the phone. “Okay, okay! Her and Sensei came by some time after you had left for Schale duty and asked us for our help. Obviously we’d help each other out, but when we asked where they were going that would need us to cover for them, they said that they wanted to take some time off the grid.”
Chihiro loosened her death grip on the phone, before responding. “Thank you. We’ll have a talk about this later, but for now, just don’t get into too much trouble, okay?” “Ah, geez. Alright, we’ll be good underclassmen for you, so don’t worry about a thing!” At that, Chihiro hung up the phone and shivered, before relaying what she learned to the pair. “Intriguing. The pair made themselves scarce, which is why they cannot be found. Wherever could they be, though? A location that is off the grid, yet special to the both of them seems like a paradox, no?” Chise spoke up. “Moonlit paradox / The city at night is dark / Hello, starry sky!” Chihiro agreed. “There’s a place I’m pretty sure they’d go to.”
Sora finally spoke up. “Umm… I can’t leave Angel 24 unattended, so good luck out there!” Seia smiled and nodded. “And thank you for aiding us on our investigation. You helped a lot. Here is the amount you are owed.” Sora bowed at this. “T-thank you! But I don’t think I did much…” “You definitely helped us out,” Chihiro objected. “That rabbit note was driving me mad. That, and this was a good meeting spot to come together. We’re off now, though,” Chihiro looked at Seia’s heels. “It’s going to be a bit of a hike, are you sure you’ll be fine with wearing those?” Seia objected to that. “Believe it or not, I am quite agile on my feet. I think you will find that I am not nearly as slow as you would anticipate.” Chihiro shrugged. “Very well, but shouldn’t one of us report to the GSC that we found Sensei?” “I can do that! T-though, they would probably like someone to visit them personally to confirm my story…” Chise then spoke up. “A visit to the GSC sounds fun.”
Chapter 11: Starry Confession
The sky was already dark as the trio split up; Chise to corroborate Sora’s claim, Seia and Chihiro to physically close in on the missing duo. As the pair rode the train to Millennium, Chihiro gave Seia a quick explanation on where exactly this observatory was. “A mountain, huh? And you say that there is a path to help us get up there quicker?” “That’s correct. I wouldn’t be surprised if those two eventually figured out this route there myself, but it should give us more than enough time to reach them.”
Seia still thought about what Momoi had told her. She checked her phone, which read 19:50. Supposedly, the detectives would reach the observatory at the top of the, then have a difficult choice to make. The train dinged as it pulled into the station, and the pair wasted no time on the way to the mountain. It was a mostly silent hike, with Seia occasionally getting the feeling that something in the forest was watching them, before it passed. Going by the intent of the gaze, it seemed to be an animal of some kind.
When they finally reached the observatory, Chihiro paused in front of it while Seia took some time to catch her breath. “Seia, are you alright?” Seia nodded her head. “It has just been quite some time since I have done something so physically taxing,” Seia said between breaths. “And you? Are you holding up well?” Chihiro seemed to take time to answer that. “To be honest, I’m wondering if we should interrupt those two. Don’t get me wrong- they have a lot of explaining to do- but part of me wonders if it can wait.”
Momoi’s voice echoed in Seia’s head: “The hacker, when she realized it was her junior who had gone on a date with Sensei, was really mad! But part of her wanted to let them enjoy their day off, then when they showed up tomorrow, she’d give them the earful they deserved! In response to this…” It felt almost like a play in how perfect the roles were being done. However, even if she knew what the character was supposed to say, that wasn’t going to change her words.
“Well, knowing how this has all gone, they most likely expected us to reach here, at least. Sensei probably decided on us two to discover this because he trusted us to come to a resolution that would satisfy every party. For us, that was to find him. And for them, it was probably to have a mostly peaceful day after being automatically registered for a shift that need not have happened.” Chihiro continued to hesitate, to which Seia continued. “To be honest, I could use a reprieve myself. It has been a very busy day today.” At this, Chihiro finally conceded.
“You’re right. It’s getting late. Before that, though…” Chihiro checked her phone, and sent a message to the new device on the local frequency. I read the message. “You two owe us, big time. And… Treat her well, okay?” I smiled at this. “I knew they could do it. I can only hope they’re not too mad at me.” Hare rubbed her head sheepishly. “So, I have to know… Why me?”