act20side

I want to talk about the proposal, the one about going to the surface.

I know this isn't an easy decision to make.

But I think it's the safest option available.

And if we choose this plan, we will still have time to dress our doomed city.

There's not much that I can do, but I'm willing to spend the last bit of time we have to come up with a plan to repair the dome.

And, if at all possible, I want to make the dome even sturdier.

Even though it's impossible to keep an active Originium vein from exploding, that should still buy us some time.

So please, everyone. Let's head to the surface. I'm sure my teacher... would've wanted it too.

The audience is silent.

(Quietly) Master Edge, did I say something wrong?

No, you did very well. Good kid. I knew you could do it.

Very well, then. Let's take the votes again for the third proposal.

As though Stitch's speech has unified their opinions, the very next moment, the Durins start raising their hands one by one.

All of them are chanting something different; Stitch is unable to make it out.

But he can just barely hear some of them complimenting him.

He notices that, on a platform high up above in the distance, Catch is faintly waving to seemingly congratulate him.

It feels as though an electric current suddenly surges through him.

For the first time, he realizes just how exhilarating it feels to be acknowledged.

Always hustling. Busy, busy, Acahuallans.

What are we doing, you ask? Hah, what else can we warriors of Acahualla do?

The greatest weapons, the sturdiest buildings. With the High Priest and Inam Committee's support, we can build even more machines!

Conquest! 'Manure factory!' The Acahualla name will ring across all the lands!

'Manure factory.' What a great word... That's how you say it, right, Yogi?

No, Yota, it's 'manufacturing.' Besides, you should try to get some more rest instead of helping out with work on the... uh... 'Forest Mk. III,' the fully-automatic tree planting and cutting robot.

Actually, since we wrote it off and built a new one last night, this is 'Mk. IV.'

I've been doing great lately, don't worry. I never thought these rocks... Uh, the Originium could be so useful. My eyes are wide open now! Is this new technology? Who brought it here?

Probably Inam.

Ah... It's strong like Gavial, and you can shoot the upper half up in a spiral. It even stays midair for half a minute.

Yeah, it's pretty shocking. Though the High Priest calls that 'disassembly.'

I've been thinking for a while... Look, the lands beyond are so vast, and now we have so much... 'Manufactoring.'

Manufacturing. And the High Priest said before that's not how you use the word.

That doesn't matter. What matters is that we'll have more and more big machines! They'll also get easier to control and cause less accidents, too!

There's much more we can do now, isn't there?!

Like what?

Be ambitious, Brother. Set your sights on all of Sargon. Can you see it now—

Uh, uhh...

—Our statues! As tall as three mountains and as big as two whole lakes!

Ooohh—!

Of course, we need one for the clan leader too... and the High Priest! We can't forget Inam, either...

Finally, we need something special to celebrate all this... A building! Right! A palace! Let's see... with wood? No, it has to be sandstone or some sturdier rock... Let's use Originium! That's it!

We'll pile the Originium up to make a huge building!

Pile it up? I-Into what? Like a temple?

Maybe something simpler. Like a circle... Hm, you can't make a circle with rocks. Let's pile it up layer by layer so it looks like a triangle from all directions!

Oh... Ohh! A triangular tower! Now we just need to give it a name!

Still... there's no point in talking about all this. Gavial said I won't live that long with my disease.

Yota... No! We just have to change the way we think. Let's turn this palace into your burial plot.

That way, forget Acahualla, all of Sargon will remember your name. And I know what to call it, too! 'Yogi Yota Tower!' We'll finish it before you die!

Yogi...!

Don't jinx yourselves like that...

Oh, Tomimi... What are you doing here?

I thought you went straight to Gavial and the clan leader yesterday.

It's been a while since I was back home. I can't just leave like that, can I?

I guess not. So, what are you doing here today? You already stopped by, didn't you?

Actually...

Oh, you're the shortie Inam mentioned. What's the matter? Are you here to complain about our food again? Yeah, I've been thinking the food's been kind of bland lately too. How are we supposed to get by without meat?

No, it's something else. And I have a name. Stitch Canvas. You can't judge me by my height. Are all Archosauria like this?

Haha, no, we're not...

Whatever. You're a bunch of weirdos bickering about tail thickness anyway... I guess it's a cultural difference that I'll have to respect.

Huh? Huh...?

Alright, so what do you need? We're working on a magnificent 'bluepint' for Sargon.

Blueprint.

Uh, right. Blueprint. You hear that, Durin man? This is a huge, glorious plan!

I kind of think... a big, over-the-top tomb isn't a such a great plan... Besides, if everyone gets a huge tomb like that, we won't have enough room in the rainforest.

Stop calling it a tomb. It's for celebration! It's celebratory!

If we build it bigger, we can put both the leader and Gavial in there too, and our descendants will sing the praises of Zumama and 'Gavial's Will' in front of our statues, with their kids all around them.

(I am starting to regret this decision...)

Wha...! B-But...

Right. Right now, we shouldn't—

—In that case, we can't call it the 'Yogi Yota Tower!' It has to have Gavial's name in it! W-We can add my name in there too, while we're at it...!

Uh, no, I mean... Well, Mr. Stitch already talked to Inam about this, but I want everyone to hear him explain it.

This is pretty serious, after all. I sent Gavial a letter too, but I don't know if they'll make it in time...

Serious? What's so serious? I'm trying to plan out the rest of my life with what little time I have left! What could be more serious than that?

*cough*... I'm not here to judge your fantastical ideas, surface dwellers. However...

Just as I said before, if our city actually meets this crisis, the calamity will destroy everything.

And when that happens, it won't matter how amazing your buildings are. They'll be reduced to rubble.

Hey, Zumama.

Gavial? I didn't know we came back at the same time.

How's the situation? Have those Infected settled down?

Who do you think you're talking to? Not just the Infected. Mine security, the villagers nearby, and that old man from Rim Billiton. I took care of all of them.

Old man...? You dealt with our business partner, too?

Yeah, I've got a problem with the way he treats the Infected. I had to have a friendly chat with him, as a doctor. 'From a doctor's perspective and the Gavial way.'

Never mind all that. Have you seen the letter yet?

I haven't been back to the dorms... It's a letter from Tomimi? She went back home to visit her family, didn't she?

Yeah, and she's been keeping in touch with her Acahualla friends through Inam.

Looked like she was going to ask us to go with her, too.

A trip home together... If only Master Closure hadn't given me any work. That would've been nice.

But if that was the whole story, you wouldn't have bothered to come looking for me, right?

Hey now, when did we become strangers?

Never mind... So, what did Inam say? Did Tomimi run into trouble?

Yeah, more accurately, the whole rainforest's in trouble.

What?

Better pack up and get yourself ready. We're in for a big adventure.

T-The whole rainforest will sink into the earth?! The entire land will shift and change?!

That's right.

I could explain the structure of a Durin city, but it's not like you would understand. To put it simply, my homeland is under the ground not far from this rainforest.

We've run into some trouble... and that's why I came up here to seek the surface-dwellers' help.

Now, I didn't actually have very high hopes for you lot to begin with, but I saw what you've been doing. Perhaps you can be of some help.

Well, that does sound like a big problem... but that doesn't have much to do with our tribe, right?

Wait, this guy said if the Durin city's destroyed, it'll cause a chain reaction that will affect the surface... and our Yota Yogi Tower will...

On the flipside, if you help us, we'll return the favor with our Durin technology.