There's clearly nothing in your arms!
Herta declared that the Trailblazer was talking nonsense, even demonstrating it herself to prove that the little gray-haired girl's arms were empty.
The unshakeable, ironclad fact was laid bare before everyone!
But Stelle found it unbelievable, unable to accept this reality. A sorrowful look appeared in her eyes. What are you talking about? How could this be possible? Orchis is right here! I'm holding her in my arms! She's real!
The slight weight in her arms and the feel of the clothing undoubtedly told Stelle that this was real.
But Herta's arm had indeed passed right through Orchis's body, proving that others could not physically touch the puppet girl.
Only the Trailblazer could.
With a panicked expression, Stelle looked toward Screwllum and Ruan Mei. The two of them also wore expressions of observation and anticipation, looking directly at the Trailblazer's face without sparing a single glance for Orchis, as if Orchis didn't exist in their eyes either.
...What in the world was going on?
The Trailblazer was utterly baffled.
Is there something wrong with me? Or is there something wrong with everyone else?
Stelle began to doubt herself, doubt reality, doubt others, not knowing what she should believe.
Is Orchis a figment of my imagination? Am I the one who's not normal? Is what Herta said correct?
After all, compared to Stelle on her own, the side with three other people was clearly more persuasive.
I'm the strange one...
No, that's not right!
A person cannot imagine something they have never seen. The puppet girl, her sorrowful eyes, her smiling blessing, her sincere and silent devotion by her side—all of it was an absolutely unique, first-time encounter for the Trailblazer. It was too vivid! It couldn't possibly be fake!
Stelle gritted her teeth, her heart refusing to admit this was false! She would never allow it! She purged all negative thoughts from her mind.
I have to prove it! Prove that Orchis is a real person!
For example, during the duel with the Emanator of Propagation just now, the puppets Orchis summoned had undoubtedly provided physical assistance.
The girl had been able to catch the pocket watch to summon puppets, operate them to fend off the swarm, and even, at a critical moment, stop the Swarm King: Skaracabaz from taking Stelle's life.
(That's right! Orchis is real!)
Stelle's heart found an anchor for the puppet girl's existence. She calmed her breathing. Her mind and cognition were normal, untainted.
Her thoughts gradually became more active, and the girl took her speculation a step further.
(How strange. Why can't Herta and the others see her?)
The geniuses of the club couldn't observe or touch Orchis?
Could this puppet girl be some kind of virtual projection? It seemed like Silver Wolf could do something similar, invading reality.
It felt like something was adjusted for the Trailblazer's retinas alone, so only the Trailblazer could see...
(It's my subjective perception, but objectively non-existent from others' perspectives.)
This feeling of being treated differently, this sense of disharmony, of being on a completely different wavelength from everyone else... Hadn't she experienced this somewhere before?
Stelle was actually not unfamiliar with such an absurd situation.
The Trailblazer forced herself to calm down and recall. After a moment, she seemed to remember something. Her eyes flew wide open.
(Yes, I have. The example is right beside me, on the Express...!)
(That's right, there is someone on the Express whose form of existence is similar, under the same conditions as Orchis.)
Stelle worked hard to troubleshoot the problem and finally found a clue. She then gritted her teeth, growing more anxious. Under the seemingly thoughtful gazes of Herta and the others, she left without a backward glance, running toward the Astral Express.
-----------------
The scene changes, shifting to the Astral Express.
In the parlor car, Pom-Pom, the conductor, was sweeping the floor with a broom when the Express door was suddenly thrown open. The Trailblazer rushed in, and Pom-Pom naturally greeted her.
"Passenger, you're back. Whoa—"
The words had barely left Pom-Pom's mouth, and before they could even make eye contact with Stelle, the gray-haired girl shot past them. So reckless! Don't run around on the train! Pom-Pom was nearly knocked over!
But the person Stelle was looking for was not Pom-Pom, nor was it March 7th, Dan Heng, Himeko, or Welt Yang.
As for the other passengers, Black Swan and Sunday would only board during the Penacony arc; they did not exist in the story at this time.
Looking at the cast of characters, the Express crew had no Lady Black Swan or Lord Sunday. Who could the little gray-haired girl possibly find to get in touch with a Memetic entity?
The answer was, there was another stowaway on the train who rarely showed their face.
Other than the little gray-haired girl, none of the other Nameless knew this person.
"Messenger... you're here, right? Answer me!"
A member of that strange group that claimed to help Fuli the Aeon collect valuable memories from across the universe, the one who unlocked the Forgotten Hall.
Following Stelle's call, a figure appeared.
"Do you want to enter the Forgotten Hall?"
It was a figure clad in streamlined armor and a robe of silken texture.
She wore a glowing blue mask, and a pure white, hooded outer garment outlined her tall frame, yet she gave off an unreal feeling.
(The Messenger said she can read people's memories.)
She operated through people's memories. Every time she appeared, moved, or disappeared, she was reading someone's memory.
Therefore, she could definitely read the Trailblazer's memories and perceive Orchis's existence.
At the same time, this Messenger's mode of existence was the same as Orchis's—only the Trailblazer could see her; others could not!
No longer having to worry about extreme cold or heat, having ascended beyond the physical body, a higher lifeform constructed from Memoria—did this Messenger share something in common with Orchis?
"Hm? That girl in your arms is...?" Soon, the Messenger's gaze fell directly upon Orchis.
Seeing the other's line of sight, Stelle felt as if she had grasped a final lifeline, her words tumbling out incoherently.
"Thank goodness! You can see her... Please, save Orchis. She looks like she's about to fade away."
The people of the Garden of Recollection were incredibly capable! In the Trailblazer's heart, she felt that as long as the Messenger could see her, healing her would surely be no problem!
"This..." The Messenger's tone sounded hesitant.
"Please! If you ever need me for anything afterward, I'll do whatever it takes!"
A girl who had given her all for her was about to die. Stelle could no longer be bothered with haggling over words and costs.
Her tone grew more and more anxious, her expression both ferocious and incredibly fragile.
The Messenger, however, looked at the Trailblazer's face and shook her head.
"I'm sorry, I can't do that."
"Why can't you?! Do you need memories? Or some special energy source? I can find a way. If you need payment, I can even give you a Curio of sufficient value, a collectible from Madam Herta of the Genius Society, or even the Lance of Preservation in my hands!"
Stelle was even willing to give away her mission rewards and the weapon she relied on for survival to the Memokeeper, but all she got in return was the Messenger's sigh.
A warrior had humbled herself to the point of trading away her own weapon, showing how much Orchis meant to her and revealing that the Trailblazer was at her wit's end.
"It's not that I don't want to save her, but... I truly can't do it. Even I cannot bring someone who is already dead back to life."
"Someone who is... already dead?" The Trailblazer's tone was suddenly filled with confusion.
The Messenger could perhaps seal a memory, freezing Orchis in a Light Cone forever.
However, for someone living in the present, wandering in the painful memories of the past was not a good thing. People needed to look forward, and the Nameless even more so. Thus, the Messenger didn't mention the possibility of Light Cone technology. A short, sharp pain was better than a long, dull ache.
"Wait, what are you talking about?!"
Cold sweat trickled down Stelle's cheeks. What did she mean, bring someone who is already dead back to life? Orchis was still breathing!
I don't understand! you can't jump to conclusions! you can't be so cruel as to declare that someone has no future!
"No, what I'm talking about and what you're thinking of right now are two different things."
The Messenger could read the Trailblazer's thoughts. She shook her head, interrupting the girl's words.
"You probably think that the girl named Orchis is severely injured, and that her form of existence seems identical to mine, as neither of us can be perceived by those around us, so I might have some way to heal her? But unfortunately, I must correct your wishful thinking. The very premise of your thought—that she 'can be healed'—is fundamentally wrong."
"Why..."
"To say that girl's form of existence and mine are the same is also to say they are different. I am an existence akin to an energy lifeform, having ascended beyond a physical body. I sustain myself by extracting memories from other people or things and can be self-sufficient. But the one in your arms is already a house full of holes. It's like a human who has lost all function of their internal organs, a ghost that can't even be considered a lifeform. She was never meant to last long in the first place."
"Not even... considered a lifeform?"
"Let me be blunt. Even if that girl and I both use Memoria to sustain ourselves, there is a fundamental difference between us. The one in your arms is just a cluster of information, the embers left after everything has burned to ashes. That emotion, that self, that personality she displays—they are nothing more than a residual image of the past. The lingering obsession of a young girl, existing based on your cognition, an echo of the deceased flowing from the memories sealed by the Stellaron Hunters. She is a thoughtform born from your memories."
What is she saying...
Stelle didn't understand. No, with the knowledge she had gained in the Simulated Universe, the things she had seen so far, and the vast data in the Express's archives, even if she didn't want to understand the Messenger's words, she would immediately grasp their meaning. But a string in her mind was forcefully maintaining a state of recklessness. She shouldn't understand. If she understood, a terrifying consequence would surely follow. So the girl instinctively rejected the meaning in the Messenger's words.
There are some things in life where ignorance is bliss.
(Perhaps that girl thought so too...)
The Messenger wore a mask, but if she had a face, her expression would likely be quite sorrowful.
However, she had seen too many people tormented by memories, so she had to be decisive. Letting things fester and hiding them with well-intentioned lies for too long would do no one any good.
"If you had done as that girl intended and understood nothing, it would have been for the best. You would have taken that pocket watch, not entered Miss Ruan Mei's laboratory, and just continued your journey in ignorance. Everything would have been completely different."
Fate truly played tricks on people. What a twisted chain of cause and effect.
"Don't say any more..." The Trailblazer's breathing suddenly grew heavy. Her eyes began to tremble, her pupils unconsciously darting up and down.
"It would have been best to never see each other again for a lifetime, the farther the better. That was her wish, wasn't it? That's why she curled up alone in a corner of the laboratory. All you had to do was use that pocket watch one day and consume her. Any further investigation was meaningless. That's also why she never appeared before you again after that day's farewell. The truth she was most reluctant for you to know is that to miss is only regret, but to understand the truth is to suffer."
"Shut up...!" Stelle gritted her teeth, unconsciously hugging the girl in her arms tighter, as if afraid she would slip away.
Don't say any more. These meaningless words are just making me more and more agitated!
But it is the truth that truly pierces the heart. People will reject things that are not to their advantage, seeking fortune and avoiding misfortune.
Until there is no escape.
"I must speak! I have to! That is just a Meme! It's not an organic or inorganic lifeform, nor an energy lifeform of any kind. It's just a last testament from the past. Let it go! Trailblazer, do not wander in memories. This is the most ideal situation for both you and her..."
"Didn't I say I don't understand—?!"
One thing after another was being truthfully revealed by the Memokeeper, who could read memories and even understand the situation.
But this was not good news. It was a cruel fact that no normal person could ever accept.
The amount of information was overwhelming, but the Trailblazer's mind was helplessly sorting it all out.
Stelle could only grit her teeth and surge forward, with no time to consider much else. She grabbed the Messenger by the collar, yanked her up, and confronted her!
Stop, stop... Stop!
The Trailblazer had once formed a bond with a certain girl. Someone long dead, whose lingering obsession became a Memetic entity, appeared in this space station. Facing a Trailblazer who had forgotten her, the meeting on the platform and the appearance of the Express were all her doing, tangling with the Trailblazer's fate. Should she or should she not follow Elio's prophecy? A girl long dead should not interfere with the living, yet in the end, she saw the melancholy in the Trailblazer's heart and blessed her to board the train, to live a life she could be proud of, giving Stelle courage. Such interference was already an unforgivable sin. There should be no more interaction!
Just like that, she would disappear into a small, unknown corner.
To be able to serve as fuel for the pocket watch Curio to protect the Trailblazer—that would be a worthy death, wouldn't it?
Why on earth did the Trailblazer enter that laboratory and find her? It shouldn't have been like this...
"The girl in your arms, her real body died a long time ago! The thing that's there now is a memory that cannot be saved and has no reason to exist! Do you understand?!"
"—!"
Stelle's breath caught in her throat.
Within her wide eyes, her pupils sharpened and then shattered.
Her trembling hands, which were roughly grabbing the Memokeeper before her, now seemed so powerless.
The light in her eyes gradually disintegrated. That face, which should have been full of emotion, could no longer even maintain its expression of anger and worry.
She staggered, her mouth opening and closing.
She bit her lip, gasping for air, the corners of her eyes trembling.
Her facial features were uncoordinated—a tangle of conflict, helplessness, denial... Her heart was choking on a sob.
A pain that pierced to the bone, a convergence of countless complex sorrows. The gray-haired girl wore an indescribable expression.
All that remained—in the reflection of the Messenger's blue helmet, was the Trailblazer's wretched and pathetic state.
Reflected alongside it was the cruel truth that could never be undone, that was never meant to be undone in the first place.
The Trailblazer's world had come apart. This scene, this moment, was nothing more than the echo of a person long gone.
Orchis... had long since departed from this world.