5 5 301 A deafening whine pierces through your eardrums and slithers deep into your mind.
6 6 302 What is this place? 7
7 7 301 Your mind feels like mush. Colors seem to mix together, and the air is stagnant with the smell of vital fluid and a certain metallic tang. You see nothing but whiteness.
8 8 302 What is happening?
9 9 301 A sudden voice, misty and dreamlike, seeps over from afar.
10 10 301 ??? ...Commandant...
11 11 301 ??? ...Link... Stabilizer...
12 12 302 Huh? 13
13 13 301 You try to ask the voice, but nothing comes out of your mouth. Only the cold, rusty air floods in, bringing with it a displeasing dampness.
23 23 301 DialogEnable DialogDisable The whiteness disperses, and a gray ceiling enters your eyes. A metallic floor then follows. The sight is both a familiar, and foreign one.
24 24 302 This is... 25
25 25 302 The underground cave in City 075. 26 This must be a dream. 39
26 26 301 DialogEnable Indeed. This place looks the same as the secret base of the Ascendants, or at least, as you remember it. But then, why would you be here?
27 27 302 Ugh... 28
28 28 301 RImgBg1Shake A sudden headache bites away at you, disturbing your thoughts.
29 29 401 1 203
30 30 401 2 1508
31 31 201 1 500013
32 32 301 1 ??? Urgh—! 1
33 33 302 The Corrupted? 34
34 34 203 1 0.25 -400
35 35 201 2 500013 400
36 36 401 2 1508
37 37 301 DialogDisable 1 ??? Urgh!!! 1 2
38 38 302 This looks bad... 53
39 39 401 1 205
40 40 301 DialogEnable Yep. This must be a dream. In the morning, Celica is going to wake you up with a half-meter tall stack of reports and a billion phone calls, like usual.
41 41 401 2 1508
42 42 201 1 500013
43 43 301 1 ??? Urgh—! 1
44 44 302 Not that unusual seeing Corrupted in dreams. 45 What did I do to deserve this in my dreams? 45
45 45 203 1 0.25 -400
46 46 201 2 500013 400
47 47 401 2 1508
48 48 301 1 ??? Urgh—! 1 2
49 49 302 They're getting closer and closer... 50 Trying to scare me in my dreams? No chance. 50
50 50 301 ??? —!! 1 2
51 51 301 DialogDisable The Corrupted approach in a most inhuman fashion, their appendages even flicking gravel up at you. A spurt of gravel strikes your skin with a realistic scrunch.
52 52 302 ... 53
53 53 302 This looks real bad... 54
54 54 401 2 1508
55 55 301 DialogEnable ??? URGH! 1 2
56 56 202 1 2 1
57 999 401 1 203
58 57 302 Gotta run! 58 (Retaliate) 59
59 58 62 301 Before the Corrupted could land a hit on you, you take a mighty leap and run for your life.
60 59 301 You subconsciously reach for your pistol, only to find nothing.
61 60 302 ...I'm completely unarmed. 61
62 61 301 And so, before the Corrupted could land a hit on you, you take a mighty leap and run for your life.
88 87 301 DialogEnable You come to the same conclusion as before. This is indeed the underground cave in City 075. Yet something is amiss—like how the ground is rumbling as if something is moving beneath...
89 88 301 Why did you wake up here, after you connected with Luna?
90 89 301 Not to mention how your Mind Beacon is still strongly connected to a certain unknown signal.
91 90 302 Am I connected to Luna? 92 Am I connected to the Gray Ravens? 92
92 92 401 2 1508
93 93 201 1 500013
94 94 301 1 Corrupted —! 1
95 95 302 They're here again...! 96
96 96 201 2 500013 600
97 97 201 3 500013 -600
98 98 301 1 A horde of Corrupted slowly pour out of a building not so far away. They are somehow shambling toward you with pinpoint accuracy, as if installed with radars. 1 2 3
99 99 302 Looks like this is a new group of Corrupted. 100 Can't handle them all. Better run. 100
100 100 202 1 2 3 1
101 101 201 1 500066
102 102 301 1 ??? ... 1
103 103 301 Suddenly, a ghostly shadow slides out of the darkness and blocks your path.
104 104 302 α!? 105
105 105 201 1 500100
106 106 301 1 α ... 1
107 107 301 The Alpha before you is silent, her gaze taking on an iciness magnitudes above her usual self... Or, more accurately, her eyes seem to be unfocused.
108 108 301 α ... 1
109 109 302 Who are you? 110 What are you trying to do? 110
110 110 301 Alpha ignores your question. She draws her weapon and mechanically trudges forward. The Corrupted behind her also seem to have multiplied in numbers like magic.
111 111 302 Where did they come from...? 112 This makes no sense at all... 112
112 112 202 1 1
113 113 301 Right as Alpha raises her blade, the answer to this series of strange events finally strikes you.
128 128 301 The Alpha-looking someone is not over yet. She attacks you once more.
129 129 302 If only I had a weapon... 130 I can't handle her head on. 131
130 130 132 301 Dodging the attack, you scan around for a makeshift weapon.
131 131 301 Dodging the attack, you scan around for a quick route of escape.
132 132 301 ...And you discover a white figure about ten meters away from you, just around a corner.
133 133 302 That's... 134 Luna? 134
134 134 201 1 500100
135 135 301 1 α? ...? 1
136 136 301 Hearing what you just said, "Alpha" finally gives a reaction. She stops attacking to turn and look behind her.
137 137 302 (Now!) 138
138 138 202 1 1
139 139 301 Knowing full well that your fragile human body cannot keep up with a Construct, you quickly come up with an ingenious plan, worthy of your top graduate spot in commandant school...
140 140 302 Run! 141 RUN! 141
141 141 401 2 1513
142 142 201 1 500100
143 143 301 1 α? ... 1
144 144 301 To this strange Alpha, the Luna around the corner is evidently more interesting to her than you are. She simply ignores you and sheathes her blade, slowly approaching Luna.
145 145 202 1 1
146 146 401 2 1508
147 147 301 DialogDisable The Corrupted nearby, as if following the same command, also move toward Luna. Their eyes glow in a sanguine redness, brighter than before.
148 148 302 This isn't right... 149
149 149 302 They seem to be... 150
150 150 301 DialogEnable The Luna hiding in the corner shuffles. She seems to have noticed the wave of Corrupted headed for her.
151 151 301 Luna covers her mouth and takes a few steps back. She then pivots and bolts into the darkness, her tiny frame quickly dissolving into nothing.
152 152 302 They're attacking Luna? 153
153 153 301 At the very least, "Alpha" and the Corrupted are still going after her. You should be safe, for now.
154 154 301 You slowly jog to a halt as you reach a hiding place and finally catch a breath. Making good use of this opening, you get your thoughts in order.
155 155 302 I connected to Luna. 156
156 156 301 Indeed, there was no other way.
157 157 302 And then I woke up in this place. 158
158 158 301 ...Everything here makes no sense.
159 159 302 ...That "Alpha" going after her sister. 160 ...That Luna running away. 161
160 160 162 301 "Alpha" was brimming with hostility. The real Alpha would never do that to her sister... So this "Alpha" must not be the real one.
161 161 301 "Alpha" was brimming with hostility for her sister. And Luna herself seems to be targeted by the Corrupted as well...
162 162 301 Based on all that has happened, plus the fact that this cannot be the real world, this leaves only one option...
163 163 302 This is a M.I.N.D. 164
164 164 301 This is the only plausible explanation.
165 165 301 Since M.I.N.D.s are highly incompatible with other consciousnesses, some M.I.N.D.s would activate a self-defense mechanism during a mind link and attack any consciousnesses within... Or so you have heard from Asimov.
166 166 302 If it's Luna, then this is possible. 167 Asimov must be happy with a new case study. 167
167 167 301 DialogDisable Surveying your surroundings once more, you find it to be deathly quiet. Nothing obvious comes to your attention.
168 168 302 ... 169
169 169 302 AniZhuanchangBegin I can't sit here and do nothing. 170
172 171 301 AniZhuanchangEnd Footsteps ring out in a long and narrow path.
173 172 301 A hint of fear shows up on the lone maiden's face, looking completely lost. Air distorts around her as she passes, materializing into cubes of data. They crumble as quickly as they appear.
174 173 301 Hearing the mechanical thumps from behind and around her, she becomes disoriented, more and more.
175 174 301 Run... Dead end... Turn... Dead end... Turn again... Another dead end—the paths all begin to blur together.
176 175 301 ??? Ah... Hah...
177 176 301 The sounds behind her too, begin to merge into clear footsteps, edging ever closer.
178 177 301 ??? ...
179 178 301 Angst—how foreign this feeling must be to her. She runs, headed toward a destination she does not even know of.
180 179 401 2 1508
181 180 201 1 500013
182 181 301 1 Corrupted — 1
183 182 301 The enemies behind her approach with malice that is almost palpable. Ice-cold fear creeps up the back of her neck.
184 183 401 2 1508
185 184 301 Corrupted Urgh—! 1
186 185 202 1 1
187 186 301 ??? ...!
188 187 301 Running out of breath, she turns apprehensively to face the enemies... only to see a headless mechanoid with its lower torso torn off, a few strands of wire dangling from the carcass.
189 188 302 ... 189
190 189 301 You take a deep breath, and chuck the mechanoid head away.
191 190 302 ...Here's to hoping serum works in a M.I.N.D. 191
192 191 301 She stares at you widely, looking very afraid.
193 192 201 1 500238 6
194 193 301 1 Luna Y-you... 1
195 194 301 Luna ... 1
196 195 302 ... 196
197 196 301 Luna ... 1
198 197 302 ... 997
199 997 204 1 4
200 198 301 The girl, the Construct, before you freezes. Her fearful look melts into a daze. She stands there, petrified like a rock.
201 199 302 That was just a basic non-combat mechanoid. 200 What's with the look on your face...? 200
202 200 301 This is just downright uncanny.
203 201 301 The leader of the Ascendants, a most fearsome enemy, now standing dumbfounded before you like some innocent little girl. Looking at her, you find yourself dumbfounded as well—her confusion must be contagious.
204 202 302 (Should I say something...?) 203 (Is this really Luna?) 203
205 203 204 1 5
206 204 301 Luna Who are you...? 1
207 205 301 Luna ... 1
208 206 302 You don't know who I am? 207 Are you Luna? 208
209 207 210 301 Luna You're not a... baddie? 1
210 208 301 Luna I-I'm... Luna. You... 1
211 209 301 Luna You're not a... baddie? 1
212 210 302 Baddie? 211
213 211 302 (...She just said "baddie"?) 996 (This can't be Luna.) 996
214 996 204 1 6
215 212 301 Luna Stay away from me... 1
216 213 301 This Luna is a lot more expressive than the one you know.
220 217 301 And she skirts away, immediately. You reach for her hand, but only her fluttering hair brushes past. Before you could even react, the world before you spins around like a whirlpool.
221 218 301 1 AniZhuanchangBegin The ground curls up like a canvas, and Luna lets out a small yelp of surprise. Like a leaf, she is almost instantaneously drawn into the center of the whirlpool, disappearing into the warped space.
