The Chase on the Skyway

Two hundred meters up, Ren Hino was running flat out along the skyway.

Minaka was bright at night. Beneath the glass at his feet, thousands of windows glowed. Wind whipped his messy black hair upright. The “07” on the back of his orange jacket flapped and snapped behind him.

A low hum chased after him. Pursuit drones from the Silence Bureau. Three of them. Their red lights pinned Ren's shadow to the floor.

“You don't give up, do you? Well, neither do I!”

The red laces of his worn-out sneakers bounced with every stride.

〈Dammit. I should've just kept my mouth shut back there.〉

An hour earlier, Ren had stormed into a Silence Bureau branch office and slammed his hand on the front desk.

“Where's the girl you took four days ago? She's eleven! Give her back!”

The one who came out was a young guy with bleached blond hair. He had a long, narrow, freckled face and bright green eyes. A pair of green goggles was pushed up on his forehead, and a tiny drone perched on each of his shoulders. His name tag read “Jin Tomari.” Lightweight, Ren thought.

“Hm? Hey, you Mio Hino's big brother?”

He should have said no. But his throat locked up tight. Ren had been born unable to lie. Whenever he tried, the words just wouldn't come.

〈...I can't. I can't lie.〉

“Oh, he went quiet. It's written all over your face, man. Yep. Got you.”

And that was how this chase had started.

Up ahead on the skyway was a man in a suit, apparently on his way home. Ren slipped past him and dove behind a pillar. The drones stopped in front of the man. Jin's voice came through a speaker.

“Hey, mister. Did a kid in an orange jacket come this way?”

The man glanced at the pillar. Then he turned to the drone.

“I didn't see any ki—”

His voice cut off mid-word. His mouth was still moving, but no sound came out. The man clutched his throat. On his right wrist, a gray ring-shaped mark slowly surfaced.

“Aw, man. No lying, mister. Rules are rules.”

In Minaka, the moment you told a lie, your voice vanished. Even little kids knew that.

〈He covered for me...〉

Ren gritted his teeth. He wanted to help. But if he stopped now, he'd be caught. A red light swept toward the shadow of the pillar.

“Fouuund you.”

“Damn it!”

Ren was driven back against the railing. He reached for the wire hook at his hip, but there was nothing to catch it on. Below him lay two hundred meters of dark night.

Then something flashed overhead.

A cargo cable came gliding toward him. A small figure hanging from it stretched out one hand. A black hood. A coat sleeve far too big.

Ren grabbed the hand without hesitation. His body lifted into the air. The cable slid between the drones and raced off into the canyon between the buildings.

＊

They ended up inside an old water tower. Behind a rusted tank sat a blanket and a small electric burner.

When the figure pushed back the hood, it was a girl. Short, silvery-gray hair, longer on the left side, down to her jaw. Bluish-gray eyes. She was so small she looked about to drown in her coat. Like cold snow, Ren thought.

The girl ran a finger across the panel of the bracelet on her left wrist. White letters lit up.

“Noa Kirisame. I can't speak. End.”

“...Ren Hino. You saved me. Thanks.”

Instead of answering, Noa boiled some water. All she brought out was a single cup of the cheapest soy-sauce ramen. She slurped down half of it, then pushed the cup at Ren.

“You sure? That's your dinner, isn't it?”

“Just eat. Your stomach's too loud. End.”

“I-it is not!”

The second he said it, his stomach growled. Noa's shoulders shook slightly. She seemed to be laughing. Ren went red and slurped the noodles. They were lukewarm and salty, and strangely delicious.

“That guy back there lost his voice covering for me.”

Noa's fingers moved across the bracelet.

“Lie, and your voice disappears. But if you tell the truth to the person you lied to within seven days, it comes back. Writing it down works too. End.”

“...So that guy can get his back too.”

Noa nodded. Ren let out a small breath.

Then he thought of his sister.

Four nights ago. When he got home from his delivery job, the apartment was dark. One of Mio's yellow ribbons lay on the floor. On the front door was a silver sticker he'd never seen before. All it said was “Interview Complete.”

Mio Hino was eleven. She wore her brown hair in two braids tied with yellow ribbons. A round face, big brown eyes. She wore her brother's baggy hand-me-down jacket and was always tilting her head to one side.

“Big brother, can you hear it? There's a voice, but nobody's there!”

“There's no voice. You're half asleep.”

He'd laughed and patted her head. That was the last normal night.

“My sister's missing. Her name's Mio. The Silence Bureau must've taken her, but nobody'll tell me anything.”

Noa's fingers went still for a while. Then, slowly, letters lit up.

“Your sister is in the Silence Tower. They put a collar on her. It closes at the third dawn. End.”

“A collar...? What do you mean, closes?”

“Once it closes, she'll lose her own voice and her memories of the outside. She'll forget you too. End.”

Ren gripped the cup tight.

“The third dawn... So three more mornings and it's over?”

Noa nodded.

“How do you even know all this? And why did you save me?”

Noa didn't answer. Her fingers just moved over the bracelet.

“Because you're someone who can't lie”

The usual “End.” wasn't there.

Noa quickly tugged her coat sleeve down over her right wrist. But for that one instant, Ren had seen it. The same gray ring-shaped mark as the man in the suit.