novelburst
Chapter 436 One example is never enough to prove a theory, but more than enough to bury it
Chapter 436 One example is never enough to prove a theory, but more than enough to bury it
"I would advise you do not." Your next chapter is on empire
I stared at the woman for a moment, keeping up the slightly tense atmosphere created both by my voice and the choice of my words. In the end, though, I retreated back a step before fully turning and marching back to my seat.
'My job is done here.'
As amusing as it was to watch Fay showcase her more feisty side, ultimately I didn't want her to stay in this aggressive role.
Even if it was all but an act, encouraging her to play the bad guy while she was bearing our child under her heart would do us no good in the long term, hence my slightly scuffed and hurried attempt at taking that position from her.
'It's strangely comforting to play the villain,' I thought, only for my face to twist in an ugly grimace when my consciousness hurriedly produced a peculiar set of memories.
From how I shot the imperials en masse from far away, hidden well within the forest while leaving them no way to defend or even escape.
Through my ultimate showdown with my dearest aunt, and encounter so insignificant in the long term that I could hardly ever recall her ugly face.
All the way to how I was now out, nearing the edge of the starlight plain and with it, not only the likely completion of one of the routes of my system's main quests but also ready to do whatever it would take to secure my interests on that side of this damned plain.
'I guess it's comforting to act tough. Thinking back, maybe I've been the villain all along?'
As if reading my thoughts, Fay quickly found her way back to her own seat, pulling on the straps of the safety belts even with our speed now greatly slowing down, a decision made by the AI to conserve the already damaged subsystems of the vehicle.
Thankfully, the further away we got from the barrier, the more distant its influence grew, making it easier and easier to gain more distance to the barrier simply by moving fast enough. And if that wasn't enough to make me happy, the erratic movements of the zones of direct starlight also slowed down, as if whatever was the source of this chaos had finally ceased to operate.
'Every way I look, things are finally starting to go well,' I thought, gritting my teeth as hard as I could to stop my mouth from even mimicking the movements it would have to make to spell those words out loud.
Even if it was only a superstition, I wasn't going to act dumb and raise flags, especially with Fay on board!
"How far do you think we have left before reaching the end of this place?" Fay asked silently while looking ahead and staring as far as our current height allowed.
Yet, be it due to the distance or maybe the interference of the plains, no matter how much the pull of the barrier decreased, the end of the plain was nowhere in sight!
'That's strange,' I thought, squinting my eyes when even several more minutes worth of travel brought forth absolutely no results sights-wise.
No matter which direction or how far I looked, the plain all looked the same, as if someone cropped out a square with our maglev in its middle before posting it ad infinitum in every direction.
"I wonder if this is another trap…" I muttered, reaching out for my chin and rubbing it as I ran down the list of possible explanations in my mind. "Maybe it's some sort of a countermeasure against those who managed to overcome the first barrier?"
Even if it was still distant and inaccurate, my understanding of the nature of this barrier was now much greater than it was while I still believed this place to just be cursed with the zones of direct starlight and the effects of greatly putting one's mood down.
Back then, the greatest extent of this plain power was expressed by forcing me into a trip down memory lane where all my painful, hurtful, or simply unpleasant memories resided.
'Since then, I understood the actual effect of the plain and overcame it, learned about the presence of the barrier, figured out some of its quirks, saw its physical hook in that massive hole, and…'
There was still one more thing that struck me about this place. One thing that seemed extremely elusive, somehow making me unable to pinpoint it.
It was a strange sense of familiarity, or rather… order?
And now that I've gained quite a lot of distance from where the power of the plains was at its strongest, I finally managed to put my finger on it.
'It's like a damn program.'
The influence of the direct starlight was an effect created by whoever engineered this whole place. The zones of said direct starlight were likely an effect of the construct of the plains glitching. And the barrier…
"Maybe that barrier… wasn't a barrier in the first place?"
If that massive area of direct starlight wasn't a barrier, then what else could it be?
Prompted by nothing more but my guesses, I continued to draw on the idea, expanding it further and further to include all the elements of what I've learned about this place into the picture.
'The whole of plains is an area where something takes place. Assuming the zones of direct starlight are mere bugs, results of the program or the device malfunctioning, then…'
Up until this point, things fell into place one by one, as if this particular explanation was the truth that finally allowed me to uncover the damned secret of this place.
The influence of the diffused light of the stars started with unpleasant effects to scare the unworthy, while actually being a great benefit, as proved by the transformation of the aura weave all of us underwent. The zones of the starlight were the results of a bug that allowed them to pass through, as opposed to focusing them toward the central point of the plain.
The barrier wasn't there to keep humans from leaving, but it was actively bending up space to gather and then concentrate all of the direct starlight onto an engine of sorts, where the massive hole within the mountain that we discovered was either a vent, feeding mechanism that infused the air of the plain with the power of the stars or an anchor.
Or maybe it served a role that I was simply too ignorant to understand, just like an imperial would fail to understand the need for exhaust pipes in the cars due to his lack of understanding of the principles that allowed a land vehicle to move?
'Either way, this theory all falls apart when we include how this place can possibly read our thoughts to counteract our attempts at leaving the place,' I came to realize almost as soon as I finished forming up a working theory of what those plains could be. 'But if that's not it, then…'
It felt as if I was nearing an answer. My guesses continued to strike closer and closer to it, given how they could answer more and more of the questions this place provided.
Still…
If one example was never enough to prove a theory, it was always more than enough to disprove it. And since my theorem failed to explain, in any way or form, or even suggest an explanation for how the barrier actively changed how it worked to stop us from leaving, I had no other choice but to disprove the entire thing.
"If it's not a barrier, then what is it?"
Sometimes while I was lost in my thoughts, the woman we picked up from the other side of the barrier stood up from her chair and approached the front of the ship. And now, she was resting her hands against the backrest of my chair while leaning forward just enough to indicate her wish to join the conversation while staying far away not to irk Fay.
"Forget that, I thought I've finally figured it out, but…"
"One fitting example cannot serve as a proof of a theory but one unfit example is enough to bury it," Fay spelled out the very logic that made me disprove the complex guess I've made about the place.
I put a small smile on my lips, as always, amazed both by Fay's smarts and her ability to perfectly tune in with me.
"It won't hurt to hear it, though?" the woman suggested while playfully leaning her head over her shoulder.
That alone was enough to earn her Fay's disproving glare.
"I mean, you guys are very likely the very first humans in history to escape the clutches of this place," the woman pointed out while letting go of my seat's backrest and taking a step back, just to remain within Fay's good graces. "With that in mind, I don't think there's anyone else in the world whose opinion on the matter could be more valuable, is there?"