When Alice asked him that question, it send a shockwave of fear throughout his body. He tensed up and didn’t know what to make of this situation. Even his usual habit of getting lost in thought was blocked as his mind went blank. Mikomi blurted out a word but it wasn’t a response to Alice’s question, although, one might say that he lucked out as it was meant as audible disbelief but worked just fine as an answer.

“No…”

“Your father is in a meeting right now. I’m surprised they didn’t tell you when they transferred your call.”

Suddenly, it was as if the world had melted around him. The relaxing sensation that he felt sent a tingle throughout his entire body as elation washed over him. He let out a huge sigh that Alice could hear perfectly on the other side of the phone.

“Is everything okay, Mikomi?”

“Yeah. Everything is fine. I just learned something and I wanted to share it with him as soon as possible but if he’s in a meeting, it can’t be helped. I’ll just talk to him later. Sorry to bother you, Alice.”

“Not a problem, Mikomi. I’ll tell your father you called! Have a great day!”

“You, too.”

Mikomi hung up the phone and sat there on the edge of his bed. Suddenly, he let out a cheer and fist-pumped the air as hard as he could. He knew that he had won. Since Derek had covered for him, he decided to take the rest of the day off from his classes. After all, it wasn’t as if he actually needed them. He was simply here to work his way through the system so that he could graduate and start working at Onyx Technology Ventures. Mikomi even began to daydream about what it will be like to work side-by-side with his father on Project: Daphne. He was vastly interested in seeing how it came out versus his Project: Serah in the other timeline. All of those scenarios were now possible thanks to his efforts.

The remainder of the day quickly flew by. Ryunosuke had concluded his meetings as he greeted Alice back in his office.

“Done for the day?”

“You bet. We’re making terrific progress! I feel as if I can leave this project in the hands of my team and everything will work out just fine. Because of that, it has afforded me the opportunity to get out of here at five o’clock every single day. I know my family worries about me when I overwork myself but now that we’re on a steady schedule, I don’t have to do that anymore. You have no idea how good that feels.”

“I bet it feels great! It’s been really exciting seeing all of this come to fruition. Even though I’m not creating anything, I can’t wait to see how everything comes together in the end.”

“That’s the beauty of change, Alice. Everything changes but it doesn’t change on its own. Things only change if you make them and that takes hard work and dedication. Once you put in the effort, you can reap the benefits. Take you, for example.”

“Me?”

“When you first started here, you were always so formal around me even though I told you that you didn’t have to be. Now, the way you talk, the way you act is so casual. You finally learned that you didn’t have to walk on eggshells around me and that you could just be yourself. While it’s not the same as sitting in front of a computer and writing line after line of code, it’s still something you eased yourself into and worked hard to overcome. As a result, you have become more open and such a joy to be around.”

“T-thank you, sir!”

Ryunosuke couldn’t help but laugh at the fact that Alice quickly reverted back to her original self in the blink of an eye.

“Who knows? Maybe you’ll make a fine partner for my Mikomi one day!”

“MISTER SAIGO!”

Alice was completely embarrassed but the blush she showed off said otherwise. Even though Mikomi spent most of his time at college studying, Ryunosuke would always tell Alice stories about him. The last time Alice met Mikomi, he was still rather young. She met him when he came to the company to survey the programming team. She thought that he was adorable then but now that Mikomi was a bit older, it would be a lie to say that she didn’t think about him.

“OH! Speaking of Mikomi… I forgot to tell you that he called you shortly after noon when you were in the meeting. He said that he learned something new and couldn’t wait to tell you about it.”

“That’s great! It’s been a while since I’ve talked to my son. I’ll be sure to give him a call tonight after dinner. He’s probably eating right now anyway so I don’t want to disturb him. Thanks for relaying the message, Alice, and sorry for embarrassing you but I’m just saying that I wouldn’t mind it one bit.”

Ryunosuke gave Alice a wink before grabbing his coat. She couldn’t say anything in response to that. All she could do was stand still while he left the office. Ryunosuke made his way down to the parking lot. He pulled his keys out of his pocket and went to insert them into his car door when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

“Pardon me, sir, but are you Mikomi Saigo’s father, Ryunosuke?”

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Ryunosuke turned around as a person in a white suit and royal blue shirt stood before him. He sported blonde hair and held a golden cane in his hand. It was Sebastian.

“Yes, I am. How can I help you and how do you know about my son?”

“I’m afraid I have some information to tell you about your son. You see, I know that many years ago, he gave you the solution to the problems you had with your artificial intelligence program but Mikomi wasn’t exactly honest with you about where he got that code from.”

“What are you talking about? My son is a genius. He wrote the code himself!”

“Yes, that’s what he told you but that’s not the truth. To be honest, I’m not truly comfortable discussing this here. Do you mind if we go somewhere a little more private? I’ll be happy to fill you in on all of the details.”

Ryunosuke didn’t know what to think. He remembered having a conversation with Mikomi about the origins of the code. He wanted to believe his son’s story but it still seemed extremely far-fetched that someone at age fourteen could come up with such an elaborate solution to a complex problem. He didn’t want to believe that Mikomi had lied to him but he decided to trust Sebastian and invited him into his car.

He pulled out of the parking lot and drove along the road until he entered a secluded area. There was a small bridge there that overlooked a ravine in the middle of a small forest. Sebastian asked if he wouldn’t mind pulling over as this area would suffice. The car stopped along the side of the road and Sebastian invited Ryunosuke to step outside for some fresh air. The two of them got out of the car with Ryunosuke leaning up against the driver’s side door. Sebastian stood in front of him with his arms folded.

“I suppose I’ll kick the conversation off here. What I’m about to say may be hard to believe but Mikomi truly did write that code; however, he wrote it four years from now.”

“What are you talking about? Four years from now?”

“That is correct. You had recently passed away due to a heart attack and it left the CEO’s seat empty at your company. When Mikomi graduated college, he took over as the new CEO of Onyx Technology Ventures. Thanks to a new class that opened up at MUT, Mikomi discovered the problem with your A.I. and fixed it but Mikomi would meet a tragic fate.”

“The night that he made the breakthrough, I’m sorry to say that he was killed. Due to the nature of his case, I, a Custodian of Time, granted your son a second chance at life. I moved him to this timeline and put him back inside of his fourteen-year-old body while having him retain all of his memories from when he was twenty-four.”

“You’re out of your goddamn mind! Just who the hell are you!?”

“Think about it. Why do you think Mikomi knew the solution to your problem? Why did he seem so devastated when Serah died? Serah had also died in the other timeline and Mikomi did everything in his power to save her. It’s a shame it was all for nothing. If that’s not enough to convince you, why do you think he urged you to go see a doctor which led to your open-heart surgery? There’s only one way Mikomi would do all of this… if he had knowledge of the events that were to come in this world. Your son is from the future, Ryunosuke but… therein lies the problem.”

“You see, he’s going around and making all of these changes. It’s rather fun watching him pour his heart and soul into everything just for the sake of having a better life than the one he had before. He saved your life, he saved his friendship with Ryan… he even made a new friend at college that he previously never knew. I’m sure that you missed a phone call from your son earlier this afternoon as well. He called you not because he learned something new but because he wanted to check and see if you were still alive.”

Sebastian paused for a moment as Ryunosuke wore a confused look. All of this was nothing more than preposterous nonsense to him. Ryunosuke continued to give Sebastian a look as though he were insane.

“You must be wondering how or why I know all of these intricate details, am I correct in assuming so?”

With that, Sebastian disappeared into thin air and reappeared right in front of Ryunosuke’s face. He wanted to jump back but he already had been leaning up against his car. He had no idea what to make of what he had just witnessed.

“Because even though you never see me… I am always watching.”

Ryunosuke nervously reached behind him, looking for the door handle to his car. He was petrified at the fact that the man in front of him just suddenly disappeared and reappeared at will. Sebastian looked over at the lock inside the car and gave his head a nod, locking the car instantly.

“You’re trying to flee from the truth, Ryunosuke. I’m afraid I cannot allow that. You see, I’m here to ask a favor of you. It’s a rather simple favor though… something that should be easy to do, even for someone like yourself.”

Sebastian leaned in and brought his mouth close to Ryunosuke’s right ear.

“If you wouldn’t mind, could you do your best to die for me?”

Sebastian reached out and grabbed Ryunosuke by the neck, lifting him up off the ground. Sebastian disappeared along with Ryunosuke and reappeared above the edge of the ravine. Ryunosuke’s feet dangled, trying to find the ground but there was nothing underneath him. Sebastian cracked a sinister grin as he stared into Ryunosuke’s frightened eyes.

“Remember to give it your best!”

Sebastian closed his eyes and tilted his head to the side, giving him a warm and friendly smile. Sebastian released his grip and Ryunosuke plummeted over a hundred feet down to the ravine below. His body slammed down into the jagged rocks and became twisted and mangled. There was no way he could have survived the fall. Sebastian looked over the edge of the cliff down at Ryunosuke’s broken body. He took a bow and then cracked another friendly-looking smile.

“See? That wasn’t so hard now, was it?”

With those words, Sebastian, once again, disappeared into thin air. The early evening turned dark. Karoline was sitting at the kitchen table going through her phone directory. She was worried when Ryunosuke didn’t come home without any notification that he would be staying late. He always told her when he wouldn’t be home on time and when she received no word, she became rather worried. She was about to pick up the phone to call another person when the phone rang, startling her. She frantically picked it up and answered.

“H-hello? … Yes, this is she.”

Karoline immediately shot up out of her chair. She placed her free hand on the kitchen table in order to keep her balance, her knees became weak, making it difficult for her to stand.

“No! That can’t be true… he would never…. Are you sure it’s him?”

Any look of hope faded from her face. It was apparent that it was the police on the other side of the receiver. They had discovered Ryunosuke’s body and were notifying Karoline of the grim news. A look of sadness and despair washed over her face as she slowly sat back down at the table.

“I-I see… t-thank you.”

Karoline put the phone down and covered her mouth. She put her head down on the table and immediately broke down. She had no idea what to do at this point outside of calling Mikomi. She knew that it would be a difficult task but it was her duty as a mother to notify her son. She collected herself as much as she could and picked up the phone once again.

Mikomi sat on his bed in his dorm room, reading up on advanced A.I. techniques when his phone rang. Without even thinking about the call itself, he quickly picked up the phone and answered in a cheerful tone.

“Hello?”

“Mikomi… I have some bad news,” said Karoline as she could be faintly heard through the receiver within the silence of the dorm room.

“Mom? What’s wrong?”

He seemed a bit worried. All of a sudden, he began to tremble. He dropped the phone and grabbed his head, letting out a terrifying scream as a sharp, stabbing pain engulfed the entirety of his skull. Derek shot up out of his bed and rushed to Mikomi’s side. With tears streaming down his face, he began to rock back and forth with his mother calling out to him from the phone lying on the floor.

“Mikomi! What happened? MIKOMI!”

Mikomi couldn’t respond. No matter how much Derek tried to get through to him, he simply sat there breathing heavily while rocking back and forth with a look of pure terror on his face.

The blinding pain shooting through his head caused the world around him to become nothing more than a muffled blur. Suddenly, everything went dark when Mikomi passed out.