[Scene: The Floating Balcony — suspended between realities. The skyline of the Multiversal Capital pulses with radiant lights, the space above blooming like a garden of galaxies. Below, there is no ground — just endless layers of dimensions collapsing into one another like rivers folding into light. Subhadip stands near the edge, overwhelmed. Himiko, calm as moonlight, watches him.]
Subhadip (barely audible, almost afraid):
"So… that power back there… that wasn't even 1%?"
Himiko (a soft, knowing smile):
"No. That was 0.(278383993 zeros)1% of your total power."
Subhadip (blinking, laughing nervously):
"You're joking, right? That's... that's a decimal so deep it might as well be nothing."
Himiko (walking slowly to him, tone still measured):
"Not a joke. You're the heir of the god. What you call nothing… already shook layers of space I can't even name. If you ever hit 100%… even the omniverse won't contain you."
[Subhadip looks down at his hands, trembling slightly. He clenches his fists.]
Subhadip:
"…What happens at 1%?"
Himiko (expression changes — no more smiles, just truth):
"Even that… would take billions of multiversal years. But if — and only if — you reach 0.(246668891 zeros)1%… you'd already surpass me."
Subhadip (shaking his head, disbelieving):
"But… you're ranked 29th across all known existence. That has to mean something."
Himiko (smiles faintly, almost sad):
"I am. But rankings tremble when gods move. Najiro came… then you. I'd rise to 3rd at my peak — but even then, compared to you? My maximum potential would still only be 0.213829% of your true scale."
Subhadip (sinking onto the railing, voice hoarse):
"So… even at your best… you're less than a fourth of a single percent of me…"
[A silence. Himiko stares out at the stars. Subhadip looks at her — for just a heartbeat too long. His eyes linger on her hair, the softness of her silhouette, the way her voice grounded him. But he says nothing.]
Subhadip:
"And Najiro?"
Himiko (nods):
"He's at 10% now. But his full potential is only 25% of yours."
[A quiet, burning pressure builds inside Subhadip's chest. He never asked for this. He never wanted to be more. He just wanted to be enough.]
Subhadip (quietly):
"Back in my world… I had potential too. But I never rose. I couldn't. It felt like no one saw me… and maybe I just didn't believe in myself."
[He looks away. Himiko steps closer. Her voice softens.]
Himiko:
"Because your world wasn't made to handle you. Not in your true form."
[Behind them, a glimmering relic glows gently — a hovering prism of unknown material. Subhadip steps toward it, something pulling at his soul. He touches it. A pulse of light flashes. And in that instant… he sees it.]
[A vision — soft, slow, tender. A future. One built from only 0.(10,000 zeros)5% of his mind's potential. A small house beneath twin moons. Books. Laughter. Himiko brushing flour from her cheek while making dumplings. His hand catching hers.]
Subhadip (whispers, shaken):
"I saw a gift… the most beautiful gift… but…"
[His eyes shimmer. He clenches his jaw.]
Subhadip (quietly, to himself):
"I must never leave it in the hands of someone I trust blindly… because I might lose it forever."
[Himiko turns, puzzled. She doesn't ask. She senses the shift. But Subhadip looks at her — really looks — and his silence says everything. He had seen her. And he had felt what he wasn't ready to say aloud.]
Himiko (softly):
"You saw 50%?"
Subhadip (shaking his head):
"No… just 1%…"
[Suddenly, her eyes shift — a message pinged through Nengalink. Najiro's voice enters her mind, casual as ever.]
Najiro (teasing):
"You're the brand ambassador of Hludhé this year. Don't mess it up."
Himiko (groaning):
"I donate it all anyway. And I still run the ramen shop."
Subhadip (perking up):
"You're serious?"
Himiko (nods):
"That same shop. The one you work in now. All thanks to your cousin Najiro. Who, by the way, is my mentor."
Subhadip (sighing, flustered):
"I… I don't even understand how the money system works here… coins… whatever—"
Himiko (corrects him):
"Kreds. One Kred is equal to 18,483 kilograms of gold."
Subhadip (jaw drops):
"…What?! That's insane!"
Subhadip (muttering):
"But purchasing power here is low… spending 3 Kreds on noodles is like spending $10 on ramen in the US… or ₹50 worth chowmein in India. The relative value just collapses here…"
[Suddenly, the floor trembles. The arch of the nearby Manmasurch Temple — the holiest worship place in the Multiverse — begins to shimmer. The arch itself bends, almost reverently.]
[As Subhadip walks toward it, the Archlinito — a divine sentient structure — falls gently forward and touches the ground before him. A gesture of purest reverence. Subhadip stumbles backward, breath caught. Tears fall from his eyes — not from pain, but from being seen for the first time.]
Subhadip (to himself):
"…Why… why are they treating me like this?"
[From the temple's golden gates, a figure emerges. Ancient, draped in living constellations. His beard is starlight, his eyes old as origin.]
Reshuro (gasping):
"The god's son… he is here!"
Subhadip (startled):
"W-What…?"
Himiko (rolling her eyes):
"Shut up, oldy Reshuro…"
[Reshuro doesn't move. He falls to his knees, arms wide, tears in his eyes.]
Reshuro (choked):
"I never forgot… I saw your father… before memory was taken from the multiverse. I felt his soul. And now… I feel yours."
Himiko (gently):
"He raised me after I arrived here. He says he saw the god once. I believe him."
Subhadip (softly):
"You remembered me… before I existed?"
Reshuro (nods):
"I remembered the feeling. And when the winds shifted… I knew. Your soul is the echo of the First Flame."
[Subhadip takes a breath — the first real breath since he arrived. He feels his heart ache… and in the silence, he dares to glance at Himiko. A gaze of longing. Of everything he's yet to say.]
Subhadip (softly):
"I just… want to live a simple life."
Himiko (smiling, quietly):
"Me too. But they won't let us."
[The camera rises — the temple opens. A light unlike any other bathes them. The Archlinito rises slowly again, humming a sound no ear was meant to hear.]
[And still, in all of this cosmic splendor — Subhadip's eyes remain on her. Himiko.]