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“Now it’s my turn. My prophecy is now clear. No, my predictions, based on precise data and experience, proved to be right. Of course they did. You ignored my warning. Now the outer gods have invaded us and turned everything into chaos.”
“I’ll have to admit my mistake there,” Akuto nodded.
“I wasn’t the one to be bound to the Law of Identity. But it could’ve been you, instead. You could’ve done what I tried to do, and saved the world. It could have continued eternally, as it was, in another universe.”
Boichiro’s words became heated.
“But you were obsessed with Rimu Sudo and Keena, too, weren’t you? What you’re talking about isn’t the world,” Akuto said, but Boichiro’s response was quick.
“If my ego and my values were in sync, what’s wrong with that? You had the right to destroy the world. Your decision to kill the gods then was wrong.”
“You’re right. I’d given up on thinking. I just let impulse take over and did what Keena calls ‘the way boys settle things.’ I just thought I was doing what Keena’s voice told me to.”
Akuto’s words were only coming out reluctantly. Boichiro laughed.
“...Even the space you have full control over was invaded by the outer gods. The real universe is doubtless no exception. If you attain true satisfaction and go to your death, this space will cease to exist. And then all will turn to dust. Even eternal beings like us, who’ve been reincarnated to carry out our roles, will cease to exist.”
“And I won’t ever save Keena, will I?”
“Outside of this world, Keena and the outer gods are of equal importance, no doubt. The Law of Identity itself is no exception either.”
Akuto thought for a moment about what Boichiro said. Then, he spoke.
“I’ll summon the outer gods.”
That surprised even Boichiro.
“Can you do that?”
“They’ve become stories too, or at least they should have. I don’t know if I can communicate with them on a deep level. We don’t share any stories. But it should be possible.”
The instant he said this, a black figure was in the chair. No, everyone understood that it was there. When they turned to look at it, it was a shadow whose race couldn’t even be determined. But when they looked away, there was someone there. They could see it out of the corner of their eye, but they couldn’t make out its gender, let alone its expression. But when they went to get a closer look, it was only a shadow.
“I am the Void Universe,” the black figure said. It was a strange voice, only audible if you strained to hear.
“The Void Universe?”
Akuto’s question seemed to get through to it. There was a faint answer, difficult to hear, but clear if you focused on the sound and not the words.
“A universe with no stories. No matter. Only a single voice. The only things there are the occasional voices meaning things like ‘you’, ‘thou’, ‘vous’ or ‘sue’.”
Akuto reconstructed in his mind the meaning of the black figure’s words. He continued his questions, hoping to learn more about this strange figure.
“Only a voice that says ‘you’?”
“The word ‘You’ is shouted, and identity is born. When I first entered this world, it gave birth to a story. The second person pronoun. I am only voice. You! You! You!”
“But if there’s a story, there shouldn’t be a void.”
“The one who is called is never met. No one is ever met. The voice is simply there, alone.”
An image of the Void Universe’s visual senses spread out before them. A darkness that wasn’t a darkness. A void without even light. Only a nameless voice echoing. A voice that was only a single sound. Repeating and repeating. The voice never reached anyone. The only thing there was an existence that thought that there must be something else. It wasn’t even clear if this existence was singular or a plurality. But someone was there, endlessly seeking another.
“Hell,” Akuto whispered. The black figure, however, denied this.
“It’s not even hell. It’s not even pain. It’s nothing.”
“The only thing in the Void Universe is existence itself.”
Suddenly there was another voice. When they looked, there was nobody there. But when they looked away, a figure in red appeared. It had the exact same nature as the figure in black.
“I am the Faceless Universe.”
It was a different voice than the black figure. But its voice was just like the other, so faint it was hard to hear.
“...The same as the Faceless Power?” Akuto asked, and the red figure answered, and continued.
“In the Faceless Universe, existence melds together. Primitive life maintains external walls for the sake of its existence, but two life forms meeting results in the destruction of their walls. They devour each other. There, the existences point at each other, and shout, ‘You!’”
An image of the Faceless Universe’s vision spread out before them. There were multiple beings there. They were akin to an amoeba, or a water droplet in zero gravity, or perhaps a cloud, and were squirming in the void as if seeking each other out. They made the same sound as the ones in the void universe.
“You!”
Sometimes, they would run into each other by chance. And in that moment,
“You!”
The sound was the same as before, but now it sounded joyous.
“It’s a different ‘you’ than the Void Universe. It’s a ‘you’ of discovery,” Akuto whispered. The red figure agreed.
“Consumption. Only in that instant is another noticed. ‘You! I finally found you!’ it screams.”
The image changed. Two beings collided and became one. Then, another voice was born.
“But in the next instant, there’s no telling who’s who. However, what should be a single being is instead filled with a voice inside. Who! Who! Who! In the Faceless Universe, there is a single instant of ‘You’, followed by an eternity of terrible ‘Who!’.”
“When another is found, they cease to be another. However, others make you realize, whether you want to or not, that you yourself exist.”
Akuto whispered to himself as he gathered his thoughts. And then he had a realization, and let out a sharp gasp.
“The awfulness felt when you realized that you are you... The Law of Identity!”
When he realized this, another voice appeared.
“The Faceless Universe allows the Law of Identity to exist.”
Now it was a figure in blue.
“I am the Gravity Universe. There, existence becomes one with its outer walls and gains mass.”
The image turned to that of the gravity universe. There was light and darkness. And existence there, while still amoeba-like, had clearly defined walls separating it from its exterior. They were like the walls of a cell, shining in the reflected light.
“You!” the voices shouted. But though it was the same sound, they sounded like an angry yell. This time, the beings were aiming for each other. They would fly at each other in order to collide.
“The walls mean that the cry of ‘Who!’ never escapes to the outside. The beings advance in search of others,” the blue figure said, as they continued to see what was happening. The beings collided, and the one with the weaker walls burst. Most of its insides would melt into space, but a tiny part was absorbed by the walls of the stronger.
“Consumption?” Akuto’s voice shook as he watched this. A voice was emitted from the beings that he’d never heard before.
“The loss of the walls means the loss of being itself. So when the walls collide, a scream is heard. ‘I killed! I killed! I killed!’”
As Akuto sat in silence, a new voice could be heard.
“The Gravity Universe allows pleasure to exist.”
This one was white. The images changed again. This time he saw the brilliant sparkling of stars. There was life there, but primitive. Single-celled organisms were starting to split.
“I am the Antigravity Universe. Here, existence increases in number. Walls swell and split.”
“Voices fill the space. Me! Me! Me!”
“Me!”
It was a voice of newborn joy.
“The Antigravity Universe allows love to exist.”
Beings there consumed each other, but the moment they collided, sometimes they shared their being, and gave birth to new existence.
“Me!”
“You!”
“I killed!”
“I increased!”
Lively voices filled the space.
“I guess the universe I know is really close. Is that all the universes, then?” Akuto asked. And the outer gods said no.
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