Tatsuya and Miyuki shared the bathroom and went straight to bed without having breakfast.

  Then, in mid-afternoon. They were enjoying a late lunch at the hotel restaurant when JJ

  showed up a little earlier than scheduled.

  "I'm sorry, am I interrupting your meal?"

  JJ bowed in an apologetic manner.

  "If you would like, you can join us."

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  Rather than being concerned about JJ, Tatsuya invited him to join both he and Miyuki at the table because of the way his companions were looking at him.

  "Mister, may I?"

  Sure enough, it was she who responded to Tatsuya.

  "Yes, Doctor. Be my guest."

  "JJ. Since mister has said so, why don't we take him up on his offer?"

  Abigail Stuart, the USNA's renowned specialist in magical engineering, beckoned to JJ

  with a gleam in her eyes.

  JJ gave her a sullen look, but accepted Tatsuya's invitation, saying, "Well, since we're here, why not."

  JJ pulled out his own chair and Stuart joined him at the table, sitting in a chair that a waiter pulled out for her.

  "Please feel free to sit down as well, Miss Shaula."

  And then, Tatsuya urged for the young woman, who had been hesitating until the end, to have a seat.

  "Mr. Shiba, do you remember me!?"

  The woman turned to Tatsuya, her face full of astonishment.

  "Yes. We haven't met since Midway, Miss Shaula. Excuse me, but what is your rank now?"

  "I was promoted to First Lieutenant, mister."

  First Lieutenant Ariana Lee Shaula. Second-Magnitude Star-Class member of Stars.

  It was three years ago, during the Parasite Insurrection, that Tatsuya broke her out along with Canopus from Midway Prison. She was a Second Lieutenant at the time.

  Although they met only once, with Tatsuya's flawless memory, he could remember her face, name, and even the idiosyncrasies of her Psions.

  "First Lieutenant Shaula. This is my fiancée, Miyuki Shiba."

  Needless to say, as it is customary to do so in the west, Tatsuya introduced her as

  "Miyuki Shiba."

  Shortly after that, Miyuki introduced herself, giving her name as well, and said, "Nice to meet you.

  150

  Upon hearing this, Shaula noted that she and Miyuki are the only two in the group who had not yet met each other before.

  She rushed to stand up from the chair she had just sat down in.

  "Nice to meet you Miss Shiba. I am First Lieutenant Ariana Lee Shaula. It is an honor to make your acquaintance."

  "Thank you for your kind greeting. Please, have a seat."

  Shaula sat down once again at Miyuki's urging.

  No one felt reproachful about the fact that Miyuki remained seated. Originally, Miyuki was having a meal with Tatsuya. If anyone, JJ's group knew they were the ones at fault.

  After that, it was Stuart who showed the most voracious appetite. According to her, she was pulled away from her work in Oakland before she even had a chance to eat breakfast first. Stuart, who in the end had eaten just as much food as Tatsuya, finished eating at about the same time as Tatsuya and Miyuki who were already halfway through their meals when everyone first arrived.

  "—So, you're also participating in the investigation of this case, doctor?"

  Tatsuya asked this as he sipped his after-meal coffee.

  "Yes. The doctor will be leading the investigation team."

  JJ was the one to answer.

  "You brought in the Doctor, who specializes in magical engineering, instead of a physician? Well, does this mean that you don't believe it to be a medical illness?"

  "I came to that conclusion soon after my conversation with you the other day, mister."

  JJ confirmed Tatsuya's question.

  "I've told them repeatedly that it's outside of my area of expertise, nonetheless, they forced me to be in charge since Stars is involved in the investigation."

  "You are the chief scientist at Stars, after all, Doctor."

  JJ said it in a more matter-of-factly way, than in a heartless way, as if to cut off Stuart's complaints. This exchange suggests that this conversation has been repeated countless times.

  "Then, are you participating as well, First Lieutenant Shaula?"

  151

  Hearing that Stars is in charge of the investigation, Tatsuya turned to Shaula.

  "I have been ordered to be your escort, mister."

  "First Lieutenant Shaula specializes in Counter Magic to defend against Mental-Interference Type Magic and has a high resistance to that type of magic. I think she could be of some help to you, mister."

  Stuart followed up, adding to Shaula's answer.

  Tatsuya was grateful for this offer.

  "I see, in that case. First Lieutenant Shaula, I'd like for you to be Miyuki's escort."

  Miyuki's safety has always been Tatsuya's primary concern.

  "Understood. Please leave it to me."

  Though seemingly confused for a moment, Shaula promptly agreed.

  She had not forgotten Tatsuya's overwhelming combat power she had witnessed on Midway Island.

  Shaula didn't originally see the point in this mission. She thought that if she were to escort Miyuki, Tatsuya's fiancée, instead, then she could then be of some use — so she thought.

  Tatsuya truly has no need for a bodyguard.

  Shaula had come to realize this three years ago.

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  Chapter 8

  [The Divine Punishment Magic]

  JJ parted with them at the hotel in Berkeley and left by himself. With his boss's upcoming presidential election in the fall, he doesn't have the time to be directly involved in matters such as this.

  After an after-meal teatime, the four of them, Tatsuya, Miyuki, Stuart, and Shaula, split into two cars and headed for the response center established in an area adjacent to Oakland City.

  Tatsuya drove his Air Car behind Shaula's car. As they drove through the city, he couldn't find anything particularly unusual. Could it be that the abnormal phenomenon is limited to within the city of Oakland?

  "…Everything looks peaceful. It doesn't look like there is any sort of plot going on…?"

  Miyuki, in the passenger's seat, seemed to have the same impression.

  "I'm getting the same feeling."

  Tatsuya replied in agreement.

  Before the conversation could go any further, Shaula's car pulled up in front of a house.

  It was neither Shaula's nor Stuart's house. It was just a vacant house the military had bought with its own budget for this investigation. The fact they "bought" the house instead of "renting" may be indicative of their national character.

  The exterior of the house was that of an ordinary wood-frame house, but the interior was filled with data processing equipment. Exposed cables snaked through the floor everywhere around, the preference likely being to prevent information leakage through wireless intercepts. There might also be the point of deliberately not setting up an OA floor22 for ease of replacing the equipment.

  22 OA Floor : Office Automation Floor; it is where the floor of an office is raised in order to create space for cables etc. to pass underneath so as to avoid clutter and loose cables.

  153

  'I'm going to have you look at the data we've gathered so far today, and I'm going to have you accompany me to where the patients are being looked after tomorrow, what do you think?"

  Stuart suggested this to Tatsuya as she stood across a table with a touch display on its surface — an operations console.

  "That's fine with me. Could you show me the data, then?"

  "Okay. Let's start with the area where the outbreak occurred…"

  As soon as Stuart began, the surface of the desk displayed a map centered on the city of Oakland.

  ◇ ◇ ◇

  When Tatsuya and Miyuki returned to their hotel in Berkeley, it was after 8:00 P.M. Since it was late in the afternoon, they partook in a modest dinner brought in by room service, and now they were both seated side by side on a sofa.

  "What do you think of the data we saw earlier, Tatsuya-sama?"

  Miyuki asked Tatsuya as they snacked on clubhouse sandwiches beside each other. With the growing trend toward health-consciousness in the country these days, even Miyuki was able to comfortably enjoy these sandwiches.

  "I'm a layman when it comes to medical science, but based on what the specialists had to say, I don't think it's resulted from something like a lesion in the cerebrum or infection by a virus."

  "Well, is it as you thought, was it all done by acts of magical terrorism…?"

  "Terrorism."

  There was a short pause before Tatsuya continued speaking. He, too, seemed still unsure of the answer.

  "It may be terrorism in the sense of being indiscriminate, but its purpose is unclear."

  "What do you mean by 'purpose'?"

  "If their purpose is to make a political statement, then they should have claimed responsibility by now. The same would apply if it were a false flag crime where a Magist has been set-up to be the criminal responsible for all this in order to incite anti-magicism."

  "Couldn't they be field testing the effects it has right now?"

  154

  As she said this, Miyuki noticed that Tatsuya had stopped eating and brought a clubhouse sandwich to his mouth.

  Tatsuya took a bite of the sandwich and ate it without a moment's hesitation. He then concurred with Miyuki's theory, saying, "That could be it."

  Tatsuya returned the favor by picking up another sandwich from his plate and holding it up to Miyuki's mouth.

  Miyuki shyly took a bite from it.

  "In that case, I'm thinking it could be more about confirming the effects themselves, rather than about a preparation for a terrorist attack."

  Tatsuya added, still holding the sandwich up to Miyuki.

  Miyuki's lips touched Tatsuya's fingers.

  He didn't mind, and let Miyuki finish the sandwich.

  ◇ ◇ ◇

  The next morning, Tatsuya and company drove to the hospital specified in an email sent by Stuart. Shaula offered to pick them up, but Tatsuya suggested instead that they meet up at the hospital.

  After meeting Stuart and Shaula in the lobby, they all made their way to a patient's room.

  The patient's are kept in regular private rooms. Since there is no evidence of any other anomalies than the inability to communicate, it was decided that full nursing care was not necessary. The patient's can't speak, write, or even read choices that are displayed on a panel, but they could still make choices by looking at pictures and photos. They are in a state of barely being able to communicate their needs.

  Tatsuya, wearing a white coat provided by the hospital to reassure the patient's, gave a careful "look" at the patient in this room.

  The patient, a woman, looked back at Tatsuya with an expression denoting visible anguish. This expression clearly suggests that she still retains normal cognitive faculties, but it's precisely because of this that she is in such a state of great anxiety. The fact that she hasn't fallen apart is probably due to the encouragement of the hospital staff, on top of her own mental fortitude.

  "…Unfortunately, it's an effect of magic."

  155

  Despite the "unfortunately," Tatsuya didn't seem notably discouraged.

  He pointed to an image of the patient's brain scan that was beside where he was standing. The image is of an area in the posterior part of the upper temporal region of the left hemisphere, the area where the language center is considered to be located.

  "There is a Psion Information Body, which appears to consist of a Magic Sequence, embedded in this area. It is embedded in the patient's own psionic body in such a way that they have become entangled, making it difficult to differentiate between them."

  Shaula's mouth tightened in frustration at Tatsuya's words. She and many other magicians had done all sorts of magical examinations on the patient's, but they had never discovered the Magic Sequence that Tatsuya had just pointed out.

  "This is the first time I have seen this magic. It's exceedingly complex, so I don't fully understand it, but I'm sure it's a Mental-Interference Type Magic."

  "Not even you can understand it, mister!?"

  Stuart exclaimed in surprise. She has not yet been informed about Tatsuya's [Elemental Sight], but she has surmised that he possesses extremely advanced magical analytical skills. She has drawn close enough to the truth of the matter that [Material Burst] is the result of his analytical skills.

  "I understand the structure of the Psion Information Body, however, the question is how does the structure operate and cause aphasia? That, I still don't understand."

  "…Would it be possible to transcribe the structure? I would very much like to study it."

  "It is possible, but let's hold off until we settle this particular case. That aside, is it okay to use magic in this hospital room?"

  "Oh, yes. It's fine, but…"

  Upon receiving Stuart's acknowledgement, Tatsuya instructed Miyuki to cover the hospital room with a Selective Zone Interference.

  Zone Interference is a technique that fills a specific space with an Event Interference Force where no phenomena can be interfered with. In other words, it is a technique whereby an area is created in which no one but the caster who created it is able to use magic.

  A Selective Zone Interference is an extension of this technique, which creates a field where only the caster and the magician they designate are able to use magic.

  However, as convenient as it is, it's not a technique easily usable by everyone. It is necessary not only to be well accustomed to one's own consciousness but also to the 156

  other's consciousness, to the extent where the user can recognize the Event Interference Force of the other person as if it were his or her own. It's only possible to share a Zone Interference with someone you are intimately close to. It is a magical skill that is limited to being used with one's partner, such as a lover or a spouse, for that matter.

  Tatsuya filled all these criteria with Miyuki. Therefore, she met his request without any difficulty.

  The hospital room was barred from any magical interference from third-parties. It has become impossible to exert magic from the outside, nor is it possible to observe magic being used in the hospital room from the outside. In this, so to speak, magical dark room, sterilized from further unwanted magic, that Tatsuya activated [Gram Dispersion]

  on the patient.

  There were no observable changes on the surface.

  However, Tatsuya's "eyes" clearly saw the Magic Sequence that was embedded in the patient's temporal region decompose into Psion particles and dissipate.

  "My name is Shiba Tatsuya. Can you tell me your name?"

  Tatsuya spoke to the patient.

  She widened her eyes and burst into tears.

  She introduced herself as tears streamed down her face.

  Shaula rushed to call for a nurse.

  The patient answered the questions of the nurse who rushed over midst her sobs, but answered them accurately.

  Up to that day, sixty-three patients had been confirmed in Oakland.

  Of those, Tatsuya successfully treated twenty-seven on that day alone.

  ◇ ◇ ◇

  July 15th, evening local time. At FAIR headquarters in San Francisco.

  Three people, one man and two women, are currently gathered in the office of Rocky Dean, the leader of FAIR.

  157

  The man is Dean himself, the owner of the aforementioned office. He is sitting behind his desk in a surprisingly simple, utilitarian chair.

  The woman who is standing beside him is Laura Simon, the sub-leader.

  And there is a young woman kneeling in front of Dean's desk. She appears to be in her mid-twenties and has blonde hair as well as dark brown eyes. If Laura is an alluring beauty, then this woman is a man's fruit of desire.

  If Laura is an alluringly beautiful woman, then this woman is an amorous woman.

  "Helen, you seem to be doing well."

  The woman's name is Helen Schneider. She is one of the newcomers to FAIR, but is highly valued by Dean for her magical powers.

  "I am in awe."

  Helen answered in admiration with her face cast down, but her voice contained a hint of flirtatiousness that can tempt a man.

  Rather than an inherent quality of hers, it's something she's honed through experience.

  Helen had to learn these kinds of skills in order to make a living.

  She was a prostitute. It was by happenstance that she was approached by Dean on a back street, and had she and her magical powers not been discovered by him and recruited as a member of FAIR, she would still be living a life of lying with men, and sometimes women, for money.

  Perhaps because of these circumstances, Helen's loyalty to Dean leans towards blind devotion. Though not particularly selfless, she holds a strong attachment to him wanting to be his one priority.

  "The [Babel] that my lord has granted me has so far lived up to its name. This magic will surely be a powerful weapon to help bring my lord's great aspirations to fruition."

  This blind devotion of hers made her an excellent choice to be the lab rat to test the

  "Guru's Stone Tablet" artifact unearthed on Mt. Shasta. She has been using the "Guru's Stone Tablet," which even Laura was hesitant to use in fear of any unknown adverse effects it might cause.

  Thus, she has managed to master the Ancient Magic [Babel].

  The formal name recorded on the stone tablet is [Divine Punishment of the Tower of Babel]. Whether it was a magic used by "God" or a magic created to imitate "God's work"

  remains unclear. But the effects of the magic holds true to its name. —True to the name written on the stone tablet, that is.

  158

  In order to confirm these effects, Dean has had Helen conduct experiments in Oakland.

  The results were excellent. [Babel]'s effect is to impair one's language comprehension. It causes symptoms analogous to those with Wernicke's aphasia. Moreover, unlike ordinary magic, it has a sustained operation.

  The secret to [Babel]'s sustainability lies in the virus-like nature of its Magic Sequence.

  The cerebrum is the organ that coordinates between the mind and the body. [Babel]'s Magic Sequence, which is parasitic on the cerebrum, utilizes its communication function to interfere with the patient's mind, in their subconscious, causing the patient to produce Psion and Pushion waves to sustain it. In other words, [Babel] turns the patient into a magician who specializes in self-harm.