Chapter 3.10 - Block 53
Abraxas, Suburb of Archon
Bugs: Captain… we’re fugitives now…
Jan: Yes. There might be Federation police officers around. We have to avoid them as much as possible!
Melisse: Yes, sir!
Archon, Block 53
Sharon welcomes Jan and the others.
Jan: Sorry we’re late.
Sharon: …It’s okay, what matters is that you’re safe. I’m relieved you got here all right.
Melisse: We’re getting pretty good at being fugitives!
Sharon: Heh... seems that way.
Jan: The victim from earlier, what was the cause of death?
Sharon: …Overexposure to the U.M.N. He was only 18 years old… Also, the letters written in his room… it would have been difficult to take the evidence directly, so I brought this instead.
Jan: …What is it?
Sharon: A translation. Is that helpful?
Jan: “Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues because of the pain. They blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and did not repent of their deeds…” [Revelation 16:10-11]
Lactis: As usual, a quote in an ancient language about some kind of bowl…
Jan: Are you familiar with the source?
Lactis: The Archon police were still looking into it, but I preserved records of the alphabet itself in my internal database.
Melisse: Wait a second! We might be able to analyze those records at the Veritas safehouse!
Jan: With the equipment they have, we might be able to analyze it faster than the Archon police. Lactis! Transfer that data to Mikhail and Erich right away!
Lactis: Yes, sir! …Hm?
Jan: What’s wrong?
Lactis: Mikhail and Erich. They’re both refusing the connection.
Jan: All right, just keep trying to get through. Sharon, did you find anything else at the hospital?
Sharon: The victim left the same pattern as Voyager in the U.M.N. access log. And…
Jan: …And?
Sharon: …I don’t know if this is directly related to Voyager or not, but during the autopsy on the young victim, we found something extremely unusual.
Jan: These past few months, I’ve experienced a lot that’s ‘extremely unusual.’ I can’t really say I’m surprised.
Sharon: Indeed. But I wonder about this… From the tissue samples we collected, his estimated age was… well, just looking at the tissue, he appeared to be over 150 years old.
Melisse: 150 years old!?
Sharon: Yes, but according to the register he was an 18-year-old boy. I'm not sure of his exact age, but I’d say the margin of error is plus or minus 10 years. And that’s not all. There were tissue samples very similar to his in hospital storage.
Melisse: So was that boy Voyager? Or one of the others like him?
Sharon: I don’t really know… If he’s the former, then the matter is settled. But if he’s the latter, then we’ve found evidence that people with the same condition as Voyager are forming a syndicate. Whatever the case, they’re all very special people…
Melisse: Could it have been a dispute amongst their group…?
Jan: Considering the writing left in his room, probably not. In all the Voyager incidents we’ve seen, he leaves that writing at the scene of the crime. ...He’s choosing his victims. If it were something like an internal dispute, I don’t think he would leave that writing behind. By the way, about the 150-year-old tissue sample… is it possible for a human to keep living in that condition?
Sharon: I suppose it’s possible, if there was constant production of a substance that could control the metabolic rate…
Lactis: Wait a moment, Doctor Rozas! Think about it in a different way. Controlling the functions of the brain and controlling the deterioration of the body are essentially the same thing.
Sharon: Well, even in theory, they both present significant difficulties. If I someone really had put it into practice, I would have no idea how they did it unless I asked them myself…
Jan: However, those tissue samples do exist.
Sharon: I don’t even want to think about it. Perhaps the owner of that tissue is a monster beyond our wildest imagination…
Lactis: …There’s a good possibility that the owner is Voyager.
Sharon: It’s a possibility, yes… But we need some other evidence to conclusively prove that it belonged to Voyager.
Jan: Yes, we need to know for sure. Right about now, Mikhail should be…
Jan’s communicator starts ringing.
Sharon: Hm? Someone receiving a private message?
Jan: It’s me.
Mikhail: C-Captain? I-I’m sor…ry.
Jan: How’s it coming?
Mikhail: I s-stopped the analysis… I know who Vo-Voyager is…
Jan: Who is it!?
Mikhail: T-That’s…
Jan: I know you’re upset, but why don’t you try to calm down a little?
Mikhail: I can’t say it here. If I don’t tell you personally…
Jan: You can’t say? Why not?
Mikhail: Somehow, somewhere… somewhere… we have to meet up someplace other than here…
Jan: Okay. Meet us at point KC-537 in 30 minutes?
Mikhail: 30 minutes? R-Roger!!
Lactis: Strange, isn’t it? When I called from here earlier, there was no response…
Jan: Yes… It’s also strange that he used a private line. It seems…
Lactis: …?
Jan: Ah, it’s nothing. Sharon… that monster. Find out who the tissue donor was.
Sharon: The donor is protected by law. It’s a matter of privacy. But I’ll see if I can somehow find the records.
Erich comes in.
Jan: !
Lactis: Erich!!
Erich: Is Mikhail here!?
Jan: He said he discovered Voyager’s identity…
Erich: Yes. Mikhail was going to contact you himself, so he told me to go on ahead.
Jan: I wonder why?
Erich: I guess he was in a big hurry…
Jan: I see. Let’s meet up with Mikhail immediately!