“That’s right. It may take millions, perhaps even tens of millions of years, but yes… No matter how immeasurable a god’s powers, it isn’t easy to break through the walls of the universe. But we found a way—by transferring huge quantities of meteorites. You know what I’m talking about, don’t you?”
“The Invertia?” Claudia whispered softly.
The Varda-Vaos nodded coolly. “The hole was bored by the Invertia. Even now, mana continues to flow from the other side to this one. And we, urm-manadite, are the crystallization of that mana. We are remnants of the gods themselves, so if our purity level is high enough, we can exercise our own free will. In the past, there were others like me—my brethren who could act alone without the help of any human—but not anymore. That is why I must lead. Why I must open the way.”
“…Open the way to what?” Claudia asked quietly.
With a sniff, the Varda-Vaos spread her hands. “To make this world more suitable for us to live and operate in. We cannot return to the other side. Even if we could, we don’t belong there anymore. We were abandoned. So our only option is to reshape this world. Wouldn’t you agree?”
“What are you saying…?!” Minato whispered.
Wasn’t that practically an invasion?
“Don’t misunderstand me. Our hope is for coexistence. With you—with Genestella.”
“Considering what you’re proposing, that’s hard to believe…”
“It’s true. There are almost no other urm-manadite crystals that can operate independently as I can. Most of my brethren cannot function without the aid of a human and an exterior mechanism. They need users.”
Claudia pondered this for a moment, her expression serious. “When you say coexistence, you’re only talking about Genestella, aren’t you?”
“That’s right. Regular humans—old humans—are unnecessary. Harmful, even. They and their integrated enterprise foundations will never accept us.”
“I see. I understand your goal, I think… Your purpose.”
“Oh? Then pray tell,” the Varda-Vaos prodded.
Claudia looked her squarely in the eye before answering, “You’re trying to sow discord between ordinary people and Genestella. You’re trying to bring about a conflict so huge that there will be no turning back.”
“What…?!”
Minato was left stunned by this suggestion. It surpassed even her wildest imagination.
“The characterization is wrong, but in general terms, yes,” the Varda-Vaos agreed. “I hope to usher in a world ruled by Genestella.”
“The characterization is wrong?” Claudia repeated.
“From our point of view, we will be liberating Genestella like yourself from the oppression of ordinary humans.”
As condescending as that declaration was, the Varda-Vaos seemed to honestly believe it.
“We have no need of your help, but I’m sure that means nothing to you. I understand now, why this child never showed me so much as a glimpse of this in any of my nightmares. As an Orga Lux, she wants that world you’re striving to create. You didn’t want to get in the way now, did you?” she asked, fixing her own Orga Lux with a bitter, reproachful smile before shrugging her shoulders.
“Orga Luxes are unlikely to betray users with whom they have a high compatibility rating, but I take it that yours has been silently assisting us? You’re even more conniving than I thought, Pan-Dora,” the Varda-Vaos said, seeming impressed.
“Anyway, I’ve been thinking about this for a while. I knew your plan was to use Erenshkigal to destroy Asterisk… But why did the Golden Bough Alliance decide to have it coincide with the final match of the Lindvolus? …Because you needed a new symbol, that’s why. So you forced Ayato to enter the tournament to keep the excitement at a fever pitch.”
“That was Madiath and Dirk’s idea, not mine. I would have preferred to put the plan in motion sooner without concern for the Festa. But I understood well enough that this would be the most effective course of action, so I won’t complain now.”
Symbol? Most effective course of action? Minato had no idea what they were talking about.
She must have let her confusion show, because Claudia broke into a soft chuckle. “This year’s Lindvolus is attracting unprecedented attention. People have come from all over the world to see the Genestella competing in the tournament. That’s only natural, when you consider that the second grand slam and the first Lindvolus trifecta in all of history are at stake. And the more excited people get, the more others who normally wouldn’t be interested in the Festa will start paying attention. But yes, let’s put the question of what’s actually going to happen aside for a moment and consider the most likely outcome. Erenshkigal could win and secure her third consecutive Lindvolus. The audience will shower her in adulation. Then, once the award ceremony comes around, she’ll use her powers to slaughter everyone in Asterisk, and that gruesome scene will be broadcast to the world in real time… I assume you already control the broadcasters, then?”
The Varda-Vaos nodded as though that was to be expected. “Of course. The autonomous puppets can continue broadcasting even without the aid of humans.”
“Now, Miss Wakamiya,” Claudia asked. “What do you think would happen next?”
“Huh…?”
Though shaken at being addressed all of a sudden, Minato fell to thinking.
“Um… Well, Erenshkigal can’t get away with it, can she? So I guess…”
“Yes. Exactly. Those cheers of adulation will give way to cries of hatred and horror… But Erenshkigal won’t be alive anymore as a focus for their animosity, and they’ll be looking for blood. With no one else to blame, they’ll direct their fury at Genestella as a whole.”
“Huh? But isn’t that…a bit of a leap?”
Of course, if something like that was to happen, people would turn against the Genestella. But Minato couldn’t believe they would resort to such violent extremes.
“If it happened anywhere else, it might be okay. But this is Asterisk, a gilded cage designed expressly to contain us Genestella. A stage for us to fight among ourselves for the enjoyment of others. Asterisk symbolizes how the lives of Genestella are controlled by ordinary people—but if it’s destroyed, the sense of safety that it’s supposed to guarantee will be stripped away. And that will trigger an immediate change in the attitude of the general public.”
“B-but still…! It wouldn’t warrant…that…!”
That alone shouldn’t be reason enough to spark an all-out conflict.
But before she could put those thoughts into words—
“You’re right,” the Varda-Vaos interrupted. “It isn’t enough. This is all just to create a new symbol. We will sacrifice Asterisk to create a symbol of hatred in the guise of Erenshkigal, Orphelia Landlufen. We have other efforts scheduled to be put into motion simultaneously.”
“Other efforts…?”
“In response to Orphelia’s show of defiance, other acts of terrorism by Genestella supremacists will soon take place all throughout the world. People will quickly discard their indifference and tolerance when their own relatives are placed in harm’s way.”
“You can’t…!”