53 The Birds (1/2)

Joshua had monitored the whole sequence of events with Luna, who kept reporting everything that Catherine was undergoing. He was so stunned by the extreme success of the operation, he almost fell over when she embraced him and clumsily took a step backward. He quickly stabilized himself and hugged her back. He let go after a few seconds though, as a part of his body seemed to react a bit too enthusiastically about the situation.

”Ahem”, he coughed, ”Well, congratulations on your advancement! Hmm, is it just me or have you become more beautiful?”

This cheesy charming attempt was unfortunately quickly burned to the ground as a voice resonated in both their minds.

[Negative, while User Catherine's body has undergone a physical evolution, her physical appearance remains unchanged.]

They stared at each other blankly for a few seconds hearing this before Catherine burst out laughing while Joshua became all red and yelled: ”Shut up, Luna! I wasn't asking you!” This caused Catherine to laugh even harder and Joshua eventually joined in.

Eventually, they calmed down and debriefed the situation.

”Anyway, considering the nature of that seal, I'm not too surprised your body managed to progress but I wasn't expecting your soul to rank up as well.”

”It's thanks to Damien, not only did the fragments he gave me allowed me to spare a lot of time, his soul world was similar to mine so it gave me a good base of inspiration.”

”I see, makes sense.”

Part of him was a bit worried about Catherine progressing her world too far, although after consideration, even if she learned about the true nature of energy, her world wouldn't need a drastic rework like his. As long as it was done carefully, he could help her alter some parts if necessary. Of course, he had to complete his soul world redesign first.

”So,” Catherine started, ”unless you have something to add, I'll start removing the seal in our friends.”

”I suppose that's the most logical thing to do, although…”

A doubt crossed his mind. He still wanted to erase the existence of this seal from the world, starting with their party members. Yet, seeing the effect on Catherine, he couldn't help but feel there might be a risk attached to it. He remembered the tale of Easa, how in the end, everyone had become a powerhouse. The day all hell broke loose, it led to the country's destruction. Yes, he needed to take some precautions.

”Can you wait for a bit? I would like to monitor the state of someone whose seal has been freshly removed, just to make sure there are no side-effects.”

This was mostly true, although he had another idea on the back of his mind.

”Nah, it should be fine by tomorrow morning.”

”Very well then,” she replied.

”OK, I'll get to work,” he said and vanished.

Joshua entered his rune lab as he wanted to prepare something by the next morning. However, as he entered, he saw something he had almost forgotten: the cog wrapped in chains. Diana had given him the key to that memory, he could, therefore, see what was inside of it. He contacted Catherine and she immediately joined him.

”Do you have any idea what's in there?” she asked.

”Well, it should be something I've forgotten, and since I can't remember it, no I don't,” he replied, smiling.

”Fair point,” she grinned.

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”To be honest, I'm a bit scared to find out. Do you mind looking inside along with me?”

”Not at all. Let's do it.”

They sat down at the table inside the lab. Joshua picked up the cog and placed it on the table. He put the key in the lock and the chain vanished immediately. They both placed their hands on the gear.

”Ready?” she asked him.

Joshua nodded and activated the cog. Without delay, they both entered the memory it contained.

And thus began the true tale of the last day of Joshua's life.

They appeared inside a forest. Joshua recognized it immediately, as it was the place he used to take his daily walks. Since it was his memory, he was able to identify when it took place as well. He looked over and indeed, in the distance, he saw himself happily taking a stroll.

”This is… the day I died,” he told Catherine, ”I was walking through the forest as usual and suddenly, I was hit by lightning.”

Catherine nodded while remaining silent.

However, the Joshua in the sequence passed by the point he should have been hit and happily continued his walk.

”Hu?” Joshua was confused. He clearly remembered dying there and yet… seeing this memory, he also clearly remembered walking through the forest without any trouble. The two memories were overlapping which didn't make much sense. Of course, this new memory was hidden behind a lock in his mind. Something he had forgotten? He was beginning to think it was something he was made to forget. He didn't know why but he was clacking his teeth. He unconsciously grabbed Catherine's hand and held on to it very tightly.

”Something's not right here and frankly, I'm terrified,” he told her.

”Do you want to stop for now?”

”No, I have to get to the bottom of this. I'm done running like a fool.”

They followed the other Joshua from a distance until they reached the familiar old shack. A figure was apparently waiting for him there. As they were currently mere spectators, the only thing to do was to watch the upcoming tragedy unfold.

###

Joshua was in a good mood. The development of Luna was coming to an end and the release was scheduled for the following year. As its inventor, he had the honor to be the first human equipped with the chip and had been using it to scan about everything he came across. He was happily executing a few silly dance moves when he noticed someone was near the shack. Immediately, he straightened his position. His eyes went wide as he recognized who it was.

”Good day! It's been a while since we saw each other, but I've heard you've been doing pretty well for yourself!” the old man said, greeting him with a smile.

”You…” Joshua got tears in his eyes as he recognized his old friend. He ran up to him and gave him a hug. The old man gave him a pat on his back in reply.

It was a strange thing, he had only met this man once before, nearly fifteen years ago. And despite that, he had never felt closer to anyone than him. A moment later, they went inside the shack and had a long talk. They shared many stories together, some funny, some sad. Time flew by and soon, dusk was nearing.

”We should probably head back for now. How about we go to dine somewhere?” the old man said.

”Sure thing, I'm actually pretty hungry!” Joshua replied as they exited the place.

Joshua looked up to the sky, it was indeed getting dark.

'Hmm, there is an unusual amount of birds around here today. Maybe they're migrating?'

He didn't know why but he was feeling uneasy.

”Let's go before it's totally dark!” he said.

His friend smiled and followed him. As they walked they kept hearing more and more birds cawing.

'This is kind of creepy, where are all those crows coming from?'

-Because, of course, they were crows.-

Without warning, a couple of birds dived at them. Joshua let out a 'waaaah' as he covered his head with his arms. He screamed out of fear and pain as he felt claws scratching his skin and even a beak poking him. The old man wasn't fairing much better as he had ducked to protect himself as the birds were attacking him.

”What the hell?!” he yelled while removing the backpack he was carrying, he was always keeping a laptop on hand. He began waving it around him as a weapon and even hit a crow that was attacking his friend. This caused the birds to momentary retreat. He helped the old man stand and they both ran for it. Already, they heard the birds chasing them.

'In what sort of Hitchcock movie did we just walked into? Luna, get us out of here!' he ordered.