Solnus 1. In the Ending: The Light and the Sounds; Circumadversum Omatsuri and the Octagon; Platycerium coronarium and the Fans; Hercules and Sysyphus

One day, what we might call the “Circumadversum Omatsuri” or “Circumadversum Grand Festival.”

Seira Ito Fotiou, a woman in her 24s, still vividly remembers the words of someone who had just died the night before.

That person, an old man who had died by sacrificing himself, said to Seira and several others beside him at his deathbed:

“Look, I assure you this is not a dream. Your gathering seems to be a "Wake" for me. After all my missteps and my exactitudes, all the wrongs and rights of my vertex and edge choices, I think we've come to the end.”

"In the end, there will be the Light, which will emanate forthwith following the Sound. I figured out that's exactly what ensued from our labors. And for us, G-H-IJ, it is our "Labor of Hercules" to ensure that the Light and the Sound can be demonstrated to a fare-thee-well to checkmath the Circumadversum Omatsuri."

"And you, Seira, who will be at the centroid point on the Silver Boy Shrimp, we will all shield and support you so that you can complete your toilsome solitary labor: to promptly sound the Sound to construct a Mandaorla on a given adversary's Mandaorla."

That "solitary labor" currently left Seira alone in a silvery-gray metal-lined room. The room was shaped like an octagonal prism. The room was quite cramped, even smaller than Seira's beds during her childhood, adolescence, college, and work.

The length of each side of the octagonal floor of the room is 0.9 meters. With that figure, the distance between the opposite parallel sides of the floor is 2.17 meters. It could also be stated that the distance between opposite sides of the floor is 2.35 meters. In other words, the floor area of ​​the room is slightly narrower than the area of ​​a circle with a diameter of 2.35 meters.

The height of the room compared to its diameter is 1:2.414. In other words, the distance from the floor to the ceiling is only about 0.9735 meters. Seira, who is about 163 centimeters tall, cannot stand upright in the room.

Inside the room, Seira sits on the floor with her legs outstretched under a device stand. The device in front of Seira is shaped like a tube, which is placed horizontally. The diameter of the circular tube is 54 centimeters. Meanwhile, the thickness or height of the tube is about 1.25 times its diameter, or in other words, about 67.5 centimeters.

To Seira's right and left were two objects of the same shape and size. Both were shaped like rackets or fans: a circle with a handle. The lower end of the handle was anchored to a stand, keeping them upright.

Each of the two "fan" objects had a diameter of 28 centimeters, while their handles were 26 centimeters long. In other words, the total length of each of the two objects was the same as the diameter of the tube in front of Seira, which was 54 centimeters.

Currently, Seira's right and left hands were holding two instruments to operate on the "tube" in front of her and the two "fans" on her right and left. Operating on one "tube" and two "fans" involved not only the instruments Seira held but also her wrists. Seira's wrists looked different from those of a normal person because they had undergone significant modifications.

As a result of these modifications, a cluster of hanging strands now appeared on both of Seira's wrists. The hanging leaves resemble the crown staghorn fern, known in Latin as Platycerium coronarium. Unlike the crown staghorn fern's irregular hanging leaves, the ones on Seira's wrist are arranged in a jar-like pattern.

For your information, the crown staghorn fern has two distinct leaf types: "green antler fronds" and "brown basal fronds or shield leaves." The hanging leaves on Seira's wrist are neither green nor brown, but rather a gradient combination of black and pink. This black and pink combination matches Seira's hair color.

Several other people with wristbands also had the same color as their hair. That's right, "other people." Besides Seira, there were indeed others whose wrists had been modified like Seira's.

These other people were currently outside the confined space where Seira was. They had to carry out their duties, protecting Seira with their weapons. One of their mainstays was a rifle they called the JH-1 rifle.

The JH-1 rifle was similar in design to the M7. Its size was also comparable to the M7, at around 914 millimeters. However, there was a striking difference between it and the M7: it had a "lighter" above the magazine and a "fan" in front of the magazine.

Currently, Seira also had the "lighter and fan" rifle slung over her back. It wasn't her job to use that weapon. The weapon was there for the worst-case scenario, just in case Seira's octagonal space was breached by adversaries.

()()()

The final run-up. Seira attached three other devices: two to each of her wrists and one to the top of her head. The wrist device resembled a bracelet, while the head device resembled a pair of headphones.

What these devices had in common was a "fan" part. There was one fan on each of Seira's wrists, facing the crown staghorn fern. Her headset, meanwhile, had a curved antenna that held two fans, each facing the earcups that now covered Seira's ears.

While concentrating on waiting for signs of her opponent's stratagems, Seira's mind wandered briefly to the path her life had taken thus far. She recalled her childhood, when she heard stories told by her mother and father. She also recalls the various life choices she made, from her teenage years, through college, and after college.

It was this series of life choices that landed Seira in the cramped octagon of performing the all-important task of "moving the compass and ruler." These choices include when she considered mathematical activities like reading Euclid's works as a hobby, when she continued to maintain and cultivate her artistic adroitness, when she added "blue-purple tea" to her list of favorite foods and drinks after almonds and lemons, and when she chose a career after graduating from college.

Regarding the life choices she's making now, Seira hopes:

"I hope what we're doing in this "Circumadversum Omatsuri" will indeed be a "Labor of Hercules," where Hercules can finally complete his tasks and receive his just reward. I hope this won't end up like Sisyphus's absurd labors, where he has to lift a boulder up a hill, only to have it roll back down and have to repeat the task."