Muv-Luv Reversal

by Zuoriel

Takeru has been leading a normal life until now. During the summer vacation of his second year in college he's invited by his high school friends to meet up again, to which he agrees. Shirogane doesn't know that this decision would release the nightmares that have been haunting him for some time, nightmares that would be better left forgotten.

5. Back to the Battlefield

Chapter 5: Back to the Battlefield

---

August 28th. Around 10 PM.

(Takeru's room.)

[Takeru]

---

I'd be lying if I said I was alright. I'm amazed at how calm I was during dinner, honestly.

The news were in an uproar, since the Mayor and many important politicians died during the explosion. Of course, Meiya's death was another topic of discussion for the vultures of the media. Mom and Dad didn't say much, but it's clear they're devastated by these events.

These two years they've been supporting me with college. They gave me freedom, trust and encouraged me to follow the career I wanted to take. Even if they aren't always around, they always took care of me. Sure, they may not be the best parents but…

Knowing the causality might take them too was enough to make me lose my appetite.

Is it alright for someone like me to just enjoy a peaceful dinner? I can have at least that little, right?

Thinking that it might have been the last dinner we ever share again makes me wanna puke. I didn't realize how much I had missed them in the BETA world. And now that I've recovered my memories it only hurts more to know that they could die any minute now. We might not have the best parents-son relationship but…

Dad is just like I used to be. Arrogant, kind of jerk and prone to use violence. But he always seems to know when I need a kick in the butt, even if he isn't the most tactful parent alive. He's always making lame jokes, just like me.

Mom is more nosy than me, she's always nagging me about something. But she always works as hard as she can. Always making breakfast for us, always making dinner alone even when she comes back as late as Dad.

Death is always lurking, waiting for its time. But now it's not waiting, it's inching closer with every passing second. Like a dark cloud that slowly, but surely, covers the moonlight, my parent's death is getting closer.

I feel that my nightmares will return with full force tonight, taking away from me the safety of sleep. As I change into my pajamas and turn off the lights, I feel a pair of cold hands on my shoulders.

What caused this shiver I just felt? Was this darkness always here, by my side, without me noticing it?

The night has come, and I know what awaits beyond the dusk. Despite my struggles and tears, sleep took me to the wasteland within myself. No amount of wailing could stop the atrocities from repeating themselves before me.

The memories flowing back, one by one. Slowly, cruelly, softly drilling my sanity away. People that wanted to protect their home, their families, their freedom, or just their own future. All of them, without difference, killed by the BETA or by the G-Bombs.

Their hands stretch out towards me, begging for my help. I move away, but I can't seem to be able to shake them off, just like a shadow they follow me everywhere.

Running and running, in the middle of this wasteland, I can't lose all those cold hands that reach out for my shoulders.

No, leave me alone! I can't save you, I'm no hero!

"Coward."

"Huh? …Kasumi?" Floating above the madness, Kasumi got closer to me. Scowling as if smelling a corpse, she gave me a side glance.

"You abandoned them. You forgot about us. Traitor."

"T-That's not true! I didn't want to forget. You all mean the world to me!"

"Then, why did you let us die, Takeru?"

"Meiya? And everyone?" All my squadmates were before me now, but all deformed and wounded. Shards of steel encrusted into their limbs, deep cuts on their faces.

"Because of your weakness, I was eaten alive." Marimo-chan, I never wanted to-

"Because you fucked up Operation 21st, we all had to die." The Valkyries said, biting their lips so hard a stream of blood came out from them.

"I wasn't… I don't know why that happened! It wasn't my fault!"

"Because of you, we had to sacrifice ourselves." The girls say, peeling off the burnt skin off their elbows.

"I didn't… I tried… I-I just couldn't…"

"And do not forget, Takeru." Meiya scowled at me too. "Because of your hesitation, I died. You killed me. You killed all of us, Takeru."

"That's wrong! The XG wasn't working! I… I never wanted to kill you!"

"But didn't you cause their deaths all over again, Shirogane?"

"Sensei?" Kicking the wailing corpses, that world's Sensei skipped towards me with a smile.

"Yeah, you knew what could happen and did nothing. You ruined your world all over again."

"B-But I shouldn't be a Conductor anymore! You said… You said…"

"Didn't I tell you this before? You're like the BETA, a harbinger of death for millions. You are our doom, Shirogane."

"That's… It's a lie. This should have ended already! This isn't my fault!"

"So… you want to run? You can't do that, Takeru-chan."

"Sumika? What…" She was… deformed. Like when I saw her at the basketball court that day.

"How can you be so cruel, to want to forget again? You can't do that, Takeru-chan. It's all your fault…"

Then, the ground under me began to crack. As a fissure opened up, I tried to move away. But everyone surrounded me, and extending their hands they pushed me towards the hole.

Their faces were brimming with hatred, showing no remorse at all in their widening smirk. As I fell and the coldness covered me, I found myself inside a hive. And there, once more, I was made a spectator to everyone's deaths.

Unable to move, I can feel the scar that lies within my heart aching with regret, hatred, powerlessness, sorrow, and guilt. For I've lost my peace once, only to then lose my loved one, to keep fighting beyond death, only to then fail once more. After our battle, when everything was supposed to be over… Ruin followed me, and yet again took my peace and close ones away from me.

And it all comes together in one gargantuan, horrible nightmare. Where all is twisted into an abominable carnage. A wasteland within the hive made out of corpses and debris, yelling non stop, as the monsters devour them, as the explosions dismember them, as I stand there, unable to do anything.

Their faces, stained with blood and tears, their voices broken and pained, scream to me. Making me drown in fear, sinking beyond the sea of death in this wasteland.

They're all… gone… I'll never… see them again.

It's all my fault…

I shouldn't… have returned…

…

So… So then…

"I have to get out of here! I gotta reset this world again!"

I don't want more innocent blood on my hands! Even if I was out of time and options in the other world, I can't let this stand. I have to do something for my world! I can't let them disappear so easily!

I have to stand my ground, to protect our world. Until I find an answer… Until you find an answer, Yuuko.

Letting out a roar, I try to struggle against the current, I try to reach out to them. Time and again, time and again, and the more I try, the more scattered pieces of my lives I see.

Losing my squadmates.

Following a dead plan.

Killing the wrong guy.

Breaking the fuck down.

Getting the shards back up.

Letting the venom flow in.

Watching my base get blown out.

I'm teared apart. Devoured by Soldiers and Tanks. Erased by a G-Bomb. Someone shoots me in the head. All at once. And all the while, the corpses of my squadmates piled up and up. Until the last one showed up, the 00 Unit.

Something prevented me from getting closer to them, as if I were restrained to a pillar. Or as if I was the pillar itself. Struggling again, as the evening call anchored me to the wasteland, a lunar fragrance surrounding me as the skies turned violet and the soil crimson, something… or someone came into my sight again.

"Sumika-san is dead. Your fight is already over." Again standing above everything, Kasumi's specter remained with the cold, almost sick scowl at me.

"Not yet… This won't be the end."

I don't care how impossible it seems… I can't just give up now, after all we've gone through. No matter how long it takes, there has to be a different solution!

The specter smiled and clicked its fingers. I then found myself standing in front of it, with all colors turning bright all of a sudden, my ears ringing as if I had taken a deep dive into the sea.

"Then, what will you do to mend your mistakes?"

"I… I'm not a sure, I don't know why this happened. But I have to… No, I will save my world from whatever this is!"

"So, you choose to forget about your squadmates?"

"T-There's nothing I can-"

"Do you not love them, then? Liar."

"It's impossible. Even if I fix this world… The squad, the Instructor, the Valkyries…"

"I see, you're giving up. Coward."

"Shut up! You're… You're not Kasumi! She didn't die!" Then, the specter smiled once more.

"But you left me all alone. You abandoned me."

"That's… not true, I had no choice but to return."

"You still ran away. After you failed to protect everyone, too."

"I didn't… That was not a victory for me. But I could do nothing about it, and now… It's too late for regrets. But that doesn't mean… I'll let this shit go on. Yes, I screwed up and got the Instructor killed. I ran away and ruined my world once before. I caused Sumika to become unstable and ruined the mission. That costed the Valkyries' lives, with the explosion of the XG and the defense of the base. I couldn't save anyone on the Kashgar Raid. But this time… I don't know what is going on, but I'll put an end to it! There has to be a way to fix this mess, regardless of whether I'm still a Conductor or not."

"Then, struggle and prove you're not lying."

In the blink of an eye, I found myself inside a cockpit. Where is this? Looking around, I'm back at the wasteland. The deformed monsters surround and approach me, what remained of my squadmates was by my TSF's feet. Fight, you say? If that's all it takes… then I'll gladly take this role once more!

Raising a blade towards the towering monstrosities of steel, flesh and rock, I boosted at them. It wasn't until I did that I realized an unearthly light was shining all around the wasteland, now made out of my squadmates faces. Again smirking with madness, fused with the rest of the carnage, the specters cackled at me. And, under the vigilance of the specter that resembled Kasumi, I began to fight.

…

"Haa… Haa… Sigh…" Blinking a few times, I gulp and sit down on my bed.

I'm completely drenched in cold sweat, shivering and crying. Clawing at my chest as if my heart was about to explode, I gasp for air. As I slowly look around, I see it's still dark outside. 5:26 AM?

I can't possibly go back to sleep. I don't want to. I don't want to see that again.

Getting out of bed, I end up looking at the trophy we won with Mikoto. The sound of the electric discharge comes back.

For a split second I thought my hands were tainted with blood, but turning the lights on I could see that it was just a shadow. Gazing outside the window I'm met with ruins. How many times did we talk right here, Sumika? We never thought things could get so out of control back then. How many times did you come to wake me up, Meiya? Heh, you were literally one door away from me. Just at arms reach.

Tears again slowly flow down my face. I grab a tissue to clean them, I can't break down. I can't turn their memories into poison, no matter how much it hurts me. Yeah, I couldn't save them. But I am just one, there is… no point in lamenting that. This is my cross to bear, but I can't… I won't let the bad erase the good.

We did what we had to, even if I can't see that as a victory. It was better than letting Alt. V happen. If I could pull the trigger then… I should be able to brave through this shitstorm. I have to fight back.

I took a shower, and after that I ate a light breakfast.

The more I stay here, the more I feel like I'll go insane. I need to get over there now and start fixing this yesterday.

Ok, deep breaths. Let's think this through, focus on what you can do, man. I need both Yuuko-sensei's help, the one here to get back to the BETA world and the one there to fix whatever is going on here.

The first one might think I'm mad, and she might be right considering my current emotional state. She also might not be able to help me. I remember she had received some papers with vital info to complete the little machine she used to send me back. This time we don't have those, so if she didn't figure things out in these two years there's nothing I could do, short of killing myself and hoping to loop back once more.

The second one probably won't care about my plea if I don't give her something good in return. She might not even be willing to talk to me now that she has completed Alternative IV, so I have to take something that can help her.

I inhale sharply and hit the table hard. I'm going back there, Conductor or not. Because… if stuff is coming here, then stuff should be able to go there too. So I should be able to teleport myself to that world. Sensei better have an explanation ready for me, because if it turns out this is her fault…

Then, what? She did say people would forget about me. I can't just walk up to her and demand her help for a wrong she doesn't remember to have committed.

I should do some research online about weapons, science and stuff, maybe something will pique her interest. Otherwise I'll just have to convince her of my piloting skills and hope she's willing to accept my services as a form of payment, so to speak.

I'll try to go meet with this world's Sensei when school opens again. In the mean time I think I'll go jogging, I need to clear my head.

If I don't make it to the other world I might as well join the military to do something about the impending doom that will befall Japan. Right now, until whatever day it is that I can leave this place, I'll train the skills I need while polishing my weaknesses. I might go to a shooting range to improve my sniping after I do my research for useful intel.

---

August 30th. 3 PM.

(Cyber Cafe.)

---

In the end Sensei agreed to meet with me on a later day. It seems she has a lot on her plate, so forcing her to hear me out right on the spot would have been a bad call. As much as I'd like to do things fast, haste makes waste.

Not like any kind of positive thinking will stop the nightmares I have at night.

I've been reading some books on engineering and space discoveries but I frankly don't think this will help, since they have better technology on the other world. I wonder what can I… Huh?

As I was looking through an online encyclopedia about weapons and military tech, I found an article with a name that caught my attention. F-22A Raptor.

You're telling me we have TSFs here now?! When and how did this happen?! Wait, what? A jet fighter?

It has the same unfair stealth capabilities of the other Raptor, that's for sure. I wonder if there are any other TSFs that are actually jets here.

And as it turns out most of them are, in fact, fighter jets here. Will any of this be of use? I mean, I can try to dig up intel on how stealth works from here and some enthusiast forums…

Let's check the weaponry too. Maybe I could check the jets of nations that got wiped out before they could make the TSFs version on the other side? Now, let's see what else I can find here. May God bless the internet, this is without a doubt the most important invention in human history. After Sensei's teleporter, of course.

…

…Sigh.

Printing all of this was truly madness. If I hadn't shown the money beforehand I think the owner would have kicked me out of the place. Carrying this many papers is kinda unpractical, I should have brought a bigger bag.

As I was getting closer to my house I spotted a car parked on the door. Who could have come to visit? Did something… happen to my parents while I was…

I start running towards home, and as I get closer I could tell the car was an expensive one. Who could have come in this thing?

Entering the house, an unexpected guest was waiting for me sitting by the table.

"Good afternoon, Shirogane-sama" Standing up, she gives me a bow.

"Maya-san? What are you doing here? Where are my parents?!"

"Hm? I asked them to wait in a hotel until I finished my business with you. Is something the matter? You look pale."

Siiigh… They're alright, they're fine. Calming down a bit, I leave the stack of papers on the table as I sit down.

"So Maya-san, what do you need from me?" With Meiya being dead I cannot fathom what she might want from me.

"I've come under orders of Raiden-sama to deliver a certain item to you."

"A certain item?"

"Surely you already know… of Meiya-sama's death, do you?" I nod while grimacing. "I cannot express the feelings of Raiden-sama through words. He felt truly remorseful after the whole scandal, for allowing some tradition to endanger his granddaughter's life. It also filled him with sorrow seeing Meiya-sama's day to day life since then. However, after your talk the other day, Meiya-sama recovered her smile. She was most positively joyful. Raiden-sama thought that she could finally make up for all the time you two had spent away from each other. To have her die shortly after this, the shock he received has made his health take a turn for the worse."

So Meiya was happy during her last days? It's not much of a consolation, but at least… if she was smiling to the very end…

"That is why he ordered me to give you this. He believes that instead of staying in a wall in an office, it would be more fitting for it to be in your possession. And I think so too, myself." She takes a big wooden box from under the table and gives it to me.

This is pretty heavy. What is this even? I open it and find inside of the box a long blue… Wait, is this…

"Maya-san, this is… the Minaru Kamui, isn't it?"

"Yes. Surely you understand the meaning behind this, Shirogane-sama? Meiya-sama would have most assuredly wished you to hold onto it, being the only man she loved."

You can't do this to me. Not now of all times. Don't go telling me that she loved me, don't go giving me this, like when she gave me the handguard in the other world. It's my fault she's dead… I don't deserve this.

"Is this what he truly wants? To give something so precious to a mere commoner?"

"You may be of common birth, but the bond you shared with Meiya-sama was one of the most precious things she had in her life. Raiden-sama simply wishes to honor her feelings, and to give you something to remember her. In this way she will always stand by your side." She was keeping her cool, but it's clear that talking about Meiya is hard as hell for her.

Having her by my side… I inhale deeply, gripping the sword and remembering its past owner.

"…I accept this gift. I'll treasure it all my life, I swear."

"Thanks, Shirogane-sama. Well then, I'll shall be taking my leave. Please do stay safe." With her business here finished, she stands up and gives me a bow.

As she went to the door ready to leave, an idea pops up in my mind.

"Maya-san wait, I have a favor to ask of you."

"A favor? I don't know if I can do much for you."

"Just wait a minute please." I walk up the stairs and rush into my room, opening the first drawer of my desk. Where the ring that Meiya left me was.

As I came back into the living room to a puzzled Maya-san, I showed her the ring as her eyes widened.

"I don't know if this ring has any power over you anymore, but I'd like to ask you to train me in the art of the sword Maya-san."

"Where and how did you acquire this ring?!"

"Meiya gave it to me after she left the school. I didn't want to use it unless a serious situation presented itself."

"Why didn't you use this during the incident in the school?"

"I didn't have it on me, and Meiya was already doing a lot for the city. I saw the broadcast where she announced all the donations the Mitsurugi Group was going to do, I'm sure that was more of an order from her than a decision taken by all members of the Group."

"I see. In that case… please excuse me for a moment, I'll contact Raiden-sama to see if he'd allow it." She goes to the door to make a call.

Whether I stay or go to the other world I will have to fight. I need to improve on every single thing I can. Last time, I tried to carry the squad but I didn't improve myself until I joined the Valkyries. Well, that's not gonna happen twice. I'll train myself to death if it improves my chances of surviving just a little more. And it helps to not think about all the stuff that happened. Maybe if I exhaust myself I won't have nightmares.

"Shirogane-sama, Raiden-sama has allowed me to train you. Would you tell me what it is you wish me to teach you?"

"The Mugen Kidou." She's shocked. Can't blame her. Imagine a peasant telling an exalted paladin he wants to learn how to use advanced light magic out of the blue.

"Shirogane-sama, do forgive my rudeness, but there's no way an amateur could learn such a thing."

"Then you could test me, to see how much you can teach me about it. At the very least I want to improve my skill with a blade, and I can't think of a better teacher than you."

"Improve? You have experience using a sword?" CRAP! I spoke without thinking, what do I… I know!

"Tsukuyomi-san taught me a little bit of swordplay while she lived here with me." Thanks brain, you just saved us.

"Oh, so that's what it was. Allow me to tell you that I'm not as kind as my cousin was, do you wish for me to teach you?" She said 'was', didn't she? Well, I knew Tsukuyomi-san was there during the explosion but hearing it is…

"Yes, please. Do not hold back on me."

"Alright, I'll leave you my number so that you can contact me when you decide on a schedule. Do not worry, Raiden-sama will arrange things to have me available when you wish to train." She adjusts her glasses as she writes her number on a paper and gives it to me.

"Thanks, Maya-san. I truly appreciate this." I try to bow but she stops me.

"There is no need for your gratitude. I'm simply following orders. Well then Shirogane-sama, I'll be awaiting your call. Until then." She bows and leaves.

I was totally not expecting this to happen, but I'm glad I had the guts to ask her to train me. If I get better with the sword I can pass those skills to the TSFs when I get back, or to CQC if I have to stay here.

The sword that was on the table, the Minaru Kamui. What am I gonna do with this? Well, I should take it to my room. Huh? There's a paper inside the box, what's this?

'Permission to hold weaponry'. Signed by the Prime Minister. This is like the paper Meiya had when she first came here. So I'm authorized to take the katana with me anywhere? Heh, that is hilarious. Raiden-san must be just as extreme as Meiya. I guess the apple never falls far from the tree.

Alright, let's take this to my room with all the papers and start sorting things out. I should go buy a big travel bag to take all the stuff to the other side.

The meeting with Sensei couldn't come any faster, once I get to talk to her I should give her time for some of the things I think will happen to actually occur. That will also give me time to learn under Maya-san all I can.

---

September 3rd. 06:31 PM.

(Sky Temple Restaurant.)

---

"And that's the whole story. I won't blame you if you think I'm mad. But it's the truth. You're the only one who I can ask for help."

"Even if you say that, you do know how crazy what you just told me sounds, right?" Yuuko-sensei's brows were arched as she had a finger on her forehead, she's obviously having a hard time believing what I just told her.

"I understand that better than anyone. That's why I just asked you to hear me out today. You don't have to believe me just yet". She furrows her brows, trying to understand what I just told her.

"When you suddenly called me here I thought you wanted someone to talk to about all these disasters. Then you suddenly started talking about the theory I haven't shown anybody, about a parallel world, about how all this causal information will leak here and send this world to ruin." She stops to drink and clears her throat. "You shouldn't know anything about that. Nobody should, since I haven't talked about it with anyone. And after you dropped this bomb on me, you say I don't have to believe you?" It feels as if she's accusing me of something.

"I never said you don't have to believe it. Just that I understand that I have no proof to make you believe me. I want you to, but I know that would be asking too much of you as of now. That's why we are going to wait." I try to speak softly to reassure her I'm not lying and to calm the ripples in my knees. The last thing I want is to upset her or lose my cool.

"Wait? For what, exactly?"

"Did you see the news today, Sensei? About the conflicts in Europe? And the rebellions in China?"

"What has that to do with this?"

"I think that those incidents are being caused by the causality leak. If I'm right, this will cause the death of millions. Starting on Kashgar, continuing to the Middle East, destroying Europe and affecting Russia and the Far East. There's also going to be an accident in Canada. Half of it is going to become a literal hell."

"You do realize you sound like a doomsayer right now, Shirogane?"

"If I'm just delusional you just have to ignore me. Nothing of what I just said would happen. But if something like this happens…"

"You want me to help you? With what exactly? I'm just a physics teacher, you know." And a genius.

"Did you bring a cat to this world to test your theory, by any chance?"

It's weird to see Yuuko-sensei with a shocked expression for more than a few seconds. This must have really surprised her.

"You're not saying that you want to use that device, right?"

"The little microwave looking thing? Yeah, I want to use it."

"It's not a microwave! This is a terribly advanced miniature of my project!" I think she also got mad when I called it a microwave the first time I saw the thing.

"Sorry, but, would you let me use it?"

"And how do you know that it will work?"

"Because we already used it once to send me back. We snuck into the U's nuclear reactor room and used it to power the thing."

"We did what?! Oho, now that's something interesting." She's smirking from ear to ear. She will always be a mischievous devil.

"But I don't think we'll be as lucky to have the thing prepared for us now. So that's why I said we should wait too. Until all the pieces get in formation."

"For someone who is trying to save two worlds from destruction you're awfully calm. Who would have thought you could be so cold, Shirogane."

"I learned in the worst way possible how my emotions can get in the way of my goals. And right now, I need to get back there. People will get hurt, even if I can't see or hear them. I'm willing to wait until you can trust my words." I say as calmly as possible, while looking at her in the eye. I won't falter this time, I cannot falter.

"You've become quite the fine man, Shirogane. Alright, I suppose I can consider it. If you are telling the truth, then I will help you in any way I can. After all, you would be the only one who could fix this crisis. But let me ask you something first."

"What is it?"

"What did you use the Causal Balance theory for in that other world? You've only told me about my parallel processing theory, but nothing on the other one. So, what kind of experiments did the other me do?"

"The what now?" I have no idea what she means by that. A second theory? Was Sensei working on another theory at the time?

"You don't know about it? That's weird. I started to work on it before you all finished school, too."

I try to remember how things went when I returned to my world for the first time. It wasn't the end of the year yet. Sensei had just finished the processing theory that allowed us to complete the 00 Unit. And when I came back everything went to hell.

After collecting my thoughts, I tell Sensei what I remembered.

"So I never started to work on it in the other worlds? Huh, so that means I'm the first to do it? Hehehe, aren't I a genius?!" She starts laughing as she takes a sip from her cup. Seems really happy for some reason.

"Sensei, what's this theory about?"

"There was a flaw in my first theory. About how information was handled by the brain. I thought that the human brain was a single, self-contained system that could only access information from other parallel worlds in the form of dreams and what we call the sixth sense."

"Oh yeah, I remember you mentioning that. Something about fortune tellers being able to receive the information from the possible futures, right?"

"Yes, exactly. However I had thought that only a machine that had the same processing power of the human brain could actually receive information reliably. One day I was just reviewing my theory when I realized something. All the human brains can become adept at receiving this information, just that it manifests in different ways."

"What does that mean, exactly?"

"The more you do something, the better you get at it. The more you think about something, the better you get at predicting what could happen the next time you do it. And sometimes, people can predict things that have yet to happen. It's not weird for a programmer to develop a fix for a system just before there's a massive problem in a company, or for a prosecutor to pursue a specific subject during a trial. We call that intuition, hunches. But in reality that's just another case of someone tapping into the information that can leak from time to time between all the worlds."

"Okay, I think I get what you're saying. But what does that have to do with the balance you named the theory after?" I'm actually not sure if I got all that right in my head, but I don't see how it could be something so important that could create a whole new theory.

"You see Shirogane, I think this theory can explain you recovering your memories despite you no longer being a conductor."

"What?! For real?!"

"Shh! Don't raise your voice!"

"S-Sorry, I just… no, please continue."

"Okay, so I realized anyone could access the leaked information so long as they were somehow connected to it. The stronger the connection, the more accurate the hunch becomes. These things we call gut feelings are in direct opposition to a logical way of thinking. There's usually no solid proof to back up a hunch, other than emotional arguments. Even if they are right, and even when they're born out of suspicion or doubt, hunches usually are hard to prove before they happen. So, what's the common denominator here, Shirogane?"

"Huh? The common? You mean the link between how a hunch is developed and how the leak happens? How should I know that?" She sighs, shakes her head, and taps her forehead with two fingers.

"And here I thought you'd get it after I dumbed down the explanation. Basically, what I'm trying to say is the stronger your feelings towards something are, the more chances you have to access the leaking. This, however, proves a problem to my theory since I thought that only a machine could do it, due to how unstable human's emotions can be. The brain is easily influenced by our emotions, so this would cause the reception of information to be unstable if the person in question was in a rough emotional state."

She takes a pause to drink some more water.

"But then, I figured something out. Marimo was always thinking negatively when she was dating someone, even when she was trying her best to make the relationship work. And there's people out there that, no matter what life throws at them, are always trying to smile and not let the sadness bring them down. That's when it hit me, different people can access different leakings. Those who are more affected by negative emotions will receive the information from the futures in which they are unhappy, and those who are affected by positive emotions would instead receive it from the futures in which they're happy."

"So basically, everything is in the way you think? If you focus on the bad things you'll attract them?"

"Yes. That's why I think stalkers or people that commit passional crimes are actually really susceptible to causal leaks, and they're always receiving information from the futures in which they end up alone. Those voices they hear, the never ending stream of negative thoughts. I believe that's nothing more than a very strong flow of information being thrown at them due to their strong emotions and focus on them."

She takes a pause and closes her eyes.

"That's why I think that the fact that you kept playing that game triggered a leak in you. You didn't want to stop fighting, you wanted to keep piloting those things you said you used, and through the game you could keep doing it, and the more you played the more those repressed memories resurfaced. Perhaps the fact that you kept talking to everyone from your class also affected you. Wanting to be with them again, just having fun and living in peace. If what happened to all of you there was as hard as you made it sound, then I'm not surprised those feelings resonated with your old memories."

"But I've been fine until now! The dreams weren't that clear, it wasn't until I saw the BETA that I clearly remembered."

"Did you had any vivid dreams while awake?"

I recall that time during the final, where I remembered my last mission with Hayase. That was totally a vivid dream, I even heard her voice clearly. Also when Mikoto got defeated and the word killed appeared on the screen I started to have flashes of my memories too. That had never happened until now.

"Your face tells me you have. That's enough for me. Your feelings made your brain focus on a specific train of thought, and since you were a conductor in the past I assume it's even easier for you to access the leaking. All it took was a trigger strong enough to bring forth a similar emotion to what you felt on the other world. After that, the link was formed and the information started to leak into you, making your memories return. And if we assume you're right, then once your memories of that other world fully returned to you through the leak there's the possibility that other information was leaked too. However that information shouldn't be 'active', to say something."

"But wait a second! Everything came back clearly to me when I saw the BETA in the game, until then it was all just blurry. How did the creators even do that? They weren't similar, they were exactly the same! I had never met them before, so how did they knew what the BETA looked like? Was it just a coincidence?"

"And that's the flaw of my theory." Folding her arms real tight, she frowns.

"What?"

"I thought that only the conductor could link to specific futures and link itself to the information. And that only through it could normal people receive information from the leaks. But as I told you before everyone can do it, the conductor only strengthens the process. The fact that you had been sent back here possibly caused some information to come with you. If the developers were constantly brainstorming for a new setting for their game, and the information of the BETA was lingering in this world, it's not so hard to think that they could access it in their dreams or as sudden inspiration. How were they? You did meet them, right?"

"Yeah, they were really passionate about it. We spent at least half an hour talking after we got out of the simulator. However they didn't knew everything. When I told them about the hives they were really surprised."

"See? They had a very strong feeling to make a new game, they probably thought of aliens and after spending enough time building up that desire they were able to connect to a part of the data. It would be impossible for regular people to access such a big amount of information by themselves, but a sliver of it? That's certainly possible, especially if they were obsessed with the idea."

Maybe that's why they changed Valgern-On's gameplay so much too. With all the new updates it's almost like a TSF simulator for the XM3. They got bits of that data and applied it to the game.

"This would also prove you're no longer a conductor, because if you were the source of the leak not only you would have to have met them to affect them, but the effects would have happened much, much earlier."

"What do you mean?"

"Take Marimo's death as an example. You said a while ago that she died because of the causality of her death coming over here, but if you were what caused the leak she would have either died shortly after you returned, meaning after October 22nd of 2001, or shortly after you recovered your memories."

"Sensei, she died literally hours after I regained them. That's proof enough."

"Yes, but when was her death decided?"

"Huh? Decided?" What is she talking about?

"You know that Marimo had broken up with the murderer, right? Well, the man in question had posted online about how he wanted to get revenge on his ex. His first post was on July 23th, the last one was on the night of August 4th. So, the leak had brought Marimo's death and solidified it during those dates."

"B-But… What about all the others? Everybody else also-"

"Shirogane, you're either a conductor since you arrive or you're not. You can't become a conductor without some serious output of energy strong enough to bend the laws of physics, so unless you jumped into an exploding nuclear reactor and lived to tell the tale you're not a conductor right now."

"Then, why is this happening?" She does have an answer to that, right? She better not be speaking in hypotheticals now. I need that answer.

"I have an idea, but I'd like to test some stuff before I can say it for sure. There's also the possibility that you're nuts." She smiles, poking one her cheeks with a finger.

"Okay, I won't ask you about it now. But what about the balance? You said the theory was called Causal Balance, right?"

"Yes. As I was saying before, the more we think and feel strongly about a certain topic, the more chances we have of triggering a leak. There's no guarantee that it actually happens, but the important part is that the stronger the feeling, the more the brain will focus on it. That's why depression, love and greed are what they are. Once you become obsessed with something it takes a great effort to make you stop thinking about it. To break the link to the data leak. However this state of mind is a dangerous one, since you can only focus on one type of future and the risk of being blinded by your emotions is really big. At that point you'll be constantly receiving information but you wouldn't be able to focus on reality. You'll become detached from the present and would live constantly affected by your visions, hunches or intuition. Which is why people that begin to grow paranoid have a high risk of becoming completely insane."

She takes a break to drink a bit before continuing.

"So I searched for a way to make it possible to balance the emotions, to have a way to choose which data is leaked to us. If my parallel processing theory was indeed correct our brains should have that ability. And they do, in fact. Shirogane, what do you think of meditation?"

"Huh? What's this about?" Her question catched me off guard. "I… think therapy and meditation are good for those times when reality hits you like a truck. But depending on how it's done…" Remembering the time when they gave me too much stimulants and hypnotic therapy and I went berserk, looking down and biting my lips. That was definitely not a nice way to balance my feelings.

"You're right. Every person has its own way to calm down. Music, jogging, painting, cooking. The idea that I was pursuing was that, after you access the leak, you immediately started to try to calm down, to reach a serene state of mind, to stop it once you accessed the data you need. Of course, if we could become conscious of this we would become gods. However, this feat is not impossible to achieve if it's a computer the one doing it, since it's easier to… regulate? Tune? Control?" Sensei makes a troubled face as she struggles to find the correct word to express herself. "Whatever, the point is that if you could be aware of your feelings but also managed to keep them in check without suppressing them you could theoretically be able to draw information from all the futures, and you could choose which information holds more worth to you, even if we would do it unconsciously. With a computer is easier since you can use certain programs and algorithms to replicate the effects meditation has on the human brain by just pushing a button and get the thing running."

"That's the balance you were talking about? A balanced system that could pull information from all futures, pinpointing which one is the better of all of them?"

"No, it isn't just that. It could also track methods and ideas from a less favorable future that would improve the currently better future. Since the brain has the ability to process multiple things at the same time it should theoretically be able to recognize patterns between multiple futures instead of being locked to choosing just one option. I also figured a way to regulate what information you leak to the other worlds, so long as the stability is not broken. You could then have a system that finds the best possible solution to a given problem from all the possible options in all the parallel worlds, and then it shares it to those worlds. Or at least that's what I think. I'm nowhere near to test this thing out."

"Wait so, did you complete the theory?"

"Yes. I talked to a lot of psychiatrists, to people that meditated to cure a certain trauma and to doctors that treated them and other emotionally unstable patients, as well as some scientists that were researching the nervous system. There's still much we don't know about the brain, so I'm surprised that I didn't take into account the effect our emotions have on our thoughts when developing my first theory. Even if a machine with the same capacity as a human could be created, it would be useless if it couldn't control which information it receives and shares through the leaks. A machine, not matter how powerful, thinks differently from us. But even if we made it think like us, without the extra boost that emotion gives to our brain it may not be enough make it truly like a human. So, to create such a machine…" Her voice trails off, she looks away losing her smile, brows and eyes narrowing.

"You would have to put a human inside of it?"

She, literally, froze up. To surprise her a second time in the same conversation, I'm on a roll today. She must have kept that info close to herself, if she's this surprised. I mean, I just did explain to her that I knew what the theory was about, maybe she didn't think we'll go through with it.

"Did… Did it work?" She asks, with clear expectation.

"Yes. I don't know the specifics, but the… digitalization of the brain, was it? It worked. The subject had to be tuned before it showed emotions once more, but after that it became the same as a human."

A smirk spreads in Sensei's face like wildfire as she chuckles, a hand on her chin as she nods a few times.

"I see. I am a genius, after all. Well, let's leave it at that for today. Shirogane, just in case, let me remind you that you're no longer a conductor, so stop blaming yourself for this. I'll start doing some preparations, just in case. I'll call you if any of your predictions become true. Also it seems I'll do you good to read some of the stuff the doctors told me during my investigation, I'll swing by your house later to give you some papers so be sure to answer the door."

"Okay, do you have a plan on how to send me back?"

"You told me awhile ago. We're going to use the reactor." She has got to be kidding.

"But how do you know it's going to be working? I remember you saying that we were lucky it was active the first time."

"Yes, and that's because I know when it's going to be active. The engineering classes should be doing some hands on studying on how reactors work, so we'll just use that." She says it so nonchalantly, we're talking about sneaking into the U and using a nuclear reactor here.

"You're going to get sent to jail, you know?"

"Not if we use the opportunity to our advantage." She says with her usual devilish smile.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"No spoilers! You get ready for the time when we have to send you back. You said you took my theory with you once, right? So, if there's anything you want to take to the other world, go and get it now. If anything happens I'll call you to inform you of my plan."

"Alright. Thanks Sensei, for hearing me out so earnestly."

"Oh, please. There's no way I'd sit idly by when I can do something to revert this mess. If you're telling the truth, then you have the power to mend this disaster. I'm only doing my part to save Marimo, my students and my city. That's all."

"Yeah, I know. One last thing, could you prepare your theories for me to take them there?"

"The theories? Why?"

"Well, I might end up needing the first one to prove to the other you that I'm telling the truth about coming from another world. And the second sounds like it could help me to finally be free of the random leaks, if I find a way to become a stable being again."

"I see. Okay, I'll see what I can do. But I'll give them to you moments before I start the device, and if it doesn't work I'll have them back."

"Of course, sounds good to me."

"Well then, later. Don't beat yourself up too much, okay?" I give her a nod and with a smile she gets up and leaves. I slowly finish my order.

I guess Sensei will always be like that. She'll never cease to amaze me. To use the reactor again, what is she even thinking?

Thank God this went well, I don't know what I would have done if she refused to help me.

During the last days I finished writing my memories of the other world, to remember clearly all that happened. Thanks to that I could prepare a short version of what happened to me for Sensei.

Today, the day she agreed to meet with me, was also they day everything started going to hell in this world.

A rebellion in China filled the news. A terrorist group threatened with blowing up Kashgar as a sign to the government. I don't really know a thing about the politics of China, but the fact that Kashgar was the place where they'd start was a bad omen for me.

The next thing that was on the news was that some extremists from the Middle East attacked the frontiers of Europe, and there were attacks in many cities in Turkey. I recalled that after Kashgar, the BETA moved towards Europe instead of going east.

But the worst part was the announcement of a new type of nuclear reactor developed in a joint project by the US and Canada. I am sure this is going to be the equivalent of the nuking of the second hive in Athabasca.

When I saw the news I felt my blood turn to ice. Luckily Sensei agreed to help me, even if she may not believe me yet. I always end up depending on her, no matter what world I'm in.

I now know that the leak is definitely happening, and at a fast pace. Whether my memories triggered it or not was not important anymore, what matters now is that I have to go to the only place where I can fix this.

Here, I'm just a college student. And even if I joined the army and my skills with a TSF somehow transferred to a fighter jet, I doubt I'd be able to change much here.

That's why I'm going back to the BETA world, where I already know how much I can help, how valuable I can be. I can still fight and I can take stuff with me to use as bargaining tools too.

Alright! Let's go make my preparations!

After paying, I went shopping. I got another Santa Rabbit to take with me, to not forget the burdens I carry, to not falter when I eventually stumble.

I also went looking for some boots and military clothes to use there and I found some nice stuff on an enthusiast shop. The guy immediately noticed I had some military knowledge by the questions I made and my posture, so he recommended me his best goods.

They were really expensive, but this will make me look like an actual soldier when I get there since my old Hakuryo uniform will surely make them suspicious of me, and I also don't fit in it anymore. According to Sensei, after I left that world everyone should have forgotten about me, so it's back to square one. I doubt my service as a pilot will be enough to convince Sensei to help me this time.

Thinking on that, I went again to the library and an internet cafe to gather more information I thought could be useful. Engineering books, the latest breakthroughs in many scientific fields or info on the current state of the military weapons we have.

What else could I bring there? Food? Medicine?

"But I want it! Please Mom!"

A child's shout catches my attention. He was trying to get his mother to buy him a Play Stallion 2. The mother wanted to get him a Game Guy Advance.

Man, I remember when I was like that and my parents outright refused to buy me any videogames. If it weren't for Uncle Koetsu gifting me old consoles I wouldn't have known the wonder that is gaming. I had to save up on my own to get a Dreamcost so many years later, too. But, boy, was it worth it to play Valgern-On in my house. Ah, those were the days…

…Wait a sec. What if I brought a home console to the other side? I mean, they were blown away by the Game Guy and it wasn't even the Color version. I could even get Valgern-On Oratory Tango and say that it's a TFS simulator program. Then I could show it to Sensei, to make the XM3 even better then how it was last time I was there! I'M A GENIUS! This will definitely catch her interest.

I mean, I already have it on the Dreamcost even if it's the original version, but the second game truly is very similar to our TSF simulators.

How would I like to get my hands on it. Alright, let's see how much it is. I still have some leftover from the tournament's prize money.

---

September 17th. 8 PM.

(Takeru's House.)

---

Ring! Ring! Ring!

The phone rang loudly. I wobbled down the stairs to pick up the receiver.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Shirogane! How's everything?" A cheerful voice sounded on the other side.

"Sensei? What happened?"

"You're not watching the news?"

"The news?" I turn the TV on and switch to a news channel. "So, what's up with the news?"

"They should start talking about it any minute now, don't be so impatient."

Talking? Did something happened related to the leak? They're just showing the usual stuff.

"And now, let's talk about the terrorist attack in China. The starting location was in the city of Kashgar, where multiple buildings were attacked by an independent terrorist group."

A map is displayed, where they show all the places that were attacked. The attack was on Kashgar. Apparently, a terrorist group that opposes the Chinese government used toxic bombs on at least half the city, while also sending guerrillas to destroy important buildings and roads. So, it has begun.

"Shirogane, looks like you weren't delusional after all."

"Heh, it would have been better if I were. So, what now?"

"I'll have you help me in the practices of an engineering class." Huh? She wants my help for a class? "A professor I know asked me to help him with his class, I was going to refuse obviously. But then you came to me with all these revelations, so I thought I'd use that favor to our advantage."

"And how am I helping?"

"You'll be my assistant. He wants to show his students something that isn't the usual operations, to prepare them in case something goes wrong. So we're going to use the reactor to power my machine and send you back to the other world. I'm sure everybody will be really thrilled with this exercise!"

"So I'll go for support, but actually that's an excuse for me to be there without raising suspicion."

"Exactly. We just need an excuse to get you in there. We'll do this on October 1st at 4 PM, be ready by then." And she hangs up.

Yes! Finally, the most important thing has fallen into place! With this I'll be able to go back and fix this causal leaking.

Though I wonder how will the other Yuuko-sensei react to me. I mean, it may be more of a bother to her now that she doesn't need me to tune the 00 Unit. I just have to hope she agrees. And anyways, our agreement was that each of us had to benefit from the collaboration. This is definitely not what I'd call a satisfactory result, so I have a right to ask her what went wrong last time.

Enough moping around, let's prepare everything I need! I don't want to end up forgetting something just because I didn't take my time to prepare properly.

This time I'll fix everything, no more accidents, no more sacrifices.

For my sake.

For our sake.

---

September 30th. 5 PM.

(Dojo.)

---

"Hiya!" I dodge to the left, rising my blade upwards.

"Sei!" Maya-san parred my strike, quickly pressuring me with more agile slashes.

I put force into my feet as I stand deflecting her attacks, then take one swift step forward when an opening presented itself.

She still blocks it, but now I'm the one pressuring through multiple attacks.

Then, she takes a step back and in one fluid motion delivers a rising slash to my hand, knocking my wooden sword away.

I'm still not good enough. Not like I was going to become a master in less than a month. I sigh, raising my hands in defeat.

"Will this be all for today, Shirogane-sama?"

"Yes, Maya-sensei!" She sighs as she adjust her glasses.

"Shirogane-sama, I've told you many times that you do not need to address me in that way. I'm following your orders here."

"You still deserve my respect and gratitude. That's all I can do to show how much this means for me."

Maya-san agreed to train with me four days a week from 10 AM to around 6 PM. We have our breaks in between but most of the time we spent it clashing our blades.

"You said that from tomorrow on you'll take a rest, did you not? Whenever you wish to continue your training all you have to do is call me. I'll arrange my schedule as soon as I'm able."

"Thanks." I told her that since I don't know if I'll be gone tomorrow.

"That said, I didn't expect you to be so adept with a sword. Mana must have taught you well, and you must have kept practicing by yourself."

"Please don't praise me so much, I'm still not good enough."

"Nonsense! You lack experience with Iaido but your form with Kendo isn't bad at all. You've improved your stance and your slashes now follow a nice pattern. While you haven't yet mastered it, you're certainly a capable Mugen Kidou user now Shirogane-sama. You are a quick learner, that's for sure."

I can't really find the words to thank her. Thanks to this training and the papers Sensei gave me I managed to stop being so depressed. I still have nightmares everyday, but there's nothing I could do about that. I also managed to get a bit better with a gun, since I rarely practiced that.

"Thanks for all you've done for me, Maya-sensei! I'll keep honing my technique by myself in the meanwhile." Maya-san looks troubled to hear me still call her sensei, but she closes her eyes and returns to her usual expression.

"I accept your thanks, Shirogane-sama. May your training be fruitful. Well then, I'll tidy up the dojo. You can leave now."

"Thanks, Maya-sensei. See you later." I give her a bow that she returns before going to pick up the sword she sent flying towards a wall.

I take my leave from the dojo she had reserved for our training sessions and headed straight home. I haven't really talked much with my parents lately, since I told them I was going to take a break from college they've kept their distance. I also don't know what will happen to this body if I go to the other world. Will it go alongside me? Or will it remain here?

Taking a shower as soon as I got back, afterwards I just relaxed while checking the news. After dinner I went straight to bed.

…

After I woke up, took a shower, and had breakfast, I went back to my room to make sure I wasn't forgetting anything.

The Stallion 2, the Game Guy, all the Game Guy cartridges, Valgern-On 2, CryRing Saga, Steel Gear Viper Eater, the engineering books, the medicine books, the stack of research info, the boots, the uniform, the Santa Rabbit, some food for when I wake up there. That's all, right? I rechecked everything in my bag before closing it. Alright, all done!

As I put away some books the trophy and the Minaru Kamui came into view. That was the last time we could all hang around together, right?

I grab the little box with the medal and the special GR card and stuff into the travel bag. I want to take something unique to this world with me, in case I can never return to it. To remember all that happened here, the good and the bad.

Now, whatever should I do with the sword? If I take it with me it might cause trouble since it also was Meiya's sword in the other world. But I also don't want to leave it here, this is my… No, our sword now. I ended up attaching Sumika's ribbon to its handle since I thought I would never use it and to have those two together at my side whenever I took the blade with me.

Whatever happens, happens! I'm taking it with me, I just have to hide it and be careful with it!

I should be on my way, can't afford to be late. After grabbing my bag, I rush towards the door without speaking with my parents. I don't know if I'll disappear or if my body will remain, but I won't risk myself to say something unnecessary.

"Takeru? You're going out already?" Mom catches me just as I'm about to leave.

"Yeah, see you later Mom."

"And where are you going with that bag?"

"I'm just… going to meet with someone."

"You're going to do something dangerous, aren't you?" How could she tell? Her face is torn between worry and anger.

"It's not anything dangerous, really."

"You're not deceiving your mother, Takeru. You've been such a mess since the earthquake. What is it you're trying to do?"

"I'm just trying to help someone, that's all there is to it really."

"Sigh… I suppose I won't be able to change your mind. Just be careful and come back home safe, yes?"

"Yes. I'll… be back." If I'm back it's because I failed.

"Takeru." Mom comes closer and hugs me. "I don't know what it is you're going to do, but please cheer up. Don't force yourself to do things out of a false sense of responsibility. Nothing of what happened was your fault. Whatever path you choose to walk from now on, know that me and your father will always support you."

"I'm not so sure if Dad agrees with you."

"Your father is merely worried about you, he just doesn't know how to express it. We were overjoyed to see you do so well in college that when all of this happened we didn't knew what to tell you. You never really gave us much trouble, outside of your pranks. It's the first time we see you depressed about something, I think he… is frustrated about never talking to you about more serious things when he had the time."

"It's not like I don't know how much you cared for me, just…" It feels like it's been so long since I've talked with both of you. And at the same time my memories of these years with both of you helping me study and prepare my entrance exams, all you did so that I could just focus on my studies, all of that is still fresh in me.

"Just be careful, and be back before it gets dark. Next year you can continue your studies or start another path, the world isn't over Takeru."

"Yes, I'll be going now."

I tightened the hug a bit before breaking it, going out towards the street. A swirl of clouds was on the sky, the days are getting less warm already. As if in synchrony with my heart, that was also slowly freezing over.

I might never see my parents ever again. Those two idiots were always so annoying, we never talked much to begin with. And yet, I always knew they were there ready to scold me and try to set me in the right path.

Dad was a serious pain when I was little, he was constantly saying how important studying was. Mom never let me play any videogames before I finished my homework and was super strict with what shows I watched on TV. All of this is going to disappear. I take one last look at my house, I can't help but see the extra room that connected to the mansion Meiya had built when she moved here.

Mom, Dad, thanks for everything. I'll make sure to make a world that's unaffected by this crisis.

Even if I'm just chasing a gentle lie, I want to believe that someday we'll be able to live together in peace. Perhaps someday I'll be able to cry remembering you, perhaps then I'll truly know how much you meant for me. But until I get rid of this cold shadow in my heart, all I can do is keep struggling to find the world where we are not forced to choose between death and war.

Goodbye, my home. May I return to you someday.

It took me less time than usual to make it to college today, I made my way to the room Sensei had told me to go.

"Oh, Shirogane. You're early? What a surprise!" Yuuko-sensei greets me as I entered the room.

"Hello, Sensei. Is everything ready?"

"Yes, let me start explaining what we are going to do."

The plan was to 'teach' the students what to do in case the reactor went haywire. For that reason Sensei was going to safely push the reactor's energy output to power a device, while the other teacher was going to explain what should be done in such a situation and what the readings meant, when they should know to do what and a lot of other technicalities.

The thing is, we are just taking advantage of this to power the little microwave to full power without doing anything illegal. This way we can get all the power we need to send me to the other world, I just hope my link to it is still strong enough. Otherwise…

No! No dark thoughts! I'm making it there, and I'm getting Sensei to help me fix whatever went wrong when I came to this world.

I'm just going to stand there, push some buttons, pull some levers and open some images in a PC. Just an assistant, that's what I was supposed to be.

"Sensei, did you bring the theories?"

"Yes, right here. Put them wherever you want, but if this little experiment doesn't work-"

"I'll give them back, I know."

"So long as we are clear on that. Now, there's something I wanted to tell you before we start."

"What is it?"

"My hypothesis of why this is happening. You see Shirogane, from what you've told me this world was affected by the other worlds many times, right?"

"Yes, I came here many times until I could get the theory."

"I wasn't referring just to that, though. Even if you were unaware of it you, as a conductor, were constantly sending information from this world to that one, whether it was a memory or a habit. And this world probably tried to compensate for the loss of its Shirogane and all the data it had lost. And let's not forget about all the possible loops you had to take. Who knows how many times the exchange was forced to happen, with the you in that world forcing data here over there."

"But shouldn't that have fixed itself once I stopped being a conductor?" That's what she said would happen when I came back after the Instructor's death.

"Yes, it did. That's why you lived the last two years in peace. But those effects always have a ripple. In this case, I believe our worlds are now too close, and this makes it easy for the information to slip between the worlds, so to say."

"So you're saying that all this would still have happened even if I didn't recover my memories?" Then, is it even something that can be fixed?

"I'd say that it's thanks to your memories that we got so lucky, actually." She scratches her head, closing one of her eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"You were a conductor in the past, so it is possible that you've developed an affinity for sensing causal information. So, since there was a receptor in this world with a strong connection to certain data, it took priority over the rest of the data that was being brought over. Since your repressed memories were exerting pressure to become clear once again thanks to the similar feelings you have, they arrived first so to speak. But since assimilating such kind of information is not an easy thing to do for the brain, even less when they're traumatic memories, it took a long time for them to completely flow into you. Your memories were like a safety net that was stopping most of the other heavy information, like all the deaths and what not."

"Is that why everything is going to hell since I recovered my memories?"

"I assume so." If she's so sure about this then I have not much reason to doubt her.

"But why would my memories be more important? Wouldn't the deaths of millions be way more heavy?"

"I think that's because you've… transformed into a different kind of anomaly."

"W-What do you mean?" Anomaly? You better not be trying to scare me.

"Let's see… I'll call it Causality Nucleus. If the conductor is the one that makes information flow into others, then the nucleus is the one that pulls said information towards him."

"Sensei, I thought the conductor made the data flow through him. Doesn't the conductor pull the information towards him from the other worlds?" She's really confusing me right now.

"Yes, you're right. But you said it yourself, the conductor brings information. To himself, to the world or to those around him. The conductor is the pipeline that allows the exchange of data between worlds at a much higher rate than normal. The nucleus instead pulls information towards him, it doesn't connect to other worlds and it doesn't affect others. The nucleus is basically a causality magnet, if there is a connection between two worlds the nucleus will either draw whatever information it has a connection with to himself or be drawn itself towards the leak. This is why your memories sort of delayed the effects of the leak, since they had priority in the transfer. Obviously, other data was leaked along your memories like the BETAs that appeared on that game or Marimo's death."

"Okay, so it's like my memories occupied a big part of the highway to this world until they reached me. And when that part freed up, a lot of data finished leaking into this world?" I hope I got that right.

"Correcto! This is why everything started happening so fast after you got your memory back. You did say that something similar happened when you returned for the first time, right?"

"Yes, Sumika's and Marimo-chan's deaths were almost immediate after interacting with me."

"So there you have it. Who knows why you turned into this. Maybe it's what happens to all physical manifestations of a causality conductor after they cease to be one?" She then furrows her brows and stares pensively at nowhere in particular.

"You said the nucleus could be drawn to the leak. What did you mean?"

"Oh? It means that, like a magnet to a metal, if there's a strong connection to it the nucleus will gravitate naturally towards the leak. To give you an example, you. Shirogane you could have lead a different life, you could have developed different feelings, and yet you resonated with the repressed memories within you. You naturally turned into someone who could remember them, someone who could have an emotional state similar to the one you had when you made those memories. That way you could fully assimilate them, otherwise the memories would just have been weird, intelligible dreams to you."

"So when I started having the vivid nightmares, I had become someone who could assimilate the memories?"

"Basically. But since you didn't have any trauma similar to what you described to me in your life here, your feelings were overloaded and that's why you felt so guilty when you got them back, I think." So that's why I was such a mess during the first days, despite being rather fine in the other world before coming back.

"Okay. One last question, when I get to the other world, will I be pulling information towards me?"

"Yes, of course. If you end up in a world in which the source of you becoming a conductor still exists, you'll naturally become a conductor once again. Then you'll be both at the same time, the one who brings and the one who receives."

"What about data about me that was there from before?"

"From before? Hmm, I guess that would be pulled towards you too. Why do you ask?"

"Because… the Takeru Shirogane of that world is dead. Could the data of his death be pulled towards me and get me killed?"

"Hmm, I think not. When someone crosses to another plane everything about the previous version of that someone is treated as if it were a different entity altogether. Now, since you're similar beings existing on the same plane you may share some memories or traumas unconsciously now that you're a nucleus, don't be shocked if you're suddenly scared of cats or you can't eat something out of nowhere."

"Wait, sudden traumas?" Why does that sound familiar?

"Yes, inexplicable traumas or fears. If both of you were alive there would be no sharing since you'd be treated as different people or you would end up overwriting his existence I think, but if the other you is dead then some of his heavier data might flow into you."

"What if that has already happened to me in the past?" I need to know if my hunch is correct on this one.

"What are you saying? The conductor cannot link itself to other versions of himself. It can replace them I guess, but since it can never receive data from the world it's currently in, there's no way for you to gain any kind of memory from other Shiroganes that existed in that same world, unless you managed to merge yourself with an alive parallel version of you. And you definitely cannot have received the data from a parallel version of yourself, you could only receive the memories of parallel worlds you yourself have lived through."

"But it happened. During my first loop, I had a breakdown when the BETA attacked for the first time even though I had no reason to fear them so much, to the point of fainting. Later, in another loop, I learned that the other me was brutally murdered by the BETA. At the time, I didn't make the connection but I definitely 'inherited' the fear of the BETA the other me had."

"But then… that would mean that you already were a nucleus by then. Or were you always one?" She starts looking at me with the burning look she has when she gets fired up about her research.

"Uuh, Sensei?"

"Is that why you became a conductor? Is that why this phenomenon was able to occur? Were you pulled towards that world due to some natural affinity to causal effects when Kagami tried to 'look' for you as the rift in space-time was teared open? And that could explain you retaining your memories since, unlike a conductor, a nucleus has a strong hold on its own causal information, as weak as its pull might be. It cannot be leaked so easily. Yes, then the resulting trauma from dying repeatedly repressed certain memories, but over time you grew resilient to it and started to carry over your information with you every time you returned, then eventually you had gained enough 'pull' to hold onto it that you could retain your physical state and part of your memory. And now that you've grown mentally, you can access a larger amount of data unconsciously. Yes, then by extension once your link to that world got weaker you were almost instantly brought back to your original world through the sharing of information, regardless of your will to stay there. Then that makes-"

Sensei got lost on her own world, speaking so fast that I couldn't understand a thing she was saying.

"Sensei? Did you figure anything out?"

"You… may have been born as a Causality Nucleus, just that there never was a leak strong enough to change you drastically until you were sent to the other world." Sensei says after returning to reality.

"How do you know I was never affected by a leak?"

"You never had dreams about events that happened in the future or about a different you before you were taken to the other world, right?"

"Well, no." Not that I remember ever having a dream about the future during my life here before all of this. I could have passed my tests without studying or defeat Mikoto in Valgern-On if I had such dreams.

"Then that's it. Don't worry, this changes nothing in our plan. It only makes it more possible for you to link yourself to that world. And it would also mean that you don't have to worry about receiving the death data while you're there."

"If you say so. How are all the preparations by the way?"

"Fine. We still need to go and set up everything, you got any other questions?"

"No, I'm good. Let's go start the preparations."

We went to the reactor room and started preparing everything. This time there were definitely more cables around the microwave.

After we connected a PC to a device and we confirmed that the readings were showing fine, we started to focus on the place where I was going to stand.

We set a small area aside, in a place blocked by some large machines. This way nobody could see me while I was transferring.

The other teacher came to greet us while we were finishing setting up everything, and lent us a hand in organizing all the cables. I let Sensei speak to him while I unassumingly played my role.

Soon, in less than half an hour, I'll be back there. I'm starting to get nervous, I feel my hands are all sweaty.

"Shirogane, here." Yuuko-sensei hands me a chocolate. "Eat it, it'll do you good."

"Thanks. So, how do you think is the set up?"

"Perfect. We should get a lot of power from this baby, so after I give you the signal go to your position and focus on the image of that world."

"Okay, I've got this."

"Don't worry too much, okay?" She smiles as she gives me a pat on the shoulder.

"Yes, thanks."

As I finished eating the chocolate, the class entered the room. These are guys that are just about to graduate. I wonder if I'll ever be able to do that.

Does becoming commissioned count? Because if it does, I 'graduated' faster than anyone here ever could. Take that one, college.

All right, it's the hour of truth. Whatever happens, happens. I make it back and get another chance to fix this, or I fail and carry this cross for the rest of my life.

After both teachers finished their explanation, as per Sensei's instruction, I start the microwave. First showing the images on the PC, which then are shown on another monitor closer to the class, the minutes pass.

Everything is similar to how it happened last time. The reactor is building up energy, the readings on the screen are rising steadily.

Soon. In just a few minutes…

"Shirogane, it's time."

"…Alright."

"Hey, Shirogane. Can I ask you something before you go?"

"What is it?" She has a serious expression on her face. I wonder what she's gonna ask.

"You've never told me what is your final objective for going back."

"I guess I haven't. I think… I want to regain my peaceful life. Not just for me, but for as many people I can. For both worlds. I know I might not be able to save everybody, and that going back will yet again bring chaos to the worlds. But I have to try to fix this world without ruining what I achieved in the other one."

"So, basically, you want to reverse the effects of causality in this world, while not affecting the other? If that's all you want, you could simply ask the other me to stabilize you once you're there. If you do that, this world will revert to before all the information got into it. But to stabilize you she'll have to sever your link to this world, so you'll be stuck there forever."

"For real?! We can do that?"

"Yes, but if you wanted to come back here without putting this world at risk you would have to sever your connection to all the parallel branches of that world. Meaning, erasing whatever made you a causality conductor in the first place from them."

That means… killing Sumika. But without her, humanity has no chance whatsoever against the BETA.

"But how could I do that? I would have to jump through every single-"

"That's what my second theory is for. I never thought the research I did because I was bored would become something so important."

"Oh right, you did say something about that. About controlling what info we leak to other worlds."

"Exactly. At the very least, the machine you called the 00 Unit should be capable of such a feat, and in the worst case you can still stabilize yourself to stop all the sharing of information. Though, that would mean you would have to stay there forever, and you would probably not be able to do any more loops."

"I see. Thanks Sensei, I'll do my best to put a definitive stop to this."

"That's the spirit! Never forget how you're feeling right now, Shirogane. It is crucial for the transfer to succeed, and for what will come after it."

"Yeah, I won't let this chance go to waste."

"No, I wasn't solely speaking of your goals just now."

"Then, what did you mean?"

"I said it before, didn't I? The transfer might take some time to finish now that there isn't a pipeline uniting both worlds, right?" Ah, that's right. She moves her bangs out of her eyes, looking at the microwave. "Even if I polished my device, it isn't magical. The transfer of your data will take time, so chances are you will not appear immediately. And that is why you must hold your wishes tightly on your heart." She looks back, sizing me up for a second. "That determination you showed just now is the key to completing the transfer successfully. Otherwise, your data might get scattered."

"So… I'd disappear if that happens?"

"…Yes, that is a possibility. This world would get reset again and your scattered memories would once more try to return to you, and this time we might not be so lucky to get two years of grace. Your desires are not only what will carry you forward when everything collapses on top of you, but what effectively makes you who you currently are. There is much I don't understand about how the Nucleus works, but you can bet this world won't like to have its Shirogane gone yet again and will surely try to hold you in. So if you don't manage to form a link, as weak as it might be, the Nucleus' pull won't be able to initiate the transfer."

"So I gotta remember why I do this, to keep my oath ever present in my heart so that the causality can take me away, right?" Briefly nodding, she smiles.

"Indeed, so long as you can rekindle those feelings you had for those who lived in that other world I believe the transfer will be a success. Otherwise, you risk being stuck in a living hell if you ever lose your memories, whichever world you stay in. I assume you're ready?"

"Yes, don't worry Sensei. I've got this." Again smiling, she nods and goes to the other professor's side to talk about the class he was giving. After a few moments, she gives me the signal. I get my bag and move to the place we had arranged.

I stand in the circle we had prepared, hidden behind all the tall machines and servers and what not. Closing my eyes, licking my lips, leaning my head back, and inhaling slowly from my nose, I began to remember all I could about that other world, about those who I held dear there, about all the hardships we faced side by side.

My first loop, failing to run ten clicks, getting bitten by a snake, the HSST incident, the old lady we saved, the Christmas party, the confessions. The following years. …And Iceberg.

The time I had my memories, the better CCSE, the coup, the Shogun, my different bonds with the squad, the Valkyries, the Instructor's death, Sumika, and our battle against the BETA.

All that they meant for me, all they've taught me, is what allows me to still be standing right now. I'll make sure to honor all of it.

No more unnecessary deaths or sacrifices, this time I'll cut the link through and through. No more leaks. No more loops. No more pointless deaths.

And I'll stay there for as long as I can! If I have to stay there forever to protect this world I will!

I had that resolve in my past loops, I'll wipe the BETA from the face of the Earth if that's what it takes to regain my- no, our peace!

This time no harm will come to any of you, here or there! I won't allow it! You all gave me so much of your lives, of your efforts, of your hopes… Now it's my time to do the same for you all, as the last survivor of our squad! This is the only thing I can do to truly carry on, to cut all my lingering regrets and honor all you've taught me, to put an end to what we started and forge the best possible future I can be part of. Not seeking only power, not leaving everything to others, not hesitating when it's time to bloody my own hands, to be a beacon for my allies just as Sensei, Marimo-chan and Meiya always were for me… I don't know what I can do or how I'll do it, but I'll sure as hell struggle with all my might to make a positive change and stop all this shit!

A light starts shining around me, I remember this feeling. It's working!

"This time, for sure, I'm saving all of you. No matter what happens to me, no matter what price I gotta pay… I'm gonna give all of your futures a smile!"

The light shines brighter than before, I feel a sensation that I haven't felt in a long while. A jolt of electricity shocks me, freezing me in place as all my senses are overloaded.

As if I were gazing at the sun, tasting the spiciest curry one could eat, hearing the loudest explosion on loop, and were buried under the coldest dry ice in the world.

No longer being able to tell whether I'm standing, sitting, or floating, unable to talk or move, I simply drift as the assault continues, all the while repeating my oath, remembering my times in the other world.

And as everything around me is warped by the light, I can't tell what's up or down anymore. At some point, the light recedes and it feels as if I were gazing at the sky right before dawn, but littered with odd shapes in different colors. Some abstract and others with clear geometrical shapes, the mixture continues to swirl in my view.

…Feeling as if I were being stretched, one of the smaller shapes seems to 'open' and begins to shine like the light of the experiment seems to do. While the others remain feeling distant in their floaty drifting, the shining one seems… edging closer, or at least trying to.

As soon as I thought about reaching out to it, as if I were tied to a car as it speeds up, I felt as if I was shot right towards that small shape, going into the swirling light that enveloped me again, as it did whenever I teleported myself.

And yet… Twisted patches of dark appear in my vision, as if someone had thrown ink on a glass full of water. Two of those odd, black stains swirl around as if they were galaxies, surrounded by… abstract lines and circles of different colors in pairs. One gets too close to the black stains and gets absorbed, the other shoots away into the distance when that happens. In between the black stains, a small whirlpool of those remnants forms, and it feels like it's getting closer.

The whirlpool gets bigger and bigger, almost covering my whole 'vision'. The two black stains slowly disappear, all the little dots of colors begin to again shoot away from within them. Like foam of a wave that hits the shore, then is pulled back into the sea. The colors do this around the whirlpool time and again, as what little sensation I retain of my body loses weight and becomes numb, as I begin to feel faint, as everything slowly begins to fade away.

As everything pulled back into the center of the whirlpool, the black stains reappeared again and also got sucked into the thing. The mess of colors became more and more bigger… or am I getting closer to it?

I feel a strong pain where I think my ears should be, my whole vision turns into a monochrome as the shapes and swirls continue to move and mix. The patterns become a rhythm, repeating over and over. Looking at them, as everything simply solidifies into a gray abstract thing, I began to slowly lose my senses.

As the waves rock in, filling the shore with the reddening foam…

As the blazes sprung out, grilling the odd branches of some shapes that remind me of cherry blossoms and their petals swirl in the air, ashes scattering about…

As the whirlpool seems to grow angrier, showering a rain of dark ink all around…

And again… And again…

…Until my consciousness slowly faded away, bathed by the contracting colors and shapes, by the exploding mess of the black ink, by the rush of the whirlpool's shaking.

---

…

Ugh… My head hurts… Where am I? Hmm… I can feel my hands and feet. I'm lying on something soft… I move my hands around, it feels cushy… Like a bed…

I open my eyes, once I adjust to the low light in the room I recognize a familiar ceiling. I'm in my room? I sit on the bed, and see that it's indeed my room. The trophy is still there on a shelf, too. Did… Did I fail?

As I try to get up, feeling my shoulders being super stiff, I notice that the travel bag I had with me was at the feet of the bed. I open it and everything I had put in there was where I left it. Even Sensei's theories. Which means…

I take a long, deep breath…

"I MADE IT BACK, BABY!" I shout as I jump out of the bed. "I did it! Now I can get started on fixing the leaks, once and for all!"

Let's see… It's dark outside. I still have the lab coat Sensei made me wear during the class. Looks like the transfer went well enough. Flickering the light on, I grab the rice balls I had prepared, sat on the bed, and ate them.

Now that my stomach is filled, let's review the plan. I go up to the base, and hopefully if Sensei is still here I can bait her with the improved theories.

If she isn't and I end up detained, I can say that I came under classified orders to deliver some really important documents, under the assumption that she was stationed there.

I wonder if anyone will react to hearing my name? I mean, even if everybody forgot about me, there may have been some records left. Sensei may just have deleted them, though.

Whatever. This was a risky gamble from the start, so at the least if I can prove my skill piloting a TSF and get accepted into the army again I can look for Sensei later. After all, I still don't know how much 'time' the transfer took. …Imagine if I appeared ten years or so later. Hopefully that isn't the case.

I change to the military clothes I had bought, grabbed the travel bag, took one last glance at the trophy, and went down the stairs. Resisting the urge to look around, to take anything else with me, or to even gaze at my parents' room, I rush to the door.

Now that I think about it, I never stayed for long inside my house when I arrive at this world. What would happen if I never got out of it? Would I eventually go back to my world; or would the house revert to its ruined state before my eyes?

"Sadly, science will never know the answer to these questions."

I grab the doorknob, close my eyes as I sigh, feel a shiver on my head as the temptation to look back appears on me. I do so, taking one last glance at the kitchen, at the stairs, remembering those last two years and my time with the guys when we could fool around…

"…See you later." I smile, turning back to the door. Tightly grabbing the knob, I turn it around. Closing my eyes, I open the door. Feeling the breeze, I step outside.

…

The sight that receives me is the same as the one I remembered. Even the Gekishin that's collapsed in Sumika's house.

The sky starts to clear up, dawn is upon us. I never got to see the sunrise in this world from here. It looks so pretty… And also cold. I had forgotten this world was far colder due to the mess the war made. I guess the environmental damage won't be fixed in only a few years, huh.

"All right, enough screwing around! Let's get this show on the road!" I made a beeline towards Yokohama Base, rubbing my arms due to the cold. Dammit, this world is way colder than I remembered… Should have brought a sweater.

Though, I guess it means it's either winter or close to it. I guess I'll find out what day is today soon enough anyways. That being said… What do I do if Sensei isn't in the base anymore? With Alt. IV finished, maybe for many years already, she might have been transferred somewhere else. If I recall correctly, the 207th Training School was disbanded too. And considering what we did during Ouka to the American teams…

What do I do if I get sent to the detention barracks and they take my stuff? I mean… A complete stranger comes up to the base with knowledge about a secret plan, some secret documents only a few individuals should know about, and he just so happens to be a good pilot. They may end up thinking I'm a spy.

Okay, so… What do I do? I stop in my tracks, feeling a tense grip on my stomach. Think, what can I do?

Okay, how about I hide some stuff until they believe me? I could negotiate to speak with Sensei, and maybe I could bluff and 'prove' to them I was in the UN before with the knowledge I still have. I was a member of the Valkyries, so it's not like I'm lying. Alright, this is going to be a dangerous long shot, but I gotta roll that dice. That being said, I can't hide the theories here. I know the civilian area is rarely used for tests, but in the off chance that they get destroyed during one of those runs I'm toast. Where could I… Oh! I know where!

I make my way to that tree atop the hill. Moving very slowly, to make sure nobody else is here, I approach the place. The base looks as it always did. Good to see it got repaired well. Now, I know Kei used to come here every now and then, so other people also might be coming here from time to time. Let's go down the other way, no one should have a reason to go to the other side of the hill. Let's count… The fifth tree to the right after the big tree at the top… Yeah, it's far away enough. I had the theories wrapped by Sensei in a bag and placed in a small leather cover, so I can bury them without worries. After digging a bit, satisfied with the hole, I place the theories in after taking out the first pages of each of them. Though I will have to be careful in how I hand them over, I can keep this as my last ace in the hole. Assuming they don't just drug the information out of me, that is. Well, no getting depressed!

After cleaning my hands with the tissues I brought from my world along the rice balls, I go down the hill and reach the railway again. Walking along the road with the sakura trees as the base looms in the horizon, can't help but to slow down to take in the view, to deeply breathe in the air, to see for myself this actually isn't just a dream.

"I know! Let's go pay my respects to the Instructor and everyone else!" That is the best way to start this new journey.

Now, the tree with the memento should be… right about… here? Where is it? I look around, taking some steps forward, but the memento is nowhere to be found.

Did they remove it? I mean, if the base changed its CO and XO they wouldn't know about its meaning. Damn, now I can't even greet my squadmates. What a nice way to start the journey.

"Sigh… Whatever. Let's get on with this."

Alright, I can see the base from here. There it is, the radar, the giant antenna. Now that I came from home I can say that it definitely looks ridiculous atop the school. Seriously, they should have made the base a bit less like Hakuryo, you know. How did Sensei manage to convince people to build it this way?

Let's announce myself, the sooner I get this done the better. Here's hoping I don't end up in the detention barracks again, or drugged by the doctors.

As I got closer to the entrance of the base I could see that there were two MP standing guard. Wait a second… that's the leader of the volunteer crew! Didn't he die during the BETA attack?!

The ruins are the same, Marimo's memento is gone, the MP are alive… Could this mean…

I could feel my heartbeat on the base of my neck as the MP approached me, both smiling.

"Hey! What are you doing over there?"

"Been out for a walk? What a weird kid. There's nothing but rubble out there."

The same words, the same people. Did I… go back to that 22nd?

"…Wait, what's up with his clothes?" The leader says, leaning a bit closer to his comrade.

"You're right… Haven't seen this kind in our base." They stare at me suspiciously as the grip on their machineguns tightens. I better introduce myself before they point them at me.

"Excuse me. My name is Takeru Shirogane, I've come to deliver a certain object to Professor Kouzuki." I said as I slowly raised my hands behind my head.

"…What was that? You've got some business with the Professor?" The leader asked, suspicious of me.

…He didn't say that he doesn't know who I'm talking about. The tension in his face, brows and cheeks resembles the one I saw last loop when I made a ruckus to enter the base. He is on guard, not trying to poke for intel. His posture also seems… on edge, readying for a counter. So Sensei should be here in this base… Now, all that's left is seeing what year this is.

"Yes. I'm under strict orders to not divulge any kind of information to anyone, except the Professor. She shouldn't be expecting my visit, and she probably doesn't know who I am. But please inform her that… I have with me valuable information regarding her research." If my hunch is right and today is October 22nd, I should try to do this without raising any alarms. I have no idea why I'm back to the start point, but if I am… that means…

I gulp, inhaling through my nose. Heartbeats drumming on my neck as their faces return to my mind, making my knees tremble a bit. If I'm not wrong then… everyone is alive.

"Which army are you with? Who sent you? Show us your ID, and we might believe you!" He shouts, they point their guns at me. Damn, last time as soon as I spoke about Sensei they called for her.

But this means she is here, and that he wasn't fishing for intel. If Sensei wasn't here, they would have asked me why I came to ask about someone that wasn't here. Also, they don't look like they're trying to deceive me. Those narrowed eyes and tight posture are legit aggressive, defensive. Sigh… Sensei is here, at least. One worry less.

"…That information is classified. However, I can tell you that I'm a Cadet. To avoid being traced and stop certain eyes from noticing I didn't bring my ID, I also traveled on land on civilian clothing. I changed back into this uniform just a few hours ago. I have no proof to make you believe me, without first speaking with the Professor."

They exchange some glances, whispering while covering their mouths with a hand. Looking my way again, without releasing me from the barrels' aim, the leader takes a step closer after they reached their conclusion.

"Alright, I'll go call the Professor. You stay quiet, one wrong move-"

"Don't worry, I've no intention of resisting. Please tell the Professor that I have come to help her fix the zero."

"Fix the zero? Is that what you want me to tell her?"

"Fix, tune, debug. I was told to use one of those words. I wasn't told what that meant, and that only the Professor would understand." Hopefully they buy my excuse. And it also works to see if my hunch is right.

"Alright, I'll go now. You stay quiet."

The leader goes to the guard post by the entrance and grabs the phone. I sigh, blinking a few times as I stare at the base. Is everyone… alive in there?

"Excuse me, could I ask you something?" I address the other guard, that was still pointing his gun at me.

"Quiet! We are still suspicious of you!"

"I just wanted to know what day it is, I've been walking so much I lost track of time."

"What a weird guy. Today is October 22nd, that all?" I nod, and a tense silence comes back to the air.

So I ended up coming back to this date, huh. If my hunch is right, I couldn't possibly describe how happy I am, but that leaves a question open. Why? Did Sensei use too much power during the transfer? No, we needed to use almost all of it just to start the transfer, no way in hell we had enough power to send me back in time two years. Her device should have been improved in those two years I stayed in my world, not to mention the fixes of her new theory, but would that be enough? Maybe, were my feelings what brought me here? My regret of not saving them, of wanting to do more? Whatever, this is good. Now, I have some cards I can use to make Yuuko-sensei agree to help me. And everyone is alive. This is a godsend.

"Shirogane." And he's here. Please tell me I'm not going to the prison. "The Professor has agreed to meet with you. We will have to search you for any possible weapons you may have, please do not resist."

"I won't. Oh, but you can't inspect this bag. Only the Professor is allowed to view its contents."

"Only the Professor, you say?" He throws a dubious look at me, eyes beginning to narrow.

"I guess you can inspect it, but no opening it. Unless you want the Professor to kill us both."

"Kill us?!"

"That's what I was told she would do to me if I let what's inside the bag to be seen by anyone. I don't even know what's in there." Learning to lie with a straight face is definitely the best thing I've learned from you, Sensei.

"Roger. We will inspect it with utmost care. Now, stay quiet."

They searched me for weapons, but they obviously didn't find anything. They passed some tube around the bag, moved it around slowly and put their ears close to it. Then they decided it was safe to let me inside the base.

Taking in the view of a base that was still in good shape, biting my lips to not smile, I followed their lead as a few curious gazes fell on me as we walked. Going by the turns we're taking, I guessed right as to where they were taking me. Back at the medical bay. Again with the tests, huh?

They stand by the door, making me enter first. As I do and they follow, a green haired woman with frog hairclips dressed in the usual duty suit of the UN with the medical armband on one arm looked at me, she was talking through the comms. Taking a second to finish her call while covering her mouth with a hand and lowering her tone so that I couldn't hear, she gave me salute I returned as she smiled once the call was over.

"Hello, please relax. Once we finish doing some simple tests, you'll be able to meet with the Professor." I nodded, following her outstretched hand towards a gurney.

…

Luckily for me, this time the tests were just some simple check-ups for real. They must have wanted to have a simple idea of my physical state. And, finally, I was taken to the first briefing room. The place was surrounded by MP, all armed to the teeth, all giving me a death stare. Of course they wouldn't let me talk with Sensei without security being near.

Lt. Pyatkh greets me with a bow that I return, then opens the door for me and gestures as if to invite me to go inside. As I enter, she closes the door behind me.

The room looking as it always did, like an old classroom from high school with the white paint on the wall and the wooden desks for the 'soldiers'. And there she was, her cold gaze, the lab coat. Sitting by the desk at the blackboard, resting an elbow onto it and her chin onto that hand. A piercing, unwavering glare meets my gaze as she signaled me to stop in my tracks a few meters from her.

She gazed at me, top to bottom, as if sizing me up. Simply holding my gaze in silence, two lone fingers massaged her chin. When she had enough, she straightened up, crossing her arms without letting go of my gaze.

"…Hello, I don't think we've met? You said you were Takeru Shirogane, right?"

"Yes, that is my name. It's nice to see you… again, Sensei." She raises her eyebrows in confusion. So she doesn't recognize me. Did she forget about me after I left? Or, is this truly the 22nd of October of 2001?

"Sensei? I do not remember having any students. And what do you mean by 'again'?" She was scanning my face for any possible reaction, brows lowering as did her tone. Heh, you're still the same.

"Is this place safe to talk about confidential matters?"

"Safe enough for you to give me a summary of what you have come here to do. I'll decide whether you're useful or not based on that." Yep, that dismissive tone can only be done by the one and only Yuuko-sensei. Her bored and uncaring face is the same too. So… I really am back in time, or is this the 22nd of another year? Let's see how this goes.

"Fair enough. I'm here to hand you a certain piece of intel related to Alternative IV." Her eyes twitched after hearing me. Again grasping her chin, she gazed at me for a second with a neutral expression.

"…How and where did you learn of the project?" She said in a slow, deep tone while narrowing her eyes.

These things are the biggest of all top secret matters, but her reaction isn't the one of someone in the defensive. I know that gaze, that hungry glare that resembles an avalanche, the one she did during last loop when I first arrived here. I did travel back in time. So now I gotta get her interested in my services, otherwise it's off to the detention barracks again. Or worse.

"Someone important told me a bit about it." That someone being you, Sensei. "I've come with valuable information regarding your research, and other useful tidbits of data, that will make Alternative IV come to fruition."

"Could you tell me who sent you first?"

"I think I can't say that here. It's a delicate matter. But it's someone you can trust." Because you yourself sent me here this time.

"That's awfully vague, isn't it. Alright, where did you come from? Can you tell me to which army you're affiliated?"

"I was sent here by a… Japanese organization. And currently I'm not affiliated to any army." Technically not a lie, the Hakuryo U is a Japanese organization.

"So you lied about being a Cadet. And you're from a Japanese… Did the Shogunate sent you?" She narrows her eyes at me, sending a chill down my spine.

"No." Why would she think that? Well, the Shogunate is one of the most important Japanese organizations in this world.

"Then who? If you don't tell me that I'm not sure I could trust you."

"Hmm… It's not like you'll believe me." I don't know what to say here, I'm sure this isn't the place to say I'm from another world.

"Then how about I call the MP, get you arrested, and we torture the information out of you?" She says with her playful tone and a smirk, poking her cheek with a finger. Problem is, I know she is not kidding.

"What are you going to do? Reduce me to a brain and put me in a tube?" I rebuked in a cocky tone, returning the smirk.

Her expression changed instantly. Now she had a poker face, staring into me intensely while grasping her chin.

"Perhaps I don't really want to know. Maybe getting rid of you would be better. You know too much to be just a simple errand boy."

"If that's what you want to do, fine by me." Folding my arms, I smile her way. "Good luck fitting billions of semi-conductors in the palm of your hand before next Christmas." She frowned, but immediately after her face turned bitter again as her lips twisted inwards and her eyes drove bloody murder into me, barely restrained rage in one of those coiled hands. So she is having problems with her theory. That's proof enough for me.

"…Before Christmas? What does that mean?" And she took the bait. Nice.

"I believe a certain fleet is being prepared as we speak, right?" Sensei remains silent, but I can tell she knows what I'm talking about. "It seems that you only have until next Christmas to produce results before the next phase gets started."

"Is that a threat?"

"A warning, from a friend. Whether you believe me or not, is up to you."

"And who might that friend be? Is there no way you can tell me? Surely you don't expect me to simply let you in on my research without a good reason."

"Can I write it in a paper or something?"

"You're so secretive about it, huh. Fine, here." She hands me a paper and a pen.

'You sent me here, from the year 2003, to prevent Alternative V to be enacted', I write that in the paper. It's not entirely true but it's the push I need to get Sensei to call me to her office, where I can safely tell her everything.

Her eyes twitched as she read it. Taking my chance, I look for one of the papers from the research that I did in my world about scientific discoveries to deal the finishing blow. A groan reached my ears, her shoulders growing a bit smaller and leaning back into the chair, another narrowed gaze met my own as I fiddled with my bag, but Sensei ended up raising a brow when she saw me taking out a lone paper.

"What would that be, Shirogane?"

"Proof."

She takes the small paper from my hands slowly without breaking eye contact, seeing her being so doubtful hurts a bit to be honest. I picked a page from an article that talked about Japan's role on the space race, and she begins to read it. With some images and details about the latest projects, it also mentioned the Prime Minister's speech during some launch of a satellite. Obviously, no mention of the Shogun or the BETA.

"I have more of those articles, if you want to see them."

"This is… from the world in two years?" She was apalled after reading the lone page. Trying too hard to keep her cool, but a slight quiver in the hand that grasped the paper gave her away.

"In one of many… parallel possibilities, it happens." Squinting her eyes when our gazes met, she seems to have understood the message.

Closing her eyes for a sec, taking a deep breath, she then reads the page I gave her again. A serious, emotion lacking face when she again looked at me, she stands up and begins to walk to the door, the paper I gave her still in her hand.

"I suppose we should continue this conversation in another place. Shirogane, I'll have you take some more tests. Once you're done with them, I'll send someone to take you to my personal office. You can keep your bag with you, if you so like. Is that alright?"

"Yes, that's fine."

"I see. Then let's go."

She briskly leaded the way out, gave some orders to 2nd Lt. Pyatkh, and went her way. And now, time for the rest of the tests. Hopefully this doesn't take forever. But I managed to pick her interest, and with this I'll surely get to stay here.

Step one: Complete!