Part 216: Tu Fui, Ego Eris

Listen in: [English/Japanese]



VLR OST: [Consternation]




June—I mean, Akane, from... But...you're old...


Yes, that's correct.
I haven't spoken to you in a very long time, Clover.




J-Junpei!?


Akane... Long time no see.



I could barely hear what they were saying. My mind was still reeling.
It felt like all the air had been knocked out of me, and it was all I could do to not collapse right then and there.




When... How long...


Do you remember when the two of you saved me in the warehouse?






I carried your bodies to the third AB Room and then took Dio's to the fifth.
After that, I went into the first room and borrowed K's armor.




Yes.




Dio killed you.
And then Luna took your body to the sixth room.
You couldn't have been in K's armor.


No, it was me. In this timeline, at least.
In this one, I wasn't murdered by Dio.
You two saved me.
It's just like Schrödinger's cat.
Your actions in the future decided who would be inside the armor in the past.


What...? No, that's nuts.




Who's wearing the armor?


That's quite simple.
The man in front of you.




That's correct.
Whenever I'm not in the armor, he is.


...
...




For my part, I confess that I lied.
He, on the other hand, was telling the truth.
Large doses of Soporil can cause memory loss. I gave him a...rather large dose.


...
...

[Music fades out]




You've never seen him before?


No...


What about the rest of you?


I have no idea who he is.


I've never seen him before.


Me either...


Total stranger.




Right here...?
Same face...?




A-Are you all right, Mr. Sigma?
Did you hit your head or something?


_...Huh?
What?!

999 OST: [Chill and Rigor]



It didn't make any sense.
Why didn't they recognize me?!






You can inhabit your body in the past...or in the future.


Wh-What does that mean?


Don't you get it?
You've jumped to the future...
...From forty-five years ago...


!



I looked around frantically...



A pond!

I ran to it and threw myself down onto my knees.
Crawling on all fours, I approached the edge.
My heart was hammering inside my chest. A cold sweat trickled down my spine.

Calm down... Calm down... Calm down, damnit...

I struggled to take deep breaths.
Then slowly...
slowly...
I peered into the pond, looking for my reflection—