In Search of the Precious Tear I

---Chapter 21: In Search of the Precious Tear I

Quartz and Yui made their way across Crescent Island. Being careful to avoid as many of the enemy NPC’s as possible, they made their way through the forest, heading toward the center of the island via a path located between two mountains. Before long, they arrived at a large lake, where they saw the moderator Chronos standing on the shore awaiting their arrival.

“Greetings.” Chronos turned to them.

“Good to see you again!” Yui bowed her head earnestly.

“About your message… What kind of lead did you find?” Quartz asked, curious about what Chronos had learned.

“Right. To make a long story short, I think I have a basic grasp of, well, everything now…” spoke Chronos.

“Everything? Wait, what do you mean?!” Quartz asked, surprised.

“I think I understand what the original Mermaid’s Tear is …” Chronos spoke in a low voice.

“Really?!” even Yui was taken aback.

“C-can you explain from the beginning?” Quartz asked, hoping for some kind of explanation.

“Of course.” Chronos nodded. “See, in-between work, I’d been making use of my position as a moderator to investigate something. A few years ago, during the early days of this game, there were a small handful of players who transferred over from the game’s closed beta. Those players were the first generation of moderators. They no longer work here, but their records remained, including e-mail addresses. So, I’ve been trying to contact them in secret. Last night, I finally got a response.”

“Did you think they’d know about the Mermaid’s Tear since they were there during such an early stage of the game?” Quartz asked.

“Basically, yes.” Chronos nodded. “I tried contacting all of those early moderators, but most didn’t respond to me. Some who did said they couldn’t talk about it. It seems Cyber Moon had them under some legal binding preventing them from discussing their work on the game.”

“Then… what happened?” asked Quartz pensively.

“One person decided to speak with me. In a limited sense.” Chronos answered. “He asked to meet in person, so I went to meet him right away.”

---

“Listen, I can’t tell you anything directly.” the man said in a shaky voice.

Masahiro Suwada, the player behind Chronos in Myth of Genesis Online, nodded in response. Despite this reassurance, the other man’s eyes continued to dart around their surroundings. They’d met up at a small pub; the only other people here were tired salarymen drinking their troubles away. Despite this, the man continued to habitually peer over his shoulder, seemingly convinced that the ears of Cyber Moon could be anywhere. Heck, for all he knew, this whole meeting could be a trap to see if he’d slip up.

“S-so, before I say anything, do you know someone who’s lost and can’t get home?” the man asked suddenly.

“… Excuse me?” Masahiro blinked, a bit confused. But then, a moment later, the player YUI-YUI popped into his mind.

Earlier that day, Quartz and Yui had spoken to him, informing him of the full truth of Yui’s situation. As unbelievable as it sounded, he didn’t reject it outright, and said he’d continue trying to help them.

So, what’s this about a “lost person who can’t get home”? If he’s limited on what he can say directly, he’d naturally only speak indirectly. Metaphorically speaking, Yui fits the broad idea of someone “lost” who cannot get home.

“Wait, sorry, I understand.” Masahiro quickly corrected his earlier words of confusion. “Yes, there is someone who can’t get home.”

At those words, the man appeared visibly distressed and lowered his head. A few moments passed, and he spoke again.

“Did you know? Fish can’t cry.” he said.

“They can’t?” Masahiro asked, tilting his head.

“They’re underwater creatures. Their bodies aren’t designed to shed tears.” the man spoke. “So, if a human-shaped fish existed, would that creature be able to cry?”

“I guess not, no…” Masahiro could tell this conversation had something to do with the Mermaid’s Tear, but it was so vague he didn’t understand what the man was getting at.

“No… They could cry.” the man answered. “The reason fish cannot cry isn’t just because they live in water. They’re different from us mammals; their brains aren’t designed to process emotion. If a fish were shaped like a human, and carried with it a human-like brain… then that just might be a fish that could cry.”

“I… see…” Masahiro struggled to understand the metaphor behind this tidbit of information.

“So, if such a fish were to cry… When would it do so?” the man asked.

“When would it… Huh? Hmm…” Masahiro’s expression became troubled.

This man is going out of his way to avoid saying the word mermaid… But basically, he’s saying that a mermaid can cry. If this is supposed to hint at the location of the Mermaid’s Tear, then I still don’t quite follow… To begin with, who is the mermaid in this situation? Yui?

“Ah…” Masahiro suddenly had a thought. “You’re saying that a human-shaped fish would, by definition, be a creature that’s more human than fish, right?”

“Yes. Because fish cannot cry.” the man nodded.

“Tell me one thing… Why would a human-shaped fish cry to begin with?” Masahiro asked, nervously.

“Because it can no longer return home, probably.” the man glanced at the surroundings, sweating nervously.

I understand. In this metaphor, if Yui is the mermaid, then the sea is the game… Myth of Genesis Online. If “home” is where the mermaid belongs, then its home is with others that can also shed tears, like mammals on the surface. Or rather, the real world.

“Is there a way to bring the human-shaped fish back home?” Masahiro asked, carefully.

“I-if the human-shaped fish repeated the actions that lead it to cry, then maybe it could find a way home.” the man spoke in a low, shaky voice.

“… And for what did it cry in the first place?” Masahiro asked.

“Perhaps, the realization that it had become a fish, and shouldn’t cry.” the man answered. “So if that was the last time it shed tears, those tears could still linger, carrying memories of the fish’s true home.”

“Ah… Ahhh! I see!” Masahiro slowly started to piece things together in his mind.

Between this bizarre metaphorical discussion, and the knowledge he’d learned from Quartz and Yui earlier, he’d begun to realize exactly what this man was trying to say. He just had to confirm it…

“Answer me this… If there was a space that existed between land and sea, what color would that place be?” Masahiro asked.

“… White.” the man answered.

---

“The white void…” Quartz mumbled.

After listening to Chronos’ story, Quartz had also begun to understand exactly what the former moderator was trying to say behind his metaphors.

“I’ve never been able to get back there, though…” Yui frowned.

“Don’t worry, I think I know how you got there.” Chronos answered.

“Wait, you do?!” Yui was surprised.

“The story you and Quartz shared had all the information I needed.” Chronos nodded. “I think you encountered a bug where the game couldn’t process a certain calculation and as a result despawned the involved objects.”

“Huh? What do you mean?” Quartz asked, confused.

“Let me explain this first: despite being a moderator, I do not have access to any of the core data involved with how this game actually runs.” Chronos suddenly began explaining. “We’re given access to moderation tools, and have a space called the Creation Map where we can collaborate with the game design department on new assets and functions for the game. But neither we nor they are able to even see the code that actually allows any of this to function. The core functions of this game are all processed within an encrypted folder of data that can only be accessed by the Cyber Moon company heads, and only on the company’s primary super-computer.”

“Okay…? But what does that have to do with what we were talking about?” Quartz asked.

“The process involved with spawning objects in or out of the game world is a function handled by the game’s core data. In other words, where the data of a despawned object actually ends up is a complete mystery to me and most other employees. But Yui… You saw it yourself, because you somehow invoked an instance that caused your player character itself to despawn.”

“Then, that white void was…” Yui started to realize what he was saying.

“It was probably a digital space where all of the game’s functions are processed. Basically, you entered the core of Myth of Genesis Online itself.” Chronos stated. “Which means that your quest, and the Mermaid’s Tear itself, are functions built into the game’s core programming. That’s why I was unable to find anything about them on my end.”

“I see… So what that old mod was trying to say, is that in order for the mermaid to find its tear again, it must return to that space, where the tragedy of ‘becoming a fish’ first happened. The place where a ‘fish’ shed tears.” Quartz reasoned.

“So returning to the void will resolve things, right? Then, how do I get back?” Yui asked, looking at Chronos.

“Based on your story from before, I have one guess on how to do it…” Chronos lifted his head. “You must fight that boss monster again, and once more deliver a finishing blow… at the same time it defeats you with an attack of its own. A double-KO.”

[To be continued…]