act7mini

I figured I'd ask. If you'd said no, I would've guessed Columbian or Victorian. I have my ways to make you talk.

Why, that's sending chills down my spine...

You're an Iberian and a Caster, and your Originium Arts work as a light. Are you affiliated with the Inquisition?

The Inquisition? No, no, no! I haven't ever met them.

What are you doing here, then?

(Isn't this almost an interrogation? We're just here to check this place out.)

(It's more efficient to ask her directly. Besides, it doesn't seem like she noticed anything's off yet.)

Mmm... What am I doing here again?

Why, I'm not actually so sure myself...

Hm? Do you have amnesia, perhaps?

No, of course not. I remember how I got here and that I spent the last couple days here.

Two days ago, I asked a local about any opportunities to make some money in the area. I needed work... Otherwise I would go hungry.

He took the last few coins I had and told me I could come seek riches here.

(Sounds like she ran into a con man...)

He might've mistaken you for a bounty hunter.

A lot of bounty hunters used to come to this area in the past. You have a staff, and you, well... you look like you are from a rather well off family, by your appearance. They may have thought you an aristocratic young lady looking for adventure.

Oh... Is that it? So they misunderstood me...

(They probably didn't... They could tell right away what a gullible girl you are.)

(Smiles)

I-Is that funny?

No, my friend here may be a little shy around strangers, but she seems to be worried about you.

*Cough*...

Huh? W-Why, thanks! It's okay. I'm just lost, and since I saw a lighthouse here, I thought I'd come rest in here a little...

Huh?

I-I was lost, yes...

No, that isn't what I was asking. You said this used to be a lighthouse?

Oh, yes. You can find lighthouses everywhere in Iberia. Have you never seen one before?

(Shakes head)

Hm... Perhaps they're only seen along the coastline. I've been away for about half a year now, and the towns farther from the coast don't have lighthouses.

Did you grow up by the sea?

Yes, and not far away from here. It's a small town, so you probably haven't heard of it.

How is it doing...?

Okay... I guess?

There aren't that many people, so we all got along well. My teacher said we were lucky. The sea's disasters spared our home.

Phew... That's great.

Well... except our lighthouse. Ever since that day, our lighthouse has never lit up again.

Since that day?

Right, that one day several decades ago. The day when disaster struck.

In that one brief moment, the entire Iberian coastline was shrouded in darkness.

Ever since... it's never lit up again.

Aria, you seem rather familiar with lighthouses.

Why, that's because I grew up in one.

In a lighthouse like this...?

Please don't get the wrong idea. My town's lighthouse is in much better condition. There wasn't a lot of damage, it just won't light up anymore.

The mechanical parts, the central control system, the power circuits, the automation core, the outside wall Hologram emitter, and the wireless communications were all fine.

My teacher would take me around the lighthouse every day to inspect and maintain everything, according to the manual. We even repaired the outside walls regularly.

Why, I can confidently say that, aside from the aging materials, our lighthouse is in just as great a condition as it was decades ago.

That's amazing...

Your eyes light up when you're talking about your lighthouse... Just like when I talk to anyone else about Franker.

Do you and your teacher manage lighthouses?

Oh, I'm sorry if I forgot to mention. Yes, my teacher is a glorious lighthouse keeper.

As for me... I'm afraid I'm not there yet... A lighthouse only needs one official keeper, and I, uh, I'm just an apprentice...

And it's been so long since I left... so I guess I'm not even an apprentice anymore. *Sigh*...

You left long ago, but you still remember all the steps like the back of your hand.

That's because I recite them before bed every night!

You really love your job, Aria.

I want to see the scenery my teacher described to me. It was something her teacher had described to her too.

Under the night sky, a multitude of intersecting courses in the sea lit up by the lighthouse.

All the grand drilling rigs and sea forts glimmering in the dark as ships large and small come and go in their surroundings... It was far more bustling than any city on land and far more radiant than even when the sun burned its brightest...

If you got close enough, you could even see the underwater cities that the Iberian Ægirs built along the continental shelf.

All of this was possible thanks to the thousands of lighthouses that stood on the Iberian coastline.

Now, disaster struck our energy system. None of the lighthouses can ever light up again as they once did.

Yet my teacher and I stayed to tend to the lighthouse.

Every night, my teacher would try to light it. The signal lamp doesn't work, so we made a new light source.

Our light source may not be able to stand in for a real lighthouse and illuminate the whole sea around us, only a small corner.

And ships may long have stopped sailing the sea—

But we are still here.

And you'll be there to watch the lighthouse even if the coast will remain forever silent?

Yes, we will.

This is the top of the lighthouse.

I inspected it a couple days ago. The lighthouse is in a really bad shape... There was hardly anything left of it before.

This is the only thing still here.

What is it...?

It's a kind of energy core that Iberian lighthouses use. The most advanced technology they use... and also the first to be destroyed.

Is it broken?

The original technology was lost... Neither I nor my teacher could restore its design. Without the complete energy system, we don't have a way to use the core to its full potential.

Perhaps... Hm... If you don't mind, I would like to take this back to Rhodes Island and inspect it with Closure.

Oh... I'm not saying I have a good grasp of this... Iberian technologies from those days have some really special wiring... Just like this core. All I can tell is that it's not based around Originium technology.

It doesn't use Originium as its energy source?

Not quite. It most likely still uses Originium for its energy, but... the foundation of the technology is very different. I'm even thinking that perhaps Originium energy isn't the best power source for this device.

Oh!

W-What's the matter? Is what I am talking about too boring...?

Can you really light up the lighthouse again?

I think it's worth a try. It may take a while.

I... I think I want to come with you.

Huh?

Does that Rhodes Island you two are talking about need people like me? I don't know much... but... I'll work as hard as I can.

Ugh...

First, you need a resume.

What's a resume? I...

Mm... Weird... Why, I'm feeling kind of dizzy...

Huh?

She passed out. What's the matter?

(Shrugs)

Oh... did she get poisoned?

Here I was thinking that Phidia is immune to my toxins, like you are.

Though it looks like it just took longer for it to affect her.

(How should I say this? Perhaps her body isn't special in anyway. She's just... a little slow?)

(Let's not analyze this right now. D-Do you have an antidote? You're out on a mission with me alone, so you got to have one, right...?)

Relax. The paralysis is temporary.