5 5 301 1 Technician Consciousness upload at 60%. 2
6 6 301 Nikola stands stoically by a technician in a white labcoat as he frantically rattles off reading after reading.
7 7 301 Technician Sir, are you sure about this? This is in violation of... 2
8 8 301 1 Nikola We're simply reclaiming what is lost. In our current predicament, we cannot allow news of the incident to propagate. 3
9 9 301 Technician But if we set this precedent, every Construct that follows... 2
10 10 301 Nikola Then we'll make sure this is the last. Continue the upload! 3
11 11 301 Technician 80%. 2
12 12 301 At Nikola's insistence, the technician returns to reporting readings. As she interfaces with the terminal in front of her, her eyes linger on the figure behind the pane of transparent crystal.
13 13 301 In her hibernation, the young girl in black and red is curled up like a newborn baby. Countless wires trail from every point along her spine. More machine than human, she is unaware of the soul she is about to receive, or the person to which it used to belong.
14 14 301 Technician Sorry... 2
15 15 301 The whispered apology escapes even the notice of Nikola. Afterwards, the technician grits her teeth and throws herself back into the procedure.
16 16 301 Nikola The procedure is also worth documenting. Sisters... both capable of becoming Ascendant... She may hold the key to the Punishing Virus. 3
17 17 301 Technician 90%, sir. Your authentication is required. 2
18 18 301 Nikola I authenticate, Level A, to proceed with activation of the new Construct, codename: Lotus. 3
19 19 301 Technician 100%, we have activation. 2
20 20 301 Klaxons blare as the Construct activates. Tremors run through the girl's body as her veins are filled with vital fluids.
21 21 301 AniZhuanchangBegin Nikola Mankind needs you back in the fight, Lucia. 3
24 24 301 AniZhuanchangEnd By the time I became aware, I was already in the hall.
25 25 301 All around me are Military-grade Constructs like myself, living weapons built for the singular purpose of reclaiming Earth.
26 26 301 Parts of my memory data were blurry, likely already fragmented. The only data I recalled with any clarity was the combat training I have endured since becoming a military-use Construct.
27 27 301 Afterwards, Gestalt ran its evaluation of me, moving me from place to place, station to station, until I was finally assigned to a squad and sent into battle.
28 28 301 My name is Lucia... member of Gray Raven.
29 29 301 Gray Raven. I never understood the name. Maybe I do have memories of how it came to be, but it's nothing I want to remember.
30 30 301 Commandant A Hey, did you find a suitable team?
31 31 301 Uniformed groups pass me by. I know them to be commandants, here to conduct the pairing tests. Us Constructs are also here to decide our futures.
32 32 301 Commandant B A few of the teams look decent, but their organization falls a bit short of my expectations.
33 33 301 Commandant A A bit short? We take what we can get, man. HQ's M.O. is balanced capabilities across the teams. We exist to fill in the missing piece in the center.
34 34 301 Commandant B I get that. I just want a little more assurance. We are stepping into a battlefield, after all.
35 35 301 Commandant A Heh... erring on the side of caution, are you? I guess scouting for a few more rounds won't hurt.
36 36 301 People keep passing us by. Occasionally, though, people also leave.
37 37 201 1 500019
38 38 301 1 Construct We've been paying attention to your service record. It is our honor to serve as your team. 1
39 39 301 Relaxed Commandant Nah, the honor's mine. I just picked the best team for my tactics.
40 40 301 Relaxed Commandant The system does show that Suzaku has one more female Construct. Is she absent?
41 41 301 Construct Tifa is a little shy. My apologies, Commandant. I will have her apologize to you directly. 1
42 42 301 Relaxed Commandant I have a better idea.
43 43 301 Construct A better idea...? 1
44 44 301 Relaxed Commandant Popping by your HQ, of course. Tifa should be there, right?
45 45 301 Construct Uh, th-that might not be the best idea. 1
46 46 301 Relaxed Commandant It's now team regulations to spook misbehaving kids a little. Suzaku, fall out!
48 48 301 Commandant A That's the loon from B Section, isn't it. Guy never got the notice to not run in the hallways...
49 49 202 1
50 50 301 1 No recruitment process is the same. Somehow, the squads do not show unease, nor nervousness for the battles to come. Instead...
51 51 301 They show complex, multi-faceted joy on their faces.
52 52 301 Disquieted, hollow, I was at odds with the room. I held no purpose, no expectations.
53 53 301 I was a shell. Beneath everyone's notice, I retreated against a wall. The white lights beat down on me like the noonday sun, and I felt I couldn't breathe.
54 54 301 Commandant C What's up with that one...
55 55 301 Commandant D Huh, our top gun's really here. And here I thought they were putting together a prima-donna squad for 'em.
56 56 301 All eyes were suddenly on the intruder, as if the very wind had changed directions and blown to the entrant's way.
57 57 301 Top gun. My receptors picked up the term tossed around in hushed conversation. Why someone like that, first among the commandants, find a team to match here?
58 58 301 DialogDisable But I did not look, because I knew it had nothing to do with me. I just had to do exactly what I did the day before: stand there, in my spot, and wait for the hour to strike the same mark as it had before.
71 72 301 AniZhuanchangEnd 1 After skimming through Gray Raven's data logs, that person gazed at me.
72 73 301 ??? Are you alone?
73 74 301 1 Lucia I... 1
74 75 301 For a moment, I was lost for words, the tortured syllables trapped in my approximation of a "throat". I realized that it was a system error from not having spoken to anyone in too long.
75 76 301 But the person did not press me for an answer, but instead, stood quietly in front of me, waiting.
76 77 301 Lucia I'm... 1
77 78 301 Lucia It's just me. 1
78 79 301 Fear and anticipation mixed with unrecognized emotion, translating into syllables that fell like bricks from my mouth. In their wake, there came a few seconds of silence.
79 80 301 ??? What a coincidence. I'm by my lonesome too. What's your name?
80 81 301 Lucia Lucia. 1
81 82 301 Grasping the outstretched hand, I felt my system logs create a new file under "Commandant".
