THE STORY · EPISODE 15
Nine.
Eight.
The numbers on the information board dropped one by one.
Beneath them was a large blue button. Receive. Confirm. Protect. The words changed, but the place to press remained the same.
“They say the town’s support ends today.”
Someone spoke, and the line pressed forward. Some people carried documents still awaiting recovery; others had been unable to work. The ten-second countdown seemed to know every circumstance of their lives.
Seven.
Mana saw the person at the front reach toward the terminal.
“Please wait!”
Her own voice was hurrying them just as much.
A black shadow spread behind the board. Its shape was hidden. Each time it pushed out another message, the city’s sounds seemed to recede. Only the numbers were large.
Securidon’s shield slipped between someone who had started running and a step in the ground.
“Keep moving without bumping into each other, don!”
Yuki moved beside the line to make a clear path. Bug steadied a sign that was about to fall. Before they could investigate the button, they needed somewhere people would not be crushed.
Mana found the staff member at the entrance and briefly explained what she needed to check.
“Do you know who this notice belongs to? Is there a contact we can use without pressing it?”
Six.
The numbers did not wait for an answer.
The board carried the counter’s official name.
But the button led somewhere different from the department’s usual contact. There was even small print saying they could think about it after clicking.
Mana opened her notebook near the beginning. Don’t verify a notice through the notice itself. Use another route. She had written that many times, yet her fingertips would not settle.
Only now.
For your sake.
What you lost will return.
Together, the words made doubt feel like betraying someone.
Defense lit up in the encyclopedia.
OPTIONAL QUESTION · 15-D1Pressure from an unexplained countdownWhat does an unexplained short countdown and 'act now' pressure attempt to do?Open illustration & choices
Interactive answer checks and saved progress load with JavaScript. You can continue reading without answering.
“C. A mechanism that makes you fear losing out unless you act now, so you decide in a hurry.”
The shield caught the light of the numbers. It had not stopped time. Mana had found a place to stand where the numbers alone did not move her hand.
Five.
The staff member contacted the department through a known route.
While they waited for a reply, Mana spoke to someone near the front.
“We’re checking the notice. Would you move to a place where you can wait without clicking?”
“If it disappears, will you give it back to me?”
The question caught in her throat.
She wanted to give it back. Perhaps promising that would make them wait.
“I can’t promise I can return it. That’s why I want to check who is making this promise now.”
The person did not move immediately. Mana stayed there, waiting for their answer.
Three.
Two.
The reply had not arrived.
Mana thought of pressing the button just to see the next screen. Securidon came beside her, but his shield was supporting the line of people. He could not make this choice for her.
An Attack question appeared.
OPTIONAL QUESTION · 15-A1An unverified ten-second deadlineA button claims support ends in ten seconds. The official deadline and contact are unverified. What should you do?Open illustration & choices
Interactive answer checks and saved progress load with JavaScript. You can continue reading without answering.
“A. Press it first, then…”
As her unfinished answer lit up, the blue light at her feet thinned. The shadow projected the shape of Mana’s hand onto the board. She almost heard it say, Look, even she’s going to press it.
Mana drew her arm back to her chest.
“If we check after clicking, something may already have been handed over.”
One.
Zero.
The numbers vanished.
Deep in her chest, Mana felt the pain of having lost something precious. A moment later, ten appeared.
Another ten seconds began on the same screen.
“It doesn’t end.”
Yuki spoke beside her.
One countdown failing to end did not make every notice false. But they now knew this notice had not explained the reason for its deadline.
The doctor recorded the numbers and read the reply from the separate verification route with the staff. The official support had neither this ten-second deadline nor registration through this button.
Mana told the people in line.
“The support itself exists. This isn’t its official entrance.”
She had not wanted to deny everything. She wanted them to return to a route they could really use.
The doctor showed Mana another example.
This was a training notice with a real deadline. It named the person responsible and a time that could be verified through a known route.
OPTIONAL QUESTION · 15-D2A real deadline also needs a basisLegitimate training also has deadlines. How should deadlines be assessed?Open illustration & choices
Interactive answer checks and saved progress load with JavaScript. You can continue reading without answering.
“B. Urgent wording alone doesn’t make something false. Check the sender and the basis for the deadline outside the notice.”
She steadied the same principle in a different situation, then restated her earlier wrong answer as the proper procedure.
“D. Stop first. Check the sender, the destination, and what we’re being asked to do, in order.”
“Pause before you click.”
At the doctor’s words, Mana nodded.
“Take a moment before pressing.”
It was not simply a command to rest. It gave her back a beat in which to look.
“Securidon, let people through toward the guidance we’ve verified. Spoofon, connect the genuine message!”
The blue shield moved between the false numbers and the line. Spamool signaled against repeating the same cries, and Yuki guided people one at a time after listening to their replies.
Episode 15, Illustration 1 | Separating the crowd's path from the repeated countdown
Mana no longer shouted, “Hurry up and stop!”
What they had checked. Where people could apply next. She passed words they could hear to those who needed them.
Around the shadow, ten-second lights went out one after another. Above the button no one was watching, only the reasons for making them click remained.
Securidon pinned the last black thread, and Mana held out the Securies.
A white arrow-shaped companion emerged from the light. Holding a round blue button, he looked at Mana’s hand with large eyes.
“Press it now?”
“Tell me what will happen first.”
He turned the button over and checked for himself that nothing happened. Then, a little sheepishly, he spoke.
“Clickern. I’ll ask before pressing.”
COL-011 — Clickern. It was the fifteenth companion’s name.
When the board fell quiet, the sounds of the town returned.
Cart wheels, someone coughing, dishes in the rest area. What had seemed to disappear had continued all along behind the numbers.
The person who had asked whether she could return what was lost passed beside her.
“Show me the official counter.”
There was no apology or thanks. Mana did not seek either; she showed the way. They wanted to check for themselves. That was enough.
In the rest area, Bug divided some bread. As he counted, Clickern’s hands moved restlessly.
“Two left.”
“Don’t make a face that says we have to choose before they disappear.”
At Bug’s words, the arrow companion covered his mouth. Everyone laughed. The two pieces of bread waited as they were.
Episode 15, Illustration 2 | Two pieces of bread can wait
Mana came to like that small stretch of time.
That evening, Yuki stopped before opening a folder of documents.
Even a draft she had never meant to show was included in a broadly shared link.
This time, stopping before a click would not be enough.
END OF EPISODE 15