Ruins_11 [Shirokuma Literature Club] [lpz.89]
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Erika pointed out that I talk to myself a lot. It's true; I think I was constantly muttering something while I was deciphering the note 'lpz.89' left behind by Nozomi, who had gone missing. I suppose it has become a habit. The investigation revealed that 'lpz.89' refers to a research facility in Leipzig that was closed in 1989. Ryota was heading to the research facility in the suburbs of Leipzig with Erika.
Ryota sat in the passenger seat of the rental car driven by Erika and arrived at the entrance of a forest on the outskirts of Leipzig. Erika leaned out from the driver's seat and checked the surroundings. From here on, there were no paved roads, and it seemed they would have to proceed on foot.
"I'll lead the way from here."
Erika pulled the key out of the rental car and locked the doors. The forest was deep, and sunlight barely reached the ground.
After walking for about ten minutes, the view opened up, and a mass of gray concrete came into sight. This was the laboratory where Guido Engels had developed the ultra-high-speed decryption technology 'Repro,' and the place Nozomi seemed to have been tracking. With all its windows shattered and covered in ivy, the 'Cold Code Lab,' now turned into ruins, was about to be swallowed by nature after several decades.
"The building itself is state property, but it's completely abandoned. It's a negative legacy from the East German era," Erika said, catching her breath.
"Let's hurry. There might be traces of Nozomi inside."
The two entered the interior through a broken door. The facility was filled with cold, damp air and smelled of mold. The former laboratory was devastated, with debris from equipment and scraps of paper scattered about. The moment Ryota saw a bundle of cables lying on the floor, he felt as if an electric current had run through him.
"Erika, look at this."
He pointed to the tip of a cable that had been left lying on the floor. The cable was old and its surface had deteriorated, but only the connector at its tip had been processed with the latest special technology. It was a part that had just been developed by the security company where Nozomi worked and had not yet hit the market.
"Nozomi must have used this cable to analyze something in this ruined facility." Ryota could not hide his excitement.
Nozomi had reached this laboratory. And she had been performing some kind of analysis work here.
When Ryota peered into a darker room further inside, he found a small circle drawn with a ballpoint pen in the corner of the wall, with a single line drawn underneath it. It was a secret mark that only the two of them knew, which she and Ryota used to draw in the corners of their notebooks during their university days.
"Nozomi is alive. She must be very close by." Ryota was convinced.
However, that conviction was immediately shattered by the sound of a car engine coming from outside. The sound was undoubtedly heading toward these ruins. It was the Petrov Connection. They had realized that Ryota and the others had solved the code and had followed them.
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I am serializing this by connecting short stories. I plan to post around every Friday. I have posted links to each episode in the table of contents, so please feel free to look back.
(Click here for [Characters and Table of Contents])
I am participating in Kosuke Komaki's project.
Thank you every week.
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