Child of the Stars

Horikita Suzune stood atop the observation tower. Morning light streamed through gaps in the Nano Star Ring, scattering flecks of gold across the Silver Sea.

The little clone in her arms—the boy the children called "Bai Mei"—was touching the air with his fingertips. A floating Nano-swarm followed his movements, weaving itself into a glittering constellation.

"Something's approaching from the direction of Alpha Centauri," Bai Mei suddenly said. His childish voice was young but certain. "It's not a meteor... It's singing."

Hirata Yosuke's bionic eye snapped into focus. The Star Ring's monitoring system was silent, but when he connected to the constellation Bai Mei had drawn, a sudden stab of pain pierced his eardrums. A melody beyond the range of human hearing was coming from deep space, resonating with Kei's Mechanical Heart and producing an eerie harmony.

"The distress signal from the Mirror Universe has become real!" Kei's holographic projection shuddered at the Star Ring's core. "All units, enter—"

Before she could finish, a quantum vortex erupted in the middle of the Silver Sea. A silver ship shaped like a whale's skeleton burst through the void, its hull covered in rainbow patterns matching those of the clones.

When the hatch opened, the figure who stepped out wasn't an alien, but another Horikita Suzune. Her left eye was a mechanical prosthetic, and a Nano-swarm coiled around her right arm, forming a blood-red rose emblem.

"Nice to meet you," Mirror Horikita said, lifting her chin. "Or perhaps I should say, long time no see, other me."

In the conference room, the two Horikitas faced each other across the table. Mirror Horikita's projector played horrifying images: in her world, the Star Ring had run out of control, turning everything into a wasteland. The Nano-swarm had devoured 99% of humanity, and the survivors had been forced to coexist with machines.

And the source of it all was none other than Kiyotaka of that world, who had chosen to become the "God of the Star Ring."

"Your civilization is still far too naive." Mirror Horikita's mechanical eye swept over Bai Mei. "If you don't eliminate these 'variables,' you'll eventually suffer the same fate we did."

Bai Mei suddenly reached out to touch the hologram. Mirror Horikita's Nano-swarm instantly went berserk, etching burn marks into her skin. "You're not afraid of the variables... You're afraid that we have 'love.'"

Horikita held Bai Mei's trembling shoulder. Blood was seeping from the boy's silver-white markings—using his abilities too much had brought his gene chain to the brink of collapse.

"Let's make a deal." Mirror Horikita brushed away the swarm. "Hand over the chaotic variable, and I'll help you repair his genetic defects. Otherwise..."

With a snap of her fingers, she brought up a live feed. Thousands of silver ships appeared around the Star Ring. "My fleet will harvest your 'possibilities' itself."

To find a way to stop the gene collapse, Hirata slipped into the lower levels of the Silver Sea. This was the Nano-swarm's central zone. Fragments of the Crystal Heart floated inside a labyrinth of warped Klein Bottle structures. When he touched one, Kiyotaka's apparition appeared again.

"You're not really gone after all!" Hirata's recorder scribbled away furiously.

"To be precise, I became the Star Ring's 'base protocol.'" Kiyotaka's apparition pointed toward the swirling swarm. "When Tsukishiro designed the swarm, he embedded an irreversible consumption program.

"The only key that can rewrite the code is hidden in Bai Mei's gene chain—but using it will cost him his life."

A stream of holographic data suddenly flooded Hirata's bionic brain, revealing the most despairing truth: Bai Mei wasn't a naturally mutated being. He was the result of Kiyotaka, while in a quantum state, sealing the last remnant of his humanity into a clone's genes.

"So he's both salvation and a bomb..." Hirata staggered to his knees. "Does Horikita know?"

"If she did, she'd sacrifice herself without hesitation." Kiyotaka's apparition began to fade. "So you must decide whether to activate the 'Nirvana Protocol.'"

Horikita gripped Bai Mei's hand inside the Medical Pod. His skin had turned translucent, and she could see the Nano-swarm inside his organs, struggling in his blood vessels.

Mirror Horikita's fleet began bombarding the Star Ring's shield. The blinding light of the explosions pierced her eyes through the porthole.

"Mom," Bai Mei murmured, using the name from his genetic memories. "I dreamed I turned into a dandelion and flew past so, so many stars..."

Horikita's tears fell onto the boy's forehead. She remembered Kiyotaka's final whisper before he vanished—

"Mother of the new world."

"Hirata, initiate the Nirvana Protocol." She pressed the communicator, her voice as calm as the deep sea.

"Are you sure?" Hirata's choked voice crackled through the static. "This will completely format his consciousness..."

"Then give him my neural connector." Horikita pulled open her collar, revealing the Bio-chip over her heart. "Use my memories as the cradle for his new consciousness."

Bai Mei's body broke down into particles of light inside the Nirvana Pod, while Horikita's memory data poured out like a galaxy.

Just as the Mirror fleet's main cannon was about to pierce the Star Ring, the Silver Sea suddenly boiled. The Nano-swarm condensed into a giant tree, and a hundred thousand white roses bloomed along its branches.

"Hyperdimensional consciousness detected!" Kei's Mechanical Heart surged into overdrive. "Bai Mei's gene chain is rewriting the laws of the universe!"

Mirror Horikita's fleet broke apart amid the rose vines. Sparks burst from her mechanical eye. "Impossible... This power doesn't belong to any timeline..."

"It belongs to the love in every despairing heart." Bai Mei's voice echoed from every corner of the Star Ring.

The boy's new body appeared at the top of the giant tree. His silver-white markings became a Stardust Cloak. With a touch of his fingertip, Mirror Horikita's Nano-swarm lost its blood-red hue and blossomed into pure-white lilies.

"Go home," he whispered, kissing Mirror Horikita's forehead. "Your world deserves to bloom, too."

A month later, Horikita awoke at the Star Ring's core. Her memories ended in the Nirvana Pod, but a white rose had been implanted over her heart—the Bio-chip and the plant's nerves had fused perfectly.

Hirata handed her a holographic log. The images showed Nano-swarms across the various Mirror Universes beginning to build gardens instead of weapons.

"He became the Child of the Stars," Kei's projection said, stroking a rose petal. "But every ten years, Bai Mei's consciousness returns to Earth for one day—that's his promise to his 'mother.'"

Horikita walked to the observation deck. Beneath the sea of stars, children of the new generation played with Mechanical Dolphins, and silver-white light occasionally flickered in their pupils.

"Did you know?" Hirata suddenly said. "There's a hidden line of code in Kiyotaka's base protocol."

He pressed play. Amid the quantum static came a long-missed voice:

"Thank you for finally letting me become human."