The Lowest Place in the Tower

“No. I don’t like it.”

What is it that she dislikes so much every time?

Hearing that negative, lifeless voice on everything, I felt that I had come to the right place.

I realized that I was inside the Abyss located at the edge of the Tower.

I thought there would be nothing, but surprisingly, an ordinary world was spread out.

“What is it that you dislike so much?”

“Just everything. This boring place, this dull and tedious present, me who’s idling with nothing to do.”

“Literally everything, huh.”

“I tend to keep my word.”

She looks up at the sky wearing a hat covered with black netting.

A sky full of dark clouds where nothing can be seen.

It was a sky just like her, whose inner thoughts couldn’t be discerned.

Well, not only her inner thoughts but her outward appearance is equally unknowable.

Because whenever even a bit of skin tries to show, it appears pixelated, as if censored.

Even the scenery resembles her, all gray. It’s a world expressed only in two colors, black and white.

The world expressed only by the height and depth of light and shade seemed to have depth but lacked vitality.

It feels like a world that doesn’t move, fixed in place. It’s as if I’ve entered a black and white photograph that only captures that moment of the past.

The only thing with color here was me.

“It’s gloomy and dark, right? A perfect place to get depression. Don’t you think?”

“Why did you make it like this?”

“Can’t be helped. This is how I see the world. One who cannot see colors cannot paint with colors.”

The ‘Abyss’ said so as she rose from her seat.

She lightly dusts off her backside and walks ahead.

“Follow me. If you stay here any longer, you might get eaten too.”

“Eaten?”

Instead of answering, she pointed her finger behind me.

The empty space rippled, and something jutted out.

White and soft fur seemed to be wrapped around it like a garment. The long, drooping fur also looked like a bird’s wings.

The fur, which was not tangled but well-ordered and calmly drooping, added to the bizarreness.

The face was covered with something like a white hood, so it wasn’t clearly visible.

The back was grotesquely crumpled, and a birdcage was embedded on top of it.

Chains protruding from inside the birdcage were constricting various parts of the body.

The arms and legs hidden inside the fur were composed of three segments and were grotesquely long. It squatted like a frog and stared blankly at the empty space.

Then, as if smelling something, it raised its head and slowly moved forward.

It moves by using its long arms to pull itself along the ground. The way it moves its legs looks just like a spider.

It’s like a wild animal, but at the same time not like an animal.

It seemed both human-like and animal-like, a monster in the true sense of the word.

“What is that?”

“A monster.”

“Did you create it?”

“Maybe, maybe not.”

The ‘Abyss’ says, shrugging. As always, it’s an equivocal attitude that neither affirms nor denies.

“Let’s go for now.”

She walks with her hand holding the birdcage stretched forward. She extends it forward as if holding a lantern to illuminate the way.

The outer part of the birdcage actually emits a bright light like a lantern.

More than that, why does she keep carrying that birdcage?

I’m reminded of the bluebird she mentioned jokingly before.

If she can’t see colors, how can she search for a bluebird?

The image of the monster with the embedded birdcage and the ‘Abyss’ currently holding the birdcage overlap. Even though the only similarity is the birdcage.

Thump, thump. Footsteps echo loudly in the desolate city.

They sound as if they’re following us, like an echo in the mountains.

The buildings located around the Tower aren’t tall. There were naturally no apartments, and at most, there were only buildings of 2 or 3 stories high.

On the other hand, in the outer regions where the Tower’s influence doesn’t reach, that is, inside the Abyss, the remnants of the past were located as they were.

The cityscape before destruction.

It’s exactly as remembered, as if a photo was taken to commemorate that moment.

For something that faced destruction, it’s quite a peaceful appearance.

The buildings didn’t collapse, and no vines or moss grew due to lack of maintenance for a long time.

But because of that, it felt even more bizarre.

It was as if the world had sunk into darkness, just like Atlantis submerged in the deep sea.

The dissonance, different from memories, is jarring in the familiar scenery.

In a city full of various noises, no sound is heard.

Nothing moves, and no sound is heard.

The city was silently emitting stillness, like a machine that had stopped working.

Streetlights turned off, subway trains stopped in the middle of the rails, a city without even flying insects.

The entire city seemed to be preserved here, like something preserved in a museum.

The city, castrated of life like removing organs for preservation, lies endlessly quiet.

Like a mummy, the city had endured that long time without decaying.

“Come this way.”

My footsteps slowed down as I was looking around.

The ‘Abyss’, who had gone ahead far away, gestures and calls me.

As we entered the subway station, she spoke to me.

“Horrible, isn’t it? This is what destruction is. It’s when nothing flows anymore.”

“The end can also mean a new beginning.”

“That’s right. That’s how the world circulates. So destruction doesn’t mean the end. It’s about stopping without even reaching an end.”

Destruction doesn’t mean the conclusion. In terms of a novel, it’s closer to the concept of a continuing series, regardless of whether it’s a happy ending or a bad ending.

“That’s cruel.”

“Destruction can only be cruel. That’s how desperate it needs to be.”

Destruction is not the end. The meanings of these two words, similar but different, fill my head.

“Here, we’ve arrived.”

Following the railway, we arrived inside a dark tunnel.

Walking into the tunnel, a room full of birdcages appeared.

Up, side, down, all around was surrounded by birdcages.

The floor disappears, creating a state similar to zero gravity.

The ‘Abyss’ moved forward without floundering once, as if she was used to it.

In contrast to me, who was desperately struggling to sink down.

“Yikes! What is this?! Help me!!”

I continue to sink downward. I struggle like a person drowning in water, trying to rise up.

“Don’t panic and calm down. Think calmly. Think of dividing the layers.”

As she said, I calmly organize my thoughts.

I arbitrarily divide the layers and imagine a floor.

Then I was able to stand without any problem.

“You can’t use your strength when you panic, huh.”

“People can be like that when they panic.”

“That’s true. It’s human.”

“Are you teasing me?”

“It’s a compliment. It’s good that your humanity hasn’t been worn away.”

I felt awkward at her words, which were more serious than I expected.

She sits on a pile of birdcages in one corner and throws a question.

“So what brings you here? You’ve never come before. I heard you met with the Tower a few days ago?”

“How do you know that?”

“Because I’m in a state where I could grasp the Tower just by clenching my hand?”

That statement is probably not a lie.

After all, the Tower’s domain had been continuously shrinking recently.

“Then why don’t you grasp it? You said you could if you just clench your hand.”

“I guess I’ve grown attached after fighting continuously. Even negative attachment is still attachment. You know I’m quite affectionate.”

It’s just amusing to hear the person who least suits the word “affection” say such a thing.

“You’re being funny. Tell me the real reason.”

“I asked you first. Why did you come here?”

She closes her mouth as if she won’t speak until I answer.

“You said you wanted to turn back time. I wanted to hear your reason.”

“Why? Didn’t you refuse? Didn’t you choose to run away again, trembling with fear?”

There’s a sneer mixed in her tone.

With her chin resting on her hand, she looks down at me and sends mockery.

“I…”

“It’s a joke. Just kidding.”

“What?”

“The word ‘joke’ is quite fascinating. It seems that when you say that word, things that happened can be undone.”

I don’t understand what she’s trying to convey.

“I asked why you want to turn back time. That’s the answer. I want to make it as if nothing happened by saying it was a joke. I want to undo the things I’ve done.”

“Why suddenly?”

“I want to erase and write a different answer.”

Her gaze is directed towards the empty birdcages.

Rusty iron gates open, making eerie sounds like “creeeeak.”

“I realized how futile what I was chasing after is.”

“Really?”

“Even what I said earlier wasn’t directed at you but at myself. I’m afraid my answer might be wrong. I didn’t even review or grade it. So I feel uneasy. And I absolutely hate feeling uneasy.”

She’s wavering. Only because it was dark that it wasn’t visible, but she had been continuously wavering.

Unable to gain confidence, she kept throwing questions.

“I need certainty, so I just need to check once more. Whether I’m right or the Tower is.”

“I think we were given too much time. It’s like a side effect of that.”

“What are you suddenly talking about?”

“Time has gained elasticity, and we’ve gained inertia. Even if we want to stop, we can’t. We’re not afraid of being wrong, but afraid that we might have been wrong.”

Not living looking at the future, but living immersed in the past.

We’ve accumulated too much time, so we’re buried in that time.

The ‘Abyss’s’ movement momentarily stops.

Like someone who heard unexpected words, she moves creakily like a rusty machine.

“Not bad.”

“That’s new. I didn’t know you could say things other than ‘I don’t like it.'”

“B-being empathized with feels better than I thought.”

She mutters, turning her head sharply.

Is this what they call tsundere? More human than I expected.

“Let’s talk before turning back time. We can have a serious conversation now.”

“Is that so? It does seem that way. Well, at this moment.”

The ‘Abyss’ said, raising her hand to remove the veil that had been covering her face.

“When conversing, it’s polite to look into the other person’s eyes, right?”

As her face was revealed that way, I couldn’t hide my disappointment.

“What?”

Such words spontaneously came out at the unexpected result.

“You actually have a proper face?”

“I find that strangely offensive.”