act47side

Yes, sir!

Deep breaths, Ferne... maybe she just went off on her own...

No, no, no, she doesn't even remember why she came to Propeller Paradise, where on Terra could she go?

But if that's not what she did...

Then someone must have taken her.

Who's there?!

Miss.

Wh-What are you doing here?

What are you standing there for? Hurry up and move the saplings for the exhibition. Those are our last ones—

All dead... in five minutes?

Mercia reaches out to touch the withered tree in the middle of the Vivarium. She sees a small hole at eye-level.

A natural cavity... no, a connector?

The withered plants. The tree hole. No equipment malfunction... tell me, what was that 'branch' attached to you, and where did it go?

It was Ferne!

You took that bone pen from the tree in the Vivarium, didn't you?

It's plain, simple, unremarkable. You couldn't have known that it was the key that controls the entire Vivarium. It wasn't your intention to sabotage it.

...Is Mr. Tannen waiting outside with his men?

I came alone, Miss. I don't think the responsibility for what happened to the Vivarium should fall on your shoulders.

What do you mean?

There are some things I still have to look into, but I've suspected that Mr. Tannen has been plotting against Rhine ever since he agreed to help the mysterious Banshee guest for no apparent reason. Either that, or his own private interests are involved...

You suspect your own boss? But he said Columbia would do good by a good person.

He also said that there's nobody easier to deal with than a good person.

Then my client...

There's a row of 'VIP rooms' outside Mr. Tannen's office. You could try looking there.

I hope your client just went out for a walk, I truly do.

Gordon must be behind this!

Altering the list of inspections, then sabotaging the whole Vivarium and putting the Rhine exhibit on lockdown... what he gonna do next, chase us out of Propeller Paradise?

There is no problem with our systems or hardware.

He sent someone to steal your bone pen.

It's not like him.

Why are you trying to use logic to explain the actions of a bandit?

They don't operate under the same rules we do, except when they talk officialese. None of the corporations on Propeller Paradise do.

We're closer to the Barrier than anyone else. We're different.

Countless tech firms fall by the wayside, but the Business Registrar rarely gets any complaints. Why?

Because there is a consensus—in the Sky Age, the higher you stand, the more respect you deserve.

Gordon's interference with our experiments violates Propeller Paradise's consensus. He should...

You don't want to be bound by the rules, but you still want to exploit them.

You're proving that Rhine is not yet ready to reach those heights.

What...?

Stop working and listen up, everybody. This is about today's incident, and how we proceed from here.

Cultivation and I have confirmed that the seventy-two trees waiting to be replanted, three hundred and fifty saplings and more than one thousand ungerminated seeds, are all dead.

The Propeller Paradise Police are now in charge of investigating the incident. We don't know how long that will take, but there is no realistic chance that the Vivarium can be restored before the exhibition.

Senior researchers will have to stay behind and work on the incident report with me. The rest of you can enjoy a little time off. Any questions?

Director Lunorey. You said the Vivarium was our most important project, the cumulation of data sent back by the Ring Lab.

Does this mean that we failed to protect the last legacy of Galleria Stellaria?

Dismissed.

VIP rooms outside the office area... here we are.

Mercia had suspicions, but no proof that Mr. Tannen really... never mind, the most important thing is to find the client!

...Try to run again, and I start breaking bones!

There's someone inside?

For anyone's sake, quit crying and keep quiet until the end of the exhibition!

Ugh, my head hurts. Let me get a smoke.

Please, sir, let me go... I won't say anything about Mr. Tannen...

Oakley? What are you doing here? Open your eyes!

The impostor...

I've got a name. It's Ferne.

Mr. Tannen said he was gonna treat you well and pay you compensation. What's going on...?

Treat me well? He freakin' locked me up!

And none of this would've happened, if you didn't impersonate me!

Hey, you're the one who begged me to take your number and resume that night, tears and snot all over your face. What did you say back then? You were a 'lonely soul looking for love'—

Alright, alright, stop, stop, STOP!

Me and my rotten luck... it's a huge deal, letting unauthorized personnel sneak into a high-security experiment zone. That's why they wanted to shut me up.

But how did YOU get out? I heard the guards say that Mr. Tannen was gonna deal with the troublemaking imposter.

...I see.

Are we dead? I just wanted to see what life would be like in the future, but now it looks like I ain't got no future no more...

You wanna join my tour, Real Oakley?

What?

I got in unnoticed, I can get you out safely.

You can?

Man alive, I went out for a smoke and a whole PERSON just grew out from the floor or what?

You can get in, but you won't get out!

Not gonna let us go in peace, huh?

Y-You mean it when you say you can get me out? I'll join your tour or what ever it is, just get me outta here!

Good. You won't regret it. Let me tell you about how I braved the dangers of the Bleached Wasteland—

Just deal with this guy! Damn, my hands are still tied...

Don't worry, a good tour guide never makes her customers do her job.

Welcome to Ferne's Tours! Please be aware that you may encounter loud noises during this tour.

Cover your ears, or keep your distance from me. Now, let's get moving—

Argh...

Run!

Frickin' hell! After them! Don't let them get away!

Survival of the fittest, culling of the unfit... since when has Rhine become one of the 'unfit'?

Oh... Mr. Jagger! What are you doing here?

That's my line. What are you doing here, when you should have already cancelled Lucky Cystybeast's registration?

I'm not doing anything illegal! We solved our technical issues before we filed the cancellation. What a stroke of luck...

You solved it? Why didn't anyone contact Engineering?

Maybe word didn't have time to get around because of how sudden it was...

A-Anyway, Mr. Tannen announced that all technical inspections by Rhine Lab are suspended.

I don't need to report to you anymore.

How could they have solved it all of a sudden, when three days didn't do it?

The Lucky Cystybeast's luck?

Quick, take the readings before their people come back.

All the data is good. Too good, in fact. It's almost as if they were specifically calibrated to the benchmarks.

Wait... these aren't Propeller Paradise standard-issue screws, are they?

They're completely soldered. Won't budge... the whole core energy module is sealed shut.

But no power unit on Propeller Paradise sounds like this. No legal power unit, anyway.

Where did they get this weird non-compliant stuff from? I thought all procurement on Propeller Paradise goes through—

Ah... I get it now. Silly me, for thinking that survival of the fittest was really the rule on Propeller Paradise.

Still helping that bastard put together the report for the accident at Rhine?

Forget it. Director Lunorey would just dismiss me for not having evidence.