“Senior, I think IF-017 is looking over here.”
A woman with brown hair, giving off an impression of extreme kindness.
“It’s just a coincidence. You know that the isolation room glass looks like a solid wall from the inside.”
A woman with black hair, dark circles under her eyes, looking exhausted.
Just two of them.
Is that how priestly robes look these days?
If I hadn’t lost my memories from my time as a human, I wouldn’t have even known that those clothes were called “lab coats.”
I don’t quite remember what “lab coat” means exactly, but I’ll probably recall it bit by bit.
Hmm.
The black-haired one looks like she’s struggling just to stay standing. I can relate to that.
When you’re exhausted, your brain doesn’t function properly. I know that all too well.
So, it’s probably better to let the brown-haired one explain.
I stared intently at the brown-haired woman, putting all my will into my gaze, urging her to hurry up and explain.
Hurry up and explain, please.
“Whoa, it looks like a jewel… No, wait! I just made eye contact with it!”
“You can record instead of talking nonsense. It’s the first time IF-017 has regained consciousness, so there’s a lot to document—almost at the level of a newly discovered unexplained phenomenon.”
I was ignored.
I felt bewildered as I watched the two women in white coats chatting amongst themselves.
Wait… do they seriously not know?
No way.
As a god, I personally went through the painstaking effort of teaching the High Priest how to read intent.
Just lifting my head right now makes my neck feel like it’s going to snap.
There’s no way they expect me to teach humans from scratch all over again.
They must have passed it down.
The High Priest promised to ensure it was handed down to future generations.
The High Priest was the most capable and trustworthy human of all, so if they said they would pass it on, they must have done so.
“…It feels like it perks its ears up whenever we speak.”
“You know that even if a bomb goes off here, it won’t hear anything in there. Damn it, we’re already swamped—why are you making a fuss?!”
…They did pass it down, right?
I feel like I’ve been waiting for quite a while.
They’re just talking amongst themselves without even trying to explain anything to me.
Ha. Wow.
This won’t do.
This is really disgraceful.
As a dragon, I’ve helped humans quite a bit, yet here I am, being completely ignored?
I need to put them in their place.
To do so, I turned my body toward the transparent glass. That alone was a struggle, but I didn’t let it show.
Showing it would take too much effort.
Now, let’s see…
Who is the current High Priest?
The High Priest is supposed to stay by my side at all times—it’s their sacred duty.
And since the only ones looking at me are these two, one of them must be the High Priest of this era.
The black-haired one looks like she holds a higher rank.
So, is she the current High Priest?
Alright.
I furrowed my brows deeply and locked eyes with the black-haired woman.
“It’s looking at you now, Senior! And—wait—it just made a cute expression…!”
“What the hell are you— Oh. Shit. Call the security chief. Now! Sound the alarm! Immediately! Screw ‘friendly,’ this is still an unexplained phenomenon…!”
Heh.
Now they’re panicking.
The only thing that changed was my emotional state, so they can read intent after all… but they won’t listen unless I get angry?
Even though I’m exhausted?
I lifted both my arms high and changed my expression to something far more intimidating.
I must display my majesty.
I let out a terrifying roar, filled with the overwhelming presence of a dragon!
“Gyaaooo…!”
A roar that no human could possibly make!
Chilling, isn’t it?
Spine-tingling, right?
This used to make even the most formidable High Priests bow their heads immediately and grant all my wishes.
They even gave me the precious honey they always treasured!
…
Though, somehow, it came out a little weaker than I expected.
But that’s just because my throat is dry—nothing I can do about that.
Now, surely, the humans will adjust their attitudes and return to treating me with the reverence I deserve.
Hmm.
However, their reactions were entirely different from what I had expected.
I thought they’d tremble, hurriedly climb down, and bow their heads.
But instead—
“Whoa, so cute…!”
The brown-haired woman gaped at me, waving her hands excitedly as if I were some sort of spectacle.
“…What the hell? I thought it was revealing its true nature, but… why did nothing happen…?”
The black-haired woman, who had shut her eyes tightly just a moment ago, slowly opened them again and sighed in relief.
Why relief?
That should be the opposite reaction.
Are all modern humans completely out of their minds?
I had too many questions.
Especially about the black-haired woman—her response was so utterly different from what I had anticipated that I had no idea what was going on.
So, I stared at her again, thinking maybe she’d finally explain.
I’ll give you another chance to explain, I conveyed through intent.
But soon after, a man in a black vest entered, grabbed both of them, and dragged them out—making all of it meaningless.
No.
I endured my dry eyes to make eye contact with them, struggling to communicate.
My effort was wasted.
Sniff.
All my motivation drained away, and I flopped down on the spot.
And then.
With a sharp beeping sound, the door opened, and men in black vests entered the room I was in.
A man with particularly wild features carefully lifted me into his arms and carried me off somewhere.
Huh.
Oh.
Wait, am I… going back to my cozy lake?
I looked up at the man in the black vest with bright, expectant eyes.
But my hopes were brutally betrayed.
The place he carried me into wasn’t my lake—far from it.
It was a room at least three times louder than where I had been before.
A room filled with people who, among the chaotic mess of features, were at least somewhat tolerable to look at.
“You’re here? Alright, let’s begin.”
And then, I was held captive by some bizarre human in a gray outfit who had been waiting for me there—and they tormented me for quite some time.
Why?
Why?!
How did my warning to this generation’s High Priest turn into them poking my cheeks, shining lights in my face, and waving weird boards in front of my eyes like a bunch of lunatics?
I was bewildered.
Could it be… is this how religious ceremonies are done these days?
Did human culture undergo a drastic shift in the short time I was zoned out?
This was the worst.
I was already utterly exhausted and had no strength left to resist.
I was completely at their mercy as they harassed me.
“Gyaaah…!”
“Ooh. What kind of stimulus triggered that reaction? Was it this? Or this?”
Stop…!
Enough…!
Save me!
And so, what felt like an eternity passed.
At last, whatever unknown ritual they were performing seemed to have ended, and the man in the black vest carried me back to my original room.
It had truly been an exhausting day.
I was so, so tired.
But… I had at least taken some kind of action, so maybe my human friends would finally come to their senses and start treating me the way they used to?
Surely, things would improve soon.
Believing that, I closed my eyes again.
…Oh.
Right.
This room was still just as uncomfortable as before.
I couldn’t rest here at all.
This was driving me insane.
Suppressing my bubbling frustration, I forced myself to try and get some rest.
Sigh…
I really hope things improve from now on.
Please.
This situation is making me at least one breath worth of angry.
Seriously.
[Incident Report] 017-B-1
Author:
E, Head Researcher of FPL 4th Research Facility
Incident Summary:
At 14:07:14 on January 2nd, IF-017 awoke from sleep and stared beyond the magic mirror of its isolation room.
Thirty-seven seconds later, IF-017 unexpectedly threw a tantrum at the research supervisor who was observing it alongside a rookie researcher at the time.
Details:
IF-017 and the research supervisor were immediately restrained.
A medical examination confirmed that IF-017 remains in a weakened state.
However, for unknown reasons, it was experiencing stress levels so extreme that sedatives had no effect.
If this condition persists, complications are inevitable.
Immediate countermeasures are required.
Outcome:
The research supervisor was strongly suspected of having covertly pacified IF-017 through undisclosed means and was subsequently demoted to Gamma-Class personnel.
The supervisor protested, exclaiming, “You think I worked 18-hour shifts every day for this?!” but their objections were disregarded.
While the subject had previously exhibited almost no response to external stimuli—a significant issue—after five hours of testing, researchers finally confirmed that IF-017 possesses pure visual acuity capable of perceiving through materials with a light transmittance as low as 0.005%, even without the aid of any additional senses.
Further research into the subject’s other senses (e.g., hearing) is required, but as the 4th Research Facility has already exhausted its resources and IF-017 remains unresponsive, additional personnel from the 2nd and 6th Research Facilities have been requested.
Damage Report:
Do we really have to write this part?
Notes:
The Head of Security remarked, “Still seems tamer than my house cat. Feels like an overreaction.”
Given their disturbingly lax attitude toward unexplained phenomena, it seems like they should be the one getting demoted instead.
(This section reflects the personal opinions of the report author.)
Unresolved Questions:
Five hours and forty-three minutes after the incident, thermal imaging recorded IF-017’s core body temperature spiking to ■■■° for 0.07 seconds while it was curled up in isolation.
Presumed to be a device malfunction, but requires further verification.
Final Annotation:
If you keep writing reports in this manner, we will have no choice but to cut the 4th Research Facility’s budget.
You personally might not care about funding, but the other researchers here do.
Keep that in mind.
— FPL Headquarters