Delusion City Episode 6

10

The TV news had been buzzing since that morning.
They were saying, "A mysterious monster has appeared in Shibuya."
Had they finally started moving?
We were glued to the news.

According to the news, several people at the scramble crossing in front of Shibuya Station had suddenly started making a scene, claiming that a monster had appeared.
However, since nothing was visible to the majority of people, it had become a topic of conversation as a strange case of mass hallucination.

"People who can see it, and people who can't. Does that difference come from a difference in the power of delusion?"
I muttered.
"No, I can't say that for sure."
Dr. Tachibana looked at us.
"Hayasaka-kun and Kuriyama-kun, could you go to Shibuya and investigate?"
At Dr. Tachibana's words, Kazumi and I looked at each other.
"Is this a deployment order?"
Kazumi said. Dr. Tachibana nodded quietly.
Kazumi and I were deployed to Shibuya.

* * *

The orders I received from Dr. Tachibana were to measure the atmospheric composition in Shibuya with a measuring instrument and to film the area around the scramble crossing with a video camera.
We stood in front of Shibuya Station and began our investigation from in front of the Hachiko statue toward the scramble crossing.
Kazumi measured the atmospheric composition with the instrument, and I was in charge of video recording. We acted as inconspicuously as possible, but we were clearly acting suspiciously.

I filmed the people walking through the streets of Shibuya.
The streets of Shibuya were full of many people. Where did all these people come from, and where were they going?

Dr. Tachibana had told me to film the images on the screens installed on the walls of the buildings. I didn't know what the point of filming such things was, but I decided to follow the order obediently.

There were many screens installed around the scramble crossing.
They had increased quite a bit before I knew it. Since so many people pass through here, I suppose the advertising effect must be enormous.
Because I had to film the screens, I inevitably had to point the camera upward. I was using a fairly small video camera, but I must have looked strange. Even while thinking that, I found myself focused on filming. Suddenly, someone grabbed my arm. I panicked at the sudden event. I thought, they've caught me.

I calmed myself down and slowly lowered the hand holding the video camera.
Two men were standing in front of me. Kazumi had disappeared somewhere.
That girl, she ran away, I thought.

One of the men showed me a police badge in front of my eyes. Plainclothes detectives, I felt relieved. No, this was no time to be relieved.
"I'd like to ask you a few questions."
The man spoke to me in a polite tone, but there was an inescapable sense of intimidation in his gaze.

"What is it?" I said, pretending to be calm, not giving in to that intimidation.
"What are you doing here?"
"What do you mean? Sightseeing, of course (naturally)," I replied. The man seemed to become even more suspicious.
"Run away," I heard Kazumi's voice.
"How?" I answered in my heart.

It seemed the two people in front of us couldn't hear our conversation.
Perhaps their power of delusion wasn't very strong. If so, maybe I could escape using delusion. However, delusion was the only way I had to fight.
It was do or die. I put my heart and soul into it and imagined it.

At that moment, the streets of Shibuya fell into a panic.
What I imagined was the monster that was the talk of the town.
Countless monsters appeared and began to attack people. Monsters crawling out of the ground and monsters flying in the sky attacked people one after another.
I myself was stunned by the sight and stood frozen.
Kazumi grabbed my arm.
We took advantage of the chaos to disappear from the scene.

* * *

Kazumi was furious.
"You, you went too far. There's a limit to everything, right?"
We returned to the laboratory while sitting side-by-side on the Odakyu Line, bickering in low voices.
When we returned to the laboratory, Dr. Tachibana and Akihiko Suda were waiting for us.

"It's causing a stir again," said Kunihiko Suda while watching TV.
The TV screen showed the Shibuya scramble crossing.
The reporter was busily reporting on the panicked streets of Shibuya.
Kazumi held her head while watching it.

"The police seem to be looking for suspicious people with video cameras, but that's you guys, right?" said Dr. Tachibana.
I nodded reluctantly.
"Wait, did you guys do this?" said Suda.
"Who are you calling 'you guys'!"

We explained the situation and handed the survey data to Dr. Tachibana.
Dr. Tachibana immediately began analyzing the data.

"I didn't think it would turn out like that," I said, and Kazumi glared at me with an exasperated look.
Dr. Tachibana said, "Just as I thought," and looked at us.

“The atmospheric data I received from Kuriyama shows that the concentration of impurities is significantly lower than normal. Moreover, it is only the impurities that hinder brainwave transmission. Also, take a look at this.”
Dr. Tachibana pointed to the TV monitor. The figure of that monster was displayed on the screen.
“This is an image from the large screen in Shibuya that Hayasaka-kun captured for me,” said Dr. Tachibana.
“Huh? That wasn't being shown,” I said in surprise.
“This is a subliminal effect.”
“A subliminal effect?”
“Video footage consists of a sequence of 25 still images per second. This image appears in only one of those frames. Because it happens in an instant, the human brain cannot consciously perceive it. However, that information is recorded in the mind and taken into the subconscious. That is why people who were in Shibuya and saw this footage end up seeing the same monster.”
“I see,” I said. Though I didn't really understand.
“In any case, this confirms that they conducted an experiment in Shibuya,” said Dr. Tachibana.
“So the battle against evil has begun,” Suda said, his eyes shining.

To be continued in Episode 7.