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The world as they see it has been broken since the moment they were born.

Why were they born? What is the nature of their power? Even they themselves do not know.

The only thing they knew was that they were different from other living beings. They possessed the power to rewrite reality as they envisioned it. They were unstable beings who interfered with and manipulated the world at will, yet were isolated from it because of that very power.

The terror that they might vanish the moment they awoke, the loneliness of having no one with whom they could truly connect. Humans called them “the Unknowns,” sometimes fearing them, sometimes antagonizing them… and sometimes attempting to exploit them.

Many humans tried to understand them. Because if they could use that power as they pleased, it would bring tremendous benefits. They made massive investments and gathered researchers to study them thoroughly.

But they never tried to understand one another.

Those who possess the power to rewrite the world cannot be certain of their own identity. Because that strange power sometimes rewrites even their own existence.

Humans, on the other hand, do not doubt. They do not doubt their birth, their thoughts, or the world they see. They are as sure of themselves as they are sure the sun will rise the next morning.

Those who feared them formed an organization to gather the Unknowns and oppose them, all for the sake of the world’s peace. They strove to secure their own peace more firmly.

Humans, with their will and sheer numbers, defined them as anomalies to the world. The collective power of will can, at times, generate the power to rewrite reality.

It did not take long for them—having become foreign entities to Earth—to come to hate humanity.

■■■■■

Pandora Institution Japan Branch, Sector 0.

A secret organization with roots spread across the globe, dedicated to the recovery, sealing, and research of the “Unknown.”

Within this organization, Sector 0 held a somewhat unique position.

One of the primary reasons for this was the Unknown held at this facility, commonly referred to as the “Beloved Child.”

A humanoid Unknown secured in the year 2012.

The catalyst for its capture was a report from an agent dispatched to various regions.

It’s stated that, in a certain district, a pitch-black object invisible to everything but the naked eye, possessing the form and behavior of a domestic dog, was observed interacting with what appeared to be a human boy.

To ensure a thorough response, six elite members of the special forces unit “Sweepers” were dispatched from the nearest Sector 0.

During the apprehension, the frightened boy clung to the dog-like Unknown, but both were successfully rescued.

While contact with Unknowns typically involves significant danger, fortunately, all four members of the special forces team returned safely.

The rescued boy showed signs of abuse throughout his body and suffered from severe malnutrition and visual impairments. No birth certificate had been filed, and it was later determined that his mother was a woman working at a restaurant in Tokyo. His father remains unknown.

Initially, it was considered that he would be treated as a child in protective custody, but due to an incident that occurred during the protection program, it was decided that he would be detained as an Unknown.

The incident began with an “Unknown” secured in Hokkaido, referred to as “Snowbird.”

Resembling a long-tailed tit, this entity possesses the ability to transform its physical form into snow. Having exhibited strong aggression since its capture and frequently injuring staff, the entity came into contact with the boy while attempting to escape.

As some staff members turned pale, Snowbird landed on the boy’s shoulder.

The staff members stood frozen in place, the startled boy and the Snowbird stared at each other for a moment.

The Snowbird temporarily ceased its aggressive behavior and returned to the containment chamber following the staff’s instructions. In light of this unprecedented situation, an experimental study was initiated to observe the interaction between this exceptional boy and the Unknown.

It was discovered that the Unknowns’ aggression toward humans was significantly reduced when they came into contact with the boy. Furthermore, the surrounding Unknowns were affected by the boy’s mental state.

The boy, whose unique power was officially recognized, was to be taken into custody by the Pandora Institution as an Unknown… a “Beloved Child.”

■■■■■■

“Red light…”

A corner of Sector 0. A boy of about ten pressed his forehead against the cafeteria wall, chanting the familiar phrase of a common children’s game.

Behind the boy, who was chanting in a drawn-out voice, stood several mysterious beings.

A pure white haniwa advancing with a grinding sound.
A calico cat that was ordinary in nothing but its appearance.
A long-tailed tit hopping about with light, nimble movements.

Each was an “Unknown” with a history of their own—a group of habitual escapees.

“Green light!”

Just as the boy finished speaking and turned around, the three of them froze in place, each in their own unique way. Seeing them completely still before his eyes, the boy sighed and turned back toward the wall.

“Red light…”

The three began to approach him once again, slowly.

Before long, the calico cat was the first to touch the boy’s leg.

“…The cat wins.”
“Meow.”
“Cheep cheep! Puchichichi!”

As the calico cat lowered its paw and meowed, the long-tailed tit let out a threatening chirp.

Everyone here was a familiar face to the boy. They were all “mysterious beings” trapped in the same place. They got along well, but couldn’t communicate. He called them friends, but didn’t even know their names.

For the boy—who had recently lost “Kuro,” the pet dog that had been his emotional anchor, and had given up on many things due to his circumstances—this was a relationship akin to that of playmates. It hadn’t progressed beyond that yet.

His partner, who had helped him get through a difficult time, had simply vanished. He was afraid to open up to these others—who were similar to that dog—only to have them disappear as well.

“I’m really getting bored of this, though.”
“Cheep!”
“Let’s play something else.”

The long-tailed tit, hoping for a rematch, hopped onto the boy’s shoulder.

The calico cat wagged its tail as if satisfied with its play, then suddenly vanished from sight. “He” was an Unknown—a being capable of existing anywhere within the boy’s perception—and vanishing and reappearing on a whim was a daily occurrence.

“Let’s go to the room.”

The boy didn’t seem to mind; he simply placed the long-tailed tit on his shoulder and began walking.

The white haniwa, which had come to a complete stop and turned into a mere stone statue, began moving again with a grinding sound the moment it disappeared from the boy’s field of vision.

He would kill time by playing around in the room assigned to him, and occasionally entertain those who managed to escape.

That was the boy’s daily routine.

“Let me save you let me save you let me save you let me save you let me.”
“Aaaaaaah! Help! Someone! Anyone!”

On the way to his room, a man in a white coat was screaming as he was pinned down by an emperor penguin wearing a beak mask.

The penguin was extending its distinctive flippers, trying to slash the man’s abdomen, while he desperately tried to block it with both hands.

From inside the pitch-black beak mask, modeled after a crow’s beak, came the voice of an elderly man.

“Why is the doctor out here too?”
“Cheep?”

He was a king penguin found at the zoo who called himself the “Plague Doctor.” For some reason, he could diagnose human illnesses and would attempt to treat any symptom through surgery.

Only 10% of patients who underwent surgery recovered, but since he performed operations without anesthesia, even minor treatments resulted in the patient’s death 90% of the time.

It was extremely rare for him—who usually sat quietly reading medical books in his enclosure—to escape.

There were two troublemakers in Sector 0 who actively encouraged the Unknowns to escape.

One was a calico cat capable of freely manipulating its own location and even its own life and death. It repeatedly played pranks, such as stealing keys to other rooms or moving objects on a whim.

The other is a long-tailed tit currently perched on the boy’s shoulder. It hates humans and is aggressive; sometimes it deliberately lets an Unknown escape to provoke the staff.

Judging by the way he tilted his head, the bird on his shoulder was probably not the culprit. Having come to that conclusion, the boy approached the Doctor with an air of annoyance.

“Good morning, Doctor.”
“Aah Beloved Child I must save him I must I must I must I have to save him I have to.”
“H-help me! Number 1033…!”

The boy didn’t particularly like the researchers at this facility. That said, he wouldn’t be heartbroken if they died; even with his heart closed off, he still retained the sensitivity to feel pain at the thought of abandoning someone right before his eyes.

“Doctor, I’d like to borrow a book. Could you walk me to your room?”
“Aah Beloved Child, but he’s in pain. I must heal him immediately and save him.”
“I’m fine! It’s just a little stomach upset from lack of sleep!”
“You heard him, my matter is more urgent, right?”
“Aah, aah, I see… my help is not needed… I see. That’s a relief…”

In reality, the man in the white coat’s symptoms were merely a slightly upset stomach from drinking too much coffee to stave off drowsiness. And yet he was on the verge of undergoing an open-abdominal surgery without anesthesia because of it. From his perspective, it must have been unbearable.

Looking pityingly at the trembling staff member, the boy changes his destination to the doctor’s quarters and sets off.

The doctor regained his composure and was taken back into custody, while the boy casually borrowed a medical textbook and returned to his room.

The facility manager was wracking his brains over the string of escapes, but since the boy had arrived, the damage here had decreased significantly.

Aside from attacks from outside, these were the most peaceful days they’d ever known.

Even so, the Institution’s staff feared and trembled before the boy. Even the mercenaries, the only ones who did not fear him, kept their distance.

In his peaceful daily life, as he was rejected by those who shared his human form, the boy’s loneliness grew little by little.