My Measurement: The Villain Desires a Satisfying Payback

The next day.

Breakfast time, in the kids' eating hall.

"Hey, Cee, Cee, what did the new guy call you for?"

"Just an introduction. There were some questions."

"Wow, I see, I see."

Ruti and Cipher sat on an isolated bench as per usual, and similarly, the girl was the one to lead the conversation as the boy only ate in a reactive silence.

"You're really popular, Cee... Is the new guy curious too? I remember there was lots of trouble with people like that when I came here."

Her phrasing was a little odd, but he understood what she intended to ask.

"Yeah. He's annoying. When you came, it was easy to get rid of, but now it's different."

"Ah! Do you want me to help you? I'll get rid of him for you, Cee! I only need to stop taking the pills for a few days and I can make the nitro-thingy-thingy! Then, the new guy will go 'boom'!"

Jumping up and motioning enthusiastically with her hands a scene of Marcus Lynton blowing up due to a volatile explosion produced by her Measurement, Ruti, a little girl, seemed a bit 'too' excited about the prospect of murder.

Cipher, who held a position with more insight as to why that was the case, simply stared blankly at the vivacious girl.

"No."

He firmly rejected the idea.

"Whaa~? Why...?"

All of a sudden, her eyes turned like those of an admonished puppy.

"I want to help you, Cee...!"

"I don't need help. He'll go away soon anyway."

He tried to dissuade her, to no avail, and before he knew it, the conversation turned into something more.

"B-but-- But we can make him go away sooner!"

"Don't. If you do that, then they'll definitely take you away."

She raised her voice even more in protest whilst he sat with a deadpan look.

"You said you would stop them if they tried to take me away! You'll save me, so there's nothing to worry about--"

"Stop. It's annoying and unnecessary, and they'll realise what he's trying to do and get rid of him soon anyway, just like the last guys who tried it, so just drop it and don't do anything stupid."

As the argument escalated, finally, Cipher's harsh words put an end to it.

"..."

"..."

Before anyone had realised it, the air had turned cold, and there was an unspeakable silence dominating the pressed atmosphere.

"U-uh..."

Ruti, making incomprehensible noises, seemed to be choking on something as she couldn't get a word out.

"..."

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Meanwhile, Cipher, indifferent and seemingly unfeeling as he was, only observed her, producing endless guttural noises for a short while.

"Guh... Ah..."

Drip.

"..."

Catching a droplet of something transparent falling from the face hidden behind her rubbing hands and splashing on the white bench between them, the boy's empty eyes flickered downward for but a moment.

Sniff.

"C-Cee... Ugh... I-I-I--"

Stuttering, it felt impossible for the girl to speak what was on her mind.

She was normally so jovial, so happy and radiant as a star, but now, for some reason, she found she couldn't get a word out of her mouth.

Albeit an unfamiliar and uncomfortable emotion that overwhelmed her, it was not the first time Ruti had felt this way.

Was it almost three years ago now? Just before she was brought into the Playground.

At that time, she had cried, but never since.

Not until today.

"U-ughhh... Sniff~! ...I-I-I only wa-wanted-- Sniff-! Ugh... C-Cee...! I o-only wanted to he- to help you...! Snifff~!"

"...Ruti. Calm down. Stop crying."

"Y-y-y-you called me annoyinggg...!"

"..."

For the first time in a while, Cipher's brows furrowed.

"...Hey, Ruti."

"You said I was being stupid...!"

"No, I didn't."

"I-I'm sorryy...!"

"What..."

The boy was utterly taken aback. Having never dealt with a bawling child in such a state before, he had no idea what to do or why Ruti was even upset in the first place.

Of course, they were both questions that Truth could answer, and thus problems that could be solved, so the struggle didn't last too long.

"Cee--"

Pat.

All of a sudden, the girl felt warmth.

"Sniff...?"

"Listen, Ruti." story-by-MvLeMpYr

A hand softly stroked the top of her head; an arm was gently wrapped around her shoulders; and a low, soothing voice entered her ears from just inches away.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. But, you understand that I only said those things because I don't want anything to happen to you, right? I don't want them to separate us."

Words of consolation and reassurance the boy had never even imagined he would say were coming out of his mouth.

His body was moving in a way that showed an act of comforting; something vague and foreign to him.

And, simultaneously―

"We'll always be together. That's what you want, isn't it?"

―His cold, vacant eyes peered down at her from the side.

"M-mnh..."

"Right? So, let's not do anything to jeopardise that. Please."

Squeezing her shoulders a little tighter as he finished, Ruti's flushed face could only nod abashedly in response to his words.

"Okay... I'm sorry, Cee..."

"You don't need to apologise. I'm sorry, too."

From the outside, it might've appeared as a heartwarming, maybe even bittersweet scene of brief breaking apart and sweet reconciliation between two cute kids.

And perhaps, to one of them, it was precisely that.

However,

"Sniff--! Ugh, haha, jeez. Cee, you made my eyes sore..."

"..."

To the boy, who gazed silently at the laughing, sniffling girl beside him.

Indeed, he felt positively towards her.

More positively than anyone else, although that didn't really mean much.

Nevertheless.

"I don't like crying. It feels weird. Cee, do you want to play a game? It'll make me really happy..."

"Alright."

He could hear stories of one.

He could witness one in front of him.

He could even star as a character in the middle of one.

But even then.

To him, there could be no such thing as a sweet or heartwarming scene.

As if there were some kind of invisible barrier preventing it.

A concept completely foreign to his heart and to his mind.

This boy, who was so stone-cold and callous that it could only be that he was born this way.

As if by design; as if by fate.

A sweet, perhaps moving, heartwarming scene.

He would never be able to 'experience' it.

❖─────❖─────❖

Sometime later, Cipher was called once more to the Head Professor's office.

"Welcome, Truth. Take a seat."

Marcus Lynton gestured to the same chairs they always sat on, and the boy followed along without resistance.

"Cipher. Until now, I've only been asking you basic questions to get a feel for your power."

"Today, that will change."

Once again, it was time for questioning.

"There are still many things unknown about your power, and although I'm sure you are much more aware of some of its intricacies than I am, there's nothing that can be done if you don't want to share."

"..."

"Of course, it only means I'll have to figure it out myself. Whether what you have really is on the level of true omniscience, or something else entirely; I'll find out soon enough."

In reality, it hadn't been very long since Marcus Lynton took over the San Cinelia Playground, but in that short time, he had quickly discovered the immeasurable potential possessed by the boy―or more precisely, his Measurement.

Before he arrived, the Professor had only heard the brief explanation of the boy's power―that is, 'the ability to "measure the truth"'―but it was only after conducting a few experiments with the boy in person that he began to understand the reality of it.

With an existence in front of him that could potentially answer any of his endless questions about all the world's unknowns, the Professor's patience was growing thinner by the day, and even he himself knew it wouldn't be long until he couldn't take it anymore.

'No... Take it slow.'

'First and foremost, it's important to establish the foundation and go up from there. There's no point diving immediately into the deep end of things.'

'The officials still have no idea of what I'm doing here. There is no rush. I can afford to take it steadily.'

'After all, there still may be unknown variables or hidden dangers surrounding this power that we are not yet aware of.'

'It's critical that I don't lose all focus and drop my caution.'

'Keep calm, and go slowly.'

'There is plenty of time.'

'I have to keep that in mind...'

Regulating his compounding exhilaration like so, Professor Marcus Lynton took away the hand resting on his thumping chest.

It was okay to get excited, but that wasn't an excuse to act recklessly or with negligence.

With that said...

"From now on, Cipher, we'll be slowly ramping up the gravity of the questions I ask you."

It would still be fine to ask the occasional spicy question, right...?

"Let's start with something that might be pushing the boundary a little."

"Is it possible to fully utilise and perhaps manipulate the phenomenon known as 'quantum entanglement' in the development of new technologies? If so, how could we go about it?"

"..."

"W-what...?"

Sure enough, it would be fine to ask such questions that contained knowledge outside the realm of human understanding.

After all, just because he was told the answer, that didn't mean he could understand or make proper sense of it.

Therefore, it shouldn't be a problem to ask similar, ordinarily unanswerable questions.

At the end of the day, the worst-case scenario is simply not being able to understand what was said.

Isn't that right?