act19side

...It's me.

You were right. The cop chose to help the Pioneers. And Elena Urbica turned on Director Clooney.

A sigh leaks out of the communicator.

What a shame.

Ferdinand has lost.

Why do you say that? Sure, I couldn't stop them, but there aren't too many.

I just happened to see your old boss returning to Rhine Lab headquarters.

Director Saria?!

Gah...

Settle down. You've taken quite a beating, yes? From whom? The cop? I believe you said she's like Saria in some ways?

There's nobody quite like her.

I... I just don't understand.

Why would she do that? All the hard work she put in... Rhine Lab meant more to her than health or fame.

I wanted to follow in her footsteps and defend Rhine. Why would she betray us?

Did she...? Or did we let her down?

What do you—

Ah, the follies of youth.

The young seek out those they think are of like mind, but true understanding only comes with time.

They may argue incessantly now, but there was a time when they treated each other with sincerity, more or less.

Director Parvis... do I hear music?

Ah, have you not heard this tune before?

Oh, that's right, you joined after Rhine Lab's first New Year's party.

We didn't have our own building back then.

Kristen rented half the floor of an office building next to the Trimounts Institute of Technology, and shared an old apartment with Saria nearby.

Ferdinand talked about bringing in funding for us, but once he left his old job, his former associates stopped answering his mail.

I was still at my old lab, and only went back to Trimounts a couple of times per month.

On New Year's Eve, I got a message from Muelsyse ordering me to attend the party.

It snowed heavily that night, and the roads back from Max D.C. were packed. I didn't want to go to all that effort, but Muelsyse didn't give me a choice.

She said she would soak my pillow in icy water if I didn't get back on time.

I stepped into the office, just before the clock struck twelve.

Then I heard the song.

It was a dreadful song.

As a Leithanian, I have never understood, to this day, how Muelsyse, an authority on Originium Arts, could have such vulgar taste in music.

But the others didn't seem bothered. Ferdinand asked Saria to dance with him, and she said yes. Could you believe it?

As for Kristen... she watched from the sides. That night, she spent more time looking at the people in the room than outside the window.

Those days... I can hardly remember them now.

How did that song go?

Sigh...

I suppose I really am getting old.

Director Parvis?

Are... are you asleep?

There is no response from the communicator.

The tune keeps playing, looping over and over again.

He does not know if the old Caprinae is still sitting by the communicator.

All he knows is that when he returns to Rhine Lab headquarters at dawn, he will see Parvis standing at his usual spot, a teacup in his hands, watching young faces come and go below with a smile on his face.