act25side

Thirty seconds.

Narcissa... You've returned. Are you ready to pronounce judgment?

Yes, I want to kill you.

Not for revenge. I hate you, but Amiya and the Doctor both say that revenge won't bring back the ones I love.

Not for destruction. You want to use me to destroy you. I won't. I'm not your weapon.

You're just a criminal. You're nothing to me.

I'll do what the law and prison could not do.

I hereby sentence you to death.

Good... good.

How does that song go again?

Country roads♪ Take me home♪

To the place I belong♪

Soon. Very soon.

Severe tremors shake the earth.

Like something very strong and resilient is about to break out.

You gaze at the rising inner corridor, and see a figure through the windows.

Kristen.

A name that has been on many lips these days.

Lunatic. Genius. Foe. Friend.

Or perhaps a dreamer who does not belong to this time.

You see her with your own eyes for the first time. She continues to look up at the sky, as though the blank emptiness is the only thing she should care about.

What is going on?;You cannot remain on your feet!

A familiar silhouette appears.

Mon3tr!

(Screeches)

It unfolds in an instant, grabbing your shoulders lightly with sharp claws, the massive figure covering you fully.

Then, an even more massive shadow rises behind Mon3tr.

H.A.M.H.R.R..

Now you can see that the mysterious ring corridor and Muelsyse's vivarium are both part of H.A.M.H.R.R..

Maylander and the military fought over it, then made peace over it, but no one could have predicted that it would reveal itself in this way.

The bright flames of the thrusters feel blinding. The blast throws you off your feet.

If not for Kal'tsit and Mon3tr, you would have been cast to the winds, like those around you, and the broken remains of the lab.

Kal'tsit...

Hang on, Doctor.

I saw the 'Sarcophagus.';I didn't know Kristen's lab could fly.

We were so close to the truth...

I know.

The figure in the air casts her gaze at you.

No, not at you. The dark monster that is protecting you.

(Growls)

Kristen moves her lips, seemingly inquiringly.

You hear Kal'tsit repeat her answer to you.

—I know.

November 21st, 1099

7:11 P.M., H.A.M.H.R.R. Mission Elapsed Time 00:03:00

Brr... ugh...

Phooie, freezing around here. Asshats keep shutting off the heaters.

How many complaints am I gonna have to file before they realize we're here at night on overtime?

Hey, honey, what are you calling for?

Hold on... I'll speak to you outside.

What day is it today?

Um... nine days out from the project deadline. Progress is looking bad for us.

I won't be home today either, no.

Our anniversary...? Oof.

Sorry, it's been crazy the past couple days... I know, honey, you've been looking forward to that restaurant forever... I know, I know, I'm sorry.

The VP was touring Rhine Lab, so the egghead idiots on the Board have been going insane.

They're forcing every project to produce interim results immediately, or else we're SOL.

I'm not coming up with excuses, honey, it's just... Listen, I can't do today, I'll make it up to you some other time, I swear.

Hello? Honey, are you there?

...Shit.

If only something would just... <i>happen.</i>

Why won't the offices blow up? Why won't goons rob a bank? Why don't Trimounts's stupid city treads just snap in half...

Anything.

Night gradually sinks in. The office lights are set for another all-nighter, the shadow caging in this one pitiable researcher.

He gives a shiver. They say snow's coming in a few weeks. Someone bumps past him out of nowhere.

Okay, my fault for hoping.

Eventually, he shuffles his feet, stepping back into the high-rise. Just as he's stifled his urge to stay outside a little longer, an irritating droning noise emits from far off.

Catastrophe alarms, sounding with no warning. A PA demanding evacuation echoes through the streets. The researcher subconsciously leans to hurry his gait.

But suddenly, he notices everyone around him coming to a slow halt, all gazes drawn at once towards the sky.

With great skepticism, he lifts his head again.

—What the... hell is that?

A massive toroid, in sluggish revolution, rises up from behind the building.

In the dark, as mechanical devices unfold, the neon of the city that glares off the upper surface becomes one with the structure, metal luster shining too brightly for the naked eye.

It is so imposingly majestic, so impossibly elegant, that it could only be the stuff of the most beautiful dreams ever dreamt. It pierces through the clouds. And inexplicably... it rises still.

Some kind of... ring?

7:13 P.M., H.A.M.H.R.R. mid-flight

I'm very interested, of course, extremely interested.

Really? Well, that's swell! If our project can get Rhine sponsorship...

Take a seat, ma'am. Anything to drink?

Uh... plain water will be fine, Justin, sir.

Please, call me Justin Jr., even.

How about some wine? War took the Gaulish Empire, but I thank the troops for leaving us the best vineyards intact.

Please.

I-If you insist. Thank you.

Come in.

Director, your office phone has been ringing non-stop.

Tell them I'm busy.

You have... some friends of yours looking for you.

Mayor Benjamin, Councilman Chris, Deputy Phil, Commander Colette. Who else?

You have a Mr. Lewis. The one in charge of industrial sec.

Hmph.

They say—Who might you be, ma'am?

Ah, sorry! I'll wait outside!

Don't worry about it, no secrets here.

Go ahead.

Er, right.

They appear to be extremely unhappy with the articles you deposited at Plate Seven. They were under the impression the project was a more—'ordinary' one.

Commander Colette went to Mr. Lewis. I'm afraid all Plate Seven monitoring files will be lost by tomorrow.

The Mayor and Councilman have returned every case we've sent them over the past few years, and declared they'll no longer be seeking your aid for campaigns.

The Deputy made some very... radical statements. I hear he's gotten an emergency arrest warrant for the state prosecutor, and seems to be on the way here now.