A girl in a green cloak stands atop a mountain not far from Kowloong City.
The creature nestles obediently at her feet, while the girl gazes out at the fires and gunfire still raging across Kowloong City.
Huaxu reboots. The Emperor forcibly seizes control, only to fall to the blade of Kowloong's ruler.
This... is what civilization looks like.
A tale of war and hope, decline and revival.
It's the same script every time, yet each version plays out differently. Fascinating...
Defeat is imminent. Babylonia's Support Force brings in an improved Central Purification Filter Core. With help from Asimov, Zavier, and Villier, it's quickly brought online for emergency use.
It doesn't match the power of a full-fledged Central Purification Filter, but it's enough to push back the Red Tide and clear the Hetero-Creatures from Kowloong City.
Still... why did I agree to <phonetic=Schulz>The Emperor</phonetic>'s proposal at that moment?
Cradle lowers her head and gently strokes the Hetero-Creature at her feet.
Her voice is still soft, but the creature flinches in fear, too frightened to move.
Raaargh...
Cradle longed for the deep cultural roots of Kowloong. The knowledge stored within Tabula Akasha was like forbidden fruit from Eden, luring her to reach for it.
But even someone with no grasp of tactics could see that this isn't the right time.
The Red Tide hasn't reached full strength. The tributaries flowing out from the <color=#ff4e4eff>Dead Zone</color> alone aren't enough for the Hetero-Creatures to go head-to-head with humans.
Yet when Schulz proposed a partnership, Cradle accepted without hesitation, as if it were only natural. So natural, in fact, that both sides found it strangely unsettling.
Was it because... the Emperor's code managed to infiltrate the Red Tide?
Cradle's hand comes to a stop, and the Hetero-Creature at her feet lets out a low, involuntary whimper.
Urrrgh—...!
...
Shh—easy now. Don't be scared.
The low murmur pulls Cradle from her thoughts. She lets out a quiet, mocking laugh, hands still moving as she gently soothes the cowering Hetero-Creature at her feet—all the while pushing aside the absurd theory forming in her mind.
They aren't from the same civilization. Schulz shouldn't be able to control her with simple "data" the way he did with Huaxu.
She lifts her head again, eyes passing over war-torn Kowloong City and narrowing as she looks toward something farther away.
A bigger story? One that spans the whole world?
A writer created Cradle in their story, but who's to say this very moment isn't just a single line in someone else's script?
Cradle still remembers where she came from.
That is an unfinished novel you have been writing on and off over the years.
A post-apocalyptic world, a calamity named "the sound of the tide," the lost wisdom of the ancients, a journey into the abyss...
Pretentious wording and rambling nonsense were just the author's bad habits. No one but the author ever had the patience to finish reading it.
She was born from that story.
The Red Tide reshaped her body. The sound of the tide gave form to her will.
She is Cradle—a being born of the Red Tide.
She will lead the Red Tide across this world. Her mission is to forge a civilization of its own.
If... this world really is a story already written.
Then what part am I meant to play in it?
After a brief pause, she lets out a laugh. The green-robed girl dissolves from the hem of her cloak, becoming a surge of Red Tide rushing toward the forest.
She needs to find the source of that dissonance. Cradle wants to know—has a script truly been written, one that includes her name?
Most importantly...
The Red Tide surges more violently as it moves through the forest, like ink from an invisible pen writing across the earth.
Is this story... interesting enough?
Attention, Kowloong residents—
The battle is nearly over. The Hetero-Creatures are pulling back.
After the surface of Tabula Akasha collapsed, the Babylonia Support Force that had been fighting along the city perimeter immediately switched to rescue operations. The Kowloong Crew also began scouring the city for survivors without pause.
Disaster relief supplies can be collected at the left side of the Kowloong Crew headquarters. Any residents wishing to join the temporary rescue teams should register on the right side—
Under the Kowloong Crew's command, the rescue unfolds in an orderly fashion.
As the sun rises, you sit in a corner of the ruined factory, opening a terminal to record the mission log.
November 10, Kowloong.
After the electronic phantom that called itself "The Emperor" was eliminated, the Hetero-Creatures in Kowloong slowly began to retreat.
Log: Report to the Science Council. Evaluate the possibility that the mechanoid (code unknown?) is capable of controlling Hetero-Creatures.
Cannot rule out potential collusion between the mechanoid and other Ascendants.
Members of the Babylonia Science Council have arrived and will soon assist Kowloong in upgrading its defense Light Wall,
and in constructing new Central Purification Filters in areas not covered by the current Light Wall.
Memo: Kowloong Fuxi Institute, Huaxu.
And...
She turns to a new page. Her pen hovers, motionless, as she stares at the blank sheet for a long moment before finally writing down a few keywords to jog her memory.
—Invitation.
That familiar deja vu pieces itself together into scattered fragments of memory deep within her mind.
The tiny storage card Qu gave her now rests quietly in her palm.
Something "he" wanted me to give you.
Someone I met in the computational world of Tabula Akasha.
"He" shouldn't have appeared in Huaxu's simulations. Perhaps because of the intricate connections between Huaxu and Gestalt, "he" appeared as that girl.
Dominik.
It's an "invitation".
Sitting amid the ruins in deep thought, still unable to decipher the meaning behind this "invitation."
The deja vu has grown more and more elusive, evolving from fragments of words into scattered, broken visions.
But perhaps... everything is moving toward the best possible future.
Under the morning sun, the battered ruins of Kowloong begin to stir with new life.
