Attending the academy's entrance ceremony as a Black Cell representative first thing in the morning.
Getting caught in a hail of bullets on the way back.
And then, upon returning to the organization, having to undergo an ideological screening by a human lie detector who could discern truth from falsehood.
Just as I was thinking what an impossibly long day this had been —
The Director's voice cut right through, pulling the wire of tension taut again.
"Maxwell, about this — we caught the whistleblower."
"I heard as much from Amano Yume the moment I arrived. It seems you even held a public execution while I was away."
As I answered, I kept a careful eye on the secretary's movements.
The unnatural way she shifted had to be some kind of signal she was sending to the Director.
Of course, Gloria currently possessed an ability similar to the Director's secretary.
So I had been carefully deploying my practiced rhetoric, dismantling the Director's traps one by one.
But the Director didn't bother circling around. She placed the bomb directly in front of me.
"This is the rat we caught."
"You even had it recorded."
"That little vermin put us all through so much grief. Turns out everyone was absolutely thrilled."
That sociopath turned her laptop toward me and proudly showed me a video.
In the footage, a woman struggled and screamed —
Only to be gruesomely beheaded by the special agents.
A vivid demonstration of what powerless justice ultimately brings about.
The Director then stared at me and asked.
"Maxwell, what do you think of this video?"
"You did exactly the right thing."
"Hm? That's surprisingly straightforward."
The Director looked genuinely taken aback by my answer.
But in that moment —
The fingers of the secretary, who had been clutching the tablet with both hands, gave an unnatural little twitch.
It was the kind of movement you'd miss if you weren't watching closely.
That was most likely her signal for: this is the truth.
The Director immediately pressed further on my answer.
"Could you tell me which part you think was done right?"
"You're unusually full of questions today, Director."
"Even I have days like this. Just go ahead and finish what you were saying."
"Right now, fear is outpacing dissatisfaction among the organization's members. Any future whistleblowers will think twice before acting, and everyone has become more careful about their own conduct. As an instrument of rule by fear, this was an unqualified success."
Twitch…
"And the downsides."
"Everyone will be so on edge that mistakes will start appearing in the research, and progress will slow down. And naturally, the atmosphere within the organization will remain frozen."
Twitch…
They say the first time is coincidence.
The second time is intentional.
The third time is inevitable.
I didn't know if it might change later, but having successfully read the secretary's signals, I was at least able to continue the conversation with some degree of ease.
Only after navigating every last minefield was I finally able to deliver my report.
"Pfft, so the dean pulled something interesting this time?"
"I'm sure you would have been very pleased had you attended the ceremony yourself, Director."
"I'd love to, but I'm far too busy. No time. And you handled that shootout well, too."
"I simply thought it was better not to leave loose ends."
If I had let those mutants go, I would have spent the foreseeable future with my life under constant threat.
I don't regret that decision, even now.
And so, with the ideological screening concluded —
And the report wrapped up without incident — the Director looked thoroughly satisfied.
"Haah… I really do feel at ease talking with you, Maxwell."
"Please don't start thinking of me as your personal therapist."
"It's just a figure of speech. Anyway, you've worked hard today, so go on. Oh — but you're going to see the children, aren't you?"
"Yes."
"Tsk, tsk, tsk… Another night of working until dawn, then."
The meeting with the Director was finally drawing to a close —
But the thought that this human lie detector would continue to be at the Director's side from here on sent a wave of exhaustion crashing over me.
Feeling a sudden pang of pity for my future self, I was just about to leave the Director's office —
"Maxwell."
"What is it now?"
"I'm sorry for all the questions, but — what do you think of Black Cell?"
The Director asked with an expression of genuine curiosity.
My answer, naturally, was already decided.
"I don't regret joining, but lately I've had some reservations."
It was an answer open to multiple interpretations —
And it veered just slightly off the focus of the question.
Judging by the faint tremor in the secretary's eyebrow just now, it seemed that this kind of answer was genuinely difficult to classify as truth or lie.
Regardless, the Director looked quite flustered even without receiving a signal, and pressed on.
"W-wait, why?!"
"Because 'vacation' and 'field deployment' appear to be synonyms here."
The moment I expressed one hundred percent pure grievance, the secretary sent the truth signal with a deeply sympathetic look on her face —
And the Director made a thoroughly displeased expression —
But simply told me she'd see me tomorrow and sent me on my way.
As I stepped out of the Director's office, I caught a snippet of conversation before the door closed behind me.
"Maybe the benefits package really is the problem…"
The secretary already knew the answer, yet couldn't offer a single word of honest counsel.
***************
Even though I'd have to face the Director and her secretary again tomorrow, I checked the time.
[ 10:23 PM. ]
It was quite late —
But there was a good chance the children were still awake, so I might still be able to hand out the gifts I'd bought.
The one concern was that Gloria almost certainly hadn't eaten —
So I stopped by the Black Cell staff lounge to pick up some light snacks before heading over.
[ Restricted Zone ]
[ Detainee: Gloria ]
A door I'd grown very familiar with by now.
The new cell also allowed me to check the interior from outside, so I pulled up the CCTV feed —
And thankfully, Gloria was simply lying there, staring blankly at the ceiling.
No need to drag it out. I went straight in.
The moment she heard the door, Gloria slowly turned her head toward me.
"Gloria, sorry to keep you waiting."
I held up the late-night snacks and bedding in both hands, and instead of answering, she languidly pushed herself upright.
Up close, I could see the exhaustion written all over her face.
'Don't tell me she stayed up waiting for me to come back.'
First things first — she had to be starving — so I had her eat the sandwich and drink the milk right away.
Then I unwrapped the gift I'd brought.
A warm blanket and pillow, soft to the touch.
Receiving the new bedding, Gloria's eyes lit up in a way they hadn't before, as if something in her had come alive.
Though now that her stomach was full —
The way she kept nodding off told me she was utterly exhausted.
"Don't mind me anymore. Get some rest."
"Mm…"
I settled onto the edge of Gloria's new bed and waited for her to fall asleep.
Then Gloria's small fingers quietly caught the hem of my sleeve.
It was such a Gloria way of saying thank you. I couldn't help but smile.
*****************
Whether it was because she'd been genuinely exhausted from staying up so late —
Or because the new bedding was simply that good — I couldn't say.
But Gloria drifted off almost immediately, and her fingers slipped from my sleeve.
I slipped quietly out of the cell and headed straight to Liberty.
When I checked the CCTV from outside, though, Liberty was already curled up in a ball, fast asleep.
There was no reason to wake her when she was sleeping so soundly —
So I was about to head straight to Victory's room —
'Yelp?!'
Somehow she'd picked up on my footsteps, because Liberty jolted awake in a flash.
SCRAAAAATCH!!!
SCRATCH SCRATCH!!
WOOF WOOF!!
She was clawing at the door furiously, demanding I come in right this instant.
Thinking to myself that she really was an incredibly lively one, I stepped inside.
"Papa!! Papa!!"
"Liberty, I'm really sorry for being late again."
"Whimper…!"
Liberty, who always greeted me with such unbridled joy.
Though she'd just woken up, so her face was a complete mess —
And like Gloria, she looked absolutely exhausted, so I quickly gave Liberty her gift too.
Fwump!
Wriggle wriggle wriggle!!
She was so delighted she started playing around with the blanket.
I was a little worried she might wake herself up completely —
But true to form, young Liberty ran out of energy almost immediately.
Flop!!
"Whimper… whimper…"
"I'll come see you again tomorrow, so don't worry."
Liberty was clearly heartbroken that we had to part so soon after meeting.
She fought desperately to keep her heavy eyes open —
But I wrapped her up snugly in the blanket, then cradled her the same way I had with Victory —
And she fell fast asleep in my arms before long.
'That just leaves Victory.'
The problem was that it was nearly midnight now.
It was far too late — but Victory had an unstable multiple personality.
If I played favorites, I knew it would cause serious problems down the line, so I hurried to the next cell.
Thankfully, the Victory on the CCTV feed was awake.
But she was standing in front of the door with a blank expression, doing nothing but blinking.
It was a genuinely unsettling sight —
And yet, thinking about Victory's situation, I couldn't help but feel a hollow ache.
Of course, she might not remember our promise from before, just like last time —
So I prepared several different explanations and opened the door.
To my great relief, Victory's face lit up the moment she saw me.
"Ma — Maxwell, siiiir!!"
"Victory, I'm so sorry for being this late."
She remembered our promise this time.
I gave her the gift right away, just as I had with the other two, and Victory leapt nearly to the ceiling with joy.
But then she must have caught the scent of the other children on me, because she immediately pouted —
And a parade of different personalities surfaced, each voicing their complaints to me.
"Victory… Victory only needs Maxwell…"
Like the bed sitting alone in an empty cell, the inside of Victory's world likely held no one but me right now —
And the other children were in much the same situation.
'Maybe I'm getting sentimental because it's the middle of the night.'
I had originally come to these children to survive.
But now, I found myself wanting them to be at least a little happy.
I made Victory a proposal.
"Then, Victory — how would you feel about living with me?"
"Wh… what?!"
"Oh, with the other children too, of course."
Victory's mood shot up to the sky and then crashed straight back to earth.
Still, living with me seemed to win out — she didn't voice any more complaints after that.
We spent some time together after that, sketching out a future that was still far off.
But it had truly been such a long day — I must have been more exhausted than I realized.
I lost consciousness in Victory's cell, falling into sleep as though the world had simply switched off.