To Become Real

Zone XIII

Any plebian can tell a person was from Gran Pulse by listening to their accent. This is something Hope took notice of as well. The young man (whom was not in any way a linguist) wasn't satisfied with this notion though. He wanted to place exactly what it was that made Vanille sound so... sweet. He hated himself for thinking it; because he found Vanille rather aggravating much of the time. And, he didn't want to be categorized the same as any other 'stereotypical guy' that falls for the charms of the cutesie ditz in the short skirt. And yet... he couldn't help but appreciate her other qualities; Vanille was wonderful to him. She had accepted him like family, over and over again. She comforted him when he complained, and she motivated him when he mourned. This is what Hope was thinking about, at that moment.

Hope sat patiently, waiting for Cid Raines to come. The two had arranged to meet in the home base. While some of the other records who didn't know the stories from Zone XIII were quick to dismiss Raines to be some mini-boss or villain, the l'Cie of Zone XIII stuck together like glue. Cid was welcomed by the Thirteens with open arms, as though he were a hero. Cid couldn't helped but be touched by this. His own guilt complex was, at least somewhat abated, thanks to that. That was, until Cid Raines had joined the Grays.

To some of the Thirteens (Hope included), the belief was that the Grays wanted to ensure that Tyro did not succeed in defeating all of the darkness. This way, the battles would never end; and the dead would live forever. When Hope came to Cid with concerns about his allegiance, the Brigadier General was mildly surprised.

"That's what the populace thinks we're doing?" the man was flabbergasted. It was probably the biggest outburst of emotion Hope had seen from Cid since becoming a record. Hope noted this.

"Listen, I'm not eager to return to being an envoy of the dead... But we're no saboteurs," Cid had said.

So, Cid proposed explaining the Gray's ambitions to the lad later, before being judged. Hope was quite receptive to this idea. There was nothing better than clearing the air, gaining information, and regaining control. And so Hope awaited the man in his tent. As a big supporter of punctuality, Cid Raines did not leave the young man to wait long.

With a rustle, Hope turned to see Cid opening the flap to the tent. The usually pensive man was calm, cool, and collected. His facial features had softened over the past year.

"Hope, I'd like to get straight to the point," he said, "I'd like to explain the goal of the Grays."

Cid's voice flowed out of his mouth like smooth molasses melting over food. Hope hadn't expected this. He didn't want to get sweet-talked, but it was possible that Cid was being entirely legitimate, and this was simply his natural charm.

"We don't want this to end," Cid started, "But not in the way you think."
"We believe that if the time comes when the darkness is completely destroyed, when no more event warps are created; then this world will cease to exist," Cid said.

Hope was disappointed that he was hearing what he had expected. The Grays were beginning to sound more and more like the paranoid cult Hope had heard it to be.

"And so what, you're going to let the darkness permeate? So Tyro's mission never ends?" Hope asked, "Some are calling this Valhalla. And many of the dead records are willing to stay here rather than perish to nonexistence in their homes, is it not the same for you?" At this, Cid shook his head.

"Believe me, there is a way to ensure that Tyro's story does not die. And we don't need to let the darkness run amok," Cid continued, "That idea was merely a thought-experiment to better understand what we're doing here."

"I'm certain there is a way to bring you, the living, back to your respective realms," Cid asserted.

This surprised Hope. He had always thought the Grays had no intention of returning to their homes. Yet, what Hope was hearing entirely countered the core goal he believed they had.

"I know the day must come when you go back," Cid said, "I know this, because you are instrumental in setting up events in your future, for other realms." Curiosity piqued in the young man. Hope wasn't too clear what was in store for his future, but perhaps he had a responsibility to return to the Academy.

"... How do you plan to change anything?" Hope asked.

"Tyro has to become real," Cid finished.

"What does that mean? And what does that entail?" Hope replied.

Hope hoped Cid would further explain himself. Cryptic bullshit was rather extremely annoying. Despite this, Hope's hope would not be fulfilled.

"I'm not sure how yet," was the gist of Cid's answer. He was a studied man, a general. He had some engineering knowledge. But he wasn't adept at using philosophy to fuel something metaphysical.

At the very least, on the far opposite side of the court, there was someone else who was getting more leeway out of his questions.

"How do I become real?" Tyro asked, he spoke slowly but deliberately. Someone couldn't be mistaken at the tone of his voice. This was not a question, it was a demand. Across the table, Dr. Mog lowered his head in shame. Tyro had cornered the doctor, and finally confronted the little man about the various truths underneath their world.

'The kid knows,' Dr. Mog lamented to himself, saying nothing aloud just yet. The was the a deep silence as the moogle steadied his breaths.

"Kupo..." was all the tiny man managed to mumble. That is, to him, it was closer to saying 'Gee...'

Dr. Mog had been dreading this day. On the one hand, he was privy to more of his and Tyro's existential dilemma, but on the other hand... Dr. Mog was essentially just as much of a pawn as Tyro was. He was the handler. He was created to guide Tyro in battles, and that was it. But here? He had no instructions for this.

"Answer me!" the child cried out, he was becoming desperate. For such a young mind to have such strength with what he knows... it was baffling.

"I have... theories..." the moogle muttered, before trailing off.

"Theories!? Are you kidding me?" Tyro yelled.

"Let me get this straight!" the boy started, "We're somewhere between cleaning fake messes for eternity and ceasing to exist entirely without warning."

"And all you have for me... are theories!?" Tyro screamed; frustration exploded outward from his face, his mouth, his eyes. For a kid, he was quite fierce. But this wasn't unwarranted. This was the desperate frustration of someone finding out their life was a lie, and that he had a limited but unknown amount of time left.

It would have helped if Dr. Mog's expression would change. But as per usual, the same face stared back at the boy. But inwardly, Dr. Mog was desperate too. He wanted to give the boy some hope.

"We could... try to become legitimate parts of the timeline!" Dr. Mog started.

"Doctor... what..." Tyro cried softly. He was, after all, only a child. No matter how much respect he garnered from everyone, Tyro was still just a little boy.

"Wait! Just wait, kupo!" Dr. Mog urged, "Think about it! W-What if you had a storyline? We could make a new hall! The FFRK Realm!"

"You could have a team! I-I'll join you in dungeons, too! P-Perhaps we will bring in, find another Keeper, kupo!" Dr. Mog continued, "A partner! Or a love interest! Either way!"

"A-And.. O-Or... we can give you a rival! An anti-hero, kupo!" Dr. Mog was babbling now, "Doesn't it sound cool?" The little man tried, he did. But Tyro wasn't hearing anything of it.

"I-If you had your own journey to complete, think of how many updates that would take! We could stall the end of the world by months! Perhaps years!" Dr. Mog exclaimed.

"... That doesn't mean anything would change," Tyro replied. At this, Dr. Mog was silent. Because, Tyro was, in fact, correct. It was kind of pointless. All it would do, would be to make the world real only by its own definition of real. The moogle cast his gaze downward, as he reflected. After a moment, he spoke up again.

"Tyro... do you know how to complete a story, kupo?" Dr. Mog asked.

"How to... What?" Tyro responded dryly, but was puzzled at this.

"You complete a story... by writing an ending," the moogle said, "...This way, we'll get to choose how and when our world ends."

Dr. Mog wanted this to be clear to the boy. The current plan was to stall and continue adding new content; gaining obscure hero records and then; create an original story. If this was successful, then they might no longer have to worry about some ever-looming instant and permanent server shut down; which was fairly likely to happen at any given moment.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, the 'storyline' had another purpose. The only way to avoid an eternity like Sisyphus, repetitive actions for nothing was the one day have an ending. The hope was, that they would have some control over this. But was all of this enough to become real?

"Dr. Mog," the boy began, "I don't just want to stall. And I don't have any desire to write an ending for us. What I want... is to become canon."

Dr. Mog was wide-eyed. Well, it was the right idea. The truest way to become real, and a legitimate part of the time-stream was to become canon within the Final Fantasy Universe. But how? The hero records would need to go back to their own worlds and be affected by Tyro in some way moving forward. Tyro would then live on as long as any other hero. He could become a 'Final Fantasy' by his own right; irregardless of if he saves the day.

"How do you intend to do that, kupo?" Dr. Mog inquired.

"I... I'll just have to rewrite the records!" the boy said defiantly. Dr. Mog didn't respond. Normally, this would be completely unacceptable, bordering somewhere between sacrilegious and abominable. But the moogle knew that their circumstances were desperate. It certainly called for breaking fictional rules set by a fictional kingdom that had put them in this situation in the first place. He couldn't approve aloud, but he couldn't object to the boy. Not anymore.

Uh oh! What will Tyro want to change? Well for the impatient, note that chapter 11 and 12 are mainly discussions about that very subject. But we don't see Tyro's (bad) first attempt at taking action in chapter 13!