Sparkle skimmed through the documents while explaining to her other self:
"Little tanuki, just imagine—he thinks he's completed his mission, believes he's gained some profound insight, and fancies he's climbed to a high position... only for it all to turn out to be a bubble that bursts at the slightest touch."
"Don't you think the look on his face at that moment would be absolutely priceless?"
"...How sadistic. So you're basically just saying you want to go stir up trouble."
"No, no, no! What makes a stage compelling is tension—a plot full of twists and turns, sudden reversals, rich and complex characters. That's what the audience loves to see."
Sparkle covered her mouth with a light, tittering laugh:
"But lately, this guy's been having it a bit too easy. A story like that is just plain boring."
So how is that any different from stirring up trouble?
No matter how you dress it up, you're still just looking for trouble.
'Sparkle' grumbled internally.
But Sparkle didn't care.
She lived for the plot twists—what was the point of a stage without reversals and crises?
A tiny little Aeragan-Epharshel made for far too small a stage.
Only a grand, interstellar stage could truly be fun.
"So, little tanuki, my other self, come play a game of cooperation with me~ I've never tried joining hands with myself before."
Sparkle reached out a hand toward her other self.
Amusement was one thing, but playing alongside another version of herself sounded pretty fun too.
Even if this other self didn't seem quite as fond of causing chaos, it wasn't a big deal.
She'd bring the abilities; 'Sparkle' would bring the ideas. Together, they'd manage just fine.
'Sparkle' might complain, but this Oswaldo wasn't exactly a good person either.
If they were going to cause some mischief, she had no moral qualms about it.
"Alright, fine. It's not like this guy seems like a saint anyway."
'Sparkle' raised an eyebrow and took Sparkle's hand.
"Hehe~ Pleasure working with you. Now then, let's have a good chat about how we're going to play this~"
Sparkle was excited.
What kind of ideas would her other self come up with? And just how far could she go?
Up to this point, Sparkle still hadn't probed into this person's true identity.
It wasn't that she wasn't curious, but she'd made the act of uncovering that identity part of the essential reveal process.
After all, she was a Masked Fool.
When there was nothing better to do, she had to find some way to amuse herself.
To challenge her like this, in the very arts of acting and imitation she excelled at?
Of course Sparkle would take the bait.
Not only would she take it—she was going to ruthlessly expose this impostor's true face.
That would be the moment this little tanuki got what was coming to her.
But for now...
It was time for the fun part: cooperation.
'Sparkle' naturally had no idea what this girl was thinking.
But she didn't need to guess—what good could possibly be brewing in that chaotic little head of Sparkle's?
No doubt she was already scheming about how to expose her true identity and bring down the hammer.
As for Sparkle's idea of a "discussion," it was less of a discussion and more of a probing session.
This girl kept testing the waters, trying to figure out what she was capable of.
What else could she do, besides being 'Sparkle'?
So 'Sparkle' started spinning tales:
"Actually, I'm an Arbitrator. I can borrow power from many other Paths. For example, I can borrow the power of a History Fictionologist to weave some particularly tricky lies."
"Oh ho~ Really now?"
'Sparkle' began spinning wild yarns.
After all, she really could summon an Equilibrium chessboard.
As for History Fictionologists—she'd just call over some of the many History Fictionologists she'd created back in the day to lend a hand.
Sparkle was initially skeptical.
Until this little tanuki actually pulled out a chessboard right before her eyes.
Summoned a shadowy double that looked just like Sparkle, right in front of her.
The two fought a round, and Sparkle even received a little reward from the chessboard afterward.
That's when she started to feel something was off.
"...There are rewards too? From you?"
"Of course not. I don't have the authority to give you rewards. This is just the outcome after Equilibrium."
'Sparkle' was actually quite curious herself that the thing had spontaneously generated a reward.
During the previous test with Dr. Primitive, the battle had been interrupted, so no rewards had appeared.
If she hadn't felt a sudden whim to try it today, she wouldn't have even known this was possible.
"So you really are?"
"You can think of me as one."
'Sparkle' grinned slightly.
Then, using Sparkle's own ability, she transformed into the form of the Arbiter she'd seen before.
"Wow~!"
Shifting back into Sparkle's form, 'Sparkle' blinked playfully at the original.
"This form can make an appearance at the climax."
"That's perfect, just perfect~"
Sparkle clapped her hands together with a patter of applause.
Whether it was real or not didn't matter.
At first glance, it was certainly convincing enough.
"Then we can play on an even bigger scale."
Seeing that her other self had such capabilities,
Sparkle's mind began racing with possibilities.
They could even pull off something much grander now.
"How about we do it like this then..."
Sparkle giggled as she leaned in close to her other self, whispering quietly.
They began seriously discussing the next steps of their plan.
"The power of Preservation..."
"I can manage that."
"And in terms of intensity..."
"There's a way for that too..."
The more they talked, the more Sparkle felt that, compared to herself, this impostor was the real Sparkle.
Not only could she mimic appearances, she could even replicate abilities—how awesome was that!
With skills like that, it'd be a waste not to be a Masked Fool.
They talked for a long while, and a relatively solid plan gradually took shape.
Sparkle could hardly wait, already pulling her other self along, eager to board a ship headed for Aeragan-Epharshel.
As for the Phase Flame, Sparkle vetoed its use.
She said that if they just warped over directly via Phase Flame, the other party might not even notice them.
They needed Oswaldo to detect their arrival.
He was just about to leave around that time.
'Sparkle' received a communication from the Interastral Peace Corporation.
A very formal message, stating they wished to pay her a visit.
Unfortunately, Sparkle wasn't willing to wait around any longer.
After all, she was already itching to go make some mischief.
As for 'Sparkle', she wasn't particularly interested in dealing with the Corporation either.
But since they'd gone to the trouble of coming, she might as well leave something for them.
'Sparkle' set up a few things in the room.
Then, together with Sparkle, she quickly departed.
--+--
Meanwhile, on the other side, after several days of discussions and buck-passing, the Corporation finally pushed forward one unlucky soul to communicate with the person who had released the video.
Unfortunately, the online messages sent to the author sank like stones, without a trace or echo.
As for in-person contact?
The place was already empty.
Though, with the Corporation's resources, if they really wanted to investigate, it wasn't impossible.
But clearly, the employee in charge of this matter wasn't that motivated.
Still, it was lucky she arrived late.
If she'd come just one day earlier, and run into two Sparkles at once, her life probably wouldn't have been enough to pay the price.
However, even though the place was already empty, the Corporate member who arrived still discovered a few things left behind.
"Hmm? The arrangement here... seems to be guiding me forward."
The executive sent wasn't low-ranking—a P44 position was enough to be considered quite elite.
But even so, she wasn't keen on dealing with the Followers of Elation.
It's just that this time, she happened to be unlucky and needed to take on a project.
"Left here intentionally for me to see, I suppose? So mysterious..."
She followed the strange guidance into the room.
An very old computer sat on the table.
The implication was clear.
Whatever it was, it was inside this computer.
--+--