Believe in science, or believe in yourself? This sounds like the self-righteousness of a religious cult follower. Anyone else might choose to believe themselves; after seeing those images and possessing those memories, it's hard to dismiss them as hallucinations. But Lin... he believed neither. Those memories and images were real, but something was fishy.
"It seems you've figured it out, so I don't need to say more." Mobius stretched, forgetting she was only in her underwear. Her curves were fully revealed, and the friction of the fabric made her realize the situation instantly. Ordinarily, a person would blush, but Mobius was not an ordinary person; she chose to glare at Lin with fierce eyes.
Lin, however, didn't notice. He was staring at the bewildered Chiaki, deep in thought.
"Hey, you..."
"I... made a mistake."
Lin abruptly interrupted Mobius. Under her suspicious gaze, he stepped forward, untied the ropes binding Chiaki, and pulled the cloth from her mouth. As soon as she was freed, Chiaki curled into a corner, watching Lin as if he were a character in a horror movie. Lin casually removed the grenade and put it back on his belt under the terrified gazes of both women. Mobius then realized that Lin seemingly casual everyday outfit was actually loaded with weapons underneath.
Lin said nothing more. He pushed open the door and left.
...
So, where to start? Lin closed his eyes. After turning off the helmet's audio system, he completely lost his last two senses and plunged into mindless reflection.
First, the incident began with the deck murder on September 12th at 5:00 AM, with Erwin as the victim. But the true anomaly was the archive theft, and the end was the massacre at 6:30 PM on September 18th. He couldn't fully recall his final memories, but he had a precise grasp of time. Additionally, he occasionally felt a "strange sensation," like a whisper, a palpitation... and deja vu. These sensations were warning him of something, which was why he partially believed the memories while still questioning them.
Lin believed the key point among all clues was the "consciousness pollution" Vil-V had mentioned. In the end, was what Chiaki displayed the state of consciousness pollution? Was her abnormal combat power and psyche its manifestation? What was the true nature of consciousness pollution?
At this point, a term came to Lin mind.
Herrscher-effect.
Herrscher-effect and consciousness pollution matched in every aspect, but this also puzzled Lin: if it was truly Herrscher-effect, why didn't Vil-V convey more direct information about a Herrscher? No, he was in a mist and couldn't see the full picture. This time, he had to investigate thoroughly.
Lin opened his eyes, turned on the audio system, rushed around a corner, grabbed a closing door, and forced his way in.
...
"Y-y-you..." Chiaki gaped as Lin squeezed through the door. Her surprise quickly turned to fear. She immediately pulled out a scalpel she had just stolen from Mobius lab and aimed it at him. "Don't come closer! W-what do you want!"
"I won't do anything," Lin said calmly, but he lunged forward and slapped the scalpel away with one hand. But you can't do anything either.
"As expected, you bastards who call yourselves saviors are all disgusting!" Chiaki gritted her teeth. She backed away, looking for anything she could use as a weapon. She looked a mess—her little vest had been torn to shreds by Lin, leaving only a meager black-and-white midriff top. Fear occupied her entire face. To her, Lin sudden madness represented the entirety of Fire Moth.
Ordinarily, Lin might have patiently sat down to reason with her. But extraordinary times called for extraordinary measures.
"...You have two choices." Lin pointed to the table. "Sit down and talk to me, or..." He pointed to her remaining top. "I'll make you sit down and talk to me."
Perhaps Lin intimidation was too great, or perhaps his murderous tone was laid bare, but Chiaki could only stare at him hatefully with tears in her eyes before sitting at the table. Lin said nothing. He pulled out a chair and sat down, getting straight to the point:
"I want to understand you."
"...Huh?"
"I know you are lonely in Fire Moth. You have no one to talk to. You think Fire Moth members are anomalies to the world, and you are an anomaly even within Fire Moth."
"..." Her complex expression seemed to ask how do you know? He knew, of course, because that was what she had wanted to express last time but was ignored by him.
"I want to understand you as a person, including your past—everything that is real."
"Wait!" Chiaki suddenly stopped him, looking at him in disbelief. "You did all that just for this?"
"...Yes." Lin told a flippant lie.
"...You people in Fire Moth are really hard to understand." Chiaki seemed to breathe a sigh of relief but soon glared at him alertly. "Let me say this first: I won't fall for you like those blind women. It's just that you 'want' to know and I 'want' someone to talk to, understand?"
"..." Lin nodded silently.
It seemed she was ready to talk. Starting from here, unlike last time, Lin wanted to know what Chiaki hadn't said—her "past." Not through a records search, but from her own lips—that boring history.
"Cough... what do you want to drink?" Preparing to talk for a while, Chiaki wanted a drink first.
"Cola."
"There's only co... eh? You know?" Chiaki looked at Lin strangely, pulled out two bottles of chilled cola, and placed one in front of him. "Before I tell you my story, I want to confirm one thing: those things you just said—about how I will keep killing people and eventually slaughter the entire Fire Moth headquarters—was that a joke, or... something else?"
A hacker's intuition is often better than average, which is why they often find holes in seemingly airtight firewalls.
"Do you want the truth or a lie?"
"The truth, of course!"
"If it is your wish."
Chiaki froze, then instinctively looked away and scratched her gray hair. "Ah... um... my wish or whatever..."
And Lin was quietly observing her reaction.