TLPIOED -Written Form- 2

[Hiroki and Takuya leaned against a broken down car under the shade of a large tree, each licking away at a popsicle.]

Hiroki:

So...
Do you think Mr. Okabe is single?
[Takuya looked across the field to the factory nearby where Sayuri was giving Okabe a bag she had gotten from the shop.]

Takuya:

Nah, I heard a rumor that he's divorced.
[Okabe scratched his head nervously, blushing slightly as he took the bag.]

Okabe:

Well, thanks so much! Hehehe...

Hiroki:

Heh, well...
Somehow that makes sense.
[The three headed down the pathway towards the large garage.
The grass flourished along the plains in the bright sunlight.
Sayuri ran across the fields excitedly.]

Sayuri:

I didn't know there was a place like this here!
It's so big!
[She stopped near a wooden structure and looked up at the Tower in the distance with wonder.
Hiroki and Takuya smiled as they walked across the plains after her.
When they reached the garage, Sayuri ran towards the unfinished white plane in the center of the room.
When she reached it, she turned around and looked at Hiroki and Takuya excitedly.]
Amazing! An airplane?

Takuya:

That's right.
[Sayuri's face was in awe as she made her way around the plane, examining it with interest.]

Sayuri:

Are you two building this by yourselves?

Takuya:

Yeah...
[Takuya placed his hand on the side of the plane.]
We've been working on it little by little since our eighth grade summer vacation.
[Hiroki sat down on a chair next to a desk against the wall.]
We've been working at that factory back there to get parts and advice from Mr. Okabe.
Right?

Hiroki:

Mm!
It's still far from complete though.
[Sayuri placed her hand on the plane.]

Sayuri:

It's amazing...
[She turned towards Hiroki and Takuya.]
Hey, this really is amazing!

Hiroki:

Um, t-thanks...
[The sunlight turned orange as the sun headed for the horizon.
Purple lightning shocked about some large clouds in the far distance.
Takuya sat against the scaffolding under the wooden structure over the lake.
Hiroki laid near him with his arms resting behind his head.
Sayuri sat at the edge of the cement with her feet lying in the water.]


Sayuri:

Hey...
When do you think it will be done?

Hiroki:

We'd really like to finish it during summer vacation, but...

Takuya:

But that's probably not gonna happen.
It looks like it's gonna take a lot more time.
I guess we're shooting for finishing it before the end of the year.

Sayuri:

Oh...
Say, where are you going to fly it to?
[Hiroki sat up and smiled.]

Hiroki:

To the Tower.
[Takuya tapped him on the shoulder.
When Hiroki looked back, Takuya nodded his head side to side.
Hiroki gasped in realization.]

Sayuri:

Tower? Do you mean the Union's Tower?
[Hiroki and Takuya exchanged glances, then looked back at her and smiled slightly.]

Hiroki and Takuya:

Yep...

Takuya:

We think it'll take about forty minutes to fly to the Tower.

Hiroki:

The real problem is how we're going to cross the border,
but we've got some ideas about that, too.

Sayuri:

Wow, wow!
Hokkaido sounds great!

Hiroki:

Do you wanna go too, Sawatari?

Sayuri:

What? Would that be okay?

Hiroki and Takuya:

Sure!

Sayuri:

[Sayuri crawled towards them excitedly.]
Really? Okay, I'll go! I really wanna go!
[She rested on her knees close to Hiroki.
Hiroki blushed.]
Wow! Thank you!

Takuya:

But I don't know if it'll even fly, though.
[Hiroki smiled.]

Hiroki:

Don't worry! It'll fly for sure!

Sayuri:

Yeah!
We're going, then! It's a promise, okay?

Hiroki:

Yeah.
It's a promise.

Sayuri:

Yeah!
[They stood up and started walking together towards the woods.]

Hiroki:

[i]In those days, I really felt that that time... that place would remain unchanged for the rest of my life.
The Tower that stood beyond the clouds
became an important promised place to me... A promised place.
In that moment, we weren't afraid of anything.[/i]
[They headed past the factory.
They finally waved Sayuri off at some point.
Hiroki and Takuya walked into the train and sat opposite from each other.
Hiroki watched the window, gazing at the tower that lay ahead.]
[i]The truth was that the world... history was changing.
But in those days, the smells of the night wafting into the train,
the trust I had in my friend,
and the hint of Sayuri that lingered in the air;
these were everything in the world to me.[/i]

-------------------

[A couple of images flashed by the TV screen.]

News:

US-Japanese and Union forces clashed in a minor armed conflict last night
until just before dawn this morning.
The skirmish occured in the buffer area between the Tsugaru Strait and the 42nd latitude.
[Okabe was sitting across from the TV, looking down at a newspaper.
A cigarette lay in his mouth.]
Upon hearing this,
the Metropolitan Police Department...
[Okabe looked up at the screen.]

Okabe:

Hmm?

News:

...announced that they will deploy 3300 guards in Tokyo prefecture
as a precaution against terrorist activities directed toward the Union Embassy
by organizations such as the Uilta Liberation Front.
[The phone suddenly rang.
Okabe quickly picked it up.]

Okabe:

Hey...
[He set the phone back down, stood up, and turned to a computer nearby and started fiddling with the mouse.
Everyone in the factory was working tirelessly.
Takuya was quietly typing on his laptop.
He looked up when he heard Okabe.]
If you've got the money, I'll sell you kerosene or whatever,
but jet fuel's gonna be expensive.
[Hiroki and Okabe were pushing a large red jet engine towards Takuya.]
Why don't you just use a recprocating engine or a superconductine motor?

Takuya:

Hmm...
[They stopped pushing the engine.]

Okabe:

So, you guys know how to do the rest?

Hiroki and Takuya:

Yep!
[Okabe turned and started walking off.]

Okabe:

All right. Take care of it.
[As Hiroki and Takuya worked on the engine, Okabe sat down on a chair near the wall.
He quietly ate at a biscuit as he watched them.
He wiped his hands when he had finally finished it and started searching his pocket.]
Say, why do you wanna go through all the trouble of using a jet engine, anyway?
[Hiroki and Takuya both turned their heads.]

Hiroki and Takuya:

'Cause it's cool!
[They both looked at each other.]
That's the only reason?!
[Okabe boredly stuck a cigarette to his mouth and lit it as he watched them argue.]

Takuya:

Hold on a second, we had other reasons, right?

Hiroki:

Let's see... Oh, yeah! That one!
[They looked at Okabe again.]

Hiroki and Takuya:

'Cause we were lucky enough to find it!
[They looked back at each other.]
That's not it!
[Okabe stared at them as he scratched at his elbow.]

Hiroki:

What was it? Remember, the reason we made it a dual engine?
There was a good reason for it.

Takuya:

Oh, that's right!
[They turned towards Okabe again.]

Hiroki and Takuya:

'Cause we wanted it to transform!
That's not it!
[Okabe sighed and pushed himself up, scratching his head as he walked away.]

Okabe:

Whatever... I don't care what it was.
Just don't kill yourselves, all right?
It'll be a hassle for me.
Oh, yeah. You two be sure to come here everyday when summer vacation starts.

Hiroki and Takuya:

Yes, Sir!

Sayuri:

So...
You really want me to play it?
[Orange light shined through the classroom windows.
A couple of messy scribbles were written on the chalk board.]

"Only 6 more days until Summer Break!
Friday, September 18
Day Duty: Miki Kitamura"

Hiroki:

Yeah, we'll come see you after school.
[A music room door closed.
Everybody else had already gone.
Sayuri leaned against a piano, staring at her music script.
A voilin sat nearby on top of a chair.
She turned her head with a sad expression on her face.]

Sayuri:

I'm not that good, though.
[Hiroki and Takuya sat on two chairs that were against the wall on the other side of the room.]

Takuya:

Don't worry.
I've never even seen someone play a violin.
Let me hear it.

Hiroki:

I'd like to hear it too!

Sayuri:

Mm... But I'm so nervous...
[Sayuri took her violin and the script and walked towards the center of the room.
She set the paper against the stand, then prepared her violin in her hands.
She set the back of the violin against her neck, then took a deep breath before setting the conductor to the strings.
The sweet melody drifted through the air.
The window curtains swayed gently in the wind.
The melody continued in their minds as they walked down to the railroad tracks.
Sayuri was walking backwards ahead of them with her violin case held behind her back as she spoke to them.
They sat across from each other in the train, chatting animately amongst each other.
Back at the garage, Takuya analyzed his laptop screen.
Hiroki was sitting close by.
Sayuri's violin case was set against the garage wall.
The garage doors were open wide to let in the warm sun-baked air.]

Hiroki:

Nanonet doesn't reflect radar, right?

Takuya:

But we'll be flying into the buffer area.
Nanonet trim or not,
if we aren't careful, the US military will spot us even before the Union can.
[Sayuri was sitting against the wall outside, reading her book.
On the title, it read...]
"The Net Involved in a Dream.
by Sanae Morishita"
[She could hear Hiroki and Takuya talking inside.]

Hiroki:

I guess we'll have to fly as low as possible,
so we can blend in with the waves and the contours of the land.
[Sayuri closed the book shut and sighed.]
If we leave early, we can use the morning haze as cover, too.
[She smiled, then turned her head around the corner and looked into the garage.]
Do we have a map of Ezo?

Takuya:

This is the only detailed one we've got.
We won't know the landscape until we get there,
so we have no choice but to measure the altitude once we're over land.

Hiroki:

But as long as we're over land, Union radars won't spot us, right?
The [i]Bella Ciela's[/i] radar profile should be smaller than a bird.

Takuya:

Yeah... Unless we're really unlucky.
[Sayuri sighed boredly, then turned and started walking down across the plains.
She headed down the slope towards the wooden structure over the lake waters.
She made her way up the stairs inside one of the 'bridges.'
As she walked up, the wood boards creeked underneath her.
Light streamed through the windows and the cracks in the walls and ceiling.
She started walking across, then stopped at the corner on the other side, where most of the wall had been torn off.
She sat down with her legs dangling over the edge, and looked down at the sparkling blue lake beneath her.
She looked up towards the Tower with growing interest.
The wind started to blow by her hair.
She closed her eyes for a moment, then everything around her turned grey as leaves rushed by rapidly.
The sky was filled with many different jet trails leading towards the Tower.
All kinds of lights were flashing around the base of the Tower, which was still in color.
She stared at it, unable to turn her eyes away.
A blue light suddenly streamed out of the sides of the Tower, then a giant pillar of flame rose up and engulfed the entire thing.
The ground shook as the enormous explosion expanded.
A humongous rush of wind reached where she was, the waters below rushing against the wooden structure.
Sayuri was still unable to move as the light ahead of her grew brighter.
The wood beneath her suddenly snapped.
She gasped as she clung onto the edge with one hand.
The wind stopped and the water was suddenly calm and unmoving, as if nothing had ever happened.
Everything was in color again, and everything was back to normal.
It had all been a dream, but she was still hanging over the lake below.
She looked up at the ledge fearfully as specks of wood dropped past her.
Then she turned her head to the waters below her.
Hiroki, who was working on some kind of circuit board, suddenly sensed something.
He looked up towards the open garage doors with interest.
He placed his wielder tool down, then stood up and walked outside.
He looked around from the top of the slope.
His eyes widened when he saw Sayuri hanging over the lake.]

Hiroki:

Sawatari!
[Takuya looked up when he heard him shout outside.
Hiroki sprinted downt he slope as fast as he could, then waved to her as he made his way towards the stairs.]
Hold on!
[Sayuri smiled as he passed by, then gasped as the wooden plank started to snap.
Hiroki dashed from the stairs.
Sayuri looked down at the lake.]

Sayuri:

It's all right.
It's not that high.
[She gasped again when the plank broke.
Hiroki quickly caught her hand.
He breathed exhaustively as they gazed at each other.
Hiroki was sweating all over from his run.
Sayuri's eyes widened as she looked up at him.]
We've... done this before...
[Hiroki let out a sigh of relief.]

Hiroki:

I'm glad I made it in time.
I'll just...
[They both gasped as the ledge beneath him suddenly snapped and they both fell into the lake.]
Takuya rushed down to the side of the lake and glanced around.
He let out a sigh of relief when Hiroki and Sayuri both rose from the water and took a breath of air.
Hiroki and Sayuri waded across the water towards the rocks.
Takuya made his way across, then leaned down, extending his hand out towards them.]

Takuya:

Are you guys all right?
[Sayuri nodded, then looked at Hiroki.]

Sayuri:

Yeah...
Sorry.
[She looked back at Takuya and started reaching out for his hand.]
Thank you.
[Hiroki smiled mischeviously and suddenly reached past Sayuri and took Takuya's hand.
He yanked him into the water.

Takuya:

H-hey!
[Takuya hit the lake with a resounding splash.]

Hiroki:

Hahaha! He wasn't expecting that!
[Sayuri glanced from the splash to Hiroki with a look of shock.
Takuya sprung out of the water and grabbed Hiroki.]

Takuya:

What did you do that for?!

Hiroki:

Wah!

Takuya:

Stop it, Hiroki!
[At first, Sayuri was watching them, stunned.
She finally relaxed and smiled at them.]

Hiroki:

Hehe!
Sorry, I just had to. Haha!

Takuya:

What did you say?!
What the heck are you thinking, anyway?

Hiroki:

C'mon, don't be so angry.
[Takuya dunked him into the water.]

Takuya:

I'm angry all right!
Just stay there!
Let's go, Sawatari.
[He turned and started making his way towards land.
Hiroki popped back out of the water.]

Hiroki:

Takuya...
Sawatari, say something to him!

Sayuri:

Hehe, sorry Takuya-kun.
[The three started wading their way across the lake.]

Takuya:

Hiroki's stupid.
Forget about him and let's just go.

Hiroki:

Hey, Takuya!...
[They sat out in the orange sunlight.
Sayuri put her finger forward and let a ladybug rest on top of it.]

Sayuri:

Earlier, for just a second, I was having a dream.

Hiroki:

A dream? What kind of dream?

Sayuri:

Hmm... oh, I forgot.
But it was probably about that Tower.
[Takuya stared at the Tower in the distance.]

Takuya:

It's an unbelievable view, isn't it?
The Union is incredible.

Hiroki:

The tip of the Tower looks like it might even lead to some other world.

Sayuri:

[Sayuri watched the ladybug walk across her hand.
It finally took off and flew away.
Sayuri sighed, then leaned back.
She looked up at the beautiful orange twilight in the distance.]
Ah... the sun...
It's setting... so slowly, isn't it?
[Everyone turned their heads and watched as the sun made its way ever so slowly towards the horizon.]

Hiroki:

[i]That summer was truly special...
But from that point on, the world around me would betray me many times over.[/i]
[From inside the garage, the red sun rays gleamed across Sayuri's voilin case.]
[i]It's been three years since that day... since I last saw Sawatari.[/i]

-----------

[b]Three Years Later

Union Territory, Ezo Airspace[/b]

-----------

[A plane soared into the air.
A turret-like camera below it turned side to side, scanning the ground below.
The plane made its way towards the Tower.]


-----------

[b]Fall of the Same Year, in Aomari City
Wartime Special Information Processing Research Lab Aomari Army College, Commissioned by US NSA[/b]

-----------

[Two men walked down the halls of a laboratory.
One was a general in greenish clothing, and the other was an agent in a black suit.
They stopped by a door to their left.
The agent passed an ID card past the slider, then the light turned from red to green.
The door opened, and they walked in.
Inside were two scientists sitting in front of the monitors.
Ahead of them was a large see-through glass screen that had a huge grid of red hexagons lit up on it.
"1st Phase" kept blinking in the middle of the screen.
Past the screen, there was a room down below with a couple of scientists.
Then there was a regular glass wall, and past that was a large sealed off room with a great double-helix metal spiral in the center rising from the ground to the roof.
As the two scientists turned around and spoke, nothing could be heard from outside of the screen.
The scientist in the center chair was Professor Tomizawa.
He had slightly thick black hair, bony cheeks, and brown eyes, and was wearing a white lab coat along with the other scientists.
The general and agent nodded, then kept watch from the back of the room near the door.
Tomizawa turned back to the screen and smiled.]

Tomizawa:

Heh...
Pay no mind to our visitors, all right?
First phase completed. Proceed to the next phase.
[The comm. sounded to the room below where three scientists were sitting in front of the monitors.
The center was a three years older Takuya.
He started typing along with the other scientists when he heard the voice.]

Takuya:

Okay!

[He had a card on his coat pocket that read:]

"Level.4| Intern | Aomari Army College
[u]Takuya Shirakawa[/u] | 3354026-38"

Next is the filtering stage.
Commencing second phase.
["2nd Phase" started blinking on the great screen.
The scientist to the left of Takuya spoke.]

Assistant 1:

Directional resolution is 25% higher than before.

Tomizawa:

That's good. I wonder if we can do it this time?
Choose a good algorithm, okay?

Takuya:

Yes, Sir.

Assistant 1:

How's that algorithm, Shirakawa?

Takuya:

I modified the filtering for group sampling.
This idea's based on Ekusun Tsukinoe's thesis.

Assistant 1:

Ekusun Tsukinoe?
[Tomizawa's eyes widened when he heard that name.]
From the Union?

Tomizawa:

What? How did you...

Takuya:

Just a moment, please.
Reaction is starting to increase.
[The scientist next to Tomizawa turned his head.]

Assistant 2:

Who's that?

Tomizawa:

The Union researcher who first proved the existence of parallel worlds.
They say he designed the Tower.

Takuya:

I have it!
[Both scientists quickly turned back to the monitors.]
Exposure reactions confirmed in orientations XA, YC and ZC.
[Several line waves on a graph on Takuya's monitor started to seperate from each other.]
There are five, no, six branch universes!

Tomizaway:

Six? Begin harmonization stage. Get us a link, all right?

Assistant 2:

Commencing third phase.
["3rd Phase" started blinking up on the screen.]
Each of you try connecting with the closest parallel world. Begin your approach.

Takuya:

Yes, Sir!
[Takuya's hand went into a blur.
Almost immediately, "<Approaching to Parallel World>" started blinking on his screen above the graph.
The scientist to the right of him watched him in awe.]

Assistant 3:

He's fast...

Assistant 2:

Shirakawa is the closest.
Twelve more Exa to reach the connectable territory,
11, 10, 9.4, 9.2...
["CONNECTED" suddenly showed up on the screen.
The general and the agent brought their heads forward in awe as they watched.]

Takuya:

We have a connection!
We've successfully connected to a nearby branch universe.
The exposure reactions are stable.

Tomizawa:

Good, let's move on to the conversion stage.
Commanding fourth phase, spatial displacement with the parallel world.
["4th Phase" blinked on the screen.
The general turned to the agent.]

General:

That spiral is the tower?

Agent:

Yes, that's right.
We're going to switch the swirling center section with
that of a seperate universe.
[Two camera views popped up on the screen next to the blinking phase.
The one with "Camera#1eye" showed a map with a red background and stars all over it.
The second, "Camera#2eye", showed a visual of a mess of curling differently-colored branch-like phenomena.]

Tomizawa:

Disparate matter conversion confirmed. Radius is 60 nanos.
It's expanding rapidly.
We'll soon be able to confirm visually.

Agent:

That part is completely different matter
composed of a totally different universe.

General:

You mean like the experiments done on the Ezo Tower?

Agent:

Yes, but that was on a much larger scale.
We succeeded in one seventh of many tries
to displace the size of a particle of sand.
[Takuya finished typing, then quickly stopped a timer that was sitting near his keyboard, and eyed the screen closely.]

Takuya:

This isn't good.
[The scientist near Tomizawa quickly turned.]

Assistant 2:

It's no good!
Exposure reactions are decreasing.
We can't maintain the connection with the parallel world any longer.
[On Takuya's monitor, the wave lengths started closing in on each other.
"!Disconnected" suddenly blinked on the screen, then the waves on the graph faded from sight.
Takuya sighed, then sat back on his chair.
Tomizawa sighed, then smiled.]
Wave function has converged.
The branch universes have completely disappeared.
We succeeded in replacing approximately a 1.3mm radius of disaparate matter.
[Tomizawa sat back as the white lights turned on, and the screen disappeared.
The glass screen now appeared to be nothing more then a glass wall.
A girl started walking down the hall towards the door.
She was named Maki, and she had short brown hair and brown eyes.
She had a pink shirt under her lab coat.
She stopped in front of the door went it opened and the scientists started to step out.
She bowed to them respectively.]

Maki:

Good work.

An Assistant:

Thanks.
[When they had gone, she pushed the door wider and looked in.
Tomizawa was still sitting in his chair.]


Maki:

Professor Tomizawa, is Shirakawa free now?
[Tomizawa smiled and looked back.]