- Beyond Sensory Resonance
Meter’s Grand Adventure
Part I: Leap from Violet
Episode 20
The central hall of the Jil Eforum Epoch Museum lay in silence, as if time itself had been sealed within it.
Soft light fell from the high ceiling, illuminating the chronological axis engraved into the floor.
At its center stood a young man who carried an air somehow detached from reality.
Golden hair.
A faint trace of eyeshadow around his eyes.
And a way of moving utterly free of excess force.
—A Sympasion native.
Hannis knew it at a glance.
“Thank you for coming.”
The young man smiled gently. His voice carried both disciplined restraint and a slight tremor of emotion.
“I have wished to meet you for some time.
For you as well… and for Meter—the machine a bit more impertinent than that ticking fellow—Orin’s death must have been a painful loss.”
Hannis let out a short breath through his nose.
“An impertinent ticking machine, huh?
If Meter heard that, he’d be venting steam in rage.”
Yet beneath the light remark, Hannis was studying him closely.
“It didn’t take long to realize you are Aman Symfar’s son.
That appearance—golden hair and makeup characteristic of the Sympasion people.
And that bearing—just like the Sirius lineage of legend.”
The young man—Ron・Symfar—lowered his gaze slightly.
“Even so… perhaps it is fate.”
His voice dropped just a little.
“That I was able to shelter Orin while he was dying beneath the statue of Manuel Alègre.”
Something quietly creaked deep within Hannis’s chest.
“Ron Symfar.
I’m truly glad to hear you will inherit his achievements.”
For a moment, the image of his late friend crossed his mind.
“Aporiana would be pleased as well.
—To meet the son of a close friend from Iphnia under such circumstances.”
Then his expression hardened.
“From Orin’s notes, I gather you are also a member of Consuüm.
But even so… how did you manage to infiltrate Neo Aether?”
Hannis’s voice sharpened, low and cutting.
“With the mental-noise generators invented by Aporiana’s father, Consuüm members were supposed to be completely excluded.
And yet you work in the core of this museum.”
Ron replied as though stating the obvious.
“Progress marches on.”
There was no arrogance in his tone.
“My father was responsible for Consuüm’s scientific development.
He created technology capable of blocking the blocking devices themselves.
I merely applied it.”
Quiet pride seeped beneath his words.
“I completed a doctoral program in ultra-high-density data chipization at Iphnia University.
Neo-Aether technology had stagnated recently… it seemed an ideal place for employment.”
Hannis exhaled briefly.
“Then what is your objective here?”
Ron’s gaze shifted toward the depths of the museum—the Archive core.
“Within Consuüm, Anti-Emou phenomena are surfacing with increasing frequency.”
His tone was calm, but the words carried weight.
“The First Tuner issued two directives.
One is to investigate those movements.
The other is—”
A brief pause.
“To guide the Archive, from behind the scenes, toward our ultimate objective.”
Hannis’s brow twitched slightly.
“So now you claim the Anti-Quantum Law must take precedence.”
Silence followed.
For a time, Hannis could say nothing.
“…I see.
Things have advanced that far.”
He murmured as if speaking only to himself.
“Perhaps I underestimated your people’s resonant sensitivity.”
Ron shook his head.
“Even so, the First Tuner says this:
The Second Codex should remain merely auxiliary.”
Then he touched the core of the matter.
“That there exists an ability which surpasses resonance.”
Hannis responded at once.
“And what would that be?”
“Infallible intuition.”
The words fell heavily, quietly.
“…Infallible intuition?”
“It is said to be the very root of life itself.
And on rare occasions, it is born from the First Codex.”
A faint note of envy entered Ron’s voice.
“In this regard… we are inferior.
The heavens do not grant two gifts at once.”
Hannis closed his eyes.
Neither reason, nor resonance—
but something beyond them.
“…Then,”
he asked slowly,
“how do you intend to set the stage for this final objective?
Ron・Symfar. What is your strategy?”
Ron smiled softly.
Whether that smile heralded hope—
or the prologue to catastrophe—
Hannis could not yet discern.
To be continued.
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