CHAPTER 4

“It's your chance to get away. To escape it all.”

If the ME had already seemed to good to be true at first, then this was just...

“-A virtual reality inside your own head. It doesn't need to be programmed further, nothing needs to be built or designed, your mind will do all the work. Of course, some unwanted things might pop up depending on what you're thinking about, but even if you're not completely in control, at least you know it's all yours. And that they can't touch it.”

Miria swallowed nervously. Yes...it made her nervous. It made her nervous just holding this thing.

A tiny silver cube, something so inconspicuous you could even mistake it for a paperweight. Only she and Kazumi knew just how powerful it was, just how literally life changing it could prove to be.

It had only been a matter of months since the introduction of the ME, which had already been life changing enough. Miria II still acted up now and then, leading to another lecture, but even that was still happening less frequently than before.

Everything was looking up...and now here came this new revelation that could indeed prove to make things even better.

“I've tested it myself, and let me tell you, Miria...” Kazumi continued, her eyes taking on a dreamy quality as she only became more excited just from talking about it, “I don't think I've felt this free since before the invasion. Maybe even freer than that. Changing memories isn't enough. This...this is the thing that I've really been waiting for.”

The simple cube that they now had set between them atop the tilted table was supposedly, a VR device that Kazumi had developed in record time, but had been planning for almost as long as the ME. If it worked as promised, then it would be able to put the user into a kind of lucid dreaming state, wherein which they could enter their own mind in a sense, experiencing it as vividly as they did reality.

The thought of being able to, well, think up whatever she wanted, and live it like that...was tempting indeed. But Miria was really in doubt this time around, and she couldn't hold back a scoff.

“Kazumi there's...there's no way.”

“Well sure, it still needs some polishing before I'll consider it safe enough to use. But trust me on this one!” Kazumi insisted, “If it works, it'll become your new weekend. Our new weekend. A freedom that feels real...we'll be able to experience it.”

Because surely, true freedom was unattainable, for as long as they still had to live on a planet like this.

Miria leaned in to look more closely at the device her genius of a friend had invented. If what Kazumi said was genuine, then this could really prove to be a step in the right direction.

She hoped.

…

Popori noticed that the girl was brimming with a lot of optimism lately. When she returned from her latest secret excursion to Kazumi's home, she was peering at her with some suspicion over the top of her textbook.

Feeling those violet eyes, Miria looked up from her spot reading manga on the bed, and smiled awkwardly.

“...Yes?”

“Hmm.” Popori lowered her book again and raised a perfectly groomed brow, narrowing her eyes to the point where they just about vanished, “What's up with you lately?”

“...How do you mean?”

Miria had a little moment of panic, her heart leaping inside her chest like it had been electrified. If Popori was catching on to what she had really been doing lately, she wasn't sure she could even trust her not to go to the principal about it.

“I don't know what it is, but-” Popori leaned closer in her chair, as if she were analyzing every inch of the girl sitting on her dorm room bed, “Lately you seem a little different.”

She leaned back a touch, “And you're always busy, even on our days off.”

“Popori...” Miria considered for a moment if the question she was about to pose was a wise one or not. But after a swallow, she spoke: “Do you think you can keep living like this?”

Their shared room was pretty quiet usually. Whenever they were both around, Popori would be sitting at her desk, typically studying like the astute student she was. They didn't talk much except when they were taking a break.

However, the silence now was so deafening, a single breath could break it like a bomb going off.

“Miria...don't tell me you're thinking of doing something stupid.”

Was using Kazumi's tech stupid? Or a step in the right direction?

“I'm just asking-”

“Miria.” Popori abruptly stood up, pushing her pink desk chair back and letting it swivel idly behind her, as she approached the other girl. Leaning over her, soft rose locks close to tickling her cheeks, she gripped her roommate by the shoulders.

Well. This is new.

“I know we don't talk about it much, but please.” her fingers dug in a touch, making the girl flinch and wince with discomfort, “Please don't cross them.”

“Cross- cross who-?”

Looking around herself, as if she were seeking for anyone who might be listening or watching, Popori's gaze returned to the seated girl before her. It was pained.

“You know who. People like Mikael are rare. The rest of them...they'd probably jump at any opportunity to get rid of us.”

This was the first time Miria had seen Popori so on edge.

“...There was a girl in my class. She must have been thinking wrong because the principal called her every day. She was always getting in trouble, just like you.”

Shifting herself so she could sit down next to her, Popori continued:

“And then one day, I guess she got so tired of that thing in her neck that she started digging it out with a pair of scissors. She tried to gouge herself right in front of the teacher, like a protest.” Popori shuddered, “We were all so shocked we couldn't even do or say anything. But the teacher stopped her before she went through with it, and pulled her out.”

Popori turned her head, staring directly at Miria then. Her pupils like pinpricks.

“That was the last time any of us saw her. The next day, they told us she'd 'moved away' and 'transferred schools' and-” her pastel nails dug into her kneecaps, knuckles whitening, “Maybe she really did. But maybe she didn't. None of us know what happens to the ones who disobey.”

Now it was Miria's turn to feel a shiver down her spine. It was true. Even Kazumi, for all her smarts, had no clue what would become of her should she be discovered.

But it was easy to hazard a guess. Monitoring every thought, attempts at re-education...it couldn't be the full extent of it. Protesters vanished. Nobody spoke of what happened to those who caused the Tetranai too much trouble.

They could infer though.

“Sometimes I still think about that girl. And then I think about you, and I see how you're so similar.” Popori told her, “I know maybe we aren't the closest of friends, and I know you'll never knuckle down and study properly like I do-”

Ouch.

“But I still don't want anything bad to happen to you.” Popori took Miria's hand, a gesture she'd never done before, “So whatever it is you've been up to lately, whatever you're really thinking...please be careful. Because they'll know everything.”

The white-haired girl sitting beside her hesitated. It wasn't as simple as telling her. Without the ME, a diligent student like this would have her mind read, stat, and they'd discover everything.

But she wished she could. She wished she could give her the same hope.

For now though, all she could do was nod stiffly, and force a smile again.

“Don't worry. I'll be careful.”

…

Soon enough, the night came when they were finally ready.

Kazumi was more solemn than usual when she let Miria in, and Miria II kept surprisingly quiet when they sat down to talk.

That silver cube was presented on the wonky kotatsu between them again, just like before. This time, Kazumi sat with a straighter back than usual, and no holo-cigarette between her teeth. Her hands clasped like she was heading a business meeting, Moustachio meanwhile burying his face inches deep into his bowl of cat food.

“...So...you tested it?”

“I tested it.”

Miria swallowed dryly, and looked down at the mysterious device again.

“And?”

For the first time in a long while, Kazumi's cool facade wavered. She turned her head to the side, curling her knuckle against her lips, her eyes glistening a touch.

“...Before I tried it on myself, I thought, 'this is too good to be true'. I thought for sure that it would just turn me brain-dead, at best. I didn't think I could ever make anything more advanced than the ME...”

Her hand slowly lowered, and when she looked back at the younger girl, her eyes showed her tears. A quivering emotion she wasn't trying to hold back anymore.

“I can't even describe it to you Miria. You have to see it for yourself.”

Then, she pushed the cube closer across the table, and gestured.

“Touch that button in the middle, and it'll connect to the chip in your head. Then you'll see.”

A grin broke out as she released a pent up choke, water running down her cheeks.

“You'll see why I call it the 'Dream Drive'.”