The Butterfly Effect

In the development room number two at the headquarters of Namco in Ota Ward, Tokyo, Japan, sighs of deep despair and utter dejection hung heavy in the air. Just moments earlier, the team had been huddled together, cheerfully dotting away at their pixel art in a warm, collaborative atmosphere. That mood froze solid the instant a legal department employee burst through the door.

“We’re in big trouble!”

“Huh? Watanabe, what’s going on?”

“Team Leader Iwata… we’re too late. Look at this!”

The very first page of the thick stack of documents Watanabe handed over bore a bizarre title.

“Predator in the Maze? What the hell is this? What’s going on?”

“Hoo… hoo… just flip to the next page and you’ll understand. I’m telling you, it’s a disaster.”

“Hmm. Let’s see here… A yellow character eating dots inside a maze. Screen composition!?”

The hand holding the paper began to tremble faintly. Iwata’s voice cracked.

“Yes. The other ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠side has already filed for copyright protection in Japan for the entire concept of ‘a yellow character eating dots inside a maze’ as an artistic work. On top of that, they’ve secured design rights for the character and even trademarked the name Pak-Man. They’ve already completed the application process for every possible revenue stream—dolls, toys, the whole nine yards!”

“What? We’ve only just finished planning and haven’t even completed the basic dot work yet… You’re telling me there was already a company making this game? Of all the rotten coincidences…”

Iwata let out a hollow sigh, but Watanabe wasn’t finished. He delivered the worst news yet.

“The report from our American branch is even more ridiculous. Several of the filings over there have already been officially registered. It’s like they’ve got some impossible pull inside the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Procedures that normally take at least a year were pushed through at an unnatural speed.”

“Hoo… Is there really no way to avoid this?”

Toru Iwatani, the sole creator of Paku-Paku, stared at Watanabe with a desperate expression. He still couldn’t believe his ambitious first project had been crushed before it even began.

“We’re still at the stage where we don’t even have a completed proposal, so claiming prior rights is nearly impossible. They’re an American company with an airtight web of protections. If we make anything even slightly similar, the moment it touches American soil we’ll be branded copycats and buried under astronomical lawsuits.”

“Ha… Does the president know about this yet?”

“I haven’t reported it to him. I thought it proper to inform you first, Team Leader.”

“I’ll deliver the news myself. Haa…”

Toru Iwatani dragged his leaden feet toward the president’s office and knocked. The moment his eyes met those of Nakamura Masayoshi—the head of Namco, who had just set down the phone receiver—the team leader bowed like a criminal and held out the report.

“President… Watanabe from the legal team went to file for trademarks and came back with shocking news. An identical project has already been claimed. What’s worse, the American side has completed the full registration process.”

“You mean Paku-Paku? Let me see those documents.”

Nakamura Masayoshi snorted in disbelief as he took the papers. But as he flipped through page after page, his seasoned face gradually turned deathly pale.

“This is impossible! No, does this even make sense? Did they plant a bug in our development room or something?!”

“As you can see, the filings were completed in mid-last month. That was right around the time we were just starting to shape our own concept… It doesn’t look like an internal leak. They were simply impossibly fast—and they were actually developing it.”

“Is there no way to cleverly work around this and make it anyway?”

“The legal team’s opinion is that the American company has built such an all-encompassing wall of rights that even slight similarities would make it nearly impossible to escape litigation. If we force it, we might have to abandon the entire massive American market.”

Unable to contain his rage, President Nakamura slammed his fist on the desk. After breathing heavily for a moment, his eyes returned to the cold gaze of a ruthless executive, and he made his decision.

“Hoo… Scrap the Paku-Paku project entirely at this point. The Paku-Paku team will immediately begin preparing a new proposal. Well, it’s not entirely bad. Imagine if we’d found out after completing more than half the game—what a loss that would have been. Consider this a lucky escape and submit new proposals right away, Iwata.”

Henry, completely unaware of this butterfly effect, continued his creative work (which was really just copying) with perfect composure on June 23rd. When his stiff body finally protested, he stood up and stretched.

The Aston Martin actually looks prettier with the current design than the future one.

Staring at the car blueprint he had just finished—based on a model that would be released by Aston Martin in the future—Henry tilted his head. It was technically more advanced, yet from a future perspective it felt somewhat generic. Somehow, the rugged, sharp-edged aesthetic unique to 1979 seemed far more attractive.

That should be enough for the cars. Oh, right—I have a dinner appointment with Ronald Reagan tonight. Haa, since he’s going to become president anyway, making a connection early is the smart move. But what the hell do you even talk about with a guy like that? Hmm… Wait a second.

Henry’s eyes suddenly flashed open as he stopped stretching.

Why have I been acting like I’m chained to the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠future timeline this whole time? The moment I intervene, history is bound to change anyway. In that case, why not flip the entire global board on its head? I don’t think tweaking history a bit will hurt my money-making plans.

The moment his thoughts crystallized, Henry picked up the phone without hesitation and dialed.

“Hey, Gilberto. Not for any other reason, but how far along is the structure of our think tank advisory team?”

“Yes, boss. We haven’t yet recruited a prestigious figure to represent the team, but we’ve already secured connections with scholars and faculty from established families, as well as lines into multiple universities.”

“Oh, excellent! Then can the agenda team begin operations as well?”

“We only lack a front-facing manager, but the team members are already filled with first-class talent. Within New York, our family’s network alone is overwhelmingly dominant. In other states our influence is still weak, but we can shift the flow of public opinion to a meaningful degree.”

“Good. Then let’s give the advisory team a proper debut stage. The objective is simple: derail the U.S.-China trade relations agreement scheduled for July 7th. The tone should emphasize ‘China’s potential danger.’ Something like, ‘Are we really going to create a second Japan with our own hands?’ or ‘We already handed semiconductors and Detroit to Japan. Now is Carter going to sacrifice America itself to Beijing?’ Let’s go with provocative messaging like that.”

“Should we target the Carter administration’s impatience for diplomatic achievements as the main attack point?”

At Gilberto’s question, Henry took a sip of coffee and nodded.

“That works too. After all, the president’s approval rating is scraping the bottom, isn’t it? Besides, from what I know, this agreement completely omits any provisions for protecting intellectual property rights. That country barely even has a concept of patents. If we fall for the sweet temptation of a huge market and leave a socialist state of one billion people unchecked, do you really think they’ll just keep buying American goods forever? I guarantee you—if we let them develop properly, China will become a far more terrifying threat than the Soviet Union in the future. I can see that future so clearly.”

If I don’t cut the sprout here, those bastards are going to climb all the way up later. Since I’ve become an American anyway, I might as well be patriotic.

Recalling memories from his previous life, Henry continued.

“One billion people, powerful centralized socialist control, and an environment where intellectual property is treated like pocket change. If they use market access as bait to force technology transfers, will corporations stay away? And after they’ve sucked up all that technology, what then? I’m genuinely disgusted by their vague socialist show about black cats and white cats or whatever the hell they call it.”

“…Listening to you, boss, it certainly sounds like it could become a major problem for America.”

“The Rust Belt is already getting demolished by the price competitiveness of Japanese cars. Now imagine a billion workers flooding in at wages cheaper than a hamburger. What happens to American laborers then? We’d need an overwhelming technological advantage to survive, but if even that technology gets handed over as bait for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠entering the Chinese market? It’s horrifying just to think about. On top of that, they’re a socialist country where the state openly pressures foreign companies operating domestically. We need to train them properly from the start.”

Henry paused to catch his breath, then poured out his 2026 perspective on China’s true nature using the language of 1979.

“India may have a huge population, but ethnic and religious conflicts prevent real control. This place is different. It has vast territory, the Han Chinese as a dominant ethnic group at its center, and the Party’s word carries more weight than any religion. And the guy coming this time is a cunning one—he’ll take socialism when it’s convenient and capitalism when it’s necessary. Whatever America can do, they can do too. And the coercion that America can’t do because of laws? They can do that freely.”

Henry glanced at the Mickey Mouse drawn on his calendar and drove the point home.

“At least Japan wouldn’t outright copy Disney animations. But China? They’ll make the exact same thing and then go one step further, claiming Mickey Mouse is their own original character. If the government puts in textbooks that ‘Mickey Mouse is a legacy from the Qing Dynasty’ and teaches it, do you think the citizens learning that will ever accept the truth? Especially in a country with no free press to even challenge it.”

Henry paused, lips twitching as if wondering whether he had any more venom left to spit. He had poured out twenty-first-century memories without any filter, yet a corner of his chest still felt uneasy. He cleared his throat to wrap up the conversation.

“It looks like Carter wants to offer one-sided tribute in the name of most-favored-nation treatment just to rack up some diplomatic achievement, but no matter how I look at it, it feels off. Take the points ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I mentioned and weave them into negative commentary through the mouths of economists and relevant experts. Whether it’s columns in newspapers or rushing to create a respectable-sounding organization like the ‘Future World Economy Research Institute’ to distribute reports—do it. Oh, and make sure our tail isn’t caught. Keep security airtight. No matter how weak they seem now, they’ll eventually become a superpower. Becoming a national enemy would only create unnecessary headaches.”

“Understood, boss. I’ll handle it promptly. With this level of impact, even before the agenda team steps forward, just leaking it to the newspapers will have them fighting each other to break the scoop. The only concern is that Henry Kissinger is the one pushing this from the shadows… but I’ll make sure it moves so quickly that no one notices. At the latest, you should see it in the news headlines by the middle of next week!”

“Good. I trust you.”

After hanging up, Henry sank deep into his chair and glanced behind him for a moment. He wondered if he had gotten too heated and rambled like a madman.

No. Those damn chinks irritated me so much in the 21st century—why the hell would I want to see that again? I can’t stand for it.

Henry adjusted his grip on the pen on his desk. He pulled out a clean sheet of paper from the drawer and began writing, word by word, the first draft of the “1979 China Threat Theory”—a concept that would originally only appear twenty or thirty years later, shaking America and remaining a topic of discussion in world history for decades to come.