*
Arin taps Sariel's back, a comforting coolness spreads into her body.
"... {Barter}... This nail, for hope." (Arin)
"...! Synchrony, to achieve it I can't... Try to simultaneously swap multiple targets into one spot...
I have to set up the target coordinates... And cast delayed activation... Delaying each cast with varying amounts of time..." (Sariel)
The other 2 casts puzzled glances, waiting it out to see if the new approach was successful.
" Failure, that's fine. I understand where the failing is... The resistance. I have to account for varying levels of resistance, the gestalt will of the smoke particles controlled by magic... But that's... " (Sariel)
"Leave the computing to yggdrasil. With the many functions I came up with, they were all side effects rather than main functions...
At its core, yggdrasil might be shaped like a tree, but its a computing entity that holds information about the world. That's why the real yggdrasil does not exist in any one space time, it's extra-dimensional and contains our world within it. " (Lastia)
If the world was the contents, it would be the water held by a container. But what sort of container could hold all of history and matter? All of meaning and triviality... Certainly it wouldn't be something inside the world itself, it would be outside. In any case, what Lastia possess is only a simulation of its core function, its computation of all things regarding information.
"{Feed}. Its primary purpose is to gather energy, and to a lesser extent it can harness that energy.
Magical energy has no mass, it does not interact with the material world in understandable rules, that makes it a prime material to simulate yggdrasil, although it's a rather rudimentary computing unit that pales in comparison infinitely...
It'll calculate the resistance of the smoke Trace and set up paths for you {Swap} to follow. Try to feel it and plunge into it head first! " (Lastia)
"... Achieving delayed Synchrony... Set path anti-resistance followed, success. Repeating with higher quantities of iterations, do you follow? " (Sariel)
" Roger. " (Lastia)
Triple, quadruple... 10 targets, then 20. Soon an absurd number of iterations were launched at once in quick succession. Achieving real time Synchrony to simultaneously swap multiple targets into one space was impossible, the solution that Sariel came up with was delayed Synchrony. By setting a target to activate 5 seconds later, then setting another target to activate in 3 seconds after a 2 second delay, she could stack up more and more targets to be {Swapped} into the same space.
Every time, she'll change the new target space, launching the newly accumulated mass to combine with more smoke. Within a second, she can launch numerous iterations of {Swap} sequentially, each one accounting for a tiny amount of delay. Soon, all of the smoke was crammed into one spot, and the spike ball of {Feed} swallowed it in one go.
"... Absorption complete. Brownian entity eliminated." (Lastia)
Colour returned to the desaturated world and people began to move once more. The 'Event' was over, marking the defeat or escape of a Trace.
"Let's head back." (Lastia)
She extended her hand with a relaxed smile. Sariel hadn't noticed under her immense focus, she was already sat with her legs spread over the ground. For a moment she was surprised that their heights were suddenly so far apart, with a glance below she understood and grabbed her hand.
"... This time the 'Event' occurred right after school. It's only a Monday, let's prioritise resting. It's not strange for 1 or 2 more 'Events' to occur this week." (Arin)
"Alright, alright. You guys are worried after what I went through, right?
I didn't have any more energy to stand just now, but I'm fine now. I promise. " (Sariel)
"... Arin, please head back first. I'll walk her home." (Lastia)
She turned around, a faint grin and upturned brows adorned her face like an ornament. Almost pleading, Arin understood immediately. Curious, she turned to look at Sariel to see if she caught on, and she didn't. Lastia was now facing Arin who was on the opposite side of Sariel, her expression hiddened from Sariel's discerning eye.
"...?" (Sariel)
"Alright. Take care!" (Arin)
A hint of teasing mischief in her eyes, Arin agreed and subtly walked away, before turning around and leaving. She was undoubtedly the one who knew Lastia best, understanding her intent without words.
"Time to get you back home! Are you able to walk?" (Lastia)
"... Give me a minute." (Sariel)
Lastia sat next to her, on the ground. There weren't any benches or perches nearby, they were a little conspicuous,but not too strange that they would draw unwanted attention. A couple of students hanging out after school is hardly uncommon. After some time, they were already standing and reaching the school's gates, Lastia wasn't familiar with this gate and the scenery outside, drawing her awe with every new sight.
While the overall layout of houses remain in a rigid grid, the individuality of their owners shine in their decor, whether it was indoors or outdoors. For Lastia who could never retain her memories of yesterday, each sight was completely novel and a new opportunity to surprise her. Naturally, she also found it difficult to express such emotions, so her face remained roughly the same since leaving school, with a subtle smile and occasional sidelong glances.
It wasn't long before they reached Sariel's home. Her words echoing in Lastia's mind, her refusal and dismissive replies...
"Is... Is everything really okay? I don't mean the fight." (Lastia)
Sariel turned around in a daze, her eyes widened for a short moment before her complexion promptly returned to normal. A smile adorned on her face under the faint moonlight of the evening sky, did walking here really take that long?
"Regret." (Sariel)
"Huh...?" (Lastia)
"If you're in this deep, there's no point trying to hide it anymore from you. The next one will keep asking me, then the next one. An endless samsara hell for you.
I deeply regret my choice roughly a month ago. You... You're not needed! " (Sariel)
Lastia wants to get angry, but in all honesty she couldn't. Not because an unnatural composure took hold of her. She has no memories of the past, whatever happened then is completely detached from her, even emotionally. Whatever grudges that people bear for her past, she was coldly indifferent.
She felt a little sting from that. Her heart stung because she couldn't even feel angry at her friend, she didn't value Sariel enough to take her words to heart. 'You're not needed.', that's fine with her. As someone who has less than 24 hours to enjoy life, she was naturally just passing with the motions.
Even if the other Lastias sometimes have a desire of their own, something they want to accomplish, everyone was simply going along with the flow in some way. In Sariel's words, she was already experiencing a samsara hell since she first realised that she lacked memories of days past and could not retain what she had gained to the very next day.