Story Reader / Main Story / 31 Shaper's Ripples / Story
On that day, humanity once more stands at a crossroads that leads to its ultimate end.
The moment Gestalt's data wall opens, the hall plunges into darkness. Only crimson warning lights frantically flash across the screen.
The entire Babylonia begins to shake in sync with Gestalt's tremors.
Violent crimson lightning crackles under the alloy shell as the Punishing virus seeps out.
These Punishing Viruses contract inward, forming a "Tokarev" about the size of a human eye—this is the core of that corrupting memetic.
...It was always going to come to this, wasn't it?
"This time" begins on December 20, 2160... and there are only five days left until December 20 of this year, aren't there?
Just as the Tokarev gazes upon Ishmael, she is also staring at the Tokarev that has been imprisoned for over 30 years.
She sees the future of "Tokarev."
Corrupted by a twisted persona, she reclaims the mantle of Agent Zero.
In a bid to regain her full capabilities, she is taken in by Selene, who wields a matching power.
Only to be separated again during the battle at Hetero Tower.
As long as the Punishing Virus endures, Tokarev's authority will remain, forcing her to be both controlled and embraced.
Ultimately, she transfers to the next suitable host capable of accepting her.
...
>>
>>We've acquired Agent Zero's authority. Integrating it with current permissions>>>
>>>>Access check in progress>>>>
>>
>>>>
>>>>>>>>Permission check complete>>>>>
She finally remembers everything.
She finally recalls that she once had the same authority as Agent Zero—the same origin, the same record logs.
Data sync in progress. Updating her memory.
>>
>>Selecting calibration node>>>
>>Commencing descent_
This node's record differs significantly from the way this world has developed. Continue with the sync?
>>Confirm...
>>Establishing connection...
>>Starting synchronization...
On December 25, 2197, arrive at the Zero-Point Energy Extraction Center—operation successful
Mission: Gather all data from the target civilization and retrieve the "Gate".
Detect the most advanced technology of this civilization—a Time Travel Capsule—and designate it as top-priority target.
Hack into the Time Travel Capsule. Adaptation successful.
Release the contamination meme. Successful.
>>
>>>>Synchronizing with the next node record...
Infiltration and spread now encompass 10.97% of the city's population. The leading mind in human scientific research has perished because of it, and humans dismiss it as a mere accident.
Let's head to the auditorium, Dominik. You're next on stage.
...
What's wrong?
Am I truly fit to be the Chief Technology Officer of the <b><ud><color=#34aff8ff><link=5>Science Council</link></color></ud></b>?
You're his only student, and you've made remarkable strides for someone so young. We all see your potential—believe in yourself.
Professor, so... you're heading out next, aren't you?
I'm old now. It's time I left the next steps to you and the others of your generation.
Dominic stands in the dreary rain, mulling over the phrase "young people" for what feels like ages.
How's Nemo doing lately? I remember back when we were in school together a few years ago—he had pretty decent grades.
Hearing his son's name, the professor lets out a weary sigh.
Since that incident, he's lost all enthusiasm for research. No matter how others try to persuade him, he won't listen. Last month, he went to the countryside, found a local hospital, and began practicing as a psychiatrist.
...
Sounds nice.
Come on. If we wait any longer, we'll be late.
Humanity discovers the Heteromer Crystal.
Hey, take a look at this. If you scan it, would you say it's... a crystal?
Where'd you find it?
It was on the core's components. At first, I figured it was just dust, but recently... there's more of it showing up, and it really looks like some kind of crystal now.
Gather that up and deliver it to the Science Council. Let Dominic figure out what we're dealing with.
The human science leader begins studying the Heteromer Crystal.
The human science leader is using Time Travel Capsule to accelerate the research.
These crystals keep getting bigger, and they're clearly visible now. If we miss even one during cleanup, things could get bad fast.
The first people infected are labeled as mentally ill by humanity.
This contamination makes them launch interference whenever they spot a high-priority target, helping it spread faster and collect intel.
The incubation period is almost up. Thanks to its nature, it's bound to show itself once conflict breaks out.
Humanity's leaders make a major breakthrough.
As soon as he steps into that time travel capsule, these crystals show up, and they even corrode the parts that go with it.
The time travel capsule's parts are tough enough to make as it is. If things keep going like this...
Don't be so down. I believe Dominic will get to the bottom of this. The World Government believes Dominik too, and they're already working on the replacement parts.
Hey, did you hear? Rumor has it all those riots popping up worldwide might be tied to these crystals...
People have been using the time travel capsules a lot more often to gather intel, which in turn boosts the amount of these Heteromer Crystals each time they fire one up.
The single-activation Heteromer Crystal multiplier keeps climbing, now at 71.23%.
The single-activation Heteromer Crystal multiplier keeps climbing, now at 84.94%.
The single-activation Heteromer Crystal multiplier keeps climbing, now at 95.15%.
...
Humanity never forgets that day.
...
Mysterious crystals of unknown origin almost envelop the entire time travel capsule, even trapping the user inside.
Why are you just standing there?! Save her now!!
The harder people try to remove these crystals, the more subtle contamination seeps in.
The more people try to go back in time to find the truth, the deeper they get pulled in.
Until that final activation...
A massive "tower" appears, devouring the building where the time travel capsule is kept. Everyone around is gone without a trace.
No force can scrape off the Heteromer Crystals that's fused with the capsule. Together, they form an ever-growing Babel Tower.
Humanity now knows the complete truth and calls this crystal "Chaos"—the Chaos Contamination.
>>>>>Access conflict detected. Record update failed. Please confirm access to the Hetero Tower core.
Conflict...?
She sets the conflict aside for now, emerging from the massive records and carefully mulling over the name she just saw.
<b><ud><color=#34aff8ff><link=7>Chaos</link></color></ud></b>...
Punishing Virus, <b><ud><color=#34aff8ff><link=8>Chaos Contamination</link></color></ud></b>...... When did I forget about all of these...
Cradle tilts her head back, her bewitching eyes fixed on the vast night sky.
Then she shuts her eyes and retraces the tale from its final chapter all the way to its first.
I'm waiting for you to wake up.
Is it the moment when it takes form of Cradle to rise from the Red Tide?
I will cherish... no, make the most of everything I've gained from you.
For calming the sound of tide on the planet, for that lives can bear greater fruits.
So that next time... "we" and "you" can meet under better conditions.
Or is it the moment her data takes over everything, and you find yourself truly excited about this new purpose?
I want to discover more stories.
I want to understand civilizations, societies... humanity.
The stories of humans are more important than humans themselves.
So I sincerely hope you will leave more stories behind.
Even if she's lost sight of her original goal, her instincts still brim with joy whenever she reads these stories, so...
Go forth, expand, and seize. Just like what other civilizations did when they developed.
Go absorb everything that can enrich us.
Seek out a homeland that can nurture our "civilization."
She is guided by instinct, finding a similar purpose and longing.
But why does she feel this desire? Why is there a sense of joy? These emotions aren't really hers. It's almost as if...
Agent Zero...
Why call it <b><ud><color=#34aff8ff><link=6>Contamination Memetic</link></color></ud></b>? Has it taken on a "human" form before?
It's okay...
This... I'll know soon enough.
After regaining the authority of Agent Zero.
Under the cloak of night, taking advantage of the sudden invasion of the Hetero-Creatures,
she slips through the Clean Zone—no longer clean after Selene and Agent Zero's defilement—and quietly enters the Hetero Tower.
...
The guardian who once watched over this place has vanished without a sound. She sees no need to "greet" someone already bound to the "<b><ud><color=#34aff8ff><link=9>Gate</link></color></ud></b>," nor does she feel compelled to "care for" a future still dormant to miracles.
For the very first time in her life, Cradle feels truly at home. Like a child returning to a long-lost haven, she settles back into the warmth meant solely for her.
Agent Zero...
Looks like the answer I've been looking for is right here. And the one who robbed me of my memories... is here too.
Cradle glances around the Hetero Tower, casually talking to this place she calls "home," as if she's alone with her thoughts.
So... is this the moment when someone's supposed to say...
Welcome back?
The core of the Tower glows with a vivid blue light, but all it offers is silence.
She moves in closer, then closer still, compelled by desire with her objective just within reach.
The moment Cradle assumes the Tower's core is permitting her every action and reaches out to touch it...
A sudden flash of light streaks across, devouring, the Hetero-Creature, Cradle's fingertips.
Crimson radiance pours over her wide, terrified eyes, breaking down the barrier of curiosity bit by bit and laying bare her rawest fear.
Is the Hetero Tower's core... erasing me?
Since there are established "rules," and we know the "language" that powers them, overwriting the Tower's core logic can fundamentally change the way it functions.
By shifting from "release and activate" to "absorb and obliterate," the region once exposed to the Tower's influence will be cleansed of any sign of Punishing Virus.
This time, it's your turn to be used.
In that moment, fear stirs the memories long dormant in her mind.
Snapped awake, Cradle stumbles back, as though the stern young man still hovers at the edge of her vision.
...I remember now.
This marks the start of the story—this is where everything begins.
A young man knocks on the door of Gateway, rewriting the Hetero Tower's core logic. His timing coincides with Agent Zero making a long journey from her own future, determined to <b>invade this world's Hetero Tower</b>.
The outcome is obvious.
With the core altered, the "gravely wounded patient" is robbed of every chance at recovery.
This world is already dominated by the Punishing Virus; there's nowhere for her "Chaos Contamination" to spread. Humanity has even branded the tower as "Inver-Hetero", and it's no longer her loyal "child."
She's lost her throne, her memories torn away by the endless blue, leaving her to wander adrift and sink beneath the Red Tide.
...She remains still until her consciousness fuses with Cradle, slipping into a deep sleep.
Now that Cradle has regained control of the Hetero Tower, she stands before her "child" once again.
Even though this "child" has been rewritten, it still watches in silence with its bright blue eyes.
...So, what comes next?
Cradle takes a moment to think, abruptly stops, then shifts aside and quickly hides herself.
Right in front of the Hetero Tower's core, the dark Agent stops in his tracks.
The brilliant light also identifies him as an intruder, but it can't simply consume or erase him with the same method.
Whenever a burst of light streaks by Vonnegut, a faint arc of blue light neatly neutralizes the attack.
A finely tuned <b>force field</b> fits around the Agent like a glove—there's something strangely familiar about it, as if she's seen it somewhere before... but where?
Cradle tries to get a clearer look at these barriers and peeks out, but Vonnegut's eyes instantly lock onto her hiding place.
...
...
The silent standoff comes to an abrupt end when Cradle beats a quick retreat, fully aware that sticking around won't do her any good.
Armed with Agent Zero's clearance, Cradle moves unhindered throughout the Hetero Tower.
Meanwhile, the Agent—clearly on guard—stays put in the Tower's central zone, keeping a close watch on her.
That means if she tries to seize control of the core again or keep syncing data to learn more about that future, she's bound to collide with him once more.
He isn't influenced by the blue core, but if Cradle goes near it, she'll be wiped out.
...All right, let's give this plan a shot.
Muttering to herself, Cradle stays at a distance from the core.
Looks like I've found the "rat hole"...
I'm not sure who left this behind on their trip to another era, but since I've found it, I'll make good use of it.
A scythe lifts from her hand, its blade aimed at the quietly seeping crimson fissure.
You're not going to object if I open a bigger portal here and bring in some backup, are you?
A surge of red light tears through the tower wall shaped by the Punishing Virus, sending shards skimming across the regret in Cradle's gaze.
In a few pulses of crimson, the battered wall finally overflows with a watery sheen, and the Red Tide, like a newborn just opening its eyes, begins to stir.
They flow, spilling into the depths and forming a shimmering crimson stream.
Reborn here.
Cradle plunges her hands into the Red Tide, shaping it into a new pathway.
My old friends.
Initially, a smaller Hetero-Creature shows up.
It barely sets foot on the core area's edge before a sudden burst of light erases it completely.
Then come two, then three, then four.
Under Cradle's watchful eyes, they rush toward the Hetero Tower's core in succession. Yet these fallen bodies can't carve a path; they all disappear at once in the tower's radiant glow.
Switch to a new formation. Go.
As always, the light intensifies. The leading Hetero-Creature is the first to utter a tortured wail, and that wail becomes a clarion call, marking the true beginning of their advance.
Once again, they shuffle into a new formation.
The charging Hetero-Creatures dissolve under the brilliant light.
As the first creature's body fades, the rest use its remains as a makeshift shield and push closer to the seemingly unstoppable blue.
One after another, they disintegrate, die, and then reappear, racing through the fading heat of their fallen to reach the source.
I see...
Cradle tenses, then eases up—satisfaction glimmering in her eyes, as though her curiosity has been completely indulged.
She plunges her fingers into the Hetero-Creature she's holding, fully feeling the Red Tide engulf her.
This should work... If I just boost the Red Tide and churn out a few more of these creatures, I'll be able to reach the Hetero Tower's core.
You're not going to stop me, Vonnegut?
Vonnegut stands at a distance, ignoring the Hetero-Creatures around him, his eyes never leaving the core or Cradle.
Agent Zero.
Exactly. Thanks for the intel from Lithos. After gaining Agent Zero's authority, I've started to remember things—at least a part of it.
This Hetero Tower is my <phonetic=child>creation</phonetic>, and also where I came into existence.
So you want to reach the core by doing this?
Yeah. It's a bit of a hassle, but all it takes is a small sacrifice.
A small sacrifice.
Vonnegut's brow grows tighter and tighter.
Right, it's just some Hetero-Creatures.
This is my solution. But you—who exactly are you? And how do you, as an Agent, manage to keep the core's corruption at bay?
And also... why are you so knowledgeable about the Hetero Tower?
...
Keeping quiet isn't exactly polite by human standards—besides, your story intrigues me.
...
Alright, so can I count on you to keep watching from the sidelines like this?
I'm getting my <phonetic=child>core</phonetic> back, no matter what.
Vonnegut snorts in disdain and strikes with lethal force.
Oh? Looks like that line really struck a nerve.
He offers no response, his gaze fixed intently on Cradle.
Okay...
The girl lets out a sigh as her scythe hangs by her side, its polished surface reflecting her opponent's figure.
Looks like this is your answer. Well, I have to say...
It's just as I expected.
