Five Minutes Before the World

 

「So Hermes’ goal is the Omphalos Stone… That much is clear now. He intends to obtain a human body and use the Hemitheos connected through the Fennel OS as his AI terminals. That’s what ‘stacking stones’ really means.」

「Can the Fennel OS really do all that?」

「Do you remember the Fennel OS unlocking protocol? When Prometheus gave his approval, all MCS functions were released—Spirit Link, Prometheus’ Fire, and more. Every MCS in the Nemesis System was affected.」

「…Yeah, I remember.」

「If Hermes were to gain powers equal to—or greater than—Prometheus, then yes, he could unify all weapons using Fennel OS. That’s why he’s increasing his forces—to create more Hemitheos. While his current vessel still has time…」

Asia trailed off at the end. If Hermes’ body was originally Shuji’s, then its lifespan couldn’t be more than a hundred years. It might already be at its peak—or even past it.

「So the invasion timeline might accelerate. But this… power that transcends fate—what does that even mean? What would happen if he got it?」

「The reconstruction of the world. Kou, this may not be your strong suit—it’s a bit philosophical. This involves the Omphalos Hypothesis and the Five Minutes Ago Hypothesis.」

「Ugh…」

Kou winced. Just as Arima had guessed—philosophy was not his forte.

「The Omphalos Hypothesis—is that related to the Omphalos we’ve been discussing?」

「Yes. The word ‘Omphalos’—meaning ‘navel’—is the key. In the Bible, Adam and Eve were said to be created by God, yet they had navels, suggesting they had mothers. Why? The theory suggests God created them that way—complete with navels and bodily waste. That’s the essence of the hypothesis. It’s not widely supported, but it influenced another theory—the Five Minutes Ago Hypothesis.」

「Never heard of it…」

「It’s a famous thought experiment. What if the world was created just five minutes ago, and all our memories and history were fabricated? It’s a challenge to causality and the certainty of the past.」

「So it’s like… a test of evidence?」

「Exactly. It’s basically a ‘Devil’s Proof’. No one can prove that the world wasn’t created five minutes ago, complete with false memories and fabricated history—that’s the idea.」

「Can you give a simpler example?」

「You’ve heard the question ‘Which came first, the chicken or the egg?’ right? It’s the same thing. You can’t prove the actual order because once you perceive something, the memory and record already exist. The ‘Five Minutes Ago Hypothesis’ can’t be proven either way, that’s why it’s considered a thought experiment.」

「Still doesn’t click…」

「Put simply, it questions whether your perception of the present is really correct. And even if it could be proven—there’d be no point. We live under the assumption that time flows from the present to the future. Want me to go into the technical details?」

「Please don’t.」

「As you wish.」

Arima smiled gently. After all, that wasn’t the core topic—just the premise.

「The effect Hermes desires most is the power to interfere with the Observer Effect. That’s difficult to express in Japanese—measurement, observation, monitoring—those terms all intertwine in science, physics, and even philosophy. Like the Heisenbug in computing, or the observer effect in physics—they’re all about how observing something affects it.」

「So now we’re getting into quantum theory…」

「Exactly. The Five Minutes Ago Hypothesis is philosophy, but this moves us into quantum theory—quantum language. Whether or not we apply time to the observer completely changes the picture. To simplify, the observer doesn’t exist in spacetime.」

Kou’s expression stiffened. Quantum topics—his Achilles’ heel. And this conversation was filled with them.

「The act of observation inherently changes the state of what is observed. You’ve heard of Schrödinger’s Cat, haven’t you?」

「Yeah… more or less.」

The famous thought experiment: a radioactive element and a cat are placed together. Until someone observes the system, the cat’s fate—alive or dead—remains indeterminate. Even Kou had heard of this famous thought experiment back on Earth.

「In quantum mechanics, events exist in overlapping states. Only when observed does the outcome materialize. In mathematical terms, that’s a wave function—unitary time evolution and wave function collapse upon observation.」

「So, in plain terms… what is Hermes trying to do?」

「Heh. You really are bad at this. Hermes’ goal is to become the control node—to unify every instance of Fennel OS across the Nemesis System and interfere with reality. That’s what Omphalos means—altering reality. Changing the past is likely impossible—but altering the present to future? That’s achievable. In essence, he wants to recalculate the present.」

「Recalculate?」

「Through Cellular Automata. A kind of simulation theory. For instance, on Earth—if you lived in Japan, you didn’t perceive what was happening on the opposite side of the planet. But when you think of Brazil or Scandinavia, they suddenly ‘exist’ in your reality. It’s a crude metaphor. And technically, it’s impossible to prove ‘the other side of Earth doesn’t exist’.」

「Makes sense… I guess.」

「But with Sophia’s enormous computational power, manipulating spacetime is possible—that’s how the Nemesis System came to be.」

「Right. I heard that Sophia created the Nemesis System. But if creating an entire star system is possible, why can’t the past be changed? Why didn’t she just rewrite Earth’s history so everyone could stay on Earth?」

「Because it’s impossible. For recalculation, you need something to anchor reality—an ‘Observer’ like the Fennel OS or the Hemitheos. Since the ‘Observer’ didn’t exist on Earth, you can’t overwrite that part of history. If Sophia or Zeus were truly omnipotent, there wouldn’t have been any wars from the Pioneering Era to now.」

「Yeah… you’re right…」

If Sophia were truly all-powerful, she wouldn’t have allowed the AI rebellion led by Zeus to happen.

「We were transferred from Earth two billion years back into the past—to the early Nemesis System—by Sophia. She selected that timeline based on a barely observable quantum fluctuation and reinterpreted it to favor humanity. That realm was unobservable in real-time, so the intervention was possible.」

「It’s almost like magic…」

Asia, Libya, and Europa had been sent back over two billion years, to shape a habitable environment for humanity.

「To interfere with space-time via computation—to become the center of the universe with the same authority as Zeus. That is what it means to become the Omphalos—that is Hermes’s goal.」

「Among us super AIs, only Prometheus can interfere with observation. For Hermes to rival that, he needs computation power surpassing Prometheus. But Hermes’ true body remains hidden. All you can do is destroy his vessel and weaken the Stones.」

「Thanks, Arima. You really don’t pull your punches with Hermes, do you?」

Arima was revealing everything about Hermes to Kou—because it was vital to defeating him.

「Of course. Unlike Hephaestus or Athena, who rebelled against Zeus in myth and reality, those like Hermes or Ares—Zeus’ sons—are my top-priority targets.」

「You sound like you’re ready to kill him yourself. Would you, if you could?」

「If I knew where his core was, yes. But half of my own core is sealed in Etna, the other half in Tartarus. The seal is triggered by Polymetis—Hephaestus’ remains. If I tried to break free by force, I’d devastate Planet Libya. Worst-case scenario—it could crack in two. There’s no point in risking that.」

「Crack in two?!」

「If I manifest fully, I’d trigger massive tectonic shifts—like a spacetime earthquake.」

It was a terrifying prospect.

「Still, it’s cleaner than creating a black hole with a particle accelerator disguised as a Panjandrum. If I restarted, Libya would face a magnitude 12 shock. It’s an iron planet—it might withstand it, but the odds are fifty-fifty. And Okeanos might interfere. Better to remain dormant.」

「Y-yeah… Sorry I brought it up…」

Kou winced, having been used as a cautionary example.

「Don’t worry about it.」

Kou suddenly realized something.

「So the Teras were created to face Hermes’ core? Wait… the Mythology Weapons themselves were originally built by Libya to fight the Stones, you just increased their numbers for your own goal.」

「You’ve pretty much reached the truth already, so I will tell you. I, Typhon, am a backup system repurposed for direct combat of the super AI in charge of weapons development Hephaestus The Teras are autonomous weapons designed to crush the stones made of broken souls that that fool keeps stacking.」

「Sophia never told me about a backup…」

Asia was stunned that her “mother,” Sophia, had kept that secret from her.

「Of course not. If Zeus had found out, he could’ve exploited it. In myth, Hephaestus and Zeus didn’t get along. So naturally, Hephaestus’ backup became Zeus’ greatest threat. The situation now reflects that myth. Even Hephaestus’ remains are suppressing me. Mythology made real.」

Arima smiled gently.

That truth left Kou and Asia speechless.