The two woke up inside a white room, that expands endlessly. There’s only a white tiled floor, the ceiling was so white, but it looks like there is no ceiling, there no walls just a very vast horizon. Akino approached Alexa and immediately hugged her. She noticed that Alexa’s body was somehow turned normal, the one with her black-short hair but still she got that wound stitch on her left eye. She was wearing the pink jacket she gave her that morning during her birthday. She looked to herself and she saw she was wearing the leather jacket, blue jeans and the silver watch she worn during Alexa’s birthday that turned out to be the end of their normal lives.

Alexa: Wait, my claws, it’s gone?

Akino: Yeah… it looks like we reverted back to normal?

Alexa: Where are we?

Akino: I don’t know, kid…

Alexa: We got sucked in by that sphere thingy, and now we’re here… are we inside the sphere?

Akino: Not quite sure about that…

Both of them stood up, and they walked inside the white infinite room. They wandered the whole place, they kept on walking and walking.

Alexa: Hey, is this the end of the road? I mean, are we dead already? *sniffs and tears*

Alexa started to cry, Akino kneeled in front of her and placed her hands on her shoulder.

Akino: Hey, hey. This is not the end of the line, okay? No matter what, I’ll stay here with you, I promise that, okay?

Alexa: *sniffs* Okay, promise me.

Akino raised her hand with her pinky, so did Alexa. They did a pinky promise. Alexa then hugged Akino, and after thirty seconds they continued their endless walking. Akino looked at her watch as they walk. Non-stop, they never took a rest, they felt that their feet was dragging them somewhere inside that white void. Akino looked again on her watch.

Akino: Oh my God…

Alexa: What is it?

Akino: The dates on this watch seems to be weird.

Alexa: What do you mean?

Akino: The last time I checked it, the date was October 21, 3021. Now, it was November 30, 3021.

Alexa: Wait, wait, wait. We’ve been walking for 40 days?! Your watch must be broken, we’ve been in here like an hour or something…

Akino: I hope it’s the watch, ‘coz if it isn’t the watch then… then this place is something else.

Alexa: So, what now. Hours or days, we’ve been walking here like forever. Any plans on leaving this place?

Akino: Wait a minute…

Akino touched the floor, and black lines started to appear on it. Their appearance changed, Alexa turned back into her previous white body physique, and Akino with her purple turtleneck and black slacks.

Alexa: We turned back??? Hey! What happened?

Akino: Could you calm down a bit? Relax, just relax, okay? Inhale, exhale.

Akino raised her hand, and it turned into a long rail rifle, Alexa then covered her body with scales.

Akino: We turned back to what we were a while ago, but still—

Alexa: Where the hell are we?

Akino looked towards the horizon in front of them, then she fired a single shot towards the sky. The shot goes on high, and higher until she detected that the bullet she fired hit something. They looked for the bullet and saw it was behind them.

Alexa: What?! How did it get here?

Akino: I – I don’t know… this place is sure twisted, huh?

Alexa: I think I saw something on the horizon. Should we head there?

Akino looked to where Alexa was pointing on, she saw an erected structure, but she could not visualize what it is.

Akino: Sure, let’s go there.

The two continued their long walk. Walking for more than four hours, they finally reached the place, it as white pillars, encircled around a white floating sphere which is three meters wide. This time, they didn’t go near the sphere like what they did last time. Missile launchers appeared on Akino’s shoulders. She was about to shoot the sphere, thinking that destroying the white sphere will destroy the Alpha Core, making them ‘free’. But she hesitated, her missile launchers revert to her shoulders, and she touched the floor for the second time. She felt something, a heartbeat, and breathing.

Akino: You felt that?

Alexa: Yeah…

Alexa’s flesh hair extended and reach the white sphere. Akino tried to stop her but Alexa was able to touch the surface of the sphere. Her eye suddenly teared up, her face was covered in sadness, and she began weeping.

Akino: Hey! Hey, kid! Say something!

Alexa: *sobs* I don’t know, I don’t know. *sobs*

At that point, Alexa let go of the sphere. She was breathing very hard, and Akino comforted her immediately.

Akino: What happened? Tell me, Alexa!

Alexa: *breathing harder* I – I can’t explain! It’s just, I saw some visions, or memories! And – and I feel very weird…

Akino walks toward the sphere. She touched its surface as she reached its place. Then her vision blacks out and turned into another scenery as she reopened her eyes. She saw a corridor, full of barricaded crates and wounded bodies. She can’t move her body, but she knew she moving against her own will. She noticed that her body was kneeling to the floor, and she noticed that she was resuscitating one of the wounded. A flash of light blinded Akino, and the next thing was she saw herself hugging someone, a corpse whose face was full of overgrown-bleeding tumors. There was an ID hanging on the corpse, and she noticed that it was Tyan Min, the Maintenance head guy. Another flash of light blinded her, and she saw herself typing on the computer. She looked up on the screen, and she saw a different face. It wasn’t hers, but to the doctor whose name was Yggdris Heilmach.

She heard her voice, and the same words she spoke on that last video log that she and Alexa saw. She could also hear the loud banging on the door as the MC-00 machines were trying to breach her room. She could feel the blood pouring out of her mouth, nose, and eyes. She responded in-sync with Yggdris as her bones started to come out of her body. She could feel the pain of it, she cried and she felt the despair of dying helplessly. The door opened, with the MC-00 barging in. She could feel Yggdris’ heartbeat, as the machines took aim on her. They shoot, and she felt the bullet piercing her, and then they started shooting rapidly. She knew she wanted to protect the doctor, and so she pulled a gun to shoot at least one of them. It hit, but it was too late. She looked at her arm being torn into pieces, her belly gushing out with blood and torn intestines as the non-stop firing keeps hitting her, her head being decapitated on her body, and being shot at her face multiple times. She felt all of that, the pain of being killed like an animal. She was angry, she wanted to shout but she couldn’t.

Then, the scenery changed back to where was Akino, inside that white void. She was still touching the white sphere, and she could still feel that pain of being shot. She could feel the tears dripping on her face. Is it real? What is real? What in the heaven’s name really happened? Where are they? What is going on? Numerous questions raised inside her head. She couldn’t stop thinking as if someone has taken her mind. She let go of touching the sphere, she felt calming down but also the hardness in breathing. She looked again at the sphere and saw something inside it.

Akino: You?

Alexa: Who?

Akino: She’s inside it!

Alexa: Wait, what are you talking about?

Alexa looked towards the sphere. They saw a naked woman inside it, but the lower half of her body was torn and missing. Her left arm is also torn off. Akino turned her right arm into a metallic one, with a rocket booster on her elbow. She punched the sphere, breaking it. Tons of white liquid oozed out of the broken sphere, and then the body of the woman dropped. Half of her face was full of holes, but it was her, it was Yggdris Heilmach.

Alexa: She’s the doctor, right? Is she alright? Her body was – but I could feel her heartbeat and breathing, so how?

Akino: I don’t know, kid. But if she’s still breathing, we could still save her… Can you, by any chance, produce the same liquid as the dextrose? Even its just glucose with carbohydrates, it will be fine.

Alexa’s hair curled, forming a small ball that detached on her. Inside that flesh ball was the mixture of sugars the same as found in the dextrose. Akino took it and placed it inside her arm, then her fingers turned into needles. She tried to inject it, but Yggdris move her remaining arm to stop Akino.

Yggdris: Thank… you… for coming here...

Akino: Hey, don’t talk. Just- just save your energy, alright?

Alexa: Doc, we’re going to save you. Aki’s a good surgeon as well, she will treat you.

Yggdris: *laughs quietly* Ha-ha-ha, thank you… but this body of mine is not real… I told that I uploaded my cerebral matrix, right?

Akino: Wait, so we’re really here in—

Yggdris: Yes, we’re inside the Alpha Core. But we’re actually inside its virtual space, I preferably call it the ‘psycho-space’.

Alexa: I know! We can upload your cerebral matrix to one of those weird machines, then we can fix you!

Yggdris: *laughs quietly* Ha-ha-ha. Thank you, Alexa. *sighs* But I am afraid it cannot happen.

Akino: Why? We have these abilities of material reconstruction, right? We can fix you in no time! With right dimensions, we can totally bring you back to life!

Yggdris: Thank you, Akino. But my sole purpose is to free both of you.

Alexa: What do you mean?

Akino: Wait, don’t tell you’re the—

Yggdris: You really are an impressive detective, huh?

Alexa: What’s about it, Aki?

Akino’s face look saddened and she looked towards Alexa.

Akino: She uploaded her cerebral matrix, right? It must be that the only way to crack up the algorithm of a quantum core was to have another complicated system, a human consciousness… and she used herself to crack up the system that ties us to the Institution…

Yggdris: Bingo. Nice thinking, detective.

Alexa: So that body of yours, it was not done by them, but YOU did it yourself?

Yggdris: Yes, Alexa. Your daughter is a bright child, huh? This body is my consciousness, and it disintegrated as I tried to break the core system. Barely managed to get out of there alive, but I succeeded in taking down the core. You can now absorb it, making the Alpha core yours.

Akino: How about you? If we take the core, what will happen to you?

Yggdris: My consciousness stream will become part of the Core. I’ll become bits of data, like what happens when a human dies. The mind will follow the flow of the nature, going to where it will be taken.

Alexa: But-but you will stop existing? Right? There must be a way to remove you, right?

Alexa started to tear up, but Yggdris holded her hand.

Yggdris: Don’t worry, child. This virtual space will always be here, no matter what. Even at the end of time, this space will still be here. It sounds weird, but the Alpha core itself is something WE didn’t made. The same as the Beta cores inside of you. It seems to be infinite in here, but there is still a chance that you might see me here.

Akino: You’re lying. Don’t fucking lie to my daughter!

At this point, tears began flowing on Akino’s eyes.

Yggdris: Maybe I am, but sometimes I do hope it is the truth that I want.

Yggdris’ body slowly turns into a white marble, the sky on the horizon of the void began to crack, and the floor of the place started to shake as if there was an earthquake. Akino and Alexa could see and feel those, but strangely there is no sound except their breathing and voices.

Yggdris: You look like my daughter, Akino. I wished I could still see her for the last time… Please, promise me to take care of yourselves.

Akino held up Yggdris’ body while Alexa was holding her marbled hand.

Akino: I will. I will, Yggdris.

Alexa: Your daughter, what’s her name?

Yggdris: Sabrina, and I left her on Mars. But when the time leapt for a thousand years in this place, I felt devastated. I knew I will not see her face again, but still I’m hoping that one day, I’ll see her.

Akino smiled to Yggdris, with tears in her eyes. The place was slowly breaking apart, the cracks on the horizon was reaching the place where they were standing.

Akino: Then I hope you will see her. You will.

Alexa: Yeah! And-and you will be in a good place, right Aki?

Yggdris: I am an atheist, but believing in heaven makes me feel comfortable, thank you. Thank you…

Akino: You did say sorry to us, right? You did nothing wrong, Yggdris…

Yggdris: Thank you… thank you for making me feel at ease… thank you for saving me… thank you…

The whole place was engulfed with ominous cracks. Yggdris’ body fully turned into a white marble, then into ashes and entered the bodies of the two remaining girls. The floor of the place breaks, and Akino held Alexa tightly as the floor was torn into pieces, revealing a dark space. Both of them dropped to the pitch-black void, they didn’t screamed, instead they felt that they fulfilled someone else’ wish. With content in their hearts, they fell endlessly, until they reach a bright light at the very bottom of the void.