Story Reader / Main Story / 32 To the Galaxies / Story
She sits by the porthole, gazing at the endless expanse of the cosmos.
The stars shimmer in the void as they drift at a pace too slow for the naked eye to perceive.
Magnificent ancient stars undergo fusion in the celestial river, erupt silently, and then fade away just as silently.
But such prophetic sights... she has witnessed them far too many times.
How is... Earth doing now?
On the desk is the projection of a vast star chart. When she clicks open a set of coordinates she knows by heart, a small blue-green planet appears in the hologram.
Nanami's Earth Observation Log · Entry I
It's been a while since I started keeping records like this. Makes me a bit nostalgic.
Time here is as boring as ever—no life, no passage of time, only countless illusory forms incubating and being reborn.
But that day... I followed a set of distorted coordinates by accident and discovered a newborn "universe."
In that universe, I saw my past self.
...Nanami?
...Huh.
It's been a long time since you wrote in a diary format. Did something happen?
Yup!
I... Nanami discovered a tiny newborn universe!
A newborn... universe?
Haicma gazes at the cosmic projection floating before Nanami.
Is this... Earth?
Yes, this is Earth... as it once was.
Her finger traces the blue-green planet longingly, as if caressing a cherished memory.
Did something unexpected happen?
Haicma follows Nanami's gaze toward the projection of Earth.
During the wormhole jump, I noticed a distortion in the space-time coordinates and discovered this passage...
...Has the cycle begun?
Maybe.
But hasn't the world always been moving forward in cycles?
From genesis to annihilation. Countless nebulae spiral around Discovery, cycle eternally, and are reborn again and again.
...
Nanami's Earth Observation Log · Entry III
"<phonetic=Cradle>She</phonetic>" showed up at the end.
The Red Tide surged beneath the ocean, while on land it raged just as fiercely.
Under "<phonetic=Cradle's>her</phonetic>" guidance, the "worlds" drew closer to merge, and the Hetero Tower approached...
Nanami purses her lips and continues writing.
We can't influence events occurring in the timeline from behind the "Gate", but since "she" has already broken the flow of time, perhaps I could...
Haicma, can you help me pack up File No. 2143 and make it ready for 4-dimensional communication? There's something I'd like to send to the Earth.
But mankind didn't have the ability to receive 4-dimensional communications at that point of time. Besides...
This would affect the timeline. If "They" were to discover this...
I know.
That brief moment is their only chance.
Opening the space-time coordinates, the markers for the newborn universe show a slight deviation.
...I get it now.
The information has been encapsulated. Space-time coordinates locked. It will be sent out during Discovery's wormhole warp.
This is my gift to them... The "future."
This marks Nanami's first chance to break free from the cycle.
...
Nanami's Earth Observation Log · Entry V
Everything unfolds just as it did before, all within expectations, but... is this truly the best ending?
We're just like ants running along a Mobius strip and live through the same story over and over again.
I once told "myself" that even if I had known all the possibilities, that even if I had made the best decision...
I still wouldn't have been able to prevent that certain outcome—or rather, a certain tragedy.
Do I want "Nanami" to make different choices?
Will she... after all this time, still board Discovery and sail toward the stars?
Nanami sets down her pen and gazes at the blue-green planet projected before her.
If given the choice, does she truly wish to exile herself to the solitude of space?
She would have put all of humanity aboard with her had Discovery been big enough.
All her friends are sailing on a large ark with her, steering forward into the infinite space.
...
Nanami's Earth Observation Log · Entry VI
(Messy notes scattered about—space-time coordinates, crossed-out portraits, and traces of calculations)
I've calculated a new set of coordinates.
So maybe I could...
I know you're here. Show yourself, Dominik.
You're breaking the rules and draining your computing power by being here. You shouldn't have come.
The timeline in this space-time has been completely disrupted by the contaminating memetics. "They" won't be able to find us here.
...
What do you want? For you, <phonetic=we>■</phonetic> are no longer a secret.
As the keeper behind the door, you've long since come to know all there is in this world...
This might be our last chance to break this endless cycle.
Hand over what needs to be delivered. I'll make sure it reaches [player name].
...
Even when you know that's going to erase your very existence?
Nanami couldn't care less.
...
This is an invitation.
Dominik, from within the Hetero Tower, created this "invitation." <phonetic=we>■</phonetic> will choose a suitable candidate as the "heir."
Once the heir accepts the invitation, their consciousness will be digitized at the right time, which will allow them to enter the Gestalt to seal away this era's contaminating memetic.
The last "Dominik" met with an untimely death, and the invitation was never sent out—instead, it was left behind in Reactor No. 1.
This is <phonetic=our>■</phonetic>'s final invitation, and also the key to the Hetero Tower.
I'll take it, then.
I struggle to define the emotion known as "love."
But my presence here is the ultimate proof.
—Only through this journey can I illuminate the path for those on Earth.
...
Nanami's Earth Observation Log · Entry VII
The butterfly's wings have stirred up a storm.
Everything on Earth seems familiar, yet somehow different.
Having absorbed a vast amount of information, <phonetic=Cradle>Agent Zero</phonetic> has grown far more powerful than before.
She seems to have gained partial control over the Hetero Tower.
Was what I did the right thing to do? Or did it push this space-time even deeper into the abyss instead of breaking the cycle?
The Hetero Tower is accumulating...
...Nanami.
Haicma sits quietly behind Nanami.
Did I... screw up?
...
No one knows for sure until the end reveals itself.
...<phonetic=Cradle>Agent Zero</phonetic> has appeared, and I can no longer reach that space-time.
They have already been marked...
The diverging space-times cause the Hetero Towers to stack endlessly, yet only the events have changed, not the information itself.
Redundant, excessive, and accumulated information is piled up in towering spires, creating a chaotic landscape.
Too much information has accumulated at the base. If we don't clear it out...
They will be forced to shoulder an even heavier burden.
Through coordinates obtained from wormholes and rifts, she sees everything happening on Earth with perfect clarity.
The Red Tide spreads in a maddening flood, recycling everything in its path.
Cradle darts into the Hetero Tower, followed by the commandant... and Lucia, all entering the tower from which they never returned.
Everything that has transpired seems to have happened in a closed loop, yet something feels different this time.
...
Perhaps... soon, this timeline's Nanami will follow the same path as all her other selves across all the different space-times.
Nanami has boarded Discovery, gotten exiled among the stars, and finally, the massive starship will pass through the Gate—joining all other Nanamis from every loop. Everything will converge into the future that belongs to Nanami.
They have all made the same choice.
Perhaps, in the distant future, only then will humanity be able to slowly recover from this catastrophe.
Except...
Yet this girl called Nanami will never again see Earth's starlit sky.
She gently closes the diary in her hands and places it on the nearby bookshelf.
On the bookshelf, similar diaries have already piled up like mountains.
