"...in the year 2011 of the Gregorian calendar, scientists conclusively documented the existence of psychokinesis, which until that point had always been a considered an occult phenomenon," the false minoshiro explained dispassionately.
Its voice gave off the impression of a cultured, intelligent woman, and although it was a mesmerizing voice, it sounded almost too perfect, and thus inhuman.
"Before that, whether it was in public or in laboratories, all PK experiments were complete failures. However, in the Republic of Azerbaijan in 2011, cognitive scientist Imran Ismailov conducted successful experiments in the capital city of Baku. In quantum mechanics, there is a well known paradox of an observed particle affecting another particle, but Ismailov was the first to predict that the microscopic world being magnified to a macroscopic event applied to PK as well. Those doubtful of the success of Ismailov's experiments were recruited to act as observers with the latent ability to resist PK. {After going through several trials, they were subdivided into various groups so that no observer knew the entire scope of the experiment. These observers were then asked to conceal certain facts from someone who knew of Ismailov's experiment design. There were multiple control factors...}"
The five of us listened entranced to the false minoshiro's lengthy speech. Even though we couldn't even understand a fraction of what it was talking about, we drank up its words like plants after a drought.
Until now, our knowledge of the world was like a jigsaw puzzle missing the most important piece. The false minoshiro's words were giving us the missing piece, slaking our curiosity.
But we never imagined that we would be hearing about a story so hellish that it would leave our hair standing on end.
"...the first person Ismailov discovered with extrasensory perception, Nona Mardanova, was a nineteen-year-old girl. All she was able to do was move a light plastic ball sealed within a transparent tube, but like a seed crystal that prompts a chemical solution to nucleate, she was the catalyst that awakened mankind's latent power."
Unawares, Maria had come up next to me and was clasping my hand tightly. How did humans come to wield such a god-like power? The story of its origin was always vaguely glossed over in history textbooks.
"...the number of PK users grew rapidly and eventually reached 0.3 percent of the entire population. In the ensuing years of societal disorder, further statistical data was lost. However, a rise in the percentage of people diagnosed with schizoid personality was documented.
"Only 0.3 percent?" Satoru muttered doubtfully.
I couldn't believe it either. What had happened to the remaining 99.7 percent of the population?
"What do you mean by societal disorder?" Maria asked.
"In the beginning, ordinary people ostracized PK users. Even though they only had weak abilities, it was more than enough to potentially destroy the social order of that time, and PK users kept that fact well hidden. For Japan, this destruction began with the Boy A incident."
"Boy A? Is that his name?" Mamoru's brows furrowed.
"At that time, it was common practice to withhold the names of minors involved in criminal activities, so a codename was assigned."
"What did he do?" I asked.
At the worst, I expected the answer to be that he had committed robbery or something like that.
"A's powers were rudimentary, but one day he realized that he could open any lock he came across. Using this ability, he repeatedly broke into homes in the middle of the night, raped nineteen women in their sleep, and killed seventeen of them."
