Chapter 218 : Chapter 218 Lost Twice
Just like that, Mu and Herta lived a life depending on each other.
They immersed themselves in their respective fields during the day, and only when night fell did they have time for each other.
However, in their limited private time, they would still invariably choose to continue immersing themselves in the ocean of knowledge.
Only on very rare holidays would they temporarily allow themselves to do something else.
Playing ball or taking walks hand in hand.
When tired, they would sit on a public bench by the roadside, snuggling together and quietly enjoying a rare moment of leisure.
"Brother Mu, if humans truly mastered time, would it be possible to change the past or the future?"
Herta held a warm cup of milk tea, leaning against Mu's shoulder.
"I don't know. Since you're asking me, I suppose you have your own answer?"
Mu shook his head. Noticing a faint sadness emanating from the girl, he wrapped an arm around her shoulder.
He knew better than anyone that the girl could never let go of her parents' sacrifice.
Her tireless research into space and time had long since ceased to be just about fulfilling her parents' last wishes.
"Actually, I don't know either. The present, past, and future inherently contain paradoxes and are tightly entangled with causality."
Herta lowered her gaze, her voice dejected.
Mu understood what she meant, agreeing and providing an example.
"For instance, if you went back to the past and saved Uncle and Auntie, the 'you' of that timeline's future would change as a result, and perhaps me as well."
"You might not have studied so tirelessly. Once the modified timeline coincides with the present, it means that because you changed the past, the 'you' at that time wouldn't possess such abilities and wouldn't be able to master time."
"At that point, the change in the past would contradict the change in the future. How would causality complete its closed loop?"
"My analogy might not be perfect, but you should understand the general idea."
"...Of course."
Herta sighed softly.
"That's exactly what confuses me the most. Brother Mu, let me show you a small experiment."
She untied the ribbon Mu had tied in his hair, held it before her face, and released her fingers under his watchful gaze.
The ribbon drifted down onto her lap.
"If I let go of the ribbon, it falls. But—"
She picked up the ribbon again and continued:
"If I know, or realize the future where the ribbon falls..."
Herta released it with her left hand, but caught the falling ribbon with her right, looking up fixedly at Mu.
"See, the future has changed. This might suggest that there is more than one future. As long as we are aware of it in advance, there is a chance to change it."
"What we lack now is the ability to pick up the ribbon again and return it to the state before we realized it would fall."
"To return to the same point in the past for moderate interference and correction, so that the modified past won't trigger even more terrible changes in the future."
Mu opened his mouth, momentarily unsure how to respond.
This wasn't his area of expertise; he could understand it, but he couldn't cite references to offer deeper insights.
Perhaps Herta's idea wasn't wrong, but...
Even if one could master time and space and return to the past to change many things, what about causality?
A ribbon is an inanimate object, devoid of complex emotions and ties; its future is clear and subject to manipulation.
But people are different.
Everyone is part of thousands of causal chains where the slightest change affects everything. Once altered, it would trigger an immeasurable butterfly effect.
Do humans truly have the ability to control and modify causality?
Mu felt pessimistic deep down.
Fortunately, Herta did not dwell further on this heavy topic.
She retied the ribbon, drawing in the reassuring scent of the boy beside her to dispel the fatigue accumulated from days of intensive research.
The night deepened.
"Let's go home."
The night wind was quite strong and cold.
Mu carried Herta on his back, shielding her from the headwind and letting her tuck her small hands into his collar for warmth.
Before long, they passed a familiar milk tea shop.
"Brother Mu~~"
"Alright."
Hearing the girl's soft, sweet coaxing, Mu's lips curled into a slight smile as he stopped.
Herta expertly ordered two cups.
She always said that an appropriate intake of sugar could effectively relieve the fatigue caused by overusing one's brain.
But Mu, who studied medicine, knew that this claim wasn't actually rigorous and lacked reliable evidence.
It was true that heavy brain usage significantly increased glucose consumption.
However, the lost sugar couldn't be replenished by consuming ordinary sugar.
But of course, Mu wouldn't point out such a small thing.
He kept this in mind and developed a nutritional supplement made into various types and flavors of candy.
Among them, lollipops had the most varieties; he filled a large transparent jar and put it in Herta's small satchel so she could eat them anytime.
Eating too many wouldn't harm her body; at most, they just wouldn't be fully absorbed.
One day, after Herta had showered, she found Mu watching a movie.
"What are you watching, Brother Mu?"
"disorder, a zombie movie. Want to watch it together?"
"Mm."
The girl sat close to the boy, her small head naturally resting on his shoulder as she habitually opened her mouth to bite the fruit slice he offered.
disorder was rated R, with many gory scenes.
But Mu and Herta didn't show much emotion as they watched scenes of zombies gnawing on people and tearing human bodies apart.
After about half an hour, a message suddenly arrived on Herta's United Government terminal.
A breakthrough had been made in a key problem, and she needed to follow up immediately, so she didn't continue watching.
By the time she finished all her work, it was already time for bed.
After hearing Mu's lackluster review of the movie while in bed, she lost interest in finding out the rest of the plot.
A few days later, Mu watched another movie with her, titled Life-taking Mirror Shadow.
This time, Herta was also unable to finish it.
Unless someone important in the United Government was in trouble, Mu generally didn't need to perform major surgeries, so she was far busier than he was.
By the time she was done, she only received Mu's "trash movie" review, making her even less interested in catching up.
The two of them gradually developed the same temperament: they would never waste a second on something they weren't interested in; not dropping it halfway was considered patient.
Such peaceful and warm times did not last long.
That night was Herta's 10th birthday, three months after Mu's 12th birthday.
The girl was beginning to take on the form of a young maiden, though her height hadn't increased much and her development was slow.
Yet on that tender and beautiful face, there was a steadiness and maturity that didn't match her age.
Mu was different; he grew very quickly, somewhat abnormally so, with his height exceeding 170 centimeters.
When he put on a white coat and a mask, it was hard for outsiders to associate him with a twelve-year-old boy.
But no matter how tall he grew or how upright his posture became, he was always that Brother Mu who would carry Herta on his back and hold her hand as they went home together.
After her parents left, she spent the happiest birthday night of her life with Mu by her side.
And all the beauty came to a permanent halt that night.
The next day, an emergency call for help came from the Labyrinth Zone Frontier Fortress, reporting unprecedented casualties.
As one of the highest-ranking doctors in the United Government, Mu had an inescapable duty to reinforce the front lines.
Before leaving, he only said, "Wait for me to come back."
And she said, "Be careful."
But in the end, the girl did not wait for Mu to return; she only received a piece of cold news.
The frontier fortress had completely fallen and was merged into the Labyrinth Zone covered by the fog of remembrance; the human defense line was forced to retreat over a hundred kilometers.
The mist emanating from the Materia Void grew thicker, continuously merging reality and illusion, giving birth to more Subspaces and Virtual Substance Lifeforms.
She had once lost her closest kin.
Now, she had lost the last person who remained by her side.
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