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Ah, I'd mostly ruled that out because she specifically said she wasn't Ruaha when he asked, but I guess her mind wasn't exactly as it should be
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Dec 2, 2018 03:47
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BGM: Amnesia 覧It doesn't matter how much it falls. 覧The sky is the same as always. 覧A dark sky. Only the sky was the same as ten years ago. Yes, only the sky. Everything else was twisted ten years ago. Almost everything in this City had changed into something fantastical. The Multi-Tiered Steam Engine City Inganock. The edge of the world. The rain poured down. All the way down into the City's base, the Lowest Tier. The gray sky that would never change. That alone made it noble.  The despair ten years ago. Everything warped during the 《Revival.》 Everything was destroyed among numerous groans and tears. 覧Only this sky. 覧Only this sky of eternal gray clouds. 覧I've seen it all. 覧All of this world and its broken people. The rain poured down silently. It passed through countless Tiers, flowing into the sewers. A great quantity of rain poured down to the Lowest Tier, like a waterfall. The rain kept flowing. Like all of the tears people had shed these past ten years, unceasing, seeping below the ground. [Gii] ......do they ever return to the sea?  Far, far below ground. Below the enormous City of Inganock, constructed atop an expansive lake filled with artificial soil. The infinite darkness that no one in the City dared to approach. There were many reasons for that, such as the Monster nests and groups of ferocious 《Ogres》 hidden within. ......and the violent Dragon that slept there. ......yes, the fairy tale dragon. In this day and age, which the Seikyouans would call the 'twentieth century,' this City was afraid of a fairy tale dragon. It was quite strange. Were those the words of madmen? No, they weren't. That was Inganock. A Fantastic City 《Revived》 with various illusions. It wasn't strange at all for a man-eating dragon to be there. The City's Underground. The infinite darkness that no one dared to approach.  The insane Randolph. The man who, within the darkness, held up a shining lantern powered by a small Steam Engine. Within the darkness feared by all, it was said that Randolph continued to dig indifferently. Every day, every day, every day... *scratch* *scratch* *scratch* *scratch* *scratch* *scratch* *brush* *brush* *brush* *brush* *brush* *brush*   The lovable silver Engine beats on the gates.The lock asks it: 'Where to?' Weeping, I'm pitiful. Today again, I dig holes. Dig holes I do. ......*sigh*I've made it nearly all the way through tonight. This is hard earth. He always said "tonight," whether it was morning or midday or night. There certainly was no morning or midday there, since the sky was always covered in gray. However, there was a curtain of darkness that fell at night. Even after the City's countless street lights came on, one could easily tell it was night. But it couldn't be helped. This man, Randolph, was insane. He shut his eyes away from many words, as if they were darkness itself. ......however, only his head was insane. He'd always said it was night, and he'd whispered incomprehensible things for years, but it was only his head. Everything else was fine. His face, his eyes, and his nose, as well as his hands. For Inganock, they were fine. He did have one of the many beastly forms of Fantastic Mutants, but that was perfectly normal. Randolph certainly was insane, but that was only his head. On the outside he was an excellent 《Tanuki》 man.  ......he might have been considered a monster. You again?What do you all want tonight? I'm busy, and the silver Engine is making a fuss, so I have no time for you. Okay, children?He called out, into the darkness, to the same people he'd conversed with before. Namely, to the empty darkness itself. No one was there. And yet, Randolph spoke. What do you want from this old man?Too much time to kill? What do you want from this madman? 覧You mustn't. You mustn't. 覧Oji-san, the water will dry up. Was that a definite voice? Or was it just an illusory voice that only he could hear? [Randolph] It'll rain tonight, children. 覧Please cheer the water up. 覧Please, Oji-san, please. Oohh, children.Are you different from the last bunch? You shouldn't ask the impossible. I have to dig this tunnel, you know. Ask someone else to be the human sacrifice,little children, or child. 覧You mustn't. 覧You mustn't. 覧The tears will overflow, Oji-san. 覧Please stop the tears. 覧I'm begging you. You have no forms, and yet you all cry so easily.What happened exactly? I left my tears behind ten years ago. 覧It's not me. 覧It's not me either. 覧The water is crying. You say such strange things, you lovely children.I don't know who any of you are, but...  The man shook the dirt off his shoulders. Dirt produced by countless Engines, and blackened by the infinite smog it'd absorbed. Don't you know?All water is born from tears. It pours down from the tears of the god called 'Sea.' BGM: Calmly Days  Video: The Girl and The Cat 覧That girl's hair looks horribly wet. 覧But that's just her hair. 覧Not a drop anywhere else. She walked with a gentle pitter patter. She looked up at the town, with a strange expression. She tilted her head far to one side. 'Why?' her black eyes asked, although there was nobody there to ask. She was standing in the Lower Tiers of the City, in the Infinitely Crowded Street which knew no night. Not on the lively and crowded main road, but in a quieter place. Respectable children wouldn't walk around the Lower Tier back-alleys. 覧As if theres's such a thing as a "respectable" child in the Lower Tiers. Anyway, that girl was there, covered by her black hood. All by herself. She walked with a pitter patter, and stood straight up.  [Iru] Girl with the pretty eyes. Are you looking for something? It's hard for anyone to find something on their own in this place, and especially for such a small girl. [Black-Clad Girl] ......yes. I am... looking. The girl answered the voice. She answered the shadow in the alleyway, where the voice was coming from. She answered with a delicate, shivering voice, like that of a small bird or a kitten. The shadow in the alleyway wondered if her throat had mutated.   [Iru] My name is Iru, though some call me the Old Teacher or the Elder Cat. Call me whatever you like, meow.   Now then...Who might you be?  My word,what are you searching for?   Oya oya?You don't know that either? You're an interesting girl.  Hmm... I see.So that's what it is... So then, what's your name?  ......nn?  Hm... you don't know your own name,but it's clear you're looking for something. What to do about this...  No need to make such a face, child.I'll guide you through Inganock. ......Inganock......? Oya oya?You don't even know that name? My word, you couldn't possibly be a foreigner. This City's isolated by an infinite 《Mist.》 Oooh, then let's do that.Now... you look like a child born to a decent Lower Tier, a magical City Tier, or perhaps覧 覧Or perhaps? No, that doesn't matter to me. Come here.I'm more generous than I look, meow. The young girl asked about everything she saw. The old Iru, the Fantastic Mutant 《Ezeck》 held out one of his peculiarly large and fleshy hands. Hard flesh that looked soft. The young girl grasped that hand. 覧Tightly. Not letting go. 覧In place of saying, 'thank you.' 
Fates End fucked around with this message at 22:37 on Feb 27, 2021 |
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Dec 15, 2018 20:41
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Iru is still the best kitty.  I wonder if that infinite mist is actually infinite...
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Dec 16, 2018 18:41
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BGM: Always As usual, the place was filled with people, people that had once been called human. Infinite masses of inhuman figures came and went. This would've been a strange scene ten years ago. But now, this was the City's standard appearance. A man with the face of a cricket. A woman with the wings and talons of an owl. A youngster who looks like a mouse. And people who hid their forms underneath cloaks. This was normal. Teacher Iru's form blended in naturally.  Ho-ho.I have no connection to Engines, but it's good that you and yours can enjoy their blessings. ......Engines? Yep. Healthy Engines working nonstop every day,in order to support the people's way of life. Well, that's their charm.  Aaah, I thank you for those words.The Old Teacher is always teaching us. *ksssh* Just an elderly cat's jest.All in moderation, as it should be. Humans with their whole bodies hidden beneath cloaks and oxygen masks. They thanked him reverently before leaving. 'What's going on?' The young girl tilted her head in curiosity. Was it that hard to breathe here? The oxygen masks they were wearing were certainly designed to make it easier. It wouldn' t be unusual in an Engine-Type Mining Site, atop an iron ore vein. She'd certainly heard about that before. But who'd told her about that? 覧The young girl tilted her head. 覧What was it? ............? ......people with only a few mutations wear those to avoid breathing in the air.It does little more than ease their minds, but that alone is inportant. They believe that mutations,such as those caused by Youki seeds, are passed on through the air. Those masks have been popular these past ten years.No matter how small the comfort, it's worth it.  ...... Ah, you understand.Yes, yes, you're a smart lass.  ......no. Ho-ho, such an honest girl.Smart and honest girls are both good.   ......waa, what's this?Something very cute is moving about. It's an Engine Spirit. They're not that rare.It's a type of Monster born from the Engine Factories. They've been very common these past ten years. Isn't it cute?  Yes. Ehehe.Thank you very much Teacher-sama, and you clad in black. The lump of iron, the Engine Spirit bowed in thanks. Just like the people from before. It was so cute it seemed like a joke. The young girl naturally laughed. As she chuckled, the small animal made a sound. This time it might've been something like fish blowing bubbles on the water's surface. 覧Small, delicate... 覧It's laughing. You seem to like it.Okay then, let's bring it along too. Come here, Engine Spirit Number 20305. I'll be of assistance.I'll be of assistance.  ......huhu. 覧The small black shadow walks, squish squash. 覧The large black shadow walks, pitter patter. 覧The small kettle's shadow walks, clink clunk. One animal, one human and one machine. It would've boon a mysterious group, were this not the Fantastic City. They wouldn't attract any attention in this City. People thanked the Old Teacher Iru from time to time, but that was all.    Who's this?Some slave girl you picked out of a Lower Tier brothel? Or... could this be your child? ...... Ho-ho, now then, I wonder about that.You're as beautiful as always, Alisa Greg. How polite of you. Why not stay here a while?We've got some skilled ones right here in this den. If you wish for it, I could give you dreams of drugs and women.  ......den...... Opium den. Oh, you don't know?Little girl...... or little boy, I can't tell. Anyway, would you like to stay for a while? We' ve got plenty besides Amnerol. How about it?You could even go to that Seikyouan "heaven. " I wouldn't mind at all if you became one of the "girls" in the back room, okay? ......? Ho-ho. Alisa Greg, you're as tough as ever.Seeing those eyes of yours reassures me, meow. Your jokes have gotten better. A lot of people really do come for that.After all, this is a bastion of the endless night, the Lower Tiers' Infinitely Crowded Street. Take care, Old Teacher. Black-clad girl, that goes for you as well.And your companion too. [Engine Spirit] Yep, yep, *whoosh* Your order has been received. I will be wary. Good boy.Well then, Teacher, good day to you. See you again sometime. I have no money, but let's talk again sometime.Please be alive tomorrow, lady. Huhu, and you too, wonderful Teacher. That person seemed nice. But... but... The young girl felt like she shouldn't walk around alone. Not just there, but anywhere in the City. She saw unpleasant men with reptilian faces, and badly-behaving men with oxygen masks. There seemed to be a lot of people like that. People who didn't thank the Old Teacher. Good thing there were two of them. No, three of them. 覧The small black shadow walks, squish squash. 覧The large black shadow walks, pitter patter. 覧The small kettle's shadow walks, clink clunk.  [Parul] Stop it, Lupo! You have to call him 'Teacher-sama.' Good day to you, Teacher-sama! Voices from the depths of the back-alley. Three small shadows popped their heads out. Three of them, gasping 'hii,' 'huu' and 'mii.' One child for each member of the girl's group. Two children that looked human, and one that looked like a snake.   Walking......Polun is also... umm... walking...... Good afternoon.[Children] 「Good afternoooon.」 「Good afternoon!」 「...good...afternoon.」 An energetic boy and girl. A withdrawn girl. The three frolicked around happily, running round and round the Old Teacher Iru. Very cute in a way. The young girl giggled like a cricket. [Pretty,」 the girl said. 「Strange,」 the boy said. 「...yes...」 the snake girl agreed. The young girl's eyes paused as she tilted her head again. What was wrong with their arms and legs? They were the color of dull iron. They were hard, as if made out of iron.  Nn? What, these interest you?Heheeeh, that old Morimoto-chan put these on for us. Gii-sensei gave him the money.  Heeey, Lupo.He's not a -chan, he's a -chama. Nn...... have you never seen Engine Limbs? No.Engine Limbs? ......a disease... mutated us... badly......so Gii-sensei...... gave us...... How about you, are your arms and legs all right?Amazing, I think this girl's never seen Engine Limbs before! Sorry. ......?? What are you apologizing for?These things are amazing. No matter how much you hang them into a desk, it won't hurt at all. We're just fine. [Engine Spirit] That's true. A steel body is tough. But be careful about rain. Be sure to oil up when you get home. I know that!Don't talk like Gii-sensei, you Spirit! Ho-ho, the Spirit-sensei is right.Listen to what it has to say. You three live in a nearby Factory, right?Don't wander too far away from it. You mustn't go anywhere you don't know. [Children] 「「「Okaaay」」」  No, bigger than a castle. This gloomy, castle-like City. Those kids had no trouble walking, even with those steel arms and legs she'd never seen. Teacher Iru had mentioned Youki and Fantastic somethings earlier. She was sure something like that was eating away at those children's limbs. But, she was also sure that such things were normal here. The young girl sighed, many times over. 覧The small black shadow walks, squish squash. 覧The large black shadow walks, pitter patter. 覧The small kettle's shadow walks, clink clunk.
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Dec 17, 2018 21:29
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BGM: Always 「Oya oya??」 [Agnes & Francisca] 「「Oya oya oya???」」  The young girl was surprised again. After all, she'd just been told there was an old turtle here. Instead, there were two cute little lamb girls. They looked a little older than the kids from before, but their faces seemed to say they owned the place. Their bouncing ears were adorable. Their eyes flickered and sparkled.  [Francisca] My, my, my? Will the City become even more of a hell than it already is?  [Agnes] If the Old Teacher starts kidnapping children, the unregistered Cracking Doc will stop traveling, and dead people will pop, pop, pop up everywhere. [Francisca] If you teach that Engine Spirit such bad things, Monsters and Creatures will come to the Residential Districts, and dead people will pop, pop, pop up everywhere.  「「We saaaw it, we saaaw it♪」」 ......? 「「We saaaw it, we saaaw it♪」」 ...... [Agnes] Huh? Huuuh? Wait a minute. What's with that lonesome face?  [Francisca] You're making us look like bullies. Come on Agnes, cut it out already. You love mocking people too much. [Agnes] ......you really love acting stupid, Francisca. Your older sister is unimpressed.  [Francisca] But I'm the older one, aren't I? [Agnes] But I'm the older one, aren't I?  「「Muu.」」 There, there, fights and insults aren't good.You'd both best stop it. You're scaring this girl. There are plenty of people around here doing bad things without you two.If their numbers increase any further, the City really will crumble, meow.  「「Okaaay.」」 Now this is a problem. I had to talk with the old turtle Stanislaw about this girl.It doesn't look like I can buy any information how.  [Agnes] Teacher-sama desires information? [Francisca] Then why not call upon us, the Crowded Street's number one informants? Hey, what information do you want? [Agnes] Another lost child? [Francisca] An AA difficulty lost child like Kia? Hmmm, I'm getting fired up, Agnes. My word, what are you two talking about?You don't even have that kind of information. Not to mention your ears are all stiff. Did something happen?  「「............」」 [Agnes] ......no, nothing. [Francisca] ......nothing at all. What's wrong?Something's happened. Your faces... 「「............」」[Agnes] ......no, nothing. [Francisca] ......nothing at all. Hmmm... aren't you kids always sunnier than this?Today you're downright prickly. My word, what happened to you, meow? [Agnes] Screw you, nothing of the sort happened. We're just the same as always. If we get no customers, we'll go home, go home☆ [Francisca] Screw you, it's just as she says. We're just the same as always. If we get no customers, we'll go home, go home☆  ...... ......bye-bye. They callously mentioned that this place was hell. She didn't want them to say that. The young girl sighed once more. But... but... This place could very well be hell. She didn't know anything. She was meeting nice people, but wasn't that only because of the old cat? The young girl grabbed onto Teacher Iru's coat sleeve. The smell of a foreign country. She was sure it was Seikyouan. 覧The small black shadow walks, squish squash. 覧The large black shadow walks, pitter patter. 覧The small kettle's shadow walks, clink clunk.  This is called a monorail.You could call it a kind of Engine Vehicle. I don't know the details myself.  Inganock is a very big place.It's a Multi-Tiered City, with ten-story High-Rise Buildings stacked on top of each other, tens and hundreds of times over. As the term implies,it's constructed with a number of Tier Plates. ...... Yeah, I don't blame you for not understanding.You've probably been in a very deep place all this time. I like using the stairs to move between Tiers,but that'd probably be hard for you. So we're using the monorail instead.Where are we going? One Tier up? Or down? I know.Why don't we go all the way up? Gaga! Pii!!We mustn't, we mustn't, the Aristocrats and Soldiers prohibit entry to the Upper Tier! They deprive you of your Individual Identification Engine Card, then execution! Execution! Execution! ......? The Upper Tier is a place way up there.The castle at the peak of this City. Can you see a small castle? Small. Yes, yes, it does look small, doesn't it?Though it's actually quite big. It's just a matter of scale. I see. Since we can't go there,we'll go somewhere right below it. There are some big Plates up there with spiral staircases. They're called the Upper Tier Staircase Parks.Let's go there. Will we find what she's looking for over there?*whoosh?*  Maybe, maybe not.But everything here seems very new to her, so we might as well show her something beautiful. ...... What is it? ......no, no, you truly are the Old Teacher.Always perfectly composed, gaga! Then, the talking Engine Spirit toppled over. Now that the monorail's doors were open, people were getting off the Engine Vehicle.  覧Why, if it isn't Teacher-sama. Please, you first. 覧Didn't he save a child with the Phenomenon Equation? 覧I heard he helped the Grand Prince once. 覧In any event, he's one to be thankful for. 覧It's such a waste for someone like him to be in a place like this. The compressed people opened their mouths one after the other, talking about the Old Teacher Iru. She was surprised. ......here we are. Amazing, Iru. Really, what's so amazing?I'm nothing more than an old cat. And yet, his beard was moving, twitching enjoyably. The young girl felt a little happier. The old cat was so good at looking after people, and everyone spoke so happily to him. It made her feel comfortable. 覧This is good, 覧Though I'm still a bit scared. She was scared, but were were still "people" in this City. BGM: Calmly Days  覧The rain's stopped. 覧What's filling my vision now is neither gray nor black. The sky was still gray, of course. But in her vision... there was so much greenery... The young girl gasped despite herself. Amazing. No stagnant air. Yes, the air up until now had been stagnant, although even the young girl herself had grown used to it. This place was different. There was a lot of vegetation, and a lot of green trees. Plants were growing lusciously, singing the praises of life. [Black-Clad Girl] ......waa......  ......there's...... so much............yes, amazing...... There's nothing amazing here at all.Huhuhu♪ Now then, on to fishing♪ [Engine Spirit] *whoosh?* A herd of green things wriggled at his feet. They were like caterpillars, but like dogs as well. Old Teacher Iru patted one, and then... He cast his fishing pole, throwing the bob far into the lake.   [Iru] Oooh, oooooooh, oooooh!? This is big, this is a big one, meooow!! [Iru] I can' t wait to see what I've caught, aaah, what is it!? I can't wait to see who I've caught, aaah, who is it!? Oooooh! [Iru] Both of you, come this way! Oooooh, I've got it! I'm gonna catch it! [Engine Spirit] You've got it! *whoosh!* [Black-Clad Girl] ......  [Im] What the覧! [Black-Clad Girl] Wa. [Iru] Oooh, oooooh! I've caught a splendid Inmicus japonicus! It feels splendidly round and fat and delicious! 「*squeak* *squeak*... *squeak* *squeak*」 [Iru] Is this the first time you've seen such a fish? This scary-faced fish was discovered around eight years ago. If you lightly boil it, it has a good flavor! 「*squeak* *squeak*... *squeak* *squeak*」 [Iru] Oooh, oooooh! You speak so much, oh cute Inimicus! Eating you would only hurt my conscience! 「*squeak* *squeak*... *squeak* *squeak*」 [Iru] Oooh, oooooh! You're mad, you're mad, of course you're mad! Then I'll let you go, farewell! [Iru] Release! [Black-Clad Girl] Ririisu. 覧*plunk!*  ...... Oya oya, you seem happy, what happened?Did you want to taste the Inimicus? Well, I'm sorry about that. You love the water, don't you Iru? Aaah, that's right.I'm a living being after all. I do indeed love water. 'This place is called the "Third Park." It's one of the Upper Tier Staircase Parks,' Iru continued with a smile. He pointed to the Lower Tiers spreading out below them, and his eyes wavered proudly. Old Teacher Iru cleared his throat. She wondered where he'd hidden his fishing pole, as he raised his arms up high as if imitating someone. Video: This is Inganock [Iru] 覧Applaud! Applaud!  「Oooh, oooh, is it not wonderful? The blind sacrifice remains undying in the City.」 「This is the City. The warped City of Inganock.」 「You surely don't know, oh child from parts unknown.」 「This is the City. This is the Independent City, blocked by the 《Infinite Mist.》」 「It once held a million people, but ten years ago, hundreds of thousands died.」 「The people mutated, Fantastic Mutants appeared, and the powerful Creatures scattered terror.」 「Even so, people have to live. Even so, people have to hold back their tears.」 「Desiring what they've forgotten, what left them ten years ago, and dreaming of the elegance of the Upper Tier Aristocrats.」 「However... however... This is the City where all illusions are brought to life. You mustn't forget that, young miss.」 「There is only one fairy tale. A fairy tale of a steel being who brings about 《beautiful things》 for people.」 「A fairy tale about forty-one steel dolls, and the forty-one Creatures they oppose.」 「You mustn't forget why there are forty-one steel dolls.」 「覧This is Inganock. 覧This is the last castle spun out of blood and tears」 「覧The clown's Fantastic City, at the edge of the world覧」 
Fates End fucked around with this message at 21:48 on Dec 19, 2018 |
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Dec 19, 2018 21:44
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Video: Dreams of the Past BGM: Amnesia  覧There's no clown at the edge of my vision. He'd always tried not to look at it. For some reason, the clown made him recall the past. Memories of the past. He couldn't remember them very well, since they were all broken up into little pieces. The dancing, black clown. He'd wiped it away, but for some reason... he remembered both it and the memories that came with it. That was... yes, ten years ago. His memories were now tender fragments. Countless memories draped in red and black hues. Memory. A deep moan full of screams and despair. Memory. He'd been haughty, thinking that his hand could save them. He'd been so sure that holding it out could save someone. Memory. Lives slipping through his fingers, one by one. Memory. The time when everything in the City began to "crumble." 「Why?」 覧Back when it began to crumble. 覧I'm sure... my lips... moved like that. There was no answer. There was no answer. That moment, when he couldn't hear that word. That was surely the time when he broke, together with the world. Wandering amidst the moaning voices, gazing endlessly at the tears of many, continuing to curse his own hands. As if struggling throng. a deep mist. .. As if writhing in the midst of a bad dream... 覧Ten years. It occurred to him that ten years had already passed since this 《Fantastic City》 had been born. 覧Since this world... since this City broke. 覧Ten years. 覧Memory. Now, that was just...  『Haha...... Aha, haha...... look...... Gii......』 『See, these pretty...... flames......』 『Huhu...... they're burning so much, so pretty... Isn't this the same as ten years ago......?』 『That's right...... it's the same. Yes...... it is the same, the same...』 『Hey, Gii ......? There was... a much... simpler way.』 覧Memory.  『......ten years ago.』 『The 《Revival》 manifested within this City, crushing the dreams of the people and the Grand Prince.』 『The nightmarish 《Infinite Mist,》 the bodily mutations, and the spread of strange, lethal diseases.』 『The fact that our City was built atop a great lake was yet another misfortune. We became completely isolated from the outside world.』 『And then we, the forty-one Creatures who appeared in Inganock 《were there to begin with,》 but...』 『You understand, don't you Gii?』 『You're a friend of ours, isn't that right?』 『In a way, all people are equal, and in that same way, you are connected to all of us.』 『Deeply, very deeply connected.』 覧Yeah. 覧You're right. 『Humans are already done for. That's why覧』 覧Memory.  BGM: Calmly Days  He thought he could feel the lingering scent of insanity. Gii shook his head to wipe away his visual information. Had he seen that illusion once again? The clown dancing at the edge of his vision. Gii's sneering insanity. [Gii] ......it couldn't be. The room was certainly filled with signs of morning. The warped birds' twittering shook his consciousness. Influenced by the Equation, his "right eye" could see light on the other side of the eternally gray mist. As always, the dulled sunlight came through the curtains. His brain mutations must have been progressing. He'd hardly used his Equation Eye at all recently, but it'd lingered in his "right eye" for almost seven hours. His "right eye" grasped and recognized objects, looking at things in the room other than the curtains and bed. Familiar things. The apartment he couldn't quite call comfortable. The Engine-Type Air Conditioning was the pride of his room. The clown illusion which shouldn't exist. When it appeared in his dream, his useless Eye didn't react to that "right eye of the rose." Even so覧 His eyes took in the Black Cat sleeping beside him.  [Ati} ......nn......u......nnn...... [Ati] ......nn...... The Black Cat lay on the bad right next to him. This was also a familiar scene. He never noticed her crawling in, but he always noticed after he woke up. And he was always briefly stressed by the possibility of a murderous intruder. He'd gotten quite used to this over the last ten years. 覧However... 覧I rarely see the Black Cat fall fast asleep. The Black Cat liked to gaze at his sleeping face with a playful smile. He was aware of that. [Gii] (Was she working late last night? Pushing herself as always?) He could easily imagine how she'd respond if he asked that aloud. 「You eat and drink nothing but coffee and hardly sleep at all. What right do you have to tell me that?」 「If you don't like it, then eat something.」 「You'll die, Gii.」 覧I've heard those words so many times. 覧Though it's been a while since I last heard them.  A Runner whose main hunting ground was the City Skyscraper. The Crack Engines implanted in her body made her one of the fastest warriors out there. Runners' work took place amidst a hail of blades, blood and bullets. She wouldn't have lived through the last ten years were she any slower. She must have done a number of jobs last night. He could see several abrasions covering her skin. White skin. Scars on her exposed shoulders. Several deep, faint scars remained, carved into her over the past ten years. Gii could see them. The largest one was, yes, from that time she' a protected Gii. A mark from when a Barghest Monster had bitten her. In this City, lives weren't worth much. Even she didn't earn that much rushing through battlefields. That was from before Gii's brain uutated. However, now that he had the Phenomenon Equation, he could easily remove tonight's wounds. Gii began to extend his hand... and hesitated. Could he avoid waking her?覧  [Ati] ......wh......y......more...... I...can't...... calculate......so... many...... bills..... [Gii] (This is unusual.) She rarely talked in her sleep, and what she was talking about was far removed from her current self. Bills. He shrugged despite himself. He imagined a female calculator at an Engine Factory. That line of work would never suit Ati. Was she dreaming of her past? He was a little interested. [Gii] (It's no business of mine.) 覧I hold out my hand, 覧Toward Ati's captivating hair.  覧I hold my hand over her head, 覧And accurately grasp the location of her brain.  覧Activate cranial organs. 覧Begin substitution healing via Phenomenon Equation. [Ati] ......nn...nn...... That which caused impossible phenomena. The Phenomenon Equation. A powerful light. An original piece of City technology developed by the Grand Prince. It harnessed physics to produce phenomena. Though unable to comprehend her dreams or mental constructs, the Equation's light substituted her nerves, returning them to their normal state. Substitution of matter. Part of the basic theory of the Phenomenon Equation. [Ati] ......no...... [Ati] ......wait, not yet...... [Ati] ......mama. Something shone brightly. Something reacted to the Cracking Light he emitted. Gii refused to see what poured out. He averted his eyes to the window. [Ati] ......mama...... 覧Pouring drops... 覧Are they truly tears?  Ati didn't seem to be awake. She must've been in a rather deep sleep. Rare things certainly were piling up. It was still only 6 AM. Too early for that girl. But that smell was already floating into his nostrils. 覧Sounds... 覧And the scent of food. The sound of cooking synthetic bacon in rationed cooking oil, and its smell. His body had probably lost its appetite in exchange for mastering the Phenomenon Equation, so he wasn't sure what to think of it... Ten years ago he might've had an opinion. It was splendid. She was handling the cheap skillet well. He was often surprised by that girl. When he sat down on the sofa, the girl showed up. She was holding plates in one hand, while skillfully undoing her apron with the other.  She looked like a Seikyouan doll. Gii squinted despite himself. For some reason, he thought of the sunlight behind the clouds. She was wearing her indoor clothes. She must have been quite skilled to keep the oil off of them. 覧Kia. 覧A mysterious pink-eyed girl.  You're up early, Doctor Gii.I'm done making breakfast, so would you eat?  Morning.Thank you, Kia. He didn't say he would eat. Gii never said he'd do something he couldn't. Aside from coffee, he'd have a little bit of a fried egg. That was the compromise he'd eked out of her.  The weather's much nicer today.The sky feels a little brighter somehow. That's true.覧Only sunbeams. It hasn't changed. 覧Tha sky remains the same shade of gray all day.  Maybe it just feels clearer than usual after all that rain fell.What Tier are we going to work in today? I think we'll go down a bit today.It's cold, so be sure to wear your coat. Yes, Doctor. Kia. Yes? Could you stop calling me Doctor?I've told you before, I'm not a doctor. Yes, Doctor.You're a Cracking Doc, a magical doctor. No, Kia.It's just a trick, not magic. No, Doctor.覧She says with a smile. He laid eyes on her faint smile. Gii shrugged his shoulders, admitting defeat. He wouldn't coerce anyone, ever. That was a rule Gii had decided on ten years ago. She could call him whatever she wanted.  I made enough for three......What should we do? Will this be all right?  Is your wife still asleep?I wouldn't want to make her eat a cold breakfast. Ati's still asleep, but it's fine.She has覧a cat's tongue after all. Ah, ah, you're right, okay.I'll remember that, Gii.  I've told you this before too.......Kia. She's not your wife, right? It'll get cold, so eat quickly.覧She's showing me a smile. 覧I can't beat her with words. How many days had it been since that girl came here? He thought he'd gotten quite used to it, but... At a core level, he really hadn't. Besides, Gii didn't want to get used to it. [Gii] (......speaking of not getting used to things...) He remembered. The shadow in the City Skyscraper Storage Building. There was supposed to be another here. That steel girl. She was a human, and she should've been in one of the apartment's second floor rooms. The guest room that Kia slept in. She wasn't here. He couldn't feel that frozen gaze of hers. Is Ruaha awake yet?I don't think she woke up at all yesterday. Yes, she doesn't seem to be up today either.She said she'd wake up tomorrow. I see.Although his home's Steam Energy consuuption had increased, he didn't mind, as long as there was no problem. Kia had already set the table. They sat next to each other. 覧Aaah, so that's it. ......then I'll eat something. Yes, please do have some.Eat a lot. BGM: Girl Grins  覧During breakfast, 覧All I can hear is the birds' twittering. Breakfast was always quiet. Even before the girl came here, and even now. Kia was good at handling a knife and fork. He looked at Kia holding her cup with both hands. She appeared to have already finished eating the bacon and eggs. The bread had disappeared first. She must've liked it. She seemed to enjoy soft bread. Ten years ago, hard bread was the norm, but now Seikyouan recipes made soft more common. At first, she'd been surprised by its softness. She really was a mysterious girl. Where in the world was she raised? Her bearing, behavior, wardrobe, and the sheer quantity of clothes she owned. She must have been from a higher Tier, but... In terms of Citizen classes, she'd be at least sixth. Since people could fluctuate between Tiers in this City, she could've been even higher. And yet, she was moved simply by soft bread. Truly a mysterious girl.  Even the old man Stanislaw, who proclaimed himself Crowded Street's Fixer, had failed to gather any information on her. Therefore... There was no way of learning who Kia was unless she talked about it herself. [Kia] ......ah, hot......! [Gii] Don't drink it so fast. Are you going to eat my bread too? [Kia] Yes. Ah, no, not that. It's fine. That's not it at all. [Gii] The eggs were delicious. [Kia] Huhu, were they? That's good. Ah, you're really eating. [Kia] ......and the bacon? [Gii] Well, my appetite... [Kia] Fine. Dinner's going to have a lot of vegetables, so please eat that. [Gil] ......I'll do my best. 覧He wasn't lying. 覧Gii began to look away from Kia, when... He suddenly thought of it. He had some free time left before his planned trip. It'd be nice to spend the morning talking for once. [Gii] Kia.  [Kia] Yes, what is it? [Gii] As an apology for not eating the bacon, I'll tell you a little story. [Kia] I love stories. Which one? Cinderella? Snow White? No, it doesn't have to be a Seikyouan tale. [Gii] ......yeah. He'd heard some nostalgic names. Fairy tales long lost in this City. Nowadays, such things actually existed in this City. Humans and dwarves who used something resembling magic, as well as Youki fruit which tempted humans into eternal sleep. Only the happy endings didn't exist. That was why people abandoned all fairy tales. They believed that this City didn't need them. They thought that telling them would only summon frightening things, since all sorts of illusions materialized here.  [Gii] There were a lot of fairy tales a long time ago, though you seem to know about them already. [Kia] Now there aren't? [Gii] Now there's only one. That's why I'll tell one from ten years ago. [Gil] ......a tale of water. 覧A tale of water. 覧A fairy tale about a water princess. 覧It was said that she lived in a far-off country. 覧A beautiful princess of the water. 覧She was trapped by an evil sorcerer, 覧And locked up in a tower. 覧Locked up in there for a long, long time. 覧The princess was sad, and cried. 覧One year, two years, three years. 覧She spent the entire time in tears. 覧And then, after a while, 覧The Princess' prison became full of tears. 覧The princess nearly drowned. 覧In her own tears. 覧However, 覧Someone saved the princess. 覧That person had boundless courage. 覧He released the princess from her prison. 覧He called to her, telling her to stop crying. 覧He called to her, telling her to come outside.  [Kia] Hmm, a princess. So, did she live happily ever after? [Gii] That she did. Everyone lived happily ever after. [Kia] ......did they now? [Gii] Nn...... Gii saw her expression darken. It seemed that the girl hadn't liked the story. Perhaps it was too short and simplistic? Should he have added a few details to it? Gii shrugged his shoulders, giving up. [Gii] Didn't you like it? I'm sorry. I'll remember a more interesting story next time. [Kia] No, not that, it was a wonderful story. But...... [Kia] Gii's words sounded strange. That just bugged me a little. [Gii] Strange? [Kia] You're always lying, after all. 覧Lying? [Gii] I'm not lying. 覧An intelligent girl. 覧She always shows it whenever I treat her like a child. They didn't really live happily ever after. The princess turned into bubbles and vanished. 
Fates End fucked around with this message at 22:48 on Feb 27, 2021 |
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Dec 26, 2018 21:44
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I'm not sure what story he meant to be telling, but it took a hard turn into the original version of The Little Mermaid at the end. I wasn't expecting that since the rest of this update was more sweet than bitter. A little more.
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Dec 27, 2018 08:55
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Good news, everyone. I've finally found a tool that can extract the script out of the game files, saving me from the soul-rending tedium of editing the gobbledygook text recognition spits out. Update Soon.
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Jan 30, 2019 05:42
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BGM: Amnesia Everything in this City was like that. Everything was filled with lies, just like Gii. The City was overflowing with clients. This City. Its name was Inganock. ──The City of Inganock. ──The 《Fantastic City》 that none speak of. It was once one of the great Engine Cities of the Eastern Continent. It'd been beautifully equipped to be the world's first Multi-Tiered Complete Environment City. Now, it was different. A fantastic dreg, isolated and independent. Yes. That's right. Surely no one on the "outside" spoke of this City. Everything changed with the 《Revival》 ten years ago. After being cut off from the outside world by a mysterious mist, Inganock changed and warped. Some said that the City died that day. It certainly had died. Everything changed. The medicine Gii had studied for "the sake of humanity" lost all meaning, because everyone's bodies had mutated. Those who changed into Fantastic Mutants like birds and boars, those who changed into soundless lumps of rock, and those who changed into dying plants. ──Each and every one. ──Each and every one of them changed. By now, there was no pure and simple human in the City's Lower Tiers. ──Including Gii himself. The Ideal Arcology City, the metropolis that should have been a Complete Environment constructed on an enormous scale. Even now, traces of that Plan were clear in its outward appearance. Beasts and Spirits called Monsters. Strange diseases beyond human knowledge. Mutations and Arboritis. And the forty-one Creatures. Numerous mutations. Unbelievable lies. That was the true nature of this place. The City was practically made out of lies. Was there a single genuine truth in it? [Gii] （......even if there isn't...） [Gii] （We keep on living, like fish breathing on the surface of the water. We aren't drowning yet.） BGM: Calmly Days  The Traveling Doctor continuing to break City Law. That was his identity now. That was his current lie. It was a role he'd given himself, since he'd once been a med student ten years ago. A false doctor. A walking lie. A trick that couldn't be called medicine. Excising diseases with the Phenomenon Equation. Healing external wounds. He used to ambiguously think about working as a University Doctor someday, but now he was...... now he was out on the street, dealing with real people. Yes, truly like a lie. He was nothing more than a deception, controlling a power that itself seemed untrue.  [Gii] Calm yourself. It's all right, I'll save your life. [Gii] It's a tumor in its early stages. I'll take it out safely. You needn't worry, Mister. ──Activate my cranial organs. ──Release the light of the Phenomenon Equation.  The Cracking Light substituted body parts. He healed people just as he always did, using the Phenomenon Equation. A long time ago he would have been amazed at this. This powerless power. This Phenomenon Equation. He said the tumor was young, but that was an expedient lie. The panel of light floating in his "right eye" sent him the precise status of the patient's body as an Information Entity. ──I recognize this. The cancer was actually in its final stages. Normally, the man couldn't be saved. However, cancer was no match for the Cracking Light. If genes were twisted, he merely substituted. Matter was nothing before the Phenomenon Equation. He twisted it away, leaving healthy cells. But there were things matter substitution couldn't deal with. Arboritis, for example, ate away at the very nature of one's existence. The Equation meant nothing before strange diseases like that. Was it a form of magic? No, it was merely a conjurer's trick. 「Thank you so much, thank you, Doctor. ......I'm so glad I called you......」 「I was so afraid of having my body Cracked, and yet...... aaah, thank you......」 [Gii] I don't mind, Mister. That's a normal reaction. Cancer was no longer deadly. Far more fearsome phenomena, which couldn't even be called diseases, had simply taken its place. That was why... This was nothing more than a trick. It was the same as using adhesive to hold a wound shut. ......however, in this City, even that adhesive... [Gii] （Is it meaningless? Is it a lie?） [Gii] （Even if it is...） [Gii] （......I...） Everything in the City changed ten years ago. People mutated, Monsters ate away at them, and the City, which had once aimed for ideals, changed into a fearsome fantasy. Over the last ten years, people had been allowed to live by the skin of their teeth, through great sacrifices. They truly were living by a hair. Under the laws made by the top Aristocrat, the Controller. The Grand Prince hidden away in the Upper Tier. ──Even so... Gii couldn't stop holding out his hand.  It was ironic. The poor kept on dying. A person's environment meant nothing to fantastic diseases. And yet, the more impoverished they were... Today he was in the Twelfth and Eleventh Slum Districts. Earlier, he'd traveled to houses in the Ninth Production Tier. Most of the people he'd saved were from the latter. Just as the Grand Prince's Law had decided. To the letter of the ideals held up by the City Law, praising rejection of the weak. Four adults. Ten children. He was glad he left Kia with Eralee when he went down to the Production Tier. He didn't want to show that girl so many deaths. This region tended to have more severe cases of fantastic diseases. Even taking that into consideration, fourteen in a single day... That was a large number. ──Fourteen today. ──Fourteen I couldn't save. ──Slipping through... ──So many things, slipping through my fingers... Even so, Gii continued to be a Traveling Doctor. BGM: Always  Gii continued to walk down the Crowded Street. Eralee's hospital was on the Tier directly above. Even though it was higher up, it was still a Lower Tier. The Upper Tier was just one part at the peak. Everything else was part of the Lower Tiers. A nest of humans. Yes, of humans. No matter how much their appearances had changed, they were still a herd of people on their way to their deaths.   Medicines are important in this day and age.There isn't much money in it, but it reassures important producers. Well,since I only use it on those who have plenty to eat, I can understand where you're coming from. Lower Tier Citizens are always malnourished, but that just means these cheap nutrients do some good. ......hey.Are you listening, Gii?  I'm listening.Sorry about this, Eralee. What's with that hand? Money.Though I won't pay if you don't need it. That would be nice. When did I say that?Wherever it comes from, money is money. Eralee Barnes. Also human. One of the few with no mutations visible on the outside. Of course, he did have multiple hearts. To him, visible mutations would be a great stain. Since he examined the bourgeoisie and even Upper Tier Aristocrats on occassion, his "outside" was important for business. There were many wealthy men who hated mutations. They were Eralee's main customers. By the way, Gii.Have you heard the rumor yet? Dunno. So did you or did you not hear it......?Well, there's a culling by City Law approaching. Though where it'll be hasn't been leaked yet.  I see.Thank you. ......what do you mean, 'thank you?'You need to stop getting involved with the old and the young. And the severely ill too. What's the point? I know about your way of business, and it's no good.There's no money in it at all. Get more serious, Gii. There's no point to being a Traveling Doctor.The number of patients in the Lower Tiers will just keep increasing, won't it? That's what this City has become. ──Serious, huh? Nothing will come of healing indiscriminately.They need to be pruned. You know that. It's the Law. The infirm only harm the City's economy. Now, I'm not telling you to work in my hospital, but I am telling you to fulfill your duty as a doctor.──Duty. Choosing who lives and who dies is the role of a doctor.If you can't do that, City Law will dispose of you as well. Even you and I talking like this is... well... It's dangerous. I can't let any First-Class Citizens with connections to the Upper Tier Aristocrats find out about it. Besides, you were better than me in the University.I can't stand to see you like this. ......I'm truly sorry, Eralee. I don't want you to owe me anything.But about that... You hardly use any facilities or medicines, instead making up for them with the Equation.That's nothing but your ego, Gii. ──Ego... ego, huh? ──That certainly might be it. Whatever meaning or significance remained in his conduct was long gone. Gii knew that as well as anyone. Your wasted talents are a loss for the whole City. I can't accept that. Listen, Gii.I cannot accept that. He left the hospital with the voice of his old friend behind him. The lights inside were no longer on. Exceedingly "rational" doctors closed at 7 PM. Eralee was probably busy preparing for his weekend party. Gii had noticed the bowtie in his pocket almost immediately. Eralee was right. That was what constituted a respectable doctor here. ──The people who hire Traveling Doctors... ──Must all be insane in some way.  Gii, hey, Doctor.Are you done talking? Did you get the medicine? Hey, Kia got a book. That's good to hear. What kind of book?  A medical text.She said it was from the Seikyouan year 1903. That pretty woman over there gave it to me. He could see the four-armed girl. He recognized her in her nurse uniform.  She'd never shown Gii a smile before when he came to get cheap medicine. It must've been because of Kia. [Gii] （So she's just acting nice in front of her.）  Hey, I'll work hard on this.Someday I'll be of use to you. Nn── I was only able to help a little today.I've decided to work hard so that you won't have to leave me behind anymore. I'll be of use to you, Gii.  I want to be closer to you, Gii, so Kia will do her best.──She really is... ──A mysterious girl, from the bottom of her heart. He went home in a slight hurry. At night, a ward this poorly lit couldn't be called safe.  She wasn't walking so much as jogging. Obviously her pace was smaller than Gii's.  [Gii] （Really now...） Why in the world?── What part of this boring guy did she like? Why didn't she ever leave him? The man couldn't even understand himself, so why? There were plenty of more "respectable" doctors out there. Even Eralee ought to be better. And yet... why was this girl joining him on his travels every day? Video: Handful He never thought they'd go out walking this late. Clearly he'd been a little too trusting. Gii realized once again that no ordinary methods would work on them. ......come out of there.I know it's you, Lupo.  You too, Parul and Polun. Eh? Gii, where?Parul? Lupo? Polun? Parul's in the shadows, over there.Are you playing an all night game of hide-and-seek? [Parul] ......I'm sorry, Sensei. [Lupo] drat, so you did find us. And I thought we'd hidden well. [Polun] ......I'm... sorry...... Gii-sensei......  The Equation he'd used a few hours ago still lingered in his "right eye," so he'd been able to see them. Umm, umm, we weren't doing anything... bad......We were just taking a break...... The boss is just horrible...He didn't give us dinner, and on top of that, he threw a ton of late night work at us. ...I'm... hungry... My stomach's so empty it's eating itself.Aaah, I'm so hungry! Don't say such things!Lupo, you always complain the moment you get hungry! ......we're sorry, Gii-sensei.We'll go back to the Factory.  I think I understand now.These kids too? He'd bumped into so many situations like this on the way to Eralee's hospital. More than usual. And for good reason. Today was a day of fun for Lower Tier laborers. This was when the Engine Spirit races were held and bet on. Of course it was only fun for the adults, since you had to present an Individual Identification Engine Card to enter an Engine Spirit race. Today, the Factory owners were "foster parents" in name only, choosing instead to throw away money. Days like these usually ended in child abuse. Gii confirmed the weight of his wallet. He hadn't paid Eralee that much, so there was still a decent sum left. ......Gii, can we do something for them?Hey, can we take them home with us? No, we can't. Gii! That's kidnapping.I'll go see their parents instead. That should help somehow.  ......? You're the one who said I can use magic.He'd received huge tips from the bourgeoisie men this evening, but since that was money he hadn't earned, he wanted to use it on someone else. This was also a trick. When he had money, he could make it look like magic. Eh? Eh? What, Gii-sensei...?What're you going to say to the boss...?  I won't scold the boss.That'd just hurt you three. Then will you beat him up?Weren't you weak in a fight, old man? Lupo! Don't call him old!Call him Sensei! And don't say he's weak! Buu... ...but...he doesn't...look strong... Polun too? Aaah......Yo-you can't say such things. He rubbed Parul's head as tears welled up. Her hair, which should've been soft, was now coarse and hard. He felt as if he knew how they were treated at the Factory. He'd given the boss of that Engine Factory quite a few donations, but the man seemed to be greedier than Gii had expected. Ah, I know. Wait just a moment. I have something good.  Something good? Gii disappeared again, so I left this aside for dinner. [Kia] I made some rice balls! They're from the far off country of Seikyou. See, if you cook the rice without frying it... [Lupo] Food! It's looks great! What did you say this was? [Polun] ...raisu booru... [Lupo] Oooh, they're called rice balls? Seikyouan is a fun language. So you cook rice and roll it up to make these... onigiri? [Kia] Onigiri? [Lupo] Yes, yes, onigiri. I just thought up that name. [Kia] Onigiri...that's a cute name. Then we'll call them onigiri from now on. 「Onigiri?」 「Onigiri!」 「...okay...」 The elder sister tilted her head, and the brother seemed happy. The reserved girl simply nodded. They screamed joyously as they ate the rice balls. It wasn't long before they'd disappeared. Truly impressive.  One bowl a day of inferior synthetic oatmeal from Engine-Type Manufacturing Devices. It was never enough. Gii shrugged, then picked up Lupo and carried him on his shoulders. He pulled Polun's hand with one of his own. Kia, take Parul's hand.Let's go. Sure! Aaah, Kia-nee-chan, that's rude.You have to say, 'yes' or 'okay.' Lupo! Don't order her around! Okaaay. ...yes... Okaaay.Gii looked at the children's limbs with his "right eye." Since he was here, he decided to do a quick inspection. There didn't seem to be any sign of progression. There was inflammation around their stumps. Their muscles were probably in pain. But the children didn't speak of it. If left alone, it would wear down their bones. They were still young, so they must've been growing out of their limbs. He decided to ask Morimoto to move up the replacement date. [Gii] （Hopefully he's in a good mood.） He'd talk to Morimoto about it. If he wasn't careful, the cost could skyrocket. He decided to swap their limbs as soon as possible. He couldn't deny the possibility that the children's Arboritis had already invaded their limbs. It was one of this City's most abominable diseases. Arboritis. One of the phenomena that killed children. One of the Creatures scattered it. In the City, especially in the Lower Tiers...... Technically it wasn't a disease. It was a "phenomenon" that behaved like one. There was virtually no way to recover after contracting it. ──But, it wasn't a certain death. There was a possibility that those kids would live into adulthood. He hoped that they'd be different from the ten he'd seen today. 'It could never happen in the Lower Tiers.' Gii wouldn't say that, even if it meant disobeying the Law. ──Even if the City is broken, ──I will not become like Eralee. Now he was prepared to pull his wallet's drawstring. He'd make up whatever the boss lost, so that they could at least have two bowls of oatmeal a day. Let's go.Don't you ever go outside in the middle of the night again. [Children] 「「「Okaaay.」」」 ] ......yes, Doctor Gii.BGM: Amnesia  *brush* *brush* *brush* *brush* *brush* *brush* Deep underground, where no one's voice could reach. Beneath all of the City's Lower Tiers, then even lower than that. Randolph was digging holes tonight, as always. The underground madman dug holes, while talking with someone who couldn't be seen. *scratch* *scratch* *scratch* *scratch* *scratch* *scratch* *brush* *brush* *brush* *brush* *brush* *brush*  What you need to dig holes is a water square, a golden triangle, and a mind that has touched the shining 《Secret Green Book.》In other words, it's all in my head. My mother gave me wondrously skilled fingers, but they seem different now.Not good, not good, aaah, not good, not good. ...... ......what?Aren't they only bad now? Are you saying they've been bad for a while? ...... Well, I wouldn't know.That doesn't matter at all. BGM: Calmly Days  The present time was 4 AM at night, or perhaps morning. Gii heard a voice, and put down his glass. He could hear voices coming from the second floor. It was too early for that girl to be up. Was she having trouble sleeping? She'd said she didn't need the Engine-Type Air Conditioning, but it was very humid tonight. He turned around to see Kia walking down the stairs, and into the living room. There was the sound of ice falling into strong distilled alcohol.   Yeah, would you like a cup?It might be a little strong just for putting someone to sleep.  ......no, I don't need that.And I don't like that kind of joke.  Aaah.──I didn't like it either. ──Why would I need to do that to her? Did I wake you up?I'm sorry, I'll go to bed now.  ......but...It's already past four. Not a problem.I'll get up at six.  ......Gii, what's wrong? Nothing's wrong.I'm the same as always. He simply wasn't in the habit of sleeping that long. There was no other reason. None. So he'd decided to open a bottle he rarely drank from. ──That's all. ............ Kia? ......No words. Her pink eyes gazed at him. Gii couldn't understand why. He shrugged. He tried to say, 'It's still too early for you to be up,' in a gentle voice, but he was hoarse.  ......what's wrong with your eyes?Did I do something, Kia? I'm worried.For some reason, Gii's strange right now. I can't imagine why.We'll be going out a ways again today, so go to bed soon.  No.──No? No. After all, you're crying. I'm not crying.I'm just remembering. Remembering what......? I'm not sure.......now that you mention it, I can't remember. BGM: Destiny Go Round Video: Lying ──The clown is dancing at the edge of my vision. That memory won't go away. Within the rubble. Countless white clothes. Footsteps. Screams. Ten years had passed. And yet, even now I can remember it the same as always. ──On that day. ──At that time. ──I'm sure... ──I heard that voice.  『Hello, Gii.』 『There isn't a single lie in this City.』 『Only the humans are lying.』 BGM: Calmly Days  The presence of a normal morning. He could hear just a little of the warped birds' twittering. His "right eye," with its lingering Equation, couldn't recognize any abnormalities. He couldn't even see the Black Cat. He was alone in his bedroom. He rubbed his temple, and got up. No headache. No nausea either. He wasn't even sweating. His metabolic functions were calm. He wasn't stressed. He wasn't showing any physical reactions at all. A normal morning, behind the normal screen of gray clouds. No one else was there. He didn't feel a thing. He'd had a bad dream, that was all. The place was full of nightmares already. Gii sighed. [Gii] ......that was... the clown. Two days in a row now. ──I see, clearly it's not over. ──It won't disappear just yet. ──Randolph. ──It seems I'm still insane. BGM: None   The sound of a clock. The sound of a clock. "Is it time? Is it time?" it continues to call.   The second hand moves. It stops, pointing right at zero o'clock. BGM: A Spiral Staircase  The Golden Spiral Staircase towering into the darkness. The man standing at the foot of it is none other than the silver watch's owner. With his master in the corner of his eye continuing to climb the Golden Spiral Staircase, the man continues to gaze at the watch, motionless. The man continues to gaze at the watch, and speaks. Like a Chrome-built, Machine-wound doll, in an inorganic voice...  [Man with Watch] ......the charging is complete. ......my master, I will proceed to activate it. [Man with Watch] Large-scale distribution of the new drug has begun. ......my master, the "time" you've wished for has come. [Man with Watch] ......now, the time of joyous culling begins. [Man with Watch] ......how long will our sacrifice hold out? At least, one minute. No, two minutes. Tick-tock. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Tick-tock. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Tick-tock. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Tick-tock. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Tick-tock. Tick- ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀... tock. Fates End fucked around with this message at 05:10 on Jan 31, 2019 |
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Jan 30, 2019 06:52
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Looking forward to future updates. I have no clue what痴 going on, no clue what痴 going to happen, but it痴 still entertaining to read so thank you for lping it.
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Jan 30, 2019 07:11
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It's a lot of words, so I certainly can't blame you for needing to dig up a better solution. Also you have a loose :siren up there.
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Jan 31, 2019 03:03
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Polsy posted:Also you have a loose :siren up there.
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Jan 31, 2019 05:11
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BGM: Always The City's only High-Rise Building Plate. Following the closure of the Great Underground Engines, this place became the new cradle of Engine technology. The Upper Tier assigned the administration of this High-Rise Economic and Administrative Ward to the City Officers. It was a pivotal point for sending Engine Energy into every part of the City. Did all of these countless buildings have their own pulse? With Engine Energy and calculation devices in place of blood? Engine Energy was money itself. The more money one moved, the wider their influence became. ──This is where us Runners conduct our biz.   I'm telling you, it's annoying.I've confirmed that it's charged. No problems here. What's the result on your end, Black Cat-san?   Only five more Reserve Engine Energy Tanks left.These cost a lot. She pulled out a large chunk of iron. It began to gush out compressed steam. She quickly inserted it into a big Engine Connection Interface. Who would waste their time on such chores? Ati gave a bored and frustrated sigh. The muscles and constitution she'd gained through mutations, training and implants were crying out in agony. Carrying heavy objects was a pain. Fighting gracefully was her main skill. This was no different from Engine Factory labor. If she stained her precious ballistic leather suit, she'd demand another two figures. She made that decision.  How's it looking, horse girl? I'm not a horse, I'm a 《Tauros.》No problems at the moment. Ten Reserve Tanks confirmed. I'll leave a note about this in the log. Also, please don't complain so much.The higher-ups got really mad at me when the Engine Connector got damaged...  Aaah......Yeah, sorry, sorry. I'm sorry. It got damaged during the fight at the Storage Building a few days ago, when Ati had been dueling with the Upper Tier Soldier. In light of that, she couldn't really say much. This was no good. The conversation was changing subjects. She stuck out her tongue on the inside. 'I'm sorry.'  But thanks to that, the abnormality was dealt with.Both of our problems were solved.  Well... the Engine Energy Distribution abnormalitydid die out... but something's strange...  Wh-what abnormality?At present, the Engine Energy Distribution mistakes are within regulation margins of error.But... buuut... It's been determined that the miscalculations this time sent an incredible amount of Engine Energy into the Lower Tier D Partition.But, we don't know any more than that...Ah, th-this is a second-class secret, by the way! Then tape your mouth shut.Still, that's pretty strange. [Ati] Was there a Factory anywhere with a lot of Engine Spirits popping out? ...mmm... no, but it was a lot like that.It closely resembled a pattern of automatic Spirit production. But... but... it was just too much. We really really reaaally just don't know where it all went.──That really is very strange. ──This is the place where numbers and Energy accumulate. A ton of Engine Energy just went missing?There was no explosion, and no large or sudden production of Engine Spirits had occurred. Her ears would never let something this important slip by. But, what was it then? Where could the Engine Energy have gone to?  ......hmmm, what is it... strange.It wouldn't just run off on its own. ──I don't know. ──Whatever it was, Gii destroyed it a few days ago. While Ati had been crossing blades with the insane Upper Tier Soldier, Gii had destroyed the king of the City Skyscraper's Information Space. Ati didn't know that. ──That Creature Bandersnatch... Anyway, hurry up, Ati. My next biz is waiting.There's a Couatl and a raving 《Ogre》 causing trouble.  Eh? A Couatl? Really?That Monster's worth a hundred thousand! Didn't you hear the wireless this morning?To think you got a 《Street Name》 despite that... Eh? Eh?You have more work after this? You're so busy...... be careful. Well, I'll die when I die. What he said.BGM: Calmly Days  Two shadows stepped off the monorail. A large black shadow, and a small black one. The small kettle's shadow was no longer there. He'd run out of fuel in the Upper Tier Staircase Park, and they had no money to refill its steam tank. They had no choice but to leave it there. The big shadow said it would probably start moving again at some point, and the young girl nodded. She arrived here by following him. They got off the monorail, heading straight for a light hill. At long last, she could see a small cooperative residence. He said the person she was looking for was waiting there. ...... Not that many people come visiting here.They only do when they don't want to die. I don't know whether he's what you're after, but there should be no harm in bringing the two of you together. ......okay.The young girl nodded. If Teacher Iru would take her there, she didn't mind. If he'd introduce them, she didn't mind. The two of them had circled the City over the last two days, and had finally arrived at this apartment. This small cooperative residence with so few residents. This──  The man couldn't hide his shocked expression. The Old Teacher called him Gii. It looked like he was just about to leave. They'd come at just the right time. The young girl said,「Nice to meet you,」 with a kitten's whisper. Then the eyes of the girl beside him sparkled. 'Cute,' she said. The girl standing beside him tilted her head. 'Cute,' she said.  [Ruaha] Please return the day after tomorrow. Although I predict the Doctor will plan to do more traveling and healing then. Ruaha! Hey, Ruaha.You mustn't chase away our guests.  Yes, Kia.Order received. I will not chase away the guests.  ......I'm sorry, Old Teacher.Excuse me, but would you mind sitting down? No I wouldn't. I'm the one who came here suddenly.I just happen to have something I want your help with. Come here, black-clad girl. ......Doctor.When the young girl smiled, the man called Gii introduced himself. He didn't return her smile. The young girl knew. Aaah, this person must have been... Someone who didn't smile. She knew that right away, just by looking at his face. Nice to meet you.Are you an acquaintance of the Old Teacher? What's your name? ...... She doesn't seem to know her name or where she's from,but it's clear she's searching for something. Something...? The rest is your job, Gii. Understood, Iru-oji-sama.We'll take her on. Nice to meet you, umm... black clothes, so......  Kuro-chan. Kuro-chan. Kuro-chan. No, I don't understand.Old Teacher, sorry to be picky, but I'm a Traveling Doctor, not at all a respectable doctor. Why do I── You've got Kia by your side, and that new friend too. I am Ruaha.Good day to you, old man. Good girl.Now, Gii, take care of her. I'll be wandering around this Tier for a while, waiting for some good news. ......T-teacher Iru.It's true that Kia's origins are unknown, but that's an entirely── What's different?What's the difference between Kia and this girl? The young girl tilted her head. At the same time, the girl called Ruaha did too. The young girl thought, 'The girl called Kia is the same as me?' She didn't look the same, so she couldn't be sure. However, Gii closed his mouth, and rubbed his temple for two seconds. ......old man, this is no place for lost children. Yep.Until now. Old man!BGM: Amnesia  Deep underground, where no one's voice could reach. Beneath all of the City's Lower Tiers, then even lower than that. Randolph was digging holes tonight, as always. The underground madman dug holes, while talking with someone who couldn't be seen. *scratch* *scratch* *scratch* *scratch* *scratch* *scratch* *brush* *brush* *brush* *brush* *brush* *brush* ......it's just my nature, annoyingly enough. It's not like anyone told me to do this.Though there were a few close friends who said hole-digging suited me. Like the bugs. The shining silver becomes the key and toys with me.That is, in other words, light scorching me. The sun and I used to be hot enough to scorch the wings off butterflies. ...... What?You ask what the sun is? That's the light on the other side of the gray cloud screen, which once lit up this planet. ...... Yeah, that...That might be it. People might cry themselves drybecause it'll never reach them. BGM: Detective  ──I watch the girl from behind as she left. ──I enter standby mode.  「Ruaha, watch the place while we're gone.」 I repeat the girl's words to myself. Without having to use my Auditory Engines, her voice kept coming back to me, again and again. Only the girl's words, arrive fully formed in my brain, arrive fully formed in my heart... The girl, the man, and the black-clad girl. That old 《Ezeck》 man had also left. With the limited brain matter left to me, I thought about the meaning of their conversation. What had they meant? 「We're going to search for what she's looking for.」 That black-clad girl. Conducting a search for "what she desires." That was the content of the conversation they had exchanged. Was that something... her history? Her origin? The old man hadn't said so. ──Crack Engine Connector, activate. ──Move to Information Search. The metals composing my body. My own body is just Crack Engines brought forth by the Phenomenon Equation. Very few organic components remain. The Connection Interface of the Lifeline Engine, which channeled rationed Engine Energy to the Citizens of every Tier. I lay my steel hand over it. The sound of grating metals. The spherical joints in my elbows move slightly, and my wrist swings open. A natural human would've had bone there. I had an Engine Connector. Normally I only use it when filling up on power. However, it can also be used for other things. ......connect. I pushed the Connector from my wrist into the Lifeline Engine's Connection Interface, connecting them. ......connected. ......exposure of sensors and probes. ......connection to Information Space. Library Access. It's only made possible by the City Skyscraper, but it can be done even from here. The Engine Energy Information Network running across the entire City. I connect to it, and perform the slightest of interventions. By doing this, I can gain Access to the City Skyscraper's Library from long distances. Of course, City Administration opposses such action. But as those Runners, the "Hackers" say, it's not a problem if you aren't caught. ......Accessing Library. ......begin search. ......search complete. Search results: No matching information exists in the Library. I've located 10,322 reasonable matches. ......no information whatsoever. Aaah, that means── She's the same as Kia. BGM: Always  ......I don't know. Leave. Isn't that no different from Kia?Really, you haven't the slightest bit of tact. I've got no time to deal with you, Doctor.I'm busy, you know. All the Tiers are worked up now. I have no staff or contacts to spare on those without money. You do seem very busy.But Fixer, that isn't like you. Right back at you, you loony Cracking Doc.Kia and that black brat playing over there are nothing but trouble for me. I have a reputation on the Infinitely Crowded Street, don't ruin it.I've had it up to here with you. Leave. What do you mean 'worked up?' ......this is part of my debt.The new drugs. Amnerol?That sounds dangerous. The new drugs that were shaking the back-alleys of the Lower Tiers. In the broadest sense, two kinds existed. One was the crime gangs' underground illusionary toxin. It was said to grant an ecstacy resembling death itself. This City was the sort of place that overflowed with humans wanting to give it a try. The other was Amnerol. This seemed to be a substance that made even Analysis Engines throw up their hands. It was said to manifest the joys of the past, but whether it really did do that remained unclear. Every night, a few hundred crimes were committed by addicts high on their latest fix. ──Amnerol. ──A flower said to drive people mad. Though madness is already abundant.Everyone here has it. It's nothing compared to before.Cases involving the intoxicated have tripled over the last two days. It's abnormal. This isn't a fair fight. Which is why, Doctor,I have no time to pick up random information. If you feel like paying, go ask those girls.They've got some work lined up for you anyway. Your timing might be just right, Doctor. Those girls do?He remembered their pink ears and hair. He'd never done any real work with those twins. But if this old man said so, then there shouldn't be a problem. Come to think of it, he hadn't seen them for a few days now. Though he was going to anyway, at some point. Those twins' scope of activity was amazing. I really do wonder what's up with those girls.Maybe it's nothing. ......meaning what? I've recorded the job details on your Engine Card.Read it. If you screw up, those twins won't be of any use to you.I'm not wishing for any of that. Since you're nothing but trouble,I might as well expect a lot from you, Doctor. You don't have to say it twice.I know I'm trouble. No, I don't think you do.What about Kia? What happened to her after all that? I doubt she's suited for that stifling room of yours.I could at least look for someone to get a ransom from. You jest. I'm serious. Then you suck at lying.──He shrugged his shoulders. ──Gii wished the old man farewell with his back. BGM: Calmly Days  Kia noticed that after asking whether she'd been to Crowded Street. The young girl had nodded when she said「yes.」 She saw several small drops fall down. She almost mistook them for tears. ──But it's not raining. ──Did she just take a shower? ──Or...did she fall into a large puddle? Hey, your hair, it's wet.May I dry it? I have a handkerchief, so── ......no. But, you're going to catch a cold.Do you have a fever? ...... Hey, could you take off your hood? ...... ......umm, you don't want to? ...... Hmmm, I see, that's a problem............hmmm... hmmm...... The young girl wouldn't take off her hood. She hardly said anything, only showing her face. The young girl never started a conversation herself. But at times, she'd look around the place as if searching for something. What was she searching for? The young girl wouldn't even answer that. She nodded slightly, twittered slightly, and smiled slightly. [Kia] （She's cute, but......） [Kia] （It'd be nice if she could make herself understood a little better.） She was searching for "what she was searching for." That ought to be no easier than grabbing a cloud, but Kia never asked the girl about it. Kia just knew that mysterious people and mysterious things weren't rarities in this City. Gii said so rather often. ──And then Gii returned. ──He was walking back from old man Stanislaw's shop. Gii, welcome back.Did the turtle-oji-sama tell you anything? Stanislaw seems busy.He told me to see the twins. They seem to have a rather generous job lined up for me.  A job?From Agnes and Francisca? ......the sheep... twins. Yes, the 《Pan》 twin informants.You know them? ...... Seems like it.Have you met them? The cute sheep sisters? Yes. So you do know them.Then this should be quick. Let's go down and see them now. Go down?But the twins are usually in Crowded Street── They're just borrowing Stanislaw's shop.We'll be going to their house this time. It's quite a distance from here.We'll use the monorail. Kia tilted her head. If the twins lived in such a far-away Tier, why were they always going to Crowded Street? The young girl next to her also tilted her head. She looked toward Kia, and blinked. Is it that far away? It's far below here, in the Third Tier.The Second Water Supply Ward. The Second Water Supply Ward......BGM: Detective  Her heart leaped at the patches of green floating around her, but that pleasure soon vanished. It wasn't like the Upper Tier Staircase Parks. It was different from that greenery in every way. Even the sensation of stepping onto the grass felt different... harder, somehow. None of the softness of luxuriant greenery. No enveloping scent of flowering plants. Not even a sign of insects or other living things. This place was different. Soiled, sunken greenery. A lake so muddy one could hardly see through it. As if someone had maliciously destroyed an Upper Tier Staircase Park. The odor attacking her nostrils must have been the water. A vast, vast lake stretching as far as the eye could see. The Second Lower Tier Water Supply Ward. A drinking reservoir for the Citizens. Kia held back her darkened feelings, and forced her expression to stay soft. She smiled at Gii. Hey, Gii.There are trees and flowers here too. ......you're right. Kia, before the 《Revival》 came to this City, fishermen used to live at the edge of a giant lake in this ward. This is a drinking reservoir for the people of the Lower Tiers, but it's also a fishing town. Even now.Look. Gii was pointing at a fleet of boats. When she squinted her eyes, she could see little boats here and there on the surface of the immense reservoir. Boats were bobbing up and down everywhere, except in the vicinity of a certain building. It looked like a filtration plant. Fishing boats── Yes, that's correct. I see......Kia's gaze locked on to Gii's face. It had been locking on for a while. She'd been looking up at him every chance she got. She just kept peering into Gii's face and eyes. Before leaving Crowded Street for the monorail station, he left the young girl with Ruaha. That happened a few hours ago, before they arrived at the ward. A few hours. She'd been doing that the whole time. Sneaking glances at Gii. What is it?Is something bothering you? N-no, nothing. Umm... I'm wondering if leaving her behind was the right thing to do...... Aaah, she doesn't mind.My "work" isn't going to end, after all. We'll ask the twins about finding what she's lost after that. I see...... ............Again, she gazed at his eyes. If... the light in his eyes was like this water... ──Kia? ......the usual color. Ah, no, it's nothing.They're like the usual Gii, so I'm reassured. ......I'm sorry about this morning.I won't do it anymore, Kia. ...okay.──As long as he understood, ──Those few hours were worth it. She whispered「Thank goodness.」 She let go of Gii's cloak, and watched her feet on the grass so she wouldn't trip over. She tried approaching the water, and peeked in. Don't put your face too close to the water.It's dangerous. Yes, Gii.Are there scary Monsters in here? In general, there are a lot of water sprites living in any water outside the Upper Tier Staircase Parks. This ward is... silent......Aaah...... no, I'm not sure about that. This place is...... yes,the Second Water Supply...... It has an even older legend...... I think...... Whaaat?? ......I have a feeling that there was some old legend here.It must be from over ten years ago. The old man Vonnegut might remember it though.──Mister Vonnegut. ──A fisherman who'd lived in the Second Water Supply Ward for a long time. Kia had asked Gii about him during the monorail ride. He was the biological grandfather of the little twins, and an old man who fished in the reservoir. He was said to be a leading figure in the fisheries supporting the City's Lower Tiers. The request that Stanislaw said was prepared for him, "Gii's work," was healing this old fisherman. ──The twins will be indebted to us. ──If I can heal old man Vonnegut, then we'll be able to get some rare information. ──That's what Gii had said. He'd quickly handled it in terms of favors and debts. That wasn't Gii's nature, but that of the City itself. Kia didn't seem to like it. Now, let's go.It's dangerous, so come this way. Yes, Gii.Those twins' house. So old man Vonnegut's residence must be close. She stopped peeking into the water and held Gii's hand. Today, as always, his hand was cold. While walking, she turned around── She saw a man between the dorsal fins of the fish on one of the bobbing fishing boats. BGM: Always Video: Clemens  [Agnes & Francisca] 「「What business have you with the Second Water Supply Fishing Uniooon♪?」」  ──Gorgeous voices met them. ──But the moment they saw Gii's face, their tones dropped. If her eyes didn't deceive her, the twins wore strange expressions at that moment. Complex expressions, as if bothered but relieved. She thought it was mysterious, and was late with her greeting. Good day to you, Agnes.Good afternoon, Francisca.  [Agnes] Ah, my, my, what is this? How cute, how cute, it's the Doctor's baby. What brings you to such a far-off reservoir as this? [Francisca] Ah, my, my, what is this? It's the Doctor famous for being a "weirdo." Did you come all this way just to see our faces? Maybe.Is your grandfather here? [Agnes] Oh, how rude, Doctor Gii. Unfortunately the old man is out. [Francisca] Could you come again sometime? Shall you be on your way without a single cup of tea? ──Something's... strange. ──These two usually speak up more... 'It's almost as if they're avoiding something,' Kia thought.   [Agnes & Francisca] 「「......」」  You both be good girls now.Your behavior is my responsibility. Don't bring shame to this old man, you hear? [Agnes & Francisca] 「「......we'll...go pour some tea.」」 The old man appeared silently, taking the place of the twins who'd disappeared inside to do as instructed. They begrudgingly nodded. Vonnegut. An intrepid old man. From far away, he could easily be mistaken for a youngster. His skin was burnt slightly black, and his fisherman's body had grown more robust with age. It's been a long time, Gii. It has, old man.Please forgive the sudden intrusion. Whether I forgive it depends on what you're here for, does it not?That girl next to you has an unfamiliar face. Nice to meet you, Mister.My name is Kia. I'm the Doctor's assistant. Oooh, your assistant? My apprentice. So, what are you here for?Did you come here with your assistant just to see this old man's face? I'd be happy to hear that, but I doubt that's it. Old man, a request to heal you from Agnes and Francisca reached me through Stanislaw of Crowded Street. They said you've come down with something. Hmmm...The old man smiled, but it wasn't a smile of joy. Kia gazed intently at him. Something should've been hidden deep in the old man's eyes, but it was tightly locked away. ──I can't see what it is. ──Just like this sky filled with gray. Get out of here, Doctor.I have no need for special healing. I don't want to be indebted to anyone.Get out of here. I have nothing I can leave to those kids, so how can I let myself owe them anything?  I'm not doubting you. I'm doubting people.I'm just making the natural decision, you understand. Now go home. ......I understand. I will go home.However, at least let me examine you. In that case, do as you will.I already know what I need to know about my own body. Much appreciated.As Gii spoke, a panel of light formed over his "right eye." The Cracking Light of the Phenomenon Equation. The exam ended in a mere two seconds. Gii accurately recognized the man's physical condition simply by looking at him with that "right eye."  ......I see. How is it, Gii......?You can heal him right away, right, Doctor? He has steam poisoning along with a Taboo Infection.His nature is beginning to mutate.  ──I know the names of both of those diseases. ──The ones Gii said. ──I've seen them in books. Steam poisoning. A disease in which Engine fumes are continually absorbed, thus damaging the respiratory organs. A "normal" disease. The abominable Taboo Infection. A City disease which mutated the body into a Fantastic Mutant. It twisted genes, and changed people's forms. A combination of the two wouldn't change the external appearance at all. Instead, it would create a new, lethal disease which mutated a person's basic nature. That fell under this City's definition of "death." A fatal disease that couldn't be combated. Healing it from the outside was hard, even using the Phenomenon Equation. It's an urgent case.If I don't do something, you'll probably── Yes, I'll last a few more days at best.Do you think you can heal it? Are you saying you don't think I can? No I did not.I've heard the rumors about a strange Cracking Doc. ......Mister.I'm sure it's not too late, so── Unfortunately, graceful little girl,I allowed him nothing more than an exam. I am very sorry that the tea wasn't ready in time.Now, get out of here. Don't go near the water on your way home.
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Feb 1, 2019 00:06
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BGM: Hopelessness This was the second time he'd been chased out, and the first time the old man had done it. He thought about that, as he looked at the unhealthy grasses around them. Gii whispered about how common this sort of thing was, and asked what he'd been doing this whole time. When she tried to grab Gii's cold hand, that voice reached her. 'Wait!' it said. The twins' words behind them. A tone of voice they'd never heard. You two...... [Francisca] Well...... [Agnes] Are you two going home already......? Umm, what did the old man say......? [Francisca] Could you...... tell us? Did he say... anything... about his disease......? Doctor...... you came here to heal him, right? He understands his own symptoms well.He doesn't seem to want healing.  [Agnes] ......is that so......? [Francisca] ......why not......? Why... did he refuse... healing......? I wonder why.Kia watched Gii shrug his shoulders. Wouldn't he say it? What the old man had said about the twins? ──Gii won't say anything. ──He's just looking quietly at the sunken twins. [Agnes] ......is it...our fault......? [Francisca] ......is Oji-chan... bothered by...... our line of work......? Aaah, so that was it. Kia understood the twins' words, and the meaning behind their complex expressions not too long ago. The old man wouldn't receive healing for their sake. Because he was thinking about them, these two living in this City. ──And...the twins know that. ──They sensed it. You're thinking too hard.It was only about me and him.  [Agnes] ......no. [Francisca] ......no, no.  [Francisca] ......please, please, heal him. Doctor. Save the old man. We'll do... we'll do anything. [Agnes] We wanted to...... [Francisca] Give him a present...... ──A present? ──Seikyouan for 'gift.' ──But a gift from who to whom?  [Agnes] We promised... to give him... a present... seven days from now...... [Francisca] On Oji-chan's...birthday...... That's why...... [Francisca] Oji-chan said he would... live at least that long...... [Agnes] And yet...and yet...it was no good. Oji-chan...... yesterday... no... the day before that...... [Francisca] Oji-chan...... We could see him... weakening... and coughing...... so much...... all over the sheets...... [Agnes] So much blood...... Kia looked at their eyes. Aaah, they weren't crying, and yet... Their trembling voices conveyed it. 'Save our grandfather.' ──Even though... ──No tears are falling down... [Agnes] Doctor, Doctor. Please, save him. If it's about money, we'll pay anything...... We'll take out everything we have in the vault...... [Francisca] If it's not enough, we'll do anything to make up the rest...... Whether we can do it or not, we'll do it. Doctor, Doctor... save him, please. [Agnes & Francisca] 「「......please.」」 Their words overlapped. Their voices were normally bright and clear and full of energy, but now they sank in unison. Kia looked aside. Up at the expression of the Cracking Doc before her. He was... silent. Was he searching for words? Or... BGM: Calmly Days  She grabbed his sleeve hard. She pulled hard. She didn't want him to leave like this. She didn't want him to abandon the man. ──No, that's not it. ──I don't want to see Gii abandoning someone. [Gii] ......your hearts are in the right place, but that's nothing to compliment. [Gii] Especially that word, 'anything.' If it wasn't me, that'd get you into real trouble. [Kia] ......Gii. ──He can't help but smile. ──Gii will remain Gii after all.  Well, this was illegal conduct in the first place.I may as well do a little forceful healing. But he was quite obstinate.It'd be nice if there was some common ground I could use, like with Mister Smith── ──John Smith. ──The man who gave his Seikyouan blood. Kia remembered him. Back then... yes... Gii found something he could make use of to resolve the situation. The current situation was the opposite of that in many ways. She thought a little. Kia's smile turned toward Gii. ......Kia? Gii did the talking before.So please, let Kia handle it this time. I'll be sure to figure out the reason.A huge, huge lake. The Second Water Supply Reservoir, filled to the brim with muddied drops. If this enormous reservoir was made up of countless teardrops, how many people's tears had it taken? The shadow of an old man at the water's edge── When she saw him, Kia thought. 'It looks almost as if he's crying.' Because she thought that... Because she saw that...  You said your name was...Kia, right?So you haven't gone home yet. Yes.I wanted to talk to you. I'm happy to hear that.What happened to that slender doctor-sama you were with? Gii's over there. He's not with me.......please, try not to get mad. But you... for some reason... seemed to dislike the doctor, so...... Haha, did I now?Normally, he'd probably show a cheerful yet forceful smile, but now it felt lonely and weak. The old man's body was healthy, and slightly blackened. But even Kia could tell at a glance that some disease, some power was eating away at him. No, I'm sorry.I didn't mean to laugh at that. No, I don't mind.Gii doesn't think badly of you either. You two seem pretty close. I see......So that's what it looked like. I don't dislike him at all.But that's got nothing to do with this. I just don't want him to heal me, that's all. I will die.I don't want to leave any extra baggage behind. That's all there is to it. ......──I gaze into his eyes. ──I'm sure... I'm not mistaken. Why are you lying, Mister? Lying? I'm sure you're lying.Please tell me why. I'm not lying at all. You are lying.──I gaze into his eyes, ──Because his eyes and Gii's share something in common. ......you're sharp, kid.An assistant like you doesn't suit Doctor Gii. ──The old man sighs, ──Shrugs his shoulders, ──And shakes his head. She found his resigned tone of voice a little unpleasant. The old man turned around. For some reason, the wrinkles in his face stood out. Right when he acknowledged Kia's words, she had a sudden hallucination of the man weakening. The old man returned his gaze once more to the water's surface, and said in a low voice, 'Please keep this quiet.' 「......could you please keep this quiet from my granddaughters? I don't want to disillusion them too much.」 「Do you think that's selfish?」 No.I don't think so, Mister. Thank you.I have... a certain promise. Promise...... Yes.A promise I made a long, long time ago. It's hard to even remember it now── BGM: Amnesia  「Back when I was still very young, probably even younger and more naive than you. Back when the City had an entirely different way of life.」 「A girl I met in the Second Reservoir. I made a promise with her.」 「A horribly simple promise.」 「If I always remained a fisherman, even after I became an old man, even after I got weak enough that I could die at any moment......」 「She said she wanted me to take her to the other side.」 "I'd be lonely by myself, I want to go with you." 「......the girl who whispered that to me. I wasn't able to live together with her. A family with declining production ends in tragedy.」 「But, at least in my final moments, when only my life is truly my own......」 「I'll give that girl everything. That's what I told her.」 BGM: Hopelessness  I'm sure I've just grown senile and started remembering my first love. There'd probably be no difference between dying today and dying tomorrow, but... For some reason,I feel... like I mustn't keep her waiting. ──I feel like... ──If I did that, I might not ever meet her. The old man laughed with a dry voice. A horribly lonely, horribly sad laugh... I can only say sorry to my granddaughters.I don't mind if you laugh. This is my own selfishness.......I really do feel sorry for those kids. Kia could shake her head, but she couldn't quite pick her words. The old man's feelings might have been noble, but Kia didn't know what she should say to him. Was one's first love enough to accept death? What was that girl doing now? Had she died a long time ago? Or was she protecting their promise, even now? Was she waiting for the old man's death? ──I didn't know. ──That's why I'm still silent. BGM: Calmly Days  All of the people going back and forth overflowed with a powerful will. That will allowed them to survive in this horrible City Environment. Beautiful and angry voices. Laughter and weeping. All of them... all of them... they were all things she hadn't felt from the old man. ──Even Dorothy was... more... ──More... She whirled her thoughts around. That was why, when Gii unexpectedly spoke to her, she hesitated, opening and closing her mouth for no reason. Calm down.You've been thinking for a while now. Umm, well......I just... don't know...... I don't know...what I should do......That person... said... he'd protect his promise...... But...... It can't be helped.Gii rubbed Kia's head with the palm of his hand. That was how he behaved toward children. She really wanted him to stop it. But, right now it calmed her down. It lightened her heart, and the incomprehensible things which filled it. He's an old man.It's only natural that he'd be different from Dorothy. I can't do... what Gii can...... And I can't do what you can.You were the one who spoke to Dorothy. ......yeah...What would you do at a time like this, Gii? Now... I wonder about that.It helps that the man is aware of the problem.  When she let out a small grievance, the palm of his hand once again rubbed the top of her head. ......let's give him some time.But not much. We'll meet him again at the crack of dawn tomorrow. Even after just a few hours, something should change within him.We must have had some kind of psychological effect on him. Was he just trying to cheer her up? Or did he seriously think... That he could persuade the man?── Could Gii persuade that man? ......yes. Ruaha and one other came out to greet them. It was already quite late. They'd been thinking about going to bed── The young girl stood next to Ruaha. She also said「welcome home.」 Kia crouched down low, making her eye level match hers. Then the young girl spoke to her. 'What have you been doing?' The Second Water Supply......? Yes, the Second Water Supply Ward.It's in a Tier far below this one.  There are people there who'll try to help you.Agnes and Francisca. The twin sheep informants.  But, before that, there's someone we have to heal.I'm sorry, but can you wait just a little longer? ......okay. ......?──Why is she smiling? ──A little sigh, as if of relief. ......that's good to hear.BGM: Amnesia  ──The clown is dancing at the edge of my vision. It'd vanished, but now it'd reappeared once again. For some reason, the clown made him recall the past. Ten years had passed. His memories were now tender fragments. Countless memories draped in red and black hues. ──On that day. ──At that time... ──I'm sure... 「............」 ──Toward someone who's trying to say something, ──I... ──I... with this hand...  『Hello, Gii.』 『This is a good time for you to give up.』 『You should understand.』 BGM: Calmly Days  Cheap Engine Factory-made curtains covering the glass window. The other side of it was filled with darkness, and the lack of anything twittering told him it was still night. The Equation lingered in his "right eye," so he could see it. Faster than he could feel its presence? His "right eye" recognized the high amount of carbon dioxide in the room. Aaah── He really couldn't beat her at her own job. If that cat seriously snuck in under cover of night, then an amateur like Gii would never sense her. He'd learned that very well. The form of someone quieting her breath. Gii laid eyes on her a breath later than usual. With eyes now used to the night's darkness, he was finally able to see the body laying beside him. ──Ati?He called out to the shadow. The shadow that'd been gazing at him without sleeping. Her eyes flickered slightly.  [Ati] ......sorry to wake you up. This is still... too early for you... isn't it? [Gii] I just happened to have a bad dream. I'd never notice you when you're serious. [Ati] And yet, you always say...... you're a light sleeper... and that I'll wake you right up. [Gii] Do I now? [Ati] ......yes. You do. ──Ati's beside me. ──The Cat of pliant and agile Chrome steel. Securing her sleeping space as always. Curling up as always. And yet, something felt amiss. Did her voice feel different somehow? Something wasn't the same as usual. [Gii] （Her voice......） Was the shaking in her voice just his imagination? No... he was sure of it... Those words had been wavering. Gii's "right eye" brought up potential reasons. The number of wounds on Ati's body had increased again. [Gii] You've gotten hurt again. How many times must I tell you not to overdo it? There were a few more wounds now. He tried to touch her shoulder, but the cat's hand stopped him. A large 《Pucelle》 hand bigger than any human's. Fingers with the texture of velvet. They twisted around his cold fingers── [Ati] ......I'm not stopping you or anything. But first... [Ati] You had a bad dream, Gii. What was it? [Gii] I don't remember. [Ati] Is that so? You're a good liar, Doctor Gii, but I can tell right away. [Gii] ......I'm not lying. [Ati] ......yes, that's right...... [Ati] ............that's right. Her beautiful golden eye was looking at him. That right eye was rare even among 《Pucelle.》 They exchanged gazes amidst the silence. One second. Two seconds. ──Three seconds. ──Normally this would be impossible. Ati was the one who looked away. The Black Cat opened her lips and spun words before her golden eye could suck out his resistance. [Ati] That doesn't matter... at all anyway. ......I'm just... teasing, that's all. [Ati] Hey, kiss me. Gii. [Gii] ......no. He softly released her twisting fingers, and put the palm of his hand to her white cheek. Hot. Ati's skin had built up enough heat to transfer some warmth to Gii's cold fingertips. A lot of heat. Maybe because of her biz. [Gii] You're very tired, Ati. You'd better get some rest. [Ati] You always say that, Gii. You always, always say no because you're tired. [Gii] It's not me tonight. You're the one who's tired. [Ati] ......am I? ......no, maybe I am. I guess. [Ati] It should've been a simple biz. No, the troublesome ones are always like that. Someone says it's a very simple biz. [Ati] It's always like that. Everyone's deceived. [Ati] Even I was thinking about unnecessary things, like finishing early to go see your sleeping face. A portion of her words wavered. Gii pretended not to see her eyes quivering. [Ati] ......two died. Two of her Runner comrades had died. The Black Cat continued, smiling with a hint of self-scorn. [Ati] Did you know about that new kind of Amnerol? When we went to bring down an 《Ogre》 high on that, two of them... were killed... just like that. One had his skull crushed by steel fangs. One had his heart ripped out by steel limbs. The Black Cat spoke, as if whispering, as if shaking. [Ati] Just like that...... [Ati] ......we did... bring it down... but...... just like that, they were...... BGM: Hopelessness  I'm a Runner. That's my biz. These legs I gained ten years ago easily dodged the brute's fangs. These eyes of mine locked on to his neck. I did what I always did. What I always did against an uncontrollable opponent. It was laughable, Gii. Even now, some part of me is conscious of it. Of what I did, and have done with my claws. ──With my claws. ──I'm sure I sliced through his carotid. Comrades I've worked with for over a year just fell dead at my feet, and it didn't bother me. Not then. No, I did think a little. ──'This is quite the loss.'  [Gii] It's normal to close off one's emotions like that. People get used to death. [Ati] Yes...... [Ati] ......then, can they get used to killing too? So that they feel nothing? ──I have a hunch. ──That Gii himself feels this every day. After all the infinite tears... Her body had grown used to so many things. Yes, even to death. Gii didn't return her words. Gii couldn't return her words. He just touched her cheek, and gazed at her golden eye. [Ati] The coroners came right away...... Not the Tier cleaners or parallel funeral groups, but those guys in white that felt like the Upper Tier. [Ati] I asked the Hackers...... The ones who investigated it said it was a test. ──Test? [Ati] He thinks they were testing the effectiveness of the new drug. Testing how well...... Amnerol worked...... [Ati] 'How to make them go insane?'...... The guys in the Upper Tier really have nothing to do. [Ati] The Upper Tier... Aristocrats. The City's Controllers. The King... who won't protect us. [Ati] ......how strange. It's not like... this is the first time it's happened... And yet...... I'm... not...... [Ati] Each and every one of us dies. Living on must be just a coincidence. No one needs to tell me that. [Ati] If I'm not the one killing, then I'll be the one who's killed. [Ati] I understand that. But...... [Ati] But......  [Ati] I can't remember...anymore... Not the slightest thing...... [Ati] ......about ten years ago...... Her faintly sparkling golden eye was wavering in the dark. He touched her teardrops with his fingers. Her tears ran down his fingers. They wouldn't flow down her cheek. [Ati] ......you're so kind, Gii. I understand... I'm just causing you trouble. [Ati] When you do this for me... you're always... like that. When I'm... about to lose it... only then... you're... But...... [Gii] That goes for both of us. ──Yes, both of us. ──We're both far from the people we once were. Gii whispered quietly... He'd become conscious of the number of lives he encountered, as if comparing the number he saved with the number he let die. And that was why nothing had changed at all between him and Ati. ──Yes, both of us. ──When one of us feels ashamed, the other doesn't. [Ati] You're lying...... [Gii] That's no lie. I'm not that different from you. [Ati] ......I see. Then... a lie's just fine. That's okay. BGM: Burn with Love I'm linking a lot of this scene because there's some... suggestive descriptions in there. Nothing explicit that I've left in, but I want to be careful about invoking the wrath of the mods. It is important stuff, though. ......thank you...Gii...... Sorry to...... tire you out... so much...... ──As my activated Equation restores my nerves... ──Her golden eye wavers. Gently... they both took their time. Ati whispered as the heat faded. It almost sounded like she was mumbling to herself, but... Her voice and rough breathing definitely reached Gii's ears. [Ati] I heard... about it...... from David...... You went... to the Second Water Supply Ward...... [Ati] Don't...... Don't... go there... any more...... That place is done for... Gii...... ──'Don't go to the Second Water Supply Ward?' [Ati] ......there's... a rumor...... City... Administration...... will be...... near the...... [Ati] ......Second Water Supply... Ward...... ──An Enforcer of City Law. ──That's what she's talking about. [Ati] That ward...... is already... done for...... So...... [Ati] When the end comes...... no one will be able to stop it... so...... [Ati] ......you mustn't... go...... Gii...... BGM: None Video: Activation  The sound of a clock. The sound of a clock. "Is it time? Is it time?" it continues to call.   The second hand moves. It stops, pointing right at one o'clock. BGM: A Spiral Staircase  The Golden Spiral Staircase towering into the darkness. The man standing at the foot of it is none other than the silver watch's owner. With his master in the corner of his eye continuing to climb the Golden Spiral Staircase, the man continues to gaze at the watch, motionless. The man continues to gaze at the watch, and speaks. Like a Chrome-built, Machine-wound doll, in an inorganic voice...  [Man with Watch] ......complete activation successful. ......the joyous, oh so joyous culling begins.  He climbs, he climbs, he climbs. One master climbs the Golden Spiral Staircase. He is the Controller. He is the Grand Prince. He is the Fool. The King of Inganock. The Magician and Scholar who discovered the Phenomenon Equation. He climbs the Golden Spiral Staircase. One step, one step at a time. Even now, even now... 「Oooh, oooh, is it not wonderful? The blind sacrifice remains undying in the City.」 「Record the present time, Clock Crack Chrome!」 「"That time" you've wished for has come! Oh Lemure Lemure, tremble with delight!」 [Man with Watch] As you will. 『Huhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhu!』 「These truly are the final moments of my love.」 「At the end of the Golden Spiral Staircase! My dream, my love takes form!」 『You're such a fool, Grand Prince.』 『You're still climbing that staircase. You're already beyond hope, so why?』 「──Silence. Silence. Silence!」 
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BGM: Amnesia  [Francisca] Oji-chan's a skilled fisherman. He even goes out to fish on rainy days, catching so many Inimici. [Agnes] Fried Inimicus. Oji-chan is good at making that. I love it. [Francisca] Inimicus sashimi. Oji-chan is good at making that. I love it. [Agnes] We're proud of our Oji-chan. He's always energetic, and strong, and all of the Second Water Supply Ward fishermen love him. [Francisca] Oji-chan really is an amazing person. He even got commended by City Administration. [Agnes] That's why we're just fine. We're just fine without our papa and mama. [Francisca] We're always fine. Oji-chan is here for us, so we're fine. [Agnes] Even after we became informants, Oji-chan still looked after us. [Francisca] Even though it was just our selfish desire to look for papa and mama. [Agnes] Oji-chan accepted that, and even bowed down before the old turtle Stanislaw. [Francisca] Everything, everything we have is thanks to Oji-chan.  [Francisca] Why......? [Agnes] Why did Oji-chan... get sick......? We still haven't found our papa and mama. [Francisca] We still... haven't...... given him... our present...... [Agnes] Oji-chan......   The forty-one huge, brutal fantasies that appeared in the City of Inganock. Their goal is to harm humans. The people see the Creatures as "calamities." No one handles them like living things. Since they couldn't be defeated through physical means, they couldn't possibly be handled as such. The Creatures, who imitate the forms of illusory fairy tale beasts, are said to kill humans by the orders of some other entity. The difference between them and normal Monsters is that they all have a 'spring screw' somewhere in their bodies. There's sure to be one in the body of any Creature. With heights ranging from three to twenty meters, no form of physical destructive force other than their unique weaknesses would ever harm a Creature. They release a sound which stiffens the human mind. It's been called "the voice of panic." It's also called the "Creature Voice." There's a rumor of unknown veracity that they've hidden themselves somewhere for the past five years. The majority of the Creatures, except for one portion. By throwing in a number of powerful Engine Humans with Crack Engines implanted all over their bodies, it is possible to temporarily halt a Creature's activity. ......however, that only applies to the small ones. It's known that a portion of the smaller ones were "subjugated," but the details are unknown.   A world filled with the prosperity brought about by Steam Engines, and covered in dark gray skies and seas. The sun and stars only occasionally peek through, between the corners of the mixing smog clouds in that vast, gray sky. In this world, "fine weather" refers to when the smog is "relatively thin." There are three continents on the world map: The Central Northern Continent, the Eastern Continent, and the Southeastern Continent. The regions around the poles remain uncharted. With the 《Lomar Sea》 in the Northwest, and the 《World Water Shell》 cutting off the Southern part, creating a world map remains difficult. This world is an enormous spheroid called a "planet." The only proof of that is the fact that── None of the people living outside these three dark continents know about this world. The Great Kingdom, or the Central Northern Empire, as well as the Allied Kings and Nobles have made the creation of planetary world maps a taboo. Those places crammed into the 《Known World》 are only part of the planet. They have about the same total area as Seikyou (Earth), or greater. The existence of a horizon has not been confirmed.   They supply various forms of mechanical power, perform high level calculations, and even manage information. They are a key part of civilization across all of the 《Known World.》 At present, although Inganock is isolated from the rest of the world, it's no exception. Engines appear all over every Tier of the City. They're all External Combustion Engines, and the greater the size, the greater the output. Aristocrat's mansions and Engine Factories, as well as some merchant homes, are allowed to set up large- and medium-sized Engines. At the level of an ordinary subject or citizen, one small-sized Engine exists in each house. In addition── These past few years, it's become normal for people to steal Engine Energy. The most popular targets are City Administration's power conduits. They're used to power the large machines it manages in each Tier.   [Gii] Right after I met Kia, tears fell down my cheeks. [Gii] These ten years, I've lived through entire days drowning in endless tears, just like everyone else. [Gii] I should have lost them already. All the things I could cry about. [Gii] Far too much has been lost already. That day, all the people were enveloped within infinite screams. [Gii] What I lost was... the heat in my body── as well as the desires to sleep, eat... and cry. [Gii] However... However, I still let the tears fall. [Gii] ......and I gained "him." ......the steel "him" is now in this hand of mine. [Gii] I don't know what I can do with this. Even so── [Gii] I won't stop holding my hand out to the people I can reach. [Gii] Absolutely... Absolutely not.   [Ati] A glazed scenery, screened by smog. That's the sky. There's nothing else. [Ati] That never changes. Even at night, it's dark, but you can still see the smog. [Ati] ......I think that 'sky' is a lot like Gii. [Ati] A lot like him. Kia made a weird face when I said that. [Ati] But that's what he looks like to me. The gray sky looks dark, but it's surely shining on the other side. [Ati] Yes, it's nonsense. Even I don't believe in the "sun." There's no way a shining red flame could exist in the sky. [Ati] But still, in Gii's case...... [Ati] There might be something like that. That's what I think.    [Kia] Gii saved Kia when she was chained up in the darkness. [Kia] The doctor who can use magic. That wonderful Gii. [Kia] He seems unkind, but I love how he's really very sweet. [Kia] Every day, every day, he goes out to so many places. I love the way his back looks as he travels around working. [Kia] I think it'd be nice if he cut his hair a bit, but I like how it ruffles around. [Kia] I love Gii's kind eyes. I love him when he's talking to the children. [Kia] ......I love him when he cries for someone. [Kia] ......I'm sure I'll never forget. Gii's eyes on that day, at that time. [Kia] After all, at that time, Gii was...... ......very...... [Kia] ......yeah.   [Francisca] A long time ago, Oji-chan told us about a time before we were born. [Agnes] A long, long time ago. [Francisca] A lot longer than ten years ago. He said mysterious things lived in the water back then. [Agnes] Oji-chan told us. He said that ten years ago, you could see them here and there. [Francisca] Mysterious beings. We wondered what they were, and made a fuss imagining a lot of things. [Agnes] City Spirits drowning but not rusting. 《Pucelles》 that could swim and breathe underwater. [Francisca] Barghest that got wet and caught a cold. [Agnes] We said so many things...... [Francisca] But Oji-chan said that each and every one of them was wrong. [Agnes] The right answer...... [Francisca] What was it......?   [Black-Clad Girl] For the thing I'm searching for. [Black-Clad Girl] I've been searching, for a long, long time. [Black-Clad Girl] I found it a long time ago. [Black-Clad Girl] But...... [Black-Clad Girl] A long time's passed, so... [Black-Clad Girl] ......I don't know. [Black-Clad Girl] I don't know... anymore...... [Black-Clad Girl] What... it looks like now. [Black-Clad Girl] What... it sounds like now. [Black-Clad Girl] ......I'm searching. [Black-Clad Girl] ......for the thing I'm searching for......   A power born in Inganock when numerous illusions manifested during the 《Revival》 ten years ago. A technology that doesn't exist elsewhere in the 《Known World,》 but is unique to the isolated Inganock. It's a strange theory that Grand Prince Astea discovered while researching the reasons and causes of the 《Revival》 filling the City. By understanding a certain kind of 《Equation,》 and carving it into one's brain, one could control phenomena resembling fairy tale "magic." If mastered── It was possible to control flames more destructive than any firearm, or heal a damaged body. However, only a small portion of humans could learn the complex and strange Astea Theory. Those who can use it make up less than one percent of the City's population. Since there are so few examples, it remains unknown whether a mutated brain is required to learn it.   [Gii] One of the forty-one Creatures. Death by incineration. Its name is said to come from a mud doll that exists in the region of Seikyou called Canaan. [Gii] A mud doll made in the image of humans. It's said that the only way to stop it from moving is to shave off the single 'character' written on it. [Gii] The Creature Golem doesn't share that characteristic with the Canaan mud doll. A whole brigade of Upper Tier Soldiers were wiped out because of that. [Gii] The Upper Tier Soldiers, who'd prepared so many ways of shaving off such a character, were all reduced to ash by the high temperatures of Golem. [Gii] ......that was five years ago. It was a horrible tragedy. [Gii] Reconstruction is still under way, but the part of the Tier where Golem was active five years ago became a sea of red-hot magma, killing many people with its extreme heat. [Gii] Creature Golem possesses heat. That might be why its often sighted near water supplies. [Gii] Thirty-three different bodies of Golem exist, and it's theorized that the biggest one is responsible for the tragedy five years ago. [Gii] The biggest body brought about the greatest casualties. [Gii] And during that depressing "calamity," between ten and a hundred thousand people disappeared. [Gii] If I ever get a decent night's sleep, and have a dream about the past, I'm sure...... [Gii] That that tragedy would come up. I'm sure of it. It was just that horrible.          
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Feb 24, 2019 21:40
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BGM: Amnesia  Engine Machines created through the use of the Phenomenon Equation, either to be equipped on or implanted into a human body. A type of Engine Machine that doesn't exist elsewhere in the 《Known World,》 but is unique to the isolated Inganock. They were originally developed as artificial limbs for hosts of physical mutations, but their present applications have expanded to include strengthening of the mind and body. Many humans in the Lower Tiers have substituted these Engines for mutated bodies or limbs lost in Monster attacks. The substitution surgery used to implant them is colloquially called "Enginization." There do exist some Lower Tier Citizens who Enginize themselves out of convenience── But they're different from those with "over forty percent of the body Enginized." They're said to be at extremely high mental and physical risk, but there are very few of them. There are many Runners who "Enginize" themselves by implanting Crack Engine Limbs developed for combat into their internal organs. If one becomes a completely Enginized "Engine Human," it's rumored that one could annihilate even a large Monster. However── The burden placed on the brain and the mind is amazing, and no successful instances of a complete substitution surgery have ever been recorded. A certain group of people call this technology 「Cybernetics.」   An abnormal phenomenon which attacked the City of Inganock in Year 533, Month 12, Day 25 by the Allied Kings and Nobles' reckoning. The Great Underground Engines became home to the violent Dragon, and every Tier in the City was overrun with beasts, sprites, abnormal plants and countless Monsters. Many of the people in the Lower Tiers who lived through it changed into fantastic beings. Then the fearsome Creatures had their way with the powerless people── The dead number in the tens and hundreds of thousands. Now that ten years have passed, after a great many sacrifices and blessings, the people have just barely managed to coexist with the Monsters. They flee from the forty-one large, fantastic "Creatures," secure domains they can live in, and maintain their Engine Civilization by the skin of their teeth. This also became an opportunity to develop unique technologies such as the Phenomenon Equation and Crack Engines.   [Ati] Sometimes I have to do something as stupid as luring in men, then I don't, then I do again. [Ati] A biz like that turns up at least once a year. [Ati] It's not for me. I'm not suited for that kind of thing at all. [Ati] I'm best at the hack-and-slash stuff. I can try to dress up, but a stray cat's a stray cat. [Ati] The men I have to lure in are always rogues. Whether they have money or not, whether bourgeoisie or Lower Tier Citizen, they always are. [Ati] Not a good man amongst them. Well, maybe that's appropriate. [Ati] But it's a real pain for me. That kind of work is... well... you know...... It endangers my chastity. [Ati] ......well...yeah. [Ati] When it comes down to it, I just twist my claws. For now, that works out somehow. [Ati] If you want to do me, you'll have to learn to use a Healing Phenomenon Equation and do some unlucrative traveling work. [Ati] ......not that I'm talking about anyone in particular.   The term refers to those who were originally human, but whose bodies were mutated under the influence of the 《Revival.》 Since the majority of Inganock's residents have come down with some kind of large or small mutation, in the strictest sense it simply means 「Citizens of Inganock.」 Generally speaking, it refers to people with large mutations that make their outward appearances different from humans. They're also called 'aliens,' but this is a term the Upper Tier uses in regards to Lower Tier Citizens, so it probably contains a xenophobic nuance. Hardly anyone in the Lower Tiers uses that name. Generally speaking, words such as 《Pucelle,》 《Shelob,》 and 《Naga》 are used to refer to different species.   [Ati] To be honest, I hardly remember a thing, but I know I was standing around in an Engine Factory. [Ati] There... I was...... What was I doing there? [Ati] Well, I heard my parents died that day, but I can't remember their faces. [Ati] That day...... I'm pretty sure there was a huge accident on the Upper Tier Staircase......   They're neither Fantastic Mutants nor Creatures, but organisms resembling sprites and pixies from fairy tales. They're also called Mystic Beings. Technically the Engine Spirits that occasionally pop into existence around Engine Factories are a kind of Monster. But most of them make their homes in various corners of Inganock's Lower Tiers. Since they're basically the same as animals, it's possible to attack and drive them off. ──The weak ones, that is. The strong ones cause tremendous destruction wherever they appear. The lowest Tiers of all are home to a great many strong Monsters. Unless you had a Runner escorting you, wandering down into the Lowest Tier would get you killed almost immediately.   A Royalty & Nobility-Owned Large Engine City located at the Southern tip of the Eastern Continent of this 《Known World.》 It's a Multi-Tiered Complete Environment City whose construction was based on the Arcology City Plan, and looks like a single enormous castle. It was an enormous construct with several stacked Tiers that over a million citizens called home. Year 2206 by Central Northern reckoning. Year 533, Month 12, Day 25 by the Allied Kings' and Nobles' reckoning── The City was enveloped in the explosive formation of the 《Infinite Mist》 and contact with the outside became impossible. Covered in a frightening mist, the City changed into something fantastic, just like the sea and sky of the 《Known World.》 ......the people in neighboring regions gave up on contacting what was once a City. It's said that Inganock has already been labeled a「Ruin unaffiliated with the kings and nobles.」   [Gii] I am quite powerless. There's no power in the hand I keep holding out to people. [Gii] I've been scorched by power. Ati's heat feels very bright to me. Stanislaw's spirit is overpowering. [Gii] But this is who I am. A hopelessly weak human. A powerless man who can't leave anything behind. [Gii] ──Porshion. ──Steel with the king's left hand and the flame's right. [Gii] Even the steel "him" isn't my power. Surely, that isn't power. [Gii] I possess no knowledge of it, and yet I have that vague feeling. [Gii] The one and only fairy tale. The last one left in the City of Inganock. That which brings about 《beautiful things》 for people. [Gii] ......I don't think I can do that. For me, there's only one thing. [Gii] Holding out this hand... [Gii] Forward──   [Kia] Even if I decide it's just my imagination, that voice keeps ringing. [Kia] At times like that, I grab onto Gii's coat sleeve, because it warms my heart. [Kia] The wonderful magical doctor. Will you... for that child...... [Kia] ......Gii. Will you... for that child......?   [Francisca] That pairing is a little weird. Don't you think so? [Agnes] It's not fair! Kia's not even that much older than us... I don't think. [Francisca] And yet! That's girl's cohabiting with a man! He's not that young, but he's a man! [Agnes] But, I wonder about that...... She's so adult... I'm a little vexed. [Francisca] She even calls herself an adult. I'd like to get some information about her somehow, but that girl is on par with special first class secrets. [Agnes] drat precocious Kia...... [Francisca] Someday, we'll get you...... [Agnes] Someday, we'll solve your mysteries. [Francisca] Who and what is that girl? If we find out, maybe we'll spread it around. [Agnes] ...... [Francisca] ...... [Agnes] ......we won't tell anyone, will we? [Francisca] ......we won't tell anyone, we won't.   [Black-Clad Girl] A lot of bubbles, and a lot of water. [Black-Clad Girl] ......no. [Black-Clad Girl] I can't remember, because they're from before... I received this "form." [Black-Clad Girl] Even though I remembered it, a long, long time ago. [Black-Clad Girl] A lot of bubbles, and...... [Black-Clad Girl] A lot of bubbles...... [Black-Clad Girl] I fell in love...... with that boy...... [Black-Clad Girl] I've forgotten... a lot, but...... [Black-Clad Girl] Just one thing. [Black-Clad Girl] I won't forget my promise. 
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Feb 28, 2019 17:26
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BGM: Amnesia *scratch* *scratch* *scratch* *scratch* *scratch* *scratch* *brush* *brush* *brush* *brush* *brush* *brush* Deep underground, where no one's voice could reach. Beneath all of the City's Lower Tiers, then even lower than that. Randolph was digging holes tonight, as always. The underground madman dug holes, while talking with someone who couldn't be seen. *scratch* *scratch* *scratch* *scratch* *scratch* *scratch* *brush* *brush* *brush* *brush* *brush* *brush*  This is such hard earth. No, this isn't earth at all. I see...this is "truth."──You found truth? Of course I found it. I'm a genius.Still, this is just one part of it. I can't let my hole-digging end here. ──Whaaat? ──But...you found truth? What? To me this is just a dead end.No one can go beyond this. If I force my way in, it'll collapse and kill me. I'll be buried alive. ──Then...what will you do? ──But...that's truth... I'll take a detour.BGM: Hopelessness  ──An earthquake, ──As if the City itself is rumbling. ──The first one in recorded history. The magnitude wasn't that great. The first shake couldn't have been felt by more than ten percent of the Citizens. Those who understood what that shake meant probably numbered less than one percent. However... More of them might have felt it. Maybe a little bird told them. Maybe a chill ran down their spines. Those who felt something fearsome. Many of them probably took it to be a nightmare. It certainly was a manifestation of a nightmare. What the first shake meant. What the first tremor produced. ──It is...huge. ──It is...terror. ──It is...one of the forty-one Creatures. It had materialized after five years. It was an enormous nightmare, and a phenomenon. ──It materialized in the Lower Tiers. ──In the Second Water Supply Ward, filled with water and dull greenery.  「ＧＵＵ......」 ──Stuck into the center of its back── ──Was a spring screw── 「ＧＵＵＵＵＵ...」 There was a huge silhouette in the center of the Second Water Supply Ward. It was a doll. It was something fantastical. A fantasy resembling a horribly warped human. Pulled along by its queer "arms," the silhouette destroyed the surrounding buildings like they were mere toys. But it wasn't destroying them on purpose. It blew away Purification Engine Plants and other buildings just as a result of moving its arms. ──No will. ──No intent to kill. ──Destruction is simply the result of it existing and moving. If anyone saw it, their minds would almost certainly freeze up. Their bodies, which should be used to terror, would tremble. That which brought about terror to all who saw it. This fantasy was equipped with such Original Terrors. Destruction. Death. Terror. Screams. All of those constructed this original being. All who lived in the City were in awe, without exception. ──A Creature── The "screw of death" sticking out of its back proved that this fantasy was a Creature. A terror sleeping in the City. Everyone who lived through the 《Revival》 ten years ago knew about them. One of the forty-one Creatures that devoured people. One of the forty-one great terrors that covered the City. ──Its individual name is Golem. ──The Creatures. ──They are terror given powerful form. Golem had the greatest physical strength among them. It could easily take tens of thousands of lives. The ultra-high temperatures of its fingers and breath melted everything. 「ＧＵＵＵＵＵ...」 Cries of panic rang out. The City was shaken far more than ever before. ──That was the second quake.  ──The moment Gii heard the "Voice" far below him, ──He shuddered. He knew what was beating against his mind. He couldn't not know it. Those who lived in the City all feared it. Even his fingertips shook. He couldn't stand. Even breathing became painful. His body too? [Gii]（......a Creature Voice......!） [Gii]（Such an......enormous...... louder than...Wendigo's......!） He gritted his teeth. He endured. His cranial organs activated half by themselves. The Phenomenon Equation lessened the stiffening of his nerves. He looked down at Kia holding his hand. The girl hadn't fallen into a state of panic. It was almost as if she didn't know what was happening. ──She doesn't know? ──There's no way she wouldn't know it from five years ago. But right now, he appreciated Kia's reaction. He could avoid being swept up in the situation around him. The people were in a horrible panic. Some screamed, some cried, some fell to the ground and shivered. Some even threw off their oxygen masks and shouted things. There were even some clutching their ears and convulsing. The descending monorail that had just arrived── The one Gii was trying to get on right now. Passengers ran out of it screaming. He'd heard that "Voice" from below him. Therefore, these people were fleeing from it.  No!That sound......no, that voice...you mustn't......! Everyone......everyone's......in pain......!  I'm the one who decided to visit him at daybreak.It's all right, you know that. Gii!With Kia's voice behind him, he boarded. He operated the emergency controls, changing it to express. Then he raised the speed, setting the destination to the Second Water Supply Ward. He closed the doors before Kia and her words of protest could board. The monorail began to move, without any brakes. ──I have to hurry. ──I have to get there first. ──I have a feeling the shadow behind me is screaming, telling me to do that. 「......hurry.」 「......faster, Gii. Faster, faster!」  He hurried to the reservoir, heading for old man Vonnegut's cooperative residence. The farther he went, the stronger the "Voice" became. Humans with minds strengthened by Crack Engines. Monsters naturally equipped with psychological management abilities. They all fled from the voice, trying not to be devoured by the terror. [Gii] (Hardly anyone is going this way.) [Gii] (......that's rather convenient.) His left and right lungs were tightening up from the burden of sprinting, so he strengthened them with his Equation. He could keep on running. ──Finally, I can see the reservoir. ──And countless cables. There was a Chrome blockade that hadn't been there yesterday. The path to the reservoir was already sealed off. The guards looked toward him. It was horrible. They weren't just guards.  [Gii]（This timing is just...... Wait......City Law Enforcers......?） [Gii]（Something doesn't feel right.） [Gii]（It's almost as if the Creature's appearance was......） He had no choice but to look for a different route. The paved roads no longer went to the reservoir. All passage through it were prohibited. ──The people fleeing... ──Can't get out through this blockade. Then──  As Gii stood before the blockade, small silhouettes rushed toward him from behind, pushing through the crowd of people. They were Agnes and Francisca. He rapidly confirmed that Vonnegut wasn't with them.  Agnes! Francisca!Your Oji-san── [Agnes] H-he chased us out...... We heard...a strange voice...and Soldiers came...... This is......what's going on, Doctor......? [Francisca] Oji-chan...is still...in the house...... He's still in there......hey, what do we do!? What should we do? We don't know...... [Agnes] This voice...we're hearing...... What is it......? [Francisca] We're scared......Doctor...... Oji-chan...is still......on the other side...... and yet......the Soldiers...won't listen...... So he's still in there?I understand. ──So they've already decided to prune people. ──I glare at the Upper Tier Soldier in my way. Valuable Citizens. In other words, young humans seen as beneficial producers for the whole of the City. Only they had been chased out of the ward. Old men. Children. The sick and wounded. Those people had been left inside the blockade. The twins must have been put outside because they were young yet skilled informants. Otherwise they probably wouldn't be here. ──In other words, ──The City Law really is being Enforced. The pragmatic pruning of lives. However, the Upper Tier wouldn't kill them. ──They'll just abandon them, ──As if they predicted this would happen. Just how many people were being pruned? Gii knew it wouldn't be just ten or twenty. The scale would be bigger than that. [Eralee] Gii? Is that you Gii!? ......you...what are you doing out here!?  Eralee?── ......a few Upper Tier Soldiers? ......why...was Eralee...? There was no way a single Lower Tier doctor could hold out against the battle strength of an entire division of City Soldiers. And why could he move within this "Voice?" He wasn't like the young twins, who barely remembered five years ago. ──I understand. There was an external Crack Engine on both of his ears. Standard equipment for Upper Tier Soldiers. An Anti-Creature Engine.  Don't say it like that, Gii.Haven't I told you this before? ......it's a shame, though.You really should be on this side today. You couldn't have forgotten what this sound is. That's right, it's a genuine Creature Voice.A nightmare from five years ago I'd never forget. Eralee raised his arms toward the decayed greenery and the muddied Second Water Supply Reservoir. And, to the silhouette he could catch glimpses of beyond it. A silhouette larger than the multi-story buildings. An embodiment of terror── ......we hadn't planned on that thing.But it's a godsend. With that here, no one will mind. The Enforcement of City Law won't be obvious. We're not abandoning them, Gii.That's a phenomenon. ──A Creature. ──A natural phenomenon of the City which kills humans to no end. Which is why it's over for them.The people over there are done for now. This is the City Law itself. This is reality itself. Fortunately, there are still a number of other Water Supplies......The Lower Tiers won't be destroyed by this. It's all right. Those kids, you and I are just fine. ......we can still live.Just a little bit... In Eralee's voice, he saw a little glimpse of the med student from ten years ago. Thank your good luck, Gii.Don't go thinking anything weird now. We aren't over there right now, which means that just for this hour, just for this moment, we've been allowed to live.You understand.  ......you say...we've been...allowed to live? That's right.──A few hundred thousand people in the City of Inganock. ──They're living underneath this law. Even if that law was the pruning of lives... Even if that was abnormal by the standards of ten years ago... This was reality. Eralee's words were the truth. He wasn't "mistaken" about a single thing. The Upper Tier Soldiers behind him were proof of that. The Law...and reality... They were just as he said. [Agnes] ......Gii...... ......is what that guy's saying...true? [Francisca] Is Oji-chan......doomed? Doctor, hey......Oji-chan...he's...... However... This really was──  Since when has Gii let something like 'City Law' or 'the way the world is' stop him from helping someone in need? ──No, this changes nothing. ─────────────────────. 『It's time to give up, Gii.』 『Goodbye.』 ─────────────────────. ......silence. The masked clown reborn at the edge of his vision was whispering, 'give up.' It was twisting that into him. Leaving only a laugh, the illusion disappeared. Aaah, so that was it. Nothing at all had changed. The clown was dancing unchanged at the edge of his vision. He hadn't changed anything. ──What I must do hasn't changed a bit. ──That's why... Right now...this hand... He'd extend it to the place it should be.
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Jun 18, 2023 23:21
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BGM: Hopelessness His hand shook slightly as it held the pitcher. As the old man violently coughed, blood fell onto the floor. He no longer had the strength to walk to the window. Vonnegut closed his eyes, and silently wished for his granddaughters' safety. The giant who'd destroyed another Tier's Water Supply Ward five years ago. He'd heard that it'd appeared once more. The evacuating fishermen had told him. Were the ward's buildings being destroyed one by one? Various sounds and vibrations told him so. ......this is far...too much...... for...an old man...like me......You could have...... just come...and killed me...... But...that's irrelevant...... to the likes of...such beasts...... His consciousness was starting to unravel. He felt as if he had to speak to keep himself together. He couldn't even get out of bed any more. 'A few days.' He laughed about how far off he'd been. 「......you were lying about something else, weren't you?」 He heard the voice of the girl he'd met yesterday. Even his memory was wandering now. He moved only his eyes──  >At the old man's bedside. There were pink eyes silently gazing at him. An illusion? No, even if it was... [Vonnegut] This is......quite...a surprise...... How did you...make it......? [Vonnegut] ......no, no, you can't...... Run away...... If you aren't...an illusion...then...... [Vonnegut] Run away. Forget about...me...... The Soldiers have already taken...... my granddaughters...... [Vonnegut] It's fine...... Those kids...can make...plenty of money. Wherever they go...in the City...they'll be fine...... [Vonnegut] ......I'm not...reluctant...to leave. Now run. This place...is...dangerous. The old man quietly told her. There really was no reluctance or terror within him. There was something calm and comforting in his heart. He showed a smile to the illusion of the standing girl, so that she wouldn't notice his stabbing pain.   I've gotten used to hearing your lies.So, please, stop it.  Stop telling lies.You promised you'd receive their present. ──Present? ──Aaah, my granddaughters must have told her. So that was the pain stabbing at his heart. The old man was now clearly aware of it. Promises were things which must be kept. However...he'd already chosen... His promise from sixty-five years ago. On that day. At that time. He met her when he nearly drowned as a young boy. A girl in black. Different from this illusion. ──That's right, she was shorter. ──That's right, her wet, black hair was beautiful.  [Vonnegut] That girl...... Kia, next to you...... Who......is that......? The girl...with the black hood...... [Vonnegut] ......both of you......you can't...... You have to run...... Black hood──The girl shook her head. She uneasily told him that no such person was there. Not with words, but with her eyes. But the old man could see her. The young black-haired girl with a kind expression on her face. Then── ─────────────────────. A shock echoed through the cooperative residence. The old man couldn't tell if it was the giant closing in or not, destroying everything in its path. The sound of destruction. Something hard. Then the strange noise of crumbling and evaporating. The old man laid eyes on it. The enormous, hard "left hand" easily wiped out the second and higher stories of the cooperative residence. ──I can see the sky. ──Through the crumbling ceiling. BGM: In Wonder  ──The giant is peeking in. ──It's moist. ──Something like a gaze swims over me. ──This old man...and this illusion of a girl. In order to break human lives, the giant moved its "face" closer, while exhaling its rotten, ultra-hot breath. [Kia] ......a doll...... The girl's whispering voice was shaking. From fear? The giant reacted. It extended its fingers. Its wrinkling fingertips gave off ultra-high temperatures. Anything that touched them would evaporate in an instant. It gave off an air warped with death── [Kia] ......! Video: Met/Emet (Very recommended!)─────────────────────.  ──A voice I've heard before. ──It's sharp. #Just a slight shock. Fragments flew in every direction. There was a "hand" stopping the giant's finger. A "hand" stopping the giant's destruction. ─────────────────────.  As if to protect the old man from the finger. Or perhaps...to protect the illusion of the girl. The old man called a name. Did he do so aloud? He didn't know. He just screamed. He screamed the other man's name. The man who'd stopped the giant. No, he wasn't producing a voice. The old man screamed even as he coughed up red fluid. 「Doctor...」 「Save those kids.」 「......Gii!」 ──Answering his voice── ──That "hand" extends── BGM: Right Hand From Behind  But it wasn't just Gii's right hand. A different "right hand" was extending from behind him. ──A hand made of steel. ──It was overlapping with Gii's.  As if stirring, it continued to extend freely. That hand sliced through the high-temperature space. It was extending toward the giant's "face." Five steel-colored fingers writhed and materialized. Its finger joints...scraped...making...a noise. It gave off sharp metallic sounds, like the strings of a lute. What── Is this?── Something was here. Someone was here. That wasn't Gii's hand. It came from someone behind him. Someone was── Extending a steel hand, from behind Gii──!  Who? What? Something covered in steel...was behind him. To the old man it looked like a shadow. He knew something made of steel was extending a hand from behind him. He didn't have the slightest idea what it truly was. Human? No, this was something else. He didn't know who, or what, was there. Some great steel entity...no...that wasn't possible. That couldn't possibly be behind him... There was no way that could exist. But...but... ──The old man knows. ──Fairy tales are no different from reality. [Gii] ......old man Vonnegut. I'm sorry... But this doll is my enemy. ......I won't allow it to kill you! The steel shadow took on a "form." The steel hand...moved...as if answering his words! The steel hand......! It just extended──forward──!   The sound of a clock. The sound of a clock. "Is it time? Is it time?" it continues to call.    The second hand moves. It stops, pointing right at zero o'clock.  The Golden Spiral Staircase towering into the darkness. The man standing at the foot of it is none other than the silver watch's owner. With his master in the corner of his eye continuing to climb the Golden Spiral Staircase, the man continues to gaze at the watch, motionless. The man continues to gaze at the watch, and speaks. Like a Chrome-built, Machine-wound doll, in an inorganic voice...  [Man with Watch] ......one of the great Creatures, the Golem. ......the ruinous phenomenon which made even the 《Three Professors》 shudder. [Man with Watch]......one of the thirty-three bodies corresponding with the Zahhak. ......the highest class body was prepared. [Man with Watch] ......can you do it? Or can't you? ......miserable 《Kikai》 user, our sacrifice. [Man with Watch] ......your blades and heat will never work. At least, one minute. No, two minutes. Tick-tock. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Tick-tock. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Tick-tock. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Tick-tock. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Tick-tock. Tick- ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀...tock.  Armor that no blade or bullet could ever penetrate. The sturdy Upper Tier Soldiers were clad in 《Total Armor》 made only of the finest Engines. But they were nothing before it. Those Machines lived only for the Upper Tier Aristocrats. They didn't even need to sleep. Yet the Soldiers quickly lost consciousness... and passed out. And...they just fell over. So easily. ......that's...impossible......Eralee's face went pale. He'd seen it. What...was that? The shadow which rushed out as the Upper Tier Soldiers fell to their knees. A medium fantasy── ──What...is that? ──What just passed by? Aaah, ah, that's......Gii...did you...see that......it can't...... ......Gii......?Where......did you go......?  覧Tears through the darkness覧 覧Covered in a steel helmet覧   [Gii] However... [Gii] If you are the ones who hinder this hand...  [Gii] I will eliminate all of you! Creature Stone Golem!  ──It moves. Yes, this thing moves. ──It actually moves, as I will it. Something seemed wrong with his vision. There was no clown. Instead, he knew that there was a fantastic shadow behind him. He extended his steel arm and saw the "same things" as "him." The large Creature peering down at him. One of the forty-one deaths. Gii could see it without activating his Equation. He wiped away the "Voice" that brought panic. "He" and Gii glared into the giant's eye sockets. ──My right hand. ──It directs the steel hand as if it were my own. ──This isn't the Phenomenon Equation. ──However, somehow it feels real. There was something that "he" at his back could do. There was something that "he" and Gii needed to do. ──What must I do with this "hand?" ──I know. The same thing as before.  The giant gave a roar at the incomprehensible intrusion! Its heat began to scorch the atmosphere, producing phenomena. Gii could clearly see it scattering death. Gii's "right eye" had already captured everything about Creature Stone Golem. The high temperatures covering the surface of its hard and supremely massive body. That was death itself. An amalgamation of death. Death by incineration. A phenomenon of death capable of evaporating people without a trace.   Mortal bodies could hardly hope to dodge them, except perhaps for \g803Pucelle\g804 soldiers, with their sharply honed nervous reflexes, or Heavy Engine Humans with nerve reconstruction. But even if they'd managed to dodge the fists, they would've been evaporated by the ultra-high temperatures wrapping around their bodies. And yet, he was alive. Gii still lived.   [Gii] ......too slow. 「ＧＵＵＵＵＵＵ...!!」 [Gii] Don't cry. He glared at the roaring giant with his "right eye." That was probably a cry of panic just now. It destroyed people's cranial nerves, planting seeds of death or insanity. And yet, he was alive. Gii still hadn't died. He probably would have died if this had happened not too long ago. But right now, the steel "him" was protecting Gii. He wouldn't die, not yet. He focused his mind into his glaring "right eye." His "right eye" saw all of the rampant giant!   覧In the case of Stone Golem覧 覧The sole means of destruction is覧 覧Destruction of all joints覧  The vaporizing death, Golem, with an epidermis that repelled all attacks and a body protected as if by the gods. Therefore, humans couldn't possibly kill it. The sole means of destruction was destroying all of its joints. Therefore, humans absolutely could not kill it. Bullets and bombs would evaporate before reaching it. However...however... ──However...   [Gii] You of steel. My 《Kikai》 Porshion. I shall say this to you. [Gii] "Slash like a blade." ─────────────────────!   ──Tearing apart, melting and wiping out. ──My right hand is a blade wrapped in flames. ──This right hand that cleaves beasts in half. ──The fiery hand of a fairy tale king.  The Creature was enveloped and broken down by the high temperature blade before it even had a chance to scream. All of its joints, torn apart, fragmented, pulverized. The remnants of that tremendous flame were left behind, as if blown apart. The surface of the reservoir's water shook── BGM: A Spiral Staircase  「Oooh, oooh, is it not wonderful? The blind sacrifice has gone beyond the fifth stairway.」 「Record the present time, Clock Crack Chrome!」 「"That time" you've wished for has come! Oh Lemure Lemure, tremble with delight!」 「These truly are the final moments of my love.」 「At the end of the Golden Spiral Staircase! My dream, my love takes form!」 He climbs, he climbs, he climbs. One master climbs the Golden Spiral Staircase. He is the Controller. He is the Grand Prince. He is the Fool. The King of Inganock. The Magician and Scholar who discovered the Phenomenon Equation. He climbs the Golden Spiral Staircase. One step, one step at a time. Even now, even now... He aims for the peak. He desires 'that' at the highest place. And, that which stands at the peak laughs. Even now, even now...  『Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!』 It lies at the end of the Golden Spiral Staircase. A dark, confined space where the dregs of the King's dream sleep. He who is trapped within the darkness laughs. Even now, even now... 『Ahahahahahaha, the doll broke! Ahahahahahaha, I hated that doll!』 『──The last 《Kikai》 takes the sword in hand──』 『──*chuckle*──』 He who is trapped within the darkness laughs. Even now, even now... He raises a voice of exultation and extends his hand. That hand writhes and tears open. Under the darkness, that hand grasps the sky.  ──His left hand── ──Tore through the black cloth── ──And showed a little of itself── BGM: Amnesia *scratch* *scratch* *scratch* *scratch* *scratch* *scratch* *brush* *brush* *brush* *brush* *brush* *brush* Deep underground, where no one's voice could reach. Beneath all of the City's Lower Tiers, then even lower than that. Randolph was digging holes tonight, as always. The underground madman dug holes, while talking with someone who couldn't be seen. *scratch* *scratch* *scratch* *scratch* *scratch* *scratch* *brush* *brush* *brush* *brush* *brush* *brush*  [Randolph] I guess precious things are left behind as results. In other words, the hole I passed through will be left behind. This way, everything is resolved. [Randolph] Isn't it hilarious that the likes of "truth" stood in the way of my holes? ......... [Randolph] ......what? What's "truth" in the first place? ...... [Randolph]What was it now... Oh well, it doesn't matter. BGM: Calmly Days  Gii and Kia were elsewhere at the time. She'd left a note behind and disappeared. Even Ruaha hadn't noticed her leave. Six days passed after that. Six days since old man Vonnegut disappeared. Gii had performed some temporary healing measures with the Phenomenon Equation, so he was certain the man hadn't died yet. But then── He disappeared the night his birthday was celebrated. ──I'm pretty sure it was night. ──Standing alone in a boat amidst the darkness. The only one who has the skill to do that... ──Is Vonnegut-oji-san. Standing atop a small boat, gazing at the reservoir. The old turtle said there were a few who testified to that. He was no longer in any state to be standing up under his own strength, and all the people who testified smelled strongly of alcohol, but no one else had been near the reservoir that night. Even the movements of City Administration's Upper Tier Soldiers could no longer be heard. ──However...   「Ara ara??」 「「Ara ara ara???」」   [Agnes] Ara ara ara. You are so close. Just the two of you clinging together this early. What are you doing, pale-faced man? [Francisca] Ara ara ara. You're making us jealous. Showing this much affection in the morning. Cute little lady, you mustn't be fooled.  They'd practically forced their way into the apartment, and now Agnes raised one of her hands to── *smack!!* Slap Gii in the face with light wads of cash. Though it was just a bag of thin wads, it made a loud noise and covered up Gii's face.    [Francisca] We've decided, after much thought. That's why Gii-sensei is of no use anymore!  [Agnes] Oji-chan's already gotten so much better he can wander all over the place! [Francisca] That's why Gii-sensei is of no use to us anymore! We're sure he's just fine! [Agnes] We'll see you again then. If fate lets you, cross our path again! [Francisca] Go right ahead and cross! ──As they proudly said that, ──The corners of their eyes were shockingly red. A swollen redness from one or two nights of crying. Kia tried to say something to them, but they turned their heels right away.  They said that softly, then left, as if fleeing. The two adorable backs disappeared, without even letting her say goodbye. ......right after that, ......the early morning silence returned. Ruaha still hadn't woken up. Ati was surely at the Engine Tavern. When they were alone, things naturally became filled with silence. Whatever that was...They both seem as noisy as always. ......yeah.  #......yeah. Even Stanislaw acknowledges their skill, though he may say otherwise. ......yeah. Kia? ............yeah.............no, it's...  [Kia] ......even though...... Oji-san's gone...... Why......? ──Why? ──Why does everyone talk like that? ──Those two force themselves. ──Everyone cries when they're alone. BGM: Girl Grins  [Kia] ......why......? ──Shining teardrops. ──Pouring out...never stopping... Teardrops flowed out of those pink eyes. Even if she tried to hold them back, they'd just keep coming, one after the other. They traced a line down her cheek, like rain pouring down from the sky and hitting the shutters. [Gii] Kia. There's nothing to cry about. [Kia] ......Gii, why......? I...don't understand......I don't... Why......does everyone......? Those kids...... Even though...they're so young...... ......why......? Can they...talk like that......? ──Why can they... ──Put everything they have into holding their proud expressions? [Kia] There must be......something strange... about Kia......since she can't...... Do what everyone else does......  [Gii] ......that's nothing to cry about. He softly wiped those unending teardrops with his fingers, but they still poured out from beneath her closed eyes. Her teardrops silently fell. They ran down her cheek, and fell into the palm of his hand. Many, many of them continued on to the linoleum. Like rain, never ceasing to fall. ──Her tears... Like those of all the people these past ten years... Never ending, but eventually returning to the City. [Kia] ......why......? Everyone's...always...lying...... I'm sure......they'll keep...doing it...... But...... I can't......lie...well...... Like......everyone...else...... That's why......  「......I don't like it.」  ......? Well now... what is this?
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Jun 19, 2023 02:33
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BGM: Destiny Go Round 「A large Creature comes out, and that's all it takes to finish it off.」 By the lake in the Second Water Supply Ward, one man's silhouette stepped on the grass. His arms and legs were covered in black. A man who looked just like a shadow. Video: Kerkan and ????? [Kerkan] You've hardened quite the extraordinary lie. You said this was just power for killing people. [Kerkan] ──Isn't that right, Grimm Grimm? ─────────────────────. 『Hello, Kerkan.』 『There isn't a single lie in this City.』 『Only the humans are lying.』 ─────────────────────. [Kerkan] Aaah, that's right. You and I seem to get along, clown doll. BGM: A Spiral Staircase  It lies at the end of the Golden Spiral Staircase. A dark, confined space where the dregs of the King's dream sleep. He who is trapped within the darkness laughs. Even now, even now... 『Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!』 『──This is wonderful, simply wonderful──』 『──*chuckle*──』 He who is trapped within the darkness laughs. Even now, even now... He raises a voice of exultation and extends his hand. That hand writhes and tears open. That hand extends toward the sky.  ──Tears open── ──The binding darkness── ──And that whiteness── 『......wait for me......』 『......my...Kia......』 Here we go, now THAT'S the end of the chapter, for reals this time. Fates End fucked around with this message at 00:04 on Jun 20, 2023 |
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