2002 (Side A): Bullet Garden/Interlude 2

Previous Chapter - Chapter 2: The Bad Guys are Busy

Next Chapter - Chapter 3: All the Passengers Dance in a Garden of Bullets

Synopsis
On the second day of the cruise, Misao calls Hiroko earlier than expected, saying he has a bad feeling. He asks how everything is on her end, and is relieved it when she says everything's fine. She asks why he sounds tired; he replies that the "strange passengers" on his ship are making him vaguely nervous. He clarifies that the issue isn't the people he was talking about the previous day, but the ordinary passengers. He sometimes hears strange songs, and many of them appear as if "the life's been sucked out of them." Hiroko asks if they're foreigners, and when he confirms it, she says he's feeling strange simply due to their presence. Misao feels a little better, and tells her to call right away if anything happens. He adds that a lot of people are dressed in black and red coats; she speculates they may be Boy Scouts, or a part of the movie's promotions. She remembers that an event is happening on her ship; he asks if she's going to watch, to which she says that he knows she doesn't like crowds. He begins another sentence, but the call is cut off, giving Hiroko an "out of service area" message, which puzzles her given that it's a satellite connection. She wonders if a sound she just heard was a gunshot.

Cultural References
Boy Scouts

Characters in Order of Appearance
Hiroko

Misao