Charlotte didn’t know when, but she lost track of time at some point. She was in such a calmness that she felt everything that was wrong didn’t exist at all. All her worries were gone, the soil under her had disappeared, the air didn't bother her more...

Suddenly, she realized her stillness and opened her eyes. She had unfocused eyes, so she had to wait for a while before looking around.

Once her eyes were functioning again, she looked around her. To her surprise, everything was the same. The same warehouse, the same clothes she was wearing before, the same machine, the same sheen covering the machine. Everything was in the same place she remembered leaving it before.

After being certain that it all was the same, her mind jolted.

“U-uh? A sheen?” Her eyes opened wide.

Around the Core Machine was a light so thin that if she was not seriously studying the surroundings and was not so close, she wouldn’t have noticed.

“This, could be dangerous, no?”

Getting away from it, she went to her desktop that was constantly monitoring it all. Looking at the logs, she realized it hadn’t even been 10 minutes since the last time she was aware of it.

Charlotte couldn’t see anything wrong. There was no anomaly nor was there any instability.

“What do I do…”

Deciding that there was no danger and seeing that everything continued to work as it was before; that is, it was not working at all, except for the sheen. She resolutely, turned down the Core Machine.

“Really, stay out of seemingly dangerous and mysterious things. I can only deal with one type at a time.”

Nodding to herself, she waited until everything was silent and walked to the Core Machine. The sheen was disappearing along with time, and she was getting calmer by it going away.

*Sigh

Once she couldn’t see the light anymore, she approached it, intending to be over with it for today, she couldn’t leave this damned crystal here, it had costed her way too much!

Opening the door to the compartment where the Crystal Core was, she saw it still with some light.

“Huhu, this lady is cautious enough to notice you and patiently wait!”

Smiling smugly, she then went to her desktop to corroborate if there were no anomalies. There weren’t.

“I’m being overly cautious, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.”

She approached the crystal, and seeing that it had no light, she went on to retrieve it.

When she touched the Crystal Core, it suddenly shone with such a bright light that Charlotte had to close her eyes, suddenly she felt herself floating.

*Bang!

“Gah!!”

She hit the wall and fell to the floor, there was no explosion, there was no sound apart from her hitting the wall. She lost consciousness.

…

*Bang!

When there was a very loud sound of something being hit, a man turned his head to look at the warehouse the girl had gone into.

He was wearing easy to move on clothes, had a cap and sunglasses that made impossible to be recognized if looked from afar. Approaching the warehouse, he took out a terminal from a suitcase he had been carrying.

“There’s nothing wrong inside… No radiation and no signs of there being an explosion…”

Seeing that there was no danger, he stepped in.

Once there he was stunned, the machine was gone! There was nothing in there!

Getting closer to where it was supposed to be, he saw a small glass. It looked like a diamond but he heeded it no attention.

He turned around and saw the girl, Charlotte, lying unconscious on the floor. She wasn’t wearing anything.

He frowned, now that he noticed, there wasn’t anything in the warehouse.

Obviously, the machine was gone as it was the first thing he saw, or didn’t see, when he entered. But her desktop was also gone, all the tools she bought were gone, her protective garments were gone as well as she was in the nude.

Looking again at where the machine was supposed to be, he noticed that around it was a circle, like a wave after an explosion, but without the signs of burning or destruction.

Leaving it for later, the man approached Charlotte.

“There’s nothing wrong with her, alright.”

Using his terminal to inspect her body, he said as he felt reassured. She had no broken bones, no internal organ was ripped apart and no problem whatsoever in her brain. The only thing she had was a small concussion on the back of her head.

He then left the warehouse and made a call. Once it was answered he didn’t wait to speak:

“Boss, there’s been an issue.”

“Oya? It sounds serious?” The one who answered was James.

“More than it, it’s strange.”

“…How?”

Realizing that it was indeed serious, James stopped fooling around.

“I don’t know if the girl made a mistake or if it was successful, but everything that she’d worked on is gone, it disappeared without trace.”

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“Now, that’s complicated, then there’s no results?”

“I don’t know, she lays unconscious in the warehouse she rented, but… There’s nothing besides her.”

“If there’s no explosion, then she must have succeeded… Though in what, I’m no sure, ha-ha-ha. Keep monitoring her and try to protect her, we need all the chips we can get for what’s to come.”

“Understood, boss.”

Ending the call, he saw that there was a bag at side of the warehouse. In there were the clothes she was wearing this morning. Thinking about how she was currently on the nude, he left them just at the side of the entrance instead.

…

“Ohhhh!! It’s the magic!”

The little girl said as she saw the man floating cross-legged in front of her.

“*Sigh… How many times do I need to tell not to come here…” The man said, clearly frustrated at her.

“I can’t hear I don’t know!” She said as she covered her ears and shook her head.

“Really, no, kid, please go away.” He motioned with his hands, shooing her away.

“I want to do magic!”

She said paying him no heed, she wanted to fly, she wanted to be able to do anything she desired and could with that magic she saw.

“I am going to tell you this, and only this. If you follow all I tell you I assure you will be able to do the same as I do.” He said after resigning himself, he had been here for a month already, and would be leaving soon, even today if the circumstances allowed him.

“YES!!”

“Then, remember this: This is not magic, this is science.”

“Science? But science isn’t like that!”

She protested as she remembered what she was taught on her school, she was still in elementary school but they had showed them the basics of science, it was slow and filled with numbers and stuff.

Nothing like floating just because one wanted or invoking fire.

“It is science, and I can prove it to you.”

*Nodnod

Nodding her head to see him doing more magic, she waited eagerly.

He then took out a lighter out of his pocket and started a fire with it.

“That’s no magic! It’s a light!”

“I said I was going to prove to you that what I do is science, look well.”

He said as he lifted his right index. Then there was fire coming from it.

“Oh! See tha’ magic!”

She said excitedly.

“Really? They are both the same to me. An application of science.”

“No! They’re different!”

“Why?”

“Because you used the lighter to start the fire! You used nothing to start the fire!”

She said pointing to his right index that still had fire going strong.

“Oh, but I used something.”

“Really? Show me!”

“It is a device I made, too small for one to see without help.”

“Lies! It’s magic!”

Twitching his eye, he was getting annoyed by her insistence.

“Look, there are small machines that you can normally not see with your eyes. This is the same.”

“Where is it then!”

“In front of you.”

“I can’t see it!”

…

Feeling herself getting cold, Charlotte slowly opened her eyes.

“U-ugh, what happened…?”

The last thing she remembered was being in front of the machine taking out the Crystal Core.

Looking in front of her she couldn’t help but be astonished.

There was a glow out of nothing! Like a fire but without any material to burn from and without emitting any heat. In fact, it was cold!

“Uh, why’s it so cold”

Turning down her sights, she was momentarily at a loss, she was nude!

“W-where’re my things?!”

She started searching her surroundings but alas, there was nothing, nothing except for that glow.

“H-how am I going to get to home…?”

I’m no exhibitionist!

As there was nothing she could do now, she approached the glow, she might die but she didn’t care, she was going to die of shame anyway!

Getting closer she started to feel, nothing, it was the same… No change in temperature, no fear for it. Nothing.

“Weird, am I high or something?”

When she entered the glow she noticed she could see normally through it, even if the light was too bright, she could still see the things that were on the other side, like a transparent curtain.

She marveled at the experience. It felt like magic, but she knew better.

“This is the culmination of science, uh? To create a law!”

Smirking to herself, she just stayed there for a while.

‘In front of you.’

Remembering his words, she looked down, to where the machine once was.

I don’t even remember his face, and he never gave me his name. How am I supposed to find you?

The last thing he told her:

‘When you are ready, come look for me. I will be waiting on the stars.’

Right on the middle she noticed a little crystal, smaller than her thumb. She felt as if all the light was coming from it.

Stretching her hand, she grabbed it. Suddenly, she stopped seeing the lights.

“Heh, then you’re the cause.”

It had the same diamond shaped form as the Crystal Core, albeit way smaller. She could see all the same colors as before, but she knew something has changed inside. There was something more to it. She would have to examine it better to know.

But before that.

“How am I going back…”

Looking again around her, she couldn’t discover anything. She was still alone in the warehouse, not even ants were present…

“I…”

Mustering her courage, she went to the door, opening it a little, she saw that it was getting dark but still was some shade of red in the sky.

“Uhm, so, it's almost 7?”

Waiting for the day to be over and darkness to descend to the world, she sat beside the door. When there was almost no light, she stood up and prepared herself to go out.

She opened the door completely and then, god said, let there be light, and the streetlights were turned on.

FUCK YOU, GOD.

She was truly indignant and wearing at the sky when she saw a bag at the door’s side.

… I’m an idiot.

She had changed from her clothes in case there was a radiative leak and everything had to be destroyed. To prevent her clothes from following that kind of misfortune, she had left them outside.

Putting on her clothes, she sighed.

Being commando is way better than being an exhibitionist, right?

She had no underwear, shoes nor socks. She only had her trousers and a shirt. She then put the Crystal Core in her shirt’s pocket and started her travel back home.

She had no money as it all had been lost before, having only a bag and her clothes left.

She took a cab and went to the building she lived on. Telling the driver she would be right back, she ran all the way to her floor.

“Damn, I’ve no keys!”

Ringing the bell, she waited until the boy, Lorris, opened the door.

“Uh, hi?”

“Sorry, I lost my keys, do you have the key to my room??”

She asked hurriedly as the taxi was still waiting for her.

“Yes, but wait, I need to look for them, uhm… miss Charlotte, do you need something?”

“Ah! Yes, can you lend me some cash? There’s a cab down there waiting…”

“How much is it?”

“Uhm, I think with 50 gers is good.”

“W-wait, I think I have it.”

Going to his room, he came back with a 100 bill.

“Here.”

Taking it from his hand without answering him, she ran downstairs as fast as she could.

Once back at the 9th floor, she finally took a breath.

“Haaa haaa, I’m, haaa, I’m gonna die…”

She had not entered the house yet, she had no energy to speak of. She was sitting on the stairs next to the door.

“Here.”

“Oh? Thanks, boy.”

She said as the boy had a cup of water in his hand. Taking it, she downed it all in an instant.

“C-Can you not call me boy all the time? I’ve got a name!”

“Really? What’s it, boy?”

“I’ve already told you…”

“I’ve no memories of it, so it didn’t happen, now, spill it.”

Smirking at him, she was having a little bit of fun after running and feeling restless all day long.

“I’m Lorris!”

“Haha, Lorrboy, I’m Charlotte, thanks for the water, I’m alive again.”

Charlotte said as she stood up, returning the cup to him.

“No, problem. Right, the keys!”

“Ah, yes, please.”

Receiving the keys, she went to her room and, after choosing new clothes to wear, she took a bath.

Feeling refreshed, she sat in her bed, only wearing her panties and a shirt she was going to use to sleep tonight.

She was shuffling the crystal around, trying to see if it did something.

“It doesn’t respond to anything.”

She stared at it intently, having an inkling as to what to do but being afraid.

“I just meditated and it went boom… If, it happens here, then I…”

If she was thrown away like last time, the last thing she could be grateful about was not dying! She lived in the 9th floor! Falling down from here is the same as committing suicide!

“I… I’ll do it tomorrow.”

She decided to try and do it in her trusty warehouse.

She dreamed, she dreamed of being floating, there was nothing in the dream, just the vast space. This space, however, was not black nor white. It was as tranquil as the sea, or the clouds. In there, everything was good, everything was as it should be.