Story Reader / Main Story / 32 To the Galaxies / Story
Under the hazy moonlight, the silver-haired mechanoid enters a nearby abandoned warehouse in a rush.
A mechanoid...
...You don't actually think Babylonia knows nothing about those self-proclaimed Church of Machina folks, do you?
While there's no official documentation, our squads have run into them every now and then during missions.
Never thought I'd run into one at this hour, though...
She disengages the safety of her weapon.
The last time you saw Cervantes was at Aerospace City when he handed you the "key."
...Keep up.
Having seemingly failed to find what he was looking for, Cervantes emerges from the abandoned warehouse with a stern face and quickly heads in another direction.
Beats me.
I don't want to deal with some uncontrollable monster out of nowhere that's been corrupted by the Red Tide. Besides, we had an agreement—he shouldn't be here.
The direction he's headed toward is close to the edge of our monitored safe zone. That mutated Red Tide is found here all the time, and no one can guarantee it won't infect the mechanoids...
The mutated Red Tide, twisted with otherworldly colors, serpentines its way into the abandoned warehouse that Cervantes has just entered.
Tsk.
Out of patience, she draws her weapon.
Cervantes flips open the dust-covered felt sheets, violently tearing open the sealed boxes and meticulously searching every corner.
This is the last set of coordinates. If I can't find it here...
Boxes marked with a familiar logo are stacked at the bottom of the shelf.
...Found you.
But the mutated Red Tide moves faster than he can react.
The iridescent tentacles lurk in the shadows like ash-colored snakes hidden in a furnace, hissing and flicking out their tongues—
Oh no!
Disregarding the mutated Red Tide, he leans forward, reaching into the area surrounded by the Red Tide to grab the box—
"Bang"—
A bullet grazes his cheek and strikes the aberrant tentacle with pinpoint accuracy.
Who's there?!
While spinning around, he swiftly grabs the box and turns his gaze toward the doorway.
Against the moonlight and the snow beyond the door stands a figure—both familiar yet somehow strange to Cervantes—with a smoking pistol.
...
[player name]?
Even with his visual module recalibrated, Cervantes still has a hard time believing who he is seeing.
You lower your gun as Vanessa steps through the doorway.
Not bad at all. You still got it after all these years.
Didn't you go into the Hetero Tower? Sage's simulations said you're supposed to be...
As you can see, the ever-resilient commandant has made it out alive again.
And you... what brings you back here, mister mechanoid? We signed a non-aggression pact, if I recall correctly...
Obviously, with limited resources for survival, I have to ensure the safety of the survivors. I can't exactly play nice with toasters that can turn into Corrupted at any moment.
So answer me this... What are you doing back here?
...No comment.
No comment.
The silver-haired mechanoid remains distrustful. He clearly is not going to trust you, especially when Vanessa is standing right next to you.
Is this how you mechanoids treat someone who saved your life?
Cervantes shows no signs of infection and appears lucid. The box in his hands bears a prominent Church of Machina emblem, and...
He clearly harbors hostility for unknown reasons, so pressing forward now would be unwise.
Perhaps thinking of the same prophecy that is not exactly a prophecy, Vanessa takes a step back as her face darkens.
...Why did you help me?
As the two of you turn to leave, Cervantes suddenly speaks.
There seems to be no clear answer to his question.
Is it because you go way back with him? Or is it because of something else entirely?
Regardless of your reason, everything seems to boil down to one simple truth.
Thirty years have passed, and you are no more than just another human now, having lost Gray Raven, Babylonia, and any support you once had.
...
You gesture for Vanessa to follow you as you exit the warehouse to head back into the snowy outdoors.
What now, then, since you just said there's not much you can do anymore?
If you let this one go, it's gonna be unimaginably difficult for you to find another mechanoid down the road.
When the non-aggression pact was signed, most of the remaining mechanoids moved to their designated zone. Perhaps we can still find them there...
After just a few steps, you hear a cold, mechanical voice echo from behind the two of you.
...Hold on.
The silver-haired mechanoid stands a short distance away, his pale body almost melding with the snow's gleam on the ground.
Are you really [player name]?
Heh... Why risk pretending to be the commandant when I'd shoot any imposter dead on the spot?
But this is different from Sage's simulations...
I couldn't care less who this Sage is, but what will you trust—some "simulations" or the reality right before your eyes?
We have backups of the Gray Raven Commandant's biometric data. Everything was cross-referenced the moment the commandant entered the settlement.
There were no traces of growth-accelerating drugs, and all biometric data was a perfect match. Rosa was the one outputting the data, and the folder used for comparison showed no signs of tampering...
I've no obligation to tell you any of this, so you'd better have something worthwhile to say that justifies me standing here in the snow and wasting my breath.
...
After a brief silence, Cervantes speaks again.
Sage left Earth a long time ago.
...She didn't want to, intending to wait for the commandant's return before deciding. But her simulations showed that a war with humanity and more catastrophes would have been inevitable had the Church of Machina continued to stay on Earth.
Sage tried everything she could to solve Earth's problems, but nothing worked.
The Hetero Tower, the mutated Red Tide... She had no way to deal with any of these threats. In the end, she chose to leave Earth with the Church of Machina.
I'm not a combat mechanoid, so I can't start a war on my own, and besides... I don't want to leave this planet. I was born here, I grew up here, and I want to see how it all ends.
He turns away and looks toward the distant horizon.
Wait, I'm not done talking.
Why are you back here? According to the pact we signed, you shouldn't be here.
That box you're carrying... What's inside it?
...
The mechanoid instinctively shifts the briefcase behind him, averting Vanessa's gaze with hesitation.
He does not doubt the authenticity of the person he is seeing, but...
He just cannot be sure if someone can remain unwavering after all this time.
When resources grow scarce, any species—be it human or mechanoid—might turn on their own kind and change. Is this person...
...Truly still the same person worthy of Sage's trust?
...
You have come to understand the situation on Earth since you were back—everyone is on edge and focused only on their own survival.
Given these circumstances, pushing too hard and making a new enemy would not be wise.
Already at the mercy of the mutated Red Tide, humanity lacks the strength to face additional enemies.
Seeing that Cervantes shows no sign of aggression, you gesture for Vanessa to leave with you. You have barely taken two steps when Cervantes speaks again.
...Let's find somewhere more private to talk, Commandant.
I was just being a little too cautious. It's been 30 years, after all...
The silver-haired mechanoid steps forward.
I will tell you everything in detail, including why I breached our pact to enter the human settlement and what exactly is inside this box.
Not far away stands the abandoned Aerospace City. No one knows where its inhabitants have gone.
After relocating near the ARU and discovering this empty city, Rosa made simple modifications to some of the city's defense weaponry and set up her laboratory here.
Inside Aerospace City, the silver-haired mechanoid falls into deep thought, seemingly pondering where to begin. For once, Vanessa does not rush him, instead leaning casually against the doorframe.
...I don't think I've missed anything.
The door creaks. A purple-haired young woman slips quietly through the gap and casually takes a seat beside you.
Don't you recognize me, Commandant...?
It's me, Rosa. I was Asimov's assistant.
We met in the transmission just now, remember?
I'm using the frame Asimov left me before he departed, which is why I might look a bit different now.
Despite having just seen her through a transmission on your way, you still have a hard time believing she is the same little girl she used to be.
There were some issues with the data of our experiments, so I had to come right back after analyzing your biological data.
That core you brought back is quite complex... Never mind, we'll discuss that later. Let's hear what this mechanoid has to say first.
As Rosa's words fade, Cervantes finally turns around, ready to recount his tale of the past 30 years.
The Gray Raven Commandant and Lucia entering the Hetero Tower was the future Sage once spoke of.
I've already told you why Sage left, and yes, I did stay behind to witness Earth's fate, but at the same time...
Outside the window, pristine snow blankets the earth.
...I am also "the Tower" Sage left behind.
It is destruction, but also an opportunity.
I don't know exactly what Sage saw in her simulations, but when she left, she left behind a communicator linked to the starship.
—Things like these are usually non-functional when they're mentioned, which means...
...Recently, I lost contact with both the starship and Sage.
Psst.
A mechanoid-made communicator stopped working? That doesn't sound right, wouldn't you say?
It had nothing to do with the communicator.
Sage attempted to continue her search for humanity's salvation through simulations after leaving Earth, but she vanished into the space-time turbulence. No one knows where she went.
—Hey, hello?! Cervantes! Can—you—hear—me—
Hehe, this is just a recording! If you're seeing this, it probably means Nanami's run into some teeny-tiny problems!
But don't worry! I've left behind a mysterious treasure in the warehouse in Aerospace City!
Uhh...
I don't know if "Nanami's flash of genius" was true, if the commandant would come back, or if that thing would even be useful...
Listen up! Cervantes! Remember this! If Commandant does come back, you absolutely—absolutely—must give Commandant the key to the warehouse I left you with!
It's super important, okay?! Don't forget to give it to the Gray Raven Commandant!
Nanami's smile remains frozen on the aged screen. She wears a frame you have never seen her in before, but her smile is exactly as you remember it.
Oh yeah! Don't show this video to Commandant yet! The commandant hasn't seen my new frame! I want to—
Cervantes stops the video quietly.
I didn't have time to edit the video because I was short on time. I had planned to add some artistic touches to Sage's new look, but...
Ahem. It's the key to the warehouse Sage left me with, yes.
She made several spare keys and kept them in different warehouses. The Red Tide swallowed up all but one of them.
He opens the box, and you once again hold the key in your hands.
...I know where this warehouse is.
After carefully examining the key, Rosa reaches her conclusion.
Creak—
The long-sealed warehouse opens. As power returns, the lights flicker to life.
...There are so many supplies here.
She examines the stacks of boxes in the warehouse. Every seal on the boxes is meticulously labeled, categorizing their contents.
Food... These don't look edible anymore. Winter clothing, basic filters for the Punishing Virus...
Serum in cold storage... They should still be usable...
And there's this... What's this?
As the dust settles, a peculiarly-shaped chair comes into view.
The Full Sensory Simulation Device. You've seen it before, haven't you?
The nightmare, long buried in your memories, resurfaces once again.
Suppressing the metallic taste in your mouth, you maintain your composure and look at Cervantes.
I'm afraid not. The last thing Sage said to do was give this key to you.
Perhaps we need to activate it first to understand what Sage intended it for.
...Even if we activate it, I'm afraid we don't have enough computing power to keep it running.
Noticing everyone's gaze, Rosa taps her pen against the interface behind the chair.
...Before Asimov left, he gave me an encrypted document containing numerous experimental records about you, including the process of receiving certain data through the Full Sensory Simulation Device.
The document contains very detailed data, such as... how much of Gestalt's computing power was utilized...
Yes... with Babylonia.
It's difficult. With our current resources, we won't be able to build an AI system with even one-tenth of Gestalt's computing power even if we include all the devices in this warehouse.
...Isn't Kowloong still around?
Vanessa raises an eyebrow as she leans against the doorframe with her arms crossed.
From what I know, Babylonia once sent representatives to Kowloong to negotiate, but they only arranged for a portion of the population to enter Babylonia.
Therefore, I'm positive that Huaxu is still on Earth.
Huaxu definitely has enough computing power to activate this device, but Kowloong... Does it really still exist?
You do not know for sure what happened in the past 30 years, but the Red Tide overflowing from the Hetero Zone was already far beyond control before Lucia and you entered the tower.
No one knows for sure if the people in Kowloong are still alive.
Silence fills the room.
Let's head toward Kowloong and take a look. I'd rather believe Kowloong is tougher than that.
Pretty sure they figured out a way to stay safe, given that they chose to stay on Earth.
Isn't that a bit risky...
Risky?
The warehouse door swings open, and bitter winds slice through the room like blades of snow. Vanessa turns her head with a smirk.
Aren't we already taking risks with every breath we take in a world like this?
Those of us who are still around are alive because we're the fittest, no?
She considers for a moment before coming up with a plan.
Call Discord back and have her stand by at the settlement.
Emma and I will depart with the Gray Raven Commandant. Our frames are relatively new models, and besides...
We can also boost our resistance to the Punishing Virus to some extent with a M.I.N.D. connection.
It's been quite a while... You haven't forgotten how to establish M.I.N.D. connections with Constructs, have you, Commandant?
That's good.
After a quick resupply and arranging to meet Emma at the crossroads, Vanessa performs one final check of your equipment.
The serum count seems off...
—Don't even think about saving serum for the injured. Combat supplies take priority. Take them with you.
Vanessa forcefully stuffs the spare serum into your supply pack before taking a step back.
There... I never thought I'd end up standing next to you in this role.
With a self-mocking laugh, she adjusts her sidearm.
As per tradition, give your orders, Com—man—dant.
You quietly say their names in your heart.
You know that you will be able to see those faces and say those names again one day.
One day.
