In 2049, Tokyo's suburbs are ruled by an AI autonomous surveillance network—a perfect city where crimes and accidents are 'collected' before they happen. But those who slip through the cracks of this net form an underground organization called Anomaly. They survive by eating money and information through the gaps in surveillance.
Rei Mishiba is an ordinary high school senior. On his way home after failing a job interview, he accidentally witnesses a bloody turf war between semi-gangsters. Their
Synthetic Sound Runway - A Patchwork Voice—A Disjointed Conversation and the Key to the Hidden Space
The air before dawn was cold and damp.
The old Tabata Freight Station. A vast empty lot and rusted tracks, abandoned for years. In the remnants of a siding, a black vintage sedan lay hidden.
Rei woke in the passenger seat.
His neck hurt. His shoulders were stiff. The smell of old leather had seeped into his back.
(...Where is this place)
He looked out the window with a hazy head. Dim light. Before dawn. The sky was beginning to pale. The outline of the abandoned station floated up in the bluish-white light.
"You're awake."
A voice flowed from the radio. The same synthetic voice as always. An eerie, somehow flat resonance, like someone had cut and pasted together other people's voices.
Rei sat up.
"Where the hell is this?"
"Old Tabata Freight Station. We'll hole up here for a while. Few Grid surveillance units. Even the Anomaly bunch can't easily make a move out here."
"Old Tabata..."
Rei stared out the window.
Rusted rails. A crumbling platform. Weeds splitting through the asphalt. In the distance, rows of abandoned train cars.
(So a place like this really existed)
Rei pulled out his smart device. Tapped the screen. Checked for Grid surveillance unit signals.
...Nothing.
More precisely, the signal was "thin." Only in this area was the density of surveillance units extremely low. The mesh of the Canary Grid was coarse only here.
"So it really is a blind spot in the Grid."
"That's what I told you. Analog electrical systems only register as noise to the Grid. This car was never a target for surveillance in the first place."
Rei put his smart device back in his pocket.
His fingertips touched last night's scrapes. The cuts on his palms were starting to scab.
"...I'm hungry."
Rei muttered, as if to himself.
The radio crackled.
"Deal with it. Food procurement comes later. First, we sort out the situation."
"The situation..."
"Your face is on the Anomaly's pursuit list. It's only a matter of time before they sniff out this place. We need to leave within three days."
Within three days.
Rei repeated the words in his head.
(Three days...)
Until yesterday, he went to school, went home, lived without thinking about anything. Now he was being chased by an underground organization, hiding in an abandoned station.
"...Hey, Nokutaan."
Rei looked at the radio panel from the passenger seat.
"What are you, really? Why did you save me? Yesterday you said 'Like I could leave you behind,' but that's not an answer."
The radio went silent.
A few seconds of noise.
"You don't need to know."
A short answer.
Rei bit his lip.
(That again)
It had been like this since last night. This car never gave a straight answer to his questions. Even when it did, it was fragmented synthetic noise that made no sense.
"You don't need to know—that's not good enough."
Rei's voice rose slightly.
"I'm trusting you with my life. And I don't know your identity, your purpose, nothing. You can't just say 'you don't need to know.'"
The radio crackled and hissed.
"Shut up. Don't make noise in the morning. It echoes in my head."
"Your head? You're a car."
Rei couldn't help but retort.
"Shut up. Be quiet. You just sit there and stay silent."
"Sit there and stay silent—am I a dog?"
"A dog would be better behaved."
Rei opened his mouth, then closed it.
(Why is this car so damn annoying)
Rei pounded the dashboard with his fist.
Thunk.
A dull sound echoed through the car.
"Ow..."
Rei pulled his hand back. The dashboard was harder than he expected. His scrapes throbbed.
"Are you an idiot? What are you doing hurting your own hand? Stop it, you're loud. Don't touch things."
The radio's voice shouted, stitching together multiple sounds.
"Don't touch things—you're the loud one!"
"You hit it first. Are you a child? You're in high school, stop taking it out on objects."
"I'm in high school, that's why I want to take it out on objects."
Rei spat the words out.
The radio let out a noise that sounded like a stifled laugh.
"...What."
"Nothing. You talk a lot, huh. Yesterday you barely said anything."
Rei turned his face away.
"...In front of you, I get irritated for some reason, and it just comes out."
"So it's my fault."
"It's your fault."
Rei said that and looked out the window.
The sky was gradually brightening.
(...Weird feeling)
He was being chased, his life was being targeted, and yet talking with this car somehow took his mind off things.
(What the hell is this thing, really)
Rei looked around the interior again.
Old leather seats. A dust-covered dashboard. Nothing in the ashtray. A small keychain swaying from the rearview mirror. A faded keychain shaped like some character.
"Whose keychain is that?"
Rei asked.
The radio paused for a moment.
"...Don't know."
"You don't know? It's been hanging there the whole time."
"I don't know what I don't know. I forgot."
Rei stared at the keychain.
(Forgot, huh)
This car had a past. An accumulation of long time that Rei couldn't understand.
"...Were you human once, or something like that?"
Rei asked hesitantly.
The radio crackled sharply.
"No."
"No?"
"No. I've been this way from the start. I was never human."
The synthetic voice spoke a little faster.
"But the rumors say you were originally some kind of autonomous existence..."
"Rumors are rumors. Are you the type to take gossip at face value? Idiot."
"Don't call me an idiot."
"I call you an idiot because you are one."
Rei went silent.
(This thing really pisses me off)
But that irritation was strangely comfortable.
At home, he always read the room, watched his mother's mood, and couldn't say anything. At school, he had no one he could call a friend, and was always alone.
In front of this car, Rei could shout, retort, show his emotions.
(Why is that)
Rei let out a small breath.
"...I'm hungry."
Rei muttered again.
"I told you to deal with it."
"I am dealing with it. But I'm still hungry."
The radio let out a noise like a sigh.
"...Open the glove box."
"What?"
"Open it. There should be something in there."
Rei opened the glove box in front of the passenger seat.
A small paper bag came out.
"...What's this?"
"Open it."
Rei opened the paper bag.
Inside were three individually wrapped calorie bars and one plastic bottle of mineral water.
"...How long have these been in here?"
"Who knows. Someone must have left them. I don't eat, so I forgot."
"You forgot..."
Rei tore open the calorie bar wrapper.
(Is the expiration date okay?)
He checked the back. The stamped date was until next month. No problem.
Rei bit into the calorie bar.
Chocolate flavor. A little hard. But he was so hungry, anything tasted good.
"...It's good."
Rei said honestly.
"I see. Good for you."
The synthetic voice sounded slightly softer.
Rei drank water and took a breath.
(I'm alive)
Being chased, running, hiding in an abandoned station. And yet, he was alive.
"...Thanks."
Rei said quietly.
"For what."
"The food. And for saving me."
The radio went silent.
A few seconds.
"...Don't thank me. It's creepy."
"Creepy? That's harsh."
"When you're honest, it makes my skin crawl."
"Skin crawl..."
Rei smiled wryly.
(Seriously, what an annoying car)
But it didn't feel bad.
Rei was rummaging through the car.
After Nokutaan told him to move behind the platform of the old Tabata Freight Station, Rei was searching the interior again.
"What are you looking for?"
"Just wondering if there's anything else in this car. Food, money."
"Are you a thief?"
"I'm not a thief. But you look for what you need to survive, right?"
Rei leaned into the back seat.
He looked under the seat. Dust. Hair. A few coins.
"...Gross."
"You're the one who made it gross. You're the one who got in with muddy shoes yesterday."
"I had no choice. I was being chased."
Rei reached out and felt under the back seat.
His fingertips touched something.
"...Hm?"
There was a small bump on the floor under the seat.
Rei probed with his fingers.
(Is this some kind of switch?)
When Rei pressed the bump, there was a small click.
"Whoa!"
The floor panel under the back seat suddenly popped up.
A false bottom.
A hidden space.
Rei's eyes went wide.
"W-what the hell is this..."
The radio crackled.
"Hey, what did you touch?"
"I didn't—it just opened on its own!"
"It can't open on its own. You must have pressed something."
"I pressed it, but it opened on its own!"
Rei peered into the hidden space.
Dark. Narrow. Something was inside.
Rei reached in.
"Hey, don't touch it."
The radio's voice sounded slightly panicked.
But Rei's hand was already inside.
His fingertips touched something cold.
Small. Hard. Rectangular.
Rei grabbed it.
"...A USB key?"
Rei pulled it out.
An old-model USB key. Covered in dust. No logo on the casing. Just a black stick.
"Hey, put that back."
The radio's voice had clearly changed.
"What?"
"Put it back. Right now, put it back where it was."
The synthetic voice commanded, unnaturally stitching together multiple voices.
Rei gripped the USB key.
"...What is this?"
"Just put it back. Don't hold it. It's dangerous."
"Dangerous? What's dangerous about it?"
Rei glared at the radio panel, still holding the key.
At that moment.
Click.
The radio's sound cut out completely.
Silence.
An eerie stillness fell inside the car.
"...Nokutaan?"
Rei called out.
No response.
The radio panel blinked with blue light. But no sound came out.
"Hey, Nokutaan!"
Rei raised his voice.
Silence.
Rei looked at the USB key in his hand.
(Why did the voice cut out the moment I held this?)
Rei's heart slowly began to race.
(This isn't just a USB key)
Rei was certain.
It wasn't just something left behind. This car had deliberately hidden it in the false bottom under the back seat.
"...Hey, Nokutaan."
Rei spoke quietly, still gripping the key.
"What is this? Tell me."
The radio remained silent.
Rei stared at his hand holding the key.
(What have I grabbed hold of)
Fear and curiosity rose at the same time.
Was this car protecting him, or using him? Was it a good guy, or a criminal?
He didn't know.
But the moment he held this key, something felt different.
(I'm not just a victim who got picked up anymore)
Rei's body was telling him so.
The silence continued.
One minute. Two minutes. Three minutes.
Rei couldn't move, still gripping the key.
(What should I do)
He was told to put it back. But he was afraid to. If he put it back, it felt like this silence would last forever.
"...Nokutaan."
Rei called out again.
Then.
Crackle.
The radio suddenly spat out sound.
"—Don't hand it over."
Synthetic voice. A sound unnaturally stitching together multiple voices.
"Don't let it go."
Another voice. A woman's voice. A child's voice. An old man's voice. A news anchor's voice. All mixed together in a jumble.
"Don't hand that over."
The radio rebooted.
"...Nokutaan?"
"Don't hand it over. Don't let it go. Don't give it to anyone. That will protect your life."
The synthetic voice repeated fragmented warnings.
"Don't give it to who?"
Rei pressed closer.
"Tell me. Who's chasing me? The Anomaly? The Grid? Or something else?"
The radio scattered noise.
"—A baby's cry—Today's exchange rates—Traffic accident in central Tokyo—"
Irrelevant audio fragments. A baby's cry. News audio. Weather forecast.
"Don't screw with me!"
Rei shouted.
"Answer my question! Why did you save me! Why are you protecting me! Why are you telling me not to hand over this key!"
The radio went silent.
A few seconds.
"...It's none of your concern."
"It is my concern! I'm trusting you with my life!"
Rei's voice trembled.
"Why did you save me? I'm just some high schooler you never met. And yet, why did you let me in that alley? Why did you help me escape from the pursuers? Why did you bring me this far?"
Rei said, out of breath.
The radio crackled softly.
"...Because I took responsibility for you."
"Huh?"
"Because I took responsibility. Once I save someone, I see it th
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