Nawx

Branch C: Verse I - The Divergence's Last Chance

Ace shook his head. He held his eyes closed before they were watching the presentation that was being shown to him on a projected screen. The projection had been of what had occurred within Branch B of the timeline, the branch Ace himself extracted from the timeline after the distortion forced him to seal Branch A. It seems he was disappointed by the work of Xanadu. 

He stood up out of his seat and stepped toward the projected screen, as he would lay his hand on the projection. The image of the sobbing machine known as Blaze was shown on it after Xanadu had to push pause on it due to Ace's orders. He observed the situation, being alarmed by what the black mass had produced in such a fast manner. Never had he seen it regenerate so quickly. 

          "Xan." Ace spoke before turning back to him and beginning to shout, "H-How could you let this branch destroy itself!? Were you even putting any effort into maintenance!?" 

Xanadu gasped and looked down. He had been ashamed because the distortion and the corruption of the branch had reached a limit he, himself, could not control. He wasn't as powerful as Ace was, no matter how much Ace would try to convince him otherwise.

          "This... This is what the machine's true fate? Built to replace the Human race, but they weren't even powerful enough to last long at all..." Ace sighed as he walked around the room.

They had been sitting in the same white room with the large table that spread them apart. To Ace, it was called the Corridor of Observation, a place us Divergence would observe and evaluate a branch's progression. But branches were always much longer than this one, evidently from how it had broken apart from its originality. According to Ace, this branch struggled to keep apart reality and fantasy, as the two had seemed to collide more than once.

          "We will need another's take on this..." Ace muttered as he pressed a red button that was on his side of the table.

As he pressed the button, a beeper went off, which alerted the person he wished to speak to. Within a minute or two of pure silence, the doors opened slowly and a woman stepped inside. Xanadu wasn't familiar with who it was- she had her wavy red hair in a ponytail, she had these big glasses on which made her look like a genius. But she had white trench coat over the casual clothing, which marked that she was of a higher rank than Xanadu himself. She stepped inside the room after she closed the doors, and sat in the middle of the table, just between Xanadu and Ace.

          "Xan, this is Shalya... Shalya, I need your input on this Branch-" Ace began to explain.

Shalya shook her head as she laid back against the chair, crossed her legs and her arms in an unimpressed manner, "No need to explain. This work has been the talk of the facility for quite some time. I know all of it."

          "I see. Even the occurrences of the recent Branch B?"

She nodded her head, "It isn't often that a branch is granted another chance. Most Timelines we analyze are quite normal- you know, a family has a baby and that baby goes on to be a President, or a King, or even a damn Dictator. But in most cases, those said Dictators go down. It's repeated throughout history. What you have here, Xan is truly special. I've never seen people who've truly treasured life so much that they'd give their lives- their own free wills just to live another normal day."

          "I agree. A Timeline like this one will only prove to be beneficial to not only us but you, Xan."

Xanadu narrowed his eyes as he looked down the table at Ace, "Why me?"

          "Because, if you were to save a Timeline as precious as this one, your reputation would no doubt be improved."

Xanadu sighed, "I see. But Ace, I was going to request for this Timeline to be sealed, completely."

Ace frowned and crossed his arms, "Explain..."

Xanadu stood out of his seat, "S-Surely a Timeline like this can be dangerous. And I'm not only speaking for my own safety, but for the safety of the other Timelines, as well as our facility. What is occurring in this Timeline is something we have never seen. It is truly corrupted-"

Shalya interrupts, "Indeed, but this can be a significant chance for us to find the true source of this corruption, and maybe put an end to it for good in the future."

          "Corruption cannot be stopped, Shalya. It is formed from the Paradoxes of the Timelines- the mass that creates these worlds, these people, and the made-up history. Some people are good, some are not. That's the general case in hand. However, there is something else going on here, because I can see through everyone in this Timeline, and they all have good intentions." Ace explains.

Shalya whispers as she goes into thought, "It's like they've been possessed by a malevolent force..."

Ace nodded his head, standing out of his seat. He made his way to the projection screen and pressed on it, bringing up a touchable keypad within the picture. A pop-up appeared that had requested Ace's input.

          "W-What are you doing?" Xanadu asked.

Ace pulls up a screen of the Branch, showing that the Branch had broken apart to form Branch B towards the beginning of the Branch. "Towards the beginning of each of these Branches, it seems that it is normal. But sometimes through, it becomes corrupted more and more... Maybe we should create a new Branch from the midpoint of Branch A, start right when the corruption starts."

          "That sounds like a splendid idea," Shalya mutters.

          "Shalya, I want you to help Xan out. This is the Divergence's top priority now. We must make Branch C into a success, or the risk of contamination of the other Timelines increase dramatically."

Shalya nods her head, shortly before Xan hesitatingly nodded his head. He was a bit nervous, because of the fact that he had to work with Shalya, who would most certainly criticize his work. But she was only there for support, so he was still strict about this being his project alone.

          "Now- it seems we need to direct our main attention toward someone anew. I feel we should look at Drakkar more. In our attempts to rid him early in Branch B, it showed that the Branch's progression turned in a different direction, and in a more unstable direction. He seemed to have a kind heart, until he was possessed, from our hypothesis." Ace explained, just as he turned back to the two.

Shalya raised an eyebrow, "That's quite a surprise. He must also suffer from an unintentional necrophilia. Though, this could promote a promising end."

          "Then it's decided." Ace spoke, before glancing over at Xanadu, "This is your last chance, Xan, don't fail this again."

Xan sighed before he nodded his head and gave a more determined look, "I'll do everything in my power to see this through to the end."