Story Reader / Main Story / 34 Dream till the Timeless End / Story
Bane's Capital
Yuqin Hotel
0.875
Line Spacing: 2
The hands point to the scheduled time. Even from the rooftop, cheers from below can be heard over the fireworks that rise and burst across the night sky.
It's almost time... for the final act of this play.
Iris can still feel the lingering warmth of that person. She turns toward the empty space, pretending they're still there.
Conductor...
Her whispered words shatter in the air. Not even starlight can carry her longing to the one she is thinking of.
It's about to end, all of this.
She nestles against the cold wind and gazes down at the countless lights below—lights both illusory and real.
In her attempt to escape, Lueya accidentally brings her Conductor. Like a despicable thief, she steals the final moments of tenderness from the flow of time.
But now...
With Bane's signing of the treaty, the wheels of history roll toward their destined end...
Bane's Capital
Yuqin Hotel
21:00
Line Spacing: 2
Bane's Capital
Yuqin Hotel
21:00
Line Spacing: 3
The cycle is now complete. These "branches and leaves" are about to break away from the "trunk," transforming it into a real prison.
It's about to end.
White mist spreads across the rooftop once more. The piercing white noise drowns out the fire's screams.
She can already hear Enora Lueya's notes—hurried and broken—summoning the power scattered across the timelines, waiting to break free from the prison.
It's been a long time...
Before she even realizes it, the red-haired Construct is standing behind her.
A thin blade pushes against her neck, sending a chill through her body. Iris can even hear their breathing.
Iris... No, Selena...
You are an excellent performer. You can handle even the worst stage accidents. But now...
Hiding your traces, escorting others... How much strength do you have left?
What a shame. You were this close to success, yet you threw it all away for that person...
Blue strings shimmer with starlight on the tip of Lueya's blade.
If it weren't for the conductor, you would have left this place long ago, back in Fast City.
Save your pathetic remarks. You're losing my respect. If you're so curious about how much strength I have left, why don't you take a swing and find out?
...As you wish.
The slender blade twirls in midair before returning firmly to Lueya's grasp.
A sharp whistle pierces the air as metallic sparks and flashes burst like fireworks. Lueya thrusts her face close to Iris, her gaze ferocious and wild.
I really, really, really wanted to be your friend... if not for all of this...
If... but that's just an if...
You have your convictions, and I have someone I must protect, even at the cost of my life.
She flips and leaps from the tall building, catching sight of the starry sky.
The dark night is adorned with silent stars, and the sun has yet to rise.
The sun will never rise again.
But it doesn't matter.
Lueya catches up, and they briefly clash in mid-air. Red and blue threads flash through the darkness before everything falls silent once more.
Keep playing, Iris. The victor... will soon be revealed.
...
Iris lands with graceful ease. Ahead lies the final stage she prepared long ago.
The sun will never rise again, but she knows the sun exists, and that's enough, right?
She will succeed...
She must succeed.
Babylonia
21:45
Line Spacing: 0
Ishmael sets down her coffee cup with leisurely grace.
To stop Enora Lueya, Iris created a "Time Prison" and locked her inside.
It's the place you left earlier.
Ah, I just came up with that name. With our current technology, there's probably no way to define that space.
Yes, "Time Prison. " I just came up with that name. With our current technology, there's probably no way to define that space.
Shh... Don't think about irrelevant things.
An intense wave of dizziness explodes in your head, as if trying to stop you from asking more questions...
Don't worry. When the time comes for you to remember, it will come back to you.
Ishmael pushes a cup of coffee across the table. The bitter aroma dilutes the chaotic memory shards, helping to stabilize your consciousness.
But you quickly catch her points.
If we could defeat Enora Lueya so easily, why did she need to do all of that?
With that device... the one named "White Noise", she can use her frame's traits to manifest her "power" at any point in the past "timeline."
Iris had no choice but to lure the "pest" into a "branch" of the trunk, and then...
Completely sever that branch from the trunk.
This way... even if the pest completely destroys the branch, it won't affect the trunk at all.
That's right, she, too, will follow that branch and disappear forever.
Don't be sad, F.O.S. Farewells. That's what life always comes back to.
The girl's desolate poetry finds its meaning in this moment as she embraces death and drives herself away from the prison she had built.
As the creator, if she leaves the prison before it's complete, it would collapse, and the pest would continue to infest the trunk.
She would never do that.
The pink-haired woman's expression is filled with compassion.
You can't.
Lueya could only catch up because she was latching onto Iris's "echo"—that frame called Capriccio.
Your fight in the warehouse severely damaged Capriccio, destroying some information, so the frame has lost its value as a temporal locator.
Even if the Science Council figured out how to activate the device, there's no way to locate the exact time where they are.
Also... even if you could find that exact time, what could you possibly do?
With a slight lift of her finger, dots of light dash across the data field, gradually forming the shape of a tree trunk.
If you return to that prison and the connection between you is reestablished, you could ruin everything she's done.
No...
When the events she set finish their final cycle, that's when the "branch" will completely separate from the "trunk."
Unless... Anyway, there's absolutely no way you could find any trace of them.
She gives you a meaningful look.
But there's always a way.
You still don't know what happened before, but one thing is certain: Iris is still fighting for this world and for you.
She shouldn't be alone.
As you turn to push open the door, Ishmael's hollow voice comes from behind.
Remember... it's the final cycle.
You wave goodbye and leave the Control Court.
Science Council
Asimov sits at his desk with arms crossed, silently thinking about the Abess Project files and research papers like "Principles of Locating Special Echo Signals Based on Spatial Signal Frequencies".
The approaching footsteps break the stillness of the room.
...Sit down.
Where were you transported to?
You speak at the same time, then stop at the same time.
I was right... It doesn't just pinpoint a location, but also time.
Asimov quickly jots down notes on his terminal, then pauses, lost in thought.
It's a positioning device. The conditions for activation are sufficient computing power and "sound."
Asimov taps on his terminal and opens an audio file.
The audio file plays. You don't hear anything, but the device nearby silently begins to flicker with eerie red light.
Nothing happens.
No Lueya, no white mist, no fissures, and no "traveling" through time.
It's not. It did activate.
Okay.
He opens a research paper and points to a section titled "Special Echo Signal Positioning".
This research paper outlines the prototype for that device. I discovered its activation principle based on this paper.
Theoretically, it can "travel back" in time, but only backward, not forward.
This device can only locate "echo signals." Once a "sound" is emitted, it is already in the past.
The sound wasn't right, so it couldn't function.
The existing "sounds" that can trigger this device come from two recordings. The first was taken from the surveillance footage of when you disappeared, and the second from Abess Research Institute...
A few years ago, Teddy captured "noise" from surveillance footage near Abess Research Institute that had frequencies very similar to the first audio file, but with subtle differences.
If the intruder didn't reappear, then you must be right, something in the "past" caused Abess Research Institute's records to be erased in the "present."
I don't know who Lueya is, but the disappearance of Abess must be connected to the owner of this device.
The "erase" action also seems to have limitations. It can only erase information produced directly. Once that information mixes with other data, the "results" are preserved.
The missing "process" critical to the Abess research project came from the early Abess Research Institute, yet we have the results from the Tenebrion research.
This might also explain why Capriccio didn't disappear along with Iris.
...Time is a forbidden research subject. Reversing time is extremely dangerous.
Iris...?
I briefly explain Iris's situation. Asimov thinks in silence, his fingers rapidly tapping on the table.
So you're saying Iris is in this "Time Prison", fighting a future invader named "Lueya"?
...If it weren't for this device, and your medical report showing no abnormalities, I would think you were still suffering from mass hysteria.
...
He looks at "White Noise" in front of him.
To activate it, you need a specific frame and a specific "voice."
Gestalt's computing power is sufficient to simulate the "frame," but if you want to find clues about Iris... you must locate her "voice."
Capriccio was accidentally destroyed by the invader during the fight, and now...
How are you going to find her voice?
The scattered clues gradually piece themselves together in your mind.
Thank you for the compliment. I do enjoy writing scripts in my spare time.
If my past self were writing this, I probably would have made the resolution process more complex, like you said.
F.O.S.
Would you be my audience?
Certain age groups showed reactions beyond typical observations. The reactions weren't obvious—often just casual comments or remarks—but they became significant once the sample size increased.
I've divided these individuals into two distinct groups based on their reactions.
The first group shares an obvious trait: affiliation with the WGAA. Allen and certain other WGAA members, for example.
You feel a strange sense of deja vu. The letters that fell from the mailbox, sealed with exquisite wax, bearing the stamp of the WGAA...
Ten nights transform into dawn. The past flows into the future, and the future flows into oblivion.
You've traversed a thousand rose gardens and a thousand winding corridors.
Wherever you sing.
Someone will follow your song to find you.
