The warehouse was deathly silent. Only the faint breathing of his classmates, huddled against the walls, could be heard. No one spoke. How many hours had they been like this now? Shinjou Kamiki sat on the floor, hugging his knees. Beside him was Kaga Hiroto. Kaga had removed his black-rimmed glasses and was wiping the lenses with his fingertips. Those fingers were trembling, ever so slightly. *(Tomorrow morning, the factory director's ruling...)* Kamiki bit his lip. He tasted blood. When he clenched his fist, the scraped skin on his fingers throbbed with pain. Ever since they'd been moved to the supply warehouse in the evening, Ms. Kaneda had been desperately trying to soothe the other students. But even her voice was growing hoarse now. Her ponytail was disheveled, and exhaustion was etched clearly into her usually gentle face. " [whispers] Everyone... it's going to be okay..." At those words—she'd lost count of how many times she'd said them—one of the girls let out a small sob. Kaga put his glasses back on and looked over at him. " [serious] Souta." " ...What." " [serious] I've been thinking about it this whole time." Kaga continued in his usual calm voice. " [serious] What if the Colonel hasn't given up on us yet?" " [sarcastic] No way in hell. They confiscated all the blueprints and smartphones. That Colonel has completely—" *Clank.* The sound of a key turning. Everyone in the warehouse held their breath. Ms. Kaneda's head snapped up as if she'd been jolted. The heavy iron door slowly swung open. Silhouetted against the lamplight, the man stood there. He'd brought only a single guard. Close-cropped black hair. Eyes as sharp as a hawk's. Deep furrows between his brows. Colonel Arisaka Nariakira. The Colonel didn't even glance around the warehouse. His gaze was fixed directly, solely, on Kamiki. Kamiki stood up. He fought desperately to keep his knees from buckling. " [cold] Shinjou." The Colonel's voice was cold as ice. " [cold] The matter of the man called Bandou—I have dealt with it as the rampage of a mentally deranged individual." The air in the warehouse shifted slightly. *(Dealt with...?)* " [cold] However, my word alone will not move the higher-ups. That man and all of you belong to the same group, after all." Kamiki swallowed hard. " [cold] Therefore—tonight, here and now, you will show me this so-called future technology." The Colonel's words echoed to every corner of the warehouse. " [cold] If there are no results, at tomorrow morning's report to the factory director, I will have all of you sent to the cells." Someone let out a small cry of terror. For an instant, Kamiki's mind went completely blank. No blueprints. No smartphones. Nothing— " [serious] Colonel." A quiet voice came from behind him. Kaga was looking straight at the Colonel, his eyes steady behind his glasses. " [serious] The compounding ratios for the gunpowder—I have all of them in my head." Kamiki couldn't help but turn around at those words. Kaga continued in the same calm tone he always used. " [serious] Logically speaking, the blueprints we had contained data on future smokeless powder. If you adjust the amount of diphenylamine additive and optimize the particle size, it burns three times faster than the black powder of this era." The Colonel's eyebrow twitched. " [serious] If we have the materials, we can make it right now." The Colonel stared hard at Kaga. Then he gave a small nod. " [cold] Name what you need." Without hesitation, Kaga listed off the substances. Potassium nitrate. Sulfur. Charcoal. And, as a trace stabilizer, a chemical compound still rare in this era. The Colonel ordered the guard to procure them from the factory warehouse. The soldier hurried off. During that time, silence fell over the warehouse once more. One of their classmates muttered quietly to the person next to him. " [whispers] Was Kaga always like that...?" " [whispers] That guy... might seriously not be human." Kamiki felt the corner of his mouth relax, just a little. " [sarcastic] Well, he's saving our asses right now." But his face still couldn't quite manage a smile. Kaga's was the same. Ten minutes later, the soldier returned. The bag contained the necessary powders. They placed an empty can in the center of the warehouse. Following Kaga's instructions, Kamiki carefully began the compounding. He held his breath, willing his hands not to shake. " [serious] Six parts saltpeter. One and a half parts sulfur, two and a half parts charcoal. Then the stabilizer—just one part per hundred of the total weight." No scale. Everything depended on the feel of his hands alone. Kamiki mixed the powders and spread a thin layer across the bottom of the can. The soldier lit the tip of a long stick and held it out. Kamiki stepped back and held his breath. The flame drew closer. *Fssshh*—a small sound. Smoke rose. But it was just a yellow flame. Nothing more than ordinary gunpowder, crackling and burning. The Colonel's eyes narrowed coldly. " [cold] ...This is your future technology?" His voice was tinged with unmistakable disappointment. Alarms blared inside Kamiki's head. *(Shit, shit, shit.)* Sweat beaded on his palms. His heartbeat quickened. It wasn't working. Everyone was going to be thrown in the cells— " [serious] Souta." Kaga's voice was calm. " [serious] It's not the ratio. It's a particle fineness problem. That saltpeter earlier—you didn't grind it down enough." Kaga took out a finer powder from another bag. " [serious] Use this and try again. This time, sift it and collect only the finest particles." Kamiki looked at Kaga's face. The eyes behind the glasses were looking straight back at him. He felt an inexplicable strength flow into him from that gaze. The second compounding attempt. This time, he checked the fineness of the powder with his fingertips, mixing carefully. Time seemed to crawl by agonizingly slowly. Done. Kamiki placed the can on the floor and took the stick from the soldier. His hands were shaking. He brought the tip close to the powder. Contact. *—KABOOM!!* A sharp, explosive roar shook the entire warehouse. A white flash tore through the darkness. A blinding brightness impossible for ordinary black powder. And an acrid, pungent odor that stung the nose. The guard soldier raised his rifle with a clatter. The Colonel stepped back. The hard sound of his military boots echoed unnaturally loud. The smoke from the explosion rose slowly toward the ceiling. Silence. No one could move. The Colonel stared at the smoke, his eyes wide. The cold expression from moments before had vanished from his face. " [serious] ...A prototype of smokeless powder." Kamiki spoke with a trembling voice. " [serious] If you use this in a rifle, it'll have one and a half times the range of the current Type 30. It also reduces barrel fouling, so you won't get jams even with rapid fire." The Colonel slowly returned his gaze to Kamiki. " [cold] ...This is..." His voice was low and trembling. " [cold] ...Magnificent." Having said just that, the Colonel stood in silence for a while. Eventually, he straightened his back and adjusted the collar of his uniform. " [cold] Tomorrow morning, I will speak to the factory director personally." Something burst deep inside Kamiki's chest. " [cold] However—there is a condition." The Colonel's eyes pierced through Kamiki once more. " [cold] Regarding the man called Bandou—he will be dealt with as a madman, completely unrelated to all of you. You have no objections to this." *You have no objections*—it wasn't a confirmation. It was an order. The image of Mr. Bandou's bloodshot eyes surfaced in Kamiki's mind. That madness on the main street, screaming about assassinating the Emperor. The only adult who had come from the same era—and he was telling them to abandon him. He clenched his fist tight. The smell of the powder, scorched by the earlier explosion, still lingered in his nose. " [serious] ...Understood." Kamiki forced the words out. The Colonel gave a single, small nod. Then he turned his back and vanished beyond the heavy iron door. The soldier's footsteps faded into the distance. Silence enveloped the warehouse. " [crying] ...*hic*..." Ms. Kaneda began to cry, stifling her sobs. She covered her face with both hands, her shoulders shaking. Triggered by that sound, quiet weeping rose from all around. Kamiki's strength drained away, and he slumped to the floor. *Thump.* Kaga sat down beside him. " [gentle] Honestly, when the first attempt failed, I thought it was over." " [laughing] ...Yeah, me too." Kamiki laughed out loud. It was an exhausted, pathetic laugh. Kaga laughed too, running a hand through his messy brown hair. His glasses were askew, and sweat glistened on the tip of his nose. " [gentle] Shinjou-kun." Suddenly, Ms. Kaneda was right beside him. Her eyes, red from crying, were fixed on Kamiki's hands. They were covered in scrapes, blood seeping from his fingertips. " [whispers] Your hands again... you've pushed yourself so hard." " [gentle] It's fine this time. It's nothing serious." When Kamiki said that, Ms. Kaneda shook her head and gently wrapped his hand in both of hers. They were warm. " [gentle] ...Thank goodness." The teacher's small voice melted into the silence of the warehouse. Unable to say anything, Kamiki averted his gaze. The tips of his ears burned hot. He saw Kaga quietly look away toward the corner of the room. Even so, Kamiki thought to himself, even as he laughed. *(Tomorrow morning. Will the factory director listen to the Colonel? Or will the military higher-ups make an even harsher judgment?)* It wasn't over yet. Not everything. But at the very least—tonight, the thin thread connecting the fates of fifty-two people had not yet snapped.