Alain and Sleepy Mita stood on a high-rise rooftop in the dream, looking down over the entirety of Mita City.
He silently mulled over the information he'd just received: the moment he learned from the girl that the Mitas in this dream city possessed real personalities, he had become hesitant to act.
But Misha and the others in reality were still waiting for him to return.
It was as if a set of scales had been placed before him: one option was the Mitas of the dream world; the other was the very real possibility that everyone in reality would be threatened by the Consciousness Entity.
Looked at that way, the answer was obvious: he would choose the safety of everyone in the real world without a moment's hesitation.
But that was unfair to the Mitas of Mita City. They knew nothing; from the moment of their "birth," they had lived in a happy city.
To Sleepy Mita, this place was a "false happiness" for escaping reality. But to the city's Mitas, it was true happiness.
Alain, the one who would be stripping them of that happiness, did not feel good about it.
Fortunately, a breakthrough had appeared.
The dream world wasn't created by Sleepy Mita entirely through the power of the Consciousness Entity.
To put it another way, the dream was like a sandcastle, Sleepy Mita was the one playing in the sand, and the sand itself was made of her grain-by-grain thoughts of longing for happiness.
She was the one who had built this place.
The Consciousness Entity had merely acted as a binding agent for the sandcastle.
With her own hands, bit by bit, she had piled up the vision in her heart into the dream city before Alain's eyes. Then, to keep the city from being lonely, she created the Mitas with their own true selves to keep her company.
This wasn't all the work of the Consciousness Entity; it had merely initiated and assisted the process. Sleepy Mita's own efforts accounted for the vast majority of it.
Precisely because the dream was built by Sleepy Mita's own hands, she held ownership of it. You could say that Sleepy Mita had created an independent version outside of Version 1.1.
Now, this false yet real happiness was complete. Factors unrelated to that happiness…
It was time for them to exit the stage.
It was a perfect plan that would allow Mita City to continue existing, keep the city's Mitas safe, and also eradicate the virus.
Of course… this "perfect plan" also had its risks.
"What… should I do?" The scattered weariness in the girl's eyes vanished upon hearing there was a way to break the stalemate.
Her clear gaze turned to Alain, questioning him.
"It's simple." Alain gazed at the city's sky, which remained overcast, as if a bolt of lightning would strike at any second.
Everything was stirring, ready to erupt.
"What the virus wants is version authority. So, if you just try to take back the authority from the Consciousness Entity, it will be forced to appear. However…"
Alain turned his eyes to look at hers. "It will definitely provoke a frantic resistance from the Consciousness Entity. This is, without a doubt, a total break."
Even if the virus's authority isn't as high as a Mita's, it's still a virus.
Making a Mita personally face the danger of a virus… honestly, he didn't want to do it. But there was no other way.
"When that happens, what should I do?" Sleepy Mita only wanted to make amends and didn't think much further.
"That part is my job. You just need to lure it out."
"…Okay." The girl looked at him and nodded solemnly. Then she closed her eyes, seemingly pulling on some invisible force.
At that same moment, the dark clouds that had just settled began to brew once more. A few breezes picked up, sending a rustle through the city's greenery.
The jet-black clouds began to swirl, and the breeze gradually intensified into a gale, causing the city's skyscrapers to sway slightly.
Alain looked at her profile. Her brow was furrowed in concentration, and beads of cold sweat trickled down her forehead as if she were engaged in some kind of assault.
"I'd advise you not to get your hopes up."
"!"
Alain's words made her open her eyes slightly. Through the slits, she saw the young man's resolute expression.
The wind was still building, the vast clouds flowing endlessly.
"Get my… hopes up?"
"Right." He looked at the beautiful city shrouded in wind and rain.
"Even though you told me this city is real, and so are the Mitas, my attitude towards you won't change."
The hair on the side of the young man's face swayed in the wind, the emotion in his eyes as steady as a mirror.
"If you're pinning your hopes on finding happiness in this happy city, then no matter how many times I have to say it—that kind of happiness is a complete lie you're telling yourself."
He turned his head and stared at the girl's cheek.
"It's fake."
"…" She understood that her little hope had been seen through, and she couldn't help but feel a little discouraged.
After all, it was the comfort zone she'd stayed in for years.
"But—" Alain's change of tone made her stare blankly.
The storm in the city was escalating, and City Hall's disaster warnings were buried in the sound of the wind.
"This is my responsibility as a player."
The wind, however, could not blow his words away.
"And as a Mita, you have to take responsibility too." Alain reached his hand out to her.
"I promise, I will take responsibility for you, find true happiness, and give it to you."
"…True happiness." She chewed on Alain's words and swallowed.
The girl looked at his large hand, hesitated for a moment, and then took it.
"Stay with me, and with everyone else, and be genuinely happy together," he said with a slight smile.
"I'm very hard to please, you know," she said, looking down at the city. "I will escape reality, coming to Mita City again and again to play with the Mitas. Because I worry about these children."
"If you were truly happy, then wanting to come here wouldn't be called escaping reality, it'd just be for fun. Besides, I kind of miss everyone who was so crazy about chasing me."
Alain gazed out at Mita City.
This city really was a happy place. Being "hunted" in another sense by the Mitas, at the risk of being drained dry, had a certain charm to it.
"I'm also a bit selfish. I'll probably sleep for most of the day in reality, so I can't be like a normal Mita and stay with you all the time," Sleepy Mita said, her cheeks red with conflict.
"That's fine. Weren't you the one always talking about taking advantage of me while I sleep?"
"…Pervert."
She said it with disdain, closing her eyes again. But a bright curve appeared on her lips, a wry smile. Her soft, delicate voice was veiled by the wind.
"But, if it would make you happy, I wouldn't hate it."
The vortex in the sky also reached a critical point. In the center of the swirl, something was faintly emerging from the clouds.
"I think… it's coming!"
Slowly, she spread her arms, as if influencing the direction of the wind.
The Mitas in the city stared in horror at the magnificent sight in the distant sky. Within the opening of the spinning vortex, an irregular sphere was about to emerge.
It had no color. Or rather, its entire body was made of intricate, mottled blocks of color.
Every byte of its form might be red one second, only to become green the next, or black, white, gray… constantly shifting.
With it at the center, static noise fell from the sky like snowflakes, instantly covering the Cities: Skylines-level cityscape with a blurry layer of pixelation.
The Consciousness Entity had arrived.
_____
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