"Wakey! Wakey!", Yuko said in a cheery voice.
Takeru got up but was still half-sleep. "Huh? What is it?"
"Get up and put on your suit. We're going to the 21st floor and getting our breakfast. Then, we'll head to The Chairman's office and be assigned our mission, which will be your first.", Rento said in a demeaning voice.
"Ok, sure...", Takeru replied.
Yuko looked worried. "He's still feeling pretty down in the dumps. I can understand. I was like him too. It'll take him a while to get used to this bizarre life."
"Alrighty! Let's go, guys! I hope we get something yummy!", Yuko said forcing herself to be overly cheerful.
"I hope so too, senpai!", Rento replied. The 2 walked off but Takeru was busy looking at his belt. He had noticed something on it while putting on his suit. A kanji with a certain meaning.
"Human?"
The Chairman was on the phone looking anxious. "They didn't contact you at all!?"
"Nope, Chairman-sama.", Tobu replied.
"Are you still resisting people from going to Koenji?"
"Yes, sir. Do you think I should stop?"
"No. Keep your hold for just a little longer. I'm going there to check it out the situation for myself."
"Alright, sir."
As he walked down the stairs of his own pocket dimension, The Chairman felt genuine concern for the members of Group 3.
"I hope that you guys are still alive and that this is just a really drawn out battle. It must be exactly that. If you guys had perished, we would have gotten alert of the alternate leaving Koenji and eating humans. You guys, just hold a bit longer."
On the 7th floor of the Tokyo Plaza Omotesando building located in Shibuya, 4 completely regular and ordinary humans were having a delicious meal of pancakes.
"Mmmm... Yes... These pancakes... They're very good, you see? If humans didn't exist, these pancakes would be my number 1 food."
"Hehehehehehe... Look at that chair over there... It has 4 legs when only 2 are needed! Hehehehehehe..."
"I like good food but I don't like bad food."
The 4th one looks around in disappointment. "I wish you lot were a bit more intelligent."
Shion, Jin, Mei and Yui were the names of these 4 individuals. The surrounding tables were extremely weirded out by them. "Eww... Why is that guy spreading his spit all over his pancakes?"
"Alright, Lets get down to business. I wiped out Group 3 yesterday.", Shion said.
"Mmmmm... That's very good for us, you see?", Jin replied.
"Good for us? I like good for us but I don't like bad for us.", Yui said in the background.
Mei looked please. "Hehehehehe... You managed to kill 3 of those SOMA bastards... hehehehehehe... Our masters shall make their moves soon."
"Indeed. For now, just keep things going as they have been. Don't stop following your instructions. Don't stop blending in. Don't stop being human."
A dark car had arrived in the neighborhood of Koenji, the one who stepped out was The Chairman.
"This looks suspiciously normal. There's no damage anywhere."
He walked around trying to locate Group 3 but found absolutely nothing. No battling alternates, no damages to the area and no dead bodies. It was radio silence all throughout Koenji.
"Something's wrong... very very wrong..."
He called Tobu on his phone. "Tobu, let the people come into Koenji again. There's nothing here."
Tobu was shocked. "What do you mean there's nothing there!? Where's Group 3?"
"I got no idea where they are but they're definitely not here. There's something wrong going on here. It might've been an high alternate that popped up here and did these unorthodox things."
Tobu gulped. "Do you think there's any chance the Group 3 lot are alive, Chairman-sama?"
"They might be but I doubt it."
On the 21st floor of the pocket dimension within Shimisu Corporation, all the groups except 3 who had met some unfortunate circumstances last night were sitting at their own respective tables having their breakfast.
Yuko and Rento were munching down crazy on their white rice and miso soup but Takeru was sitting there looking at his food.
"Come on, Ichino-kun! Get some energy in you, will ya? Are you gonna act sulky forever, hmm?", Yuko said again forcing a overly cheery attitude.
"I guess I'll start eating then..." Takeru began eating but he still felt off. It was awkward and Rento had started getting annoyed by the awkwardness.
"This fucking guy... Look at him ruining the goddamn mood! I'm already missing the days when it was only me and senpai in Group 5. We used to have so fun during breakfasts... This does take me back though.
It was the 2nd year of High School and a new student had transferred to our class. He had the same kinda vibes as this guys. He was an absolute loser and so naturally, I... I-"
"Takahashi-kun! Why are you zoning out, huh? You still have a lot of this tasty stuff left to eat, you know?"
Rento chucked. "Sorry, senpai!"
"That's right... I almost forgot. That life is way behind me now. I don't have to think about it anymore. I have Ikari-san and that's all I need."
Takeru finished it all already. "I'm gonna go the sink." After saying that, he calmly walked off.
"Wow... He finished it so quickly, Takahashi-kun. Does he just immediately swallow his food?"
"Wouldn't surprise me. Guy seems like a total weirdo, senpai." Yuko became angry after hearing that from Rento.
"Come on, Takahashi-kun! He's just 16 and his entire life has been torn apart. He still needs time to get used to it. You can't call him a weirdo just cause of how he's acting now when he's clearly not in a good mental state."
Looking at the mirror in the washroom, Takeru began rethinking everything again.
"I would've been to friends with Hiroki and Kaito right now... I had hopes and dreams... I wanted to propose to Aiko-chan at one point... But now, has it really all been shattered?"
Looking at the mirror again and meeting eyes with his reflection, Takeru almost fell into madness.
"Human? You... You? You who ate your own grandmother alive, you are no longer human.
You are something more akin to a-"
"What's got you all worked up, kid?" That was the voice of a member from SOMA Tokyo team Group 2.
"Huh?"
The person that voice belonged to the strongest member of SOMA across all of Japan and not within just the Tokyo Team. Hoshi Hikari, High Alternate-user.