Part 38: Okabe Rintarou has an ominous dream

When did I come here?
I don't remember.
My body doesn't move.
My body doesn't feel.
Nothing is seen.
Nothing is.



A voice resounds.
As if whispering near me.
As if screaming far away.
As if dozens of people around me called at once.
Where... is this?



Where time and space switch places.

Immediately afterward--





Stars coat the heavens.
I sigh at the beauty.
However, one point of space lacks stars.
I notice that point.
I stare.
My body starts to fall.
Falling, through the stars...
No, that's wrong.
I'm not falling.
Inside the stars is a perfect dark distortion. Not even light can escape.
I'm being pulled inside...



Countless stars instantly vanish behind my back.
The luminous point in my vision rapidly disappears.
Everything except for me gets blown back.
Reason screams absurdity.
physical displacement cannot exceed the speed of light.
That contradicts the theory of relativity.



The voice, again.
The voice overtakes my faster-than-light consciousness, lying in wait at my destination.
Why do I hear Cristina's voice?



The same words.







I accelerate.
I feel like choking.
As if my entire body is under pressure.





I fall.
I'm pulled.
To the depths of the dark.
Or to the end of space.
But even beyond the speed of light, I'll never reach it.
Am I looping?
No, that's wrong.
Is the end escaping?
That's wrong, too.
Stretching.
What is?
Space is?
I am?









Something approaches.
Approaches slowly.
In complete contrast to the disappearing surrounding stars.
Is it really approaching?
Is it not stopped?
Its slowness gives it that illusion.
I don't recognize what it is.
But it is something.
But I don't know what that something is.



I try to reach that something.
But my hand won't move.





I seem to be stopped.
While seemingly stopped, I continue falling.
Not a complete stop.
Infinite progression to a stop.
After a second, when will I arrive?



On second, my perception keeps stretching.
One second, after a perceived second, becomes 0.1 seconds.
0.1 seconds, after a perceived second, becomes 0.01 seconds.
0.01 seconds, after a perceived second, becomes 0.001 seconds.
0.0001 seconds.
0.00001 seconds.
0.000001 seconds.
0.0000001 seconds.
0.00000001 seconds.
0.000000001 seconds.
When will I arrive?
Gradually, time shortens.
Gradually, my senses lengthen.



An illusion that we'll never arrive at zero.



Abrupt, humorous words.
The Demon Lord's Gate.





I try to shout.
But my mouth won't move.
I mustn't look back.



Pictures from the Jellyman's Report flicker through my brain.
My body--



I want to look back.
I want to go back.
I can't look back.
I can't go back.
Towards something.
Towards the future of becoming a jellyman.
While stopped for an eternity--





















Disturbed by the melody, I slowly open my eyes. What comes into view isn't the stars shining in the cosmos, but the familiar lab ceiling.

Ugh, what a bad dream. What time is it now? It's bright outside the window.



My phone tells me I got another mail. So it's this sound that dares disturb people's sleep, huh...



I blankly stare at my phone's flickering display. My body and mind are dull. Don't want to move a step. Don't want to think a thought. That feeling.






Still not checking it. I sink my body into the sofa...

A reserved knock resounds from the entryway door. Next comes a muffled voice from across the door. I couldn't catch what it said, but it seems like a woman's voice. Don't tell me, is the mail sender there?

Well, there's only one person who'd send me mails this frequently, after all. I get up from the sofa just a bit annoyed.



I overslept, yet I'm sleepy. I stifle my yawn while unlocking the door.

"Ah..."