The first thing you feel is a bone-chilling cold.
Then comes the howling wind, and the constant patter of tiny hard particles hitting your gear.
Your consciousness claws its way back from a blank void.
The cold is so sharp it feels like it could freeze your thoughts. It needles through your combat suit into your skin.
After the rift swallows you, your vision cuts out for a moment. When it returns, it's nothing but wind and snow.
A low, lead-gray sky blends into the gray-white ground. The horizon is almost impossible to see.
Snow reaches past your calves. Only black rock breaks the surface now and then, sketching the ridge line.
An unfamiliar mountain range. And it feels completely real.
Judging from the surroundings, the altitude here is high.
You grit your teeth and start pushing downhill, stumbling through the deep snow.
In the endless blizzard, time stops making sense.
One hour? Two hours?
Breathing gets harder. Your chest feels crushed. Every breath takes everything you've got.
You suddenly find yourself on a high-altitude snowy mountain, and the symptoms of altitude sickness start to hit you.
If not for your tactical goggles, you'd already be snow-blind.
Your head pounds. Nausea rolls in waves. Heat bleeds out of you. Your limbs go numb and stiff.
Your movements are slow. A strange burning spreads through your limbs. It's the first warning sign before hypothermia strikes.
Through the gray-white snow, you spot a faint silhouette in the distance.
It cuts through the storm at frightening speed. A single streak of red in a world of gray.
[player name]...
You try to answer, but only a weak breath escapes.
Alpha checks you fast, then crouches. She hooks your arms over her shoulders and steadily lifts you onto her back.
You're freezing... Stay with me.
She accelerates. Even carrying you, she moves steady over deep snow and steep slopes like it's flat ground.
She races toward the base of the mountain, her gaze cutting through the blizzard until she spots the outline of a snow-covered cabin tucked against a row of jutting rocks halfway up the slope.
She immediately changes course, sprinting toward the cabin.
"Throne"
"Shadow" sits on her throne.
It isn't inside any palace. It's set in a ruined square. If you were here, you'd recognize it instantly. This is Babylonia.
But the square is nothing but shattered walls and broken stone. Dark red liquid coats the ground. You can't tell if it's blood, vital fluid, or both.
A deep slash runs from her left shoulder down to her chest.
"Shadow" lowers her head and brushes her fingers over the wound. The pain spikes.
Alpha...
A thin white mist appears in the air and flows into her body, slowly knitting the injury closed.
To leave a wound like this...
Shadow recalls Alpha's figure in battle.
A completely new frame...
Besides the Ascension Network, what else does she have... that I don't...?
Is there another way besides the Ascension Network...?
She lowers her head, and painful memories begin resurfacing before her eyes. Along with the scars on her body, everything is acting to remind her of everything she has lost.
Luna...
The things that she has lost, and the things that she has destroyed...
At this point, there is simply no way she can accept the possibility of another path.
Get over here.
She raises a hand. Her voice stays quiet, but the pressure behind it spreads through the square.
Click. Click.
Between the rubble, gears turn. A hazy, grotesque shape comes into view.
"Shadow" looks at it like it's filth, irritation flashing across her face.
Find me Alpha... And that commandant.
They crossed the rift. They're here. Track them down, and kill the human.
As for that "Alpha"...
Her lips curl into a cruel smile.
Bring her to me. I'm ending her myself.
Your wish is my command, Lady "Shadow".
The creature stretches its neck and presses its face to the ground in an exaggerated bow.
It keeps bowing as it backs away, retreating until it's far off, then slips into a crack in the rubble and disappears.
Silence returns to the throne.
Stay awake. We're not safe yet. You need to eat.
The smell of food mixes with burning wood and fills the cabin. With the heat on your skin, sleep starts pulling you under.
Just as you start to drift off, a sharp sting hits your cheek.
The jolt snaps you awake. Alpha just pinched your cheek.
You were falling asleep.
She pours the tea into a cup and hands it to you.
Ignoring your denial, she pours the tea into a cup and hands it to you.
You try to sit up and reach for it, but your arms are still weak. Your fingers tremble.
You lean forward and cradle the aluminum cup in both hands.
The shaking makes some tea spill onto the back of your hand. You barely feel it.
The warmth goes down. A little color returns to your face.
Only now does it really hit you. You made it. You're alive.
She calls herself Shadow.
Alpha pauses after saying the name.
I saw an illusion not long ago. It showed me another...
She glances at you.
Another possibility.
In it, Babylonia sent a massive force of Constructs to hunt me down. Not me, exactly. Another me.
Yeah.
I don't think it's the network.
During the fight, parts of her body turned into mist.
It felt like...
Hearing Alpha's words, you remember the mist pouring out when "Shadow" appeared.
She also remembers... the other life she experienced within the Mist.
You look toward Alpha, and it's clear that she understands exactly what you're thinking.
I don't know where we are, or what she's planning. But from what she said, this is about me.
And that pale mist...
I have a theory. It might be related to the mist passages we opened before.
"Shadow" might just be an illusion born from that mist.
No idea. We know too little about the mist.
Maybe.
Either way, if she wants my body, let her come take it.
If she summoned me here with an illusion, she'd better be ready to die for it.
As she says this, Alpha shows a confident smile.
But... this is between me and her. I don't want you getting dragged into it. I don't know what's ahead.
...Fine. Then we work together.
As your conversation ends, the stew finishes simmering.
Alpha ladles out a bowl and hands it to you.
You shift on the bed and take it with an unsteady grip.
You try to lift a spoonful, but your trembling hand spills it.
You tilt your head, watching Alpha from the side.
Alpha stares out the window, watching you from the corner of her eye. Her fingers tap lightly on the table.
Sigh.
She sighs like she's had enough, stands up, and takes the bowl from you.
Hold still.
You nod. No arguing.
She scoops up a spoonful, pauses, blows on it, then brings it to your lips.
It isn't gentle, but it's steady. No spills. No burns.
...Okay.
She answers quietly, almost a mumble. There's the faintest hint of amusement in it.
You take a deep breath and force your hand to steady. You scoop up another spoonful and bring it to your mouth.
Every spoonful spills a little back into the bowl, but you keep trying. Again and again, you swallow the broth bit by bit.
Alpha stares out the window, watching you from the corner of her eye. Her fingers tap lightly on the table.
After a moment, she sighs, stands, and walks over. She snatches the metal bowl out of your hands.
You can't even hold a bowl... You look ridiculous.
Alpha raises an eyebrow but doesn't argue. She sits down in front of you and hands the bowl back.
You take it and keep eating, slow and careful.
Alpha watches with her arms crossed. Only when you finish does she take the empty bowl.
Not bad.
There's a barely perceptible trace of amusement in her voice.
After the fire is fed twice, the howling wind outside fades, then finally stops.
The dishes are cleaned up. With rest, you start to get your strength back.
In a wooden crate, you two find thick fur coats and hats.
You put them on and push open the cabin door. The storm is over.
Then you both go quiet. The sky outside is... wrong.
It's not a real sky. It looks like different canvases stitched together, rough and mismatched.
One part is clear blue with a few white clouds. Right beside it burns a vivid orange sunset. Another patch is deep black, with a few blurred stars.
And at the edge of the horizon, an enormous structure stands tilted against the earth.
Hmm... that's Babylonia.
It stands there in silence, pressing down on you with sheer presence.
It's been completely rebuilt.
I can feel her... She's there, calling me.
You pull your eyes away and look down the mountain. Below the snowline, near a sparse treeline, thin trails of smoke rise above low rooftops. It looks like a small village.
The two of you start down toward it.
Near the outskirts, it's unnaturally quiet. Broken wooden fences lean at odd angles. The cabins that still look intact have their windows shut tight.
Just as you're about to step into the village...
Whoosh.
A sharp whistle cuts the air. A crossbow bolt slams into the snow right in front of you.
Then, on the roof of a taller cabin nearby, someone stands up.
Stop. Who are you, and what are you doing here?
He's dressed like a hunter, holding a reloaded crossbow. Even so, it's clear he's a Construct.
Before you can finish, Alpha speaks, surprised.
...Hiro?
The man on the roof flinches at the name.
You search your memory. Hiro...
