Return.

Shylock: “Thank you, truly. The sentiment alone is comforting enough.”

Shylock: “I will verify the truth of this matter with my own eyes, regardless of how bitter the pill may be to swallow. There is no other choice I can make.”

Akira: “Why…?”

Shylock: “Because my heart is telling me to take hold of that truth, even if it’s frightening— even if it hurts me.”

Shylock: “No matter how uncertain I may feel about the person I am in this moment, I would almost certainly cease to be myself if I ignored the voice of my heart.”

Shylock: “And besides…”

Shylock smiled at me, his grip on my hand turning tight.

I could still feel him trembling slightly. Still… He was slightly warmer now than he had been before.

Shylock: “…I believe even this fear could be enjoyable, so long as you remain here by my side.”

Shylock: “Even despite the loss of your memory, you were able to carry on moving forwards without wavering, never losing sight of who you are…”

Shylock: “So long as you are here, Akira — so long as you continue to be similar to me in some ways, and yet different in others — I will be alright.”

Akira: “Shylock…”

Shylock: “May I ask you to please turn these pages alongside me? In order for us to take hold of that truth together.”

Akira: “…Of course.”

Our eyes met, and we nodded to each other. Then we slowly opened the notebook with our hands.

The densely-packed handwriting inside was clearly written by someone with incredible intellect.

Akira: “Are these… Mathematical expressions? Some of them look like chemical formulae.”

Shylock: “Well, at least now there’s little room for any doubt. This is most certainly the boss’ handwriting.”

Shylock: “…Ah…”

We turned to the next page. There was something resembling a journal entry here, rather than formulae and calculations.

Shylock: “…‘Shylock was very close to death today. The child he’d sacrificed himself for begged me to save his life, but the damage seemed far too severe to do anything at that stage.’”

Shylock: “‘Miraculously, he managed to survive after some emergency treatment, but I doubt he’ll ever regain consciousness again.’ …”

Akira: “…‘I’ll bring him home with me for now, considering his injuries. I’ll treat this as if it’s simply another one of my experiments — or so I keep telling myself, anyway.’”

“I believe it may be possible to sustain life using Kirsche Persche, regardless of the subject’s nutritional intake.”

“As I expected, the Lunaset flower does indeed hold some sort of extraordinary power we have yet to fully understand.”

“I must continue with my research.”

“Another day goes by, and yet still Shylock refuses to wake. That’s only to be expected, of course. I am the only one alive who knows the true severity of his injuries.”

Akira & Shylock: “…”

Most of the pages following are filled with a variety of complex formulae, chemical equations, and terminology that neither of us are capable of understanding, until—

“I’ve finally done it. It worked.”

“To think all I needed was his blood and the crystallised sap of the Lunaset tree.”

“I will call this new life form an Alter-Ego — a person’s second self.”

Akira: “…Then this means…”

Shylock: “Murr is the one who created the Alter-Egos…”

His fingers trembling, Shylock turned to the next page.

The day Owen’s Alter-Ego was born, the day Riquet’s Alter-Ego was born… It was all written down here for us to read.

Many blank pages followed after that, and just as we thought we’d reached the end of Murr’s memoirs…

Shylock: “…”

We turned to a page soaked through with dried blood.

Shylock: “…‘Three years have passed since the birth of Shylock’s Alter-Ego. But now something is wrong with him.’”

Shylock: “‘Just as the moon began its ascent, his eyes started glowing a bright red colour.’”

Shylock: “‘Then he attacked me.’”

Snow: “…”

Akira: “‘I’m unsure if I’ll be able to survive the wounds he inflicted upon me during his unexpected assault. Therefore, I’ve decided to write this down first, just in case.’”

Akira: “‘His symptoms subsided once I managed to get him to ingest some Kirsche Persche.’”

Akira: “‘It’s possible his irrational behaviour was caused by the Lunaset crystals contained within his body… Whatever special properties they are comprised of may have run their course over these past three years.’”

Akira: “‘If I am to die here, I beg that whoever finds these notes gives him— all of them— Kirsche Persche with Lunaset crystals dissolved inside’…”

Shylock: “…Murr…”

Did Murr write these words as Shylock’s old friend, or as the researcher who had created him?

All we could say for sure is that he wrote them fully prepared to die from the serious injuries he had been inflicted with.

Snow: “…Now I understand. It took only two years after White’s creation for his violent outbursts to begin.”

Snow: “Could that be the price one pays for creating Alter-Egos using remains as opposed to blood?”

Heathcliff: “No… If there’s a price to be paid, then it’s the Alter-Egos themselves who are paying it, not us.”

Heathcliff: “The idea that they might end up hurting someone they care for against their will…” 

Akira: “…”

Shylock: “…So I truly did almost kill Murr with my own hands…”

Shylock: “Indeed, I do remember a period wherein Murr unexpectedly suffered some rather severe injuries, and had to be left in the care of a back-alley doctor we knew.”

Shylock: “But he had laughed off my concern at the time, and told me he had simply been too reckless with his research…”

Akira: “…Shylock…”

‘How could I not have realised it was my fault’ — even in profile, I could see those self-loathing feelings slowly bleeding into Shylock’s expression.

What could I say that might help heal the pain he was feeling without hurting him even more?

Akira: (So long as you are here — that’s what Shylock said to me earlier, but…)

I felt suddenly frustrated with myself as I struggled to find the solution I wanted.

Owen: “It pisses you off too, doesn’t it? In three years time we’ll be reduced to little more than rabid animals if we don’t carry on drinking Kirsche Persche.”

Shylock: “…”

Turning his back to Shylock, Owen walked away from us slowly.

Then he gently stroked his fingers down the shell of his other self’s capsule, almost tracing the outline of that sleeping body, the expression on his face unreadable.

Owen: “…Still, I’ve decided to forgive that guy for what he’s done.”

Owen: “Because now it doesn’t matter if I die. ‘Owen’ will always come back to life again so long as there’s a way to create more Alter-Egos.”

Owen: “Having to drink Kirsche Persche for the rest of our lives doesn’t sound so bad when you consider that we can die as many times as we like, right?”

Owen: “I can enjoy the struggle between life and death over and over again.”

The innocent smile on his face was reflected in the colours of the Kirsche Persche.

Shylock: “…Even so, could you truly consider the new you born in such a way to be ‘yourself’?”

Heathcliff: “…Mister Shylock…”

Owen: “Haha. If that’s something you can say about me, then can’t I say it right back?”

Owen: “If the new me isn’t really me, then are you really ‘Shylock Bennett’?”

Shylock: “Well, that’s…”

Akira: “…Shylock will always be Shylock.”

I’d spoken before I’d even had a chance to think about what I was going to say.

The look on Shylock’s face as he struggled to come up with an answer was just like the lost expression he’d been wearing earlier.

But now the things I wanted to say to him were finally flowing from my heart.

Akira: “It doesn’t matter to me whether you’re identical to the Shylock sleeping in that capsule or not.”

Akira: “It was you who saved me when I needed someone’s help. It was you who said you were interested in getting to know me, even though I had no idea who I was.”

Akira: “It was you who gave me a place I could always come back to when I had nowhere else to go. And it was you who hugged me tight and told me you were glad I was safe…”

The more I remember and the more I say aloud, the stronger the certainty in my heart grows.

I know who Shylock is. And Shylock knows who I am, too.

Akira: “To me, you are Shylock.”

As if inspired by my words, Heathcliff suddenly stepped forward.

Heathcliff: “I knew the person you used to be, if only barely. As such, I may embarrass you by saying this.”

Heathcliff: “Even so, allow me to convey to you how I feel.”

Heathcliff: “…I saw the way you smiled and hugged Akira and Riquet close to you upon realising they were both safe and well…”

Heathcliff: “The expression you wore in that moment was exactly the same expression that man wore when he held me to his chest and smiled at me, too.”

Heathcliff: “Your body may have changed, but your soul is still that of the Shylock who saved my life long ago.”

Then even Snow, who had been listening to us all speak quietly, calmly closed both of his eyes.

Snow: “…I have never once thought of White as being anyone other than himself, even after he returned to me as an Alter-Ego.”

Snow: “It mattered not that his favourite food changed from the cinnamon churros he once preferred, and began liking sugar churros instead…”

Snow: “He is still my most precious White, regardless.”

Snow: “Though things may not be exactly the way they once were, I find I do not care. I was the one who was left behind, and being reunited with the person I love most has been the greatest happiness of my life.”

Shylock: “…Everyone…”

The smile that slowly rose onto Shylock’s face at that moment was akin to a blooming flower, and he took my hand in his once more.

His palm felt as warm as the sunlight in spring.

Shylock: “You have my thanks.”

Shylock: “I doubt I will ever forget what you have all said to me here, even if I die and am reborn again someday.”

Removing his hand from mine, Shylock stood straight and turned to face Owen.

Shylock: “Owen. I beg your forgiveness for my foolish questions.”

Shylock: “So long as you believe yourself to be Owen, then that is indeed who you are. And I am indeed Shylock Bennett.”

Owen: “Hah… What a boring answer.”

Shylock: “Oh my. How harsh.”

Shylock: “Does that mean you’ve changed your mind?”

Owen: “Whether things change or stay the same isn’t the point.”

Owen: “I don’t care if I’m different to the me in that tub. I am who I am, and right now I’m alive.”

Owen: “Though, I guess my eye changing colour kind of pisses me off.”

Shrugging his shoulders slightly, Owen glanced towards the very back of the room.