Chapter 7 - "The Third" 第7話「第三」
Time had begun with a mistake.
When Meyra opened her eyes, she didn't see a ceiling—but a reflection: a metal sheet layered with water. In that water, a trembling flicker of light from a lamp. She squinted. She couldn't move, but she could hear—the ticking of a clock, someone's footsteps, the winding noise of an old cassette tape.The room looked empty, but every sound that entered whispered of an unseen crowd: "We were watching you... even before you slept."A flash—just a second. The rusty screw in the corner of the ceiling had come loose. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed it: a miniature camera hidden beneath the ceiling panel. Someone was watching. Studying.But who?
At the same time, Daiki was moving through an abandoned underground facility. His footsteps collided not only with the cracked ground—but with the weight of memory. He was following an old plan. A sketch scribbled long ago but never finished: "Emerald Operation – Layer 3: Memory Conflict."What was Layer 3?One of the drawings on the station wall caught his attention: Three interlocking circles. At the very center, written in tiny letters: "If there is no key, follow the sound."Daiki pulled an old Walkman from his pocket. It had once belonged to his father. He placed the headphones over his ears. Amid the static, a voice:"...Meyra, someone searched for you even in dreams. But he's awake now. And the rest? They only want to keep you asleep." A distorted version of a childhood song played in the background. He froze. That voice... it carried a code only he would understand. Meyra had left a message. But she had encrypted it.
Hayato's Control RoomHayato's eyes weren't fixed on the monitor. Instead, he opened an old file on the wall. From within, he pulled out a worn notebook. Page 37. There it was: "Meyra's cognitive structure couldn't withstand the first trial.But her voice... her voice didn't change."The man standing beside him whispered: "Daiki has interfered. He's still tethered. That's bad."Hayato simply nodded. "Attachment is the weakest link in the system. But it's also the password. We need to bring them closer. But we'll stay in control."
The plan wasn't a rescue mission. It was a test. The digital-psychological script designed to trigger the Emerald Operation... had officially begun.
Meyra's Cognitive Collapse When Meyra leaned against the wall of the room, she didn't feel like she was in darkness— but inside a screen. A screen within a screen. With every blink, a different image flashed in and out of view: A child's voice by the sea. An old notebook bound in red threads. A voice: "I was five years old when I lost you."Meyra fell to her knees. And at that moment, she realized: "I'm not just being watched. My mind is being manipulated."She remembered leaving a code somewhere. Maybe years ago. Maybe one morning. But which Meyra had left it?Which version of her was real? Something was malfunctioning in the system. Codes were misaligning. Memory fractures were beginning earlier than predicted. And in the shadows, on a monitor someone watched her from— an unknown figure read a single line aloud: "If the key remembers itself, the lock becomes meaningless."
Through Daiki's Eyes Each step Daiki took on the cold concrete echoed with a memory. Someone had once walked these same corridors. A boy he never met— yet carried in his mind. A boy with a bow in his hand, an arrow on his back, and a glowing mark: Two stars. One arrow. Back then, Daiki was just a child. But the image never faded. Now, as he followed the trail, the same symbol appeared before him again.Daiki had reached the place where Meyra was once held. The room was nearly empty— just bare shelves, scattered wires, and a ventilation pipe. But Daiki believed in details. And the archer girl he'd carried in his memorymight have left those details just for him. While opening the pipe, he nearly cut his fingers— but inside, he found an old piece of paper. It whispered more than he expected: "三" — The Third. The third what? Entrance? Subject?Level? Or was this… his third encounter with her? Breaking the codes had been easy. But breaking through the memory of walls— that was harder. He manipulated facial recognition gates, bypassed heat sensors. He walked not like someone without access, but like a part of the system itself. Because once, he was a part of the system. Codename: Archer Backup 017. But the day he started questioning the system, he began searching for answers outside of it. And now— he saw her.Meyra.But not just her present self. Her face overlapped with a blurred echo of the past. The same girl who had become Hayato's nightmare. The child buried inside secrets he swore never to speak. Meyra had heard Daiki's footsteps. She turned, eyes narrowing to study his face. But she didn't recognize him. Worse—she whispered:"Hayato…?" Daiki's heart stuttered. Hayato? No. But that single word told him everything. Someone—at some point—had planted the wrong silhouette into Meyra's mind. An illusion. A masked memory. They had invaded her past using the image of a real man. Then, her eyes drifted downward— to his arm. And there it was. A detail she hadn't noticed before: The updated version of an old uniform— the same Daiki had worn as a child. Still stitched on the shoulder was a worn emblem: Two stars. And one arrow.Silence fell between them. And in that silence, only the past spoke. Daiki couldn't silence the voice inside him: "So it was you. You were that child." But he didn't say it. Because Meyra still didn't know. Still didn't trust. She was still afraid. Daiki didn't back away. Instead, he knelt quietly on the floor. From his coat pocket, he pulled a folded piece of paper. Something was written on it:"When the third line opens, the truth will find you."He placed the paper gently on the ground. And then, not to the Meyra standing before him— but to the version of her buried deep in memory— he whispered: "This is the third trace. You saw the first. The second woke you.Now... the third will call you."And then he walked away. Because he believed— Meyra would remember the symbol.
Through Meyra's Eyes The moment her eyes met the paper on the floor, time stopped. "When the third line opens, the truth will find you."Her breath caught in her throat. That handwriting... She had seen it before. But where? When?Meyra lifted her head. The man standing before her hadn't come to flee— he had come to remind her. But who was he? And why did the strange ache inside her scream with the certainty that she had forgotten something important? "Do you... know me?" she asked.He didn't flinch. Instead, his voice was calm—too calm: "You already know me. Your real memories are just... locked."That sentence— unlocked something. Suddenly, a red light flashed in the corner of the ceiling. A robotic voice rang out:"Code: Red. Code: Red. Foreign signal detected."The system had spotted them. Without a moment's hesitation, Daiki grabbed her arm."I can't wait for you to remember. We either leave now— or vanish here forever."Meyra hesitated. But the choice was made for her when metal plates on the wall retracted, revealing thin, gleaming needles primed to strike. Daiki had memorized the building's layout. But something was wrong. This wasn't the place he remembered from his childhood. At every turn, the corridors changed shape."This place... is it shifting?" Meyra asked, breathless."Yes. It's not fixed. The architecture's coded— built using artificial algorithms to distort visual memory." Her thoughts raced. They were running, but the space around them was unraveling. She looked back— and the path they had taken had already transformed. It wasn't the same anymore. Eventually, they reached a narrow tunnel. A panel lit up before them, displaying one line: 三の記憶を解け. (Unlock the third memory.) Meyra felt a chill pierce her chest. "The third…"Daiki turned to her. "This is yours to solve. This door—it's encoded just for you." Panic flooded her. "But... I don't remember anything!" "But your body remembers." Daiki's voice was steady.Meyra placed her hands on the panel. Closed her eyes. And in that moment— she felt the bow in her hand again. She was a little girl. Standing in a concrete yard, barbed wire curling around the edges. In front of her, a target board. Behind her, a child watching from behind a distant wall. His eyes were sorrowful— but filled with something deeper: hope. His voice echoed inside her: "If you shoot the arrow into the right memory… the doors will open."
Meyra pressed her fingers into the panel and whispered: "I'm the third... but I wasn't the first."A mechanical voice followed: "Code accepted. Door unlocking."As the door slid open, sirens blared in the distance. A white gas seeped through the corridor— the system was collapsing. Meyra swayed, dizzy. The walls around her shimmered like fading dreams. "This place… it's not just a building," she whispered. "It's a mind construct."Daiki nodded. "Yes. And you're the first person who ever broke out of it."As they crossed the final threshold, the system's voice echoed one last time: "Third memory decoded. Proceeding to next phase." But Daiki slammed a device into the wall. Boom. "No. The game ends here."Together, they leapt through a cracked tunnel— into the open night sky. The air was cool, moist, quiet. Meyra collapsed, resting her head on Daiki's shoulder. Softly, barely audible, she said: "I still don't understand anything… But there's a darkness in your eyes that feels… familiar."Daiki turned his gaze away. Because he too had forgotten things. But now one thing was certain: The code had been broken. And the system could no longer silence them.
❝The next morning...❞ The mist spread like silk between the mountain peaks. When Meyra opened her eyes, the scent of old wood from the ceiling filled her lungs. In her hand, a worn photograph Daiki had given her. Two children stood in it. And one of them— looked strikingly like her. "This child… it's not me. But those eyes... that mark. Who is this?" Daiki hesitated. "He might be your twin. Maran. My brother was assigned to protect him. But that day... they both disappeared."Meyra's voice trembled. "Maran… is alive? But they told me he died. Everyone said so…" Daiki's expression darkened—grief and fury entwined. "And they called my brother a traitor. But the codes I've found— they say he's still alive. And he's not alone." "Who else?" Meyra whispered. "A man named Hayato." A fragment sparked in her mind. A dark room. A child. A voice in the shadows: "Stay quiet. I'm protecting you."She turned to Daiki. "That man… was it Hayato? Maybe he wasn't the enemy. Maybe… someone used his name all along."
Meanwhile, at Asami's house...Asami stood by the windowsill, opening an old file. Inside, handwritten notes— Hayato's handwriting. One note read: "They'll lie to you. But I had to protect our children." Her phone rang. No caller ID. Asami hesitated... then answered. A trembling voice came through. "Asami... this is Meyra. We're so close to the truth now. But I need to ask you something…" "Did Hayato ever mention something called 'The Third Gate'?"Asami was in a panic. "That word... I haven't heard it in years. The Third Gate... it was the password to the file where we hid the name of our first child."
Now, Daiki and Meyra stood before an old safe. On the surface was a symbol: ⟡ And beneath it, an inscription: "Sealed not only by blood... but by fate." The birthmark on Meyra's arm matched the symbol perfectly.The lid opened. Inside, there was a coded sheet— and a video file. Code: H.K.-301-MR Hayato Code 301 – Maran ReferenceThey played the video. Hayato's voice echoed: "If you're watching this… you probably believe I'm the enemy. But my only crime was protecting them. Maran didn't die. I pulled him from the system… and he stayed with me. And someone else—Daiki's brother—he's still alive."Meyra stood frozen in a swirl of emotions. "No… no, this can't be. If Maran is alive, why didn't he ever try to find me? And why… why have I always seen him in my dreams as someone else?"Daiki looked stunned. "In your dreams? What do you mean?"Meyra whispered: "Maybe the person I always thought of as me… wasn't me. Maybe… I was forced to live through his memories."