Simulated Lover

Press Start! (I)

We are so back

The rest of the morning went by without anything of note happening.

While Silver Wolf and Stelle waited for him at the dining hall, Caelus got ready for his first day of school (or at the very least, the first day that he remembered). With haste, he took a bath and changed into what he inferred was his school uniform, before placing all the relevant school materials in his bag. With his preparations for the day complete, he joined up with his sister and Silver Wolf at the living room before joining them to step outside to experience the city he was transported to.

And by the Aeons, he was in awe

The neighborhood he was in was a quaint place marked by the large amounts of family housing far from the city center, not too different from Belobog's higher-end residential districts that he had visited in the past. However, unlike the City of Everwinter, the residential district was green with plant life with the streets even being marked with trees and shrubbery.

It only took a few minutes for the trio to arrive at what Caelus guessed was a train station, and after following what Stelle and Silver Wolf did in order to board, the young Nameless boarded the vehicle. Unlike the Astral Express (which had a more homey vibe) it was clear that the train he was on was strictly meant for transportation, with hundreds of people soon being shoved into a metal tube like sardines. Luckily, Caelus managed to get a position close to the window, which allowed him to get a good look at where he was headed.

As the train left the station, Caelus could now see the sights of the city, which was markedly different compared to the imposing stone masonry of Belobog. There were tall spires of steel that stretched towards the sky, far taller than any building he had seen on Belobog bar maybe Quiploth Fort, contrasted by the many smaller buildings that surrounded them. The city stretched in all directions, and while it lacked the abuse of the three dimensions that made the Loufu both eye candy and an absolute nightmare to navigate, it was still so different that Caelus couldn't help but be stuck in a trance, impressed at the great work that was before him.

His trance didn't go unnoticed, with the action that would bring him back to his senses being Stelle pinching his cheek. His head jolted back, as he saw the rest of the passengers getting off the train and Stelle holding back a smirk on her face.

"You awake bro?" she asked "Come on, we don't want to be late for school now do we?"

Herta Space Station

Asta was scared

Scared about what was happening to the Simulated Universe and especially scared about what was happening to Caelus. In the months that they had known each other, the both of them had become fast friends, her silver-haired friend always willing to help out around the space station whenever she needed him. To lose someone like this so quickly... she would do everything in her power to make sure that it wouldn't come to pass.

But even with her talent, intelligence and resources, she could do nothing in the moment to help out. The Simulated Universe project was far beyond her scope of knowledge or expertise, and all she could do was stand outside and shoo away whoever decided they wanted to get inside of Herta's office.

Will he be okay? Will they really bring Caelus back?

But... Caelus is in good hands didn't he? He should be fine... right?

Asta took a deep breath to try to compose herself, with the head researcher picking up her phone in order to dial Arlan. She wanted nothing more in the world than for someone to talk to right now, and there were very few people she trusted in the universe above Arlan.

Asta spent a few anxious moments waiting for Arlan to pick up, and when the Head of Security eventually did it felt like a weight was slowly lifted off of her shoulders.

"Miss Asta?" the voice on the line started "Is there anything you need"

"Arlan!" she yelped "Can you please come to Herta's office? There's... something I need to discuss right now. Its a bit urgent"

"Then what do you need to talk about, Asta?" Arlan asked

Asta felt her heart beat through her chest, with the researcher choosing her words carefully.

"There's something happening to the Simulated Universe" was what she was going to say

But those were not the words that came out of her mouth

"There's nothing of note happening" Asta replied, the researcher unable to control her mouth

"Then why did you want me to meet you?"

"Just come over... please"

"Alright Asta, I'll be over there in a bit" Arlan replied, sensing the distress within his friend's voice "Just a heads up, Miss Himeko will be coming over as well, Apparently her and the Genius Society members were scheduled to have tea today and I'm accompanying her"

"Wait, HIMEKO!" Asta screeched

"Yeah... wait. I'm sorry Asta, I'm going to have to hang up now. See you in a few minutes!"

Once Arlan hung up, Asta's face went pale

This was going to be the worst day of her life

...

"Miss Asta is experiencing sharply increased cortisol levels and is currently experiencing increased levels of mental stress" Ruan Mei chimed as she probed an instrument through an incision through a large brain "Do you think something is the matter?"

"Probably" Weiss answered, his eyes locked onto his phone, with the device connected to a server "Can you read her thoughts?"

"I didn't spike the tea with any memory identification drugs, so I can only get a read on her brain chemistry." Ruan Mei replied, as she injected a few strange vials of fluid into the oversized mass of thinking flesh "I wonder what she could be so worried about?"

"Me too, but at the same time, I think it would be infinitely funnier if we just let it play out"

"A fair assessment. Anyways, can you pass me the hammer, sweetheart?"

School made Caelus a bit nervous

Being a person with a strange background to say the least, he had no memories of a formal education. Even in the quick flashes of memory he had when he encountered Kafka on the Loufu, none of them involved going to school in any capacity. He was far from uneducated, and considering that he came out of the box with a wealth of innate knowledge meant that he was taught something in his past as an apparent Stellaron Hunter, but the only idea he had about school was all the cheesy romance holodramas that March would drag him out of bed to watch.

So once he entered school grounds... he felt like he was out of his element. The worlds he had visited before this were far different than the one he was currently on, and without the pretext of being an otherworldly visitor who didn't know any better, he had a lot of adjusting to do.

"Argh, I hate Mondays" Silver Wolf yawned "Waking up early is a pain in the ass."

"Wasn't it your idea to-" But before Stelle could finish her sentence, Silver Wolf interrupted her

"You better stop yapping about that"

While his two companions were bickering about, Caelus was worried about other things

Okay Caelus, calm down. What was that holodrama that Welt made us watch... something about Losing Heroines? How does school work there again? Damnit all I remember about that holodrama was something about warm water and sea otters.

With his state of mind being so distracted, it was easy for Caelus to drown out everything around him with a fog of mental noise. Meaning that when the distinct ding of a notification entered his ears, Caelus simply ignored it.

Be advised: Encounter event imminent. Make sure to make a good impression!

And a few moments later... it happened

As he walked aimlessly around, following both Silver Wolf and Stelle to wherever they were both going, he felt something impact him at a significant speed, snapping him out of his holodrama induced-trance and back into the world he was living in. The sheer force of the impact caused him to fall on his back, saved from the full force of the impact by his backpack.

By the end of it, Caelus was on the floor, his eyes closed and senses dazzled for a few moments, the only thing he could perceive being the feeling of weight on his whole body, with the concious part of Caelus' brain trying its hardest to ignore that the weight on his chest felt significantly softer and heavier than the weight on the rest of his body.

"Oh my... are you okay?" A familiar voice groaned "I'm sorry about that"

"Yeah its fine" Caelus replied, his eyes opening back up "Just watch where you're going next..."

"...time"

Caelus' eyes widened

White flowing hair styled in a drill... grey eyes... eyebags... is that... Bronya?

How many of my friends are going to keep appearing in here?

...

The first thing he noticed was the eyebags

Caelus knew that Bronya had a bad habit of working herself to the bone, which meant days of sleeping maybe three or four hours a night unless Seele dragged her to her bed herself. It seemed that the Supreme Guardian's counterpart in here was no different, evidenced by the dark circles around her eyes.

Sometimes Caelus wondered why Bronya never had an adjutant to help her with her with all the administrative paperwork she had to do. Surely there was someone out there that could help her with that right?

Caelus looked back at Bronya, with her grey eyes looking back at him snapping Caelus out of his train of thought. The both of them stared at each other for a few uncomfortable moments, with both Bronya and Caelus developing a distinct red hue on their faces as they did so.

"Bronya" Caelus said "You're... still on top of me"

"Ah right..." She replied, before getting herself off of him, before standing up "Once again... I apologize"

"Apology accepted" Caelus clarified "You should visit the doctor's office"

"No need, you took the brunt of the fall. And I'm in a hurry" she explained "I'll see you around"

Just as she was about to run off, Caelus said one more thing

"Make sure to get more sleep!"

...

"Looks like the universe is finally starting to repay you for all the crap you've gone through during your baseball practiced" Stelle chimed as she accompanied her brother to the nurse's office "A lot of the guys and quite a few girls would really kill to be in that position you were in you know?"

"The universe is repaying me by giving me a second injury?" Caelus scoffed "Are you a masochist by chance?"

"You know what I meant!" Stelle growled "That was Bronya, B-R-O-N-Y-A. Does that name ring a bell?"

"Supreme Guardian of Belobog?" Caelus asked, Stelle praying to every god she knew that he was asking as a joke

"Supreme Guar-" Stelle stopped, before she could gain an aneurysm. Sometimes she wondered if her brother was playing too many fantasy-themed dating simulators as of late "You know what, close enough. She's the student council president, really popular. In fact, why do you not know about this?"

"I-uhh" Caelus stuttered "Don't pay attention to school politics? And none of my friends are into her?"

"I find that hard to believe" Stelle sighed "Anyways, faster. We might be late for the-"

Before Stelle could finish her sentence, she was interrupted by the loud, ear-piercing screech of an alarm entering her ears. Her eyes widened as on instinct, she grabbed Caelus' hand and began to make a run for it.

"What's happening?" Caelus asked, alarmed

"Distortion you dipshit!" Stelle screamed "By god, did you fall off your bed and develop amnesia or something?"

Brought to you by a writing trance that took over me after being distraught at Makeine ending. The ending was peak, I just want season two. Said trance was powered by... Not Like Us by Kendrick Lamar. Sometimes I wonder if my playlist is constructed by me or constructed by a Babylonian homeless man because I have White Night right next to a Sabaton song.

I'll probably rewrite a few sections, but I'm happy with the overall plot of this one.

Au Revoir, and see you all when TSCA or AASR updates