3 3 301 DialogEnable After that first and last meeting—
4 4 201 1 500350 400
5 5 201 2 500042 -400
6 6 301 1 Lustrous I thought there would be more opposition. 1
7 7 301 Lustrous looks slightly surprised.
8 8 301 The administrative director closes the metallic clasp of the suitcase and smiles at the research director.
9 9 301 Admin Director My hands would be on your neck if I was still the same person from when I first came here. 2
10 10 301 Admin Director Remember the first night you became the director? I dragged you out from your lab and hosted a dinner with the other directors. 2
11 11 301 Admin Director I asked you what you think of the base when we were eating. You said this place is like a brain constantly metabolizing. 2
12 12 301 Lustrous I did say that. 1
13 13 301 Admin Director It was a good metaphor. 2
14 14 301 Admin Director Does it matter what carbon dioxide and the sodium think when they're created from metabolism? 2
15 15 301 Lustrous does not hesitate.
16 16 301 Lustrous Not at all. The only thing that matters is the thought. 1
17 17 301 Admin Director That's why the nutrients go to your part of the brain. Do what you have to do. 2
18 18 202 1 2 1
19 19 301 The administrative director nods at the others around the table.
20 20 201 1 500303
21 21 301 1 Data Director Don't worry. We'll do our job. 1
22 22 202 1 1
23 23 301 Lustrous looks at the directors one by one.
24 24 301 She lets out a barely visible smile.
25 25 201 1 500350 1 400
26 26 201 2 500042 -400
27 27 301 1 Lustrous I'm glad to have you as my colleagues. It's an honor working with you all. 1
28 28 301 Admin Director The honor is mine. I look forward to Atlantis leading the next Industrial Revolution, but if I won't live long enough for that day to come, I'll die where it sits. 2
29 29 202 1 2 1
30 30 301 She stands.
31 31 201 1 500042
32 32 301 1 Admin Director I'll "go" first. Try to stay away as long as you can. 1
33 33 301 AniZhuanchangBegin Admin Director We are sorry that you have to be the one who carries it all at the end. 1
36 36 301 AniZhuanchangEnd Lustrous stands in front of the window of the observatory, looking out at the lifeless seaborne city.
37 37 301 The more one thing has shone, the more forsaken it looks when it falls.
38 38 301 Too long has passed. Everyone she knows has passed. Now, standing here alone, she looks like a wavering torch in a storm.
39 39 301 And this last torch is about to go out.
40 40 301 The weather is not great today. Dark clouds cover the sky, but the rain has yet to fall. Literal silver linings are peeking from between the clouds.
41 41 301 Lustrous ...
42 42 301 She closes her eyes, trying to feel the warmth on her cheeks.
43 43 301 Lustrous So in the end, I still have that speck of weakness in me...
44 44 301 Lustrous Oh, brain, I despise you sometimes.
45 45 301 Lustrous sighs softly.
46 46 301 She has never shown any weakness in front of others because she was their flag.
47 47 301 A flag is a symbol and a metaphor. A flag does not need to show humanity or have a heart. A flag just needs to be hung before an army during wars and planted on the enemy's castle after victory.
48 48 301 As long as the flag does not fall, everyone else will charge toward the same destination. As long as it stands, everyone will march forward fearlessly for their dreams and beliefs.
49 49 301 But now, everyone she was leading is gone. They have burnt their dignity and soul into cinders for their last act for humanity.
50 50 301 And so, the flag becomes a human again.
51 52 301 Lustrous Try to stay away as long as I can...?
52 53 301 Lustrous I'm afraid I can't keep that promise.
53 54 301 The observatory used to be where they liked to stay the most.
54 55 301 It sits at the top of Atlantis, and they could see the whole city from here. They could see the ocean, the sky, the stars.
55 56 301 The observatory is empty now. She is the only one left, trying to see humanity's future.
56 57 301 Lustrous walks to her chair and sits down.
57 58 301 She has done her job. This is as far as she goes.
58 59 301 She is tired.
59 60 301 She will leave the rest of the work to those who come after.
60 61 301 Lustrous turns around and takes one last look at the setting sun.
61 62 301 Just one regret—she thinks.
62 63 301 The day she set foot on this island, she thought she would go to the edge of the universe one day.
63 64 301 Lustrous Who would have thought that, in the end, I'd go gentle into that good night?
64 65 301 AniZhuanchangBegin Her last whisper is carried away by the wind, disappearing with the last hint of sunlight.
66 67 301 AniZhuanchangEnd The moment you open the door to the observatory, you feel like you have just pressed the play button on a snapshot of the past.
67 68 301 As the sea breeze rushes in, the room begins to fog up.
68 69 301 The woman you have seen in the videos is sitting quietly on a chair not far from you.
69 70 301 Her body does not look rotten. It has dried thoroughly under the same clothes you have seen in the records, easily identifiable.
70 71 301 A heavy sense of sadness suddenly brews and fills the room.
71 73 301 Silently, Vera walks toward the woman and kneels down on one knee.
72 74 301 And then she discovers something.
73 75 301 The supply crate next to the body is filled with food.
74 77 301 Vera ...
75 78 301 Vera's eyes widen.
76 80 301 Vera Haha—hahaha—
77 81 301 For a moment there, she can even picture the woman's last moment from what has been left behind in the room.
78 82 301 Unlike the others, Lustrous was not starved to death. She chose to end her life.
79 83 301 Realizing that, Vera laughs hysterically as if to cover another feeling deep inside.
80 84 301 Vera This is "as far as she goes"... Then what the hell is this?
81 85 301 Vera You tricky bastard. In the end, you couldn't take it.
82 86 401 1 206
83 87 301 AniZhuanchangBegin Vera Well, then. I'll seize it from you—
