by Yusuke Kishi
“Is their departure really such a big problem to the towns?” I asked. “I don’t believe Maria or Mamoru will ever return. So I don’t think they will be a negative influence…”
“You don’t see the true nature of the problem,” Tomiko said sadly.
“What do you mean?”
She stopped petting the cat.
“Do you know the state of the population in the Japanese archipelago?”
I was confused by the question. “Not really…”
“In the past, it was the first thing taught in geography classes. But now, such basic information is treated as highly confidential. …at present, the population of all nine districts combined is estimated to be between fifty and sixty thousand.”
“That many?” I said, surprised.
“In the ancient civilization, this would be a startlingly small number. A thousand years ago, there were over a hundred million people in Japan alone.”
I couldn’t believe it. “Hundred million” was a unit used to count fish eggs, not humans. For one thing, it would be difficult to secure food for that many people. And if everyone were to live in the most accessible areas, there wouldn’t even be room to breathe.
“Did you know? The ancient civilization had something called nuclear weapons. Through fission of radioactive elements, or nuclear fusion of deuterium, one bomb had the power to wipe out an entire city.”
“An entire city…?”
I couldn’t imagine why on earth anyone needed a weapon like that. Just for argument’s sake, even if they wanted to capture Mt. Fuji, destroying the city protecting it would make the victory completely meaningless.
“Managing such a weapon was incredibly stressful. Which country had the most bombs, which country was developing new ones…but perhaps the situation we face now is even worse.”
“I don’t understand. I mean, those weapons don’t exist anymore, right?”
“Correct. Now, the world is filled with something that is potentially far more fearsome.”
“What?”
“Humans.”
Tomiko tickled the orange-striped cat under its chin and its purr rumbled through the floorboards like thunder.
“Think back to what I told you before. A single fiend could easily kill an entire district. Moreover, unlike nuclear bombs, a fiend slaughters for as long as its body permits. …and as for karma demons, the mental imbalance of one individual could mean the end of life on Earth.”
“…but those are special cases, so if we guard against them properly-”
“No, that’s not how it works. You are too preoccupied with the processes by which cantus can go out of control. The real problem is that cantus is unlimited energy. Right now, there are fifty to sixty thousand people living on the Japanese archipelago, and you must imagine that each one has the destructive potential of a nuclear weapon. …so when two of these weapons go missing, how would you deal with them?”
The tortoiseshell cat, twice the size of a lion, got up and stretched. It yawned, showing long saber-like teeth. It paid me no attention as it walked lazily away, making the floorboards creak under its weight.
I would be lying if I said Tomiko’s words didn’t come as a shock to me, as I had never looked at humans that way before. Those in power probably looked at everything from that perspective so as to be prepared for the worst. But at the time, I thought it was simply the paranoid fears of an old woman.
“Bring them back,” she said. “If you want them to live, you must bring them back. I will vouch for their safety. If they continue to hide, they will not live long.”
“How come?”
“The Board of Education will devote all their attention to their disposal. The nearby queerat colonies would all receive orders to kill them. And that’s not all. All the neighboring districts they might come into contact with, like Shiroishi 71 in Tohoku, Tainai 84 in Hokuriku, and Koumi 95 in Chuubu would all receive letters asking for help in their disposal. They all have their own methods of dealing with threats, which they will naturally use to defend themselves.”
“That’s so cruel!”
“Yes, so bring them back before it happens. I will give you three days. I’ll delay the Board of Education for three days. In that time, find them and bring them back even if you have to tie them up and drag them with you. Don’t worry, I’m sure you can do it.”
I sat up straight and took a deep breath. There was no room for doubt. I had already decided.
“I understand. I’ll leave immediately.”
“Good luck.”
I stood up, bowed and made to leave. My eyes fell upon the black and grey striped cat. Its eyes were narrowed and its tail was waving slightly from side to side. It appeared to be bidding me goodbye, but the look on its face was similar to that of a cat stalking a bird.
“I would have been prey for those cats had you not come, am I right?” I turned from the doorway and looked gratefully at Tomiko.
“I’m not too sure,” she smiled faintly.
A new question arose in my mind.
“But why do you hold so much…influence?”
Tomiko didn’t answer for a moment. Just when I was starting to regret that I had asked something rude, she stood and came over to me.
“I’ll take you to the dock. Afterwards, I’ll tell your parents where you’ve gone.”
“Thank you.”
We left the Board of Education’s office together, like a granddaughter accompanying her grandmother on a walk. It was still snowing slightly, and tiny flakes danced around us. Through the white fog of my breath, I looked back at the evil building. It was no small miracle that I had made it out of there alive.
“Your question earlier…” Tomiko held her hand up to catch the drifting snow.
Her hands were unexpectedly youthful. There were no wrinkles on her wrist, and no veins showed under the skin. Flakes of snow melted in the palm of her hand.
“I think this is a good chance to tell you about some things.”
I swallowed and waited for her to continue.
“It’s true that I hold a lot of power in the district. Possibly enough to be a dictator or absolute monarch if I wished.”
I didn’t think she was bluffing. After all, she had dealt with the fearsome Board of Education like they were children.
“Do you know what the source of power is? You were not taught much about the history of mankind, so the question may be a little difficult. In the past, men used violence, fear, wealth, religious brainwashing, and so forth to obtain power. I didn’t use any of that. All I had on my side…was time.”
“Time?” I didn’t get it.
“Yes. I’m completely unremarkable as far as humans go, but I had a lot of time.”
We arrived at the dock. The boat Tomiko prepared for me was already there. When did she give the order for that? It was wedge-shaped, meant for quick travel, and was equipped with skiis like the ones I had used a few days ago.
“Saki, what age do I look like to you?”
That was a difficult question. It would be rude if I guessed older than she actually was, but I couldn’t come up with a good guess anyway, so I told her the truth.
“About sixty…seven?”
“Good guess, I’m surprised. …you got the last two digits right,” she grinned. “I’m 267 years old.”
“You can’t be,” I laughed, thinking it was a joke.
But her expression did not change. “My episode with the fiend when I was a nurse was 245 years ago. And I’ve been chairman for the Ethics Committee for 170 years.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “B-but, how did you…” I couldn’t even finish the question.
“How did I live so long? Why do I look so young? Come now, don’t look at me like you’ve seen a ghost.”
I shook my head.
“My grades in cantus usage were always perfectly average. In today’s Sage Academy, I might even stumble over some of the second year lessons. But there is one thing I
can do that no one else, not even Shisei, can. I can regenerate my telomeres. Do you know what those are?”
“No.”
“I see. So even this information is restricted. Telomeres are the parts at the ends of our chromosomes. Every time a cell divides, its telomeres are shortened a little bit because they can’t be fully regenerated. Once the telomeres have worn down, the cells lose their ability to replicate and death is inevitable. So the length of our telomeres dictates the length of our lifespan, like the length of a wick on a candle.”
Since my knowledge of biology was limited by the classes I had taken, I couldn’t fully understand what Tomiko was saying. But the image she created was clear enough. The nucleus of a cell divides the double helix of its DNA in order to replicate. With time, the ends of the strands of DNA shorten. If it were possible to reset these parts to their original length, eternal life was a real possibility.
“…so even though Satoru is related to me, he’s not my grandson,” Tomiko said, sounding amused. “I still remember the birth of my first grandson 210 years ago. And that saying that grandchildren are cuter than all other children is completely true. I can’t remember them being anything but little angels. But the feeling doesn’t really extend to great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren. Satoru is removed from me by nine generations and so has only 1/512th of my genes. That’s not to say I don’t adore him, but the feeling of being blood relatives isn’t really there.”
So it’s possible that even though Satoru calls Tomiko “grandmother”, he doesn’t actually feel that it’s true. Plus, his two real grandmothers are probably still living, making it even stranger to call her that.
“I’ll tell you everything when you return.” she said.
Before I left, she said something that sounded like a parting gift. “I’ll have a new lesson for you once you return; you must be bored with what you’re doing at Sage Academy.”
“It’s…fixing a vase could come in useful.”
“Indeed. But I’ll share a little secret with you. The mental image to repair your telomeres is a little like the one needed to fix a broken vase.”
Remembering how naive I was back then always makes me break out in a cold sweat. Someone with that sort of knowledge could achieve any goal, or act upon any desire as easily as taking candy from a baby. (I just recently came across that phrase in one of the ancient books and thought it was a terrible metaphor. Did people really do that back then?)
Anyway, I set off with the boat in high spirits. My fourteen year-old body was filled to the brim with the conviction that I would find Maria and Mamoru and bring them home.
Of course, saving my friends was the most important thing, but I couldn’t deny that in the back of my mind, I was thrilled to have been the chosen one.
Now that I think about it, since I had been appointed the successor to the current leader, I probably tried to act the part.
At first, spurred on by the excitement of such a promotion, I tried to go as fast as I could. But after a while, the biting wind cooled my head a little.
Traveling alone was dangerous; Mamoru was the prime example of that. If Squonk hadn’t rescued him, he’d definitely be dead by now.
I stopped the boat.
I needed a partner. One way or another, I had to find Satoru, but I didn’t know where to start. I do know he was questioned by the Board of Education after he came back, and he most likely made it out alright because Tomiko was there.
I regretted leaving in such a hurry. I should have asked Tomiko for permission to bring Satoru with me. I struggled to decide whether I should go back. But something made me hesitate.
Snow fell heavily, flakes melting as they touched the dark surface of the water. The sight reminded me of something.
Tomiko’s eyes. They were dark and fathomless, like she had seen all the mysteries of time…
In the end, I decided to turn back. But as I was about to do so, a boat approached me from behind. It was hard to see through the snow, but I immediately recognized the silhouette of the person speeding toward me. He was probably using the same speedboat as me.
“Hey!” he yelled and waved as if trying to confirm the occupant of the boat ahead of him.
It was Satoru.
“Over here!” I waved back.
“Saki! Thank goodness I caught up to you,” he gasped. “I was afraid I was going to have to look all over for you in this snow.”
“Why? Weren’t you questioned by the Board of Education?”
“Yeah, last night, by that awful Hiromi Torigai. It was bad enough the first time, but they called me again today and I was half ready to be killed.”
“Good thing your grandmother was there.”
Satoru probably didn’t know about his true relationship with Tomiko yet.
“Yeah… She really saved me there. But I was stuck waiting in a tiny room all morning. When she finally told me to come out, she immediately told me to go after you. I had no idea what was going on so it really surprised me.”
“You know what we need to do?”
“We need to bring Maria and Mamoru back, right?”
That was all he needed to know.
Unlike before, we now knew where Mamoru’s snow hut was, so we used the waterways and stopped as close to our destination as possible. We went all the way to the edge of Oakgrove, then traveled two hundred meters over land, skimming through the snow on the boat’s skis. We ran over quite a few rocks along the way, and the bottoms of the boats were probably badly scratched, but there was no time to worry about that.
It was a relief when we arrived at the Tone River. We slipped into the water and traveled two kilometers upriver before landing again.
We moored the boats on some rocks to keep them from drifting away. I finally noticed that they had the “God’s Eye” seal on the sides, along with a red number and a Sanskrit character. It was the first time I had ever seen the word Ban, the symbol of Vairocana, used. The boats probably belonged to the Ethic’s Committee, and had undoubtedly never been handled so roughly before.
We unloaded our skis and shouldered our backpacks.
“Let’s go.”
It was barely past noon, but the sky was slowly filling with clouds, making it look like the sun was about to set soon. It was still snowing, and the cold wind felt like knives on our skin.
As if pulled by an invisible rope, we skied straight up the hill, snow flying out behind us as we went.
Chapter 5
To be honest, I have absolutely no sense of direction.
Some time ago, when Satoru and I were wandering through the queerat nest, I remember saying that I wasn’t good at remembering the twists and turns of the tunnels. It’s actually a lot worse than that. The truth is that I wouldn’t even be able to get from one place to another in my own town if it weren’t for the street signs on the canals.
“…hmm, is this the right direction?”
Unlike me, Satoru has the navigational abilities of a homing pigeon, but since we were following a different path from the previous trip, he often stopped to make sure we were going the right way.
“It’s right. I think,” I agreed.
It’s not like I could actually tell, so I couldn’t respond in any other way. But that seemed to annoy Satoru.
“Saki…you’re not even really thinking about it, are you?”
“That’s not true.”
“You sure about that?”
“I told you I thought about it.”
Satoru shook his head disbelievingly and continued climbing the hill, grumbling to himself. I followed in his tracks.
I felt pretty optimistic about the situation. I thought that as soon as we arrived at Maria’s snow hut, our mission would be half completed. Plus, joining up with Satoru was an accomplishment too.
“Huh? I thought we passed through here before?”
As we crested a snowy peak and left the bamboo forest, a familiar scenery appeared before us.
“Did we get
it wrong? We did leave skii tracks in the area last time.”
Satoru looked disappointedly at the powdery snow all around us. In just one day, enough snow had piled up to erase our tracks.
“No, it’s the right place. I’m positive!”
I was confident, but Satoru said slowly, “Why do you say that?”
“Because I remember it.”
“Really? Because you didn’t remember anything on the way here.”
“Well, that was the path…” I didn’t really want to admit that, but I needed to convince him I was confident. “I remember the place. See? Like those trees.” I pointed to the rowan trees growing off to the side. “You don’t see those around here often, right? That’s why I remembered them.”
“Are you sure?” he asked doubtfully.
“And that rock too. It looks like a snake coiling around itself. It’s easy to recognize.”
“Actually it looks more like a pile of shit,” Satoru said. But he seemed to believe me anyway. “If this is the place, then we’re getting close.”
We started along the slope. Even without any trails to follow, I gradually started recognizing my surroundings. Excited to be on the right track, we sped up.
The hill became steeper. We were now much higher up, and the valley on our left looked like in infinite drop. The snow continued to fall and we were forced to slow down as visibility decreased.
“Where’s that flat rock? The place where Mamoru’s sled fell.” Satoru asked.
“I have no idea. I can’t see it at all,” I answered honestly.
There was nothing memorable on the hill, and the falling snow made everything look different. It wasn’t light, powdered snow either, but big wet flakes that stuck to everything.
We stopped.
“It’s dangerous to keep going like this. We might end up falling from that rock too,” Satoru said as he rubbed his numb fingers together.
“We should be okay if we go slowly.”
“That’ll take too long. And no matter how slowly we go, if we fall, we fall.”
We looked at one another. Each of us hoped that the other had a secret plan, but of course it wasn’t that easy. To make things worse, the snow was coming down harder and thicker than before, and the wind was picking up. The bare hill provided no shelter and we suddenly realized how cold it was. Skiing up the hill, though largely cantus-assisted, had kept us warm. But I hadn’t eaten since morning, and all the energy I had burned made me lightheaded.
