Arknights: Mobile City

"Hello?"

When that mechanical female voice rang out, Kal'tsit felt goosebumps instantly rise across her skin. Beside her, Hai's pupils constricted sharply as he clenched his teeth tightly.

"Hurry! Retreat now! That thing's noticed us—"

How in the world did that thing end up here?!

And especially at a time like this!

Hai's mind momentarily went blank, overwhelmed by shock.

"Is that a monster?" Kal'tsit asked calmly, seemingly unsurprised. Even so, she immediately heeded Hai's advice, quickly retreating from their current position.

"It absolutely is… The thing you're looking at right now is nothing but a superficial imitation of its true form," Hai whispered grimly. He glanced back, noticing the creature's neck had rotated unnaturally more than one hundred and eighty degrees.

He swiftly turned away, choosing another direction entirely.

"Where exactly are you going?"

"I strongly suggest you follow me right now. If you don't, staying alive won't be my problem."

Hai's voice was icy as he accelerated his pace. Kal'tsit hesitated only briefly before deciding to follow him closely.

He clearly knew The City far better than she did. Trusting him at a moment like this was definitely the safer choice.

The two quickly rushed away into the distance. When the stiffly-moving figure received no response to its greeting, it simply straightened its head, turned around, and continued slowly toward The Great Lake, still clutching those glowing rods tightly.

Hai and Kal'tsit didn't stop running until they'd covered nearly a kilometer. Finally, Hai halted, releasing a long, heavy sigh.

"…It chose not to follow. Thank goodness."

Hai muttered softly to himself, visibly relieved. Kal'tsit raised her head to look at him, confusion in her eyes only deepening.

"What exactly was that thing?"

Her voice carried a note of curiosity.

Hai lowered his head, sighing again, his voice quiet and strained:

"It's something completely outside the scope of this examination... I never expected something like this would appear during the interview. Just be thankful we weren't its target, otherwise we wouldn't have escaped so easily."

With a grim expression, Hai turned back to the direction from which they'd come, his voice dropping even lower:

"That thing is much stronger than the eyeless whale you saw earlier."

"…I understand. Do you have specific information about it?"

"All you need to know is its name—[Nothing There]."

Hai's expression remained deeply serious as he spoke, clearly conveying the threat posed by the creature.

...

Obsidian had to admit that seeing [Nothing There] had startled him greatly.

Why in the world did it suddenly show up here?!

It took him a moment to grasp the reason: [Nothing There] had appeared to collect the abandoned dreams stolen from the [Dreaming Current].

Everything [Nothing There] did was driven by a twisted impulse to mimic humanity. Upon realizing it lacked something as fundamentally human as a dream, [Nothing There] sought to obtain one elsewhere.

And that "elsewhere," naturally, was the place where the [Dreaming Current] stored all those discarded dreams.

Precisely because of this unusual motive, [Nothing There] had unknowingly wandered from some unknown region of The Outskirts directly into the examination area.

According to Obsidian's analysis, [Nothing There] had likely crossed into the area unintentionally, meaning there was still a chance to coax it back.

What an absolute wildcard.

Obsidian sighed inwardly in frustration.

This was the first time participants had encountered an ALEPH-level Abnormality. Indeed, it was The City's first direct confrontation with an Abnormality of this caliber.

Even calling Don Quixote wouldn't guarantee absolute victory…

Obsidian briefly hesitated before quickly deciding:

No matter what, I have to get [Nothing There] out of here.

Lobotomy Corporation wasn't currently equipped to contain an ALEPH-class Abnormality. Allowing [Nothing There] to roam unchecked near The City would exponentially increase its danger.

While it was humorously referred to as the "Employee of the Month" in the game, this was reality. The real [Nothing There] wouldn't be nearly as "gentle."

Still, since [Nothing There] had come from beyond their currently mapped area, its primary habitat likely wasn't here. Getting it back to its original territory would suffice.

"Whew…"

Hai exhaled deeply, standing up straight again.

Just then, he paused, picking up his earpiece. After clicking it twice and quietly responding to something, he calmly removed it.

"All right, we can head back now."

Hai addressed Kal'tsit casually, prompting a startled response:

"But…what about [Nothing There]?"

"The exam will continue, but this has already been reported to The City's leader. It's no longer our responsibility."

Hai's tone was utterly calm as he continued:

"Threats of this magnitude around The City's perimeter aren't something our leader can afford to ignore."

Reported to The City's leader, huh…?

Hearing this, Kal'tsit's thoughts briefly stirred. But by the time she refocused, Hai had already walked off alone. Without further delay, she hurried back toward the campsite.

The moment Kal'tsit stepped inside the camp, Theresa immediately rushed forward, embracing her lightly. Theresa's expression was filled with obvious concern, and she quickly began asking about what had happened.

From Theresa and Laurentina's perspective, Kal'tsit had volunteered to investigate, then abruptly vanished for quite some time.

Under these circumstances, their worry was understandable.

Kal'tsit recounted everything clearly, from the moment she'd left the camp to her final conversation with Hai. Once finished, she turned directly to Theresa, speaking with utmost seriousness:

"Your Highness, I have a suggestion."

"Hm?"

Theresa paused briefly, seemingly sensing Kal'tsit's intentions and meeting her gaze seriously.

"You wish to meet with The City's leader, correct?"

Theresa nodded slowly.

"In that case…since the leader has now personally taken charge of dealing with this Abnormality, if we were able to resolve the issue of [Nothing There] ourselves…"

"I believe The City's leader would then be willing to grant us a meeting."