—
Laughing uncontrollably after a couple of minutes of exchanging dirty words, Yoriichi then let out a relaxed smile, recalling the valuable life lessons she had taught him that guided him to become a better person.
Thinking that sending a message of thanks might only inflate her ego, he shook his head, knowing that this feeling of gratitude should not be contained. After pondering his words, he settled on a short message: "By the way, thanks for the lesson. Let me know if you need anything. I will definitely help you."
"Sure. Take care of yourself. And… let's meet at the boundless crossroad of the way. Let's glimpse this infinity full of possibilities."
Eyes widening in surprise, Yoriichi couldn't control his laughter after performing quantum calculations. Shaking his head while giggling, he sent a message, "Oh, you cheeky Moiraine-Olivia. I didn't realize a bastard like you was beside me all this time."
"Fuck. It's such a perfect send-off message. Well, there goes the mood… Yes, three sly women fused into one certainly have their perks."
Chuckling to himself, knowing he had already ruined the good goodbye, he then read her subsequent message: "If you don't mind, delete all of our messages so our identities don't come into the limelight. I have a way to hide from this bastard Sa'angreal System, but just in case…"
"Don't worry, I know. I've never liked those concepts in general anyway."
"But they are your children."
"Yes… They are my children."
Intrigued and wanting to know about her moment of inspiration, since it seemed that Order and Chaos did not put everything in one basket, Yoriichi asked, "Did you also have an enlightenment about the two Doctors? When exactly?"
"Just a moment ago."
Stunned and confused by how she gained inspiration, he read the message that made him let out a bitter laugh, unsure of how he should feel.
"Exactly at the moment when you called me a greedy bitch. Funny, right? I didn't know Tao could provide inspiration through vulgarism."
Chuckling, as he had also experienced odd moments of inspiration from observing toxic couples like Dettlaff and Syanna bickering, Yoriichi let that moment sink in. Nodding to himself, seeing that Wu Wei's effortless action seemed to hold true for those who do not seek intensely but let things happen naturally, he then asked Moiraine with a conjecture, "So that means your brain atoms are not Olivia's, then?"
"Nope. That's why my memories, and maybe others' too, are very fuzzy, unlike yours. Only now am I able to remember clearly. That's why my primary existence is still Moiraine. And… I'm not the Favorite Son of Heaven for the two Doctors like you are. Fuck, just thinking about the gap is so depressing."
Shaking his head and laughing to himself, he comforted her, "You'll get there eventually." Still, he couldn't resist jabbing her, as he was now many levels higher than her, "150 to 200, is it?"
"Fuck off!"
Wanting to continue hitting her sore spot, he then saw her return the tennis ball.
"Ah, I almost forgot about the server reset! One year from now, we'll all return to zero. Lucky for me, though, I have a gut feeling that I'll keep 20 levels. Cool, right?!"
"Fuck off!"
Sighing in a depressed mood but knowing that worrying needlessly would only hinder his psyche, he asked her, "Oh yeah. How many extra neurons do you have after resetting, Liv? I'm at 20."
"Hmm? Neurons? Isn't it white blood cells? I'm at 1.28 nanoliters."
Stunned since it seems she arrived at a different conclusion than him, Yoriichi just laughed and shook his head at the fickle nature of Tao or the two Doctors.
"Ahh… I see. It seems you've taken the path of Comprehension."
"Yes, Moiraine. And it seems you've taken the path of Bloodline."
Pausing with his eyes watery from excitement at the possibilities of advancing beyond the 16-bit level, he then continued, "What about Technique?"
"Hahahaha. I'm using Soul Cultivation with Cytoskeleton Organelle."
"Hehehehe. I'm using Essence Cultivation with Mitochondria Organelle."
Excited, since microtubules are primarily found in the cytoskeleton, which is present throughout the body and not just in the head, though he can't access them like he can with the nervous system of neurons, he sent the message at the same time as Moiraine.
"Shut up and take my money!"
"Shut up and take my money!"
Laughing giddily to himself like a madman, which also makes Ember laugh along with him, Yoriichi snaps his fingers to activate his quantum wave function. As information is sent directly through Moiraine's consciousness, he also feels the feedback using a different yet similar method.
"Not bad…"
"You as well…"
Wanting to read the information that was sent by Moiraine, he then unable to do it now since it seems his one of the four best friends since childhood still wanting to chat.
"Chad. Do you know where Nadine is?"
Letting out a breath of mixed feelings, he replied, "She now goes by the name of Jaina Proudmoore. As for where she is, I don't know. I only realized a couple of hours ago that she is Nadine."
"Fuck! She's heartbroken, isn't she? Did she see you with another girl again?"
Sighing, he replied, "Yes. Although at that time I wasn't that close to my current girlfriend."
"Richard, oh Richard… You know how easy she is to give up. Well… Fuck it. It's not my problem anymore; you two deal with yourselves. Like I said in my babe's mansion, I will not be the middleman in your awkward, toxic relationship. But just a reminder to make sure your fucking brain is working: She's been waiting for you ever since we were just babes. So don't fucking lose her ever again, do you hear me?!"
Ignoring Olivia or Moiraine's advice since he had repeatedly stated that he didn't like her persistence and still wanted to play, Yoriichi—or Richard—changed the topic: "Speaking of Andrew's mansion, how is he? Do you know where he is now?"
"..."
"Oi."
"Bloody whoreson! Whatever… He is Jahar Narishma now. His memory is not yet unlocked and complete."
"So that means it's only the two of us where the entanglement bond is restored? Do you see the pattern of transformation here, Liv?"
"Yes."
"Then tell me if my conjecture is correct. From our world, I guess it's random but interconnected people from our city, Redmond. From the fantasy world, it's only one pair from that multiverse, like Jaina and Nemsy, you and Narishma. The only thing I don't know about is the locals."
"You are correct."
Wanting to continue asking despite noticing the tone of Moiraine's message sounding half-assed and disappointed, he then saw Margarita standing up after reading a message of her own, possibly sent by Moiraine, and outstretching her hands toward him. Shaking his head, he took her hand and allowed himself to be guided by Rita to help her search for Jaina.
—