A cracked scanner was on the ground. A teenager gazed at it for a moment. The boy thought about his friends, mostly Gosh. His best friend in Perim. He took a deep breath.
He stomped on it many times. He continued for a while before he panted.
After this, he grabbed something else, a small crystal. He gazed at it and destroyed it the same way. He broke the only thing he brought back from Perim. To be sure it would never been used and analysed. It didn't belong on earth.
He put his hand on his forehead, "There Najarin. I hold my promise. A scanner like this will never be used again. It is too dangerous. Don't worry, dad will never be able to make another one like this in his entire life."
Those were the first words of Alexandre said, when he returned to Earth.
Chapter 16: The Mysteries Of The Messenger Part 2
Sarah and Peyton followed Tom inside the house and stood near Cassandra and Kaz.
"You found something," Sarah sighed with relief.
"Because we found zero good or bad stuff on our side," Peyton sighed.
"Those are the tablets," the teenage girl said as she looked at the image.
They looked at the image of the Mipedian and the human.
"This is the Chaotic Player you know?" Sarah asked.
Cassandra replied, "Yes. This is Alexandre… He was a senior student at our high school. It was his last year when he disappeared for three days. The cops came to my home and asked about his whereabouts. He never returned home that day. The next day, me and my friends tried to search around. We know where he goes but got nothing. He just… vanished. He was here all this time."
"W-wait!" Kaz stopped her, "Three days!"
"He had to scars on his face when he was back… No one understand how it was possible. It doesn't feel right that it was all in three days. He was also so… different when he was back. He was also depressed for a while. It took a month before he returned to school. He failed and had to repeat his year," the woman sighed as she grabbed the tablet with the text message they could read.
Meanwhile, Marquis Darini and Taffial listened very closely. A big discovery was à upon them and didn't want to miss one bit. They already learned about the messenger of the Cothica.
"Read it mom," her son said.
She nodded, "This is my final day in Perim. Two solans passed and finally, my dad invention was repaired. Thanks to you Gosh, I can return to my world. And no, it's not the Cothica as you believe. I want you to remember, even if I cannot say it with my mouth, that I truly treasure our friendship. The time together since you pointed that sword at my face. Tell the others that I'm happy to meet them all. Make sure to translate that when you get Al Mipedim back. I won't come back. I promised Najarin to destroy the scanner. Farewell."
None of them said anything as they turned the tablet around. They were going to wait before voicing their many thoughts on the message itself. They already noticed some inconsistencies. Something was written in English too, "Messenger Of The Cothica. Maybe our answers will come to you if we reply on this tablet. We all missed you. Just so you know, we are finally winning this war. You gave us hope, an immense treasure that we won't give up. One of us lost his life for betraying his tribe. Maybe you cried without realising it. Maybe not. I hope you are happy in the Cothica. I pray that one day, more of your kinds come here. Maybe you among them."
The five were quiet after reading that. That message wasn't made by the human, but a creature who learned how to write in their language.
The two invisible creatures also took a while to take in. They understood that The Messenger used something to return to his world. It was obvious that he couldn't before. Also, that just like this time, the four tribes united against the M'arrillians. Learning a little about their tribes own forgotten past was interesting. They didn't know how the Chaotic Player came from the Cothica, but looking at them, it was clearly not the same way.
"That… doesn't make sense," Tom concluded his thought.
"Yeah. Mom… are you sure he was gone three days?" Kaz asked his mother.
"Yes. I know because I was worried sick all this time and it was on the news. I could find some news paper about it back home," she replied.
He believed his mother, "I believe you mom but… two solans equals one year."
Cassandra nodded quietly. It was clear where it was wrong.
"Still… That Gosh learned how to write in English. That's something we cannot do. We cannot write anything in Perim or teach them anything about Earth," Sarah grumbled.
Peyton nodded, "Yeah. That's a no-way."
"Scanner didn't exist when you were young right mom?"
"Right. There was no such thing as that, but my friend Alexander has one," she crossed her arms and wondered if there was a reason for that. They had to fix something so Alexandre could return home. And the scanner he had. Something was tinkling on in her mind. It offered no answer.
"This is getting weird," Tom concluded as they learned two things that didn't mix together.
"You know. When he went to Perim, he shouldn't meet anyone in Kaizeph. They aren't the creatures of the first generation of Chaotic. The Underworlders were in the Underworld and not in Kaizeph," Kaz said.
"That's what the story about the tribes said. None of them lived in Kaizeph at the time," his mother agreed.
"I found some card of that old generation and yep. I found one where Theb-Saar was known as the Crown Prince of Al Mipedim. Not the king, or the crown prince of the Wind Quadrant or stuff like that," the brown-haired boy crossed his arms and nodded to himself.
"The first war against the M'arrillians was long ago. The two generations card game has like… 40 or 50 solans of difference in time minimum," Kaz thought back.
His mother sighed, "We won't find more on this tablet. Still, he has been searching for a way back to Earth for a while," she put it on the ground.
Sarah nodded, "Still. He used something to get to Kaizeph."
"It must be the scanner we saw holding in his hand mom. We use it to port in and out. If it isn't working then he couldn't return to Earth," the boy concluded.
Sarah immediately voice the problem, "But he couldn't just port in Kaizeph. No one had a card of that city in our world and no one could scan it until recently."
The five were quiet once again. Despite what they found out, there was little that could help them. There were more questions that awoke and it was all because of time.
The time Alexandre was gone. The era the teenage boy ended in Perim. It would have been normal if it was many solans ago but not 2000 solans ago or more. Without the use of Dranakis Threshold, it shouldn't be possible.
Tom knew that the reason Phelphor was still alive was because he was frozen. It stopped his body from aging. He was maybe one of the last living creatures of the first M'arrillian wars with Najarin.
For the spying Mipedians, it was a fantastic discovery. They agreed with the human's comments. Nothing seemed possible. Still, they learned so many things. One of their ancestors learned the language of the Messenger Of the Cothica.
Marquis Darini thought, maybe one oasis possesses that knowledge. One of them must have the descendants of Gosh... If The Tyrant didn't eliminate them, that would be bad if it was true. The Tyrant might potentially ruin many things for the tribe future.
Cassandra said, "You know. Alexandre was the first Chaotic Player who went to Perim. He wasn't here as a Chaotic Player. He didn't come with a… code like us. If he died there, it would be once and for all," she smiled, "He managed to survive and come back on his own. He makes friends and lived a different world. No wonder he changed when he was back. And...Saying that…Perim is- Well. It's just…real."
That struck at the four teenagers. They all believe Perim was real, but more like as a potential super powerful virtual reality or something like that. Their world had the technology to create something grandiose like that. The four treated this world as real. The only thing that prevented them from 100% believing it was their own body made of code. It wasn't in flesh and blood.
Now, with that they seen in Kaizeph. What Alexandre was when he came in Perim. It was all different. It was a real world they entered in their code. A fake body in a real Perim.
"Damn. I underestimate what scientists could do," MajorTom admitted.
Kaz adjusted his glasses, "We should port out before we are found."
"Let's put the tablet back in there," Peyton said.
The five grumbled as they put the tablet back where they picked it up. They grabbed their scanners and looked around one last time. This discovery didn't bring much answers about Alexandre. However, it brought one about Perim.
"I'll never look at Perim the same way," Kaz mother said.
They ported out.
Once they were gone, Marquis Darini and Taffial turned visible. The marquis grabbed the two tablets and gazed at them with the Cothica Hunter.
Taffial was writing everything they learned while barely containing his excitements, "So much discovery we made! So many new mysteries that even the Chaotic Players doesn't know!"
"Yes. What they said about Theb-Saar… Peyton said he had a card of Theb-Saar when he was the Crown Prince from the time when this Messenger came to Perim, in the far away past," he gazed at the other one.
"I have no idea either. He came here from the Cothica. Not the present, but the past. The Cothica is so powerful that it didn't care about time!" Taffial realised.
"The power those Chaotic Players has are greater than I thought… It's scary a little isn't it?" he lightly shivered, "They could just change the pass with something one of them made. The father of the Messenger made a battlegear that could travel in time. Not like Dranakis Threshold. Every creature thinks they are weak, but maybe it's just an illusion they made. One we believed."
The Mipedian gulped. Changing the pass was something scary, especially if any other tribes got it, "This would be bad if they really could. M-maybe it was an accident and they could never do it again. Just like some of our special battlegears that did something bigger, but no one could ever made again."
Those words were mostly to reassure themselves. Darini closed his eyes and thought about it. The battlegear was broken after one usage. Maybe it was too powerful. Maybe it broke once again when back to the Cothica. Too many questions. There was one thing he understood thought. He looked around and everything was the same, "I think you are right. If they could make many, we wouldn't be having this conversation in the first place. It was just a miracle. A messenger that saved Perim once. He said that he would destroy the invention. Meaning that he knew it could never be made once again. I have a lot to do Taffial. I'll report everything to Theb-Saar."
"Yes," the Cothica Hunter replied as he continued his own reports and thought.
They both pushed aside the last thing the Chaotic Player said. It was something they will find out when asking Peyton about it.
The day came to an end. Cassandra just had seen what her other self saw in Perim. Just like her son, they were both shocked by their discovery.
"Well Kaz, looks like we are like in those Isekai shows right?" she nervously said.
He nodded at his mother, "Yeah. We explore another world. Literally."
They knew the other teenagers would face that experience themselves. However, none of them would regret their previous actions. They made friends with 100% real creatures, everyone they helped was real. Their selfless actions were real. Their selfish ones also real. They treated it as real and believed it was real. Now, they knew it was real.
Cassandra went to her bed. Despite everything she learned, she smiled, "Those memories I made there are so… enjoyable. I can work while living my dream. Living a real adventure, I made on my own," she gazed at the clock. It was late, "I'll call you tomorrow Alexandre. I will believe everything you said about Kaizeph. I went there," she took a pierce of paper and wrote a note. She wasn't working tomorrow and it was the perfect moment to call him.
After all those years, they stayed in contact.
As she finished this, a flash came in her mind. She wondered where she saw that scanner and it was all coming back now.
Two decades and half ago
Cassandra and Alexandre were talking together.
"I can't believe you still beat me with your tribe," she sighed.
Her friend chuckled, "You lack experience about what the creatures can do best with an attack and battlegears together. You'll beat me eventually," he crossed his arms, "Maybe you'll soon beat some of those high mighty players I beat."
"They aren't that great."
"It will still be the first phase to reach my level."
They continued for a while before they stood up and went outside.
"It was nice to invite me Alexandre. You have a nice house," she commented.
"Yeah," he gazed at the side and sighed, "My dad is here you know."
"Really? I didn't see him."
"He's in the basement, working on his project. Good thing you didn't meet him," the boy rolled his eyes.
"Something that annoy you?"
"Yeah. He likes to show off anything great he is doing. He just goes on and on about his theory-"
"It's not a theory Alexandre. It's real," the man went towards them as he held an object in his hand.
"Still working on this dad? I thought you were done already," his son sighed, while putting his hand on his forehead.
Cassandra guessed he didn't wish for her to meet him today, "What are you working on?"
The eyes of the man shined while his son whined, "I believe that our planet is connected to another world and this device will allow me to reach-"
"Okay dad! Enough of this theory. You sound crazy enough already," Alexandre pushed his father away, "This is some science-fiction stuff you are saying you mad scientist," that title didn't feel like an insult, but an inside joke between them.
Both had a small smile.
Once the man was gone, complaining that his son didn't understand his genius, Alexandre came back.
"You dad is… weird."
"Tell me about it. He still believes there is another world connected to our own, because of weird heptagon stuff they found in Antarctica. He's acting like we can really go to another world. I mean, it works in Manga, but you need a truck."
Cassandra chuckled, "Yeah. Still, you aren't weird."
"Thanks. That's why I knew… I could invite you here. If dad just came to yell about this. Only mom can handle his crazy ideas," he crossed his arms and lightly smiled.
"I do believe there is life on other planets but we can't just go there with that thing."
"We can't."
Present time
Cassandra opened her eyes and sat on her bed. She covered her face with her hands and realised that Alexandre father invented the first scanner. It looked very similar to the one in the sculpture. A black scanner. The other thing she remembered was that after he reappeared, he said one thing.
We can.
That's what she lived today for the first time. Something her son lived many times. Something her friend lived once, "I definitely need to talk to you."
She will confirm things before telling her son and her friends what she found out on her own.
AC: This is the result of thinking a little too much about the show.
It always gave some element of sci-fi in the game. Earth feeling sci-fi (because we saw so little of it and how they could go to Perim and claim those memories) while Perim being more fantasy. The show always gives the impression that it was a futuristic Earth with how the code work and it was possible to made.
I decided to take away the dates as they aren't important to the story. I'll just let it vague with how the characters talk about each other's and nothing else.
The code the players had; I did wonder: how real this world might feel?
With this story, I went with the answer that Perim is 100% real. It is another world they are visiting.
Next Chapter: It's Strange.
Sarah is at Mount Pillar without having to hide and it's freaking her out. She was not used to this and neighed is Wamma.
