After I patch up Saber's physical wounds, we follow the dark path Haru materialised from, and it feels so much more endless than the last few paths did. After a longer walk, I can see a light at the end of the path. I still worry if Saber really is as fine as she said—I doubt she is—but for now, all I can do is hold her hand tightly. It will be over soon, I tell myself, but I am not sure if that makes me relieved or sad.
We reach a room, that looks endlessly big. It almost reminds of the part of a beach, where there is just a bit of water over the sand, not any deep. But the most abstract thing is a blue cube floating. Half of it is open, and inside of it is a light reminiscent of the sun, but not as warm and not as blinding. This must be the Moon Cell's core. This must be where I am supposed to go now, am I not? I take a deep breath, ready to make up my mind, before a man steps into our vision from behind a pile of shapes I cannot make out the origins of.
"Welcome! Welcome, to the Moon Cell's core. Congratulations to the victory, Haru Kishinami. I have expected no less," the man says, enthusiastically. He wears a white lab coat, straight black hair and glasses. He looks like a professor, scientist or possibly even a doctor, possibly in his thirties?
"Who are you?" I ask. I would assume this is an NPC, to lead the victor into the Moon Cell so it would not cause issues. Turns out, I am wrong.
"My name was Twice H. Pieceman. But now, you can call me Saviour." His name rings a bell. My eyes widen in shock as I realise who this man is. Haru had just told us! This is the doctor, the only one who cared about this disorder my brain has. The only one who could have saved me, my parents and a good number of other people from death, but disappeared. So this is where he went? How long has he been here? I cannot help but feel angry at him. He abandoned many, and now calls himself "Saviour".
"I see you know about me. It appears, your Mind has told you? Do not hate me. I am the one who brought you here, after all." What does he…?
"You… what?"
"Yes, of course. When I learned of this masterpiece of technology, I studied and studied, I became a spiritron hacker just to join this war. I could not have cared less about my body in the real world, so with the right medications I made sure it would die soon after my consciousness transferred."
"You… killed yourself when you got here?"
"I had to—I did not plan to get back. I had great plans. And I felt like my plans were right, because I kept winning smoothly. I made it to the Moon Cell, about two decades ago. But when I got here, my Servant told me—if I dare to go into the Moon Cell, it will delete my consciousness. I am not really alive anymore, you see? I should not be here."
He is like me, in this regard. Almost, at least, because I am not yet dead.
"So, I waited. I know this war is held every ten years. The winner of the last war… had wrong ideals. He wanted to save people, to make everyone happy. Such foolish, childish ideas. I had to keep him from the Moon Cell's core, but at the same time, I grew tired of waiting.
I learned to get around most safety protocols of the Moon Cell and looked for a candidate to share my ideals as well. And there, I found you, in the big database of human consciousness. I did not know much about you, but your Mind agreed with me. He wanted to fulfill my wish for the world."
Yes, my Mind said something along those lines. But he did not exactly tell me, what he or Twice planned.
Also, this means Twice is how I got here. I was never meant to participate and bet on my life here, for his own selfish reasons, Twice made me do this.
"What is your wish?" Rin asks, before I even can.
"I see, you have created your own anomaly. Just like him, and I. I am sorry you were separated, by the way. It seemed that the anomaly I caused was too severe to create one fully functioning cyberframe. It was my first experiment, after all.
But, I digest. My wish is to end this farce. Progress halted, the whole world stagnates, for way too long. Why was your brain disorder not cured yet? Because there is no need for progress. Everyone lives into their day, the next one will come. We need a war. Bigger than the last ones, involving the whole world. Weeding out the week—natural selection at its finest!"
This man must have lost his mind. This cannot be right!
"I see your point," says Rin, surprising me. How can she even agree with him?! "But, don't you find it cruel? What about your family?"
"Sacrifices must be made for a future." He says it like it is nothing. But in his position, he can do that. He would not die, he can stay here and watch the world like the god he believes himself to be.
"There's some miscalculation in your plan, doc," Saber speaks up surprisingly, grinning at me. I know what she means. He cannot go into the Moon Cell because he is dead, and I am not too different.
"What do you mean?"
"I cannot go into the Moon Cell's core myself. I was in a cold sleep long before you got me here, I would be deleted myself," I tell him. He seems to be losing himself, it seems he never knew about this crucial part.
"He did not tell me that. Why would he? That little… !" It seems, all his plan was for nothing; all the years of preparation and learning. "Then, you… ! You understand, do you not?" He turns to Rin, who looks at us.
"I'm not the winner here, so I doubt I could do anything. Sorry," she sticks out her tongue at him.
I am glad we three seem to be on the same side, after all. I glance at Saber, and instantly she knows what to do.
"Gladly," she grins, before raising her sword to cut Twice H. Pieceman in two pieces—the only man who could have saved the real me. But that chance was long gone. I can only wait for some other doctor to take an interest in my condition and work on a cure.
Upon Twice's disappearance, a stair to the Moon Cell's core builds itself. I look at it. This is where I am supposed to go. I will be deleted, but still.
"What should we do now?" asks Rin. "We could stay in the simulation forever. In ten years, there'll be new people, too."
"I wouldn't mind," agrees Saber. I know where she is coming from. I can understand her, I would not mind spending eternity with her either. But this is not what I fought for…
If there is just a small chance that I can make any change, then I will. I know Saber would want to stop me. I raise the hand with the red Command Seal still engraved, two parts of it remaining.
"Master? What are you—" But I do not give Saber the time to finish.
"Saber. I, Haru Kishinami, your Master, order you by the might of the Moon Cell's omniscience and the Command Seal given to me: Do not stop me."
"No. You can't be serious. You can't just do this. Haru!" I can hear the despair in her voice, and it pains me. But I cannot give in to this. I cannot let all the sacrifices of other Masters go to waste now.
"Haru…" Rin watches silently. But I am not done yet. I have one Command Seal left.
"Saber. I, Haru Kishinami, your Master, order you by the might of the Moon Cell's omniscience and the Command Seal given to me:… do not follow me."
Saber is engulfed in a red light, paralyzing her. "Haru! Don't you dare to fucking leave me here… !" She is crying now, and so am I. I turn around.
"Sorry," I murmur, but I know it is not enough. I cannot make up for this pain I am making her go through right now, whatever I do. "I love you."
And with that, I ran into the Moon Cell's core.
"S-Saber," I hear Rin's voice faintly, but inside of this, I cannot make out anything. I feel heavy. The kind of heavy you feel when you are too tired, and about to close your eyes… for forever.
And yet, I take out my terminal. In this space, I can make much more changes to the Moon Cell's code than anywhere else. If I am just typing fast enough… Maybe I can do it. Maybe I can give Saber another shot at life. Maybe… I can even save myself.
I am only half done when I can feel that more than half of my body is gone. I cannot do it, I notice bitterly. It was too much for me. By myself, I am useless after all.
"Don't you dare to ever leave me," I hear Saber's voice. Slightly distorted, but clearly enough. How could she follow me?! She should not be able to resist a Command Seal, right?
But it seems that this halts the deletion process just enough to let me type the last semicolon before my consciousness has faded completely.
This is it.