The alarm sound kept sounding, rising and falling. The images on the aged screens were riddled with irritating static, flickering without cease.
Beneath the crystal chandelier, the meeting chamber seemed to retain some of its glory from centuries ago. Yet once that former radiance had faded, no amount of careful maintenance could conceal the traces of desolation and decay.
"The Present World's stability value has fallen below 1.4."
Yongji Bank's representative sighed and Bowed His Head to glance at the papers in his hand. "The Locksmiths have started panicking. Every Wedge has been activated. Even decorations like us have been dragged in to make up the numbers."
"More like press-ganging able-bodied men."
The middle-aged man from Boundless Communication smoked a cigarette and sneered. "They aren't even planning to leave us this little family fortune as a keepsake."
"Keeping it won't do any good anyway. The sooner we throw it all out, the sooner it'll be over." The joint representative of Cosmos Heavy Industries and Great Creation sighed. "If it can be put to use on something, it won't count as a waste."
"No, why do I feel like there've been so many incidents these past two years?" Hope Hospital's unlucky substitute doctor scratched his chin, utterly baffled. "Things that used to happen once in decades have happened several times in just two years?"
No one spoke again.
In the silence, there was only a long sigh.
The pressure brought about by the Vortex was growing greater and greater, repeatedly exceeding safety limits, until it had reached this point... Perhaps the peaceful days of the Present World had only a few years left.
It was nothing more than a question of how long it could still hold on.
"It's been so long. Where's the president?"
After finishing another cigarette, the irritated