The first semester at Castle Academy started. Public speaking had never been my forte, so I let Rina do the speech at the entrance ceremony for the first-year students, which I had created. Someone strict, with a no-nonsense attitude like hers, was probably better suited to deal with high school students anyway. I was out of the three skyscraper structures that were to serve as the school. And out of the cherry blossom-covered surrounding town, made to house the students. Well, the cherry blossoms were only going to be there until the school initiation event ended. No, instead, I was standing on the red-bricked city walls, which were wide enough for a car to drive through. Of course, I could have teleported here but I wanted to have a look at all the work we had put in once before the next stage.
Beyond the city walls, there was nothing but an empty sky box, a reminder that all we had worked for was fake and could be deleted at any moment.
“Are you sure you have recovered well enough to want to read your own manga? You know that I could erase your memories if it’s too hard. It’s not like those memories are real anyway.”
I asked Ryouta who was seated on the edge of the wall, his seat dangling down towards the abyss, while reading the latest chapter of his manga from a manga magazine.
He shut the manga he had been reading but did not turn around.
“No, I just wanted to know what happens next in my story even if it’s not real. Don’t worry I am perfectly mentally sane. I don’t bear any grudge towards you, after all I wouldn’t even exist if it weren’t for you. And about my request to you earlier, I don’t want my friends here. Not yet anyway when we could be killed by the government at any time. It wouldn’t do for me to lose the last shred of my character even if I am not real.”
Just like in the manga, he had pre-empted what I was going to say. But killed, huh? Well, I have already died. So it was really a conversation between a boy who wasn’t born and a man who was dead.
“It’s your turn now, Lain.”
I turned around to Lain who walked forward and stood on top of the edge of the wall. She was wearing white pants and a white jacket with a black shirt underneath, while also wearing blue sunglasses. A blue highlight had also been added to her hair’s fringe. She had her hands in her trousers and looked bored for a moment but then she took off her gloves and held her arms with her hands spread open towards the empty space.
I had put her in charge of the 3D modelling. It was time to put into place the design we had come up with during the 33rd Roundtable Discussion, plans for the shining city outside the walls of Castle Academy, the city of Jerusalem. Let’s just say that it’s a good thing that I don’t need sleep ever since coming here.
“System Command: Open Pandora’s Box.”
A grid of blue lines appeared at the ground level in the sky box.
Nothing happened and Lain looked annoyed. Then she opened a black screen with some text on it.
“What’s the password, papa?”
For some reason she had started to regard me as her father despite the fact that she actually looked older than me. Oh well, at least she didn’t call me “daddy.” The age regression which I experienced in that dream had not gone away. I climbed onto the border, and then I logged into my superuser account on the virtual terminal she used. Normally you couldn’t see or interface with other people’s terminals but as System Administrator, so those rules didn’t apply to me.
I guess it makes sense that even if changes to small structures didn’t require my authorisation, that this would. Even though I was in charge, Rina knew about this place better than I did. Come to think of it, how long has she been here?
“You are spacing out papa.”
“Ah right, there you go, try again.”
Rina was back at the entrance ceremony doing her job. There was no time to be wasting here thinking about her.
“System command: Open Pandora’s box!” Lain repeated.
Clouds rapidly gathered and there was lightning from the sky which cracked the world open, and just like the day I came here everything in front of us turned white before existence started to return.. First of all a white tipped mountain in the distance, and then a wide medieval city of low-rise buildings no-more than four storeys high appeared outside of Castle Academy’s walls. The roads were narrow but traversable. I didn’t foresee any player or non-player revolt, so if something attacked us, it would be from outside rather than inside. At the edge of the town is yet another wall. There was a light drizzle, but this time I was prepared with an umbrella. This was Jerusalem.
“Celestina, it’s your turn now, and everything will be done.” I reached out my hand to her, and she blushed for a moment but took it. She stood on the parapet next to me.
“Cele-chan is going to give birth to children! She’s going to be a mother!”
Lain was trying to start something with Celestina again for no reason.
“No, I am not!”
“Enough, Lain. We don’t have time. Arthur, please call the Prime Minister, let him know the plans for the First Virtual Expansion Act are complete. He can run the FUD about the American-run virtual network that the previous government signed a deal with.”
“Yes, my lord.”
Arthur was in charge of defence and communications.
Celestina wore a red cropped top, exposing her midriff. I touched her bare skin.
“Ah-!”
“Hahaha!”
Celestina moaned lightly while Helen pointed and laughed. On the one hand, I am glad Helen wasn’t jealous, but on the other hand… I shook my head. This wasn’t the time to think of nonsense. I reached deeper into her, and my hand clipped through her stomach. Inside her organless form, I reached for one tangible feeling, then grabbed a tiny, silver, bullet-shaped object. It was her core. I held her now limp, light body with my other hand and created seven copies of her core. Then I placed Celestina’s core back inside her.
I handed the cores to Lain so that she could use her power to create.
Celestina came back to her senses and stood on her own.
“Lain, please take care of them,” Celestina asked with gentle, earnest eyes.
Lain laughed and lightly brushed Celestina’s hair.
“Of course, but in exchange, will you let me kiss you?”
“W-what?!”
“Just kidding. Teehee! Take care of her, it’s her first date after all, father!”
Zing.
Lain waved at us, then teleported back to her classroom at the academy.
