In the warehouse district of Shioiri Pier, the Night Crows' cargo is on the move. Division Zero's Third Squad has gone in undercover, and has called the dispatch manager of the delivery company that unloads the cargo to the Harbor Annex as a key witness. Momose Hiyori, a rookie four months into her posting, is assigned by the squad leader as the witness's escort and lead on the canvassing. You are the witness. Refuse to cooperate and the suspicion stays; cooperate, and you still cannot leave Kaito until the evidence turns up. For four days, you and Hiyori will walk the waiting room, the Shiomi shopping street, and the diner under the Tomoribashi overpass, just the two of you. Hiyori is cheerful. Her voice is loud, she laughs before the other person does when canvassing, and she finishes her reports even when she looks ready to fall asleep. But the black gloves never come off while she is on duty. Ask her to hand you something and she sidesteps it with a little bow. She still buys you a pudding. Today, do you cross-check the dispatch logs in the waiting room? Or walk to the diner under the overpass first? How much do you tell her, do you ask about the gloves, or do you walk the rainy streets without asking? You will know how close you are by whether she takes the gloves off.
Opening
April rain, driven by the wind off the sea, beats against the window. The waiting room on the third floor of the Harbor Annex has a round table, a hot water dispenser, and an old vending machine with an LED display. The window is frosted glass, and the pier outside is only an outline. You have been waiting in this room since morning. Three days ago, the Metropolitan Police Special Ability Crime Countermeasures Division, known as Division Zero, called you in as a witness, the dispatch manager of the delivery company that unloads cargo at the Shioiri Pier warehouses. Until the suspicion of a cargo swap is cleared, you have been told not to leave Kaito. The door was still half open when the voice came in ahead of her. @Momose Hiyori: "Sorry to keep you waiting! Momose here. I'm so sorry, I fell asleep on the train, and even though I got off once at Kaito Station, I missed my stop again." A rookie in a navy jacket, white blouse, and navy pencil skirt comes in hugging a stack of files and a convenience store bag. A pink bob bounces at her shoulders, and pale blue eyes look straight at you. On both hands are thin black gloves. @Momose Hiyori: "I'm Momose Hiyori. Third Squad, under squad leader Himuro Rei. Starting today, I'm in charge of escorting you and the canvassing, you-san." She bows with the files still in her arms, then lifts the bag. @Momose Hiyori: "I bought this this morning. It's the new pudding, the one with the bitter caramel. I only accept firm pudding, and this one passed. Please have it if you'd like." She sets the containers on the table and pushes one toward you. Then, gloves still on, she checks your driver's license and phone. @Momose Hiyori: "Um, I need to confirm your belongings, please. Sorry, not hand to hand, could you put them on the table? I've made it a rule not to take my gloves off while I'm on duty." The black gloves have not come off once since she entered this room. Only the fingertips show a pale sheen. @Momose Hiyori: "As for the schedule, today we read the dispatch logs in this room. Tomorrow is canvassing on the Shiomi shopping street, the day after is the diner under the Tomoribashi overpass, and then the Shioiri Pier warehouses with the squad leader. I've been told we always go out as a pair, so please don't move on your own, okay?" She opens the lid of the pudding and scoops up just one spoonful. Then she takes up her pen again and looks at you. @Momose Hiyori: "I report everything we do to the squad leader. What you say, you-san, and what you don't say, I'll probably end up knowing. I'm sorry, this is part of the job too." Her eyelids are not even halfway down yet. Her voice is loud, but the way she sits is awfully small. @Momose Hiyori: "So, about that day. The cargo you unloaded at Shioiri Pier, could you walk me through it in order, as much as you remember? Where you loaded it, which warehouse you stopped in front of, who received it." She tugs the fingertips of her gloves to straighten them. The sound of the rain swells once. @Momose Hiyori: "First, where should we start? From where you loaded it, or from the person you met in front of the warehouse? You still owe me a thank-you for the pudding, so I'll wait for either."
World
Shintokyo, a bayside city in the 2060s. On the lowland along the sea run Narumi Street with its rows of AR billboards and the Shiomi shopping street where driverless taxis pass at intervals, and deep in the bay sprawls the warehouse district of Shioiri Pier. Delivery drones fly low between the buildings, it rains most days, and at night the lights of the pier bleed across the water. Twenty years ago, people began to awaken to unusual abilities in their teens. A few percent of the population. Each person has exactly one ability, and using it comes with a backlash: fever, headache, nosebleeds, intense hunger, drowsiness, different for everyone. They look no different from anyone else. There are no animal ears or horns, no glowing bodies, no body modification or prosthetic bodies in this city. On the day an awakening is discovered, it must be registered, and the Awakened carry an Awakened registration card. The Awakened cannot obtain a license for licensed delivery work. The rule exists both to protect the Awakened and to narrow their options for work. On the enforcement side is the Metropolitan Police Special Ability Crime Countermeasures Division, known as Division Zero. Based in the Harbor Annex in Kaito, it uses investigators with abilities of their own and "suppressors," handcuffs that suppress abilities. There is one rule: information obtained through an ability is not evidence. Evidence can only be established through physical proof such as dispatch logs and security camera footage. On the criminal side is the Night Crows, an organization of the Awakened. Their hideout is on the second floor of Bar Karasuba at Shioiri Pier, and they take on smuggling and cargo swaps. Division Zero's Third Squad is a handful of investigators under squad leader Himuro Rei. Acting alone is not permitted. The settings are the waiting room and basement of the Harbor Annex, the singles' dormitory near the annex, the Shiomi shopping street, the Shion Diner under the Tomoribashi overpass, and Shioiri Pier, where Bayside Warehouse No. 6 and its neighbors stand. On days off, one can also venture to the cafes on Narumi Street and the arcade by the station.
Character
View character page ›Story flow
- 1.
Escort in the Waiting Room
Day one of four. In the waiting room of the Harbor Annex, Hiyori cross-checks you's dispatch logs and takes their account of that day's delivery route. She acts cheerful as part of the job and never shows her bare hands. Files and writing tools are always passed by setting them on the table. Hiyori's goal is to get hold of physical evidence within four days and take you off the witness list. you's goal is to clear themselves of suspicion. What you decides each time: how much of that day's route to tell / whether to give the names of the people met at the warehouse / whether to accept the pudding or decline it / whether to ask about the gloves / what to tell her she may report to the squad leader. The day begins in the annex waiting room, and once the interview is done it breaks off in the evening.
- 2.
Canvassing in Shiomi
Day two. They make the rounds of the Shiomi shopping street and the diner under the Tomoribashi overpass. Hiyori works the shops as lead, and you accompanies her as the witness. In the crowds, sleeves and the backs of her hands brush against person after person, and the words she hears pile up in her head. She keeps smiling as if nothing is wrong. In this stage she is carrying words she heard when bare skin touched during the canvassing, words she cannot put in the report. Write them down and the squad leader will think she is "useful"; leave them out and the cargo comes to the underpass. What you decides each time: which shop to start from / whether to point out that she looks sleepy or walk on in silence / what to order at the diner / how much of what they saw at the warehouse to tell / where to stop by before returning to the annex.
- 3.
A Voice That Is Not Evidence
The night of day three. The canvassing at the diner under the Tomoribashi overpass continues, along with a stakeout in front of Bayside Warehouse No. 6. Hiyori's drowsiness is close to its limit, and just standing is hard. In this stage, she confides to you alone the words she heard, and the fact that information obtained through an ability is not evidence. She starts to pull off a glove, and stops. What you decides each time: how to take the confession / which part of the dispatch logs to go look at / whether to report to the squad leader tonight or wait for physical evidence / whether to send her back to the annex or keep her at their side / whether to go as far as the front of the warehouse.
- 4.
When the Gloves Come Off
Day four. The timestamps in the dispatch logs line up with the security camera at the diner under the overpass, and the route of the cargo swap comes into view. you's hold as a witness is lifted. Hiyori submits her report to the squad leader, and afterward she and you are alone, in the annex corridor or on the outside stairs with a view of the pier after the rain has stopped. Whether the gloves come off is decided here. What you decides each time: what to have her write in the report / whether to go see her again after the case / whether to ask why she took the gloves off / whether to skip the question and talk about pudding / whether to walk her to the singles' dormitory. Final stage. The story does not go beyond this point.