My Measurement: The Villain Desires a Satisfying Payback

The times of fate.

The times of what is said to occur.

Those unimaginable, incomprehensible times.

As it stands, I can do nothing but wait for them to come.

I do not know what is going to happen.

And the few things I do know, I can no longer trust.

That's why I have to wait.

But, waiting isn't my style.

Not in a situation where anything could occur at any time.

I don't have to worry about someone like the Wardens coming after me.

Even old Professor Lynton is not particularly a threat.

Rather, something more.

Something truly dangerous.

Bizarre.

Unknown.

And despicable.

I have a feeling that something like that might occur.

Something even I have never known, something unpredictable, something frightening.

I don't know what it is.

I don't know what it could be.

I don't know when it might come.

But, that's all.

It will come.

Definitely.

I have that kind of feeling.

If there was nothing else I gained from visiting Liam Chiba-Wallace today, then this was it.

This certainty of what is to come.

Certainty of the unknown.

Should I put it as certainty of the uncertain?

Finding myself back in the hospital room as if where I stood had never changed, my eyes blinked.

I no longer looked through Liam's eyes. In fact, even he himself did not.

Because the boy was now asleep.

"..."

His peaceful, unconscious face, completely separate from the expression of tempestuous emotions he showed earlier, was almost unrecognisable.

Looking at his still face, and then unmoving chest, I wondered if he had died, but that wasn't the case.

His undulating chest indicated he was still breathing, albeit lightly.

Liam Chiba-Wallace, suffering severe cardiac arrest and experiencing the harsh aftereffects that followed.

Despite the pain.

Despite the anguish.

He had survived.

Almost miraculously.

For some reason, the image of Ella appeared in my mind.

How she would react to such news; I could easily imagine it.

"Well."

In the end.

"It doesn't matter much."

To me, something else was more important.

Measurement evolution.

Liam's Measurement had evolved.

I wondered if I should give the evolved Measurement a name.

What was more important than that, though, was the fact that my Measurement Evolution Inducement drug worked.

Artificial Measurement Evolution.

It was proven possible.

It worked.

The results were right in front of my eyes.

Although the subject experienced not-insubstantial consequences as a result, that was something that could always be worked on.

After all, it was science.

A drug created with science.

Science could always be improved.

Induced Measurement evolution.

I couldn't help but feel the corner of my mouth lift when I realised it was possible.

Something no one else had accomplished before in the history of mankind.

I felt a feeling of something racing in my heart, but I couldn't be satisfied with this much.

It wasn't ready.

It required vast improvement.

I resolved to get to work as soon as I returned home.

And so, with that thought in mind.

"I'll come to visit you next time."

And when I do.

"I hope you'll help me again."

Without anything left to gain.

I left the hospital.

❖─────❖─────❖

The Measurement of Karma.

That was what I decided to call Liam's new power.

Not for any particular reason or anything.

I just felt like it fit.

That kind of flimsy reason.

Because, at the end of the day, it doesn't matter.

Whether the name I give is accurate or not, I find myself simply enjoying the process of giving a name in the first place.

If I come up with a name and it feels like it fits, the job's done.

If it doesn't, then just don't name it that?

Discard it and come up with something else.

Anyway, it's not only because it felt like it fit, but because his Measurement showed me something unprecedented.

It was helpful.

Extremely so.

I felt like the capacity of my mind had expanded three times thanks to that experience, and that was not an exaggeration.

And, my perspective.

I felt as if things had shifted slightly, though I couldn't quite tell how.

Well, at the end of the day, progress is good, so I didn't mind it.

The world is trying desperately to halt my progress, but I will make it.

Bit by bit.

Day by day.

We will make it.

I was shown visions of multiple times; a past, a present, and a future.

The past of before the universe was ever conceived.

The present of a girl in her room reading a book.

And the future of a time that may come.

Ultimately, I was shown a vision of myself in isolation.

I don't know what any of it means.

I don't even know if it is supposed to have a meaning.

But, I saw it.

And I am a human.

Humans are the ones to assign meaning to things and events.

And so, since I saw it, I can give it meaning.

Even if it had no meaning originally, I have that power.

As a human being, I have the capability to bestow meaning on something.

Thus, I will give it meaning.

A meaning known only to myself.

Because secrets are the most meaningful of all.

❖─────❖─────❖

I arrived home not long after leaving the hospital.

Both the hospital and the house were near the centre of the city, so it didn't take long.

When I came home, I expected the house to be quiet.

I expected everyone to be resting in their rooms or similar.

After all, the day was long, and everyone was bound to be exhausted.

But, such an expectation was uprooted.

"Oh, you're back."

"...What are you doing?"

Walking into the living room, Sophie greeted me. She still subconsciously held where her wrist was cut off, but she'd forget about it in no time since it's been fully healed by Selina.

Other than Sophie, literally everyone was present.

Sana and Sona sat on either side of Selina on the large sofa in front of the coffee table, and on the other side of the table was Emir.

Sophie answered my curiosity.

"I don't know, they suddenly started talking about telling fortunes."

I could see that without much explanation.

In front of Emir was a pack of tarot cards slightly larger than a normal pack of cards.

Telling fortunes...

Fortune telling.

Wait, fortune telling?

"Since when could you tell someone's fortune?"

I asked while looking at Emir, but he simply tilted his head.

"Didn't you already know? I can measure people's fortunes with cards."

His words rendered me silent for a good minute.

Fortune telling?

Emir could tell fortunes?

Suddenly, a fragment of an ancient memory hit me like a truck.

'Measurement of Card Reading.'

'What's he going to do, read my fortune?'

'Ridiculous.'

"..."

I covered my mouth with a hand.

A memory from when I first rescued the twins at the Hirane human research facility.

...That's right.

How did I forget?

Such an obvious thing.

No, it's precisely because it was obvious that I forgot.

I forgot because I disregarded it completely at the time.

I considered it useless and discarded the notion immediately.

I never thought I would need or want something like petty fortune-telling.

But now...

Now, things are different.

Telling the future.

Knowing the future.

Even if it's just a glimpse.

If it can help me in any way; if it can give me some kind of minor insight as to what I may end up facing.

If it can do even a little of that, then...

"Emir."

I would do so without a second thought.

"Hm? Oh, you should have your fortune told, too, Cipher!"

"Oh? Oh, that might be interesting. Heh, knowing this bastard, though, he'll get the 'The Devil' card three times over."

"Sophie, I don't think that card means what you think it means."

"What? He's a devilish son of a bitch, isn't he? What else could it mean?"

"Ahh, I'll tell you if it comes up, but I don't think it will."

'The Devil'?

Of course, I wouldn't fit such an ominous card.

I've never done something like a tarot reading, so the meaning itself is unfamiliar to me, but it's clear that it's wrong.

Because I'm not the type of person who should be called a devil.

"Anyway. I've only done birth cards so far, and strangely enough, Sana and Sona's are each different. That means their fates are different from each other despite having exactly the same life and being together all the time."

At Emir's words, I couldn't help but recall the scene I had witnessed at the hospital.

The scene of the future.

Sana coldly asked me if I felt anything when I ended Sona's life.

"..."

My gaze turned to the two twins.

Looking at them, a multitude of thoughts naturally began to arise.

Was what I saw truly going to happen?

Was it destined to occur?

Could it be prevented?

But, most of all, there was one question that dominated the central space of my mind.

When I killed her.

When Sona's life came to an end at my hands.

When Sana confronted me about it, and even beyond that.

It wasn't just her.

It wasn't just Sana.

I, too.

I was also curious.

Did I feel anything?

About the answer to that question.