Escape - 2

< Machine Translation Version >

Phone box

  There is no such thing as no one in the car. There is no such thing as automatic driving, and the Mercedes looks a bit old-fashioned. Takeshi takes a closer look. There were no streetlights, so he couldn't see much into the car. But when he looked more closely, he noticed that there was no steering wheel. This is ridiculous. There is no such thing as a car without a steering wheel in this day and age. It's not like it's not from Earth or anything. Even though Takeshi felt a little sick, he turned his mind to full speed with his natural analytical ability. There's definitely something going on here. Even if it is a trick, there is something. There's no way there's no handle in reality. Takeshi thought about the facts over and over in his mind. What are the possibilities?

  It was 1980, the Showa era in Japan, and even Smart card (SUICA, PASMO, etc)  was not yet available. When you took the train, you had to buy a ticket or a coupon. There were no hybrid cars, much less electric cars. Of course, cell phones were not widespread in those days. The only means of communication was between the landline phone at home and a public phone or a pager. In those days, a car without a steering wheel did not even exist.

  Takeshi thought it over again. "Wait, what if...?" A thought occurred to him. He went around to the left side of the Mercedes. He knocked on the window. The window  came down and a man's face came out. He looked like a normal person, which made Takeshi feel relieved in his heart. The steering wheel was also attached. It was just a left-hand drive Mercedes Benz. This man had knocked on the right side window and was quietly watching from the left side as Takeshi peered in. Takeshi was embarrassed that he had come down with such force, but he had to talk and move on.

  Takeshi held back my embarrassment and spoke to the man with a miffed look on the face.

"What are you doing? You bumped into me and then ran away."
"..."
"Can I see your driver's license?"
“..."

  Without saying a word, the man took out his driver's license from his black clutch bag and held it out to Takeshi through the window. Takeshi half snatched the license from the man's hand and moved to the headlights of the Mercedes Benz, which were still on, to check the license. The name on the license was Takagi Mitsuru, and the address was apparently nearby. Takeshi was relieved that he had succeeded in getting the license and returned to the window to continue the conversation.

"Please get off for now from there."
" ..."
“He had checked your driver's license, so give up. I'll call the police officer and have them come."
"I don't want the police officer."  The man finally opened his mouth.
"No, no, no, that's not going to happen.You can't do that."
"I'll give you this car and you can pretend it never happened." The man said.
"Don't be ridiculous, just come down here." The man said.

“He had checked your driver's license, so give up. He'll call the police officer and have them come."“He had checked your driver's license, so give up. I'll call the police officer and have them come.”
"He'll give you this car and you can pretend it never happened." The man said.
"Don't be ridiculous, just come down here." Takeshi said.
"No, no, no, no, you can't do that. You hit my car like this. you were broken my car door."
"Well, I'll give you this car Benz and you can pretend it never happened.
Please"
"Don't be ridiculous. Just come down here. Hurry up”

  After waiting by the car for a while, the man reluctantly turned off the engine and got out of the Mercedes Benz. Takeshi was again relieved to see that he looked like a normal businessman in a suit. Moreover, he seemed to be a very gentle man. When asked why he had run away, he just looked down and said nothing. It was too late to talk about it, and Takeshi decided that he had better call the police as soon as possible.

"Do you want me to come with you to make a call to police?"
"No, I'll wait here,"  he replied, slumped over. The man's words and actions were a little strange.
"I understand. Please wait for me. Then give me your car's key. Do not escape you from me"
"Here you are"  The man straightforwardly handed me the keys to his Mercedes Benz.

  Grasping the keys of the Mercedes Benz in his hand for the first time, Takeshi started walking. He knew there was a pay phone just around the bend, so he left the car there and walked for about five minutes to the phone booth. It was late at night and the road was over the mountains, so it was fortunate that there were no other cars passing by. Of course, Takeshi took out the red reflector of triangular board for emergency and placed it in a conspicuous place for safety away from the car. When he entered the phone box, he dialed 110 (Number of police station) , a free number. Takeshi told him that he had been side door of Takeshi's car by a car and needed him to come over as soon as possible, that no one was injured, and Takeshi's current location, and he went back to the man named Takagi. Takeshi had already called the police, so all I had to do was wait, and then the man started talking to me.

"Excuse me. I'm going to make a phone call, too," The man said to Takeshi.
"Oh, ok, go ahead. It's just around the bend." Takeshi replied.

  The man walked away with his head down to make a phone call. Takeshi could smell the faint scent of alcohol in the air. Maybe that's why he didn't talk as much as he should have, Takeshi thought. He wondered if that was why he kept his head down when he spoke. Maybe he didn't have many points left on his license, he thought. Takeshi waited for the man to come back, thinking.

  It would take at least twenty minutes for the police officer to arrive, so Takeshi figured the man would have finished his call and come back. However, he didn't come back. Takeshi waited and waited, thinking it was a long call, but finally Takeshi got tired of waiting and decided to go to the phone booth to check. Takeshi rounded a curve and saw the light of a phone booth. It was pitch black all around. And there was no sign of anyone there at all.

"There is no one there. That's ridiculous."

☆　☆　☆

日本語版(原作)は、kindleで販売中です。
The original (Japanese) is on sale at Amazon kindle

逃走

#小説 #逃走 #機械翻訳 #Escape