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Seraphic Neoman
Jul 19, 2011


Okay I get it now, this game is actually a comedy.

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GeneralYeti
Jul 22, 2012

Look at this smug broken asshole.
I mean, it's still a really lovely thing to do, but at least Mashiro has a reason for playing along with Natsuhiko's delusions. There's not much else you can do when he goes into a panic attack any time he gets close to the truth.

Seraphic Neoman
Jul 19, 2011


But for 9 years? Like I'd try something else by year 3

Danaru
Jun 5, 2012

何 ??

Danaru posted:

If BC is made of particles, what if Natsuhiko is just a being comprised entirely of BC :tinfoil:

Sticking to this theory, but Yuuri's the BC golem.

also we still never ended up seeing this lady:



I suppose the kids never met her, but she was BC cheering on post time-dunk Watase to save the BC users, so considering recent events I'm real confused. I want to say she's Watase's sister considering her hair does the dumb swoop like Watase's white streak, which in anime genetics is as good as a blood test.

Cyouni
Sep 30, 2014

without love it cannot be seen

GeneralYeti posted:

I mean, it's still a really lovely thing to do, but at least Mashiro has a reason for playing along with Natsuhiko's delusions. There's not much else you can do when he goes into a panic attack any time he gets close to the truth.

It's pretty impressive when everytime he gets close to the truth, he goes into a panic attack and erases his memory of anything that caused it.

TheMcD posted:

Memories are ambiguous?
Yeah. According to the protagonist himself... 'People tend to rewrite their own memories unconsciously. And so even this story itself is not necessarily the truth.' Isn't it interesting for a romance novel to begin like that?
Yeah, though it sounds a tad perplexing.
But you know, as you continue the story, you learn that it really is like that. Memories are never reliable. You could end up recalling something completely different depending on your current situation and mental state.

Ghost-Yuuri said it best.

Glazius
Jul 22, 2007

Hail all those who are able,
any mouse can,
any mouse will,
but the Guard prevail.

Clapping Larry
I wonder if that's actually his BC doing that. Like, if the brain is made of BC particles he's figured out how to unmount it and restore from backup.

Spatula City
Oct 21, 2010

LET ME EXPLAIN TO YOU WHY YOU ARE WRONG ABOUT EVERYTHING

GeneralYeti posted:

I mean, it's still a really lovely thing to do, but at least Mashiro has a reason for playing along with Natsuhiko's delusions. There's not much else you can do when he goes into a panic attack any time he gets close to the truth.

Uh, yeah, I feel more like this is his mother's fuckup. Natsuhiko absolutely should not have been released from the hospital in his condition. Mashiro should never have been put in the position of having to play along with Natsuhiko's delusions. but, of course, it's Japan. it would be SHAMEFUL to put one's son in long-term mental health treatment. jesus, at the very least some antipsychotic drugs? Man, I am just getting so angry at this bit of the game.

Seraphic Neoman
Jul 19, 2011


And Mashiro's master plan after finding a terrorist is to get her delusional friend to come help her out and catch him! That'll snap him right out!

Seriously put this to Yackety Sax and it becomes loving hilarious.

OddHaberdasher
Jan 21, 2016
Now I'm morbidly curious as to what life was like before she developed her empathy through sheer force of will. We see the A of Nat after the fire, we see the C of Natsuhiko now, but what about the B? For some reason, every time I try to think of that I start hearing a sitcom laugh track.

Cyouni
Sep 30, 2014

without love it cannot be seen

Spatula City posted:

Uh, yeah, I feel more like this is his mother's fuckup. Natsuhiko absolutely should not have been released from the hospital in his condition. Mashiro should never have been put in the position of having to play along with Natsuhiko's delusions. but, of course, it's Japan. it would be SHAMEFUL to put one's son in long-term mental health treatment. jesus, at the very least some antipsychotic drugs? Man, I am just getting so angry at this bit of the game.
I'm pretty sure they addressed that.

TheMcD posted:

The more serious matter at hand was his panic disorder. One wrong move and Natsuhiko would come close to noticing Yuuri's death-- Causing him to display symptoms including intense headaches and heart palpitations. In extreme cases, his memories would go into disarray and he'd begin to ignore reality. Aside from hospital staff, only Mashiro and Dr. Tenkawa knew about his condition.

(... If only he could gradually improve...)

The most effective treatment for this kind of condition was said to be ''family therapy''-- that is, for the family to treat the patient with devoted support for their condition.

Now, you can argue just how effective that therapy is in reality, but they definitely addressed that as an issue.

OddHaberdasher posted:

Now I'm morbidly curious as to what life was like before she developed her empathy through sheer force of will. We see the A of Nat after the fire, we see the C of Natsuhiko now, but what about the B? For some reason, every time I try to think of that I start hearing a sitcom laugh track.

It's a guess, but a pretty good one, that Mashiro only started frequently going to the house once she got empathy down pat. Before that, it would been the same as everyone else.

OddHaberdasher
Jan 21, 2016
I suppose that this also explains why Nat's mum is so distant. Bearing the guilt of being just too late to save your sons friend must be hard, and then spending the years afterward having to play along with your son's delusions or risk panic attacks (symptoms of which include heart palpitations, mind) must be a tremendous burden. I don't think it's healthy nor do I agree with the situation at all, but the situation is dreadfully understandable.

Danaru
Jun 5, 2012

何 ??
Maybe some part of her experiment involved trying to bring Yuuri back, there was very clearly a solid, injectable Yuuri post Case-N.

Also unless we get into some major time travel fuckery, pretty much everyone dies at the end of Route After, so maybe we just hauled Yuuri's ghost-rear end out of her meta timeline bullshit to fix this mess.

There's still a ton of questions yet to be answered and it feels like we're in the final act of Route: Before. Is there a secret third route or something? :confused: Route:Time Crash

Seraphic Neoman
Jul 19, 2011


No I don't buy it. I can't believe that the best a town full of psychic researchers can do is Family Therapy for 9 goddamn years.

OddHaberdasher posted:

I suppose that this also explains why Nat's mum is so distant. Bearing the guilt of being just too late to save your sons friend must be hard, and then spending the years afterward having to play along with your son's delusions or risk panic attacks (symptoms of which include heart palpitations, mind) must be a tremendous burden. I don't think it's healthy nor do I agree with the situation at all, but the situation is dreadfully understandable.

Understandable is a strong word. Her actions definitely made Natushiko worse off, and leaving everything to Mashiro is irresponsible. Since the condition is supposedly that bad, what if Natsuhiko had an attack after she left?

Seraphic Neoman fucked around with this message at 13:56 on Feb 16, 2017

Danaru
Jun 5, 2012

何 ??
Time spent giving children therapy is time not spent throwing children into the ghost reactor :colbert: We've got quotas, people

NRVNQSR
Mar 1, 2009

Danaru posted:

Also unless we get into some major time travel fuckery, pretty much everyone dies at the end of Route After, so maybe we just hauled Yuuri's ghost-rear end out of her meta timeline bullshit to fix this mess.

I think you're misremembering the (true) end of Route After; you might want to check again which characters were alive and dead when the credits rolled.

Danaru
Jun 5, 2012

何 ??

NRVNQSR posted:

I think you're misremembering the (true) end of Route After; you might want to check again which characters were alive and dead when the credits rolled.

Oh whoops I was mixing it up with the ending where everyone killed each other and Watase's brain caught fire :saddowns:

Cyouni
Sep 30, 2014

without love it cannot be seen

SSNeoman posted:

No I don't buy it. I can't believe that the best a town full of psychic researchers can do is Family Therapy for 9 goddamn years.

The main problem is that the limits of BC are a known quantity - telepathy and empathy. Neither are relevant to Natsuhiko's situation.

Logicblade
Aug 13, 2014

Festival with your real* little sister!

Cyouni posted:

The main problem is that the limits of BC are a known quantity - telepathy and empathy. Neither are relevant to Natsuhiko's situation.

Ghost Yuuri has made a point about mentioning the secret third ability of BC, to not just connect minds but hearts as well. Aka whatever the heck Natsuhiko is doing right now diving in Mashiron's memories. But that clearly isn't well known or a secret if Ena as never mentioned it, since she seems to be a BC fangirl of sorts.

Danaru
Jun 5, 2012

何 ??
Brain internet

Brainternet :tinfoil:

TheMcD
May 4, 2013

Monaca / Subject N 2024
---------
Despair will never let you down.
Malice will never disappoint you.

MIND: 09/16/2030, 07:34



----
--

--And then, the visions within the memories faded--



♪ BGM: Words of Healing

Natsuhiko returned to reality as if he had woken up from a dream. Before his eyes was a crying Mashiro, pushed against the wall. Apparently only a fleeting moment had passed in reality. But Natsuhiko had experienced nine years of her life-- and he shed endless tears.

N... Natsuhiko?

Mashiro called out in confusion. But once he heard that voice,

...!

Natsuhiko silently brought her into a deep embrace.



!?

He could feel her body tensing up. But Natsuhiko embraced her even stronger as he spoke.

Mashiro...! I'm sorry...! I'm so sorry...!
Huh...?
You've always been there to support me, haven't you... You've always been there for me, right by my side...!

Mashiro gasped at those words.

H-how did you...!?
I'm sorry I did it without asking... but I read your memories with BC...!
Huh...? My memories? Is that even...!?
It is. I did it. It has to be some sort of new BC ability. But I wanted to know how you felt so bad, and then-- I saw your memories of nine years up until today.
...!
And now I know everything. How my mind shattered when I lost Yuuri. And how you were always there watching over me...
That too...!?
Yeah, and so I wanted to say...

Natsuhiko paused there. He desperately held back his overwhelming emotions and squeezed out the words.

...Thank you. ...Thank you so much, Mashiro...

Tears came spilling out again. Natsuhiko recalled the words Yuuri's phantom had whispered to him six days ago.



...If you must distrust someone, then distrust me. No matter what's the truth and what's a lie, you should be in the company of those with good intentions, shouldn't you?



Natsuhiko had always been protected by the people around him. For nine whole years. And then, Mashiro--



Mashiro had that to say to him.

You know, I've been worried this whole time...
... Worried?
Yeah... I was worried that once you noticed the truth, the same thing that happened to you nine years ago would happen again.
...
... But it didn't. You were able to accept the sadness. And I'm happy just for that... Natsuhiko... you did well to withstand it... You worked so hard...
...

Natsuhiko shook his head at those words.

Mashiro... The only reason I could withstand it was because of you. Because you... were always there by my side...
...Yuuri was the one by your side, wasn't she?
No. Thanks to you, I...--

He had no more words. He just embraced Mashiro tightly once more. An embrace filled with nine years of feelings.



...I'm glad I could be there for you.

Mashiro returned the embrace. They remained in each others arms for a while. Without words. Without BC--



♪ BGM: LABO Security Lv. 2

Eventually, Natsuhiko let go of Mashiro and spoke up.

...Let's go, Mashiro.
Yeah...
It's my duty to get you out of here... And that's a duty I swear I'll fulfill.
But what about the card...?
...There should be one in this area I don't know how I know, but trust me.

--Yuuri's phantom said that Natsuhiko had merely overlooked it. He decided to trust in her words.

(Remember... I must've seen it. Where have I been where I've already seen a card!?)

As soon as he pondered that question--



--The stairwell next door! Let's go look, Mashiro!
Y-Yeah!

Natsuhiko and Mashiro rushed out of the room and dashed to the stairwell. It was dark because the light had been broken. Natsuhiko and Mashiro stared hard as they searched for the card together.



!! Found one!
Huh!?

Mashiro looked at the card Natsuhiko had picked up.



Mom's card...? Why is it here?
Maybe she dropped it when she evacuated?

They couldn't know the details. However-- Natsuhiko felt it was as if Yuuri had left them with this card.

In any case, I'm sure we can use this to open the security gate!
True! Let's try it out immediately!
Yeah!

They dashed out of the stairwell.



Natsuhiko swiped their newly found card through the gate's card slot.

Please work...
...Please.

Natsuhiko and Mashiro huddled up and prayed. ... ... ... ... And as if their prayer had reached heaven--



♪ BGM: The Truth is Revealed

...!

Mashiro looked at Natsuhiko with gleaming eyes.

All right...! There's sure to be an emergency escape in Area 6 this way.
You can tell?
We escaped through Area 6 nine years ago.

A complicated smile formed across Mashiro's face as she heard those words.



--Back at Area 5, where he and Yuuri had been trapped that fateful day. And the same place where Yuuri's illusion had vanished. But there was nothing there now. Yuuri was no longer with them. Natsuhiko finally accepted that truth--

(Goodbye, Yuuri...)

--and bid her farewell.



Mashiro silently grasped Natsuhiko's hand. He grasped back.



Let's go, Mashiro!
...Yeah!



To part with the past-- --and head towards the future.





TheMcD fucked around with this message at 18:21 on May 28, 2017

Danaru
Jun 5, 2012

何 ??
Aw what a sweet ending :unsmith: Wait how did that go again?





...Oh yeah

CirclMastr
Jul 4, 2010

I'm still not sure what we learned on this route to enlighten anything about Watase's route. I guess it confirmed what everyone was already suspecting: Watase was one of the terrorists.

Cyouni
Sep 30, 2014

without love it cannot be seen
You...may want to watch the credits if you haven't already. Just like Route A's credits, it has a little something at the end.

Seraphic Neoman
Jul 19, 2011


I really want more of a resolution, this was really not worth the build up. And I'm a giant sap but that scene did nothing for me. I don't know if it's funny or creepy.

OddHaberdasher
Jan 21, 2016
Is there more after the credits, like with After and the moment where Watase found a blockage in the pipes? Because otherwise this was rather disappointing.

Cyouni
Sep 30, 2014

without love it cannot be seen

OddHaberdasher posted:

Is there more after the credits, like with After and the moment where Watase found a blockage in the pipes? Because otherwise this was rather disappointing.

Did you check the end of the credits?

OddHaberdasher
Jan 21, 2016
I did, that's why I asked.

Cyouni
Sep 30, 2014

without love it cannot be seen
Then suffice it to say that just like Route A, there is a significant amount of stuff after the credits.

CirclMastr
Jul 4, 2010

Cyouni posted:

Then suffice it to say that just like Route A, there is a significant amount of stuff after the credits.

Whatever you're referring to isn't in the video posted, so my point stands.

TheMcD
May 4, 2013

Monaca / Subject N 2024
---------
Despair will never let you down.
Malice will never disappoint you.

CirclMastr posted:

Whatever you're referring to isn't in the video posted, so my point stands.

Cyouni means chapters. There will be chapters after the credits. As in things I am yet to post. They will contain, for instance, who the guy that shot Mashiro was. No points for guessing it, by the way.

CirclMastr
Jul 4, 2010

TheMcD posted:

Cyouni means chapters. There will be chapters after the credits. As in things I am yet to post. They will contain, for instance, who the guy that shot Mashiro was. No points for guessing it, by the way.

My point is that the whole route seemed to do nothing but give background info on the kids and make BC weirder. It didn't need to be its own route. If they wanted to give background info this way, they could have cut between Watase in LABO and Natsuhiko before LABO. I know this because this route already had those cuts! We could have replaced Natsuhiko's time-traveling perspective with just the player's time-traveling perspective, and they could have eased back on Yuuri weirdness to make her reveal as a hallucination more of a surprise.

TheMcD
May 4, 2013

Monaca / Subject N 2024
---------
Despair will never let you down.
Malice will never disappoint you.

CirclMastr posted:

My point is that the whole route seemed to do nothing but give background info on the kids and make BC weirder. It didn't need to be its own route. If they wanted to give background info this way, they could have cut between Watase in LABO and Natsuhiko before LABO. I know this because this route already had those cuts! We could have replaced Natsuhiko's time-traveling perspective with just the player's time-traveling perspective, and they could have eased back on Yuuri weirdness to make her reveal as a hallucination more of a surprise.

I really don't think that would have worked out. Like, I don't see jumping from Watase discovering the first set of bodies to Natsuhiko having a nice breakfast and going to school, then jumping back to Watase and the gang trying not to die horribly from electricity, lack of AD and fire, then jumping back to Natsuhiko meeting Salyu and not quite getting along, and so on, making for a more interesting story to read through. At least the time traveling with Natsuhiko is consistent with its main character and the ongoing threads are maintained instead of being abruptly severed every time we switch.

EDIT: Or rather, let's ask this question - what questions about Route After were you expecting to be answered in this route? Because there's a fair amount.

TheMcD fucked around with this message at 19:29 on Feb 17, 2017

CirclMastr
Jul 4, 2010

TheMcD posted:

EDIT: Or rather, let's ask this question - what questions about Route After were you expecting to be answered in this route? Because there's a fair amount.

1. What's the deal with Yuuri? (Amazingly, it turned out that BOTH "ghost" and "two Yuuris" were correct, and yet neither explains the Yuuri from Watase's route.)
2. What's the deal with Ukita? (He was - to some people anyway, myself included - a sketchy character. Unless Natsuhiko's route not revealing anything is meant to signify that there's nothing to reveal, but that's a bit of a leap.)
3. What were the kids doing in LABO? (Not why were they there, but what did they DO. Basically the amalgam of little questions like how Salyu survived diving into fire, what the message on the chalkboard was about, what happened to the AD, etc.)
4. Who set the bombs? (I guess partial credit for answering the timing of the bombs being set, sort of, but it wasn't any of Watase's Terror Team.)

And probably others I just have forgotten because I haven't gone back and re-read Watase's route.

TheMcD
May 4, 2013

Monaca / Subject N 2024
---------
Despair will never let you down.
Malice will never disappoint you.

CirclMastr posted:

1. What's the deal with Yuuri? (Amazingly, it turned out that BOTH "ghost" and "two Yuuris" were correct, and yet neither explains the Yuuri from Watase's route.)
2. What's the deal with Ukita? (He was - to some people anyway, myself included - a sketchy character. Unless Natsuhiko's route not revealing anything is meant to signify that there's nothing to reveal, but that's a bit of a leap.)
3. What were the kids doing in LABO? (Not why were they there, but what did they DO. Basically the amalgam of little questions like how Salyu survived diving into fire, what the message on the chalkboard was about, what happened to the AD, etc.)
4. Who set the bombs? (I guess partial credit for answering the timing of the bombs being set, sort of, but it wasn't any of Watase's Terror Team.)

And probably others I just have forgotten because I haven't gone back and re-read Watase's route.

Hm, I see what you're getting at, and I'm not sure how to word this without sounding dismissive, but we have about half the game left to get through. So for instance, "what's really the deal with Character X", and "how did the terrorists' plan work" (essentially what 4 comes down to) are fairly critical questions that aren't going to be answered this "early", if you get what I'm getting at. I mean, you've already pretty much worked out that Yuuri only being a figment of Natsuhiko's PTSD can't be the whole truth. It's that way for a lot of major questions. It's the minor questions that make up bits and pieces of the major questions that get progress during the route - things like "what was Salyu referring to when she was talking to Ena", which is a minor question for "what's the deal with Ena".

Route Before would also throw up quite a few questions that wouldn't get answered in Route After, but I still believe they benefit from being split from each other and not hopping from A to B in a hypothetical mixed Route Beafter.

OddHaberdasher
Jan 21, 2016
My answers to CirclMastr's questions:

1. Hell if I know.
2. He definitely is involved judging by Mashiron's Empathy, but by what he says later when insane he had a very different idea of what Watase wanted to do than what Watase did.
3. Salyu survived the fires because she's Salut. I'd guess the message was basically a "I'm checking the whole facility, I'm pretty sure you're gone already but if not I'll put this code phrase here and see if you've written a reply when I circle back". As for the AD, I'd guess either Yuuri took it for whatever mysterious reasons Yuuri has, or Salyu took it because she knows Watase and the rest of his goon squad want/need it even if she's not sure why.
4. Almost certainly Ukita.

Cyouni
Sep 30, 2014

without love it cannot be seen

CirclMastr posted:

1. What's the deal with Yuuri? (Amazingly, it turned out that BOTH "ghost" and "two Yuuris" were correct, and yet neither explains the Yuuri from Watase's route.)
2. What's the deal with Ukita? (He was - to some people anyway, myself included - a sketchy character. Unless Natsuhiko's route not revealing anything is meant to signify that there's nothing to reveal, but that's a bit of a leap.)
3. What were the kids doing in LABO? (Not why were they there, but what did they DO. Basically the amalgam of little questions like how Salyu survived diving into fire, what the message on the chalkboard was about, what happened to the AD, etc.)
4. Who set the bombs? (I guess partial credit for answering the timing of the bombs being set, sort of, but it wasn't any of Watase's Terror Team.)

And probably others I just have forgotten because I haven't gone back and re-read Watase's route.

1. Partially answered in Before, but answered later.
2. Fully revealed later.
3. The fire was never the problem with that part, the 'radiation' was. The message on the chalkboard refers to another Salyu friendship scene we still haven't seen yet (because people dumped her Senses). Last is answered later.
4. If you want a visual confirmation, that comes later.

I'm not saying why, but if you know the whole picture, Before is very relevant in a lot of aspects aside from being just character-building. I'll show the parallels once we have the relevant information that doing so isn't a spoiler.

TheMcD
May 4, 2013

Monaca / Subject N 2024
---------
Despair will never let you down.
Malice will never disappoint you.

SHATTERED: 09/16/2030, 07:38

For the record, you should have known this wasn't the end of Route Before, as the game pulled the same trick of ''having something unexpected happen in the credits'' in Route After, and if you want to work things out in this game, pattern recognition is a very important skill.



♪ BGM: Pose the Question to this World

There was blood on her right shoulder--!

Huh!? What... is this...!?

A red stain grew on Mashiro's clothes before their eyes.

(Mashiro... was shot!? By who!? From where!?)
Agh, no... it burns, it hurts... Natsuhiko...!
Are you okay, Mashiro!? I'll treat it right--

But right as Natsuhiko started to yell--

???: ...Guess it's harder to hit a moving target than you'd think.

--he heard a low voice from behind him.

!?



He turned around, and there by the open gate was a man with a gun.

Y... you!?

The man was wearing a rescue squad outfit. A man whose mission was supposedly to save lives was now giving Natsuhiko a look that could kill.

We meet again, Communicator.
...!?



(He's that terrorist!? Did he chase after us!?)

As soon as Natsuhiko made the connection, the man fired another shot.

!!

A sharp sound whizzed through the air right beside Natsuhiko's ear.

(He's trying to kill us! --If we stay here, Mashiro's gonna...!)

Natsuhiko fled from the man, Mashiro in his arms.



Mashiro cried out in pain due to her wound.

Hang in there, Mashiro!

As he tried to voice his encouragement, Natsuhiko thought to himself.

(Salyu said she was shot too...! Was he the one that shot her!?)

Salyu said she knocked out the two terrorists. But they saw three terrorists in the ruined factory.

(Then this man was the last one--!) ...!!

Just then, another gunshot rang out from behind them. --If they didn't escape, they'd be killed. Natsuhiko frantically turned the corner.



With Mashiro still in his arms, he swiped the card through the slot. As the gate slowly opened, he heard footsteps coming from behind.

(Hurry up! Hurry up! Open, dammit!)

But as Natsuhiko pleaded,



he was suddenly interrupted by an intense pain. He could feel warm blood oozing out from his side. A bullet had apparently gouged out just a tiny bit of his flesh.

N-Natsuhiko, a... a bullet just...!
--It's just a scratch!





But it probably wouldn't buy them much more than a few seconds.

(He probably has a security card too...!)

Natsuhiko rushed for the emergency staircase with Mashiro in his arms.



Dammit!!

Natsuhiko called the map to mind and searched for escape routes.

(We're currently at Floor B2 of Area 6's inner ring. Nine years ago, we escaped through the cargo lift. That was probably in the outer ring--!)



!!

It was the sound of the man opening the closed gate.

(Crap, he's gonna corner us...!)

If they left the stairwell, the enemy would surely shoot them. But it was impossible for them to climb up to the surface with the staircase collapsed.

...

Mashiro grabbed Natsuhiko's arm. Her hand was trembling. The footsteps approached. There was no time.

(If we only had a moment of an opening to get to the outer ring--! Is there anything we can do!? Anything to divert his attention!?)

Natsuhiko thought for a second before an idea struck him. He focused hard and searched for the approaching man's characteristic brain waveform. The man was Type 5, a lone wolf detached from reality.

(Take this...!)

Natsuhiko focused with all his might, sending forth intense telepathy.



Ghh!?

They heard the man scream from outside the stairwell. Natsuhiko held Mashiro and ran out of the stairwell. The man was standing still with his hands against his ears just outside in the connecting passageway.

(That was my most intense telepathy yet! Can your brain withstand such a loud sound!?)

Natsuhiko concentrated further and fired off even more telepathy. The power necessary for a range of over 2 km, all at point-blank range!

{Don't move!!! I'll wreck your brain!!!! Wreck it wreck it wreck it wreck it!!!!!}
...!

The man fell to his knees in pain. It worked! Or at least he thought--

Ugh... aaaggghhh!!

The man shot his gun without getting up.

!!

Natsuhiko shielded Mashiro in his arms. Luckily, the bullet did not hit them. But the man kept shooting recklessly.

(poo poo!)

Natsuhiko ran without rest.

(Dammit, telepathy isn't going to cut it! Even if it causes him to falter, it won't take him down!)

With that thought in mind, Natsuhiko rushed into the connecting passageway to the outer ring. A gunshot rang out from behind them. Mashiro breathed painfully.

Haah, haah...

Her eyes looked vacant, as if she were running a fever.

Mashiro, are you okay!?
Mm... mm...

Her answer was weak and ambiguous. Perhaps the sudden loss of blood was putting her into shock.

(If we don't escape quickly, Mashiro's gonna...!)

--But escape alone was not enough. The terrorists' goal was to destroy the city. They were probably going to cause a meltdown right after this. Even if they got Mashiro out of there. Even if Salyu had already escaped. If the atomic dust scattered everywhere, then everyone would die before they could escape to a sufficient distance.

(... In that case... What I need to do for the girls is--!)

Intense determination filled Natsuhiko's heart. And then he slipped through the connecting passageway and approached Area 6's outer ring.

TheMcD
May 4, 2013

Monaca / Subject N 2024
---------
Despair will never let you down.
Malice will never disappoint you.

RESOLVE: 09/16/2030, 07:41



♪ BGM: Psychological Warfare

A factory engulfed in flames. Natsuhiko recalled the sights of nine years ago. Back then, his mother took him here to escape.

(If I remember correctly, there's a cargo lift in the furthest part inside!!)

Natsuhiko weaved his way through the flames, carrying Mashiro in his arms. The blazing fires relentlessly assaulted them, scorching at their skin and clothes. Natsuhiko withstood the heat and pain as he pushed forward towards the emergency escape he knew to be there. He opened the security gate at the corner of the factory.



The control panel next to the lift had buttons to control the door. When he pressed the ''Open'' button, they heard the sound of the lift slowly descending-- And then the door opened.



Apparently the lift was set to automatically go down when the door opened and automatically go up when the door closed. Natsuhiko looked inside to find that you could not control the lift's movement from the inside.

(Guess it's because people aren't normally meant to ride this thing.)

Natsuhiko confirmed the setup and laid Mashiro on the floor. He took off her blazer and tore up his own shirt. He tightly wrapped the torn cloth over her shoulder.

Ugh...
Does it hurt? I'm sorry. I'm tending to your wound right now.
Tending...?
It'll be bad if you bleed any more than this.

Natsuhiko finished tending to the wound and put her blazer back on.

Okay, I'm done.



Mashiro's consciousness seemed to be wearing thin. But nevertheless, she seemed to notice something strange in either his voice or expression. Her vacant eyes glimmered with the light of doubt.

But... why now? We're escaping together, so you could tend to it outside...
...

''I can't do that, Mashiro. I can't.'' Natsuhiko swallowed those words.

...Your wound could open during the time it takes to escape, right? That's why. It's nothing big.
...Really?

Natsuhiko looked to the lift without answering the question.

...Listen, Mashiro. This lift can take you up to the surface. So first, you get on and escape.
Huh...? And you, Natsuhiko...?

Natsuhiko looked for an answer and-- He lied.

...I read that man's mind and found something out. Salyu came down to try and save us, and it looks like she got trapped.
...!

That wasn't true. He only made it up so that he could get Mashiro to go out first-- But without revealing any of that, Natsuhiko then spoke with sincerity.

I'll escape after I save Salyu. So I can't go with you now. You escape first and tell Mom everything.
...

But Mashiro looked at Natsuhiko and whispered sadly.

... Liar.
Huh?
I couldn't read your mind with empathy just now... You're closing your heart, aren't you...?
...! H-hey, c'mon now. Didn't you prohibit yourself from reading other people's minds without permission?
This isn't the time for that...! What's your real goal, Natsuhikol? Why are you staying--!?
...It's not a lie. I'm going to save Salyu.

As Natsuhiko piled on the lies, Mashiro spoke up with a tormented voice.

Th... then I'm staying in the basement too!
No! The terrorists are still wandering about the facility! I can't just take you with me! You'll just be a burden! If we don't act quick, he's gonna come here! So please, just go!
No! No!!

Mashiro shook her head like a child. Tears blotted her eyes.

...I don't want us to get separated. We just now finally connected... For the first time in nine years, we can finally speak our true words!

Mashiro clenched her fist and pounded Natsuhiko's chest. She pounded and pounded as she cried out.

And now you're the one lying!? To get away from me!? That's too much! That's just too much!



This yellow branch hides the entrance to Mashiro's final friendship scene.

...

--Mashiro wouldn't listen to what Natsuhiko had to say. It was because of the very fact that their hearts connected that their intentions did not. And so Natsuhiko--

TheMcD
May 4, 2013

Monaca / Subject N 2024
---------
Despair will never let you down.
Malice will never disappoint you.

PARTING KISS



♪ BGM: Words of Healing

Mashiro!



!!

Natsuhiko pinned her down and pressed his lips against hers.

...

Her body stiffened in resistance. --But eventually she relaxed.



And he knew she could feel his pounding heart as well. After that fleeting kiss, Natsuhiko gently moved back away from Mashiro.



But this is how I feel. I don't want to get separated from you either. But to protect you...
Natsuhiko...?

Mashiro spoke up in confusion. As he gazed at her, Natsuhiko recalled something he had once heard. --It was what his mother had said nine years ago. ''This is a cargo lift. It can't go down to the basement from the ground floors, but it should go up the other way, even during incidents.''

(It can't go down to the basement from the ground floors...)

So to protect Mashiro--!

...I have no choice but to do this.

As he muttered that--



Agh!

Natsuhiko ignored Mashlro's yelp as he pressed the button on the lift's control panel.

Wh-what are you doing!?

The lift door shut in front of Mashiro as she panicked and stood up.



He could hear her voice from beyond the door. The lift could not be controlled from the inside. In just a matter of time, the lift would automatically take Mashiro up to the ground level. Natsuhiko placed a finger to his temple and sent her telepathy.



{I'm glad we could be together.}
{Natsuhiko...?}
{But this isn't our final farewell. I swear I'll come back alive. So wait for me... up on the surface.}
{...!}

He could tell Mashiro gasped. After a short moment of silence, her answer arrived.

{...It's a promise, okay...?}

Natsuhiko quietly nodded at those words. --Soon enough, he heard the sound of the lift ascending. Natsuhiko pondered to himself as he heard that.

(... Mashiro, after ten years, we've finally had our ''journey of justice'', haven't we... It was really fun. Like old times. But-- This is as far as we can go together.)

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TheMcD
May 4, 2013

Monaca / Subject N 2024
---------
Despair will never let you down.
Malice will never disappoint you.

RESOLVE: 09/16/2030, 07:41 - PART 2



♪ BGM: Words of Healing

But since there were no other emergency escapes, the man would probably come here eventually. The bullet wound in Natsuhiko's side throbbed in pain.

(... It's not enough to run away. If we don't prevent the meltdown... If we don't stop them...!)

The city would be destroyed. Atomic dust would rain on Mashiro, Salyu, his mother, Ena, and Jun, and everyone else.

(I can't let that happen!)



And smashed it with all his strength.

!

It cut his fist, but he kept hitting it until with a crunch, it was completely destroyed.



...Okay...!

Now the terrorists couldn't chase Mashiro. He cut off the only emergency escape, meaning nobody else could get out of the basement.

(... I won't escape. What I need to do now is not to escape...!)

--But to fight. To defeat that man and prevent the terrorist attack.

(To protect everybody's future...!)

Just as Natsuhiko made that resolution-- He felt a presence behind him.

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