Almost as if he hadn't even opened his mouth, the Judge ignored his question. Satisfied with closing another case, she once again stuck the gavel and declared the end of the court. With that, all the holograms inside the room popped off one by one, leaving only him seated alone inside the circular amphitheater. All alone.
Just when he thought that his existence had been forgotten, and that the rest of his years would have to be spent in this solitude, the doors at one of the ends opened, ushering two robot like beings in.
Coming back to his senses, Zephyr hastily called for the GUIDE.
"GUIDE, can you translate what the judge spoke to me? Actually, explain to me the what just happened right now? What scenario is this? What am I being punished for?"
Responding to his questions, the green android appeared once again, like an evil devil on his right shoulder. The robots seemed to not have caught its presence, or maybe they also chose to ignore everything related to him, as the GUIDE explained.
|*You are caught in a scene where you are stuck in the body of the main character, who has been wrongly accused of the murder of a young girl. A recent and upcoming graduate from the School of Sciences, you were framed by a group of delinquents backed by some rich snob. As normally occurs in such plots, they have sentenced you to a lifetime in jail. Right now you are in the prologue. Soon after you enter the prison, you will be killed, only to reincarnate back in the past due to a life saving invention that your character had created. This is how you get the chance to relive the life of a science genius who was framed. Your aim is to turn around the ending you saw in the prologue and to have the actual culprits get caught.*|
Hearing the lengthy description, Zephyr felt a headache. This was something Kane would have loved to experience. Heck, he might not have even waited till the character restarts his life to get the villain caught. But He, on the other hand, could not imagine himself solving this.
The plot seemed very simple actually, and maybe anyone with some ability to communicate and observe be done with this fast, especially with the help of the guide. But it just had to be Zephyr, who preferred to talk to machines, then humans.
Talking about machines, the robots that had now handcuffed him continued to ignore the presence of the small green android floating on his shoulder. They escorted him out of the courtroom, and the view outside was actually something to admire. The transparent dome that reflected the sky wasn't actually just a display. The courtroom was legit floating in the sky, surrounded by sky scrappers all around. It would look like a small drop from afar. Or a basketball, depending from where you viewed it.
Outside, the robots guided him to a circular pedestal. After hoisting him on it, they spoke in the same esoteric language and then pressed some buttons.
"Uhm, hey GUIDE, what did they just say to me?"
|*You have 48 hours to resolve anything that may need your attention. After you're done, you can activate the cuffs around your hands. They will directly transport you to your prison cell. Even if you don't, after the 48 hours end, the same outcome will occur. Do not try to run away from the enforcement, as they will find you.*|
"Well, those were some lengthy instructions. I guess thanks for giving me 48 hours to live the life in this futuristic era."
The robots did not respond to his words, or did not understand. Didn't matter, as the next instant, he vanished from the round pedestal.
...
In front of an apartment, somewhere in this place Zephyr was trapped in:
The figure of a lanky individual materialized as Zephyr suddenly hurled down on the floor. Trying his best not to empty his stomach after the awful feeling of being transported through space, he weakly rose up and opened the door in front of him.
He already knew this was supposed to be the main character's living quarters. While he had no plans about what to do in the next two days, he judged that learning about this world was a good start. He did not know how much into the past he was going to be reincarnated, as the GUIDE had mentioned. Talking about reincarnation,
"GUIDE, is reincarnation actually possible? Is it like going back in time or like the reincarnation thats talked about in novels?"
|*Everything is possible, resident Zephyr. Although the reincarnation being used in this scenario is much similar to traveling back in time into your younger self, as seen in some sci-fi novels.*|
"Hmm, all this is quite interesting. Oh right, is there a way that I can take a look at the device this guy invented to allow him to reincarnate? It would certainly be a breakthrough if something like this was available back in our reality."
|*Certainly. In fact, you have to search for this device right now and arm it on yourself, because if you do not carry it with you to the prison, you would certainly not be able to reincarnate.*|
When he heard this response, Zephyr's heart went cold. He looked at the green android floating at his should, as if it were a devil incarnate.
"You definitely were not going to mention this, if I did not ask you about it, were you? What would have happened if I did not have this and simply died in the prison?"
He could not help but shout at the green gremlin.
|*Nothing, it would just be a wasted attempt. Since we are in a time loop, you wouldn't actually die, if that is what you are worried about. Before you clear this scenario, nothing can kill you. Not even time*|
Zephyr got goosebumps listening to the gremlin describe his imprisonment in a retched temporal storm as some immortal being's paradise. But he was getting used to the character or nature of the GUIDE. It only acted when it was asked to help.
When he thought about this, suddenly an idea came to him.
"Yo GUIDE, you mentioned earlier that you are everywhere, right. And that you can take any form. So can't you just take some form of futuristic space-time capsule to take me away from this time prison back to my reality?"
When he spoke his idea out loud, he couldn't help cringe a little. It sounded a bit too stupid. But the response from the GUIDE was even more unexpected.
|*I don't need to take the form of a space-time capsule to take you away. If you wish to leave this temporal anomaly, I can bring you out anytime*|