Endless Redemption

Hey, you dropped something...

He's gone already.

Guess I'll have to post it on the lost and found site... Oh?

Whoa! It's a limited-edition Dream Magic card from Satellite Stadium?! These are super rare!

I read that these rare cards have unique monsters on them... Wow, I've never seen a real one before! These things're sold at a premium, I could never afford this with my pocket money!

Wait, I'm the only one who knows that kid dropped it. So if I don't give it back...

Don't even think about it.

Whoa! Who're you?!

That doesn't matter. All that matters is, what are you going to do with that card you have in your pocket?

Wh-What're you talking about?

The card that kid dropped just now. Aren't you going to give it back?

Are you calling me a thief? Y-You got any proof?

No. I saw it with my own two eyes, but it's not like I recorded it. You did steal it though, proof or no proof.

Oh... You gonna hand me over to EGPD?

No, that sounds like a lot of effort to me. Besides, I have no interest in whatever you do.

Then why did you come over here? You shoulda left me be!

Probably. I called out to you as soon as I noticed what you were up to, but your regret really isn't my problem.

My regret? What're you talking about?

Kids like you always end up getting overcome by guilt. Especially if they never get found out.

That doesn't make any sense! If nobody finds out, nobody gets mad. What're you tryin' to say? That god's watchin' me and he's gonna punish me for this?

God? I don't believe in any god.

What I'm trying to tell you is that it's you who'll punish yourself over this. You know what you've done, after all. Your sin will weigh on your mind more and more as time goes by, and that's when the self-reproach starts.

Hm?

You don't know that!

Honestly...

Whatever. More importantly...

Hey. What do you want? Come out here.

A surveillance drone, eh? Looks like it wasn't some god watching over me, it was you. Why are you watching me?

I have come to warn you, Flamemancer. Your master, the scientist, sent me. If you want to help him, come to Xeno-Domain. He'll be waiting in the industrial sector. If you run away from this, Professor Zekir won't make it out alive.

You're using him to try to threaten me? Do you have a death wish?

The Professor's being kept hostage? That's impossible. The Professor I know wouldn't come to this time layer. Even if he wanted to, the folks at Cardinal Vestige wouldn't allow it. When the guys from this time layer found out about me...

Whatever. It would be rude to pass up the invitation. I'd best get going.

I came as requested.

How interesting that you would come alone. You may be inhuman, but apparently you care about your master.

Enough of the theatrics, just get to the conclusion already. Why did you call me here?

To ensure our peace and justice, of course.

Justice? Interesting word choice from someone who just used a hostage to lure me here. And if you think you're doing the right thing, why hide in the shadows? Step into the light. You're just using this Synth Human as a mouthpiece, aren't you? Same with that drone before.

Tsk! Flamemancer, you are too dangerous. Your very existence can only cause us harm.

Just get to the point. You want to kill me, is that it?

Correct. Unless you want your master to die, you must offer up your life to us.

Hah. That's hilarious.

You destroyed them all on your own. No matter how many we send, it's all just a drop in the ocean for a being like you, isn't it?

If you really want to kill me, stop the puppeteering and show yourself.

You're all bark and no bite.

Now, that drone from earlier claimed that you were the Professor...

But you're not even the same height as the man I know.

......

Aren't you even going to respond? Then you leave me no choice.

I'll give you a good grilling until you feel like talking.

Ooowww hot, hot, hot! I'm so sorry! I'm not the Professor!

I was just told to act as a hostage in order to lure you here! They never caught the real Professor Zekir! I'm telling you the truth! Please don't kill me!

I know you...

I won't kill you.

R-Really?

Really. But on one condition. You must answer my questions honestly. If you deviate from the truth, even slightly...

Then what?

I'm not sure you want to know. Just the thought of it will give you nightmares for days on end.

*shudder* Okay, I understand. I don't have the right to remain silent. So what would you like to know?

I would like to know three things. Why are you after me? How did you find out about me? And where is the leader of this operation?

Why are we after you? Because you're a danger to us all. It's not like we've forgotten how you attacked KMS City and harmed so many of our employees. My boss was gravely injured in that, you know.

The attack on KMS? I see. That was me, and yet it wasn't... Well, whatever.

So basically the victims from KMS City identified me as a threat and decided to try and get rid of me. That would explain why you used the Professor as bait too, if you saw the two of them working together before.

You talk as if it was somebody else.

Well, that's because it was. I only harmed the one person. I don't know about the other guy. But you wouldn't understand.

No, I do. It's human nature to try to look away and avoid having to confront our own sins.

I wish I could just look away...

Anyway, you still haven't answered my last question.

The location of our leader? Well, let me think... Where was it now?

You remember what I said about being honest, don't you?

I do. But...

Ow!

I'm sorry, I have a bit of a migraine... Wait a second, let me just take my medicine.

That's better.

Have you suffered from migraines for long?

Yes, I get them whenever I feel stressed. But they've been getting more and more frequent lately. Ah. I remember where he is. I'm pretty sure he's in one of the labs in the research sector. But you'll need me...

......

To show you the way. Come with me.

This is the room. The psychopharmacology lab.

Wait. Just out of curiosity, what do you plan to do when you find the culprit?

That all depends on them. I have a fundamental hatred of scientists. They use their ideals or the promise of development as excuses to justify their crimes. You work for KMS, so you must know what I'm talking about.

I won't deny that there are scientists who carry out immoral, illegal, and even inhumane research. But don't paint us all with the same brush. Our research is done in order to create a bright future and a better life for all. I joined KMS to help provide the people of Elzion with a richer, happier future.

The version of you from my time layer said the same thing.

Your time layer? What's that? I think I've heard that term before...

Oh yes. You were talking about it when you attacked me in the lab. I must have passed out, because I can't quite remember what happened next...

......

Oh...

No one's here.

How strange. I was sure this was where they were doing their strategizing.

Using this device.

Gah, I can still access their browsing history. Research into mental health improvements. New medicine for the limbic system... And the most recent search was... Huh?

What is it?

I found a log from 30 minutes ago, but it's data on the defense system for the innermost part of Xeno-Domain. Why would they be looking that up?

So that's where he's laid his trap. He's just waiting to catch his prey. That settles it. I'm heading further in.

Wait a minute! You said it yourself, it's a trap! Why would you still go there?

There's someone I can't let die.

Um, I thought I told you before, Professor Zekir isn't here. But it's understandable that you're worried. He must be very important to you.

Important? Not in the slightest. Do you know how many people were sacrificed to satisfy his curiosity, to achieve his ideals?

Then why did you come here? If he really had been taken hostage, wouldn't it have been better to just ignore it?

He is the embodiment of my sin. Just looking at his face forces me to remember what I've done. Which is why he has to live, no matter how much I may hate him.

You sure are strange. If I was in your shoes, I'd want him to die. You have to forget about all the bad things in your life if you ever want to be happy.

Which is why I, Ow...

Not again... My head... I should...take my medicine.

I don't think you should take any more of that.

It's fine. It's my department's project you see, and the clinical trial data's pretty much all come in now. Let's go further in.

Huh? Why is he here?

He's dead. Do you know him?

Yes. He's my boss, the one who got gravely injured when KMS was attacked.

But who would do this? You came to attack KMS...

......

Perhaps it was you who did this.

Huh?

Sure, it was "me" who attacked KMS. But it was someone else who attacked this guy. I checked his wounds. If it was "me" who attacked him, there would be burn marks.

W-Wait. Why would that mean I...

Tell me, does this name ring any bells to you? The Limbic Pill.

Of course it does, we're the ones who developed it. It's a ground-breaking drug to reduce psychological burden. It does so by inhibiting information transfer to the memory center and blocking access to past trauma.

And in my time layer, it was administered to children in order to turn them into soldiers ignorant of all their misdeeds.

Yes. You guys...said something like that before... But he didn't want to halt development. He wanted to get rid of anyone who knew about the drug's flaws. I came here to stop him and we got in a fight...

And you killed him?

Yes. I got scared so I took a pill...

And no longer aware of your crime, you continued your boss's plan and tried to set me up as the culprit. Am I wrong?

Oh...

How did it end up like this? I-I thought I became a scientist in order to help people...

Where do you think you're going?

I'm sorry for dragging you into this.

No...

So long...

Tsk!

I can't let you die! I can't let the same person die in front of me twice!

Oh come on! This is the worst possible timing.

So what? I'm a murderer! How am I supposed live now?

What a strange...thing to say. But I'm sorry, it's too hot... I'm losing...

Urgh...

That's...so...mean...

*huff puff* We...made it...

Sorry...

Oh, yeah... Do you mind if I ask you something? You knew a version of me from a different world, didn't you? What was he like?

Oh...

Dying won't atone for your sins, but neither will living. There really is no winning, is there?

I think I'll turn myself in to EGPD to face the full force of the law. After that, I suppose I'll be doing as you said, spending the rest of my days in misery, plagued by regret and self-condemnation.

Yes, is this EGPD?

Oh...

Is that you, Dewey?

Huh? Aldo? And if it isn't the little card thief.

I-I'm no thief! This guy in the silly costume helped me find the owner! I gave it back and everything!

Why does everyone have to keep saying I'm in a costume?

I thought you didn't have a problem so long as nobody knew about it? Or did you get yourself caught?

Nope, nobody caught me. But when I was walking, I got this feeling like somebody could see the card in my pocket... And I kept hearing this voice in my head, calling me a thief. I started to cower in fear. That's when he came over to me...

I was worried about him, shaking like that.

So you heard what happened and decided to help him? You have far too much free time on your hands.

But even you tried to stop him from doing wrong, didn't you? He told me about a guy who poked his nose in and warned him against keeping the card. Judging from the conversation you two just had, I'm assuming that was you?

Urgh. Busted.

I just did that on a whim. Don't assume we're in the same camp here.

Um... So you don't want anybody to know that you did a GOOD thing? Instead of a bad thing?

It's not that. It just makes me uncomfortable. Someone like me doesn't deserve things like gratitude or kindness.

Dewey... That's so...

It just is. I'm assuming you know about my past thanks to the incident at KMS?

Yes, I heard about it. Look, it's not really my place to say anything about it. But I don't think it's right for the sins you committed in the past to prevent the things you do in now from being appreciated. Even if it's you yourself who's refusing to appreciate them.

Urgh, you really don't let things drop, do you? Just let it rest. I don't need it.

Um... I wanted to say thank you, but am I not supposed to then? If you didn't stop me before, I don't think I would've coped so well. And so...

Um...

Do as you wish. I have no right to stop you from talking.

Heheh. Then thank you! You stopped me from messing up.

This is great!

Why are you so happy?

As I said before, I want the things you do now to get the appreciation they deserve. Even if what you did in the past can't be forgiven, surely what you do now should still be acknowledged?

I have no intention of forgiving myself. If I was forgiven, then what about all the heartbreak and misery of those who died?

Dewey...

I won't stop anyone from saying what they want to say. But that doesn't mean I have to listen.

That's good enough for now. I hope the day will come when you can forgive yourself a little.

Later.