Linko

Humans, Anomalies, and everything else all possess a singular, universal truth, a drive to be perceived; like flocks of birds flashing their feathers, flowers giving off aromas, whales singing into the deep… But beyond that, there's something at our core, something even more uniquely our own, spreading outward from body and mind, crossing the thickest barriers and the deepest voids, ceaselessly proving our existence and uniqueness to the universe.

"Like… a 'frequency,' only tuned differently."

When Linko was having her Esper ability information registered, nearly everyone who dealt with her was left more confused than they started. Nothing the girl described could be verified by any device or theory, and yet they all stated at some point that they could clearly feel, if only for a moment, that they were being connected with, as if resonating on the same frequency as something else… Until Linko would say something she really shouldn't in that innocent, caring, faintly sympathetic voice of hers, and they would hurriedly put their dependable adult masks back on.

"Work's really rough, huh… Why not just jump ship?"

"Cough, cough! No, I can't. And I wasn't even thinking about such things. Next question..."

In the early days after her Esper ability awakened, Linko would often be left dizzy after syncing up with too many frequencies at once, causing her to send the noise flooding into her mind back out again unconsciously, disrupting nearby equipment and people. As a result, the Bureau custom-built a head-mounted device for her to help block out interference and to help her focus. Most people her age might have found its design a little intimidating, but Linko loved it. After her ability awakened, the things she liked, and the reasons she liked them or was drawn to them, only became harder for others to understand, which made it even harder for her to fit in. Fortunately, for a loner like Linko, "not being understood" was never a problem that needed solving.

And yet, one accident long ago introduced her to a new companion, and one act of courage landed her a new responsibility. After facing off against the gloomy, taciturn ETD-6 captain, Linko was approved to become the Guarantor for the Oddity Xiaozhen and was brought into ETD-6 as its youngest member due to a special exception. Exe's judgment was spot-on: Linko's Esper Ability made it far easier for ETD-6 to track down and capture Anomaly-related criminals. Whether it was truly frequencies guiding her, or merely the universe putting her on the right path, Linko's uncanny intuition was vital to cracking major cases regardless. Even so, even after a year in ETD, many people still can't help but worry about her wildly offbeat way of doing things.

"…Um, Linko, aren't we a little too far from the main group?"

"Don't worry. It's the main group that's lost. Trust my intuition!"

"My mom and dad are both Espers."

The first time Linko talked about her family, she scared the Bureau's archivist half to death, because they'd already checked, her parents were perfectly normal, or at least, in Hethereau, normal people with no Esper abilities.

But then she further explained that her "Dad's Esper Ability is sitting perfectly still through more than a dozen movies in a row," and her "Mom's Esper Ability is walking more than a dozen street blocks without stopping," causing everyone to let out a sigh of relief. Afterwards, they immediately started gossiping about how such amazing people could've ended up together.

Linko's mother was an urban exploration blogger, an endlessly energetic go-getter who believed in ghosts, urban legends, UFOs, aliens, and just about every other paranormal thing you could think of. Every day she'd trawl forum posts for leads, and the moment she thought, "This might be a real one!" she'd set off to investigate… Of course, most of the time her impulsiveness got her fooled by those half-baked posts and she'd end up empty-handed, but she never let such things discourage her. Eventually, she really did stumble into a legitimate spooky spot… and subsequently fell into an Anomalous Realm. There, she met another unlucky soul: a film nerd obsessed with supernatural movies, stuck in a creative rut, who'd shut himself away for days to research new creative ideas before deciding on that spot to shoot his new project.

And so, a very Hethereau kind of love story began. Two young people whose personalities were complete opposites met in the Anomalous Realm. At first, they couldn't stand each other, but then later helped each other, stayed together, escaped danger alongside each other, kept thinking about each other, and finally, the next time they ran into each other, confessed their feelings. Linko has heard that story from them both many-a-time, along with plenty of conflicting versions, but the one thing that never changed was their continual adoration for each other.

After Linko was born, those two young Hethereau parents poured all their love into her, and thus she inherited their quirks, too. The first time their daughter crawled into the bedroom with a pacifier in her mouth, Dad generously shared one of his treasured finds, his carefully edited, age-appropriate supernatural movies… And just like that, before she had even outgrown her bottle, Linko could watch horror flicks with her father without batting an eye. Not long after she learned to walk, Mom would take her out to practice, only to get distracted by some shop she'd never been to before and somehow end up walking up and down the entire city block… Strange as all that sounds, whenever Linko talks about her mom and dad, she wears the same happy smile they do.

In any case, little Linko grew up bathed in love.

Linko's Esper Abilities awakened at the young age of seven.

It was an utterly ordinary evening. Linko's mother had taken her along on a stroll through the supermarket, picking up holiday snacks and decorations while they were out. Linko followed her mother, yet her gaze drifted to a peculiar shop down the street. When she snapped back into reality, her mother had vanished entirely. The crowd was gone too, along with the surrounding noise, leaving her alone in an empty mall. At the time, she was too young to understand what an Anomalous Realm was. Initially, Linko had only wanted to escape that strange maze so that she could find her mother. The space itself was seemingly infinite, however. Linko called out in a faint little voice and cried, with no idea where to go. Hours later, exhausted, she fell to the floor, with almost nothing left but a plea on her lips…

"If only I could find Mom and Dad."

As if answering that wish, all at once, countless loud "voices" surged in from beyond, flooding the empty mall, then spiraling inward like a vortex and forcing their way into her mind: confused, wary, uncertain, worried, lonely, sirens, barking dogs, singing, ragged breathing… and her mother.

Driven by instinct, her young, exhausted body pushed itself back to its feet. Among the countless invisible threads of sounds, she followed the warmest, most familiar one and continued walking.

Farther. Just a little farther.

The "voices" grew louder and louder, and more and more noises poured into her mind. She could no longer think straight. She could only continue to walk...

Linko could barely remember how she escaped. She only knew that when she opened her eyes again, her tearful parents were holding her tight, and the unfamiliar people in uniforms nearby sighed in relief.

Linko later learned that after she was drawn into an Anomalous Realm, the Bureau dispatched the Containment Units to intervene and rescue her. What she didn't know was that as soon as search personnel confirmed the exit, everyone present suddenly felt as if they were hearing an imaginary, chaotic uproar. Electronic communications briefly went down, and some people even claimed they were seeing double, or that they heard the same voice from multiple directions at once. The incident itself severely disrupted the rescue operation. The Bureau had even suspected that an Esper was the cause, and had already prepared to send in ETD for investigation. But then, all of a sudden, Linko stepped out of the Anomalous Realm on her own. The instant she heard her mother calling out to her, she froze, and the noise disturbing everyone else stopped immediately. The Bureau members on site glanced at one another.

"The trapped citizen is safe and rescued. Victim is a suspected Esper. As for the target Anomaly… Nullification confirmed."

At first, Linko desperately sought friends.

The flocks of pigeons at dawn, the comets at midnight, the ducks by the river, the shells on the beach, the interesting little shop her mother found, the new game her father recommended, and all those countless frequencies from the infinite beyond reaching into her little head… Linko wished to speak about it to a true friend.

Despite this, she was always alone. Maybe because of her parents, Linko was more tolerant and curious than other kids her age. Whether it was Anomalies, insects, ghost stories, or urban legends, Linko was always full of curiosity. After her Esper Ability awakened, her ability to sense frequencies made the way she perceived the world around her unlike anyone else. Because of that, she had a very difficult time making friends. Even when she joined after-school group activities, she would just stand quietly in the corner.

"Everyone has their own channel. If I try tuning in to their frequency first… could I become friends with them?"

After her Esper Ability awakened, Linko could receive and discern other people's frequencies. If she spent some time tuning to the same frequency as someone else, she could even begin to experience that person's emotions… Were such a thing to come to pass, as long as she kept paying attention to how they felt, she should slowly but surely figure out what would make them happy. At least, that's what Linko thought.

So, the lonely girl began trying to approach other children her age. She was a little stiff and awkward, but it eventually started to work. At last, though she was merely the quietest little tagalong in the bunch, she had finally found the "friends" she had always wanted.

Anyhow, that was what she believed before the split.

Humans and Anomalies can't ever truly understand each other's feelings. Or rather, a human can never really understand an Anomaly.

A group of bored children came across a lone Fluffy in the grass. The kid leading the group got a bright idea: he wanted to see what the Fluffy looked like after it transformed, and the others quickly agreed. Treating it like a toy, their poking and teasing gradually transformed into bullying. There is a natural divide between humans and Anomalies; therefore, it is only natural for children not to empathize with an Anomaly. But Linko stood there in silence, unsure how to speak up. Little by little, she began to pick up Fluffy's frequency as it shifted from hurt and confusion into anger.

"St… stop! It's… really sad right now, and if you guys keep going… it'll be dangerous…"

For the first time in her life, Linko shouted at her "friends."

But what came next, whether it was the frequency she felt or the voices she heard, crushed her hopes.

"It's just an Anomaly. Why are you trying so hard to play the saint…?"

"You care so much about what it feels like, but you don't care about how we feel?"

"What a buzzkill freak…"

More than hurt, what filled Linko's heart was disappointment. She and the Fluffy stayed in that grassy field, silent for a long, long time.

Do people boxed in by common sense or prejudice really understand each other? Can they even understand each other at all? Maybe "fitting in" itself is just an illusion; people imprisoned by judgment can never truly understand one another, and all efforts to fit in will only end in a futile tug-of-war.

"We all live in our own frequencies, sending signals into the universe that go unanswered."

That night, Linko wrote in her diary.

Humans can't understand each other either. One person can never really understand how another feels.

Like stars in the night sky, like islands in the sea, gazing at one another across an abyss…

Linko no longer wanted friends.

When Linko was ten, she would often follow frequencies and wander all over the city by herself. Feeling out unknown frequencies and exploring wherever they led became her own private, joyful way of passing the time, even if her adventures usually only turned up strange little things, and sometimes even led her to dangerous Anomalies, Linko never got tired of it.

One afternoon, Linko sensed a warm, welcoming frequency, full of an energetic, life-filled energy. She followed its direction, passing through streets and alleys, turning several corners, and even climbing a big tree, all under the frequency's guidance.

She was small, however, and the trunk was huge. She ran out of strength halfway up the tree. Stuck there with nowhere to go, she could only curl up and think of a way out of her situation. Suddenly, a girl in a Clement Academy uniform jumped down from a higher branch and helped her down, all while saying things like, "What were you thinking, climbing a tree this high all by yourself?"

"I'm playing Tamachi GO. I thought I could catch a Rare Tamachi up in the tree, but instead… I only caught you! Here, let me show you my Tamachi Index…"

"Huh?! That really is a Rare Tamachi! You must be a genius at this sort of thing!"

A gentle, kind frequency came from the girl. Like a sunflower basking in the sun. Linko brightened up too.

After that, Linko often went exploring all over the city with her newfound sister-figure, and she started collecting her own Tamachi Index too. She always searched for Tamachi purely by instinct. Even though it got her into plenty of trouble from time to time, the joy of pet-hunting outweighed it all. Still, her Index never quite caught up to her sister's.

Two years later, her sister became busy with school and handed her beloved console and handwritten strategy notes over to Linko, asking her to inherit her Tamachi Index and become a Tamachi Master for the both of them.

"Linko is the best guide in all of Hethereau. Believe in yourself, your path is the right path!"

That was what Linko's sister had said to her the last time they met.

After that, Linko kept exploring the city, squeezing into every nook and cranny to catch Tamachi. She still got lost often, but in the end, she always found her way back home. Every time she caught a new Tamachi, she compared her own Index with her sister's, only to find that her sister had already collected it. Nevertheless, Linko didn't lose heart. She just kept searching, believing that one day her Index would catch up to her sister's and even surpass it.

But from then on, every time she caught a Tamachi, Linko never again felt that same warm, lively frequency.

"So the source of that frequency was my sister all along…"

After starting middle school, Linko still often strolled around Hethereau, following the guidance of all kinds of strange frequencies. One day, she went in through the back door of a building and accidentally stumbled into an Anomalous Realm. It was a room with walls that were lined with old TVs, most of them with broken screens that no longer turned on. Following a faint but warm frequency, she searched through the pile of battered old TVs and found one that was very, very small.

Driven by a sudden instinct, Linko pressed the power switch. After a burst of static, a little ghost suddenly popped out.

"Wah!! You unlucky little imp, how dare you disturb this evil spirit's rest! As compensation, starting today, you belong to this evil spirit as its servant! Heh heh heh, mmph..."

Having seen plenty of horror movies, Linko wasn't scared in the slightest. She simply scooped up the little ghost like she was catching a stray cat on any normal day.

"So you were fine, after all. Just a minute ago, your frequency almost disappeared."

"Huh? Frequency? Gone? What kind of nonsense are you spewing? I was just taking a little nap in the TV!"

"You live in a TV… Tamachi live in a screen too, so you're basically like a Tamachi, oh! So you're an electronic pet!"

"Huh? What the hell is that supposed to mean? Who are you calling a pet!? Believe it or not, this evil spirit will mmmph..."

"Yes. From now on, I'll call you Xiaozhen."

After that baffling negotiation, Linko took the little ghost Xiaozhen away… along with her TV.

But when they left the Anomalous Realm, a group of people in Bureau uniforms were already waiting at the entrance for them.

What Linko didn't know at the time was that Xiaozhen had long existed as an Anomaly inside the office building. She could slip into all kinds of TVs and would occasionally pop out to scare employees working late. But on that day, an Esper criminal broke into the building with hopes to cause harm. Just as he was about to attack an innocent employee, they were suddenly dragged into the Anomalous Realm. According to the people who experienced it firsthand, it was a labyrinth made from countless piled-up TVs. They were sealed away in a safe room, while the criminal was confronted by ghostly fire spilling out from countless TV screens, and by a massive ghost formed from those coalescing flames. The battle in the Anomalous Realm lasted for what felt like hours. The ghost's strength was nearly exhausted, and was almost nullified. However, Xiaozhen used the last of her strength to fling the criminal out of the Anomalous Realm. After that, she found the last intact TV and went into a deep slumber… until Linko suddenly woke her again.

In the end, ETD-6 arrested the injured Esper criminal in the empty building. Not long afterward, Linko and the office workers reappeared inside. Fortunately, there were no casualties. Linko and Xiaozhen were investigated by the Bureau following the whole debacle. Linko met a grim-faced young man, and the uniformed personnel seemed to treat him with considerable deference.

"The Celaeno Compound is interested in that ghost."

Linko didn't know what kind of place that was, but her instincts told her it couldn't mean anything good for Xiaozhen. She could vaguely sense that even within the deathly-still frequency of the man before her, there might be a weak point she could utilize…

"Xiaozhen isn't a malicious spirit. I'm not handing her over to you, because…"

Firm and unflinching, Linko clutched the TV with Xiaozhen inside tightly to her chest.

"she's my friend. I don't want to be separated from her."

The young man said nothing more. Not long after, Linko received a document. An ETD captain secured the decision that allowed her to keep Xiaozhen. On the condition that she accept ETD oversight and arrangements, she would be permitted to become Xiaozhen's Guarantor.

"Xiaozhen, Xiaozhen! I'm your official Guarantor now!"

"Guarantor? What does that mean?"

"It's not a master and not a servant… um… whatever. The point is, you get to stay with me!"

"…Heh heh heh~ Then this evil spirit shall graciously look after you, little frequency imp!"