Shogo still remained silent.
"The thing is…" Sakamochi then leaned over, "…I just thought I'd get in touch with the Defense Forces weapons lab this time around. And guess what?" He looked at Shogo. "They said it could be deactivated by anyone with a basic knowledge in electronics, using basic transistor parts, the kind you find in a radio. Of course, that's assuming you already know the circuitry inside the device." Shogo stayed quiet, but as Sakamochi's continued staring at him, he suddenly said in a strange, blank tone of voice as if the thought suddenly occurred to him, "I don't get it. Who could possibly have that information?"
Sakamochi grinned and nodded. He continued, "Yes. Well, anyway, if we were to assume the collar was disabled, then obviously it would transmit a signal informing us of the wearer's death, right? In other words, if there was a student who could remove that collar, then he could survive without a hitch. He'd just have to wait out the game, and once the military leaves the premises he could take his time escaping. That's right, just like you said to Shuya Nanahara. Say the game were to end in the afternoon, then the subcontracted clean-up crew comes the following day. So there's plenty of time in between. Also, this time of year the water isn't too cold to swim in."
Sakamochi gave Shogo an imploring look, but Shogo only responded with a "Huh." Sakamochi leaned back on the sofa. "This is absurd. The collar circuits are supposed to be top secret, right? How could a junior high school kid possibly know about it?"
Sakamochi replied, "He could, though." Shogo looked back at Sakamochi. "See, all of this information, including your records, and the Guadalcanal device, under normal circumstances I wouldn't have looked up any of this stuff. I would have just sat back, impressed by your intelligence. This time though, I was contacted by Dictator Headquarters and the Special Defense Forces before the game began. I mean, on the twentieth."
Shogo stared at Sakamochi.
Sakamochi continued, "They said someone hacked into the government's central operations system in March." He paused. Then he added, "Of course, the hacker thought he managed to leave without a trace. He was incredibly skilled, and although he encountered the administrator while he was hacking, he managed to erase his log-in access before escaping. But…"
Sakamochi paused again. Shogo kept quiet.
"…the government system has tight security. It has a another secret log-in system that records every operation. Of course, they usually don't monitor this system, and the administrator didn't think there was anything abnormal at the time. That's why they took so long to discover it. But they found it. Yes, they did."
Shogo sealed his lips and stared at Sakamochi. But his Adam's apple moved ever so slightly. The movement was hardly discernible.
"Look," Shogo said. "A subcontractor really did tell me about rounding up the corpses. I was having a few drinks at this bar with him. The topic just came up. And the instructor from our last game told us the Program hardly ever ends from just time running out. You can even ask him." Sakamochi rubbed his right hand under his nose and stared at Shogo. "Why are you telling me this? I didn't even ask you about that."
Shogo's Adam's apple moved again. This time it definitely moved.
Sakamochi then snickered and continued, "So apparently some of the hacked data included information on the Program. In other words, technical specifications on the Guadalcanal collar. Why would someone take such useless information? I mean, what's the point? Even if the hacker were to publicize it, the government would only design a new collar, and that would be the end of that. There's no sign of that for now. But maybe we can assume this much: the intruder was driven to access this information at all cost. Don't you think?"
Shogo didn't respond. Sakamochi sighed and picked up the envelope he'd tossed out. He flipped it over with one hand and pulled out the contents. He placed them side by side in front of Shogo. There were two photos. They were both black and white and printed on B5 paper. One of them had no contrast at all, so it was hard to tell what it was, but the other one clearly showed a truck and three black dots scattered around it. Given how it was the top of a truck, the three dots were obviously heads.
"You see, right?" Sakamochi said. "That's the three of you just a while ago. Right after you killed Kazuo. Those were taken by satellite. We don't usually do this kind of thing. But I want you to take a closer at this other photo. See? You can't really make out anything, right? But that's actually a photo of the mountain. It was taken when you shot those two. There wasn't enough light, and it's obscure because you're all hidden by the woods. That's right, you can't see it."
He fell silent. The ship swayed a little, but Shogo and Sakamochi stared at each other, completely still. Then Sakamochi took a deep breath and once again combed back his hair behind his ear. He broke into a smile and spoke in a strangely intimate voice, "Say, Shogo. I've been keeping track of this game from the very beginning. Right? After you shot Shuya Nanahara and Noriko Nakagawa, Nanahara took fifty-four seconds to die, while Nakagawa ended up taking one minute and thirty seconds to die. They should have died instantly if you shot them point blank. So what's this time lag about?" Shogo was silent, but—whether he was aware of it or not—his cheeks stiffened. He managed to speak out, "It can happen. I'd have thought they died immediately but—"
"Enough." Sakamochi cut him off. He said in an adamant voice, "Let's put an end to this." He looked into Shogo's eyes and nodded as if admonishing him. Then he said, "Shuya Nanahara and Noriko Nakagawa are still on that island. They're still alive, right? They're hiding in the mountain. You're the one who hacked into the government central system. Or one of your friends. You knew how to dismantle that collar. You knew we could monitor your conversations, so you gave us that radio drama performance of shooting those two. Then you removed their collars. Am I right? I didn't say it was a wonderful performance. You're still in the middle of that wonderful performance."
Shogo gazed at Sakamochi. He grimaced through clenched teeth.
Sakamochi kept on smiling and continued, "Didn't you give them some messages about meeting spots?
And you were supposed to hook up together later, right? Well, you can forget about that. That helicopter that just flew by is going to spray the island with poison gas. It's a composite poison mustard gas developed recently called Greater East Asia Victory No. 2. The guard ships are still over there. Nanahara and Nakagawa are finished."
As he stared at Sakamochi, Shogo dug his fingers into the synthetic leather elbow rest. Sakamochi took another deep breath and sank back into the sofa. He combed back his hair. "We have no precedent for this. Strictly speaking, you're not really the winner. But one of the education committee officials I work for bet a lot of money on you. So I decided to treat this internally. It'll help my career if I help him out…therefore, you'll be the official winner. According to the records, you'll be the killer of those two___Are you satisfied now, Shogo?"
Shogo was utterly stiff, as if he might start shaking any second now. But as Sakamochi raised his brow, Shogo looked away from him and stared down at the floor. "I…don't know what you're talking about..." he said. He nervously opened and then clenched his fist several times. He glanced back at Sakamochi and then anxiously said, "Why bother spraying gas? You're just wasting tax money." Sakamochi snickered. "We'll soon see whether I am." Then he said, "Oh, that's right." He pulled out a small automatic pistol from under his coat and pointed it at Shogo. Shogo opened his eyes wide. "I've decided to take care of you as an internal matter too. You have dangerous ideas. I think it's against this country's interests if we let someone like you live. Have to toss the rotten apple out of the box. The sooner the better. You arrive DOA due to injuries from the game. How's that? Oh, don't you worry. If you happen to have friends too, we'll hunt them down. We won't have to interrogate you." Shogo slowly tore his eyes away from the gun and looked at Sakamochi. "You…" he said. He was now baring his teeth. Sakamochi broke into a grin. "Bastard!" Shogo howled in a voice full of indignation, despair, probably mixed in with
a dose of fear towards everything incomprehensible. What he wanted to do most was grab Sakamochi by the neck. But the gun restrained him. He could only clench his fists over his thighs.
"Don't you… do n't you have any kids? How can you accept this fucked up game?"
"Of course I have kids," Sakamochi replied casually. "You know, I like to have a good time, so we're about to have our third."
Shogo didn't respond to the joke, yelling instead, "Then…how can you accept this? One of your kids might end up in this game in the future! Or…or is it that…kids of high-ranked officials like you are exempted?"
Offended, Sakamochi shook his head. "That's preposterous. How can you say that, Kawada? You read the Program Requirements, right? There are no exceptions. Of course I've done some sneaky things. Using connections to get my kid into a prestigious school. I'm human. But being human also means we have to abide by certain rules…oh, that's right, you weren't able to steal that, huh? The top secret agenda also had information on the Program. I'll tell you now, this country needs the Program. The thing is, it's not an experiment at all. Come on, why do you think we have the local news broadcast the image of the winner? Of course, viewers might feel sorry for him or her, thinking, the poor student probably didn't even want to play the game, but had no choice but to fight the others. In other words, everyone ends up concluding, you cant trust anyone, right? Which would extinguish any hope of uniting and forming a coup d'etat against the government, hm? And so the Republic of Greater East Asia and its ideals will live on for eternity. Naturally everyone has to die equally for the sake of this noble goal. I've passed this wisdom onto my kids. My oldest kid is in the second grade now and she's always saying how she'll sacrifice her life for the Republic."
Shogo's cheeks began to tremble. "You're…insane," he said, "You're out of your mind! How can you be like that?" He was nearly sobbing, "A government is supposed to serve the needs of the people. We shouldn't be slaves to our own system. If you think this country makes sense…then you're insane!" Sakamochi let him finish. Then he said, "Hey, Kawada. You're still a kid. It looks like you guys had some talks, but I want you to think a little more. This is a marvelous country. It's the most prosperous country in the world. Well, you might not be able to travel abroad much, but its industrial exports are unsurpassed. The government's slogan is telling the truth when it claims our per capita production is the best in the world. The thing is though, this prosperity only comes as a result of unifying the population with a powerful government at the center. A certain degree of control is always necessary. Otherwise…we'll decline into a third-rate country, like the American Empire. You know, right? That country is in turmoil from all kinds of problems like drugs, violence, and homosexuality. They're living off their past glory, but it'll only be a matter of time before they fall apart." Shogo remained silent. He clenched his teeth. Then he spoke quietly, "Let me say one thing." Sakamochi raised his brow. "What? Go ahead."
"You guys might call it prosperity, but…" Shogo's voice sounded tired, but still dignified, "…it'll always be phony. That truth won't change even if you kill me now. You're doomed to be phony. Don't forget…that."
Sakamochi shrugged his shoulders. "Are you done with your speech?" He pointed his gun at him. Shogo tightened his mouth and glared at Sakamochi, ignoring the gun. He seemed ready to face the consequences.
"Later, Kawada." Sakamochi nodded as if to bid him farewell. Then his finger began pulling the trigger when—
BRRRATTA…the tapping, typewriter-like sound pierced through the room.
Sakamochi's finger stopped for a moment. He glanced at the door for a split second.. Jong enough to be distracted. By the time he looked back Shogo was right in front of his face. Even though there was a table in between them, he was only ten centimeters away. He'd moved instantly, like a magician, as if he'd teleported.
The rattling sound continued outside the room.
Shogo's left hand held down the gun in Sakamochi's right hand. Sakamochi froze up and looked up at Shogo's face, now within kissing distance. His long hair wasn't too messy. He didn't try to swing his hand loose from Shogo. He merely looked at Shogo with his mouth closed.
The rattling sound again.
The door opened. "An attack—" Nomura stopped once he grasped the situation and attempted to lift his rifle.
Still holding Sakamochi's right hand down with his left hand, Shogo spun Sakamochi's body around as if dancing a tango. As he turned, he squeezed Sakamochi's index finger on the trigger and began firing away. Three shots pierced Nomura right above his heart. He groaned and collapsed. The rattling sounded louder now, with the door open.
Shogo looked into Sakamochi's eyes again. Their bodies still entwined, he drove his right fist under Sakamochi's chin.
Sakamochi coughed out blood. His eyes stared up at Shogo. The blood spilled from his lips, dripping down to his chin and onto the floor.
"I told you, it was a waste of tax money." Shogo twisted his fist further into Sakamochi's chin. Sakamochi's eyes rolled away from Shogo. Then they slowly rolled upwards. Shogo moved away from Sakamochi, and Sakamochi crashed onto the sofa. His throat was now exposed. A brown stick poked out of his windpipe like a strange ornament. Closer up, the gold logo,
"HB," on its butt-end was visible. This was one of those pencils that everyone, including Shogo and Shuya, had written, "We will kill each other," but Kinpatsu Sakamochi probably had no idea. After glancing down at Sakamochi he tucked the gun into his belt. He dashed over to Nomura, who was lying face up, and picked up his rifle. He took the extra magazines from his belt and left the room. He opened the two doors down the corridor on the right, but there were only rows of bunk beds. No one was inside.
The rattling was approaching him. A soldier came tumbling down the stairs beyond the narrow corridor. Unarmed except for the gun in his hand—maybe he'd thought he was safe now that the game was over—it was the soldier Kondo, now dead.
Shogo stepped around Kondo's body, entered the staircase, and looked up. There was Shuya Nanahara (Male Student No. 15) holding an Ingram M10, standing next to Noriko Nakagawa (Female Student No. 15). They both looked down at him. They were soaking wet. 78
"Shogo!"
Seeing that Shogo was safe, Shuya cried in relief. Upon hearing the gunfire besides his shots, he thought they might have been too late.
Shogo ran upstairs' with a rifle he'd taken from one of the soldiers.
"So you're all right?"
"Yeah." Shogo nodded. "Sakamochi's dead. Did you get rid of everyone?"
"We got everyone on deck. But we couldn't find that one called Nomura—"
"Then that's everyone. I got rid of Nomura," he said. He passed by them and ran to the bridge where the pilothouse was located.
There was one body lying in the corridor leading to the pilothouse, then two more inside and outside the briefing room under the pilothouse. One of them was the soldier Tahara, the others were the ship's naval crew, but Tahara was the only with a gun, and it was only a pistol. Shuya had blown them away with the Ingram. There were two others lying on deck, the first naval soldiers Shuya killed. After glancing at Tahara's body, Shogo grabbed the railing that led up to the pilothouse and said, "You were merciless, Shuya."
"Yeah." Shuya nodded. "I was."
Once he was up in the pilothouse, there were two more of Shuya's victims, crew members sprawled in the corner. In the dark window were several holes formed either from stray bullets or shots that had torn through the crew members.
The ship passed an island lit up with residential lights (probably Megijima). Shuya wondered whether the gunfire could be heard over there or even further into the sea around them. Well, it wasn't that uncommon to hear sudden gunfire in this country, so he wasn't too worried.
Shogo looked straight ahead. Shuya and Noriko looked in the same direction and saw what looked like a gravel carrier approaching them on their right. Shogo held the steering wheel and shifted the bar next to it methodically.
&
nbsp; "I hope you didn't catch a cold," Shogo asked.
"I'm fine."
"And you, Noriko?"
"I'm okay too." Noriko nodded.
Shogo squinted ahead as he said, "I'm sorry. I did the easy work this time." The gravel carrier was approaching.
"That's not true," Shuya responded as his eyes shuttled between Shogo's hands and the ship ahead of them. "I wasn't in any condition to take on Sakamochi. He was armed. You were the right man." As he kept watch, the carrier loomed larger and larger. But…they managed to skim past each other. The carrier's lights receded.
"Phew." Shogo took a deep breath and then let go of the steering wheel. He began pressing the intricate rows of buttons on the nautical instruments. He gazed at the panel for a while, and after seeing one of the diodes go out, he took the radio transmitter. A voice came through the speaker, "This is the Bisan Seto Inland Sea Traffic Advisory Service Center." That's what it sounded like. Shogo responded, "This is Defense Patrol Ship DM 245-3568. We need you to confirm our location."
"DM 245-3568, we cannot confirm. Are you having trouble?"
"Our DPS navigation device seems to be broken. We will stop the boat for an hour or so to repair the device. Could you notify the other ships?"