13 The Night Before the Final Battle 6
"…Almost time."
Mio murmurs, curled beneath the covers in her assigned quarters.
Food is unnecessary.
She feels hunger, but once the limit is surpassed, this body ceases to simulate hunger.
In the end, she is merely pretending to be human.
A being like this has no place among humans.
To believe such a being has a future is wrong.
Standard ether transmitters cannot send ether communications that pour ether back through time.
Therefore, a transmitter capable of withstanding the output of the original Queen’s reactor was constructed.
That is Laitera’s true identity.
She recalls being stunned when she first heard this.
In essence, nothing more than a standard structure, modified only to withstand high output.
A great invention capable of changing humanity’s very existence—yet it seemed remarkably low-tech.
Conversely, precisely because of its simple structure, no anomalies occurred during Laitera’s construction.
Initially delayed by a few days due to parts procurement, but since then, on schedule.
Completion expected in seventy-two hours.
Sixty hours after that, the final override will execute—reaching the destination: Sol System’s third planet, Earth.
Some of the other crew members seemed excited at the prospect of arriving at humanity’s origin.
Even Mio, who should be a different species, showed faint curiosity.
A planet that birthed a civilization unlike their own.
What kind of place was it?
What kind of world stretched out there?
At that moment, a realization struck—her expression turned bitter.
“This too… influenced by Reisen’s legacy?”
Her thoughts drifted to the past.
Was it the influence of Reisen’s legacy, the one who loved history?
Now, it is impossible to tell.
Yes, Mio acknowledges it.
There is no one waiting—she screamed.
Why had she thought that?
She knows, even without calmness, that her friends, her important ones, would not change their stance toward her, regardless of what she might be.
She knows.
And yet, she still fears it—because—
Mio fears herself the most.
It is indeterminate.
She did not want to know what had been created based on some unknown stranger.
She feels that someone else is interfering in her words, her thoughts—everything.
A being mimicking human functions, yet not human.
She has come to understand she must abandon the future she once dreamed of.
Because surely, this body—has not yet been replicated.
And her lifespan? Unknown.
No, even growth itself is uncertain.
Will this body age at all?
Can I walk through time alongside the ones I hold dear?
Afraid.
Even if this event could be erased.
The future collapse that will come—its dread consumes me.
Because I am not human.
Because I am most afraid of myself.
Because I cannot live through time with everyone else.
Thus I lack the courage to move forward into the future.
I cannot find hope in what lies ahead.
And so, rather than continue to fear such things—
It must be right that a genuine human exists.
It must be right to reclaim the happiness stolen from my beloved father.
"Yeah, that’s better... that’s the right way."
If that happens.
One day, a real daughter will come to my father.
A true daughter, different from me in every sense—authentic.
"So I won’t allow interference."
Jin is kind—Mio was certain he would try to interfere.
Him and me.
Weigh what matters most on the scales.
Still, you struggle to answer—trying to maintain the present moment without resolution.
That will not be allowed.
A genuine family is always better than a counterfeit one.
I will not be swayed by fleeting emotion.
"I won’t let you interfere."
They will come, surely.
Those human ASIDs who are their own kind.
Memories shared with them are few.
But I remember how much they valued me.
I remember how they listened to my wishes—even after becoming Higashiō Mio.
I remember how they stormed the convoy, paying a great price, just to reclaim me in those first moments.
They will do anything, no matter the cost, to take me back.
That will not happen.
Not in this time frame—absolutely not.
What comes after is irrelevant to Mio.
No—rather.
The next child born, should the possibility of her own birth cease, would be better protected.
A device capable of overturning such a past—its absence would surely allow Jin and the others to live in peace.
Mio knows full well this could birth a new conflict.
Conflict is already happening, right now.
Therefore, it is better that it not exist.
Just once.
Just once, if the past were changed, it would be better for Mio if such a thing no longer existed.
Jin does not need future knowledge.
Jin is strong.
Without anomalies like the Laitera Project, he would surely never lose.
He would protect his family.
Just as he has protected Mio all along.
“Absolutely not allowed to interfere.”
Mio’s vigilance extends beyond external threats.
Harold Byron.
A nominal ally.
But—Mio does not trust that individual.
His ability can be trusted.
He will undoubtedly complete the Laitera Project.
Whether he will fulfill Mio’s wish, however, is another matter.
There remains the possibility he will break his promise at the final moment.
Should he choose to, Harold could capture Mio before she agrees to cooperate—forcing her compliance from the outset, as he has done before.
There is no reason he would refrain from doing so.
For fulfilling Mio’s wish would result in a significant setback until the Child is secured once more.
A single modification would solidify his position—but there is no need to go to such lengths.
Information sent to the past via the Laitera Project.
It can only be sent to the user’s own past.
Given that it travels through human memory, whether the recipient receives future information is a gamble.
Yet there is an exception.
An exception even Harold himself has not noticed.
If two beings share the same soul, they may receive future information even if they are different individuals.
"…I alone can deliver a direct warning to the Commandant."
This is Mio's sole and absolute trump card.
Even indirectly, as long as the ether produced by Mio is used, communication via Laitera is faster than through Harold.
Harold, and the other humans—this is unfortunate for them—Mio intends to fulfill her own desires first.
A betrayal, certainly.
But if they cannot perceive that the past has been altered, then the betrayal never occurred.
Harold will struggle from the beginning to secure disciples other than Mio.
This contest, Mio cannot lose.
As long as she remains the subject, victory is predetermined from the start.
Thus, Mio has ceased troubling herself with it.
"…Why did Chi stop me?"
These past few days, she finds herself thinking about it without warning.
Why did Chi suddenly break away from the plan?
Where is she now, I wonder.
Somewhere in the cosmos… She fled because she couldn’t bear to watch me die before her eyes, yet the outcome remains unchanged.
Perhaps it only made things worse—she didn’t end it quickly, and so only prolonged the suffering.
After longing so desperately for a reunion with her sister.
Why?
How could she give up on that?
There’s nothing else to do, so she thinks only of this.
“Different? What’s different about it…? I took the place that Rei should have occupied. I took the place that might have been filled by a child born between the two of them. There’s no difference.”
The words she was about to speak.
What was Chi trying to say?
“What am I supposed to say, really?”
A discomfort like something lodged between her teeth.
Mio, who had always been able to find answers, now faces, in a sense, the first question whose answer has vanished.
Even if she wanted to know, there was no one left who could tell her.
"...Seventy-one hours left."
The discomfort lingered—still bound to endure for that much longer.
Alone on the cold bed, turning restlessly, wrapped in a haze of uncertainty.
The most luxurious bedding on the vessel.
Yet even so, it was insufficient for the weight she carried.
"Otō-san..."
She wanted to be held.
If only she could be embraced as in childhood—perhaps then this feeling would fade.