We Are Similar

Memories pt1

They followed the little worm thing Otacross used to the deeper parts of the Infinity Net. They floated past the bubbles until they reached a perculiar one. Unlike all the other colorful ones, this one was grey and much, much larger.

"Why is it so big...?" Yuuya pondered.

"Eva is at the center of this." Otacross' voice resounded through all their pods. "You'll have to travel through memories to get to her."

"Be careful." Hugo warned. "The VR Mind is connected to all of you, so it's not just her memories that you'll have to see. I'm not sure how many layers there are, but in each one, you'll have to find some kind of key to get to the next. The key is unpredictable. It depends on what is the most significant thing in said memory."

"So it could range from just a word to a chair?" Niara muttered.

"And it'll be from everyone's memories..." Kirito sounded oddly nervous, but the Russian thought she just misheard.

"Yes." He turned to the rest of the adults before nodding. "Alright. Operation Memoir begin!"

~~~~~

Upon entering the bubble, they were nearly shot by enemy LBXs. By their reflexes, they ran around, dodging the bullets. It seemed they could no longer fly when they're in the memories.

"Everyone, calm down!" Hugo ordered  "These are just memories. The only thing tangible to you is the surface you stand on and the key item."

His point was proven when a bullet passed through Vampire Cat. Asuka sigh. "M-Man... What about telling us that before we panic?"

"I wonder who's memory this is..." Hiro muttered as he looked around. They were clearly inside a diorama.

"Hey, look over there!" Jessica pointed at a certain LBX getting corners by another three.

"The Emperor!" Ban said, immediately recognizing it.

"So that means..." Kazu turned to look up and smirked. "Hey Jin! Look! It's you from last year!"

The red eyed boy looked up and was nearly unphased to see his younger self. He didn't really thought about it until now, but he had changed a lot in just a year. His younger self had a composed face, leading the enemies into a trap. The Emperor jumped at the last possible second and decapitated all three LBXs at once.

"24.17 seconds." It was strange to hear his own voice not coming out of his own mouth. Then again, it was his mouth. Just not his current one. He decided to not think about it as the terminology would confuse him.

"Is that a new record?" Younger Eva was beside him, smiling stiffly.

His younger self shook his head. Turning around, he made his way to the exit. The blonde girl went to follow him, but then turned to three people at the balcony above.

"Hey! It's us!" Ami giggled.

The Ban, Kazuya and Ami of the year before were standing there, staring at the younger Jin.

"So it all went according to his plan." That Kazuya said, clearly impressed.

"Kaidou Jin..." Younger Ban muttered. "I never thought he was so strong of a player..."

Inside Odin Mk2's control pod, Ban was flustered. "I forgot about that."

"At one point, you kind of idolized him, didn't you Ban?" Ami asked, teasingly. Ban only laughed nervously.

Jin couldn't help but smile. "Even if that were true, in the end, we became equals. And now it's the world hat idolizes you."

"That... Well... Ahahaha..." Ban was at a loss for words, but he was proud of himself for making it so far.

"This is very heartwarming and all, but... Key?" Ran cut in.

Jin nodded. "Follow me. If this is from my memory, I think I know what it is."

Triton jumped out of the diorama, followed by the rest. It became ironic because he was following his younger self. In one of the corridors, he stopped and came face to face with a man he recognize.

"Hey," Hiro spoke up. "Isn't that Saibara Seiji-san? From... Cyber Lance was it?"

Jin nodded. "This was the day he tried to recruit me to be their test player. Since that's the case, I figured the key would be the business card he gave me."

"Alright, then... What do we do now?" Niara said. "Do we like... Just touch it and all of a sudden be transported into another memory?"

"Well actually... Yeah." Hugo sounded a little awkward. "It was that predictable, huh?"

"Yeah, but it's not nerve-wreckingly complicated, so I'm okay with that." Niara shugged. Drezion ran over and touched the card as the company president was handing it over to younger Jin. Then it disappeared.

"Niara?!" Olivia panicked, but Otacross shook his head.

"She's fine. She's in the next memory. The rest of you should follow."

And they all did the exact same thing.

~~~~~

Entering the next memory, they were all on a desk of a familiar cottage.

"Hey wait, this is..." Hiro looked around and spotted Drezion on the coffee table.

Niara was staring blankly at the little girl in front of her, coloring away on a rather messy textbook. The girl was humming to herself, head on the table and looking as if she was waiting for someone.

Her prediction was proven right as a woman sat down, placing a tray of cookies beside her. "Be careful, snowflake. They're still hot from the oven."

Snowflake. It was what her mother always called her.

The girl immediately brightened up and didn't hesistate to bite on one. "I love this- Ow! Hot!" She forcefully swallowed the rest of the cookie and quickly drank from a glass of water.

"She already warned you..." A man sighed as he sat down beside the woman.

"But dad!! Cookies!!!" The little girl shouted back. "And-"

"'And chocolate chip'..." Niara finally spoke up. "'I love me some chocolate chip'." She and the girl said at the same time.

"So this is Niara's memory." Kazuya muttered.

"You have really nice parents." Ran said, attempting to cheer the Russian up.

"Yeah... Thanks..." Drezion jumped off of the table and flew to the front door. "Come on. I know what the key is."

They all followed Drezion out of the cottage. She remembered it. That day was one of the rare ones where it wasn't snowing and the sky was clear. A perfect day for hunting.

Niara led them all into the shed, where they found a very familiar scarf hanging behind the door.

"My dad had it for a couple of years before giving it to me on this day." She explained. "When we finished eating cookies, he took me out to fish. I didn't know how to use a rod, so I used the scarf before my dad finally noticed and started teaching me."

"That's why it's all ripped on one end while this one's still in good shape?" Kirito asked.

"Yep." The Russian used Drezion to look around one last time before nodding to herself. "Alright. Let's go."

The others exchanged glances and Ban spoke up. "Niara, we can stay just a little longer if-"

"The longer we take, the longer Eva stays trapped." The Russian cut him off. "I know my priorities. And these are just memories. They aren't coming back."

Without another word, she touched the scarf and disappeared again.