Story Reader / Main Story / 21 Spiral of Chronos / Story
The few seconds it took for Lee to exit battle simulation mode seem like an eternity.
A blinding flash of light engulfs his vision. Within the depths of his sight, the twisting spiral tower emerges and collapses repeatedly, while the surroundings blur and shift at a rapid pace through the passage of time.
...
What in the world was...
Swallowing is meaningless for Constructs, but Lee clenches his fist anyway as he tries to calm the nausea he's feeling from the M.I.N.D. overload.
Where is he? The Science Council on Babylonia? The deserted factory full of Corrupted? Or the Kurono lab in the basement—with all the broken Constructs?
A crimson fog clouds over his eyes as the views from Lee's Deep M.I.N.D. cross over into reality, blurring his perception of time.
What was that he saw in his M.I.N.D.? If that was an abnormal projection because of a data anomaly, it seemed almost too realistic.
...!
Um...
Try as he may, Lee can't seem to see through the crimson fog that's clouded his memory.
Unable to describe what he saw, Lee is now feeling nothing but heart-wrenching sadness and bone-deep despair—which quickly fade away as his M.I.N.D. recovers.
Lee's hunch is that this is happening because his memory is locked—except he's checked his memory data multiple times and never came across any sign of his memory being tampered with, nor any sign of memory loss.
He missed something he should have had no trouble seeing, and it's not the first time this happened.
Everything Lee just went through took place within a few seconds and, to everyone except Lee, he has already recovered.
Coming back to his senses, Lee lies down in the pod and changes back to Entropy.
How long did my M.I.N.D. overload last just now?
It lasted for three seconds.
But my M.I.N.D. record reads 35 minutes.
...It seems like this only happens when you use that particular frame.
With a solemn face, Asimov presses a finger on a corner of his forehead.
We just got the issue with the Inver-Device taken care of... and now we're looking at this whole other bunch of new issues here.
Let's have a look first at the parameters that went into the test this time.
The Science Council remains illuminated, and everyone carries on with what they have to do quietly.
The Inver-Device, specialized frames, and Omega Weapons—with this research project demanding everything and the brain juice of every last researcher that the Science Council has, mankind sees the brainchildren of its wisdom all put into use for one single cause.
Every single battle won—despite at the cost of countless lives—has been handed over to the researchers, rekindling hope in mankind.
We have the results from the analysis now.
How does everything look?
...The Inver-Device worked just fine and the frame is 98% compatible, except...
Except there was obviously something wrong with his M.I.N.D. just now, right?
Right. It's the same as what happened before... We always end up with an overload when we try to collect battle data with him in that particular frame.
And it only happens when he's in that frame.
We compared what we have here with the test results from a virtual connection... and confirmed that this is what happens when the Omega Weapon in the frame reaches maximum power when working.
The Inver-Device, on the other hand, works just fine, and we see the percentage of infection go down at the critical point.
Which is why the data of this frame seems completely normal—and I'd even go as far as calling the data impressive. And this frame is the only one out of all the specialized frames that's completely immune to the Punishing Virus, which is exactly what we hoped to see.
We found a way to balance Omega Weapons to help us absorb and purify Punishing.
The data extracted from Heteromer Shards can help Omega Weapons better purify Punishing. If we work on improving the Inver-Device, this frame's purification speed will be able to catch up to its absorption speed just fine.
If we can normalize the technology of this frame, then I'm sure it's going to be... a major game changer.
Asimov's voice sounds on the verge of cracking when he says "game changer."
We don't know why my M.I.N.D. overloads, but it only does when I change into that new frame. I'm sure it has to do with the fact that it's a specialized frame and that it has something that the stimulated data doesn't.
Something like this happened before, but never to the extent we saw this time.
Right. It was 0.5 seconds to begin with, and now we're seeing three seconds. Your M.I.N.D. fluctuated so much during this period of time that we couldn't even pick up the correct range with the machines.
If we'd run the test on a different Construct, their M.I.N.D. would have been destroyed and they would have been infected right away.
We usually only see an overload when someone's M.I.N.D. is imprinted with an excessive amount of data in an extremely short period of time.
But you're able to recover within three seconds with all your numbers back to normal, as if nothing has happened to you, and we haven't observed damage on your M.I.N.D. so far.
Asimov is right—this only happens when you're using the new frame.
...But I don't remember anything that's imprinted on my M.I.N.D., and I'm not seeing any extra data in there, either.
All that Lee remembers is a single message—one only he and Murray understand—and pieces of subconsciousness that would pop into his M.I.N.D. every now and then.
Every so often, Lee sees location coordinates key to his missions, or hears calls coming from the seashore that disappear before he knows it.
Before he gets to the bottom of the message, Lee decides to stay quiet to keep Murray out of trouble.
(There's gotta be something I'm missing...)
A voice in Lee's subconsciousness, however, seems to want him to stop probing.
Trust me.
...!
...We're going to apply this technology to all the new specialized frames somewhere down the road—and to that end, we have to simulate as many possible scenarios as we can.
Asimov, have you seen traces of my memory data being modified or hidden?
No, none so far, at least.
And my Deep M.I.N.D.?
Theoretically, your commandant is the only person who can access your M.I.N.D., which can only mean two things—either the infiltrator is doing an impressive job covering the tracks, or your M.I.N.D. just hasn't been tampered with at all.
And if someone did access your M.I.N.D., I can send the Gray Raven Commandant an access key for a Deep M.I.N.D. connection with you.
Although we'll have to have you change back into the new frame first so your M.I.N.D. can overload again.
We need to keep in mind, though, that we don't know how your commandant's Mind Beacon is going to affect the overload.
Or... if the overload is going to affect your commandant's Mind Beacon.
But if your commandant grants access to your M.I.N.D., we just might be able to dig up something from there.
No, we can't do that!
Calm up until this point, Lee voices his rejection of the idea.
The overload might just last for a few seconds, but there is no way the human brain can handle it.
I'm not even completely familiar with the frame myself—and I can't expose my commandant to any risks before I have a better grasp of it.
I just don't want to put anyone in harm's way ever again.
Asimov lets out a sigh.
Boy, here we go again. [player name] came to me a few times trying to find out how you've been doing. Are you just going to keep being quiet about it?
I just don't see a point.
I'm sure [player name] is going to barge right into the Science Council upon finding out everything I've been through—and I know that for a fact because I know my own commandant inside out.
Keeping someone in the dark is rarely ever a good thing to do, though.
...
Apologies for coming in without knocking on the door. I came right in because I didn't see Long out there...
Right then, a gentle blonde man appears by the door as he closes it ever so softly.
...It's Murray.
Murray?
Lee? Good to see you here.
Murray doesn't have a good view of Lee from where he's standing—but Lee clearly sees him hiding the document in his hands behind his back upon noticing his presence.
Which, however, doesn't escape Lee's eyes.
Let me guess. Did Nikola send you here with a message for me?
Commander Nikola sent me here with this document. He would like you to know that it's usable now because it's gone through "all the process."
Murray passes a dossier to Asimov. It's a clear folder with the World Government's logo, through which the logo of the Nighter of Nona Ouroboros can be seen.
That's good news. I'll take that.
With a genuine exclamation, Asimov takes the dossier from Murray and starts going through it.
So what's up with you recently?
Not much. Haven't really been on any battle missions these days... so I have been doing what I'm supposed to as a liaison officer.
That's great. Just... don't overwork yourself, yeah?
And let me know if you ever need help.
Of course. Take good care of yourself, too, Lee.
...
The room is quiet, save for the sound of Asimov turning the pages of the document. Five minutes later, closing the document, Asimov looks at both Lee and Murray—both of whom are standing perfectly upright.
Say... I've never seen siblings talk to each other the same way you do. Or is it how people usually talk to their family these days?
Everything is okay with the document. I'll pass it to Long when he's back.
And... we're finished with today's adaptation test, so you're free to go. I'm just going to go and wrap everything up.
As Asimov turns to leave, he casts a meaningful look at Lee.
...
Let's cut to the chase, then, since you already know what's going on.
You were the top candidate when it came to the Omega Specialized Frame.
But they picked Liv—and it wasn't just because she submitted an application. Someone was holding you back from being picked.
...And that would be Murray, huh.
He doesn't even need to ask Asimov to know that it must have been Murray.
...I'd never have let Liv do that had I known better.
They would have picked her sooner or later anyway, since it really makes no difference to us.
And I guess Murray did what he did because he cares about you, no?
I just never thought he'd go this far.
You don't seem to talk a lot about yourself to him, do you? Makes sense that he's been going around asking about you.
Well... there isn't anything to talk about. I just want him to be safe.
Playing the role of a mediator at the Parliament, influencing people's decisions without their knowledge, and finishing his tasks without so much as a failure—none of these comes without challenge.
Having spent quite some time down at Kurono's lab, Lee knows better than to mess with what he shouldn't—and if anyone ever does, they'd be gone in one foul swoop.
Lee doesn't want to stop Murray from doing what he wants to, but neither does he want Murray to ever get hurt.
I'll try to have a talk with him.
I'll be on my way, then.
Wait, Murray.
Care if I join you for a walk?
...Uhm, sure.
