[Novel] Test for Echo Episode 2

An unsettling guitar arpeggio creeps in just as my sleep begins to lighten. My mobile device, half-tucked under my pillow, detects my sleep rhythm through some mechanism beyond my understanding and plays Rush's "Test for Echo," which I've set as my alarm, at just the right moment. The alarm function, which politely fades in from a low volume, matches the arrangement of the song perfectly, and the track, having snuck in through my ears with its tense, suspicious intro, knocks on the door of my brain with its strange vocals. Just as I'm feeling a slight dizziness and my consciousness is still dragging through the drowsiness, a burst of noise erupts, and I am jolted awake. I push my upper body up on the bed, where everything is worn out, and stop the music with unsteady fingertips. I always stop the music just before the singing starts after the initial commotion. For a long time now, I have only listened to the first fifty seconds of this song. Every day is a similar morning. A worn-out futon and a tattered nightgown. A towel blanket that looks like a mat for a doghouse. The morning sun streaming in through the window looks just like morning sun, and the dust drifting in the band of light looks just like dust. When I stand up from the bed, it looks just like my room, with the dishes in the kitchen, the beer cans left on the low table, and the snack bag opened almost flat, all preserving yesterday. I look at the remnants left here and there and remember the night before. The morning I wake up to looks no different from yesterday's morning. But I found out last night. That there is a version of me in a movie. Tokio Chigasaki must have existed somewhere in the world until now. It's just that I didn't know it until last night. Things I don't know don't exist in my world. Last night, Tokio Chigasaki invaded my world.

I wanted to meet someone and talk about Tokio Chigasaki. The first person who came to mind was my colleague, Yokoyama. Yokoyama is an IT engineer at the same company, but since work has become almost entirely remote, I haven't seen him for a while. We see each other's faces through screens in online meetings and the like, but I'm no longer young enough to call that "meeting." I sent a message to Yokoyama using the communication app on my mobile device.

"Morning. I'm going into the office today, so can we meet at that tea shop or somewhere for lunch?"

I watched for a while after sending it, and a reply arrived from Yokoyama.

"Is it morning already? The company server had trouble in the middle of the night, and I've been taking a nap after coming in to fix it. I'm going to get some more sleep, so wake me up when you get here."

I take the subway at the same time as always, walk the same path, and head to the same building. The strangers I pass on the way are strangers, but I recognize some of them. Strangers who remain in my memory because they do similar things in similar places at the same time. Strangers who share the same train. Strangers who share the same wait at the traffic light. Strangers who share the same building. I enter the building and get on the elevator. Sometimes I ride the elevator with acquaintances. My company occupies one floor of this building. Other companies are on each floor, and their sizes vary from those with hundreds of employees occupying several floors to those with only a few people sharing a floor. The strangers I ride the elevator with get off at their respective destination floors. Each time one person after another gets off, the relationships between the remaining strangers become more intense. I greet a few people who got off on the same floor, pass them, unlock the auto-lock, and enter the office.

The office was deserted because the number of remote workers had increased. Out of the one floor that used to accommodate over a hundred people, only about a dozen or so come to the office now at most. I feel like it might be better to shrink the office, leaving only a few meeting rooms and a reception room. For the time being, I didn't see anyone, so I headed to my seat in silence. On the way, I peeked at Yokoyama's seat and saw him lying there with his head stuck under the desk and his lower body sticking out into the aisle. I couldn't tell if he was sleeping or dead. With such a low office attendance rate, if someone died like that at the company, they might not be discovered for a while.

I entered my booth, which was surrounded by partitions that weren't very tall, and started my computer. Since I hadn't started it in a while, OS updates and other things began to run. Watching that out of the corner of my eye, I went to the vending machine corner, bought a canned coffee, and went to wake Yokoyama up.

"Hey, Yokoyama. I'm here."

When I went to where Yokoyama was sprawled out and called out to him, he rolled over and made a sound that wasn't quite "nuh," "ooh," or "nuuh." Dust from the floor was clinging to his clothes.

"Don't sleep on the floor. It's dirty."

"Yeah, I know."

Yokoyama sat up, and while still sitting on the floor, he felt around on the desk for his glasses and put them on.

"Did something happen? I already fixed the server."

"I don't care about the server. Hey, Yokoyama, do you know someone named Tokio Chigasaki?"

"Who?"

Yokoyama asked back, taking off the glasses he had just put on and wiping them with the hem of his shirt.

"Tokio Chigasaki."

"His name is Chigasaki, but it's Tokio?"

"He's an actor, but what do you mean?"

I was just thinking that Chigasaki is in Kanagawa, right?

What are you talking about? Never mind that. I'm asking if you know an actor named Tokio Chigasaki.

Never heard of him. Is he famous?

I don't know. I only found out about him yesterday myself.

I moved the mouse on Yokoyama's desk to wake up the computer, which had been in standby mode. Perhaps he was in the middle of something, as several small windows filled with text were open.

Hey, can you get on the internet?

Yeah. Hang on a second.

Yokoyama stood up, pulled over a chair that had been pushed to the side, and sat down.

Search for Tokio Chigasaki. Chigasaki like the city in Kanagawa, and Tokio like 'time' and 'husband'.

As I dictated, Yokoyama typed on the keyboard, and the search results appeared on the screen.

Open his profile for me.

Tokio Chigasaki's profile and a headshot appeared on the screen. Seeing it, Yokoyama began repeating the motion of looking up at my face and then back at the screen, like a clockwork toy.

Tagami, when did you become an actor?

Don't be an idiot. If I were Tokio Chigasaki, why would I be asking you for advice? I have absolutely no memory of this. I don't know any Tokio Chigasaki, I've never been in a movie, and I've never even thought about being in one. But this guy's personal information is exactly the same as mine. The only difference is that he works as a magazine model and appears in movies.

He looks just like you, too.

It's not just 'looking like me.' It's the same. I took a selfie and compared them. Even the shape of his ears is the same.

A doppelgänger?

A doppelgänger is a hallucination, right? This guy is actually appearing in movies, so he's not a hallucination. Besides, you can see him too, can't you? Tokio Chigasaki.

Well, you know, people use the word 'doppelgänger' for more than just hallucinations. Like, someone who looks exactly like you. The kind of thing where they say if you see one, you're going to die.

I'm still alive for now. Regardless, I want to know who on earth this guy is.

"Who is it? It's Tokio Chigasaki, isn't it?"

"Well, yeah, but I'm talking about who Tokio Chigasaki actually is. This is clearly me, isn't it? If you knew both me and Tokio Chigasaki, you'd think I was working as an actor under the name Tokio Chigasaki."

"I would. I think so too. Are you really sure it's not you?"

"If it were really me, why would I be asking you for advice?"

"Well, you know, maybe you want me to know?"

"Idiot. Do you think I'd do such a roundabout way of promoting myself? If I were Tokio Chigasaki, I'd be openly promoting the movie."

"Well, I suppose that's true. But you know, side jobs are prohibited. Maybe you're hiding it for that reason."

"That's what I'm saying. If I were hiding it, I'd just keep it a secret without saying anything."

"That's true too. But still. Isn't this Tagami? It looks exactly like him no matter how you look at it."

Yokoyama said this while repeatedly comparing my face to the face of Tokio Chigasaki displayed on the screen.

<<To be continued>>

Click here for Episode 1

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