Until today, the image of Dream Weaver in Agnes Tachyon's mind had always been that of an Uma Musume who transcended time and shattered curses.
"How on earth did it end up like this?"
Tachyon massaged her temples and shook her head. The sheer volume of information hitting her in such a short span had left her mind in a chaotic whirl, unsure of what to even say.
"Anyway, the situation is what it is. You can take your time processing it."
"It was hard to speak freely with Manhattan Cafe around, but now I need to help you reclaim that wealth of knowledge you accumulated from the other world."
Seeing that Tachyon looked ready to spiral into overthinking for the rest of the day, Dream Weaver didn't wait any longer. She grabbed the edge of Tachyon's white lab coat sleeve and started marching forward.
"Reclaim it? How is that even possible? I mean, the very idea of inheriting memories from another world is already beyond belief!"
"None of that matters. I just want to ask one thing—is Dr. Light's lab the same as it was in that world?"
"It is, yes... but why bring her up all of a sudden?"
Dream Weaver didn't offer an answer. Instead, she pulled a bewildered Tachyon toward the end of the hallway.
As they drew closer to the club room, the mechanical hum emanating from within became increasingly pronounced.
By the time they reached the door, the vibrations through the wall made it clear that some massive project was underway inside.
"Dr. Light's acoustic foam is as useless as ever, I see," Tachyon remarked instinctively, her brain still functioning on autopilot amidst the confusion.
"She hasn't even installed it yet. In the future, she only puts it up because of all the noise complaints."
"Honestly, I don't think there's any difference in the noise levels before or after she installs it," Dream Weaver quipped, reaching out to grip the doorknob.
Tachyon dazed for a split second. This was exactly how they had met in the other world. Back then, they had finished talking in her own room and headed straight to find Sugar Lights in this exact manner.
Even the racket leaking through the door was identical. It was as if a scene from the past was being reenacted frame by frame.
As the dream merged with reality, Tachyon felt a sudden, inexplicable pang of nostalgia.
But before she could dive deeper into her feelings, a voice from beside her snapped her back to the present.
"Dr. Lights, we're looking for..."
Dream Weaver's sentence cut off halfway. She stared at the crude mechanical Uma Musume crouching behind a wheelchair, busy with some welding, and her lip twitched.
The completion level of this mechanical Uma Musume was significantly lower than the one Dream Weaver had first seen. It was essentially a pile of mobile scrap metal; even the facial features were just crude lines drawn on with a permanent marker.
And as Dream Weaver recalled, the movement of the mechanical Uma Musume relied on Dr. Sugar Lights projecting her consciousness into it, didn't it? Did Sugar Lights even know how to weld?
Hearing the commotion, the mechanical Uma Musume turned its head. This time, its eyes weren't glowing green vertical slits, but a single monitor lens embedded in its forehead.
Upon spotting Tachyon and Dream Weaver, the machine clearly froze for a moment. Then, it lurched up from behind the wheelchair and began clanking toward them.
Its gait was far clumsier than the one Dream Weaver remembered—and naturally, much heavier. Every step sent a dull thud echoing through the room.
Just as Dream Weaver was hesitating on how to strike up a conversation, a chaotic grinding of gears erupted from within the machine. Its already awkward movements seized up instantly, and within seconds, it toppled over flat on its face.
Thud.
"I feel like I've seen this play out before..." Dream Weaver muttered, crouching down to poke the mechanical Uma Musume's head with a sigh.
"Balance system still not calibrated?"
"I thought having the experience would make it faster, but I didn't expect it to be this much of a pain," a voice replied.
Sugar Lights, having returned her consciousness to her physical body, rolled her wheelchair over to the fallen machine. She rubbed her chin thoughtfully.
"Wait, what were you trying to weld onto the wheelchair? And since when did you learn how to do that?"
"Welding? I just picked up a few textbooks and learned as I went. It's not like I'm doing anything complex; I was just adding a footboard to the back of the chair."
Coming back to her senses, Tachyon leaned over Sugar's shoulder to inspect the half-finished footboard, a pensive look crossing her face.
"Don't tell me you're planning on going for another 'speed run'? I mean, I'm all for it, but can the current power system really carry all three of us? Especially since the mechanical Uma Musume is still... well, like that."
"One step at a time. At least I have a general blueprint in my head now, so replicating it won't be as hard as starting from scratch."
Sinking into her research persona, Sugar Lights chatted away while gesturing for the other two to help her prop up the mechanical Uma Musume.
She then rolled her wheelchair over to grab a laptop, plugged in a data cable, and began running diagnostics.
It was just like old times.
Suddenly, Sugar Lights' fingers hovered motionless over the keyboard. She sensed something was off, though she couldn't quite put her finger on it.
Everything was the same as before—she did her research, while Dream Weaver and Tachyon dropped by to help out. On the surface, nothing was wrong.
However, the fact that everything seemed "fine" was exactly the problem.
Sugar Lights' head snapped up as she shouted at the two of them.
"Wait a minute! Wasn't that all just a dream?!"
"You've already started welding the footboard, so let's stop lying to ourselves, shall we?" Dream Weaver replied with a light chuckle and a shake of her head.
She had assumed Sugar was just exceptionally good at adapting; turns out the girl just had a delayed reaction.
"Eh? But that's not right! That can't be right! Why can Dream and Tachyon understand what I'm talking about? What is going on?!"
"We're all speaking Japanese, of course we can understand you," Tachyon said, reaching out to pinch Sugar's cheek from behind.
"But this is unscientific!"
"The person who invented a virtual diving device and a mechanical Uma Musume is lecturing me on science? Your very existence is already pretty far-fetched."
"My inventions are backed by solid theoretical frameworks! There is no theory that explains three people sharing the exact same dream!"
"Then let's just leave it to the Three Goddesses."
Dream Weaver steadied Sugar's trembling shoulders with one hand and pointed casually toward the statue of the Three Goddesses within Tracen Academy with the other.
"Isn't it a bit lazy to just dump everything we can't explain onto the Three Goddesses...?"
"Actually, I'm inclined to agree."
The fan of mechanical ascension and the devotee of genetic evolution clearly weren't buying the theological explanation. But Dream Weaver had no intention of exerting the massive effort required to explain what the "System" was.
Truth be told, she didn't fully understand it herself.
She simply patted both of them on the shoulders and said with a look of unwavering conviction:
"It's fine. Just blame the Three Goddesses for everything!"
"I'm sure they won't mind. Probably."
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.