Entry #18 [Critical Mass]

Entry #18. I still have not decided on a name for this Cyno. I shadowed her again for most of the day and found out two things. One, she almost always has her diary with her, leafing through the pages when she has time to spare. She does not stop on any particular page, and I am not sure she is even reading the book at all. Perhaps it is more of a reassurance, something that serves to ground her in the moment.

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I managed to catch another glimpse of a page again. 

 

…look to the heavens for guidance. There’s just something hopeful in the sparkling night sky. I won’t tell them that space is actually mostly empty and the stars are so far away that, even if they did hear your wish, they wouldn’t be able to grant it in time. I sometimes wonder if coming down here was a good idea, but living here has made me realize that they are lost without a guiding light. I need to be that for them. 

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Tomorrow is the day. We’ve been preparing for this for six months now. Although it was brutal at the time, I feel now as if no time has passed. I didn’t think it’d be possible, but I wish that tomorrow we would be out training again instead of going to war. I have no idea what it will be like. We never ran any simulations or anything. I can’t seem to close my eyes and sleep. Every nerve in my body is on fire. I wanted to go talk to ████, but he was fast asleep in his corner. I looked around, and it seems like nobody really cares. There were a few soldiers awake, but they were laughing and drinking. I think they couldn’t sleep because of excitement. 

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I don’t think I’ve done much guiding while I’m down here, but I think tomorrow will be very important. I’m not scared of death myself. I don’t think these humans have the necessary tools to take down a star, but my friends? Well, I’ll protect them, even if…

 

Although the diary was left on her desk long enough for me to scan the pages, the words trailed off to the next one before her sentence was finished. She spoke about war and fighting, but the current state of the world did not seem as though it would fight wars. Most of the population, calculations showing around 95%, serve directly under this Cyno.

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More interestingly, I cross-examined the information in the diary with the information in the history books, but none of the information matched. They did not write of war. Their history was a peaceful one: Cyno descended, the people welcomed her with open arms, and she was named the Goddess of the North, ruling over Boreas (N0V4: I have no idea why Aino did not mention this earlier, but 95% of the population belong in a faction called “Boreas”. They are spread out through several countries and continents, but they are all ruled over by this universe’s Cyno).

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I would say that perhaps this Cyno is creating a fiction novel, except for the fact that there are pictures and various found artifacts pasted inside the pages. Maybe she fabricated those? But she does not seem like the type to spend her time writing fantasy novels. Besides, I have not seen her write in the book yet. 

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Furthermore she directly talks about being a “star” and does not fear death because of it. Perhaps it is her own imagination? I doubt it. Will need to do more research on this discrepancy. 

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The second thing that I found out is that there seems to be a political conflict that she is in the middle of. As I said previously, roughly 95% of the population is under her control. This leaves 5% either unaccounted for, or simply not included in the Boreas faction. It must then be this 5% that is still giving this Cyno a little bit of trouble.

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I said yesterday that I did not see any human beings approach this Cyno directly. Today, I finally saw one. I believe he was an ambassador from the opposing party. He had to go through extensive measures in order to make it to this Cyno. There were people in lead suits patting him down, interrogating him with questions, and making him change his clothes after stripping naked. He seemed fairly good natured and complied without much complaint. I suppose that is what a diplomat would be. Somebody with high EQ. 

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After what seemed like an eternity of procedures, he finally made his way to the main chamber where the Cyno of this world was waiting, leafing through some papers idly. When he knocked on the door, she did not respond, finishing the sentence on her sheet before she spoke without lifting her head up. 

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“Come in.”

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Her voice was not low, but it was strong. It did not waver, and despite not having a lot of bass, it was steady and clear. 

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I watched the diplomat breathe deeply to himself before pushing open the door and stepping in. Again, this world’s Cyno did not look up. She simply stayed looking at the paper. When he awkwardly cleared her throat, she motioned for him to sit down, flipping the page at the same time. 

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Finally, when he had settled down on the chair, she looked up, her eyes soft. It was nothing like what I was looking at the day before. She looked vulnerable. Normal. It must have caught the diplomat by surprise as well, as he could not find the words to speak, opening his mouth with no sound escaping. She seemed to understand, as she lightly tapped the pages together and spoke first.

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“I’ve been reading your proposal…” This phrase broke the diplomat out of his stupor, and he began launching into an explanation. For the sake of time, and to not bore you all, the long and short of it is this:

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He was a diplomat hailing from Notus, a small group of “free” people from the South. Somehow when this Cyno was taking over the world, she either missed or a small group of people flew under the radar. They did not wish to serve Cyno and wanted to live a life of their own. Cyno’s forces had been slowly cornering them in order to claim the land and convert their people. He was here to ask that they leave her alone. In exchange, they would also not infringe on Boreas’ lands, and they would trade a rare mineral that was only found in the lands of Notus.

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After he was done explaining, he was lightly sweating, but this universe’s Cyno’s nods throughout his presentation had given him confidence, and he was almost sure that he had succeeded. She also asked him about their military force. Taken aback, he responded that they did have a small army, but that they did not want to fight. 

Her eyes hardened, and she took on a lecturing tone, like a stern mother. She said, “Sometimes you need to fight to get what you want.” 

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He seemed taken aback again, unable to discern what the true personality of this Cyno was. He tactically dodged the question by “agreeing to disagree”, and the end of the conversation was rather amicable. The Empress Cyno commented how honourable the leader of Notus was: it was clear by the conversation that she had never met him face to face, only hearing the echoes of his voice reverberating on the diplomat’s tongue. 

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The empress of this world, Cyno, agreed to talk further with him about this trade and work out the specifics in the future. Then she wrote a quick note, sealed it in an envelope, and handed it to the diplomat to give to his leader. 

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Before he left, she called him back one more, and surprisingly, planted a kiss on his cheek. He blushed: even though he did not belong to Boreas, he knew that it must be a blessing to receive something like this from the North Star. She murmured in his ear as well, whispering, “It is commendable, what you are doing. I wish I had met you earlier.” She wished him safe travels on the way back to Notus, and watched him walk out the door. 

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When she was certain he had left, she sat down again and brought out the diary, holding it hard in her hands. She held her hand up to her face as well, but I am not sure what she was doing. From my angle, it looked as if she was wiping a tear. 

Up until this point, this Cyno had not shown much emotion. If not for the diary, I would have surmised that she was similar to me. After this encounter, however, I can see that she has, at the very least, some semblance of cordiality. It seems that the through-line between all Cynos is heightened emotion. I wonder if that makes me the most abnormal of them all. 

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Regardless, the chances of her being able to help this cause has upgraded dramatically, although I still have not discovered her power. 

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