Fifty thousand years.
What could someone do in fifty thousand years?
It differs from person to person. Some might become satisfied with the status quo like Hua. Stagnation is completely fine when it comes to an ageless person.
The others, however, struggle. The death of comrades did not deter them. Su, Mobius, and Mei found their ways to the higher level. Kevin went beyond that and turned himself into the current guardian of humanity.
As for Vill-V…
Even Mobius had to admit that Vill-V's talent exceeds hers. She is the top one when it comes to Fire MOTH's most brilliant minds.
"Fu…"
Aleph 'woke up' into a huge bedroom. He touched his face and double-checked everything he saw so far.
He looked around and saw dozens of small plushies resembling him. They wore different outfits. He noticed all of them were something he wore at least once.
Beyond the huge bed filled with plushies, the entire room bore a white theme. Everything inside did not have any other color than white.
The small table, chair, desk, closet…
All of them are white.
Buzz.
Aleph moved his fingers and discovered a fuzzy sound coming from his hand.
"There's only so far bioscience could go…"
It is completely identical to a real human hand. His skin has the attributes of a real tissue. His bones are all made of calcium. If it weren't for the micro-sized bolts on his joints, Aleph would have not known that this body is a doll.
That's right, a doll.
'What kind of ironic fate is this..?'
It seems like he could not escape the fate of Wanderer. The future was thrown into a spiral with his existence. Having this exact outcome occur made him wonder at the intricacies of fate.
"She chose my middle-schooler self. Vill-V…"
Aleph could spy on Earth's events with a glance. What he did not do is to read one's mind. It is fine if the person themself is predictable. If they are not…
He would rather pry the answer from themselves.
Tap.
The moment he stepped barefoot on the ground, it let out a wave of ripples. The exact nature of this place was seen at a glance.
A whole bunch of 0's and 1's filled Aleph's sight.
"Is this the reason why she maintained the Elysian Realm?"
He is currently inside the Elysian Realm. It is a discreet place far more hidden than Aponia's The Deep. In this world, he is the sole true being.
"One authority. Error."
Snap-!
One thought reversed this place's appearance to a certain point in time. The pure white furniture, walls, and lights changed. The huge bed remained untouched.
"...Seeing it personally is different." He muttered as he let out a deep breath. "How did it come to this?"
The entire room was filled with photos—Aleph's photos, to be exact. The majority of them had footnotes. Ranging from something as common as a picture on the second institute up to Mobius' research results when he became the first MANTIS, everything was here.
It did not end there.
He saw blurry pictures of his exact "disappearance" in this parallel Earth. Aleph turned into a black figure in these pictures. It is difficult to ascertain whether it was him.
Vill-V managed to do just that.
Then came other sets of strange photographs. These did not come from this Earth, but from the parallel Mei and Mobius themselves. When they met the respective "Alephs" of the parallel Earths within this parallel Earth, Vill-V managed to get her hands on them.
Nothing escaped her grasp. Her assistance to Mobius allowed her to place a backdoor not even Mobius noticed.
The same went for Mei's "private" project.
Her actions proved the preciousness of 'intelligence'.
Once you know everything, you can do almost anything.
"Why did she do this..?"
Vill-V's actions reminded Aleph of a psychopath—a yandere. He did not dare assume that was the thing until meeting her, though.
Speaking of meeting her…
Aleph tried his best to remain unfazed as he saw an outline of a rectangle. It turned into a door, and soon enough, he gazed at her.
There is nothing wrong with her gray pupils. They are exactly the same as the Vill-V he could remember.
'It's different.' He thought. 'It's pink before. Why is it red now?'
Silence swept over the two of them. Aleph watched her unchanging expression turn into a subtle smile.
"It is you."
Her words were not something the usual Vill-V would make.
"Was it your doing? The outside world is in chaos as we speak."
"I did it. Mobius contributed to half of it."
She fell silent after Aleph's reply. She walked past the door, which then proceeded to disappear. The background filled with Aleph's pictures disappeared and turned into the usual white walls.
"Am I last on the sequence? What about this?"
A familiar white flower appeared atop her palm.
That was the flower he gave to Vill-V.
'She must have learned Vill-V's memories…'
The situation became stranger.
From the way she acted, she is totally inconsistent with the Vill-V he knew.
Only one possibility is left.
"You are that Vill-V. Her buried self."
"That wasn't the answer I am looking for." She replied as she drew closer to him. "Why did you visit me last?"
"Because I thought it'd be fitting. You know, give you enough time to reorganize yourself."
Vill-V's actions proved his words. She pounced on him, pushing him down the floor. The twin mountains covered half of Aleph's sight. With the remaining half, he saw a red glare flash on her gray eyes.
For a moment, she froze. She did not know what to do next.
At least, that was how she was in his eyes.
"Did you really miss your partner this much?"
"Partner."
A single word brought her memories. It was how they addressed each other for the first time. Vill-V serves as the backline support while Aleph raids illegal research institutes using his nuclear suits.
Their relationship became closer when they worked together to create a Divine Key. They were no longer partners, but…
"Aleph."
The look she gave confirmed one thing:
'Vill-V turned into a yandere.'
*****
A/N: If evil, why hot?