Satsuriku no Tenshi:Volume 1 Chapter 1

Chapter 1 - Floor B7

Ray hears a bell ringing, as if it echoes from far off behind a barrier.

As she opens her strangely numb eyes, she realises that she is sitting on a chair. A hard, white chair. In front of her is a monopod, and another white chair, placed as if to be opposite her.

She has no idea where she is. It’s an inanimate, lifeless room. It almost looks like a counselling office. The room is so cold that she can see her breath.

(Where am I…?)

As she wonders this, Ray stands up from the chair and looks around.

(…)

However, the exact moment her mind became blank, she became amnesiac. She can’t remember anything. But she understands that this world is real. After all, unlike in a dream, she can go wherever she wants to.

(I must have been having a dream just now…)

She lets out a small sigh. So, she truly knows nothing about this world, other than the fact that it is reality. As if mesmerized, she finds herself wandering to the large window, and looks outside.

(…A blue full moon.)

On the other side of the window is a blue moon. It seems to shine unusually bright. Its size, its colour…all seem to point to it being projected there, as if on a screen.

(It looks kind of fake…)

A blue moon like that! That’s a pretty rare phenomenon…

At some point, her doctor had told her this.

(Doctor…?)

Who was her doctor…? Who, she wonders. She can’t really remember.

From beneath her eyelids, Ray can suddenly see someone in a white lab coat, walking away from her.

(A doctor…?)

It’s suddenly as if her memory has come back to life – her brain begins working again. With a gasp, she says, “That’s right…I came to the hospital.” Her voice leaks out without thinking.

(I came here to be examined…)

But I’m not sick…since I don’t feel pain anywhere. So why did I come to the hospital…?

(….)

Suddenly, she’s once again attacked by a terrible vertigo.

(I feel sick…)

“Come on, Ray, sit with us.” As she involuntarily crouches down with her eyes tightly shut, her mother’s voice echoes in her ears.

“I have to go to my mom and dad…”

As if called by that voice, she unsteadily staggers out of the room.

▲▽

‘’…This isn’t the hospital I know.’’

She can’t remember why she came to the hospital. But, intuition tells her that something must have happened.

(Did someone take me to a different floor while I was asleep?)

The passageway ahead of her is paved with white tiles. It’s so dark that she can’t see too far ahead, but it’s clear there isn’t anyone else here. Still staggering slightly and lightheaded, the girl wanders down this ominous and strange corridor. Before long, she comes to a black lattice gate. There’s a small slot that looks as if it might be for a card.

Ray cautiously extends a hand to push against the gate, but it won’t open. When she tries to force it open, a beeping sound emits from the gate.

(I guess I need a card…)

The girl squints through the lattice, trying to see what lies on the other side of the gate. The lighting is dim, so she isn’t sure, but she thinks she can see an elevator.

(I want to go home…)

Thinking this to herself resolutely, she gazes ahead of her with a mysterious expression in her eyes. Her lips shut tightly. They are so dry they hurt, and her head spins as if she’s taken some kind of drug.

(I really do feel bad…)

Her field of vision wavers, as if she’s been trapped in some kind of illusion. Yet, once again, she begins walking down the hall again.

(Huh? There’s something…written on the wall…)

As soon as those peculiar words enter her field of vision, Ray finds herself completely unable to move, as if paralysed in place.

“Who are you? What are you?

“You must confirm this for yourself.

“Are you your true self, or your desired self?

“An angel, or a sacrifice?

“If you know yourself, the door will open.”

“…?”

The writing almost seems like a magic spell of some kind. A bit frightened, Ray shuffles backwards a few steps.

An angel, or a sacrifice.

(I am…)

Neither of them…?

As this answers drifts to the surface of her mind from her unconscious, she suddenly becomes aware that near the mysterious writing is a door very similar to that of the examining room she was in before. And, like a puppet with its strings being pulled, she opens the door.

▲▽

This room is strange and inorganic, just like the examination room. In the centre of the room is a large rectangular table, on top of which is a white computer. Ray ventures close to it and presses the ‘’on’’ button on the keyboard.

(It won’t turn on…)

Is it broken…?

As she tilts her head to the side in wonderment, she suddenly feels as if someone is staring at her from the ceiling. Slowly, she looks upwards, and notices that multiple cameras are hung from the ceiling. And the cameras seem to be following her as she moves around the room.

(I have a bad feeling…)

I want to get to that elevator and go outside as soon as possible…

Ray walks around the table, looking to see if she can find the card to open that door

“The walls are transparent…”

The walls opposite to the entrance seem to be made of glass. Reflected in the centre is a girl. A girl with platinum blonde hair up to her waist, and a dainty, small stature.

(She’s expressionless…)

When Ray breathes, the girl in the mirror does as well. When Ray blinks, the girl mimics her.

“…It’s just me.”

It is, without a doubt, Ray.

(It looks like only this part of the wall is a mirror. But why didn’t I know it was me at first glance…?)

All at once, something like fear unsettles her heart – fear of not recognising her own form in the mirror, fear of having lost her memories.

Once more, as if to confirm she really is looking at herself, she takes a single step towards the mirror. In that moment, she hears a click sound, and the computer on the table turns on on its own. The very computer that had previously seemed to have no electrical power.

She quickly walks back to it. Numerous strings of ASCII letters appear and disappear on the black LCD screen at a frightening pace.

(Is this some sort of program…?)

As the girl stares intently, white letters appear on the screen.

Opening information file.

Enter data.

As if in tandem with the words on the screen, a bland voice begins to emit from the computer.

Please answer the following questions.

What is your name?

(My name…?)

“Ra…Rachel Gardner.” She responds as if only just remembering.

How old are you?

“…Thirteen.”

Why are you here?

“I came to the hospital…and before I knew what I was doing, I was here…”

Why?

“…?”

Why?

Why?

“…”

(I’m scared…)

The questions come so quickly that she has no way to possibly answer them. Ray’s expression twists in discomfort.

Why?

Why the hospital?

(Why…the hospital…)

For some reason, her heart beats painfully fast. Trying to control her breathing, Ray takes a deep breath and turns way from the computer.

(…A murder…)

Abruptly, fragments of memories surface within her mind, though Ray doesn’t know if these memories are real or not. She doesn’t even have a way to find out. But she doesn’t doubt the memories, either.

“I saw someone die…I saw someone get killed…right in front of me…” Her eyes are wide open as she whispers this, as if she had witnessed that hideous sight happen just a few moments ago. The killer and the person who were killed are surely people she doesn’t know. After all, she can’t remember their faces. The only thing she can clearly remember is a man straddling a woman’s body, stabbing her with a kitchen knife.

“That’s why I went for counselling…” Suddenly, Ray feels as if she can see herself, undergoing a counselling session. The room is so white and clean, it almost looks like heaven. In front of her stands her counsellour, a doctor who wears glasses. The doctor stares intensely at Ray, smiling gently, gazing into her blue eyes as if they might tell him of the end of the world.

What would you like to do today?

The computer asks her this in the same way the doctor had once.

“…I want to leave this place. I want to see my mom and dad,” Ray answers, thinking about her family.

Entry complete.

Distributing the play start card.

With these final words, the computer screen splutters and goes pitch black.

(…?)

Ray presses the on button again. But it doesn’t do anything. A card emerges from the side of the computer.

(This is definitely the card for that door…)

Ray takes the card runs toward the door as if to flee the room.

▲▽

When Ray inserts the card into the door’s slot, she hears a low beep, and the door opens. She advances through the doorway and finds that there really is an elevator there.

She presses the up button and runs into the elevator when its doors open. As she reaches to press the buttons that operate the elevator, she notices the indicator states that the current floor is B7.

(B7…? That’s weird…I don’t think the place I was before was underground…)

And there’s only a button…for B6. I don’t remember precisely, but I feel like there wasn’t even a button to go down outside, either…

It’s at that moment that a sound resonates within the elevator. It’s almost like a church bell. The voice that follows is a feminine, emotionless, hopelessly mechanical one.

The girl on the lowest level has become a sacrifice.

Everyone, please prepare your floors.

The play area begins from here. The gate will now open.

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