<i><size=55>Seawater hangs suspended in the sky.</size></i>
April 1st. April Fools' Day.
Fate decided to crack a cruel joke, depriving the "hero" of all "light."
In the chaotic mind, only the roar of a crash-landing transport remains. The strange smell of leaking machine oil fills human nostrils.
The pitch-black void echoes like a reverberating wall, with the human voice resonating unchanged through the emptiness.
In memory, the transport was attacked and crashed, but this place... where is this?
<phonetic=Gray Raven Commandant>Your own</phonetic> voice sounds as if it's coming from beneath water—muffled and hopeless.
As the voice spreads through this dark void, ripples dance across the water's surface, and strange visions begin to emerge before you.
Then... let it be here.
The pink-haired Merciful One guides Gray Raven's gaze, settling upon the sea.
Wake up when it's time to wake up, sleep when it's time to sleep.
Of course, I'll make sure you're born safely... this shouldn't be crossing the line.
Accompanied by a mournful, lingering cry like whale song, everything before your eyes gradually comes into focus...
Your gaze moves from top to bottom, observing from a higher form this enormous whale-shaped coffin and the lives struggling within its embrace.
Echoes from a distant future reverberate through your mind.
The haunting calls unique to the deep sea continuously echo throughout this space.
The whispered murmurs fade with the ocean waves, vanishing from this space.
Your consciousness slowly sinks into a profound dreamscape.
Crimson soil envelops the roots of the "Tree of Life," while Red Tide Projections wail and laugh, acting out their ordinary, yet sorrowful, lives.
The Agent of Darkness gazes coldly at the screen, examining the objects hanging from the treetops behind it, absorbing the Red Tide like blood bags.
...
As the Red Tide disperses, the woman who has merged with the colossal tree remains still and silent here.
He applies all the results from hatching Chiko to this place. Cthylla gradually absorbs nutrients from the Red Tide, and she's growing—
"Plop."
Having absorbed enough nutrients from the Red Tide, the bloated blood sacs fall from the treetops, with grotesque limbs struggling free before the crimson fluid within—
...Mom.
The humanoid Hetero-Creature with an odd appearance stretches its tentacles, gazing at this "world" in confusion.
...Another defect.
He frowns, slightly dissatisfied with this result.
These "Sea Fairies" are all "samples" copied from Lithos' deceased consciousness. He tells Lithos their goal is to make Hetero-Creatures more "human-like" in order to advance the evolution of the Red Tide...
But only the agent himself knows that his purpose extends far beyond that.
...
After confirming once more that this "Sea Fairy" is still nothing but a pure "replica," Vonnegut irritably flicks his hand away.
The door at the end of the corridor emits a soft creaking sound.
...Mister.
The purple-haired Ascendant on the other end of the communication seems to notice the Agent's poor mood and hesitates momentarily.
...Speak.
I'm getting word that Kugawa Kurono is dead, taken out by his adopted daughter, the girl known as Alisa.
...
Vonnegut's eyes narrow as the name clicks.
So, what's the deal with Utopia?
Utopia's M.I.N.D. fusion experiment is a bust... and that's old news, about ten days old now.
Babylonia's hunting down Utopia's last ships everywhere. They're probably seizing all the data and info as we speak.
It's okay.
Utopia was just a fallback anyway... What about "Armor"? Utopia's only successful test subject?
Also snagged by Alisa.
...Okay.
He's keen on the Armor, but this girl, Alisa, has already grabbed Babylonia's attention. Trying to get it back now would just stir up a hornet's nest.
He can't stand a fuss.
Alright then, sir, I'm out of here...
Is the Gray Raven Commandant settled in?
That one? Dumped in that facility with the renegade Constructs and Red Tide fanatics.
Commandant still hasn't come to, probably from a head injury in the transport crash.
Yes, keep a tight leash on Commandant. Fill me in immediately on anything that happens.
I'll let them know, sir.
Lithos waits a beat, and after making sure Vonnegut has nothing else, quietly cuts the connection.
Cthylla...
The dark agent lets out a soft sigh.
He can't care less about anything else now—not Utopia, not the late Kugawa Kurono, not even the M.I.N.D. fusion project that went belly-up.
All he cares about is what's right in front of him—Cthylla, about to hatch its "egg," and the mysterious "tower" that still hasn't shown up.
"The tower"... where'd it go?
Haven't you gotten any other "information"?
Another "consciousness" inside the agent's M.I.N.D. quietly answers.
No...
I can't predict anything anymore, not what's going to happen or when. Too many things I've never seen before have popped up, and I haven't even run into the "Babylonia Central Purification Filter Core Upgrade."
...
The tech for the Babylonia Central Purification Filter core upgrade... part of it feels familiar, but I can't say for sure if it really comes from the future where I existed.
Sorry, I've never been very good at this.
Nemo's tone is gentle.
I've thought along these lines before too.
The tall man mumbles to himself like a child, with a strange sense of humor.
I once wondered if someone in the "future" did something to cause all these changes.
But the "Tower" never got close, so I couldn't prove that theory, and besides... who else could pull all this off?
Could it be Dominik from <color=#ff4e4eff>the Fog</color>?
It's not out of the question. But as you said, everything hinges on the "Tower."
I've checked, and the rifts in the "<b><ud><color=#34aff8ff><link=33>Bridge</link></color></ud></b>" have sealed up. As long as the Tower stops growing, we have no way to verify any of this...
Maybe it's for the best.
The young man lets out a weary sigh.
But the Punishing Virus still exists.
As long as the Punishing Virus is around, everything will keep happening in cycles—the same old problems, the same old destruction.
...
...
The agent falls silent for a moment, mulling over a solution.
Ever since he noticed the Tower stopped growing, he has lost his way of sending messages through the Hetero Tower.
Because the Tower never came closer as promised, he missed out on too much information. With only his notes and terminal from countless dashes through time, his understanding of the future stretches no further than the present moment—
Vonnegut's cheat code expired, and his prophetic foresight ends right now.
The agent shows a rare moment of hesitation, but quickly squashes it. In its place comes a more determined gaze and an even more focused analysis.
The Cradle of Deep Blue is steadily breeding the "key," but if the "Tower" is gone, how can the key even be used?
Dominik of this world vanished at Reactor No. 1 after the Zero-point energy burst?
He mutters without thinking.
...Professor Trout?
I remember you saying that Dominik disappeared while seizing the "Tower's" core, and this world's Dominik also went missing after the Zero-point energy burst...
But wasn't this world's Dominik supposed to be dead?
No, not necessarily.
If he died from the Punishing Virus, then Zero-point Reactor No. 1 couldn't have been sealed. Since the Zero-point Reactor No. 1 was successfully shut down...
There might be more clues at that location.
...This is just a hunch, Professor Trout.
But it might also lead them down a new path.
He can't let the "Tower" fall into just anyone's hands.
Even if we don't find any clues, maybe we could try to restart the Zero-point Reactor.
Since the Punishing Virus showed up because of Zero-point energy, maybe when we reactivate the Zero-point Reactor, the "Tower" will also respond.
...
The young man, hidden deep within his consciousness, just thinks silently for a long time.
Perhaps you're right.
He goes quiet, not saying another word.
...
The agent stares blankly at the old-style terminal screen in front of him.
Even though his M.I.N.D. still has a lot of static, he's clear-headed enough now.
Red Tide, Punishing Virus, Chaos Contamination, the Fog, the Tower...
None of this is over yet. He always finishes what he starts—
BOOM—
A loud crash explodes from the screen.
Lithos...
His voice is neither loud nor soft, but the purple-haired Ascendant still isn't responding to the communication, even after all this time.
...
After flipping through several screens, he pulls up surveillance footage of the Cradle of Deep Blue—
The whale-shaped coffin is trembling and collapsing as it struggles upward, guided by merfolk, fighting to break free from the sea's grip.
So Lithos failed after all.
The agent's tone stays calm as he turns to check another surveillance screen—
At the bottom of the Cradle, in a hidden room, the "egg" holding the consciousness of the commandant who perished in the deep sea rests quietly in the Red Tide.
Lilith?
Mr. Vonnegut, I'm already in position, just as you instructed.
Yes, bring them back.
Of course, as you command.
Before Lilith can say anything more, Vonnegut cuts off the communication.
This key, this time... could it be the perfect one?
He stares at the unhatched "egg" at the bottom of The Cradle, muttering to himself.
A vague, unceasing noise fills the dark space.
The lost hero, the human, [player name] the Gray Raven Commandant, is reliving everything that happened in the <color=#ff4e4eff>deep sea</color> within this narrow dreamscape.
How many times have these events been relived?
The deep-sea's dim light, the suffocating wails, the parting last words.
It's like a lone traveler who knows an abyss lies ahead but stubbornly presses forward, never looking back, charging resolutely toward the next death.
The reluctant reversing gears, like the most precise instrument, seal the final fissure—
The dreamscape suddenly solidifies at a certain point, a dull pain slowly wailing through the brain—
The people imprisoned at the bottom of the cauldron pry open all the shelves storing copied consciousnesses.
If I can't make it back, bring a message to Valeria for me.
Tell her to delete all my embarrassing videos—no, actually, just say hello to her and Wanshi for me.
"I've seen enough of your face, don't bother looking for me", that's what I'll say.
Wait...
The brain churns like mud, the tongue freezes, and sorrow burns a path down the throat as it slowly lets slip an unshakeable hint.
Something like a keepsake—something we could look back on together when we have some downtime after we're out of here. That might be nice.
Of course.
The group doesn't bat an eye before making their call.
The gears slam shut with a thunderous finality.
Drifting in a dreamscape drenched in tears and sorrow, time spins through countless cycles of reincarnation—
April 16th, it's been <color=#ff4e4eff>16 days</color> since you vanished.
The human wakes up naked in an old, filthy underground lab.
After riding out another crisis involving the Forsaken, Gray Raven finally gets their Commandant back, memory and personality all there.
Aside from a few minor scrapes here and there and a <color=#ff4e4eff>gap</color> in memory from April 1st to April 16th, the commandant seems perfectly normal.
But after a thorough examination, when the small package Lamia hands over finally reaches human hands, those <color=#ff4e4eff>blank</color> memories take on a new meaning.
Shorthalt's name tag is wrapped in a rough strip of fabric that, judging by the material, most likely came from the Gray Raven Commandant's missing coat.
A crowd gathers around the fabric strip, with the Gray Raven Commandant and Valeria among them, all gazing intently.
It's almost as if Shorthalt himself never knew how many lives his usual thoughtfulness touched: Valeria, Yata, Shiva, Cyan, Wanshi—the list goes on.
Turns out, he'd been handing out "candy" to so many people, their paths crossing long before they ever realized.
The fabric strip itself has several lines of text, a bit blurry from being soaked in seawater.
The first few lines are short and sweet, not like a last will and testament, but more like a quick note left on the dining table before heading out:
Medic Bot maintenance is done next week. Don't forget to pick it up—
Damn, "next week" is probably ancient history by now.
I almost forgot. That video of me drunkenly hugging the Medic Bot is probably viral, isn't it??
Well, that being the case, there's not much else to say. The Scarabs are a pain in the neck, but working with that hot-headed lunatic somehow makes sense—two wrongs make a right, eh?
Keep up with your frame maintenance, don't slack on mission reports, and before missions, try to keep Shiva from running her mouth.
Remember to pick a new captain.
These what's-for-breakfast style reminders quickly trail off, perhaps as the writer's feelings get more complicated. The tone subtly shifts in what comes next.
My limbs are gone. I'm not sure if they're using them as bait, but don't fall for any traps.
Speaking of which... my body has been copied so many times.
Even though the one calling the shots right now is "truly me," I can't shake the feeling that somewhere far off,
another "me" is still on this difficult journey, making their own choices.
If you ever run into another "me," you've got my blessing to call the shots on whether they stay or go, live or die.
If I've messed up, or done something out of line, don't even think twice—putting a bullet in me is the best way to handle it.
Valeria, I'm sick of the sight of you. Don't be in a hurry to track me down.
Valeria doesn't say a word. She tosses the cloth strip onto the table and walks away.
Wanshi picks up the cloth strip and keeps reading.
Wanshi, you and Pelo knocked it out of the park. You didn't make a single mistake. I just hope we run-of-the-mill "adults" haven't let you down too badly. My bad.
There's something off with your mother's records, and Pelo's death also seems pretty fishy. If you want to go digging for answers, then go right ahead.
Sian's M.I.N.D. disruption still hasn't healed—he's got some emotional baggage. If you hear about any new treatments, I hope you'll try them on him whenever you can.
It'd be great if you could keep an eye on Thompson's son. After Thompson passed, I looked into it—his son seems to have already joined the Engineering Force.
I'm pretty fond of your Strike Hawk team. At least the Captain seems like a good egg,
and that dark, quiet one is pretty cool too. Stick with Kamui and make the most of your time with Strike Hawk.
The Gray Raven Commandant is also top-notch. This one is right here beside me now, even dishing out tips on my writing style from time to time.
If you get the chance down the road, they're definitely worth getting to know better.
There are just too many old friends worth saying goodbye to, and I can't get to each one individually. So I've only brought up the few who really need the most looking after.
<s>Finally—</s>
<s>Also—</s>
A bunch of lines are just haphazardly scribbled out with messy black marks.
I'll stop there so I don't ramble on like an old mother hen. And who knows—maybe the Gray Raven Commandant's right, and we'll actually make it out of here—
In that case, I'm definitely not letting you see this message.
Shorthalt.
