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Pushing pages is about post count, I'm afraid...
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Nov 6, 2019 08:59
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 Then, a white hand suddenly stretched into that darkness. That hand was holding a small bag with gold embroidery. Mysterious Voice: "Open it." Girl's Voice: "As you wish. In that case..."  BGM: Advancing    Commentator: "The AOU Russian Army really has been focusing on its judo. Japan removed it from its army's training routine just last year, but I'll bet this stirs up another fiery debate in this country!" Narrator: "We've just received some new information. In the Striker-class group tank competition, Second Lieutenant Alberto Garcia of the LATO Argentinian Military has successfully achieved the first hat trick of this year's festival!" Commentator: "The LATO military has taken a gamble by reducing the ages of all their group tank competitors to under 20, but it looks like it's paying off. I think it's safe to say that youth speaks louder than experience these days." Narrator: "I suppose whether it's blazing a trail to a new era or maintaining the peace, no one is more qualified than the young. I'd like to see those more experienced soldiers give it their all too!"  Narrator: "Yes, perfect! What beautifully perfect flying! The ABN English Air Force refuses to surrender their place as masters of the art of the skies, and their Second Lieutenant George White truly is a genius, even at the age of 18!!" Commentator: "He certainly has the skill, but his plane is incredible too. In every part of those blueprints, you can feel the spirit that their designers devote to the art of the sky." Narrator: "Now, let's switch over to the maritime competition. At the warship triathlon (dreadnaught-class 30-gun division), the heavy bombardment ship 'Gloria Da Lobito' from the ACR Angolan Navy has passed the qualifying round with a Festival record!" Commentator: "Last year, the ACR Combined Navy made an incredible showing. However, we can't forget the COU Chinese Navy's new ship, the Tianjin, which won last year's Central Ocean Cup."  Of course, it was still a competition, so they fought against members of the opposing factions as if they were enemies. However, when both sides learned from each other and interacted, they grew to respect one another. Every national military from every faction deepened their relationships during the International Battle Standard Festival of Peace. To those who supported the Walls of Peace from both sides, the friendships this inspired were the best way to prevent war. At the same time, this put the military techniques from countries all over the world on display, making it possible for all national militaries to share in new technologies. That way, if a military breakthrough were ever to occur, a breach in the military balance could be prevented. Instead of avoiding military might, its purpose could be acknowledged and a healthy balance maintained, making world peace a reality. That was why the International Battle Standard Festival of Peace existed.  Since war never broke out, the report card for militaries became the number of medals they won at the festival. In other words, though the young were supposedly the main participants in this event, the expectations of the old affected it significantly. So, though "soldiership" was supposed to be something noble, there was always talk of bribery and doping behind the scenes... Well, that sort of thing happens in every era. There's no point harping on it. Those young people who carried the prestige of their nations were spurred on mercilessly. Only those who succeeded were praised, and those who didn't measure up were abandoned. This happens in all eras. There's no point harping on that either... It's always the young who are made to compete. And the adults only reward success. The young are always forced to compete because they don't want the adults to abandon them...  BGM: Underdogs  "Eep...!! I-I-I'm so sorry, Instructor...!!"  "I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry, eeeeeeep...!!" "Come on, if we just have a few sweets, our physical condition will be back to normal in no time meow♪"The most efficient way for Gauntlet Knights to restore their stamina was sugar. In other words, dessert. Lilja and Koshka, who had returned from the athletes' cafeteria with extra-large parfaits in both hands, didn't give a drat that Chloe was getting in trouble because of them. They were happily gulping down their parfaits.   "Yeah meow♪ Okonogi, it's totally your job to make sure we don't get bored meow♪" "...Y-You... little... brats...!!"Okonogi stamped his feet, but because of his position and other adult reasons, he couldn't hit Lilja or Koshka. So, he karate-chopped Chloe twice on the head. These kids would be up very soon. Just when he wanted them to be in their best conditions for the sake of their nations and their faction, they had started up a battle royale in the simulator just because they were bored!  "Do you realize how many people worked hard and how much money was spent to get you fools into peak condition?! And now you're wasting all that, just so you can play with your friends because you're bored?! Ngggggg...!!!" "Ow, that hurts, Instructooooor, eeeeep, my head's gonna cave iiiiiin...＞＜"  "That's youth for you. Give a kid some chocolate, and they'll be perfectly fine. By the way, this chocolate's delicious. What country is it from?" "A Gauntlet Knight's fatigue manifests itself in the brain. It's hard to self-diagnose. You've managed to recover up to 89%, Miyao. Don't forget that you've got at least 10% of your fatigue remaining." "You don't understand. In this world, there are some kinds of power that you've got to work for, even if it wears you out." "Next time, go build up that power on your own. Have some respect for my time." "You say that, but your brainwave data after our match was as good as it gets. Want me to compare it to your historical graphs and send it to you? The data says you're sulking and wagging your tail at the same time." "Shut up. I'm not gonna fight you again. Go staple a picture of me to the wall and do it on your own next time." "Hahahahahahah. You're hilarious, Miyao♪" "...The condition of your blood says you still carry some fatigue, but I must admit that your unquantifiable mental condition has improved. The young can be so interesting." "Uh, I'm pretty sure you qualify as young too." "...Oh, right. How silly of me. Heheheh." "I'll bet Gunhild's mental age has the ones and tens digits flipped." "There's no helping it. You'll never find a Parallel Processor who isn't weird. Still, the skill you get as a result is honestly amazing." "Well, I know I wouldn't trust our butts to anyone but old granny Gunhild." However, she wasn't just a Supporter. She was in that role because that's what she was best at, but she was also talented enough to riddle any Attacker with holes if they broke through. On the contrary, perhaps because she always observed her opponents calmly as a Supporter, she actually won most of the time in one-on-one matches against Miyao and Jayden. She humbly claimed that she only won because she'd memorized Miyao's and Jayden's patterns, and that she'd be totally useless in a real fight. However, Miyao and Jayden knew they could trust their backs to her. By the way, Miyao was an ace of the AOU Japanese military. Jayden had come from an ace unit in the AOU American military. Of course, Gunhild was an ace too, of the AOU Swedish military. These were three of the best aces the AOU had. Groups of three people supporting each other's lives like this were sometimes called kette, in imitation of the air force, or squads, in imitation of the army.  As Miyao's group would put it, they were the 'honor student' kette. Over there was the 'problem child' kette.  Koshka was attached to the AOU Russian military, but wasn't a soldier, strictly speaking. It had been kept quiet for privacy reasons, but rumor had it that she had been given some kind of "exemption" in exchange for participating in some Aerial Augmented Infantry-related research and human experimentation. Apparently, she was officially "equipment" in the care of a Level 4 Heavy-class military research center, which had been loaned out to the military for the International Battle Standard Festival of Peace. Of course, though she was equipment, she was also the highest-tier equipment that existed. And she understood her position. So, she could do whatever she wanted. She had no desire to listen to her superior officers. And even Okonogi, her instructor, couldn't lay a finger on her no matter how much she pissed him off. This might make it sound like she's utterly self-centered and uncooperative, but apparently, she's improved a lot from how she used to be.  "It's the opposite meow♪ You're blocking my way with that big face of yours meow♪" "Well then, I'll just gouge out your eyeballs so you don't have to look at it anymore..." "Huh? What's that? Could you talk a bit slower? Your hick words are so bad, my Kizuna can't translate them at all meow♪"Lilja was attached to the AOU Finnish military, but she was officially a military research center's "equipment", just like Koshka. Once again, details about her were unknown for privacy reasons, but, well, she was just as much of a problem child as Koshka was. Apparently, just like Koshka, she'd stir up all kinds of outrageous trouble, using her special position as a shield. Was she on good terms with Koshka or not? She was always approaching Koshka one-sidedly, teasing her and picking fights. She was also high-grade equipment. Problem Child #2, who always got along with Koshka only when they were ignoring their superior officers.   "...Let's find out if her head actually can do that." "Nice one, Koshka! Let's go wild in the simulator again meow! Then Chloe will get in trouble again meow♪" "Nooooooooooo...＞＜ I hate this kette so muuuuuuuch＞＜!"Chloe alone wasn't equipment. She was a soldier of the AOU Canadian military. Just what sort of unlucky star was she born under...? Right after she won through all sorts of aptitude tests and exams and thought she had become the Gauntlet Knight of her dreams, she'd been saddled with looking after this crazy equipment. And, partly because of this, the instructor who couldn't punch the high-grade equipment would instead smack Chloe's head whenever they did anything weird. Chloe was a sad sufferer, always stuck between her Instructor and the selfish equipment... But of course, she wasn't just there to take care of those two.  These two squads with a total of six people were the athletes sent by the AOU, the Arctic Ocean Union, to participate in the Aerial Augmented Infantry Division of this year's International Battle Standard Festival of Peace. Individual countries did compete in the Festival, but it was the inter-faction competitions that got people most excited. Nothing was more thrilling than watching neighboring nations work together to achieve victory in the battle between the five Great Factions that represented the A3W world.  BGM: Advancing  These miraculous soldiers of the new era wore Gauntlets on their left arms, and they could fly on their own through the sky, repel all sorts of attacks, and wield any kind of weapon. At this year's Festival, the Aerial Augmented Infantry division had finally been established, and their true worth had been revealed to the world at large. However, their fights were too dangerous to be held in real space. As was also the case for other events emulating real warfare, live fire competitions carry some risks no matter how many safety measures you take. However, if you use mock weapons for the sake of safety, the battle becomes completely uninteresting. So, dangerous competitions generally took place in a virtual location known as the Virty Arena. That said, in a virtual world that had advanced as far as possible, the sensations of sight and sound were in no way inferior to reality. Spectators were able to view it as if it were happening right before their eyes. And, though the participating athletes were in a simulator room, it felt as though they actually were in the arena.   "I doubt there's gonna be anyone as normal as you and me." "That's not true meow♪ If the world was full of people as crazy as Koshka, it would've been annihilated by now meow♪" "Lilja, please stop picking fights with Koshka! If you run wild here, everyone in the world's gonna see it! The Instructor's chop really will make my head cave iiiiiiiin...＞＜!" "...My stomach's full and I'm sleepy, so I won't fight back. *yaaaaawn*..." "That yawn was just broadcast publicly. Looks like Chloe really will face the chop when this is over." "So that's Lingji, that ace among aces from the COU." "Her official simulator score is the best in the world. Well, that's probably exaggerated."  "Remember your training, and we cannot lose." "Of course. As long as I still draw breath, none shall lay a finger upon our princess." "Heheh. I'll bet you just wanted to say that. That's why you were practicing in the bathroom earlier, right?" "Wha?! N-N-N-No way, that definitely absolutely did not happen! How did you know?!" "Momotake! You mustn't lose your composure before a battle." "Heheheheh, even the princess got mad at you. Heheheheheh♪" Lilja: "All those COU people look so serious♪ I'll bet if you told them a joke, they'd just stare at you coldly and ignore you meow♪" Koshka: "...Let's see if their eyes remain cold once they've been thoroughly beaten."   "Sheesh. How about you chill out a bit and have some fun? Try waving! Hey, everybody! If you're looking for Andry from COU Madagascar, that's me! C'mon, you wave too, Rukhi!" "Huh? U-Umm?! H-Hello... I'm Rukhshana from COU Saudi Arabia..." "Stop, you two, you're embarrassing us! How many times do I have to tell you not to play along with the nonsense of a careless man who bears no responsibility?!" (Aaaah, even though all I did was wave my hand when he made me... Hang in there... Hang in there, Rukhi...!)  "Whoa, get a load of that pipsqueak in the front." "That'll be Naima from ABN Iraq. From what I've heard, she's the ABN's top ace." "Our pipsqueak is quite the top ace too." "You...aren't talking about me, right?"  "...Naima, don't get overwhelmed by the atmosphere. I'm detecting an imbalance in your cranial secretions." "But, but! Wowowow... Aaah, I'm so nervous and excited, my eyes keep spinning and this is so fuuuuun...wowowow...!" "Take a sedative. It'll affect your performance, but we don't want you hyperventilating before the match starts." "Wow?! Wowow... wowow... wooooow...＠＃＄％＠＆～～..." "The Battle Standard Festival is a farce. We've already done our duty just by showing up like this."     "Look at the staff seating area! Isn't that Nathan from the Belgian Hot Choir?! I'll send you the data!" "Look right next to him! Isn't that Jean from the Luxembourg Choir?!" "So they really are going out! Kyaaaa♪♪♪!!" Commentator: "In front, we have 'The June 1st King's Tour Memorial Squad' of the ACR Royal Aerial Knight Corps, followed by 'The Queen's Cairo Visit Memorial Squad' of the ACR Combined Military First Aerial Knight Corps."   "There's no need for you to do anything, Princess. Please leave this match in our hands." "Good plan. If the Princess screws up and embarrasses us, that'll annihilate our bonuses." "And if we win and tell everyone it was all thanks to the Princess' leadership, our bonuses will be doing just fine." "As will our reputation." "Gaaaaaaah!! If you're gonna talk behind my back, do it where I can't hear you! I mean, don't do it!!"  "Look at that crowd! This is so exciting, so tense! Hey, isn't it?! Don't you feel the same, Noor? Don't you?!" "...Stop smothering me. Get back, you puppy. Sheesh, how did someone this hyperactive ever join the Aerial Knight Corps? Don't you think it's weird, Mariana?" "...I know just how you feel, Gannet. I'm feeling tense too. *pet*pet*" "Hey! Don't pet me! I don't want anyone but cool big sis Noor to touch me!" "Don't touch me, puppy. Your idiocy is contagious. Let's go over there, Mariana." "...Don't touch me, I hate cold-hearted people. And I love puppies. Let me pet her..." Commentator: "Well, the military and the police have been arguing over which group the Aerial Augmented Infantry should be attached to. The military won in the end, but sadly, they didn't make it in time to apply for the Festival."  "Heheh. I'm Valentina of the IPMA Military. I'll be reffing this match." "And I'm Maricarmen! Do what we say, or you'll get showered with red cards, 'kay?" Narrator: "In other words...! It's fair to say that right here, right now, the peak of the entire world's military might has been gathered together!" Commentator: "Well, it is an unknown weapon whose true power has yet to be revealed. Even including today's event, their real worth hasn't been demonstrated outside of Virty. They've become part of this festival starting this year, but before that, the debate over whether this is a military event or an esport kept going on and on." By equipping the cutting-edge technology called the Gauntlet, certain suitable boys and girls could fly like fighter jets, arm themselves like warships, and repel attacks like invincible tanks... Naturally, seasoned soldiers weren't going to just believe in something like that. If things like the Aerial Augmented Infantry really existed, the whole world's air, sea, and land power would become obsolete. The world's military strength wouldn't be measured by the number of soldiers, but by the number of boys and girls capable of wielding a Gauntlet. For that reason, some of the spectators who were former soldiers watched on coldly or sneered at the contestants.  Spectator: "Soldiers from all over the world train fiercely to protect world peace. Don't you think it's an insult to all soldiers, allowing these kids with their esports to participate in the glorious Battle Standard Festival of Peace...?" Spectator: "This Gauntlet tech is suspicious from the start. You just know those researchers are eating through their budget based on some on-paper theory..." The older they were, the more they glowered. On the other hand, everyone who was still a minor was held transfixed. Just by putting something on your left arm, you could soar freely through the sky with unstoppable power! Any child would be awed by that. And the adults told them to abandon those stupid dreams and study, since it was all fake. There was more than a little prejudice behind the adults' emotions. Who wouldn't want to fly freely in the sky? If the adults had been able to equip these Gauntlets, they would surely have latched onto this new tech happily. However, to use a Gauntlet, you needed "brains" capable of performing a Dreissig Conversion on Spiritium. And most importantly, in order to fly in the sky and use your equipment at will, you needed quite a lot of parallel processing ability. You couldn't display such talent without receiving special training and personal experiences from a very young age. In other words, everyone over a certain age, whose childhood had ended before the necessary technology and training had existed, was automatically disqualified from being a Gauntlet candidate.  You could hardly blame them for having an inferiority complex. Those who had achieved their current position after harsh training glared most coldly of all at the kids calling themselves Gauntlet Knights...  Okonogi, who was serving as an instructor for the Aerial Augmented Infantry this year, bore an imposing array of medals on his chest. Each one was an honorable award, proving that he had withstood grueling training and given all he could for his nation and international peace...  "Well, whether it's esports or video games, they bear the same burden we do. That means...I've just gotta whip them into shape. Heheheh..."Narrator: "Oooh, is that Contestant Koshka of the AOU? That was quite a yawn. I guess she must feel confident."  You've got 2 emails poyo!"Captain Okonogi, the Director General saw Koshka yawning just now, and he is pissed!" "Okonogi, is it not your job to see to the health of our contestants? She's actually yawning, isn't she?!"    "Your sneezes are always so fun to watch. Are you okay?" "My nose is all itchy for some reason. And so is the top of my head... Waaccho!!" BGM: Ominous3 And yet, the most distinguishing feature of the room was that it was triangular. So was the solemn-looking table standing at its center.  And their voices had been altered by something like a voice changer. However, the fact that their suits were of the finest quality... and that even just sitting there, their class and majesty couldn't be mistaken, left little doubt that they deserved to be called kings... They appeared to be watching the International Battle Standard Festival of Peace's competition between Aerial Augmented Infantry units through their mental displays...     "Thank you, Jestress. Turn off the broadcast." "Hahahah... Well, even I drew on a mental tablet with my granddaughter when she was young." "You've been blessed with a wonderful granddaughter. How gracious of her, to play along at the dawdling pace of a decrepit mind. *giggle*giggle*" This girl, who at first glance might have been a secretary, teased the kings with her harsh words. However, the kings seemed to enjoy the foul tongue of this girl, who must have been even younger than their own granddaughters. Kings who rule at the top and are feared by all people rarely get taunted or made fun of. And so, their culture had long since led them to place an irreverent expositor in their company. This person was known as the court jester. Jestress. Her name clearly referred to a female jester.   "Indeed... Even when you try to eradicate them, many survive and restore their numbers in the blink of an eye. Just like locusts. Heheheh..." "It would seem merely 'trying' is not enough..." "...Unfortunately, that's how it is. Even if you completely destroy everything, a few human seeds will remain." "Noah's ark failed because they let merchants on, instead of keeping it to just Noah's family..." "This time, we must truly return civilization back to square one. Even if we do, I imagine that humans will regain their civilization in just a few centuries." "But that is fine. After all, we'll be able to put distance between them and civilization's end. Well now, Jestress." "Yes, sire." "Give us today's report. Is everything going smoothly...?" "Yes, sire. I've received a report from the Grand Master of the Ninth Prime Chivalric Order, your faithful servant who's far more useful than you old farts. They've succeeded in sneaking members of the Order into ace Gauntlet Knight units from all four factions." "...Oh? ...So, the Battle Standard Festival children we just saw..." "*giggle*giggle* Now, we just have to wait for you three to finally make up your minds." "Has there been any trouble guiding public opinion in each country?" "Of course not. Our talented comrades are hiding in media outlets around the world. All is in the name of guiding humanity down the right path." "...Have you still not found their research center?" "We still have the bait that the mighty King of Ridicule granted us, but so far, nothing has tugged on the line." "What a cheap move. If we could catch them by the tail that easily, it would be silly of us to go to all this effort in the first place." "Heheheh. Don't be like that. If you never gamble, you'll never win." "Then we'll wait for good news without hoping for it... After all, fishing requires the patience of a king." "If there's any movement, I'll report it at once." "Now then, gentlemen..." King of Ridicule: "Even letting loose that many WMDs across the world wasn't enough. They're locusts, after all, heheheheh..." King of Fury: "This is our last chance, gentlemen. Our last chance to make use of God's plan...and return the fate of humanity to human hands. We absolutely must not fail."    "Those people must view the boys and girls of the Aerial Augmented Infantry as the most interesting guinea pigs in existence. If I remain concealed here, they'll surely try to contact me in some way. If anything happens, I'll report on it immediately."   "Lilja, Koshka, be serious when the actual match starts, okay?! If you don't, I really, really will use my trump caaaaaaaaaard!" "...I like breaking things. If there's a plate with so many breakable things in front of me-" "There's no way I wouldn't dig in meow meoooooow♪!!" "All squads are in excellent condition. We can do this!" "I, Supergenius Jayden, guarantee it! With us Warcats and the freaks of Grave Mole together, we're the ultimate team!!" "Yeah, the six of us are the best of comrades, and nothing can shake our bonds of trust! Let's do it!!!"  
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Nov 6, 2019 14:48
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Please protect these children. fakeedit: I love how much fun R07 clearly has with this introduction of the Kings. Unlike Umineko, which treats the reader like a frog placed in a cool pot of normal mystery before slowly turning up the anime until it’s boiling, Ciconia just has the anime dial set to maximum from the get go. rko fucked around with this message at 15:48 on Nov 6, 2019 |
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Nov 6, 2019 15:42
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I can't believe people keep putting Okonogi in charge of children. 
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Nov 6, 2019 16:51
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quote: Does anyone here have actual training in linguistics and phonology in particular beyond 101-level stuff?Edit: Oh yeah, hi there Elder Futhark.
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Nov 6, 2019 22:05
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   BGM: Chat  What would you like to call this room poyo? "Does it matter? Just call it the Warcat Room." "Okay, but...what kind of room should we make it?" "Just whatever. Go ahead and copy the data from our hotel's banquet room." "Nah, that'd be boring. They've come all the way out to Japan for this International Battle Standard Festival thing. Do you even care about being a good host? Anyway, what is it non-Japanese people want to visit in Japan?" "Kyoto, obviously. They can't visit there now even if they want to, so they'll like it, right?" "Aah, you can't use Kyoto's data in Japan." "Oh, right, that thing. Every country's so strict these days."  "Ah, crap, we've gotta hurry. Let's just do something from the hotel! Where do Japanese people like to relax after a match?!" "Well, when we're done with work, we take a bath, I guess." "Ah, perfect! Japanese inns always have big public baths as their selling point, right? That'll do nicely." "Hmmmmmmm. Something about that seems wrong, but okay." "I've pulled the public bath data from our hotel's website." "Got it. So, something like this?"Miyao manipulated several things on his mental tablet, and the dark world instantly became the public bath of the hotel where the AOU Japan athletes were staying. There was an open air bath on the outside and a sauna on the inside. A splendid example of a Japanese-style public bath. Personally, Miyao felt it would be really weird to have a post-match celebration in a public bath. However, Jayden said this was so much more Japanese, so he gave in reluctantly. Gunhild: "Is the room ready? Please tell me its name." "Okay, random it is then..."  Roger that poyo! You have created "It's a Wrap Public Bath" poyo! "What's up with that name, hahah!" "Well, you think up a better one!" "Ooooh. That's incredible. You made it the bath at our hotel, huh? Too bad I'm my avatar and can't take my clothes off." "I mean, you could just put on a naked mod." "Ooh?! Amazing! If you put your foot in the bath, you can actually feel the hot water!" "I figured there'd be no point making it a bath if you didn't reproduce it with at least that much detail." "Ah, everyone's here. Miyao, please give them access." "Sure!"When Miyao gave them access, the 'enemies' they'd just been fighting to the death against appeared one by one near the bath. "Thanks for coming, everyone! Please relax!" "Whew, they really came..." "...I mean, I'm still not sure about this. If those COU guys ask who the Glass Sea belongs to, what should we do? ...I'd rather not start a deathmatch when the competition's already over..." "Same here! One moment I start saying the Atlantis Spirit Field is on the high seas, so the ACR can't keep it all for themselves, and the next we're kicking off World War IV!"  "...How shameless, to hold a party in a public bath. As I suspected, the people of AOU Japan have lost their Japanese souls..." "Heheheh. Who knows, maybe she'll change into a nude avatar to match the scene?" "H-How shameless can one be?! Princess, you need not remain in this undignified room a second longer!" "True, it would be undignified to enter a bathhouse with a clothed avatar. Oh, but didn't I have a bath towel avatar?" "Princess, you mustn't, noooooooooooooooooooo!!!" "Heheheh. Thanks for the invitation. I'm Aysha from COU Indonesia. This red-faced weirdo is Momotake from COU Japan."  "I'm Rukhshana from COU Saudi Arabia..." "I'm Andry, Suparṇa's peacemaker. Hey there, woo! Oh, I'm from COU Madagascar. Racially, I'm closer to that guy and gal, but a bunch of stuff happened, and I'm in the COU's faction. Nice to meet you." "I'm Ishak from ACR Algeria, serving as Princess Rethabile's caretaker and guard." "And I'm Abdou from ACR Senegal. If you notice anything strange about the princess, whisper it to us instead of telling her directly. Too much honesty can be painful, after all." "There's nothing there! I didn't even spill any sauce or breadcrumbs today! You ought to praise me!" "Princess Rethabile is a member of the African Royal Family." "I never thought I'd see a princess in this day and age..." "...Don't touch me so casually. I'm Mariana. This fluffy little cutie is Gannet from ACR Ethiopia... *pet*pet*... Don't run away..." "Stop petting my head! Only big sis Noor gets to pet me!" "Stop smothering me." "Don't touch me, Noor. ...Don't run away, Gannet."  "Yuri is love's purest form! Neither countries nor factions nor continents can stand in its way!" "We're the ABN's 012th Holy Agent Corps 'Yeladot Shavit'!" "The three of us will-" Their particular brand of excitement left the strait-laced COU stunned, as well as Miyao and those from the AOU.   "...Pleased to meet you. I'm Naomi from ABN France. And...Naima? Stop being embarrassed and greet everyone." "Wowowowow!! ...I-I'm so sorry I went so wild in the match just now! Please forgive me, everyone! Wowowoooow!!" "No, it is I who must apologize. I judged you by your appearance and underestimated you." "You there, Naima. Manners dictate that a champion act like a champion in front of the losers. Hold your head up high, so that the losers may speak proudly of the one who defeated them when they return home." "I know, but...but...I want to find a hole to crawl into, wowowoooow!!" "You're far too self-deprecating. We don't want you losing sleep from self-hatred again. Naomi." "I'll give her a tiny bit of anti-anxiety meds." "Wow?! Wowowowowoooooow... How'd you like that? Naima, the invincible girl, is the strongest in the world! Woooooow♪"  "...Shut up. I wouldn't mind letting loose right here, right now." Bzzzt! You do not have permission to engage in combat in this room poyo. "...Figures. That's no fun..." "Sorry we're late! I'm Chloe from AOU Canada, a member of Grave Mole! I got the room name wrong and had trouble getting in!" "She tried to get into It's a Wrap Public Lust. Hilarious meow♪" "How does that even..." "But that's how my Kizuna converted the word into text! It was just a minor conversion bug!" "Oh my. That must mean you use the word 'lust' a lot." "That's not true, waaaaaah＞＜!!" "Hahahahah! I get it, it's just a bit of Japanese magic, huh? In Japanese, 'bathhouse' and 'lust' are both pronounced 'yokujou', and it got converted the wrong way." "Personally, I think the 'lust' version would've worked too." "It's a bunch of boys and girls in a public bath, after all. Too bad we're all using avatars." "Then why don't we meet up offline right now? In proper attire for a bathhouse, of course." "It's a Wrap Public Lust, huh?! Eeeek! That's gotta mean those machos from the ACR, right?!" "You mean Ishak's and Abdou's black bodies intertwined?!" "Nah, he's gotta be wrapped around Stanisław!" "You can call me Stan." "This is giving me a headache. What a vulgar bunch." "Would you care for some headache medicine? I can send you the best preparation data." "Princess, let us depart at once! This place is entirely unsuitable for one such as you!" "Is everyone in COU Japan a samurai with a topknot these days...?" "No. Momotake is just like that, for some reason. It's strange, he didn't start out that way."  "Hold on, a maiden's skin mustn't be exposed to anyone but her fated partner! Hey, someone from the ABN! Stop her!!" "...This looks fun, so I'll send Naima some body data for a naked avatar." "Should I send her a super-flat loli-loli, or a short stack loli?♪" "Big sis Noor, let me hug yooou!" "Hey, I told you to stop being so clingy! Gah, and all I want to do is hug Mariana!" "...Hands off, Noor. I wanna pet and fluff Gannet now." BGM: Deeply Remember To be honest, all of them had secretly wanted to gather together like this, across faction lines. However, once you stepped outside of your faction, it opened up the possibility for all kinds of touchy subjects, like border disputes and historical issues. They were youths of this era, so they were fully aware that all sides had things they wanted to say. And, they were more than a little afraid of encountering the kind of fierce debates you saw on social networking sites. However, when they finally met, not a single person said anything like that out loud. In truth, before coming here, some of them had been eager to question their political opponents on various issues, arguing them down.  And then there was the issue of AOU Russia interfering with ABN Ukraine, and COU Madagascar and ACR Mozambique's conflict over the Mozambique Channel... It might get confusing with all those initials, but simply put, every faction always had some issue with every other faction. Even though soldiers around the world were supposedly warriors of peace who held up the Walls of Peace together... Everyone had been a bit unsure whether they'd really be able to get along if they interacted directly. However, when they actually met, it was like this. Everyone thought the same thing in their hearts. There may be a lot of problems in this world. There's no helping it. National borders don't just divide the world into countries, but into sets of principles and opinions as well. Borders aren't evil. They're like the walls of a water tank. Land animals live on one side, and water animals live on the other. If you lose your national borders, then you lose the walls of that tank. All the land animals will drown, and the ocean animals will lose their water and die. In the first place, it's arrogant to assume that all life should live the same way. You have to admit that even humans live in different cultures, with different lifestyles, in different ecosystems. So, if national borders are necessary, you must admit that principles and opinions can be different when you cross those borders. Just leave arguing about such issues to diplomats and internet patriots. 
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Nov 8, 2019 14:39
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These early scenes of everyone dicking around in the virtual rooms are some of my favourites.  I think it really shows a lot of marked improvement on Ryukishi's part over Umineko – something that always bothered me in big group scenes (particularly in the Golden Land) is that characters could sometimes sort of bleed into each other a bit and the scene could be a little hard to follow.This, though, really nails the feel and dynamic of a bunch of people just tooling around in a group chat, right down to Chloe making a harmless typo and immediately getting ribbed to death for it. I love these kids. 
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Nov 8, 2019 14:55
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Yurigasaki posted:These early scenes of everyone dicking around in the virtual rooms are some of my favourites. Phase 1 as a whole feels like the most polished first chapter of any of the WTC games, but if I’ve got my timeline right, didn’t R07 write Umineko as his sophomore work, more or less? Which is incredible to think about, given the heights it reaches. But since Umineko, he’s done a lot more writing, and all that work on his craft has absolutely paid off. Phase 1 even has pretty decent pacing!
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Nov 8, 2019 16:45
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rko posted:Phase 1 even has pretty decent pacing! This is honestly one of the most unexpected things about Ciconia for me so far. I'd gotten used to the glacial pacing of Umineko (and the even slower Higurashi), so I was blown away by how immediately things are happening in this one. You've got that fantastic pivot from "cool robot" to "war is bad" in the prologue, the Miyao/Jayden duel right after that, and now we're barely past the first chapter and already have an evil organization with multiple hidden traitors embedded into the main cast. It has plenty of exposition, but it paces it out better instead of just doing massive walls of it, and the worldbuilding is so fascinating that I seldom mind it anyway.
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Nov 8, 2019 16:49
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both previous posts are my thoughts exactly! ciconia is gearing up to be my favorite wtc game, and unineko is already one of my favorite pieces of fiction ever.
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Nov 8, 2019 16:50
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Mr. Steak posted:both previous posts are my thoughts exactly! I went through pretty much the same experience – I think it only took me about an hour or two of the game to go from "well, this probably won't top Umineko but I'll give it a try" to "this is literally the best thing Ryukishi has ever written" and that's a REAL high bar to clear for me.
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Nov 8, 2019 17:29
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We’ll see! Ciconia is certainly starting off extremely strong, but Umineko is a rich, beautiful masterpiece that has already been a huge inspiration to me as a writer even though I only read it a few years ago. Real curious to see what new readers think about this most recent scene, especially that take on geopolitics from the narrator there at the end.
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Nov 8, 2019 19:33
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Oh man I didn't know the new When They Cry was out!
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Nov 8, 2019 19:55
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rko posted:Real curious to see what new readers think about this most recent scene, especially that take on geopolitics from the narrator there at the end. Well, to me it pretty much confirmed the suspicion some people had earlier: The narrator is not neutral and certainly not simply the author's mouthpiece. I wonder if they'll turn out to be a person in the story or something more meta, so to speak.
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Nov 9, 2019 01:41
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I have to ask, do the runic words running above and below some scenes have a meaning? Is it something people are supposed to translate?
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Nov 9, 2019 05:59
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PetraCore posted:I have to ask, do the runic words running above and below some scenes have a meaning? Is it something people are supposed to translate? They do indeed have a meaning. e: They also indicate that a scene is taking place inside someone's mental tablet, but they also can be translated.
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Nov 9, 2019 06:23
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Quinn2win posted:They do indeed have a meaning.
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Nov 9, 2019 06:39
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This is making me think of Ender's Game a bit. You've got kids being given military power in order to control the fate of the world, some political string-pulling, parts that make you question the author's politics and even a dash of disturbing sexual stuff.
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Nov 9, 2019 07:48
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Huh Japan looks like it's divided into COU and AOU parts. I also get the feeling that Momotake's leaning real hard into his adopted stereotype but isn't entirely wrong about Jayden and Miyao being a bit off compared to what we, the readers, expect of typical Anime Japan.
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Nov 9, 2019 10:14
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Let's see, if the evil conspiracy hasn't been able to find the research bases, then the two characters who absolutely can't be the moles are Koshka and Lilja, right? Also it's nicely darkly comedic that Naima clearly has mental health issues probably at least partially from the responsibility placed on her as a child soldier, but everyone's response is just to give her various drugs since she's useful like she is. RIP.
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Nov 9, 2019 15:08
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 Everyone raised their hands. Kizuna was a free communication tool developed by a Japanese business. Its main function was conversation translation. Countless similar programs competed for market share, and in the end, Kizuna had been declared the winner. The Japanese company that made it was just a small collection of young people, so small that they'd be conceited to even call themselves a company. At first, its capabilities and all other aspects of it were nowhere near as efficient as those produced by massive corporations around the world. Furthermore, tools like this made people react like imprinting chicks, in that they tended to always use the first tool they installed and were used to. That was why massive corporations created several tools aimed at youngsters. ...However, in the end, those youngsters turned their backs on all those tools. Of course the young wouldn't be swayed by features pushed on them by old people running massive corporations, resting on their laurels while scheming to gain an economic advantage. They always had ATM-type features, greedy service contracts with cancellation fees, and so on. In the end, those convenient features always came at the cost of being dragged into some paid service, or else having your data collected. The usual malicious things adults did.  It was passed around by young people all over the world, and now it had the greatest usage rates everywhere, at least among the young. The massive corporations realized their mistake and tried to buy up Kizuna, but the tool created by the young and for the young never fell into the hands of greedy adults... To this very day, Kizuna helps to translate conversations between young people who speak different languages, making communication possible. Even now, young people around the world continue to strengthen its translation and dictionary capabilities, making it capable of translating even modern slang. As could be seen here, people from dozens of countries were speaking frankly in their native languages, but it was all being automatically and quite smoothly translated by the Kizuna apps each of them had installed. No one had problems communicating. Long gone were the days when language was a barrier to forming friendships. Of course, it could do more than just translate. It also had a familiar chat feature, a mini-blog feature, and the ability to upload photos for self-satisfaction or to brag, and much more. In short, it used a mental tablet and mental display to directly do the things old humanity had used smartphones for. And, it all happened inside that person's head, so outsiders couldn't see what they were doing. No one could tell if they had it activated during class. When adults activated it, it took all their concentration, so they couldn't use it well. However, kids of the new generation were used to "background operation". People in the generation that did their homework while watching TV might remember their parents telling them to turn the TV off, since they wouldn't be able to concentrate. However, even at that time, they could watch TV, listen to music, and do their homework, while simultaneously texting on their smartphones. Kids these days were very proficient at that sort of parallel processing, which allowed them to do many tasks at once.  Not only was that talent necessary for using high-tech weapons like Gauntlets, but it was thought to be a likely requirement for unknown technologies that might come into existence in the future. For that reason, in countries across the world, parallel thinking training from a young age was made mandatory as a matter of national policy. This was the first generation. The people here represented those with the highest parallel processing power from several countries... And so, it was normal for them to communicate through Kizuna, even while on the job. Technically, they were forbidden from playing with tools like that, so they could concentrate on their work, but... Well, you couldn't tell someone was using a tool inside their brain just by looking at them. On top of that, they were talented Parallel Processors, so using Kizuna on the side didn't distract them at all. Soldiers from all countries were forbidden from using Kizuna, but they all did. On the contrary, they preferred the youth-targeted, easy-to-use Kizuna to the inflexible military communication tools that had been built for adult reasons, and they often chatted with Kizuna during missions.   "Kizuna is convenient, and its stickers and icons are really cute." So cute poyo! *kero*kero*kero*! "I use the Keropoyo stickers and stuff too. They're so cute, wowowow♪" I'm Keropoyo, the Outie Frog poyopoyo♪ My hobbies are sleeping, eating, and dancing poyo! If you have any questions about Kizuna features, ask me whenever you like poyo! If you ask how to delete me, I'll send all the pictures stored in your mental My Picks to your friends poyo! "I use the hottie icons!" "Well, when all the girls are using a tool, we guys have to use it too." "The tools from our country are all so stuffy..." "The tools in the ABN have no spark to them, so they aren't too popular." "I really should be using a tool from my country, but this is so easy and convenient that I keep using it." "I don't really care which tool I use, but everyone around me uses Kizuna, so I reluctantly gave in..." "I used to use something else. But I switched over because everyone I knew used Kizuna meow." "Kizuna has so many free games!" "Me too." "Oh, you do WanyaDora? Hey, hey, who's your main?!" "Heheheh. I use an ultra-rare Wanyanus I built up into a counter stop." "Kyaaaa♪ We've got ourselves an addict! I'll send you reinforcements, so tell me your ID!!" "The rules forbid it, but the princess likes Kizuna, so..." "So basically, everyone else uses it, so you wanna use it too, and that's how it spread across the world." "My, my. It's as though 'kizuna' -- or interpersonal bonds -- have tied friends from around the world together. What a wonderful thing. Heheheh." "You say that, but you all still have the ad blocker installed, don't you?"Everyone around him raised their hands at once and burst out laughing.   "If you don't mind using one from the ABN, I can link you to a download site." "Nice, nice. By the way, since we're all here, why don't we all send each other friend requests?" "Hmm... Sounds good. There's no rule saying you can't friend someone from another faction, right?" "There is, but interactions on Kizuna are practically unregulated." "Now that sounds interesting. Sure. I'll grant people from the other factions the honor of friending Supergenius Jayden!" "...Wanna make a friend request? Umm, Lieutenant Lingji...?" "I would be happy to accept, Lieutenant Miyao, ace from the AOU." "You can just call me Miyao." "Then please call me Lingji." "You're quite the ace yourself, Lingji. Let's fight again sometime!" "I'd also like to try joining forces and fighting against an AI opponent." BGM: Itsuka no Daichi e However, the open air bath was unsurprisingly the most popular spot. This place had an ocean view that was absolutely beautiful. Thanks to the Luminous 8MS, the fantastical blue of the vast Glass Sea could be seen even in the darkness. However, its beauty was fleeting, and it made everyone feel a bit sentimental.  During World War III, Japan had been hit by a single solar warhead. Everything in a vast area stretching from central Gifu to Osaka had evaporated. All of it had melted, hardened, and turned into a desolate ocean of glass. That one strike had split the Japanese archipelago in half... It was so fantastical, so beautiful, and also the scar from a fearsome war, where masses of people had instantly evaporated.  Of course, you couldn't find this information by searching for it on the net. After all, memories from World War III had been sealed off from the entire world.  "Probably because we finally realized that our foolishness makes learning pointless." "There are as many histories as there are people who tell it. Eventually, individual histories will contradict each other, providing fuel for new fires." "...Just forgetting everything is better than giving rise to new hatred..." As a result, recorded history began to change depending on each person's, country's and faction's needs. A long time later, these histories began to bump into each other, and everyone started criticizing everyone else. In short, the research that was supposed to stop war from repeating became the fuel for new wars... And so, when on the brink of extinction, humanity picked a certain option for the first time. It decided not to write down the history of the war. What countries fought in World War III, for what reason, and how did they destroy the world? All of that information was carefully sealed. All this generation knew was that World War III had happened, and that humanity had almost gone extinct. They only knew that, as a result of the war, many places throughout the world had been scarred so badly that even the topography had changed.   "...Do you want to know?" "..." "At this point, there's no need to know." "Yeah... After all, if we did know, everyone here might not be able to get along... Wow..." "Well, even if I found out right now, I wouldn't let it bother me." "...Yeah. I agree. Even if our countries were going at it, that has nothing to do with the people here now." "My America and Miyao's Japan fought all out in World War II. But that doesn't stand in the way of our friendship."Miyao and Jayden high-fived in a way that showed they were men who knew each other well. "My country had a war with America too, but I just want to be friends with Jayden. Wow." "Well, me too. I have no desire to crudely demand that Miyao apologize for the Sino-Japanese War. It isn't as though Miyao ever attacked us. We hadn't even been born yet." "Indeed. The friendship of the people here shouldn't be affected by things like countries, histories, or the past." "And that's why, as we look at this Glass Sea, there's just one thing we all need to remember." "...One thing?" Currently, historical research of World War III was only acceptable as an exception among exceptions inside special research institutions. Even trying to learn about it was a crime. In recent years, even investigating the region of AOU Japan that had been evaporated by a solar warhead had been added to this taboo. So, pictures and even old maps of Japan's beloved and beautiful ancient capital, Kyoto, had been banned. Eventually, the simple fact that a beautiful city called Kyoto had existed would probably fade from memory. If that was a necessary sacrifice to prevent another war... Then just how horrible is war? And how horrible are humans, who can't help but push towards war? Japan and America, which fought in World War II, did develop a strong friendship following the war. However, some have argued that this was simply because such a relationship was necessary in the Cold War that followed. In the end, as long as countries lead people by the nose, it may be fair to say that everything happens for the convenience of those countries, regardless of whether people end up hating each other or becoming friends. As for this fantastical, blue, beautiful Glass Sea... Everyone had chosen to ignore the fact that crowds of people had evaporated and died here in an instant. Maybe they had finally accepted that humans aren't creatures who can learn, but creatures who hate each other and long for war.  BGM: Deeply Remember Miyao shook his head slightly, regaining his bright expression, then stood up and spoke to everyone. Oddly, despite how many people were here, they all had the same look on their faces. "You know, we may be from different countries and different factions. And who knows how this world is gonna turn out." Lingji felt exactly the same. And so did everyone else. They all looked at each other and nodded.  "...I agree. We're all friends supporting the Walls of Peace together." "Someday, we may meet again as enemies... But still..." "We'll still be friends＞＜!" "...Indeed. There is a great difference between opposing each other with hatred...and doing so with friendship and respect despite our differing factions." "In the first place, our sole mission is to give those old politicians time to cool their heads and resolve disputes." "Yeah meow. I don't wanna start killing each other because some old person orders me to meow meooow." (That's right, Rukhi... We aren't the adults' pawns...!) "Exactly. There's no need for us to kill each other. We just have to buy time...so those old people can chill their boiling heads." "Heheheh. That's not something a soldier should even say." "We're comrades supporting the Walls of Peace before we're soldiers." "That's right. We didn't come here because we wanted a war. We're here because war's no joke." "Even if there is a war, we should resolve it with matches and games like today!"By now, everyone had the same feeling, the same words on the tips of their tongues. Miyao, the one who had brought up this subject, spoke those words aloud before anyone else.  "So, you don't think that would be impossible? While still carrying out our duties as soldiers?" "If your shield breaks, you should surrender willingly and retreat! And you should never chase after people when they do that! Wow!" "After all, our left arms are so valuable, they can't afford to let us get shot down needlessly." "That's right. Even the IPMA says you can't attack an enemy who's lost the will to fight." "Does that just apply to those of us present? ...It doesn't, right?" "My friends' friends are all my friends!" "Let's have our friends and everyone else's friends all be friends!" "At this moment, all the Gauntlet Knights in the world just became friends!" "...I'll make my friend list visible to all of you." "I second that. I'll make my whole friend list visible too." "...I don't have any friends." "Then start packing your friend list today! You'll have so many WanyaDora hearts, you won't know what to do with them." "Ooh... Okay then..."Of course, just sending a friend request didn't automatically make them best buddies. They were probably doing it partly out of politeness, sort of like exchanging business cards. And anyway, what did it really mean to send a friend request to someone from a different country, whose face you've never seen? However, even if it was just a formality... At this very moment, all the young Gauntlet Knights, who wielded the cutting edge of the world's military might, were joined by bonds of friendship.  "Heheheheh. Then let's make an oath, just like Jacques-Louis David's famous painting."--We are friends and allies supporting the Walls of Peace. We will never hurt our friends. As everyone took an oath-making pose of their own choosing, they swore to hold true to the same sentiment...    BGM: Ominous3 What's...so funny...?  What's so funny...? What's so funny...?!  "You're the one who's going to be doing the killing. You are."I'm going to kill...? Who...?!! Right over there, "I" am sending WanyaDora hearts to Koshka. Koshka is gaping at how many hearts she's received. Across from us, Lingji is installing WanyaDora with Miyao's referral ID...  "Take those two you're happily chatting with right now."Koshka? Lingji? What about them...?!  Why?!! Why would I...kill my comrades?! Like Koshka?! Or Lingji?!  "...Did you forget? ...To kill, to destroy. That's the sole reason you were created in the first place."I don't... understand! Who even are you?! Why do you look like me?!  "I am you. I'm one of the many 'yous' inside you. And, because I know the horrifying reason you were created, I've come to put a stop to it, as your inner conscience."What are you talking about...? I don't get it!  Are you kidding me...?! Don't decide that on your own!! I'm Mitake Miyao! I always have and always will live by my own willpower! So I was created to kill and destroy, huh? I don't know what you're talking about! No one ever ordered me to do something like that! Even if they did, like hell I'd obey them! "And yet, you already are a Gauntlet Knight."So what...?! "Gauntlet Knights are individuals with the firepower of a warship, the ultimate cutting edge of military might. You're steadily preparing for your goal of death and destruction..."Th-That's not why I became a Gauntlet Knight! I just wanted to fly! That's why I made it my goal to become one! Well, it's true that I was able to choose that path because Dad had me undergo Parallel Processor training ever since I was a baby, but...  "Let me tell you a bit about your future." "...You're going to kill that girl called Koshka and that girl called Lingji, with whom you've been chatting so happily."I don't care what you say, idiot!! I won't kill them! We just swore we wouldn't...!! And it's not just those two! I definitely won't kill anyone here, or any of their friends I haven't met yet!! I'm not the only one who swore! We all did! All of us, all of us...!!  Shut up... Shut up...!! "This is a future you'll definitely reach, and a fixed event you'll definitely carry out. Take that girl there, Lingji, whom I just said you'd kill. I can even tell you how you'll kill her." "It'll be...a close-range, face-to-face aerial fight. You'll shatter Lingji's head with a punch backed by a force field." And even if I did pull Lingji into a close-range aerial fight in an actual battle, she's an incredibly talented ace! At the Battle Standard Festival, I was made painfully aware of her skill. Of course we wouldn't let each other get that close so easily! You think I'd hit Lingji with my fist in a close-range battle? Hahah, who do you think we are?! You underestimate Lingji too much! If I launched an attack that sluggish, she'd just raise her shield and send me flying away, increasing the distance between us! "Under normal circumstances, yes. I think you'd do that, and so would she." "But...it won't be possible. Not for her to knock you away with her shield." "After all, unfortunately for her, she won't be able to use her shield then. So, your fist will continue on and crush her skull."Her Rejection Shield will malfunction?! That's the worst sort of malfunction a Gauntlet could have... "No, it won't malfunction. You will kill her. That plotline will simply be carried out."I... will kill...Lingji... "And not just her. I'll tell you how you'll kill Koshka." This time, I saw Koshka plummeting downwards, surrounded by sparks and blood pouring from all over her body...! "Even you and your partner Jayden will fight fiercely to the death. Same with the others, all of them fiercely exchanging fire over and over, killing each other."A future image flew through my head, unstoppable, of all those friends who had just sworn their friendship... Blood splattered and tears dripped down...as they killed each other...! "...That kid's gonna die too. And that one. And him. And her. Every one of them will die. They'll kill each other and be killed."Stop iiiiiiiiiiit!!! Stop showing me these crazy illusioooooons...!!  Because I exist? I exist, so everyone's gonna die?! I'm gonna kill them?!?! No, I don't want to kill anyone!! I want to be friends with everyone forever...!! "You want to protect this world of friendship, where interpersonal bonds join all of you together?"Of course...!! I'll protect it! I'll protect friendship and peace throughout the world! That's why I became a Gauntlet Knight!! "Well, there is just one way...to protect this world."Tell me, don't leave me hanging...!! I want a world where we never become enemies!!  Is the world going to break... because I exist...?! What in the world... am I...?! "Oh, I'll tell you what you really are."What I really am?! I'm Mitake Miyao...! A Gauntlet Knight of the Aerial Augmented Infantry unit "Warcat", from AOU Japan...!! "That's just your backstory. After all, you're just a program built for destruction, which was given the name Mitake Miyao..." BGM: Chat  Someone wants to enter the room poyo. Will you give them access poyo? "Whoa, who is it?!" "Ah, they're finally here! It's those big sisters from the LATO military who reffed for us today."  "Heheh... Japanese is hard. This is clearly a structural flaw in the Kizuna translator." "So, you two also ended up with It's a Wrap Public Lust?" "Heheheh... Well, my country's official language is Portuguese, after all. Japanese is tough." "Hahah! That proves you use 'lust' a lot in your emails!" "Welcome, you two, to the It's a Wrap Public Bath! Guess that means it's time for a storm of friend requests!"  "Wawawawawa?! What in the?! My mental display got filled up with Keropoyos!" "H-Heheheheh, that's quite a welcome. Thanks for the invitation. We're Valentina from LATO Brazil and Maricarmen from LATO Mexico." "Just this once, I'll let you call me Marica, okay?!" "That means we'll have to do the Public Bath Oath again, wow♪" "If bonds of friendship tie the world together, humanity will never make such a foolish mistake again." "Miyao, you may initiate the oath once more!" "Sure! Then let's all do it again, okay?!" "?! Wait, what? What's going on...??" 
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Nov 11, 2019 16:45
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...Well that guy sure is a hell of an inner conscience. Does he pop in to tell Miyao he should stop procrastinating on his laundry or to eat healthy as well?
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Nov 11, 2019 17:50
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Oh poo poo, here comes Miyao's equivalent of Beatrice (the way I see it). drat I just love how Ciconia gets right the gently caress into all of its plot so quickly. Ryukishi really knows what the audience expects from a WTC series, so he's like "here, I know you're waiting for all this poo poo to drop so just take it in episode 1"
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Nov 11, 2019 19:25
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PetraCore posted:I have to ask, do the runic words running above and below some scenes have a meaning? Is it something people are supposed to translate? So I love doing stuff like this and spent my lunch break earlier figuring out the cipher from one of the images. It's a simple english substitution. I don't know if it's one Ryukishi came up with or if he took an already existing substitution; maybe he just used a popular one that I could have just looked up and this was pointless for me to do! But it was fun. I used this image: to figure out stuff. I always look for small, simple words like "the" first, and then see if anything catches my eye from there - "throne" was close to the first "the" I picked out, so that was easy, and that was a good foundation of letters to figure other stuff out. I was confused for a second when I got "lice" at one point, but figured from context it's supposed to be "like," so it's not exactly a simple substitution: c and k share a rune, and later on I discovered w and v share a rune as well. Otherwise it's straightforward, though I am currently missing q, x, and z.Anyway, here's the translation I got. I'm... very uncertain about a lot of stuff in the first line, as the top was cut off in the image. Asterisks are just the dots from a couple places in the image, I don't have enough to determine what they are yet. Top: ???rd the p???e and e?riners and such that sea stood ??? off ?and cried out ??tching that s?oc? of her ?ire saying ?hat city is ??? thi? great city and they threw dust ?bo?? saints and apostles and prophets for god has adjudicated your redress from her and a powerful angel lifted up a stone like a giant millstone and threw it into the sea saying wit? cians and flutists and trumpeters will never more be heard in you nor will any craftsmen of any skill be found in you anymore nor the sound of a factory be heard in you anymore and the Bottom: of the water of life bright like crystal flowing from the throne of god [obscured by textbox] ?* and of either side of the river the tree of life producing ?words are trustworthy and true* yes the lord the god of the spirits of [obscured by textbox] his servants what things must soon take place and behold i am co (n?)ot seal up the words of the prophecy of this book for the time is near*he who is doing wrong let him continue to do wrong and the unclean continue to be unclean and he who is doing So each line seems to be separate. I assume these are scrolling in-game? Assuming they are, I might at some point check other images and try to splice together each line, but don't have enough time right now. I could also post a picture of my notes for which rune goes to which roman letter later, if anyone else wants to check other images and doesn't want to figure out the cipher themselves. I recognize the "he who is doing wrong let him continue..." part from the Bible, I'm pretty sure, though I'm not sure where. I'll try to google some of it later to see if any of it is actually a reference from outside of the game. Telum fucked around with this message at 18:10 on Nov 12, 2019 |
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Nov 11, 2019 20:33
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Look back on page 1 for some new info about the five factions. I'll be gradually updating this with more character info on days when I don't have an actual update. The game dumps all this info on the player at once at around this point, but this way I can pace myself.
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Nov 12, 2019 14:47
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Zack Ater posted:So I love doing stuff like this and spent my lunch break earlier figuring out the cipher from one of the images. I'll go ahead and spoiler it just in case anyone else wants to work on it themselves. Yeah, it is an existing means of writing, the Futhorc (which was used for Old English) or a similar alphabet, such as the Futhark (Scandinavian). The runes are a bit too small for me to make out easily. The quotes are all from Revelation, aka Apocalypse, the vision of the end of the world that contains the most memorable imagery of destruction in the Bible. It's a prophecy about the destruction of 'Babylon'. I'm actually having trouble figuring out which translation this is. Bible Gateway has a ton of versions but you can only search five at a time. A web search brought up this page but the site doesn't say what version is being used. e: Near as I can tell, it's likely a version favored by Catholics. Still haven't found the exact one, though. Kangra fucked around with this message at 15:57 on Nov 12, 2019 |
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Nov 12, 2019 15:43
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Kangra posted:Yeah, it is an existing means of writing, the Futhorc (which was used for Old English) or a similar alphabet, such as the Futhark (Scandinavian). The runes are a bit too small for me to make out easily. Looking at that website, it would seem to be elder Futhark, specifically. Thanks for pointing that out! And for checking the quotes; I'll try to look for them at lunch today, too. e: Fair enough! I just thought someone else might want to try without it all being right there in the open. Telum fucked around with this message at 18:09 on Nov 12, 2019 |
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Nov 12, 2019 16:31
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Thanks for the help, that's all really interesting and definitely helps build the mood! Revelations is great for weird ominous imagery.
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Nov 12, 2019 16:36
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I don't think we need to spoiler tag translations of the UI runes.
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Nov 12, 2019 16:52
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Huh, basically past a certain point generationally, all or most of the AOU demographic are going to be factory grown humans.
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Nov 12, 2019 23:07
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Nov 13, 2019 00:27
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Holy poo poo. I had no idea the latest When They Cry is out. I am 100% onboard for Ryukishi's epic thesis-paper-disguised-as-a-kickass-sound-novel on international affairs and the generation gap. And I'm loving all of these characters and their designs (Naima's hijab  ). By the way, Yeladot Shavit (ילדות שביט) means Comet Girls.e. Is this game available outside of Japan?
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Nov 13, 2019 03:43
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Viola the Mad posted:e. Is this game available outside of Japan? It is! You can pick it up on Steam, in English.
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Nov 13, 2019 03:45
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Quinn2win posted:It is! You can pick it up on Steam, in English. Just got it myself. Just got ahead of the LP. Some stuff is happening.
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Nov 13, 2019 04:56
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   BGM: Advancing "Unlike a supergenius like me, the others are gonna need some repeated practice." "I've been covering for your little Supergenius screw ups this whole time meow♪" "Yeah, yeah＞＜! You can't treat Grave Mole like we're drones, Jayden＞＜!" "Sheesh. I guess you can't keep up with the superb movement ability Miyao and I have." "There's no point saving a second of time if your coordination suffers! I know you're a supergenius, so pay a little more attention to what's behind you! Even a supergenius can't do anything without support from his comrades! And anyway, I see so much inefficiency in your trajectory data! You keep putting unnecessary strain on your Internal 8MS...!!" "...Hihihi, you got yelled at." "You're definitely a supergenius, Jayden. You're so much of one that you can't coordinate with normal people like us." "Uh oh... Miyao's totally entered lecture mode meow." "And when he lectures, he keeps sending over specific data, so you can't fight back... Aaaah, Miyao, Second Lieutenant Miyao, Master Miyao, I'm so, so sorry, so please hit stupid, slow Chloe with more and more relevant dataaaaa...＠∀＠；" "Looks like Chloe's reliving her past trauma meow meow." "Miyao, if you don't put your lectures on hold and resume training, the Instructor-" "...You're the one who slacked off and took a break, Instructor." "Did you say something, Koshkaaaaaaaa?!!!" "I don't think he heard you, so I'll text it to him meow meow♪" "You fooooooool!!! Chloeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!" "Why＞＜am I＞＜owwwww, Instructoooooor＞＜" "Your time hasn't improved at all!! You ended up looking that pathetic at the Festival because you aren't taking this seriously!!" "...I don't think it was bad enough to be called 'pathetic'." "That rear end in a top hat's probably been saying things like 'They'll definitely win first place, they've got me training them' to his higher-ups, raising the bar for no reason..." "I agree. I'm not sure I like having a record like that dismissed so easily." "Dummy, dummy! Stupid, stupid Okonogi! Meow, meow, meow♪" "Y-You shouldn't say things like that!" "...Stupid Chloe just self-destructed." "What's that, Chloe?!?! You got something you'd like to say to me?!!" "I-I-It's nothing, I'm so sorry, Instructoooooooor...＞＜!" "Warcat, Grave Mole, to your positions!! Gunhild, raise the AI level by 3!" "Roger that." Level up to 3! Roger that poyo! "Listen up! In the end, it isn't about logic, it's about beating it directly into your bodies! Empty your minds and repeat it again and again!! Chloe, begin the countdown!!" "Enemy AI has been adjusted. Chloe, go ahead." "Th-Then I'll begin the countdown! 3, 2, 1...＞＜!!" Battle simulator, let's go poyo!! Kids of the Selcom Era thought of everything as data and numbers, but old-world thinking was full of abstract, emotional, spiritual, and guts-based arguments. "...Sheesh. Miyao's accurate, data-storm lectures are better than this. Then again, it's like the difference between being pushed out a 10th-story window or an 11th-story window... Hahah..." "Hey, supergenius! Concentrate! I'm watching your data, so I can tell! Get ready for a big review meeting after this! And don't run away!" "Seriously? Hahah..."Even the Supergenius Jayden, who didn't know how to be discouraged, was apparently hit hard by Miyao's lectures... And so, once again, the young Gauntlet Knights trained in all sorts of ways until they were worn out...  BGM: Chat "Hey, I'd appreciate it if you didn't talk about our princess behind her back." "So, you have no complaints when everything's explained to you logically, Jayden?" "N-Nngggg... Well, you can still go too far, yeah?"Ever since the It's a Wrap Public Bath party, this virtual room had become a meeting place for Gauntlet Knights regardless of nationality. Whenever the young hit it off, it usually doesn't take long for them to become friends. And, getting to hear or tell stories to people from different environments is a very precious thing for their young hearts. The vast majority of Parallel Processors were women, so the Gauntlet boys were a minority. Today had become a rare all-boy gathering.   "Are COU instructors scum too? I figured they'd be wise compared to our instructor." "Woo! If they had a Scummy Instructor Battle Standard Festival, our COU team would take golds in every event." "At least they're a bit better than our ABN Instructors, in that you're allowed to openly criticize them." "I imagine that if you badmouth your instructors in the ABN, you'll get arrested on the spot, yes?" "Heheheh. In a country where you can't insult anyone to their face, you form a culture capable of insulting people without it sounding like you're insulting them." "Sounds nice. So, for example, what would you say to an irritating superior officer, who never shows any appreciation for their subordinates' work?" "It's our way to say the opposite of what we mean. Something like 'I am truly grateful for the heartfelt support you always show me, Instructor.'" "Nice, I'll take it." A friend has arrived poyo♪  "Your grace, thank you for your ever-present heartfelt support-" "For which we are ever so grateful, Princess Rethabile." "Huh? R-R-Right. Very well then." "Hahahah, hahahahahahahahahah." BGM: Deeply Remember In this era, high-quality sleep substitute drugs had been developed, so sleep was no longer necessary. Humanity had effectively doubled the density and time in a human life. But, of course, it wasn't a perfect, dream-like drug. It only freed you from the need to sleep, so if you wanted to maintain your concentration, you needed to rely on things like that ancient drug, caffeine. If you tried to study for a test all night, you might not get sleepy, but you'd get bored and start hating it halfway through. For most people, who didn't have anything they needed to do so badly that it was worth abandoning sleep, it wasn't really that valuable. After all, it can get pretty boring if you have no work or any desire to do anything until dawn, and you're incapable of feeling sleepy, even if you lay down. So, this drug was only used regularly by the young, who could never find enough time to study and play. Thanks to that, the young lost the concept of time zones. They were always awake, so they could communicate with anyone regardless of day and night, even if that person was on the other side of the planet. The fact that they were capable of communication this rich was a powerful weapon in the young ones' arsenal. Though some places did close down in the middle of the night, the shopping district was always open, even at this hour. Jayden could be seen in the nighttime shopping district, during a time range when only young people who loved the anti-sleeping drug were up and about...  For Jayden, all that complaining and laughing with friends in the public bath had made for a good change of pace. At least, the part about complaining about instructors had.  "...Miyao, go at least a little easy on me... His lectures are like a tornado of good points. I can't contradict him, so I wish...aaah, dammit...!"He couldn't call Miyao a bastard or an rear end in a top hat. All his points were right on the mark. When Jayden actually followed those suggestions, he noticed the difference clearly. All he could do then was lick the wounds that had been inflicted on Supergenius Jayden's pride.  True to what Jayden had always claimed, he was enough of a genius ace to earn the 'super' qualification. Ever since he was young, he had never been inferior to anyone around him in any way. However, that was when he'd been surrounded by what he called normal people. When surrounded by the best Gauntlet aces, the ultimate collection of talent, he couldn't always be on top. Of that group, only Mitake Miyao felt like a "rival" he might not be able to match... Even though, until recently, Jayden had always focused on his own victory, achieving success again and again.  While doing his best to achieve victory, Miyao would simultaneously search to find out how he could counter his opponent's best. And, he would accurately notice when those opponents did well or badly, even when said opponents didn't notice it themselves. Jayden: "Ah, right. After getting criticized again and again and again, there was no compliment at the end today. That's why I'm so down." Miyao's lecture mode today was a rush of valid points and data, as usual. But after I get beaten down, he's supposed to finish it with a compliment, so I can look forward to hearing him make suggestions.  You're pathetic, Supergenius Jayden... Since when has my mood jumped all over the place because of every word that skinny pipsqueak says? Jayden: "Wait a sec... I'm obsessing over this way too much. How the heck did I get here?" I checked with my mental display and saw that I had traveled several stations down. I didn't come to this place often. Still, if I wanted to totally reset my mood, coming to a part of the city I wasn't used to may have been just what I needed. I looked around. Information from countless shops flooded my brain. Of course, getting hit with a flood of information just leads to confusion, so I used one of my favorite information filters and simplified the data in my vision. When I did, a nearby game center was marked as 'recommended'.   It's the game salon "Armageddon" poyoo!! Rating: ★★★★☆, Safety: ★★★★☆, Cleanliness: ★★★☆☆It was my first time going to this place, but it didn't look bad. And, according to its description, one of its popular games had just received an update. "Nice. It's been a while since I've filled the high score list with my name." BGM: Chat In an era with mental displays, anyone could play games even during class without anyone else knowing. However, the locations called game centers were a bit different. In addition to the mental display, they also projected the game screen on a spatial display. Why? Isn't it obvious? To show off your skill to people you've never seen before. Of course, even in this era, game livestreams on the internet were alive and well. You could interact with them in many ways, including voice and text. However, some demanding young people felt that there was no replacement for the sensation of seeing live reactions. Because of these people, relics from the old world like game centers still existed, and boldly so, despite how far civilization had advanced. Good live gameplay requires a crowd of young people to watch. They get to have a great time, cheering and/or showing their disappointment in an exaggerated manner. "That takes me back. I remember when I'd go into game centers where all the neighborhood brats hung out."He bought a drink as a substitute for the entry fee, then sat down in a random empty seat. Gloomy people vaguely lacking in self-confidence might sit in the corner, even though they wanted to be seen. However, Supergenius Jayden wasn't like that. He'd sit openly in the throne right in the middle, left open because of that special Japanese brand of embarrassment that they call humility.  If he hadn't, then a friend would've heartlessly messaged him, regardless of whether he was feeling neurotic or depressed. At that moment, he wanted some time to himself, so he didn't activate Kizuna and chose not to participate in the promo. Jayden: "Well, if I get an ultra high score and expose my ID, I'll get so many friend requests from people I don't know, it'll be a pain." In any era, if you carelessly expose your personal information, you'll get a rush of weird direct mail and sales calls. "Okay. Let's do this...!" BGM: Genius Children Gauntlet Knights, who could fly unassisted and dominate a battlefield on their own, were what kids around the world wanted to become. So, there were many games that simulated being a Gauntlet Knight. This was also a useful way in all countries to find people with high aptitudes. For that reason, games like this were placed in game centers all over the world.  This game was a much lower quality than the military simulator, but it was more than good enough to work as a game. Furthermore, all his experiences from normal training would come back to him, and the realism could be supplemented by his brain and become pretty intense. This was his first time playing at this game center, so he would run through the tutorial first and get a feel for this particular location. Now to select a difficulty level... EASY, NORMAL, HARD? Yeah, right. I'll boldly flick my mental tablet! The word HARD instantly shot off the top of the screen, which scrolled down to the no-handholding settings like ULTRA HARD and NIGHTMARE. The one I chose was the last one. REAL GAUNTLET KNIGHT! "Let's go. I'll show them I'm a supergenius!!" The Stage 7 boss was modeled off the Atlantis, the ACR Combined Military Superfortress-class Segmented Warship. It was made up of 7 connected Superfortress-class Warships, meaning it was more than just a ship. It was a fortress on the sea. A barrage of countless missiles was being launched from there, drawing a beautiful geometric shape that dazzled any who saw it...!  "Here I go?!?! Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh...!!!" He magnificently dodged the countless guided missiles chasing after him, shooting them down with perfect accuracy. Just like a missile matador! The excitement in the store reached a crescendo, and the noise made even passersby stop and look. When Jayden completed the game to the utmost excitement, he waved back at the cheering young people throughout the salon...  BGM: White Song This really does feel good. Thank God I came to this game center. Now, that uneasy feeling is gone. Jayden sank deep into the sofa, enjoying the feeling, and slowly sipped his drink. The excitement in the salon calmed down, and everyone went back to enjoying their own games or watching others. "...Hmm? If you register a Kizuna ID, you can take advantage of our Point Rally Start Dash Campaign?"It's because I was playing pretty well just now. They don't want to miss out because I'm an unregistered user.  "Okay, might as well register. I'll have to add a comment that I'm not taking friend requests."He set his Kizuna, which had been OFF, to ON. He immediately received several ad emails. Hmm?  "Already? Who is it...?"Kizuna always displayed a message like that when a friend's avatar came to visit over the internet, or if a friend came near you in real life. This wasn't an avatar visit. Did that mean one of his friends was nearby? The friend sign was very close. Apparently, I just didn't notice because I was set to OFF, but they seem to be inside this store. That's a bit cold, not saying hi even though they're in the same game center. Who is it? Where are they? I tried to check their friend sign through my mental tablet, but it suddenly disappeared. Now that it was gone, I had no way of knowing the person's name or where they were. "...H-Hey, that's creepy..."In other words, a friend inside the store had realized that Jayden was nearby...and had hurriedly set their Kizuna to OFF. That does tick me off a bit.  I looked around the store. Okay, where are you hiding? There were more customers than usual at this time of day, partly due to the aftereffects of Jayden's super playing. This person probably knew who Jayden was, so if he set up camp in front of the store, they probably wouldn't come strolling out. He checked the store map from his Kizuna. There was one more route out of the store, the back door near the bathroom! ...Look, there's the shadow of a person rushing through, and clearly not someone who has to use the bathroom!  He recognized the person from behind. It was definitely Mitake Miyao, his partner from the Warcats! Though he could hear Jayden, he was hurrying away, trying to blend in with the shopping center crowd. Interestingly, he was leaving with a quick, shuffling walk. Jayden, feeling that it'd be unfair to run after him, followed along with a similar shuffling walk.  "Wait, hey! Miyao, Miyaooooooo! Why are you shutting your Kizuna off and running away?! That's creepy, man! Hey, is it something I did? Something during training just now? Did I do something so weird that it pissed you off?!"Miyao continued that shuffling walk without turning around. Jayden chased after him in the same way, calling out questions and complaints at Miyao's back. To anyone watching this, it probably looked as though they were having a lover's quarrel. "...Hey, I may be a gentleman, but I've just about had it, okay?"As expected, there was no response. However, Miyao was Miyao. It couldn't possibly be anyone else.After all, considering how long Jayden had been following them, someone other than Miyao would've called the police by now.  "I've just about had it! You've got five seconds! Four, three, two, one-"Aaah, I've had enough! This time, I'm the lecturer. I'll make Miyao say he's sorry!   Jayden raced forward, grabbed Miyao's thin arms, and forcibly spun him around. However...   "...!"C-Crap... Did I...really mistake him for someone else...? "That's not possible...! ...You're Miyao, right? You are, aren't you...?!"It was almost as though he was trying to convince himself, rather than interrogate this person. He did think it was Mitake Miyao. His eyes and his nose and his mouth... Many bits of information made it clear that this was Miyao himself. However, well, the atmosphere about him, or something Jayden couldn't really describe, was that of something that resembled Miyao, yet wasn't... Only then, Jayden realized that Miyao's whole demeanor was different from usual... And the color of his lips seemed more sensual, or something.   "...Wait... Wait, wait, wait, wait! You're Miyao, right? You are, aren't you?!" "...I'm not M-Miyao..." "Liar! Then turn your Kizuna ON!" "No..."Crap, this totally looks like a couple fighting... The eyes of people walking by hurt. Jayden took the guy who was definitely Miyao but claimed not to be... No, maybe this isn't even a guy... He took the kid into a nearby store and sat them down... By this point, a certain possibility had risen to Jayden's mind. I'm a supergenius, so I don't really get it, but aren't lots of Gauntlet Knight candidates... ...Aah, now I've done it... "Umm, sorry."He had planned on making this person apologize, but in the end, Jayden was the one who apologized.  BGM: Komugiro no Bishou  "..."As though giving up, the person shut their eyes tight and gave a slight nod.  "Sorry... I...didn't know..." However, that didn't mean all babies had equal amounts of talent. No matter how much one trained, some people couldn't become Parallel Processors, while some developed surprising amounts of talent with very little effort. It was well known that people with natural talents like this often developed a certain type of split personality. Multiple personality disorder, in its commonly known form, occurs when neural trauma creates a data partition in the brain and gives birth to a new personality -- one that hasn't been influenced by the trauma -- in order to protect one's mind. This is an acquired trait. However, in extremely rare cases, multiple personalities can appear as a congenital trait. Unlike acquired multiple personality disorder, its biggest identifying feature is that the personalities can be awake at the same time. It means that two consciousnesses can literally exist simultaneously in a single body. They can each think of and concentrate on different things. In fact, they can apparently even have verbal arguments with each other using the same mouth.  Since Gauntlet Knights needed to be capable of parallel thinking, humans born with multiple simultaneous thoughts in the same brain made for incredibly suitable candidates... So, according to one theory, 30% of famous Gauntlet Knights (60% according to a different theory) had this special kind of congenital multiple personality disorder. Furthermore, these people would feel hurt if you called it multiple personality disorder, so they were now referred to as CPPs (Congenital Parallel Processors)...  "When I was in America, I had a friend who was a Congenital... I was a brat who didn't really understand, so I kept saying 'show me a different personality' and 'do something crazy', treating him like some kind of show instead of thinking about how he must've felt. I regret it now."No matter how much talent you have, it's never pleasant when people look at you strangely. So, even though Gauntlet Knights have become a shared dream for kids all over the world, almost no one 'comes out' as a CPP... It was all thanks to what remained of stereotypes from the old era, where multiple personalities were treated like something out of the occult or horror genres...  "You know, I wasn't the one who started calling myself a supergenius. I've been told that since I was very young, at the training institute. This kid's a supergenius, with all that parallel processing power despite not being a CPP..."Thinking back on it, maybe all of them were CPPs, not just the friend who came out about it. And I treated that friend like some kind of bizarre animal... Imagining how everyone else must've felt made my chest hurt...  "...Miyao...wait, that's not right. I want to treat you as an individual human being. Would you mind telling me your name?" "..." "Huh?" It sounded like someone imitating a cat's cry. No, wait, that's not it. I see, Miyao and Meow, huh? What a cute name. "Meow, are you a girl...?" "...Yeah..." "Aah, sorry about earlier! I grabbed your shoulder hard... That's no way to treat a girl, right? ...Forgive me." "I-It's okay..."  "Wait, wait, wait. I shouldn't be thinking up jokes. No, seriously, I'm so sorry..." "Don't apologize so much, okay...? Umm, I shouldn't have run, and I should've told you..." "Meow, what should I do? I want to treat you the way you want to be treated." "...Huh?" "If you ask me to forget everything that happened today, I'll forget about you completely by tonight. If I ever realize I'm seeing you as Meow, I'll pretend I don't know you. Anyway, you're..."The way Jayden panicked as he tried his best to be polite must have looked a little humorous. Meow giggled, and Jayden, not realizing why she was laughing, opened his eyes even wider.  "N-No, I'm just, uhh..." "If you act so humble, it just makes this more uncomfortable. So really, don't worry about it. And anyway, I've been by your side all this time. If you act so distant, it actually makes me feel lonely..." "I see... After all, you still exist even when Miyao's there. So, what about today's training?" "Hey, I'm a Gauntlet Knight too. I split the work with big brother, checking our surroundings and controlling our posture and stuff." "I see... Is that how it was? So, you've been my other partner all along..."At the word 'partner', Meow smiled broadly for the first time. Miyao was probably the main personality. So, Meow's personality always had to be kept hidden away, and it was hard for others to notice it. She must've been happy to be recognized as a separate personality... "Big brother, huh? So you're Miyao's little sister. My old friend said his personalities were friends with each other." "It's brother and sister, in our case. There's all sorts, depending on the person." "So, Miyao usually controls your body, but sometimes you put on makeup like a girl and go out at night to have fun, like this." "...Yeah."So, she's been having fun in a part of town far separated from the area Mitake Miyao lives in. So that no one who knew her would realize that she's a CPP. "Still, it's a bit unsafe for a pretty girl like you to play around in the city at night, don't you think?" "...Sometimes, weird people do try to talk to me." "No kidding! A girl this cute, walking around without a boyfriend? You'd be crazy if you didn't try to talk to her."As Jayden said this, he gradually turned red. Just yesterday, he'd thought of this person as a cool partner of the same gender. Now, he suddenly had to treat her like a girl, even though this was the same physical body... Except for a little makeup, this was totally Miyao... Aaaaah, now I'm feeling kinda hot and sweaty! "Meow, the next time you come here to have fun, let me know." "...Huh?"  "Oh... Y-Yeah. I think having a bodyguard would be nice..." "That body belongs to my two partners, Miyao and Meow, so it's only n-natural that I protect it..."Wh-Why do I keep turning red...?! What I'm saying is perfectly normal, right? My partner's body is tiny, and it'd suck if some weirdo came after him and hurt him when he was off having fun at night, so I'm offering to stay by his side. There's nothing remotely strange about that! ...Oh, I get it. It's because of how Meow's face looks. Because you look like that, I can't figure out what to do next...! Enough with this weird sweat already! "Thanks, Jayden. I'll definitely ask you to do that when the time comes." "Sure, send me a Kizuna message whenever you like."Would they ever have been able to talk like this, if Jayden had only ever known Miyao? The two of them chatted about things they never would've discussed if it had been Miyao. Before long, Jayden was gradually beginning to understand. "I see. I get it. When Miyao was lecturing me, he would always praise me for doing something good at the very end. No matter how small it was, he'd always find something." "...!" "That was you, wasn't it?" "...H-How..." "..."Even though Jayden had met her for the first time today, he could see how much unexpected joy those words gave her... Something twinkled a little near her tightly shut eyes... "...You're...really cool, Jayden. I can't believe...you noticed that I was there..." "W-Well, of course. I'm still Supergenius Jayden..." "Yeah. A supergenius. And cool. I know that. I'm always watching from nearby, so I know..." "Ummmmmm, uhhh... But...isn't Miyao listening to this conversation...? Hahah, hahahah. The next time I see him, he'll tell me not to be a creep around his sister and beat the crap out of me..." "...Oh, that's okay. When I don't want to be heard, I make sure the door of my heart is shut."Apparently, privacy between personalities is possible. And, she can apparently take her current experiences and memories and either share them with Miyao, or keep them for herself. Thinking about it that way, this is pretty rough. A brother and sister, living in the same body...  Guys were another matter, but just before dawn wasn't a very safe time for girls. At that hour, they would sometimes get bugged by guys who had been having fun all night and who were weirdly excited. But she said she wanted to secretly go home on her own. Meow was a girl, but the main personality of that body was Miyao. In other words, people thought of them as a guy.   "Then shouldn't it be the other way around?" "?" "You walk back home openly with me. If we do bump into someone we know, I'll say this isn't Miyao, it's a girl friend of mine." "I...I see..."Meow's face had gone red as if someone had boiled it. "...? Did I really say something that embarrassing?"Apparently, Kizuna had interpreted 'girl friend' as 'girlfriend'. In English, Jayden had only meant that he'd introduce her as a girl he was friends with, but... In places that spoke Japanese, the phrase always meant a more long-term, one-on-one, romantic relationship.  "...That's really a pain... I'll try and find a better Japanese translation patch..." "No matter how much technology advances..." "Hmm?" "Communication really is made up of more than words and text. There's also your eyes, your expression, the atmosphere, smells, your heart beating, and all of it makes communication possible." "Yeah. If we ever start living in an electronic world, it'll be pretty boring." "Kizuna translation mistakes, getting embarrassed and trying to run away, and chasing after people who do that. Every bit of that is a precious part of communication between humans."This ultimate communication tool had broken down all barriers, obviously including language. However, that definitely didn't mean it was better than facing someone and talking to them in person. That cliche, which old cultured people always used to criticize things like Kizuna, bounced through the minds of the two youths who were both acting embarrassed...  
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Nov 13, 2019 14:42
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Huh! I was expecting something terrible to happen, but that was interesting. Also a good way to introduce multiple personalities in a way that, uh, doesn't actually happen, but works based on the rules of the setting. I'm definitely buying the game later, but I don't want to be tempted to play ahead and spoil myself.
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Nov 13, 2019 17:02
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PetraCore posted:Huh! I was expecting something terrible to happen, but that was interesting. Also a good way to introduce multiple personalities in a way that, uh, doesn't actually happen, but works based on the rules of the setting. I think it's a side effect or something, of the experiments Miyao/Meow went through. MonsterEnvy posted:Totally thought Miyao was a young girl, before this. Also I did not know about this when I posted that.
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Nov 13, 2019 19:56
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MonsterEnvy posted:I think it's a side effect or something, of the experiments Miyao/Meow went through.
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Nov 13, 2019 19:59
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every character in this game is gay. also, the casual revelation split personalities are a thing and its no big deal, is really funny to me in light of umineko treating the subject incredibly mysteriously (spoiler for past WTC games) (sorry quin!) Mr. Steak fucked around with this message at 22:00 on Nov 13, 2019 |
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Nov 13, 2019 20:46
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| # ? May 9, 2024 16:35 |
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Hey folks! Higurashi and Umineko spoilers aren't banned, but put them behind spoiler bars.
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Nov 13, 2019 21:24
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