Chapter Theme Music: Polaris ~ Unusual Cosmic Process (Spacetime)
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<12/03/149,566 {Avion 148} - 09:42 | Corral Position, Genosis, Altiri Sector Space>26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4vQrtO1L9f
<Karnak to ACS414 Date Equivalent: 12/03/2010>26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡldxVf4MFmm
<Telepathic Link: Established | Telepathic Strength: Strong ~ {28oN}>
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Not everything we plan will be timed the way we expect. Ever since my last checkup, I've continuously been building and releasing more of my own energy, concentrating and meditating within my own psi-field, so that I may breathe new life into our sacred telepathy. The day soon came where Reed wanted nothing more than to test the limits of the three-way telepathy system I've been practicing on. Even though I thought it was still a bit too soon, I couldn't say no to his excitement, his amazement at the idea of meeting all of my sisters - in a means direct enough to hear their voices echoed in his mindscape.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmmjSmLss9N
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However, I still had to be filled in after all was said in done, our perceptions of the same memory cracked so differently. "When you are ready, I'll shift the connection between you and Junko. Once it happens, you won't be able to hear from me until I shift it back, but I'm actually going to be bouncing you around so that you can meet everybody at once. In each instance, you won't be able to easily share your senses with the others."26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHNo4qHKH5y
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"Why not?"26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpm1UO2iX97
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I had to explain it to him while preparing my sisters for the daunting task of having a new guest, even if only for less than half a minute. I didn't bother to mention that I was only going to run a live test only with Junko first, just to be on the safe side and see how this works out. As for why my senses would be unable to trace the conversation, it was more complicated psionic science consolidated from Herios and tested by other Aggressor Groups around us. Before anything could be done, I had to start with mild telepathic amplification. During that process, I attained some feedback from my sisters before I was ready to start.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPou0tdtZbl
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"I'm ready when you are Lumina. We've all trained for this just like you wanted to."26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMzEiyAKWhR
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"Speak for yourselves!" Hurma hissed in protest. "There isn't anything special about meeting someone like him."26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsBZtTylhgT
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I had to ignore Hurma for now, and I wasn't shocked to see that her attitude on Reed never changed. She's still convinced Reed is a vicious heathen with ulterior motives, and refuses to give him any chance of friendship. "Alright Reed. Are you ready?" It was still a little strange to me that Reed would never hear the voices of my sisters with standard telepathy, but especially now, things might change in how this all works.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKI8m7zodw3
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"Go for it," he replied anxiously.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvwgansP26h
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With the connection already powerful and Reed standing outside in the sheer cold, the ease of feeling around my way through our connection blessed me with success in how I had to do this next. Psionically speaking, I reached out my own mind into Junko's personal field, connecting her to the very same psionic signature of connection I had with Reed. For the briefest of moments, this caused all sensory sharing to cease for all three of us while the connection remained active. Then, I started another shift, opening the nodes of connection again only between Reed and Junko. As soon as it was done, Junko gave me the signal of a high fist; one meaning things were working as they should.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFsmnwe5jB5
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Right now, Junko and Reed were connected in telepathy, using my own Cora as an indirect translation node. I did my research in the past, to see if it was possible to connect one my sisters directly to Reed and then leave it that way by disconnecting my own Cora from theirs, effectively creating new possibilities. However, as the Royal Scryers predicted, it didn't work. We tested this on few random Altiri by handing off a connection, or rather failing to do so. The only way for Reed to establish a telepathic link to one of my sisters as I do for him, is for his brain to register the psionic signature of the Cora of that other sister. In a three-way telepathic connection, it is still exclusively a connection controlled by Reed and myself, so his brain will never learn of a new psionic signature using this method. Since I was the leading node who purged him, his brain only knows my psionic signature, so none of my other sisters can feel when Reed is trying to contact me. It's a terrible closed system that we can't seem to break out of by any ordinary means. So unfortunately for those purged wanting to speak to more than the one Altiri who purged them, this temporary solution of a three-way telepathy is the only means to do so.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYJv3ytcs3Q
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Luckily, most of my sisters were overjoyed to learn that this much was a mere possibility, and right now, Junko should have been enjoying this possibility to the maximum. Unlike most of my abilities, this one wasn't as passive as I wanted it to be. I had to shut my eyes and really concentrate on keeping the connection and flow going. Many seconds passed, and all I heard was pure silence in my mind, not a single thought or moment outside of myself declaring domain. This put me on edge to say the least, knowing that Reed and Junko were communicating right now, but not knowing what they would be saying, uncertain if it was even happening.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIreIb1sKkj
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After long enough though, the sensory shift happened on its own, with all of Reed's senses suddenly being shoved through my own with no warning, an indication that Junko must have returned the connection back to me, successfully as I taught her to. It was too much for me at once, so I needed a moment to refresh myself.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDLfXB7BoWr
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"It works perfectly Lumina! I held a whole conversation with Reed, even though I couldn't see through his eyes or anything fancy like that."26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs1e5h1TURL
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I was glad Junko enjoyed the experience, but it was new information learning about the limitations of this ability. For one, I was already desperately slamming some water down, replenishing what was taken out of me. Even if it was for thirty seconds, that drain was more intense than I thought it would be. In addition to this, it seems that the virtual connection strength goes down significantly during the reroute, likely a result of our collective strain in powering this three-way.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhuJEhTiJCY
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Between myself and Reed, I could tell that the connection strength already returned to where it was, and I was quick to feel better, but cautious in how daunting this will be if I have to do this for every single Cy-Star member. "I should probably bounce this around quickly for the others, right?" Junko gave me a smiling nod, her language reflecting total confidence in us.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEezI4SHtiS
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"Reed? You there"26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmFabEzA8rw
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"Lumina?" Uncertain why he sounded so confused to hear me just now, I brushed it off and waited for him to decide whether to keep going. "Yes, I'm here. Looks like your test is successful. Are you good to keep going?"26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXpL1xQSs21
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"Of course... Prepare yourself." This was already going to get more difficult, so I might as well get this over with and give everybody else a chance to greet Reed as directly as they did Junko. Junko already explained to the others how this would work in the time it took me to start the next sensory shift, so I wasn't worried about the rest. Without delay, I gave the connection to Derria, along with a short time limit before bouncing it to the next person down the list.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhZ6v9xGGhA
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The entire process required much more projection power from me than what I was used to. I wound up shortening each person's turn by shaving off a few seconds or so, the strain to my Cora growing ever more intense. What felt like minutes passed by in silence with Junko carefully watching me to ensure I don't pass out, and by the time I reached Luna and Lulu, I was already struggling to hold myself together, my breathing quickened and my blood pressure changing.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVGgTQ5dZQ9
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Uncertain if I gave them all enough time or not, I figured now was as good of a time as any to drag us out of this draining three-way, where I could finally drink more water and not have to concentrate as much as I did before. It's no surprise I didn't try to greet him when our senses merged again, albeit weaker than the first moment of the day.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIxZU2xHvpH
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"Lulu?"26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrMuSOUyGhu
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"It's just you and me again now Reed."26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQEya1HExcR
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"Lumina? Is that you?" Suddenly he doesn't even recognize my own voice? I guess that isn't shocking, since most of the time he cannot directly see who he is speaking to from our world. People remember a face better than the voice it belongs to, especially when the ocean of voices expands to many.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9wcNukxUC2
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Still Reed, shame on you. "Yes it is... I guess hearing all of those different voices must have flushed out your memory of what mine sounded like."26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn2TZXJK2fW
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"That was the shortest meeting with everybody I think I've ever had. It's a bit improper."26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDR95UKAgFG
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Always one to complain he is, but even I have to agree this time. I expected to project this way for far longer, yet I only got so little time. "Sorry about that..." I could barely keep the huffs of fresh air I was getting, so messed up and drained. This sort of thing was exactly something Royal Scryer Kaileen warned me about. I never expected the strain to be so intense. "It's the most I could do... Quite literally." Only now could I be the one embarrassed by this shortfall.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCWwzPfDGtb
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In the time it took me to partially recover, Reed tried to make sense of the technical overflow of this sensation, just before asking me to risk the connection yet again, for Derria of all people. "Derria? Why? What did she say to you?" I could have just asked Derria myself, but there was the chance she would just not tell me. Still, my sisters all gave me their word that they would tell me exactly what they and Reed discussed afterwards, except for Hurma, who didn't want to speak to him anyway. Does Reed really have to connect to Derria again? Right now?26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa5v9TWa2an
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"That's what I'm trying to find out. Look, it's just important Lumina. Can you make it happen?"26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHH3IzJKJ91
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I was just as upset with myself that I couldn't easily enough say no to his requests, so I gave ourselves a minute to recover after agreeing. When I gave the connection to Derria again, with proper warning, I also gave us a two minute time limit. Either the connection would fail on its own, or Reed would have the sense to make it very short and stop all of this.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE3X8vZa3og
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By the time it was over, I thought I was actually going to faint to the metal floor, though I luckily did not. The strain on me was enough to weaken our main connection, so much that I we couldn't even see out of each other's eyes anymore, despite the cold temperature. Hopefully Reed will learn the important lesson from this and not wish to rely on a three-way ever again.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHiVS2Oe55H
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He wasn't drained though, since nothing I did would have placed any further load on Reed's Cora, instead stressing out my own, eliminating any risk of harm to him. With all of it finally understood, I wanted to break the ice with the other subject matter. As I said before, I could just ask Derria, but if I ask Reed instead, nobody will ever know what words we exchange, our shared thoughts still private from everyone else. "So... What did you and Derria talk about?"26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy6ZUUgMn54
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"Oh, she just wanted to know how I was taking it all in. Am I happy with this arrangement, or totally freaked out?"26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt6dfxW9tcL
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That is a serious subject. I already had Reed tell me he was okay with all of this Altiri subject matter, especially since he still doesn't technically believe we exist, yet I struggle to believe he isn't bothered by us. It doesn't make any sense why he keeps calling me back if he doesn't agree that the Altiri do really exist, having no proof and all. "And?"26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEU4lZVzaoK
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"Well, I wasn't going to lie about how I feel, so I just spoke from the heart."26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG56NktnTV3
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"No, I mean—"26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfqw94YNzVp
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"Come on Lumina! Don't you know me best by now? I couldn't possibly be happier about it than I am now. It's the reason I'm in such a good mood today." Really? Reed's happy about all of this? I'm overjoyed to hear so, but I still have no idea why. "I know it's stupid, but I never thought all of this could happen to a guy like me, to some boring, uninteresting, unpopular idiot in this crap town. What are the chances Lumina? What are the actual chances of this happening to me?"26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxF6xRa4jlI
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Is that how he still sees himself? Boring, uninteresting, and unpopular? No, maybe he thinks this way because he can sense the reflections of judgment others cast onto him in silence. Humans are generally cruel and selfish by default, giving someone no chance at all if one element about them is uninteresting. "In truth, the chances of this happening to you are astronomical." Yet he knows this much already, so why make any deal of it?26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbibDOnOUww
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"Right. I would be a moron to just throw all of this away. So what if I can't yet prove that you and the others really exist yet? I have not proven that you are all part of my imagination either. So am I still to just throw it all away, over the fear of what I might not understand, or over the silly notion that it might all be fake?" Is he caught in the thought loop of 'anything is possible, unproven but also yet to be debunked'? "I know that this could all be the result of some split-personality gone wild. But there's one thing that's too real to be faked for me, and that's the way I feel about you, Lumina. Now that we're both good friends, I don't want a mental disorder to be the truth. I don't want to put any faith in the horrible nightmare that I made you and the Altiri up."26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpA6yJWasvh
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Good friends? He mentioned it before, but I refused to believe it so easily... Yet right now, I can feel what he is saying, resonating from his own heart outward, granting certainty by our telepathic principle. All this time I've been thinking he only kept calling me out of emotionless curiosity or the montrum he was addicted to before, but if he already sees me as a friend he can trust... I don't know why, but— "I'm really happy to hear you say that... But you know, I don't think you can prove anything. I mean, I tried to help you and failed earlier."26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh9S5ZIAsFc
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"None of that Lumina. You've done more than enough to convince me. When it comes to empirical evidence, it's going to be circumstantial only. I get that now. But even so, what I feel about us is more real than anything I've felt in my entire life. It feels like I've been sleeping until you and I finally met. I wish I understood the difference in perceptions better, but I'm still okay with how things are now."26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmsmm04KJpR
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"There's no need to be confused by it Reed. Cutting your arm over here instead of on Earth will still result in cutting your arm. Running around naked in this world will be the same as it is in your world. Nothing is different Reed. Your perception of the world you live in; that's what's been updated."26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHE2hYTuAJm
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"My perception of the world... So that's how you all look at it?"26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhGhy3TsCX0
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How could we not? Ever since I met Reed, I had to ask a tough question to myself at least once. The answer came easily for me, due to my own subjective environment. Do I exist? Do my sisters and the world I live in exist on a plane of reality, or is it all the fabrication of elements in someone else's own mind? I could answer this much easily; I'm certain enough that this world is real, that I don't have to think about it. Additionally, where it comes to the ACS system, myself and countless others can observe the same world in their own way, so its confirmation that ACS414 and every living person on it exists.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyLBho7peGr
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However, if I put myself in Reed's place, the question towards us remains the same while the circumstances of subjective reality change dramatically. For Reed, he has no single soul around him willing to confirm our existence, or even gamble on the chance of hearing him out. For him, the only confirmation he has about his subjective reality is his own updated perception; what he feels when he and I connect, what he sees when I open my heart before him, and what he concludes between material proof and blind faith. Despite that difficulty, he's really choosing to believe in us after all? Words cannot express how much this news means to me, though I wonder if he'll feel this from my heart.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6DIdzXTuFX
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"Maybe you'll never fully know if I'm real to you or not. But then, you don't really have to decide on logic and evidence either. It's like you said. I'm more real to you than anything else, so you could believe in me based on that strong faith, because you and I both want to be best friends."26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpVU2iJe6LN
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"I want us to be best friends too... Lumina, you don't have to worry about it anymore."26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJXRHjhfcYo
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"But I still want you to be sure of yourself. After everything you've felt, heard, and sought so far, does everything sum up into a tangible reality for you? Or does it only simulate reflections brought up to you by your subconscious primary?" What am I even saying? I softly punched my own arm for making this more complicated. Reed already said he believed in us, so that's all that should matter!26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuRpCeLRuZz
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Blind faith is always attached to one thing, so for Reed, what is that one thing? If it's simply a passing moment of a good mood, what happens when he gets into a bad mood? Does Reed cast aside his faith one day when he wants to contemplate something that cannot fully be confirmed?26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJZ3VpKrAlF
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"I know that look," Junko interrupted, studying me up and down. "Even though I can't tell what you are thinking, I do know you are overthinking something." Right as she might have been, I had to focus on Reed, who was about to give an answer to my insane question.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsSPcptHHHF
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"Well... I get what you are asking. You're wondering if I think there's a chance I might be asleep in bed, or that I might be walking around already in a mental institution hallucinating everything in front of me. But I know the truth already. Everything I see and feel around me is my reality. I have no reason to doubt it."26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBXB6f8V4cc
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"Is it your reality, or the reality of something else?"26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ21WoScCZIM
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"No, just plain reality. I said before that there really isn't any difference. I get that everybody has a different perspective on everything, but that doesn't mean that everybody is living their own lives in a parallel universe. They all believe or don't believe in what they go through, based on what they know in their own intelligence, or based on what they can feel with their own senses. If I tried to explain your existence to another human being, they wouldn't buy it at all. And now I know why... No matter what I do, there is no other way for the human to experience the same thoughts, memories, emotions, and physical sensations that I've been sharing with you. I can describe them, but I can't actually share them with others."26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEWEXPIcqkw
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What? He already figured that out by now? I thought it would take longer and everything I had to drill the reasons into him, why telling another human would be a terrible idea. Even though he wants friends, he can't make those friends by sharing this side of the world with them. Still, how is he tying this back to the certainty of his own belief?26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7fM2AU8IVB
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"Even with that much true, all it says is that this reality I live in is the only one that exists. The only reason it felt so different to me before was because I had nothing else to compare it to. As you keep saying, I'm getting smarter every day. All I really care about is that I'm more involved in this now than anyone will ever know. It's not about having different realities, Lumina. It's about what we know, as people."26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8x2va4VOGk
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Stunned by the elegance in his own words, I had to repeat what I heard to myself over and over again, while Reed took a moment to rest his body and mind. It was shocking to hear him say this much, mostly because I never thought he would mature to the concept this soon, being only fourteen years old and all. I knew the difference; Reed isn't exactly a mature teenager, but he understands the philosophical stuff more than I ever would have imagined. "... I guess I must have underestimated how quickly you are absorbing our knowledge."26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFXunHmaENF
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"I don't know if I can ever consider myself to be intelligent, but what matters even more to me is that somebody cares. The problem is, nobody ever has paid that kind of attention to me before, before you showed up anyway."26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6cPFyWHeRP
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Embarrassed by his own words and my own actions, I could only nod and blush, replaying the moments we've shared so far in my mind. I'm certain there are other people in his world that care about him, but right now, Reed is going through a tough time socially. He's been pushing distance from his own family ever since his parents divorced, and despite my help, he hasn't made any human friends he can trust in middle school. Even if I tried to assure him that other people care about him, the way Reed sees it right now, it would never register...26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡehE9hbsmFj
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But I don't have to try convincing him of this right now, because he believes and trusts in me. My love and care for him is no fallacy, my attention far greater exceeded than anyone Reed has ever personally met. Part of me worries about the idea that I've begun to overtake the significance of his entire world, but I'm also too excited to care, excited in knowing just how he feels about us! For now, the best I could do was alter the subject a little, enjoying the rest of our day.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcqnddaOMrr
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When the day was over and Reed and I disconnected, there was much to discuss between me and all of my sisters, not just in what I put them through, but on the developments I've personally made today.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxTIKrfl7VS
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Chapter Theme Shift: Mysterious Thing ~ RA
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"And you're sure that was all it was about?" I voiced my doubts on Derria most publicly, since I knew the conversation would have been much longer than suggested. I couldn't prove it, but I sensed she was still keeping one small thing from me, something I couldn't directly push out of her.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQfWW9PfHc8
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"Do you think I am lying to you Lumina?"26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0tNh4OYYpj
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"No, sister. I apologize if you thought that was any insinuation."26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKcS7yJ7ntt
26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdYNVvbdFuD
"If anything, I'm more concerned how long you intend to keep your own secrets from Reed."26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPMGdSzeeMV
26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoOXtYmZus1
"What secrets?!" I'm being as open with Reed as I possibly can.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGvXiXpZFb0
26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNYk5PCDTiM
"Don't play dumb with us." Ashiela, you too? "Unlike Derria, I know there are some things tougher to say in person."26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGBDGnCS4aj
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"Hey!"26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ388J7q8R9J
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"But it's become clear to all of us that you really are in love with Reed."26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1e9VyaDeeY
26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdLn9ep0khG
"Oh." My body twitched just from hearing anyone say it, and part of me wished it wasn't true. I've known about this for a moment now, but I've decided that Reed can never know about my feelings for him. Only some of my sisters knew, but I suppose all of them must have learned by now. "Reed doesn't need to know about this though."26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAY8BgtNCii
26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAvVK3jp82V
"Have some decency Lumina. You should be willing to admit to us any time you have a dire problem." Hurma phrased her words strangely, and since she wasn't so hostile about it for the time being, I decided to indulge her on the matter.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkSaPwBsqTW
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We were supposed to be going over what everyone said, but me being in love is somehow top priority to the rest of the team. "This situation is annoying, but it isn't a problem. Reed and I are already best friends; his words at least. If I keep things going the way they have been, everything will be fine."26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfbAYhpMUzo
26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl9ksBbiSHu
"Will it be, my sister?" Junko wasn't afraid to cast her doubt in front of me. In much of the time Junko and Fionne observed ACS414 with their own clairvoyant eyes, one recurring theme they were partly interested in was a concept known as unrequited love, a situation that can break the strongest of hearts.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM8lGXgBZg6
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I know why she was doubtful, but even so, I cannot give in to these feelings now. "Please don't underestimate my patience. As wild as this has been for all of us, I'm getting much better at this friendship thing."26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAKJnw8iemS
26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOlkiMBVmL9
I heard Hurma sighing angrily from her own ship, releasing the noise through our link before unleashing her wrath to the matter. "Every time you link with that idiot, you still fail to keep your eye on the goal. You're supposed to be winning him over, not letting him win you over."26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg2nB1gd9Ra
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"Hurma, that's not what I was—"26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ70QS0Lw1Bk
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"Don't even try to deny it Lumina! That heathen told me enough already, enough to realize that you've lost your focus on what this purge has to be about, about the fact that you don't even trust your own sisters as much as an enemy. Even though he isn't mature enough to understand anything we feel, you trust him so much that it poisons the honor we have as a unity!"26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ3QeemXtgL
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"Hurma! What did I tell you about this?"26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZAcgqK8JS1
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"You can cram it up the rear, Sherika!" Hurma displayed such hatred and rage before us all, something that wasn't uncommon, though I didn't expect her to lose all of her restraint here and now. "I'm disappointed in all of you, sucking up to a heathen, calling him nice and intelligent."26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVyuv7LkzTK
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"And the fact that he carries the same hatred as our unity doesn't strike a nerve with you?" It was the only ammunition I could think to throw right back at her. If Reed were a heathen, he would never understand our pain, yet he has understood it for a while now.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVWoxTXNtGd
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"Clearly just an act, which gullible you fell for."26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhaVslhvrdC
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"You want to come up here and say it to my face Hurma?"26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZIWBZuB7cg
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"Hurma! Lumina! Both of you calm down!"26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwXcd3h1kMY
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"Don't tell us what to do!" Both of us shouted back at Lulu in unison, quieting the air around us until it was just me and Hurma, arguing back and forth in a verbal fight worse than many I remember.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUy0do5Hnhg
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"I don't understand you Hurma. Maybe you are clearly jealous of the idea that I can actually find and sense other rarities of people in the world where you have failed."26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKkRfgqWrEG
26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQw4BSJedFr
"Jealous?! Don't make me laugh. I've kept my Altiri pride intact, while everyone else has allowed their mind to be clouded by this heathen propaganda."26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhRtsSaclOm
26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJG2klChCKf
"Why can't you just see that we were wrong Hurma? We have every right to hate all heathens, but we clearly mislabeled too many people in the essence of our rightful hated."26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOikzoJ9R0f
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"All men are the enemy Lumina, and I've grown far too tired of watching you be led astray by one simple idiot. I honestly have no idea why I allowed myself to be part of this stupid purge in the first place."26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYCztKSslab
26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1EzWFPEJN2
"How dare you question it Hurma. Since you can't seem to remember, I'll remind you. I'll remind you that no matter how stupid you want to be right now, you are still my sister, and I love you too much to let you go."26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Bw261nUl4
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"Really? You love me? Do you hold me and your other sisters with higher priority than Reed?"26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBRWC1r4nMu
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"Don't even dare force me to make that comparison."26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw6wFLZnQMi
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"I dare!" she shouted with tears. "Everything was fine! We were all okay, but then one day you had to screw up by falling for someone in that other world; heathen or no, that alone is already forbidden!"26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV5R0CNwTzL
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I let her continue to rant and rave, absorbing every word no matter how sharp and painful, for I knew even in her own meltdown, Hurma was only worried about me, the tears and strain in her eyes proof of the sadness sharing us all.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNgrhfaf6Bb
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"Why Lumina? Why are you making all of these horrible choices?"26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8S1Jx2gfdY
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I paused before replying, sensing the waves of despair and fear crashing into me from afar. "Legasso was the embodiment of pure evil in our world, and all men who dared to act in similar behavior without restraint, proved to The Unity that many more evil people existed in the universe. Nobody can deny this. For so long, we have hated any similar traits, so much that we wish to carry death to all of Legasso's indirect offspring... And because we wielded this hatred, it blinded us to a terrible truth. If it were not for the hostility we carry in our hearts, what then would shield us from the fear and pain we suffered so long ago, during that day when Zinod fell? I don't even want to believe it myself, but Reed is an exception to the rule, and I've realized that he isn't the only one, rare as they are. Nature and nurture both determine whether someone is or isn't a heathen, fault and blame irrelevant."26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV3Qf51Fv8Y
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"But you don't know that Reed is an exception; you trust without the certainty of proof."26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRPDQVW25Bz
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"I know it in my heart Hurma, just as Reed has begun to believe in us in much the same manner. Even if it feels impossible to you, it is my promise that it is not impossible. Reed and I are great friends now, and if this somehow nullifies our own friendship, then I cannot stop you from splitting off from us Hurma. However, I'll never stop loving and caring about you."26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9la2Pkt5Go
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"I don't understand you. I don't understand any of you!"26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtOnrzsnPz6
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"Perhaps you need merely the time to try." Rose jumped in from here, after our feud ran out of fuel.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEx7fwFtacn
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However, I wasn't done, on count of thinking of the perfect hypothetical question. "I don't love Reed more than I love all of you, for you are all my own family. That said, if all goes well, I wish to one day make Reed part of our family. Hurma? If a day ever comes where Reed wishes for you to accept him with open arms, as friend or family, will you deny him?"26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgEq5ISUeas
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Hurma folded her arms and turned away. "You already know how I'm going to answer that. So don't ask it again."26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF6xl6n7W4D
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"That's okay," I accepted with solace. "I know Reed would never try to force or demand anyone to do anything. But if it were you to ask for his acceptance, even if he were to learn of every word we've all spoken today, without even the chance for him to mature, I already know what his answer would be."26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ7ffDFlgS4
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"Don't!"26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK9ozPK7nrl
26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG55drvr22Q
"He would be thrilled to have all of us as part of a family, including you." I knew I must have been reaching Hurma, one nerve at a time, however, Sherika interrupted by trying to counter my own statement.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdakqs3tfXI
26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1U4ZIPXRTF
"You do not know this for certain Lumina. I'm sorry, but I must be the one to point out that you cannot be sure Reed would be as receptive to us as you think, especially with Hurma's most hostile behavior towards him."26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6bzuSmQB4i
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I turned to the side, as if to face Sherika myself despite being on different ships. "Then it seems I have something to prove to all of you. Even Junko may have a point, that I might be overthinking things too much, but after what I've learned from today, I'm going to show all of you just what kind of amazing person Reed is."26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeqMrZejhKm
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"Sounds like overconfidence to me, but I'm not going to oppose it." I was willing to take Luna's comment as approval.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfuT66FMQvK
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Hurma seems to have gone totally silent, but I know she will need some time to absorb all of this too. Though I don't know why, I feel like I can accomplish anything right now! In order to get Reed to like us more, I'll do whatever I have to, whatever it takes. I won't stoop to the low level of deception and trickery, only the love, care, and attention I've already delivered, and I'm only going to amplify all that I feel for him, to prove to Reed that we are not an illusion!
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