act16mini

This is way too hot, all of a sudden!

Savage, is it really okay for her to use Arts like that?

Hm? Yeah, it's fine.

Well, alright then. Heh, I've had my eyes on this staff for a long time, it just screams Billy industrial aesthetic. I knew it'd be a great fit for our Potlid!

How's that? Now bring on the praises.

You're so amazing, Lanns!

So... amazing.

It's just, even if I'd got it for you a long time ago, we didn't have anyone around to teach you how to use it. Besides, I couldn't just put 'the transport truck' down for our delivery address, right?

Now then, let's go get you treated.

When you see your old man again, we'll let him see a real healthy Potlid with incredible Arts!

Lanns, I...

I...

Huh? Why are you...?

...Alright, let it out.

Just grab my clothes and cry. I don't mind.

At the very least, you didn't end this journey empty-handed.

Verify the pre-departure supplies order. Get the Originium fuel item deleted. We have more than enough fuel reserves. Hell, we have so much, they could come spilling out the tank.

What about these orders from individual operators...? Who commissioned a Messenger to send all these carrots, again?! I've had it with that sweet smell in the kitchen! I can't take it anymore!

This crate's the refined solvent that Engineering ordered. This one is the materials for the experiment Closure is putting together for a new line of business. Hello, Amiya. Hello, Doctor. This one...

Huh? Amiya? Doctor? What are you two doing here?

Oh, I'm sorry. Are we interrupting the Procurement Department's work...?

No, it's fine. It's just... If you're here for the view, I think you'll have a better time up on the deck. It's pretty noisy here at the logistics channel.

Oh, actually, we've kind of got used to noisy environments lately. This noise here actually feels more comfortable...

Doctor, let's head further inside.

How did your checkup go, Amiya?

Don't worry. No changes in my vitals.

After all, we kept our distance from the Active Originium clusters, and we had effective protective measures.

But... I'd be lying to say I wasn't terrified to see... Active Originium growing and fragmenting the earth in front of me.

It's very Rim Billiton to name that place the 'Grinning Valley'.

But when I hear that name now, I don't think I can smile anymore...

But... maybe when everyone gave it the name 'Grinning Valley', it was just a natural valley that wasn't yet covered in Active Originium.

Ray was so sure that she had been there when she was young, after all.

But over those ten years, the Originium there rapidly proliferated and made the area unrecognizable. Not even Ray could identify it.

Do you think it's a shame?;Are you scared?

Yeah, we didn't actually make it to the Grinning Valley. All we did was look at it from afar before we had to turn back. It feels...

It feels kinda like... getting ready for a picnic, only for it to rain that day.

...Don't laugh, Doctor!

Yeah, if we hadn't by chance approached the Grinning Valley from higher ground and the visibility was any lower... perhaps the Originium clusters would've caught up to us, or maybe we would've fumbled our way into it.

Sometimes, I think that...

...perhaps they grow and proliferate in the bodies of the Infected just like that. All the Infected across the lands were actually caught by the Originium a long time ago..

Oh right, Doctor.

Do you think the Feranmut that Ray was looking for... really exists?

As far as I know, Feranmuts do exist.;There's a reason she managed to escape that minor Catastrophe.

That's good, then...

Although we didn't make it to our destination, Ray wasn't just suffering a nightmare.

Doctor, here's your order.

My order?;I don't remember placing an order through Rhodes Island lately.

Oh, it's a surprise I ordered for you, Doctor.

So heavy...

Uh, it's a small vivarium...

When I walked by the market that day, it suddenly occurred to me that you seemed very interested in Billy fauna all those years ago.

When you brought me back to this landship and turned to look at the wilderness... You seemed very lonely. I was still small, but I could tell that it was loneliness.

So I thought I wanted to miniaturize and save everything there is in Rim Billiton as a snapshot for you.

At the very least, back then, I thought you felt lonely because the landship was a bit empty. Perhaps having some living things around would make you happier.

Of course, Rhodes Island has a botanical garden now, and our databases have a sizable collection of ecological files, so this small vivarium might not be all that useful to you anymore.

But I still wanted to fulfill the wish I had as a kid.

Thank you, Amiya.

The way I was then, is it more or less the way you are now?

Huh?

P-Pretty different...? I'm not lonely at all.

It's just, after we got back here, I suddenly started to feel sad.

We have to get back to preparing for our journey to Victoria.

Combat, healing, disaster prevention, and saving lives.

Many elite operators have matters to settle, and... Dr. Kal'tsit forbade me from using that title to refer to myself.

There's something someone once told me.

This path isn't one to reach the end by oneself, and it's not trodden for an outcome or an answer.

I am here.;......;It's not like you to be so pessimistic.

Oh, please don't worry, Doctor. I'm fine. I'm not trying to act sentimental.

But maybe it's precisely because this path doesn't have an end that we sometimes want to take somebody's hand or reach our hand out to somebody else.

As such, life is finite, and life goes on.

Come, Doctor. Let me help you get your vivarium to your office. I've had enough time to put my feelings in order. Right now, there are still a lot of things I need to figure out and learn.

Also, we just had a new operator pass her assessment. I want to go congratulate her.

Based on her question for me, though... Rhodes Island doesn't actually need a pitsinker.

(Sniffs)

The critter staring at the vivarium... Is that Ray's sandbeast?

Yep, the one she's been holding onto since that Catastrophe.

Hold on, the musbeast in the vivarium. Isn't that what sandbeasts like to eat?

Come back, Sandbeast. No eating the Doctor's things...

...Hello, Amiya, Doctor.

Hello, Ray. I heard your assessment went very well. Congratulations.

Thank you.

I have a Rhodes Island ID badge now.

And there's a number on it.

Yes, Ray. Are you worried about something?

No.

When the miners went in the shafts, they'd all bring their ID badges. That way, if somebody didn't come back, it's easy to figure out who.

But pitsinkers are temporary workers. We don't get ID numbers or badges.

I like this badge very much. Thanks.

Uh, no need to thank us...

It's what a corporation should do.

Besides...

...If it pleases you, Rhodes Island can be your home, from here on out.

You see Ray lift her head to stare at Amiya all of a sudden.

Just like the stare that Amiya felt a few days ago, when you two walked by her on the street.

Right, Ray, why did you suddenly want to come to Rhodes Island... to be a pitsinker?

You helped Potlid.

I thought... I should've helped her too. I can't forget what happened that day, no matter what.

And also...

I want an answer.

When the Feranmut woke up from its centuries-long sleep and asked me what exactly I wanted... all I asked was for him to send me and the sandbeasts to a safe place.