“Rae…I think my time has come.”
Even after we were old and wrinkled, my love for Claire remained unchanged. I squeezed her hand tight as she spoke her last words.
“We’ll meet again, Claire,” I said.
“Yes… I’ll be…waiting for you…in heaven…” she replied before drawing her last breath.
The room held only her and I alone. Our relationship was one we had never been able to make official with marriage, but we were fine with that.
My life in this magic-based civilization had been a fulfilling one. We’d fled before she lost her life to the revolution, fallen in love, and spent our lives together. We’d become estranged from our families but been blessed with good friends and were never lonely.
We had been able to love each other deeply, and I could have asked for nothing more. I could look back proudly and say it had been a good life.
Claire’s soul was once more recorded as quanta and cached by TAIM. She would lose her memories, but in the coming science-based civilization, she’d live again as Claire François.
“TAIM,” I called.
“Yes?” I was answered in a flat tone by the housekeeper I had hired in order to spend more time with Claire after she fell ill. As the one in charge of fine-tuning history to keep it on track, TAIM could appear as anyone.
“I’m ending my life in this loop here,” I said.
“Are you sure? According to my estimations, you should still have a few years left.”
“I’m sure. There’d be no meaning in living a life without Claire.”
“Very well. I’ll begin the quantization process.”
I got in bed beside the now-sleeping Claire and hugged her body. I closed my eyes and felt her lingering body heat.
“That was fun, wasn’t it, Claire?”
Until the next loop, then.
“Welcome back, Rei.”
“Thank you, TAIM.”
I returned to the administrator’s room and set about my work again. I saw through the demise of the magic-based civilization, transitioned humanity into dormancy again, and waited for the beginning of the science-based civilization.
“TAIM, I’m using my authority as administrator to change the planned course of history a bit.”
“Warning: Depending on the degree of change, history may shift greatly.”
“I’ll be careful, don’t worry.”
I began to adjust some things, creating a slightly different timeline.
“What are you adjusting?”
“Just my life and Claire’s. Namely, the era we’re born in and our cause of death.”
I was changing our births to be in the early 21st century as opposed to the late 21st. There was still a great deal of mystery surrounding the disease that had killed Claire, but TAIM had continued to make improvements to herself over the previous loop and had been able to determine that the pathogen that killed Claire didn’t exist in the world in the early 21st century.
“If you run those changes, the two of you won’t meet until your mid-thirties,” she said.
“That’s fine. We’ll just live long lives thereafter to make up for it.”
Wondering to myself what my new life with Claire in a science-based world would be like, I entered cold sleep again. I awoke several thousands of years later.
Somewhat drowsy, I asked, “TAIM…what year is it on Earth now?”
“It will soon be the year 1990. By the Japanese calendar, it is near the end of the Showa era and the beginning of the Heisei era.”
“It’s almost time, then.”
“Yes. Are you fine with entering the world from infancy this time?”
That was the plan for the science-based civilizations, as opposed to starting at the Royal Academy in magic-based civilizations.
“Yeah. I want to see what early 21st century Japan was like.”
“Very well. I bid you good fortunes in the battles to come.”
“Like I said, I’m not heading off to any battles.”
TAIM saw me off as I left for my new life in Japan.
I was born to an incredibly average household. I had a Heisei home, like the ones I had only been able to read about in my past life, and lived in an era of transition from the old values of the Showa era to the new values that still rang true in my time.
My parents both worked, something that was still rather uncommon in this era, and I had a younger brother. This was the first time I’d ever had a younger sibling, so I took dear care of him. I also took care of most of the housework around the home as my parents were often busy with their careers. Thanks to that, my cooking skills improved even more than before.
I couldn’t adjust to school life well, however. Bullying wasn’t yet considered a serious issue in this time, so I was often ostracized by my peers. Thankfully, I was fine academically and okay at sports, so I was never the main target of bullying, only excluded from activities. I didn’t make my first friend until college, but I was completely fine with that. I knew I would one day meet the only one who mattered.
I graduated college and started working at a trading firm. I hated the antiquated corporate drone work culture of this bygone era with a passion, but I endured it all for the sake of meeting Claire again.
After several years, I met her at a different trading firm.
“It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I’m Claire François.”
She spoke with perfect Japanese and lived as a capable career woman. Naturally, she didn’t have those huge curls like in the magic-based civilization but instead her familiar long, straight blonde hair. It was refreshing to see her like this, in something other than a lab coat.
At first, our relationship was purely business, but we hit it off and began dating in under a year. She nursed some disproval of homosexuality in the beginning, but she quickly changed her tune. I’d long since had a feeling, but now I knew for sure that she was bisexual by nature.