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The Simulacrum - Chapter 122 - Part 2
🕑 Added 2023-08-28 10:52:01 +0000 UTCGazing through the large windows in front of me, I watched the sun slowly rise above the horizon of the Elysium. It wasn't just the beginning of a new day, but a new month as well. If I wanted to be cheeky, I could've even added 'a new era' to that list, lampooning this whole Deus situation, but I was way too tired for that. My eyes lazily swept the landscape in front of me, and I let my mind wander and ask obvious questions. Such as, was that a real Sun?
For all intents and purposes, it couldn't have been, considering that this was an artificial pocket dimension. But then again, was the 'real' Sun of Critias real, considering that it was all some kind of giant simulation? Considering that Naoren and company literally came from China, and all the stories of globe-trotting the Knights often reminisced about, I became fairly convinced that the rest of the world had to exist outside of the island in some shape or form. Still, I sincerely doubted the Simulacrum had an actual big ball of nuclear fusion simulated as well.
Whatever the truth might have been, the 'suns' inside and outside the Elysium were synced up perfectly, and as the first day of spring arrived, I couldn't help but wonder about the seasons next. Logically speaking, the Elysium was an artificial space, a bubble of facsimile reality floating in a sea of imaginary numbers of what have you. While its shape mirrored the island of Critias, it was all created artificially, and as far as I understood, the whole system was maintained by the Mana Wells.
But if so, then why did this place have a winter? Wouldn't it have been way more efficient to maintain pleasant spring weather all year round, with regularly scheduled rainfall and all that? Kind of like one of those domed cities one would find in some sci-fi stories.
…
Actually, on second thought, the weather in here had been considerably milder than on the 'outside'. Sure, the air was cold, but there wasn't a speck of snow, and I wasn't sure the temperature ever fell under the freezing point. Was that intentional? If so, why didn't they go the whole mile? Alternatively, was it a side-effect of copying the day-night cycle of 'realspace'? Was the temperature drop due to the shorter days? But if so, it once again brought into question why the designers of the Elysium wouldn't 'fix' this by tweaking the time the artificial sun would stay over the horizon.
Unless, of course, they couldn't do that, and it was one of those Purple Zone kind of restrictions, like how the lighting in them always reflected the real world. Now that I thought about it, Snowy did mention that in order to move in or out of the Abyss, they had to tunnel in from a Purple Zone, because it was 'closer' to the Abyss. Did the same apply to the Elysium as well? And if so, could it be that the sun I was looking at was the real one somehow shining into the pocket space the same way light and radio waves could travel into a Purple Zone unless it was specifically restricted?
That was a lot of things to consider, but I could hear some movement from the bedroom, so I reined in my wandering thoughts, though not before pinning another mental note on my mental notice board about looking into whether we had an observatory on Critias. Failing that, I figured I could probably order a fancy backyard telescope. Using it might even serve as a good date with the girls, so it would kill two birds with one stone.
Meanwhile, the door opened, and Angie cautiously stuck her head through the gap. Once she noticed me by the window, her lips bent into an insecure smile and she waved to get my attention.
"Morning, Leo. Where's the toilet?"
"Over there." I pointed at the other side of the living room with my thumb. "You can flush by touching the orb over the toilet bowl."
"Thanksies!"
Without any further ado, she rushed over to the bathroom, before I could even ask her about how she was faring. She was still acting like herself, which was a little reassuring, but it was best to be vigilant. I still wasn't sure if her 'inner Deus' was going to be a body-snatcher, a second persona, or more of a personality-bleedthrough affair, so I resolved myself to watch her closely in the coming days. It would inevitably cause the Polemos fragments in the dark recesses of my mind to act up, but if anything, that just helped me pinpoint and suppress them even better, so I didn't mind it.
"Hey there," Josh's voice also greeted me as he shuffled out of the bedroom, with an especially bad case of the bed-hair, and after covering up a yawn with his hand, he rubbed his eye and added, "Good morning."
"Same to you." I stepped away from the window and walked over to him. "Did you sleep well?"
"As well as I could," he responded just a touch sheepishly and scratched the back of his neck. "Angie fidgets a lot in her sleep."
Since I had no use for it, the two of them had spent the night in my bed. They were hugging each other even while they slept, and they were bloody adorable, though I wasn't going to say that out loud. That said, despite his complaints, his complexion looked much better than it used to be the day before.
"The important part is that you got some rest." I gestured for him to follow after me, and we moved over to the table in the middle of the living room. "We're going to be busy for the next couple of days, so try to make the best of every breather you get."
"Oh, joy," he grumbled, but then his eyes opened wide when he finally noticed the items on the table. "Hey? Are those our Magiformers?"
"Yeah. I had Agrawain collect them."
He looked like he had many questions in mind, but before he could ask any of them, his girlfriend returned from the bathroom and raised her arms over her head, stretching her back while simultaneously yawning without covering up her mouth. Her Deus outfit, while not as flimsy as her 'baseline' Celestial transformation, still hugged her curves, and I could hear the guy by my side gulp by reflex. I had no idea why though; until five minutes ago, they were literally sleeping under the same blanket, so it felt a little silly to be titillated by something like that.
More importantly, this whole intermezzo reminded me of something, so I asked, "Still can't undo your transformation?"
The Celestial girl froze mid-yawn and let her arms down, then she shook her head.
"Nope. It's still stuck," she admitted a tad sheepishly, but then her face brightened up. "I don't mind it though! I think it looks cool! Do I look cool?"
"Yep," Josh responded without thinking, drawing a delighted chuckle out of Angie. She even spun around in place to give us a better look, but as much as a certain corner of my mind was urging me to point out she was more 'cute' than 'cool', I had more important things to talk about.
"Do you feel anything out of the ordinary? Discomfort, strange urges?"
She put her index finger on her lower lip, and after thinking for a while, she let out an ambivalent sound.
"It's… eh, I guess? I mean, my head still hurts a little, but it's not that bad. As for discomfort…" She paused here, considering her words carefully. "I do feel a little strange. It's like… I'm constantly feeling like I'm forgetting something, but I can't remember what it is about. Also, when I look at you, there's this strange sensation. It's not bad, but… It's weird."
"That's probably the Deus part of your brain," I noted, doing my best to sound detached. "Try to ignore it for now."
"Okie-dokie."
Her response was way too easy-going, considering the circumstances… but then again, it was Angie we were talking about, so I would've been more worried if she started acting solemnly.
She walked over to our side by the table, and by the looks of it, she was also about to comment on the Magiformers when my shadow rippled and Rinne jumped out of it. Since the bed was occupied by these two, and she found the couch too uncomfortable, she slept in my shadow, all the while wearing her full gear, including the helmet. Speaking of which, she took it off, revealing a case of helmet-hair that put Josh's cowlick to shame and gave me a shallow bow.
"Good morning."
"Good morning, Ms. Yamako," the childhood friend couple greeted her back at once.
It was most likely conditioned into them by her serving as their PE teacher for the past couple of months, but their polite attitude towards her never ceased to be strange to me. Or was I the strange one for treating her so casually? Maybe they just weren't exposed to her kookiness enough to know better, I surmised as I nodded at Mountain Girl and gestured towards the table, drawing everyone's attention to the Magiformers for the third time.
"Let's get things rolling, shall we?" I picked up the first Magiformer and gestured for Angie to give me her hand. "I spend half the night working on these, so let's find out if they work."
The moment I clasped the oversized magitech watch around her wrist, Angie's whole body shone with a bright light, and after a moment, her Deus outfit got replaced by a simple white dress partially patterned after the former. It wasn't anything fancy, but I figured she would have an easier time moving around without the weird shoulder plate and the half-cape. I had no idea how she even managed to sleep with those on her…
"Oh, wow!"
She sounded genuinely delighted by her appearance, and lifted her skirt to look at the heelless knee-high boots I added, replacing the sandals of the Deus outfit.
"These first-generation Magiformers don't exactly have the memory for it, but I also jury-rigged a nightgown into it. I'll show you how to switch them later."
"Really? That's sooo awesome!"
While she was busy with her new clothes, I handed the other Magiformer over to Josh.
"Did you change mine too?"
"Yeah. Yours was by far the biggest headache," I admitted, and once the guy put it on, his outfit automatically transformed.
"Whoa! Hey, I haven't even taken any capsules yet! Why did it activate?" he complained, sounding disoriented and muffled at the same time. The latter was caused by the helmet on his head, and it took him a second to realize he was wearing it. "What's this?"
"It's your disguise," I told him, and tapped on the forehead area of the faceless helm, a carbon copy of the one Mountain Girl was wearing just a minute ago.
As of now, his 'costume' consisted of a pair of trousers, a segmented light cuirass over a dress shirt, a long coat, combat boots, and an assortment of vambraces and greaves. All of it was white, as usual, and in practice it was just a more refined and form-fitted version of Mountain Girl's outfit, which had also gone through some minor tweaks and refinement compared to the initial version Ichiko and Odango Girl made for her.
"Do I really have to wear this?" Josh complained while trying to find the latches securing the helmet to his head, and I nodded without the slightest shred of hesitation.
"In public? Absolutely. While the top brass of the Celestial Directorate will probably realize that it's you under it, I doubt they would try to advertise it. It's also important to stay on brand."
"On what?" he blurted out the moment he finally got the helmet off and gulped in some fresh air.
"Rinne's cover story is that she's my Arbiter, and as far as everyone's concerned, she's just a loyal subordinate who appeared out of thin air after my arrival to the Elysium. We are going to do the same thing with you, and then claim that this kind of thing is normal. Deus is back; therefore she automatically gets a faceless, silent guardian as well."
"I like the sound of that!" Angie chirped in, apparently done admiring her own clothes and she moved on to inspecting Josh. "Wow! This actually looks super cool!"
"You… think so?" The guy's response was unexpectedly bashful, and he followed it up with an equally awkward, "You're also pretty. Ah, I mean, your dress is pretty!"
"Oh… erm… Thanks."
While the two of them were flirting like I wasn't even there, my eyes were drawn to the fourth person in the room, despite her relative lack of presence.
"… Are you pouting?"
My question made the obviously pouting young woman let out a huff.
"Rinne isn't pouting. Rinne is only pursing her lips in dissatisfaction."
"That's the same th—" I automatically retorted, but swallowed the second half and took a deep breath instead. "Let's ignore that. Why are you dissatisfied?"
"Leonard-dono shouldn't mind."
"… You can't say that while glaring at me like that. It tells me it's something I really should mind." She didn't say anything else, so I had no choice but to guess. "Are you mad because his outfit is based on yours?"
I still got no answer, though based on how she was now extra-pouty, that apparently wasn't it. However, before I could try again, my attention was drawn back to Josh.
"Hey, Leo? I've got a bit of a problem."
"What is it?"
He pointed at his armpits.
"This breast-plate thing is digging into my side here and chafing a bit. Can I take it off?"
"No need. Give me a second."
Before he could respond, one of my phantom limbs already entered the arrays of his Magiformer. Honestly speaking, the enchantment became a bit of a mess, and it was all due to the helmet. As I have already said, these original Magiformers were relatively simple devices, compared to the later Uniformer and Leoformer iterations, with much less 'memory' in them, so to speak. The magically enhanced school uniform, with its wards and secondary functions, was already about as much as it could contain, so adding the helmet, with its see-trough enchantments and its built-in links to the rest of the Knights' equipment system, was too much for it to handle at the same time.
I didn't have the luxury to deconstruct and rebuild the whole enchantment from the ground up either, since I had only a single night to get it done, so I had no choice but to fit everything together as best as I could. Thankfully, once the 'technical' part of the process was done, things like modifying the shape and design of the already existing outfit were easy as pie, and after some phantom limb wriggling, I exited the enchantment space.
At the very same moment, the guy's whole body flashed with colourless light, and he let out a startled gasp as the outfit reset, meaning the helmet disappeared from his hands and was back on his head again.
"Oh, come on, man!"
Ignoring his protests, I asked, "How's the fitting now?"
"Are you talking about the…?" He swung his arms a few times, even going as far as to twist his torso left and right, and let out a surprised hum. "Huh. It's actually much more comfortable now."
"Wow!" Angie exclaimed and patted Josh down with visible excitement. "This is so awesome! Penelope and the others already told me you could change how their uniforms looked, but I didn't know you could do it on the fly like this! It's so convenient!"
"Yes. It is very convenient," Rinne noted, and after registering the sulkiness in her voice, my brain finally made the connection.
"Are you pouting because you have no Uniformer?"
"Rinne wasn't pouting," she insisted, but didn't deny my deduction.
"Listen, Mountain Girl. I would be the happiest if we could put a Uniformer on you, but it's not that simple. These two have their barriers acting as a power source, while the Knights have their Oaths to create the mana circulation necessary to operate their uniforms. You have neither of those, so we would either have to carve some Oaths into you, or adapt the system to your weird yin-yang energy thingie, and we don't have the time for either of those right now."
"Rinne understands. That's why Rinne isn't pouting."
I had many a retort right on the tip of my tongue, but I once again swallowed them and told her, "Once things calm down a little, I promise I'll figure something out for you, okay?"
That immediately made her perk up, as much as she tried to hide it under a stony façade, but then my attention was grabbed by my friend waving his hand at me.
"You forgot to answer my first question."
"Your first question?" I repeated after him, and just like with Rinne, I could feel his frown on my skin despite the helmet covering his whole face. "I'm drawing a blank. Could you repeat it?"
"Why did this thing activate when I didn't take any blood capsules?"
"Oh, that? It's… actually a good question." Pausing, I took a closer look at the guy, then at Angie, and shrugged. "I can't say for sure yet, but if I had to make an educated guess, it's because you two are sharing the same power source. Since her barrier is active, it's probably stimulating yours as well."
"But… that would mean I'm still transformed?"
"Most likely. You're just lacking the Deus guise, but you're probably still a Celestial."
"Maaan… That's messed up."
I had no idea what was so messed up about it, but I didn't bother to argue, especially since Angie's eyes were practically boring into me at the moment. I turned to her, yet even before I could ask her what it was about, she beat me to the punch with an excited glint in her eyes.
"Hey, Leo! Listen! You can use your super-special-awesome enchantment savant powers to change how Josh looks on the fly, right?"
"… Yes, but—"
Before I could object to the whole 'enchantment savant' thing, she barrelled on.
"And you said my Uniformer now has multiple outfits, right?"
"Yes, though the nightgown has no enchantments. That was the only way I could fit—"
"That's not important!" she cut me off, sounding more thrilled by the second. "This is super-amazing! Think about it! We can revolutionize the fashion industry with this!"
"We?" I blurted out, and she nodded repeatedly, completely oblivious to the nature of my response.
"Yeah! Just imagine! Instead of buying new clothes, you could just modify your outfit in your magical doodad, and bam! Feeling like a little bit country today? Just have a cowboy hat! A little bit rock-and-roll? You can instantly have a leather jacket and a cool band T-shirt! People would love it!"
"Are you talking about the Celestials?"
"Sure! And everyone else too!" Lost in her own hype, she suddenly let out a loud 'A-ha!', as if just realizing something obvious, and snapped her fingers. "Do you know how you can download stuff from the internet? What if we made something like that, but with magic, and then people could download new outfits into their Magiformers instead?"
"Slow down." I mimed a karate chop on the top of her head, and she let out a distressed sound even though I didn't even touch her. "You do remember that regular people have no access to magic, right?"
"We can just ask the Magi to help with that!" she insisted, apparently too attached to her pet idea.
"And you think the Celestials would just let that happen," I uttered with a small mountain of incredulity, but she shrugged me off.
"What do you mean? I'm Deus! They will do what I say!"
There was a long silence hanging in the air after her declaration, and after taking a long breath, I lowered my voice and asked, "Where did that come from?"
"It's… um…" She fidgeted for a while, only to finally utter, "I'm not sure. I think I just got too caught up in the moment, and… you know?"
Sighing, I sternly told her, "Pay closer attention to your thought processes, please. As for what you just said…"
I glanced at Mountain Girl, and then my shadow on the floor, and without any need for words, she put her helmet on and melded into it at once. Once the ripples on the floor disappeared, I turned to Josh and Angie and carefully wrapped them up in my phantom limbs.
"I'm afraid Celestial politics aren't as simple and straightforward as you'd like to believe."
"But isn't Angie something like their Christ figure?" Josh interjected, sounding genuinely baffled. "Are you saying they wouldn't listen to her?"
"As I just said, it's more complicated. You two should learn a bit more about how things work around here before hatching any grandiose schemes." I stared at Angie when I said that, and she let out an embarrassed chuckle in return. Rolling my eyes, I put my hands on their shoulders. "Let's start by giving you a tour outside the tower, shall we?"
Comments
Terry Stevens
"I spend half the night working on these, so let's find out if they work." “i spent half the night
Danielle Warvel
Thanks for the chapter!
