Moment of Truth

Your memories and emotions flow towards me.

...It's strange.

They billow so gently as they flow, and the memories' edge is close at hand...

What did Theresa see back then—

......

It looks like there's other memories too? Why are they so blurred?

—?!

Who was—

I-I don't know. This is the first time I've ever dived so deep into someone else's mind. It's a very... odd feeling.

Thankfully, yes. Now, I can sense even the faintest of your thoughts.

Aha, you sure are relaxed right now!

Hold my hand tight, Doctor.

I'll protect you on the road ahead. Theresa taught me everything about the role of King that day.

'She' awaits us, at the start of that path.

'I have no way of knowing if there will come a day that Amiya asks you the same question. But I hope that, in the darkness, she will find the way I lit for her.'

That was Kal'tsit's answer to me, Amiya.

...Could I ask you to look through all of Dr. Kal'tsit's access records for us?

I would be happy to.

Her every doubt, her every insistence, each and every time she left in disappointment. I will show it all to you, unreserved.

You have dove into the Civilight Eterna before, Amiya, but this time, what you seek lies far beyond your limits.

It is a place where life on Terra cannot tread, for the time being, but perhaps you will find the chance to touch upon this knowledge that is not yours.

Because you have someone who walks alongside you. Doctor.

You will quickly understand what I mean, Doctor.

Follow me, Amiya. Follow me to—

You noticed, Amiya.

The stagnation of civilization does not mean it stands still. It continues onwards on time's linear flow, unable to turn back.

But all that life discovers and creates is doomed to fall into an inextricable cycle.

Mathematics, physics, philosophy, theology... These theories and practicalities, among others, cannot inspire hope as they once did.

The ascending spiral has failed. Life squanders its future as it stumbles blindly in the dark.

So... this is as far as we can go?

Only as defined by Terra's current knowledge. It serves as a limit, yes, but it is also a safeguard.

A safeguard?

Cognitive?

As keen an intuition as ever, Doctor, but not entirely correct.

DWDB-221E enlightens life at a steady pace to bring it forward. It does not simply reveal fragments of the future to the seeker to create evolutionary leaps that violate the laws of nature and ethics.

Knowledge cannot be unlearned, Amiya. The dreamers who glimpsed the true sky are no longer happy to slumber in ignorance on the ground.

Information beyond civilization's cognitive limits will simply blind them to reality, a deadly poison luring them into annihilation's embrace, throwing their civilization into the abyss.

And so, this boundary was born.

But why does it... look so much like a prison made from some giant data server?

It appears in a form your mind can comprehend, like how DWDB-221E appears as a black crown in the material world when accompanying you.

To a minuscule ant, it is an ouroboric river, forever unable to flow to the sea.

But to a celestial body whose lifespan stretch to the trillions, it is a gravitational field that will stay with them their entire life, unfathomable, inescapable.

Be careful, Doctor!

We don't know what will happen if you fall off this boundary—

Are these... what you saw...?

—'The Originium slug egg' 'went through the bridge between stars'—

...So all those stories really did happen.

......

When I was really, really young, I met someone who was incredibly caring.

That care was matched with a great weakness, but also a stubborn insistence in carrying me across a road laden with Originium shards.

When I was dizzy with fever, yet too scared of nightmares to sleep, a patient voice regaled me with stories I had never heard before.

In a dark and cramped cave, difficult-to-find ore samples were smashed without the slightest hesitation—

And the shining stones were scattered across the walls, and used to tell me tales of the stars, and the heavenly paradise above the clouds.

Would you like to hear one of those stories, Doctor?

There was once someone who drove a mysterious vehicle shaped like an Originium slug egg on their lonesome, who went through the bridge between stars.

On the most quiet of nights, guides would borrow glowing clouds from old stars and make round mirrors out of them to light the way.

On the other side of the bridge, spires faded in and out of the clouds, and the stars wore crowns of flowers.

When descending on that crown, you'll see that it's a really, really big playground, one where lovely little children gather to play.

But it was hard for the vehicle's driver to stop...

The driver changed over to the most miraculous vehicle on hand, and drove it for many, many years...

But the years came to an end, and nobody was left.

Nobody but the driver.

Yes.

Thanks to my infection, it's hard for me to remember much from that time, and there's a lot from those stories I don't understand.

But I will do everything I can to remember every single one of your stories.

Because they are my stories. Tales you told to me.

I don't want to forget them.

I never thought today would be the day I finally get to share your gift to me with you, Doctor.

This time, we witnessed it together, you and I. We got to know this past life of yours once more.

Do you long for this kind of life, Doctor?

I'm not surprised. I'm very much the same. When I first thought of such wonders, I longed for it too.

It's the kind of life I could never truly have for myself.

I couldn't help myself from sharing them with Theresa, and the two of us would add many wondrous details of our own imagining—

Until it changed beyond recognition, flying ever further out of reach...

But now that I've had a glimpse with my own eyes, I don't think I'm that far away from your past life.

Do you believe that one day, this great land will be just as beautiful, Doctor?

It will, and we'll be there to greet it.

Rhodes Island will be there to see the light of dawn.

You don't? Strange, it was such a beautiful life.

One without the pain of Oripathy, without conflict or war, where children could live their lives in joy...

Maybe you're right. The cruelty behind the happiness, the joy behind the suffering. We've experienced it all ourselves.

I'll admit, I shared these wondrous stories with Theresa, and she was just as amazed as I was.

She always hoped that everyone in Kazdel... no, in all the lands would have the chance to experience such a life. She did her best to see it come true.

We can't let things slide back, Doctor.

There may come a day that Rhodes Island will be able to see this beauty flourish across the land.

'Deep Dive'.

The intact data stored within DWDB-221E is decoded by the singularity and exported in a moderated and suitable format as information.

However, Amiya on her own will not be able to break through the limits of the baseline logic.

I am not certain, but the possibility is there.

But how are we supposed to get close to the information once it's exported?

Forgive me, Amiya, but I have no further information on this topic.

I will search through the clues Kal'tsit left behind, and sort anything that may be of use to you so that it is easier to find.

A bridge?

Has anyone done something like that before?

There is no precedent in the records.

...It's worth a try, either way.

Then you must be aware of the risks. The closer you get to the singularity, the denser the information will become. You may possibly experience it gaining mass.

Information with mass?

It is possible here, yes.

It is also possible that information not yet fully decoded will flood into your mind and destroy it.

And a destroyed mind means...

(Unknown language) Don't mind me, traveler. I'm simply watching yet another bout of destruction is all.

(Unknown language) Hierda. That's your name, right?

Did you just say my name?

I don't know whatever language you're speaking in at all. Also, how'd you know—

Who is that, Raydistorter?

(Fervent singing) ♪—♪—♪—

—Is something wrong?!

There's not many of us who like her!

Sorry, traveler, I simply can't handle being in the same room as her.

If my friends saw this, they'd give me the cold shoulder because of it too.

No need to look so amazed. I learned how to communicate using long-distance resonance a while ago.

At the very least, before destroying that odd race, I kept the unique language patterns they had evolved.

...D-Destroying?

(Sighs)

Do you detest destruction as well, our newly-come guest?

I... am not too sure what happened, to be honest.

It's nothing too complicated. My people once ate stars to live. Others may hate us for it, but it's simply our survival instinct at work.

But now, that past only exists in horror stories passed around the metaphorical campfire.

My people are on the brink of extinction. I fear I may be the last of my kind, in fact.

We destroy to live, but when true destruction finally bears down upon us, we are powerless in the face of it...

From that point onwards, I have become nothing more than a beggar. With the aid of some geniuses, I have changed the method I use to obtain the energy I need to live—

It sounds like... You've been trying to blend in with other lifeforms too.

So when you were out in space looking at that dead planet, were you reminiscing about the destruction you experienced?

Reminiscing?

Haha, nothing of the sort.

Everyone here has accepted the ruination chasing us with serenity and hope in their hearts.

—?!