Game777 – Well. Maybe this will help.
Otaku – Stay tuned. : ^ ) Also, re-read some of Mao and Lelouch's interactions in the previous chapter, and you'll see why Mao would even consider being civil with Lelouch, or why Lelouch is still suspicious and wary of Mao.
This is what you've all been waiting for.
Congrats for making it this far.
[*****]
TOKYO SETTLEMENT METRO RAIL
Lelouch liked to watch the skyline as he came home via the metro rail. For one thing, it helped to block out a lot of the other sounds (or people) around him, helped him to just focus on himself. For another thing, there was something about looking at Area 11 behind a glass window that was better than actually seeing it. It looked different, or at least it felt different to Lelouch. The buildings had the same, unmistakable phosphorescence that all Britannian structures had, especially in the night-time; little lights and shadows stretched across the cityscape to the point where it looked like all of Area 11 was glowing. Lelouch knew this, and was used to it; but from his wistful, behind-closed-doors position, it looked so much more peaceful and prosperous than it actually was.
"The next approaching stop will be the Nishino station. Please exit to your right."
Lelouch checked to make sure he still had everything in his handbag, feeling around for the familiar items. Money, check. Weapon, check. Passport, emergency cellphone, food, terrorist communicator, notebook… all check. He already knew his wallet and cellphone were in his pockets, he could feel them.
The metro-rail pulled into the station and pulled to a slow but remarkably quiet halt. The lighting changed; Nishino Station was drab, industrial, and linear, nowhere near as interesting to look at as the Tokyo skyline.
Lelouch rose and was the first to exit the train. He walked past the huge wave of people cooped up in the station and up the staircase, thus beginning his slow, but ultimately routine, walk home. The sky was starless, and it smelled like rain, but the pretty lights helped with the oppressive atmosphere.
He kept walking into the night, letting his mind drift. He passed by a park of some kind, and he saw a group of teenagers doing… something. Lelouch wondered if it was past their curfew, or if they even had a curfew. Lelouch had forgotten what a curfew was. It looked like they were playing a game of some sorts, but Lelouch wasn't exactly sure what. He kept his distance and kept walking.
He passed by a few homeless folk. A couple of them made a point to ask Lelouch for something, anything to help out. Lelouch was very tempted to ask if they were Britannian or Japanese, but he settled for just Geass'ing them into doing something stupid, like running out into traffic naked. It made Lelouch laugh a little when he heard the tires screech. He kept walking.
He passed by a Britannian police jeep. There were two officers leaning against the car, probably chatting about their day, their wives and kids, the stress of their jobs, what they were doing after work later in the week. Something normal, whatever normal was. "Normal" was a distant, alien concept to Lelouch vi Britannia. Nothing was normal anymore.
Hell, nothing's ever been normal, with being a Prince and all.
Lelouch flicked on his Geass once again and convinced the officers to give him their uniforms. He already owned a Britannian police uniform, but he figured a spare would come in handy, just in case the Fail-Safe… failed or something, and he'd have to remain stuck in this timeline.
Deciding that he didn't want to carry all this junk home, he flagged down a green-lit Taxi. He got inside, placing the police uniforms in the seat beside him. The Taxi was clean and smelt like air freshener. Lelouch braved a look at the taxi driver; he looked Britannian, and he had a huge, flowing ginger beard.
"Hey there. Havin' a good night so far? Where to?"
"It's been a lucrative night for sure," Lelouch said, checking his cellphone. There were 37 unread messages, but nary an interesting one. "Ashford Academy, please. If you want the address, I can—"
The Taxi was already pulling out. "No, no, I've dropped off plenty of students before, and I've certainly seen Ashford before."
Lelouch noticed a picture taped to the dashboard, and there was also a helmet of some kind in the passenger's seat up front. "Is this your gig or do you have a daytime job?"
"Yes, yes, I'm an engineer. I help produce Britannian monsters." In a few turns, they had entered the more suburban areas of the Tokyo Settlement. Lelouch was glad he didn't walk it. "They require a lot of parts, you know, and a lot of people to move the sum of those parts."
"Yeah, they look enormous."
And you never truly appreciate them until you're actually in the cockpit.
"Tell me about it," the man exclaimed, idly stroking his beard. They passed by a few Britannian estates with icy-looking, orange streetlamps. "And pay there isn't… ideal. In-between the Britannians paying for conscription, building development, robot development, and all sorts of things, they had to cut corners. And by that, I mean, minimum wage workers."
"Sorry to hear that."
He shrugged his mighty shoulders. "What happens, happens. But I decided to moonlight as a taxi driver a year or so ago, and now the bills are a lot easier to pay. Sleep's harder to find, of course, but what can you do? Either than become a noble, of course. Or go gambling, I suppose."
"I rather like that last option."
He laughed, good-naturedly. "Expected of much. You kids have a lot of free time on your hands."
"Yeah, now more than ever. It's kind of liberating."
"Enjoy it. You'll miss it."
Yeah. You're preaching to the princely choir. I really do miss it… but I know my destiny all the same.
The bearded cabbie let Lelouch off in front of the Ashford Academy attendance office. Lelouch rather liked the chat they had, and thus left the cabbie a decent tip of about three hundred dollars. He smirked after seeing the cabbie's eyes about to pop out of their sockets.
"Whoa, kid, thank you so—"
Lelouch turned his Geass on. "At the Mission Street Hotel and Casino, the bank is located on the third floor, behind a set of heavy metal doors with the inscription 'Vault' plastered on it. Upon entering the Casino, ask one of the many security guards to let you into the Vault. All the employees there are already under my control, so there won't be an issue. Upon entering into the Vault, ask the guards to open every single safe for you. Take as many bank notes as you like and then leave. Understood?"
"Yes, I understand, thank you," the man deadpanned.
He drove off into the night, towards the city lights.
There. I did my good deed of the day.
Immediately after that good deed, Lelouch made his way to the girls' dormitory and reactivated his old Geass (which was, of course, "follow every single one of my commands whenever I ask you to"). He ordered them to instigate a war against the boys' dormitory, with whatever weapon or accessory that could be used as a weapon they had on them, and to not stop until all the boys were either dead or passed out, whichever came first.
He heard the sound of crying, wall-smacking, and an explosion or two reverberate through the hallways as he walked back to his own private little dormitory. As Lelouch neared the door, he noticed there was a note on the floor, just lying around at the foot of his door. He picked it up and read:
"Contact me whenever. I'm willing to listen to what you have to say.
M"
Lelouch shrugged and walked inside, dismissing Sayoko for the night. Mao was going to need a lot of convincing, and the Directorate was going to have to help Lelouch. But for now, all that mattered was getting some shut-eye. Lelouch slipped into bed without waking C.C., but she clutched onto him in the middle of the night and didn't let go until they both woke up.
[*****]
KAMINE ISLAND
Mao stepped out of the dinghy, looking relieved when his feet finally touched the shoreline sand. He shook his head and tried to get his bearings while Lelouch shut off the dinghy's engine and dragged it off to its usual hiding spot, strategically placed under the shadow of a huge rock. Nobody came to this island anymore, but Lelouch liked to be prepared just in case.
"Ugh, thank God we're finally here," Mao complained, wiping a few beads of sweat off his forehead. It was a more overcast day than usual, but open-air sailing was still exhausting regardless of weather.
"You didn't tell me you've never gone sailing before," Lelouch pointed out, checking to make sure nothing on the dinghy popped, tore, or broke. "I assumed you did because you came from the Chinese Federation to here."
"Yeah, but I took a fucking plane."
"Oh. Well, now you can say you've gone sorta-sailing."
Mao winced and clutched his stomach. "Sure, whatever, Mr. I've-Owned-A-Submarine-Before. Let's just hope this is worth it. And let's get this over with."
Lelouch frowned as he rose up from the shadow of the rock. This will be longer and far more intricate than you think, Mao.
"So, lead the way," Mao said, gesturing towards the forest for emphasis. "I've never actually been on this island before. Should I have?"
"No. God, no. Every time I come here I'm reminded of my family."
Especially Euphie and Mom.
"Ah."
"Plus, a lot of weird shit happens on this island."
"So your first instinct was to bring me here? I have no idea whether to be flattered or terrified."
"Word to the wise? Both."
They started walking, making their way past the seaside and into the forested folds of Kamine Island, the progenitor of almost All Things Weird in Lelouch's life, or at least the shit that unfolded on Area 11 during Zero's tenure. Lelouch wasn't spooked by much anymore, but Kamine Island genuinely unnerved him, and he could tell Mao didn't like it, either. Lelouch really only came here if he was short on time and a plane or boat to the Chinese Federation wouldn't cut it.
There were some lit torches nearby. Lelouch kept walking.
"So this jungle has a Geass site in it?" Mao asked, maneuvering past some overgrowth.
"Yes. One of many in the world."
"What exactly do Geass sites do? Are they, like… portals?"
"Yeah, they're portals. You know how Geass responds to the user's deepest wish?"
"Don't remind me. But, yeah."
"Well, if a Geass user stumbles upon a Geass site, they can use the portals and materials within to take them wherever they want. Normal people, though, couldn't use it, unless they were actually with a Geass user at the time."
"Ah."
"And, naturally, my crazy dad and his midget brother used it as a portal to what was basically Valhalla." The vegetation was getting thicker. That was a good sign.
"What's with the torches?"
"This is a huge, huge jungle." Lelouch gave one of the torches a hard knock. "These help me find my way to the site. I had them planted here a while back."
"That makes sense. I assumed they were some cult thing. Knowing this place, and knowing you, that probably wouldn't have been too far from the truth."
And then they found it. Lelouch ran up to a large blanket of vines and sweated to draw them aside, revealing the sigil underneath.
"Holy shit, for real?" Mao asked, readjusting his visor.
An enormous Geass symbol appeared before their very eyes. All Mao could do was clap.
"Why is Japan so… fucking weird?" Mao questioned, his hands lowering after a while.
"Blame Jupiter." Lelouch stepped onto the Geass sigil and gestured for Mao to do the same. After a moment of hesitation, and possible reconsideration, Mao tiptoed onto the sigil and waited for Lelouch's cue. Lelouch took in a deep breath.
"You shouldn't have worn white clothes," Lelouch told him. "This is going to get dirty."
Lelouch's Geass sprang to life, and then the sigil beneath them began to glow a deep, bright red. It looked like stardust. Mao made a noise of surprise, and then a square patch of land around the sigil began to glow bright red as well. The stardust platform or whatever suddenly began to shift, and the platform began to inexplicably descend into the earth. Mao jumped, looking all around him as a million stray Geass particles surrounded them like harmless fireflies.
"What the hell?!" Mao asked. The further the platform went underground, the darker it got; eventually, the bright Geass particles were the only thing lighting the way down. "Is this some kind of Geass elevator or whatever?"
"Yeah, basically," Lelouch said, stuffing his hands in his pockets. He could feel the dirt caking his uniform already.
"You're… remarkably nonchalant about this," Mao seethed, dusting off his clothes and hair.
"I've done it enough times. You grow numb to it."
Eventually, the platform took them down into an underground corridor, leading up to one of the "portals" Lelouch mentioned, commonly referred to as a Thought Elevator by the Directorate enthusiasts. Lelouch preferred the term portal, because that's basically all it was. He winced. A lot of horrific stuff had taken place at this portal. He could still see Suzaku's stray bullet marks imprinted on the stone wall.
Fuck Kamine Island.
"Ugh, I think my heart stopped," Mao proclaimed, eagerly stepping off the platform. "That was fucking crazy."
If your weird meter is that uptight, Mao, then you're going to implode considering what comes next.
"Yeah. I've learned to roll with it when it comes to Geass. But I get what you mean. I thought the exact same thing a few hundred timelines ago."
Lelouch and Mao looked at each other.
"…Yeah, our clothes are really fucking gross right now," Mao said.
"We'll change into sterile clothes once we get to the Directorate."
Lelouch stepped up to the portal, and gently placed his hand right in the middle. The portal lit up, quietly humming with energy.
"Are you ready?" Lelouch asked.
"No."
"Good. Neither am I."
They stepped inside.
[*****]
GEASS DIRECTORATE – "THE ENGINE"
Central Dogma.
Lelouch made his way down an incredibly familiar, linear hallway, stopping right in front of an incredibly familiar, electronic door. All he had to do was place his hand on a keypad, and the door would open.
But the moment he stepped through that door was the moment he perverted his destiny. The moment he stepped through that door, he was going to do something that went against all of his instincts. Months and months of planning for all unforeseen eventualities could not prepare him for what he was about to do – he wasn't sure he was ever going to be prepared. But he knew he didn't have a choice. Every single other plan that he, C.C., and Kaguya had concocted burned out almost as quickly as they started, and they would wind up right back at the start by whatever cosmic force found it entertaining to emotionally torture them.
Lelouch knew that this was the only way to get involved with the fabled "X-Timeline". But that didn't mean he had to like it. It didn't mean he didn't have a choice… but the other choices weren't very good, either. He was caught between a temporal rock and a hard place.
Lelouch knew. And he hated it.
But the only ones that should fire are those prepared to be fired upon.
Lelouch placed his palm on the keypad, and the hatch slid open. He stepped onto the dais overlooking The Engine.
He was almost immediately by Kaguya, who gave him a hopeful, sad little smile and nod. She was wearing pink, as per usual, and it looked like she had gotten a little taller. Maybe they'd been in this particular timeline for a while now, Lelouch wasn't quite sure. But as long as she was alive and (physically) healthy, that's what mattered. In the corner of his eye, he saw C.C. standing nearby a monitor, and she gave him an imperceptible nod.
"Hey, Lelouch," Kaguya yawned, rubbing her eyes. "…You look well."
"Same to you." He was shaking. "Is everything set up?"
Kaguya gestured in front of her. "See for yourself."
Lelouch let his gaze wander over "The Engine". It was a dome-shaped, futuristic room, dressed to the nines with an astonishing mix of magic relics and modern-day technology. Geass symbols were everywhere, adorning the computers, monitors, walls, but they were placed in such a way that you only really noticed if you squinted. It was a well-lit room, glowing with energy like the whole world was on display… and it was. On the farthest wall was an enormous monitor, dubbed The Veil, showcasing all kinds of esoteric charts and data and displays indecipherable to anyone outside of The Engine. There were about a dozen or so workers milling around the platforms below the command dais, some of them techies, some of them Geass psychics, some of them scientists, some of them time-travelers, all working to ensure The Engine and its activities ran smoothly, like a well-oiled… engine.
It was such an archaic room when you overlooked all the technology, with its Spartan gray walls and blue carpeting and incredibly pretentious, imperial design choices, but The Engine was the room in which decisions about the past, present, and future were made on a moment-to-moment basis.
It was important shit, to say the least, and its relevance transcended time and space.
"How're things operating?" Lelouch asked.
"The Veil's running on full power," Kaguya mentioned. "We gave it time to take a nap in the power generator, so… there's no chance of there being any energy-related bugs this time. The temporal engines are heating up slowly, but they seem fine. The Transfer Chamber's problems have been fixed."
"Good, good," Lelouch said, sighing in relief. "I was worried it wasn't going to be done in time."
"Are you kidding? The Engine has fucking wizards working on it."
"That's true." Lelouch leaned against the railing on the command dais. "Good job, guys!"
They all gave Lelouch an appreciative shout of some kind.
Lelouch heard the hatch open behind him, and he turned to see Mao. He looked different in clothes that weren't all-white. Red suited him pretty well, actually. His initial expression was one of confusion and awe, but it quickly turned to quiet shock the moment he locked eyes with C.C.
Lelouch spared a glance towards C.C.; she was looking back at Mao with almost the same intensity, the same quiet regret.
"…Hey," Mao breathed, taking off his visor and letting his red eyes freely gaze over her. "You… look beautiful as usual, C.C."
C.C. simply nodded, still leaning against the wall off to the side. "You don't look so bad yourself."
A thick silence settled over the dais.
"…Okay, um…" Mao collected himself. "Bring me up to speed. Let's hear what Lulu's got to say." He stood close to C.C., watching Lelouch and Kaguya in action.
"Alright." Lelouch leaned against the railing again. "Alicia! Jian! Pull up the TimeDex!"
"On it!" the girl named Alicia called back. With a few swipes of her keyboard, a large series of white dots appeared across the Veil, otherwise known as the TimeDex. Mao eyed these with interest.
"Alright, Mao," Lelouch said, steeling himself. "This is the Timeline Index, or TimeDex. We've spoken about them before." Lelouch stepped up to his own electronic pad and tapped in a familiar command, scrolling across each of the white dots. "All of these dots in the TimeDex represent an established timeline, something that's already been made. We aren't counting the ones that are still in utero."
"How many of those are there?" Mao questioned, already looking lost.
"Possibly hundreds," Kaguya filled him in. "We can't know for sure."
Mao looked sick.
"There used to be just one timeline… a Prime Timeline. Where we all came from. But… something happened after that affair with Charles and Marianne," Lelouch continued.
"Your family is fucked," Mao pointed out.
"You don't know the half of it. This… accident, of sorts, caused a break in the Timeline. It shattered, turning into multiple timelines. Represented by these dots right here. All of these timelines have the same basic history of the Prime Timeline… but with some variations. And in each of them…"
"Lelouch vi Britannia brings them to ruin," C.C. quoted, her expression indecipherable.
"Yeah. Directly or indirectly, I stir some shit up, leading to its demise. But… there is a powerful being, we're not sure who or what, that is… capable of throwing us across timelines without us ever really noticing, save for some rare occasions. Like now."
Mao shuddered. Kaguya and C.C. simply looked down at the ground.
"…But. Our reports have shown there's only one timeline we haven't experienced yet."
Lelouch recited yet another command from memory, and the third-to-last dot on the screen expanded, eventually revealing a picture of the Earth, with a Geass symbol stretched across the globe. Above the Earth was a small screen with the caption:
"X-Timeline."
"…You alphabetized them?" Mao asked, as if that was all he was able to muster.
"We're not very creative," Kaguya pointed out.
"We've run the data over and over again countless times," Lelouch said, calling up more screens and showcasing lab reports, charts, lists of events and schedules, enough to make a weaker man's head swim. "And we're sure of it. This is the only timeline we have never been forced into."
"…Are you able to go into other timelines?" Mao ventured. "Willingly?"
"Yeah. As Prime Lelouch, the Lelouch from which all other Lelouches were derived, I have the option of time travelling and inhabiting one of the Lelouches' minds. For example, if I were to go to, say… B-Universe—"
"Even though that exploded," C.C. mentioned.
"—Then I would inherit the mind of B-Lelouch, and then I would have all of my memories intact, as well as all of B-Lelouch's memories. Not that we want to."
"Wait, which timeline are we in right now?" Mao asked, looking more and more lost by the minute.
Lelouch shrugged. He really didn't want to focus on the petty details. "Who cares? What matters is the X-Timeline. We've done extensive research on it, as much as we can. And we've determined that… something happens there. Something… capable of wiping out all other Timelines for good."
"…S-so, just hop on over there and fix it!"
"I told you. We don't want to."
"Why?! What about that end-of-the-everything crap?"
"It's insanely difficult to willingly do it," Kaguya pointed out, pulling up a series of articles. "We'd need multiple Codes, at least two or three, all of our equipment to be up and running, and everyone would have to be mentally prepared to do it. Not just us, but… our counterpart, too."
"Yeah," Lelouch said. "If I were to inherit B-Lelouch's mind, B-Lelouch would have to either be incredibly calm, incredibly crazy, or emotionally brain-dead. And, wouldn't you know it, Lelouch vi Britannia happens to be all three at once."
"I was gonna make that joke," C.C. muttered, smiling to the side.
"Have you successfully done it?" Mao asked, understandably struggling to keep up.
"Once."
"Then what the fuck makes this a Fail-Safe?!"
"The one time we did it failed due to a lack of preparation. This time… we're prepared. All the tasks at hand… well. Y'know how it goes."
Mao rubbed his nose, and C.C. gave him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.
"We've been doing this for several timelines," C.C. said.
"So, basically, a few days," Kaguya said. She and Lelouch burst out laughing.
"Hahaha! Oh man… oh man… sorry, Mao, time-traveler's joke, you wouldn't get it," Lelouch said, wiping a tear off his cheek.
Mao sat down in a chair, gazing over the screen, struggling to find his words. "So… let me get this absolutely straight."
"Yeah, don't get it gay."
"There was once one big Timeline. Then some dumb shit happened… which caused it to fracture into mini-Timelines."
"Yuh-huh."
"In these mini-Timelines, we all have a counterpart. So there's like a million Maos?"
"Terrifying thought, isn't it?" C.C. muttered.
"And all of these Timelines have the same history or whatever as the first Timeline, but with some minor differences, except for one."
"Yeah," Lelouch said.
"And it's a pain in the ass to do actual time travel?"
"Huge. But with your Code and this project we're working on, it could help."
"Project?"
Lelouch paused, glanced back and forth between Kaguya and C.C. They looked as unsure as he did, if not more so. There was a silent, three-way tension betwixt the three, and they all gathered around for a time-travelers' huddle. Mao's impatience began to mount. With that done, they separated and nodded, and Kaguya turned to face Mao.
"…Follow us, okay? You might want to hold onto your lunch," Kaguya advised, opening the hatch.
Mao exhaled sharply and began to follow them. They walked down a series of convoluted routes, corridors, hallways, rooms, and elevators, and Mao kept asking where they were going and if they were lost. Lelouch had done this a million times – it was second nature by this point. Finally, they stepped into the elevator they needed.
Lelouch pressed the keypad. "Take us to the Bar, please," he spoke to the elevator.
"What?" Mao said, on the verge of laughing. "All that buildup for nothing? You're just gonna go grab a drink?"
Lelouch noticed Mao was nervously holding C.C.'s hand. She didn't seem to mind. "Actually, that sounds pretty nice right now."
"We should go out for drinks," Kaguya said, offhandedly. "Are there any nice bars in the Forbidden City? It's been a while. Tianzi's too young to drink and Xingke's too much of a prude, so I don't know."
"Sure, we'll check it out later tonight."
"C.C., why are all of your friends so fucking cryptic?" Mao whined, squeezing C.C.'s hand.
C.C. simply smiled and said nothing more on the issue.
The elevator hit the bottom floor. The group entered into a small room, entirely dark… save for a bubbly substance in the middle of the room, which glowed with a bright, purple energy. That was enough of a light source. The bubbly light source was hovering atop a circular freezing chamber, and it looked like it was encased in a professional-grade capsule of some kind. The virtual bubbles danced around carelessly within the confines of the capsule. Lelouch checked the security cameras, making sure the red dots were active.
The elevator door closed behind them. They were alone.
"…Whatever you hid down here, you wanted it hidden," Mao said, his eyes adjusting to the relative dark. "…What is it?"
Lelouch quietly stepped up to the capsule and put his hand on the glass. It was cold, and Lelouch's handprint left behind some fog. He stared at the unstable coils of energy and life in front of him, not daring to speak. Every single time he walked into the room… it took his breath away.
After all, he was staring at a mirror of sorts.
"What is it?" Mao repeated.
"It's me," Lelouch said simply. "It's everything I desire to be."
Mao gawked.
Without moving his hand from the colored glass, Lelouch turned to Mao. "Mao, I want you to meet Time Baron. He's our greatest project yet."
"…" Mao stepped up to the glass and said nothing, his eyes wide, watching the energy bubbles move around inside the capsule.
"…Time Baron," Kaguya hesitantly began, playing with the frills of her skirt. "Time Baron is… well. Simply put, it's the ideal Lelouch vi Britannia. Or… at the very least, the ideal to him."
Mao blinked, horrified and amazed. Lelouch was unable to say anything.
"…We took an extract from his mind, an extract from his soul as well," Kaguya soldiered on. "We placed it inside a containment storage cell, but it's natural instability led to us deciding to freeze it. That seemed to calm it down. We gave it a name, Time Baron, because of its eventual purpose…"
Lelouch's eyes drifted to the other side of the shadowed room.
"…Time Baron is meant to be flippant, brave, unstoppable, audacious, worldly… everything Lelouch reportedly… desires to be."
C.C. leaned against the corner.
"And he is… going to be the one that saves us," Kaguya finished.
"…What the hell is this?" Mao asked, breathily, unable to do anything except just stare.
Lelouch looked at Mao, put a hand on his shoulder, managing to pry his eyes away from the capsule. "We can insert Time Baron, as a parasite, into any Lelouch's mind we wish. Even my own. X-Lelouch is going to be the proud new recipient of… well. Of a new Shadow."
Mao didn't seem to appreciate the Jungian. Lelouch let it slide. "Mao… this is going to save us all. Even if it doesn't seem clear to you, yet… it will. Please. Join us."
Mao bit his lip, unable to conjure up words.
"…This may be the thing that stops this timeline looping once and for all."
Silence.
"…We'll finally be free."
Continued, heavy silence.
"Please, Mao," C.C. spoke up, her voice not much louder than a whisper.
But, for some reason, that didn't appease Mao. In fact, it made him angrier than he already aws. He slapped Lelouch's hand away and stood up, his back arched and eyes livid. For a terrifying moment, Lelouch was afraid he was going to shoot someone.
"NO!" he screamed. "Not a chance in hell! What the hell is all of this?! This…. This… this… fucking shit?! All this timeline and parasite and loop crap?!"
"Mao—"
"Did you know?!" Mao asked, pointing at C.C. "Did you know that you were going to condemn me, and yourself, to this?! Did you know all this?!"
C.C. was stunned into silence.
"You were gonna make me take your code! You were gonna make me put up with this?!"
Nothing to say on her end. Nothing to say on anyone else's end.
"Fuck!" Mao yelled, rushing for the elevator door, and trying to press the elevator keypad. When it didn't accept his fingerprints, he tried prying it open. "I'm out! I don't want a damn thing to do with this! This conspiracy bullshit!"
"Mao, please!" Kaguya protested, holding out her hands. "Your Code could be useful when we eventually do cross over into—"
C.C. gently shooed Kaguya away and stepped up to the doorframe. Mao's shoulders were shaking, and he glared at C.C. for a spell. C.C. gave him a witheringly sad look, and pressed the keypad for him. The elevator door slid open with an unfitting "ding". Mao looked at the elevator's interior, looked back at her.
"…Lelouch?" Kaguya whispered.
"…Let her," was all he could manage.
C.C. and Mao stared at one another, locked in an invisible showdown.
"…Don't leave me, C.C.," Mao managed, sounding like he was on the breaking point. "I just want to see you again! Don't leave me! But don't make me… do this! I wasn't prepared for this! I didn't agree to this! I –!"
God, I feel like an asshole now…
"I understand, Mao," C.C. recited. "...Don't worry, Mao."
Mao's eyes widened in recognition. C.C. pushed him into the elevator's interior before he could say another word, and she clicked the elevator's keypad with a singular finger.
"I'm not going to die, Mao. I'm going to be free," was all she said before the elevator door closed, rising up to the top floor once again with a satisfying hum.
Silence. Lelouch felt his heartbeat steady, heard Kaguya's breathing settle.
Lelouch turned to face Time Baron. He caught his reflection in the glass. He looked tired.
"…I made him a deal that he could leave if he wanted to," Lelouch said, stiffly putting his hands in his pockets to block out the chill. "Tell security to let him leave. He won't reveal anything. He's a secret-keeper like the rest of us."
A silent nod from Kaguya, and nothing from C.C. She didn't look angry, though. Melancholic was the more appropriate term.
"…Tell The Engine to get ready. Prepare the Chapters and arrange them as you see fit. Prepare a list of events, and get Time Baron ready to be shipped out as promptly as possible. Make sure everything operates as it should. Don't leave a single stone unturned."
[*****]
"Hi. I guess… I should just start typing. Something, anything, I guess. I'm Kaguya Sumeragi. Former head of the Sumeragi clan, former Black Knight, former mortal. Former… a lot, I guess. Full-time time traveler, though, that's a consistent job I've managed to maintain.
I've seen a lot over the course of my many lives. Done a lot. Witnessed a lot. Learned a lot about the world we live in, the universe we live in… or, worlds, or universes. I'm not sure if that's a good thing. I think I would have preferred to be ignorant. It's bliss, after all. I think would have preferred to just go along and what I do best. Manage things. Do some politicking. Be a Sumeragi, all in all.
But, no, I wound up in the orbit of Lelouch vi Britannia. Fell in love with him, too. And then a cascade of convoluted things happened in the wake of his death. Well. His first death, anyway, the most important one. I was stupid enough to accept C.C.'s Code, and she was despaired enough to believe it would help her shed her mortal coil. But, the cosmos had other plans. And they happened to involve me all because I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
If all goes according to plan, however… then our plans will be the norm, not theirs. Lelouch told me to write this, in case something goes wrong and we have to go through the loop again. The beautiful thing about The Engine is that we can store all of our files in The Sword of Akasha (which really isn't as cool as it sounds, it's like a big library, not sure where the sword part comes into play), and The Sword of Akasha isn't affected by the flow of time, so… we can access our memories there so long as somebody else remembers. That somebody is usually C.C. – Lelouch and I just forget a lot.
Anyway. The Time Baron project. In case I forget – Time Baron is the personification of Lelouch's unconscious desires. His ideal body, basically, his dream guy. We made him to be cool and unstoppable because that's really what Lelouch wants to be. Why do you think he gave himself the name Zero? He wanted to be unflinching, unstoppable, unable to waver or have second thoughts when making choices that affected a lot of people. Zero. Without, nothing. Blank. Because, surprise surprise, Lelouch vi Britannia's a human, and his human emotions and instincts get in the way. Just like the rest of us.
We started implementing Time Baron into the X-Timeline about four months ago, but it feels like a lifetime. The X-Timeline has a unique structure in that X-Lelouch's life is determined by "Chapters", like from a book. At least, that's what we named them. With the technology of The Engine and the honest-to-God magic of Geass, we have the ability to influence these chapters, or sometimes even insert chapters of our own. We decided to begin making these chapters after the turning point in the X-Timeline; namely, X-Lelouch sparing Clovis, which is not something that happened in any of the other timelines.
The plan was to drive X-Lelouch insane, so that his mind would be easier for Prime Lelouch (our Lelouch, the real one) to inhabit. So we started putting in a bunch of incredibly inane things to… well, drive him bonkers. The crew had a lot of fun with those chapters. There was one about something called Pokemon, and something about Sonic the Hedgehog and a rapper I don't remember, another about all of his Ashford classmates singing a song about being Zero, another about a desert or something, I don't remember, but they were purposefully distracting and impossible to parse.
And they almost did the job. But X-Lelouch's eventual confrontation with Time Baron, the Ideal Lelouch, sealed it. X-Lelouch has officially gone into an insanity-driven coma, and now his mind is open for Lelouch to inhabit. I mean, it makes sense. If you were confronted with somebody who, to you, was perfect in every way, and they called you out on all your shit and all of your unconscious fears and desires (like guilt or persecution for Lelouch)… you'd go a little wacky. Anyway, X-Lelouch is now nothing more than just a vessel for Lelouch to inhabit and… hopefully, use to save the world.
But that's the scary part. We don't know if the rest of us, namely C.C. and I, are going to make it to the X-Timeline in one piece. We've seen the after-effects of what happens if we screw up. And Lelouch will need us for guidance. I just know it. He's too fragile. This whole project has taken a real toll on Lelouch because he's indirectly discovered some of the more… flawed aspects about himself, and I know it's helped him grow, but… still. And he's had to live without true companionship beyond C.C. and I for a long, long time.
But he's also the only one who can do it. It's just the way he is. He's the Chosen One, whether he intended for it to be that way or not. So props to him. I knew there was a reason we hung around after all these years and loops. Still the guy I love.
But I don't wanna end this post on a dour note. We're hopeful, more so than we have been in a long time. We called it the Fail-Safe for a reason, after all. All of our research points to the X-Timeline being the elixir that will solve all of our problems… assuming, of course, the apocalypse doesn't happen in that universe before Lelouch and the rest of us can get to it. And honestly… as nervous as we are, and scared as we are, we're excited. Excited to be done with this.
Excited to be free. We'll finally get to go Home.
Sorry if this is abrupt, but I'm needed in Lab 13. So bye for now. If I don't make it into the X-Timeline, I'll update this later.
Here's to hoping.
KS"
[*****]
A/N: So a lot of you wanted explanations as to why the events in chapters like 9, 10, 26, 29, 30, and 31 were so impossible, random, hard to parse, or just plain dumb.
Now you know. And now you know how Time Baron came to be.
And I'm tired of typing. My only request is that you read this chapter over again before continuing into future updates! I understand if your head's swimming. Lot to cover here, lot that's revealed here. Changes a lot.
So… 'til next time! Wish Lelouch luck. He'll need it.
