CE 2029: Tokyo, Japan
Sato Kenji walked through the Shibuya Crossing, but it wasn't the Shibuya he remembered. The giant screens that used to show pop idols now showed real-time data on the city's Ether-Grid. Small, silver drones—eerily similar to Aris's slime-spawn—flitted between the buildings, maintaining the moss-filters that cleaned the urban air.
Kenji reached his destination: a modest brick building with a sign that read The Jura Foundation.
"Morning, Professor Sato!" a young student called out, adjusting her goggles.
"Morning, Haruka. How's the resonance-calc coming along?"
"Still struggling with the 'Aris Constant,' sir," she sighed. "I don't get how he calculated the decay of mana without a computer."
Kenji laughed, a deep, hearty sound. "He didn't need a computer. He was the computer. Trust me, just follow the logic, not the 'feeling'."
Kenji entered his private office. On his wall hung a framed piece of scorched white cloth—the only remnant of his "Holy Avenger" tracksuit. To the world, he was a leading researcher in Non-Newtonian Energy. To himself, he was the guy who had been lucky enough to be beaten by a scientist.
He opened his laptop and initiated a secure link. The screen flickered with a violet light before resolving into the face of a silver-haired youth.
"You look older, Kenji," Aris said from across the dimensions.
"That's because I'm actually aging, Aris. It's a biological process. You should try it sometime."
"I'm quite happy being a superfluid, thank you," Aris replied with a wink. "How is the integration? Is the world accepting the 'New Physics'?"
"They're doing more than accepting it," Kenji said, leaning back. "They're addicted to it. We just launched the first Ether-powered medical bay in Kyoto. Laina would be proud. She's actually coming over next week for a summit."
"Good," Aris said, his expression turning solemn. "The Loop is broken, but the work is never finished. We proved that we don't need 'Miracles' to survive. Now we have to prove we can handle the truth without killing each other."