The Rising Of The Anomaly - Chapter 149

Should I really undo this? Do I even need to? Conflicting thoughts bounced around my head, as Director Silva sent out X-Warriors to find the one suspect we’d narrowed the list down to and bring him here. Sofia had gone as well, so it was just the Director and I in the office.

She was busy reacting to reports and issuing orders, while I was trying to figure out what I should do here. If I go back in time and prevent the explosion, the damage to the building will never happen, and all injuries will be undone as well…but as always, the deaths will stick.

And a part of me couldn’t help but feel responsible for this…none of this would have happened if I hadn’t carelessly experimented with my upgraded time travel powers.

But then, what if I go back in time, only for things to turn out even worse? What if more bodies pile up? I have no problem with killing, but I don’t like it when people end up in vegetative states after I go back in time, and that’ll definitely happen if I go back now.

“You look like something’s on your mind, Kilzachs,” Remarked Director Silva.

“Yeah, that’s putting it lightly…hey, hypothetically speaking, if you could undo a tragedy but doing so wouldn’t bring back any of the dead, would you still do it?” I inquired with a sigh.

“What-…wait, do you mean that when people suddenly end up in those strange comas-!?” She responded in surprise.

Damn, she’s sharp.

“…you did hear me say ‘hypothetically’, right?” I replied with a raised eyebrow…it may not matter since I’m probably going to go back in time, but I still want to be certain before telling her without being all vague and ‘hypothetical’.

“Well, yeah, but most of the time when people randomly bring up an overly specific hypothetical scenarios, they aren’t hypothetical at all,” She responded slyly.

“Fair enough.”

“I’ll answer your question anyway, let’s see…you said undoing the tragedy wouldn’t bring back the dead, but what about those with severe injuries?” She inquired.

“So long as they aren’t dead, they’ll be as good as n-…or rather, they’ll be as good as they were before the tragedy. As for the dead, their bodies will be restored, but there would be nothing on the inside,” I explained in reply.

“Well…that explains it, now I see. And yes, if I could undo a tragedy with those rules, I definitely would. Even if it won’t save everyone, it’s better than not saving anyone,” She answered firmly.

“Even if that might potentially put other people in danger, people that weren’t affected at all the first time around?” I inquired pointedly.

She was silent for a moment as she mulled it over, before meeting my gaze and replying…

“Even then, yeah, I think I would.”

“I see…well, alright, then. I’ve made up my mind. So, yeah, like I said before, I can go back in time, but doing so won’t bring the dead back to life. But I still plan to go back…and since that’s the case, it doesn’t matter if you know,” I responded with a slight smirk, as I decided that I would go back to before the explosion, after interrogating the suspect.

“Oh…so, uh, when that happens, will you suddenly disappear and no longer exist here, or…how does that work?” She inquired with a look of intrigue.

Well, like I said, it doesn’t matter what she knows, since I’m going back.

“Actually, I’m not a hundred percent sure, but I don’t think that’s the case…if I was creating a new timeline or parallel world or whatever each time I go back, then the dead would probably come back to life instead of turning into veggies,” I pointed out.

“You probably shouldn’t call them that,” She replied with a wry smile.

“Yeah, sorry, I’m shutting my filter off since I’m going to undo all this anyway,” I responded bluntly.

“I have to say, this ability of yours is quite terrifying,” She smiled warily.

“Well, yeah, why do you think I’ve kept it to myself all this time?” I pointed out.

“Fair enough, I suppose. Oh, it looks like they’ve apprehended the suspect, they’ll be here in a couple of minutes,” She informed me, as she received a message on her I-Watch.

“That so? Then we should be getting some answers soon…”

…

Just like Director Silva said, the X-Warriors arrived within a few minutes, along with a young man, who looked eerily calm. No, calm wasn’t the right word, it was more like he was…satisfied. Satisfied to the extent that he doesn’t care about what happens next.

“Good work, where did you find him?” Inquired Director Silva.

“Well, we were heading to his residence, and we spotted him on the way there, coming from the direction of the Academy,” Explained one of the X-Warriors.

“You know, I didn’t resist or anything, so I don’t know why I’m all restrained and being treated so roughly,” Remarked the suspect in a mockingly innocent tone. His name was Grey Cintor, and he was the son of one of the members of the bomb manufacturing team.

He had short, straight black hair, black eyes and a freckled face, with a slender yet strong build and was around average height. He was also a Level J student at the Academy, currently at the top of his class…though even if he wasn’t, now that the rest of his classmates were dead, he was top by default.

“Okay, good work. We’ll take it from here, I want you all to go and assist with the rescue efforts at the Academy,” Instructed Director Silva.

We then took Grey down to the underground facility, the X-Warriors leaving upon the director’s command. Once we were in the underground facility, we went further down, to the area where we’d been holding Ze-Ro, before Aku snuck in and killed him.

Grey was being surprisingly cooperative, it was a little unsettling…if he was innocent, he’d probably be bewildered and panicked by all this, so the fact that he’s so calm is basically proof that he’s guilty. Director Silva then gestured to him to sit on a metal chair, one with thick straps on it.

“Do I have to? I mean, it’s not like I’m gonna run away or anything, there’s no point in the face of someone who can literally freeze time,” He pointed out with a shrug.

“It doesn’t matter. Sit,” She responded coldly.

“Sheesh, fine, fine…so, like, what’s this all about, anyway?” He inquired innocently, as he sat down as the straps automatically tightened around his limbs and torso.

“You already know what it’s about…tell me, why blow up a classroom?” I inquired, getting straight to the point.

“Oh, wow, that’s an awfully serious accusation without any proof,” He responded with a tilt of his head.

“Yeah, I don’t care, there’s enough proof for me. Answer my question…why’d you do it?” I pressed him, undeterred.

“I literally have no idea what you’re talking about,” He replied with a smug smirk.

“Let me guess, you had bad relationships with your classmates, and having had enough, decided to kill them. And the third session of the day for the current Level J class is theory class, which means that all your classmates would’ve been in the classroom at the time. Must have been the perfect opportunity, am I right?” I continued to press him, narrowing my eyes.

“Like I said, I have no idea what you’re-.”

“As for the bomb, you got your hands on it thanks to your mother, who’s authorized to access the underground facility,” I continued, interrupting him.

“Does she, now? I had no clue,” He responded with a smile.

“First, you used that authority to tamper with the security cameras, then used rubber gloves or something to keep her I-Watch from automatically shutting off, taking advantage of that loophole in the I-Watch security system,” I persisted, ignoring him.

“Oh, I didn’t know th-,” He began to play dumb again.

“The specifics of how you carried this all out can only be speculated for the most part, but there’s no doubt about the processes themselves…you tampered with the security camera feeds, infiltrated the underground facility, entered the area where the bombs are being manufactured, and then left after nabbing a bomb for yourself. That was the first part of your plan,” I surmised, watching him closely.

“Man, this is wild, I can’t believe I’m being interrogated by a celebrity,” He remarked in a carefree tone.

“And next, for the second part of your plan, you planted the bomb in the Level J classroom, during the lunch break at the latest, but it’s possible that it was planted before then. And then, you waited a few minutes after the lunch break, allowing all your classmates to return to the classroom, before then triggering the explosion…am I wrong?” I inquired in a cold tone, continuing to ignore his attempts at playing dumb.

This time, he was silent, as the mockingly innocent smile on his face slowly twisted into a wide smirk…

“Well, now, I didn’t think anyone would figure all that so quickly or so easily…heh, wow, you were pretty much spot on with all of that, nice, I’m seriously impressed. Alright, then…guess I’ll answer your questions,” He responded with a snicker…

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