Story Reader / Main Story / 33 Wither to Shine / Story
The crimson mist gradually disperses, the grotesque crystals fade away, and you slowly open your eyes.
The overlapping wounds from the infinite battle etched on your body have been tenderly smoothed away.
The eternal darkness of night dissipates, and the Hetero Tower reverts to its peculiar former state, shrouded in dense white fog.
But... something has certainly changed.
An unfamiliar language and excessive information flood your mind incessantly. In that instance, time and space appear to solidify into a tome, granting you the freedom to explore its pages...
A teeth-gritting creak echoes through the air as the Hetero Tower slowly transforms. Crystals recede, stairs rearrange—within mere moments, the entire surroundings assume a wholly new guise.
A crack slowly forms at the edge of space, and the pink-haired woman appears in silence.
Hmm?
Once again, you attempt to "feel" the interior of the Hetero Tower. A compelling desire urges you, demanding you to "use" the Hetero Tower to reverse the future submerged by the Punishing Virus. However...
Devoid of its "core", the Hetero Tower trembles, unable to respond to your commands.
The core of the Hetero Tower has already been taken outside by you. Even if you could understand the underlying logic of the Hetero Tower, you cannot reverse its "rules".
Are you certain that you can land at the precise point in time?
Vonnegut lacked the authority to mend the fissures and collapses within the Hetero Tower. Under his and Cradle's reckless actions, the tower crumbled long before. Now, all pathways have fallen into chaos, making it impossible to precisely locate a "time" for landing.
Because I don't belong to your world, nor to the civilization where the Hetero Tower exists.
I'm sorry.
Agent Zero still exists at the time where you entered the tower, and the core isn't inside the Hetero Tower, so...
As your thoughts flow, you have begun reading this battered book.
Fractures surround the Hetero Tower, with time in complete disarray. As a result, the Hetero Tower grows infinitely upward, its peak now beyond reach.
If this continues, the Hetero Tower will eventually collapse completely. When that happens, all the fragments within—including human civilization and the remnants of other civilizations drawn into it—will vanish beyond the Gateway.
Even if you could somehow forcibly reclaim Agent Zero's authority, what then?
Could the Hetero Tower, having lost most of its power, truly still rewind time back to the correct future?
I'm not fooling you. You truly have gained power from a higher dimension.
Utterly pointless.
Inside the Hetero Tower, you can't even ensure that human civilization in that final "timeline" will survive.
Strange skylight seeps through a fissure in the wall as the Mutated Red Tide silently spreads, attempting to breach the Hetero Tower and corrupt time in the outside world—
The remaining light abruptly extinguishes. The Red Tide crashes against the wall, finding no way through, and sluggishly retreats back into the crystal.
Silence envelops the Hetero Tower.
Unable to return to the correct timeline, with no way to use the Hetero Tower's power...
Does it mean that for the remaining time to come, you can simply stay trapped here in the tower, patching the Hetero Tower's fissures while waiting for its inevitable demise?
In this emotional turmoil, your newfound power responds instinctively to your thoughts, commanding sharp crystals to strike the pink-haired woman aside.
Ishmael vanishes from her spot and, when she appears again, she has moved to a higher area, her brow slightly furrowed.
...Calm down.
This isn't like you.
You offer no response. Eyes closed, you silently draw back the power, attempting to suppress the churning emotions. However...
Wasn't everything meant to be progressing toward a brighter outcome? Weren't you supposed to find a way to rewind time after "passing through the Gateway"?
You have already gained the higher power, already learned to manipulate time at a higher level, but why...
Why is it still impossible to return to the "<phonetic=original>correct</phonetic>" path...
The Hetero Tower hears your suffering, and the Red Tide below surges violently, stirring up a frenzied maelstrom.
Calm down. The fissures in the Hetero Tower are growing.
The Keystaff gently taps the void. Ishmael seems about to take action, only to suddenly stop in her tracks.
Ahh...
The crystal clusters disintegrate on their own as the raging waters subside.
Composed yourself already?
Despite being the one just threatened moments ago, Ishmael displays no anger; instead, she smiles as she descends to face you again.
You're quite fast in adapting to your newfound "power", Gray Raven.
By exhausting every ounce of will and enduring countless sufferings and battles, all you seek is simply for the spark of human civilization to burn eternally among the sea of stars.
First of all, I never fooled you.
The woman, always wearing a mysterious smile, shows a serious expression rarely seen.
"Passing through the Gateway" and obtaining "Higher Power" are indispensable critical steps, both for your current self and for current human civilization.
What matters isn't the Hetero Tower, but... "you".
If you had chosen to merge with the Red Tide at "that time", perhaps you could indeed have fused with Chaos there, allowing you to contest authority with Agent Zero. However...
A Hetero-Creature has no way to reverse the Red Tide, nor can it ever obtain the power of a higher level than the Punishing Virus.
The Mutated Red Tide would still harm humanity. Even if you could replace Agent Zero, that would only be the "end" for you... and for human civilization.
A trace of compassionate sorrow shows on her face.
So... you never had any other choice from the very beginning.
Within your tumultuous mind, you obsessively think over each sentence, every word Ishmael has uttered, desperately searching for contradictions to unveil any deception she might be weaving—
Sadly...
Your all-too-lucid mind confirms that not a single word she spoke was a lie.
But... is this truly the end?
Such power, such a long life... Will you linger within the Hetero Tower with only the shadows in your Mind Beacon as companions, enduring an eternal solitary journey until both the past and the future fade into the void?
Facing the hollow Hetero Tower, you let out a hoarse, sorrowful cry.
...
You could also join me in becoming a higher-dimensional <phonetic=Gatekeeper>Observer</phonetic>.
By crossing the Gateway, you have already earned the qualification to become an <phonetic=Gatekeeper>Observer</phonetic>.
Really?
Once you become an Observer, I'll help you recycle the Hetero Tower and truly obtain the authority of Agent Zero—
We will become companions.
I will tell you how to use the Punishing Virus to preserve human civilization in another form.
To preserve... human civilization?
Of course.
Because of your existence, the Punishing Virus will not truly "harvest" this civilization and bring it back behind the Gate.
You should have seen what lies beyond that Gate before...
Only consciousness acknowledged by the cosmos may enter. No life can exist here—not even mechanical consciousness.
A lonely starship drifts through lifeless space, witnessing countless worlds fall and endless universes being born.
Like amber, your civilization will be truly preserved, and perhaps someday in the future, when you truly harness a power even greater than the current level...
The preserved civilization will be able to revive, like embers buried in ashes. Someday, they will embrace this world once again.
The Punishing Virus... information...
Preserve all civilization information with Punishing as the medium, waiting for a future "restart"...
You expect another ambiguous answer, but this time, Ishmael gives an affirming smile.
100%.
That's a story for the future.
If this is all there is... what is the purpose of everything you have done?
With the world preserved, the last of humanity will become exiled to the distant depths of space, hopelessly waiting for a future "restart".
You wearily search for a place to rest temporarily in the Hetero Tower. Whether to become an Observer or to stay forever in the Hetero Tower, at least for now...
All you want is a moment of rest.
Maybe upon opening your eyes, you will awaken to find yourself still in the Gray Raven lounge, realizing that all of this is merely a whimsical dream.
Familiar voices would echo from beyond the door. All you need to do is push it open, and Lucia will gaze at you with worry, Liv may offer a cup of steaming tea, and Lee will be seated close by, tending to your sidearm...
If...
If you're willing to take a risk...
The pink-haired woman's voice emerges somewhat hesitantly from behind.
If you're willing to take a risk... perhaps there's still another path.
You could... try to change the "past".
But the singularity still exists.
A "singularity" that belongs only to you.
The muffled sound of waves rises in your mind, and the "bottom of the sea" long buried in the clutter of memories surfaces once more.
Indeed.
After a moment's contemplation, she extends her hand again, and the weighty tome materializes again. This time, the book appears slightly thinner than before.
Yeah...
"She" is likely working hard.
Glossing over the topic vaguely, Ishmael opens the book.
This time, she candidly spreads the book open before you, inviting you to browse through the chronicles of human civilization together.
This page... was originally blank.
She points to one of the blank paragraphs.
But after I saw you and Lucia leave the Hetero Tower...
Indistinct text appeared here.
I once attempted to decipher the content clearly, but sadly, I am merely an insect in the dark forest, unable to delve into the distant future.
She frankly acknowledges her own insignificance.
After you left the Hetero Tower and met Nanami, the text here became clearer.
I saw "the bottom of the sea", and I saw... "you".
A human... has wandered into an unknown world.
You shouldn't be here yet... it's not time, Gray Raven...
I found out that "you" from that time were also there. You learned a lot of information from there, didn't you?
You offer only a noncommittal silence, eagerly looking at what comes next.
And after that... comes the moment you pass through the Gateway.
Crimson-gold text coils into a track of destiny, with the final "option" urgently squeezing itself from the page.
You read aloud the cryptic, blurred text from the book, word by word. The moment this sentence leaves your lips, something in the void, akin to a massive barrier, shatters in silence.
This was the catalyst that led me back to Earth when everything seemed over.
It's also a "miracle" that belongs only to your kind.
It's Lucia...
It's Nanami...
It's the persistence of everyone with a shared heart and mind...
They have brewed fear, yet forged hope...
Their voices have merged, kindling the embers of civilization, sparking fiery flames within the galaxy of historical archives, breaching illusions of time and space, and seizing the signpost that points the way to the future.
Of course it's different.
What he wanted was for you to become his qualified "key".
If your past self had returned to the Cradle of Deep Blue, Cthylla would have hatched nothing but a "key" entirely according to Vonnegut's wishes.
Chaos would have completely become his puppet.
She would've contained the Red Tide within the ocean as Vonnegut desired, yet Agent Zero's will would still have eventually consumed Chaos' consciousness.
This isn't fundamentally different from what you could accomplish by jumping into the Red Tide <phonetic=30 years later>at that time</phonetic>.
But now...
She flips through the tome.
If your current self were to return to that undersea cradle, Cthylla could hatch Chaos in her complete form.
A complete Chaos would possess absolute power, capable of defeating Cradle.
If you could fully control the Hetero Tower before it becomes damaged...
Perhaps you could truly fulfill the "wish" you've been hoping for.
Pull the timeline... back to the day before the Hetero Tower's arrival.
