Editing User:Démiurge (section)

== Partie 7 ==

At last, brilliant, blinding light.

Til had gathered things from outside—welded them, forged them, patched them together in one wrong way after another. Now her fire melted them all together, and cast them as ingenuity, which she used to reach the sky.

“…Uncle…have I…kept…my promise…?”

The spirits raged, and her body ached as if it was about to break.

“Have I…reached a sky…that no one has seen before?!”

The heat threatened to burn out her spirit corridor junction nerves. But alas, Til smiled regardless…

“…Do you…want…to know…what it’s…like…?!”

By now, only one thing entered her muddied consciousness: the distant sky Til was sure she’d never imagined, and that no one else ever had—the feeling of floating in a deep, black sky, Veig too far behind to see, uncertain of whether he could hear the voice she wrung out, or even whether it was coming out at all—

Still, she’d fulfill the promise of that distant day. She’d vowed that she would surpass him—and promised something to the bird of that day. She spelled out the wish she’d held in her heart, that her words, her smile would reach their destination.

'''“You piece of shit, you’ll never understand, you won’t!! Serves you right, it does!! Pft!”'''

«Niecey!! You got to get back at me, huh?! Ain’t ya imitatin’ me?!»

Veig’s transmission came through at trace volume. Til did hear it, though, and she closed her eyes and grinned.

…Please. I’m about to fall under the delusion that I have become a bird, I do. But I know…that it’s just an illusion, I do. By tomorrow, perhaps even by one second in the future, I’ll be made to know

Very well then…!! Making mistakes is my only specialty—!!

—Assuming I can… Assuming that nothing’s impossible! I’ll fail again, and build up my mountain of mistakes, I will!!

She’d lose her way, she’d get confused, she’d blunder—and every time, she’d cry and wail and gnash her teeth in vexation! Til would take the long way around like a perfect fool, getting lost repeatedly, pathetically drenched in tears and shame. She might never even know if it had meaning. But there was a sight that could only be seen by taking that foolish path.

It could never be seen by those born with natural talent…by the birds that didn’t build airplanes.

It could never be seen by the birds that had never felt that obsession: I want to fly anyway. There was such an entertaining sight to see, to be found in a place no one imagined.

…I’m ready to make as many mistakes as it takes. I can say that now, I can…

And so, while Til went limp in Shiro’s arms—

“…Well, bet this is news to you smart folks. Here’s the common knowledge of the weak. Listen with gratitude, yeah?!”

—Sora howled at the shell of the E-bomb, which glowed like a star to announce it was ready for blast-off.

“…Generally speaking, things in the world don’t go the way you imagine…”

Just as they had sailed for India and mistakenly arrived in the New World; as they had tried to prove everything with mathematics and mistakenly refuted their mathematics; as they had built rockets to reach the moon and mistakenly dropped them on Earth…

…As far as humans were concerned, perfection was a waste of time. They’d mess it up anyway. To seek mere perfection wasn’t going to do it. Therefore—!!

“Your thinking is too damn small!! If you want to fly, you’re not gonna have a chance unless you have the guts to go past the damn moon and crash into Mars by mistake!!”

Well…yes…?

“Even if you get up and down backward, you might be able to go through the planet to the sky at the other side, right?♪”

You might end up with a result better than perfect, right?

«…You fockin’ with me? Shit—»

A man born with natural talent… A bird that flew by sensibility alone…transmitted back with a sense of awe at the unknown he’d never had before—or not in a long time at least.

Indeed…they couldn’t use the E-bomb. So he didn’t know what it was they were on the verge of launching. He didn’t know what it was to accomplish. He didn’t even know a thing about the heights where his niece floated now.

But even so! There was one thing he was sure about. He howled with a longing he’d never felt.

«So you’re saying you don’t know what the hell will happen. You’re bloody daft, aren’t ya?!»

If it might be the case that Til couldn’t take it—!! That instant, Veig’s unit appeared to get blown away and then vanished from sight. One soul raced forth through the air, with maneuvers uncapturable by Sora’s eyes, or by the venue’s cameras. It left no trace; the unit broken down, it raced past its limits, riding the force of a fist.

—I’ll overcome even that—

Detecting the single strike to end it, Sora smirked and answered inwardly.

—Yeah. That’s right! That’s how we live, as fools incapable of anything but straying and failing and erring. Bet it’s a breath of fresh air for smarty-pants jerks like you who live with all trial and no error, huh?

What’s gonna happen? How the hell would I know?!

“That’s why you gotta test that shit! That’s what we idiots call science!”

Sora sneered and activated the contents of the E-bomb in the muzzle, and a moment later Veig unleashed one soulful strike that pierced the shell.