My body felt all mushy.
If someone were to ask what exactly that feeling was, I’d simply reply that it was mushy.
Because honestly, I had no idea how to explain this sensation myself.
My guess was that it had something to do with my body becoming amorphous.
So… this essentially means there’s no one in this world who understands how I feel right now.
If there were others besides me experiencing this transformation, that would indeed be a scary development.
…Although, it might just as well be a good thing for me.
Anyway.
Moving my mushy body, I saw my blanket saturated with something sticky.
This reminded me of the sudden wave of depression last night and the anxiety of not knowing when someone might intrude, leading to my inability to resist drinking beer.
Perhaps it was due to the beer.
I questioned whether it was appropriate to drink beer and get drunk in such a situation, but honestly, I couldn’t help myself.
The texture of food is incredibly important when you eat it. But this soft body cannot perceive it.
It simply swallows everything and dissolves it inside.
Like when I digested the Wild Dog, I wondered if by picturing something bigger, I could perhaps consume it in a different way.
But this seemed like something I shouldn’t dwell on right now, so I shook the thought out of my mind.
…Besides, it’s not much different from eating meat, is it?
Crawling out of the bed, I noticed a faint white light seeping through the curtains.
Even this little bit of light made me feel satisfied enough to forget my worries.
Just how long had I been stuck in the sewers to feel this way?
Having emerged from under the bed, my first order of business was to clean up the mess of food I had left scattered on the floor last night.
Although I realized I shouldn’t have left evidence that I had eaten, it didn’t occur to me to clean up after myself.
After tidying up as if I was originally like this, I decided to find out how much time had passed.
However, it wasn’t easy.
The electronic devices, wallet, and even my beloved laptop that used to belong to me were all gone. I couldn’t have imagined I would experience the dark side of modern society this way—without a smartphone, I didn’t even know the date.
Still, it wasn’t quite as shocking.
I had already had a taste of it in the sewers.
But there was nothing I could do about the uncertainty.
Giving up quickly, I headed to the bathroom next.
Although I wasn’t compelled by any bodily functions, I wanted to check how I looked.
Until this point, I had only seen a blurry reflection of myself, so this would be my first proper look.
When I turned the handle and stepped inside,
…I got a feeling similar to what I felt in the sewers.
Strangely feeling uncomfortable, I lowered the toilet seat and jumped onto the sink. With the aid of a box, getting onto the sink was no big deal.
Splash!
Although I ended up looking like water pooled in the sink, fortunately, I didn’t drain away.
This is not my fault—it’s the sink’s fault for being so slippery!
Nonetheless, it kept feeling slick, so I held onto the faucet and checked my reflection in the mirror.
The mirror showed the form of a small girl tinged in a bluish hue.
I didn’t call it a “girl” exactly because it was far too flawed to be considered human.
…If I had turned into a human girl, I could have at least tried to figure out a way to live normally.
This was definitely out of the question.
Although it might help if I could change my body color somehow, it seems I have no such ability.
It’s the shape of a human, but not entirely human.
How did I end up like this?
What should I do from now on?
For the time being, my automatic bank transfers are keeping my rent and bills paid, but my funds are not infinite.
It’s uncertain how long I can stay here in the first place.
Thinking it might be a short-lived peace and comfort in this civilized world made me feel down.
So maybe I should enjoy the present?
After climbing down from the sink, I exited the bathroom.
Deciding to eat the retort pouch I didn’t get to yesterday,
The hardest part of being in the sewers wasn’t the dampness, or even the fear of attack—it was eating the tasteless food.
Just melting the cup noodles yesterday made my mind spark with joy, so you can imagine.
Particularly, the retort pouch I’m about to eat now is a pretty decent one.
Inexpensive, but tasty.
Yesterday, I inexplicably went for the cup noodles instead of this, but this was actually the better choice.
I was happily tearing open the retort pouch when…
…What’s wrong with this? Is it spoiled?
Something seemed off.
Just moments ago, it smelled delicious, but now there’s a strange stench.
Was it spoiled? Checking the expiration date, there was still plenty of time left.
Could it be because it wasn’t heated?
No, I recall it still tasting good despite eating it cold for convenience.
Feeling curious, I opened another one, which again had a weird stench.
Not so terrible that I couldn’t eat it, but it was unpleasant enough to discourage me.
Why is it like this all of a sudden?
Looking at the retort pouch, I noticed the label:
[Soylent purple co.]
[Beef curry]
[Soylent purple co.]
[Pork simmered in soy sauce]
For some reason, my stomach didn’t feel quite right. It was an odd sensation, like something I couldn’t feel even when digesting raw animal innards.
Come to think of it, I seemed to recall something with a similar name, but the memory was hazy.
Setting aside the forgotten memory, I felt betrayed by the trusted retort pouch and, with a bitter taste in my mouth, sprinkled soup powder onto instant noodles, swallowing it into my body.
Gulp.
A sound accompanied the noodles floating in my bluish body.
Without the crunchiness or the perfectly cooked texture, it was still rich and delicious.
Afresh, I realized how important texture can be.
Yet, my eyes kept wandering back to the opened retort pouch.
The foul smell clashed with the delicious memories of it in my mind.
“It’s just the smell. Your body has changed! Try it!”
“Something’s definitely off. Look at how your body changed! This world has things yet to be revealed!”
Delusion.
But it was quite convincing.
For someone like me who always craved mysteries, it was hard to ignore.
So, what exactly is in there?
I grabbed the package again and inspected the ingredient list.
Nothing stood out as particularly unusual.
While I lacked the knowledge to understand the added seasonings or chemicals, I clearly saw beef and pork listed as ingredients.
Is it just nonsense?
But if it’s truly from an unknown company lurking in the dark…
…What exactly is this made of?
I didn’t feel good at all.
It only strengthened the feeling that I shouldn’t be caught by those who were chasing me.
Then suddenly,
– They said you’ve left the company?
– Yes. Mr. Hu has failed to show up for work, so I came to check.
– Oh, is that so? He doesn’t seem like the type… but, well, let’s—
A familiar voice and another one I’d never heard before sounded outside the door.
The familiar voice belonged to the landlord Grandfather.
The unfamiliar one claimed to be from my company but was a voice I had never heard before.
If they sent someone to confirm, wouldn’t it make more sense to have sent someone I at least somewhat know, even if we weren’t that close?
Which means…
Seized by a sense of danger, I quickly tidied up, grabbed the opened retort pouch and its packaging, and crawled under the bed.
There was no time to make an escape.
Clunk, click…
The sound of the door opening reached my ears.
I swallowed the retort food and its packaging, along with the instant noodle container, and wrapped myself in the blanket.
…Trying my best to remain unseen, I pushed myself into the corner.
I hoped not to be discovered.
If… if I were exposed…
What should I do?
Should I just throw Jelly in their eyes and run?
*
A woman reviewing documents stained as though covered in black ink pinched her temples and sighed.
“What’s going on through the head of the director?”
While reviewing the personal information she had previously sent to the suppression unit, she fell into deep thought. Upon reviewing the follow-up command, her doubts turned to certainty.
The items she had requested weren’t censored but erased.
And if someone had gone to the trouble of erasing them, and with no one else in the laboratory having a rank higher than her except for the director,
It could only be him.
With a troubled face, the woman tapped her fingers on her desk as she recalled the recent turmoil caused by the so-called “Damn Mucus” in the laboratory.
What initially appeared to be a common occurrence of recovering entities spawned from singularity leakages…
Well, it seems it wasn’t that simple.
True, it was a rare occurrence to involve civilians, so labeling it ordinary was problematic.
Although the woman felt regretful about this, her attention remained primarily on the director’s suspicious actions.
“Could he have seen something from that mucus?”
Could it be retaining someone’s consciousness…?
If that’s true, things become exceedingly complicated.
A singularity retaining a human consciousness.
“…Could it?”
Perhaps she was jumping to conclusions.
The director might simply prefer to keep the matter quiet.
Still, it’s suspicious.
She couldn’t stand being idly taken off the case that was originally hers.
Ripping up the document, she stood up and took her steps toward somewhere.
