REVERSE: 1999 STORY LOGS

5TH - 01 | Bon Voyage

Regulus: Hold tight!

Lilya: S**t! There's nothing we can do! We have another ten minutes tops before this ship sinks like a stone!

Sonetto: ... 60% of the left cabin has been flooded, as well as 75% of the right cabin. The ship cannot survive such a ferocious storm. Timekeeper, we should get ready for evacuation.

Vertin: Hm. Prepare the Teleport soft disk.

Regulus: Wait, what're you talking about? Are we going to abandon the ship?! These are just some breezes and ripples! Won't last longer than a blink of an eye! Just hold on to the wheel, and we'll …

Here comes a big wave.

Sonetto: Hmm. That sounds like the turbine just cracked.

Lilya: Great, so only two minutes left.

Regulus: A true captain will never abandon her ship! I have sworn to live and die with Rockin' APPLe, the second of its name!

Lilya: Then why is it the "second"?

Regulus: …

From behind her sunglasses Regulus's gaze drifts into the distance.

Regulus: D**n it! Sotheby just bought us this ship. I racked my brains to think of all the assurances I could give to get that governess off my back!

APPLe: I think it's better for us to embrace the fact that all things would come to an end, Captain.

???: Sometimes, deserting is to leave for another battlefield.

The rain washes the radio shell. The flower on top, which was once well cared for, now droops with weariness. Regulus stares at that flower blankly. Then, her eyes widen as she suddenly realizes something.

Regulus: Oh, you are one to talk about deserting! If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't have ended up like this in the middle of the …

Sonetto: Timekeeper, we have an emergency. The Teleport soft disk can't be activated. I've tried other contingency teleport incantations, but none of them worked in this area, neither did the communicator. It's as if something is jamming the signal.

Vertin: I see. I have a question for you, Sonetto.

Sonetto: Please, Timekeeper.

Vertin: Hmm. In the Field Mission Evacuation Instructions, apart from the part about "asking the Timekeeper for help" … Is there anyone else we can reach out to for rescue?

Sonetto: …

Lilya: Er, seriously, Vertin?

Regulus: Hahahaha!

…

Without hesitation, Regulus pounces on Ms. Radio immediately.

Regulus: I see what's going on now. This is a trap! And you are behind all these! It is you who played that nonsense travel note from 1999 … and lured us into this random sea, in order to torture us, afflict us, and now feed us to the fish! Go ahead. Give us the wicked villain laugh, you Manus mole! Quit playing innocent here!

???: I, I don't know. I mean no harm!

Regulus: Ahahah, nice try! See what else you got to say when this Pirate opens your battery cover and finds "Made in Manus" there!

???: Please do not shake me *@#... If … If I broadcast How to Clean Kitchen Appliances for you now, will it brighten up your mood?

Regulus: Like hell, it will! Can't you see? My ship is going down! Along with my record collection and your battery cover! To the bottom of the sea! For good! Even John Lennon can't do anything about it now!

???: I'm terribly sorry. I can't see. I could only touch, hear, and imagine … How about this program, Lesson 101: The Express Route to Heaven One Shouldn't Miss? I think it would serve you better.

Regulus: Aaarrh! I can't stand this anymore! My records, my Dr. Pappers, my pirate radio, my Rockin' APPLe II! For crying out loud, what have I done to deserve this!

A soothing song comes on the radio.

…

Vertin: Well, she did try her best to pick the music. Though no one is in the mood, I think this piece is not bad. As to Regulus's question … We need to slightly twiddle this knob. To ... 1913.

5TH - 02 | Treasure Hunt

[Joint Committee of SF]

Vertin: This is …

Z: The official letter of appointment from the Foundation.

…

Z: Congratulations, Vertin. After the long evaluation period and the re-examination … The Storm Reformation: Manpower and Discipline has been officially approved by the Pax Security Council. Team Timekeeper is now a legitimate independent department. You are now granted more flexible autonomy and independent budget.

They’ve been waiting in the suitcase for this document for far too long.

Regulus: What was that? Did you say budget?! Does that mean the Foundation will buy … assign me a new ship?

Z: Unfortunately, “independent” means “doesn’t rely on others.”

Vertin: I can apply for a ship for you, but it’s not guaranteed.

Regulus: Tsk, misers! Fine. Not that I wanted an obsolete ship painted in grayish shepherd check.

Regulus mumbles and walks away. She has entirely lost interest in this conversation.

Z: However, the price of passing that bill is to let the Foundation keep its authority to discipline unregistered arcanists. The arcanists who have been and will be assigned to Timekeeper’s team will be put through a risk assessment procedure carried out by the Foundation. Those who are in lower-risk categories only need to receive primary artificial somnambulism training, while the high-risk ones will go to the School of Discipline. But I will make sure they will be registered as members of Team Timekeeper when they enroll.

Vertin: I see. I have only one question. Are you still our point of contact for the Foundation, Madam Z?

Z: Yes, of course.

Vertin: Then I have no further questions.

A smile breaks on Madam Z’s lip.

Z: Meanwhile, Team Timekeeper can apply for secondment from the Foundation, Laplace, and Zeno, if necessary. You can check this file for more details.Ms. Z hands over a supplemental clause of considerable thickness. Fortunately, there are other things in more dire need of being checked right now.

Z: It stays the same─keep investigating the “Storm” and Manus Vindictae. You can make your own plans of action. The Foundation only needs a monthly report of the result. You are the first-in-command, Vertin.

Vertin: Okay.

Z: You already have a target, I assume?

Vertin: The base that Manus used to keep its Olitiaus four years ago. It has never been reversed by the “Storm.” I’d like to investigate that place again.

Z: So you’ve been there many times. Well, that’d make a good start for Team Timekeeper. I’ll arrange for some people to meet you at the base. Heh heh … I think you’ll have a great time together.

…

[Olitiau Base]

Regulus: Oh. The fog is thick here. A-choo!

The mist hangs heavy in the valley, and the temperature is somewhat uncomfortable for those accustomed to the suitcase.

Vertin: It used to be the nest of Olitiaus, a kind of creature resting in valleys with abundant water resources. What’s more, it’s winter now.

The leaves are indeed covered with a thin skin of frost. Regulus clicks her tongue and eyes the fog-shrouded Gate of Zeno.

Regulus: So, why do I have to be the errand girl? The Foundation wasn’t even planning to give me a ship!

APPLe: Ms. Sonetto is going through the procedures in the headquarters to transfer herself to Team Timekeeper. Ms. Druvis and Sotheby are on a break, for they have spent much time and energy clearing the woods and repairing the Foundation’s square. Ms. Lilya has been given an administrative penalty because she broke into the Rehabilitation Center not long ago. This leads to us to the current situation, where only the Captain and this APPLe are able to act freely.

Regulus: What? So in the end, was I, the renowned rocking pirate, the only one who didn’t cause any damage to the Foundation buildings?! Ugh! I have never felt so humiliated in my life!

Vertin: You’re not planning on destroying this place now, are you, Regulus?

Regulus: No, no. Emm? Hey, see who’s here! Lilya and a stranger!

Next to the rusty iron door, Lilya squats on her hunkers, looking extremely bored.

Lilya: What took you so long? Fell into a gutter?

A graceful stranger is standing next to her.

???: Hello, Timekeeper.

Ms. Moissan: My name is Moissan. My employee ID is SF27602191908238X. I believe Madam Z has told you about me. I am now an official member of your team.

Vertin: Ms. Moissan, welcome to the team. Madam Z said you’re an excellent tutor in arcanum.

Ms. Moissan: She’s too king to say so. In fact, I have a lot to learn from you. Also, thank you for taking good care of Ms. Sotheby.

Regulus: Hold on, you know Sotheby?

Vertin: According to Madam Z, Ms. Moissan used to be Sotheby’s private teacher.

Ms. Moissan: It is a long story. Let Ms. Lilya give us an introduction to the base first. As the field operator, she knows this place better.

Ms. Moissan smiles toward the flying witch beside her, who has started to yawn. Someone clearly has grown tired of this humdrum small talk.

Lilya: Hah! After I got promoted and transferred to the headquarters, those exciting outbound missions have been removed from my schedule. In short, although it’s called the base … The only place unaffected by the “Storm” is a narrow, 20-meter-long corridor, no larger than a hunter’s lodge. My former fellows had already searched this place from top to bottom. Those Laplace dudes had even sent in their lab dogs to search here inch by inch. Found nothing but some excrement of the Olitiaus and the dogs’ own poop.

Vertin: There might be some clues that are invisible. Regulus is a specialist in optical arcane skills, maybe she can find something.

Regulus: A specialist? Ahem … Well, I’ll take that as a compliment. But for the record, compared to searching, hiding treasures is more of a pirate’s lot!

…

Regulus: So if it were up to me to hide treasures in this place …

Regulus walks into the depths of the river valley.

APPLe: Please hold on for a second, Captain Regulus. The fog seems abnormally thick.

Regulus halts and hesitates. Slowly, she turns her head.

Regulus: Whaaa! Ambush! Ambush! These prats nearly shot my hat off!

Lilya: Lucky you. They hit the jackpot right away. Hmm. There shouldn’t be any ambush in this place.

Ms. Moissan: Easy, Ms. Regulus. Please carefully retreat to my side! Ms. Timekeeper, please cover us!

5TH - 03 | Treasure Box

???: Hold on, hold on!

Female Investigator: It was a misunderstanding, Timekeeper. We attacked to defend ourselves. We are not the enemy!

The looming figures from the other side of the fog have their hands high in the air.

Female Investigator: We are the investigators from the Foundation. These are our IDs.

Ms. Moissan carefully takes their IDs and nods her head.

Lilya: The base has been deserted long ago, right? What's the purpose of the investigation now?

Female Investigator: The outside world has been reversed to 1913. We are here to collect the lost scientific devices from the 1970s.

Male Investigator: Science and technologies are regressing rapidly due to the "Storm." Those old devices, which used to be outdated, have become valuable to us.

Ms. Moissan: …

Vertin: I see. Do you mind us investigating this place? It won't be long.

Female Investigator: Sure, we are glad to give you a hand if you need it, Timekeeper.

Ms. Moissan: Good. I have some questions about the base, and I wonder if you may help.

She quickly starts talking to the investigators, as if they have been long acquainted.

Regulus: Tsk, so it's just a mistake. Back to treasure hunting now?

Regulus swaggers into the base, inspecting the dusty boxes one by one.

Regulus: Let's see what Zeno and Laplace have left here. Infrared shotgun ... Maglev auto feeder ... K-tope Calibrator ... My God, and a full box of Laplace's military chocolate! Vertin! Come check it out! This is all good stuff! Solid MREs! Ahem, this Pirate with a heart of gold wouldn't mind tasting it for you.

Lilya: I don't mean to rain on your parade. But even dogs won't eat those things. It makes Olitiaus' excrement smell better in comparison.

APPLe: That being said, to the best of this APPLe's knowledge, canine animals shouldn't have consumed any food which contains theobromine anyhow.

Regulus: Emm. Then can I have it or not?

APPLe: There is nothing to be worried about since the Captain is not an animal of the Canidae family.

Regulus: Well said! As befits the first mate of mine!

Regulus happily lifts the small supply box that is placed on the chocolates.

Vertin: Wait a second, Regulus. Show me the thing in your arms.

Regulus: Why, what do you want? Feel like my chocolate now?

Vertin: No, the supply box. It has my name on it.

Regulus lets out a gasp, and the wooden box in her hand lurches forward.

Regulus: Whoa, true! Are there any other "Vertin" in the Foundation?

Vertin: As far as I know, no one is called by that name but me.

Lilya squints her eyes and knocks at the solid edge of the box.

Lilya: Looks like an ordinary wooden box. But these "ordinary" boxes are always the most dangerous.

Not far away from them, Ms. Moissan is still talking to the investigators and hasn't noticed what is happening here.

Regulus: Hmm. So, turns out we did find something useful in this treasure hunt? It even has Vertin's name on it, like a celebrity autograph. A treasure indeed!

Vertin: Regulus, wait, don't …

Regulus: No one can stop a pirate from opening her fresh trophy!

Regulus immediately opens the box. Her first glimpse is of a blue flower that stands out in the surroundings.

Then, she hears a bizarre static noise.

???: News of the day. The outcasts held the 11,231st pep rally in the Mammoth Cave, Kentucky. They eventually unanimously passed the principle of "dozing in spring, relaxing in summer, slacking off in autumn, and hibernating in winter." Practical Modern Incantations has now been reissued for the 77th time. We are now at the end of the 20th century. This book still remains the number one book on the list of "Most Regretful Purchase on Classic Score" by The New Yorker.

???: Biographer Urd has recently published her latest travel notes, Roaming in Apeiron, which has started a new round of craze for traveling in the Aegean Sea region. The chief editor of Voice of the Millennium strongly recommends this book, praising it to be the literary reproduction of the romantic, elegant, and classical dreams, a glimpse at the Golden Era! Among them, criticisms abound. The Babylonian Review issued a warning that the author's observation of the Apollo Star was fatally inaccurate. Self-driving tourists can easily get lost in the Gorgon Current backwash if they do not correct their Self-driving tourists can easily get lost in the Gorgon Current backwash if they do not correct their direction by 3.14° on the Ford Sextant Model T. Time for late-night news …

Vertin: What … End of the 20th century ... Voice of the Millennium … Is this radio broadcasting news in 1999?

*crash sound*

The ritual from afar interrupts the broadcast.

Ms. Moissan: Just as I suspected.

She puts away her usual smile, the glowing light of a spell gathering at her fingertips.

Ms. Moissan: Since Timekeeper hasn't reported the time of this era to the Foundation … You two, as the Foundation's investigators, shouldn't have known what year this is.

In front of her, the fog parts, revealing two familiar figures.

The Manus Believer: BLEEHHAA!!

Ms. Moissan: In such pouring rain, time is the best proof of identity.

Lilya: Hah, I get it. Not a bad plot.

Vertin: Ms. Moissan, watch your six! Let us help you!

The Manus Believer: BLEEHHAA!!

When the fog is cleared, the enemies are gone. There's nothing else to be seen in the valley except for the supply boxes scattered on the ground.

Regulus: Tsk, didn't expect them to be clever enough to disguise themselves as the Foundation's investigators. They sure have learnt a thing or two.

Vertin: The "era" of 1929 only lasted for two days. The frequent change of time muddles work and responsibilities in the Foundation, which in turn caused some chaos within it. Luckily, Ms. Moissan noticed the signs of it at the beginning.

Ms. Moissan: Timekeeper, please take a look at this box. I'm afraid this is what they came here for.

Ms. Moissan turns aside, revealing the newly opened supply box in front of her. Unlike the long-abandoned Laplace instruments, it is not yet soaked by the rain and mist here.

Vertin: This is … The Manus mask they used to stay immune to the "Storm"?!

5TH - 04 | Time to Set Sail

Mesmer Jr.: I will explain all of these as briefly as possible. Good news. The analysis report on the mask you submitted to the Scientific Computing Center is now available, Timekeeper. We've found the same component in it as the raindrop from the Storm.

Vertin: ...!

Mesmer Jr.: This is a component named "asymmetrical nuclide R" by the Scientific Computing Center. Its name comes from the bifurcation structure it presents under the arcanum imaging. The Scientific Computing Center has also run some tests on the samples of the raindrops you previously submitted. After removing all water, mud, human hair, and dandruff within, the remaining unanalyzable component is what we called "asymmetrical nuclide R."

Vertin: What a familiar name.

Yes. As an expedient, she borrowed the first half of it to make up the answer to the "Three Questions." Mesmer Jr. doesn't pay attention to her murmuring.

Mesmer Jr.: But it disappeared right away, and we only have a photo of it. Fortunately, we extracted the stable form of it from the Manus mask. It might be the key to staying immune to the "Storm."

Vertin: Does that mean it'll be possible for the Scientific Computing Center to develop protective gears which are immune to the "Storm," like the Manus does?

Mesmer Jr.: Seems to be so. A credit to you. The whole center is crazy about it, and I'm responsible for passing along the good news on behalf of my fatigued colleagues who stayed up all night and suffered from neurasthenia.

Mesmer passes them a heavy leather box.

Mesmer Jr.: We need more samples. This is the sampling device for "asymmetrical nuclide R." It's the one and only. The manual is in the interlayer.

Vertin: I'll be careful. Thank you, Mesmer.

Mesmer Jr.: Don't be. I'm just delivering this for someone else.

This is the first time she has seen her since waking up.

Vertin: … How do you feel now? I'm sorry about what happened in the rehab center.

Mesmer Jr.: I'm good. It just helped me further verify some factual information about arcanists. It's just ... I thought you weren't one of them, Vertin.

Vertin: …

Mesmer adjusts her cufflinks and quickly walks away. At the same time, the first assistant rushes from the other side of the corridor.

Sonetto: I just heard some spirit-lifting news at the hall. Phenomenal achievement, Timekeeper!

Sonetto's face brightens with sheer delight. She has changed back into her familiar attire.

Sonetto: It's a tremendous breakthrough in our fight with Manus Vindictae. Everyone at the headquarters is cheering. Although I don’t know what this component really is. Is it a kind of ritual or a unique substance?

Vertin: That'll be the next thing to find out in our investigation, I think. Manus Vindictae always has more information on the "Storm" and how to be immune to it. We've been trying our best to keep up with their progress. Fortunately, now we have another direction.

Sonetto: Oh, and these are the files you asked me to search for.

Sonetto hands out a stack of magazines with yellowing covers, each corner carefully flattened.

Sonetto: Luckily, the SPDM library has every single issue of Global Arcane Geography since the 1960s. Also, Ms. Sotheby accepted your request.

Vertin: Thank you, Sonetto. With these files and the help of Regulus ... That should be enough.

…

The figures of the big names are moving between piles of paperwork … And someone is in big trouble.

Regulus: Haha, yeah, go on, what else do you get except for playing dumb? You cunning flower-headed tin box! Speak! Tell us what you know! Like what were you doing in the Olitiau's base? In what way are you associated with Manus Vindictae? And who put you in that box which has Vertin's name on it?!

???: I, I have no idea.

The rockin' pirate advances while her hostage slowly retreats. Till she knocks into someone more callous.

Lilya: And those ridiculous radio programs, end of the 20th century, Voice of the Millennium, and Roaming in Apeiron … Don't waste our time. Otherwise, we have no choice but bathe you with this bottle of vodka.

Regulus: Geez, do you really mean that? Anything less cruel?

Lilya: Formalin, of course! I never waste my drinks.

Regulus: Yeah, that's more like it!

The kidnappers smile grimly.

???: But I, I really don't know anything. I'm just the receiver of signals. Please believe me! When I woke up, I was already in that box!

Vertin: This interrogation won't get us anywhere. Laplace didn't detect any unusual arcane marks on her.

Regulus: But she was there with those Manus pawns in that base! Say anything you want, she will still be a solid suspect.

Vertin: Yes, I understand what you mean. But for now, the evidence can't support our speculation. A field trip may be helpful, I guess.

Vertin: What's your plan? Will you come with me? I've informed Madam Z. This will be the first official field mission of our team. Sotheby and Druvis are still on leave. They will not take part in this action. While Ms. Moissan will stay put in the Foundation's headquarters as our contact.

Regulus: Wait, a field mission? Didn't we just come back from that Olitiau base? Besides, where is this "field"?

Vertin: … The Apollo Star we just heard about means the sun. The Ford Sextant Model T is an arcane device produced in the early 19th century. The Scientific Computing Center has one of those as a part of their collection. The Gorgon Current is mostly created in the Aegean Sea, near the Balkan Peninsula. I remembered an arcanum magazine in the 1970s had a detailed article about this and introduced the circulating current. I read it in the periodical room in SPDM. The current will be flowing backwards every time the Earth is at aphelion and perihelion. This is also known as the Current Reversal. Which is on the third day of January and July this year. And the time in the outside world is … January 1st, 1914.

Regulus: Are you saying that all those broadcasts are leading us to an actual place? Ah, why? I thought we'd have a nice break after this!

Vertin: Regulus, you've been longing for a ship, haven't you? What if I tell you that I have got you one?

…

Regulus: Now hold on a second. Come to think of it, it wasn't the flower-headed radio thingy who tricked me into the Aegean Sea. It was ... Vertin?!

Sonetto: Watch out, the big waves!!!

Lilya: F**k! This is enough! Su-01ве!

Sonetto: Wait! Lilya, are you sure about taking off in such stormy weather?

Lilya: This isn't a normal storm. Something is attacking us from the ocean! I need to pull it out! You guys go study that whatever instruction right now!

The red 38 rocket takes off and speeds across the sky like a shooting star.

Lilya: Haha, I finally got you, d**n b*****d! It's my turn!

5TH - 05 | The Watch Losing Time

Sonetto: Ed è subito sera!

A glow cuts through the air. The mainsail halyard breaks in a snap.

Regulus: Well done, Sonetto! Now cut the other halyard! We need to reduce the angle of attack and depower the ship!

Sonetto: Roger that!

Regulus: But we can't stay like this for long. Vertin! Have you thought of anything?!

Vertin: It's not working. I've tried different ways, but the tempest blocked every signal I sent for help.

Regulus: So is that it?! We are as good as dead?

Vertin: Wait. there might be another way. I'm sorry, Ms. Radio. I need to borrow you for a second.

Ms. Radio: Huh?

The radio whimpers helplessly, but that voice is soon drowned in the fierce storm.

Vertin: Field Mission Evacuation Instructions, Article 21…

There is another way, just ahead.

Vertin: "Whenever there is an emergency, the field officer may send an SOS code with their wands through any transmission device with round buttons on it. Any Foundation member nearby will provide immediate humanitarian aid. To send the code, please turn the knob one time to the right, half to the left, and then one time to the right." If you succeed, you shall hear …

"Click."

The knob is turned fully to its end point. May the peace be with you.

Sonetto: I've never seen such a tremendous ritual.

When the light of the ritual fades, three people dressed in white show up on the deck. They are wearing uniforms that look completely different from those of the usual investigators or Foundation staff.

"Razor" Captain: We are the special mission squad-Razor. Please show me your ID.

Vertin: Thank you so much! We are …

"Razor" Captain: Oh, we know you, Timekeeper. Even in our special operation squad, you have quite a name. It seems you are in big trouble, huh?

Vertin: We were under attack by a giant sea monster when sailing in the Gorgon Current. Please help us ashore safely!

"Razor" Captain: Haha! Right down to business. Good, good! I like a straightforward person. Alright, William, Todd, better get a move on!

The arcane blades are incredibly sharp. The razors pierce the monster's scales. Several snake heads are cut off and fall into the sea.

"Razor" Captain: Incredible. Is that a full-size Gorgon? I've only read about this ancient sea monster in literatures. Watch out! Its eyes will turn you into stone!

"Razor" soldier: There has been no witness report of a Gorgon since the 12th century. I thought the current was simply named after the mythology.

"Razor" Captain: Well, it's my privilege to have the chance to fight against it, huh? William, Todd! Let's see who gets it down first!

“Razor" soldier: Entities should not be multiplied unnecessarily." Captain, I hope you still remember our founding motto.

A broom passes by the ship swiftly. A playful, interested smile comes to Lilya's face.

Lilya: Want to compete with me in speed? Heh, have a try, if you dare.

"Razor" Captain: Ho-ho! You have guts, and I appreciate it. Bring it on! Speed up, my friends! We need to rush back to the Balkan Peninsula for another mission!

Sonetto: Everyone, please wait a minute! The size of the sea monster ... It's shrinking!

Regulus: Errrr, what's happening now? It's gone out of sight. I have a bad feeling about this.

Vertin: Not good! It's crawling into the cabin! It plans to tear the ship apart from the inside! Everyone, watch …

Sonetto: Timekeeper!

Before passing out, the only thing we can hear … is the screaming … and the hands reaching out.

…

…

…

What ... is this place? Blue sky, white clouds, and the beach ... a strange island. The waves are gently washing over the body. And someone is staring at us.

???: … Your watch was wrong.

Vertin: Pardon me?

???: Your watch was wrong.

She repeats, as if this is the only thing worth saying.

Vertin: Are you talking about my pocket watch?

The numbers are now entirely different from the previous display.

???: Your watch was losing time, so I fixed it for you.

Vertin: I, I don't understand. Do you mean this is the right time?

???: Yeah. This is the year 2007, is it not?

Vertin: ...!

5TH - 06 | Kingdom of Numbers

Vertin: You are saying we are in 2007?

The heart is pounding fast in the chest. Perhaps it's the only chance.

???: …

She nods her head.

Vertin: Do you know the "Storm"?

???: Is that how you call it? We call it the Emanation. The tide of pneuma is pouring down from above and converging. It would raise as a tsunami and break the world of Matters where darkness abounds.

Vertin: I don't understand.

She tilts her head and seems equally confused.

???: This shouldn't be hard for you to understand. You are also a real number.

Thirty-seven: I am 37. What's your number?

Vertin: I'm Vertin.

Thirty-seven: No, no. I'm asking your number. The scripture says, only the people who are still in search of their essences would identify themselves by a combination of meaningless phonetic symbols. Hmm, well, so you don't know your number yet, just like Sophia.

None of her words make any sense. But this is not the most urgent matter one needs to worry about. Sonetto, Regulus, Lilya, Ms. Radio, and the Razor Squad ... where are they?

Vertin: Have you seen my companions?

Thirty-seven: Yes! Are you looking for the integer or the fraction? Or the irrational number? Or the imaginary number?

Vertin: What?

Thirty-seven: Integers are the living example of virtues. Fractions can be understood through specific means. Irrational numbers are the free spirits, while imaginary numbers are the existence which doesn't belong to this dimension of the number axis. Which one are you looking for?

Vertin: I'll ask something else instead. What is this place?

Thirty-seven: Island.

Vertin: What island?

Thirty-seven: Have you seen another island?

Vertin: Huh! Maybe another question. Did a biographer named Urd visit here before, in 1999?

That takes her a while to think about.

Thirty-seven: 1999 ... Oh, 1999! 1999 is a lovely centered triangular number, but I believe this number has been abused in the doomsday stories. I mean, people are too invested in its meaning. In fact, 1999 is nothing special compared to 1991 and 1993 ... However, 999 is a brilliant number! It is a Kaprekar number, a Palindromic number, and the largest three-digit natural number …

Vertin: Sorry to interrupt, but I only meant to ask about Urd, the biographer. She had been here on this island and written a travel note called Roaming in Apeiron. Does the name or the book ring a bell?

Thirty-seven: I am sorry.

Once again, she shakes her head.

Thirty-seven: I have no idea about the fragments of Matters you are talking about.

Vertin: Fragments of ... Matters?

Regulus: Help! Somebody help!

A scream comes from behind.

APPLe: *coughs* Captain, you should go. This APPLe's arm has …

Regulus: No, Mr. APPLe, stay with me for a little longer! Piss off! Shush! You wicked dolphins! Mr. APPLe is not your breakfast, nor are my records! Huh, isn't that Vertin?! Vertin! Are you done with the standing and staring?! Come give us a hand!

Regulus: Phew, thank God you are here, Vertin! Mr. APPLe and I were this close to being made a Stargazy pie by these clever bastards and served to the dinner table!

Vertin: You've also been incredibly helpful, Regulus.

Regulus: Is that so? Like how?

Vertin: You rebuilt my confidence in communicating with people. Have you seen Sonetto and the others?

Regulus: No. I woke up on a dolphin's back. Thought they had saved my life at first, I was quite grateful to them. But the next moment, they just started all the beating and biting!

Thirty-seven: They think you are an irrational number. That's why they bit you!

Regulus: Whoa, this little lady made me jump! Vertin, who is this long-haired stranger?

A familiar voice calls from the distance.

Sonetto: Timekeeper! Thank goodness. You are all safe and sound! Lilya is on her way. Now we only need to find the captain and his team members …

Next to her stand several strangers in white garments.

Vertin: Sonetto, these people are …?

Sonetto: They are the Apeiron believers. They lent us a helping hand after the ship went down.

The robed figures stand unspeaking and motionless. Until one steps forward to break the silence.

Six: Not at all. An integer is under an obligation to help his kind. Ms. Sonetto, have you found your friends?

Sonetto: Yes, only the members of the Razor Squad are still missing They also belong to the St. Pavlov Foundation, like we do.

Six: Imaginary numbers are not of our concern.

Sonetto: Imaginary numbers?

Six: You should not linger here if you’ve already found your lost friends. We will provide a boat for you to leave. Our school of thought does not accommodate uninvited guests.

Sonetto: Wait, we have something to …

Vertin: What if we know about the Emanation?

The man halts.

Vertin: We are the investigators from St. Pavlov Foundation. We are glad to share the information about the “Storm” or the Emanation. Please grant us entry to this island so that we can share them.

Sonetto: Timekeeper?

Vertin: I’ll explain to you later. Trust me, please, Sonetto.

The white robes whisper to each other.

Six: Come this way. We will talk. However, only integers and fractions are welcomed here.

The man puts out a finger, directly pointing at Regulus.

Six: No irrational number is allowed on this island. Throw her into the sea!

Regulus: Huh? Wait, now hold on a second! I said hol - …

Regulus: …!

5TH - 07 | Canned Beans

[Dungeon, Island]

Sonetto: Yes, all is well. Those dolphins sent us to the other side of the currents. And one more thing, captain, and I’m asking this with no ill intention. Errrr, may I know your lineage?

The blue flower gently conveys the answer back to her.

Sonetto: Thank you. I wish your next mission would be trouble-free, too.

Sonetto sighs softly in relief and turns the knob back to the original position.

Sonetto: The members of the Razor Squad are all humans.

Vertin: It’s clear then. “Real numbers” refer to arcanists, and “imaginary numbers” mean humans.

Lilya: Then what is the rest of this nonsense?

APPLe: Sonetto, Vertin and this APPLe are “integers.”

Ms. Radio: While Ms. Lilya and I are “fractions.”

Lilya: Don’t bother asking. I am pureblood.

APPLe: This APPLe is also made of pure apple juice.

Ms. Radio: I only consume 1.5V DC.

Vertin: So it’s not determined by our lineage, or Regulus would have been an integer, too.

…

Regulus: So why on earth am I the irrational number?! Why only me?!

…

Regulus: Unfair! I demand the ruling be changed!

Lilya: Shut up. We grappled hard to get you on this island. So you have no choice but to stay in the worst guest room.

Regulus: Do you call this a guest room? A cell, more like!

The cell is left unlocked─so clearly some vestige of human rights and dignity remains on the island. Regulus shakes the railing as fiercely as if England had just lost the World Cup.

Ms. Radio: Perhaps this piece of news will cheer you up. “We are prisoners in the world, and our body is the cage of the soul …”

Regulus: Cut me a break. Might as well play us some rock music.

Her chief mate appears calmer than the captain still wrestling with her fate as much as the railing.

APPLe: Hmm, seems the residents on this island venerate integer numbers. And irrational numbers, or non-terminating, non-repeating decimals, cannot be represented as the ratio of two integers; hence, they are discriminated.

Regulus: No, no, no. Who are they to judge and decide me to be the irrational number?! I, I was the only person who didn’t cause any damage to the Foundation in the previous protest! Woo-ah! Why do I get to have the worst of both worlds …

…

Sonetto: I’ve requested information from Ms. Moissan about Apeiron. But it will take some time for the files to come in. The captain of the Razor special operation squad told me this might be a settlement of a group of arcanists who have been long cut off from the world. Unlike other unregistered arcanists, these people chose not to live alongside the humans. They still lead an ancient arcanist way of life and follow the old customs. We must be meticulous when getting in touch with them.

Vertin: But they use modern mathematical terms, and that girl talked about Kaprekar─he was an Indian mathematician active in the first half of the 20th century. I think they are not living in complete isolation. They are still in contact with the outside world.

Vertin: … This place wouldn’t be affected by the “Storm,” just like the Olitiau base, Foundation headquarters, and my suitcase. The travel notes in 1999, Manus Vindictae showing up in Olitiau’s base, the “Storm,” or Emanation … They must be somehow connected. And we’ll find our answer here, I think.

Lilya: Very energetic, captain. By the way, how come nobody is here to welcome us? They wouldn’t suddenly decide to detain us all just because we have an irrational number here, right?

37: I’m with you all the time.

A reluctant figure walks out of the shadow in the corner.

37: 6 asked me to welcome you.

Regulus: Ah, scared me again. What were you doing hiding in the corner?!

37: Because it seemed you were in the middle of proving a conjecture. According to the scripture, disturbing others when they are giving proofs of their arguments is as sinful as eating beans. I don’t want to be bound to the rocks of the Caucasus Mountain and have vultures eating my eyes after my death.

Sonetto: Eating beans?

37: Eating beans is the sin of sins. The biggest, worst, and ugliest crime. People eating beans will never transmigrate. They deserve nothing but eternal punishment.

Regulus: Whoa, are you serious? Is this rule only for soybeans? What about broad beans? Snow peas? Chickpeas? And what does it say about other bean-based products?

37: Beans are beans.

Regulus: Haha, you’re funny. This doesn’t even make sense! By this logic, aren’t the coffee drinkers going to rot in hell? I happen to have a box of coffee beans in my bag.

The Rockin’ Pirate produces her treasure and waves a single bean around her mouth, looking for a reaction.

Regulus: If I put one coffee bean in my mouth, will the vulture get me right away?

37: No way!

Regulus: Whoa, easy, mate! Do you wanna get physical? This Pirate is not scared of you!

The coffee beans are knocked over. Some restless, small figures start to rustle in the shadows.

???: ─!

Regulus: That’s not fair! The critters are coming to your aid!

Vertin: This is not good. We need to separate them.

…

Regulus: Let go! Let gooo! What are you, a dog?! Vertin! Sonetto! Lilya! Get her off me!!

37: *@#%¥# …

???: Huh?! What is going on here? 37, let go of the guest’s head, now!

…

37 sticks out her tongue and lets go of Regulus reluctantly. She returns to the corner, giving the floor to the rest of them.

???: Sorry that I’m late.

Sophia: I’m Sophia, the Corrector of Apeiron. I will take over from here.

Lilya: Oh, finally, we have an ordinary person here.

Sophia: Please, let’s talk on the way to the outside.

5TH - 08 | Ancient Rules

Sophia: We believe everything can be translated into numbers. Things are made up of numbers. And mathematics is the key to opening the gate of truth. It is like the fire that lifts us from the darkness. This world may decay in time, but numbers will transcend the limit placed for all other things in existence. And if one can take up the challenges and improve oneself with practice, they may clear their thoughts and find out the truth.

…

As they speak, at the end of the long tunnel, there comes light.

Sophia: That is, to find out the “number” of their soul.

Regulus: Hmm. This is more like a place for proper conversations! Broad, open, as vast as the high seas!

Sophia: Hold your horses, Ms. Regulus. If you were to speak of consuming beans again, I will have no choice but to send you into the depths of the sea.

Regulus: Tsk, fine, fine! I haven’t done anything yet.

Sonetto: Ms. Sophia, could you please repeat all the taboos on the island? It was too dark in there. I didn’t take them all down.

Ms. Radio: Worry not, Ms. Sonetto. I have them all recorded.

The blue flower shakes in pride, showing the results of her attentiveness.

Ms. Radio: One, abstain from beans. Two, do not pick up what has fallen. Three, touch not a white rooster. Four, do not poke the fire with swords. Five, do not jump over a crossbar. Six, do not cut wood on a main road. Seven, do not enter the hall in new garments. Enter the hall from the right and leave from the left. Eight, do not keep swallows around your house. Nine, do not sleep on a grave. Ten, make the bed as soon as you wake up, leaving no imprint of your body …

Sonetto: Hmm.

Sonetto frowns slightly as she intently takes the notes. Yet next to her, Regulus is utterly agape, as if she just saw a killer whale running on the ground with two new feet.

Regulus: What strange obsessions are these? Even the police in London would be less officious.

Vertin: This is an archaic arcanist group we’re dealing with. I assume they have their own reason for these.

Regulus: But what else are we going to do if we can’t pick up the things on the ground? Just let it rot? This doesn’t even make sense!

Sophia: You are indeed an irrational number.

Reulus: Huh? What about me?

Sophia: Though I can’t identify the exact number of yours, it’s never too hard to tell the number types. Like you, you are a very typical irrational number. Irrational numbers are disobedient, sometimes unreasonable, and they hardly play by any rules. Just like the non-terminating random numbers following its decimal, these numbers are the floating points, or the noises. People of this type are the random ones whose actions show no pattern whatsoever.

Sonetto: Disobedient, unreasonable, never play by the rules …

Vertin: So that’s what their judgment is based on.

Lilya: Oh, she even gets the rock ‘n’ roll part right.

Regulus: Stop pulling my leg! This Pirate will not so easily be defined!! What about you? What’s your number, then?

Sophia: I’m still learning. My time to reveal my number has not come yet.

Regulus: Oh, you don’t know?! Well, I can help you with that. You are an irrational number, too!

A little crystal green ball coming from nowhere precisely hits Regulus on the head.

Regulus: Ouch! What is this? Emm, a grape?

37: Huh, a perfect parabola.

37 stands behind them, holding a bunch of juicy grapes in her hand. She seems to be enjoying the moment.

Regulus: Oh, it’s you again! I won’t be battered in a fight this time!

Regulus’s face is lit with anticipation. She is well prepared for another fight. But Sophia takes a step forward and stands between them.

Sophia: 37 … Shouldn’t you be off preparing for the doctrinal meeting?

37: … 6 asked me to take care of our guests.

Sophia: But I’m usually the one who receives the guests. Engaging with strangers might be a little difficult for you.

37: There’s no casual link in these two events. People always bother you with trifles only because you are fine with it.

Sophia: “Do not sleep on a grave, and do not cut wood on a main road.” Idleness is the cause of the breakage of one’s flesh and soul in the long journey of perfecting oneself. Those who have not yet found their numbers have even fewer excuses to be indolent. Besides … Huh! Why would you place the head of a guest in your mouth?

37: She said she’s going to eat beans.

Sophia: That does not justify your action. Come to think of it, is she safe to bite if she had consumed the beans? Wouldn’t that make you the bean eater as well? The right way to deal with this is to throw the offenders into the sea. Let the Gorgon Current take them and confine them in the ever-repeating circular motion.

37: Oh yeah, this is the most optimal solution!

Sophia: How come you didn’t think of it? This is one of the most basic set problems.

Regulus: Errh, hello, are we done with the chit-chatting? Conspiring to my face to throw me in the sea … Mind you, this Pirate’s tolerance has limits!

Regulus picks up the grape that 37 used to hit her earlier and throws it at 37 with all her strength.

Boop.

The grape hits 37 on her forehead. 37 looks shocked. Her mouth falls open with horror.

Regulus: Hahaha, right in the bull’s eye!

Sophia: …

Regulus: What? What’s that look on your faces? An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth! I didn’t start this.

Sonetto: Regulus, did you just pick up the grape that 37 threw at you earlier from the ground? Did you just … violate the rule of “not to pick up what has fallen”?

Regulus: Wha- …

The sound of wings suddenly comes down from above. A few stiff feathers with golden trim drift down like falling leaves. Sophia’s expression freezes.

Sophia: Get down! Abraxas incoming! It will take the offenders with it!

Regulus: … A chicken’s head and two snakes as the feet. What? What on earth is that?!

Vertin: This is not good. They seem dangerous. Regulus, come to my side!

…

Sonetto: Regulus!

The enemy is almost invincible. One of the Abraxases holds Regulus with its snake feet, like an eagle clutching a turtledove, leaving for the dungeon.

APPLe: Captain! I can’t leave her alone. This APPLe shall follow her!

APPLe follows the Abraxas. He looks weak and lonely in the air, like a left-behind sparrow.

Lilya: … A toast, to Regulus. To her ever-fighting spirit of breaking away from jails, no matter how many times she has been put behind bars.

37: Luckily, she didn’t have any beans.

Sophia: May her soul be cleansed in the dungeon. *sighs* What a mess! Ένα ευθύγραμμο τμήμα σχηματίζεται όταν ενώσουμε δύο σημεία!

Sophia gently touches the brass ruler on her waist. As the glow fades, the grassland has been flattened to its original state.

Sonetto: …! Timekeeper, did you see that?

Vertin: The arcane skills cast by the congregation on this island are very different from those we have seen. Mr. APPLe is with Regulus. She won’t be in danger for now. Let’s follow Sophia.

…

As they walk, the woods become less dense. At the end of their path, there is a triangular stone statue standing among the trees.

Sophia: We have wasted too much time on unnecessary matters. Ms. Vertin, this is the place you’ve journeyed to visit─the Hall of Apeiron. This is where we share our knowledge of pneuma, which is also the “Storm” you’ve been referring to.

5TH - 09 | Silent Meeting

Sophia: Before you enter the great hall, please place your right palm on the stone and swear to it solemnly.

The girl closes her eyes and begins an empathic prayer.

Sophia: I wish to be baptized in the water of Gnosis, and be rid of the long darkness of ignorance. I ask my tongue to be taken, for it has spoken mindless words, and I shall stay silent for the truth. I choose to leave the fragments of Matters behind me, and enter the great hall of Forms as clean as a newborn. I swear to let a matter stay in the world of Matter, and a form in the world of Forms. I swear to reveal no secrets. Or my heart shall be taken by the vulture, my body consumed in flames, my soul trapped in the endless wheel of birth.

…

Sophia: Now. Knock three times on the stone. Put on these ceremonial dresses. That’d be all. Remember to enter the hall from the right and leave from the left. You are the humblest audience here, hence not allowed to speak. Please stay quiet and keep the secrets you heard at heart. I will arrange your meeting with 6 after this.

Vertin: No problem. Ms. Sophia, could you give us some privacy?

Sophia: Please, enjoy. I have nothing more to say.

She walks away indifferently, as if none of them actually existed before her.

Sonetto: …

Lilya: Vertin, are we really going to do this? That oath we have to make to enter the hall sounds vicious.

Sonetto: To stay quiet and keep the secrets. It’s similar to the training we once received. I can go inside on behalf of Timekeeper.

Vertin: No, I’ll come with you, Sonetto.

Sonetto: But …

Vertin: I can’t sense any sign of arcane skill on this stone. The oath is more of a formality than a curse.

Ms. Radio: The warning is lifted, then?

Vertin: But when Sophia repaired the floor in front of us with her arcane skill … There’s no fluctuation of arcane power, either. I can’t even sense the slightest signs. It’s either a kind of arcane skills we’re not able to detect … Or, the moment we stepped onto this island …

Sonetto: We’ve been trapped in a tremendous ritual. That’s to say, any arcanum used on this island is only a part of this giant flow. We don’t know where this flow is leading us. We know nothing about it. It’s too perilous, Timekeeper.

Vertin: I know, Sonetto. But as long as we obey their rules, we won’t get into other trouble. The doctrine of the Apeiron is to live in solitude and seek nothing but the truth. In fact, they’ve never been aggressive towards us.

Lilya: Heh heh, I think of this differently. Think. The pure-blood arcanist community, the unknown arcanum power, and the obsession with certain knowledge or identity … sound familiar?

Vertin: Yet we haven’t spotted any traces of the Manus here.

Lilya: Tsk, Manus Vindictae is like the rat living in the gutter. I don’t think they will let go such a favorable chance.

Vertin: Which means we need to find out the truth.

Sonetto: I believe in Timekeeper.

Lilya shakes her hands.

Lilya: I have zero interest in this meeting. I’ll stay outside to keep a lookout. Take care.

There is no time to hesitate. The door already lies before them.

…

Hands on hands, and recite the vows in mind.

Vertin: … I wish to be baptized in the water of Gnosis, and be rid of the long darkness of ignorance.

Sonetto: … I ask my tongue to be taken, for it has spoken mindless words, and I shall stay silent for the truth.

Vertin: … I choose to leave the fragments of Matters behind me, and enter the great hall of Forms as clean as a newborn.

Sonetto: … I swear to let a matter stay in the world of Matter, and a form in the world of Forms.

Vertin: … I swear to reveal no secrets …

Vertin & Sonetto: …. Or my heart shall be taken by the vulture, my body consumed in flames, my soul trapped in the endless wheel of birth.

[The Hall of Apeiron]

All seats in the hall have been taken.

210: Fellow brothers, sisters. Our quest for Gnosis has suffered three unprecedented crises. First was the discovery of irrational numbers, and then the creation of imaginary numbers. Last was the loss of the grand unification of different lineages. The truth was buried, and history was rewritten. But the Emanation is not a crisis. Instead, it’s our last salvation. The supreme existence has one again shown itself to us. The door to the everlasting transcendent world of Forms has opened once again! As pneuma pours down, things are rewound to the world of light. Everything in the world of Matter breaks into pieces, for they are as delicate as a petal before it. We, who have the honor to witness the Emanation of pneuma, have the privilege to survive the turning of the wheel of birth. Because we know the truth! Our survival is destined. It is the beginning of a mission to bring the unseen truth into this world!

His audience responds with a round of applause. But nobody says a word.

…

210: Thank you.

The speaker bows in thanks and gestures towards the hall.

210: The next orator is 37, our smallest irregular prime and the brightest star of Hermes!

…

The applause stops. A moment of silent reverence passes, a dedication to truth.

37: The Emanation in 1929 only lasted for two days. All methods to calculate the pneuma Emanation failed. We found no pattern in the occurrence of time reversal. All our efforts in the past four years have gone completely wasted. That’s the end of my speech.

Silence. Long and dead silence. Abruptly, someone starts to clap.

…

Sonetto: Huh!!

Order comes first, and opinion comes second. The mission matters the most. This is what she has been trained to believe and do.

Sonetto: Regna sereno intenso ed infinito!

…

210: Who did that? Who broke the silence?!

The silent audience all turn their heads and stare at Sonetto. Yet the apparition has gone.

Sonetto: …! Sorry, Timekeeper, I just …

Vertin: Get ready to run, Sonetto. The Abraxases are coming.

5TH - 10 | The Pirate's Proof

Regulus: Can somebody tell me … Why I constantly get locked up ever since I’ve known Vertin?

In a now neglected corner, the Rockin’ Pirate is deep in thought.

Regulus: First locked up in a suitcase, then a Foundation cell, now this … Ah! Oh! What else could it be if Vertin weren’t the jinx?! Lads! I know what’s going on! You got the wrong person! She is the most irrational number here!

The dungeon gate remains tightly locked. The wood made of it wouldn’t understand her words.

Regulus: Ahh, I’m narked! What does it say here! “Freedom will be granted once the proof is completed?” Hmm. That’s to say, I have to prove myself not an irrational number to get out of here? Which is exactly what I’ve been trying to do, isn’t it? Prat!

Her fist smashes against the wooden gate.

Regulus: Ugghh!

She drops to a crouch because of the pain.

APPLe: Captain, maybe you are in the wrong direction. This APPLe presumes that the followers on this island have a close connection with Pythagoreanism.

Regulus: Emm, Pythagoras, that ancient Greek mathematician? The guy who said something about the opposite side of a right triangle? Isn’t he the guy who lives in some time BC?

APPLe: Maths is only a part of the Pythagoreans’ achievement. But from a more universal perspective, they are a mysterious group of scholars. Believing things are made up of numbers, venerating integer numbers, abstaining from beans, and the religious collective lifestyle—these are all pointing to Pythagoreanism. The earliest Pythagorean school perished because of the discovery of irrational numbers, which explains their odium to it. At that time, a deviant student named Hippasus discover root 2, and the theories based on the ratio of integers they hold dear were upended. Hippasus himself was drowned in the sea. This APPLe assumes they see the integers as the standard of virtue, and people can increase the number they rank through study and self-improvement. Besides, they are convinced that a numerical code is hidden in everything and everyone. Whoever can solve the code can obtain the truth of the world.

Regulus: Alright, now I know what’s going on.

Regulus immediately gets off the ground.

Regulus: This Pirate has had enough of this moral standard, which is obviously prudish, backward, and lacks humanitarian spirit! I’m going to tackle the root cause of this misfortune!

Pirate, the believer in liberty, walks in circles in front of the gate and suddenly starts to pull the loosened strips on the door.

Regulus: I’m breaking out!!!

APPLe: Why am I not surprised? The captain quickly gives the sufficient and prerequisite condition to prove herself and irrational number. This APPLe may be able to offer some help.

As soon as APPLe puts his hands on the wall, he feels a violent shake come through it.

Regulus: What’s happening? An earthquake?

The sound of birds and beasts echoes into the cell. Chief Mate APPLe floats out from the gaps of the “guest room,” making a thorough inspection.

APPLe: All Abraxases are flying in the same direction. Is this their habitat? Or …

Regulus: Errhh! The roof is about to collapse!

…

Regulus: *coughs* So far, this place has made the London Juvenile Detention Center a heaven on earth.

Fortunately, the scattered rocks were not enough to fill the spacious guest room. Regulus pulls herself together and resumes her prison-break once again. Perhaps the collapse made the cell drafty. A cold, gloomy fog descends to the room. The wooden gate, however, stands still.

Regulus: Hmm, is there a piece of paper? Did one of the Abraxases drop this? Strange …

…

Regulus: The Unsolvable Puzzle. Is this a maths problem? 0.4, 0.7, 1, 1.6, 2.8, 5.2, 10, and 19.6 … Eight numbers in total are listed in this order.

APPLe: There are eight symbols below, respectively representing the sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus. Maybe it is a hint that we should fill the symbols in the blank blocks after the numbers. That sign says “to complete the proof.” Does it mean to solve this puzzle?

…

Regulus: Hah! How “unsolvable” can it be? Clearly, each of these eight numbers should represent one planet. We can easily find the missing planet by trying them one by one! And our Mr. APPLe here is the King of The Times Crossword, yes?

APPLe: There is a difference between this and a crossword.

The mellow red fruit rubs his chin, contemplating the crossword.

APPLe: In this Apple’s humble opinion, the ratio of certain numbers should match this number sequence, such as the radius, volume, or rotation period.

Regulus: Wouldn’t the sun be absurdly large if these numbers stand for their sizes?

A tiny squeak interrupts Regulus’s thoughts. Small, rustling figures have gathered at her feet without her noticing.

Regulus: Hey, the underground critters are back! Go away. Don’t touch my note. It’s not your food.

APPLe: Hold on, please, Captain. Seems like the critters are trying to tell us something. They are pointing at the sign of the sun.

Regulus: Is that so? Haha, even the critters on this island know maths! The sun, ooh, what if the sun is just here to serve as a reference point?!

…

Regulus: I read an IAU’s report in The Times two years ago, you know, the International Astronomical Union. Earth’s average distance to the Sun is approximately 93 million miles. As for Mercury, the average distance is 36 million, and Venus is 67 million miles. Let’s say if we take the distance between Earth and the Sun as 1 astronomical unit, then the distance between the sun and Mercury would be approximately 0.4 units, and Venus 0.7 units … There you go. These numbers are the ratio of their average distance to the Sun to the Earth-Sun distance!

Touched by a flash of genius, she fills in the first three celestial bodies. Once cloudy knowledge comes back with precise clarity. Everything both logical and inevitable.

APPLe: The average distance from Mars to the Sun is about 142 million miles, Jupiter is about 484 million miles, Saturn 886 million miles, and Uranus 1.786 billion miles. By rough calculation, and if we round up the results to one decimal place … Mars would be 1.6 units, Jupiter 5.2 units, Saturn 10 units, and Uranus 19.6 units. That’s weird. All these numbers one can hardly remember have become so clear in my mind.

Regulus: But if these numbers stand in for the ratio of distance, what’s the planet for 2.8? There’s no planet between Mars and Jupiter.

APPLe: If the Sun is the reference, we will have one planet missing here. Is it really a puzzle unsolvable?

…

Regulus: Hah, nothing is “unsolvable.” You are looking at the solution! There must be one planet out there, unknown to us as of yet, located between Mars and Jupiter!

A massive vibration shakes beneath the ground.

Regulus: What, what now?!

…

A planet emerges from the darkness. It rises in the air with little warning, shedding a cold grey light … In this damp and dark cave. It’s bright, gigantic, and noticeable.

Regulus: What is this?! A celestial body, which I have never seen before!

APPLe: Captain, this APPLe has an impression on this. There is indeed a star between Mars and Jupiter. It is called the Ceres, discovered by Piazzi Giuseppe, an Italian priest, in 1801.

Regulus: … Ceres? Did we, did we just validate its existence? Is the universe truly arranged according to … this sequence? Could this be … the ultimate key of everything?

???: Regulus! Regulus!!!

…

Someone is eagerly shaking her arm.

Lilya: What are you doing? Got food poisoning after accidentally eating one of those critters?

Regulus: Hmm?! Odd. My head hurts. What was that?

All the stars have disappeared. Now there are only cold walls and damp air. Oh, and Lilya, who is looking grave.

Lilya: I’ll make it short. Sonetto is in detention. They are planning to sentence her to death by giving her the poisoned wine.

Regulus: They what?!

5TH - 11 | The Ruler's Help

Sophia: An old admonition is engraved here. “Let No One Ignorant of Geometry or the Irrational Numbers Enter.”

Vertin: …

Sophia: 37 told me you are the integers. She’s the genius kissed by the god of truth. She can see our numbers and has never made a mistake. But I don’t understand. Why would you break the silence at the meeting?

…

Vertin: I apologize, Ms. Sophia. I won’t defend our behaviour.

Sophia: You may save that apology for later. If you can persuade more than half of the people to vote for your friend’s commutation, perhaps she won’t be sentenced to death. I have gathered some case files from the past. I hope it will be of some help.

The scroll is lined with golden trim. Even without knowing what it contains, it is a significant gift.

Vertin: These files are …! But won’t you be in trouble for helping us?

Sophia: I have my own reasons.

Sophia closes her eyes, recalling the ancient wisdom.

Sophia: “Integers are the living example of virtues, the standard of purification. It represents a soul existing in the world of Forms, a true being. It is the floating points behind the decimal which dent the process of our overall purification. The evil. The ones who violate rules knowingly. The ones who turn a positive number into negatives, and a civil person a criminal.”

The Corrector, who has no number, sighs and looks away.

Sophia: If integers like you would lose your life over some unintentional mistakes, wouldn’t it be a great shame? Besides, I can’t stand the idea of you being killed in front of me.

37: Not rigorous.

37 suddenly shows up behind Sophia like an apparition. Her friend is quietly startled. She speaks no words, only moving a little away from her.

37: For one thing, we still don’t know Vertin and Sonetto’s numbers. For another, the fact that every crow we’ve seen is black doesn’t entail that the next crow will also be black. Even if every virtuous person we met has been an integer, we can’t be certain that the next one will still be an integer. Same case for irrational numbers.

Sophia: … You’re right, 37. But people always tend to believe that virtuous people are integers. That is what we call “belief.”

37: Correct, but not entirely correct. Everyone can make mistakes. Numbers are just numbers. They are not associated with virtues.

Sophia: Unlike me, you’re always right, 37.

37: I don’t know what differs us.

Sophia sighs and shifts her gaze.

Sophia: Will you be at the Assembly?

37: Yes.

Sophia: Then I will leave them with you. I … I’m not qualified to set foot in the Hall of Truth. I have done poorly in receiving the guests. I will ask 6 for my punishment after the Assembly.

37: Huh?! So you … are not coming back to my laboratory? Neither will you help me review the calculation results or sort out the books?

Sophia: The scripture shall not be challenged. What’s more, any students here can help you in the laboratory. It doesn’t have to be me.

37: Hmm.

37 is disappointed. She lowers her head and kicks away a tiny piece of rock.

37: Had I known, I would have let someone else welcome Vertin and her friends. Like 210. He loves to brag to young ladies so much that he would take the punishment willingly, right?

Sophia: You were that “someone else” who was assigned to receive them in the first place. If I hadn’t stopped you in time, how much longer would Regulus’s head have stayed in your mouth? Not to mention what happened last time, and the time before that …

37: But the fact that I have messed up all the receptions doesn’t mean I may excel in the next one. The chances of messing up the first reception and the 100th reception are the same.

Sophia: Whatever you say, you little sophist.

She puts down the file and leaves in a hurry.

37: …

37: Everyone says so. But compliments won’t help her find her number.

37 drops her head. But soon her face is lit with an excited smile again, like a child who has found a piece of candy.

37: So, Vertin, are you ready for the debate?

Vertin: Does that mean you will help us?

37: Yes, of course. I don’t want to miss the chance.

Vertin: What chance?

37: The chance to see your numbers. There’s no greater knowledge than the knowledge of oneself, and there’s no more exciting truth than the truth of oneself. I can quickly tell which types of numbers you are, but it requires proof to know the exact number of your soul. I want to know the answer before you see your own numbers. So it’s 37 who proves it, not Vertin.

Vertin: I’d be glad to give this chance to you.

37 turns down the corners of her lips discontentedly.

37: That’s boring. Huh! Let’s go, Vertin. The Assembly is about to start.

5TH - 12 | Route of a Bird

In pairs and dozens, the Apeiron believers enter the venue. The plaintiff and the defendant are also seated.

Sonetto: …

Vertin: Are you alright?

Sonetto: Don’t worry, Timekeeper. I’ll defend myself.

She looks pale, but she is gazing steadily at the front.

Sonetto: Back in the Foundation, I once won a public debate of a similar nature. This is my duty. I won’t let it get in the way of the team’s investigation.

Vertin: Sonetto …

Sonetto lowers her head in silence, then sets off resolutely to the center of the hall. … This scene is all too familiar.

…

Inside the hall, a judge sits in authority.

6: By our tradition, Ms. Sonetto will be given the poisoned wine, so she will be muted and stay that way forever. However, Sophia raised her objection against the decision. After giving the matter some discreet thought, I have decided it is necessary to hold an Assembly and take care of it democratically. Those of you who agree to the death sentence may remain seated. Those of you who wish to commute Ms. Sonetto’s punishment, please put your pebble into the pot in the middle of the hall.

…

6: Now, Ms. Sonetto, Ms. Vertin, you may defend yourselves … Until the sand in this hourglass falls to the bottom.

Truly, this is a formidable war. Relax and take a deep breath. Do as the training taught you.

Sonetto: I am Sonetto from St. Pavlov Foundation. I wish all the honorable audiences here would lend me their ears to hear my defense as a humanitarian gesture.

Believer I: What number are you?

A sharp question is thrown at them from the auditorium.

Believer I: Defendant, the court requires an answer. What is your number?

Sonetto: What? Me? No, I don’t have a number …

Believer I: Don’t waste our time. People without a number cannot stand in the Hall of Truth. All her words are void. Sentence her to death now!

The crowd mumbles approval. The judge knocks at the stone bell.

6: 42’s argument is valid. Defenders, what do you wish to contend?

Vertin: What? It’s valid?!

Sonetto: I …

Sonetto’s face has gone pale. What she has prepared─formal justice, procedural justice, or the training she had─simply has no effect here. This is a new territory.

37: Objection!

A petite figure stands up from the auditorium.

37: According to the record, the last time we inflicted severe punishment was in 1980 to a visitor who ate beans. He ate a Carbuncle that feeds on beans. Then he was sentenced to death according to the set theory. In our scripture, eating beans is the most evil sin, which undoubtedly fits the most severe punishment. But if we are now executing people for breaking the silence in the Assembly, how would it reflect our attitude towards the consumption of beans? Has the later become less sinful? I suggest Sonetto’s punishment be commuted!

The crowds start to clamor.

Believer II: A good argument …

6: 37’s argument is deemed valid. The debate will continue.

37 sits down, feeling satisfied. Then a tall man languidly stands up.

210: Objection. The punishment for eating beans is to throw the offenders into the Gorgon Current, while the punishment for the silence breaker is to drink poisoned wine. Among all the punishments we have, there’s no other punishment more dreadful than being thrown into the Gorgon Current. Because eternity and infinity are the two things we have the least knowledge of, which makes them the most ghastly punishments among all. Giving her the poisoned wine doesn’t make the consumption of beans less sinful. Her argument is invalid.

The objection comes quicker than the knock on the stone bell.

37: Objection! Both of the crimes would fall into the same category if we are taking the punishment as the frame of reference, which is death!

210: Objection! The two crimes in question are not commensurable, which makes your comparison invalid!

The debate is heating up. The crowd is becoming restless. More and more pebbles are thrown into the pot.

Sonetto: What’s this … I’m completely lost in this irrational debate. I …

Vertin: I see. So that’s how it works.

Sonetto: Timekeeper?

Vertin: Relax. I will help you.

Calm down. Raise your right hand. This is just a debate. It’s not about reality, it’s not about justice, and it’s not about reason. It’s about winning.

Vertin: I─object!

Believer I: The law of excluded middle … a good sophism. Good for you to create a paradox from one sentence of my argument. But pitifully, you’ve made a fatal mistake. You’ve taken my argument as the basis of your defense. I said, “People without a number should be expelled from the Hall of Truth.” You don’t have a number, either, Ms. Outsider. Based on my argument, which has also been approved by you, I argue that all your arguments are invalid!

Vertin: Ah! There is no time left.

37: Vertin has a number. I saw it.

Believer I: Pardon me? 37, do you know what you are saying?

37: Yeah. I read her number, just now. Vertin’s number is 0.

5TH - 13 | The Middle of the Axis

There is an outbreak of muttering among the white robes. Even the solemn judge stands up.

6: 37, you just said Vertin’s number is 0. Do you know what it means?

37: Very clearly.

6: Would you be able to submit proof to Apeiron?

37: No problem.

6: Half of you in this hall have put in the pebbles. If 37’s argument is found to be true, every argument Vertin has spoken in Sonetto’s defense will be deemed valid. Sonetto will be exempt from the punishment. I will announce the result once 37’s proof has been validated by Apeiron. Thank you for your time.

One after another, the Apeiron followers leave the hall. The Hall of Truth returns to tranquility.

Sonetto: …

Sonetto slowly sits on the floor in a lackluster manner.

Vertin: Ah! Sonetto!

Sonetto: Timekeeper, I am so sorry … I tried my best … but still … I couldn’t understand the debate … I … failed again …

Her face becomes abnormally pink, and her breathing becomes fast and shallow.

210: What happened to her? Come here, little girl. We need to move her outside.

…

210: Lie her down on the ground and wipe her palm and feet with dew and peppermint oil. That would be okay.

…

Her physical signs are becoming more and more stable.

Vertin: Thank you.

210: You’re welcome, the distinguished number 0.

Vertin: …

The man shrugs his shoulders.

210: I’m kidding. I’m 210. Well, instead of the number, I prefer people to call me “The Rhetorician.”

Vertin: I’ve heard your preachment─pretty demagogic.

The man nods, looking amused.

210: That’s how logic works. With logic, I can prove that you’d cease to exist in the next moment, or that there are no other people in this world except me; Achilles can never outrun a tortoise, and a flying arrow is forever motionless. This debate is nothing but meaningless wordplay. That pacifist let you off this time. 6, a perfect number indeed, for he knows the benefit of reconciliation. Who wants to have blood on their hands and be devoured by the cycle of hatred? Yet, it’s a torture for any intelligent mind to hear such an immature debate. Can you feel the suffering of our leader now?

Vertin: I’m sorry.

210 gives her a triumphant smile.

210: No apology needed, Ms. Outsider. I also feel sorry for your pain. Given that 37 has revealed your number.

Vertin: What do you mean?

210: 37, our evil little genius. The most cunning star of Hermes. She has been having fun revealing others’ numbers for a long time. Our numbers are our essence, and it’s also the most important proof we get once in our lifetime. But she enjoys taking that opportunity away from you, just because her talent allows her to do so. She did that to her friend, too ─she found out Sophia’s number. But without casting an eye on that paper with her number on it, Sophia threw it into the sea. Sophia is wise. But you … I pity you.

Vertin: It doesn’t seem like trouble to me.

210: Alas, poor little Vertin! You still don’t understand. The number of our souls suggests our fate. It might be changed through algorithms temporarily, swirling, shifting, or transforming alongside other changes occurring on the coordinate axis. But in the end, we can only be ourselves. 1 is thought, 2 is opinion, 3 is wisdom, 4 is strength, 5, enthusiasm, 6, harmony, 7, order, 8, philanthropy, 9 is restraining, while 10 is completion. 0, however, is in the middle of the axis, the origin of the frame of reference. It is neither positive nor negative, neither prime nor composite. Things are ever-changing, but you stay the same. Your loneliness also lasts forever.

Vertin: …!

210: This is your fate, being exposed in full view of the crowd, yet you know nothing about it. 37 was acting on impulse, yet she opened Pandora’s box. She leisurely reveals your fate. That carefree behavior makes no difference to … picking up a shell on a beach. How could I not pity you?

The man wavers his hand and walks away. The air is still. Only the sound of waves comes from afar.

6: Ms. Vertin.

The leader stands in the dark.

6: 37’s proof has passed the review. Your friend will now be exempt from the punishment for violating the rules. However, she has to take some catch-up lessons on the scripture. Please meet me at the hall tomorrow at noon. I would have words with you.

5TH - 14 | Chain of Peace

In this life there are three kinds of men,

Just as there are three sorts of people who come to the Olympic Games.

The lowest class is made up of those who come to buy and sell,

And next above them are those who come to compete.

Best of all, however, are those who come to look on.

The greatest purification of all is, therefore, science,

And it is the man who devotes himself to that, the true philosopher,

Who has most effectually released himself from the “wheel of birth.”

—John Burnet, Early Greek Philosophy

...

6: Before this negotiation begins, I wish to tell an allegory to the two of you.

6: A group of people were imprisoned in a cave. Behind them, there was a fire. Before them was a tall, solid wall. Their legs and necks were chained and fixed, so they were constrained to look nowhere but to gaze at the wall in front of them. When they dropped their eyes, they saw their own body. When they looked up, the flickering light of the fire fell over them, and they only saw the shadows of what was passing behind them. No one had lived one day outside the cave. The shadows cast on the wall were all there was to be perceived as reality. They had no knowledge of the real world. One day, one of them escaped from the cave, walked into the light, and saw the true world with his own eyes for the first time. Everything he saw or felt in the cave was nothing more than a mere shadow of the object’s true Form.

…

6: Our world is a poor one, Ms. Vertin. The phenomenal world is the cave in this allegory, where we are surrounded by shadows or some humble fractions of truth. It is ugly, frivolous, filthy, perishable, subject to decay, and filled with hollow desires and meaningless struggles. Only the wise can walk out of that cave and see the world as it truly is. In that eternal, transcendent world, everything is in its most perfect Form. I pray that you, Ms. Vertin, the representative of St. Pavlov Foundation, and you, Ms. Arcana, her counterpart of Manus Vindictae, would pay heed to my words. Everything you’ve been fighting each other for means no more than some fragments of phenomena to us. There’s only one thing worth doing. That is, to see higher wisdom, develop one’s virtue, and achieve greatness in life. We have never set foot on the soil dampened by the “Storm,” nor have we ever been involved in the disputes brought by the torrents of time. I beg you: do not take your conflict in the phenomenal world into the realm of truth.

Arcana: For certain. It was never my intention to sully the sanctuary of truth.

…

6: Then, to prevent a situation like this from happening again … I would like to ask you two to carve your names on these two stone bangles and drip a drop of your blood on each of them. Once the bracelet is put on, no one will be able to remove it. From now on, as long as you’re on this island, none of your people will draw blood from one another. Or the bangle shall draw all the blood from you. The peace agreement is so decided.

Arcana: …

Vertin: …

Arcana stretches out her hand and gently takes a bangle.

Vertin: I appreciate that. I’ll sign it.

…

The leader gives a slight nod. He looks out from the table and simply strides away. The bangle feels real in their hands. It certainly possesses some sort of power to fulfill the bloody pledge.

Vertin: The peace agreement …

Someone is approaching. Yes, she is still here, from the beginning to the end.

Arcana: Lady Vertin, we meet again. I wish the best to thy friend.

Vertin: She’s doing “well,” thanks to you.

Arcana: Heh heh. You’re most welcome. Thou shalt quench, for times hath changed. I would not wish to shed even a drop of arcanist’s blood in vain.

Vertin: … But Schneider should be the victim of a merciless bullet?

Arcana: … Vertin, my pitiful child. Did you forget? That merciless bullet cameth from a gun never belongen to me.

Vertin: …!

Vertin: … What’s Manus Vindictae’s purpose to be here?

Arcana: Hearken the archaic wisdom. Just as thou dost.

The stone bangle is hot, almost scalding.

Arcana: Heh heh … I am not surprised.

…

Arcana: I adore thy visage, Lady Vertin, emotionless in the “Storm.” Alas … No man shall bravest the “Storm” and live. Including thee.

Vertin: …

Her words sound as harsh as the winter gale. An emotion suddenly comes. It’s raging like a bush fire but soon gets tamed down.

Vertin: A wooden box in the Olitiau’s base has my name on it. Was that your doing?

Arcana: Sadly, it wasn’t. I hope thee findeth the answer satisfactory.

…

The figure of Arcana disappears in the night.

Vertin: …

The stone bangle at the wrist becomes subtly heated.

Vertin: It’s burning.

Something is slithering in the woods nearby.

Manus Follower I: Is that Ms. Arcana? Ms. Arcana! Please don’t go! Save us!

Manus Follower II: And save art!

Two weary figures run past Vertin. They are chasing after their leader desperately, as if they are running away from some horrific monsters. Following them, a petite figure rushes out of the woods.

37: No. Come back! Come back! You ignorant foreigners! I just started introducing vectors and matrices, and that’s the most interesting part! Ah, Vertin! Great! You always show up at the right time and right place. Stop the masked people, whatever it takes!

5TH - 15 | Convergent Birds

[Public Area, Island]

Believer II: Congratulations, Ms. Sonetto. You are the fastest learner of our doctrine among all the visitors in the past half-century. On behalf of all orators, I award you this laurel wreath.

Sonetto: No, no, I wouldn’t have achieved this without your guidance. Those mathematic statements are really inspiring. I’ve learned a lot. But there’s still something confusing me, such as Pythagoras and his golden thigh, his memory of previous lifetimes as the son of Hermes, and the transmigration for every 216 years … Could you please tell me more about these?

The door is violently kicked open. Two outsiders, heads dropping to their chests, are dragged into the Hall of Truth.

37: Hmm. Why would people fail to see the charm of the matrices? This is not right. I need to spend more time on teaching!

Manus Follower I: Anyone … anyone, sa-save us …

Manus Follower II: Does my journey of art … It’s doomed to fail … here … I really don’t want to study maths anymore … Help …

Nobody cares what they are yelling. As 37 continues to grumble to herself, the two men are dragged into a different room.

Sonetto: Timekeeper? You are here.

Vertin: I heard that you’ve completed all the lessons on the scripture. This laurel wreath suits you well.

Yet Sonetto keeps her head low.

Sonetto: Timekeeper, I am sorry. At the Assembly, I failed to understand the arcanists’ logic. It was totally different to the debates I have participated in. But now I have …

Vertin: That was not your fault, Sonetto. It is now behind us. I need to tell you something more important. I’ve signed a peace agreement with Arcana, and the price of breaking it is … death.

Sonetto: What?

…

Sonetto: So Manus Vindictae is also restrained by the stone bangle, like we are.

The Chief Assistant ponders aloud, having already removed her laurel crown.

Vertin: Yes. She put it on without hesitation. But I don’t think her purpose would be as simple as “hearkening the ancient wisdom.”

Unlike other stones in the Foundation’s collections, this one has no signs of arcane skill on it. Before it is activated, it looks harmless, rough, moderately weighted, and no different from other ordinary stones.

Vertin: I attacked Manus followers earlier, as 37 asked me to, but I received no punishment from the bangle. Perhaps this island makes its own judgment on what to be classified as hostility … Like it has a mind on its own. Sonetto, do not report this to the headquarters before we figure out how the bangle works. After all, there are many other things to investigate on this island other than Manus Vindictae.

Sonetto: I see. I will contact Ms. Druvis and Ms. Moissan first and keep an eye on Arcana. Timekeeper, this island, the Manus’s mask, and your suitcase are all immune to the “Storm.” Does this mean we coil collect more “asymmetrical nuclide R” samples?

Vertin: I tried to collect some samples last night in the outer region of the island. But the detecting device showed nothing. If we were to find out more, we have to go to the centre area …

Sophia: What are you conspiring now?

Vertin: …!

Sophia: “Do not poke the fire with swords, and do not jump over a crossbar.” The Assembly will not be held every time there’s a crime. Please take heed of my warning, and do not overstep the line. Learn a lesson from them.

Behind Sophia, two gray-coated figures appear. One disheveled, the other covered in soot, as if they have just survived an explosion.

Vertin: Lilya? Didn’t you say you have Regulus with you safely?

Regulus: *coughs* Apologies, Vertin! I was going to rescue Sonetto through a very creative underground tunnel. But things didn’t quite go as planned! *coughs*

Regulus shimmies in a dance-like step, trying to shake off the dust.

Lilya: Not a bad innovation for a simple clap on the forehead─if only you didn’t miscalculate the location of the explosion.

APPLe: Huh! This APPLe is grateful that hed idn’t get blasted into a puddle of apple jam.

Ms. Radio: Warning, shell-cleaning required, warning.

Regulus: Oh! I don’t know why, but when I was in that cave, ideas kept flooding into my head! Though, judging by the outcome, they weren’t all good ideas.

Sophia puts her head on her forehead, looking extremely fatigued.

Sophia: On a routine patrol, I found them trying to break into the cave. I’m not surprised that an irrational number would try to trespass on forbidden ground. But you two, the integer and the fraction, what were you doing with her? *sighs* This is a serious crime!

Life has suddenly become a lot more difficult.

Vertin: … Do we have to go through this debate again?

Sonetto: It’s … it’s okay, Timekeeper! I will defend Regulus! I’ve thoroughly studied the scripture, and this time I’m sure I can do better.

Sophia: Forget it.

Sophia mutters to herself.

Vertin: Forget it?

Sophia: It is unwise to waste trying to understand an irrational number’s motive. Besides, we should let the reckless take care of the least important matters.

She gives them a smirky smile.

Sophia: That’s it. Regulus, you will come with me to clean the beach.

Regulus: Huh?! Me, again?

Sophia: Since you have too many floating points, words of discipline would not work on you. We would have suggested you study with the rest of the students here. Abstain from eating meat, bathe in cold water, rise with the Apollo Star, study our doctrine, read the scripture aloud on the beach … so as to remove your floating points and purify your soul.

Regulus: What?! I won’t do any of that.

Sophia: But taking your peculiar character into consideration … I decided that some compulsory labor would be the better option.

Regulus also smiles in relief.

Regulus: Phew! That’s the best news of the day. I’d rather clean up the rubbish on the beach than be surrounded by people giving sermons all the time. At least the rubbish doesn’t talk gibberish! I’d be dead if you didn’t change your mind!

Sonetto: Regulus, studying the scripture is not that scary. They will teach you and guide you until you take full command. Just like … taking lessons at school?

Regulus: Hmm? Is that what schools are like?

Vertin: Haven’t you been to school, Regulus?

Regulus: … Haha! A great pirate would not remember trivial matters as such! So where were we? Which part of the beach needs to be taken care of by the great captain?

37: My laboratory.

Regulus: Whoa, where did you pop up from?

37 blinks her eyes emotionlessly and entirely ignores Regulus’s complaint.

Sophia: 37, aren’t you supposed to preach to the visitors?

37: I’ve seen their numbers. A group of negative repeating infinite decimals. They will achieve nothing but to repeatedly step in the river of mistakes. I give up on them.

Sophia: Fine. Those of you who are complicit in breaking into the cave will also be sent to labor. Sonetto and Lilya will come with me to patrol. Regulus, you can go clean the lab. As for Vertin … You will assist 37 with her study of the Emanation.

Vertin: …!

Sophia: Don’t waste time on the trivial matters of the phenomenal world, integers. That was the sole reason you were on this island, was it not?

Sophia turns around and leaves. She stops a few steps away from them, silently urging the patrol team to move.

Lilya: Don’t let down your guard. The arcanists on this island are not as easy to deal with as you imagined. Down in the cave, I heard some pretty alluring and intriguing anecdotes.

Sophia: Ms. Lilya, this way, you will cover this area!

Lilya: Stay on the radio.

The flying witch waves her hand and departs from her new job determinedly. Sonetto hesitates for a brief moment, then quickly goes after her.

Sonetto: Don’t worry, Timekeeper. Lilya and I will keep an eye on Manus Vindictae.

Vertin: We are counting on you, Sonetto. I have a feeling … We are coming closer to a big secret.

5TH - 16| Sound the Alarm

[Laboratory, Island]

Regulus: What, what am I looking at? So your so-called sacred project is this gigantic IDM computer?

Regulus inspects the computer like an expert.

Regulus: I was curious about them during my stay in Laplace. Those later versions of the model are so much better than the 66 ones! But this one doesn’t seem that far advanced to those. This is not a junk piece the Manus sold you, is it?

37: Items of the phenomenal world are all a waste. This one is long broken. After the Emanation, we couldn’t find anyone to repair it.

Vertin: Why do you keep referring to the “Storm” as the Emanation? What does the Emanation mean?

37: It is the waves of pneuma. We are the expellees of the world of Forms. We were banished to this damp and dark cave. Everyone here is obsessed with the fake light on the wall but forgets to look for the truth. Pneuma, however, will lead us to escape the cave and return to a more supreme realm.

Regulus: Ehh! You make it sound like we are living in piles of rubbish!

37: Aren’t we?

Regulus: Of course not! If you ask me, I’d say you have absolutely no idea how wonderful the outside world is, because you have never left here to try it yourself! Dr. Paper, the music festival, Rory Storm, The Hollies, and the Rolling Stones … There are too many to count! If it weren’t for this sick “Storm,” I would still be riding a motorcycle in one of those races in London!

37: Hmm, your soul must be pretty contaminated.

Regulus: And the computer! They can calculate extremely large numbers within seconds, better than hundreds of thousands of you combined together!

37: In the case of numbers, it’s not “the bigger, the better.” Also, this computer has never played a useful part in our study.

Regulus: Come on, mate! You people just leave it in a cave! It’s like sending an infant to the kitchen and waiting for it to bring you dinner! Never mind. You’ll see what I mean after I fix it.

Regulus mutters as she gets down on the ground and crawls closer to the computer.

Vertin: Can you fix an IDM, Regulus?

Regulus: No. But I’ve seen the Laplace people do it. Shouldn’t be too difficult, I assume … Urgh, the dust! When was the last time you sent people down here to clean? Aw, some critters are nesting here! Oh, did I break into your party?! Vertin, come give me a hand! They won’t let me touch ‘em!

Green numbers appear on the screen. After getting rid of the parasitic pests, the dusty behemoth begins to miraculously return to life.

37: You fixed it! It’s great to have you clean the laboratory, Regulus! Your floating point immediately reduced!

Regulus: Ah, is that a compliment? Sounds like one to me. Thank you!

APPLe: It’s a wordplay, Captain. Infinity minus any numbers still equals to infinity.

Regulus: Oh! Fine, fine! I should have given up the idea of changing your eccentric sorting system a long time ago. What’s the meaning of humans inventing computers, if these machines were only left here for some critters to nest in?

37: Thanks to you, now we can have a look at the previous models, Regulus. But it’s a pity since it only has the data before 2003. Everything in the past four years has gone missing.

37’s fingers are dancing over the keyboard; she seems surprisingly familiar with operating this computer.

37: This is our chronology, Vertin.

…

37: From 1999 to 2007, the Emanation has taken place seven times. In the initial four years, the Emanation has a pattern. First, it brought us back to the 90s, then the 80s, and then the 70s. After that, it suddenly leaped to the 30s. In the subsequent three years, it took place twice.

Vertin: Every record here can perfectly match what is in the Foundation’s files. Wait. These are the records before 2003, you say? But this one refers to the “Storm” in 1966, which happened recently!

…

37: These are indeed the records before 2003. What’s following the records is our forecast.

Regulus: Huuhh! That’s to say, you prophesied the 1966 “Storm” four years prior to its occurrence? How is this possible … that you are clever enough to develop such a precise mathematical model, while at the same time you just let the IDM become the home of these critters?!

37: We just worked out the patterns in the number sequences.

Vertin: You made such a precise prediction even without leaving the island! Huh, that’s incredible!

37’s lips curl unhappily.

37: You don’t need to go into a river to find out the pattern of its flow. Moreover, we would send people to observe in the phenomenal world. My mother was one of them. She is the co-author of this model. Nobody knows this computer better than her.

Regulus: So, you have a mother, too?

37: Too?

Vertin: 37, where is your mother now?

37: Like many people, she was restored to her true Form. Since then, I took over this laboratory.

Vertin: … The “Form” you said … 37, what is it?

37: What kind of question is this?

She tilts her head, looking genuinely confused.

37: The Form, or the essence, is what’s left of you after all the fakeness has been peeled off.

5TH - 17 | The Empty Ship

Ms. Radio: Now we are listening to the new year collection … The world-famous painting Mona Lisa was found and returned to Musée de Louvre in the afternoon of December 13th … The U.S Congress passed the Federal Reserve Act on December 23rd, formally establishing the Federal Reserve System … The conflict between Austria-Hungary and Serbia has escalated. Bulgaria challenged the Bucharest Peace Treaty. Tension is building up over the Balkan Peninsula … In London, futurists gathered under Big Ben, celebrating the upcoming 1914 …

Sonetto: This is … news of the outside world?

Sonetto puts Ms. Radio to her ears, paying full attention to the unfamiliar news. After the snatches of news, when the channel knob has been turned to the right end, a familiar voice comes out.

Lilya: What about on your side?

…

Sonetto: Well, I am with Sophia. Arcana is still in the hall. She hasn’t taken any action so far … Got it. Please keep an eye on the Manus followers. Be mindful of the restriction set by the bangle.

Sophia: Who are you talking to?

Sonetto immediately hides Ms. Radio behind her.

Sonetto: Just checking up on Lilya.

Sophia: Please stay vigilant during the patrol. This is the last place we need to check.

On the white, soft beach, there are several geometrical bodies in different shapes. Some have sunk deep in the sand, while others are still standing unyieldingly. Just like a minimalist art exhibition.

Sophia: We must keep this graveyard clean. Our dead deserve to be left in peace and undisturbed by the phenomenal world.

Sophia gets down on one knee before a cone-shaped body, dusting it meticulously.

Sonetto: Ms. Sophia, you said this is the graveyard?

Her hand quivers a little.

Sophia: Yes, the Geometry Graveyard, it is called. Four years ago, my father was restored to a geometric body on his way back to the island. So was 37’s mother, who was also on that ship.

…

37: Hmm, why are you crying, Sophia?

Sophia: I was wrong! We calculated it wrong! 37!!! We miscalculated the impacted area of the Emanation. We thought the ships would be safe in the Gorgon Current, but the safe area is in fact five degrees away. When the Emanation happened, the bow of their ship had just entered the safe area. But it was too late … My dad is gone, so is your mom.

…

37: I know, but why are you crying? My mom and your dad have come back to us, right?

Sophia: Have come back? Do you call this … coming back? Like this? In the form of geometric bodies, cold and silent, being pushed to the shore?

37 frowns, looking confused. But then, the corners of her lips turn up. As usual, she works out the answer within seconds. Swift and precise.

37: No. They have gone somewhere further. Look at them. These geometric bodies, how pure and how elegant. I’ve never seen such perfect geometric bodies before. If they are not from the eternal and transcendental world of Forms, how should we explain this?

Sophia: 37 …

37: I’m going to study the Emanation, Sophia. This is the best chance ever. The transcendental world finally opens its door to us. We will reach our hands to the Forms and explore the oldest and eternal laws. Will you help me, Sophia? Next time … next time, I will definitely make a better calculation, I promise.

…

Waves lap against the beach. In the fine sand, the geometrical shapes are bathed unyieldingly in the moonlight. Despite the endless tides they maintain their form, never eroded nor washed away by time. An eternal monument. Sophia lowers her head, as if she is trying to cut herself out of a miserable memory.

Sophia: Thank you for assisting 37 with her research, Sonetto.

Sonetto: Hmm? No, I didn’t do anything. Timekeeper knows the “Storm” better.

Sophia: You have helped us greatly just by coming onto this island. For all this time, 37 has been locked up in the laboratory, refusing to talk to anyone, nor participate in any group study. Since the two-day Emanation in 1929. It is you who helped her revive her interest in other affairs in Apeiron.

Sonetto: These are Timekeeper’s contributions. I barely did anything.

Sophia smiles bitterly and looks away.

Sophia: … I can’t help 37. Because I don’t see the charm of numbers. I lack the perception that an integer should have. That’s why I can’t see my own number.

Sonetto: The numbers … charm? Sorry, I have never thought about these. For me, arcanum is my inborn mission. If you ask me, you are an unbelievably excellent arcanist. You can flatten the ground, clean up the beach, and rectify errors … You did it in an efficient and precise manner, which is already an advanced ritual.

Sophia: Any students who have sworn to knowledge can do this easily. They aren’t doing my job because they wish not to waste time on these trivial fragments of the phenomenal world. Because they have seen the truth.

…

37: The phenomenal world is never complete, like you can never draw a perfect circle there. No matter how much time you spend on it or how sophisticated your device is, it is impossible to draw a perfect circle in the phenomenal world. Errors always exist. The floating points after the decimal can be reduced, but not destroyed. The perfect circle only exists in the abstract transcendental world. Of course, anyone in the world can find out the value of Pi through the most primitive method. Egyptians, Greeks, Chinese, and Babylonians, they have all tried. They made circles with twine, painted on the ground with twigs, or measured the land with cubit rods, but none of them actually drew a perfect circle. However different their practices were, they found out the sole truth─the approximate value of Pi. Because the essence of the circle is hiding in the imperfect manifestation of it.

…

37: This is the truth. It is eternal, unchanged, pure, and transcendent. Anyone can reach out to it any time, in any place, by any means, and everyone will get the same answer from it. The Forms transcend all Matters.

Her gaze is firm but distant.

37: The world of Matters we live in is being flooded and destroyed by the tides of pneuma. When the tides recede, what is left on the beach is the essence.

Regulus: Err, this doesn’t sound right. Let me think. How come your theory reminds me of the Manus doctrine?

Vertin: 37, we see the “Storm” very differently. Among all the other things, we saw it, first of all, as a disaster.

37: But earthquakes, floods, volcanic eruptions … these are also “disasters.” These catastrophic events happen not because they have a reason to destroy. They just happened in this world, like we do. This is what my mother taught me. She must be proud that she’s a perfect geometric body now.

Vertin: … I’m sorry for mentioning your mother.

37 frowns.

37: Why do you apologize, Vertin? Are you feeling guilty? This is a very unusual feeling for a number like you.

Vertin: I don’t get it. Why did you say my number is 0?

5TH - 18 | Outside the Cave

37: I just saw it. The numbers of everything and every being would just emerge in front of me. I see it, and I speak it out loud. That’s it.

Vertin: 210 told me numbers imply our fate.

37 frowns more deeply.

37: Don’t believe him, Vertin! Numbers are just numbers. I know nothing about fate. Hmm, fine. I don’t think I like 210, and the feeling goes both ways for us. Because I once said he is a poor number. 210 = 2 x 3 x 5 x 7. He is the product of all prime numbers between 1 and 10. Looks like he has it all, but he doesn’t have any real forte. He likes to sugarcoat himself with metaphors. Only those with a flawed essence would adore the trickery of words.

Vertin: This is indeed an extreme comment.

37: And 6 is no better. Every leader of Apeiron has been a 6. 6 is the perfect number since it equals the sum of all its proper divisors: 1 + 2 + 3 = 6. But this number has been overrated. He’s not that special.

Vertin: What about your number? What does 37 mean?

37: I don’t know.

She purses her lips.

37: I am 37. I’ve known it since I was born. So did everyone else. People told me what it means, but I have never tried to prove their theory. I know very little of fate, so I always think … Even if I find out their essences, does it mean I have known them better?

…

Sophia: 37 once tried to tell me my number.

Sophia takes a deep breath.

Sophia: She wrote it down and put it into a bottle. But I couldn’t get up the courage to open it. I didn’t want to know. I once made a horrible mistake. An unforgivable miscalculation. It makes me worried … that I may also be a mistake. So I threw the bottle into the sea.

…

She stops her patrol and turns back briskly.

Sophia: This is how 37 is different from us. We are all prisoners of that cave. Only the wise one can find her way out of the cave and return to rescue the rest of us. I’m the ignorant prisoner who sits, and she’s the wise one who returns. I will be crushed into dust by the truth, while she will be the star shining above it.

Sonetto: …

Yes, she had heard the fable, but never quite like this version. The red-headed girl lets out a sigh, raises her gaze out above the sea at the twinkling night sky.

Sophia: The truth is like the stars in the night sky─beautiful but cold. It has been there long before my existence and will stay that way long after I’m gone. It sheds no tears for the weak, nor laments the tragic fate. It’s forever bright and always moving forward. The person who avoids the truth is not qualified to study it.

…

Sophia: I’m sorry. My interpretation has been emotional.

Sonetto: No … I think I kind of know how you feel, Ms. Sophia. However unworthy you think you are, there must be something we can do. Maybe we can’t reach the core of the truth, but we can clean up the path to it for the future explorers. Thai is our fate.

Sophia: Interesting insight. I have come to understand why 37 likes you so much. Let us go back to work then. Start from dusting the tombstones.

…

Regulus: Alright, I’ve had enough of these soul, pneuma related idle topics. I wanna have a look at your model. Wow, seriously, how did you get it this far?

Regulus eagerly pokes her head over. But 37 is faster; she has switched off the computer swiftly.

37: This model has been proven wrong. For four whole years, we had been optimizing it. But the Emanation in 1929 only lasted for two days, which means our calculation was entirely a failure. That model is just like this computer. It’s a piece of junk. And this is all I can present to you.

37 drops her head, looking sad.

Vertin: No, it’s not junk. I think I know why your model didn’t work.

37: Wh-What?

Vertin: Manus Vindictae has changed history. They accelerated history, forcing historical events to happen earlier than it was supposed to; thus, the “Storm” in 1929 occurred sooner than it should …

37: No way.

37 stares at her in astonishment. Her shoulders shiver.

37: Controlling the Emanation? Changing the history of the outside world? Pneuma is eternal and transcendental. It won’t obey any orders given from the phenomenal world. Neither will it change its patterns because of some fragments!

Vertin: I’m telling the truth, 37. I’ve been there, in the “Storm” of 1929. Your model was not wrong. You just missed some key information. You’ve never been to the place where the “Storm” falls and thus know nothing about the symptoms of the Storm Syndrome … and the true purposes of Manus Vindictae.

37: No! That’s impossible! Even if there’re means to control the Emanation, it wouldn’t be like this. If this is true, does it mean the phenomenal world, this insignificant phenomenal world, is more transcendental? Mother’s model was defeated by this?

She holds herself with a pale face, as if making a tough decision. Eventually, she speaks up again with great difficulty.

37: Vertin, could you give us proof? The proof that Manus Vindictae accelerated history and triggered the Emanation.

Vertin: I swear I wasn’t lying.

37: No, not like this. To prove it in front of Apeiron. Go to our sacred place, to the Hall of Truth, in the depths of the cave. There, everyone can see the essence of the world. I beg you. Give them your proof, just like how we submit the proof of our soul number.

5TH - 19 | The Upstream Boat

[Underground Cave, Island]

Regulus: Wait a second, ju-just a second! Isn’t this still the dungeon? Are you setting us up?

37: All caves are interconnected. This is the way to our sacred place.

Vertin: 37, wait. I remember Sophia once told us that trespassing on the sacred place is a serious crime.

37: No worries. The restrictions were to help us not to be distracted by the unimportant details in life. It would not stop us from seeking the truth.

Regulus: Ah, excellent. I will tell it to the Abraxas when it shows up. Hmm?!

Regulus suddenly stops.

Regulus: Hey, 37. Are you sure thi is the right way? My heart just sank, as if I took a bite of those overnight potato chips.

37: Are you scared?

Regulus: Oh, you wish! But when I was exploring underground with Lilya earlier … We ran into some fog like this one. It doesn’t bring you any wanted guests, mind you.

37: Hmm. Maybe you were their target because you are an irrational number.

Regulus: Oh, is that so? You integers will be fine then? Good luck. Don’t beg this Pirate for help later.

Vertin: Hold there. Something is coming out.

Several strange figures emerge in the fog, staggering over.

37: Hmm?! Rooster head with two snakes as its feet. Abraxas? That’s weird. Why are they here?

Vertin: They’re coming for us.

Regulus: Hah, what did I say? Don’t beg …

Vertin: Regulus, prepare for battle!

Regulus: Okay, I know! I was just teasing her!

Regulus whistles and charges towards the enemies with excitement.

Vertin: Ah!

An extreme pain comes from the wrist. It’s the stone bangle, which is radiating burning heat.

Vertin: The stone bangle is activated? But they are just Abraxas. Regulus, wait for their attack! Do not kill them!

Regulus: Wh- …?! What kind of request is this?!

Vertin: Listen to me, Regulus, that’s of prime importance!

Regulus: Fine! If it is “prime importance,” this Pirate will try her best!

Regulus: That’s it? I still have ten more songs to play!

Vertin: These are not the same kind of Abraxas as we’ve encountered before. Do they have different varieties?

APPLe: Wait, where is Ms. 37?

The answer comes from a distance.

37: Hey, come on, keep up!

Regulus: Did she just take off like that while we fought?! Sneaky little … We should leave too, Vertin!

Vertin: Wait a second, Regulus. Do you sense anything familiar in the fog?

Regulus: Aha, you bet. This is the first guest room we were put in when we first entered the island.

APPLe: No, Captain. This APPLe has the same strange feeling. We saw the rise of Ceres in the same kind of fog, and before that …

Vertin: That’s the same fog in the Olitiau’s base.

Regulus: Ah?! That is to say … This fog is the cause of our illusion to see the Ceres and the Abraxas’s attack?

Vertin: Don’t rush to conclusions. Follow 37 first. Oh, and what’s that Ceres you were talking about?

…

The fog gets thicker and thicker, yet the surroundings are becoming brighter and brighter. As if there’s an invisible light source hidden in the fog.

Regulus: I just picked up a piece of paper. Like this, just bend over and reach to the ground.

Regulus bends down and reaches for a flicker of light in the darkness. When she straightens up again, there’s a classic manuscript in her hand.

Vertin: What book is it?

Regulus: Humph, probably just some math problems left from the critters’ breakfast. You never know … Wait, The Compounds of Alchemy: The Twelve Gates Leading to the Discovery of the Philosopher’s Stone … This is that alchemy handbook given to Edward IV by George Ripley! Why is it here?!

APPLe: Look at this, Captain. Of the Great Stone of the Ancients by Basil Valentine. The One Hundred and Twelve Books by Geber, Emerald Tablet in Latin … Seems like there are more ancient texts about alchemy hidden inside the hole. But they are all incomplete.

Regulus: So maybe I need to crack some more crossword puzzles to find out about this.

37: Our caves endow people with “wisdom.” All secret knowledge is hidden in the silent boulder walls.

Without getting anyone’s attention, 37 has gone to the other side of the cave.

37: The knowledge in those books is just a drop in the ocean. Follow me, Regulus.

But Regulus puts aside the manuscript and hesitates.

Regulus: … Vertin, you lot go ahead. Go with 37. I will meet you outside.

Vertin: You want to read these books here?

37: The knowledge passed down through language can easily be distorted. Compared to the wisdom of Apeiron, it’s nothing.

Regulus: No. I’m not going to stay here. I’m going back. Oh, alright. I might as well just admit that your cave indeed has the power to give people insights. If I follow its lead, perhaps I’ll finally work out the answer about that “little thing” I’ve been carrying with me. Never thought that I’d find the answer here, easy as picking up a shell on the beach!

37 stops and tilts her head in confusion.

37: What? You don’t want to get closer to the truth?

Regulus: Of course, I do! And that’s precisely why I don’t want to get to it so easily! I don’t want it to be fed into my brain! Come on, it’s the ultimate truth that we’re talking about! If someone just tells me the ending of Lord of the Flies before I enjoy the book, I will throw them into the sea, as you people do!

37: …

She suddenly smiles.

37: I only met two people who reject the truth. So this is the mindset of irrational numbers? I see. Thank you for being my subject of observation, Regulus.

Regulus: Huh?

But 37 has walked away.

37: Go, Vertin. We have a long way ahead.

Vertin: Be careful, Regulus.

Regulus: Don’t worry, I know this place well enough by now. After all, I’ve never been so “welcomed” in any other place ever. Critters, monsters, creatures with strange heads, do your worse! This Pirate is not afraid of you!

5TH - 20 | The Truth Seeker

37: Apeiron, the Boundless, the beginning of all things. Everything originates from it and returns to it. Infinity has no start and no end. But nothing would come into existence if there’s only infinity. Look up there, Vertin. Now, they are presenting in their true Forms. In their purest and newest Forms.

The cave is bright as daytime, as if it’s ready for a grand orchestra performance. 37 stretches out her hands like a proud conductor.

37: Our world was born from the wounds on “infinity” when it’s cut by “finity.” The patterns of the cuttings are what we call mathematics. Thus, the essence of numbers exist inside all beings, and the patterns of all numbers exist in all Matters. The length of a butterfly’s wings and its body are in golden ratio, and plant leaves grow on their stems in the pattern of the Fibonacci spiral. This is the most primitive rhythm of “arcanum,” and it is also the beginning of our extraordinary study. This is the essence.

Vertin: And how do I submit my proof?

37: Close your eyes, Vertin. Only when your eyes are closed will your mind open up. Now, stay fully concentrated and recall the question you want to verify. Only in the absolute contemplation can truth reveal itself to you.

The body is tossed up and falls into the eternal silence. Yet the soul is thrilled, celebrating its hard-earned liberty. As it rises higher, it sees farther. It transcends the eternal wheel of birth and rises beyond the continuously running wheel of time.

…

From the void to the first essence. From 1 to 2, then to 3. From points, to lines, then to planes.

Vertin: The “Storm,” the Emanation, the Storm Syndrome. Where are they from? Foundation, Manus Vindictae, Apeiron. What roles do they play? Why does the “Storm” fall when history trembles? Why doesn’t the “Storm” fall into the misty land? What is the ingredient of “asymmetrical nuclide R” …

All the clues from the past are gathering here. Points makes lines, lines makes planes, and planes join into a net. The huge net of mysteries.

37: The world is a dark underground labyrinth. But pneuma can guide us to go beyond all things and reach the exit.

…

37: Vertin, can you see it?

Vertin: I …

…

Vertin: … It’s burning!

…

The stone bangle on the wrist becomes scalding again. The tranquil kingdom of truth disappears, replaced with endless chaos.

Vertin: What’s going on? Is somebody fighting with the Manus now? What’s happening outside the cave?

37: Vertin, why are you straying? If the meditation goes beyond control, you will be thrown out of here! This would be a foolish mistake! For Apeiron, this is …

Vertin: Ah!

Suddenly, a voice comes into the mind. Like a strong wind blowing off the candle.

Arcana: Alas! No man shall bravest the “Storm” and live. Including thee.

Vertin: Huh?! 37? 37?!

The Manus Believer I: UUUGGGHHH!

The Manus Believer II: UUGHHHH!!

All the heavenly images have gone. In the depths of the freezing cave, the Manus’s pawns are violently knocking their heads against the walls. By their feet, 37 is lying unconsciously, yet muttering incomprehensible words. The sole stone statue is still in the cave, looking down upon them indifferently.

Vertin: What happened? Were all those illusions? If it weren’t for the heat of the stone bangle that wakes me up, would I go as crazy as they did? … This stone reminds me of the spinning wheel.

…

Luckily, the leather box is still here.

Vertin: The collector of “asymmetrical nuclide R” … If the reagent turns gold after reacting with the fog here, that means … The fog contains elements that can be immune to the “Storm.”

A hint of gold forms in the glass tube. This has never happened before.

Vertin: The color changed faster than I thought. The concentration of R is hundreds of times, no, thousands of times higher than in the Manus’s masks … In other words, whoever owns this cave can produce the protective equipment of the “Storm” in big numbers. Is that the reason why Arcana is here?!

37 rolls over in her sleep.

37: Oh, Mother … Our model … hasn’t failed … hasn’t failed …

Vertin: I need to take 37 out of here.

The Manus Believer III: UUUGGGHHH!

The Manus Believer IV: UUUGGGHHH!

More insane pawns are charging out from the shadows, blocking their way.

Vertin: So the Abraxases were people from the Manus. The fog here can affect people’s minds, like those around the lake in my suitcase.

The stone bangle is incredibly heated.

Vertin: Have the Manus found a way to launch attacks without being punished by the bangle? Or, don’t they care about the “price” they will be paying anymore?

The danger is close. One must act now.

Vertin: I hope Regulus didn’t throw my words to the wind. I have to get rid of them first and go out to join the others!

5TH - 21 | Invaders in Black

Regulus: Vertin, finally! The Manus suddenly emerged everywhere like ants! Lilya and I couldn’t take them all down! I would have acted sooner if you hadn’t told me not to pick fights!

A mad pawn roars and jumps on them but is immediately being pulled off and knocked out by Lilya. His limbs twitch horribly, and his body soon shrivels.

Lilya: D**n! All they want is to attack, even if their blood will be sucked out. Insane! Back when we were spying on them, I told Sonetto to screw the peace agreement through the radio! I knew those geometry psychos and the Manus would go mad sooner or later! They were not that crazy when they were solving the math problems. D**n it! What the hell happened down there?!

Vertin: The cave is the key to being immune to the “Storm.” There is a cave on this island which has the same effect as my suitcase. That’s what the Manus are after!

Regulus: What? But …

Lilya: But hasn’t she also put on the same stone bangle? Even if she can break free from that bangle, there’s no way she’d let her followers keep carrying out suicide attacks. And if she has signed that peace agreement, how will she take the cave from Apeiron?

37: Vertin.

On Vertin’s back, 37 opens her eyes.

..

She puts out a finger and points it to the sky. In the eternal and transcendent sky, several dazzling flare stars are lining up.

37: What’s that?

…

The Hall of Apeiron is in deadly silence. Only a visitor is still browsing the classic book.

6: I’m afraid you have overstayed your welcome, Ms. Arcana. I have to regrettably remind you not to overstep the boundaries, despite the great help you’ve given to us.

Arcana: I take not thought for needless disputes … But to ask a simple question.

She gently closes the book.

Arcana: The great philosophers … Ye seek the ancient wisdom, follow the sages’ teaching, and pursue the noble virtues. You are separated from the world for thousands of years. And you have not gained the humans’ understanding nor have you sought for it. I find pleasure in this allegory of the cave. However, hast this been unto thee … That who led us to the exile in this cave?

…

The flare stars are approaching. They move in an orderly manner, as if they are a group of swifts returning to their habitat.

37: What are they? I’ve never seen these before. Why are they here? These things should not appear on this island.

Vertin: No! 37! NO!

…

The eternal and ever-circulating cycle has been cut off. Upon the silent sea … A fleet in black is breaking the waves and sailing towards the islands.

Sophia: …!

Sophia: Sonetto. Did you bring the humans’ army here?