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Chapter 103: Tomi Kisaragi 8 (FINAL)

Time to finish off Tomi’s story.

Music: Feeling Left Out (Composer: Azusa Chiba, Arranger: Mitsuhiro Kaneda)

They’re showing it at the theater right now.

Tomi backs away from Juro.

He’s talking to himself again…

Would you like to get crêpes on our way home?

I’d love to, but… I’ve kinda got somewhere to be.

Aww… Okay…

From behind, Juro approaches!

Sorry, Juro, but you’ll have to be a lot stealthier than that to catch Tomi unawares!

Er… Not really, sorry…

Juro heads back to the corner to continue muttering to himself.

You’ve been acting strange lately. Are you okay? You seem kind of… stressed out.

But you’re just fine, right?

Hey… I’m worried about you.

Shall we go home together?

Sorry, I have plans…

You too…?

Sorry, Miwa-chan.

It’s okay. I’ll go home by myself.

Well, it’s about that time.

Yeah…

I should head out too. See you, Miwa-chan.

Bye.

It’s nothing. *leaves*

Juro then leaves as well.

But maybe… that’s for the best. ……

I’m heading out!

See you!

Fuck off, Tomi. Don’t be so judgmental.

I just… didn’t get a chance to change. As I said, this is a necessary disguise.

Sorry, sorry. Anyway… You’re going to do this for me, right?

*wince*

Music: The Sector Theorem (Kazuki Higashihara)

Kisaragi?

Amiguchi!?

That’s what I should be asking you! Well, whatever. Who’s that lil cutie?

*amused chuckle* Hear that? You’re a “cutie,” apparently.

Oh, shut up.

I’m not complaining…

They might be with the black suit guys.

BJ says he knows them.

Natsuno…?

You’re here too? Why?

Sekigahara’s robot?

The two of them will speed up the process.

I am like this now, but…

You’re Miura. Sekigahara told me.

What is your goal?

To save the girl trapped in orbit.

Then we’re on the same path.

My own Sentinel is there.

Sentinel No. 17… So that’s how it is. Both 16 and 17 were put into orbit.

They went to an unknown man-made artifact in space.

We’ve briefly gotten a hold of it from here… But we don’t quite understand what it is.

No. 16 would know the answer.

Last time, we got through to her when I touched something over there. But now…

It won’t respond. Not even with Kisaragi’s biometric ID. She’s completely inaccessible now.

Shu Amiguchi may know the reason.

Ida did it himself. He shut down her Sentinel.

Ida, huh.

Yeah. Something about authorization.

He must have used his security authorization to issue the command… So that’s what happened.

You created the Sentinels. Perhaps you can clear the authorization.

…Worth a try.

But seriously! You too, Usami? I can’t believe you’re all time traveling.

Funny thing about that is…

This is actually where I’m from.

Whoa! You came from the future?

No.

Does anyone else know about this stuff?

Let’s see… Yuki-chan from class 1-A. Miura-kun, too.

What? That guy?

I can’t turn down a cry for help. Especially not from the one and only Miyuki Inaba.

Use Miyuki Inaba on Shu Amiguchi

You mean that idol?

Well, yeah. She talked to me through a TV program. You guys call her No. 16, but… She’s actually another you.

Consider Miyuki Inaba

(I knew it… That song. It sounded a little different in the style of the ‘80s… But it’s just like one I sang back in middle school. And “Inaba”… That’s my username. I became an idol? Seriously?)

Kisaragi. As you scan your ID to grant access… The authorization will be reset and the Sentinel will reboot.

Another glowing button to press. This one’s red, though. Nifty.

Music: Staring Into The Void (Yoshimi Kudo)

The Sentinel started up normally.

I… I see. Ida-kun shut me off…

Sorry it’s a little late.

Access is clear.

Don’t worry… Universal Control doesn’t suspect a thing. To it, this appears to be a simple video broadcast.

Also known as Tomi Kisaragi. Just like you.

Please tell me. What is all this? What’s going on?

I would like information as well.

Well, you’re me, right? I won’t get anywhere if I can’t even trust myself.

A healthy attitude, Tomi.

Command ship?

For the second phase of the interstellar development project. It’s an artificial satellite that presides over terraforming.

Terraforming?

The very ground you stand on is proof. The second phase was a resounding success.

No way…

So the D-forces were used to develop land?

Originally… Yes, they were designed as heavy machinery for that purpose.

*gasp* …Wait, no, we already put that together. That came from this character’s story, after all! We found that out from the destroyed kaiju wreckage in 2025 in Tomi Kisaragi 2! The only semi-new bit would be…

You mean… it’s really true? We’re not on planet Earth…

Huh!?

I’ve seen it with my own eyes. The whole city’s less than 30 kilometers long. I thought it was on a spaceship, though…

Right, the “new” bit is that the planet they were terraforming was this one.

Unbelievable. What about the other countries I’d been investigating?

Universal Control alters the information you receive. It does whatever’s necessary to make things appear consistent.

I can see the entirety of the residential ward system. All of the terminal controls, too.

You’re able to control the satellite from your Sentinel?

It does have some limitations, of course. But it is possible.

…?

She’s the one who designed the second phase of interstellar development. She was a terraforming researcher. Watch this log of hers.

We’ve reached the point where “watch this log” sends me into an irrational rage, this game can’t keep doing this.

Music: STAGNATION (Yoshimi Kudo)

I ran the simulation. This was our 25th terraforming attempt. We believe the planet is a type 57B. In order to reach a habitable state for humanity… The process took 1,800 years. A bit longer than hoped. No further issues up to this point. Oh, and I almost forgot. At Professor Morimura's suggestion… I updated the system on the command ship. It's set to monitor the final phase—surface facilities. Before any harm may come to these facilities… It will determine whether the final phase needs to be redone. As the professor always says, it can't hurt to be safe. Work has been coming along well… But I honestly can't wait to return to the surface.

The log ends. I’m curious about the phrasing of “determine whether the final phase needs to be redone,” though. Could that be related to the reset Ryoko’s 2188 self forced?