Regardless of what the assistant thought, Eli and Middendorffi finished eating the noodles served for breakfast in their room.
Although the noodles were served with many yards and ten small bowls of side dishes with meat and vegetables, they still looked slightly bland. Middendorffi and Eli didn't have a problem with it; it wasn't as if they were eating them to get energy. The assistant, however, fearing they might misunderstand, kept reminding the waiter to introduce Eggs Benedict as he helped lay out the food.
So the waiter introduced these Eggs Benedict eggs with what breed of chickens, how to raise them, what time to lay eggs, what flour, what veteran master to handmade muffins, ham, and the choice of Iberian. What what ... In short, this Eggs Benedict is a simple dish but very complicated to prepare.
When Middendorffi later retold it to Lupin, Lupin exclaimed, "Geez, it's kind of like New York City's Table: Makers of a Gourmet City and Gourmets to make it so complicated for you guys to eat a morning Eggs Benedict!"
Middendorffi hadn't read either book, but he wouldn't have marvelled even if he knew what they were. After all, to him, human food was the same for him, simple or complex.
Although Eli had the correct taste perception, he had eaten so much better before that mortal things meant little to him, so he was similarly insensitive.
As usual, the calmness of the two of them made the assistant even more confident that these were two high-flyers who had seen the world.
After the noodles, it was time for Middendorffi and Eli to take a break. Without sleeping, they gathered to catalogue the core of their absorbed information. This is the information that the Collector has to log in. After Middendorffi gave Lupin a general description of it, Lupin gave them feedback that there needed to be a record of something like it in the database. So, they were reminded to write down as many characteristics as possible and submit them to the Collector for inclusion in the official database.
Eli and Middendorffi discussed the matter and decided to record everything except the present solution. It just so happens that Adonis would present all of Mike's surveillance and ask for a copy of it as video corroboration. As for the solution, the two decided to write it as "Unable to be housed, and finally eliminated by Eli" to hide Middendorffi's devouring ability completely.
Moreover, the two of them came up with the name of this thing together.
To be precise, Eli came up with the name alone; after all, Middendorffi didn't have the aesthetics or inspiration for it; it was purely an "atmosphere group". He sat beside Eli, looking at him, waiting for him to think and speak. Eli was somehow pressured by his gaze, his mind spinning with all the creatures and allusions he had seen, never seen, and read about in ancient texts, and trying to come up with a word that was perfect in terms of pronunciation, meaning, and allusion, and that would be in keeping with Eli's style.
After a while, Middendorffi seemed to pick up on Eli's dark obsession - or maybe it was purely not wanting to wait - and finally shifted his attention. He pulled out his phone and tapped on a social media platform just as a sci-fi account had just posted a video that auto-played when he opened the platform.
Middendorffi tapped on the sound in passing, only to hear the voiceover say, "... After mayflies feather their wings, their great wings spread thin, translucent and shining. But they are so beautiful for less than a day. The moment those beautiful wings begin to tremble is the beginning of the countdown to their lives. ... Their short lives will be completely over when their mating mission is complete. One mayfly falls to the river's surface like a blooming lotus of death ..."
"How about calling it 'Mayfly'?"
Eli suddenly thought that the name would be pretty appropriate, "The unfolding of those countless timelines, like the wings of a mayfly unfolding after feathering, is unbelievable, but the part that can be seen and experienced is extremely short-lived for the average human. The process would also quite literally drain the life force of the possessed person, causing them to die a hasty death in a short period, which is also like the life of a mayfly as an adult."
Middendorffi certainly didn't have a bad one, "Well, that's good."
Eli knew he was still struggling to understand the 'beauty' of it and could only logically correspond to it from these one-sided descriptions. Still, Eli teased him, "Do you think it's good, or do you think I've been thinking about it too long?"
"It's quite good." Middendorffi pointed to the video on his phone screen, "Look, with such a dense mass of mayflies dropping on the river, I'm reminded that the unfolding world line is also endless, and it kind of fits."
Eli heard him make another sensible analogy and thought it was cute that he was thoughtfully answering an amusing question. So Eli didn't say, "I'm teasing you", and just said, "Okay, that's what it will be called then. It's a name that the people of this world can understand."
At this point, an existence that could see countless futures was named "Mayfly".
It will turn into a mayfly but die in the evening.
***
After eight hours of "rest", Middendorffi and Eli see Mike again.
Mike had woken up before them, and the doctor said his problems were minor or significant but that he had the same chronic diseases and joint problems that older people have, but there was no need for him to stay in the hospital. Plus, the assistant said that the cost of seeing a doctor here was coming out of all that wealth Mike had available, a private hospital in Las Vegas; it was mind-numbing to think about it, and Mike immediately said he couldn't afford it.
He hadn't finished his contractual poker game, and there was still a score to settle for the cheating, so Adonis took him into the casino again. The crowd saw the present-day him, and all felt incredible; it was difficult to believe that this seventy-year-old man was Mike. But looking closely at the older man's face, it is the same as Mike's. While everyone was in awe, they asked how this was caused.
Mike was naturally resentful: "They took what belonged to me; they are robbers ...!"
Adonis disdainfully interrupted him, "You're fucking cheating and cheating in my venue! And you have the nerve to say that someone else took your cheating props, don't you?"
The crowd erupted, "He cheated?"
Mike struggled helplessly in the hands of the tall bodyguard, "I didn't! I didn't!"
"I won't force you to admit it now; play out the last two card games, and we'll see what you're capable of." Adonis sneered, "I will also cast the card games directly onto the screen in the hall live so that all the guests can witness together how good you are."
When Mike heard this, he instantly lost his struggling temper, and his face looked like he had died.
The bodyguard dragged him away.
The card game didn't start immediately because Middendorffi and Eli wanted to see Mike. Luckily, they didn't have to wait more than a few hours before the two arrived at the casino's box and met Mike, who was hunched over a corner couch.
Everyone else had the good sense to get out of the box while Middendorffi and Eli sat on the couch across from Mike.
Without any preamble, Middendorffi got right to the point: "'Mayfly', where did you come across it?"
Mike didn't get it, "'Mayfly'?"
"That's the name of that thing on you." Middendorffi returned flatly and naturally, speaking as if the name had existed for hundreds or thousands of years. But in fact, Eli had warned him before he came over that using the name "mayfly" directly to refer to the thing would make Mike think they knew it and had it in their possession. That way, they'd have more control over the conversation.
Sure enough, Mac frowned, "You guys know what that is?"
"What do you think?" Middendorffi looked at him and said faintly, "I've seen so much, so far into the future; you think I don't know what a 'mayfly' is?"
"You saw it too?!" Mike's eyes widened, "You can see far into the future?!"
"After all you've been through, you still think we're ordinary people like you?" Eli suddenly opened his mouth, his tone bitter, "Honestly confess, where on earth did you get the 'Mayfly'!"
"Ha, aren't you guys great? Don't you know everything?" Mike had already lost all hope; of course, he didn't want to make things easy for the person who took the 'Mayfly', mocking, "I don't remember, you guys find it yourselves!"
"If you don't like to talk about it, you don't have to." Standing straight, Eli said, "In that case, you're not worth much."
Middendorffi was quick to get up together without a single question.
Mike watched the two of them walk towards the door, moving dryly to open, exit, and close the door, his expression wooden for a moment.
Middendorffi and Eli only stayed in the doorway once they left and headed to the other end of the corridor. Adonis's assistant was waiting again and greeted them just as they were about to speak when the compartment door slammed open again.
"Wait!" Mike was so hurried that just those two steps surprisingly caused him to hold onto the doorframe to catch his breath, "If I tell you guys, can you save me?"
"Save you?" Middendorffi looked back at him, "Save you from what?"
"Get me out of here! Get me out of Vegas!" Mike couldn't care less that Adonis' assistant was still there and stepped forward, "I don't want any of my chips; just get me out of here now!"
Adonis' assistant said, "You don't want the chips? Do you think those chips are still yours? You've already been caught cheating, and you're lucky to be still standing, so get a clue!"
Middendorffi said, "I can only tell you what I see in your future."
Mike looked at him and asked hopefully, "What kind of my future ...?"
Middendorffi said, "And where did you get it?"
"I ..." Mike hesitated briefly and said, "I don't know where I got it. I used to hang out on the streets and do odd jobs, and suddenly, one day, I was buying the lotto, thinking it would be nice if I could predict the outcome. Then I saw it ..."
Middendorffi and Eli looked at each other. It seemed that Mike had stumbled upon it by accident and that the appearance and possession of the Mayfly was random.
After Mike finished, he looked at Middendorffi, "That, my future ..."
"Your future is as simple as this experience of yours." Middendorffi's eyes looked at him without sadness and made the assertion.
"Bad luck will befall you, and you will die soon."