[Behind the Curtain-0]
There’s a voice urging me.
I open my eyes. Before me are countless, fluctuating points of light. They form into an enormous galaxy, each star reflecting a different setting.
Those oh-so familiar figures, and completely unfamiliar scenes.
??: Where is this… Who am I?
I look down and see starlight glittering on my fingertips.
As I stare in confusion, the starlight suddenly expands, instantly sucking me into its glow.
[Behind the Curtain-1]
A silver light flashes before me, carrying with it an invisible current of air, rushing forward.
Towards a completely unsuspecting young woman’s back.
“Bang” — A gunshot sounded. Two speeding bullets crashed silently into each other.
This was a world of silvery white.
Amidst the cold gleam of metal, people came and went wordlessly. Their erect postures seemed military, but there were no insignias on their white uniforms.
A young man passed before me, but his eyes didn’t pause on me, as if he couldn’t see me standing right in front of him.
??: Where is…
He hurried off down the corridor, entering a room labeled “Laboratory”. With a scowl, he listened to an examiner report the latest test results.
Examiner: This bullet is specially constructed, but not lethal. We’ve detected remnants of a special potion within it. As to what it is exactly, we’re still conducting further tests.
Examiner: Lt. Gavin, you can take a look at this picture. Inside the bullet is an extremely small, particular mark. A custom of theirs.
On the image the examiner held, on the silver metal at several times magnification, was an “S” with a slightly-upturned tail.
Gavin’s pupils dilated ever-so-little, and under his breath a word escaped: “Them.”
Gavin: Black Swan…!
The pages of reports in his hand creased faintly, as if recoiling from his latent anger.
Gavin: If the tests turn up anything new, contact me right away.
Gavin made this last request, then hurried off with the report, as if he had many more matters to attend to.
Just then, from the shadows of the laboratory walked an austere-looking middle-aged man. He took his eyes off Gavin and turned them to the examiner.
Middle-Aged Man: How were test results?
Examiner: Aside from the conclusions in the report, we discovered an as-yet-unknown material in the metal comprising the bullet.
An almost fanatical expression came over the heretofore measured and reasonable face of the examiner.
Examiner: This material could not have been created using current level technology. If our previous hypothesis was correct, this bullet very well may have come from an alternate dimension!
Examiner: This could be the evidence for that “other world” you’ve been after all this time, Commander!
The man gave the slightest nod, and a dark gleam full of ambition flashed in his eyes.
He walked calmly out of the lab, face composed and breathing steady. The people he passed all said hello, and he nodded in return.
No one could see how his heart had been shook moments ago.
The Commander sat motionlessly behind his desk, seemingly plunged deep in thought.
The light from the screen reflected in his eyes. It was a photograph of a man, with a name written underneath: Victor.
He looked further down. Some brief text and a massive table of data recorded Victor’s Evol and his recent uses of it.
In the records, before and after each point in time when Victor used his Evol, a change occurred in the surrounding energy and space, and these changes were becoming more and more evident.
Right after that, he pulled up another file. This one had a picture of an old man, and the name underneath was: Charles.
*Knock–knock–*
Right then, a knock came at the door, and the file on the screen was promptly closed.
Commander: Come in.
The door opened, and in walked none other than Gavin.
Commander: Agent B-7, has your investigation reached a conclusion?
Gavin: Yes. According to the investigation, Black Swan’s recent series of actions have all been aimed at one target.
Gavin: They seem to be provoking her on purpose, but have no intention of killing her.
Gavin: I’ve investigated the target’s recent Evol fluctuations, as well as her movements. There is a crucial connection with B.S. Entertainment.
Gavin: And before Coordinate Company– the company formerly in charge of hers– was bought out, the shareholder behind the scenes just happened to be this company.
Gavin: I believe that awakening the target’s Evol may very well be what Black Swan is planning. This could be their long-term goal.
After Gavin finished, the Commander didn’t speak right away. He remained silent a moment before nodding.
Commander: Keep monitoring Black Swan’s next actions.
Gavin: Yes, sir.
Gavin paused a moment, and a look of resolve flashed in his eyes as he looked at the Commander and said:
Gavin: I’d like to request to be assigned to the target as a personal bodyguard.
The Commander’s sharp gaze instantly swept over him, but he looked back without flinching as the air filled with tension.
Commander: Your most important mission in coming to Loveland City is investigating Black Swan. Do not let other factors divert your attention.
Gavin: Our investigation has already proved that she is a key factor in Black Swan’s plot. She must be protected.
Commander: It doesn’t have to be by you.
At this sentence, a chilled look spread in Gavin’s eyes, and his voice became somewhat resigned.
Gavin: If the organization does not permit it, then I will continue protecting her of my own volition.
With that, he turned to leave the room.
Commander: You are a fine agent. Remember why it is you came here.
The Commander’s voice sounded behind him in warning once again, but Gavin did not look back.
Gavin: This is a personal matter. It will not hinder my completion of STF missions.
The door thudded to a close. In the darkness, a cold smile spread across the face of the man behind the desk.
Commander: The future is always changing. Conforming to it… will only end in failure.
The scene before me suddenly started wavering, and the figure within became blurred and distorted. The space started rapidly transforming.
Soon, a little wooden cabin in a mountainous forest appeared before me, and a voice came from it that I’d heard somewhere before.
??: Mr. Charles, I hear that the glass you make here is quite special.
A middle-aged man in black stood in the cramped little cabin, his immaculate uniform and imposing expression markedly at odds with the surroundings.
Before him stood a hale and hearty elderly person, none other than one of the people under investigation from the two files.
Old Man: Are you looking to purchase some glass, sir? Unfortunately, I don’t have plans on making any any time soon. I’m afraid you’ve gone out of your way for nothing.
There was a forbidding tone in the old man’s voice, but the Commander’s expression didn’t change, and he kept his eyes locked on the old man’s face.
Commander: Too bad… that I won’t get to see the wares that you make in your space.
The old man’s face instantly turned cold, and his voice grew chill.
Old Man: It seems you haven’t come here for glass.
Commander: Mr. Charles, do you believe in the existence of “parallel universes”?
Old Man: I’m old. I don’t have time for those newfangled ideas.
He shook his head with a sigh, about to show his guest out.
Old Man: If there’s nothing else, then you’d best be getting along. I gather you can find your way out.
Commander: I have proof of its existence.
By “it”, of course, I’m referring to so-called “parallel universes”.
Hearing this, the old man paused in his motion to show the man out. He took a good, hard look at this hard-to-fathom man.
The Commander took out the bullet lab report and handed it to the old man, who hesitated a moment before taking it and starting to flip through it.
Commander: We suspect that this is a bullet from another dimension.
Old Man: That is only speculation on your part.
Commander: This is not the only evidence we have. We know for a fact that the gate to another world has already been opened.
Commander: As of now, the other side has opened fire on us. If we remain completely in the dark, then we’re just going to be sitting ducks.
The picture of that silver bullet on the lab report shone with an unsettling, piercing gleam. The old man dropped his pretense.
Old Man: What do you want me to do?
Commander: I know you possess a method for going to that place. I want you to open that door for us.
Hearing this absurd-sounding request, the old man broke out in a laugh.
Old Man: You guys worry too much. In that unseen world, there will naturally be a higher power protecting this world.
Old Man: Besides, the power of humans is so negligible. In the vastness of the universe, it doesn’t amount to anything.
No matter what else the Commander said, the old man had said his piece. Seeing this, the Commander could only say goodbye and leave.
When he’d got a little ways away from the cabin into the woods, he made a phone call.
Commander: Continue investigating that time-manipulating Evolver.
When the man finally disappeared into the forest, the old man in the cabin closed the window.
But the bullet report the man had brought was still there. The old man shook his head, then turned and entered his own space.
This was a wooden workshop. The glass that the middle-aged man had pretended to come here asking about was lining the walls.
The old man took out a pocket watch and examined it a moment, a look of nostalgia welling in his eyes.
Old Man: Old buddy, I think it’s time for you to get a new owner.
As if it could really understand the old man’s words, a gleam shined across the surface of the watch.
Old Man: Don’t get impatient. You’ll meet him soon enough.
The old man laughed, deep wrinkles forming affably at the corners of his eyes. Then he turned his head, and I could almost feel his gaze upon me.
Old Man: Right now, we have to help out this child–
??: [shock]!
Before I could get over my shock, at the sound of his voice, the hand on the watch starting spinning rapidly backward.
The hand spun faster and faster, blurring into a beam of white light.
*Clack-a-clack* — It was the sound of the gears turning.
The scene before me also started swirling along with the hand and separated into countless screens overlaid on one another.
On every screen were strange and yet familiar people–
Wind swept through the camphor trees, and a huge shadow enveloped a solitary man.
An endless vortex of darkness tore through space, and in an instant it swallowed up that person, with a pocket watch in hand and a pained expression.
A plummeting elevator glowed with a cold, silvery light. A golden-haired young man looked up at the light in the ceiling.
Beneath a sky roiling with black clouds, a towering figure stood upon the highest height, flashing lightning gathering in his outstretched hand.
The scenes went on and on. I seemed to see a hazy shadow appear in each one and begin to move quickly.
Sounds and images interweaved, and the shadow became more and more distinct as it rushed past me.
The shadow suddenly stopped right in front of me in the blink of an eye, as if it was going to charge at me–
??: !
Everything became a blur…
When my vision cleared, Gavin was standing in front of me, calmly and coldly holding a gun up to me.
*Bang–*
With the sharp crack of the gun, a silver bullet whistled toward me like a streak of light.
I closed my eyes in fear.
After what seemed awhile, through the silent stillness came the kindly voice of the old man.
Old Man: Welcome. You finally made it here, my child.
Opening my eyes, I saw countless paths crisscrossing amidst a vast darkness.
A whole new world was opened up before me.