To The Apex

✧₊⁺

We zoomed up towards the top of the crystal spire past its hundreds of floors, and Thresh proceeded to tell Kururu and Tǒng as much as he could, including his true identity as Yamamoto-sensei. I added in the fact that the Songbird was a shade of my ex-wife, which Kururu seemed particularly shocked to hear.

We also told them about the true nature of the Eternals, lest they be shocked by that fact during our discussion. At the end of our ascent, we found ourselves walking the carpeted path past the rooms I stayed in the night before.

I stopped briefly to check if Yuna and Shizuka were still there, but they were nowhere to be found. It was then, while climbing the spiral staircase to the Songbird’s nest, that we began to hear singing.

“The end of our days, our hearts were submerged. Our cries went unheard, but a new hope emerged.”

“We loved and we suffered in the blink of an eye. But our lives will carry on from the moment we die...”

“Wait, I’ve heard this song before…”

Back in Castella, the first time Autumn and I had met, these lyrics and the same beautiful tune graced my ears. Just like back then, I was enchanted as we entered through the carved wooden door.

The Songbird stood on the balcony facing the darkness as the singing continued. A cloud of blue energy and morpho butterflies swirled around her, gathering at her outstretched left hand.

“Me-mor-i-a, Me-mor-i-a… a light guiding you and me. Me-mor-i-a, Me-mor-i-a… for all eternity.”

She crumpled to her knees upon belting out the last lyric. We rushed to her side to see what was wrong, but as we reached the Songbird, a huge blue dome formed over the length and breadth of the city. Her song carried in the distance, echoes scattering all around us.

“It… is done.”

“Are you alright, Miss?” I helped the Songbird to her feet as she used me to brace herself. “Take it easy, now.”

“I’m just a bit winded, is all.” The Songbird breathed heavily, her blue eyes wincing a bit in pain. “Thank you, Jiro, but I can stand on my own just fine.”

“If you say so...” I backed up to give her some room to recover.

“Everyone, thank you for answering my call. Would that I could welcome you under better circumstances, but this is simply the hand we’ve been dealt.”

“The Songbird of Memoria…” Kururu gawked at the woman. “So you’re the one who spoke to me in the mine, and saved us, aren’t you? I never got the chance to thank you for giving me the push I needed...”

“That I am, child. But I should thank you for staying by Jiro’s side as an ally. He’s always been the type to want to do everything on his own, you see. He needs friends like you and Tǒng now more than ever.”

“Autumn-san, the barrier…” Thresh looked around in astonishment.

“A precautionary measure, intended to give us just enough time to speak.” The Songbird said. “What I’m about to tell you all will change everything, so you may want to prepare accordingly.”

“Then you mean to say that the vanguard…”

“Will fail, unfortunate though it may be. Blackheart’s rage cannot be denied on this day.” The Songbird sighed. “It is my own essence that empowers the Hunters and the barrier, and I have been spread far too thin. If not for the Director’s antiviral drones, the city would already have fallen.”

A group of masked men and women filed into the room abruptly through the door we left open and knelt a few steps behind us. Among her collection of servants, or ‘feathers’ as she called them, one man addressed her.

“My lady, we heard your song, and have seen the barrier rise. We await your next orders.”

I recognized the man’s voice immediately. The pilot of the Songbird’s airship that brought us into the city.

“Brave feathers, you have served me diligently, gathering information and keeping order in our fine city, but the hour we all feared has come.” She said, “My last order to you all… Go, and be free to choose how you spend these final hours.”

“About that, my lady…” He looked around at the other feathers who gave him a subtle nod back. “We have all come to a decision on the matter. We will join the vanguard in hopes of buying you enough time to enact the second phase of Plan J.”

“I see.” The Songbird smiled, closing her eyes. “And you’re sure of this?”

“Absolutely. But we wanted you first to know… that you gave us purpose, a chance to do something bigger than ourselves. We will never forget you and what you’ve done for us lost souls, my lady.”

“Nor I, you.” There was a tear in the corner of the Songbird’s eye. “I will not attempt to stop you, but I wish you peace. Fly on, my friends, and may the light of Memoria guide you for all eternity.”

The feathers all took their leave, leaving us to ponder what fate awaited them. Though I could attempt a guess based on Autumn’s pained expression, and the somber ring to her words. After composing herself for a moment and taking a deep breath, the Songbird spoke.

“Several hours ago, Yamamoto-san—along with Jiro—succeeded in obtaining the documents on Director Barnes’ computer. After careful decryption, I came to find incriminating evidence against the Director of abuse of power, political bribes, and extortion, but the prize we sought was there as well. The transcript detailing the Director’s global expansion plans. We now know what he intends to achieve.”

With a wave of the Songbird’s wrist, a digital interface appeared behind us with the document I had recovered. A previously secret meeting transcript, now open for all to see. Faces around the room warped in horror as we read, with the exception of Tǒng who looked to Kururu to gauge her body language.

“This is…”

In a summit on Christmas Eve last year, around the time I had my accident, Director Barnes addressed a room full of anxious world leaders and oligarchs. They had met to discuss the accelerating collapse of life on Earth.

Pollution, nuclear war, and gross negligence have begun to render the planet uninhabitable for not only humanity but for every plant and animal species on the globe. They estimated that life would cease to be in under seventy years, not even three full generations if a solution wasn’t found.

And yet, even on the brink of this reality, they continued their petty conflicts with one another, fighting over privatizing the last consistent source of clean drinking water in the Arctic Circle for profit, among other such gripes.

Amidst growing animosity and civil unrest, Director Barnes played mediator, calmly offering them the ‘solution’ they so desperately craved, a way forward for the human civilization that would absolve them of personal responsibility for Earth’s decline. All while tackling the major issues, in theory. He proposed…

“Mass genocide… and our world leaders… agreed?” Kururu’s face was sheet white.

“Director Barnes, knowing full well that Eternals are merely simulacra, has convinced world leaders across the globe to prepare healthy people to be euthanized and their personalities uploaded to the Digiscape, twisting Ueda Akito’s vision of a transhumanist society in a truly horrendous way.” The Songbird’s voice wavered as she explained.

I didn’t know what I expected to hear, but it wasn’t this.

“Following that fateful meeting last year, billions of microchips have been manufactured to be provided to the human populace in every corner of the globe to the tune of trillions of dollars in future revenue for Project Memoria and Director Barnes.” Archie continued.

“So Barnes gets untold riches and political immunity by supplying the microchips and server space, and the world’s resource scarcity disappears overnight? A cost he claims he is willing to pay.” Thresh scowled.

“That makes one of us,” I said, gritting my teeth. “That damned monster needs to answer for this shit.”

This was so far beyond the pale that I didn’t know how to react. And after he made a big deal of my past, calling me a murderer. Barnes was not only a massive hypocrite but his brain was seriously screwed up if he thought the murder of countless people would go unpunished.

“Wasn’t your ex-wife the former director, Cowboy?” Kururu turned to me, worry plastered on her face. “Barnes succeeded her, and she didn’t even get the smallest feeling that he might be a bad egg?”

“But she did. As it turns out, Director Barnes was appointed assistant director not by Ueda Aki, but by the board of trustees with influence from Project Memoria’s mega-donors. She must have known what Director Barnes was planning, likely when he was still under her employ, but she couldn’t get rid of him.” The Songbird raised a good point. “The only way for us to find out for sure would be to access her notes, but you weren’t able to get that far, were you, Jiro?”

“Sadly not. Barnes popped in before I could start the bypass.” I sighed deeply. “But this has all but confirmed my theory that her death was no accident. I just need to hear it from the bastard’s mouth himself, after I kick his teeth in.”

“The Digiscape as we know it has been a testing ground for the purpose of importing billions—up to a third of the human population—into a large-scale prototype during an event in which Barnes has dubbed the Grand ‘Opening’.” Thresh read further as we discussed. “Your face tells me you’ve heard of this before, Nagai-san.”

I nodded. He was right, Barnes did mention a grand opening when I was in his office, but not when it would take place.

That would be all too convenient.

“This whole plan of his is pure evil, global expansion. Tch.” Thresh shook his head. “And to think I’ve played a part in this madness…”

“We all have, Doctor Guy.” Kururu said. “But being a defender of justice doesn’t mean you’re free from mistakes, it means you have the guts to take responsibility for them. Which is why I accepted your apology earlier.”

“Now you all know why Blackheart threatens to knock down our door. She has been made aware of these plans, and fears that we do not not have much longer before this Grand Opening.” The Songbird said.

“While connected to LiveRite Lab’s mainframe, I accessed purchasing data from the accounting wing by chance, and it appears the Director has spent a large sum of company funds.”

“How do you do that ‘by chance’?” I sighed, exasperated. “What was he spending it on?”

“Primarily on catering and rent for a large space at a hotel near the hospital, and for a number of complimentary flights for individuals in several countries. His booking is set for the day after tomorrow.”

“That soon!?” Kururu gasped. “We can’t be sure that it’s this grand opening thing, but if it is… then we don’t have all that much time to waste, do we?”

“But the question is… what do we do now that we know?” I asked as we all exchanged glances.

I didn’t like the silence that followed. Something told me I was the only one in the room who hadn’t accepted something as all eyes came to rest back on me. It was the Songbird who spoke next, after careful consideration.

“Jiro, our only path now is to do what I—and Blackheart—were created to do…” She looked on solemnly. “To shut the server down for good, in the quickest and most humane way we can.”