"Mom Chiyo, I've changed."
"Good. Then let's keep talking while Helena still hasn't come over."
Before she spoke, Kono Chiyo deliberately opened the bedroom door and checked outside.
She was making sure to see what the person in the living room was doing.
At the moment, Helena was sitting quietly on the sofa by the fireplace, gazing out at the snowy scenery beyond the window.
When she saw Kono Chiyo lean out, Helena started to rise to her feet.
"Special Commissioner—"
Kono Chiyo waved a hand, signaling for her to sit back down.
"It's fine. I was just checking on you. Rest for now. I'm sleeping with my daughter tonight. I'll arrange a place for you later."
"That won't do, Commissioner Kono. I must remain by your side at all times. I can stand watch in the living room tonight."
"...Very well. You'll have to make do for one night."
Seeing Helena's firm attitude, Kono Chiyo did not insist.
She knew full well that Helena's duties were not limited to protecting her. Watching her movements was part of the assignment too.
Still, it did not matter. She was only talking with Kyoko.
As for trouble arising from loose words? That was impossible.
There was no way she would say anything dangerous in a setting like this.
She shut the bedroom door, leaving Helena alone in the living room.
Studying the furnishings in the house, Helena could not help feeling that Takashiro Kyoko was a very mysterious person.
Right. And that armored vehicle—where had it come from? Was there a Self-Defense Force member here? Or maybe...
Forget it. Those were Japanese assets, not her concern as a U.S. soldier stationed in Japan. She had no intention of stirring up trouble over a couple of wrecked military vehicles.
Inside the bedroom, Kyoko lay on the large, comfortable bed, playing the role of a good listener.
"...The global situation is extremely grim. Every nuclear power still in contact has reached the same decision."
Kono Chiyo spoke while idly stroking Kyoko's hair, enjoying its smooth softness.
"I don't know every detail, but according to the Global Committee, both our western neighbor and our eastern ally have decided to resort to emergency measures to stop the situation from spiraling completely out of control."
"They'll launch concentrated strikes against the major hive zones—and decapitation strikes against the traitors who betrayed human civilization. The exact targets haven't been disclosed, but based on the warnings issued from Shikoku, we can confirm that the Japanese archipelago—Tokyo and its surrounding region at the very least—is on the target list."
"Otherwise, I wouldn't have come here to hide for the time being."
Kyoko had indeed been shocked when she first heard all this from Kono Chiyo.
But now, oddly enough, she felt calmer.
Tucked away in these mountains, in a place with virtually no strategic value, there was no way this could be a primary nuclear target.
At worst, scavenging for supplies afterward would become a little more troublesome...
No. That was not true at all.
It was still a serious problem.
If they used dirty bombs...
Kyoko had enough stockpiled food to keep people alive for months, as long as they accepted the bare minimum for survival. Water, however, was another matter. It was still snowing now, and if radioactive particles were carried by atmospheric circulation into the snowfall...
She had some experience dealing with harsh conditions, but that would still be too much.
All she could do was pray the "kind-hearted" people in charge were not planning to use radiological weapons.
For a moment, Kyoko seriously considered asking the system for one of those Fallout-style underground shelters.
"It's only been a month since the outbreak," she murmured. "Has it really escalated this far already?"
Seeing her reaction, Kono Chiyo smiled and answered while continuing to run her fingers through Kyoko's hair.
"I've been hearing all sorts of rumors in the research center for a while now, though I never paid them much attention. Only afterward did I realize the virus had actually been surfacing for two or three years already."
"The earliest traceable case we've found appeared nearly a year ago."
"It's just that no one ever managed to get the truth out."
"The White House's aggressive control over online information pushed anything like that into the category of fake news."
"At first, it was isolated incidents here and there in the United States—some remote community collapsing, then several more. Under pressure from authorities in multiple countries, the media was forbidden from reporting any of it."
"That actually worked at first."
"But as mass outbreaks began erupting one after another, the situation only worsened."
"Even then, it was still barely within the range of containment. That changed after the massive outbreak in New York involving tens of thousands."
At that point, Kono Chiyo's anger surfaced. Her voice sharpened.
"The U.S. military were the ones who started this in the first place, and they were monitoring the virus's development the entire time. Of course they had prepared for it."
"But in the end, the Saints sabotaged all of it."
"They turned everything into this."
"They all deserve to go straight to hell."
She did not say the next sentence out loud.
We are already living in hell.
As a researcher studying the virus itself, Kono Chiyo did not feel especially confident that humanity would one day truly eradicate the Sumelo virus.
What she had envisioned was coexistence—humanity and a suppressed, stabilized form of the virus existing together without mutual destruction, bringing all of this to an end.
That was the current scientific consensus too. Vaccine development was proceeding on that basis.
But the time, resources, and manpower required were immeasurable.
Especially under present conditions, hoping for a quick solution was pure fantasy.
Kyoko noticed the shift in her expression.
Trying to be considerate, she said, "...You've been stuck in the lab for days, Mom Chiyo. You must be exhausted. Get some rest first. I'll go check on the others next door, then come back in a bit."
Kono Chiyo lay on her side, watching her.
"Then go and come right back. I'll be waiting."
"Okay."
Kyoko slipped on her slippers and left. Her real-time map remained active in her head as always. Since the outside was safe, she could not be bothered changing back into the protective suit stored in her inventory.
Once the room was empty, Kono Chiyo was alone.
Kyoko, Asaka...
Thinking of the other woman preserved in her memories, she stared into space.
A tiny little child had grown into who she was now, increasingly resembling that figure in her mind.
And yet, she was still different.
That child really did not like long hair.
That was just as well.
At least it let her tell the difference between them.
Remembering the story Kyoko had just told her about surviving the apocalypse, Kono Chiyo whispered into the lingering scent on the pillow.
"Kyoko... the way you've handled things these past days doesn't feel like something an ordinary person could do."
Then another thought took shape.
A benign form of the Sumelo virus. Kyoko's constitution is special...
Kyoko... I'm starting to lose my patience.
She clenched both fists, as though she wanted to seize Kyoko and keep her firmly in her grasp, never letting her slip away again.
Meanwhile, Kyoko pushed open the door to the next house, where the others were gathered.
"Hm? Kyoko, what brings you here?"
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 165)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter220)
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I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (This matter is completely finished.)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 220
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 185
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass Volume2/20
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 248
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 230
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 154
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player Volume4/40
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 125
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 67
Uma Musume: From Beginner 145
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 85
Uma Musume: I Want All 120
I Can Copy Unique Skills 115
Summoning an Evil God, but the 75
Supernatural Multiverse 110
My Harem Is Indescribable 100
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 105
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 67
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 105
Still playing traditional Honk 80
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 85
What Should I Do After Switchi - Volume2/3
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 78
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 55
Transmigrated as Sukuna 80
Checking In in Demon Slayer 85
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 100
I Refuse to Become a Heroic 85
My Best Friend Into a Slime? 80
A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel 90
What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero? 75
Tanya Starts from Re:Zero 85
Why did they assign me to Uma 75
MYGO Beauties 70
DanMachi: Emiya the Giant Hero 75
The Gacha Merchant Who Started 80
Honkai's Otherworld? Wait—Who Are You People?! 100
Emiya Shirou, Determined to Slay Every Curse and Evil Spirit 60
The Uma Musume Who Became 60
I'm Definitely Not the King of 80
After Maxing Out Every Class 80
Naruto: I'm Konoha's Local Men 44
Honkai: World Modulation Mode 57
I, the Elden Sword Saint 50
Dio Brando Is Challenging FGO 43
No One Knows Pokémon Better 50
I, Sakazuki, Won't Go Down Tha 45
From Trilobites to Titans 45
Chainsaw Man: Contracted with 55
DanMachi: My Party Members Are 60
An Anime Heroine Darkened 55
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