Bonus: The Inverted Human’s Thoughts

That place was an artificially constructed starry sky.

What twinkled in the hollow chamber, entirely shut off from outside light, were plasma-based displays projected into the space. And at the center of the countless scattered lights floated ‘that’.

A ‘human’ suspended upside down inside a massive beaker.

‘It’ looked like a man, or a woman, a child, or an old person, a saint, or a sinner—in the end, it was simply a ‘human’.

“……………Hmm.”

The inverted ‘human’ was watching one of the many monitors.

On it, several young girls were displayed.

Surrounded by many girls, a blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl was crying tears of happiness.

One ending.

A happy ending.

The beginning of a new future.

Watching this, the ‘human’ muttered quietly.

“Good. It seems to be ‘converging’ smoothly.”

Chapter 2: Not Bothered by Failure Crazy_Princess.
Bonus: The Inverted Human’s Thoughts

『Are you sure about this, Aleister?』

A rugged voice, presumably belonging to a middle-aged man, called out to the ‘human’.

But no one was physically present. The voice came from one of the star-like monitors twinkling around the ‘human’.

…Displayed on that monitor was a large dog—a golden retriever.

The old dog, speaking in a relaxed tone, continued:

『A girl who overcame overwhelming failure and showed growth beyond her aptitude parameter ranking… settling that as “no threat, continued observation only” might be the good and preferable conclusion from an ethical standpoint. But from a researcher’s perspective, it’s rather dull. At the very least, some form of contact should be established to collect data, don’t you think?』

“Rather than unnecessary, it’s more accurate to say unnecessary right now.”

The ‘human’ responded flatly to the old dog’s words.

“And besides… I’d think it’s obvious, looking at her, but that’s not the nature of what she’s overcome. It wasn’t failure.”

『…Dissociative Identity Disorder, then?』

At the ‘human’s’ detached reply, the old dog’s voice lowered slightly.

Perhaps it was a natural reaction for someone like him—a brilliant ‘Kihara’ researcher who nonetheless possessed a mind capable of caring for children.

There had once been a ‘Kihara’-branded experiment: a test involving personal reality distortion via Dissociative Identity Disorder.

Put simply, the goal was to generate a new personality and record the resulting changes in one’s personal reality—a reality unique to oneself.

But the experiment had failed.

While cases were observed where ability strength didn’t increase in espers who became multiple personalities, newly created personalities were typically Level 0—non-powered. Even in rare cases where an ability-using personality emerged, the original personality’s output often declined as a result.

That much should have been obvious in hindsight.

After all, even if someone developed a second personality, that personality wasn’t conjured from nothing.

If the mind were a network, then sealing off portions of that network to block unbearable memories would be schizophrenia.

When those sealed segments begin acting independently, that is called Dissociative Identity Disorder—multiple personalities.

In other words, the ‘second personality’ is created by reallocating existing brain resources. Naturally, that doesn’t generate a new ‘source’ for using powers. Therefore, abilities growing stronger due to the birth of a second personality is fundamentally impossible.

“Dissociative Identity Disorder, put simply, is the extreme endpoint of escapism. A new personality is created to carry the ‘realities you don’t want to face’—it’s like dumping them onto someone else.”

『In her case, it’s “trying to repair hopelessly tangled human relationships”… and “fleeing from judgment,” isn’t it?』

Reicia Blackguard.

A proud heiress who flaunted her talent and wealth.

The ‘unnaturally drastic changes’ she’d shown over the past month fit perfectly when seen in that light. It explained everything.

The ‘new personality’ she exhibited, to the point of being self-punishing, bore the pain from all her broken relationships—that interpretation made sense.

『…But if, as a result, her inner self has transformed enough to produce “unexpected growth in her ability”… then that in itself holds romantic research value.』

That wasn’t an assessment borne of kindness.

『After all, researching that might uncover a developmental theory not bound by aptitude parameter rankings. If a formula can be derived, the very principles of Academy City could be rewritten.』

“Her ability has already surpassed the limit defined in the aptitude parameter rankings and is nearing Level 5 territory—the realm of true espers. At this rate, it’s only a matter of time before she reaches the ‘ideal she once named’, something she should never have been able to touch.”

Even if that path involved colossal failure or despair great enough to drive her to suicide—they wouldn’t care.

That’s simply how ‘scientists’ were: cold, logical, and focused solely on the pursuit of laws and systems.

However, the ‘human’ saw an even deeper truth.

“…But things aren’t quite that simple.”

If one had to summarize the tone of the voice, perhaps the most fitting term would be—‘disappointment’.

“That won’t bring about any permanent shift in the course of events.”

『…………What?』

“I’m talking about—the ru-b-ber—ba-nd—the-o-ry.”

『………………………………So that’s what this is about.』

Even in the old dog’s voice, a hint of disappointment leaked through.

“My information network—like the hovering circuit Underline—hasn’t detected anything. But if you reprocess the world via a perceptive domain that extends beyond the realm of ones and zeroes, you can catch traces. Like the aftershocks of a frayed seam.”

『You mean… a world header?』

“No, that’s just a matter of phase. This is deeper—something like the ‘true outside’. Not that you’d understand.”

The ‘human’ murmured.

Perhaps mixed in those murmurs were things that should never be voiced aloud—but oddly, there was no sign of concern.

As if knowing everything would balance out in the end.

“If I had to describe it… the world has a ‘wrong file extension’. Open an image file as a text file, and it’ll look like something completely different. Just seeing the world through ones and zeroes wouldn’t even let you notice the distortion. But… if you can view the world in a format beyond that, deciphering the ‘true shape’ isn’t hard. Her growth is that sort of thing. There’s potential for power growth driven by emotional surges, sure. But acquiring a sample from her case will be difficult.”

『So then, Aleister—what are you planning to do, faced with such an “irregularity”?』

“Nothing.”

The ‘human’ replied, sounding thoroughly disinterested.

“She’s like a living singularity, capable of generating parallel worlds consistently. …However, parallel worlds are not the same as alternate worlds. It’s just a matter of where you hook the rubber band onto the future pins hanging on the wall.”

Perhaps visualizing a corkboard makes it clearer.

Imagine a horizontally stretched rubber band across it, the middle pulled out and pinned down randomly somewhere.

In that moment, the section pulled far from its natural coordinates—stretched unnaturally toward that pin—is what’s known as a ‘parallel world’: a timeline of possibilities distorted far from the original future, governed by impossible factors.

『…………And once hooked onto a future pin, that “distortion” will eventually smooth out, huh.』

Here too, the corkboard analogy holds.

Even if the rubber band is pinned somewhere in the middle, as long as the start and end points remain fixed, the tension will eventually pull the band back toward its original path. In other words, the ‘changed future’ will gradually return closer to the original future and eventually snap fully back.

It will ‘converge’ toward the ‘normal future’.

In fact—Kamijou Touma’s memory loss had been ensured without question.

Letting that slip would have twisted the future irreparably into an ‘impossible direction’.

Therefore, convergence happened. The future corrected itself.

“If it had been a factor capable of altering the rubber band itself, rather than simply creating parallel worlds, then perhaps it could have been exploited to shorten the ‘Plan’. …But unfortunately, she hasn’t brought about such a large-scale shift. The fact that the changes she caused can be explained by terms like ‘Dissociative Identity Disorder’ or ‘accidental, temporary transcendence of aptitude parameters following a suicide attempt recovery’—that, in itself, proves it. In terms of ability development, there’s nothing to be gained from her.”

In short, the ‘human’ was saying this:

No matter what she does, no matter what changes appear—they’ll never impact the greater flow of things. Investing effort into her would be nothing but a waste.

『Hmm. I can’t say I approve of your lack of playfulness, but—then why did you even bother to call out to that count-less-kid of yours? Wasn’t that unnecessary too?』

“True, direct interference with her isn’t needed. Her actions may cause temporary shifts, but ultimately, they’re fated to converge back into their ‘original form.’ …But, looked at another way, could she not be seen as someone whose very nature ‘smooths out all distortions in history, including her own actions’? Like Ran, the sea goddess of Norse mythology—though that comparison might be a bit too elegant. In essence, she’s someone unable to influence the tides of history.”

“…However, that also means she could act as an ‘irregularity against the singularities of history’. In other words—”

For the first time, the ‘human’ let a human-like smile show.

“If that quality can be refined properly, she could become a counterforce against ‘those beings’ who twist history itself just by existing. …In that case, leaving her alone would be waste-ful.”

From its mouth, the ‘human’ spat out unmistakable, tangible hatred.