Chapter 61: Anomaly

They opt to dine in the basement of his secure hideout, where a makeshift table is set up in the center of the room. To the left, illuminated by dim overhead lights, sits Minoru's meticulously armored Porsche 911, primed. On the opposite side of the chamber, against the concrete wall, an array of weaponry is meticulously arranged, ranging from sleek handguns to imposing rifles.

"Thank you, Amelia," Rachel said.

Minoru looked sharply at the maid as she placed the food on the table.

"Don't give her that look. Remember Amelia? She's trustworthy. While her cooking is good, I do miss yours. But we have important matters to discuss."

"If something is lacking, please tell me, Master Moriarty," Amelia said with a bow.

Minoru took the knife and fork and began eating the steak before him.

"So, what is it? You didn't come all the way to Tokyo just for dinner, did you?"

Over the past year since they met, Rachel has proven to be his most trusted ally, having once saved his life too. She handles everything related to the companies he and Eileen built years ago. Putting aside her managerial duties, Rachel also assists him in crafting his tools, and since Minoru couldn't risk going to a public hospital, somehow she has been caring for his wounds, which has proven more effective than him doing it alone.

To him, Rachel is the most valuable person, whether for work or personal matters, and he has come to see her as a maternal figure in this world. That's why her life is of utmost importance to him.

Then, if Rachel has come to Tokyo, it must be for something significant that she couldn't tell via email. 

"Get straight to the point as always," Rachel said as she cut the meat. "So, why did you suddenly become a teacher?"

"Work," Minoru replied shortly.

"Hmm... so it's something I shouldn't know. That's fine. I'm here for something equally important," Rachel continued as Amelia placed blank sheets beside Minoru. "Have you finished the formula?"

Minoru took the sheet and began writing. "So, this is about the Mars mission?"

"Yes," Rachel confirmed, looking at him. "Eileen wants to move the schedule forward."

Minoru frowned as he kept writing. As he finished, he said, "Rushing things could lead to failure. Why, though?" he asked, handing the sheets to Rachel.

Rachel smiled as she read Minoru's formula for traveling to and from Mars.

"Fascinating as always, Professor. Put that aside for now. I can tell you that we will, in fact, be ready to send people to Mars in the next 18 months. But something has happened..."

Rachel said as Amelia handed Minoru an iPad. He took it, and Rachel continued, "Our satellite has detected a gravitational anomaly, disrupting space and time that appear on the surface of Mars."

"What?" Minoru widened his eyes as he read the information. "A wormhole..." He chuckled. "A wormhole is not a natural occurrence and is mostly unstable. It is highly improbable for one to appear on a planet. As... it could potentially cause catastrophic disruptions to the planet itself."

Rachel took a sip from her glass. "Precisely. Someone might have placed it there, and they would be more advanced than us."

Minoru raised his brow. "They?" He looked at her.

Rachel nod, "The wormhole appears stable and hasn't caused any major disruptions on Mars. We also detected something that makes the wormhole stable and prevents it from disrupting the planet. Ha... we've never encountered anything like this before. My team just called it something akin to the 'God Particle,' but I prefer to call it... magic."

Minoru paused for a moment, visibly speechless.

"Magic?" He looked at the screen, then back at her. "Is this what I think popped out of fiction?"

Rachel nodded. "I'm afraid I have to agree with that. But the 'Gate,' as Eileen called it, closed shortly after 10 minutes, and we can't tell what it leads to since our tools can't see beyond it. Probably... the magic is preventing us, or we're not there yet."

"So, what can I learn from this... Eileen wants to harness this discovery. Given what I know about her and how she thinks..." Minoru frowned, "she wants to get this magic rather than what lies behind the gate?"

Rachel nodded. "She wants to 'learn'... about the magic as quickly as possible. It's a particle that breaks the laws of physics with god-like power after all. Eileen can't afford to miss out on such an opportunity, and..." Rachel glanced at Minoru, "Thanks to you, you've given her a way to travel from here to Mars."

"The f—" Minoru sighed as he pondered the world he had reincarnated into.

After 17 years since his rebirth, he had thought this world was simple. But now, with the appearance of magic and the possibility of this wormhole being a 'gate' leading to a dangerous and more advanced civilization, the world was about to change once again. And if humanity could harness this magic, it would lead to a different scale of conflict and war.

Dad... I think this is the work of ghosts.

Why do you say that?

Look! My Lego is broken because of the books. Our bookshelves were definitely possessed by evil ghosts!

There's no such thing, Ruby. How's your brother's job? Did he find any evidence?

I don't know, Dad. Just ask him, hup! I'll go to find him.

"Ghost..." He suddenly remembered his conversation with his daughter and recalled every detail of how cute she was when she was angry. And recently, Ai had experienced something about body-switching, and Aqua still...

"Ahem!" Rachel's cough snapped him back to reality. "James... this discovery is certainly something I fear as well. Other countries will undoubtedly take notice. However, in this race, we're far ahead by a large margin. So, Eileen's suggestion to move the schedule forward is reasonable and we have nothing to lose here. But there's a significant problem."

With a gesture from Rachel, Amelia placed another sheet in front of him. Glancing at it, he noticed a list of names, with his own at the top.

"The team we've assembled isn't ready, so the pilot..." Rachel said, interlocking her fingers.

"But we have you, Professor Moriarty. While we've never left our simulator, you are the best pilot with a wealth of experience in this field. And..."

Rachel taps the file in front of her, peering at him expectantly.

"This entire project is your brainchild and design. Therefore, I want you to join me and lead us on this mission."

Rachel finished her plea with hope in her voice, gazing into his eyes, willing him to agree.

"Hm..." Maintaining his poker face, Minoru responded without hesitation, "I refuse."

"Whaa—" At that moment, Rachel's smile faltered and twitched like fucking crazy.

---

A/N:

So, I've made a big change in the story by throwing Magic.

But don't worry, it's not going to be like giving someone an overpowered ability like Sharingan or anything, Lol. I'm going to make sure it all makes sense and fits with the plot we've got going and where it's headed till the end.

I chopped up this chapter because they were getting way too long, but I'll drop the next part tomorrow! So, stay tuned! I'm curious to know what you think about this, so drop a comment.

Ahem, stones!