Story Reader / Main Story / 32 To the Galaxies / Story
The starship departs from humanity's last outpost.
When Nanami returns to the Church of Machina, everything proceeds according to plan.
The Church of Machina helps Babylonia rescue a considerable number of humans and Constructs. Soon after, the nightmare returns—wave after wave of winged Hetero-Creatures begin attacking Babylonia's transports.
After losing several groups of pilots, Babylonia evacuates the last survivors from the Church of Machina.
Babylonia leaves Earth's orbit and ventures into the invisible depths of space.
But some Constructs and humans still choose to stay behind.
I'm not leaving.
Vanessa, now a Construct, stands before the abandoned stronghold with an emotionless gaze.
Not for some petty drama of love and hate, nor for some stupid faith.
I'm staying here because I want to, and I don't need to give you a reason.
At least on Earth, I'll know exactly how I'm gonna die.
You're not coming with us to Aerospace City either, are you?
Yep.
I'm planning...
...to search for survivors beyond the last line of defense in the conservation area, together with the remaining Scarabs.
She tugs uncomfortably at the ID card bearing the Scarab insignia on her chest, her eyes downcast.
There might still be survivors out there, and I'll gather them together.
We'll survive this... together.
Her voice is barely above a whisper, the final syllables fading into the air.
Without trying to change their minds, Nanami escorts Vanessa and the other Constructs to their designated locations.
Best of luck to all of you! Stay safe!
The starship sets sail for Aerospace City.
With the help of Hanying, who came from Kowloong to join them, the Church of Machina and Aerospace City reached an agreement.
In exchange for evacuating Aerospace City's residents, the space colony will provide the Church of Machina with sufficient materials and fuel to reactivate the Bifrost and launch the starship into deep space.
Some mechanoids still wish to remain on Earth, and Cervantes is among them.
Are you sure you don't want to leave with us, Cervantes?
Never surer, Sage.
Drifting through deep space in search of an unknown haven... That's not the answer I'm looking for.
I'm staying to finish my thesis.
Hmm... Nanami doesn't like this feeling.
As Babylonia begins its journey, everything familiar to her seems to slip away one by one, and her friends choose to stay where they are one after another.
Only Nanami is responsible for guiding the awakened machines, which are compelled to press forward endlessly in search of another unknown ending.
Sage... I'm sorry.
Don't apologize. I'm just a little upset.
Mandhasti is staying, too... so it's actually good that you're staying here.
And... I do have a special mission for you!
I hope this can become another opportunity...
When the tower appears again, perhaps that will be when change must happen.
Through purification and destruction, new possibilities will arise from this barren earth.
If you meet Commandant, make sure to give Commandant what I left here, okay!
Sage, why are you...
I have to leave this place, and so do the mechanoids.
Had the Church of Machina continued to stay on Earth, war with humanity would have been inevitable, followed by other catastrophes.
Nanami's gaze pierces through the thick clouds above the Aerospace City, and she looks toward the distant, unreachable stars.
I will safeguard what you've entrusted to me. But will the Gray Raven Commandant truly appear again?
To be honest... Nanami doesn't know either.
Both Mecha Babushka and Ishmael said Commandant couldn't possibly have made it out of the Hetero Tower.
And I've never seen Commandant... in any of the simulations I've run.
But... what makes humans truly human is their endless potential.
What humans are capable of is beyond even Gestalt's calculation...
Which is why I'm not buying those simulations.
Nanami believes in Commandant.
！
Cervantes? Do you... hear that?
A familiar yet strange voice reaches the girl's ears, carried across endless time and space.
Uhm? I'm not picking up anything, though...
It's probably my reception module. I really need to get it fixed...
She mutters to herself while making a to-do list before departure.
Extra serum... equipment repair supplies... food...
Oh right, and the Full Sensory Simulation Device...
The starship is taking off.
Huh...
Perched by the porthole, she quietly lifts a heat shield to peek at Earth, which is becoming more distant by the second.
Will we never be able to return? I mean... to Earth?
...
The Red Tide hasn't yet consumed Earth. The planet still brims with life, as blue and green hues interweave along its edges to paint a beautiful pattern.
Maybe... someday, somewhere far down the road, we'll have a chance to return.
The tides of time sweep everything away as seas turn into land and cliffs into abysses.
But love grants this world endless possibilities.
She accepts fate, but that doesn't mean she won't fight back.
In the Hetero Tower, a red butterfly flutters its wings.
The starship, its hull having been spray-painted "Delorean-Discovery" by Nanami, departs from Earth's orbit.
Farewell, Earth.
This is Delorean-Discovery. We are sailing in space at the third cosmic speed.
Over an immeasurable span of time, Nanami gradually integrates herself into the starship's core and becomes one with its systems.
You cannot forcibly split your consciousness for variable stack operations... The risk is far too great, Sage.
Such calculations cannot be halted at will. If you suffer any damage during the process, it could severely impact your cognitive algorithms!
Besides, with the increasing number of variables, no one can say for sure you'll be able to find an anchor point for return every time...
Arcana, who is usually composed and calm, displays an uncharacteristic hint of anxiety.
Don't worry! I've got everything prepared down to the last detail!
And don't try getting Haicma to talk me out of this! I've already won her over to my side.
Haicma?
A hint of disbelief seeps through Arcana's mechanical voice.
I cannot stop Sage. Her mind is already made up.
It's too dangerous...
Don't worry! The starship will be fine. No matter what happens, my frame will keep it going until we find a new homeland.
That's not what I'm worried about.
I've been waiting all this time, Arcana.
Sitting by the porthole, Nanami gazes into the unknown expanse of stars beyond.
Scattered pinpoints of light dot the vast darkness. They're now well beyond the Milky Way.
No one knows their exact position on the stellar map anymore—they chart their course as they travel to map the unknown.
I tried to deal with the Red Tide on Earth but failed.
I also tried to enter the Hetero Tower, but it had been completely sealed off.
I had no other choice. I couldn't abandon the mechanoids, so I accepted my "destiny" and brought Discovery here.
I never wanted to leave Earth, but I had no choice.
But Discovery needs you...
Arcana, Discovery doesn't need a Sagemachina anymore.
In the starship's main hall, humans and mechanoids bustle back and forth as they work together to keep the vessel running.
As time passes, the humans and mechanoids who chose to stay aboard Discovery live together in harmony, which has naturally formed a new, stable social structure within the starship. Perhaps, in time, this will bloom into a new civilization.
Besides... you know exactly what I'm worried about.
The Punishing Virus harvests information—information of civilization.
What...?
It was just a theory before, but only recently have I started to piece things together.
The Punishing Virus... fusion... Hetero Tower going haywire...
Recycle... information... civilization...
As I gradually connected with the Gray Tower, I began to "see" more.
Mechanoids were born from human civilization, too. We might be able to run from Earth... but we can't keep running away forever.
Are we really doing the right thing... running away from Earth?
...
Mechanoids were born from human civilization, and like humans, they, too, are vulnerable to the Red Tide.
As she became the starship's Gestalt, she "saw" countless memories from the past of the mechanoids.
She saw Cradle born from the Red Tide and humans trudge through the mire of forests.
She saw new eggs hatching in the depths of the ocean and a horrifying sun rising from behind the black walls.
The flood of information all but overwhelmed her memory module...
But she also saw what remained—traces delicate as spider silk.
If Nanami doesn't do anything now...
Who else is going to save these fascinating humans?
Even if Nanami fails, this starship will keep moving forward. Nanami is well-prepared!
Let's just call this Nanami's little moment of selfishness.
This time, I'm not just going to stand by and watch Commandant fight alone.
Hmm... Did I just hear Commandant talking again?
Hmm... Did I just hear Commandant talking again?
Oh! I think that's definitely Commandant talking!
...Sage?
Arcana adjusts her receiver in confusion, but apart from Nanami, she detects no other living beings making any sound.
Um... Guess I'm hearing things again.
Everything is ready, Arcana. I'm not asking for your opinion—I'm telling you how it's going to be.
You and Haicma have always managed the starship well. If I lose my anchor point and get lost...
Then pretend I decided to stay on Earth.
...
She has no reason to stop Nanami, be it for the sake of the mechanoids or anything else.
In a peaceful moment that would be considered dawn by Earth's calendar, Nanami initiates her deep space simulation.
As a droplet of water falls, she enters the stream of time.
The sparse starlight fails to fill the vast universe as she floats at its center and reaches out to touch the shattered vortexes before her.
In her endless calculations, Nanami attempts to reach out once more to touch the impossible dimensional boundary.
If she could send a message to the commandant in the past to tell Commandant not to enter the Hetero Tower... could all of this be changed?
She weaves through different rifts in time, desperately trying to grasp at various shards...
Only to find herself lost in the end.
Nanami drifts along the river of time, yet she cannot find the anchor point that would guide her home.
No...
No...
No...
She frantically searches for a new path among the stars.
Her consciousness wears thin from excessive time regression as her strength gradually crumbles away.
No matter how many times she tries, all she sees is an ocean of stellar shards stretching endlessly before her, with no way to find her path home.
What... should I do...
She lets out a soft sigh, her thoughts tinged with sadness.
Stellar vortexes spin as time and space interweave into intricate, elusive patterns, flowing like rivers that stretch endlessly into the beyond.
The girl reaches out again, trying to fish out the right thread from the rivers.
What should I do now...
Just like when she pondered her choices on Earth, she now finds herself with no new paths left to take.
Ahem...
Will I... see you again...?
