Arcadia Chapter 1.3

On the 5th day after accepting the request, 07 had grown little by little and was now the size of a basketball. The acrylic box, with its open back, was connected to a white room, and 07 clung to the inside of the box where the small lab bench was, growing larger. It had been disgusting at first, but now he could face it calmly. The power of the client fee was great. Of course, he hadn’t forgotten the warning not to stare at it for too long. He turned his eyes away within 5 seconds each time he looked, so it was almost as if he hadn’t looked at all.

“Huh?”

Today, as well, Van, who was sitting in a crooked posture with both legs on the desk, occasionally glancing inside, straightened his back. Through the transparent membrane, a whitish object that hadn’t been there yesterday came into view. He shot up and pressed his head against the glass wall.

Inside the faintly wriggling membrane was something in the shape of a water drop. He was less shocked because he already knew what it would become, but the speed was seriously faster than expected. Its size grew slightly with every blink of an eye.

Was it always this fast? Glancing at 07, he flipped through the documents. He scanned the photos of SUC—01 in order, checking the recorded time periods. For 01, there was a gap of more than 2 years between the petri dish photo and the photo of the fetal form, and for 02 and 03, which were incubated simultaneously, it took a full 2 years.

As he moved on to the next specimen, the incubation speed became exponentially faster. There was no data for 06, which was said to be in progress, so there was no way to confirm how much the incubation period had shortened. Anxiously chewing the tip of his index finger, Van made a nauseated face.

“…This is creepy.”

Thinking that the thing inside was not human, an instinctive revulsion slowly arose. Looking at the remaining photos, it looked exactly like a human, but he suddenly thought it would have been better if it had a bizarre appearance. Isn’t it eerie when something that isn’t human pretends to be human?

He tapped the area of the glass wall where 07 was hanging with his fingernail, then turned around. The few remaining food items in the house were running out. If he didn’t go to the supermarket today, he would starve to death with this monster. Please let nothing happen while I’m at the supermarket. He offered a short prayer and stepped on the ladder.

Getting into the car Michel had left behind, Van threw the hat he was wearing into the back seat due to the heat rising from his limbs. It had snowed so much that he had to shovel away the snow that had piled up and frozen in the garden before he could get in the car. To think it had been snowing heavily for a week straight. The weather seemed to have gone completely crazy. It was a relief that there was a car at home so he didn’t have to wait for the bus in this weather, but it wasn’t something to be entirely happy about.

Where had he gone without a car in a neighborhood where even the nearest supermarket was a good thirty-minute drive away? He felt like he wouldn’t die a natural death because of that damn old man. He roughly brushed off the melted snow dripping from his shoulders and started the engine, but the engine, which had rumbled to life, died out anticlimactically.

“This is really pathetic, so pathetic…”

He turned the key several times, but the old junk car, which had been neglected for a long time, wouldn’t start easily. In the end, he had to go through the trouble of replacing the dead battery before he could finally get it moving. Van checked the house, where the curtains were drawn to prevent anyone from seeing inside, and pulled out of the garage.

“Van!”

“Long time no see.”

As he approached, slowly swinging a heavy shopping bag, Jack, in a yellow uniform, beamed with pleasure. Jack, who hadn’t changed a bit since the last time he saw him, scanned the barcode of the beer placed on the counter and asked sociably.

“How many years has it been? How long are you here for this time?”

“I don’t know. I think I’ll be here for quite a while.”

“Looking at the amount, I guess so.”

Jack shrugged as he continued to scan barcodes without a pause while asking after him. As he continued the trivial greetings and divided the purchased groceries into four bags, Jack looked up, saying, ‘Ah, right’.

“Has your grandmother come? She said she was going on a trip somewhere last time and wouldn’t be around for a while.”

To think he would meet someone who knew of Michel’s whereabouts here. Van helped him out, replying lightly as if it were nothing.

“I don’t even know where he went. He didn’t tell me.”

“Still not keeping in touch properly?”

“Well, when were we ever on good terms?”

Jack, shaking his head as if fed up, handed over the bulging bags and rolled his eyes. Where was it again, he wondered, before finally spitting out an unexpected place name.

“Alaska. It was Alaska.”

Van, who had been secretly listening, asked back with a dumbfounded expression.

“Al… aska? Glaciers? That Alaska?”

“Yeah. I thought he was going for research.”

Jack added that he was sure, he remembered because it was such an unusual place, and handed him the receipt. He had bought so much that the long receipt was the size of his palm even when folded three times. Van stuffed it into his pocket and forced a smile.

“Right, research… I guess.”

“Give him a call. It doesn’t make sense that his only grandchild doesn’t even know where he is.”

“Tell me about it. I’m wondering what’s going on myself.”

Just as he was about to turn away, having obtained at least a faint clue about Michel’s whereabouts, Jack gestured urgently. Wondering what was wrong, he saw him grab a handful of chocolate bars that were piled up on a display near the counter and shove them into a bag. The movement was so natural that a hollow laugh escaped him.

“Are you allowed to do this?”

“I’ve worked here for years, this much is nothing. Ah! And be careful. It’s scary in this small place…”

Jack shuddered, then his eyes widened when he saw Van’s clueless expression.

“You don’t know? Someone died yesterday. They were found in the woods near your house.”

“In our neighborhood?”

“You should watch the news. Well, you don’t have to worry. It’s an ordinary person like me who has to worry…”

Jack lamented that it wouldn’t be a problem for Van, who was a mercenary, but he had nothing to rely on but his gun. Starting with the story of the murder in the small town, the conversation quickly turned to the current lives of their acquaintances.

Van cut Jack off before the conversation could get any longer. Although he didn’t have anything special to do, he couldn’t leave the house for too long. Feeling like he had left a kettle on the stove, he offered a sincere apology to the disappointed Jack and hurried out of the supermarket.

On the way home, with the back seat full of groceries, he saw the woods that surrounded the small town. The forest, buried in white snow and looking like a dense, snow-covered mountain, felt chilly, bolstered by the eerie story he had just heard.

‘They say his face was a mess and there were no fingerprints. Everything that could be used to identify him was damaged, so everyone thinks it’s the work of a gang, but you never know.’

He clicked his tongue, thinking that unsettling things always came all at once.

Passing the house next door, which had been unoccupied for a long time, Van arrived at the garage, and hugging the bags, he headed into the house. He was about to go in, leaving the front door open as usual, but Jack’s words about the grim atmosphere in the town stuck with him, so he locked it. He intended to search the warehouse in the near future. Since Michel lived alone, he must have a shotgun or two.

He filled the refrigerator and cupboards to the brim with groceries and went down the ladder, unwrapping the chocolate bar Jack had slipped him. Van flipped through the binder, which was open to the same page as before he went to the supermarket, and turned his gaze to the lab bench. In that moment, the chocolate bar held between his teeth fell onto the cramped desk with a thud.

“…What the.”

He pressed his face against the glass wall until his nose was squashed, but the basketball-shaped form he had last seen was nowhere to be found. On the ceiling of the box above the lab bench, a transparent membrane hung limply, just a shed skin. The outer layer of the shed skin, now dry, was slowly crumbling from the edges.

Before he left, it had just been a shape, so he couldn’t believe the sight before his eyes. Even if ‘it’ were to hatch, he had estimated it would take about 5 months, not 5 days.

Van quickly moved the desk close to the glass wall and scanned the area to find the missing contents. Not seeing it anywhere, his knees began to bend. Finally, kneeling on the floor, Van broke out in a cold sweat and searched the interior thoroughly.

“Where did it go…. Where did this…”

His light, amber-colored eyes turned to the left. In the left corner, right in front of the glass wall, something was moving faintly.

His body froze in place as he came face to face with ‘it’. Goosebumps crawled up his arms. He didn’t know whether to call it a relief, but it was not in a human form.

To put it simply, it was a lump. A lump wrapped in a membrane thinner than the shed skin hanging from the ceiling of the box was wriggling violently. Small handprints and footprints appeared and disappeared as it pushed against the membrane, repeating the motion. With his jaw dropped, Van stared in horror at the body that had been created while he was at the supermarket. The saying ‘growing in the blink of an eye’ couldn’t have meant this.

After being frozen for a long time, Van came to his senses and moved closer to the glass wall, watching the lump. It seemed to have rolled to the floor when the shed skin tore, but it looked unharmed despite the considerable height, and he felt a sense of wonder, absurdly enough.

Lacking strength, 07’s hand couldn’t seem to break through the membrane. Half of him wished it wouldn’t come out, and the other half worried about what would happen to his payment if it died like that.

“I’m going crazy…”

As Van stood there, unable to leave and just twiddling his thumbs, the old-fashioned phone he had left on the desk for five days began to vibrate. The timing was impeccable. Without a moment’s hesitation, Van answered the phone and started with an excuse.

“Hey…. This is too fast. I didn’t touch anything.”

— Where were you?

A flat, mechanical voice flowed out. In his confusion, Van didn’t hear the question. He placed a hand on the glass and tapped it gently, but 07 was still in a fierce battle with the membrane.

“It can’t get out right now, should I just leave it? Like this?”

— I asked why you didn’t answer the phone.

“Is that important right now?”

— You don’t want the money?

Van let out a hollow laugh and mouthed a curse. No one who used money to threaten people was ever any good.

“You want me to starve to death? I went to the supermarket, why.”

— Keep the phone with you. Now, find a scalpel.

“A scalpel?”

— A small knife. For surgery. Hurry.

His body moved before he understood why he was looking for it. He wedged the phone between his shoulder and ear and rummaged through all the drawers. Miscellaneous items, including pens, clattered to the floor and rolled around in his haste.

— Hurry.

“Ah, just wait a second.”

The nagging voice got on his nerves for no reason. Bending down, Van opened the bottom drawer and found a knife. It wasn’t a scalpel. Would this be okay? With a reluctant feeling, he asked carefully.

“Is a regular knife okay?”

— It’s fine.

What he had finally found was a small Swiss army knife that included a nail clipper and a nail file. Van, holding the knife, scanned the inside of the glass wall.

“What do I do now?”

— Go in.

“…Inside? Me?”

— To the right of the glass, no, the other side.

Van, who had unconsciously turned his head to the right, looked to the left again.

— There’s a door. The password to open it is….

“Are you crazy? I don’t want to.”

The person on the other end was silent for a moment, then threw out a sarcastic remark mixed with laughter, as if they were dumbfounded.

— You think you’ll get that money just by writing in a diary outside? Do you have any conscience? 1225. Get in there now.

“Would I be doing this kind of work if I had a conscience?”

Van retorted in a sulky voice and headed to the left. When he pushed aside the monitor that was covering the glass wall, a keypad was revealed. And below it was a rectangular groove.

“You call this a door? It’s a window.”

He clicked his tongue at the cramped size, which he could only get through by crawling on his stomach. Spitting out all sorts of complaints, Van nevertheless pressed the small number buttons on the black pad in order, making sure not to miss any. It was a good thing the numbers were easy; if it had been more than six digits, he would have forgotten it long ago.

When he entered all four digits, a gap in the glass wall slid open without a sound. With a reluctant feeling, Van knelt down and carefully pushed his body into the opening.

The musty air of the basement was instantly gone. The feeling of a dry throat, he guessed, was due to the dry air inside the wall. No sooner had he pulled his remaining leg through the passage than the glass slid shut at high speed. Just as he confirmed that there was also a door lock pad on the inside, a piece of advice came from the quiet other side.

— You should probably grab a towel too.

“You should have said that…”

He had just crawled all the way in, and now he was talking about a towel. Van, who was about to let loose a stream of curses this time, shut his mouth tight. Something was a little strange.