June 9 - 20, 1901

For the next eight days, Remy focused on learning more about the properties of sunlight. He visited the library in Renche and read as many books as he possibly could on the topic. Taryn and Aoki helped as well. They examined the different properties of light such as wavelength, frequency, and colour. Nothing seemed to differentiate sunlight from other forms of light. Sunlight, being white light, possesses all of the other colours within it. The sun only looks red because it emits the most energy in that part of the light spectrum and because shorter wavelengths of light, such as blue, become deflected by the clouds and the atmosphere. Would simply mixing all colours of visible light be enough to be used as a weapon against the neerynds?

Remy did not think so. He searched harder until her found an obscure paper in a scientific journal detailing the discovery of ultraviolet light in sunlight. Ultraviolet light was of a much shorter wavelength and higher energy than visible light. Humans could not see ultraviolet. Neerynds could not either. Could this be the key to defeating the neerynds? Ultraviolet light?

"What do you think Remy?" asked Taryn.

"I think ultraviolet light is a promising answer as to why neerynds cannot survive sunlight," Remy replied. "All of the light we've been seeing appear to be visible light. Not to mention Garlan was burned when exposed to sunlight."

"Assuming that this is true, what about neerynds that have taken over the corpses of humans?" asked Aoki. "How might we deal with them?"

Remy thought about the answer to that question. The best means of offense would be to have a form of light that can penetrate into human skin and attack the neerynd inside. What about x-rays? Remy thought to himself. If neerynds were truly vulnerable to high energy light, then x–rays, which are even more energetic than ultraviolet light, would do much more damage. Furthermore, x–rays were able to penetrate to the interiors of the human body. It was worth trying out. The most difficult part now was to devise a weapon capable of using x–rays. 

"Do you know of anyone in Renche or Ultris who could devise an x–ray weapon?" Remy asked.

Taryn shook her head. Aoki also shook his head. "Fine. Then let's ask around," said Remy.

"Let's begin with the Academic Society of Sciences here in Renche. They might have some people," suggested Taryn.

Remy nodded in agreement. The trio exited the library and travelled to the eastern portion of the city. The stopped when they reached the snow–covered, white marble steps that led up to the double oaken doors of the Academic Society of Sciences. Taryn pushed the doors open and stepped inside. She arrived in a cavernous room filled with towering bookshelves and desks placed at regular intervals throughout the room. Her feet rested upon the luxurious red and gold carpet that adorned the floor. The roof was capped by a dome with windows adorning it to allow light into the building whenever the sun was out.

All around the room were dozens upon dozens of scientists reading books or performing little experiments at their desks. All of them seemed like promising candidates to help with the construction of their desired weaponry. "Let's split up and speak to as many people as possible," said Aoki.

They did so. Remy spoke to the people working at the desks. Aoki spoke to the scientists touring the bookshelves. Taryn headed deeper into the building to search for promising candidates. One minute passed and then another until they stretched into hours. No matter who they spoke to, few had knowledge of x–rays and fewer still had engineering experience in designing weapons. Taryn glanced up at the little clocks that lined the hallways of the building. They displayed 7:00. Hours had already passed since they began their search and they had found no one who looked like he or she might be able to aid them in the creation of this weapon. Taryn gave up and returned to the main room.

She was surprised to see Remy speaking to a Valtassian girl with long black hair and hazel eyes. They were speaking excitedly to each other. "Taryn!" shouted Remy as Taryn entered the room. "I would like you to meet Mira."

"Actually, that is a name given to me by my fellow scientists," Mira replied.

"Oh," said Taryn. "Then may I ask for your real name?"

"Unfortunately, I don't know myself," Mira replied. "I'm an amnesiac without knowledge of my own name."

"My apologies for asking," said Taryn.

"It's fine," insisted Mira. "I don't mind the name I was given by my fellow scientists."

"If you don't mind me asking Mira, do you know what might have caused your loss of memory?" asked Remy.

"I believe that it is a ...ship crash," stuttered Mira.

"A ship crash? If you don't mind me saying, that is a bizarre means of describing a boating accident," said Taryn. "Anyways, do you have experience designing means of creating high energy light, such as x–rays?"

"Of course," Mira replied. "It's my area of research. I'm currently thinking of trying to use x–rays in medicine. I believe that they may be used to detect diseases that give no outward symptoms."

"That's great to hear!" said Taryn.

"Would you mind joining us in our airship?" asked Remy.

"Certainly not," Mira replied.

"You two go ahead. I'll wait for Aoki," said Taryn.

She waited for another half hour after Remy and Mira left for the hangar. Occasionally, she would chat with a nearby scientist but otherwise kept to herself. After thirty minutes had passed, Aoki at last returned. He shook his head in disappointment. "Unfortunately, I didn't find anyone promising," he said.

"It's fine Aoki. Remy's found someone," said Taryn.

"That's great!" exclaimed Aoki.

"He's waiting for us back at the hangar. Let's run back," said Taryn.

Aoki nodded in agreement. The two dashed out of the building and leapt onto the nearest rooftop. They ran back to the hangar as fast as they could. Aoki's trench coat streamed behind him as did Taryn's half skirt. The wind rushed past their faces as sights of the buildings around them and the streets below flashed by.

They landed on the onyx grasses below as they arrived at the hangar. They stepped into the hangar and marched to Remy's airship. They entered the cockpit and took the staircase up into the hull. Remy had a little workshop in the hull of each of his airships. He would often make little inventions during aerial journeys across the country. He often didn't know which airship he would be piloting so he kept a workshop in every one of them.

Inside the workshop of this particular airship were rows of tools placed in locked cabinets that were anchored to the ground beside the walls. A little desk adorned one wall, which was also anchored to the ground. A chair with a seat framed in leather rested beside the table, which had pieces of metal and little tools arranged all over it. Remy was working at the desk. Beside him stood Mira.

Upon seeing Mira, Aoki froze. "Is something wrong Aoki?" asked Taryn.

"I don't believe it. It's..."

Aoki trailed off. Mira had turned her attention towards him and Taryn. She welcomed Taryn back and introduced herself to Aoki. She then said "it's nice to see a fellow Valtassian here in Luthadria. I've spent a year up north in a remote northern village following my ...ship crash and the huge city's a bit disorientating. I barely know anyone here, so it's nice to see someone from my homeland here!"

"Do you remember anything about your life prior to this 'ship' crash?" asked Aoki.

Taryn froze upon realizing the implications behind Aoki's question. Mira however, shook her head and said "besides the ...ship crash and waking up in a village in northern Luthadria, all I remember is that I was born in Valtassia and that I grew up there. Unfortunately, I don't remember anything more."

Aoki nodded slowly. He then left the workshop. Remy glanced at Aoki in surprise. Taryn followed Aoki out of the workshop and into the cockpit.

"That was your fiancé, Misaka, wasn't it?" asked Taryn.

"Yes," Aoki replied. "But she doesn't remember any of that! It's..."

"It's like you're losing part of yourself?" Taryn asked.

"Yes. After the death of my parents, she meant the world to me. I thought I lost her forever following her disappearance during the war and now that I've found her, she doesn't remember me. I just don't know what to do!" said Aoki.

"Then don't worry about it. Worry about the future, especially if neerynds do attack again. I doubt my uncle will stop with just one attack on Remy's father," said Taryn.

"Indeed," Aoki replied. "But still, it's... I just don't know what to say about this..."

He waited in silence as Remy and Misaka worked long into the night on a potential x–ray weapon to use against the neerynds. They worked hard the following day as well and into the day after. Finally, on twentieth of June, they revealed the weapon that would be used against the neerynds.

The weapon consisted of a backpack containing batteries that powered the machine. Wires emerged from the backpack and were attached to a modified rifle barrel. The very tip of the barrel resembled that of a torch but was even broader. A ring of smaller green lights surrounded the white circle that was to release the x–rays.

"What do you think about this?" Remy asked.

"Does it work?" asked Taryn.

"Of course. Why not summon a golem and let us try it?" suggested Remy.

Taryn transformed a nearby shadow into a small golem that resembled a murkhound in appearance. Remy pointed the gun at the creature and pressed the trigger. The green lights turned on, bathing the creature in a green glow. It quickly began burning from the invisible x–rays that were also striking it. In under thirty seconds, the creature had disappeared in a trail of black smoke just as Garlan's skin had burned back in the neerynd world.

"It's a truly magnificent design," said Taryn.

"And it wouldn't have been possible without Mira," said Remy.

"Misaka actually," Aoki said.

"You knew me from before the ...ship crash?" asked Misaka.

"Well, you could say that," Aoki replied.

"Would you tell me about myself?" she asked.

"Certainly if that is your wish," Aoki replied.

Remy and Taryn snuck out of the room to enable Aoki and Misaka time to speak in private. Once outside of the airship, Taryn leaned against the gondola's cedar hull. Remy said "I'm surprised that Aoki has managed to find his fiancé after so long."

"I know," Taryn replied. "It's nice to see some happiness after so many days of turmoil."

"Indeed."

"Remy?"

"Yes Taryn?"

"How difficult will your new weapons be to manufacture?"

"Fairly difficult. To make a really good x–ray anode, I'd require tungsten, which is quite rare in Luthadria, and I'm not sure how willing Valtassia would be in giving us some tungsten. After all, we've barely managed to reach a peace agreement. How likely is it that we'd be able to receive shipments of tungsten from there?"

"We could at least try! This is a great opportunity to bring our two empires closer together!"

"You're right."

"Don't worry. I'll speak to the king if you're frightened of speaking to him yourself."

"And miss out on a grand opportunity such as this? Not a chance!"

With that, Remy returned to the airship to retrieve his new invention and rode a steam carriage with Taryn towards the Embassy building. Once there, they took the elevator up to the conference room where the king currently resides. They knocked on the door after receiving permission to pass from the guards. Once inside, the presented their new invention to the king. The king was quite interested in the invention.

"How quickly do you think you'll be able to mass produce them?" he asked.

"There is a slight problem your highness," said Remy. "I'd require large amounts of tungsten for certain components of it. And so..."

"We're wondering if you could contact Valtassia and ask them to send shipments of tungsten to us," finished Taryn.

"A most excellent suggestion," said the king. "This is another opportunity for us to work together!"

Taryn was surprised at the king's elated voice. Less than a month ago, he was preparing to deliver a proclamation of war to Valtassia. Her surprise was short–lived and was quickly replaced by a feeling of joy. It was nice to see Luthadria and Valtassia finally at peace with each other after years of bloody warfare between the two.

The king contacted the emperor by telephone and requested shipments of tungsten to be made to Luthadria. The emperor agreed. He said that he'd send his fastest ships to deliver tungsten over to Luthadria to construct more of Remy's new weapons alongside five hundred skilled workers to help with the construction. Taryn's joy grew increasingly greater upon hearing the exchange between the king and the emperor. They seemed like they were old acquaintances rather than former enemies, an excellent sign of things to come. The king did not protest at the idea of sending tungsten by ship. The journey by airship to Valtassia and back would be about the same as a single voyage from Valtassia to Luthadria by a swift ocean vessel.

Upon speaking to the king, Taryn and Remy returned to the hangar to where Aoki and Misaka were awaiting them. Taryn asked "so, did you tell Misaka about you being her fiancé?"

"No," Aoki replied. "I didn't want to push such a thing onto her if she does not make the choice of her own free will."

"An excellent choice if I may say so," said Taryn.

"How was your exchange with the king?" asked Aoki.

"It couldn't have gone better!" Remy replied. "The king quickly phoned the emperor and the emperor was quick to agree to send Luthadria a shipment of tungsten alongside five hundred skilled workers to aid in the construction."

Upon hearing the news, Aoki was delighted. "It seems I just may be wrong about the inevitability of war after all."

June 23 - July 5, 1901

By the fifth of July, the Valtassian workers had assembled no fewer than two thousand x–ray rifles. They worked in a corner of a munitions factory in Renche where the parts required for the rifle were quickly fabricated and pieced together to form the desired weapon. The speed of their progress exceeded Remy's wildest expectations. George watched the scene unfolding beside his brother, also elated at the immense speed of the workers' progress. Taryn watched the progress as well with a mixture of both elation and dread.

"Is something wrong Taryn?" Remy asked.

"I was thinking that instead of creating weapons for war, we could seal the gateways between our worlds for all eternity," Taryn replied.

"Is that even possible? Father spent years of his life searching for the means of doing so and he failed, even with the gauntlet."

Remy glanced down at the gauntlet that now encompassed his left hand. It was a little large for him but wearing it felt quite comforting. He felt like a much more capable syndomancer when he wore it and it had a comforting presence to it. Taryn also looked at the gauntlet and nodded reluctantly.

"The biggest problem," she said, "is that BioUmbra tends to distribute itself evenly. Despite the thick BioUmbra here in Luthadria, the neerynd realm still has much more. BioUmbra would naturally flow into the human world should any gateways open."

"That is a grave problem," said Remy. "Going against the natural order of things."

"There has to be a way!" insisted Taryn.

"Well, we've gotten this far by going against the natural order of things," said Aoki, who had suddenly joined them. "We've gone against the natural tendency of humans to wage war with each other. Our two empires are now more unified than they have ever been since the war with the neerynds a century ago. If we've succeeded going against the natural order once, we can do it again with BioUmbra and the gateways!"

"Aoki. Thank you," said Taryn.

Taryn's joy was quickly cut short by the feeling of immensely thick BioUmbra in the air. Frightened, Taryn looked out of the window. She was frozen with horror at what she saw. Thousands upon thousands of golems swarmed the dark skies over Renche, their solid black bodies barely visible against the dark clouds. They dived down upon the people of Renche. The soldiers in the streets were frantically attempting to defend themselves and the civilians from attack. Many lost their lives, torn to shreds by the vicious beaks and ferocious talons of the fearsome golems.

"Remy! Aoki! We're under attack!" shouted Taryn.

She didn't need to say anymore. Aoki had already leapt out of a nearby window and Remy was rallying the workers to use the newly made x–ray rifles.