-Last night, after Charlotte’s deal with Riki at the inn-

“Welcome back Charlotte.”

In the pitch black of the night, Asimov had been waiting for her outside the shack after she spoke about running a personal errand. The maid was surprised to see he had done this, assuming that he would spend all night preparing for his talk. The air was surprisingly cold for a night in July as their breaths were visible.

“Hello, sir. I apologize for arriving at such a late hour.” Charlotte said as she placed her hands together and bowed. When she stood back up again Asimov held out a note to her. It was a folded up slip of paper.

“Charlotte, I leave you with these instructions.” He said as he moved his wrist about.

“Instructions?”

She took it and looked down on the handwritten note. His handwriting was illegible to others but over the years, she had become used to being able to decipher his words. And on this note, was something that caught her off guard.

“Saving the… Wait…”

There was no mistaking it. The contents of the note revealed the fact that Asimov had known about her scheme from the start. And the fact that he chose not to say anything about it nor tamper with it.

Asimov shifted his weight and scratched his head.

“You should know that it was easy to tell what you were doing after every time you delivered my coffee. Plus, did you think I wouldn’t notice you sneaking out every night up until today?”

Oh no… I thought I covered my tracks….

“For now, I’ll drop one more piece to the puzzle for others to pick up where I left off.”

“Pick up? Master, you don’t mean...?”

“Yeah, it’s inevitable that Azure will storm here and arrest me. Is that not what you were planning to do in the first place?”

“I… I…”

“I’m not gonna fight it. In fact, quite the opposite. The last conference will be me giving my last ideas of what these phenomena could be. But I might as well have fun in my last moments gambling with one more game of roulette, ha ha!”

“Asimov…” Charlotte’s vision grew foggy. She tried wiping her eyes, but the more she did, the more messing her face looked.

“Finally calling me by my first name, huh?” he said, coming closer to caress her hair.

“Just… promise me you won’t die.” she managed to choke.

“Then you promise me something as well.”

“Huh?”

“Charlotte, please help the young guy. Promise me you will follow those instructions in that note. This is my order to you.”

If only that were so easy. This could quite possibly be the final order she will have to follow. She will see to it. But for now, she wanted to enjoy this last moment as much as possible.

・・・・・

“...These are yours, aren't they?” The red gemstones appeared to be glowing as if Tamaki’s anger were fueling them. But she took a deep breath as letting your emotions show makes you appear incompetent.

“Can we have a discussion? Please?” she said after hardening herself. She didn’t want to risk being forced to use violence. Violence never solves problems, only puts them off until they arise again.

“That depends on a certain condition.”

“Oh? And what would that be? Humor me.”

Asimov paused. He straightened his posture before bowing his head.

“I’m sorry… Can you two forgive me?

Forgive him? After he was the sole reason for Komiya’s death? Are you kidding me?

Tamaki placed a hand on her uniform, expecting a discussion cannot be conducted after all.

“I wanted to be the first one… to discover the secret behind the phenomena that had popped up around the world. Everything up until now was because of one day I would discover how these things tick.”

In the midst of his explanations, the two caught a slight derangement in his eyes.

“And so I met someone. He had lit a cigarette somehow without holding a flame on it. I thought I was seeing things, but I knew I wasn’t. So I stalked him. He didn’t show much else after that, but one day he was out on a barbecue by himself. From what I saw, was a cloud of blackness that leveled onto its grills, and then it exploded. He had sparked it, and the grill was up and running. That’s when I knew I had to test him. The man ‘went missing’ soon after, but the truth was I used him for my own experiments...”

“You irredeemable piece of shit.” Kaori's words left her mouth before she could stop herself, but the three of them expected this type of response to his statement.

Asimov put the gemstones back into his lab coat pocket suspecting they will use everything that they can to retrieve them back.

“I cannot accept that condition.” Tamaki said with power in her voice.

Sure enough, as he was about to slip the gemstones in, one froze in place. His hand was forced back by the sudden obstacle.

Kaori, charging in, was ready to throw a kick when she felt her weight grow stronger and stronger. It was as if the air was pressing down on every inch of her body. The weight grew unbearable enough that she had to stop her advancement.

“Seriously…? What is this…?”

“Kaori, stop! It’s gravity! He can make gravity stronger for anything!”

The warning was in vain as Tamaki sensed movement from herself in 10 seconds.

“That’s not all.”

Huh? I’m going to move?

Tamaki and Kaori felt the immediate tugging sensation on their bodies. The force grew stronger and stronger until they couldn’t maintain standing anymore. The two propelled towards each other until they were forced to make contact. Their collision knocked the wind out of them.

“Kaori?! What are you doing?! I ask you to get off of me!” Tamaki yells trying to push off her valet.

“Sorry chief! But I— urf! Don’t think that’s possible at the moment. And can you refrain from pushing my face?”

They tried resisting the force, but attempting to do so was the equivalent of pushing a wall. No matter what, the two could not overcome the invisible pull.

“I’m sorry ladies, but I have an appointment to attend to.”

As if nothing had happened, Asimov continued his walk into the trail of the forest leaving the two together.

No! I can’t let him escape! Not now!

Asimov was right there! He was in arms reach and yet, managed to once again elude another pursuer. Now Tamaki was left, hugging her assistant because she had no other choice as his ability kept them together.

That was that until the force eventually disappeared. It seemed that there was a range to how far Asimov can use his ability, but that doesn’t matter now. He was far long gone. Still though, they couldn’t wait one more second, they have to give chase.

“An ability that increases the gravitation between two objects… how formidable. Tch...” Tamaki said, patting herself of any dirt.

“The thing I find interesting is the fact that the man just headed inside the same path where we encountered those wolves. I want to believe he got mauled right then and there, but if only it were that easy.” Kaori said staring down the path.

“That’s certainly a little morbid, don’t you think? I mean, I agree but, I really just want those earrings to be safe.”

But in the back of her mind, Tamaki too had the gnawing feeling that they were far gone at this point. And this feeling persisted in her mind. Who was to take responsibility for the destruction of a personal treasure? She stared at the palms of her hands. She remembered the feeling of the last time her friend had grabbed her hand to lead her to a view of the entire city of Fallway. It was a scenic overlook, the shade of orange lit the canvas that is its buildings and roads. She remembered her friend’s flowing hair in the wind and her expression of amazement. She wanted nothing more to go back to those days. But there was no other way to rewind the clock. This is reality.

Tamaki and Kaori followed the trail until they saw a wooden shack at the end of the path. Right in front was Charlotte sitting down behind a small metal table with another chair opposing her. A tea set sat on top of the table.

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“That maid from earlier? You said you were going to lead Riki somewhere. Where is he?” Tamaki demanded.

“...I can hear it. The breath of all living creatures. I can hear the howl of the winds, creating the symphony of leaves. Before long, this too shall change. Madams, please bear with this. I have been ordered specifically to slow you down.”

“Charlotte, I thought you were on our side… But I figured it was foolish of us to trust someone who is on the enemy’s side. I’m assuming Riki is kept inside this shack as a lab rat?”

“I’m sorry for making false promises. I do not have the right to, but may I ask a question?”

“A question?”

“To Miss Kaori, specifically.”

“Me?” Kaori pointed at herself.

Charlotte cupped her hands on the table. Initially, she wanted the person she serves to not hear this discussion, but there was no time to argue.

“Do you want to see your master grow? To mature?”

It was painful to think that Charlotte had stuck a cord within her. At this moment, Kaori had an idea why she wanted her opinion.

“Let’s sit down shall we? Let’s have a conversation in some nature.”

“Kaori? You cannot trust this—”

“Just me specifically?” her immediate response, caused Tamaki to give a worried look to her.

“Just you.” Charlotte said with earnest in her voice, “If you sit down with me, then it counts as attempting to ‘slow you down’.”

Her tone revealed that she wasn’t exactly their ally, yet, also wasn’t their enemy either. With one creak of the chair, Kaori sits down and pours herself a cup of tea. She eyes Tamaki, communicating that it’s up to her to go into the little shack.

Oh Kaori. I have to commend you for ‘dealing with’ the maid to buy me time to advance through.

And down the stairs she went.

・・・・・

“It’s creepy.”

“I’ve seen worse.”

Katou and Oluka stood face to face against the automaton that Asimov had created for the sole purpose of acquiring research materials and destroying evidence. Every movement of the thing seemed human, but by paying close attention, imperfections can be seen. It was wearing human clothes, except for the apparent plague mask covering its face. Before the two could make any moves, the automaton had already sent a cloud of smoke in the vicinity.

“Was Asimov seriously going to show this at the Conference or something? Why the hell was it underneath the damn building?”

Even if Katou had not been allowed to attend the Conference because of his katana, scouting the entire perimeter resulted in a strange entry point to a maze of rooms acting as tunnels. The two didn’t know who built this elaborate system of paths, but as they maneuvered to the end, they knew it had to be one specific person that oversaw the paths. They stood inside a limitless chamber of metal and in front of the last room they exited was the automaton. With the powder surrounding Katou and Oluka, they had no choice but to protect themselves.

“And that’s why we have you woman.”

“I keep telling you, my name ain’t woman...” with the snap of her fingers, an air bubble was formed outside of the two.

“Why did you have to make it so dramatic? Sheesh.” Katou said as he unsheathed his blade.

The airspace inside was clear of any smoke that could ignite. But will the lack of any powder prevent them from making contact with the explosion? Katou couldn’t swing his blade yet unless all of the powder disappeared as he would cut his bubble instead.

“I could make your bubble disappear so you can cut him if you’d like, Katou.”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself there.”

Katou needed to gauge the firepower of this thing’s blasts before making any rash decisions. That’s why, he made sure to bring a piece of plexiglass he had stolen from one of the showcase rooms. Now it sits in the sea of powder lodged in between a random metal crevice.

But now as they wait for the imminent explosion to happen, Katou’s patience started to waver. It has been well over a minute now of silence with no movement from the automaton whatsoever.

It’s not going to blow everything up? Nay, is it because we are inside this huge hunk of metal? Or does it need to receive specific instructions? Fuckin hell… Hope those guys are having fun up there handling the real guy.

“At this rate, I’m going to lose this staring contest. Katou, do something—”

The sound of his single footstep echoed in the large chamber. Soon after did the automaton reach for a cigarette to light it.

“Woman, brace yourself!”

He could tell it was fast. He saw every movement of the thing. When his bubble popped, he knew he had to do this in one take and out speed it. But before then, surviving this explosion comes first.

“Tch…!”

“Aagh!”

First it was their vision, and then their hearing had overloaded. But Katou and Oluka remained standing amidst the surge of energy that had washed up against them. When the dust settled, the plexiglass had scorch marks all throughout the surface of it. The blast was fairly weak.

At least until I can get close to it.

“Man. That seriously reminded me of a little something from the history books from my town.”

“Hm?”

“No, it’s nothing. Anyways, how are you holding up? Can you spare a few more of those bubbles?”

“Spare a few more? I’m gonna keep them all for myself after that. You go handle that thing.”

“Goddammit.”

Perhaps he didn’t need to. The automaton would have sent out another wave of powder by now, yet it hasn’t yet.

A cooldown? Could it be this easy?

Before he knew it when he took another step, the automaton collected a concentration of powder within the palm of its hand and hurled it straight towards him.

Keh! Activation via proximity?!

Without delay, Katou tapped the rubble with the back of his blade and rewinded the pieces into a solid wall. Thus, negating the energy from the next explosion. As the wall crumbled, he had a clear line of sight of its neck. It’s time.

“Get em, Katou!”

With one swing from his blade, an arm flew into the air. He had cut off its right arm.

“Asi… Assssi Aaasii...”

“Return to a pile of scrap.”

And another stroke of his blade lobbed its head clean off. It hit the ground with a thud.

“Asi, Asi, Asi, Asi, Asi, Asi, Asi, Asi, Asi, Asi, Asi, Asi, Asi, Asi, Asi, Asi, Asi, Asi, Asi, Asi, Asi, Asi, Asi, Asi, Asi, Asi, Asi, Asi, Asi, Asi, Asi, Asi, Asi, Asi, Asi, Asi, Asi, Asi, Asi, Asi, Asi...”

The head jittered as it repeated this one line in tandem.

“Just… go to hell!”

Katou plundered his blade into the plague mask.

“Good riddance.”

Finally, there was silence again within the chamber.

・・・・・

His first reaction was to cover his nose from the strong smell of coffee that permeated the air. It was a dark, dusty room with the only lightsource being the window across from where he stood. Riki had to take a second to adjust his eyes to the light level. The room itself was fairly large, almost as large as the lobby of the inn. At first, he didn’t notice the piles of papers on the ground until he stepped on a sheet causing a crinkle sound. Riki probed them, and noticed these were notes written in the same caliber as those papers from the inn.

I shouldn’t have trusted her after all. I knew I shouldn’t have kept my hopes high.

From there, he catched a glimpse of a row of monitors illuminating a reclining chair. Though, Riki couldn’t make out exactly what was displayed on the monitors. He walked until he felt a sudden causing him to lean over. It was just above his waist and the feeling of the surface was like a matte finish. At first, he was oblivious to the fact that the door to the room had opened until the light washed into the space. As Riki faced the direction of the door, he saw the silhouette of a figure emerge. The only reason he didn’t assume it was the automaton was from the reflection of white from a bright lab coat.

“Riki, right?” the man said.

“...And you’re Asimov I’m guessing?” Riki returned.

“That’s me.”

So this is him. The physicist that had stolen Tamaki’s earrings. But more importantly the one who killed her friend...

“Charlotte told me a lot about you, at least without her intention. It goes without saying that she used you for the sole purpose of throwing me into jail. That is still true. Don’t blame her for what she had done.” Asimov held his hands in his lab coat pockets as he traversed to the center where Riki stood.

“What’s that supposed to mean? Did she not just throw me in here to die?”

“I told her to do so.”

Do so?

“Yes, she made a plan to have me imprisoned. But after she had told you about it, I decided to do a little planning of myself. I pretty much orchestrated this second act, if you will. It feels as though my long, long calculation has finally come to an end.”

He seems so accomplished right now.

“Tell me.” Riki said.

“Hm?

“Do you… regret this?” Riki’s assertion caused Asimov to repeat his question in his mind.

“Regret? As in regretting my work? Or as in—”

“Regretting killing hundreds of people without batting an eye.”

He was well aware of the cost from the start, but it was as if he had distracted himself from the truth. And now he has nowhere left to hide.

“...I have no right to answer that.”

Ugh. I’m not getting through this guy.

“As for our final confrontation, well, I hate fighting. As if a shut-in like me could take part in combat. And as if you can neither. That’s why we’ll attack in a way that only we can.”

Somehow, the lights of the room lit the scene. Over in the corner, was the light switch that had flipped on by itself. With the light, Riki finally saw that the table he had bumped into was actually a roulette table with the wheel. Though, the table was only numbered 1 to 12, and the wheel itself only had 12 numbers as well.

“Roulette?”

“That’s right, Roulette, a game of chance. Let’s discuss the conditions. Should I win, then you will let me be and I’ll continue my work in peace, keeping the earrings your friend owns. Should you win, then I'll allow myself to be imprisoned and return the earrings intact. The prospect seems interesting, no?”

“Wait, hold on. Really? This is how we are going to decide who gets the earrings? By gambling for them?”

“How else are we going to do it? I have the sheer advantage if we just brawl it out, you know? Or do you want to play rock paper scissors?”

...He’s right. But won’t Azure waltz in here anyways? Isn’t he aware of that? ...And also, I don’t think I ever gambled before.

“But how will this game work? There’s only 12 numbers.”

“You’re right, that’s why I’m tweaking the rules a bit. In a normal game of roulette you would have a table with numbers and chips to place. However I don’t have the budget for that as you can see. There’s no money involved. So how will this game work? Instead of betting for money, you bet for more chips. We will run 3 rounds. Whoever holds the most chips after the 3 rounds are done will be the winner. That being said, if you run out of chips, then you lose. Oh, and each of us always has to bet at least one chip every round. Simple, right?”

What the hell. If Tamaki was here, this would have been a piece of cake for her. She would literally wipe the floor against him. Kinda wonder if she’s rich because she gambled her way up to that status.

“So that means we can’t bet on streets or anything like that?”

“Nope, just straight up numbers. We will start with 5 chips each.”

Somehow, Asimov already had the chips on hand as he tossed 5 blue chips towards Riki. Not expecting it, he catched them clumsily.

“You are up for it, aren’t you?” Asimov asked.

Was it childish to say that the fate of his future rests on these chips? A lot had already happened to him, and now he is asked to play a game of roulette that would decide who will own a pair of jewelry. Truly, this has been a surreal experience so far.

“I’m in.”