"U-Uh, Eugene-sensei. Aren’t we going into a really... isolated place? There are only mountains, trees, and fallen leaves around us.""Y-Eugene-sensei, are you planning to sell us off sowhere…?"
"Stop being stupid. The reason you’re going to such a remote place is because it requires this level of security. The reason I brought you two is because I don’t think you’ll spill what you see here to anyone."
"Ugh, the way you’re saying it makes it even scarier."
"Then, did you think there wouldn’t be sothing like this before you saw the cha youngest much earlier?"
At the sa ti, I glanced at the two of them through the rearview mirror.
They were wearing faces that clearly showed their excitent, as if the words "Vyam" and "cha" were coated with honey. Of course, I wasn’t particularly concerned, since this wasn’t the first ti. I had expected this kind of reaction.
As I thought about it, the vehicle rattled as it sped along an unpaved road between the mountains. I had hinted at this earlier, but we had been driving for quite a while, coming back to the Rochester area to see the cha Vyams.
To be honest, we hadn’t driven that far. We had taken a helicopter from Dark Zone Town, then switched to a vehicle.
After a while, despite the rough road, the rattling sensation gradually beca nonexistent.
Dice, who was sitting in the passenger seat, and Harmonie, in the back, didn’t seem to be thinking much about it. I, however, had a pretty good idea of why this was happening—the unpaved road we were on was, from this point on, a holographic overlay placed over a well-maintained asphalt road.
In other words, we had entered the “factory” zone.
Soon, a blue, directional electric field greeted us, and a drone flew nearby to scan the vehicle. After confirming everything, it opened the electric field completely, causing the blue light in the air to part in a stunning display.
"...Wow."
"It really feels like we’ve arrived at so secret base."
"Actually, it’s not much different. Just a little further, and we’ll reach the factory. Let’s go slowly for now. Stretch out a bit, enjoy the fresh air, and take in the lush scenery."
"But it’s winter, and all I see is fallen leaves, Eugene."
"I was just saying it."
After another two minutes of driving, we arrived and got out of the vehicle.
With a thud, the door opened, and the mont my feet stepped down onto what seed like another unpaved road, the ground shifted, crackling, to reveal an asphalt road. It looked freshly paved, almost like it had been finished just days ago.
It was winter, so there weren’t many trees around, but a small building appeared across the way. It was small, almost like the size of a rat’s nest. I had seen it before, so it didn’t bother , but these two had the sa expression I had when I first visited the factory.
The good thing was that today, I could explain everything to them.
"This is just a small building with the minimum facilities needed for production. The underground part is much larger than this."
"Ah, of course. It’s the sa as in comics and movies, right? The building entrance is small, but the basent is huge."
"Exactly. Think of it like that. The internal facilities aren’t that large, so I’ll give a quick explanation, and then we’ll head underground."
Although it was only a few weeks ago, it already felt like it had been much longer.
As I thought about that, we reached the factory. Today, no tour guide had co out. I’d heard that thanks to a facility control algorithm, if we had any questions, we could just look them up instead of asking.
Entering inside, we found a quiet, business-as-usual interior, as if it had been closed for the day. To the right was the vacuum chamber and component assembly room, and to the left was the server room that controlled the machinery for component production and assembly. But now, since there was no need for production, everything had been shut down.
Before they could ask, I added:
"If this was for mass production, it would make sense, but considering we’re only making a few prototypes, it’s much more cost- and ti-efficient to make and assemble the components directly. This space was made for production and assembly, but since that’s no longer necessary, it’s been shut down."
"...Sohow, Eugene, you speak as if you’re really familiar with this facility."
"That’s not entirely wrong. You two visited once while preparing for the Final Championship. Now that the embargo has been lifted, I can tell you more."
"Aha..."
"If it were still operational, we would’ve needed to check it out. But now, there's no need. Let’s go down."
With that, I called the elevator at the back of the server room and headed down.
We didn’t go down very far—about 27 ters, or roughly 9 floors. I thought that might be a lot, but then again, considering the depth, it might not be.
As soon as the elevator doors opened, a massive space, resembling an exaggerated version of a shooting range from the Dark Zone, appeared.
The space had almost a 7-ter ceiling height, and the width was much greater, with a length that stretched to kiloters. It was an impressive sight, though I wondered why they made it so long. But, well, once built, it had its use.
Walking with the two of them, we headed towards the area where the remote-controlled treadmill-like system had been placed last ti. I had heard it had been dismantled so ti ago.
After a while, instead of the treadmill, we saw four coffins—one of them was a bit smaller. They were sealed tightly from the outside, but the faces were made of transparent material, so we could still see inside.
The expressions on Harmonie and Dice changed as they gazed at the cha Vyams sleeping peacefully inside. They stared inside, excited, and added:
"Wow, it really looks just like in the ga!"
"This is amazing… Can we turn it on right now?"
"We need to connect the connectors first. Right now, it’s just an empty shell."
"Ah, I see."
In other words, these were just the bodies.
Fortunately, the coffins had the nas Jin, Rain, Mav, and Nasty written on them, and the connectors with matching personal colors were waiting nearby.
According to the explanation I had heard before bringing Dice and Harmonie here, the connectors didn’t have any special features. They simply connected to my Icarus gear and sent a signal to Jin, Rain, and Mav. Unfortunately, Nasty couldn’t receive a signal because it didn’t have the Icarus gear.
Anyway, once the signal was received, the three of them would connect to the coffins via the Dark Zone, and their bodies would move freely.
As soon as the connector was plugged in, a faint light appeared.
The small fusion reactor embedded in the chest of the body powered up, supplying energy, while Jin, Rain, and Mav logged into the ga, attempting to connect to the body’s ports.
The signal that the connection was complete was whether the eyes of the bodies opened. After a short while, Dice and Harmonie, who were checking on Jin and Rain, added with excited voices:
"Eugene-sensei! Jin opened his eyes!"
"Rain too!"
"The coffins will open soon, so wait outside."
"Uh, but Nasty...?"
"Nasty can’t co out yet. We’re going to reveal it as a surprise later, so don’t worry about it now. It’s still stabilizing."
Though disappointed, the sound of the coffins opening with a 'chiiik' noise perfectly erased the last bit of that disappointnt.
After a few more seconds, the cylindrical coffins began to open sideways, and three cha Vyams stepped out one by one. These weren’t holograms—like I had tricked them into thinking last ti—but actual cha Vyams.
Using special tallic materials, their tails, which glowed subtly like real tails, flexed and contracted repeatedly, showing excellent reproduction. It was, of course, no surprise considering the technology.
As I enjoyed the brief silence, the three cha Vyams began to show their unique expressions.
Then—
"What’s this? It’s Dice and Harmonie. Did you two co to an agreent with the master?"
"Long ti no see, Archetype. And you two too. I didn’t expect you to co this far."
"Wow, their expressions… Archetype, they look like they’re about to eat us! Soone stop them!"
"…This is really a cha Vyam."
"I’m fine with dying here. Please announce my obituary on the stream later…"
It was truly a nonsensical conversation.
Mina and Yerin slumped onto the nearby sofa, lting into a puddle, but the strong tal-Vyams pulled them into handshakes and hugs. Naturally, the rest was all about the tactile test. Of course, Harmonie and Dice were the ones doing it, while the three were the ones being tested.
They poked and prodded with their fingers, touching the arms, palms, cheeks, thighs, and tails, carefully testing them out, even running their fingers through the silver hair, which, while different from real human hair, didn’t feel much different. Of course, I stopped them from touching the hair too roughly since they could hurt themselves.
After so ti, as they had grown sowhat familiar with each other, Jin added:
"Archetype’s disciples are cute. Can I take them with ?"
"No."
"Has Kato not co? I thought he’d really enjoy this since he’s a guy in reality. Pity."
"...There are many reasons why."
Maybe, the mont Kato gets attacked by the triple-tail assault, he might ascend with joy.
Of course, he might ascend in another sense, but these three were already so adept at controlling their strength while hanging around with .
Anyway, while I was reflecting on that, Rain spoke up.
"Well, anyway. I can’t eat food, but it’s nice to be able to chat here. It’s a little early, but it’s nice to see you. The master said it will take about two more months, so bear with it until then."
"...Of course, I can bear it. Hehe."
"You all really love Vyams. At this point, I’m starting to feel embarrassed."
Despite all the different individual stories, it felt like they were still, sohow, the sa.
We had co a long way, so I decided to just enjoy it.
If everyone likes it, that’s all that matters.
"...That happened."
"Well, it’s clearly the youngest’s fault. You used to follow us around like this too. What the cha youngest are doing now is nothing compared to what you did back then."
"Well, I couldn’t help it back then."
"Hehe, the youngest was cute back then. I still rember how Logan, Olivia, and I had to comfort you when you cried, saying you missed your parents…"
"Whoa! Aahh!"
Why would you say that so openly, you rascal!
But I knew they’d react that way. This damn shark was teasing by dodging around like a ghost, and since we weren’t in a cramped space but right near Tis Square, she could run around and mock as she pleased.
After exhausting myself, I suddenly thought back to the past. Those words weren’t wrong, and even more so, they reminded of how, once I t people who treated well, I beca a spoiled brat. But back then, it couldn’t be helped. The good thing was that the three manifestation users accepted as I was.
Anyway, now, I was in Tis Square. Specifically, I was in New York from the world I had traveled for six years, not the one where Dice and Harmonie were.
So, why did I suddenly co here, leaving the little Vyams behind? It was because of the promise, or rather the promise-like agreent, I had with the cha youngest. After eting them, I gently loaded Dice and Harmonie, who had beco thoroughly softened, into the car and had a brief conversation. One of the things that ca up was:
"I hope to ring in the New Year with you from that world too. I’d like that as a Christmas and New Year’s present."
But since it was a bit difficult, I ca here to give them a preemptive gift.
In short, it was a renovation job for Tis Square.
"Here, we need more oxidizers!"
"The trees have rotted, and the steel fra has rusted and fallen apart. The billboards are broken, and there are only empty buildings in New York now…"
"Damn, who’s singing that annoying song?"
"Focus, focus. We’re carrying a 3-ton fra with four people here."
The heavy 3-ton fra is moved bit by bit by the four manifestors.
Removing the rusted and broken debris, the old broken screens are taken down and destroyed. New digital billboards are installed, and a new building is being constructed to accommodate tens of thousands of people, while materials are moved. It was a literal labor of manual work. Hundreds of transport drones stacked container-sized platforms to build the construction while thousands of chairs were set up, and the remaining wreckage from the past was cleared away. The main wreckage were the cars—specifically, the chunks of tal that were once vehicles.
About four large transport drones, each carrying several vehicle wrecks, took them to the nearby Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant’s steel mill. This process was repeated dozens of tis.
Looking at that, I struggled to move the 3-ton fra into position with a thud and added:
"Looks like it's almost ti for the Tis Square cleanup. I don’t know when we’ll be able to turn all the cars scattered across 87 square kiloters into scrap tal..."
"Maybe in about three years, we’ll have only a steel mill around Manhattan. If we recover all the abandoned cars within 1,100 square miles, the steel mill will probably be running for the next 30 years."
"Don’t forget about Philadelphia and Baltimore down below."
"...When will this vast country finally get back on track?"
Well, still, at least I didn’t have to worry about much anymore, and I could live comfortably, eating and enjoying life without any worries. That was a good thought.
Of course, this wasn’t sothing I could say aloud, so I pushed the thought back down my throat and accepted the drink Olivia handed . Steam rose from my body. It was about minus 3°C outside, but the heat from the heavy lifting made warm.
anwhile, in the distance, our cha-Monnanis were carrying about 1.2 tons each with ease. Well, they were machines, so it made sense. Not only them, but also hundreds of humanoids were working hard in the area.
The drones that had removed broken or malfunctioning billboards installed new ones and connected the wires. The ones that still weren’t working could mostly be fixed by adjusting the relays inside the buildings.
One by one, the old screens were replaced—about ten or twenty of them—and tests to check if they were working began all over the place. There were ads, and even news briefings about the pandemic that happened six years ago from reporters who went out to cover it.
Watching that, I muttered:
"Do you think that reporter is still alive?"
"Probably not."
"It’s hard to believe that happened six years ago... not in a good way."
"Yeah, if you look at it from the perspective of modern ti, it’s almost like ti stopped for six years."
As he said.
The mont the Dark Winter crisis hit, social dia was the first to spiral into chaos, spitting out ssages on the network for a couple of months, only to stop dead in its tracks.
Next, the news stopped.
Then, the cultural activities that people enjoyed ca to a halt.
About three months after the outbreak, everything ceased except for the occasional radio broadcasts.
And so, New York, the United States, and the world regressed to the past.
I glanced around.
At the sa ti—though not exactly at the sa ti—those working on the project occasionally looked at Tis Square with strange eyes, lost in thoughts of the past. But it wasn’t necessarily a sign of despair. At least, the people here had survived, and they would live on for a much longer ti than they had before.
And further still, they would witness the world rising again.
And there was sothing that helped to chase away those gloomy thoughts.
"...Ah, that slls delicious."
"What’s that? Where’s that sudden sll of at coming from... wait a second, when did the food trucks get here?"
"Looks like a new barbecue culture is taking root in New York."
"That’s impossible."
Saying that, Logan dashed over to the drum that was used to cook the food.
Anyway, it seed we were right. It was now 7 PM, the perfect ti for dinner. So, several hundred people working around Tis Square were all getting their free al.
After getting the steaming food, we sat in the chairs we had just set up and started eating. As soon as dinner ti arrived, energy fields spread from the drones floating around, forming a do that enveloped Tis Square.
The outside temperature, which had been minus 3°C, rose instantly, and while we didn’t have to worry about the food getting cold, the screen on the building in front of us, One Tis Square, started to light up.
And then... a fireworks parade?
BOOM! Whoosh!
"...Really? Fireworks during dinner?"
"It’s just a test. It’s kind of fun."
"Brings back mories."
It was the Bold Drop event, held a few days earlier than usual.
With a small chuckle, we enjoyed the early New Year’s event-like celebration. From the other side, the three cha Eugene, still wearing their Christmas hats, waved at us.
After we waved back, the three of them slowly approached. Fortunately, since the fra strength was very high, it didn’t look like they would collapse, and the three cha Monnans sat next to , grinning.
"Did you finally think about watching the Bold Drop event with us, Archetype?"
"...Alright, I’ll find a way, stop pestering ."
"Hehe."
"The youngest hasn’t even gotten married, but already has four daughters. How do you feel about that?"
"Watching fireworks and hearing that is a bit too much."
The sparkling fireworks, the delicious food, and all the friends who survived the Oga Virus...
The ti had co for the era of no more blackout protocols. I thought that as I bit into the steaming food.
The year was ending, and a new one was coming.
I smiled and added:
"Hope everyone stays healthy next year, and that nothing bad happens."
"You too."
"Let’s talk about it at the Bold Drop event in a few days, you guys. It’s too early."
"What’s the difference? Saying it now won’t make it worse."
They really were the sa as always.
eting them and being able to witness this scene—maybe it was the biggest blessing in my life.
It was a beautiful evening.
"Wow, the sll of food! You guys ate sothing delicious without us, didn’t you?!"
"Ah, it’s fine. If we really want to, we can eat more."
"Ugh, stop taking detours and play with us for a bit!"
"Jealous, huh? Hmm-hmm."
"Whoa!"
But how much ti passed before I returned, I was imdiately bombarded with jealousy from all sides.
I really wish my body was in two parts.
It was really frustrating, but in the end... what a great mont this was.
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