“What about the data I asked for?” the glasses-wearing man asked through the projection display hovering nearby.

“I will send it soon. Tonight it’ll be available, depending on my guess, “said the girl with confidence.

“Also, when will you be here?” Johann asked in a cold tone while checking on other data on another projection screen, one after the other.

“Who knows. The guy I’m after over here is slippery as an eel. No one can predict what he will do next. Still, he is no match for me. Anyway, are your plans going to start soon?”

“No. I’m just making sure. If I could include you in my steps then it would be great.”

“Can’t you come up with a plan that you can do alone? Truthfully, it’s quite troublesome for me,” said the voice from the other end mockingly.

Johann is silent for a moment.

“…I just know that if you’re a great asset for me.”

“Woah hey, I’m not your property, you know. I’ll notify you when my business ends here and will be in Tantoris shortly. There’s something I need to do there.”

“I understand.”

“Oh yes. Johann. I have this little note you need to listen to.”

“What’s that?”

“Don’t dwell too much in the abyss of revenge.”

He chuckles sarcastically.

“…said someone who came here because she wanted revenge.”

Johann cuts the communication by turning the display off. He went to his desk, where several busy laptops tried their best to run programs Johann had built.

He lowered his head and adjusted his glasses while typing a few things into each laptop. He did it simultaneously while re-checking the fluctuating graphic information on the communication ring’s display screen.

“This timeline’s input device is very outdated, can’t receive a quick voice command nor mind-based inputs. But, it’s still within my expectations. Or maybe…” He is looking at the ring he is wearing now, “should I access the hidden feature inside this ring?”

He shakes his head as Johann sinks himself among the dozens of projection screens that hover around his room, dedicating all his time to finding an effective way to thwart this past journey. He got around twenty or more screens floating around him, waiting to be used so he could ultimately achieve his goal.

Each individual who comes from the future is busy with their own activities and goals that each of them wants to achieve. Rio and Rita are no exception.

After finishing his daily work, Rio is still glued to his computer screen almost daily. Be it looking for reference materials, revising according to Mr. Rudi’s supervision, or resolving the issues with the relevant data and budget provided.

Valerie helps Rio several times because the blonde man is also excited to see his friend being diligent like that, to the point Rio pushes himself hard. Letting Rio try his best is a good thing in the long run. That’s what Valerie believes.

The next few days were a little different than usual. Valerie found Rio more relaxed for this afternoon. The man prefers to relax while enjoying a warm drink and relaxes his shoulders.

“Oh, someone’s in a good mood, apparently? How’s your proposal going?”

“I’m waiting for Mr. Rudi’s reivew. I could say that every input from him is valuable and the proposal is already on his desk this morning. The review would be done this evening, I suppose.”

Valerie sneers a bit. “But, man. You really nailed it, eh? I thought you’ll drop it soon enough since we actually don’t have to do that when we’re being sent here. This way, I’m sure what you’ve been worked with all of your efforts will benefit a lot of people later.”

“What do you mean I’ll drop it, huh? Well, I think it’s also because you’ve helped me here and there. I appreciate it, Val,” Rio replied with a similar-looking sneer.

“No problem, man!”

Suddenly a short text appeared on Rio’s cell phone. From Mr. Rudi, asking him to come into his room. Rio shows his cellphone screen to Valerie, and the blonde man gives a thumbs up.

Watching his friend face his superior, Valerie returns to his work, which only needs a minor touch-up before he can go home. He got a schedule tonight, so Valerie wants to leave today with his head unburdened by unfinished work.

Sums up, it takes Valerie roughly an hour and a half to wrap everything today.

“Phew, finally done,” Valerie muttered as he leaned back in his work chair to stretch a bit. “However, seems like stuff hasn’t finished yet inside Mr. Rudi’s room.”

A few minutes later, Rio is back with unsteady steps and immediately sits while lying down on the desk.

“…not very good, huh?” asked Valerie while tidying his desk.

“I don’t know. Mr. Rudi said he needs more time alone to evaluate my proposal,” Rio sighs, “it turns out that there are still some things that need to be added and improved. I’ve been discussed about this with him for a while just recently….”

“Frankly, for about an hour and a half. I take it that you will be working late today too?”

Rio nods weakly. Valerie pats Rio on the shoulder gently as he walks away.

Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

“Good luck tonight. I’ll be off.”

“Alright, sure. See you tomorrow.”

Soon after, other co-workers excused themselves to go home and greeted Rio. He is still seated at his desk and can’t really go yet because there are still no words from his superior.

Ah… are there many errors left? I’ve ensured that everything has been taken care of. Where did I go wrong?

After a series of self-doubt, Mr. Rudi finally comes out of his room. He gives an approving smile that Rio has been waiting for as his superior walk closer to his desk.

“I like your idea, Rio. However, we must consider it carefully when we’re going to implement the proposal because it will use a lot of resources and high cost. You just need to overcome this final hurdle and everything will be settled.”

“I understand, Sir!”

“Good luck, Rio. I’ll be going home first.”

“Thank you and be careful on the way home, Mr. Rudi.”

Rio will do what he needs to finish this day without being ordered by his superior. Indeed, the proposal will not be made today because of the said revisions and still need more data to be added. However, he is determined to do what he can first.

Several hours passed until Rio hit his break time. He is relaxing his muscles while leaning on his work chair. At that moment, someone enters Rio’s room.

“Rita, you’ve finally come.”

“Good evening. I brought you a warm porridge. You definitely haven’t got your dinner yet.”

Rio smiled kindly, welcoming the girl who came at the right time. Aside from a porridge, Rita also brings warm drinks like she is going to a picnic. He pointed at the empty desk—Valerie’s desk—and they were having dinner together.

It’s been a while since Rio and Rita were together during their overtime like this. Without realizing it, Rita is used to coming and bringing something to enjoy together, considering that Rio was always focused on his proposals, so most likely, he barely gives more thought to his dinner. Rio also got used to Rita coming to his office and continuing her research using the communication ring.

“How’s Grandma at home?”

“She’s doing well. She often invited me to take care of plants in the yard when I’m not doing any overtime.”

“Things we can’t possibly do in the future, huh? Then, how about the terrarium you brought home? Does she like it?”

“Yeah. In fact, she wants us to make our own terrarium and we are in the middle of making it.”

“Sounds like a lot of fun.”

Small chats while enjoying warm food together, joking, and laughing with Rita almost filled Rio’s busiest moments every day. Rita’s presence beside him because they’ve agreed on a joint project gave him a new sensation. At the very least, the lonely recesses in his heart were slowly filling up with the warmth that Rita brought.

And then, about three days have passed since Mr. Rudi’s previous review of Rio’s proposal, and Rita was never absent from Rio’s side. Valerie came along just once, and that night, Rio felt it was noisier than usual. But on the other two days, Valerie chose to leave two of them alone.

One night, Rio was late to go home as usual, and he walked away from his desk. He checked the clock on the wall since Rita should be at Rio’s office at this time.

Soon after, the door opened with a girl behind it.

“Sorry, I’m late, we had this peculiar event to welcome visitors so it took time. It’s just hot tea for today, okay?” Rita seems in a hurry to get here.

“Ah, there you are. No problem at all. It’s quite cold tonight so hot tea will help a lot,” said Rio lightly.

Rita nodded with her usual warm smile. Her fingers painstakingly prepared two glasses of tea that were still spewing thin steam fog to be ready to drink as Rio suddenly stopped her.

“Eh?” she looks at Rio in disbelief.

“We can prepare it together, you know. The tea is for both of us. So, it’s totally free for you to ask me for help.”

“A-ah, right. Then… Can you help me?” Rita averts her gaze.

“Of course.”

When Rio thinks about it, it’s almost like Rita is always right beside him. Sometimes, she can’t join his overtime due to her Grandma needing company. But other than that, Rita ensured she was always available for him.

Was Rita being here with me until now a coincidence? All this time, I’ve been using my personal project as a way to make me occupied, so I don’t have to think about Arisa, according to Valerie’s suggestion. It’s just that I don’t expect that she will always be at my side.

High chance that this is also Valerie’s doing here. It’s pretty logical because it could be he doesn’t want me to be alone here. Thus, encouraging Rita to meet me while Valerie himself is on a date somewhere. Heh, what kind of friend is he? Seriously…

“Should I bring another tea when I’m coming next days? I’ve been bringing you the same one, aren’t I?” asked the girl from across the table,

“It’s okay actually. As long as it’s warm enough during these cold nights, then it’s delicious. Or perhaps, it’s you who want a little change of the taste?”

“It is not like that. But, just maybe, I think you’ll get bored with the tea.”

“Don’t worry. As long as you’re here, then I can feel how the tea is unusually tasty.”

Rio drinks his tea while Rita looks at him with a light reddish blush on her face. Before Rio knew it, she had already turned her face away.

To be precise, Rio knew that Rita was deliberately averting her face. But he won’t talk about it.

…little by little, I can’t see Rita as a friend anymore at this rate.

“By the way, I was quite surprised when you introduced me and Valerie to Vemia.”

Rio is looking at Rita, trying to remember what she meant and laughing aloud at that. “I wanted to surprise you. Because I told her about you guys when she found out that her brother was a person from the future.”

“Is it really okay to tell her our true identity? You can’t make sure that she won’t tell everyone that originally from this timeline.”

“Initially, I did that to earn her trust. At that moment, my head was quite messed up. I can’t think straight at all so I have to use anything that I feels she’ll definitely trust me if I do that. Don’t worry, don’t worry. I can say that it’s fine to share information about us to her. Vemia is a trustworthy person, I can assure you.”

Rio smiled warmly. Seeing this, Rita could breathe a sigh of relief.

“Alright, I’ll continue with my proposal first,” Rio said as he put down his cup of tea and returned to his computer screen.

Rita nods and lets her friend focus again for the remaining time.

Like other previous nights, Rio finished at nine o’clock. Soon after, the two of them walked down the dark hallway, bid farewell to each other, and headed back to their respective homes just like usual. Taking overtime to complete the proposal seems to have become his routine, so Rio doesn’t feel tired this time.

Rio realized that the living room’s light was still on as he arrived at the house. Vemia peeks from where she sits before closing her book and waves. “Welcome, Rio. Good job for today!”

The eldest brother smiled. “Thank you. You too, Vemia. You’ve been doing great for getting your homework done. Will you be back in your room soon?”

“Yeah, I think it’s better to sleep when there’s nothing else to do. What about you?” asked Vemia while rubbing her eyes.

“I still need something to do so I’ll hit the bed later.”

Vemia turned towards Rio. Then, she quickly went to the dining table chair to sit opposite his brother. Her eyes lit up, expecting more explanation than the sentence just now. “It’s about your mission from the future, right? Tell me more about it. Vemia wants to help!”

“About that,” Rio takes the seat to satisfy Vemia’s curiosity, “I will first briefly explain the purpose of my proposal I’ve been working on.”

“Okay! Tell me all!”

He explained patiently to his younger sister, who didn’t look sleepy anymore. Rio emphasized that to apply his ideas in protecting the environment, he needed a vital object in this city. However, he felt that many buildings were necessary enough in Tantoris that he could not choose.

Vemia nodded while Rio was talking quite enthusiastically.

“Okay, Rio. I understand what you’re saying. So, Vemia has a suggestion! How about we go looking around the town? I have a few places that I think are vital to this city and you will definitely want to see them with your own eyes.”

“Good idea. Let’s go around the city together this weekend.”

“Alright!”

They exchanged a high-five before hitting the bed to end the day.