CHAPTER 3

Kazumi, you're a genius.

Initially, although she wouldn't have said it to her, Miria had her doubts. She wondered if such a device could be too good to be true. What they dubbed the 'ME', a.k.a, 'Memory Eraser', was almost like some stubby little magic wand that she could swish her problems away with.

Yet when she tried, doing the same thing Kazumi did, she was amazed to find that it worked just as well as it had for her. That Sunday, she recalled staying home, reading manga and playing video games in her shared dorm room. Yet the note told her she did her usual, taking a walk around outside.

Miria confirmed it with her roommate just in case.

“You? Staying home? On a Sunday? That's hilarious.” Popori flicked her lone rose colored braid over her shoulder as she looked up from her desk, doing last minute homework for tomorrow morning, “You're always out of the door before it's 9AM. I even asked if you wanted to stay in for once and watch a movie together but you said 'no'.”

“You're sure...I didn't stay home today? Definitely?”

Popori turned to her fully, squinting at the girl with her scarlet eyes, “Are you feeling sick? Did you really forget already? No, you didn't stay home.”

Well, that made perfect sense. Miria knew it herself, she never did on a Sunday. Yet her memories were telling her differently. She could only recall being buried nose deep in the pages of a manga, not a breath of fresh air in her lungs.

Which means, the device really does work.

Does this mean I can say whatever I like now?

No, that wasn't what it meant at all. But at the very least, this gave her a window of opportunity every time she used it. If she wanted to, even without leaving the city, she could start doing what Kazumi was. As long as nobody else was a witness (not even Mikael), she could start thinking up and testing ways to conquer the chip in her neck as well.

Or at least, it was tempting. However, her technical prowess couldn't compare to a savant like Kazumi. But at least she would be able to visit her without so many worries from now on.

Classes proceeded smoothly the next day. Miria II kept surprisingly quiet like she'd sort of promised to, and for once, Miria herself was able to put in enough effort to impress her teachers. Even the classroom assistant was taken aback, coming to her desk not to scold her this time, but to praise her.

“I'm impressed.” she tapped under her ear, “You're thinking very clearly today.”

Miria smiled up at her, all the while keeping her mind full of thoughts about the work she was doing. Memories were a lot harder to control, so she let the ME take care of that part. In those brief moments when her mind was invaded for a miniature check like that, it was easy enough for her to keep her mind free of thoughts about the ME.

They said that if you were told not to think about something, it was all you could think about. But Miria did surprisingly well, and with her other self keeping their mouth shut, so far, things were alright.

I'll just make sure I stay well rested and focused. If I try to genuinely enjoy my schoolwork, then hopefully my thoughts won't ever drift towards the ME when I get tested on the spot like that.

I'm surprised you're doing so well.

I'm surprised you learned to shut up too.

Watch it.

The girl smirked to herself, and Mikael noticed, the two of them on their lunch break in their usual spot again. As a light breeze drifted by, he let it push back his pallid hair from his face, and leaned in close to her.

“Miria?”

She flinched and turned red, feeling his breath practically against her neck. Quickly looking over, she awkwardly spluttered, almost snorting the school-issued 'water milk' from her nose,

“Y-yep?” she choked out after swallowing.

“Heh...” Mikael smiled gently, leaning back a bit and admiring her, “Today I don't know what it is...you look very happy.”

“...Oh...yeah I...I suppose I am...” Miria subconsciously rubbed her neck and looked at her lap, her gaze getting lost in the azure blue and white checkered pattern, “I'm doing a bit better in my studies compared to before.”

“That's great!” he beamed, taking her hand suddenly which only made her more surprised. She looked over slowly, to see his eyes wide and hopeful as they stared back at her, “-Because if we both do well in school then maybe we can both get into the same university too!”

University. Career. The future...

Miria didn't often contemplate it so much. The human populace was dwindling daily, aliens were taking over in every respect. It was nightmarish to imagine that she might end up as a housewife to a Tetranai or something.

But...if it were someone like Mikael, that wouldn't be so bad.

…

“Kazumi...have you ever wanted to get married?”

The woman sitting across from her just about had an aneurysm hearing that, giving Miria the kind of look you might give someone who just slaughtered your entire family.

“Excuse me?”

“Ah-” Awkwardly, Miria cleared her throat and busied herself with unwrapping another macaron so she didn't have to look at her so directly, “Sorry if that's a weird question. It's just something I've thought about sometimes.”

“...I'm a Straggler, Miria. Who's going to want to marry me?” she asked, before propping her elbow across the top of her knee, waggling the vape between her gleaming teeth, “Besides...I never really liked the idea of marriage. I don't want kids, and I don't want a husband nagging me about washing the dishes either.”

Miria stole a quick glance around the perimeter of the cramped apartment. Yes...that much was quite clear.

“But if you wanna get married Miria, I fully support you!” the older woman abruptly clapped her hands together, startling the young student.

“Wha-”

“What was his name again? 'Michael' or something?”

Turning bright red, Miria stuttered; “M-Mikael!?”

Bingo.

“Yeah!” Kazumi gave her a thumbs up and a big grin, “That's the one! You guys sound like you'd be perfect for each other!”

“N-no way!” Miria stood up from the kotatsu, storming away by a few steps and clenching her hands by her sides, “There's no way! Besides, he's a Tetranai!”

“...”

Kazumi turned her head and let her chin rest on the top of her hand, eyeing her desk and then the window beside it. The projection was playing some sort of comedy show against the glass, but they had the sound turned way down while they enjoyed some grilled meat for dinner and talked.

“He's just a kid...” she muttered, before sighing and looking up at Miria again, “And so are you, so I suppose marriage isn't something you should even be worrying about yet. Just focus on behaving in school so they don't start meddling with your mind too much.”

It concerned her though. Who was to say that by tomorrow there wouldn't be a new rule enforced? A rule that said every student in the city had to get their minds completely wiped? Tokyo was after all, the base where they tested all their new methods first and foremost, before introducing them to the rest of the world.

Kazumi had only heard about these so-called 'rehab' programs they had for especially bad eggs, both kids and adults alike, but if she had to guess, anyone who endured it probably wouldn't come out as the same person.

And she didn't want Miria to change.

“Come on, eat the rest of your dinner-” she waved the girl back over to join her again, “You'll have to get back to the city before curfew, right?”

Right. Miria always snuck away to the Outer Edge through one of the underground passages that was still open, and so far so good, but if she wasn't careful she could end up getting caught out if she returned too late to her dorm. She always told Popori she was on another one of her walks, and the girl bought it. Miria wanted to be able to trust her, but she couldn't be sure Popori wouldn't rat her out to the principal if she ever discovered the truth.

“Good thing they don't have a GPS in the chip too.” Miria said, as she sat back down and picked at her portion, while Kazumi nodded in agreement.

“Good thing, for now at least. If I had to guess, they must not have been able to create a chip that could sufficiently read minds without interference from GPS capabilities being built in. Otherwise we'd probably have implants that could do all sorts of heinous things at once.” Kazumi shuddered, “For all their intellect, they're not quite there yet. But be careful, if they ever 'upgrade' it for you.”

Miria was forever grateful. Kazumi knew her way around this stuff so well.

“I will be careful. Always.”

Shoving a piece of grilled beef into her maw, she chewed it with fervor, reminded of how hungry she actually was, “Anyway, can we talk about something different? I don't wanna think about the chip anymore tonight.”

For Kazumi though, it was difficult to take her mind off of. Dipping her hand into her pocket, she produced the cylinder she always carried too, and twirled it in her free hand while shoving more meat in her mouth with the other, “Hard not to. I've already started working on my next project.”

Miria met her gaze, looking curious. But Kazumi just chuckled and tapped the tip of her nose.

“Just you wait.”