Alternate Dimension: The Other Saeko
[Author's note: In reference to the Saeko mentioned before Part 35, but takes place just a few years after Part 52, the latest part I had written at the time of writing.]
After we look through some paperwork behind the apartment we are buying at inside the unit in question, I signed the paper that has the names Haneda Keiichi and Haneda Saeko on it. Yes, I am married, with my maiden name being Hisakawa. We took the same train and the same carriage between Kamisugi and Inami (with Katsura in between) since middle school, but never really talked to each other. I have this feeling that he spotted me more often than me spotting me, as though he had predicted that I would take a particular train at a particular time just to look at me. He was so shy that I didn't notice him until my graduation from Mihara Academy as a student where he confessed to me. In fact, he was on the train that had killed Miyazawa Kotomi and spotted (a clone of) me crying a lot and the only one closest to her body, which might have gave him "confidence to approach and protect me from dangers and comfort my sadness". The reality is the opposite, which I already saw through him before he said that: he relies on me for a lot of things like being comforted after my in-laws got angry with him, but not the kind who would get into deep debt. People who know me as a popular student at school or people I have met after it was revealed that I am the mysterious founder of the well-known Powell Institute after years of knowing only through electronic means and with no picture of me associated with it, would be hard to seriously have a relationship with due to my "high" status.
Enough about my husband and the name Haneda Saeko I'm called now. The Powell Institute was formed after dad bought a massive piece of land that has a large abandoned mansion that was built long before the city of Kamisugi it now surrounds was even built. Dad registered the company under my name even though I was still in middle school. That's why I was mostly absent and could only manage through online, which largely explains how my employees didn't know that I am the youngest in the company as I was able to communicate with them professionally that they think that I am middle-aged. To make sure things are running smoothly, I have examined and laid down rules that would allow me to walk around the facility without revealing my true identity. I would ask a staff to bring me around, but in a way that the staff think that the person who asking to be brought around is a different person than the one who they would bring along. I can't do this frequently or ask the same person though, so my visit there is usually within the public area. Believe it or not, but during the first few years of its founding, employees would think that I am a lost child and mentions about what they do there from their point of view and mentions useful things that supervisors do that I disapprove of, or how much they liked the campus scenery or the facilities inside the new building.
With the dimension and time viewers that the Hatsuya Institute has invented around the time Mamiko disappeared, I was able to look into the world of the other me my clone originated from. What I discovered shocked me: although everything my parents did was identical right until I was born, which was also at the exact same hospital and time as mine, what followed after that seem to have very extreme differences to how I live just because I was born differently, which had an impact of my parents' attitude on how they raised me: in that other world, they seemed disappointed and mom spent too much time and money traveling with dad to doctors of many places, and also not being paid for it too. Due to this shortage of money, the me there worked for the Hatsuya Institute after winning a programming competition. Since the me myself (or rather my dad who used my name) was the one who founded the Powell Institute, it obviously doesn't exist. Since the former has some connections with its counterparts of other time and dimensions, they recognized me before they employ me "again" despite knowing that I founded a major rival company of them. In fact, I didn't know I was working for it until the me from the other dimension who invaded my body was transferred to a clone of me. It actions seemed to be a part of me, so I was unable to even think that it was doing odd things with my body, though I could remember what it did. When it returned, there was it's other half that had never left, but it was still in my cloned body with my stuff duplicated there, on top of it being unable to age or die.
Unlike the Mizuho Academy that Mamiko attended between April 2011 and March 2014, there's no weird restrictions or mind control (though limited to not trespass or break rules) or even transformations involved when compared to the Mihara Academy I attended. There's a large library at a corner so far from the main entrance, that it is closer to that of an another town than the city it belongs to. That library even looked like it's located at a corner of a traffic junction there, and there aren't any fencing or nearby buildings that are part of the Mihara Academy to tell that it's part of the academy except for a large park with a nice scenery. People easily mistaken for the park and that library to be not be part of the academy as it doesn't seem like it and there are other libraries, though smaller, at the more centralized areas of the campus. Although there aren't any specific areas assigned based on academic levels, those of the same type are usually grouped close together.
As time passed as I grew up, my life can seemingly be divided into chapters with little being carried over of my way of life of each (in a good way). This way, I could easily remember roughly where and when things happened or when I met people.
Looking at the photos of me from when I was born to as recent as me with my husband just minutes after we bought the house, I could barely recognize myself in the recent ones because of how beautiful I had become: my mental self image is stuck at what I looked like in middle school and I'm scared to even look at myself. It even seems to have an effect of my communicating with people by them being distracted by my appearance over what I'm talking about. Maybe that was one of the reasons over why I choose not to reveal myself and choose to hide behind the computer at first: I knew my appearance would have a large influence on how people perceive me as and communicate with me.
Before I revealed myself sometime after graduating from college (since there's no point), how do I know what's going on in my company without revealing myself, especially when I was in Middle and High school? I know that I shouldn't trust my employees' supervisors due to them possibly trying to impress me or covering something up due to my position being the highest in the company. As I was a teenage girl (and not some suspicious old man you see in movies) and analyzing the rules and loopholes, I could simply go around as any other visitor that frequent the place to many of the places on the campus that are open to the public like tours and the garden that surround the buildings. There are also gray areas where there are mostly working areas only, but are not off-limits to the public despite no visitors heading there.
Among my employees who got very friendly with me, but not knowing me as the founder, revealed things that their superiors are not telling me and doing things that I disapprove of. There is a system of people being laid off where a reason has to be stated and be reviewed for several days. The person's background, behavior, feedback by their colleagues, and possible misunderstanding is also considered. The staff would only be dismissed if there are strong reasons supporting it. I usually don't intervene in this unless it's someone I feel shouldn't be fired, but with the odds are against him. This system was the one that caused me to accidentally reveal my identity: an employee who knew me for seeing me too many times was talking about things that his superiors were covering up stuff from the big boss (me) when one of them overheard the conversation. He soon appeared in the system with "leaking company secrets" as the reason stated and many of the superiors supporting it. (Normal staff could voice out on this, but are usually ignored) I thoughtlessly typed "the girl who the man was leaking information to was me" as the reason not to fire him, as I was too happy and lost in thought about the guy, who is now my husband, proposing to me. This revelation message I typed was spread around rapidly and I could no longer walk around without anyone identifying me as the Powell institute founder, even when out on the streets. I now even have to face the mass media and a sea of people with questions I don't really want to answer. Another reason why I did not reveal myself when I was still studying.
To make things more complicated, I have to support my other selves from other dimensions who work for the Hatsuya Institute too, especially those who I refer to as Mamiko and Itsuki, and a mutual friend of theirs (Miyazawa Kotomi) who works there too.
Although it seems like a lot of things for most people, I could actually manage all of this and not be stressed somehow. Maybe it's my husband, maybe I thought myself to see beyond the current situation. I don't know.
Enough about my husband and the name Haneda Saeko I'm called now. The Powell Institute was formed after dad bought a massive piece of land that has a large abandoned mansion that was built long before the city of Kamisugi it now surrounds was even built. Dad registered the company under my name even though I was still in middle school. That's why I was mostly absent and could only manage through online, which largely explains how my employees didn't know that I am the youngest in the company as I was able to communicate with them professionally that they think that I am middle-aged. To make sure things are running smoothly, I have examined and laid down rules that would allow me to walk around the facility without revealing my true identity. I would ask a staff to bring me around, but in a way that the staff think that the person who asking to be brought around is a different person than the one who they would bring along. I can't do this frequently or ask the same person though, so my visit there is usually within the public area. Believe it or not, but during the first few years of its founding, employees would think that I am a lost child and mentions about what they do there from their point of view and mentions useful things that supervisors do that I disapprove of, or how much they liked the campus scenery or the facilities inside the new building.
With the dimension and time viewers that the Hatsuya Institute has invented around the time Mamiko disappeared, I was able to look into the world of the other me my clone originated from. What I discovered shocked me: although everything my parents did was identical right until I was born, which was also at the exact same hospital and time as mine, what followed after that seem to have very extreme differences to how I live just because I was born differently, which had an impact of my parents' attitude on how they raised me: in that other world, they seemed disappointed and mom spent too much time and money traveling with dad to doctors of many places, and also not being paid for it too. Due to this shortage of money, the me there worked for the Hatsuya Institute after winning a programming competition. Since the me myself (or rather my dad who used my name) was the one who founded the Powell Institute, it obviously doesn't exist. Since the former has some connections with its counterparts of other time and dimensions, they recognized me before they employ me "again" despite knowing that I founded a major rival company of them. In fact, I didn't know I was working for it until the me from the other dimension who invaded my body was transferred to a clone of me. It actions seemed to be a part of me, so I was unable to even think that it was doing odd things with my body, though I could remember what it did. When it returned, there was it's other half that had never left, but it was still in my cloned body with my stuff duplicated there, on top of it being unable to age or die.
Unlike the Mizuho Academy that Mamiko attended between April 2011 and March 2014, there's no weird restrictions or mind control (though limited to not trespass or break rules) or even transformations involved when compared to the Mihara Academy I attended. There's a large library at a corner so far from the main entrance, that it is closer to that of an another town than the city it belongs to. That library even looked like it's located at a corner of a traffic junction there, and there aren't any fencing or nearby buildings that are part of the Mihara Academy to tell that it's part of the academy except for a large park with a nice scenery. People easily mistaken for the park and that library to be not be part of the academy as it doesn't seem like it and there are other libraries, though smaller, at the more centralized areas of the campus. Although there aren't any specific areas assigned based on academic levels, those of the same type are usually grouped close together.
Looking at the photos of me from when I was born to as recent as me with my husband just minutes after we bought the house, I could barely recognize myself in the recent ones because of how beautiful I had become: my mental self image is stuck at what I looked like in middle school and I'm scared to even look at myself. It even seems to have an effect of my communicating with people by them being distracted by my appearance over what I'm talking about. Maybe that was one of the reasons over why I choose not to reveal myself and choose to hide behind the computer at first: I knew my appearance would have a large influence on how people perceive me as and communicate with me.
Before I revealed myself sometime after graduating from college (since there's no point), how do I know what's going on in my company without revealing myself, especially when I was in Middle and High school? I know that I shouldn't trust my employees' supervisors due to them possibly trying to impress me or covering something up due to my position being the highest in the company. As I was a teenage girl (and not some suspicious old man you see in movies) and analyzing the rules and loopholes, I could simply go around as any other visitor that frequent the place to many of the places on the campus that are open to the public like tours and the garden that surround the buildings. There are also gray areas where there are mostly working areas only, but are not off-limits to the public despite no visitors heading there.
Among my employees who got very friendly with me, but not knowing me as the founder, revealed things that their superiors are not telling me and doing things that I disapprove of. There is a system of people being laid off where a reason has to be stated and be reviewed for several days. The person's background, behavior, feedback by their colleagues, and possible misunderstanding is also considered. The staff would only be dismissed if there are strong reasons supporting it. I usually don't intervene in this unless it's someone I feel shouldn't be fired, but with the odds are against him. This system was the one that caused me to accidentally reveal my identity: an employee who knew me for seeing me too many times was talking about things that his superiors were covering up stuff from the big boss (me) when one of them overheard the conversation. He soon appeared in the system with "leaking company secrets" as the reason stated and many of the superiors supporting it. (Normal staff could voice out on this, but are usually ignored) I thoughtlessly typed "the girl who the man was leaking information to was me" as the reason not to fire him, as I was too happy and lost in thought about the guy, who is now my husband, proposing to me. This revelation message I typed was spread around rapidly and I could no longer walk around without anyone identifying me as the Powell institute founder, even when out on the streets. I now even have to face the mass media and a sea of people with questions I don't really want to answer. Another reason why I did not reveal myself when I was still studying.
To make things more complicated, I have to support my other selves from other dimensions who work for the Hatsuya Institute too, especially those who I refer to as Mamiko and Itsuki, and a mutual friend of theirs (Miyazawa Kotomi) who works there too.
Although it seems like a lot of things for most people, I could actually manage all of this and not be stressed somehow. Maybe it's my husband, maybe I thought myself to see beyond the current situation. I don't know.
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