Prelude to the End

The cleanup squad from the Beta Worldline surged into the gymnasium like a silver tide, the hum of High-Frequency Particle Blades slicing through the air weaving into a symphony of death with the rustling of Wild Rose vines.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka—or rather, Lin Yuan, now awakened to all his memories—stood amidst the reflections of thousands of himself, the roots of the Wild Rose in his palm greedily drinking his blood.

With every drop of blood that hit the ground, a blue-glowing rose burst from the soil, shredding the metal combat boots of the invaders.

"What a twisted sense of humor." The lead Beta-Ayanokoji flicked the residual leaves from his blade tip, the data stream in his left eye suddenly freezing—the roses blooming beneath his feet were actually devouring his system code. "Polluting every worldline with your own genes; is this what you call salvation?"

Lin Yuan did not answer. His retinal interface was synchronizing and parsing the memories of every clone: in Worldline 32, Karuizawa Kei's mechanical eye had been modified into a micro-nuclear reactor; in Worldline 179, Ryuen Kakeru had used a High-Frequency Particle Blade to slice open his own skull; and this version of himself from the Beta world had, in one cycle, strangled Shiina Hiyori with his own hands when she tried to confess.

"You didn't come here to purge errors," Lin Yuan spoke suddenly, the vines of the Wild Rose weaving into a throne behind him. "You came to retrieve the 'Mother Sample,' didn't you?"

The Beta-bodies froze in unison. This secret should have been buried forever with the destruction of the original world—all clones originated from the stem cells Lin Yuan had left in the White Room twenty years ago, and the genetic sequence of the Wild Rose was the key to unlocking the Final Protocol.

Karuizawa Kei's metal hair-blades severed the necks of three clones, only to find that they bled not blood, but swarms of fluorescent blue nanobots. "Watch out!" She vaulted onto the rose vines on the ceiling, only to see Ryuen Kakeru surrounded by the swarm. The tyrant looked like a true gardener now, branding the E-127 code into the core of the swarm: "Turn into fertilizer for me!"

The swarm suddenly shifted direction, lunging at the Beta-bodies. Ryuen spat out a mouthful of blood, the crest on his chest cracking open to reveal a pulsing plant heart inside: "Didn't expect that, did you? I'm half-Rose-man now."

The cocoon of Horikita Suzune in the center of the gymnasium suddenly trembled violently, golden-red light seeping through the gaps in the vines.

All the clones fell to their knees, clutching their heads as their system interfaces flashed a blood-red warning:

Mother gene contamination detected, forced entry into sleep mode

Lin Yuan seized the opportunity to plunge the Wild Rose into the ground. The roots spread like lightning, piercing the chests of every Beta-body and planting thorny sprouts inside their artificial hearts.

When the last clone dissolved into rose-petal mud, Karuizawa Kei suddenly hugged him from behind: "Your body temperature... it's fading."

The biological monitoring module of her mechanical prosthetic eye indicated that Lin Yuan's cells were undergoing quantization.

This was not battle damage, but the side effect of overusing the Seed of Paradox—his very existence was tearing apart the stability of the worldlines.

"Take me to the cocoon." Lin Yuan's voice was already drifting. When Karuizawa Kei helped him reach the giant cocoon of Horikita Suzune, the rose vines automatically parted to reveal the girl suspended at the core.

The barcode on the back of her neck had transformed into flowing golden patterns, and data droplets like morning dew condensed on her eyelashes.

"You knew the ending all along, didn't you?" Lin Yuan stroked the shell of the cocoon. In the memories of the eleventh cycle, Horikita Suzune had once pointed a gun at her own temple and said: "When I become the server, please fill my code with roses."

The cocoon shell suddenly cracked, and the starmaps of the entire universe swirled within the eyes Horikita Suzune opened.

She reached out to touch Lin Yuan's gradually transparent cheek, her fingertips drawing a trail of teardrops composed of binary code: "Father, it is time to say goodbye."

This address caused Karuizawa Kei to tremble violently. In the memory fragments she had yet to decode, the Lin Yuan of the original world was indeed the chief scientist of the White Room, and Horikita Suzune was the first-generation clone he had cultivated using his wife's genes.

"Initiate the Final Protocol." Lin Yuan placed the Wild Rose in his daughter's palm. "Use my data to fill the cracks in all the worldlines."

When Karuizawa Kei rushed out of the gymnasium holding the fully quantized Lin Yuan, the Blood Moon Array was collapsing.

Rain of roses fell from the sky in every parallel world, and those touched by the rain found pale golden sprouts emerging on the backs of their necks—that was the rewritten cognitive code, which would forever resist system formatting.

"Wait!" Karuizawa Kei's mechanical eye suddenly overclocked, and in the instant before Lin Yuan dissipated, she captured a set of encrypted memories.

The scene showed the final night of the middle-aged Lin Yuan in the laboratory; when he placed the infant Ayanokoji Kiyotaka into the incubation pod, what he secretly tucked into the swaddling clothes was not a sensor, but a small rose drawn in crayon.

"So you were, from the very beginning..." Her sob was drowned out by the sound of explosions.

The core fortress of the Beta Worldline dissolved in the rose rain, and on the ruins of the original world countless light-years away, a single Wild Rose was growing wildly, piercing through the concrete.

Seven days later, Karuizawa Kei stood on the rooftop of the reborn Advanced Nurturing High School. Her right eye had completely become a biological prosthetic, and deep within her pupil bloomed a rose that would never wither.

When Ryuen Kakeru walked over, chewing on a rose stem, she was smiling at the sky—where a blurred figure composed of data streams floated, vaguely resembling the lean silhouette of a young man.

"Did he become the ghost of the new world?" Ryuen tucked the rose stem into her hair.

"No," Karuizawa Kei touched the light particles floating in the air, "he became the possibility of everything itself."

Beneath their feet, Hirata Yosuke led the students in transforming the ruins of the battle into a rose garden.

A silver-haired girl squatting in the corner to water the flower seedlings looked up, and a barcode could be faintly seen fading on the back of her neck—it was unmistakably the face of Shiina Hiyori.

This was not battle damage, but the side effect of overusing the Seed of Paradox—his very existence was tearing apart the stability of the Beta Worldline.

"Take me to the cocoon." Lin Yuan's voice had grown somewhat ethereal. When Karuizawa Kei helped him reach the giant cocoon of Horikita Suzune, the Rose Vines automatically parted to create a path, revealing the girl suspended at the core.

The barcode on the back of her neck had transformed into flowing golden patterns, and droplets of data, resembling morning dew, condensed upon her eyelashes.

"You knew the ending all along, didn't you?" Lin Yuan stroked the shell of the cocoon. In the memories of the eleventh cycle, Horikita Suzune had once held a gun to her own temple and said, "When I become the server, please fill my code with roses."

The shell suddenly cracked, and the star charts of the entire universe swirled within the eyes Horikita Suzune opened.

She reached out to touch Lin Yuan's gradually transparent cheek, her fingertips drawing out a teardrop composed of binary code: "Father, it is time to say goodbye."

This form of address caused Karuizawa Kei to tremble violently. In the memory fragments she had yet to decode, the Lin Yuan of the original world was indeed the chief scientist of the White Room, and Horikita Suzune was the first-generation clone he had cultivated using his wife's genes.

"Initiate the Final Protocol." Lin Yuan placed the Wild Rose into his daughter's palm, "Use my data to fill the cracks in all worldlines."

As Karuizawa Kei rushed out of the gymnasium while cradling the fully quantized Lin Yuan, the Blood Moon Array was collapsing.

Rose rain began to fall from the sky in every parallel world, and those touched by the rain saw pale golden sprouts emerge on the backs of their necks—these were rewritten cognitive codes that would forever resist system formatting.

"Wait!" Karuizawa Kei's mechanical eye suddenly overclocked, and in the instant before Lin Yuan dissipated, she captured a set of encrypted memories.

The image showed the middle-aged Lin Yuan on his final night in the laboratory; as he placed the infant Ayanokoji Kiyotaka into the incubation pod, what he had secretly tucked into the swaddling clothes was not a sensor, but a small rose drawn in crayon.

"So you were, from the very beginning..." Her choked sob was drowned out by the sound of an explosion.

The core fortress of the Beta Worldline dissolved in the rose rain, while on the ruins of the original world countless light-years away, a single Wild Rose was growing wildly, piercing through the concrete.

Seven days later, Karuizawa Kei stood on the rooftop of the reborn Advanced Nurturing High School. Her right eye had completely turned into a biological prosthetic, and a rose that would never wither bloomed deep within her pupil.

As Ryuen Kakeru walked over with a rose branch in his mouth, she was smiling at the sky—where a blurred figure composed of data streams hung suspended, vaguely resembling the slender silhouette of a young man.

"Did he become the ghost of the new world?" Ryuen tucked the rose branch into her hair.

"No," Karuizawa Kei touched the light particles floating in the air, "he became all possibilities themselves."

Beneath their feet, Hirata Yosuke led the students in transforming the battle ruins into a rose garden.

A silver-haired girl crouching in a corner to water the flower seedlings looked up, a fading barcode faintly visible on the back of her neck—it was clearly the face of Shiina Hiyori.