Story Reader / Floating Record / ER09: Crescent Sun / Story
As the battle comes to an end, the lecture hall's outer wall gives way, and Yuka crashes through into the adjacent classroom.
Where flower petals once lay scattered, now only a dim, decrepit space remains.
Dust blankets everything, the room dilapidated and devoid of life.
This place once served as an after-school study room for students...
Decades have passed, leaving behind only the school supplies that couldn't be carried away during the evacuation.
Having exhausted all the power Cradle had granted her, Yuka collapses into a pool of her own blood.
Yata...
The daybreak sun pours freely into the space, yet comes to an inexplicable halt before reaching Yuka.
She looks around at her surroundings with bleary eyes, as if just waking from a dream.
After a long moment, her gaze slowly refocuses on Yata as understanding dawns.
Thank goodness... you managed to escape.
A smile of relief spreads across her face.
...!
Yata feels a lump in her throat and unconsciously closes her eyes.
The tide of memories rushes backward, threatening to sweep her away.
A desperate scream echoes from afar, fragments of broken words pouring into her ears.
Run, Yata!
She snaps back to reality just in time, grasping at the final lifeline in this world of devastation.
Thank goodness... you managed to escape.
Yata opens her eyes, a storm of conflicting emotions churning in her chest.
What's all this talk about escaping? Can't believe you're still hung up on that after all these years.
Not just back then, it remains true even now.
The girl before her gazes on quietly, the obstinance and madness in her eyes fading away along with the power of the Red Tide.
What do you mean... even now?
I'm glad that you made it out of my consciousness projection this time.
Yata's body trembles as realization dawns upon her.
You didn't just wake up now. You remember everything you've done...
Yes, Yata. I remember. I remember every single detail.
I remember deploying my consciousness projection, and I remember inviting you to join the Red Tide.
Yuka responds slowly, an indescribable sorrow wavering in her crimson eyes.
No... you could have lied to me, said that the Red Tide suppressed your M.I.N.D., that Cradle was controlling you...
I would've believed you. I'd much rather believe that.
The Red Tide did suppress my M.I.N.D... Even so, the consciousness projection was my own choice.
Didn't it only bring pain? Both to your M.I.N.D. and to everyone under its control.
It wasn't like this when the Punishing first broke out.
Yuka slightly bows her head and lets out a soft sigh.
Even in my comatose state, I could hear them, the Punishing's victims, screaming, raging, and weeping by my ears...
So I did everything in my power to create a beautiful dreamland, so they could pass without having to suffer.
It's Dr. Saotome's dream to connect human consciousness together to bring people happiness, and I was trying to do just that.
See? Consciousness projection isn't all that bad, right?
...
You know what, Yata?
That winter when the Punishing broke out, Hydrangea Island was blanketed by heavy snow.
The solitary buildings, the withered flower beds... everything lies buried beneath a blanket of white snow.
In this vast world, I stood alone... not knowing where to go, nor why I should go anywhere.
I walked through that heavy snow for what felt like an eternity... Days? Months? Years? Time lost all meaning as I wandered on alone.
...Until the day I was awakened.
Yata... You should understand it by now. Saving humanity, connecting everyone's consciousness, bringing happiness to all... Such noble ideals.
I was the only one who ever sought salvation.
Yuka...
Projecting consciousness to erase people's pain... it was nothing but a substitute for my own desires.
The girl lifts her head, her black hair cascading down her shoulders and slipping through her fingers.
Her smile is feeble and sorrowful, causing Yata to turn away, unable to bear the look on Yuka's face.
...But using the Red Tide's power for consciousness projection can never eliminate pain. Rather—
It infects those who receive the projection, doesn't it?
...
To accept the Red Tide means submitting to its will.
It continuously amplifies my obsession and uses it to expand its own power.
Yuka, why...
Curious about why I accepted the Red Tide?
No, that's not what I want to ask.
Because I was so lonely there, amidst the heavy snow.
Of course.
It was just that simple of a wish—to live on, and to not be alone anymore.
I've always known!
As vital fluid gushes out of Yuka's wounds, the countdown of her life quietly begins.
Why... does it need to come at the cost of your life? Is there really no other way? Are there no miracles?
Yata thought she had mentally prepared herself already, but she cannot help but seek a definitive answer all the same.
I mean... I don't own this life anyway, and it's time I gave it back.
The cruel truth shatters her last hope, paining Yata so much she can barely breathe.
Yet the girl lying in the pool of blood simply offers Yata a quiet smile.
Yata, don't look so sad.
I consider myself lucky to have seen you again.
Why...
Her throat tightens, leaving her unable to speak.
Why do we have to part ways again when we've only just found each other?
Why am I getting this ending when I've given it everything I've got?
Why are you being kind to someone like me...
Mock me with spite, cry in despair, scream in anguish—anything, please, just say something to me, even if only for a moment.
Because I'm the one who failed to save you, the one who killed you with my own hands.
The one who has always been weak and powerless...
Yata?
Well...
Only now, seeing you here, do I finally understand that consciousness projection isn't the way for people to truly connect.
No matter how many minds I connect with, I still feel so lonely.
Only when the Red Tide's power fades away can I be free, and only then can we truly reunite.
That requires giving it everything you've got, right?
So... stop blaming yourself for this.
Yata lowers her head, her body trembling uncontrollably.
Even so, you still have to go...
Yes... My life should have ended many years ago.
What I have now is nothing but borrowed time.
If I have one regret, it's that we never got to say a proper goodbye.
Yata gazes intently at the young girl kneeling beside the lecture hall.
Goodbye, goodbye... Yata opens her mouth to speak, only to bite her lip tightly shut.
She had said goodbye to Yuka countless times before, yet today, the words refuse to leave her lips.
Do you remember how I once wove a dream for everyone, each according to their wish...
In these dreams, some were promoted to officers, some became heroes, and a few shed their uniforms to live ordinary lives...
While you remained at Misono High.
...Is there something wrong with dreaming about Misono High?
...
One's best dream shouldn't lie in the past... but in the future.
...!
Yuka gazes around with lingering affection, and Yata follows her line of sight.
The aged classroom, the freshly sprouting flowers and grass—everything remains as it was, yet everything rushes toward tomorrow...
Yata, my time is running out...
You should go for what lies ahead... while I'll stay here.
The girl's voice, soft and delicate, fades away with her life, drifting into the distance.
So cold...
As if trying to grasp something, she desperately reaches out both hands into the void.
Yuka, Yuka!
Here, it's snowing again.
Yuka's hands fall limply as her body collapses.
！！
The distance between life and death always seems so vast.
Even a hand's breadth away becomes an unreachable distance.
Just as Yata rushes forward to catch Yuka, she notices someone else has already held her up.
...Dr. Saotome?
Confused about Reika's presence, Yata is pulled back to her senses by a transmission from Valeria.
Yata, if you're still alive, withdraw immediately. The Red Tide is coming.
The Red Tide? It still hasn't stopped?
No, it hasn't stopped, even though Shiva and Discord's M.I.N.D.s are normal again.
Strange... I thought Yuka's powers were gone?
The Lady of the Red Tide hasn't reclaimed the power she had left Yuka...
Reika kneels to support Yuka's shoulders and let her rest against herself.
Then you have even more reason to not stay here. The Red Tide is coming.
Yata, this will be my final experiment.
Dr. Saotome, I really don't want to lose my temper with you... but Yuka is slipping away!
...
Do you know why Yuka can create such beautiful dreams, yet remains in constant agony?
Because Yuka tries to bring happiness to people by projecting her consciousness.
Is that the only thing you can say now when you were the one that put her through her suffering?!
Reika looks at Yata with intensity, a flicker of struggle crossing her eyes.
Because those who weave dreams cannot dream themselves.
...!
I was the only one who ever sought salvation.
That is Prometheus.
An experiment in consciousness projection, allowing humans to communicate mind to mind, giving happiness to everyone...
And yet its creator is the only one who can never find happiness... Ironic, isn't it?
Yata narrows her eyes, studying the elegantly dressed woman from head to toe.
Yuka has been in slumber for decades. You're not her, how could you possibly understand what she feels?
Reika gently extends her hand, catching the rays of sunlight that fall upon them.
You once asked me why I went to such lengths to transform myself into a Construct.
Here is why... because the consciousness projection experiment has to continue.
Yata stares at Reika as the anger in her heart slowly fades away. She already has an inkling of the answer, there's no need to ask any more questions.
After Yuka fell into her slumber, you turned yourself into a test subject for consciousness projection.
That's how you came to understand the pain that consciousness projection inflicted upon Yuka.
No... what I experienced wasn't even a fraction of what Yuka had gone through.
Reika gazes at the young girl leaning against her, who now lies with eyes tightly shut, quietly awaiting her life to fade away.
Yuka created beautiful dreams for so many people, but she never had any of her own.
This will be the final experiment—a one-on-one consciousness projection, led by me.
Yata takes a deep breath as the shrieking of the Red Tide reaches her ears.
Please...
Yata finds herself unable to say what she wanted to say.
There are no heroes in real life, but I will shoot down that eagle for her.
Unfazed by the trembling earth beneath, Reika speaks with serene determination.
...Please do so.
Yata takes one last long look at Yuka before turning away and rushing toward Valeria's coordinates.
As she leaves the dilapidated classroom, a distant voice echoes once more within her M.I.N.D.
Goodbye... Yata.
Well...
To which she responds softly.
Goodbye... Yuka.
Without looking back, Yata sprints forward into the distance.
