FIND A WAY OR MAKE ONE

NIGHT HAS FELL / STARS ARE GONE / AND THE SKY HAS NOW BLACKED OUT / WORLD OF FICTION

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INFO //

This is Valentine's short story from the Guilty Gear 2 -Overture- Material Collection art book. There are 8 stories total in that book, with this being the fifth one.
Original Story Composition & Writing / Yoji Ushizawa and Masaki Mejiro, Tristar Inc.
English Translation, Editing, Scans / solradguy
Special thanks to Volcanic Fighter (@Nincopyjasb) for the Japanese manuscript for this story.
Word Count:1,534
Warnings: Dense scifi word salad
Complete .PDF of all translated stories (64.2mb)

THE FIRST ONE

5/8 - VALENTINE

Everything that happens in this world is the result of decisions made in the Backyard. To be more specific, the infinite number of possibilities created in the Backyard are the extremely low-probability results of the countless processes of selection that have led to the prompting of their manifestation. Conversely, the number of possibilities that have been eliminated without being manifested are infinite.

Consider the universe, which is the largest scale that can be perceived and logically interpreted. The Earth on which everyone lives, and the universe as a whole, extends approximately 470 billion light-years, and all of its components were contained in a sphere only 1.7 cm in diameter at the primordial birth of the known universe. This sphere is called the "Big Bang Model," and it is the very universe in which we live.

The Big Bang model was also defined in accordance with the Backyard's code, and the emergence of its existence was established. The same is true of its internal components. First, the possibility of the birth of the Big Bang Model was created. Then a selection of possibilities was conducted to determine whether or not the existence of the model occurred, and the possibilities of the components within the model were determined through an infinite number of processes. In other words, it is possible that the Big Bang Model itself did not come into existence, or that it could have had a different shape and mass. Even if the possibility of the sphere's creation had been determined, if the Big Bang itself had not been determined there would have been the possibility that it would have continued to wander forever in another dimension.

Oddly enough, the Big Bang Model drew on the extremely low chance of causing the famous "Big Bang," a massive explosive phenomenon. The occurrence of this phenomenon itself is also only one of the possibilities according to the Backyard's code, and is the result of an astronomically low probability.

These potential selections by the Backyard are extremely mechanical and inorganic physical phenomena in which no one's will can intervene. The Backyard itself has neither will nor emotion. It is simply a world of information that generates all possibilities and determines events. Since these events are created according to the standards defined in the Backyard and undergo an unlimited number of selection cycles to produce a single result, the common phrase "fate is predetermined," can be simply explained as the result of an unlimited number of selection cycles until an unlimited number of possibilities are reduced to a single result.

However, Valentine was born after the intervention of an indeterminate force that destroyed every possibility in which she was not born. 

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When was she born? It’s nonsense to seek an answer to this question. It isn’t impossible to estimate the time in this world, but it is not equally possible to calculate her age because time in the Backyard is not synchronized with our world. Simply put, the unit of one second observed in the Backyard from this world is not an objective second within the Backyard. A minute can be a second, or it can be a hundred years.

It took several hundred times longer for Valentine, who was born and raised in the Backyard, to be fixed into a complete shape than it would take a human being to grow in similar circumstances.

The first step was the formation of the body that would serve as the vessel. Most of the possibilities that were conceived for the human-like form were confirmed without problems, but there were some irregularities due to "Mother's intervention". She was created using a human woman as a model for her appearance. By eliminating all possible differences between her appearance and that of the model, she achieved a very close resemblance. The most significant physical difference between her and the human’s were the antennae-like organs extending from her head. It took more than a hundred years to determine the possible shapes of her form, to compose them, and to make them into a vessel.

With the vessel complete, the next step was the formation of her soul. When she acquired the potential to be conscious, to acquire language, and to pronounce words, the first words she uttered were not much different from those of the average human infant.

“Mother.”

A synonym for identifying one’s female parent. At that time, she still had no emotions and was only allowed to express objective facts about perceived events. Since she had no feelings, she could not "lie.”

“Who… am I?”

The next step was to ascertain her own existence. It is a process of checking and recognizing in detail the elements, shapes, and textures that made up her body.

“I am Valentine... not Aria. Aria... Who is..? The configuration of the body has been identified. Checking the faulty regions. Lower extremities are unresponsive. Check for communication deficits. Measuring electrical synaptic transmission. Abnormality confirmed. Re-order axial guidance. The hippocampal cortex is impaired. Valentine's memory is... stable. What are… these? Aria's memories? Aria… the model for this body. This feeling… Fred… who is that? My partner… someone I love… my beloved… warmth…” 

Valentine stopped speaking. 

“Emotions are incomprehensible, suspending this process. The entire body is operating at 92 percent. No rejection. No issues with mission execution. Confirm purpose of action. Mother's errand. Searching for a key. Confirm mission objective... no faults. Check the route. What… is that? What’s this?”

Valentine tilted her head.

“That isn’t correct… There’s no way out.” 

At that time, the gate connecting the Backyard to the tangible world did not exist in all dimensions. In a way, this situation was fortunate for humanity, because Valentine's goal would have meant its destruction. For Valentine to achieve her goal would have meant extinction for the human race.

“No way out, no way to run my errand... There is no other way... none. This is a problem. Hmm, hm, mmm."

Without any clear intention or reason to guide her, Valentine began to wander around.

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“Hey there, girl. What are you doing here, in the Backyard?”

A round object appeared.

“Who are you? Your nose is bleeding.”

"No, this is... because, you know, you're... naked."

Valentine didn’t understand.

“I am Valentine. When I'm naked, your nose bleeds. Correct?"

“It’s common sense that blood would burst out like this, come on.”

She still didn’t understand.

“I mean... Why are you naked?”

"Valentine was just born. This is normal..."

“Oh, yeah. Yeah, I guess so. What are you doing now?”

“I'm… going to run an errand for Mother.”

“You’re quite devoted to your family!”

“However, it appears that I am in trouble. There is no way out. I can't enter the other world. I can't complete my errand.”

“What? You want to go to that world?”

“There is a high probability that is affirmative...”

“Well... Maybe don't walk around naked, eh?"

"...Hm? Why?”

“Well, you... You don't want other men to see a young soon-to-be bride naked, do you?”

“...Bride… Negative.”

"Oh, yeah. Yeah, I know. Alright, well if it doesn’t make a difference to you… how about… we go on a date together?”

"... Denied."

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There is a word, "troublemaker." It’s a person who creates problems and is highly irritating to others. There are several patterns among troublemakers. The most vicious of these are those that cause problems unconsciously, without symptoms, and do not cause any harm to themselves.

There was one person who could be called the most striking example of this vicious pattern. Out of respect, he will be referred to as "Mr. A." While there are many troublemakers who can be quickly dismissed with a laugh, in the case of Mr. A., the situation was extremely serious. The list of troubles that Mr. A. had caused in the past was endless and, in every case, he had invariably caused deaths.

Mr. A.’s troubles are created by himself, and "action" is necessary for them to happen. Conversely, after Mr. A. takes that "action," trouble would always be sure to follow. Of course, he is not aware of it. Though many people would like to know what that "action" is, to avoid exploitation, it will not be described.

One day, Mr. A. unintentionally took an "action." There was no noticeable trouble around him. However, the trouble was on an unprecedented scale, and it was happening in another dimension.

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“How long is this going to continue..?"

“Until we find the gate…”

"Pft... Although... gates are not that easy to find.”

"Probability is extremely low."

“I see. Well, that's okay, I'm not busy. And, you know... if I can be with you..."

“There it is…”

“Don't make me say any more embarrassing th– Wait, you found it already?!"

“It’s luck.”

Valentine jumped into the gate without hesitation.

"Hey... wait! I'll also... let's go together... ahaha?!"

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