♪001 | Video

[shibuyasmusic]

[Joshua is holding his wrist out before him, smiling at the watch's camera. This thing is interesting... this whole place, really, is interesting to him. He's sitting in a cafe, with a steaming cup of coffee in his hand. While aware of his need to spare the money he had for food here- after all he was practically human again- it did good to rest his nerves.]

I've been investigating this extra thirteenth hour in the day as others are calling it. It's quite interesting, really, for more reasons than one. Most interestingly... restrictions on my abilities are lifted during the Thirteenth Hour.

[In other words, he's completely human every other hour of the day, and that's incredibly frustrating.]

I'm perfectly aware that there are those here who are more experienced with this world than I am. I'd like to know more about the Thirteenth Hour, if it's possible. What exactly it is, why it exists, what effects it has on this world... Anything you can tell me~

Comments

[shibuyasmusic]

I think you're taking my metaphor a little too literally... Though if we really are going to equate our universe to red light, it's still quite a longshot to a small target. Especially considering the fact that 'red light' would likely consist of all of our infinite parallel universes.

If anything he'll be picking up on my frequency..... You know, this Angel friend of yours happened to know quite a lot about me. I'm curious to know exactly who your mysterious contact is~

[tangentlion]

Then it's even MORE apt! There are digits here from all different kinds of worlds. Each of their worlds has their own set of parallel planes, divergent timelines. There are infinite points on this line. And I don't mean a lot, I mean actual infinity. A nanometer is actually generous, given the scale!

Ha! Like I'd tell you. I won't tell anyone. He told me what he did was zetta high treason, and I'm not low enough to sell him out.

[shibuyasmusic]

We're talking about a figurative nanometer, Minamimoto. In actuality, yes, we are literally looking at infinite other universes where we just want one. To put universes on a spectrum is, itself, being generous.

But given that our own set of parallel universes is infinite, I suppose it isn't too much of a stretch to believe that we could at least reach our own part of the spectrum. If we can accomplish that much, finding our way back to our own original universe becomes infinitely easier.

[Hmm...] Yes, you're right, whoever the Fallen Angel is is going to suffer severe consequences for what he did. If you won't give me an inkling to his identity... how about a motive? Did he explain why he was helping you?

[tangentlion]

I can tell this isn't going to be easy, no matter what kind of metaphor we slap on it. Each little world and its parallel universes are... probably... separate from one another. Probably. They're the points.

[Sho has SOME morals, man; don't bite the hand that feeds you and makes sure you get revived properly] .... Backup. He said I was backup. I asked him what he meant by that, but he wouldn't say. And that's the truth.

[shibuyasmusic]

No two universes intersect, so yes, points... If you want, we can view this differently. [Joshua pulls up some basic graphing software on the watch and puts up a graph with a basic y=sinx function, from 0 to 2pi.] Expanding on our theory that we're on a spectrum, or a circle, imagine we're currently here. [Joshua points at the origin on the graph.] And our universe is therefore somewhere between 3/2 pi and 2pi. There is literally an infinite number of points in between those two x coordinates. Our universe could be anywhere in between there. At the same time, we're close enough that this current universe is not very different from our own in terms of basic laws of physics as well as human civilization.

[He's going to put the math talk on hold though because... this honestly intrigued him more.] .... Backup? So you were a pawn in something bigger...

[tangentlion]

[ooh trig, Sho loves him some trig. Obviously. He named his attacks after trig.] I wonder about the stuff around pi. Are those universes where... I don't know, cockroaches rule the world? Or maybe there's nothing at all. Makes sense, though. But if I had to wager a guess, I'd say that the same laws of physics apply over the whole graph, with a few exceptions. Hn...

Hey! I'm not some factoring pawn! I was backup! Which means I was a contingency plan in case SOMETHING went wrong. What, though, I don't know. Maybe whatever Shades was doing with those red pins. We never really had the time to talk. Our meetings had to be zetta short, and they were spent teaching me the taboo refinery functions. Most of which is in Angelic. Do you know how factoring difficult Angelic is?

[shibuyasmusic]

[Joshua knows. That's why he decided to go with that particular metaphor. As long as it was cyclical, it didn't really matter what the metaphor was involving the multi-verse.] If only infinity weren't so big, we'd be able to find out for ourselves....

Hold on. [A thought occurs to him. Pulling the graph back up, he adds a y=cosx function and circles the intersecting points.] Perhaps universes do intersect. [This was all nothing but guesswork, though.

Joshua just scoffs a little at Sho's pride.] Neku was the backup for the red skull pins. I'm not sure what you were backup for, but whatever condition it was, it clearly wasn't met.

[tangentlion]

It's too bad. Might be kind of fun to explore lots of different worlds. A few pit stops on a road trip back to our own world! Cockroach world would be zetta awesome.

[he frowns, looking at the intersections] Yeah, but what does it mean? Hmph. I hate not knowing.

[he has that in spades.] I told you what I know, other than the guy's identity, which you won't get out of me. End of function! I might never know what I was a backup plan for, but it doesn't matter. What the factor was Shades thinking anyway? Normalizing Shibuya? Ha! What a joke.

[shibuyasmusic]

[Joshua puts up a few more functions: y=2cosx y=3cosx and y=4cosx, all intersecting on the same points on the y=sinx graph.] Let's say these cosine functions are different universes, the spectrum being the infinite branching timelines, rather than putting them all on one single function. If they all intersect one sine function- one other universe, let's say this one... it wouldn't be difficult to pull us from ours to this one.

On that same, hopeful vein... that would mean it would be extremely easy to get back. We wouldn't be lost. In fact, we would be able to cross over into any intersecting universe... [This was getting more and more interesting to think about. All to be confusingly proven wrong once he discovers AU versions of characters roaming about]

Megumi wasn't sure how to fix the problem... So he decided to delete the problem instead. I doubt he has anything to do with your Angel's goals, however. Did your Angel tell you to erase me?

[tangentlion]

[Sho follows Josh's train of thought quite easily, nodding at the intersecting points.] I gotcha. It makes sense. But we don't have a way to test this hypothesis until we can make escape velocity.

... Why is everyone being unique a problem? What a zero. [he chuckles] No. That was my plan. But he didn't complain.

[shibuyasmusic]

Understanding how this works doesn't seem to be helping very much, I suppose. We need to know how it was done, and work backwards from there to replicate the process. Sometimes starting with the answer is easier.

[Joshua gives a small shrug.] Being unique isn't a problem... Refusing to move from one's mindset and take ideas from outside one's own small reality, however, is a very big one. Shibuya wasn't meeting its potential because of these barriers, so Megumi tried to erase the barriers altogether.

[Interesting...] Your plan? Then what was the Angel's plan? What did he have to gain from teaching you Taboo Noise and setting you loose?

[tangentlion]

"Potential". And what could it be? What is Shibuya's maximum? Heh. Erase the barriers, but put the same damn function in everyone's headspace. A for effort, F for results.

[Sho looks visibly annoyed now] I sure hope these questions are rhetorical because I just factoring told you everything I know! Listen. Listen to me, with your ears. That's all I know.

[shibuyasmusic]

People need to let down their barriers every once in a while. By allowing strangers in, we can find new ways to be ourselves. But an uncooperative, close-minded artist such as yourself surely couldn't understand that.

[Joshua shrugs.] I was hoping you'd yield something to me, but it appears not. Still, if I had to guess, getting rid of me had always been part of the Angel's equation. Give the person who wants to kill me the most the means to do it and set him loose, it can only add up to my destruction.

Which makes me wonder why this Angel wanted my death almost as much as you want it... Backup... [He's thinking about it carefully, sort of losing himself in thought.]

[tangentlion]

Yeah, sounds a lot like some factoring crap to me. Who needs other people? They're garbage. You're garbage. There are so few digits who are worth anything. Even in Shibuya.

Nope. You're not getting anything from me, zero. But like I said. I don't know. So you think about it for a while. Let me know what you come up with. Or don't. Because I don't care.

[shibuyasmusic]

I used to think so too. Would it make you mad if I said we're actually similar in some ways~? [He grins at Sho before shaking his head dismissively.]

If the Angel wanted my death and was using you as 'backup', obviously he meant 'backup Composer.' [That conclusion was almost scarily easy to come to.] ... Which means he didn't like what I was planning to do with Shibuya. Well... what do you know, that actually adds up~ A little Angel got too attached to Shibuya and wanted to stop me from destroying it. So he got himself an attack dog- or cat, I suppose- and sent him after me~

[tangentlion]

Yes, it would. I'm nothing like you. I'm zetta smarter, for one thing. And zetta better looking for another! [zetta conceited, too, apparently]

Hm? What were you planning to do with Shibuya? ... Wait. [did he just hear that correctly.] You were going to divide Shibuya by zero?! Why?!

[shibuyasmusic]

I used to think the world was garbage too, Sho~ But whatever suits your fancy, I still think there's a lot of comparisons you could make between us.

[He laughs a little at Sho's shock and surprise. For someone who thought Shibuya was garbage, he certainly seemed to care for it more than he let on.] It wasn't meeting its potential. I thought its people were beyond change, could not reach the limits of their Imagination. I thought they were going to poison the other grounds, that their resistance to making connections was going to isolate each and every person and cause this world to stagnate.

I was going to destroy it to prevent that from happening.

[tangentlion]

So you don't anymore. What changed your mind? [he would prefer not to draw more comparisons kthnx] Don't tell me that empty-set-for-brains changed YOUR mind. Zetta unbelievable!

[garbage or not, it was his home!! He'd been born there, died there, lorded over there from the UG... he was a little more attached to it than he let on. Sho growls and pulls his hat down a bit to cover his eyes and try and hide his emotions] You don't think every zero in Shinjuku, and, I don't know, maybe the rest of Tokyo might notice if you Erased a whole ward?! How the factor were you going to smooth THAT over?

[shibuyasmusic]

I don't know who you're talking about, but I assure you, I love the city just the way it is now. [Let's not get into how Joshua discovered that friends are actually pretty great things that he wants but doesn't really have.

Josh notices the intense amount of worry Sho seems to have, regardless. So Shibuya still mattered to the Reaper. Interesting.] Who ever said I was going to 'smooth it over'? I would have ended up being erased with the rest, if not by myself then by someone else, probably your rogue Angel if the other ones didn't get to me first.

[tangentlion]

Your precious Proxy. Hmph. SOMETHING must have happened. [but he'll find out what it is later. They have time, after all. And they'll be working together, he expects.

For Sho, Shibuya WAS garbage. But it was like his junk sculptures. It could be beautiful. Other places? Well, they had no aesthetic at all. One always got attached to their home, no matter how hard they try not to] So what happens, then? When you Erase a whole factoring town. Obviously all the digits get divided out into Soul... What about the buildings? Would there just be a smokin' hole in the ground?

[shibuyasmusic]

I'll let you believe whatever you'd like to believe. [He's neither going to confirm nor deny his conjecture for right now.

Joshua just shakes his head slowly.] Two things would be erased. [He holds up one finger.] One, as you said, all of the 'digits' would be divided into Soul. [And a second finger.] Two, the Underground plane would cease to exist over Shibuya, essentially erasing the seat of Composer and the Reapers' Game as a whole. Buildings would remain in tact, but the city itself would be a virtual void, empty of people, and empty of Noise as all negativity is dispersed. Something I once viewed to be a necessary tragedy.

[tangentlion]

[SO HE'S RIGHT. That's what he believes. And what he'll act on in the future. Oh Sho.

He frowns.] ... I've never heard of anything like that happening. Ever. Something as major as that would surely get codified in history books! So your plan was unprecedented. And also bad. Heh. Maybe that Fallen Angle wanted me to stop you from dividing Shibuya by zero because it would mess up the rest of the world too much.

[shibuyasmusic]

[.... Yes yes, good job Sho. That'll be troublesome later on the road but moving away from that thought.]

As far as I had heard, the Angels in the Higher Plane didn't want any interference with my Game. They wanted to see what would happen between my Conductor and me...

That's why that Angel must have been considered particularly rogue, not only for breaking the Higher Plane's laws but because he was going directly against the Higher Plane's wishes. Whoever he is, I must say his plan was a rather good one.

[tangentlion]

[Whenever someone won't "confirm or deny", it usually means "confirmed, but I don't want to say so". People are easy.]

Tch. Factoring asymptotes. The Higher Plane doesn't care about the UG at all!

[shibuyasmusic]

Of course they don't. You actually thought that Angels really cared about what goes on in the Realground or the Underground? All they care about is results. The whole world is a stage, and we're they're entertaining little puppets.

[Hanekoma was so much of an exception to other Angels, it was legitimately astonishing to him sometimes.]