Long ago, Su Yuzu had never once imagined—
That the largest item manufacturer in the game would turn out to be arming the enemy in real life.
In this world, not every "Epiphany Manufacture" laboratory was one of the 'good guys,' the way the "Outpost" was.
In fact... Su Yuzu had a nagging feeling that whatever stood behind the "Eye of Insight" was Epiphany Manufacture itself.
She watched Tsukimisato Somehana. The woman's face was putting on a far better show than she had ever pictured — that smoldering fury, that disbelief, that helplessness.
It probably looked a great deal like the scene Tsukimisato Somehana had imagined for herself... Su Yuzu standing in the dock.
Gesturing at the broken Black Gear, Su Yuzu held Tsukimisato Somehana's gaze a moment longer, then turned to the prosecutor.
"We have ample evidence to show—"
"That this Aberration device, designated the 'Aberrant Activation Device,' is a weapon that flowed out through the hands of 'Epiphany Manufacture.'"
"They were delivered into the hands of the 'Eye of Insight,' and in doing so wreaked enormous destruction upon this city and posed an incalculable threat to its safety."
"However—"
Su Yuzu watched Tsukimisato Somehana's face, that look of flat disbelief.
Yes... yes... this was exactly the expression she had wanted to see on the woman.
"How boring—"
"I want to see rivers of blood."
From the very beginning, Su Yuzu had been willing to tolerate things. She knew that even the brightest place had its shadows.
She knew that corruption had surfaced even within the "Holy Royal Court."
At "Epiphany Manufacture," where Technology Division research came before all else, it was hardly strange that some small fraction of its people would set off down the road of studying Aberrants — or even of converting human beings into Aberrants.
But... up to now, hadn't "Epiphany Manufacture" been just a little too deeply involved in the Events tied to the "Eye of Insight," in all those Aberrant attack events?
By now the "Eye of Insight" had been reduced to rats that everyone wanted to stamp out — and as for "Epiphany Manufacture"... it was about time they pulled in their claws and submitted to a thorough overhaul.
"And the evidence we've collected... doesn't stop there."
Su Yuzu was smiling, and it was a genuinely happy smile.
"Do you all remember what I said at the very beginning?"
"I am indeed connected to a number of Aberrant attack cases."
"And I have indeed sheltered an Aberrant."
"That recording that caused such an uproar online a while back — the footage of me Interacting with an Aberrant."
"The Aberrant girl in the white dress in that video. Her name is Feng Ke."
"Feng Ke is no natural-born Aberrant."
"She was—"
"—artificially manufactured."
"An experimental Aberrant built for combat and research, modeled on my 'Little Sister,' Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi."
Su Yuzu looked at Tsukimisato Somehana, then submitted another set of evidence to the prosecutor.
That was right—
This was the whole reason why, at the very start, Su Yuzu had gone yes, yes, that's right, I'm the one harboring an Aberrant, and let herself look like she'd thrown in the towel.
Su Yuzu was certain of it. Everyone present... everyone except the people from "Epiphany Manufacture" — and even those people from "Epiphany Manufacture" surely had no wish to let the charges stick and find themselves hauled off to prison in chains—
This, too, was the pit Su Yuzu had dug for "Epiphany Manufacture," for Tsukimisato Somehana.
The evidence Su Yuzu produced was a portion of a link module stripped out of Feng Ke's body.
It was the linking module used to connect an Aberrant to a memory module.
Back then, Dai Ling had torn it free by brute force, ripping until half the girl's face ran with blood.
Of course—
After surgery from Soga Ishikawa Asumi, whose ability was precision itself, and with an Aberrant's own extraordinary powers of recovery, Feng Ke had healed most of the way by now.
She had even begged Auntie Asumi — though to Feng Ke the woman had long since become Mama Asumi — to help her keep the ability to link to a memory module.
Sometimes... she wanted to give out the last of her light and warmth, to hold on to a power that could record every beautiful thing in the life around her.
In the Keigunen Private Academy seats, Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi's fingers closed gently around her skirt.
"Little Sister...?"
"So... that's how Miss Yuzu sees me?"
"I'm a little happy about it... so why am I also a little put out?"
"What evidence do you have that—" Tsukimisato Somehana had barely begun when she saw it: on the projection Su Yuzu had brought up, the minuscule marking on the link module, blown up large.
[Epiphany].
[Epiphany Manufacture].
The mark left on nearly every piece of Technology Division equipment Epiphany Manufacture put out... like a signature.
The link module was not a classified component.
It was a general-purpose part that Epiphany Manufacture churned out on an assembly line.
Its original applications had never been limited to Aberrants, either.
There were also the people who had lost their hearing or their sight — some from birth, some to accidents later in life — who needed Technology Division equipment in order to see and to hear. People who needed help.
There was nothing at all unusual about an "Epiphany Manufacture" mark sitting on a link module.
Tsukimisato Somehana sank back into her chair, the strength draining out of her.
"Those wretches..."
"They couldn't even be bothered to have something like that custom-made?"
"Do you need me to show more?" Su Yuzu asked, looking at Tsukimisato Somehana where she sat.
"If you'd like to see it—"
Su Yuzu could have coaxed Feng Ke into coming here to testify in person.
But... Su Yuzu had no desire to do that.
"That's right—"
"I am sheltering an Aberrant."
"I am sheltering... an Aberrant girl who was manufactured by 'Epiphany Manufacture.' A girl who has never once seen the scenery outside, never seen the mountains or the sea; a girl who, from the day she was born... could only be kept alive on nutrient solution, who has no idea what sour or sweet or bitter or spicy or salty even are."
"If I am guilty—"
"Then... what of 'Epiphany Manufacture,' the true culprit behind it all? What should their crime deserve?"
"Beyond that—"
"We have a great deal more evidence."
"The 'Eye of Insight' cultists who attacked Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi that day were carrying mental shielding devices tailored very precisely for the job — produced by 'Epiphany Manufacture.'"
"And there's more—"
"We commissioned the 'Outpost' base, which is likewise an 'Epiphany Manufacture' laboratory."
"My thanks to Sister Sylvia for her selflessness..."
"We cracked the storage units taken out of Laboratory K-423."
"Laboratory K-423—"
"Leviathan's daughter."
"Miss Tsukimisato Somehana, I imagine all of this is... very familiar to you."
Su Yuzu looked at Tsukimisato Somehana's bloodless face, her own expression calm and dangerous. "Of course—"
"If you people want to settle accounts with the 'Outpost' base, the Soga clan wouldn't mind adding one more research institute to its holdings."
"Oh..."
"I forgot—"
"Before any of that..."
Su Yuzu looked into Tsukimisato Somehana's gray-blue eyes.
"'Epiphany Manufacture'..."
"really is overdue for a cleanup."
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