Page 91 of Pandion

No, that’s what we call all of your kind. Do you want one that is specific to you?

But I am all of my kind. Why do I need something specific?

I don’t know. Because you’re special? I’d like to call you something other than just ‘organism’ while I still can. You’re special to me.

Oh, like when you call Mentor ‘Satoru’ and not ‘Harumine’ like the others?

Something like that…There wasn’ttime to explain it any better.Do you want one?

What would be good?As the organism mused on this, Fujitani-sensei turned on the contraption she was using. A sharp pain shot from the back of Kagesawa’s head and through the tendrils. His scalp itched and tingled aggressively. The tendrils activating in this way reminded him of the way they’d supposedly removed and replaced his organism. Soon, he’d be cut off from it. It would still be there though, he’d just no longer have access to it.

How about Satoru2?The organism had some sense of humour left. Kagesawa laughed in spite of the pain.

Let’s make it something unique to you, all right?

Does it have to be unique?It sounded like it didn’t appreciate the treatment it was getting, so there probably wasn’t much time left to debate this.

No, I guess not. Did you have something in mind?The itching and tingling were turning into a sharp burning sensation. The pain was getting worse, but Kagesawa could tell it wasn’t his pain.

Seimei,it requested.

Harumine navigated through the corridors, trying to peer through the little windows on the doors to see if there was anyone in the lecture halls. He could sense Kagesawa nearby, but the nearest hall was empty and quiet.

While double-checking the two adjacent halls, he heard something from the corridor. Returning to see, there was no one around. He’d definitely heard something, though. Curiously enough, one of the doors was open.

Are you here? Please respond to me.He’d tried yelling, but neither it nor pleading seemed to make a difference. Something was terribly wrong. The link had been broadcasting a steady stream of bland for a while now. It was unnatural.

Harumine slipped into the empty lecture hall.

The afternoon light was slowly fading. The view of the city horizon through the glass wall was turning calm blue, making the ambient light seem surreal. Harumine was interrupted from his moment of mounting dread by a splat. He turned to look but could see nothing out of the ordinary.

It had been a splat, though, right? It had sounded decidedly wet. Was there a tap and a basin somewhere at the other end of the room? No? He walked closer, hesitating, not really wanting to find out what had made the sound but unable to let it be. From this distance, he could tell there was something, someone on the floor.

“What in the world…?”

At first glance, the long hair made his heart skip a beat, but once over the initial shock, he could see it was clearly a woman. Her hand was stretched out in front of her, but that was as far as she’d gotten. There was no pulse upon Harumine checking, but she was still warm. She’d been alive only a moment ago.

Cold sweat formed at the back of Harumine’s neck as he checked where she’d come from. There was a door, ajar, no more than three metres from where she lay. Kagesawa was beyond there. Was he all right? What was happening? Had the organism morphed into something? Had he finally lost his mind completely and gone on a rampage?

“Kagesawa?” Harumine entered the conference room. It was dark. “Are you in here?” He was very close by, but triangulating the exact position through the link was impossible under normal circumstances, much less when the other half was not cooperating.

Harumine turned on the light. A few of the light fixtures remained off, dangling down from the ceiling, but there was plenty enough light for Harumine to see the pool of blood he was about to step into. He yelped and took a step back. Some ways to the side, Kagesawa sat slumped at a desk with his hair loose and damp. He looked up, but his eyes were vacant.

“What the hell happened?!” Harumine tried to make his way across without stepping on anything. “Fujitani-sensei…?” She lay there with her neck at a confusing angle. Next to her, a man had been practically sliced open from the middle. He was the source of most of the blood. Another man lay a little to the side, cut in a similar fashion.

“Did you…?” Harumine glanced at Kagesawa, afraid to finish the question. Kagesawa slumped back down until his forehead hit the table and finally replied with a very hoarse “no”.

“What is this shit you’re projecting to me. Stop it!” It felt like Kagesawa should have been having a pleasant cup of tea with a biscuit, reading a book by the fire.

“I can’t.” Even the dry raspiness of his voice sounded painful.

“I can take it.”

“No, I physically can’t.” He tried to straighten himself up.

“What do you mean you can’t?”

“I can’t reach Seimei anymore.”

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