Story Reader / Main Story / 31 Shaper's Ripples / Story
Inver-Hetero Tower Core Level
Vonnegut remains quiet, his eyes fixed on the doll that scrambles out of the rift and returns to the tower.
...
He opens his palm, revealing a tiny "fruit" thrumming with life.
Time to face the reality.
...
This is the final "fruit". Its creation always takes a toll on your Memory, and you've already witnessed what happens when there's no "Key".
Did you already expect we'd fail again this time?
Exactly. But if there's even one approach we haven't tried, I know you'd never agree to let that Commandant act as bait, right?
...
This will affect your Memory. It's your final fallback. The Red Tide outside is still surging, and forging that link is the only way to keep Cradle under control.
If you manage to disrupt the Agent Zero, Cradle's original Memory will take over. You've spoken with her before, so you know there's still a chance to reason with her Memory.
Even in the worst outcome, Lucia just has to use her "Key" again and return to the moment you first entered Constellia.
Her "Key" has reached its limit—nothing left to use.
So have you.
I can't handle her authority—it'll only send Agent Zero spiraling even more. Once those two see what happens, they won't hesitate to follow the route you set, even if it means betting their own lives.
So... do we have another option?
...
Chaos closes her eyes for a moment, then walks up to Vonnegut and accepts the gooey "fruit".
It contains a fragment of Chaos's Memory, throbbing in her hand like a warm, living heart.
Why... did it still have to end up like this?
D7 Twin Observatory Tower, 3rd Floor
With the clash of combat echoing from the terminal, Darcie, Rose, and you make your way to the third floor.
As soon as you set foot on the floor, a shaking woman jumps out, gun raised at you.
Don't move!
Release Rose! Have you seriously fallen so far that you'd use a young girl as a hostage?
Enough with your excuses!
Before you can utter a calming word, a muzzle flash flares from her gun.
You dash over and knock the gun from her hand, the clang of metal on the floor echoing just as a bullet smashes an exhibit farther inside the gallery.
You...
Ouch!
Hold on! That's Yuko.
Darcie! Don't tell me you actually led these people over just for a few cookies, even if you...
...Let go of me first, okay?
The Twin Observation Tower rocks back and forth as Darcie wraps up her account of what happened to Yuko and the young man standing behind her.
That sums it up.
Oh, and the guy behind Yuko? We'll just call him Barley.
Poor guy's had the worst luck. He's from a well-off family and only took this job to see what it's like. He joined our protest just for kicks... and look where that got him...
...
The young man hesitates, looking like he wants to protest but has no strength left to speak.
...Hey.
The underground parking... Yeah, it goes pretty far down—up to the twelfth level, I think—but most of it is still being built and isn't done yet.
She rubs her freshly injured wrist and notices a swelling bump forming.
You mean it's totally flooded, so I guess that place is a no-go. Any other way around?
You happen to glance at Yuko's chest, where a tiny Froggie hangs.
...What are you staring at?
Some employees are still hiding elsewhere. That leaves only those mercenaries, doesn't it?
What's the Red Tide?
That sounds like a giant's germ-ridden snot.
...Do you have to make it sound so gross?
Fine.
This place is weird enough as it is. Apart from the blockade walls, you sometimes hit this unseen resistance—like there's an ultra-clear, rock-solid sheet of glass right in front of you.
So there's something like this on the blockade wall as well, huh?
What?
...
Wait—don't tell me you're actually investigators from the Um***lla Corporation!
But from the way you're throwing out those guesses, it's like you know something.
She leans down, scoops up the gun that was knocked aside, slips her finger through the trigger, and spins it around like it's nothing.
Alright.
Yuko lobs it over without hesitation.
That was our final shot. I found this gun with just one bullet left inside.
You're not gonna believe this, but I got all worked up and hit the trigger by mistake.
Okay, let's move out while we still have the energy to tackle these d*mned stairs... Not sure if my sister can manage it...
Shut it. I'm done listening to you.
Darcie, it's normal to worry about your family. She's really not like that...
Hey! You guys...
The four of you are caught in a whirlwind of debate. Just before you stop, you make your way to the floor-to-ceiling window along the third-floor corridor and look down at the street.
In the faint moonlight, the Red Tide shimmers with vivid, shifting colors—like the stare of the dead.
Since arriving at the D7 Twin Observation Building, the water has risen by roughly half a meter and is already swallowing the steps.
The Red Tide is held back by the disaster containment wall at the street's edge, with no sign of spilling through.
But that means it won't be long before it floods the ground floor, consumes the whole district, and ensures no one makes it out alive.
Even during the golden era, putting up a disaster containment wall that could hold back the Red Tide in an art-centric district feels way too ahead of its time.
This appears to be Vonnegut adding another layer of defense with a force field.
Is that damned agent really worried about the Red Tide spilling over, or is there something else on his mind?
How long will these force fields hold? Do they run underground, keeping out any Red Tide that might seep through cracks after a collapse?
The Red Tide, the Golden Age, Constellia—every grim warning has come to life.
Looking at how these fissures stretch across the ground, it really can send the Red Tide into either the past or the future—and when you...
She looks down, stays quiet for a few seconds, then goes on.
...when you were badly hurt and everything went dark, did you see it too?
It really did just spring up without warning back then, and we never saw it coming—like we missed something obvious.
If this keeps up... are things going to get even worse?
The world's basically over, and you're still telling me to rein it in? Give me a break.
You turn around, ready to tell those three to hurry up and head for higher ground, but they're too busy arguing to notice anyone else.
Nah, I'm just wondering... how you've got enough energy to keep talking. You haven't been sneaking food behind our backs, have you?
...Heh, so even a rich kid like you needs to worry about food or water, just like us. Makes me think this whole apocalypse might not be so bad after all.
We're all about to die and you're still caught up in that? How about figuring out how to <color=#ff4e4eff>handle this mess</color> instead!
▅▂▄▁▃▆▃ can't be fixed▂▄▁▅▇▁
Your mind suddenly drifts back to the Inver-Hetero Tower, where Lucia taps into her Pyroath frame's power to find the traces Vonnegut never managed to erase—right at the heart of the Red Tide.
This tower was originally ▁▇▅▂▄ her "masterpiece," and my ▁▃▆▃▆▁ core is simply ▁▇▅▂▄▁▃▆▃▆▁
That Agent's form flickers in those scattered records. Whoever he's speaking to remains a mystery.
After Lee from Gray Raven altered the tower's core, it becomes almost impossible for her to get anywhere near it.
She keeps reclaiming the ▁▃▆▃▆▁ that's rightfully hers in her own way. Even if we try infiltrating ▁▂▄▁▃▃▆▁ using the Red Tide, we can't match how fast she strikes back.
If we let our guard down and she manages to ▁▂▄▁▁ us, she'll unleash that era's ▁▇▅▂▃▆▁.
In the records, Vonnegut bows his head and speaks in a voice that's strikingly clear.
After all, she is the first Agent Zero, named by Dominic, who descended upon our time.
Cradle, Agent Zero, named by Dominic, another era, leaving countless unanswered questions in her wake.
But after seeing her abilities firsthand, the claim that "Cradle is Agent Zero" feels much more believable.
If that really is the case, then according to the scant clues in those incomplete records, the disaster she's set to unleash could be even more perilous than the Red Tide.
It's so dire that even that overconfident Agent—who always seems to have the upper hand—admits there's no way to solve it.
...Just what could it be? With Babylonia's current firepower and preparations, can they truly face a calamity that even Vonnegut himself couldn't overcome?
...It is too late.
Amid these disjointed nightmares, you feel as though you've heard the answer to this question before.
In the dream, a small, doll-like fusion creature kneels on the floor of the Inver-Hetero Tower, her trembling hand tracing the cracks again and again.
So I really can't do anything after all...
Her voice resonates like a collective sigh, as if many are speaking in unison.
Why... why have I pushed myself to this point...
Scarlet tears run down the doll's cheeks, falling into the crevices. Even in her panic, she keeps trying to mend those cracks, as if she could sew the Inver-Hetero Tower back together and stop its "blood" from spilling.
But we're out of time...
...It's too late...
Meanwhile...
As Cradle warns, so long as she's under the Tower's influence, she can't be killed for good.
The "fruit" might still linger and Lucia has the upper hand in the fight. Even so, she's powerless against a creature that revives over and over in the Red Tide.
The two battle for hours, and by the time night settles in, you finds yourselves ushering in the New Year to the creature's fading howls.
Don't rush things. The Red Tide underground still isn't ready—you can't head down there yet.
Even if you decide to leave, I'll block your way. And that Commandant will be pinned down by a pack of useless "rotten wood."
The only path you can take is the one I've laid out—unless you're ready to make a choice, Lucia... Team up with me, and kill Chaos.
I told you: I won't let you or Vonnegut's people off the hook.
Lucia grips her Pyro Katana and lunges again. Cradle quickly steps back several paces, her fingertips dancing across the strings. The music echoes like a moonlit lament, summoning the dead from within the Red Tide.
I've seen memory-corrupting tricks like these a hundred times over in the Inver-Hetero Tower!
She swings her sword and shatters the haze of illusions before her, then charges straight at Cradle.
Guess those never-ending illusions are all part of your trick, huh?
That's right. Because the moment you laid eyes on that Commandant's death...
...you gave away your biggest weakness—didn't you?
Cradle ducks under the slash, using a streetlamp as her springboard. She circles behind Lucia with effortless grace and murmurs in a teasing tone.
But if I'm going to finish off that target, I've got to get past you first. A little interference in M.I.N.D.s can easily pull off the same trick—assuming there's no M.I.N.D. connection...
Lucia's blade immediately skewers the head that's still grinning. The gleam of her sword chases the falling form until it disintegrates in a surge of red.
At that instant, the entire street shudders. Cracks split the pavement from the collapsed parking lot and race straight to Lucia's feet.
She's about to jump clear of the collapse when she spots what's below. Everything beneath the torn ground—those structures underground—has already been swallowed by the Red Tide.
A perilous shortcut is right in front of Lucia. Cradle isn't back on her feet yet. If Lucia jumps into this Red Tide formed abyss now, Cradle just might reach the Inver-Hetero Tower again.
Commandant!
She quickly explains that she's about to lose contact.
I've managed to put Cradle out of commission for the moment. The entrance to the Tower is probably beneath the surface, so I have to go down there before she comes back.
Diving into the Red Tide will fry my terminal, but I promise I won't be gone long.
I will.
