act16mini

Alright, so maybe you don't get it. I also know there are lots of people with huge families that don't deal with this sort of thing.

Sorry, can't help you with that one...

...Hold on, Ray. There are uniformed men coming this way. The same as the last checkpoint...

I didn't grow up in a big family.

Those houses, all joined together neatly, looked so beautiful. But, I didn't know where I ought to settle myself down.

The Zalak's gone.

Hm, he probably decided to leave on his own. Should've hopped off to begin with.

Good day, ma'am. We'd like to have a little chat with you.

Don't be scared, Potlid. The pictures on the wall might be a bit spooky, but the lady here isn't into anything too weird.

She takes pictures of giant beast carcasses in the primordial forest, plus the bones of explorers in the morass, but she's never hurt anybody.

Haha, well, at least, she probably wouldn't hurt anyone.

Huh. You're not even talking back when I call you Potlid. Where'd your spirit go? You hungry or something?

Dunno if we can count on the jacker at all, but hopefully she manages to bring the stuff back without any issues. I'll show you a neat hack later – you can use solar panels to fry up some instant noodle cakes and fowlbeast eggs!

...Put the past behind you.

Anyways, I have a solution now. Doesn't the jacker seem odd to you? Maybe even... a bit crazy? That's why I decided to meet this friend and ask her about the situation.

A shadow as tall as a mountain? And it can talk? If a thing like that really exists in Rim Billiton, my friend surely would've heard of it.

But, if the jacker simply had too much to drink, or went into the mines without a helmet and hit her head, well... I'll have to figure something else out.

Don't worry. They don't call me 'Alanna of the Barrenlands' for nothing. I'll always figure something out.

Get lost, and be quick about it. I'm busy with my travel notes. Didn't you see the sign on the door?

––Wait, not many know about my temporary studio in the first place. Which rag do you work for? And how'd you manage to track me down?

Lanns... Didn't you say you were old friends? She doesn't seem to... recognize you.

Haha, well... the 'old' part means we haven't seen each other in a long time.

Hey, remember that time we went down to Big Hammer Mine? There was that one manglerbeast trying to tear us apart. Reckon that was the biggest manglerbeast known to man?

Right, right, it's the one on the wall there! I was behind the wheel when you took this photo.

Huh?

Alright... I don't care who you are or what you want, but I'll give you ten minutes. Don't test my patience.

Sorry to occupy your precious time, but I have to vent a bit – this is the single darkest day I've ever suffered.

Of course, I know that 'you' don't actually exist; I've just gotten used to having someone to talk to ever since I was little. After all, there were always so many people talking at once back home, and I... had the faintest voice.

Anyways, all I wanted to say was... it's way too dark under this truck.

(Patience, now. Just five more seconds. Wait for the shoes to go out of sight...)

(Four... three... two... one...)

*cough*, *cough* *cough*! ...Blurgh!

Ugh... At least two mouthfuls of dirt won't send me to the hospital, even if this is the dried sand on the chassis we're talking about...

Alright, I can feel it. This should be the access door leading to the power room on the bottom level.

It's too scary to walk around outside, so I squeezed back inside the vehicle to wait for them to return...

Though... I'm not sure if Ray's gonna be coming back... I feel bad leaving her behind like that, but it's not like I did it on purpose.

One, two––

Finally, the valve opened!

Oh no! S-S-S-Sorry! I got in the wrong vehicle!

I'll be leaving now...

Hold it.

I hear something coming from under the vehicle.

Oh no...

Shh—

(whispers) Quiet down.

(whispers) If you blow my cover, nothing good's going to come of it.

(Nods in silence)

We can't afford to let those damned metal crabs crawl into the station anymore! The last time one got in, it totaled three vehicles, and shanked two people to boot!

Go grab a torch. I need to take a look.

(Gestures wildly in despair)

(whispers) Come out.

Yeah, I got these coupons from somebody else. I don't know much about your market here.

Then why the hell are you answering our market research questions?!

Because you asked them.

Ugh, alright then. I guess we have to throw out that whole transcript. Sorry for bothering you, ma'am.

No worries.

'Monthly promo magazine, clip this for 10% off compressed canned food.'

When did this kind of stuff start showing up?

Alanna is pretty incredible. She's got all the little details worked out in life, everything down the list.

'On Friday, go grab a scarf from the old man with a stuffed tail, and get a friends discount from his daughter.' Yeah. She's got everything figured out, down to the day.

This stack of papers can be used in the Three Million Trolleys supermarket, and this stack...

That's right, Doctor. Actually, even my own memory is a bit fuzzy.

It's as if Rim Billiton has always been like this. Rusty factories, steel frames stacked on top of each other, a gray skyscape, and Originium clusters towering in the horizon...

Sorry, Amiya. I really would like for you to be able to go home and have a good look around... I was looking for your parents for a long while.

But after the attack on the engineering team, the nomadic plate you used to live on got dismantled. The place we're standing right now probably has the most stuff from the old plate.

No worries, Savage. This is enough. Thank you so much.

Just smelling the rust, oil, and welding rods is bringing back memories.

It's as if... I've gone back in time.

Oh, what am I even saying...? It's only been a few years.

It's just... I can still feel myself sitting in the back of a construction truck, following my parents and the other folks on the engineering team, waiting for them to set out from the plate.

You went with them?

It's a common practice in many large families.

The household oftentimes IS the engineering team. If the team has to go work in some faraway place, they'll take the old and the young with them, to make sure they're taken care of.

Of course, not all the people in the family are necessarily blood-related. Sometimes, they'll be considered part of the household just by living in the same part of the factory.

Does that mean, back then...?

Oh, Doctor, there's no need to feel bad for me... It's not like I was thinking about the accident.

And besides, I'd already carefully thought through what I was searching for, even before I came to Rim Billiton.

Oh, Doctor, look over there! I still remember that smokestack...

Erm...

What's wrong, Amiya?

...I suddenly remembered challenging the other kids to see who could crawl down there the farthest while keeping their tails as clean as possible...

Isn't that insanely dangerous?;Sounds like fun. I'd like to give it a try.

It was totally fine. None of us wanted to get scolded by the adults back home, so we never went too far down.

Crikey, when's the last time I heard Amiya talking like this?

I'm afraid you don't qualify, Doctor. You don't have a tail.

Crikey, when's the last time I heard Amiya talking like this?

I'm not the same six or seven-year-old kid I was back then either!

But, at last, I've found something I recognize.

This is still Rim Billiton after all.

It's how we build our houses. Old buildings are incredibly useful, so there's no need to dismantle them. If you want a new house, just build right on top of it.

Which is why the elders tell us from the time we're little...

...'Adventurous folk, no matter how far they travel, always know home when they come back to it.'

That being said, a lot of things have changed as well.

For example, the Infected persons management law we just came across seems to be imitating Leithanien's legal framework and Victoria's jargon...

Amiya.

Someone's been staring at you for a while now.

Mmhmm. I've noticed, Doctor.

Do you know her?

I don't think I've seen her before... Also, I don't think any of the people who took care of me before would recognize me now.

Let's keep moving, Doctor. I'm sure it's fine.