Your mind feels like it's drowning in some freezing liquid, and a thick, white fog is swallowing everything you can see around you.
It's an odd feeling, both foreign and familiar at the same time.
The white fog slowly clears, and a dark, mirrored surface appears before you.
You reach out to touch it, but instead of your reflection, you are startled to see that white-haired, red-eyed girl who calls herself Chaos.
The mirror shatters without warning—
...
You seem to have plunged into a new dream, a world woven and controlled by the blue-haired girl right in front of you.
Good morning, ■■■.
Did you get your homework done last night?
She asks a figure in the void.
Have you finished it? Did you use the method the teacher showed us yesterday?
The scene shifts. Now, the girl is strolling across what looks like a school campus.
The future? I'm leaning toward the Science Council... or maybe Star of Life wouldn't be half bad either.
Hmm, I'd rather have something more stable. Being a Construct is just too risky...
This seems to be just another day in the girl's life.
You expect this dream to be the same as all the other ones, meeting its end in chaos. But just as it starts to shatter, the blue-haired girl whips her head around and locks eyes with you.
Heteromer Shard.
The blue-haired girl's gaze holds unwavering certainty as she stares at you.
Take it. The Heteromer Shard.
A weird sense of deja vu plays on the tip of your tongue.
...You still don't remember a thing, do you?
You should remember—█▇█▇▂▃▄▂▊
The Heteromer Shard is—█▇▂▃▃▃▇▂▇▂▇■
Her lips keep moving, but not a single word she says makes sense...
A sharp, piercing pain explodes deep inside your mind.
...Looks like it's not time yet.
The blue-haired girl lets out a soft sigh.
It's not your time to grasp all of this yet.
Don't you already know? This is my "dream."
In the previous dreams you have experienced, you were always pretty much just an observer; You couldn't talk to anyone in them...
<color=#ff4e4eff>Previous dreams?</color>
Before you can even wrap your head around why that thought popped into your mind, the blue-haired girl speaks again.
It's... Chaos.
She cocks her head, listening intently, as if she's trying to pick up on something.
Looks like this information doesn't belong to the "future," so I can actually "talk" about it.
I... heard Chaos' voice through the Red Tide, and Chaos led me here.
Time's running out. Remember, don't trust a word Vonnegut says, <color=#ff4e4eff>kill Chiko</color>, and take the Heteromer Shard.
Yes, don't trust a word Vonnegut says, <color=#ff4e4eff>kill Chiko</color>, and take the Heteromer Shard.
And...
Never mind, it's nothing.
...You don't need to know who I am. It's not important.
Keep in mind what I told you...
Moonlight flares violently overhead. Your vision blurs, then darkens—before an unseen force seizes your consciousness, hurling it back into your body with brutal force.
Your eardrums are still throbbing from the water pressure, and your body feels like it's been stampeded by a herd of elephants. Every joint screams in protest.
You're awake.
I know you're awake now.
There's no need to play dumb, unless you're aching for me to introduce myself again.
I'm Vonnegut, an agent, as you can see.
This area... It must be the "storage tank" they kept talking about.
The huge storage tank is brimming with churning Red Tide, and every now and then, Hetero-Creatures slowly crawl out, only to be cut off beyond the force field the agent set up.
That force field seems to serve as a protective barrier? Why would he need to protect you...
If you can talk normally again, I need to confirm some things with you—
You're not exactly spoiled for choice right now.
That's actually what I was going to ask you.
Thinking of taking the plunge?
...
The barrier holds firm, pushing you back.
No need to test it. You're not leaving until you answer my questions.
He pauses, lost in thought for a moment.
Did you "know" I would show up at the Copperfield Aquarium?
Or rather, have you "seen" anything out of the ordinary?
His tone is sharp, probing.
You have no idea where Lucia was swept off to, or if the others made it out safely. For now, you should try to buy some time with Vonnegut.
What did you see?
Go on, ask it.
To breed Hetero-Creatures—the Red Tide helps the sacrificed get reborn. You've already seen what it does.
Those cannot be called subordinates. And that makes it your second question now.
For some reason, you're getting a weird sense of deja vu. It somehow tells you that Vonnegut's real game isn't just to dump you in the Red Tide and turn you into some gurgling blob of goo.
...The Ascendants, in relation to agents, do not fall under "subordinates." Agents only possess the opportunity to present them with choices, but the power to decide always lies in their own hands.
What the agents filter out are simply those still capable of walking this path—but enough. I'll say no more.
Now, tell me, what exactly did you see?
What exactly did you see...
Ever since you first heard about the Copperfield Aquarium, that odd sense of deja vu has kept recurring inexplicably—along with fleeting glimpses of the red-eyed girl, Chaos, and Bianca, whom you unexpectedly "saw"...
Vonnegut seems really fixated on what you have "seen"... But what part of it has him so hooked exactly?
You choose one of the two most cryptic explanations as your answer.
That's it?
There should be more to it than that.
You study the agent's expression, racking your brain for anything he might want to hear...
I remember Vonnegut bringing up <color=#ff4e4eff>"the Tower"</color>.
But in all the scenes I "saw," that <color=#ff4e4eff>never</color> once popped up.
...
Maybe I should just fold you into the Red Tide and peek straight into your memories.
...
Orange cat...
What else?
...Maybe I should just fold you into the Red Tide and peek right into your memories.
...
So you are connected to it after all.
What did you do to the "Tower"?
...What could you possibly do to a tower other than tear it down or climb it?
That's impossible.
Ascending the Tower with a mortal body?
Ascending the Tower with a mortal body?
That's impossible.
He eyes you warily.
...
The agent's face gives nothing away as he mulls over your words.
The human before him clearly knows something, or rather, has "seen" something.
But what the human just told him must be a lie.
A flesh-and-blood body simply can't get into the Tower, so the Gray Raven Commandant's claim of "seeing the Tower" could be a total fabrication.
If "seeing the Tower" is a lie, then the human truly never laid eyes on the <phonetic=Hetero Tower>Tower</phonetic>...
Could it be that the Gray Raven Commandant genuinely has nothing to do with the <phonetic=Hetero Tower>Tower</phonetic>'s disappearance?
His chaotic M.I.N.D. lets out garbled screams. The agent shoves down the clamor and flips through his notebook.
According to his notes, the last message from inside the Tower stated that the <phonetic=Hetero Tower>Tower</phonetic> was steadily expanding, and that he must take over the <phonetic=Hetero Tower>Tower</phonetic> to achieve his goal.
For that, he had made extensive preparations—breeding the Red Tide, preparing the "key," pushing forward the Cradle of Deep Blue project—all to ensure he was ready when the <phonetic=Hetero Tower>Tower</phonetic> descended...
But then came the realization: the Hetero Tower had ceased its growth. His connection to his other self within its depths had been severed entirely.
...
Something I can't quite put my finger on is going off the rails.
He says it with a calm, tired air.
This world needs someone to pull the reins and establish the rules.
Otherwise, if this stalemate persists, it can only end in deadlock.
However things may unfold, it's merely another turn in an endless, spiral corridor.
Humans develop more advanced Constructs, and Hetero-Creatures evolve into new forms...
It's the only path to take, a choice I have to make.
The agent raises an eyebrow slightly.
What we need to focus on is the "future" that lies much further ahead.
I wouldn't exactly say I "saw" it. I still lack the authority to achieve such a thing.
I cannot see into the future.
The future is beyond our grip. Only the present can be changed.
The Punishing Virus, at its core, is just a way to pass on "information." And I'm always capable of using it to transmit memories.
He falls silent for a few beats after that, letting his words hang in the air.
Alright, enough chitchat.
The force field hums, smoothly shrinking until it pins you right in the middle.
I thought I had made my position clear enough.
I need your help to break through this "deadlock" together. Only then can we put an end to it all.
You never had the right to choose, to begin with.
He has no intention of explaining further, simply continuing to tighten the force field. It seems he plans to "pack" you up and whisk you away.
...Aren't you meddling with humanity's choices too?
Yes and no, right and wrong, light and darkness, justice and evil...
True "choice" requires the power to actively decide—no civilization or species should have its destiny dictated by another.
This world should never be confined to a single, imposed path.
The right to choose isn't something the weak get to have.
...
You don't need to stall for time like this. Lucia is trapped by the Red Tide in another area.
Using an outdated terminal to check the time, Vonnegut shakes his head.
While it's too soon to take you with me, I wouldn't object if circumstances accelerated of their own accord.
The bullet streaks through the air, then drops harmlessly right in front of the agent.
Let's go. This place is about to come down—
The agent's words are cut short as a whip cracks sharply through the air—
—Commandant!
