“Outside Observation - Metropolitan Police Department Type A Case: Schrödinger's Rebellion” Chapter 6 ◆ Confession of Causality [1]

Chapter 6: Confession of Causality [1]

The emergence of quantum mechanics further shattered the “single path” that Schrödinger's cat had already broken. In the micro-world, it has been proven that “probabilities overlap and are not determined until observed.”
The future is not a single line (a fixed algorithm), but a bundle of branching possibilities.
If “the future is not determined,” then perhaps there is room for human “free will” to intervene? This thought was born within Saeki.

“Freedom” as an algorithm means “even if the world follows physical laws (algorithms), freedom exists.”
If one reaches an answer not by being “forced from the outside,” but by following one's own “internal algorithm (thoughts),” could that not be called freedom?
And, could it be that it is not a puppet tracing “pre-written code,” but an “agent participating in the calculation process itself” that changes these probabilities?

However, altering causality always comes with a corresponding price...
The smaller the price, the safer and more desirable it is.


――――――――――――――――

“I feel an unpleasant gaze from behind...”

When he turned around, Haise was there.

“Oh... g-good morning?”
“What do you mean, 'good morning'? I'm suffering from full-body muscle pain here. Do you know why? Huh?”
“...”

With his displeasure clearly displayed on his face, he stared at Saeki with cold eyes.

“Right? So, how about you treat me to a meal today?”

In an almost commanding tone, he glared at Saeki. His expression seemed to say, 'You don't have the right to refuse.'

“...Okay.”

Tears welled up slightly in the corners of Saeki's eyes as he replied in a resigned tone.

The Metropolitan Police Department cafeteria was as noisy as ever at noon.
The sound of trays being lifted and chairs being moved. The chatter of detectives. And a unique aroma that stimulated hunger drifted through the cafeteria.

In one corner, Haise sat with his arms crossed.

“—You're late.”
“My bad, my bad.”

Saeki appeared with two trays, his voice light and casual.
He placed one in front of Haise.
It was a grilled fish set meal, cooked to perfection. It was still sizzling.
The yellow pickles, the pickled plum, and the steam and aroma of the miso soup whetted the appetite.

“It's my treat today, so...”

Haise raised an eyebrow slightly and looked at Saeki.

“What is this?”
“Lunch—a grilled fish set meal?”
“I can see that.”

Saeki smiled sheepishly as he sat opposite him and broke his chopsticks, but Haise didn't touch his food yet.

“W-would you have preferred meat after all?”

He looked up at Haise, peeking at him while trembling, trying to gauge his mood.

“No... you really do know something, don't you?”

Saeki sipped his miso soup with an awkward expression.

“About what?”
“Route 134.”
“*Cough*—!”

Caught off guard by the question, he couldn't help but choke slightly. He tapped his chest lightly while coughing.
Saeki fell silent for a moment, then looked at Haise with eyes that seemed to have made a decision. However, he also looked like he was struggling with how much he should tell him.
The noise of the cafeteria sounded distant.
Haise continued to ask with a serious expression.

“That email about 'something happening'—”

Saeki stopped his chopsticks, thought for a moment, and then shrugged. This was the gesture Saeki made when he was hiding something.

“Just a hunch—”

Haise sighed. Even though he knew, Saeki would play dumb and give a standard response.

“Don't move people around based on just a 'hunch.' What do you think a detective is?”

Saeki laughed softly.

“Don't be angry. Look, I'm treating you to lunch, aren't I?”
“...This isn't the end of it.”
“Guh... I know.”
“Next time, it's sushi.”
“Eh? Is conveyor belt sushi not okay?”

Haise said while flaking the fish.

“No, it has to be high-end sushi. It's the price of a life, after all.”

With those words, the tension between the two eased slightly. Haise, who had been eating in silence for a while, brought up the topic.

“The man from yesterday...”

Saeki's hand stopped for a moment.

“The guy on the blue motorcycle?”
“Yeah...”

Haise continued to speak in a low voice, keeping his eyes down.

“He was probably being chased by Public Security. That in itself isn't normal.”

Saeki remained silent, eating his meal without a word.

“Do you really not know? That's not it, is it? I didn't mention the color of the motorcycle. What exactly are you hiding?”

Saeki quietly put down his chopsticks, looked up, and stared at Haise—.
At that moment, the world around them swayed slightly.
Saeki's movements froze completely.
The scene of the cafeteria slid away and vanished in an instant.

What he saw instead was—.

A twilight sea and a quiet country road. And the faint scent of the tide reached his sense of smell.
The sound of waves could be heard in the distance. Two men were walking along that road.
One was Haise. The other man was walking a little ahead.
His face was not visible, but there was an old scar on his exposed shoulder.
Neither of them looked back.
They were walking as if to get away from “something”... as if to escape.

And the moment that scene vanished, the sounds of the cafeteria gradually returned.
Saeki exhaled slowly.

(To see this suddenly at a time like this...)

The pit of his stomach felt a little heavy. A fluctuation in causality was occurring.
A fragment of the future...
But even so—.

(Still... Haise is alive.)

That alone brought him a tiny bit of relief.
Haise stared at Saeki with a puzzled look.

“What's wrong? Your eyes weren't focused.”

Saeki immediately put on a smile.

“No, the miso soup was just a little hot.”

Haise didn't look convinced. But he didn't press the matter further.
Watching Haise, Saeki eventually dropped a few words.

“Haise...”
“What?”
“It happens sometimes...”

While maintaining an unusually serious expression, he continued to talk while busily turning his chopsticks, perhaps to calm his heart.

“The moment the flow changes...”

Haise furrowed his brow and tilted his head, as if unable to gauge the true meaning of the words.

“?”

Saeki thought for a moment and spoke to Haise, carefully choosing his words. Because telling him everything was dangerous. Of course, it wasn't that he didn't trust Haise. It was just that he feared that by speaking of it, the law of causality would change.

“The flow of people, incidents... everything shifts just a little.”

Haise listened in silence. Trying to understand what Saeki wanted to convey...
Saeki laughed softly in a self-deprecating manner and shrugged his shoulders lightly.

“When that happens, nothing good ever comes of it.”

Haise said.

“Is that what you call a 'hunch'?”
“Maybe. Well, just leave it at that for now.”

He smiled a little sadly. As if he were an existence isolated from the world.

“The causality is moving, that's all.”

Haise sighed and poured the now-lukewarm tea into his mouth.

“I don't get it—”

“Well then,” he said, standing up and moving his tray toward Haise.

“I treated you to lunch, right?”

Haise, who had no choice but to accept, grinned.

“Next time, it's sushi.”
“I'll keep that in mind.”

Why is it that even such a simple conversation feels so precious?
The dazzling midday light streaming in from the hallway window illuminated Saeki.
Watching Haise's back as he walked ahead, he recalled that scene (future) once again.
And he whispered quietly in his heart.

(...It's still a future further ahead. Until then, I will—)

That twilight sea—.
That quiet road—.
And that man—.

“Causality is still incomplete—”

Next update: Friday at 21:00 (may vary by a few minutes):

“As if guided by something, the man arrived.”

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※ This is an entry for #CreativeAward2026