act47side

What's going on? The jammer and our backup detonators aren't working?

The transmitted signals show the devices are all activated, but the nine target pods' core engines have stopped.

Somehow, the received signals are all messed up. Even pods without transmitters attached are sending signals...

Get a team to investigate this. Have them remove all traces of our work from earlier, and retrieve the transmitters.

Captain... that's equivalent to calling the operation a failure.

You forget how we do things at Maylander? If reality happens to significantly deviate from our plan, cease all action immediately. We're not some Wrankwood espionage flick heroes trying to be tough.

Seems like someone is biased against blockbuster hits.

We don't get reshoots.

It's not as if we have no other choice.

Don't send anyone to the pods. It's probably the Banshee's incantation that's keeping those 'toys' from falling straight down.

But Nasti should be in jail right now, right?

She's not the Banshee I'm referring to.

The incantation has fundamentally changed how the levitation layer facilities are connected. The malfunctioning receivers prove this.

...You're telling me the Banshee's incantation is able to connect to the levitation layer's power supply structure, send signals and synchronize commands? That's the craziest thing I've ever heard!

Nasti designed the entire park's conduits and systems herself, after all. She didn't become one of the Rhine Lab Ten solely on her engineering talent.

Though, if we utilize the upper level's power grid, and detonate just one engine, that will cause the entire layer to fall.

Th-The entire layer...?

So you mean...?

The park will connect with D.C. in twenty-five minutes. We'll have to present a reverse firework display to Propeller Paradise.

Change of plans. Those on the upper layer, mobilize personnel and connect the support platforms surrounding the levitation layer to the common power grid; those on the lower layer, calculate the crash zone and prepare for evacuation measures at any moment.

I'll let Gustave know of this, and have the admin staff coordinate with us to delay the opening speech.

Also, send a group to the jail to confirm Nasti's position, and deploy at least three elite squads to the elevator square and any ascendable routes—it's only a matter of time before she returns to the levitation layer.

Are you not going to join?

Oh, I have to go supervise an agent of mine. Maylander has quite the troublesome evaluation systems after all. I'll join the rest of you once I'm done.

Alright teams, move out.

A giant broadcast screen hangs in the Cloud restaurant, incessantly switching between gaudy company logos and the newest levitation devices, while Oakley's agitated voice booms from the speakers.

The lower left of the screen is a real-time feed from the control room. A small red dot representing Propeller Paradise flashes, heading for Max, D.C.

Two cameras stand on a cloud-like carpet, pointing at a lone chair—like a defendant's dock awaiting Gordon Tannen's attendance.

You're late.

Why did you come dressed like that? There's no time to prepare a new outfit. We only have twenty minutes until your speech.

The tie on my ATAO uniform was too tight.

Heh. I remember six years back when you just got that set of clothes after your promotion to a full-time role. I personally adjusted it for you. So giddy from joy, you were.

You told me I had a lot to learn to be worthy of that uniform. And then I stayed in the same entry-level role for the next six years.

No newbie's first skill is writing self-reflection letters. It's not that I've never regretted helping you into that uniform.

And what about now?

This outfit, the blame for causing the accident—who put them on me?

Oh, so you've figured it out?

You seized two crates of my goods the night I was exposed. I thought you were helping me dispose of them, but I found out they ended up in the hands of you and Maylander.

I bet this apology speech wasn't written that night either, was it, sir?

Go on.

Importing Originium devices into Columbia clearly violates ATAO regulations, and if security is compromised, I'll be the sin eater for the whole park.

So you still think this is a personal grudge?

Am I wrong? I've always been a slum boy to you, a bad little rule-breaker. As I climbed through the ranks on my own effort, you only came to hate me more...

Your own effort? Do you honestly think a useless bum with disciplinary records and hundreds of self-reflection letters on file could manage a transfer to the highly coveted levitating experimental park on his own?

What...?

You disappoint me, honestly. Even now you still have only a superficial understanding of our current situation.

Your title, investments, achievements, and results from the very moment you stepped onto Propeller Paradise were all 'gifts' from me to you.

Gordon Tannen, have you ever wondered how you manage to procure foreign Originium products so easily?

You knew about my dealings from the start...

Even your stock lists were meticulously picked by my hand.

The trident Arts units from Leithanien are secret equipment used by the Gesatzswächter for military training.

The power shields used by Kazimierzian campaign knights were disassembled into three parts, and you put them into the exhibits of three different companies.

And the Originium engines and Arts cores sourced from foreign military equipment? If the park blows up because of them...

You aren't the brightest bulb on the chandelier, but you have a good eye. Propeller Paradise is indeed a giant testing ground, but it's not testing those toys in the sky.

Give it about ten more minutes, and the 'sky fever' you helped ignite will burn into Columbian flames of fury for 'foreign spies'.

The countless exhibits in the sky with their core technologies inside them? They are all military reserves for countering our foreign foes. Naturally, Propeller Paradise will become a base for arms testing.

Military...? I thought you would've considered ATAO's interests, at least.

'We'll always be of one mind when we stand for Columbia.'—What matters is our country, man.

So, this apology speech is your stepping stone to a new role. I might even be able to pull some strings and get you a new role at the Department of Defense.

Why all the honesty? Not worried I'll sabotage the speech?

The fact that you've shown up here with the speech in hand means you've already made the wise choice.

To be honest, I wasn't sure you would make a qualified piece on the board. But now? That little monster beside you has answered that question for me.

Same as the rich love their cigars and watches. Simply enjoying the sense of superiority with their little hobbies.

...Five-Four isn't a toy made to cater to sky fever.

Sure, but you're no longer the reckless young man only concerned with invention and modification.

ATAO sanded down your edges, educated you in the ways of the land, made you think to operate within the 'rules' you set yourself—it made you like me.

Go, get your little monster ready too. Let's have it join your public apology.

It's a fitting symbol of what Propeller Paradise represents—gimmicky, kitschy, useless. An absolute waste.

Altitude readings are stable, and the pods show no sign of falling any further, while the engines aren't making any strange sounds... We should be safe now, right?

Fifty meters... Lucky Cystybeast's pod fell fifty meters...

What's that, Aspen?

Six months ago, I was at the crowded registration center going through the paperwork. I was first in line, and chose the most conspicuous levitation pod for my Lucky Cystybeast.

The closer you are to the Starpod, the more luck you get. That's what everyone in the park thinks, even if your pod is only a few inches higher than your neighbor's.

I lined up overnight just to get a spot closer to the sky, I hired over a hundred testers to secure an exhibit spot, and got smuggled contraband just to keep my Lucky Cystybeast running...

Miss Barn, I can tell you're no fan of the competition, but this is the basic law of Propeller Paradise. I'm sure you've seen it yourself on your tours.

I get a list of companies and corporate data updated daily, and there are people who just complain about their terrible lives only to head right back to their misery.

You only got here a month ago. To you, this is a place you just happened to visit. To us, it's our only path to a future, and only a few will survive.

Maybe you think I'm just a desperate, sick man talking out of his ass.

But when the levitation platforms rise alongside the thousands of pods, we just feel the excitement coursing through our veins for no reason, don't we?

I poured everything I had into the Lucky Cystybeast, and that's why I have to win this gamble.

I knew it. Even though the incantation can link multiple platforms and pods through the power lines, its range is still limited when calculated outward from the tree.

Barian, send a signal to Sky's team. Tell them we've found the pattern of the power connections.

Barian—

Ugh...

The scientific mind truly is brilliant, don't you agree? Thanks for helping us locate our mission objective.

Inform our engineering experts to stop their research. Centering on the platform beneath my feet, have the personnel stationed at the perimeter immediately cut all backup power and attempt to connect the supply lines through alternative methods.

Also, it is highly probable the Rhine Labbers have discovered our plan. Two researchers were found on Platform 4, but have been dealt with.

All patrols, speed up. Report anyone you see ASAP. Your colleagues in the broadcasting studio will buy us time by switching the camera feeds.

Act fast.

*huff*... *gasp*...

Those agents are effing persistent... Can those Maylander guys fly or something? How are they everywhere?

Good thing we lured them away, and there's no one here...

No!

Five testers and two Rhine Labbers found on support Platform 17. They have all been dealt with, and will be sent to detention on the lower level five minutes from now.

The operation is going smoothly. They lack the numbers, and are scattered like headless houseflies.

Well, everyone excels in their own fields, and they lack communication equipment or anyone to direct them.

What about Nasti?

She escaped from the lower-level cells ten minutes ago, but no contact has been noted between her and any of her staff.

She knows the park structure. We're at a disadvantage with such a tight time window.

But hide and seek is not a single-player game.