Meanwhile, the city kept collapsing. Everything was falling on it.
Ships from the orbital brawl.
Debris from Mülldeponie’s junk ring—billions of containers, satellites, and centuries of orbital garbage that had circled the planet for ages were now raining down in fire along with the crippled corporate ships.
Burning streaks carved through the sky like furious scars.
Each trail smeared across the atmosphere, leaving behind long tails of smoke and sparks—ending in explosions that wiped out entire sectors of the city or sent massive shockwaves rolling across the ocean.
Below, under the crane, Dick kept the broadcast going.
He was almost whispering into the mic:
“Our fate’s being decided by two dumbasses.
We… we’re probably all dead anyway.”
He glanced up at the dark stain in the sky.
“Guess a goddamn tear in the cosmic asshole wasn’t enough…
corporate idiots decided to throw hands right in front of INĀNE.”
He waved toward the sky.
“And now all their overpriced, multi-trillion space junk is raining straight down on our heads.”
He exhaled sharply, like even that sentence didn’t cover how screwed they were.
“Jackie… put on something.
Hell, Duel of the Fates would fit the mood…”
Jackie smirked.
“Dick, you really know how to crack jokes during a Cosmic Apocalypse.”
She tapped the player panel on the holo-screen.
“I’ll play something better. Fits the moment.”
She pressed the button.
“Liturgy of the Void.
Performed by the Event Horizon Philharmonic Orchestra.”
The music spilled into the broadcast.
A choir of fate began rising above the roar of falling ships and the burning city.
Airi placed a hand on Jackie’s shoulder and whispered softly:
“You know, Jakkīi-nyan… ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ🫀ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ
I would choose the perfect world.
For Shiori-sensei‘s happiness…
the disappearance of me and otōto-chan-tachi—
is not such a big sacrifice.”
At that moment, Taichō stepped out of his invisibility camouflage beside Airi and slightly bowed his head, agreeing with her.
Shiori responded with a short bow.
“Dōmo arigatō gozaimasu, Airi-chan.
I truly appreciate that.”
The Author had been silently watching the entire time. Finally, he spoke:
“This is… painfully canonical.
The choice of a happy world—even at the cost of sacrificing those closest to you.”
He gave a slight shrug.
“But don’t forget… there’s also the machine’s choice.
And unfortunately for you…
it may not be the same as Airi’s.”
He leaned in slightly and added in a quiet voice:
“…and it will carry out what its creators put inside it…”
His gaze drifted across them, measuring reactions that didn’t matter.
“For all of you—that would be disastrous.
But for the universe… it makes no difference.”
He looked up at the sky.
“Remember what happened on our beloved Terra.
How many times has there been a ‘reset’—
at the cost of millions of species… yet each time, it gave rise to new life. New forms. New beings.”
He gave a quiet smirk.
“We’re not exactly mourning the dinosaurs now, are we?
For them—it was a tragedy.
For us, humans—a lucky break. Isn’t it?”
Dick let everyone speak, then took a deep breath.
“However this goes… it’s not our choice.”
He looked up, toward the crane.
“So let’s see what’s coming next.”
And up there, at the very top of the crane, the fate of the universe was being decided.
Zeros spoke first, thoughtful:
“So…
either way, someone from us has to die.”
Blindy let go of his arm for a second, flailing, trying not to lose balance. A gust of wind nearly threw him off, and he instantly grabbed back on.
“No—no—no—NO fuckin’ way, b-buddy.
You ain’t sacrificin’ yourself. I ain’t lettin’ you to do it!
We—we gon’ find another way!”
He squeezed Zeros’ metal arm like a lover grabbing a wrist, refusing to let them step off the edge.
Zeros snapped his head toward him.
“WHAT?! I didn’t say a damn thing about sacrific—”
But Blindy had already stepped forward—right to the edge. He clenched every muscle in his body, determined not to shit himself this time, wrapped his arms around Zeros’ arm, threw his head back—
and screamed at the sky:
“HEY, YOU—YOU EMPTY FUCK OR WHATEVER THE HELL YOU ARE!
HOW ‘BOUT A THIRD OPTION, HUH?!”
Below, Dick choked on air mid-broadcast.
“Jesus… he…
he’s such a fucking idiot…”
Jackie smiled. “
That’s actually kinda sweet.
He has no idea what’s going on.”