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I'm gonna say positive.
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Jun 22, 2020 06:03
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| # ? Jun 7, 2024 02:49 |
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He’s learning to do things for himself. He can have a little positive, as a treat.
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Jun 22, 2020 13:35
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I'm calling it here. Positive wins.
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Jun 23, 2020 10:42
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Sooooo, uh. I'm sure that anyone reading this knows about the current crisis afflicting SA.If not, go read about it here. This has been a shock to me. I've only been an active participant here recently, with brief, shallow periods of lurking, so while I'd got the feeling that Lowtax was not popular, I'd though that it was about lovely management and moderation decisions, not this.... This has been a real eye-opener for me. And for many others, it seems (or at least the last straw). The future of SA is in question and it may well be that this is what sinks the ship. There are currently talks in place to try and buy ownership of SA from Lowtax, or to create a site we can all migrate to, but if those fall through, then this is the end. I don't feel comfortable continuing to post here, both because of these revelations and because of the giant Sword of Damocles hanging over the entire site. Thus, I have decided to close the thread and end the LP. I already have text backups of all the relevant posts here (including the LP) and I fortunately already kept offline backups of the screenshots and videos I used. So, if all goes well, or semi-well, we might be able to pick up where we left off. I did and do still want to show off Chaos;Head, after all. Still, we have to face facts. It's entirely possible that this is the end. Therefore, I'm going to give you the link so that you can buy your own copy of Chaos;Head. Simply follow the instructions in the link below, and you'll have your own copy of Chaos;Head, with the latest patch just like my version. Note that you'll need to have a VPN since the site selling only works for a Japanese IP. How to buy Chaos;Head and play it in English I hope you enjoyed what little I had to offer. I hope that we can continue this together someday. Farewell.
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Jun 24, 2020 16:36
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Lowtax is out it seems. Maybe, in retrospect, I panicked a bit too quickly. Maybe, in hindsight, closing the thread entirely was a bit hasty of me. Either way, the LP is back on! I'm working on the next update, just as I was when we had our hiatus. I would not expect it to come out today, however. I have to get back in the 'rhythm', as it were.
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Jun 26, 2020 04:59
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Part 40 - A New Chance   However, I didn't forget my custom of walking along the edge of the hallway while hanging my head and doing everything I could to avoid standing out. Since a little time had passed since the ending bell, most people who went straight home were already gone, though students with club activities or cleaning duty remained behind. Somehow, schools give off a lonely, nostalgic feeling once a day's worth of classes have ended. This is true of both old-fashioned, wooden school buildings and newer ones like Suimei Academy. Although to be fair, I'd only been to wood-constructed school buildings in eroge.  A girl was tottering along, carrying two huge cardboard boxes. The boxes hid her face from me. She probably couldn't see what was ahead of her, either. She couldn't possibly have been more precarious.  I thought about giving it a shot, but it was a mere thought, of course, and I didn't have any intention of actually trying it out. On the contrary, I stayed on my guard. Chances were strong that she might be an assassin sent after me by "Shogun." Don't get involved. Watch out. I paid careful attention to every step she took. She drew still closer to me, swaying first to the right, then to the left. I, on the other hand, walked along the left side of the corridor.  SFX: Something makes a SMACK sound as it hits the floor    "........."Had the cardboard box girl dropped it? I thought hard as I contemplated the student handbook. Doubts rose at the back of my head. Why had it fallen now, with this timing? It was too obvious. Almost as if someone were urging me to pick it up.  I wondered if she'd dropped it on purpose. The cardboard box girl had used both arms to hold up her boxes. Neither of her hands had been free. If her student handbook had been kept in her skirt pocket, it would've been impossible for her to "take it out and drop it on purpose." Except, it wasn't as if I had actually seen where the handbook had fallen from in the first place. Maybe the cardboard box girl had been holding it from the start, carrying her cardboard boxes in such a way as to conceal it from me.   "Ah...."Right at that very instant, the cardboard box girl turned a corner and went out of sight. I'd only seen her from behind for a second. I didn't think she looked familiar. I felt like.... she'd had short hair. No, but it had also seemed long. I couldn't make a decisive statement either way. I hadn't seen her face either, of course. The cardboard boxes had hidden it as we passed one another.  Maybe the common-sense response would be to pick it up and take it to the faculty room, or chase after the cardboard box girl. But I hesitated to do either. I looked around. I didn't see any other students. All I heard were a number of girls laughing merrily from somewhere far off. I didn't think this was a trap. The handbook's owner was already gone. How might this situation end up entrapping me? Could there be a microscopic bomb planted in the handbook? That was far too unrealistic. So surely nothing would happen even if I picked it up here and now. Right. Of course nothing was going to happen. I ought to use it to confirm who that girl was, just in case. Because she might be working for "Shogun." I'd take a look at her name, class and headshot, and leave the handbook itself back here. I'd take a pass on shouldering the hassle of having to deliver it to the person in question.    What was that.... An unidentifiable eerieness. It didn't so much freak me out as it made me feel sick. Malicious and blatant harassment aimed at me as an individual. Who.... Who would do such a thing.... The girl from before, obviously! That girl had been affiliated with "Shogun," after all. Of course she had.... I'd only had a glimpse of the student handbook's contents, but.... The first page, which should have contained the owner's name, birth date, class and other information, had been utterly blacked out. Furthermore, the headshot photo that ought to be pasted there had been ripped away.  "....Ugh"I abruptly experienced nausea. I wanted to leave this place sooner rather than later.   The instant I dropped to my knees, the contents of my stomach came rushing up backwards.  Surging stomach acid made the depths of my throat sting. Tears blurred my field of sight. It grew hard to breathe. The aftertaste of bile in my mouth made me feel sick. It seemed like I was closer to the end of my psychological rope than I'd thought.... It might also have been because I'd stayed up all night....  But the shadows and blind spots I normally wouldn't take notice of seemed dreadful to me now. I began to think that Yua and "Shogun" might be hiding somewhere. Once I made myself believe it, I lost the ability to take a single step away from this place. Somebody, save me.... I wanted to cry. At the same time, the urge to vomit rose in me yet again.  It hurt so bad, more and more tears started overflowing.  Frightened, I looked behind me.  OST: Tender Hearts It was Rimi.  "Everything's okay."Those words weren't a question aimed at me. They were a gentle conclusion.  She didn't grimace at the rotten stench of the filth I'd retched up. She didn't show any indication of despising me, even when she saw my face covered in tears and nose-drippings, with vomit stuck to the corners of my mouth. She smiled serenely, as though to reassure me.  Why-- Before this, and now, When I thought I wanted someone to save me, Why did Rimi materialize before my eyes? Because Rimi was here with me now, I felt relief. I felt my burdens lighten. Before I knew it, I'd begun divulging all my emotions. Even though I was bad at talking about myself.   Maybe this was why I'd come to school. Up until now, I'd thought I was better off alone. Even now, of course, I was frightened of talking to people. I had no self-confidence when it came to making contact with people. But being alone while "Shogun" and Yua hunted me down made me feel far more insecure, and scared, and forlorn. I wanted someone to stay with me.   "In that case" "I'll be there for you." Those words held no malice. Nor any reluctance.  "Although I certainly can't stay with you 24/7. Tahaha."Her shy gaze suddenly tilted up toward the sky. What was she looking at with such distant eyes?  "At school, we'll talk about silly things during our breaks." "We'll eat together during lunch." "And leave school together in the evening." "Once in a while, on the way home, we'll stop by a shop somewhere." "We'll chat a bit in your room." "And then we'll say see you tomorrow, and wave good-bye to each other." "If you don't mind, we can do as much of it as you like." ".....In a way, that kind of thing has been a dream of mine."That was.... almost....  I was stupefied. Was she talking seriously.... Yeah, her face certainly seemed to say so. "Wh, why...." "Hm?" "Wh, why.... would you go so far.... for me?" "Because...."Because....? There was definitely a flag standing here, right? It wouldn't be weird for her to say "Because I love you" in this situation, right? Not that I could think of a single reason why Rimi would fall for me. No, wait. This was Zhuge Liang's trap.  Yua had fooled me, driving me to the brink of despair. That's why I can't afford to expect too much. Start by envisioning the worst-case scenario. Rimi, too, might be my ene--  "!?"Without warning, she saluted me. The suddenness of her actions left me shaken, making me think in astonishment that maybe she was about to reveal her true nature. But her face still wore the same endlessly soft smile.  "Because we're friends, of course." "From my perspective, it's only natural for me to try to help you." "Don't say sad-sounding things like asking me why!" "Do you get it?" "....Ye, yeah."If it were "as a couple," I might've felt like my life had finally begun for real. But even if we were just friends-- It made me incredibly happy.... Having another person be nice to me. Having another person try to do something for my sake without seeking anything in return. I'd never known it would bring me such joy. It might be the first time I'd ever felt like this. And more than anything,  Rimi's existence had saved me.... My nausea had finally settled down, and I felt considerably better. "Here. Wanna use it?"What Rimi held out to me was a vermilion, floral-scented handkerchief. I accepted it meekly. But I hesitated to use it. "It's okay if you get it dirty." "You can keep it." "Th.... thanks...."I felt bad about it, but I decided that I might as well accept her generosity. I wiped the edges of my bile-soiled mouth. It was the first time I'd received a present from a girl outside my family. Although I wasn't sure whether or not I could call this a gift. Because I had felt as if I were all alone in the world, even a little thing like this induced the same gratitude in me as something far more precious. My happiness and relief threatened to make tears spill out again.  Rimi asked me in a carefree voice. "Together."Apparently "we'll leave school together," her suggestion from before, was already a done deal. Though I hadn't given her an answer yet. Not that I had any intention of refusing. I was frightened of being alone. I didn't want to be by myself.  OST End  I picked a different route from usual on the way back and proceeded cautiously, trembling all the while.  I was tormented by the delusion that Yua or "Shogun" might be around the corner each time I approached an intersection, and my legs would go weak, halting my progress. At such times, Rimi would go ahead and scout out the road beyond the intersection, then turn back and nod at me.  Relieved, I followed after her. Rimi went along with me without a single grimace.   "What on earth happened to you?" "........."I was a little torn over whether or not to tell her about it. If I told her here, and if she, too, ended up being targeted by "Shogun".... it'd be my fault for getting her involved. "Ah, if you don't want to talk about it, you don't have to force yourself--" "N, no...." "I, I'll.... talk...." I definitely didn't want to get her caught up in it. But if I didn't explain anything, Rimi wouldn't understand the gravity of my position. For my own sake, I ultimately chose to close my eyes to the potential danger to Rimi. She'd been the one to say she'd stay with me, so it's not like I was doing anything wrong.... The fact that "Shogun" was the true New-Gen criminal. The fact that Yua was his underling. The fact that they were targeting me. What had happened in front of the 107 building.    When I spoke of how "Shogun" had appeared in front of me, riding his wheelchair, Rimi made a sober face and lapsed into thought. I'd been thinking I wanted to ask her about that incident. This was the ideal opportunity to do so.  "I wonder if he was there.... an old man in a wheelchair."There was so little confidence in her answer. "Tr, try to remember...." "It, it's really important...." "But--"Rimi scrunched up her eyebrows, as if she didn't want to say it.  "It was the same as always."That was how it must have appeared to Rimi at the time.... If possible, I'd wanted her to agree with me, but....  Was I mistaken, after all? Had that "empty Shibuya" been a delusion of mine? But that created a slight problem. The elderly, wheelchair-bound man who had appeared in the depopulated Shibuya--"Shogun." How was I supposed to explain him? If the "depopulation" had been delusionary, "Shogun" would have to be a delusion as well.  "Basically, I didn't see him. Tahaha...." "Sorry I couldn't be of any help...." "........."At the very least, "Shogun" wasn't a figment of my imagination.  "Shogun" was real. "Shogun" existed. But maybe the "empty Shibuya" part of it.... had been imaginary. Even then, the area around the station had been overflowing with people. And I alone had viewed a different kind of scenery. What.... how could that be....?  "Eh....?"Rimi pressed her hands together in supplication.  "Can I?"Truthfully, I wanted to go home to my base this very instant. I'd come here, taking the long way, because I'd been considering the possibility that Yua and "Shogun" were lurking somewhere, not because I wanted to shop.  That'd be problematic.... I needed to have Rimi with me.... On my own, I wasn't even sure that I could make it back to my base.  All I could do was haltingly tag along after her. Perhaps it would be ordinary to think that surely even someone like Yua wouldn't launch an attack on me with this many people around. But my fear that they were hiding somewhere nearby, blending in with the rest of the crowd, far surpassed that. I shrieked internally each time I came close to bumping shoulders with the people passing me by.  "There's a police car...."   Were those policemen searching for me, too....? Or so I thought, but apparently that wasn't the case.  Were those people protestors? They came equipped with various standard-issue items, from banners to posters with messages on them to forehead bands.   There were a variety of marchers, young and old, male and female alike. They paraded solemnly along, but once in a while they'd cry out in unison.  "Demons....?"Many of the posters were inscribed with messages like "Drive the demons away from our city!" "Protect Shibuya From Terrorists!" This had to be a show of resistance against the New-Gen incidents. There was no point in demonstrating about it.... If you've got that much free time on your hands, find and kill "Shogun." That way, all my worries will vanish.... "Let's go, Taku."  Unlike the J-pop corner, there weren't many customers in the vicinity. Rimi stopped in front of the "F" shelf and began searching for the CD she had in mind. But her shoulders soon sagged.  An indie group whose name began with F. Could it be....  As I'd guessed.... There was no way I wouldn't know. I'd been to one of their concerts, and I owned their CD. Rimi smiled ruefully when I nodded. "I'm always slow to catch on to that kind of news, and I only heard about them recently." "I thought I'd borrow the CD from a friend, but they're all having trouble getting their hands on it." "So I figured my only choice was to buy it, and I've been looking here and there for about a week now, but it's sold out everywhere I go." "I wonder when they'll get a new shipment...." "I.... I...." "Have.... it...."  "You have it... their CD, you mean?"I nodded. And Rimi--   The sweet smell of shampoo that came floating from her hair tickled my nose, and I knew my face was getting flushed with heat. "Say, Taku.... let's make a deal."A, a deal....? "If you lend me that CD, in return, I'll...."She wore a terribly serious expression as she watched me.  Positive, Negative or Neutral?
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Jun 26, 2020 10:05
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So when did the delusion end and how was it supposed to be positive? Or is it still ongoing? All I can tell is that at this partChaos;Head posted:If her student handbook had been kept in her skirt pocket, it would've been impossible for her to "take it out and drop it on purpose." Takumi is obviously still in his delusion, since all women know that skirtmakers have an ancient grudge against pockets. goddamn stupid bastard clothiers... Anyway, let's go with Neutral. I'm actually proud of Takumi in this update! He's willing to admit that he wants the company of other people, that's progress! Let's keep him interacting with the real world and away from screwing things up with more delusions.
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Jun 26, 2020 20:32
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neutral our protagonist has done some reflecting on the sister thing, and now wants to be pure. Right?
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Jun 26, 2020 22:01
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Viola the Mad posted:So when did the delusion end and how was it supposed to be positive? Or is it still ongoing? Sometimes, you can see the start of a delusion, but not the end. Sometimes, the reverse. It's one of those things the reader has to figure out as they go. This one ended by the time Takumi ran outside. As to how it was positive, it's not always an absolute. Sometimes, it's comparative. This was positive, because it's not as bad. That sort of thing.
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Jun 27, 2020 02:57
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I'm calling the vote here. Neutral is leading.
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Jun 27, 2020 13:40
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OddHaberdasher posted:Sometimes, you can see the start of a delusion, but not the end. Sometimes, the reverse. It's one of those things the reader has to figure out as they go. This one ended by the time Takumi ran outside. Geez, what was the negative outcome for that delusion?
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Jun 27, 2020 18:35
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Viola the Mad posted:Geez, what was the negative outcome for that delusion? Something a bit harder to spin as anything more innocent than enemy action, let's put it that way.
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Jun 28, 2020 10:27
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OddHaberdasher posted:Something a bit harder to spin as anything more innocent than enemy action, let's put it that way.  That boy needs therapy.
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Jun 28, 2020 18:37
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Viola the Mad posted:That boy needs therapy. Really missed a thread title opportunity here.
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Jun 28, 2020 23:23
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Part 41 - Remote Neural Monitoring  She fell into thought. Maybe she didn't have anything planned. "........." "I, I don't need anything in return...." "Eh...." Rimi's shoulders dropped, crestfallen.  "N, no, that's not it...." "I don't ne, need anything in exchange.... I'll lend it to you, normally...." "Thanks." A wide smile. One that looked amazingly happy. She seemed so charged up, I thought she might throw her arms around me. I almost never did anything to make a girl delighted, so I couldn't help being happy about it as well. Th, thank goodness I'd worked up the courage to say it....    It was all thanks to Rimi of course. I owed her one. But I was a tad put off by how she instantly rejected my request to wait outside while I tidied up my room a little.  "You don't have to put on a front. We're pals. Right?" "........."What kind of pals.... Rimi was absent from my memory. And so I didn't really know.  For that matter, I wondered if Rimi was serious about it being okay not to clean up my room. Even though convenience store lunch boxes I'd finished eating were scattered on the floor along with utensils, and eroge boxes with sensationalistic illustrations on them were piled up on the bed. Either Rimi wasn't the sensitive sort, or she didn't perceive me to be any kind of threat. Both prospects left me feeling kind of ambiguous....   My nerves had worn thin from cowering in fear the whole day, but maybe the reason I didn't feel all that exhausted was because Rimi was here with me....  Rimi closed the lyrics booklet, stretched grandly, and sent a smile my way.  What to do, she'd asked.... What was I supposed to do? Rimi hadn't come here to hang out in the first place. Her original aim had been to borrow my CD. If she were going to do me the favor of staying here with me, how should I respond? Did I even have to do anything, to begin with? If this were an eroge, we'd jump right into an H-scene, but.... Crappity crap. I'd better not think about that sort of thing right now. Even under the best of circumstances, I would still feel very strained being alone in my room with a 3-D girl. If I let my imagination run away with me unnecessarily, I'd become overly conscious of her and might do something weird to give myself away. Silence. Rimi gazed vaguely at the manga volumes scattered on the floor and the eroge stacked on the bed. So awkward.... I had the sense that I ought to start a conversation, but I couldn't think of any potential topics except games or anime. I didn't think she would know much about them. Anyway, she'd said she would be there for me, so maybe she would spare me and start talking first.   I didn't know how to handle 3-D girls, after all. I was grateful to her for staying with me, but I wouldn't be able to hold up under the pressure of this silence.... The dimness of my room was also part of the issue. It gave me the hallucination that there was something lewd in the air between us.   I'd thought of it earlier at school. Something that might be a hint about how to come into possession of a Di-Sword. OST: Distorted Theory "Is it possible to change your imagined visions into actual images?" Using the things Sena had told me about VR technology and how "Humans are electrical devices" as a springboard, I began probing into the matter. "What're you doing?"Rimi stood up and approached me. Err, should I explain? But how best to explain it to her.... what a hassle.... "........." "Hey, hey, tell me what you're doing--" When I didn't react, Rimi started poking me in the back with her finger. I, I certainly couldn't ignore her, could I....  As I entered search keywords into my browser, I spoke without looking over at Rimi; in fact, it seemed more like I was addressing Seira-tan. "Delusions become reality?" "Ahaha, that's impossible." "If they could do that, people would already have become omnipotent." Omnipotent.... huh. That very well might be the case.  "What about it?" "Th, there's a system like that.... in, in America, um, er.... they have a.... patent....." "Eh~, you're joking, right?"I sensed Rimi letting out an exasperated sigh behind me.  "Hm? What's this?" "P, proof.... of the patent, a photo." "Eh, seriously?" Leaning forward, Rimi brought her face nearer to the monitor. She ended up peering into it from very close beside me. "Uwah, I'm terrible at English...." "You're amazing, Taku. Being able to read it." S, so close.... She was so near me, I could see the reflection of the monitor sparkling in her eyes. I was starting to get flurried again. "Come on, tell me what it is."Apparently it had drawn her interest. Doing my best not to think about how close she was, I focused on looking back and forth between my monitor and Seira-tan. "E, even people who've been bl, blind since they were born, by connecting to a recording device.... Um, umm, like a video camera, th, they can see the scenery reflected there. Pretty dense stuff.... yeah." "Do you mean a video camera can work in place of your eyes?" "R, right.... It's called VR technology...." "Heh~ It'd be amazing if it were real."  Sena had said the tests were successful. "Mm--, but...." "I'm not that quick on the uptake, so I don't really get it, tahaha...." Even so, I persisted in inputting more new keywords. "Be, because the scenery in a recording device, and the things you imagine in your head, are b, both.... electrical signals, so...." "Hmm?" "If, if you look at it the other way around...." "Hoho~" Ambiguous answers were all that came back to me. Maybe she didn't understand.... very well.... It'd be a bother to explain in greater detail, so I gave up on talking about it. I concentrated instead on looking things up. Well, it wasn't like I needed her to understand. Because in the end, it was nothing more than my own deductions.  "Humhum~?"Rimi went on nodding and making noises of assent all on her own. I figured I would leave her be. I'd run a variety of searches, but I couldn't find any documents verifying my line of reasoning.  I went to a foreign Wiki site that Shiho had told me about, one all about American patents. I began searching to see if there were any patents similar to what I had in mind.  As I jumped from link to link, I finally hit on an image similar in atmosphere to the one Shiho had passed on to me before. It appeared to be a different patent document than the one about VR equipment. I swiftly skimmed the contents.  "Oohh~?" It was exactly what I'd been thinking of! I unthinkingly hovered out of my chair. "Th, this is.... amazing...." "Mm? Amazing? What is, what is?" "To, to put it.... simply.... th, this is...." "Recording.... thought...."   "Can they really do that? It's not a sci-fi novel or something....?" "Pa, patents.... y, you can't get one un, unless it's been perfected...." "Y, you, you definitely can't...." So it had said when I looked up patents online.  This wasn't fiction. With enough money and technological power to construct the system, it could be made into reality at any time. This was what Sena had told me.   "Would it not also be possible to control all of people's five senses, as well, as their free will itself?" But a source had emerged.... for the theory I'd thought of. I wondered why such an amazing news story remained totally unknown in Japan. Frankly, it seemed Nobel Prize-worthy to me. I went on to run a search for the words "thought recording." What came up were the records from an American lawsuit. "Uwah, English again...." "I'm gonna get a headache--"It was fairly long, so it looked like I'd have a pretty hard time reading it as well. The phrasing might get kind of weird, but I used an automatic translator to convert it to Japanese. The contents were, in sum, something along the lines of the following.  The plaintiff's claims My thoughts have been spied on by means of a special device, recorded, and broadcast to an unknown destination via satellite. These satellites have taken me hostage. Day and night, without end, numerous satellites constantly assault me.  Since the latter part of December 1990, I have been forced to view man-made dreams (including both visual and aural components) as I sleep. From February to May 1992, I underwent biorhythmical assault (pain, torture, harassment).  Biorhythmical attacks were carried out against every part of my body. All those portions of my body were adjusted to best receive the unpleasantness, exhaustion and suffering induced by pain, torture and harassment.   "....Whoa, for real?" "Ah--, I know about this. I saw it in a movie a couple of years ago!"That's fiction.... But the brief written here wasn't.  It was difficult to discern the boundary between the two. It seemed as though it could be truthful, considering the patent I'd seen earlier.... OST End   Ayase had become two people before my very eyes. I hadn't witnessed the second when she "became like that," but when I turned around, another Ayase was there. She had showed me how she pulled her Di-Sword out of thin air as well. It hadn't been an illusion or a delusion. Once she showed me something like that, I couldn't say she was simply sick in the head anymore.   "This is the delusion you wished for."That mysterious phenomena really had been.... Was it truly the result of what I'd envisioned.... "Di-Swords are only visible to those with the power." "You can see my sword, can't you?" "That means only one thing." Was this what she had been referring to when she mentioned "the power"?   It was too much of a leap to assume such a supernatural power existed, simply because there was a system capable of scientifically replaying delusions on film.  "Even I don't know how." "........."Except, what if.... The way to come into possession of a Di-Sword required precisely that sort of supernatural power. And if I bore such a power within me.  Positive, Negative or Neutral? OddHaberdasher fucked around with this message at 04:50 on Jun 29, 2020 |
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Jun 29, 2020 04:44
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neutral
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Jun 29, 2020 14:14
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Positive. If Takumi needs to turn delusions into reality, he has to have one to work on. Best not to risk creating a new MIB agency out of thin air because his thoughts took a bad turn.
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Jun 30, 2020 03:33
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I'm going to call it here. With my tie-breaking powers, I declare that Positive wins.
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Jun 30, 2020 05:49
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Part 42 - Raising A Flag?  I stood in the center of the room and held it up at eye level, just like an ESO character. I closed my eyes.  Of course, I based it on the ones Sena and Ayase possessed, lovely, ominous, and sharp enough to sever anything at a single touch.  After all, I have all kinds of daydreams on a daily basis. If I wanted to, I could come up with a clear vision that included even the tiniest little details. When I had somehow managed to solidify my mental image, I grit my molars and clenched the sword in both hands.  I prayed. I thought of solely one thing. I was currently gripping a true Di-Sword. Not a knock-off. The real thing. "........."I flexed all the muscles in my body. Come, show yourself before me. Please bring me salvation....! Please protect me....!   The sword I held on high-- Hadn't changed a bit. As before, it was a cheap-looking toy. "....We, well, no big surprise there...."There couldn't be any such thing as the evil eye-esque paranormal ability to turn delusions into reality. The idea of it was blatantly overblown.  I sighed and lowered the sword.  A prickling sensation at the back of my neck. Gooseflesh sprang up all over me. OST: Silence That "gaze" again....? I sensed a distinct presence. Someone was watching me. Don't look at me. I'm not gonna turn around....! Like you could ever make me turn around....!  "........"Hm....?  To be more accurate, it was a sound like someone breathing, rather than using words. N, no way.... I might have made an unbelievably stupid misunderstanding.... I quietly turned around.  "....Haa."Oh, so that was it. It made sense that I'd picked up on a much more vivid presence than usual.  She'd sure misled me.  Th, that would be pretty humiliating.... "........." "....?"But something about her was strange. Rimi wrinkled her forehead as she stared in my direction without a single blink.   Why was she wearing such a grave expression? She seemed like a different person from when she had tilted her head upon hearing what I had to say about the patent....    Rimi was my ally. She was supposed to be. But that didn't mean I'd solved every one of her mysteries. Did Rimi.... know something about Di-Swords....? I swallowed consulsively and began timidly speaking to her. "Um.... um...." "Taku...." "About that sword...."--Rimi was.... my ally, right? --She wouldn't betray me like Yua, would she.... --If even Rimi betrayed me, I.... "You'd better throw it away." "Wh, why...."My voice came close to cracking. Had I been right to think Rimi knew something....? "After all--"Finally shifting her line of sight, Rimi met my gaze straight from the front. I hastily averted my eyes. "After all"--what, what're you saying.... "After all" OST End "Hah....?" The suddenness of her transformation took the wind out of my sails. "I mean, I somewhat understand that boys love those kinds of toys no matter how old they get." "But I have to wonder about swinging such a big toy around in your room on your own--" "Isn't that only acceptable when you're in elementary school?" "Ah, but it makes me a little pleased that you put one of your personal hobbies on display in front of me." "It's like you secretly told me and only me about it. Ahaha." "........." OST: Soliloquy "Where did you buy that, anyway? Wasn't it expensive?" "10000 yen.... at a Shibuya.... variety store...." "Huh, 10000 yen.... although I can't tell if that's cheap or expensive. Tahaha." "But I guess they really do sell big toys like that. It's the first time I've seen one so huge in person." "Did someone tell you they were selling it at that variety store?"She seemed unwilling to let the topic go.... Was she interested in this sort of sword? Maybe Rimi was secretly into grand-seeming make-believe stuff, too. While teasing me a little for owning the sword, did she in truth desperately long for one of her own?  OST End "I, I looked it up myself.... online." "Online?" "It's amazing how you can find out anything. I'm no good at it. I can't use computers properly--" "So, is that sword part of a new trend or something?" "Eh.... wh, why....?" "I was wondering why you decided to buy it." Should I tell her the real reason....  OST: I'm rounder "Th, this is, a replica.... but...." "The real thing.... is out there...." "The real thing?"Rimi regarded me dubiously, tilting her head. "I, I know so, someone who owns a real one...." "T, two of them. Gi, girls at the.... same school as us...." "........." "Girls, hm...." "Would girls really want a toy like this?" "It, it's true....!" "B, be, besides, it's not a toy....!" "Ah, sorry." "Th, the real thing glows....! And it, it has an incredible sense of presence...." "I'm.... lo, looking for it...." "If I g, get it.... it'll sa, save me...." "Save you...." Besides, a Di-Sword would be a powerful source of support when it came to defying "Shogun." "So, so, um.... he, hel...." "....?" But when I thought about the possibility of her turning me down, I became scared and insecure and lost the ability to say anything at all. Lobbing the fake sword aside, I sat on the couch. I sighed and closed my eyes.  If so, I'd give her my okay ASAP. Although it certainly wasn't realistic to expect that much....  And so, maybe-- "Anyway. Even if there's a real one out there, you shouldn't buy it, okay? It's fine to own a toy like the one you have now, but a real one would break the Swords and Firearms Control Law!" "........."She instantly shattered my expectations. Uuhh, I'm disappointed in you, Rimi.... Well, no doubt her reaction was quite upstanding from the point of view of your average Joe. These past few weeks, I'd run into all kinds of unexplainable things, and I'd been on the brink of believing everything Sena and Ayase told me.  "So, Taku."I sensed Rimi sit down next to me. "The girls who own the real version of that sword.... who are they?"OST End I heard her voice from close by. She was right beside me.... The two of us, all alone in a dim, closed room. Moreover, we were sitting next to each other....  "To think that you knew any girls other than me.... I'm a tad surprised." "Can one of them be your girlfriend~?"S, so we really are going to end up talking about that kind of thing.... Could it be that Rimi was tempting me? The only conversation that could possibly develop from this topic was one about romance....! And she'd say things to me that sounded rather like a confession, and there'd start to be some real nice vibes between us.... and....!? N, no, I'm totally unprepared for this!  Both Ayase and Sena.... were mysterious beings. And both of them were weirdos, but in a cute eccentric way.  If possible, I wanted to avoid getting tangled up with her.  "Eh...." Ohcrapohcrapohcrap! I unthinkingly froze in place. She had clearly said that on purpose, right!? Wa, was she seducing me here!? Going by the sequential flow of this conversation, there was a huge chance that Rimi had me totally wrapped around her little finger! H, ho, how was I supposed to answer.... Would it be okay if I said what she was expecting? That wouldn't feel bad at all. But.  Positive, Negative or Neutral?
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Jun 30, 2020 12:39
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positive
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Jun 30, 2020 13:47
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Negative, because his positive delusions about girls are predictable and boring.
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Jun 30, 2020 17:54
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Ghost Car posted:Negative, because his positive delusions about girls are predictable and boring. This. Plus, I've been pushing positive lately, time for a change.
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Jun 30, 2020 21:40
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Ghost Car posted:Negative, because his positive delusions about girls are predictable and boring. yeah
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Jul 1, 2020 03:26
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I'm calling it here. Negative wins.
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Jul 1, 2020 10:48
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Part 43 - Brainless   Hu....h? At some point, Rimi's clothing had switched to something different. Though she'd been wearing her uniform up until just a second ago.... Had she stealthily changed her clothes in the brief period when I had my eyes closed.... no, of course not.... My thoughts couldn't keep up with her sudden transformation. "What's wrong?"Rimi cocked her head. She didn't mention a thing about the fact that the clothes she was wearing had changed. What was going on?  Trying not to stare too hard at her, I checked out her outfit. Were these.... her casual clothes? It was enormously refreshing to see her like this, since up till now, I'd only seen her wear her uniform. On top, a denim jacket; on bottom, a miniskirt. She wasn't wearing the thigh-high socks she'd had on before. In short.... bare legs. Smooth-looking, sensual thighs. On top of that, because she was sitting with her knees up even though she was in a miniskirt.... um.... I can sort of see your panties, Sakihata-san.... Rather, depending on the angle, it could also appear that she was going commando. My eyes kept involuntarily traveling to the V-zone in her skirt. I made a frantic effort to hold back my lust. This manner of sitting-- What popped into my head was the cover illustration of a famous moe eroge. The limited edition version of "Suteane," which had also been made into an anime, had an illustration of the heroine sitting in the exact same pose as the way Rimi was currently sitting. That illustration had been so moe-moe. To the point that I'd temporarily used it as my PC wallpaper. Was this a delusion? An illusion? Or.... 100% real?  Cr, crap, as I concerned myself with the contents of her skirt, my johnson started to stand to attention.... I had been picking up on the sweet scent she gave off for a while now, and how do I put it, there was a huge difference between her on the one hand, and figures and 2-D stuff on the other, when it came to the sense of touchability her skin radiated.... W, was this the power of the third dimension.... My entire system of values was being unavoidably rewritten. Even though I'd never meant to have any interest in the third dimension. Even though I'd only loved 2-D characters. The current Rimi possessed sufficient destructive power to almost completely smash my dearly held convictions in one blow.  Demonstrating no perturbation at the fact that her clothes were different, Rimi offered me an innocent smile. "I'm thirsty." "Do you have anything to drink?" "Ah, er.... um...."The way things were going now, my ability to think logically would break soon, so I decided to take this as a spate of good luck and stood to go up to the fridge.  There was some Coke I'd been sipping from, but I'd drunk it straight from the bottle, so I couldn't exactly give it to Rimi....  I heard Rimi stand up behind me.  "I'm heading out for a bit." "Ah...."  Left behind by myself, I fell into thought. What was this phenomenon? Could it have been a delusion.... after all.... Rimi's outfit. The divided Ayases. By what mechanism were such delusions able to manifest in a way that made them feel real? Had I been the one to manifest them in the first place?  There was still a mountain of problems before me, and I was at a loss for what to do.   Rimi returned, though she'd stepped out just a second ago. Furthermore, she wore-- Her.... uniform.... Had she performed a super-fast costume change outside? What for? "Tahaha, I forgot to bring my wallet."Apparently oblivious to my bewilderment, Rimi smiled ruefully as she took her wallet out of her bag.   I pressed my fingers to my temples and unthinkingly let out a groan.    I found Grim in our chat room, calling out to me. quote:Grim: Neidhardt, you there?  quote:Neidhardt-san has entered the room  Dammit, whaddaya mean, "totally whose eyes are those eyes." He'd just wanted to use the phrase. Even though I quivered in fear every time I spied those words. quote:Neidhardt: What's your fresh news  Of course it gave me the usual sense of gloom, but on the other hand, I was also confused. I'd thought "Shogun" and Yua would target me for sure this time. Perhaps one could say that they'd postponed it. Above all, I wasn't sure whether or not it was okay for me to celebrate this.... quote:Grim: Wanna know more?  I panicked a little when Grim started giving out the details without any forewarning. I'd had enough of guro stuff. I didn't want to hear about it. If I listened, I wouldn't be able to help imagining myself being savagely murdered. I hadn't even found out how to get a Di-Sword yet. But Grim continued all the same. OST: Silence quote:Grim: It's seriously freaky  I didn't want to know any more. Please spare me. My life points had long since reached zero.... quote:Grim: Basically, he was braindead  Maybe I was thinking too much, but.... I wanted to know for sure. I had the feeling that I needed to know for sure.   "How.... how could it be...." The name of the victim was--  OST: Fear Dr. Takashina.... Dr. Takashina had been killed.... This was.... aimed at me.... "Shogun" clearly meant to provoke me.... That was why he'd made an example out of Dr. Takashina, on whom I'd relied so much, and murdered him.... "No, no...." I screamed. My mind was turning to pulp. It felt like I was about to go crazy. "Aaaaah, waaaaaahh!!!" "I don't wanna die! I don't wanna die!" "Rimi, save me...."     Not there. Not there. Not there. Why wasn't she there? --Because she'd gone out shopping. OST End  "Save me, Rimi.... save me.... don't go anywhere.... I'm begging you...." "Yeah...."She replied.  "Rimi...."Thank god she'd come back for me. Relieved, I stretched out my hand to her.  Rimi's hand had been cool when she touched me before. Now it was amazingly warm. "I'm here." "I'm here for you." "So don't be frightened."Smiling gently, Rimi wiped my tears away with her fingers. I was truly a pathetic guy. Crying and screaming and cowering like this in front of a girl. But Rimi had said she would stay with me.     This scene is better if you can hear what is going on, so I'm including a link for a recording of this scene. There is a noise warning in effect for midway through the video, but not on the same level as Let Me Pass was. Sena's Search  SFX: The park is almost silent, save for a strange noise, clearly artificial, that fills the air  SFX: The stillness is further broken by a dozen or so people repeatedly chanting "Whose eyes are those eyes?" An enormous group clustered together in the middle of the park. There must have been over a hundred people among them. Almost all of them were men and women in their teens; some were wearing school uniforms, others were girls in fashionable casual clothing. Some were boys wearing otaku-esque glasses; others were ganguro high school girls, a rarity in these times.  All of them faced downward, their eyes empty and unfocused. Though so many of them had gathered here, none exchanged conversations with each other, instead standing in place without attempting to move a single step away. Every single one of them wore faint smiles, and all were muttering something under their breath. The words they poured all their heart and soul into repeating were --Whose eyes are those eyes? Those words emitted by the mouths of the hundred murmurers resounded through the park like a Buddhist sutra, flat and emotionless. Perhaps because of how bizarre they seemed, there were no other figures to be seen in Miyashita Park.   With his clothes, he could have easily blended in at Akihabara--a check pattern shirt, jeans, worn-out sneakers, fingerless gloves, a red bandanna, and a big green rucksack on his back. He was fairly corpulent, to the point that his shirt buttons threatened to pop apart any moment now. Though it was the latter portion of October and should have been rather cool out, he constantly wiped sweat from his forehead with a hand towel. His eyes darted around as if he couldn't calm down, but his shoulders also seemed to be shaking with laughter.   Far from shrinking away from the odd group, she fixed her eyes on them and steadily drew nearer. She was infused with intimidating poise as she walked, her long dark hair stirring in the breeze. In sharp contrast with that, she for some reason held a half-eaten popsicle. The group took absolutely no notice of her. Having completely entered their own world, they focused solely on continuing to recite the same words. Nor did she lift an eyebrow at being ignored.      Rucksack Man: "Hey, wh, who are you!" The rucksack-wearing man spoke up as if he'd reached the limits of his endurance. Naturally, the girl--Aoi Sena--was aware that this man alone had been studying her for some time now.   SFX: The chanting temporarily dies down, replaced by a slight shimmering sound as Sena summons her Di-Sword. It might appear to be either a hoe or a shovel, but its shape differed subtly from both of them. The tip of its razor-sharp blade was divided in two. She gripped it with both hands when at last it developed a distinct shape. But it didn't end there. Immediately after, a blue light burned along the double blade she held and the air to her right at which it pointed.  At last there formed a ring, and another trail of light streaked from it toward the right. The divided blade traced the trail as it rose. Though one might have thought it was a shovel or a hoe, it had at some point metamorphosed to a giant sword.  With its supreme sense of presence, the sword settled into Sena's hand. The man with the rucksack showed no reaction. He only narrowed his lips and stared at her.  Rucksack Man: "You've got nothing to do with this. Shoo, off with you." His tone was thoroughly overbearing. His voice, high for a man's, demanded that Sena leave even as he stood some distance from her, waving her away. Sena, in contrast, quietly opened her mouth without the slightest shift in expression.  "...Are you responsible for this?"More than a regular question, it was an inquiry for confirmation. Her eyes were nailed to him. The rucksack-wearing man showed a previously unseen confusion.  He lost interest and pulled back, but he didn't answer her. The group muttering "Whose eyes are those eyes?" made not a single effort to intervene in their exchange. Or maybe it would be more appropriate to say that it hadn't even registered with them. Sena's gaze clashed with that of the rucksack man. He was the first to look away. Rucksack Man: "Wh, who's that...." Rucksack Man: "But even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you." "........."  The sword radiated light again. But rather than the same blue as before, it was a reddish-purple light.  Space trembled. Not metaphorically. Physically. With Sena's greatsword at its center, the air itself began vibrating. The sword's red glow grew dazzlingly vivid. Sena took a quiet breath-- and clenched her back teeth together.  Numerous sparks surged forth. A sonic wave had erupted as though to blow away the vibrating air. The chanting voices abruptly stop, though the sound from the rucksack continues.  But the sword's red glow continued blinking, reminiscent of the pulse in one's veins. Sena gradually moved its point toward the man with the rucksack.  SFX: It seems all the people who were chanting have regained their senses and are currently running around, yelling and screaming in surprise, confusion and fear. Sena went on focusing on the man alone without sparing a glance for the rest of them. Rucksack Man: "Hiiiiiii" Though he had not previously demonstrated any obvious fear, he began growing flustered. Going pale, he retreated one step at a time. He shook his head like a stubborn child. Rucksack Man: "Wa, wa, wait! I really don't kn, know a guy named Hatano! I was ju, just following orders--"  "....I told you not to be mistaken."Sena took no notice of his plea. "I only asked as a form of greeting." A fierce glitter resided in her eyes. Crying out pathetically, the rucksack man turned on his heel to flee. But the scattered group, bolting right and left, lay ahead of him. His escape route blocked, the panicking man pulled to a halt so fast, he pitched about.      Have imagined her slim arms to be capable of dealing out Such a fast and ruinous blow. Sweeping along horizontally, the blade tore through the man's rucksack, together with its contents.  Collapsing on the ground, he rolled into a ball, holding his head and shaking all over. He seemed to have lost the energy needed to run away. He was so frightened that he lost control of his bladder, and the crotch area of his pants began to stain itself wet. Sena walked up to him and, showing no interest in the man himself, dropped her gaze to what lay inside the ripped-open, broken rucksack.  A mechanical device had been put inside it. Originally it might have been about twice as large as a modem, but the Di-Sword had eaten through it, shattering it to pieces. It wouldn't be of any use anymore. One could no longer hear the irritating mechanical whir that had been coming out of this rucksack until a few seconds earlier.  
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Jul 4, 2020 07:48
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Part 44 - Infinitum Nihil  The sky was a little dull, somehow. As though its colors were fading. But in exchange, the fall leaves at the park and so forth were brilliant. Maybe the trees were stealing away the sky's vibrancy. I stuck my toothbrush in my mouth as I gazed up at that subdued sky. One of the nice things about the base where I lived was that I could freely use the open space of the roof, without needing to worry about catching anyone's eye. It was inconvenient when it rained, because the sink was located outside the container housing, but on days with good weather, I would come outside and brush my teeth like this. Rubbing my sleepy eyes as I moved the toothbrush, I thought back over what had happened yesterday. Rimi had stayed in my room with me until late at night. She'd held my hand for almost an hour, the full time it took me to calm down. That said, nothing else happened between us before she went home.  ....If I had the ability to talk about such things, I'd already be living a full-fledged life. No, more than that, the part of me with ulterior motives made me want to throw up. Rimi was pure-heartedly trying to help me as a friend. But she had already done a great deal to save me simply by telling me, "I'll be there for you."  Despite the huge impact of learning about Dr. Takashina's murder in the "brainless" incident, I had managed to become much more mentally stable now than a day or so earlier.  It had seemed much too real for a delusion.  Which meant that it had been a delusion of mine, the same as when Ayase split in two.  Did something like that truly exist.... Was "Shogun" targeting me because I possessed it? If I did have such a power-- One of my childhood memories came back to life.  The bus rolled over, and my classmates had gotten hurt. Mr. Saitou, my teacher, died. Those images had appeared vividly inside my head. I'd seen them clearly. Were they-- just a form of "precognition"?    My body threatened to start quaking, and I wrapped my arms around myself to suppress it. "Then I'd be...." "Good morning--!" Cheerful despite how early it was, she gave me a huge smile. When I saw her smile, my shaking stopped. It was strange.... I was supposed to have a hard time with 3-D girls, but for some reason, I could relax if I were together with Rimi. "I came to pick you up." "........." "What're you looking all blank for?"Ah, right.  "I told you I'd come pick you up, didn't I."Right. Thanks to "Shogun," I was now afraid to so much as walk around outside by myself. Seeing me like that, Rimi had told me, "I'll be there for you." She was sticking to her promise.  "Did you think I wouldn't really come or something?"  "Fu~fu~fu~, too bad for you. Contrary to appearances, I'm the devoted type--"Rimi said, winking impishly. Um, ummm.... What eroge is this from?  Although the ultimate best pattern would be if she "Barged into your room and forcibly shook you awake." Rimi, standing beside me as I had that kind of idiotic daydream, abruptly tipped her head back to look at the sky. Her eyes grew distant again-- "Why do you think--" "Winter skies appear faded?" There had been seven colors in sunlight. The familiar colors of the rainbow. In order for those seven colors to reach human eyes, they had to pass through the Earth's atmosphere. As they do so, a phenomenon known as diffusion takes place.  Slanting off in random directions means that it ends up going here and there, all over the place. This makes it easier to reach human sight. Out of all the colors, purple and blue scatter most easily. That's why the sky is blue. I'm smart. But Rimi's answer was utterly separate from scientific proof and its absence of romance.  "Fewer people desire blue."I had the feeling that I'd heard her say something similar before.... when was it again?    SFX: Rimi's humming the tune of The Blood of The Contract for Our Sins in the background Going to school together.... huh. No matter how I looked at it, this was the essence of being IRL. "Shogun" and Yua were scary and obnoxious and the "Die. No, really, go die" type, but it was thanks to them that I was able to undergo this sort of real-life experience. Maybe I should be a tiny bit grateful to them.... I tried to compell myself, but-- Dr. Takashina's face revived at the back of my mind, and my crazy mood soon drained away. It might be my fault that he'd been killed. "Shogun" had murdered the doctor with a connection to me, either as a sign to me or a form of provocation.... Fear and insecurity overwhelmed me.  I glanced at the back of Rimi's head from behind her and a little off to the side. What kind of expression was she making....? She was humming. This was a song from the "Phantasm" CD I'd loaned her yesterday. Her footsteps seemed light. We weren't even talking, so why did she appear to be having so much fun.... As I watched her, my anxiety decreased a little. ....But honestly, I wondered why Rimi was this kind to me.   This was one aspect of my coping strategy. I felt bad, since Rimi had gone as far as to pick me up, but "arriving at school with a girl" would be much too conspicuous. Especially if the class juvies spotted me; they might use it as an excuse to pick a fight. That was why I went to the bathroom and bought some time, so it would look like I'd come to school on my own.      Ayase was a celebrity. I'd figured I'd hold back on talking to her in school, since it would make me stand out, but with her standing there as though to block my way, I had no choice but to follow her lead.  "Takumi, what's happened with the police since then?" "[strangled gasp]"On the verge of shrieking, I clamped a hand over my mouth. Wh, why are you bringing up such a risky topic with all these people around! I took a flustered look at our surroundings. The situation was pretty bad. As expected, Ayase was the target of everyone's attention. Not only was her coming to school rare in and of itself, but she was also the lead vocalist of "Phantasm" and, furthermore, an androgynous beauty. Girls and guys alike were deeply interested in her. Normally, it'd be inconceivable for her to talk to an otaku freak like me. The onlookers' gazes stung. I wanted to flee....   "You have no choice but to do so."....She said the same thing every single time we met. Ayase might have been on my side, but I got pretty sick of her when she repeated herself like she was the village idiot. I wanted to get my hands on it more than anyone. But I didn't know how. "I, I want a hint...." "Ho, how did you g, get yours....?" "....It was there before I knew it."This again....! Was she avoiding giving me an answer, after all? "At first I didn't notice it." "Maybe you can already see yours." "You just aren't 'seeing' it."I had no idea what she meant.... Talking with Ayase always wore me out. Spare me the Zen koans, would you? "I'm.... looking for it, real hard...." "I.... really want to, to get one, too...."  Misumi-kun spearheaded a mix-sexed group of kids, all staring at me dazedly. Dammit, they'd spotted me talking to Ayase.... poo poo, who knew what they'd say to me. I'd be fine if they shunned me, but I went cold when I thought about them quarreling with me like a playground gang. I lowered my eyes, making myself as small as possible, and went toward my seat. Please, I'll do anything, so leave me alone....  My prayer didn't go through.  "Taku, when the hell did you--!? You were talking to Kishimoto just now, right!?" "........."All I could do was fall silent. I couldn't lift my face to him. "It's the first time I've seen her have a real conversation with anyone! What kinda trick did you use on her!?"I'm begging you, please don't talk so loudly that it reverberates through the whole classroom. Please let me be. I've got no intention of laying a finger on Ayase. I know I wouldn't be worthy of doing so, in the first place. That's why I'm asking you, please don't make such a big deal out of it.... "C'mon, Taku! Tell me--" Rimi dove between us. "Chill out. You're making it hard for Taku." "Ah? Ahh, my bad, my bad."Misumi-kun lowered his voice and patted me lightly on the back. Head still hanging, I sighed quietly. Rimi had saved me yet again....  "........." "Jeez. Daichin, you've got no principles." "Don't you think your girlfriend's gonna stab you someday?" "No worries. Sure, I may look frivolous, but I give all of 'em their TLC." "Tahaha.... what's up with that." Misumi-kun rubbed my shoulders as he persisted in asking me. Left without much of a choice, I meekly raised my head.  About half the people from before were taking quick glances at me as they whispered to each other.  --Don't look at me. The nape of my neck prickled. It'd be the end of me if I caught a delinquent's fancy. Bullying hell would be the one thing awaiting me. What to do.... should I run? Skip out on classes and hurry on home? But I couldn't go back alone. My legs froze when I thought about the chances of running into "Shogun" or Yua. Should I have Rimi come along with me? She'd said before that she was the "devoted type," and if those words hadn't been a lie, surely she would skip classes with me.  SFX: BAM! Something slams into the classroom's door.  Everyone looked over there to see what was happening.  The transfer student. Teary-eyed, she rubbed her forehead while bowing to everyone around her, silent as always. The suddenness of what had happened made the classroom fall silent. What on earth had....  "Yeah. She barreled into the door all by herself...." "Mm~, Kozue-chan is such a cutie." "........."Wh, what a picture-perfect, real-life klutz......   "Think she's okay? It sounded pretty loud." She was quite the meddler. But maybe I should call it her kindness.   Her running into an accident had provided me with a fortunate side effect. The people who had been staring coldly at me before had all shifted their attention to her. GJ, I needed to tell her. Only-- My ears suddenly picked up on what a group of girls near my desk were saying. Female Classmate A: "What a pain...." Female Classmate B: "What's with her?" Female Classmate C: "Didn't she do it on purpose?" Barely audible murmurs.      "Is that related to the second generation?" "Indeed it is." "Let's attempt a simple experiment."  "I don't have the time to go along with child's play." "It's quite important." "The left side of this diagram contains a dot, whereas the right side contains a ring." "Now, please cover your left eye with your hand, so you can no longer see from it." "Then look at the dot on the left side of the diagram." "What do you think? Is the ring present at the corner of your right eye as you regard the dot?" "It's only natural to keep seeing the ring next door, no matter how you try to look at the dot alone." "In that case, sir, move your face closer to the monitor, continuing to look at the dot. What happens to the ring adjacent to it?" "Hoh.... what's this?" "Fascinating." "The ring on the right-hand side disappeared.... did it not?" "This is not because your field of vision narrowed." "In proof of that, the ring will reappear if you move even closer to the monitor." "Hm.... what manner of trick does this use?" "No, it's not a trick or anything of the sort. It's one of the abilities people's eyes have always possessed but that they normally make no use of." "This is called a 'dead spot'--"  The sky was shifting to the color of twilight, and several crows flapped their wings and flew away without cawing. I was waiting for Rimi to come. She had cleaning duty. It wasn't that we'd promised to go leave school together today. But.... I was sure she would, for me. I had already stood here for over fifteen minutes in hopes of that. I'd had no idea what would happen in the morning, but somehow I managed to pass most of today peacefully and safely. Misumi-kun, too, had been so wrapped up in talking to the transfer student that he hadn't pursued the subject of me and Ayase any further. I owed it all to the transfer student, really.  "...."Speak of the devil, here she was, passing beside me.  She lowered her head to me with a face that seemed to be on the verge of tears. Despite my discomfort, I somehow succeeded in nodding back.  Once again, I thought to myself that she was small. She had a loli physique. On top of that, she was klutzy. I didn't know her well or anything, but she appeared to have a wholesome personality. Moe traits up the wazoo. But the girls didn't seem to care for her.  Positive, Negative or Neutral?
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Jul 7, 2020 13:49
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Okay so Rimi is his plastic figure thing come to life through his delusions right? And she's his di-sword? That's my guess anyway.
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Jul 7, 2020 22:03
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I really hope all this buildup actually goes somewhere soon! Let's go with Negative.
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Jul 8, 2020 02:48
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I'm going to call it here. Negative wins.
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Jul 8, 2020 13:00
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Part 45 - Freesia Investigations  Wh, what!? "Who~ is it?" "....!"S, su, surely this wasn't  To think that a day would come when I'd experience it for real. Right now, as of this second, I'd become one of life's winners....! SFX: Squeak, squeak I knew the answer right away, of course. I'd spent day after day training myself to recognize who a voice actor was simply by hearing one of their anime characters talk. But it'd be embarrassing to say, "Rimi, right?" Now, how should I go about replying-- SFX: Squeak, squeak "........."  "Fufu......" "So? D'you know the answer?"SFX: Squeak ....Someone was here. I sensed someone other than Rimi. I was especially sensitive to it because my vision had been cut off. One more person besides Rimi and I was here. SFX: Squeak And that sound, a metallic creaking-- You don't mean-- "Whose eyes are those eyes?" "....!" I tried to shake off Rimi's hands. However, she resisted me. "Hey, now. Say the answer properly." "Cause you're not allowed to cheat."Too weird. Too strange. How could she act so innocent? Hadn't she noticed? Or was she pretending not to notice--? I couldn't tolerate the horror of not knowing what was going on around me. Rimi's lithe hands, covering my eyes. I grabbed them with my own hands and peeled them away. "Ta, Taku?"Rimi fought back harder. As a result, we ended up grappling, and Rimi's body collided with my back. The soft sensation of her chest. But right now I couldn't afford to savor it. "Le, let me go...."  "Wh, where is he....?" "Where's 'Shogun'?"Before me stood Rimi, a perplexed expression on her face. I looked around. I tried to catch sight of his wheelchair. Not there-- He wasn't there-- "He's not there.... it can't be...." "Sorry, Taku. Did I startle you....?"Rimi seemed apologetic. It didn't look like she was putting on an act. "J, just now.... was it there?" "....Was what there?" "A, an old guy in a wh, wheelchair...."Rimi tilted her head. "Nope." "I didn't see one." "........." "Were you with him?" "No, that's not it...." "That's not.... it...."I was steadily losing my confidence. Even though I'd been positive I had heard it. The creaking of a wheelchair. "Shogun" laughing suggestively, as though to taunt me. And, "Whose eyes are those eyes?"  That must be the case. It was that and nothing more. "It's all right."Rimi gave me a forced-looking smile. "I'll go home with you, so don't be scared." "Okay?"Her words reassured me.   Except, even though it was in Shibuya, and even in the middle of the day, not many people walked around here. So something about the area also felt a little lonely.  "You're an unexpectedly hot item." "!? Geh, geh, geh."She made me do a spit-take. What the heck was she saying.... "Huh, you don't know it?"Rimi chuckled and poked the tip of my nose with her pointer finger. Y, you're not supposed to point at people.... "C'mon, before this, you were with a pretty senior, one in glasses." "Sh, she was...." "Mm, you told me yesterday. She was mean to you."If you know, then why.... "And today you were talking to FES." "And there's Orihara-san. The morning she transferred in, you were the very first one she talked to." "And then, and then, you're going home with me right now." "........."It had certainly occurred to me as of late. --Have I begun truly living IRL? --Had my popular phase arrived? Et cetera. A situation I couldn't have imagined a month earlier. Back then, I hadn't even had the opportunity to talk to 3-D girls (Nanami aside). And I'd stubbornly, exaggeratedly insisted that I didn't have any interest in 3-D girls. Why, over this past month, had I crossed paths with girls so much more frequently.... Everything had begun from my chat with "Shogun." Which was why, once in a while, I thought  Maybe I'd been seeing a long, long dream the whole time. I had the feeling that it wouldn't be odd if my current situation vanished like mist tomorrow. Or else, maybe the person behind me had changed. The former person behind me had liked playing mutely on his own, but the new one preferred to cooperate with other players.... or something. In any case, I didn't have any true sense of whether this past month had been real or imaginary. Too many things had kept happening. "Rather, I found out for the first time today, but FES is in the same school as us!" "Plus, she's in our grade, in the class next door!"Rimi's tone of voice grew feverish. Rimi might be something of a crowd follower.... "I'd just borrowed her CD from you yesterday, so I was really surprised!" "And she's super cute!" "What.... did you talk about?" "This morning. With FES.... with Kishimoto-san." "I'd like to know." "Maybe I don't have the right to hear, but...." "When you were talking to Kishimoto-san, you looked so.... trapped in thought. It made me kind of worried."She'd seen even that.... It might be okay to tell Rimi every single little thing. I had no one else to talk to about it, and it was exhausting to agonize over it on my own.  Not someone who spoke purely in abstractions like Ayase and Sena; someone who would give me a clear answer, as in, "It's like this." But then again, she hadn't believed a thing I told her yesterday.... "We talked about...." "Th, the sword." "Sword.... you mean what you mentioned yesterday?"I answered with a nod. "Ayase has it...." "Has what?" "....A real one." I thought.... I heard Rimi suck in a breath.   She sounded even more dubious. "Because it is a toy, right?" "Th, that's why I'm telling you, mine is a toy, but.... she has a, a real one...." "If you watch her p, perform, you can see--"I had second thoughts as soon as I started to say it. Would she be able to see it....? Ayase had said only people with the power could see Di-Swords. "I can see a 'real version' of that sword if I go to one of her concerts?" "Then maybe I'll go next time. I'd like to see Phantasm live, to begin with." "Ah, Taku, wanna go together?" ".........." "You might not see it.... Only ce, certain people can see it....." "Eh, is that so." "Like the emperor with no clothes?" "Then I might not be bright enough to see it. Or something, ahaha."I wonder.... For starters, I didn't have any conception of how a "real Di-Sword" worked as a device. I was simply taking everything Ayase said at face value. "Does a sword like that really exist? I guess I just can't believe it." "Couldn't Kishimoto-san's sword have been 'a toy that looked real,' too?" "Bu, but, it sh, shone....!" "There are lots of toys that give off light." "........."G, good point.... If you wanted to stick some decorations on it, that could be accomplished easily enough.  They possessed an aura that a knock-off simply couldn't duplicate. And more than anything--    I didn't have a scrap of proof for it myself, but I tried mentioning one of my ideas. "Th, that's why.... 'Shogun' is out to get me.... I think...."Because there was no other reason for him to target me. Not many people out there were as harmless to others as me. Otaku are fundamentally harmless. Since they shut themselves up in their own world. If they've got the free time to cause trouble for 3-D people, they'd rather play around with cute, moe 2-D characters in their heads. "You mean the patent you looked up yesterday?" "Do you have the kind of equipment it talked about?"I shook my head. "That's, that's not it...." "I, I might be able to.... use the power.... even without equipment." "Ahaha. Taku, you're teasing me, aren't you?" "Ah, I get it. Is this from some manga or anime?" But I remembered doing it myself. The accident when I was in elementary school.... I desperately explained it to Rimi. That I might be a murderer. I knew she might abandon me once I confessed, but I couldn't stop myself from saying it. I wanted to clear away the fog of doubts in me by talking to someone. Rimi silently listened to my stuttering explanation, a complex look on her face. When she had heard me out to the end--  She laughed it away as if nothing had happened. "It's delusional of you to think like that, you know? Do you get it?" "........."Was I thinking too much.... maybe. It'd be nice if that were the case, but....     The second floor of an aging multi-tenant building. The wall on the far side of the floor was one large window; the light shining through made the dancing dust resemble powdery snow. The words pasted on the glass, "Freesia Investigations," cast shadows on the desk closest to the window. About twenty desks were lined up with nary a gap between them. All of them were piled with precarious mountains of documents and files, forming a tableau that brought to mind a publishing company. Most of the desks' owners were absent, leaving at most five to six people in the office. But the reason behind it was most certainly not because today was a Saturday. In proof of that, the to-go list on the whiteboard hung up beside the entrance was covered with written-in appointments. Yasuji Ban opened the door of this private investigation company a little after lunchtime.  Ban, for his part, greeted them with "Hiya" and went straight for the stout woman glaring at her laptop at the furthest desk--the one right by the window.  "Yo, Momo-chan. Doing well?"  "So you've come again, Ban-chan...." "So I have. Found out anything new about New-Gen?" "Lordy. I'm busy, you know. I've got heaps of issues to take care of." "When you're at a small business like ours, you've got to surrender your weekends to work. You understand?" Only then did Momose finally raise her head. Seeing Ban smirk, she put a hand to her forehead and shook her head a bit. "I've said so many times that this isn't a secret police organization, or one of the police's subdivisions, either." "And pay my commission. You can get the booking schedule from Miho-chan." "Oy vey, you're as cold as ever, President."Though she'd spoken without pausing for breath, Ban seemed unfazed. He fanned himself aloofly.  "Oh my, how patronizing of you, Ban-chan. How many years will you have to keep reminding me of that before you're satisfied?" "Hahaha. You got me." "So, how's this for your fee?"What Ban ostentatiously held out to her was a plastic bag with the name of a neighborhood Japanese-style sweets shop printed on it.   "Miho-cha~n, bring us two cups of tea~"After requesting this of her subordinate, Momose, whose attitude had undergone an instant 180-degree shift, took the bag from Ban and began scrutinizing its contents.  "Oh my, chestnut jellies! This is the season for them~ You certainly know what I like." "Ban-chan, don't just stand over there. Come take a seat." "Much appreciated." One of the female office workers brought them hot tea in paper cups. "So, any new leads?" "Hold your horses for a second." Momose neatly unwrapped the chestnut jellies, flattened the wrapping paper and laid it re-folded next to her PC. And she quickly popped the first chestnut jelly in her mouth. She had a huge weakness for Japanese sweets. When Ban came here to get information, bringing some snacks with him was an absolute necessity. "Mmm! This ish sho delishoush!" "I don't have any right to talk, but how about going on a little bit of a diet?" "Otherwise, you'll never be able to get married, you know?" "Hmph. You really don't have any right to talk." "I lost my chance to marry ages ago." Shrugging, Momose took a sip of tea and turned to face Ban.  "Everyone else is working hard on their side of the investigation." "I'm gonna approach the truth of the matter from another angle." "Don't try to act so cool. It doesn't suit you." Ban was sensitive to hot foods, so he hadn't taken his tea in hand yet. The weather should've been cool enough already, but he went on flapping his fan at his face. It seemed to be more a habit of his than anything else. OST: Distorted Theory  "Right, right, the GE rate. It's pretty amazing stuff, just like you said." "I don't give out false information. Because this way, I can eat as I please." "And?" "Well, I'm looking into it on my own." "On your own...." "Wait, Ban-chan!"Momose's voice carried well. She had an assertive personality to begin with, and she spoke loudly. As the Freesia employees were used to her, they didn't raise an eyebrow even when her angry shouting reverberated through the entire office. Their president's yelling was an everyday occurrence. Ban, too, had known Momose for ages, and with her having gone off at him dozens of times, his only reaction was to sardonically pick at his ear. Momose herself didn't particularly want anyone to listen in on this topic, so she soon lowered her voice.  "Didn't I tell you it'd be dangerous to pursue it by yourself....!" "Government, religion, business.... How deeply do you think they're involved with this?" "You know very well what happened to Professor Outa, who gave a lecture about GE rates on TV just a little while ago, don't you!?" "And I'll keep telling you. Oh yes, I'll tell you!" "You never listen to my warnings, that's why!" "And I'm always the one who has to wipe your rear end after the fact, over and over!" "Now, now, don't shout like that. Drink some tea and relax, will ya?" Instead of taking her tea, Momose flung a second chestnut jelly into her mouth, breathing hard through her nose. "I'm telling you, it's okay. For whatever it's worth, I'm working with Suwa." "At the moment, the GE rate stuff is too far off the beaten path. We don't have enough to persuade the powers that be." "Suwa-chan is certainly capable and steady, but I won't have anything to do with it if you push him too hard." "When did you become Suwa's guardian, Momo-chan?" "I feel sorry for a young man with a future ahead of him, when he's getting dragged down by your defenseless conduct." "Ah, is that so?" Ban shrugged and took an experimental sip of his tea, but it was still hot, making him scrunch up his face. "But is it really possible for biorhythms to lead to murderous insanity?" "I explained it to you before." "To tell you the truth, I don't quite grasp all of it, haha." "Does it have to do with your specialty, 'electromagnetic waves'?" Momose sighed and, in opposition to Ban, went on sipping her tea without any issues. "You're well aware of the records of incidents that take place on nights with full moons, aren't you?" "Mm, more or less."  "What do you think happens if people's biorhythms are made to rise by a force even stronger than that of a full moon?" "They.... get agitated, right?" "Is that all?" "Shibuya is a unique city. Didn't I tell you?" "The higher the GE rate, the more biorhythms ascend." "That's a pretty unimaginable number." "Think of it as being so incredible that nothing else can hold a candle to it." "But why now?" "The late Professor Outa said it was because the GE rate began abruptly increasing about half a year ago." "As long as there aren't any changes in the composition of the area's geological strata, that sort of thing shouldn't be possible." "Changes, huh...." "A volcano!? That much power!?" "That's just how improbable the current GE rate is." "The professor who tried to impress this upon the world was killed by New-Gen...." "Did you know that the day before his murder, a TV program he was supposed to appear on suddenly stopped broadcasting without any warning?" "You sure?" "An acquaintance of mine works at MHK, and I heard it from him." "There aren't many people in a position to put pressure on the state-managed channel, are there....?" "I don't know the details, either. I'd have charged them about it long ago if I did." Intrigued, Ban leaned forward.  "Do you truly want to know?" "You'll be stepping into the darker half of society. Are you fine with that?" "Ban-chan, you might get fired." "I'm okay with anything, as long as I can arrest the New-Gen criminal." "Well, decide what you're going to do after you hear my answer." As she sipped her tea, Momose used her left hand to type at her notebook PC. A document opened on the LCD monitor. There she had enumerated the results of her personal investigation.  "....Gimme a break, Momo-chan. I was convinced you'd name the opposition party, but of all things...."Ban groaned as though it had grown tedious. But his eyes weren't smiling. Far from it; they held a detective's sharpness.  OST End  Rimi had bought me fresh supplies of food in advance on Friday, so I'd stayed shut up in my base without taking a single step outside, but even then there were countless times when my anxiety almost drove me to email Rimi, saying "Please come over." In the end, I never pressed Send, but.... I was only freed from my nervousness during the thirty minutes when I was watching Burachu's latest episode. Even under these circumstances, I made sure to keep up with Burachu.  Or, rather, Seira-tan. OST: SHIBUYA  When I browsed the Phantasm comm at Furepara, it was remarkably full of flaming, and I quickly followed a link to @channel. There was an epic thread in progress.            From what the site showed of the hospital's appearance, all the windows had bars in them, making it look almost like an aging prison. I didn't know if it were still in existence. In any case, the home page hadn't been updated whatsoever for the past four years. Except, just as the people from @chan had said, this site included a picture of the young Kishimoto Ayase and a poem she had written.  It wasn't that it particularly shocked me. When I was in elementary school, I myself had regularly gone to a hospital's psychiatric ward. That was why, on the contrary, I sympathized with her.  She was the same as me, even with her incredible aura and her charismatic way of drawing Shibuya's youth to her. This common point between the two of us lent a certain veracity to the hypothesis that she and I might possess the same power--the ability to project delusions into reality. It would be safe to say that this lent me courage and hope. Only-- There was just one problem. Up until now, I'd taken everything Ayase told me at face value, but that might have been a mistake on my part. How to obtain a Di-Sword. That I would be saved if I obtained one.  Should I believe her? Or-- SFX: Takumi's Ringtone  This was what I hated about them. Clicking my tongue, I picked up the phone as it went on ringing even more annoyingly. The caller had to be Nanami. She was definitely gonna shower me with her useless and belated complaints again. Ahh, what a pain.... OST End  Why hadn't I-- Why, just this one time, hadn't I checked the caller's number-- SFX: Tooryanse "....!"The incredibly loud melody I heard coming through the phone....  I hastily confirmed the number displayed on the LCD screen. SFX Ends  No, why!? Wasn't it supposed to be out of use!? When I had Nanami call it to make sure, hadn't that announcement played at us!? Or else, had the prankster brought the number back?  Panicking, I turned back toward the center of the room. Surely Rimi would be there, and she'd give me some kind of advice-- She wasn't.  Because I'd told her ahead of time that I wouldn't be going to school today, she hadn't come to pick me up in the morning. As I stood there, shaken up, "Let Me Pass" continued playing through the cell phone. A full minute had already gone by. I'd only caught a little bit of it before, but I'd heard some noise aside from "Let Me Pass."  Who the hell was the person calling me? I could only think of one who might set up this kind of hoax-- "Shogun".... Troubled, I looked at the Seira-tan standing next to my PC.  Seira-tan faced me with the exact same smile as always--  "Cut the line. Ignore him, ignore him!" "I, I see.... you're right.... I could do that...." Of course, I should've done so from the start. I laid my thumb against the phone's End Call button. But, for some reason.  It felt strange even to me. It creeped me out, so I should have wanted to end it as soon as possible.  Tooryanse plays again, but without interruptions this time. For the remainder of this scene, the BRRRRRRRRR is constant.  Ghastly pain. The violence of a noise like ultrasonic waves. That sound infected my body. An impact like lightning struck my head. My whole body went petrified. I screamed my lungs out, but I couldn't hear my own voice. It boiled. My brain. My heart. They boiled, they bubbled, they melted in glops-- Pain chewed through my body from the inside, crawling around me-- My consciousness went liquid and coursed through me until, in the end, it arrived at my heart and exploded and scattered into mist--   Tooryanse ends.    SFX: A crowded classroom. Numerous students are making a commotion over the events transpiring. Someone's phone is vibrating in the background. Countless students had collapsed. Their eyes rolled back, and they foamed at the mouth, and their bodies twitched all over. A number of others had curled into balls, pressing down on their heads as if they were suffering. The remaining students had stood up, though they were supposed to be in the middle of classes, and were filing out into the hallway. The teacher took no notice of them as he frantically attempted to help the fallen students. Everyone who had come out into the hallway was raising surprised voices, but none of their words entered Yua's head. The cell phone in her skirt pocket had been vibrating for some time now. Upon noticing it at last, she dragged her hand toward her pocket.  Crouching, she leaned back against the wall. After correcting the position of her slipping glasses, she pressed a button to take the call and put her phone to her ear.   "Y, yes." "Haa...." "Um.... yes?" "Ah, er, I'm okay.... tentatively speaking."Yua made a grimace and pressed at her forehead as she answered. Both the commotion of her classmates in the hallway, and her teacher's voice as he called "Hey, hold on!" to his prostrate students, sounded to her like something taking place very far away. "Y.... yes? Ye, yeah...." "Um.... You are....?" "Yes.... yes.... I see.... and so...." "Eh...." Blanching, Yua gulped.   "But, but...." "In truth...." Having said that much, Yua fumbled with her words and hung her head.  The racket from the corridor grew louder still. Everyone was looking in the same direction and pointing and wearing anxious expressions. The hallway windows rattled as if a strong wind were blowing against them. "Yeah, yes.... [sob]"  "Yes.... I understand." Feebly bowing her head at the end, as though the person she was speaking to were right in front of her, Yua cut the connection. OST: White out And she raised her head, casting a glance at the windows beyond which everyone was pointing. "The sky--"   That white spread at considerable speed. Blurring, it invaded its way through the sky. 
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Jul 9, 2020 12:18
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Part 46 - Noah     But that certainly couldn't be said of today, when he left the other detectives and went up to the windowsill to irritatedly place a call to his junior. SFX: Ban's phone beeps as he dials Suwa's phone.  At first glance, Suwa seemed like a frivolous sort of man, but in reality, he was a serious detective with some real backbone to him. Considering how Ban valued him, his ditching the meeting today came unexpectedly. Ban had tried to contact him countless times, but he always ended up getting his voicemail. What with having heard something rather disturbing from Momose two days ago, Ban was having a hard time settling down. Today was full of annoyance after annoyance. Aside from the thing about Suwa, there was also the fact that when he reported about the GE rate in the meeting earlier, Matsunaga shot him down with, "We don't have the time to deal with idle gossip." --Please, don't let things get any more aggravating than this.  Which was when his call went through, and he heard his junior's voice.  "Sem.... you?"SFX: The connection is very low quality. There is lots of static and only a few of Suwa's words can be made out "You danged fool! Where the hell had you loafed at!?"  "So.... y, I'm busy questi.... pects. ....own ideas.... y'know." "Huh!? What're you saying!? Where are you!?"When Ban yelled, Suwa's voice grew inaudible, and for some time, rustling noises continued in exchange.  "....How is it? Can you hear me now?" "Yeah." "So, where in the bloody name of--" "Oh, well, I had a few ideas of my own, see.... I was doing all kinds of asking around." "Look here, you." Since Ban himself was constantly taking unauthorized independent action, however, he couldn't help smiling dryly at the thought that maybe all their time together had led to him having a bad influence on Suwa, his junior. "I think I'm pretty close to hitting on some clues." "The real criminal?"The color in Ban's eyes shifted. "I'm keeping it secret for now. Since I might be thinking along the wrong lines." "In any case, head on back. You got it?" "Nah, I'm gonna investigate a little bit longer!" "Haa!? H, hey, wait a sec!" "Don't worry! Leave it to me."  "....An earthquake?"The shaking gradually grew fiercer and fiercer. To the point that he couldn't stand up straight. Ban crouched in place without a moment's hesitation. "This is a big one!"The other detectives, who had at first been unfazed, finally picked up on the gravity of the situation and ducked down or wormed their way under tables. SFX: At this point, all the loose objects have started to come crashing down. The clock hanging on the wall, the pens and paper cups set on the table, the projection equipment. They dropped to the floor one after the other, sending up violent crashing noises. The two whiteboards lined up at the head of the conference room also collapsed. SFX: The sounds of smashing and crashing stop. It seems everything that can fall has fallen. --It was almost like being in a plane that had just entered turbulence. So it seemed to Ban. It felt as if his feet weren't meeting the ground. His entire body rocked, sending him swinging around from side to side. This could conceivably be a 5 or 6 magnitude earthquake.    It wasn't that someone had physically struck him. It was an intense headache. A Detective: "Gyaaaaaahh!" Suddenly, screams resounded through the conference room.   Most of the other detectives' faces were contorted with pain, and they were pressing down on their temples or cradling their heads. What was this headache that matched nothing he had ever experienced before? Ban had no way of knowing whether or not it was connected to the earthquake.   The brilliance of it prevented him from keeping his eyes open.     I realized I lay collapsed face-down in the middle of my room. I tried to get up, but as I did, pain raced through me as if my headache had infected the rest of my body, and I immediately moaned and borderline fainted in agony.  The room was in a disastrous state, as if a storm had passed through it. All of my brides who had been lined up on their shelf were now toppled over or had fallen to the floor. The bed was tilted, and the manga volumes and eroge packages piled up on it had come tumbling down, scattering across the floor. What the hell had happened....   Right, I'd heard the ground roar at the same time that the buzzer sounded, and immediately afterward, I'd been consumed by the sensation that my entire body was boiling and melting.... I had absolutely no memory of whatever came next. My mind went blank. It couldn't be....  Maybe "Shogun" was capable of carrying out the same sorts of things as the system described in the patent I'd found earlier.... Such thoughts made me shudder. Enduring my headache, I looked up at the ceiling. I didn't see anything there, of course. If he were recording my thoughts.... it'd be from a satellite's distant, upper-atmosphere orbit.... "Whatever the case, that can't be it...."But judging by Sena's tone when she told me all those things, it almost sounded like the system in that patent had already been put into actual use and was being abused by certain people.  No, that's impossible....! Whatever the case, it was way too much of a logical leap. An old man who looked like he might keel over any minute now couldn't have private acess to an orbital satellite. Or did it mean he had to be one of the key people in some kind of governmental project?  It was a fact that something had occurred, so I figured I would look it up online. I crawled up to my PC, my head throbbing. "Huh....?" I hadn't set it to automatically enter standby on its own, so it shouldn't have ended up like this, but.... My consciousness was clouded. My body remained limp. It was a struggle just to stand. Clenching my teeth to put up with it, I moved the mouse. ....No reaction. Next, I tried pressing the power button.  I plopped myself deep into my chair. As I waited for the PC to start up, I reached urgently for my cell phone, which still sat where I'd left it on the table. I checked the time.  Before I'd received that phone call--while I was browsing through info about Ayase on @chan, what time had it been again....? Ummm, um.... When I put my head to work, the stabbing pain grew harsher. What time had it been? Think. Remember. It had definitely.... yeah, it shouldn't have been noon yet. Which meant....  Or else.... like a sleepwalker, I'd been drifting around somewhere for an hour....? "I, I'm.... not a sleepwalker...."I shook my head to keep my thoughts from sinking in a negative direction again. The resulting pang made my field of sight waver dizzily. It was as if a lump of lead had been stuffed into the center of my head. When I took a glance at the monitor....  Could this possibly be.... a hard disk error? "It, it can't be.... that's impossible.... it mustn't be, if that happened, ev, everything will be over....!"My gigs of 18+ moe artwork.... My eroge save data.... My bookmarks to the sites I made the rounds of on a daily basis.... My minimum attendance shift chart.... And more than anything.... that which was more important to me than anything,  Did this mean that anything and everything had vanished....? "gently caress...."I wanted to scream and cry in frustration. I wanted to bang at the keyboard. I wanted to kick the wall. And even now, I wanted to make sure of whether or not a restoration was possible. But my body felt as heavy as always, and my headache wouldn't recede, and it was all I could do simply to sit limply in my chair and bite my lip. It was over.... My life was over....  Everything stopped mattering to me. It had all burned away.... Just kill me. "Wait, Takki."Seira-tan, lying fallen over on my desk, smiled like an angel and spoke to me gently. "Calm down. In an online game like ESO, won't all your save data be backed up on their servers?"By servers, you mean the company's administrative servers.... "So even if your PC breaks, Neidhardt-chi's data shouldn't disappear." "........." Thanks to my misty consciousness, I'd forgotten something that basic. I felt like I'd discovered a single ray of hope in the midst of despair. Just what I'd expect from my wife. I regretted the loss of my precious moe illustration collection and MP3s, which I hadn't backed up, but I had no choice except to give them up. Even so, I wanted to commence the work of reinstalling my OS as soon as I could. I also wanted to confirm the safety of my ESO save data with my own eyes, as soon as possible. Although before anything else happened, I needed the headache currently torturing me to subside.... "Uu.... uh...."      Currently projected on it, however, was the solemn face of a female newscaster. It was a special TV broadcast, and on the upper left-hand side were displayed sensational words. "Earthquake in Shibuya, Over 200 Casualties?" Earthquakes were an everyday occurrence in Japan. Even in the capital metropolitan area, magnitude 5 earthquakes were known to have taken place myriad times.  Its strangeness was especially apparent when one compared it to the magnitude 5 earthquake in 2005, which had resulted in zero casualties.  An earthquake had also happened in Shibuya about three months ago. Eight deaths had emerged at the time, despite the fact that it was only a magnitude 3 earthquake.   In any case, all the individual stations began broadcasting special programming almost as soon as the earthquake started. Information was currently complicated, and though the full count remained unclear, the female newscaster read off her notes, stating: "According to an announcement by the Fire and Disaster Management Agency, thirty-one fatalities have been confirmed at present and it is believed that the number will continue to rise. Furthermore, the cause of death is currently unknown...."  The cameras affixed at regular points throughout Shibuya's pedestrian scramble had caught that light on tape, and the jumbotron kept playing a film where the screen went completely white as the earthquake ended. The discoloration that had begun together with the earthquake had at first been more of a searing light than simply white. Shibuya had momentarily been enveloped in a flash whose brightness stopped everyone from opening their eyes. If this were an earlier and more warlike era, people would doubtless have imagined it to be a nuclear weapon. There were some who actually spotted a white mushroom cloud floating several hundred meters above Shibuya, though it soon disappeared. Yet no one had any idea about what the source of the light might have been or how it could be related to the earthquake.   Moreover, mixed-use buildings and other structures in the shopping center had also grown diminuitive crevices on the surfaces of their walls.  Midway through, the pain had made me lose consciousness a number of times. I'd dozed off at the computer before, but this was the first time I'd actually passed out. Even so, the pain had mostly retreated compared to two hours earlier. I wet my throat by drinking some Coke and mustered my energy. I returned my toppled bed to its original position and cleared some space on the floor to walk around in. Doing these things took considerable effort, due to how my body refused to work up any strength, but I wouldn't be able to leave the room if I didn't clean up. It'd be the worst if, during Shogun's next attack--although I didn't know if it were really him or not--I found myself trapped in here and couldn't run away. I needed to guarantee myself an escape route....   My excess of emotion almost drove me to leap from my chair and pump a fist into the air, but even that was exhausting, and I stopped myself halfway. Even so, I was overjoyed to be able to meet my alter ego again, after thinking he had disappeared forever. ....Let's see. Now that I was relieved, I started wanting to find out what on earth had happened in the first place. It was enough to give me the urge to sue someone for damages. It had seemed like an earthquake, but that alone left too many things unexplained. I checked to see if Grim were in Baselard, but I couldn't find him. I tried going to our usual chatroom--my bookmark for it had disappeared, so it took a while to find--but Grim wasn't there, either. What was with him, vanishing on me at such a crucial time? I had no recourse but to open the Taboo! home page.  Apparently an earthquake had occurred, after all. Magnitude 5. The number of casualties was awfully high. They said chances were strong that it would continue to mount, even beyond 200. There were also reports that the sky over Shibuya had temporarily turned white, and that a vast mushroom cloud had risen, but no one seemed to be aware of how these were connected to the earthquake. They had pounced on it over at @channel as well, with a lot of people posting threads like, "Shibuya again" and "Shibuya is over, isn't it." Videos had been uploaded, ones that showed film from the traffic cameras at the pedestrian scramble.  At the time, I had been attacked by a horrific headache. It wasn't even at the level where you could call it a headache. It had felt as though the inside of my skull were boiling. And even now, two hours later, it had left a pulsing pain and a limp heaviness behind in my body. "Maybe you'd end up like that if you got stuck in a microwave...." SFX: A blip noise comes from Takumi's PC.  Maybe Grim had entered. Reckoning I would ask him for the details, I flicked my eyes toward the chat window.  quote:Shogun has entered the room  OST: Silence An unthinking shriek spilled from my throat when I saw that name. Such impeccable timing.... Could it be that.... he really was peeping in on my thoughts!? The hand gripping my mouse quivered. I was so terrified that I went rigid, and even the pain in my head flew straight away. Even though I hated merely looking at the word "Shogun," I couldn't rip my eyes away from the monitor. I wanted to leave the chatroom, but I'd received such a shock that it was as though my body had been cut away from my consciousness, and I couldn't control the mouse. A prickling sensation at the back of my neck. Someone was watching me again. "God's gaze".... Or rather than anything resembling God, might it in fact be "the gaze 'Shogun' sent down from a satellite's orbit"....? Urgh.... I wanna run away.... But where to? He'd catch me no matter where I fled in Japan.... quote:Shogun: Long time no see That was the first thing he said. With the lightness of someone greeting a friend he hadn't come across for a while. But I had absolutely zero recollection of being friendly with him. I was left to chew at my lip and watch the words displayed on the monitor. But the post by "Shogun" galvanized me, letting my petrified body move freely again, and I soon groped for my cell phone. It was a little past three. Classes might still be going on. Even so, Rimi, surely Rimi would do something about it for me.... I had to believe this. I picked Rimi's cell phone number out of the short list of items recorded in my address book.  quote:Shogun: Do you hate me? "Ri, Rimi.... Hurry.... kahaah, haaah, pick up...."It hurt to breathe. I couldn't think about anything calmly. Rimi wouldn't pick up. Beyond the phone, the monotonous sound of my call to her went on ringing. Why now, didn't you always come materialize in front of me whenever I found myself in trouble.... Why now, of all times.... quote:Shogun: I'll send you a present    And this time, he'd set me up as the real New-Gen perp for sure! No, I don't want that.... I'm not the criminal! "Haa, kuhaah, haa...."It felt like I'd become a fish stranded on land. I wasn't getting enough oxygen. My head went fuzzy. Rimi was my last hope. Gripping the phone harder and harder, I concentrated all my attention on the other end of the line, as though praying. It went through! "H, he, help me....." quote:Shogun: I'll be delighted if it pleases you Her.... voicemail....? No....  At some point, my body had started trembling. I dreaded "Shogun" even more than I'd thought.... Of course I did! He was a serial killer who'd caused five incredibly cruel incidents, all while pretending to be disabled! And I was his next mark....!  Positive, Negative or Neutral?
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Jul 10, 2020 13:08
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Time's up, calling it here. Since this is technically(?) a tie, I'm going to go ahead and pick Positive for the next update.
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Jul 11, 2020 13:03
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Just letting you know, it's probably not that nobody likes the LP, you just keep up a pretty brisk update pace! That, combined with the relatively small group of people who like VN LPs, is likely why there's all the dead air around. In any case, I'm enjoying myself, so keep at it!
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Jul 12, 2020 03:34
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I liked the LP, but then I went and played through the game, so now I have nothing to comment about
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Jul 12, 2020 05:20
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Part 47 - Sacrifices  Rimi....! As though she'd weighed the perfect timing. As though my cri de coeur had reached her. Rimi had come running to save me from my quandary.  "Ri, Rimi.... Save me...."Rimi took a quick look at my face, then surveyed the area. Awakening to the fact that the PC was the source of my terror, she put on a furious expression and began typing. quote:Neidhardt: Shut up, stupid!  Rimi turned back and gave me a kind smile. "Say it that way, and you'll be surprised by how fast they pull back." "........." Would it really work like that.... Rimi could take things nonchalantly because she didn't know much about the Net. But putting it harshly would probably just make him angry.... To say nothing of the fact that our opponent was "Shogun".... I held my breath and watched the monitor, and after a little while, Shogun posted another statement. quote:Shogun: I'll kill you   How could it be.... Like I thought, we'd pissed him off. The tone of his last line was all too clearly different.  "He won't come tromping over here in person or anything." "More importantly, are you okay, Taku?" "I'm sorry, you must've been calling me. I was right on my way here, so I couldn't pick up." "I'm glad I came...." Even as I listened to Rimi's voice, I couldn't remove my eyes from the monitor. I couldn't help how the words "I'll kill you" made my heart churn. "Th, this is awful...." "I'm here, so it's fine. You've got nothing to worry about." "H, how could you d, do it...." "He, he's gonna.... he's gonna kill me....!" "I have to hurry up and run....!"  Rimi abruptly fell silent. Eyebrows knotted, she looked up at the ceiling, and "Wh, what's wrong....?"  "...."OST: Fear  "Eh? Eh....?" "Uu, uuh.... it hurts.... like it's.... gonna split...."Rimi collapsed in place as if she couldn't hold out any longer. She shook her head unwillingly. "Why so suddenly.... uuh...." It couldn't be....!  Far above the ceiling, there might or might not be a satellite. Was "Shogun" attacking!?       Fssh. Blood poured from Rimi's nose. Her half-moan, half-scream abruptly died out. Her body swayed, rocking. She fell head-first to the floor. OST End "Ri.... mi....?" No reply. She didn't budge.  Such a.... quiet murder. He'd killed Rimi without the slightest sound, smell, or hint of his presence. The silence made it even more frightening. There was nowhere to run-- I dropped to my knees and shook Rimi's shoulder. "Hey.... get up.... Rimi...."There was nowhere to run on the face of the planet. "Don't leave me behind...." "Shogun" would attack me from the sky no matter where I tried to run-- "This must.... this must...."    The statements Rimi had typed in before were gone. As was the "I'll kill you" from "Shogun." I looked over my shoulder at the rest of the room, but Rimi's corpse was nowhere to be seen. "........." I was relieved that Rimi hadn't been killed.  Why.... hadn't she come.... Even though I'm so terrified.... "Shogun" had already departed from the chat. The traces he'd left behind him consisted of only four lines. Not wanting to see even those words, I hurriedly got myself out of the chatroom now that "Shogun" had vanished. My trembling still wouldn't stop. "Shogun" was challenging me. What could be so enjoyable about dogging me? Had Shogun finally resumed his activity, having selected me as his new victim? Or was I the most convenient person for him to pin his crimes on? "Somebody.... save me.... come save me...." I gazed desperately at the post-awakening Seira-tan.  I didn't want to be alone. I wanted to have someone by my side. I wanted someone to protect me. "R, right.... school...." "If I go to school...."If I went to school, Rimi would be there.  I took off the threadbare trainers that I wore as house slippers, hastily put on my uniform, and left my base.    A more restless atmosphere than usual hung about the city. Perhaps it was due to the earthquake.... Sirens rang out unceasingly far off in the distance. I couldn't tell whether they were from fire trucks or ambulances. Most likely both. Yamate Street, one block away from where I was walking now, had become incredibly congested. Numerous cars had caused head-on collisions and then been left there in the middle of the road. I didn't see their drivers anywhere. The traffic was the fault of those abandoned cars, and the other drivers all honked on and on as if they were going insane. As I stumbled my way toward school, a lone dog cut in front of me, howling as it crossed my path. It was a Chihuahua with bloodshot eyes, dragging its leash behind its short body as it sprinted with all its might. Huge globs of drool hung from its open mouth. It must've gotten separated from its owner. As I saw it off absentmindedly, I caught my toe on something and almost fell over. There was a fissure in the asphalt, with one side slightly higher than the other. This must be due to the earthquake.  A few small clouds floated, carefree, in the midst of its dim blue. Immediately following the earthquake, it had apparently turned white, as if it were one giant aurora, but I couldn't spot traces of that anywhere.  OST: Silence I simply couldn't calm down. It wasn't merely.... because of the earthquake's influence. It wasn't merely.... because of my migraine. Not only that, a certain urge threatened to wrack me.    I had chills. I wouldn't stop shaking. My headache resurged. When I looked more closely, there were people packed around the seniors' building. I tried to spot Rimi there. Mysteriously, every single one of them was alike in how they looked up at the top of the school building.   Excellent, if I asked him where Rimi was....  "No, that doesn't matter now...." He spoke with a terrible sobriety, and his expression was pale. One rarely saw him so shaken. What on earth could have happened? "It's.... seriously bad...." Bad? What was?  Male Student A: "She was sick, wasn't she?" Male Student B: "Looks like she went even crazier when people found out about her mental illness." Male Student C: "She was saying before that she could fly. Oh man, this is bad, real bad.... heheheh." Male Student B: "Although I totally wanna see someone die." Male Student C: "It must be awesomely guro...." Male Student B: "Won't she hurry up and fall...." Such conversations entered my ears from around us. Maybe.... I had an unpleasant premonition. Following the other students' gazes, I tentatively looked up at the school building. OST End    Stood a single girl. She held her Di-Sword, the same one as from her concert. Her pose was that of one lifting a prayer to God in the heavens.       "That, which cannot be seen...." Kishimoto Ayase felt the wind. A chilly wind had begun to carry with it a faint hint of winter. As she entrusted her body to the wind, her expression was very anguished, and drops of sweat rolled down her cheeks. "No matter how I try to leave, no matter how I try to leave...." "Unending nightmares...."The Suimei Academy roof was surrounded by a metal fence nearly two meters high. Ayase was currently standing in the barely 30-centimeter space that lay outside it. She had already been standing there for over ten minutes.  Many students had gathered below, they watched Ayase with bated breath. "Become a sword in the end...." "And come to slash me apart...."  The teachers darted around to prepare a landing mat, in case worst came to worst. "With the shield called apathy...." "People evade the flames of war...." But Ayase herself stretched out her back, standing up straight as if the ruckus below had nothing to do with her. It appeared, in fact, as if she were deliberately attempting to sever anything tying her interest to the world below. Raising her chin to look up at the sky, she closed both eyes. She resembled a shrine maiden praying to heaven. Perhaps because she had a good sense of balance, her body didn't waver whatsoever in the small wind. Never mind the fact that she was carrying a colossal sword, one approximately as tall as she was, in her right hand. "My reborn battlefield enemies...." "Are those with spite in their hearts...." That sword--her Di-Sword--was radiating a pale light, blinking painfully on and off. As though synchronizing with its blinking, agonized sighs fell from Ayase's lips.... and a weak, thin whisper came leaking out with them. "At times malice possesses its own will...." "And.... shows us.... its form...." The poetry woven by her whisper-- Soon was erased in the wind. Ayase opened her eyes and ran her gaze across the subdued sky that lay over Shibuya's clustered buildings. "This world is overflowing with malicious delusions...." "Everyone adores the unhappiness of others." "Even if I close my eyes, even if I cover my ears, it does no good...." "Long ago.... they refused to leave my side." As she murmured, she brought her enormous sword up to her chest. She embraced it gently with both arms. Mysteriously, that sharp-looking sword placed not a single wound on her body. "I wanted return...." "To the other world where the Great Will reside...." "Dreams.... as a vessel of chaos." Ayase's expression contorted in grief. Quiet tears spilled from her eyes. Those voicelessly wept teardrops danced into space, borne away by the wind. "But.... Gladioul grows restless in the womb...." "Though there's no time left...." "I can't find it.... I can't find it...." "Neither door to Heaven, nor wise man, nor hand of guidance, nor seven forms of divine punishment." "Is the legend of the black knights true....?" "I've sung many songs." "Do you mean to tell me it wasn't enough...." "O, Great Will...." Ayase slowly spread her arms out on either side. As though to embrace the sky itself. As though to indicate her existence to a distant and high-up god.  The pale pulsing of her sword increased in ferocity. Ayase closed her eyes for a second time. At that moment, a final tear overflowed from the corners of her eyes. "Since I offer you this vessel of mine" "Please take my soul away with you." And she-- Stepped forward without a moment's hesitation-- And with nothing there to hold up her body-- "To the place where I must return--" Ayase sensed the chilly wind tenderly stroking her cheek and felt that she had been freed from everything--     She slowly stepped into thin air as though an invisible stairway lay there. Screaming and a general roar overflowed from the spectators all at once. Ayase's body lost its support like a puppet whose strings had been cut, and she flew inverted through the air. Everything went into slow motion. Ayase's body plummeted down. Her rate of descend was horribly slow. But she was definitely falling. Dying-- She would die-- I couldn't save her. It would be impossible to save her, falling from that height. Moreover, below her was concrete. Her bones would shatter, her innards would be crushed, her spinal fluid would come bursting out, and blackish blood would spray every which way.  If only it were soft soil. Then maybe she would survive.... I didn't want to see the moment of anyone's death! I was about to close my eyes--  A tingling at the nape of my neck.  Everyone was either facing down or looking up.       Sound of falling. It was the first time I'd heard it.   "No way...." Beside me, Misumi-kun widened his eyes, stunned. Though his line of sight ought to have been pointing toward the place where Ayase landed, his gaze was filled more with a powerful surprise than with horror or sorrow. Not only Misumi-kun. All of the spectators, wearing expressions of incomprehension, went speechless.  .........Eh!? Alive?  I couldn't tell.... whether or not her bones had shattered. I couldn't tell.... whether or not her innards had turned to pulp. Her spinal fluid.... hadn't come lashing out. Blackish blood.... hadn't flown everywhere.  A frail but certain groan spilled from Ayase's mouth. She was alive.... She appeared to have lost consciousness and didn't budge an inch. But she had almost no visible injuries. Only minor trace of blood on her forehead. Even though she had fallen from the roof. She lay collapsed there, all but unhurt. On a flowerbed. ".........A.... flowerbed?"       OST: In the ward "It appears that there was a tremendous difference between our projections and the actual results?" "We've taken the first step toward evolution." "We had no idea there'd be three digit's worth of fatalities!" "Was there something wrong with your plan?" "....No, sir." "I would very much like you two gentlemen to take a look back at the history of human evolution." "I have no objections to the fact that evolution brings with it considerable sacrifice." "I care nothing for those who died." "The critical part is how it differs from our plans!" "If so, why didn't you make contact with us beforehand?" "Certain preliminary arrangements are needed to control the flow of information." "We haven't sacrificed people and money so you can do whatever the hell you want. Don't forget that." "No worries, sir. As I mentioned before, everything remains within range." "Sooner or later, there will be no need to suffer through gathering votes or fear prosecution for forceful political canvassing." "Be discreet. If our mutiny against the Committee of 300 were discovered, only destruction would await us."Committee of 300 posted:A secret organization shrouded in mystery, rumoured to pull the strings of the world behind the scenes. "Your duty is to proceed as planned; nothing more, and nothing less." "We shall be the ones to make adjustments." "I'm quite aware of that. Kuku...." "Well, then. Let's hear your report about the second generation." "The final results will satisfy both of you."  OST End  My lungs furiously sought oxygen. As I wheezed, I took a swift look about the park. There were absolutely no human figures around. I didn't catch sight of the personages I dreaded--"Shogun" and Yua. Relieved, I began collecting my breaths. It was close to evening. The sky gradually transformed from blue to the color of twilight. The usual quietness of this park made the previous uproar at school seem like a lie.  After the stir, I gave up on searching for Rimi and ran away here. "........."   At the time-- As Ayase fell-- I'd thought she could never be saved. But she'd lived. I still didn't know the details, but at least, she hadn't died. She was breathing. She had few, if any, outer wounds. Under normal circumstances, she would definitely have died. She was miraculously saved-- Because she fell atop the soft earth of a flowerbed....   Because there had not been anything like a flowerbed down there.  Despite that, why, in a single second, had a flowerbed "manifested"....  Even in the midst of being upset over it, I'd envisioned that maybe "there was a flowerbed beneath her".... But, just because of that.... Could a split-second delusion like that.... actually become reality.... I'd wondered if I had some kind of special power, and I'd undergone the similar experience of witnessing Ayase divide in two, but.... Could I do something as amazing as creating a flowerbed instantaneously....? Even though I didn't possess a Di-Sword....?  When teachers ran up to her as she lay there, they left footprints amid the flowers. The flowers blooming there--I thought they were the same as those planted in the courtyard flowerbeds --Had their stems bent from being trodden on by the ambulance crew. And they were probably still in the same place even now. A delusion.... had become reality.... and stayed that way. It hadn't ultimately disappeared, like Ayase's doppelganger.  Could I.... seriously done that....?  "Eh?" A sharp voice called me from behind. Before I had a chance to turn around, a hand stretched out and seized the front of my shirt. Without my having any chance to struggle-- I got shoved violently into the playground equipment. "Uu, gehoh....!" My back slammed powerfully against it, and I moaned in pain.  "You created that flowerbed." Sena was the one who had used violence against me out of the blue. She grabbed the front of my shirt and pulled me up with incredible force. I couldn't breathe. I waved my arms around in vain, but she showed no indication of letting me go. On top of that, her eyes were brimming with a sharp light that might be interpreted as the desire to kill. I went cold, thinking she'd murder me, and frantically shook my head.  Positive, Negative or Neutral?
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Jul 12, 2020 08:26
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John Lee posted:Just letting you know, it's probably not that nobody likes the LP, you just keep up a pretty brisk update pace! That, combined with the relatively small group of people who like VN LPs, is likely why there's all the dead air around. In any case, I'm enjoying myself, so keep at it! I can see the number of views I get go up every time I post, so I'm not too worried about that, but thanks for the encouragement. Foxfire_ posted:I liked the LP, but then I went and played through the game, so now I have nothing to comment about That's very fair. The important part is that you now (hopefully?) have an appreciation/knowledge of Chaos;Head, so now you can read the other parts of the series with a little more context. Sooner or later (probably not sooner), I'll be getting to the point where you might be able to comment about the NoAH re-release and Love ChuChu. So that's something to look forward to.
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Jul 12, 2020 08:48
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Neutral!
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Jul 12, 2020 11:08
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Yeah I’ve been following along too, it’s just that your update rate is really fast  Gonna go with neutral
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Jul 12, 2020 16:28
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neutral your update speed is very fast and the game is very slow, it's hard to comment on anything beyond being sick of the protagonist and wanting things to happen (and hey, something just happened!)
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Jul 12, 2020 17:35
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| # ? Jun 7, 2024 02:49 |
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I just don't really care which delusion we see. Partly because while it does influence narrative outcomes, the way it does that is so opaque as to prevent me from having any real investment in guiding things. But I really like the story, generally.
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Jul 13, 2020 03:09
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