Sounds of shallow breathing could be heard in the darkness of the sweltering factory.
Vera of Hound Dog was hiding behind cover. No one would have imagined that a woman like her would fall to these depths. She was a bright, sociable person who never failed when measuring the distance between herself and others. She always performed flawlessly in both intellectual and physical tasks. That was the sort of person she was.
She had her own circumstances for being here, but even when others showed interest in what those might be, she had the verbal skills to adroitly turn the conversation elsewhere.
As she possessed a fair amount of good sense for someone in the collection of trash that was Hound Dog, Vera tried to cooperate with the others. In a group in which everyone showed contempt for everyone else, those attempts stood out, but Vera still wished to build at least some trust with her "comrades".
However…
(The radio is too noisy.)
Screams and cries for help were constantly streaming from her radio, but Vera's response was nothing but annoyance. She had no way of knowing which were real and which were traps. Caines had set off on his own saying he would rescue their comrades, but Vera had been unable to contact him since. Responding to the cries for help was simply too dangerous.
Vera could not trust anyone.
The bonds she had slowly attempted to build up had all crumbled away here.
"Uuh…" groaned Vera.
Her best bet was to leave the facility for a fresh start. Rod had said over the radio that the exits were booby trapped, but that sort of warning was suspicious. Had that actually been Rod? She needed to leave even if it was a bit risky. She would leave behind her comrades if necessary. That was the only way to avoid complete annihilation.
(This is horrible… This day could not get any worse…)
Vera began searching for an exit on unsteady legs. She had lost her will to fight. The tension inside her was so great that her focus and thoughts had completely cut out.
And then she realized something.
(The radio…)
The radio had been so noisy before, but now it was emitting nothing but a steady sound of static. She had avoided saying anything into the radio before so as not to further confuse matters, but a sudden sense of hopelessness filled her. Vera switched on the radio and brought it close to her lips.
"This is Vera. Repeat, this is Vera. What is your situation? Over."
No response came.
Sweat poured from her skin. Had everyone assumed her transmission was a fake? Or had the worst possible scenario happened? Had everyone else fallen prey to Accelerator?
(No, there's another option.)
Vera thought up another possibility as she searched for a mental escape route.
(Maybe all the other survivors have evacuated outside like I'm trying to do. The factory walls are thick, so they would cut off most of the signal. If they're all outside, my signal might not reach them.)
That would mean Vera had been abandoned by her comrades, but it was still the better option. At the very least, it was better than if her comrades had been annihilated within this trash processing facility.
(That's right. Hound Dog wouldn't be taken out so easily. Accelerator is using the darkness to his advantage, but he needs complete darkness for it to work. Under the moonlight, we can distinguish between friend and foe without our radios. We can handle this more efficiently outside.)
And that meant she needed to head outside to safety.
After making up her mind, Vera searched for the exit with more strength in her stride.
She still had hope.
Once they regrouped, they had no reason to be afraid of Accelerator.
But it was due to that very hope that Vera's thoughts reversed directions and plunged into terror the instant she saw her colleague being crushed by the press.
Technically, Vera did not directly see the familiar face of her colleague. What she saw was a piece of equipment meant to crush steel parts into a single mass. It existed in a pit extending about 3 meters deep into the ground. It was about 10 meters across.
The thick metal plate that did the crushing was pressing down into the pit.
And yet she could hear cries coming from beyond the metal plate.
(Nancy!!)
It was due to the slight camaraderie she had built up that Vera was able to tell who the voice belonged to. Meanwhile, she could hear a crunching sound as the thick metal plate slowly continued downwards.
"W-wahh! Waaaahhhhhhh!!"
She slammed her palm against a button on the wall while in a state of almost complete panic. With a loud metallic noise, the press finally stopped moving.
The cries from below continued.
A flesh-and-blood human could never withstand the pressure from that metal plate. It was likely due to the pile of metal parts covering the floor below the press that Nancy was still alive. Her body had sunk into the pile of metal parts like a cushion.
Nevertheless, she was certainly dying.
Dying more quickly might have made the experience less painful for her.
Vera pressed a different button on the wall and the metal plate rose back up.
That might be enough to save Nancy.
But…
The button was covered in something sticky. It was a dark liquid similar to what could be found on a trash can next to a vending machine. She had been forced to touch the stain in order to press the button.
Even though the stain was made up of human flesh and blood.
A small piece of flesh with crushed bone and skin inside was stuck to it.
"…Ah?"
It felt like the string supporting her consciousness had snapped.
She could have sworn she literally heard the small sound of it snapping.
"Gah!? Gyahh!! Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!!"
Vera rushed backwards while shouting out so loudly she thought her throat would tear apart. She could not stay there any longer. She could feel what she had built up come crumbling down. She felt as if a single drop of water falling on her skin would make her die of shock.
While in that state, she tripped over something and landed on her ass in something wet.
She looked down and found a handful-sized piece of flabby flesh.
It was smashed almost beyond recognition, but it could only be a human's lower jaw.
"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!"
She shook it off and began to run away.
But as her gaze raced randomly around, she met another colleague. But it was unclear whether it was right to say she "met" him. His body was held in place by thick wires and had been boiled by the high temperature steam spewing from a severed pipe, so that really may not have been the best word.
Vera vomited.
The mask covering her face prevented it from leaking out. The viscous liquid gushed from her mouth and nose, but Vera showed no sign of being bothered by the discomfort. She had bigger things to worry about.
"W-waaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh…"
Her voice grew weaker and weaker as it stretched out longer and longer.
Vera looked down at her silent radio.
She knew the truth now.
The meaning of the silence had been simple. There was no plan. They were not retreating to regroup. Most likely, not a single one of her colleagues had made it outside. Every single member of Hound Dog had been annihilated by the eerie attractions within the Third Resource Recycling Plant. Their minds had been worn down like hers until they had lost all ability to think properly, and then they had been toyed with as they stood around blankly.
Strength left Vera's hands.
Her radio and submachine gun clanked as they hit the floor. Vera herself dropped to her knees.
Who was she fighting?
Accelerator had never used weapons before. He had never given a single thought about the terrain. He had simply charged forward while plowing through any obstacle with his powers. And so they had assumed he would be an easy opponent while his powers were restricted so long as they had a plan.
But it was too late now.
He was using weapons. He was using the building. He was reading their mental state and thinking up the most effective means of throwing their minds into disarray. Instead of simply charging at them in anger, he would even choose to not kill an opponent if that would apply the greatest psychological damage.
The most frightening thing was how quickly he had grown mentally. He was no longer a child who simply relied on his powers. He could now use everything at his disposal to kill. Accelerator was enough of a threat now, but he would likely accelerate even further in the future. He would grow to the point that he could defeat the entire world and no one could hope to oppose him.
Vera felt such terror that her senses grew numb.
He had robbed her of even the ability to feel fear.
He was a monster.
And Hound Dog had foolishly aided in breaking open the egg to let him hatch.
Vera heard a quiet footstep from directly behind her.
She did not turn around. Instead, she gave a slight smile with her head hanging limply down.