5 5 301 DialogEnable 1 Collins Great, the success of the new specialized frame just gave us a more "proper" excuse to win more influence in the Parliament. 1
6 6 301 Rebecca "Proper" just doesn't sound right when it comes from you. 2
7 7 301 Collins You really have wronged me. You know, I never liked to break the rules. It's just that... sometimes the cost of breaking the rules is too low. 1
8 8 301 Knowing she will never win the argument with this man, Rebecca diverts her attention to the other two in the meeting room.
9 9 204 2
10 10 301 Rebecca Liszt, the executive meeting of the World Government will commence in half an hour. You will be participating as a councilman from the Diplomatic Court. Have you got the topic ready? 2
11 11 301 Liszt nods and hands over the document to Collins.
12 12 201 1 500496 -400
13 13 301 1 Liszt It was ready long ago. We also managed to invite the CEO of Norman Mining Corp to join the Parliament as a citizen representative. 1
14 14 204 2 4
15 15 301 Rebecca casts a glance at the man brought by Liszt, only to be made speechless by his fancy, inappropriate clothing and accessories. When he notices Rebecca, he even throws her a wink.
16 16 201 1 500319 -400
17 17 301 1 Collins If we can nail the timing, this meeting would be a good opportunity for us to bring up the research on Ascendants. I'm sure they will understand me when they see the new possibility of human evolution. 1
18 18 301 Collins flips through the outline and snaps his fingers at Rebecca.
19 19 204 2
20 20 301 Rebecca Collins and I will prepare the files about Ascendant research. I'll leave the Parliament to you, Liszt. 2
21 21 201 1 500497 2 -400
22 22 301 1 Norman Don't forget me, Ms. Rebecca. I'll do my best too. 1
23 23 204 2 4
24 24 301 Rebecca I'll leave it to both of you then... 2
25 25 201 1 500319 5 400
26 26 201 2 500496 -400
27 27 301 1 Collins Hold on... Liszt, I may be getting too old, but can you elaborate what the heck this abstract outline of yours is all about? 1
28 28 301 Collins suddenly speaks behind Rebecca. Unlike most of the time, his voice is filled with threat and anger.
29 29 301 Liszt I'll suggest in the meeting that we install the restarted zero-point reactor and engine on Babylonia, so it can fulfill its role as an interstellar colony ship and take humans away from the Earth... 2
30 30 301 Before Liszt can finish, Collins slams the outline toward him. Liszt lets the paper hit his face without dodging.
31 31 301 Collins Are you going to betray me?! 1
32 32 301 Collins knows the value of this proposal too well. It would be highly convincing and feasible if it is ever brought up in the meeting.
33 33 301 With a poker face, Liszt picks up the papers on the floor and reorganizes them.
34 34 204 2 4
35 35 301 Liszt You hold a higher position than me in Kurono, but technically speaking, I am not your subordinate. My job is to assist you, not to take orders from you. So I don't think this is a betrayal. 2
36 36 301 Liszt Your obsession with the Ascendants has exceeded the organization's budget on a single project. The research on Ascendants will be indefinitely postponed until the risks are re-evaluated. 2
37 37 401 2 1543
38 38 301 RImgBg1Shake Collins grabs Liszt by his collar and presses him against the wall.
39 39 204 1 7
40 40 301 Collins When did you start planning all this...? 1
41 41 301 Liszt "Don't be stingy with your baits if you want to catch a big fish"... For my purpose, I would not hesitate to make myself part of the bait with you. 2
42 42 301 Liszt No matter what... I must protect Babylonia and choose the best path for humanity. 2
43 43 301 AniZhuanchangBegin Collins stares at Liszt. For the first time, he realizes this calm, unemotional man is just another maniac like himself.
67 67 301 RImgBg1Shake But the Corrupted never attacks... or cannot attack, to be precise. It is held up in the air for a few seconds, then suddenly gets slammed into the wall of the reactor room, leaving a crack in the wall.
68 68 201 1 500494 7 -150
69 69 301 1 Shocked, Karenina looks at the ground under her feet and sees a ripple-like effect on it. But she knows it isn't an illusion, nor is the ground really turning soft. The gravitational waves have distorted the light nearby.
70 70 301 The Corrupted touched by the gravitational waves are either slammed into the ground or launched upward into space. Some are even torn apart mid-air by opposing gravitational forces.
77 77 301 Karenina immediately leaps back, trying to get out of the impacted area. The pencil in her chest accidentally falls out. The moment it touches the gravitational waves, it is shredded into wood dust in a split second.
78 78 301 Karenina The zero-point engine...! 1
79 79 301 Karenina can only think of one possible explanation: at least one control center linking to the reactor array has been infected by the Punishing Virus, pumping more than the required energy into the zero-point engine and causing out-of-control gravitational impact.
80 80 301 If the zero-point engine continues to run like this...
81 81 301 Karenina The Punishing Virus will be the last thing I need to worry about. The entire lunar base could be destroyed... 1
82 82 301 The zero-point reactor itself has been reinforced and buried deep underground. Everything around it will probably be wiped out... After all, this miraculous engine is capable of sending the entire Babylonia across space.
83 83 301 AniZhuanchangBegin Karenina This must be stopped! 1
88 88 301 AniZhuanchangEnd This must be stopped...
89 89 301 We prepared for the worst, but the situation still deteriorated faster than everyone could anticipate...
90 90 301 We tried our best to stop the Kurono researchers, but they still decided to put the Inver-Device into mass production without fully testing its reliability.
91 91 301 How ironic. The guns they pointed at us never worked—bullets were not any scarier than the Punishing Virus.
92 92 301 There were only 5 of us left in the lab long before that. Without machines, we had to stay close to the Punishing Virus.
93 93 301 A lot of people were infected multiple times as they were exposed to the Punishing Virus for a prolonged period. Even Dr. Kalon had his brain infected... Many more died in agony long ago due to severe decay in their bodies.
94 94 301 Our broken bodies were not the reason why we still did not give up. The guns that pointed at us were not scarier than the Punishing Virus itself.
95 95 201 1 500258
96 96 301 1 Kurono Officer Sorry, but I must bring hope back to the Earth even if I have to take it with force... There's no time to waste. 1
97 97 301 Kurono Officer Hundreds or thousands may die from the Construct operation, but that's still far better than the total defeat of humankind. I call it a "necessary sacrifice." 1
98 98 202 1 1
99 99 301 The most disgusting guy in Kurono forced us to assist him with the mass production of the Inver-Device.
100 100 301 We both knew the risk involved, but this beast named "hope" still seized us by the throat.
101 101 301 After Kurono received the first batch of Inver-Device, we finally made an Inver-Device that could run stably...
102 102 301 But it was all too late, whether to those who died on the operating table or to us...
103 103 301 Everything we ever feared eventually happened.
104 104 301 The production was extremely rushed, and we inevitably had to rely on some machines. Even the most cutting-edge equipment could not detect the traces of the virus leaked, which contaminated the machines and spread out.
105 105 301 The rate of the spread was limited due to the low number of machines on site, but when we realized it, some Construct models had already turned into Corrupted.
106 106 301 AniZhuanchangBegin They began to hunt us down. We were only unarmed researchers with no means to protect ourselves...
108 108 301 AniZhuanchangEnd Everyone else died... In the end, only Dr. Kalon and I barely made it to the place where the zero-point reactor was located. He had been unstable due to the after-effect of his brain infection.
109 109 201 1 500270
110 110 301 1 Kalon Look! Earth! It's Earth! 1
111 111 301 Right, one of the reasons I came here was to open the outer space shield and let the negative pressure blow all the remaining Punishing Virus into space. We could see the beautiful earth here.
112 112 302 Stay inside the life pod, Doctor. Don't leave it... 113
113 113 202 1
114 114 301 I stuffed Dr. Kalon and our research documents inside the only operating life pod and sent it to space. If he was lucky, perhaps a cargo ship would pick up the signal and rescue him.
115 115 301 But I must stay, for there was one last thing for me to do. I have to turn off the zero-point reactor array that was still running.
116 116 301 The system had no control program. I had to get to the core to shut it down... Just like Dr. Kalon said, I could only think of this stupidest method.
117 117 301 Perhaps we were too used to the convenience brought by machines. Even just walking to the core seemed to claim my remaining life—but maybe it was just my body's natural reaction, given that oxygen was almost running out.
118 118 301 But just as I expected, the Corrupted are still functioning even after all the viruses were expunged.
119 119 301 They have all followed me into the reactor core, trying to tear me apart at every moment.
120 120 401 2 1508
121 121 301 Corrupted Rargh—
122 122 301 But that also gave me the perfect opportunity to lock them all here. Once I turn off the last core, this place will be completely shut and probably never open again. The reactor's beautiful blue hue is no more to be seen.
123 123 301 There's no time to write down the incident report, so I'm using this antique device from my personal collection... I know this recording will probably never be found.
124 124 301 But if someone ever uncovers this piece of history, it means humanity has not gone extinct from this disaster. The fire of science we lit up is still burning somewhere.
125 125 301 —In that case, please tell me... Tell me your story about the future of humanity.
