Void Genius

"Testing, testing..." A person on top of a stage began tapping his mic, causing vibrations in the room. As he saw it work, he began speaking earnestly with a smile.

"Hello, hello! Let me introduce myself to all the people here who don't know me already. I am Arata Hiroyuki, an inventor, innovationist, and philanthropist. Strange name, I know, really, especially considering my looks as I don't look like I'm Asian." He spoke with a cheeky smile as he moved closer to the crowd.

"Despite that, I am indeed Asian, and if you look really closely you'll see my Asian features. I was born in the US but raised in Japan. My mother is an American, and my father is Japanese. But enough about those two. I am here to present..."

The man, now known as Arata Hiroyuki, went to show off his newest invention—the first real flying car. An idea many dreamed of and tried to replicate but have failed. It is now a reality created by the genius of Arata Hiroyuki. He had managed to make the flying car work and plans to show it soon.

Despite being only 27, his genius shines and ever since high school, he thought of making the idea of a flying car into reality. A child genius he was and when he graduated from High School in 2025, he was at the top of his year. He graduated from MIT in 2029 and was in the top 10 of his year at MIT. It was obvious that he'd be a target of envy due to being so young with a history of accolades.

Due to being young and having such grand achievements, he was a target of envy.

He was shown to be incredibly smart and make innovations related to the automotive industry. A private pilot and an expert in aviation as it has a direct relationship with how a flying car would work. Soon, the speech ended, and he brought attention to the car floating toward him.

Gasps and many shocked expressions filled the room, the car hovered like anyone could imagine it would in real life. Soon, another person walked up and entered the car, the person was introduced as a test driver. The test driver drove it for a mile and a half once outside and it was a bit before it clicked that a flying car was real.

The clapping began after and many praised for how revolutionary it was. Despite this, some realized that this would destroy their businesses and decided to prevent and steal the technology. The envy in their eyes sparked and soured more as the show went on.

He was already a target of envy, and this only fueled it even more. It wasn't until a few years later that this became mainstream and the norm for all. Once it became mainstream, in a year, they made record-breaking profits. He became a billionaire that same year.

You might ask, do accidents still happen, even with these flying cars? They do, more frequently but less dangerous. Although, as with anything possibly dangerous, they can be incredibly fatal. That is what happened to the creator of the flying car, Arata Hiroyuki. At the age of 47, he got into an accident which cost him his life.

Many mourned his death but couldn't deny the irony of it. The world mourned the death of a genius who came around every few centuries. He was the genius of his generation, and he was kind-hearted as well. In his lifetime, he donated 30% of his total lifetime wealth to places in poverty.

...

The day was rainy and stormy and was the day of Arata Hiroyuki's funeral. It seemed like the Earth itself mourned for the loss of Arata Hiroyuki. A close friend of his, who was also a priest, was doing an eulogy. His wife and two kids were there, grieving his death. It was most terrible for his wife; she had been there with him since High School.

"In honor of Arata Hiroyuki, as one of his closest friends, I am honored to be here to deliver his eulogy. Today, we are gathered to mourn the tragic death of Arata Hiroyuki." His tone was a somber one as he began reminiscing his friend's life.

"His unparalleled genius manage to bring what we thought impossible into reality. Tragically, due to a misuse of his creation, he died of it. He was driving home after a meeting, right after the man crashed into Arata, an immediate death for him. He was..."

The close friend continued with his eulogy of Arata. As he neared the closing statement, people gave their final goodbyes. Once the majority left, the burial process began. After that was done, only his wife and two kids were left. Saying their goodbyes, his two kids left, and not long after, his wife, but not before leaving a crescent moon necklace with the grave.

As the wife left, a man in a scientist's garb walked up to the grave. He stood over Arata Hiroyuki's headstone. The crescent moon necklace was laid in front of the stone. The man crouched and grabbed the necklace. Looking at it, the man clenched lightly before a blue light shined from his hand.

"The sole reminder of your life that has passed and that which continues with you in your next." He solemnly spoke.

Below the man's hand, a tiny portal opened. He gently lowers the necklace over it and lets it drop. As the necklace drops, he leaves and the portal closes up soon after. A tiny portal opens up over a table and the necklace comes out. Laid on the table, it shines a bright blue light.

...

Arata Hiroyuki was a victim of his creation, and during his final moments, he thought of his family. Wishing they'd be able to move on, and not struggle with his untimely death. He left his family a fortune and they'd never know suffering. Due to him managing to make his dream a reality all those years ago.

He led a life without any significant regrets yet some from years ago weighed on him. It is natural for anyone to harbor regrets from their early life. Whether or not they choose the correct path or decision that decided their life. It mattered not to Arata Hiroyuki as he didn't wish to weigh on the past.

It wasn't known that he was a fan of anime, particularly works such as Code Geass by Ichirō Ōkouchi and Gorō Taniguchi. It truly touched him in a way he didn't think before or hadn't. The main protagonist of Code Geass is his favorite character of all time. Lelouch Lamperouge or Lelouch vi Britannia.

He was also a fan of works made by Kinoko Nasu and his verse, the Nasuverse. Such as the likes of Fate/Zero, Fate/stay night, and its three individual paths/routes it has. The visual novel Tsukihime and the novel Garden of Sinners, along with Fate/strange Fake, among other works.

More than a normal fan, he spent time knowing the lore. The universe and how it works, the important characters, and their impact on the stories. Being a genius, he could speculate on certain things more than normal people could. It didn't matter if they were shown even a tiny bit or all the time.

An example, such as the actions of Lelouch during his watching of Code Geass. On his first watch, he didn't think anything beyond what was shown and heavily implied. As he began rewatching it multiple times, things became more clear to him. Along with this, a thing from the Nasuverse captured his interest.

The Root is everything that is and will be simultaneously, both an end and a start. It simply is. It's a being of matter but not matter, as in the core. A swirl of white light and a ball of blue matter in the center. The Swirl of the Root is what piqued Arata's interest heavily. Something that simply couldn't exist yet it does in the Nasuverse.

...

His mind hadn't registered that he was in a space where he couldn't feel anything. He floated around before awakening consciousness and even then, he was still in shock. All he could remember was driving home and then suddenly, his car was rammed by another. It was an immediate death.

Arata checked his surroundings after thinking back on what happened. He only saw darkness(?) and his body(?) had no legs. As if he was a ghost that only had an upper body. It was ghastly and didn't seem to be corporal if one were to touch it. So many questions began to pile up in his mind and no answers to them.

A force began to pull him from his abdominal area. He faced the other way and as he turned that way, he saw something he thought he wouldn't see. It was a massive white light that seemed to swirl. In the middle was a blue ball of light. Immediately, it clicked for him, it was the Root of the Nasuverse.

'This is impossible... How could I be here? I shouldn't be here. I would be absorbed into the root, not have the chance to even think before being sucked in. And my body... I can feel it, but not at the same time. This situation is so surreal. I died, and I'm here. What I assume to be the root of the Nasuverse. So many questions and nothing to answer me.'

This situation was bizarre and he tried to make anything out of it. The force pulled him even more as he reached out to the Swirl. It was a desperate attempt, even though he knew it didn't matter. As he continued to look at the Swirl, an unknown feeling rose in him. Before he could understand it, he was pulled away fully.

He awoke like it was a dream, but he knew it wasn't. It felt too real to be one, and it was because of the presence of the Swirl of the Root. His body was drenched in sweat and had a corporal feeling to it. When he sat up to look at his surroundings, a pain hit the side of his body, his hand reaching to soothe it. 

Through the pain, he looked around his surroundings. He was in a futon and nearby was a desk. The desk held a diary, a lamp, and coins were spread out. A closet was present across from the desk, while a door was adjacent to it. As he began to stand up, another strike of pain hit him, however, he continued on.

'I awake on a futon, in a place where I don't know where I am... A diary is next to me along with some money of sorts. In a different body along with being naked! I can tell I'm never getting answers to what's happening, I need clothes' He opened the closet and stood in shock.

The clothes in the closet were of Japanese style, and a very old one at that. "The clothes... Father used to show me his grandfather's clothes, and they look similar to this! His grandfather lived in the Edo period...Japan... No, it couldn't be..." A realization hit him as he thought it more. He knew where he was, or rather, the time period.

With the thought of that, he hurriedly put on clothes, didn't matter which. He needed to know if his thoughts were right as it mattered a lot. The room could be checked after, so he left the room in a hurry. He was passing by many rooms, but that wasn't important currently. The front door of the house opened and Arata stepped out, his thoughts were right. 

It was Edo Japan, the people and their clothes pointed toward that. The buildings and surrounding area pointed toward that. Carriages that would be presented as Edo-period carriages in his world pointed toward that. With that confirmed, he closed the door and returned inside. Deciding to check on the diary he saw earlier, he went to the room. 

He picked it up and read the title, shivers went down his spine, "Arata Hiroyuki," the diary would leave an undeniable mark on him.