Epilogue: To Entrust Unto Tomorrow

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Staring at myself in the vanity, I checked my makeup for any obvious mistakes. I had a makeup artist, but she was on maternity leave so I had to improvise as best I could.

“Uruka-san, you’re on in five!” A TV producer peeked out from behind the curtain, disappearing before I had a chance to ask for more time. That happened a lot these days.

I still wasn’t used to all my newfound fame and notoriety. Uruka Kurumi, CEO of Project Genesis was too flashy, even for a self-proclaimed magical girl who reveled in the attention. Yamamoto had never told me it would be like this when he took me on as an assistant. The company was his, of course, but he thought my face would sell more stocks.

Guess it worked.

It had been six years now since the events at LiveRite Labs. As soon as Project Memoria crashed, Yamamoto used Barnes’ cell phone to mass-text world leaders to abandon course. In the aftermath, the company was liquidated to cover numerous legal costs and the surgical removal of countless microchips. Meanwhile, I went home after it all and made up with my family, but I was forever changed for the experience.

Two bodies were recovered from the scene. One of a megalomaniac whose machinations almost cost the world billions of lives, and a man labeled by locals as a fugitive of the law. Imagine my silent anger as the wrong man was mourned and touted as a great loss to the scientific community. But Cowboy’s sacrifice wasn’t lost on those of us who knew the truth.

After a summit with world leaders, humanity decided collectively to take accountability for their neglect of the planet—instead of shortcuts—and the Earth slowly began its recovery, but we had a long road ahead of us. That was for sure.

“One minute!” The producer poked their head in and out again.

“Guess it’s showtime.” I did a magical girl pose in the mirror before breaking out into a laugh. My pantsuit hardly did it justice, but it was my way of getting rid of nervous energy.

The cameras flashed as I stepped out onto the stage in heels, waving at as many people as I could. My husband, Tǒng, and my best friend Ruri—whom I reconnected with only last year—were there in the front row to greet me, along with my parents and twin sister, Kisaki.

I sat down on a sofa, opposite the host of the show I was joining as a guest.

“Tell me Uruka-san, you’ve experienced roaring success as the chair of Project Genesis. The virtual experience has been a widespread success for users to briefly escape the toil and smog-covered skies of the real world, in favor of wide open spaces. It’s an escapist’s dream. I mean, you’ve got environments on a planetary scale here, it’s incredible! Forests, mountains, deserts, and oceans, you name it. And the people there are so friendly, the umm…”

“Eternals. And you’re too kind, but as I’ve said, none of this would’ve been possible without Ueda Aki-san laying the groundwork with her research, and my friends who have been there every step of the way. And our executive program, Archie, that runs the whole shebang.”

“Fascinating stuff. So, what’s next for Uruka Kurumi?”

“Well… I’ll let one of my friends on the other side of the screen tell you that.”

“Pardon?”

I motioned to one of the producers, and they flipped on the big television screen over our heads, showing a live feed of Genesis, our creation. There were three people on the screen waving at the crowd to many ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’. Many hadn’t seen anything like it before, and I played into the spectacle of it all.

“Hey, you three,” I spoke into a microphone in my breast pocket, communicating with those inside. “Could you tell all these nice people what’s next for us?”

I gave them the floor. The perfect spokespeople to share the story of their happily ever after. A cute little family with whom I was well acquainted, Yuna, Shizuka… and Jiro grinned back at me.

[THE END]