Do you recall at the end of Chapter 14 when I mentioned something about a misunderstanding or inconsistency with what we know from ZTD, and that it changes the meaning behind or fills in the holes left by some explanations? If you weren't able to figure it out or set your suspicions on something, allow me to steer you in the right direction.

Sophia tells Phi that Delta SHIFTed, but could have then transported later into the future where the fanatic was stopped. She either neglected to mention or forgot that Delta transports to that specific point in time in every timeline — that means that Delta transports to 2029, in timelines where Radical-6 is and is not released.

This has a revelation that could make or break this story. I'm sure there are loopholes in my logic here, but this is what I think what ultimately happened at the end of ZTD.

Also, please recall that I told you that the Epilogue was the longest chapter of this story — well, I lied. This one is 6,580 words! IT IS TIME FOR AN INFORMATION OVERLOAD, MY CHILDREN! PREPARE YOURSELVES FOR THE COMPLEXITY OF COMPLEX MOTIVES! ;)

Post-Payoff: The Klim Family

In which Sigma returns from dropping off Sean to stay with Eric for a month in New York, the Klims learn that Delta is not who he seems, Diana discovers the meaning to a part of the anagram, and one member of the Klim family meets a young woman who may or may not lead them all to the religious fanatic.

(AKA, in which D-Team finally gets their Post-Payoff epilogue file.)

6 Months Later

His eyes search as his slow walk comes to a standstill. He peers over the crowds of people on his toes, as his eyes anxiously sweep over the area. He can feel her presence, but can't seem to find her anywhere.

"Sigma!" he hears her lovely voice cries out happily. His head immediately whips around to source of the sound. There she is, stretched up on her toes, waving enthusiastically as she beams at him.

"Diana!" he calls back, as he crosses the large terminal, weaving through the crowds of people smoothly, in spite of his small attaché.

When he reaches her, he immediately engulfs her in a long, tight — but not too tight — embrace. He inhales deeply, taking in her musky, sweet scent; she smells like lavender and home.

That brings about the thought of what awaits for him at home, which makes him untangle himself from her arms and frown. "Where is Phi?"

Diana's eyes widen. "Oh, don't worry about her. Anyway!" she interjects, before he can fully open his mouth to respond. "How did it go? How did they react?" She quickly flashes him an eager grin, and with that, they begin walking towards the paring garage.

Sigma relaxes, forgetting the words he originally wanted to tell her. "Well . . . Eric was shocked. He almost couldn't believe it was Sean standing in front of him."

"And Mira? How is she? Did she recognize Sean?"

Sigma sighs. "I don't know. I didn't get to see her, but I think, when Eric takes Sean to meet her, it might take her a minute or two to realize it is him with a new face."

Diana curls her arms across her stomach as she walks. "Well, you did at least give Eric the present, right?"

Sigma's eyes widen as he stops walking. "Fuck, I forgot!" His palm slaps his forehead.

"What!?" Diana shrieks as she stops in her tracks. She whirls to face him so she can shout in her fiancée's face. "How could you forget to give them their wedding gift!?"

His expression of shock morphs into amusement. "Kidding!" He snickers. "You really thought that I would forget to give the gift? You really have no faith in me."

Her eyes narrow into slits as her jaw drops. "Sigma," she then seethes through gritted teeth.

"Hey, it was just a jok — ow! Dammit, Diana, that actually hurt!"

Even if Sigma is having trouble keeping up with her mood swings, things do calm down after that, with Diana accepting his apology with a giggle. The silence that falls between them is peaceful and comforting.

But then, they reach the SUV — Sigma insisted on buying the car after coming back to California, since they had the money to afford it now.

"Let me drive." Sigma holds his hand out to take the key.

Diana huffs and crosses her arms over her chest — momentarily drawing his attention there — as she clenches onto the key so tightly, she is certain it will leave an imprint on her palm. "Come on, Sigma, I drove the car here without a problem and without anyone else in the car."

Sigma frowns as he looks back up to her face. "I thought I told Phi to accompany you. She could have driven with you, since she renewed her permit." It was something she immediately did after coming home — she didn't want to miss an opportunity to drive the RV again. "Why isn't she here?" he inquires suspiciously.

Diana groans in exasperation. "Unlike you, Sigma, Phi understands that I am perfectly capable of driving myself to the airport to pick you up — she, at least, understands that pregnant women can drive no problem!"

.

"I miss the little guy," Phi says wistfully, as she sits on the couch of the Klim living room.

Sigma sighs sadly. "I do, too."

"How long is he staying in New York for, anyway?"

"Eric and I agreed on a month, though it is up to Sean if he is willing to stay a little longer. Not longer than two months, though. Between his job at the ice cream parlor and his therapy sessions, Eric won't have much time for Sean."

Next to Phi, Diana tilts her head in thought. "And it might not be a good idea to have Sean around Eric for too long while Eric is still a little unstable and is trying to get help," she adds.

"Well," Sigma starts, his shoulders slightly slumping, "he has definitely gotten much better . . . though, I don't think he can fully heal from something so traumatic as this. He has gotten very close with his neighbors in New York, but he will probably need Sean for emotional support, as well, since Mira is in prison."

With her elbows resting on her thighs, Diana brings up her folded hands together to lean her cheek on them. "Is he always going to keep on going back and forth like this?" she asks.

"For now, yes." Sigma nods in confirmation. "Sean will be here for most of the time until Eric fully improves his health and until I can't think of anymore modifications to add onto him."

"Hmm." Diana frowns, crossing her arms over her chest. "So, at least another year, then," she points out concernedly. "That's going to be so overwhelming for Sean."

Sigma laughs, surprising both her and Phi, and shakes his head. "Quite the contrary, actually. He was rather excited to be able to spend time with us both."

"That's right," Phi realizes, crossing one leg over another, as she leans back on the sofa. "He had such a hard time deciding on who he wanted to stay with after you removed that orb-head of his. He chose Eric and Mira, but this now gives him an extension of his time with you before he stays with them permanently."

He nods. "Exactly."

Though he was the one who was supposed to have Sean learn about GAULEMs, ABT and the like, Sigma learned a vast amount of information about epigenetics and inner mechanics of a robot from him; ultimately, he was learning more than the boy himself, more than he could ever imagine, let alone discover on Rhizome-9 — he supposed he could thank his son for that, at least.

He purses his lips at the thought of his son, and wonders about his current whereabouts — they haven't seen him since that night in the facility and haven't heard anything from him ever since.

"Anyway," Phi begins, pulling Sigma out of his thoughts. "I should get home. It's almost dinnertime, and Gran is probably waiting for me."

Diana immediately scrambles to lift herself off the couch. "Did you me to dri — "

"Diana," Sigma warns, immediately wrenching out of his seat to run to her side. "You've been working all day at the hospital, and you came to pick me up at the airport. You need to take rest. I'll drop Phi home."

Phi shakes her head. "Don't bother. I'm taking the bus home."

"I don't mind driving you, really."

She rolls her eyes. "Every week, we have this argument, and almost every week, I win — the times I don't win is because I let you take me home."

Sigma crosses his arms over his chest and huffs. "That's only because you say that you're meeting up with a friend or someone on your way home."

She raises an eyebrow at him. "So, who said I wasn't meeting with someone today?"

Feeling irritated at Phi's smart-ass behavior, Sigma groans. "Who even have you been meeting up with, anyway?"

"Oh, Sigma!" Diana laughs. "Don't be a nosy dad. Phi's an adult and can meet with whoever she wants." She turns to Phi with a serious look. "As long as she knows the people she surrounds herself with aren't terrible people, right, Phi?"

Phi nods solemnly. "Right."

"B-But — but . . . !"

Phi smirks, a hand resting at her hip. "You should listen to Diana, Sigma."

"H-Hey!"

As Phi begins to walk towards the door, Diana pulls at Sigma's shirt so she can murmur in his ear, "You said you weren't going to be one of those overprotective fathers when Phi started dating, Sigma. Don't go back on your promise now." She winks at him.

His eyes widen in terror. "D-D-Dating!?" he tries not to yell, but his hush, terrified voice comes out screechy. "Phi is dating someone!?"

"Well, I have my suspicions, but I won't say anything until she confirms it," she mutters back, before scurrying up to Phi, where she stands at the front door.

When Diana reaches her, Phi gives her a light, gentle hug, almost scared to crush her protruding stomach. "Take care, and if Sigma tries to stop you from doing things that he thinks a pregnant woman shouldn't do, and won't listen to you, just call me."

Diana giggles. "I will."

"Text me when you get home," Sigma, who did not hear Phi's words, simply calls out from behind.

Phi angles her head slightly towards him. "You know that I probably won't," she answers back bluntly, but not rudely, as Diana opens the door for her. "Gran will most likely call, though." She turns back to head out of the house, but stops in her tracks at what the now-opened doorway reveals. "What the fuck!?" she suddenly growls.

"What happened, Phi?" Diana moves around the door to see what is going on, but freezes when she sees the young man, who she hasn't seen in six months, standing in front of Phi. She lets out a gasp. "Delta?"

"Delta?!" Sigma exclaims in disbelief, the sound of his rushed footsteps growing as he comes closer and closer to Diana.

Sure enough, when he reaches the doorway, he sees Delta's tall figure, and familiar clothes. This time though, he is not wearing his red sunglasses. Sigma can now see his youthful, purple eyes clearly — they don't glow as menacingly as when he saw them in Delta as an old man. They're softer, and surprisingly more jaded and sadder. Underneath his eyes are dark rings, indicating his many sleepless nights — Sigma wants to find some sort of satisfaction in that, but somehow, he can only feel pity for the young man. "What the hell are you doing here?" His voice, though holds an edge of threat, is mainly tinged with bewilderment.

"I . . ." He sighs and looks down towards Diana's swollen stomach, but does not continue speaking.

Diana frowns, resisting the urge to protectively hug her belly. "It's been six months, and yet, you've come only now. Why is that?"

He slowly moves his face back up towards Diana. "I was given specific instructions to wait until Sean returned to Eric and Mira," he replies softly.

Phi barks a laugh. "Hah! Brother, the leader of Free the Soul, the one who orchestrated the entire fucking Decision Game, following instructions?"

"I . . . I'm not Brother, Phi." Delta frowns, crossing his arms over his chest. "I was supposed to live on to become Brother, but I was lucky to discover that I would not . . . not in this timeline, at least."

"What?"

"What do you mean, you're not Brother? You're not him in this timeline? You're not making any sense. And how do we know we can trust you, huh?" Phi demands, her hands beginning to clench into fists. "How do we know you are not going to release Radical-6 and continue on with Free the Soul if we can't find the fanatic? How do we even know that there's a fanatic in the first place?!"

"Phi . . . I promise you, I won't do anything of that sort. Mom has the anagram that we can use to track down the fanatic."

Phi furrows her eyebrows in confusion and frowns. "What kind of excuse is that?! That doesn't change anything. You have that anagram, too — after all, you're the one that told her about it . . . you're the one that trapped us in the shelter in the first place," she seethes, hands balling into fists at her sides as she takes a step forward towards Delta.

Delta's eyes widen in fear. "No, no!" He waves his hands in front of himself defensively, as he takes a step back. "I don't have the anagram. The one you call Brother does. And I am not him! The Delta you think I am . . . the one who trapped you in the Decision Game — that's not me!" he insists. "It hasn't been me since you saw me that night in the research facility!"

Phi's thin, reddish eyebrows draw together in confusion. "What?"

"I am not the old man Delta! He is not me . . . I am the Delta who transported here from 1925, acting on his instructions."

Diana's eyes widen in shock, but her mind is already reeling back to his words in the facility the last time she saw him. "No . . ."

"After Gordain's death in 1931, I would be the one to hold the reigns to Free the Soul — and would drop the 'of Y' from the title."

He did not take over Free the Soul, but would, in the same way that he did not drop the 'of Y' from the name, but would.

Sigma's thoughts lead him towards a similar path, as he remembers Delta's response to the insinuation that he killed Lord Gordain.

"No. I didn't kill him . . . but who is to say that a different version of myself wouldn't go on to?"

The different version of him . . . was that why Sigma faltered when Delta addressed him as "Dad"? Why his youthful appearance had thrown Sigma off from accusing him? He doesn't want to believe it, doesn't want to believe that his hatred towards Delta is unjustifiable and is towards the wrong man. Yes, over the past few months, he was starting to become more sympathetic towards Delta, as Diana would implore him to be, but Phi, with her own resentment, would try to pull him back to the hatred and rage — he was a rope that was indecisively being tugged on both ends, going back and forth between wanting to hate and pity his son.

"Delta, you . . ." Sigma begins hesitantly, his eyes meeting his son's bright purple ones.

Phi scoffs. "Don't tell me you actually believe him, Sigma."

"We . . . we have to at least — "

"Come on, you expect me to believe that bullshit? Fuck that. He has to be lying."

"H-Hey! Calm down, Phi," Sigma advises. "I-I don't know if we can trust him either, but we just have to think with a clear mind and consider if what he is saying is true."

She turns to glare at her father sharply. "Have you lost your mind!? This is the same man who trapped us all in the Decision Game and had us undergo mental and physical torture in multiple timelines. How can you stand here quietly and consider his words?"

Sigma pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs. "I understand where you are coming from, Phi, but if he is who claims to be, we have to ask about and listen to his side of the story calmly." He looks at her pointedly and then turns towards the 20-year-old man. "Please, tell us who you are then, if you're not the old man Delta."

Delta exhales and then nods. "Let me start from the beginning. It started off a few months before mine and Phi's 21st birthdays in 1925. I was writing in my journal about Left's killers bribing the police investigating the case, but then feeling as if my mind was being dragged out of my body. All of a sudden, I found myself in the middle of the desert. The joints in my knees were in pain, as if I had gone for too long of a run for many days in a row, and that blonde man, Carlos, was pointing a handgun at me. I was about to scream at him to stop, and demand why Phi, who was dressed in strange, short clothing with her white hair, was not doing anything to stop him . . . but then, that same force was pulling me away from the body that I realized right then was of an old man's.

"And then, Phi — Sophia, as she calls herself now — was yanking me away from that train; it appeared as if I had left and then suddenly returned to 1925 . . . I could only come to the conclusion that I had SHIFTed, something Phi only dreamed about but never dared to do, and something that we had tested that I was incapable of doing.

When I returned home with Phi, I went straight to my room, in an attempt to think with a clear mind about the events that had just transpired; but upon reaching there, I immediately noticed that my notebook was still out. Something had drawn me to open it up and flip through the sheets. I was discovered to find pages and pages of information about what I had just experienced, and the future. Those pages were written by a much older me, who SHIFTed to 1925 and momentarily traded spots with me, in order to provide me with instructions on what I had to do to save the world from a religious fanatic."

Diana's eyebrows draw together in realization. "Wait, so, when Carlos aimed the gun . . ."

"The old man Delta SHIFTed to your time, wrote in your journal . . . ," Phi continues warily.

Sigma taps his finger to his lips. " . . . and then, SHIFTed back to face his death?" he finishes.

Delta nods at his family members, giving a hint of a sad smile at how synchronized they are in thought — he yearns to one day be a part of their tuned dynamic of sorts. "If we are going by what he had written in my journal, that would be correct."

"Okay, fine. So he left you with instructions, but that doesn't change anything," Phi argues, her eyes narrowing on him suspiciously. "The old asshole could have just told you to create the Myrmidons, Free the Soul, and Radical-6!"

"No, no! Phi, please, you must believe me!" he begs. "I was given a specific set of instructions by the older Delta about what to do in the future, depending on the timeline I am in and what has occurred."

Phi stays silent, crossing her arms and tapping her foot impatiently, and waits for him to explain.

Delta sighs in relief and continues on. "He told me to transport to January 1st, 2029. The version of me who would remain in my current timeline would have to go on and develop Free the Soul, the Myrmidons, Radical-6, and the Decision Game. If any of the timelines failed the purpose of the game, and I couldn't determine who the fanatic was, I'd have to release Radical-6.

"If Radical-6 was released on its own, through Phi, that would be the timeline where I'd have to live on until my last breath to ensure that I would make the defunct, idiotic Fourth-Generation Myrmidon D-10, the leader of the clones and send him to Rhizome-9 to stop the AB Project — the whole point of this is so that he would screw up, and Dad and 2008 Phi's consciousness could go back in time for the Decision Games.

For the version of me whose atomic data transported to January 1st, 2028, two things could happen: if I was in the timeline where Radical-6 was contained and the participants of the Decision Game were motivated to stop the fanatic, I would be off the hook. I could come and find you all and live with you all happily, according to him — if you didn't hate me for what my other-self did. If, however, the purpose of the Decision Game failed, I'd be a sort of spare, or replacement for the Delta who lived on to create Radical-6 and the game. When the old Delta would die, I'd step in and take over Free the Soul as Brother, thus maintaining Brother's near-immortal, centenarian image."

"That . . . that sounds so unfair," Diana murmurs sadly, "you were barely an adult when he sprung all of that on you."

Delta gives a mirthless smile. "I've learned the hard way that life is simply unfair."

Phi and Sigma groan at his words while Diana cringes.

"So . . . y-you're just an innocent boy, then."

He sighs. "I'm not quite a boy anymore, Mom, but you could say that."

"Oh, really? You're innocent?" Phi's voice is calmer now, but she keeps her arms folded over her chest. "Then, why didn't you correct everyone when we assumed that you were old Delta in the body of young Delta?"

"I thought it would be best not to say anything now. And, if I am being frank, I was trying to gauge my surroundings by fishing for information."

"No . . ." She shakes her head. "I still can't buy it. We can't trust you. This whole story could be a huge fabrication, which means your consciousness could still be Delta's from the Decision Game."

Delta closes his eyes, pinches the bridge of his nose, and exhales sharply, becoming visibly frustrated with Phi's behavior. "Look, I am not sure how many times I must explain it to you. I am truly sorry that you all were trapped in the Decision Game, but my consciousness had nothing to do it with. I am not sure what I am supposed to do to gain your trust."

"Fine." Phi purses her lips. "If you're a different Delta, then answer this: the old fart said you had to meet him if Radical-6 got out of the Decision Game, right? So, if this turned out to be one of those timelines, where were you supposed to meet him?"

His eyes fly open. "A-At the same facility where I met Sophia and you all," he answers in earnest, his eyes starting to shine optimistically. "It was only because he died that you were there, too, or else I am certain he would have done something to divert your attention somewhere else."

"Like divert us to death," she can't help but mutter scornfully.

"I can't completely argue that," he starts remorsefully, his eyes downcast in some indirect feeling of shame, "since I don't know my older self very well." His eyes are blank for a moment as he frowns. "You still don't believe me."

"Grr!" Phi is fuming at his invasion of privacy. Diana initially is confused by her behavior, but Sigma understands what is going on.

He continues speaking anyway. "You're worried that even if I am not the other Delta, I'll still carry out his mission of leading the Myrmidons and releasing Radical-6."

She grits her teeth. "Get out of my mind, you bastard!" she hisses back scathingly.

"I won't, Phi. Not until you listen to me, Phi!" he insists, taking half of a step toward her. "I can't purify anyone's soul, even if I make my own army of Myrmidons! You know what happened to Myrmidon Model D-10 — he was an idiot, which was really just the intentional defunct manufacturing on the older me's part. I don't think he had a specific purpose for the Myrmidons, anyway, other than spreading Radical-6, creating fear and motivation for Dad to create the AB Game and have his and your consciousnesses jump back in time for the Decision Game!"

"Ugh!" She racks her brain for another point to argue. "What . . . what about the Myrmidons that are currently active and the future clones to come?" she interrogates desperately, feeling herself beginning to lose a battle in which she does not want to concede defeat. She knows she has been repeating herself needlessly so many times to argue with him, but she does not want to accept this man as her brother.

His lips twist into a grimace. "The Myrmidons are dead, Phi."

"What?!" Sigma exclaims in surprise.

"How!?"

"He killed them."

Diana lets out a gasp. "How . . . how do you know?"

"Three months ago, I found Free the Soul's headquarters and found his instructions to them . . ." He scowls at the memory of the older Delta's words on that notes. "I checked the incinerator room and it is full of ashes."

"Would that be mass suicide . . . or genocide?"

Delta shakes his head sadly. "I don't know myself."

A moment goes by in silence. Diana looks thoughtful, Sigma, too, is lost in thought, but Phi's frowning.

A suddenly crestfallen Delta breaks the silence. "I hear it in your thoughts. I understand that you still might hate me, and do not want to be around me. Maybe I came at a wrong time." He looks at Diana and nods at belly. "Or maybe at a good time." He smiles sadly. "I won't ruin your peace. If you deem me worthy, come and find me — I won't bother you anymore, nor ask you to believe me."

Phi, who should feel relieved by his decision to leave them alone, suddenly feels remorseful. She's lost in thought for a few moments until she comes to a decision. She will ask him one more question, which may or may not confirm his claims, but when she looks up to ask him, he's gone.

In fact, so are Sigma and Diana. She turns around to see them standing outside quietly by themselves, and quickly jogs to them.

"What did you tell him?" she demands, slightly panting.

Sigma, who looks completely solemn, answers, "I gave him my phone number."

She groans, slapping a palm to her forehead in exasperation. "Sigma, do you think he's going to know how to operate a cell phone!? He's from the 1920's!"

"There are pay-phones! He can call from them," he retorts back insistently, though part of him fears that Delta will not call him.

Diana frowns as she sniffles. "He can call us, but we can't contact him."

"So, then, what? Now what do we do?" Phi questions.

Sigma grabs his smartphone off of the couch and begins tapping on the screen. "First, we call the one person who can most likely determine if he was lying to us or not."

.

Before he found himself behind the gun in Carlos's hands, Delta told the other participants of the Decision Game that he had created a timeline — this timeline — with no causalities; but he hadn't counted the members of Free the Soul and the first-generation Myrmidons. He had them well quarantined, with specific instructions on how to release, but also contain — with the use of the HQ's incinerator — the Radical-6 virus.

They did, as their cult name suggests, free their souls.

.

Sophia's shoulders slump. "I wish you had called me sooner. If he really is who claims to be, I wanted to meet him and talk to him."

"I'm sorry," Phi says simply, with her back turned away from Sophia, on the other side of Sigma and Diana's living room. "But I didn't want to take a risk, in case he was under the guise of a 'different' Delta."

"But, Phi," Sophia pleads. "It might have not been a guise! If he is another Delta, it all makes sense! What I saw that day . . . when he threw himself in front of that train and almost died. And his behavior that night in the facility — it reminded me of a much younger Delta."

"I know, I know!" Phi snaps, as she turns her body to face her Gran. "I know there's a chance that he could be a younger Delta; but Diana's pregnant, and I didn't want him to get close, and then take advantage of that fact or use it against us, somehow. After all, the babies might be SHIFTers."

"Phi," Sophia says calmly. "I don't think he'll do anything like that . . . if you are worried, however, we won't let him anywhere near her. But it's imperative that we try to find him."

"Where are we going to — " Phi's question is interrupted by Diana's quiet gasp. She turns around to see that she has her hands flying to her stomach.

In one fluid, quick motion, Sigma, with widened, but excited eyes, whips his head towards Diana, springs out of his seat, and dashes to her side, kneeling on the floor as his hands cover hers — all thoughts of Delta are cleared from his mind. "Are they moving?! Can I feel them?!" he asks eagerly, his eyes shining in delight. Diana had called him a few days ago when she first felt movement, and found it totally unfair that he was not there to experience it — Sean was disappointed, too, since he had to leave just before Diana felt the babies' movement.

She smiles widely, nodding. She takes his hand and places it on the underside of her round belly.

"Kyle and Luna," he murmurs to himself in awe.

Sophia grins as she places a hand on Diana's shoulder and looks at her stomach in wonder — she has never had the experience of pregnancy, since the only child she has ever had is Phi, who was transported twice, after Diana gave birth to her. Phi, feeling slightly left out, walks over to them. Upon reaching Diana, she slowly, hesitantly places a palm on her stomach and gives her a small smile. All the while, Sigma is babbling greeting to Diana's stomach, which amuses Phi entirely.

And then, she feels movement beneath her hand. "Ah." She feels her mouth slowly drop open. And then, there's another movement. She quickly retracts her palm and wrinkles her nose. "As sweet as this is . . . it also looks gross — I don't know how you're not weirded-out by the feeling, Diana." Phi loves babies, and was thinking about wanting children for a long while — as she had told Sigma during the AB Game back in Rhizome-9 — but she's not quite sure if she is mentally capable of handling pregnancy. Maybe, the only children she needs in her life are her brother and sister.

Diana lets out a laugh, but now Phi is distracted by the thought of the babies. Her future twin, baby siblings.

"So, you decided on Luna and Kyle for names, after all."

Sigma doesn't look away from where his hand is still splayed across Diana's abdomen, but nods and beams. "Yes, we did." Diana smiles, too, as she strokes Sigma's hair lovingly — it causes Phi to fight back the urge to tell them to get a room or something, because sometimes, their PDA, no matter how slight it is, can be too much for her.

"Hmm . . ."

Sigma looks up, his smiling fading. "What's wrong?"

"Well, I'm . . . I'm not exactly against your choice of names; but I am against the reason for your choice of names."

Sigma's eyebrows furrow in confusion. "We've decided to name them Kyle and Luna, after my son and GAULEM daughter-figure. You know already, Phi."

Phi raises an eyebrow knowingly. "But naming the babies after them how?"

"What do you mean how? I'm naming them after the children I had to leave behind."

She reluctantly takes her palm off of Diana's stomach to cross her arms over her chest. "Sigma, you're doing it again," she accuses, her eyes narrowing at him.

"Doing what again?" He frowns, lifting himself off the floor so that he is standing in front of Phi. Diana, too, in concern, stands up from the couch.

"The same thing you did with Sean." She breathes in deeply. "Your want to have Sean stay with you was so that you could essentially fill the void of Kyle. You're doing the same thing here with your children," Phi argues angrily, placing her hands on her hips. "Name them Kyle and Luna, but don't do so to fill their absence — do it to honor them."

Sigma sighs, but then smiles sadly. "Phi, I appreciate your concern, but I learned my mistake with Sean and Kyle from Sean six months ago, before he came with us. So, don't worry." He places a hand reassuringly on her shoulder, and gives it a soft squeeze. "I promise you that this is not my way of trying to replace Kyle and Luna."

With a grave face, she threatens, "It better not be, or else I'll kick your ass for doing that to my brother and sister."

.

He wanders aimlessly through the streets, left with nothing but the crumpled up piece of paper his father gave him — he is saddened that they didn't ask for his contact information, even if he has no idea of to work the complicated communication devices of this time period. He was told to appear to his family after Sean left — but before he helped Mira escape prison — which they probably know about by now. The notebook — now burned to crisp, but its contents still etched into his memory — had said that Sigma, Diana, and Phi would accept him. Delta can't believe anything anymore, though, especially not his older self, since the notebook lied.

Granted, everything else he said was true, the most integral part — which had convinced Delta to transport in the first place — was a lie. His family still won't accept him, because of a crime he didn't commit.

That thought inflames the rage he feels towards the other Delta.

He wants to embrace and talk with his parents, and tease and argue with this more liberated, modern Phi. But really, he just wants nothing more than to stay with his family, but he can't, because life is simply unfair — though the Delta who remained in 1925 (and created the timeline where 6 billion people died of Radical-6) essentially had done everything to ensure there was a future where the world would be saved and his other self could have a chance to live happily with his biological family, it has caused Sigma, Diana, and Phi to harbor feelings of resentment and hesitance for the old Delta, and, thereby, the young Delta who transported. It was unjust to the young Delta, of course, since his family's hatred for him stems from the actions of another person, even if it is Delta's other-self; young Delta is not at fault, and yet, he doesn't get the happy ending he deserves and that the other Delta worked for — the only reason why he can't completely resent the other Delta.

"Please, please," a soft voice murmurs behind Delta, snapping him out of his thoughts, "I know that the interview could have gone better, but let me get the internship . . . Dad is against it, but please, please, I need it."

.

"The one who rides the wind of change" — with her, you will find the deranged.

Diana, hunched over the desk in her seat, stares back at the letters that have been taunting her for the past six months. Has she finally done it? Is this really the message a future Delta was trying to send?

Well, it was definitely more coherent than, Fine wrong-headed, white-hot chosen — red-handedly win "wifelier" thought. This was the farthest Phi had gotten in trying to solve the anagram — which was a mystery to her and Akane, the ones who were enthusiastically prideful in their fast-anagram solving skills.

"Fuck Delta for his love of anagrams, and fuck Lord Gordain Dashiell for sparking it with his 'Free the Soul of Y!'" she had growled to Diana and Sigma one night angrily, as the sound of Akane sighing from Japan echoed over video chat.

The one who rides the wind of change? Who could that possibly be? Diana doesn't have an answer to the questions in her mind . . . but, maybe, the others might.

The wind of change . . . wind of change . . . change . . . Something tugs at the back of her mind — something from one of her required math classes in college . . . Ah! It's Delta!

"Sigma . . . Phi!" she calls out. "Please, come here quickly!"

.

Is . . . is she praying?

If Delta believed in God like Left and their adoptive mother did, he would pray, too. He would pray for his parents and Phi to accept him, and for the whole mess that the other Delta left him in to vanish.

He turns around to face the mysterious voice, suddenly intrigued by her prayer.

"Excuse me, Miss, I was wo — " He breaks off his words as he sees the woman in front of him.

Her eyes are a stunning emerald green that enraptures Delta. When he can finally tear away from her alluring irises, his eyes go to her hair — dark, medium-length hair, that, for some inexplicable reason, he feels the need to touch, to see if it's as silky as it looks.

His breath hitches when she raises a slim eyebrow, tilts her head and gives him a sly smile. "Yes?" She stares into his eyes as well, though it might be because she is intrigued by the unnaturally natural color of his irises. "Are those contacts, by the way? They look nice."

"Ah, um." Delta scratches the back of his head awkwardly. "Thank you, but they're my actual eye color. And, ah, I couldn't help but notice you praying just now." Stumbling and hesitating are not becoming of him. "Are you religious?"

"Oh, that's pretty neat . . . and yeah, I was praying." She flushes delicately, her cheeks the color of ripening cherries. "I'm not that religious — and I just pray when the need comes — but my parents are the complete opposite." She tucks a curl of hair behind her ear. "They're the one the religious ones."

Delta tips his head to the right as he smiles. "Is that so? Forgive me if I have been intrusive . . . I have been raised to believe in the power of science, so hearing the viewpoints of those who don't think like me is always refreshing and intriguing, Miss . . ."

"Oh, my name is Natasha," she replies timidly, outstretching a hand towards him. He shoves the scrap of paper Sigma gave him into his pocket, before extended the same hand out to shake hers. Her grip on his hand is firm, but not uncomfortable. In fact, Delta can't notice how soft her skin is. "And, no, don't worry! You're not being intrusive at all!" she insists kindly, giving him a gentle smile.

Natasha. Her name is as intriguing as her. Delta tries to mentally dissect its meaning in the different languages he can think of. In one language that he can't particular recall, her name's meaning has to do with the moon, like his mother's name; in Greek, it translates to, "resurrection"; in Russian, its meaning relates to a child born on Christmas; in another language he doesn't remember, it means, "strong and powerful."

He doesn't know which is the meaning her family had in mind when they named her, but he'd like to learn about it, and much more about her.

"I am Delta. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Natasha."

Fin.

memores acti prudentes futuri — "mindful of what has been done, aware of what will be"

And there you have it.

First things first, to simplify what happened to Delta:

Before Carlos shoots Delta, he SHIFTS back to 1925, writes a bunch of instructions for the young Delta (who is currently standing in front of Carlos and the gun, scared out of his mind), jumps in front of a train to SHIFT back, gets shot by Carlos and dies. Little innocent Delta, who has just experienced SHIFTing as a result, reading his instructions, transports, more than happy to get a chance to meet his family: the version of innocent Delta, however, that stays behind, essentially grows to become an asshole, AKA, the asshole we know as old Delta (Brother), who goes on to make the Decision Game and develop FTS. If the Decision Game's purpose is served, this old Delta will throw the gun into Carlos's hands, and the process will start over once more — it's all loop of sorts (if you think of it like Junpei saving Akane, who then goes onto to create the Second Nonary Game so he can save little Akane, and the cycle continues).

For the little, innocent bby Delta who transported to January 1st, 2029, depending on the timeline, either gets off the hook, since his family won the Decision Game, and gets to find them, OR works with old, asshole Delta to release Radical-6 in FTS, taking his place as Brother when the old bastard dies, which leads up to the VLR timeline or another similar timeline — because, honestly, I refuse to believe he lived up to 150+ years . . . 120 something maybe, as he is in ZTD, if we consider he has some sort of disease akin to Alexandria's Genesis. Anyway, so there you have it!

Secondly, the anagram: The one who rides the wind of change - if Delta is "the wind of change" (get it, Delta is the sign for change in math, haha? I need to stop), I'm sure you can guess who that might be, now that you've read the last few paragraphs of the story. So, yeah, with her, you will find the deranged. I wish I had the ability to reveal things without making it so painfully obvious — as you saw in the last few paragraphs, it is a serious problem But yeah, I'm sorry, Delta . . . but life is still simply unfair.

I left this slightly ending open-ended for you to determine the identity of the religious fanatic. I, too, have my own interpretation, but it's not fully developed not well-thought out, or else, this story probably wouldn't have ended at just 18 chapters.

I don't know if you're happy with how things turned out, but I'm satisfied with myself. When I starting writing this in July, I didn't even think it would a story I'd be able to finish! I'm so happy that I did end up finishing it, but at the same time, I'm so sad that it mostly over. :'( Thank you for everyone who has given this story a chance, read, left kudos, and/or left comments! I'm so grateful and happy at how well my stupid and probably holey ideas and headcanons were received by you all! Seriously, thank you all! I love you all so much, and if I could, I would squeeze you all into a virtual hug.

I can't believe this marks the end of the main story! Next, though, I have an "Outtakes" chapter of sorts, because I really don't want to let this fic go, and I really wanted the digital root of the number of chapters to be 9 which I hope you will enjoy reading!

See you all for the outtakes! :)