Censored Equation
Censored Equation (検閲方程式, Ken'etsu Hōteishiki) is a short story that is part of an anthology of short stories based on the Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan series. It was written by Yusuke Iba (維羽 裕介, Iba Yūsuke) and published by Shueisha. "Censored Equation" was included with the September 2017 issue of Ultra Jump to coincide with the release of Deoxyribonucleic Acid. It was then compiled in a collection named Rohan Kishibe Does Not Shout with four other stories, which released for sale on June 19, 2018.
While researching aliens for a short story, Rohan Kishibe discovers an unsolved equation theorized to grant access to another dimension. A university student attempted to solve it, only to experience an increasing sense of being watched and an inexplicable countdown that led to her becoming comatose for several years. As Rohan investigates further, the same phenomenon begins to unfold around him.
Summary
Chapter 1
Rohan was asked by Shueisha to write a short story on the theme of encountering the unknown, and so he visits Jingiin University's library in Morioh to find out about aliens. The library director was a fan of Rohan and assigns one of their staff members, a graduate student named Yuto Chikamori, to assist Rohan in finding documents. Chikamori provides a wide range of books and reports, including SETI's annual reports and academic papers on the Wow! signal. As Rohan and Chikamori discuss the search for alien life, they touch on the Drake equation and the motivations behind humanity’s curiosity about extraterrestrial civilizations. Being a mathematics major, Chikamori explains that the equation provides a probabilistic estimate of intelligent life in the galaxy.
After perusing many of the documents and papers Chikamori provided to him, Rohan is satisfied with his research and begins to pack his things. As he's putting away his reading material, he notices a notebook that Chikamori left behind on the desk. His curiosity piqued; Rohan reads through the notebook only to discover a massively complex equation written throughout it. The first page of the notebook is ripped clean in half, and the rest of the pages are the same equation seemingly copied and pasted over and over again. As he is looking over it, Rohan feels as though he is being watched from some invisible entity. Chikamori returns to the room to fetch his book and begins speaking in several different languages, giving Rohan a warning not to pursue this any further. Rohan is confused by Chikamori's sudden change of attitude, but the student returns to normal as if nothing happened. Rohan asks about the contents of the notebook, and Chikamori indulges.
He reveals that the equation in the notebook is meant to tell of a way to cross dimensions. However, the equation could not be solved because it is incomplete. He explains that the notebook belonged to his girlfriend, who had been attempting to solve this mysterious equation for two years before she suddenly fell into a coma. She has been asleep for three years now and doesn't have much longer to live according to the doctors, so Chikamori has devoted his life to finding the solution to the equation to satisfy his girlfriend's last wishes. Rohan's interest in this story wanes as he is skeptical about the details. Hoping to gather more clues, Chikamori asks Rohan to incorporate the equation into his short story to bring it to a wider audience. Rohan agrees, using Heaven's Door on Chikamori to find out the hospital his girlfriend is staying at and takes off. Before he leaves, he falsifies Chikamori's memories by writing that he had been working at the library's service counter since the morning, since it would be troublesome if Chikamori saw Rohan at the hospital.
Chapter 2
Rohan arrives at the hospital and enters the room where Chikamori's girlfriend is asleep in. It is a private room, which implies to Rohan that she comes from a wealthy family. He pulls over a stool and uses his Stand to read the girl's thoughts. Rohan reads the contents of her early life before finally stumbling on mention of some sort of equation. He then suddenly feels an unnerving sense of someone watching him, but sees nobody.
Chikamori's girlfriend had discovered a book belonging to a physicist that told of an equation that could lead to accessing another dimension. Solving it required substituting constants in an endless process, but she encountered three obstacles: the unknown constants, the inability of computers to process the equation, and the persistent feeling of being watched as she progressed. Her memories about the equation are articulated in such a detailed way that they are very easy to read and interpret for Rohan. The woman became engrossed in the equation, noticing cryptic numerical traces left throughout history by others who had worked on the equation before her, hidden in oil paintings, news reports, and ancient texts. As she got closer to solving it, the feeling of being watched grew and interfered with her regular life.
She compiled her findings one day at the library and finally came to a conclusion after two whole years. She braced herself in anticipation for something to happen as she solved it, but nothing happened. She wondered if she had really wasted two years of her life for nothing. She gave up and decided she would attempt the same thing tomorrow. As she was packing her things, she began to notice that all the written words she could see were replaced with numbers. The text on her coffee cup, the "shutting down" message displayed on her computer, and her name on the sign-out sheet were all written in numerals. Before she could even assess the situation, all the numbers turned to a 5, then to 4. She understood what was happening. It was a countdown. What it was counting down to, she didn't want to find out. She tried to destroy any evidence of the equation she could. She ripped out the first page and crumbled it up as the countdown reached 2. She frantically looked throughout the library for some way to dispose of this formula—the shredder, burning it, or pouring water on it were of no use. The countdown hit 1. She realized the only way to properly dispose of it was to put it somewhere nobody would look, and she crumbled it up and ate it. As the countdown hit 0, she felt a presence behind her.
The memories end there. Up until that point, the feeling of being watched had grown increasingly on Rohan, but it had suddenly gone away. Rohan concludes that while it was unclear if the equation transferred someone's consciousness to another dimension, or simply overheated her brain, he figures it must have some mysterious power.
As Rohan ponders these questions, he too begins to notice the words around him being turned into numbers. Realizing what is going on, he tries activating his Stand, but nobody is there for him to strike. The numbers suddenly all become 5, and the countdown begins. As the numbers trickle down, Rohan perceives himself to be merging between locations rapidly. The scenery changes to various places, including Morioh, Jinbocho, Kunimi Pass Memorial Park, the Bridge of Sighs in Venice, the corridor of his grandparents' inn, and more. He decides that there has to be some enemy for him to attack. He remembers that in the girl's last moments, she felt the presence of someone or something behind her. As the countdown strikes 0, Rohan activates Heaven's Door as something materializes in front of him. It is humanoid and has pale skin and pitch-black eyes. He attempts an attack, but it is no use, and he loses consciousness.
Chapter 3
Rohan suddenly awakes to staring at the floor under the hospital bed. He reads his watch. Two minutes had passed since he had passed out. On his arm, written with Heaven's Door, was "You will forget the equation after 10 minutes." He had enacted a fail-safe in case reading the equation in her memories triggered the same phenomenon Chikamori's girlfriend experienced.
The curse of the equation was activated upon learning its solution. Rohan notes that it shouldn't really be called a "curse," as it's more of a natural phenomenon of life, like gravity. He leaves the hospital room, and on his way out writes on the girl's face that she too will forget the equation. As he leaves, she stirs in her bed and finally wakes up. Rohan approaches the elevators and meets Chikamori, who doesn't remember him as Heaven's Door erased his memory of that morning, and Rohan writes in him that he will also forget about the equation. Rohan hears his gasps as he enters his girlfriend's room, as the elevator doors close.
Chapter 4
Rohan takes a train back to Morioh and daydreams about the events that just unfolded. He decides that the feeling of being watched was probably a warning mechanism, the same way that prey in the wild use that feeling to escape predators. He also realizes that in a few hundred years, when humanity reaches the technological singularity, when AI surpasses human capabilities, the equation may finally be able to be solved. It is clear that is not meant to be solved now, not by any human.
He watches the sun set on his way home and feels nostalgic looking at the lights of the city that pass. As he steps off the train platform in Morioh, the summer breeze feels good on his clammy skin.
Appearances
Gallery
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Ultra Jump September 2017 -
Short Stories booklet 2 -
