Flight Toward a Blue Sky

by Reki Kawahara

  “What is it?”

  “Uh…umm…”

  It didn’t seem like an act. The small-statured freshman before him was simply staring curiously at the upperclassman who had called out to stop him. There was not a trace of any other emotion on his neat features.

  No way. Is it a different person? Like his twin brother or something? Haruyuki thought, and figured he might as well introduce himself.

  “Um, I’m Arita. Eighth grade. Haruyuki Arita.”

  Nomi didn’t even twitch an eyebrow. “…Arita.” Frowning, he had the air of trying to remember something. “Oh, oh, right. We’ve played that net game together.”

  “…Th-that’s…right.”

  Weird. Something is totally, incredibly weird.

  Looking up at Haruyuki standing there, Seiji Nomi appeared to be searching his memory even more intently. He said:

  “Let’s see…That game…What was it called again…”

  The awesome terror Haruyuki felt in that instant was, without doubt, the greatest fear he’d felt since becoming a Burst Linker. Horrified cold shivers, fiercer than when he had faced Chrome Disaster and the Armor of Catastrophe, fiercer than when Dusk Taker had stolen his wings, raced up his spine in great numbers.

  His memory’s gone!

  He could no longer believe it was anything else. By some means or another, essentially all memories relating to Brain Burst had been erased from the mind of Seiji Nomi.

  He didn’t remember. Not that he had been the “marauder” Dusk Taker. Not the desperate battles he had fought against Haruyuki and his friends. Not even the existence of the Accelerated World.

  Taking some cue from the expression on Haruyuki’s face, Nomi smiled as if troubled. “Oh, did you maybe come to invite me to play? I’m sorry, but I don’t really have much interest in net games anymore.”

  Haruyuki could only stare at the lowerclassman and the seemingly sincere look of apology on his face.

  Immediately before the suspicion took back control of Nomi’s face, Haruyuki forced himself to smile and made his mouth move. “Oh. You don’t? Then…that’s okay. Um, and that video of mine…”

  “What? Video? I’m sorry, what was it again?”

  “Nah, sorry. It’s nothing.”

  When Haruyuki shook his head shortly, Nomi smiled again and bowed his own neatly. “It is? Well, then I’ll be on my way.”

  And then the boy formerly known as Dusk Taker whirled his lithe body around and hurried down the hallway until he disappeared from view.

  Reeling backward a few steps, Haruyuki leaned a back covered in cold sweat up against the wall of the hallway and closed his eyes tightly.

  Former acceleration users are no longer able to interfere in the Accelerated World in any way.

  Haruyuki now finally understood what the mysterious avatar Black Vise had meant. Burst Linkers who lost Brain Burst lost all memories relating to the Accelerated World. Thus, they can do nothing. They don’t try to do anything.

  Having pushed his actual brother, his own guardian, into a forced uninstall, Seiji Nomi would have known this fact. The moment his avatar had scattered in the moonlit field, he had even acknowledged it. That his own memories would disappear. That even the idea “former Burst Linker” would be gone from his own awareness.

  “This is…This…,” Haruyuki muttered, face pale in front of a seventh-grade classroom, and the students stared at him curiously.

  After school.

  At the usual table in the cafeteria lounge, Haruyuki related his discovery to Takumu and Kuroyukihime. There wasn’t another soul around.

  Even just explaining it, he was forced to feel that fear again. He was anxious that maybe the Brain Burst program was monitoring every word he spoke, and the instant it detected key words like uninstall, memory, and erase, Haruyuki’s own memories would be purged.

  Thus, after making them all take off their Neurolinkers, Haruyuki told the story like a tongue twister. Even after they had heard everything, his audience of two didn’t speak for a while.

  After a full thirty seconds or so of silence, Kuroyukihime lifted her teacup and wet her lips before almost whispering, “You both must have thought it strange. How could the existence of the Accelerated World continue to be so perfectly hidden like this over seven and a half years?”

  “…Yeah.” Haruyuki nodded sharply. “If it were me, and I lost Brain Burst, I’d be a total mess. There’s a pretty good chance I’d expose everything on the net or to the media and try to bring the Accelerated World down with me.”

  “Hey now, is it all about you?” Kuroyukihime offered a faint, wry grin and set her cup down before continuing, “But, well, there are definitely some people who think like that. And some of them would move from thought to actual action. But for some reason, no one has. We guessed at several reasons for this. Because without proof, children can say whatever they want and the media won’t believe them. Because a system deleting all Brain Burst information has made inroads into every network. And one reason I’ve heard at the rumor level…” Her black eyes narrowed sharply. Her voice became even more contained. “Because when Brain Burst is deleted, it takes your memories with it. But…I didn’t—no, I couldn’t believe that unless I saw it with my own eyes. However, here we are…This reason is, in fact, the truth.”

  Silence once again.

  “But, Master. To begin with, is that even possible?” Takumu asked in a choked voice. Having come during the break in kendo practice, he was still in his kendo gear. “I mean, a single application, deleting a user’s—no, a human being’s memory…”

  “I have heard that in theory, it’s not impossible,” Kuroyukihime replied, staring at the three devices in the center of the white table. “Strictly speaking, it isn’t as though the Neurolinker accesses the brain as a living organism.”

  “Huh? Th-then what does it connect with…?” Haruyuki furrowed his brow.

  Kuroyukihime shifted her gaze and stared into his eyes with her own obsidian ones. “I don’t exactly understand it properly myself. There are these things called microtubules in the cells of the brain that entrap the light quanta that are the true nature of human consciousness. The Neurolinker reads the spin and vector that these quanta store as the data itself and writes over them. At this level, there’s no difference in the data format, whether it be sensory or memory information.”

  “…So then, in the same way it shows us and makes us feel the virtual world, the Neurolinker can read our memories and overwrite them…Is that it?” Haruyuki said, almost moaning, and Kuroyukihime shook her head firmly.

  “It’s all hypothetical. And even if this were, in principle, possible, I can’t imagine that a commercial item like the Neurolinker would be equipped with such a function. I can’t imagine it, but…”

  Seiji Nomi has, in fact, lost his memory.

  None of them said it out loud, but they were certainly all thinking it.

  “It’s pointless to discuss this any further,” Kuroyukihime said crisply, after another silence of indeterminate length. “If we want to know the answers, our only option is to reach level ten and ask the developer of Brain Burst.”

  “I—I guess so. And that was our goal right from the start…” Nodding, Haruyuki timidly asked Takumu, “So…how’s Nomi looking?”

  “Like a completely regular seventh-grade team member. The demon’s been exorcised…and I guess that’s it. He’s always been so cheerful on the surface, so maybe no one other than us will be able to tell the difference.” After a brief pause, Takumu muttered hoarsely, “Haru, I can’t help wondering…who’s normal now and who’s not, us or Nomi…”

  “It’s obvious. We’re the not-normal ones.” The immediate response came from Kuroyukihime. Leaning back in her chair, she crossed her black tights–clad legs neatly, in a gesture that showed she had completely regained her usual solemnity. The Black King looked at each of her two subordinates in turn and added with a daring smile, “However, we chose this path. Yes?”


  “Honestly, you’re totally right, Master.” Blinking rapidly, Takumu laughed quietly. “Yikes! I have to be getting back. Um…Regarding this and Chi…”

  “Mmm. For the time being, we’ll keep this to ourselves.”

  Bowing neatly, Takumu got up from his seat and plucked the blue Neurolinker off the table before he trotted away, wide black hakama pants swinging.

  Once they could no longer see him, Kuroyukihime stared at Haruyuki. “Even if I lose Brain Burst, even if all my memories of the Accelerated World are wiped away,” she whispered, “you alone I won’t forget. I definitely won’t forget you.”

  Feeling a sudden tightness in his chest, Haruyuki earnestly returned her words. “I know. Me neither. I won’t forget. Just you at least.”

  “Mmm. I believe you.” Grinning, Kuroyukihime nodded exaggeratedly. “Now then, does this mean that this series of incidents is at an end?”

  Haruyuki hesitated briefly and then shook his head slowly from side to side. “No. I still have one more promise to keep.”

  “Oh? What’s that?” She cocked her head to one side.

  “Please.” Haruyuki bowed his head deeply. “Take me to meet with the person who lent me her wings…Sky Raker.”

  Five PM.

  Haruyuki and Kuroyukihime walked out through the gates of Umesato Junior High together. Wordlessly, they strode along Oume Kaido and turned to the north midway along it. When they reached a narrow road, they headed for Koenji Station.

  Kuroyukihime had sent a text mail, after a fair bit of hesitation, and the response had come ten minutes later. Just two lines of characters specifying a time and a place.

  To go to this meeting place—the Southern Terrace at the south exit of Shinjuku Station—the pair boarded the Chuo Line at the station. Kuroyukihime was entirely silent. Haruyuki couldn’t even begin to guess at the sort of thoughts going through her mind.

  Now that he had his flying ability back, he needed to return the Enhanced Armament, the Gale Thruster, to Sky Raker. That was the promise he had made to her. But Haruyuki had thoughtlessly forgotten to ask for a way to contact her in the real world. Thus, he had asked Kuroyukihime, who probably knew an anonymous address at least.

  Strictly speaking, he also had the option of asking Sky Raker’s child, Ash Roller, again. However, he had dared to choose to rely on Kuroyukihime. And when she had announced that she was going home, he had pushed even further and gotten her to come with him.

  The momentary look on Sky Raker’s face the morning she had given him the Enhanced Armament was burned vividly into his memory. She had lost friendships to her foolishness—that’s what the recluse of the Accelerated World had told Haruyuki.

  He had absolutely no idea what had happened between her and Kuroyukihime, so maybe he had no right to say anything, no right to do anything. But he thought about it like this: Even supposing the friendship was really lost, was there any reason why they couldn’t get it back again? After all, they both remembered each other. So many memories, all the times they had fought together, were etched into their hearts. Those memories had to still connect them.

  The train slid smoothly into the platform. Haruyuki and Kuroyukihime took the escalator up with the many other riders and stepped out through the south exit opening up before them. Shinjuku Southern Terrace was an enormous, pyramid-shaped, multilevel shopping center. They slipped through the bustling groups of shoppers and got on the central escalator.

  Kuroyukihime, as before, said nothing.

  I should probably say something. I definitely should, Haruyuki thought, but could say nothing.

  The giant flight of automatic stairs passed splashy panels of advertising as it carried the two upward until finally, they arrived at the peak of the pyramid. The open terrace on the top floor was a hundred meters above the ground. Of course, this was still no match for the surrounding skyscrapers, but it offered a clear view of the Shinjuku Station terminal, the countless rows of tracks, and the trains of many colors coming and going there. The evenings being still chilly, the breezy place held very few people.

  Haruyuki and Kuroyukihime moved to the northernmost railing and looked out at the evening scene below as they waited for the appointed time.

  Five thirty PM.

  The sound of small footsteps clacking reached Haruyuki’s ears from behind. He took a deep breath and turned around. As did Kuroyukihime, after a slight pause.

  Against the reddish-purple clouds, she was there, smiling. Her long, soft hair fluttered in the breeze. The hem of her uniform skirt flicked up, and she held it down with a pale hand. Legs wrapped in thigh-high stockings, she took another step.

  Sky Raker, the recluse living in the old Tokyo Tower, a member of the first Nega Nebulus, and level-eight Burst Linker, turned first to Haruyuki. “Good evening, Corvus.” And then she turned her gaze on Kuroyukihime next to him. The color of her smile changed slightly. “Good evening, Lotus.”

  Several emotions wrestled in his heart, and Haruyuki could do nothing but lower his head deeply. However, a smile very similar to Sky Raker’s rose up to Kuroyukihime’s lips. “It’s been a while, Raker.”

  “…It really has. Three years in the real world. In the Accelerated World…I don’t know anymore how long it’s been.”

  “Ages.”

  They both laughed lightly and drew no closer to each other.

  “Um…Raker. I’m returning them…Your wings.”

  Sky Raker nodded gently, a kind smile on her face. “So you got them back, hmm? Your silver wings—no, your hope.”

  “I did. All of it. Thanks to you.” And then Haruyuki pulled from his pocket the XSB cable he had come prepared with and stuck one end in his own Neurolinker before holding out the other end. Sky Raker accepted it and connected it without hesitation to her own Neurolinker.

  The retransfer of the Enhanced Armament through a direct duel took place quickly, without a word of conversation. The transfer request window was opened and the request accepted; the draw application was similarly submitted and accepted. At that point, it was Burst Out.

  When they returned to the real world after a moment, the Gale Thruster was back with its original owner. Plucking the cable out, Sky Raker handed it to Haruyuki and smiled once again. “I have it now…so then, I’ll be on my way.” She looked at Kuroyukihime and bowed lightly.

  After taking one, two steps, servo motors whining faintly, Sky Raker moved her lips slightly. “Corvus. I know you will be able to fly up to the heights I couldn’t reach. I’ll be rooting for you…Good luck.” She grinned and turned around, leaving a quick wink in her wake. She walked off with a sure step.

  But Haruyuki definitely saw it.

  A small drop of light spilling from her quickly blinking eyes, tracing out a silver trajectory in the air.

  Bag dangling from the hands behind her back, Sky Raker grew distant on sure feet. Under the night sky, her figure gradually became a silhouette.

  Abruptly, the until now completely silent Kuroyukihime took a few steps forward, almost staggering. But she stopped just ahead of Haruyuki and clenched both fists, as if she were trying to endure something.

  Kuroyukihime.

  Kuroyukihime!! Haruyuki shouted in his heart. Please, Kuroyukihime. She’s waiting for you to say something. She’s waiting for your hand. So, come on…

  Come on!

  Haruyuki squeezed out every ounce of his will and pushed at Kuroyukihime’s back in front of him, without moving his hands.

  Instantly.

  She ran forward another few steps.

  “Raker!!” Kuroyukihime shouted in a clear voice. The receding back shuddered and stopped. Kuroyukihime took a deep breath, shoulders shaking, and yelled once more. “Come home, Fuko! I need you!!”

  Sky Raker dropped her head deeply. Her left leg started to take another step forward. But then stopped. Almost as if the CPU controlling the artificial leg were fighting against its owner’s orders. As if it had a spirit and was following its own heart. Bit by small bit,
the leg was pulled back.

  Ever so slowly, Sky Raker turned around. She moved her lips and uttered in the faintest voice, “Sach.” And then a silent question. Are you sure?

  Kuroyukihime nodded firmly and shouted again, “Fuko!”

  The girls began to run toward each other. They tossed their bags aside at the same time. Kuroyukihime was the slightly faster of the two, but Sky Raker had her arms out to catch her. She embraced the somewhat shorter girl with black hair, and the girl called “Fuko” twisted her face up sharply.

  Large tears spilled over her cheeks. “Unh…Unhaaah…” Almost as if from the moment she had appeared on this terrace—no, as if she had been holding her heart back all the way from back when she went to live in seclusion on the old Tokyo Tower, Sky Raker buried her face in Kuroyukihime’s hair and released all that buried emotion.

  “Aah…Aaaaaaah!” Haruyuki could hear the quiet cries of Kuroyukihime mixed in with that sobbing voice.

  Unable to watch the incredibly beautiful, incredibly precious sight any longer, Haruyuki turned his face upward to keep his own tears from spilling out.

  In the middle of the sky, stretching out endlessly as it turned from blue to madder red, a plane flying far, far above drew out a thin trail of white clouds and glittered brightly.

  END

  AFTERWORD

  Reki Kawahara here. Thank you for picking up my first book of this year.

  And here it is, 2010. It’s just too far in the future. I’m a bit stunned. It’s an everyday thing for us that all these exist now, but when I was a kid, things like SD memory cards, Blu-ray discs, and touch-panel cell phones were straight out of science fiction. Incidentally, the first HDD I bought had a capacity of twenty megabytes, but apparently, this spring, an SD card with sixty-four gigabytes is going on sale…

  These days, I’m feeling like I can’t keep up with advances in technology, but since a full-dive-type VR machine doesn’t seem likely to show up any time soon, I’m thinking I’ll just keep trying until then. My dream is to become a net game wreck in my old age, so I hope you’ll manage something by then, please, all you manufacturers out there.