The truth is I have tried to stop him numerous times before, but they always ended up in failure.

“Please master… you are actually going to die if you spend one more all-nighter like this.”

“I can’t stop here. I still have so much more work to do, so much more to discover, you know that.”

Every single day I would make and deliver him his daily cup of coffee at such strange times. It was as if his perception of time had ceased.

“Ah, seriously? A miss again. Don’t worry Charlotte, I’ll clean it up.”

Everytime he would use gravity to try and catch the cup. He was successful before, but he had been failing more and more often. Perhaps the only reason he does so now is because it is the only thing that’s keeping him in reality. It’s truly time for him to take a break.

・・・・・

“...and that’s basically what she said.”

“You mean we got chased by a pack of wolves thanks to this one maid?!” Tamaki raised her voice in the early morning. Outside of the inn, standing in the grass of the front yard.

“Exactly…” Riki muttered looking up at the sky. It was the first instance where he saw the Sun hidden by the overcast weather. Though, he could still see rays of light that have penetrated the clouds casting some light on the horizon.

“That’s so nonsensical. To think that she formed all of this just so she doesn’t have to be the one to arrest her master. Can we even trust her considering she was threatening Riki?”

“The maid is the one with the most amount of information, apparently. I don’t believe we have a choice in the matter.” Kaori noted.

“Seriously, Kaori?”

“Somehow, I feel like I can trust her.” she said, attempting to whistle, “She already formed a plan on how to proceed with the thing, but it’s going to make things complicated considering Azure will act on their own.”

Wait really? Azure’s not coming with us? Why am I always out of the loop like this?

Tamaki, noticing Riki kicking a few pebbles, brought him up to speed.

“It’s likely the reason why they didn’t defend you last night is because they have already found a lead regarding the location of the automaton.”

“Did they now…”

“Anyways, let’s go and meet this maid in person.”

Acquire such an ability, she said. If I had one, I could have protected myself from Katou’s katana yesterday. From what Kaori told me, I was only lucky that he had an ability that can rewind the state of things. I don’t want to get my hopes up, it seems too good to be true.

The Conference wasn’t too far from where the inn was located, so they took their sweet time walking to the heart of the metropolis.

・・・・・

It wasn’t necessarily a popular event. This was mainly due to the attendees consisting of researchers and just a few people who come either because they have a passive interest, or were just in the area. Anyone could attend, but of course, they would need to get searched in case of any weapons or substances. The building used was a top-of-the-line research building. It housed lecture halls filled with rows of cushioned seats. The first thing Riki saw as he entered the main lobby was a huge map sprawled on the wall, depicting the entire world. Now that he thought about it, he was never too concerned about what the world was like. There was no other way to describe what he is currently seeing. The world is huge.

“The sad part is, this region that Fallway is located in is just one of the few that are modernized.” Tamaki explained, admiring the ceramic construction of the interior.

“Is Chordia a modernized region?” Riki asked.

“It really depends on your definition of ‘modern’. From what I heard of, they’re the equivalent of a time back when steam power was dominant. But even I am not sure if it’s a cultural thing or not. You seem to be familiar with modern technology yourself, Riki, even though you’re from that region. Were you just a traveler or something?”

Probably not, I came here with just the clothes on my back.

Riki glanced around the lobby and caught a glimpse of Charlotte, sticking out like a sore thumb thanks to her maid outfit, standing and greeting guests. Though, maybe it only seems that way to him as all other people don't seem to care one bit. While Tamaki and Kaori were distracted by the architecture, Riki approached her.

She said after the show, she was to have all of us follow her to somewhere.

“When you meant ‘all of us’ you don’t mean Azure too?” he said, getting the attention of her.

“...they’re not here?” the maid said tilting her head.

“Apparently they said that they were going to run on their own. Is that bad?”

What was wrong? Why is she staring at me with those dead eyes?

Riki assumed from Charlotte’s change in expression that they had screwed up.

“Where are those people now?”

“I don’t know, they never told me. At this point, they could be anywhere.”

“This may work in our favor…” Charlotte whispered looking off at the side.

Uh, what? Did I just see… the faintest… Did Charlotte just hide the faintest of smiles?

“Change of plans. Right now, sir, I want only you to follow me. The mistresses, Tamaki and Kaori, are going to attend the event as per usual. As for Azure, let them handle themselves…”

So they have already found out about the automaton’s location, Charlotte thought to herself. So Asimov was right after all.

“That means I’m not going to attend the conference? So what else do you have in mind?”

“We’re going straight to the source.”

I promised him he could obtain an ability, but… I’m sorry.

“Hey, Riki!” The two jumped as they heard Tamaki walk up towards them, “Oh, is this the maid that you got threatened by? How cute.”

Kaori came up to them one second later and locked eyes on Charlotte. The two stared at each other for a moment before they shook hands. Riki and Tamaki only looked on, figuring this would happen.

・・・・・

“I’ve always watched these conferences through the channel livestream. Never in my life did I expect that I would actually attend one of these in person this early in my life!” Tamaki said as she marveled at the lecture hall’s enclosure.

“You deserved it.” Kaori said.

They took a seat in the back row of the lecture hall. The lights beamed down above the audience gathered. To their right was a giant chart of the Periodic Table of Elements. It distracted her long enough to not notice the silence in the hall. The atmosphere shifted as one man walked in and set his notes down at the podium. The man was wearing a white lab coat over a black sweater and blue jeans that came over his loafers.

“Asimov, who knew.... This is the man who is responsible for countless crimes throughout this city. He shouldn’t exist anymore.”

It doesn’t seem like he has Komiya’s earrings on him right now…

Asimov tested the mic and picked it up. With one speech, he moved the cage of human existence.

“Hello everyone, I’d like to thank everyone here for coming to this Conference and attending my little talk. My name is Asimov and I hold a Master’s of Science in Physics, concentration in Quantum Mechanics. Today, I’d like to discuss my recent findings regarding the hypothetical graviton.”

Interesting, talking about a theory? Tamaki thought.

“Humanity was once plagued by an unknown force that affected those looking to discover the world. Those that were on board in ships for long periods of time were affected by some sort of force that they did not know the cause of. Their gums would swollen, their previous wounds would open again, and would die without a cause. That was, until one fateful day where one man discovered ascorbic acid, vitamin c, an essential nutrient that humans cannot produce by themselves. It’s discovery changed the medical scientific world. I am hoping humanity would recreate this type of discovery in this century.”

Is that so?

“We live in a 3-dimensional world. You may know this as length, width, and height. The three of these can be described by imitating a gun with your hand with the thumb sticking outwards but also extending your middle finger perpendicular to your index finger. Now I’m not telling you to flip people off. These are the three fundamental directions in our universe. Direction. Lines. But what if… another line was added to the list of three that is already present?

This may sound absurd, but it is likely many of you have seen videos of where 4d objects pass over our 3d universe. It’s funny to look at a sphere suddenly appearing, growing larger until it reaches its maximum size before shrinking into nothingness. Let’s think of a what-if scenario. That 4d object eventually disappears back into their 4d universe. This question will seem absurd. What if there are such objects in our universe right now? What if they are just sitting in plain sight without anyone batting an eye? Or perhaps not as there might be serious repercussions if one were to interact with something of higher dimensions. If a piece of paper is written on with a pencil, layers of graphite will spread onto that paper’s surface. That paper was heavily influenced.”

The crowd was shaken by the slam of his hands on the podium.

“Now, I’m aware particle accelerators have been a benefit to the greater good to the scientific world. With some slight modifications I’ve done on these, we shall reach further heights in our understanding of the world. We can hold a 4d-object of our own in the palm of our hands!

...is what many of you want me to say… There is yet to be any evidence of such objects that exists in the Universe. Just like how there are difficulties adding gravitons to the known model of elementary particles.”

This was all that Tamaki got to listen to until she felt a tap on her shoulder.

“What do you think?” Kaori asked.

“A grandioso speech compared to the other speakers in the conference that I have seen thus far. What a peculiar man. But he appears to not have the earrings on him personally. That means they’re somewhere else…”

“And there’s also the fact that we still don’t know what his ability is, nor if he even has one in the first place.”

*Sigh* “I really thought he was going to reveal something revolutionary. But he is just talking about some stupid thought experiment. I should have known.”

The sound of the applause brought her back to reality.

“Ah!”

Asimov closed his notes and bowed towards the crowd. He adjusted his lab coat and headed for the exit.

“Tamaki, shall we?” Kaori said as she stood up.

“Yes, let’s end this.”

・・・・・

Riki followed Charlotte through the forest that had hugged the fake inn. Pine cones and fallen leaves crunched beneath their feet as they walked through the path. It was calming and soothed his mind. That was until he caught a charred smell and noticed the familiar black soot that brought a chill inside of him.

What happened here? It looks like something exploded here.

Riki looked back at Charlotte who didn’t acknowledge the black soot at all. The walk continued to be silent until he heard her speak.

“...Sir, may I ask you a question?”

“Oh, uh yeah.”

“You said that man’s ability back then affected you differently. You do mean that you still remember the incident?”

Oh that’s right, I never did explain that.

“That, but also something else. ...I lost my memories of my past life. Or, I should really say, they had been forcibly erased from me.”

“...Does that scare you?”

“Scare me? Well…”

“It would for me… The thought of forgetting everyone that you know of is… terrifying. The memories that you make with friends and families, they just disappear.”

…

“What is it that you desire? Taking back your memories?”

Charlotte turned her head back to Riki, who was looking at the cloudy sky.

“I don’t really care about that at the moment. To be perfectly honest, what I want is to see that white-haired girl again.”

So it’s true, Charlotte thought, this person is something else.

“Death is certain if you attempt to see her again.”

“Death? At this point, I’ve already seen death twice now.”

This was a statement Riki learned to regret soon enough as Riki saw a dead body of a wolf with a branch lodge inside its snout. Charlotte only took a moment to examine it and looked towards the foliage. As he followed her line of sight, he noticed the glowing red eyes emanating from within. What came out were two apex predators. They snapped at Riki, who was a foreigner to their domain.

Wolves?!

“Easy, there…” Charlotte holds out the palm of her hand towards the pack.

“It took quite a bit of energy to maintain those wolves…”

The wolf pack dissolved into dust before being blown into the wind.

Her ability is not just plant creation, but life-form creation?

“Shall we continue?”

Before Riki was a fairly small wooden shack surrounded by countless trees. Its boards had a hint of green and orange from weathering. It seemed increasingly unlikely that this girl isn’t out for blood. When Charlotte opened the door, Riki was greeted by a downward staircase hardly lit by anything.

She is actually leading me to death.

From what Riki saw, it was a thing in legends. Had this been under them this entire time? A large chamber spanned from where he stood to the limit at which his eyes could see. He had seen this before but only in papers, this was a real particle accelerator right underneath Fallway itself.

“Ah, sir. Please enter this door right here.” Charlotte held her hand out to indicate an out of place wooden door. It took her voice to stop his amazement of the spectacle.

Seriously? Another suspicious door.

Riki placed his hand on the doorknob, but before he twisted it, he felt the heat of her own body behind him. The maid was too close.

“What are you doing?”

“Nothing… just open the door please.”

In no way this was not suspicious behavior.

“Alright, but just tell me what’s behind the door before I open this.”

Charlotte pressed up against his back in response. He can hear the sound of her breath against his ear.

“As a servant... I have duties to fulfill.”

Riki’s inner mind went haywire as the combination of her body and her statement had overridden any sense of cognitive thought. They were on a plan to apprehend the one who Charlotte was referring to, so why say that now? But then he got it. He caught a glimpse of silver from the palm of her hands that was visible only now thanks to the lighting in the accelerator room. Those were… the earrings. Before he could react, Charlotte’s arm reached for the door over his shoulder and opened the door. Riki felt a forceful push causing him to slam on the ground on the other side of the door.

“Just bear with this a little more, sir.” and then the door shut in front of his face.

・・・・・

“Where is this man going?”

Tamaki and Kaori were required to push themselves through the crowd of people in the lobby. This was her first experience at a conference, but it had already ended.

The event itself has not finished, yet, Asimov had already left the building. He pulled up his sleeve to check the time on his watch. After doing so, he picked up his pace. Tamaki and Kaori tailed him, making sure they blend in with the background so as to not reveal themselves. Every minute that passed, the more Tamaki’s blood boiled as she reminded herself of that day where the ceiling crashed down on her and her friend. This was the man whose existence is a cancer in the lives of Fallway.

My dear friend.

Meanwhile, Kaori noticed that they had entered the same forest that they had scouted earlier. They passed through the same area in which they used the carriage to escape from the wolves. Asimov only displayed the tiniest bit of movement within his body in response to the sight. His pace seemed to slow ever so slightly. That was until Asimov came to an abrupt halt where he was and turned around to see the two that were well off behind him.

“Oh cra—” Tamaki felt a sudden tug to her arm as Kaori glared at the physicist.

“No, Kaori. I cannot allow you to be the only one to put this man behind bars.”

It’s now or never.

Asimov had his hands in his lab coat pockets and stared at the two without giving a word as if he was studying them. Soon after did he brought his right hand out from his pocket and out came a familiar piece of jewelry. Both their eyes widened at the sight of them. Or rather, one half of them. Asimov only held up two red gemstones. Tamaki felt the urge to scream, but she needed only to remind herself of the time with Komiya in order to suppress her inner emotions.