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 - The Net of Silence—The Night the Black Partner Dies, the Boy Grips the Key
Under the overpass. A scrap yard.
The smell of iron stings the nose. Damp earth. Rusted metal. Mold.
Rei woke in the passenger seat.
His neck hurts. His back hurts. The leather seat sticks to his skin with sweat.
(Where...)
He remembers. Last night, Nokutaan chose this place. A blind spot in the Grid's surveillance units. Analog electrical noise disrupts the surveillance net around here.
Rei pulled out his smart device.
The time was 4:52 AM.
The screen lit up.
—A notification.
Rei's finger stopped.
White text floated in the center of the screen.
'Retrieval Notice (Confirmed)'
'Premonition Probability: 94.2%'
'Target Classification: Premonition Exception'
'Transition to Retrieval Target Tier has been confirmed'
Rei stared at the screen.
94.2.
Just one number.
That number would end his life.
(Why)
(Why me)
His fingertips tremble. A thin whistle rises in his throat.
"...Nokutaan."
His voice cracked.
The radio crackled.
"You saw it."
A synthetic voice. A voice cut and pasted from the city's noise. Curt and short, as always.
"This is confirmed?"
"It's a retrieval notice. Within seventy-two hours, the Harvest will come. No—they might already be here."
Rei gripped the device.
"What the hell is a 94.2% premonition probability? What did I do?"
His voice shakes.
"It's a number. Your behavioral patterns, biometric responses, payment history, SNS emotional analysis. All of it crunched together. A number they spat out. It means nothing."
"If it means nothing, then why am I being retrieved?"
"Because that's how it is. So we run."
Rei bit his lip.
He tasted iron.
"Calm down."
Noise spilled from the radio.
Zzzzt. Zzzzzzt.
"Preparing to launch. You buckle your seatbelt. And kill that device now. They might have your position from GPS."
Rei powered off the device.
His fingertips were still trembling.
"...Nokutaan."
"What."
"What happens to me now?"
"How should I know. But as long as I'm here, I won't let them retrieve you. That's all."
Rei fastened his seatbelt.
A click.
The engine turned over. Low. Irregular.
The black sedan began to move.
Through the underpass.
Still dark.
City lights blur in the distance.
—Then.
A sound from above.
Propellers.
Rei looked up through the windshield.
White and gray bodies.
A canary logo.
"The Harvest."
Rei's breath stopped.
"Three coming. Two in the air, one from the ground. We're surrounded."
"W-what do we do?"
"It's decided. We break through."
Nokutaan's engine note changed.
A low growl.
Analog electrical noise released at maximum output.
A grating zzzzzzzzt filled the cabin.
Noise to disrupt the Grid's surveillance net.
"Hold on."
Rei braced his hand on the dashboard.
The black sedan accelerated.
Bursting out of the scrap yard under the overpass.
Ahead—a white body.
Harvest.
An unmanned retrieval vehicle.
A Grid enforcement unit equipped with anesthetic gas and restraint arms.
"Going head-on!"
Rei's eyes went wide.
"W-wait, head-on—"
Impact.
—GAGYAAAAAN!!
The sound of metal crumpling.
Rei's body slammed into the seatbelt.
The white body flew sideways.
"Not yet! Second one incoming!"
Nokutaan slid onto the closed section of the old expressway.
Rusted guardrails. Cracked pavement.
Behind them, the Harvest gave chase.
Two units.
The unmanned vehicles moved precisely to block Nokutaan's path.
"Damn, persistent."
Noise from the city spilled from the radio.
Sirens. Screams. TV audio.
When emotions ran high, the words broke apart.
"Nokutaan, left!"
Rei shouted.
From the left, a Harvest closed in.
Nokutaan yanked the wheel.
Tires screamed.
Gggggg.
"Damn, surrounded."
Then.
—Pssh.
Something cut the air.
Anesthetic darts.
Rei flinched.
The darts pierced the body.
Thk.
Two of them.
"Nokutaan!"
The radio screamed.
Zzzzzzzzzzt.
Violent noise.
"...Control unit... darts..."
The synthetic voice fragmented like static.
"Hey, Nokutaan! Stay with me!"
"...Right rear wheel... drivetrain... hit... running on one lung..."
The body tilted.
The right rear wheel wouldn't move.
Still, Nokutaan ran.
On the left drive alone, racing down the old expressway on one lung.
"Still... moving... I won't... let them have you..."
Rei gritted his teeth.
(Nokutaan's falling apart)
(Because of me)
(All because I took that key)
"...I'm sorry."
Rei's voice was small. Shaking.
"Don't apologize. ...It's not over yet."
The noise grew worse.
Through the closed section of the old expressway, the black sedan raced on one lung.
Behind—two Harvests.
Ahead—a wall.
Dead end.
"Nokutaan, front!"
"I see it."
Nokutaan didn't slow down.
"Wait, at this rate—"
"Shut up."
—Then.
From the north, a figure burst out.
Blond hair.
Pinning down his bouncing hair with one hand.
Kai Solvent.
"Found you, Sanshiba Reiiii!"
In Kai's right hand, an iron pipe.
In his left, a radio.
"Eve-san, I found him! Old expressway ruins, north side! I'll secure him!"
A voice answered from the radio.
'—Failure is not permitted, Kai. You understand?'
Kai's face stiffened.
"...I understand."
His voice trembled.
Rei looked at Kai.
(This guy's scared)
Kai's hand was shaking.
The hand holding the iron pipe quivered.
His breathing was rough.
(He's cornered too)
(Same as me)
Something cold spread through Rei's chest.
"Nokutaan, that guy—"
"I know. But we don't have the luxury."
Nokutaan's body tilted further.
The right rear wheel died completely.
"Damn... this is the limit..."
The radio's voice broke apart.
"Nokutaan, stay with me! You're not gonna end here!"
"...Shut up. Hold on and be quiet."
Rei clung to the dashboard.
Two Harvests closed in from left and right.
Kai ran at them from the front.
Pincer attack.
No escape.
"Nokutaan!"
"...Rei."
A voice came from the radio.
A quiet voice.
The noise vanished for an instant.
"W-what?"
"I'm dropping you here. I'll buy time. You run to the culvert. The old Shibuya River culvert. Surveillance is thin there."
"Huh? What are you—"
"Listen. This is an order. You take that key and survive. Got it."
"No."
Rei shouted.
"No, Nokutaan! I won't leave you behind!"
"Like I could leave you behind."
The synthetic voice laughed.
"Like I could ever leave you behind. Idiot."
—In that instant.
Nokutaan's engine reversed thrust.
GYAAAAAA!!
An earsplitting roar.
The body launched backward.
"Nokutaan!?"
The black sedan threw itself at the two Harvests.
Into the side wall.
Impact.
—GOOOOOON!!
A bloom of fire.
The body crumpled.
Glass shattered into dust.
Rei's body was thrown from the passenger seat.
Rolling across the ground.
Stone and gravel tore his skin.
"Gh, ah..."
Rei lay face down.
He couldn't breathe.
Everything hurt.
He raised his head.
There it was. Nokutaan.
The wrecked black sedan.
Flames rising from the hood.
A voice came from the radio.
Fragmented. Synthetic.
"...Couldn't... leave you... behind..."
Zzzzt.
Zzzzzzzzt.
—Silence.
The radio went completely quiet.
"Nokutaan...?"
Rei crawled toward the body.
The flames were hot.
"Nokutaan! Answer me! Nokutaan!"
He screamed.
The radio stayed silent.
"Nokutaan! Nokutaan! NOKUTAAN!!"
Rei beat the blazing hood with his bare hands.
Hot.
His palms burned.
"No... no... Nokutaan..."
Tears spilled over.
Couldn't stop.
"Don't leave me... You picked me up... You said you'd protect me..."
Rei clung to the body.
Hot. Painful.
Still, he couldn't let go.
"Nokutaan... Nokutaan..."
Tears fell into the flames and evaporated.
—Then.
A presence behind him.
"...This isn't the time to cry."
Rei turned around.
Kai stood there.
Iron pipe over his shoulder.
"Hand over the key. Do it now, and you walk away without getting hurt."
Rei stood up.
His legs shook.
"...No."
"Hah?"
"No. This is what Nokutaan entrusted to me. I won't hand it over."
Kai's face twisted.
"Don't get cocky, you brat!"
The iron pipe swung down.
Rei couldn't dodge.
—Thk.
A sharp pain in his left shoulder.
Rei fell to the ground.
Muddy water filled his mouth.
"Give it. Give me the key. Someone like you shouldn't have it."
Kai stepped on Rei's arm.
"Gh, aah..."
"I can't fail. Eve-san will erase me. Because of you, I—"
Kai's voice trembled.
(This guy's about to cry)
(He's scared)
(Same as me)
Rei clutched the key in the mud.
A hard shape in his pocket.
(Nokutaan)
(What do I do)
(You told me to survive)
(But without you, how)
Kai grabbed Rei's hair.
"Are you listening! Give me the key!"
Rei looked into Kai's eyes.
Green eyes.
Frightened eyes.
(He's cornered too)
(But even so)
(I won't lose)
Rei grabbed Kai's leg with both hands.
"—Whoa!"
He pulled with everything.
Kai lost his balance.
Rei shoved Kai's body away.
"Damn you!"
Kai landed on his rear.
Rei thrust his hand under the collapsing body.
Hot.
His fingertips burned.
Still, he searched.
—There.
The Primordial Key.
It had fallen from Nokutaan's hidden compartment.
Rei gripped the key.
"...Sorry, Nokutaan. I'm going."
Rei ran.
To the culvert.
To the old Shibuya River culvert.
"Wait! Don't run!"
Kai gave chase.
But then.
—GOOOON!!
A secondary collapse from the explosion.
Concrete from the overpass crumbled down.
A wall formed in front of Kai.
"Damn! Get out of my way!"
Kai's shout echoed behind him.
Rei didn't look back.
Running.
His face was a mess of tears and mud.
He couldn't breathe.
His heart was about to burst.
Still, he ran.
The culvert entrance came into view.
Rei dove into the darkness.
Cold air.
The smell of mold.
The sound of water.
Rei stopped at the midpoint of the culvert.
He leaned his back against the wall.
Slid down.
Caught his breath.
Breathing in heaves.
"Hah... hah... hah..."
Rei pulled out his smart device.
Turned it on.
Notifications lined the screen.
'Retrieval Notice (Confirmed)'
'Premonition Probability: 94.2%'
And his own face, published by the Anomaly.
'Primordial Key Holder. Capture Bounty: 30,000,000 Grid Yen. Dead or Alive'
Rei stared at the screen.
(Above and below, they're all after me)
(Nokutaan is gone)
(I'm alone)
Rei slammed the device against the wall.
—Thk.
The screen cracked.
Again.
—Thk.
The device broke.
"...That cuts the tracking."
Rei dropped the broken device into the culvert water.
The splash echoed in the darkness.
Rei gripped the Primordial Key again.
(Nokutaan's core)
(The memory center)
(It has to be somewhere in the body)
Rei tried to remember.
Nokutaan's body.
Where is the core?
He didn't know.
(I don't know)
(But I won't give up)
Rei stood.
His legs shook.
His left shoulder throbbed.
His palms were burned.
Still, he stood.
"...Nokutaan. I will get you back. No matter what."
Rei walked deeper into the culvert.
Into the darkness.
Alone.
—Behind him, Kai stood at the culvert entrance, dragging his leg.
"...Like I'd let you escape."
Kai's green eyes glinted in the darkness.
"I will catch you. Because I don't want Eve-san to erase me."
Kai stepped into the culvert.
His footsteps were swallowed by the dark.
Rei's footsteps. Kai's footsteps.
Two sets of footsteps vanished into the culvert.
—Nokutaan was still burning.
Under the overpass.
Alone.
In silence.
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