“What is it?”
“Imaginary elements give form to physical matter, right?”
“Yes.”
“Conversely, all physical matter is composed of imaginary elements, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Does that mean pencils, and notebooks, and…and rocks or whatever…can all parallel shift too?”
“Precisely. That said, our worlds are basically never impacted when it happens. After all, the only thing that shifts is the imaginary; the physical remains in place. In short, for human beings, what switches places is our souls, but objects don’t have souls, so nothing really changes. Technically speaking, there is an infinitesimally small chance that it could influence something, but that influence would also be infinitesimally small.”
“Ah, I get it.” The chair I was sitting on could be parallel shifting right this instant, but nothing would change as a result.
“Make sense? Then let’s get down to brass tacks.”
Again, the director smacked the whiteboard. Oh, right. That was all just preamble for the main topic.
“Tell me, what would happen if a micro-bubble popped while in transit between macro-bubbles?”
If the macro-bubbles were parallel worlds, and the micro-bubble was a person, and they “popped” while in transit…
“They would…die?”
“No. The bubble’s imaginary element would be dissociated from the physical form it was substantiating.”
This time I didn’t need an analogy. After all, I had witnessed this concept with my own two eyes. The rest of this conversation simply served to more easily explain what had happened to her.
“So that’s imaginary karyomitosis?”
“Yes. After examining you and Shiori and hearing your side of the story, in addition to what Shiori’s ghost told you, this is the conclusion I’ve reached.”
I had already told her and my dad everything Shiori’s ghost had told me at the Showa-dori intersection: that in the split-second when she was about to be hit by a car, she tried to parallel shift to escape, and the next instant, she was turned into a ghost.
“Inside the Cradle with you, her imaginary elements were pulled along with yours into a parallel shift. And on the other side, at the precise moment she was hit by a car, she tried to shift again, to a world where she wasn’t in danger.”
She must have believed she could escape from it. After all, we were already trying to escape from something else.
“As a result, her micro-bubble flew out of the macro-bubble, and right as it was crossing the Sea of Einzwach, it burst. Her parallel self likely died instantly. But parallel shifts work by trading places, so once her other self was unable to return to her original body, so too was our Shiori. Her imaginary elements were left suspended in the Sea of Einzwach, and with no physical form, she was turned into a ghost at that very crosswalk.”
I couldn’t pretend I understood everything she said, but what I did understand was that I most certainly had a hand in this happening.
“Is there any way to save her?” I asked the director.
“…If my line of thinking is correct, we would need to pinpoint her imaginary elements in the Sea of Einzwach, find a way to control them, then attach them back to her physical body. That said, we still don’t have a method of observation. As imaginary science progresses, I suspect these things will eventually be possible, but realistically speaking…I doubt Shiori’s body could last that long.”
We were out of options. Only a literal god could save her at this point. How could this have happened to us? All we ever wanted was to be happy!
“It’s not your fault, Koyomi-kun,” the director said suddenly, switching out of professor mode. I must have let the despair show on my face.
This woman had every right to blame me for her daughter’s condition. It was my fault Shiori was a ghost now. Why couldn’t she insult me and punch me like I deserved? Her sympathy sent me flying into a rage.
“How can you be so calm about this? How can you keep a level head while your daughter’s on a ventilator?! All this stupid technobabble won’t even save her! So why won’t you just blame me already?! Aren’t you sad?! What kind of mother are you?!”
I knew I was being cruel, but I couldn’t stop myself. All my feelings—my love for Shiori, the guilt of being unable to save her, anger at my own worthlessness, frustration with the adults’ inexplicable composure, and most of all, the gut-wrenching horror I felt thinking about her ghost being left all alone at that crosswalk—all of it had melted together into a sludge. I needed to get it out of my system before I truly went insane.
“None of this would have happened if you two hadn’t gotten divorced! That way, Shiori and I could have been together!”
Like a total hypocrite, I blamed it on them instead of my own ignorance. Neither of them said a word, as if to suggest they had no defense. Logically, at least one of those divorces was what introduced me to Shiori in the first place, but I was too emotional to think that far.
“…I concede that perhaps people like us had no business getting married,” the director said in a small voice. My dad simply frowned. “But let me say this, Koyomi-kun.” She looked directly into my eyes and finished her thought. “Of course I’m sad, you imbecile.”
Her expression remained unchanged as a single tear rolled down her cheek—and I snapped back to my senses. I was being so childish. What was I thinking? There was no way on earth she wasn’t upset! Who the hell did I think I was, attacking a woman who had lost her only daughter?
I had done the unthinkable, but I didn’t know how to own up to it. What was I to do? Right now, I had only two words to offer.
“…I’m sorry.”
“It’s all right. Likewise, I apologize for calling you an imbecile. What I meant was, it’s not solely your fault. If anything, the part you played in this was the smallest of all. You didn’t force her to make the choices she made.”
She wiped her tear with her lab coat sleeve and carried on like nothing was wrong. That said, I couldn’t just let bygones be bygones and go back to my life. If there was anything I could do to help Shiori, I was going to do it.
“Director, Shiori has a spare key to the Cradle room.”
“I know. She probably had it made in secret and used it to sneak in with you that night, didn’t she? That makes it even less your fault.”
“Can I have it?”
Her eyes narrowed at me. “For what purpose?”
“So I can use the Cradle. I’m going to comb through the other worlds and search for a way to save Shiori. After all, shifting is easier for me, right?”
Sure, maybe the Cradle wasn’t finished, but I had the ability to use it, regardless. All I had to do was parallel shift through each and every world until I found one where Shiori was cured, ask them how they did it, then come home.
“You could do that, but I don’t think you should. We don’t know how dangerous it might be. Besides, there’s a chance you’ll suffer imaginary karyomitosis yourself.”
“I don’t care. I want to help Shiori.”
“Well, I do care!” she countered. “Didn’t I just tell you? I’m not an unfeeling monster. Besides, if something happened to you, your father would be devastated.”
At this, I looked at my dad. He remained quiet and still, just as he’d been the whole time I was ranting at them. To be honest, I still couldn’t quite understand what he was thinking, but we’d lived together for years and years now. And besides, we were both…
I looked straight into his eyes and summoned all my emotions—all my courage. Likewise, he gazed straight back at me. And then, without a word, we nodded at each other.
“Director, could you let Koyomi have the spare key?” he asked.
“Hidaka-kun…? What are you saying?”
“When a man loves a woman, he’ll do whatever it takes for her. There’s nothing we can do to stop him.”
And then my father, of all people, gave me a thumbs-up. Tickled, I gave him one right back. I knew he would understand. We were both guys, after all.
“Well, that’s not fair. I can hardly argue with that, now can I?” the director sighed as she watched our exchange. Then she smiled wryly. “Fine, you win.”
“Thank you so much!”
“But under one condition: you must always report to me or your father whenever you want to use the Cradle. All of your shifts will be monitored and recorded.”
“Okay!” Then I paused for a moment. “Wait, but doesn’t that defeat the purpose of me having a spare key?”
“Just take it anyway. Here.”
“Huh?”
The director fished something out of her pocket and handed it to me. Sure enough, it was the same key.
“You had it with you…?”
“I found it when I was sorting through Shiori’s belongings. Technically, it’s company property, so I was thinking of keeping it at home just in case, but…you should hold on to it.”
“…Okay.”
Now that I thought about it, right from the day we first met, Shiori was always more passionate about parallel worlds than I was. She wanted to travel to a world where her parents were still together, but she was too scared to get in the Cradle by herself. That was why she used me as a guinea pig. What a crazy way to meet someone for the first time.
As I recalled her face and voice, I gripped the key in my palm. One day, this key would open the door to a happy future with her. I just needed to have faith.