Story Reader / Main Story / 31 Shaper's Ripples / Story
Awakening from a blinding light, Lucia finds herself back in the underground tunnel of Constellia.
Nearby, the petite doll is intently operating a device almost as tall as herself.
What are you doing?
...
She silently points to the force field at the room's edge, beyond which numerous Hetero-Creatures roam.
Is this device generating the force field? Wasn't it something Vonnegut created?
The doll shakes her head, then nods.
What do you mean? Are you trying to say "not just that"?
She nods, keeping her head down in silence.
Is this a contingency measure?
She nods again.
Can't you just speak? This is frustrating.
Lucia can't hide the irritation between her brows.
...
...BPL-01, except for matters concerning your Commandant, I have nothing... to say to you.
At the mention of the frame number she shares with Alpha, Lucia lets out a cold, derisive laugh.
Fine, then tell me...
Lucia tightens her grip on her Pyro Katana and takes a menacing step toward the Hetero-Creature's fragile figure.
What actually happened that time? Why did Commandant come back to the Inver-Hetero Tower with you and order me to assist Vonnegut?
She must gather as much intelligence as possible, eliminating any potential oversights.
...
The doll slightly raises her head, her lifeless eyes staring ahead.
Vonnegut looked at you when he mentioned it. Tell me.
...
Cradle took that person out of the Hetero Tower.
After that... it was similar to Constellia's situation... After the Inver-Hetero Tower appeared again, many rifts showed up across the world.
Just as how the Red Tide surged into Constellia from underground, those rifts brought the Red Tide to other places as well.
I wanted to... to bring that commandant back to the Inver-Hetero Tower, but instead saw an endless cycle of death.
...
She finds herself unable to continue.
After a long silence, the doll decides to cut out a piece of Punishing-made tissue from her chest and tosses it to Lucia from a distance.
You want me to see it for myself?
...You should be able to see some of it.
...
Lucia silently gazes at the Hetero-Creature tissue in her hand for a moment before finally crushing it in her palm.
The Phantom Tracer activates at its user's command, unveiling the memories stored within the tissue one by one.
...
Through Chaos' perspective in the memory data, Lucia sees Cradle trailing behind.
Commandant, we're almost at the exit.
Yeah... Once we're back, I'll make sure you get a few days of proper rest.
At that moment, Lucia failed to notice Cradle lurking among the Hetero-Creatures.
Once you've recovered...
She never even noticed when Cradle made her move.
Commandant?
Was she careless? No, that's impossible.
Was it because Cradle used her familiarity with her own territory to prepare everything far too perfectly?
Whatever the case... when Lucia turned around, there was no one behind her anymore.
Commandant!!
Unlike Lucia who doubled back to search, Chaos spotted the traces left behind by the red butterflies.
...!
She realized that Cradle planned to use this irreversible separation as a chance to permanently eliminate the commandant, ensuring Vonnegut could never complete Chaos.
Though she disagreed with Vonnegut's plans, she didn't want the commandant to die here either.
And so, Chaos rushed forward in pursuit.
Stepped into the chaotic, never-ending cycle of death.
