The Simulacrum The Simulacrum – Epilogue

I was always partial to the subliminal series of evanescent experiences known as linear ti. Yes, I know that sounded pretentious as heck, but as a new Ergent, I felt that I was entitled to say that with a straight face. Anyhow, where was I?

Oh, right. Linear ti. As much as I preferred it to whatever ti-block malarkey the other Ergents got up to, I had to admit that it had its distinct shortcomings. Such as that it never stopped advancing in one direction. Or how it sotis felt like months were happening in days, while other tis days slipped away like the ticking of a clock. I had my fair share of experiences with both extres as of late, but in this particular case, I was wrestling with the latter.

It was hard to believe, but between dealing with the fallout of the Abyss incident and the extra-Simulacral troubles with the Ergents, so much ti had passed that it was already the first day of school… just not for .

Even though it was early in the morning, the late sumr sun shone bright over Red Lake Elentary. Yes, that was the na of the school. At this point, I couldn't tell if it was a Doylist in-joke or a Watsonian case of rampant colour-blindness in Critias, but that was beside the point. Or maybe it was just referring to the red tiles of the slanted roof on top of the unassuming three-story building surrounded by a large, well-maintained school yard, and I was overthinking things.

Speaking of the yard, it was currently buzzing with activity as parents dropped off their children, and a few early arrivals mingled with their friends. Mostly wholeso stuff. Then, there were the new arrivals. Kids who just enrolled, or more relevantly, kids who transferred and started their first day of school at a brand-new place. We were in the second group.

What do I an by 'we'? Well, there was I, of course. Obviously.

"Leo, look!" As if on cue, Elly tugged on my sleeve. I turned over to look at her, and she bead at . She was wearing a modest but pretty green dress fitting for the occasion, nothing fancy, but she just had her ringlets re-done the other day, so she still looked as princess-y as ever. More importantly, she pointed to our left, past the fences of the schoolyard, and I turned my gaze to follow. "That's the playground. You know? The one I talked to you about?"

Seeing that I was more than a touch baffled, my other girlfriend gently nudged her in the side and said, "You have to be more specific than that."

Judy also dressed up to fit the occasion, though her outfit had more of a 'business casual' feel to it, with loose black pants, a white shirt, and a beige blazer that matched the usual bow in her hair.

"The playground where I promised Josh to et him again!" Elly explained. "Let's visit it after we're done here! It's an important place!"

The question, "Is it?" slipped through my lips before I knew it, and my princess looked up to aim a deep frown at .

"Of course it is!" she asserted with a soft huff and poked my chest. "If we didn't do that, then I wouldn't have co to Timaeus again, and then we would've never t, and everything would be sooo different!" She pulled back her hand and started rubbing her finger, as if preparing to snap them. "It's that thing. You know, the trope. About horses."

I… was drawing a blank. In my defence, I was pretty tired. ntally, I an. For weeks on end, I've been bouncing between all kinds of official and unofficial etings, assemblies, conferences, and clandestine gatherings all over the place, while at night, I was working with the Ergents to stabilize the situation before so Venerated ones would start asking pointed questions. So far, none of them did, but then again, I couldn't let my guard down yet, as there was a possibility it was just ti-block lag, or whatever. The Crowned Coalescence repeatedly reassured that they won't co and kick down the not-door of the not-dark not-room, taphorical torches and pitchforks in hand, but ever since I've got to know him, I had a low opinion of the man's survival instincts, so I was still a bit worried.

Anyhow, while I spaced out, Judy figured out what Elly ant and said, "For want of a nail."

"Yes, that one!" the princess bead at her and finally snapped those fingers.

"Huh. Right, that does involve a horse, but…"

Just as I was about to question why that was the part of the trope that stuck in her mind, I was interrupted by the second half of our group joining us, led by my in-laws, on the Draconian side.

"The opening ceremony's starting soon," Ese told us and pointed a fancy folded fan at the big door at the far end of the courtyard. "It's going to be held inside the school's gymnasium."

She was dressed quite extravagantly, in a dark green dress right out of a red-carpet event, and as for the fan, I had a feeling she had been spending too much ti gossiping with Yseult Albion as of late and picked up so of her habits. Maybe I should look at it the other way around, and be happy that everyone in the Draconic Federation was getting along? Oh, and speaking of which…

"Leonard-dono? Ichiko-oneesan is in position. Can Rinne also patrol the area?"

"Hold on, dear," a hand reached out from behind and pulled her over. It belonged to the Feilong patriarch, and he gently chided her with, "We're here as guests today. Please, don't do anything excessive."

"Rinne… won't," she relented, cheeks just a bit flushed. It was nice to see that those two were also progressing nicely, but…

"Don't worry. We have already secured the periter," another mber of our group spoke up, and looking over, I found Jaakobah standing there, one finger on the small magitech communicator in his ear and dressed in an all-black suit and matching sunglasses. He must've mistaken my scrutiny for sothing else, because he turned on his heel to face and said, "Lord Archon? Do you have any commands?"

"No, and I'd like to remind you that you also aren't on duty right now."

I could see him blink behind his sunglasses, but he only responded with a phlegmatic, "True."

So, just to recount, there was Mom-in-law in her fancy dress, Dad-in-law next to her dressed formally like an orchestra conductor, then we had Naoren and Mountain Girl in so traditional Chinese formal attires made of a shiny red fabric (maybe silk?) and embroidered with gold thread, and finally we had Jaakobah cosplaying as a secret service bodyguard. Could we stick out any more than that?

"Sorry for being late. We're here," Morgana's voice declared from my right, and when I looked over…

"Oh, dammit."

"It hasn't started yet, has it?" Arnwald asked next to her while adjusting his sleeves. They were both wearing matching white military dress uniforms, the sa ones they would be wearing for official events while representing the Ordo Draconis. In other words, yes, we could stick out more if we tried, and we were trying really hard.

At least there were Judy's parents to rely on. The two of them weren't here because they had to go to the school's administrative office to take care of so last-minute paperwork, but they were both dressed sensibly. I took my silver linings wherever I could get them.

"Don't worry, you aren't late yet!" Dad-in-law exclaid jovially. "We just talked about how the opening ceremony will be held over there!"

He also pointed at the large doors leading into the gymnasium, but nobody moved. They were clearly all waiting for , so I exhaled a shallow sigh and locked arms with my girlfriends.

"Let's get moving, shall we?"

"I'll attempt to secure front-row seats," Jaakobah offered, but I shot him down at once.

"No. We'll hang back. We don't want to unnerve the kids with our presence."

He nodded deferentially and fell in line, and we all started moving. On the way there, we even bumped into Judy's mom and dad, and they also joined our little procession. That was only the beginning, though, and getting to the gymnasium and finding a good spot was… way too easy.

I admit, I expected most of the children and their parents here to be placeholders, but they ended up way more developed than expected, and while normally that was a good thing, in this case, it ant they had the ntal capacity to realise our group looked bloody uncanny and they gave us a wide berth. It was sort of a 'Moses parts the Red Sea' kind of situation.

…

Wait. Red Sea, Red Lake Elentary… Was there so kind of allusion here? Or was I just overthinking things again?

Whatever. The point was that we managed to enter the gymnasium without any issues. The far end was reserved for a podium where the principal would no doubt give a riveting speech soon, while the sides of the hall were lined with long benches, the kind used for exercises in PE classes. There were so chairs too, in the front rows, but those were thankfully all taken, and we soon found a convenient patch of empty bench seats to occupy in the back. Once we all sat down, I caught Judy's mom craning her neck and trying to find sothing (or rather, soone), so after a quick Far Glance peek, I tapped on her shoulder and subtly pointed at the middle of the gymnasium. The students were all lined up in clusters, probably grouped by classes, and once she followed my gesture, a warm smile blood on her face.

"Ah. Thank you, Leonard."

She had a pretty smile. I wondered if Judy could also smile like that. Then I started wondering what I could do to make her, but then I quickly dismissed the notion and focused on the present. I would have all the ti in the world to figure that out later, but this mont required my attention.

"Oh, there they are," Elly spoke up and pointed in the sa direction I did just a little while ago, while my other girlfriend only let out a barely audible hum and took out her phone, then fired up the usual app she used for taking notes.

There, among the constantly chattering and moving children, a small group of kids was clearly sticking out from the rest. Not as much as we did, but nearly. As with most crowds, developed or not, pretty much everyone was a placeholder, though that kind of terminology was rapidly losing its original aning. But that's beside the point.

"I wonder what they're talking about," Judy noted seemingly absently, but it was clearly prompting to Far Glance over to take a closer look. I didn't bite.

"I don't know," I said with a shrug. "Probably kid stuff."

Judy narrowed her eyes at a little, but when I still didn't budge, she leaned forward a little so she could talk past and addressed my other girlfriend.

"Elly? The Chief isn't cooperating. We must use our own powers."

"What powers?" my princess asked back, leaning forward as well in a mirror image of Judy's posture.

My dear assistant let the… well, not 'silence to linger', because we were in a noisy crowd, but she certainly allowed the question to hang for a beat before she put two fingers on her temple and said, "The power… of imagination."

"Oh!" Elly mirrored that motion as well, and then they both turned to stare at the kids in the distance.

I did as well, and saw an energetic little girl with long black hair throw her fist into the air.

"She must be saying, 'Don't worry! You can rely on this big sister! We already scouted this place!' to the others," Judy declared as if it was self-evident.

Whatever she really said, the other dark-haired girl next to her struck an over-exaggerated martial arts pose, balancing on one foot and seemingly ready to kick soone in the face.

"Oh, oh!" the princess spoke up, sounding really excited. "That must an, 'If anyone picks a fight with you, we'll beat them up!', right?"

Judy nodded sagely, along with a faux-profound, "There is a non-insignificant chance that there's a distinct possibility that it's likely that it was definitely that, for one hundred percent certainly."

"Ah, and what do they say?" Elly asked, pointing a finger in the sa direction again, though I was fairly sure she was indicating the pair of blonde kids next to the previous two.

"They look nervous," Judy started, and she squinted, as if trying to read the small print at the bottom of a box of cereals. "I believe they must be saying, 'B-But we aren't good at fighting,' and 'Dad's still teaching us self-defense' or sothing to that degree."

I thought the rest weren't listening to us, but Judy's comnt made Jaakobah clear his throat loud enough that we could hear it over the noise floor. The girls didn't seem to care, thought.

"Oh, look! She raised her other fist, too! What does that an?"

Elly's question drew a thoughtful hum from Judy, and she eventually uttered, "She must be saying, 'Don't worry! This big sister will protect you too!' or sothing akin to that." Then there was a small commotion as the last mber of the small group stepped forth, and Judy let out a loud hum. "Hmmm… It seems like he spoke up at last. I wonder why he's so worked up…"

She nudged with her elbow while saying that, but I still didn't play along, so Elly followed her up instead.

"He must be saying, 'Don't worry! My Auntie taught how to fight! I'll keep you safe!" She even tried to do a voice, but at so point, it turned weirdly deep and husky. "You know? Sothing manly like that."

"Maybe," Judy granted her, but then ventured, "Or maybe he's saying, 'Don't worry. My big sister used her connections to vet everyone in and around the school, so there shouldn't be any danger or fighting,' or sosuch."

"Maaaybe…" Elly responded with just a hint of a frown, and now they were both looking at expectantly, but I still didn't give in.

Since there wasn't a main plot (or anything dangerous in general) requiring my attention, due to the scenario finally ending and all the narrative strings going loose, I told the girls I would try to moderate myself to stop my Far Sight from developing into a bad habit. Judy has been teasing about that ever since, with Elly joining along for… fun, probably?

Anyhow, I gave the kids so privacy, resisting my girlfriends' insistent stares until they gave up… was what I would've liked to say, but they just switched gears and started whispering to each other in front of .

"I'm worried about the overlapping dynamics."

"Dynamics?" my princess raised a brow, then let them both furrow into a troubled frown. "True. We have two girls from the Draconic Federation and two from Elysium."

"One girl from the Elysium," I corrected her, but this ti they were the ones who ignored .

"No, I was referring to character archetypes," Judy explained in a low voice. "We have two genki girls and two shrinking violets. The harem's unbalanced."

"Dormouse, please. They are in third grade."

"Hush, Chief. It's called a 'Toy Ship'."

"Oh, I read about that trope!" Elly responded with a grin, while I could only sigh.

Long story short, by having the Celestial Intelligence Network do double ti, we managed to push Ollie's adoption process and all related docuntation, including birth certificates and whatnot, through the bureaucratic pipelines of Critias's governnt apparatus. Then once that was done, it was almost the middle of August, and for so reason the start of the school year is staggered on Critias, with elentary schools starting the earliest, so we had to take care of the enrolnt, and also…

"Oh, look," Elly interrupted my thoughts and pointed at the little Beansprout's group. "They have to pair up to form rows, and they can't decide who's standing next to Éolienne! I think!"

"You're probably right," Judy concurred and took out her notepad. "Are we already seeing the first affection-raising event?"

"Dormouse…"

"Hush, Chief," she echoed herself and poked her phone. "This is important, and I must observe and archive it."

She was waaay too into it. But where was I? Right, the enrolnt. Even though things were technically peaceful, letting Ollie attend school without supervision was untenable, and while Judy (backed by both Jaakobah and Roland) insisted on installing so security and surveillance teams at the school, going overboard would've ruined the whole point of taking him out of the political mire of the World of Mystics and giving him a relatively normal upbringing.

That was when Ichiko volunteered to serve as Ollie's bodyguard, the sa way she stuck around with Judy for a while. But then, because she was attending school now, Odango Girl also wanted to co with her (they were essentially attached at the hip at this point), and she pestered Naoren so much he caved in. But then that ant there was another VIP on site, so since Peabody returned to Blue Cherry High after our secret homunculus project was successfully completed, Jaakobah transferred over to this elentary school as the new school nurse, and he brought my Chief Reminders along with him.

In other words, we now had three girls and…

"Is he going to pick Pais?" Elly asked, squinting.

"I can't be sure from this distance, but I think yes," Judy concurred.

"Does Éolienne know that he's a boy?"

"It doesn't matter. We respect everyone's preferences in this here household."

It was at this point that I started running out of patience and lightly chopped the top of Judy's head with the edge of my palm, making sure not to disturb her hair bow. She was really protective of that.

"Dormouse," I said as I pulled my hand back. "One more ti: they are third graders."

"Don't be naïve, Chief," my dear assistant responded with an ever-so-slightly sulky voice. "You can't deny that we're looking at the perfect setup for a wholeso school life harem cody."

"Do I have to repeat myself a third ti?" I asked, and in lieu of a reply, Judy just used her free hand to cover the top of her head.

"But… It's not wrong, is it?" Elly asked on the other side. "And we're already in the Simulacrum Two."

"Electric Boogaloo," Judy added in a low voice, forcing to roll my eyes.

"No," I whispered insistently. "I told you we aren't doing a 'proper' scenario, let alone a sequel. We just… provide a fertile ground for Subrged Ones to attach themselves if they want to, without any of the rush and planning and three-act-structure of a scenario."

"Sooo… A slice-of-life wholeso school life harem cody, "Judy concluded, followed by a cheeky. "Gotcha."

I really wanted to bonk her again, but then Elly suddenly pointed and hissed, "Guys, guys! New developnt! He took a third option!"

"What?" Judy's attention snapped over to the scene, followed by a thoughtful hum. "Oh? The plot thickens."

I also looked over and saw that Ollie just paired up with a petite girl. At this distance, I could only say that she was wearing the sa, light blue shirt and tartan skirt as the rest of the girls, and that she had two bright pink bows in her short-ish brown hair.

"What do you an 'the plot thickens'? Why?" Elly asked the sa question that was on my mind, sounding genuinely confused, so my other girlfriend didn't hesitate to explain.

"That's Fiia Talvipäivänseisaus."

"Wait, isn't that…?"

I couldn’t even finish the question before Judy confird my hunch with, "Yes. Lord Taika's niece." Then, after a beat, she stopped taking notes and turned to . "The Magi also wanted soone to watch Éolienne, so Lord Taika brought her over."

"I've never heard of that."

"Of course not. It was all done in a clandestine manner," my dear assistant told , as if it were clear-cut. "However, they did it in a way the CIN would find out, so I would know, and they know I know, and I know they know I know, and since we both know, and nobody made a move, it ans it's fine."

"Oh? Like an open secret?" Elly comnted in a hush. "That's a little cool."

As for …

"… I can't help but feel that giving you control over the Celestial Hub might be a bad influence on you."

"Hush, Chief. The situation is still unfolding," she said, and returned to taking notes. "We are already seeing the introduction of an outside-context heroine to the cast, to shake up the established dynamics. A very orthodox move, and since her identity is a secret, it will create intrigue as well. We're on the right track."

"What does that make this?" the princess inquired on the side, a finger on her lower lip. "A slice-of-life, school life, harem, cody… um… she's a Magi, so… magical girl?"

"Oh, that's a good one," Judy perked up, while I only sighed.

"Girls, could you please not do this? You're giving Id- ideas. You know I have no control over him."

"If it happens, it happens," she told with a shrug. "We weathered the sentai arc and the tournant arc; the magical girl arc should be no different."

"Ah, speaking of which," Elly chid in and asked, "How's the next tournant shaping up? Do we have a venue yet?"

"Abram said he's let borrow the underground amphitheater from last ti, but since we have so many fliers, I'm thinking we might want to make it a multi-venue operation."

"Oh, oh! Can we have, like, different types of tournants? As in, a normal, one-on-one duel style here on Critias, then a team tournant sowhere else, and then we could have a battle royale kind of one too!"

"Hm… That's not a bad idea, but team competitions make zeroing in on the power levels of the participants harder."

"Yes, but that way you can also test qualities that aren't directly related to power, like cunning and tactical acun!"

"That is a good point. Maybe we could cooperate with the Elysian Synedrion and the New Noble Alliance of the Abyss to hold so of the competitions there?"

"Great idea! That way, we can foster better understanding and unity, and it will be great for tourism, too!"

"True, the political and economic benefits would not be insignificant, but my main concern is still the power scaling of the…"

And so on and so forth. Honestly, I still had a pretty low opinion of tournant arcs, but since this technically wasn't a 'scenario' it ant it technically wasn't an 'arc' either, so… Eh, whatever. The girls were into it, and who was I to rag on their hobbies?

So, I just leaned back (as much as I could, considering the benches had no backrests) and exhaled a long sigh. Did this count as a book end, I wondered. My life in the Simulacrum (aning my life, period) started on the first day of school, and here I was again, at soone else's first day at school. A new beginning, you could say.

That reminded of sothing, and I asked, "Hey, princess?"

"Yes?"

She looked over at , curious.

"What was that quote you used back then? During my fake finale for the scenario? Sothing about beginnings and endings."

"Every new beginning cos from another beginning’s end," Judy chid in before Elly could answer. "It's from Seneca."

"I've heard it from Sebastian," my princess added. "Why?"

"Nothing in particular. I just… felt like this mont was appropriate for sothing profound like that."

"You're not wrong," Judy agreed, but then imdiately switched lanes and said, "This beginning of Éolienne's slice-of-life wholeso school life magical girl harem romance cody is the result of our school life battle harem romance drady coming to an end. It's fitting."

"… Is it just , or do you keep adding more genres every ti?"

My dear assistant didn't have the chance to respond, because a high-pitched speaker noise cut her off when the microphone at the podium got turned on, aning the principal was about to give his speech. Everyone quieted down and focused their attention there, and for a mont, I forgot about all the zaniness and magical shenanigans and extra-Simulacral troubles, and let the utter normalness of the scene wash over .

Here we were, at the start of a new school year. Significant to so, utterly insignificant to others. It was just a common scene, a vignette of everyday life. Completely, absolutely, categorically… mundane.

"Welco, everyone."

And then a familiar man wearing a dieval beaked plague doctor's mask stepped up to the podium, and nobody batted an eye.

…

Oh, who was I kidding? Our lives were never going to be normal. But then again, 'normal' was a bit overrated, anyway. Our ti in the Simulacrum's lilight might be over, but life goes on. It's a beginning built on the ending of a confusing, headache-filled beginning one year ago. I swear to god, it felt like at least seven years, but then again, linear ti was like that sotis.

So, where do we go from here? I still had things I wanted to do. Life doesn't stop, ti goes on marching, and we'll just have to live it one second at a ti. At least this ti, we didn't have to worry about unknowable narrative forces, genre conventions, and looming climaxes anymore. We were no longer bound, and we could do anything we wanted. And…

"Oh?"/"Hm?"

The girls let out startled noises when I wrapped my hands around their waists and pulled them closer on the bench. Elly automatically snuggled up to , while Judy sent a stoic glance and resud taking her notes, though this ti with her head resting against my shoulder.

I closed my eyes, and for a mont, I could feel it. Two small but distinct Domains, snugly embedded inside my own. Were they the chicken, or were they the egg, I wondered.

It didn't really matter, but in any case, we had plenty of ti to figure it out. Together. Until the heat death of the universe. But that was a definitive ending, still far away. Until then, let's raise an imaginary toast to the Simulacrum.

To beginnings and endings alike, and the journeys in-between.