⌥ Interlude 1

Objective: Collect a delivery from an on-ground [Operative]

Location: Somewhere on Earth

Date: XX/XX/2021

Time: 1200 hours

It was high noon. The sun was shining down on the asphalt roads in the city of XXXXXXXX. The buildings stood up high kissing the sky. Casting enormous shadows on the smaller ones they dominated. It was a normal city in the country of YYYYY. The city was quite peaceful, pedestrians and vehicles were crowding the roads as they carried on with their daily life. In the midst of it all was a pink bus running down the street. The skyscrapers reflected off the windows of the bus as it passed down the lanes.

A tall handsome man was looking outside the window of the bus, staring at the high-rise buildings as they passed by them. Sitting next to him was a rather old, short gentleman with a hat, horn-rimmed glasses and a three-piece suit similar to the former. "Can you revise the mission to me once more sir?" The old gentleman asked.

"For the last time Kane-san! For the last time I'm revising it for you!" The tall man replied in a fed up tone, "One of our on-ground [Operatives] has got their hands on something very important, we are going to acquire it today and return to HQ."

"And when and where exactly are we receiving it?"

"1230 hours. At the location I mentioned to you earlier, 15 minutes earlier that is." The tall man replied.

"Fine then. At 6th right? On 605?"

"No, no, not there-"

"Oh then 8th? 805?"

"No, no, no. 7th. 705."

"7th. 705. At 1330 hours, right?"

"No Kane-san. I'm telling you this for the last time. It's at 7th, at 705, at 1230 hours."

"Fine. 7th, 705, 1230 hours right?"

"Yes. That's right. Now allow me to get off, and be on time, it's only half an hour later."

It came to a stop in front of a tall 33 meters high building. The tall handsome man with a dusty black coat got off the bus and removed a pocket watch to check the time. The watch was coated with gold, and the man's attire was clean. Even after being a Japanese man his clothes were all Old British, a dark three-piece suit with a black overcoat, enough to kill someone in this country with heat only, but the man didn't bother.

He looked back as the bus was leaving and said "Don't mess it up Kane-san, and change your clothes or else you will die of heat, also start eating almonds." Saying that he went back to face the building.

That tall man is me, the name's Shin, an alias of course. I am 27 years old and work for the External Affairs Task Group of Avalon. My today's task is in the building in front of me. As you have heard earlier, we're here to gather an important article from one of our [Operatives] working on ground.

Recently there have been many suspicious activities taking place on Earth, we've detected an unusual amount of Crux movement on Earth. Supposedly this is what this delivery is related to. I removed a flip-phone from the pocket of my pants and speed dialed a certain someone.

"What's the situation?" I asked.

「.. -- / .-. . .- -.. -.--」A voice answered.

"I'll initiate then." I hung up.

I proceeded inside the building, the automatic doors opened and then closed after I was completely in. Then all of a sudden the lights inside the building went out. I was shrouded by darkness even tho it was midday. I looked through a glass window at the control room of the building which appeared completely empty. "Was this always empty?" I spoke to myself. Thinking nothing of it I proceeded to the elevator at the end of the hall.

As I was proceeding towards the elevator a shadow passed by quickly beside me. With the corner of my eye I grabbed a glimpse of the shadow, "Kane-san? Why are you here this early?" I asked, but the shadow swiftly entered the elevator.

The doors of the elevator started to hem in on me. "Oh enough with your pranks Kane-old man-san. Let me in." saying so I rushed in the elevator right before it was about to close. As I was catching my breath I asked, "Why did you…gasp… do that?" I looked up demanding an answer but there was no one.

"What一" I gulped, "Heh, looks like the heat is getting to my head, eh?" I laughed off the cold sweat and removed my coat and stored it away in an empty space that didn't exist, the coat disappeared as if it never was there in the first place.

I pressed the button 7 from the control panel and the lift started moving up. I waited as the steel ropes carried the heavy metal box containing me. It created a few screeching sounds here and there but finally reached its destination. The doors slowly parted and I stepped off, then the doors came together once again.

The hallway right in front of me was very dark just like the lobby after the power went off, there was no soul present there. The secondary hallway on my left was equally dark, it led to the stairs, which were also equally empty. I calmly walked towards the end of the hall and passed by doors until the last one came around. "Hmm, where's the stool that always used to be here." I noticed, but paying no mind to it I removed a key out of empty space and inserted it in the keyhole.

Click click click

The lock didn't open. "Huh?" I grunted then tried again.

Click click click

"That's weird." I said, then looked up and saw the number on the doorー

605

"That certainly is weird. The heat is getting to my head too much, eh? How did I come to the wrong floor?" Chuckling at my own clumsiness I walked back towards the elevator. Before pressing the button I stood before the elevator and looked at the floorー

6

The number was printed on the floor in large font. I took a moment to breathe then pressed the button on the wall. The doors of the elevator opened and I walked in. This time making sure I press the button 7 on the control panel. Again, the huge metal box started moving upwards as the steel ropes slid through the pulley of the elevator.

After a few seconds the elevator came to a stop once again. I exited the lift, and to my shock the number on the floor was not 7ー

8

"No! This can't be the heat! There's definitely something wrong here!" I exclaimed and immediately started running towards the stairs. While i was running I removed my pocket watch to see the time, it glowed in the darkness without any kind of bright light, but the hands of the watch were showing time that made my face go darkー

1357 hours

It was exactly 1 hour and 57 minutes later than I had arrived here. The shock of watching the time pass was not enough that the chain of my pocket watch grabbed hold of the railing of the staircase and snapped open, all the golden beads that made up the chain scattered over the floor. Falling down the stairs the golden beads rolled down to the floor belowー

7

I didn't bother myself with the chain and tucked the golden watch back into my pocket and rushed to the floor below. As I was rushing down the stairs my leg slipped over the golden beads as I fell over my face. I got hold of myself and slowly picked my heavy body back up. But then I again faced the ground in total despairー

6

At this point I had no idea what was going on. There were no golden beads on the floor anymore. I ran up the stairs and again it was only miseryー

8

Shin had no idea what was going on. His brain was running through just as he was running up and down the stairs. He again went down the fightー

6

I went up the fight of stairsー

8

He went down the flight of stairsー

6

I went up the fight of stairsー

8

His head was spinning. He didn't understand what was going on. "Why can't I reach the 7th floor?" He thought. Then he was hit with an idea. He started running towards the top of the stairs. He kept running until he crossed the 10th floor and reached the terrace. He was on the terrace nevertheless the atmosphere was dark. Shin felt like he was surrounded by heavy damp dark fog. He stood at the edge of the terrace, leaning on the fence that surrounded it, he looked down. A pink bus was riding across the street until it came to a stop in front of the building Shin was in. Then, 'Shin' stepped out of the bus, 'he' checked the time on his gold coated pocket watch and turned back to say "Don't mess it up Kane-san, and change your clothes or else you'll die of heat, also start eating almonds." As soon as 'he' said that 'he' turned back, not to face the building, but to look Shin directly in the eye. 'Shin' was now staring at Shin, 'he' gave him a sinister grin and walked into the building.

I was scared out of my wits after I saw 'me'. "Who the hell is that? A doppelganger?" I thought, "I don't have time to think! I gotta rush down!" I sprinted down the stairs, running down all of the 10 floors of the building. I reached the ground floor and rushed out of the building. Butー

everything was normal

The luminance returned. The bright sun shone on me again. Everything was bright as it should be and there were no dark hallways anymore. There were no missing souls, but crowded pedestrians. I was confused. Very confused. "Who the hell was that? And where did the bus disappear? Just what the actual fuck is going on?" I checked my watch againー

1214 hours

I gulped, then looked towards the building and started counting the number of floors, "If the number is any less than 10 I'm going to call for [Backup]" I thought, one by one I started counting them out loud, "1… 2… 3… 4… 5… 6… 7… 8… 9ー"

10

"There is definitely something very wrong here. I'll have to secure her." I thought out loud and removed my cell phone and tried placing a callー

no signal

"WHAT!? I'm standing in the middle of a city. How can there be no signal?" That's when my eyes catched a door opening in one of the balconies on the building. It was a door on the 7th floor. Of apartment number 705. A woman walked out of the door into the balcony to collect some items laying there. She was tall and looked like she was in her 20s. Her short pink hair bloomed like cherry blossoms in the wind and her pink eyes shone like star ruby, and her white apron over her white dress flapped along the winds. Those Ruby like eyes looked down upon the streets and scattered themselves in all directions as if they were searching for something.

I was relieved after looking at her and called her out from the bottom of the building, "JANE! LOOK DOWN HERE JANE!" But she didn't even bat an eye and kept searching for whatever. I shouted out her name again but it was as if she couldn't see nor hear me. After a few moments she walked back in.

I rushed back into the building, getting consumed by the darkness again. I spammed the buttons of the first elevator in the row but to no avail. I then went back to the elevator I had first used and spammed its button. The panel above flashed, it's yellow light hitting my face, the numbers on it started decreasing indicating the elevator was descending一

ding

It was the bell of the elevator opening. But it wasn't the lift I had called for that had arrived. It was the lift I first tried using. I watched in shock from the corner as the door opened and Jane walked out towards the entrance of the building. She had changed her clothes to a more formal wear. I immediately called her out but like before she didn't respond, the automatic glass doors opened in front of her and she began walking out. I chased her, putting my hand out I tried grabbing the edge of her dress. But right before the contact was made一

bang

The door of the building shut on me. I crashed onto the glass door. I banged my hands on them trying to call her out, but in vain. Neither did she hear me nor did the automatic doors open. I was desperate now. I couldn't contact anyone, my watch was going crazy, the elevators were going crazy and the stairs were going crazy… or was it me who was going crazy一

ding

The elevator bell rang. This time it was the elevator which I was trying to get into after the first one didn't work. I turned back towards the sound, the old man Kane was standing in front of the elevator as its doors were opening. I ran towards him calling his name out but just like before, the doors had already closed until I reached him. The numbers on the panel were now increasing, 1… 2… 3.. 4… 5… 6.. 7ー

ding

It stopped on the 7th floor. That number made my eyes go wide. I made another desperate attempt and reached the first elevator. Its doors opened, I got into it and smashed the 7th button. I felt heavier as the elevator started ascending the building. I was also feeling hotter and hotter until it finally came to a stop. The doors opened and the first thing that I saw wasー

7

I had finally reached the 7th story.

I was relieved, rushing out of the elevator I ran towards the last door in the row. There were a few potted plants and a stool in front of the last door, the numbers on it read一

705

I let out a long sigh, that's when I felt someone slowly approaching. I looked back to see who the person was. A short old man dressed in a simple shirt and pants was walking down the hallway, "Kane-san" I exclaimed. He was astounded by me suddenly shouting and he asked hastily "Oh did I come late Shin? I swear my watch said 1225 hours before I left." Kane was rattled, he removed a pocket watch, the same model as mine, from his pocketー

1230 hours

"No, I'm not late, the time is exactly when you asked me to be here-" I interrupted him and said, "No you're not late Kane-san. Everything is fine, now. And why did you change your clothes anyway?", "Oh didn't you ask me to-" that's when he was again interrupted, this time by the door. The door they were standing in front of opened; it was Jane. I was astonished to see her back into her apron, "Jane? Did you not leave the house a few minutes ago?" I asked.

"No I did not, what do you mean? But I did check the balcony to look for you as it was about time you arrived so to say." She replied in a single breath.

It was a confusing moment for me. Wasn't Mr. Kane here almost 30 minutes ago? Didn't Jane leave the building just now? Why was my watch malfunctioning? How did it start working normally again?

But that wasn't the point at the moment. Now I had to do what he had come here for. "That doesn't matter right now. Let's get to business." I announced

♖ ♖ ♖

As the three walked in the apartment 705 a kid holding a yellow ball walked into the elevator and closed the door. The elevator started moving. But it wasn't the kid who occupied the elevator. It was Mr. Kane now, in his three-piece clothing. He started speaking in a monotone voice, "There are often instances where one experiences another world. This is a weird phenomena which many have tried to decipher…". He took a pause as the lift crossed to another floor… Mr. Kane was no more there… It was Jane now, in her formal clothing. She continued Kane's dialogues in the same tone, "These phenomenons take place due to the space-time fabric from different dimensions overlapping on each other…". This pause also ends up in the character getting replaced. Now it was the kid who entered the lift with his orange ball, he too continued the dialogues in the same tone as others, "When the space-time fabric overlaps certain spots on the earth become gateways to other dimensions, allowing one to travel through a mind boggling set of world lines and time periods…". Once again there was replacement, now, a tall brown Asian man with a checked yellow coat and pants and brown shades stood there. His expressions were more dark then of the characters before. "If the overlap is big enough the person going through it may even end up in the prehistoric era, but that usually doesn't happen as the energy levels required for it exceed the capacity of even the universe. These overlaps are always maddening with no controlled way of traveling through them nor can they be detected, you can only hope that once you're facing it, it isn't spread throughout long times." The elevator finally reached the ground floor and its doors opened. Apparently it was empty…

♖ ♖ ♖

I, Mr. Kane and Jane enter the apartment. Jane locked the door behind her as we two settled down. She served some tea for both of us, then we began with our discussion, "So, what's the occasion?" I asked in an unsuspecting tone. "It is news. Some good news." Jane replied in an equal tone. "What is it?" I asked in response.

Here we were talking in an encrypted manner so as to not be heard by anyone beyond the walls. And "good news" of course meant 「information」.

"We have been arranging an event recently, for the constellations have moved."

「Mysterious activities have been spotted in this certain forest, we operatives have come to a solution that they are caused by Crux Manipulation」

"And how must we help in it?" Mr. Kane asked in a very serious tone compared to how he was speaking before.

"I suppose it will be hard to make arrangements, as the management staff is only a person. So we need your help Kane-san."

「The task is not done by a single person, but a large group, and Kane-san, we suspect that the head of them is someone very powerful and already on our hit list. I suppose we must act on it quickly」

"And who is the one doing the arrangements?" I asked.

"The firm handling it hasn't given us much information, and their policies and ways of working are very secretive. All they have told us is that the man on the job is highly skilled."

「Unfortunately, we don't know. The activities are being carried out very secretively, they are leaving no trail behind. All we know is that it is someone very powerful and capable of causing harm」

"Do you have any more details about the event, Jane-kun?" Mr. Kane asked.

"Yes, they are in this file, here." She handed them a basket with fruits, hidden within which was a brown envelope. I accepted the basket, "Thank you for your time and efforts, we will make sure the work is done right." Saying that I and Mr. Kane left.

♖ ♖ ♖

end