Chapter 44: The Beginning of Chaos
BEEP—BEEP—BEEP—!
A piercing alarm shattered the heavy silence of the Kudo mansion's basement shelter. It wasn't an external alert; it was the bunker's own highest-level emergency system. The wall-mounted screens flickered to life, flashing a frantic, crimson red.
"EMERGENCY ALERT! EMERGENCY ALERT!" a distorted, synthetic voice blared. "MULTIPLE HIGH-INTENSITY, UNKNOWN ENERGY SIGNATURES DETECTED ACROSS THE TOKYO METROPOLITAN AREA! ENERGY PATTERNS SHOW HIGH SIMILARITY TO... HACHIJO-JIMA LABYRINTH EVENT! REPEAT! MULTIPLE 'LABYRINTH' GENERATION EVENTS DETECTED!"
The screens cycled through jerky, static-filled surveillance feeds from across Tokyo. Over Shinjuku, the light was bending around a massive, invisible energy dome, creating a bizarre mirage. At the Shibuya Crossing, the feed was torn apart by interference, showing only fleeing crowds and the corner of a building collapsing. The Ginza district was a complete blackout, a screen of pure, terrifying static.
At the same time, international emergency broadcast channels began to cut in, showing scenes of global chaos.
"...BBC BREAKING NEWS... a series of unexplained, large-scale structural failures in the City of London... communications are down..."
"...CNN live... an inexplicable... barrier... has appeared over Times Square in New York... widespread panic..."
"...France Télévisions... near the Eiffel Tower... a massive shadow... repeat, a massive shadow..."
"...Moscow reports... anomalous aerial phenomena... over Red Square..."
The footage was blurry, shaky, filled with screams and the sound of explosions. The internet was on the verge of collapse, but the fragments that got through were even more terrifying. In the streets, doomsday cults were proclaiming it was the apocalypse. Looting and riots were breaking out. "The end is here! The rules are gone!" people screamed as they smashed shop windows. Humanity's darkest impulses were unleashed.
Finally, a single, encrypted world map overrode all the feeds. The island of Japan was almost entirely covered in a pulsing, malevolent red. And across the globe—in London, New York, Paris, Moscow, Cairo—dozens of other major cities were also lit up with the same highest-level disaster warnings.
Conan's face was chalk-white. The words he had overheard on the train, Gin's words, came rushing back.
"Purification... the great culling..."
This was no coincidence. This was a premeditated, global... massacre.
London. The Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms.
"What in God's name is it?! A gas main explosion? Coordinated terror attacks?" the Prime Minister slammed his fist on the table.
"Neither, sir," an intelligence chief reported, his face pale. "The few surviving first responders... they're describing buildings melting like wax... 'monsters' in the streets... our physical sensors are either offline or giving readings that make no sense! This isn't like any weapon or disaster we've ever seen!"
"Get me Washington! They have to know something about this! Every time something like this happens..."
"We can't get through, sir! The transatlantic communication lines are... being jammed by something!"
Moscow. The Kremlin.
"St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg... multiple strategic targets have been 'hit' simultaneously," a grim-faced general reported. "Field reports are chaotic. Conventional weapons are having little effect. The soldiers are describing the enemy as 'incomprehensible nightmares'. This feels like... a targeted, supernatural disaster."
The Premier's eyes were cold steel. "The Americans' reaction is... suspicious. They know more than they're letting on. Initiate the 'Fortress' protocol. Full military alert. Blackout all internal communications. The official story," he said, his voice dropping to a low growl, "is that we are under a cowardly terrorist attack by Western nations using an unknown high-tech weapon. Whatever this is... the war has already begun."
The Pentagon. Underground Command Center.
The atmosphere was calm, but chillingly so.
"Information blackout Alpha is a go. Disseminate pre-approved cover stories: gas leaks, extreme weather, infrastructure failure," a calm voice commanded. "Keep the public calm. Release some videos of firefighters rescuing puppies from the rubble. Prioritize the evacuation of 'Ark' list personnel. As for the Japanese... they're on their own. Leave a few of the low-level contractors behind to 'assist'. We need to preserve our 'assets' for what comes 'after'."
"Orders confirmed. Executing."
Tokyo. The Prime Minister's Residence.
"BASTARDS! The Americans are refusing to honor the security treaty?! They're leaving us with a handful of rookies?!" the Prime Minister screamed, throwing his phone against the wall. "Mobilize the entire Self-Defense Force! Get them into Tokyo! Stop those... 'things'... from spreading, at any cost! And get someone in front of the cameras to bow and apologize! Issue a full mobilization order for all registered... magical girls! Tell them this is a battle for the very survival of our nation!"
Panic, a formless plague, was spreading across the globe. The world was split in two: those who knew the horrifying truth and were playing their cold, political games, and those who were trapped in the dark, screaming in terror at a disaster they couldn't comprehend. And watching over it all, from the deepest shadows, were the cold, calculating eyes that had set the wheels of "Purification" in motion.