"We Might Be Watched" — the City's Reaction Was Quieter Than Expected

Following the morning announcement on the 4th, the area around Window 2 at Warehouse No. 4 in the bay-area warehouse district saw none of the surge in sightseers that followed the previously reported map disclosure at Window 5 on the 3rd — Window 2 has never been open to general viewing, and cannot be seen from outside the building in any case. The reactions this paper gathered around the city leaned more toward quiet realization than astonishment. One commuting office worker, 44, said, "The map was a 'wow.' This 'they were counting' is more of an 'I see.' So the other side notices our own changes too."

At Tomoshimado Sabo, the café off Haneda previously reported, regulars who had been abuzz about the map on the 3rd found themselves talking about Window 2 on the 4th as well. Owner Saku Miyai, 38, previously reported, recalled, "With the map, everyone got loud over 'it's the same world.' Today, with 'we might be watched,' I feel like everyone's voices got a little quieter." A regular customer, 34, previously reported, laughed, "Nothing bad happened, but somehow it made me want to turn the lights on in my room."

One window keeper, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, "Every night, I'd assumed it was us doing the watching. Being told we might be watched back made the chair in the window room feel different, somehow." He added, however, "The teacups didn't move today either. Unlike the Giant Plains window, Window 2 has always been quiet" — showing no excessive alarm.

At Fukagawa Kita Elementary, a teacher handling the previously reported "same dream" questionnaire said children had started counting everything up to eight during recess, "finding it funny that the other side was counting, rather than scared." The city board of education said it has no special response planned.

The city's Consumer Affairs Center issued another warning on the 4th, following the 3rd's: products claiming to "match the observation pulse count," or information schemes claiming to teach "how to get the other side's attention," could appear. It stressed that the observation records themselves remain under state control, and no individual can "match" anything from this side.

Most of the city received the map disclosure on the 3rd as a welcome surprise. Today's "they were counting" spread through the city with a more complicated expression — not quite happy, not quite afraid. Thinking you're the one doing the watching, only to learn you might be watched yourself, isn't the kind of gap that gets a cheer. Instead, people turn the lights up a little. That, too, is part of daily life in this city.