Chapter XII: Wishes

Tetsuo sat on the edge of the apartment rooftop, his legs dangling into the flooded street below. Far beneath, he observed Paradox Movement personnel ushering more survivors into the complex. A yellow school bus had pulled up to the entrance, its doors opening to release a flood of civilians who were quickly escorted inside.

In his grip, he held ‘Destiny’—a long, red-braided spear that vibrated faintly with restrained energy, threatening to shatter under the pressure of his clenched fist.

***

““That’s where you come in, Mr Kenshin,” Arthur said, retrieving a spear from his Gizmo’s inventory. The weapon thudded heavily onto the table in front of Tetsuo. Its presence seemed to hum through the air.

Still reeling from the avalanche of classified reports and impossible revelations, Tetsuo stared blankly at it.

“And you expect me to do what with this?” he asked, barely masking his disbelief.

“I need you to help neutralise a threat we’re about to face,” Arthur replied, spreading a creased 2023 map of Queens across the table. His tone was too calm, too rehearsed.

“I’ve ordered barricades at critical junctions—Grand Central Parkway, Jackie Robinson Parkway, Queens Boulevard. The objective is to force our target down one path: Union Turnpike.” He tapped the spot with a gloved finger. “Here.”

Tetsuo raised a brow. “The target being?”

Arthur paused. “An SUV will arrive by midnight. Its driver is our objective—Alice. Or more accurately: Dr Alice Elizabeth Starling. Officially dead. Unofficially... very much alive.”

Arthur’s expression hardened. “We believe she’s the catalyst for the collapse of our world. You need to stop her. Kill it, before it’s too late.”

***

Back on the rooftop, Tetsuo sat in silence, the memory weighing heavily in his mind. Around him, the wind howled. The rain cut through the dark like freezing needles. He was drenched, trembling—but unshaken.

Not until someone tapped him on the shoulder.

Lucy stood beside him, just as soaked. Resources had been prioritised for civilian volunteers—raincoats, thermal shelters, umbrellas—but Quasars like them didn’t need such comforts. Genetically enhanced, immune to most sicknesses, they were built to survive.

Even so, they still felt discomfort.

Tetsuo’s teeth chattered. His jaw ached. Without saying a word, Lucy pressed an SDN device to his jacket. A transparent energy shell wrapped around him, instantly warming his body.

“Take care of yourself,” she said, sitting beside him. “You’re no good to anyone if you freeze and become a rooftop gargoyle.”

Tetsuo let out a faint laugh. “Everything’s happening too fast.”

Thanks to the SDN’s integrated comms, their voices carried clearly despite the storm.

“What’s eating you?” Lucy asked. She knew him well. Tetsuo was rarely serious—sarcastic, lazy, easily distracted—but today was different.

He was heavy. Focused. Haunted.

“I...” He paused. “Felix is dead.”

Lucy didn’t respond. She waited.

“And I don’t know how I’m supposed to tell Eva. If we ever even get the chance.” His voice thinned. “She’s always had this... shadow over her. That sort of sadness you can’t name.”

Tetsuo swallowed, eyes fixed on his soaked gloves.

“Mental illness is rare now. Cured, mostly. Thanks to NIX. But Eva... she fights something no one can see. And I’ve never known how to help her.”

“She found hope in Felix. He was trying to find Starling. Eva helped him. They became friends. She smiled again. Laughed. Had something to live for.”

He stared down at the spear.

“Maybe Starling planned it all. Maybe she vanished to give Felix purpose. Maybe she knew Eva would get better if Felix stayed close. Maybe it was all a lie—but it worked. And now... I have to kill her.”

He looked away.

“And this is how I say thank you.”

Lucy clenched her fists, silent.

***

Lucy slammed open the door, storming into the room where Arthur and Sievernich stood mid-discussion. Whatever strategies they’d been quietly scheming vanished the moment she entered. Neither man had expected her—nor the fury radiating off her like heat from a furnace.

Without hesitation, she marched straight to Arthur, summoning Excalibur in a flash of crimson light. The blade hissed through the air, stopping just short of his throat—the razor edge brushing his skin.

“Why did you give the task to Tetsuo? That was mine!” Lucy snapped, her voice a venomous hiss. Her sword trembled, vibrating with her restrained rage.

Sievernich instinctively reached for his phaser, raising it toward her head—but Arthur held up a calm hand, signalling him to lower it.

Arthur didn’t flinch. He folded his arms casually, as though the gleaming blade at his neck were a mere nuisance.

“What difference does it make?” he asked coolly. “Whether it’s you or him—the result will be the same. I simply believe Tetsuo has a higher chance of success. Isn’t that fair?” His tone oozed condescension.

Lucy’s grip tightened. “You think I’d fail?” Her voice was low, deadly.

Arthur’s smirk widened. “Shouldn’t be surprising. From what I’ve seen, you’re even more pathetic than the woman you claim to hate—the one you were born with.” His tone sharpened. He leaned in slightly, eyes gleaming. “At least give yourself credit for one thing: you sparked the Narrative. You ignited the Bundles. Be proud. You’re still the key. The Anointed, as you so desperately want to be.”

He leaned back again, gaze cold. “Now, if there's nothing else, I'd like to resume my conversation with Mr. Sievernich.”

Lucy didn’t move at first. Her expression remained carved in silent fury. But after a long, trembling breath, she withdrew Excalibur, letting it dissolve into light.

“Once this is over... we’re done,” she said coldly, brushing past Sievernich and slamming her shoulder into his as she stormed out. The door banged shut behind her, causing the framed photos on the wall to rattle.

Arthur watched her leave. He scoffed quietly.

“Fool. Still thinks she can escape the Narrative. But she’s already buried in it. The wheel’s turning—and it won’t stop for anyone.”

Without missing a beat, he turned back to Sievernich, resuming their conversation as though nothing had happened.

***

Back on the rooftop, Lucy’s memory soured her stomach.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

Tetsuo looked at her, confused. “For what?”

“For failing you. For failing Felix. For going along with NIX. For not being brave enough to stop any of it.”

Tetsuo shook his head. “I would've done the same. I ran from everything. I was a coward too. But I had friends... friends like you. So don’t blame yourself, or I’ll have to start blaming myself.”

He gave her a small, grateful smile.

Lucy leaned in and kissed him on the cheek.

His face lit up red. “Uh... what was that?”

“A good luck charm,” she said playfully.

Before he could say more, a message appeared on their visors:

Without a word, Tetsuo vanished into the storm.

Tetsuo dashed across rooftops, landing atop a grocery store across from the checkpoint. The wind screamed. The rain cut sideways. He summoned Destiny.

Activating his Constellation, he slipped out of reality.

Activating his Constellation, Tetsuo vanished from reality—invisible, not just to sight, but to existence itself. In his mind, a latticework of mechanical parts and digital circuits whirred to life, like vintage film reels spinning along a conveyor belt of computation.

Two system components lit up:
→ “CPU's Precision Enhancement”
→ “VR’s Trajectory Optimisation”

They locked into his neural interface alongside a third—“CAD’s Throughput Acceleration.” Three of his four mental "Memory Slots" were now engaged. A holographic atomic clock appeared, its numbers ticking in sync with a warning display:
“Neural Temperature Rising — Current Fluctuation: 0.000K to 1.000K.”
A caution pulsed in the corner of his vision: “Cognitive strain risk: Hippocampal Overload Imminent.”

His perception snapped into hyper-focus. Time slowed. Rain fell in stuttering frames. Every droplet hung midair like suspended mercury. His enhanced vision locked onto the distant SUV.

Behind the wheel was Alice. Her expression was unreadable—bored, maybe distracted, squinting through the sheets of rain. He scanned the cabin. Two passengers were strangers... but the other two jolted a panic straight into his chest: Dr. Bartholomew Buchanan... and Eva.

His stomach dropped. Eva?
She was in the line of fire.

He hesitated—just long enough to feel the weight of the decision.

Then Alice looked up.
Her eyes met his—piercing through invisibility, distance, and rain as if none of it mattered.

She saw him.

Tetsuo reacted instinctively. He hurled the spear—Destiny—with all the force his augmented system could generate.

The projectile veered off slightly, bypassing Alice and slamming directly into the engine block.

Yet somehow, impossibly—Destiny also pierced through Alice’s chest, as though it refused to miss.

But at that exact moment, something else struck.

The SUV jerked violently from a side impact—whether from a Void or some unknown force, he couldn’t tell—just as the spear hit. The impact was cataclysmic. A fireball exploded outward, flames and shrapnel bursting in all directions.

A split second later, an invisible force slammed into Tetsuo, flinging him off the rooftop like a rag doll. He crashed through the grocery store’s ceiling, landing hard amid shelves and debris. A sharp crack echoed as something in his body gave way. Pain blanketed his senses. His Constellation deactivated with a screech of failing circuits.

Through blurry, half-closed eyes, he saw it—a towering, amorphous figure, drifting above him like a wraith of thundercloud and smoke. It wore a Greek-style helmet, and its eyes glowed a deep, malevolent crimson.

Screams echoed distantly—blurred and broken, as if submerged underwater.

The last thing he saw was the being peering directly into his soul, unblinking, as everything around him faded to black.

***

“What? Tetsuo is trapped inside the grocery store with civilians—hostage? How does that happen with trained armed personnel stationed outside?” Eva demanded sharply, her voice cutting through the roar of the storm.

Lucy, unwilling to reveal the full truth, offered only a vague explanation. She deliberately omitted the part where the so-called "train personnel" were actually Paradox Movement operatives.

“This is serious. We need to act fast.” Eva tore off her arm cast. The injury had nearly healed. Lucy handed her a Medibot Regeneration Bandage and an outdated SDN device for extra support. Eva accepted without hesitation.

Summoning her M.J.O.L.N.I.R., she launched herself at the storm-like entity. But her strikes were futile—the amorphous, cloud-like figure evaded effortlessly. Yet strangely, it dodged only her attacks. Everyone else’s weapons—including their own M.J.O.L.N.I.R.s—phased through it harmlessly.

“Weiss!” a voice called out.

Eva turned to see Paul Sievernich motioning for her. She sprinted toward him, landing beside him just in time to avoid stepping into a widening sinkhole. Her foot briefly sunk into the sand—Paul grabbed her and pulled her free.

Around them, the city distorted. What had moments ago been a rain-soaked battlefield now resembled a sunlit desert. The heatless sun blazed overhead, but the wind remained frigid. The environment felt... wrong, like a shattered imitation of reality.

“You noticed how it dodges your M.J.O.L.N.I.R., but not the others?” Sievernich asked.

“I assumed it was baiting me,” Eva replied. “Playing with me.”

“Maybe. Or maybe it’s something else.” Paul’s eyes narrowed. “We’ll engage it directly. You wait—strike when the moment’s right.”

He returned to the fray. His squad attacked with phasers and close combat techniques. Eva remained behind, scanning for an opening.

Suddenly, Lucy landed beside her.

Before either could speak, a deafening roar shook the earth. A wall of sand—nearly 50 meters high—erupted, encircling the grocery store. Winds surged with the force of a Category 5 hurricane, cutting off reinforcements.

Screams were drowned out as sand devoured soldiers in seconds.

The entity raised both arms and clapped.

Thunder shattered the air. Lightning slammed into the sand, transmuting it into glass spikes—fulgurites. Sievernich’s squad vaporized in seconds, turned to ash before they could react.

Eva and Lucy narrowly evaded the initial strike, but another clap followed. This time, the fulgurites shot lightning in all directions, forming a deadly web. The remaining fighters scattered in panic. One by one, they were struck down.

Eva braced herself for death.

Suddenly, something leapt between them and the incoming bolt—a flash of fur and electricity.

The bolt fizzled out harmlessly.

When the dust settled, Schrödinger was perched on Eva’s shoulder, fur singed, eyes glowing.

“Are you alright, Eva?” he asked, voice light but strained.

She exhaled in disbelief. “You saved us.”

Schrödinger chuckled. “Can’t have you turned into toast. It’d ruin your aesthetic.”

Eva frowned. “What?”

Lucy groaned nearby. “I owe your demon cat a thank you. My ears are still ringing.”

Before Eva could answer, a pillar of light engulfed the field.

Sievernich was airborne—flying. He clashed with the entity, barehanded. But Quasars couldn’t fly. That was the point of SDN tech.

“Is he even a Quasar?” Eva whispered.

Sievernich raised one hand. Light burst from the sky, forming a prison of radiant pillars around the entity. Then—he split. Multiple copies of himself rushed in from all directions, attacking in rapid succession. The battlefield shook with each strike.

And then—he headbutted the entity, slamming it into the ground. He soared again, driving downward for the killing blow—

But in a blink, the entity reappeared in front of him. Unscathed.

Before Sievernich could react, a massive palm crashed into his chest, flattening him into the sand.

Then the ground moved.

Like liquid, the sand flowed, sweeping Sievernich’s body across the battlefield—into the grocery store.

Eva gasped. “It... teleported him?”

Schrödinger narrowed his eyes. “Now I understand.”

He shrank, curling once more onto Eva’s shoulder.

“You what?” she snapped. “Do you know what this thing is? How to beat it?”

Schrödinger tilted his head. “Say the words: ‘Schrödinger, help me.’ Then I can.”

Eva scowled. “Didn’t I just ask for help?”

“Not properly. My powers are... conditional. I mean, I could level a city block, but—” he said, shrugging.

She dropped him to the sand.

“I’m not saying it.”

“IDIOT!” he shouted, now genuinely angry. “You don’t even know what you’re fighting! It’s not a Void. It’s worse.”

“Then give me a clue. Don’t manipulate me, Schrödinger.”

Her eyes shimmered—multi-coloured, like oil on water. Schrödinger froze.

She continued. “Voids don’t leave traces. This thing? It’s reality incarnate. I’ve faced a world-ending being once before. I won’t lose another home.”

Without waiting for his reply, she took off toward the entity. Lucy followed close behind.

“Wait—can you understand that cat?” Lucy asked mid-run.

“He’s not a cat,” Eva muttered. “He’s the Devil.”

Eva phase-shifted toward the enemy. This time, it didn’t dodge. Instead, it summoned a saber. The two weapons collided with a sound like a thunderclap.

Lucy activated her Scheduler, slamming herself into the creature’s base, dispersing storm clouds with the sheer force. Dozens of sunlight-yellow Excalibur copies rained down from the sky. The sand creature's form shimmered—turning to fulgurite from the heat.

But it still fought back.

It lashed out, hurling Lucy into a grocery storefront.

Eva retaliated, severing both of its arms. They shattered like glass.

She raised her weapon for the final strike.

But then—

Time froze.

Everything stilled. Her vision blurred. Strange letters in burning red script danced before her. Shapes scrambled and reformed into a coherent message:

Schrödinger’s voice echoed inside her head.