Vivy Prototype

「 P R O L O G U E 」

—He could hear singing. A song was playing. A song was... reverberating.

"Haah...! Haa~h...!"

Out of breath, the man frantically scurried within the building, wherein resounded a singing voice.

Sweat on his forehead, an earnest expression on his face. Yet he was sluggish. His stance poor, the lack of ordinary physical exercise now haunting him was clear to even the most untrained eye. His feet could tangle and collapse at any instant.

However, the man was desperate. He was earnest, with his life on the line. He was running the fastest run of his life.

At the very least, his ardour alone was genuine.

"Gh!"

Dashing towards the turn in the path, he crashed into the wall, unable to curve his trajectory. His crushed shoulder bore dreadful pain. He may have fractured a bone or two. But it was not a matter of concern. He was grateful that his energy did not diminish.

At the same pace, right ahead as though tumbling, he leapt into the room like a bullet.

"Pull the shutters down!!"

A moment following his hoarse bellow, a shutter fell upon the entrance of the room like the step of a heel.

His conduct entirely ignored the security mechanisms that should've originally been activated. However, the man did not bat an eye and stood up, advancing forward, towards the interior of the room.

Behind him, on the other side of the shutter, echoed the sound of multiple gunshots.

The disaster prevention shutter was built with sturdy durability, but it shan't last long when continually faced with attacks questing after destruction.

"No matter. It won't take any time......"

ーThe preparations were already complete.

"ーー"

However, whether they were perfect was another matter.

Simply put, only the basic minimum required preparations were ready. The present circumstance made it difficult to mobilise them. Even so, that he'd managed to come this far was nothing ordinary. It was the consequence of many sacrifices.

His back turned towards society, stones thrown at him, with sympathy from no one, he scurried all by himself.

With simply one promise, and the sense of purpose as a human— one last thing in the end, the obstinacy of a father.

"System activation, execution sequence... all green."

His fingers on the computer terminal before his eyes, a vast amount of data was being processed.

A deed evidently exceeding the limits of mankind. Naturally, such a task was beyond him. Hence, the man was not alone. He could not have made it all the way here by himself had it been any other way.

The credit for allowing the man to reach this place, for making such absurdity come true, belonged to a single person— nay, a single collaborator.

Seizing the systems of the facility, they had offered support to this man's slow legs, just so that he could reach this point. They had done so despite knowing full well that it would make for a one way trip, and this was quite possibly the time they parted ways with life.

ーTruly a failure of a father he was. He appeared abominable to himself.

"Space-time coordinates, set. Project『Singularity』ーー first stage, complete."

In contrast to the despondency that had taken hold of his mind, the man's body managed to complete 90% of the tasks imposed on it.

Before his eyes, on the monitor whose display changed with every touch of the man's finger on the terminal, rows of infinite numbers and letters were jumbled together, seeking to materialise the Miraculous Folly which concentrated all of humanity's scientific skill.

In reality, nobody so far had provided proof for this sitting abstract theory.

Desperately searching for any means available, in a one-strike, no-holds-barred game with everything riding on itー

"ーー"

Eyes closed, he inhaled.

The monitor before his eyes awaited the final pushー that is, the moment the enter key would be pressed.

With that single push, all answers shall come to light.

Whether the path he chose was correct or not, it shall all be proven.

"...No, that's meaningless, isn't it?"

What he wished to prove wasn't whether his actions or conviction were right or wrong.

To begin with, the answer regarding that had already come forth. ーHe was immensely mistaken. He had continually committed wrongs.

Hence, what he sought was not to affirm his correctness, but a different answer, sharing no boundaries with correctness.

Making many a mistake, erring more often than not, mankind remained beyond rectification. Yet, that same intelligence which continually made foolish choices desperately also scurried in an attempt to overcome them.

What he sought was a conclusion. Whether what lay ahead of his resistance was the end or the beginning.

ーIn these moments, the man's hand touched the gateways of judgement shaped like a keyboard.

"ーー"

In his rear, piercing shrill reports echoed as the shutter basking in blind gunshots was sent flying. The door of meagre bulletproof quality was easily blown off, as the efflux of gunpowder smoke streamed into the room.

He grasped, from the terribly metallic resonances, that many entities were now stepping foot into the room.

Neither shall he turn back.

The manー Matsumoto Osamu, simply stationed a finger on the enter key.

"ーHumanity. The future... I leave it in your hands, Vivy."

Matsumoto's finger pushed the enter key with all his might.

The countless sequences of letters being displayed on the monitor altered with fearsome vigour, activating the program denoted as Singularity.

It mediated the network, connected to the world, borrowed the strength of immense electrical energy, and opened a hole in space-time.

Wrenching it open, ramming itself within, flowing, cascading upstream. ーA torrent of information erupted.

This was an arrow of counterattack, donning the form of luminescence.

Aimed directly ahead, the fired arrow shot straight out from Matsumoto's hand, bolted away from the harnesses of the world, and surged forth towards its locus.

"With this..."

His lips loosened with fulfilment, Matsumoto cast his eyes downward.

Behind him, guns had trained their sights on him. He had not even the time to turn back.

Successive gunshots echoed, the fragrance of gunpowder effectively enshrouding the room.

ーNow, the die was cast.