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A long, long time ago, there was a little girl who lived happily in a beautiful town.

One day, a storm brought with it countless black rocks and destroyed her home.

In search of a way to restore her homeland's beauty, she found the courage to set out on a journey.

The legends told of a most-amazing caster who lived in a faraway, marvelous land, and his Originium Arts could make all that is impossible possible.

During her journeys, she met a fowlbeast that couldn't fly and a tin man who was nothing but an empty shell.

The fowlbeast wanted to learn to fly, and the tin man wanted to find its body. They all had different dreams.

To find this marvelous land, they walked for a long, long time. So long, that the fowlbeast shed all its feathers and the tin man began to rust.

'I will give you my wings. With them, you can fan away the dust,' the fowlbeast said.

'I will give you my tin plates. With it, you can make it through the storm,' the tin man said.

The girl wore the fowlbeast's wings and the tin man's plates and flew past the desert and the storm.

She found the caster, only to discover an incoherent madman.

The girl cried in sadness, but her friends were there with her and started to talk to her.

'Thank you. I flew across an insurmountable desert,' the wings said.

'Thank you. I felt the warmth of a body once again,' the tin plates said.

'This has been such a wonderful journey,' they said together.

'In that case, my dream has come true too.' The girl hugged her friends. 'With you here by my side, I now have a new home.'

With the dreams of her friends, the girl set out on a journey again. This time, she did not set out to find a legendary caster.

She had an all-new goal. She would walk far, far away to where no one had ever gone before.

Dorothy, did you like the story Mommy told you?

She hesitated for a while, but it also seemed like the blink of an eye.

She saw green trees and red roses, a bright and beautiful day, as well as a quiet, endless dark night.

She saw a rainbow that stretched across the sky and reflected as smiles on the spectators' faces.

They walked close together, discussing food, weather, and the good harvest.

They saw her too and waved at her.

'Hello, Dorothy.'

'This is a nice place, isn't it, Dorothy?'

'There's an endless supply of clean water and food here... and all the wild beasts have gone away.'

'It's so great to relax here.'

'All the data from those experiments are driving me crazy, though. I'm always afraid that the director might show up out of nowhere.'

'We shouldn't stay here too long, though. A storm might be coming.'

'Don't worry. We know how to deal with those. Otherwise, why would we even have come here?'

'What is there to worry about, then?'

'Haha... That we can't be on our way tomorrow, of course.'

'And we don't know whether we'll ever find another place like this again.'

'It doesn't matter if we run away... tomorrow's still coming.'

'If all I do is hide here, when will I become the greatest scientist there ever was?'

'And that's why we'll be on our way as soon as it's light out.'

'Strange. What a long night this is...'

Nngh—!

It's moving more intensely! It's like... it's putting up a fight!

Perhaps that's because Dorothy is putting up a fight.

Do you believe her? This was Ms. Dorothy's experiment. Would she really willingly abandon a dream she's chased for years?

What Dorothy seeks isn't success.

If she can really hear the voices of her loved ones... she will make the choice that's most beneficial to them.

I wonder what she sees at this very moment?

Lacking sufficient reliable data.

I was able to feel them, but I did not receive a 'Transmitter' injection.

One hypothesis is that the Device #9's sensitivity to signals has allowed me to receive fragments of some of the messages.

But those fragments contained certain specific words.

They were emotions.

Language is a set of rules for command input and output. It cannot describe every tiny brainwave fluctuation in detail.

If I must make a conjecture, I postulate that... Director Franks is dreaming.

She's dreaming...?

Whose dream? Is it Dorothy's own dream, or... a collective dream of all the Pioneers connected to the 'Hub?'

I do not know.

Just like... when I was dreaming, I could not ascertain whose dream it was...

Joyce, your manner of speech...

Olivia...? I... I don't know what's going on...

Is your... device being jammed again?

I don't know either.

Olivia, I feel both sad and happy.

Are we all walking a path to an unknown destination, and a starting point we can no longer see?

I think so... especially for researchers like us.

There is one thing... I've wanted to tell you for a long time.

Device #9 may have given me a lot of pain, and my journey may come to an end at any moment, but...

It is thanks to your companionship—

I never once felt alone or lost hope.

Mary, I gotta ask... am I gonna die here?

If you're free enough to think about that, why don't you try to work a little harder?

Heh... Hah... We don't have too many bolts left, do we?

Before these... well-armed fellas shackle up my neck... while I can still breathe and think freely...

I got something to say.

Then say it. Look at how hard you're panting. Careful not to bite your tongue when you talk.

Haha, I love it when you say things like that.

Ever since I became their boss, they take every word I say as pure gold. It's exhausting.

Mary, I oughta be satisfied enough that... I get to die next to you.

This isn't how you saw yourself biting it, huh?

I used to think that, it'd be great if I got to go out on a soft bed with my wife and kids holding my hand... and a bunch of letters from the people I'd helped sitting there on my nightstand...

Right, a window... The room's gotta have a window. I wanna see the sunlight one last time.

When I think that, whether there's a room... or a bed...

It feels like it's not so important whether I have a wife or kids anymore.

Looks like...

I stopped caring about dying somewhere along the way, a long time ago.

Mommy, isn't a long journey hard? Why didn't everybody choose to stay somewhere safe?

Dorothy, everyone is hanging on because they want to see with their own eyes what the path far ahead holds.

Will I go on the journey with you one day?

Dorothy, you will make your own journey.

Mommy, why are you crying? Is it because you don't want me to leave? I don't have to go to the summer camp if you don't want me to go.

No, Dorothy... Your future doesn't belong to me.

Dorothy, one day, Mommy will stand here and send you off on your journey.

Dorothy, the sights you will see in the future will be like nothing I've ever seen.

Dorothy, why are you crying?

Don't you like this place?

The child stands on her tiptoes and reaches her hand out to try and wipe the tears on Dorothy's face.

Dorothy lifts her hand as well.

And just as she is about to take the girl's hand...

She puts her hand down.

No, my dear friend.

This is... the land of dreams that I've been searching for all my life.

How I hope I can find peace and happiness for all of you...

But your futures don't belong to me.

I shouldn't trap you here.

And I... shouldn't trap myself here.

I will send you off on your journeys...

The sights you will see in the future will be like nothing I've ever seen.

Dr. Silence, am I seeing things? Are all the silver liquids... retreating?

The laboratory...

Why is it suddenly turning around and heading toward the labs?

If it keeps going, it'll reach...

Right, that's its target... The place it was born.

With a loud bang, the remaining half of the building suddenly crumbles.

Unlike its previous growth stage, it does not patiently wait to dissolve the crumbled building's structure.

It simply retrieves all the energy and, without hesitation, it tears into its own heart.

The large, geometric construct rapidly crumbles away.

The dust scatters in all directions, and a stream of silver liquid slowly flows on the ground. The sky, too, has returned to its original color.

No...

Impossible.

The data... Show me the data.

The test subject disconnected from the 'Hub,' and its structure completely collapsed...

The 'Hub' is... destroyed?

Mary...?

Hm?

I'm not dreaming, am I? That monster... is actually gone?

We're saved.

We're saved—Mary, did you see that?

Don't... let your guard down. Huff... We still have the bad guys from Rhine Lab to deal with...

Wait, are the Rhine Labbers retreating?

Hold on... Who's that...? And are they wearing...?

Director Franks destroyed her own creation.

She did it...

You believed in her the whole time, didn't you?

Greyy, she said... you have the same kind of courage as the Pioneers.

But I couldn't tell her in time that... she was just as brave—

So brave that she was willing to wake up from the dream she weaved of her own love.

Dorothy, how do you feel? Does it hurt anywhere?

I can't say I feel very good, but...

I feel relaxed.

So... did you find your answer?

Answer?

No... What I found was a new journey.

And it belongs only to them.

I... I have another path to walk.

How does it feel to have your dreams crushed?

Only Dorothy knows the exact location of the 'Hub.'

Could it really be that Dorothy destroyed the system she created herself...? Can she control this creation?

You can't imagine that, can you?

That's because you've never considered the possibility that Dorothy would inject herself too—That she would plug herself into that thing.

It's not like you saw her do it.

I didn't, but I know her.

Her heart lies with the Pioneers. For them, she would do whatever it took as many times as it took, without hesitation, and she'd choose to stop when and if it became necessary.

I have to find her.

Her research is more impressive than I imagined. Our experiment is not over yet—

What's going on? Where are the Defense personnel—

Director Clooney, the observation station's surrounded!

On whose authority...? No, it doesn't matter who they are. How did they find out about the site?!

Haha...

My Arts... Finally, it's enough for those control panels you use to disrupt communications. It did take me some time, so I've got to thank you for teaching me patience.

You did it right in front of me...

If you would just... pay more attention to what's going on around you and listen more carefully when you talk, you could've figured me out.

They're here, Director Clooney... Ugh!

Rhine Lab Energy Section Director, Ferdinand Clooney.

We have proof beyond a reasonable doubt that you have violated clinical laboratory regulations and have been conducting illegal experiments at this site.

Surrender immediately and order your subordinates to drop their weapons.

This is all just a misunderstanding. Please let me make a call.

Not exactly in accordance with procedure, but... knock yourself out.

The number's not in service...

Who do you work for? I need to talk to the colonel.

Look, I know a lot of colonels who run a lot of regiments. You want to be a little more specific?

Well...

There are countless weapons pointed at him.

The name is frozen on the tip of his tongue.

Suddenly, Ferdinand is relieved that he did not reveal the name to the crowd.

Pick up your comm.

It's me.

Hahaha...

I get it now, Kristen.

You won. Congratulations.

This was never about winning or losing, Ferdinand.

Your bet almost destroyed Rhine Lab.

Rhine...

I told you I would build the most fantastic laboratory in all of Terra here, and I did it.

I will ensure that the Rhine name lives on gloriously in the epoch to come.

And what about you? Do you really care about Rhine, Kristen?

You don't. You only want to burn all our efforts as fuel for yourself.

It's for Rhine's sake that you must be stopped...

Rhine Lab doesn't belong to you. It doesn't belong to anyone.

Ferdinand Clooney, you're too easily distracted. Rhine doesn't need an academic like you.

You came here just to fire me, Control?

I'm reminding you to make the smart choice.

You mean... accept your proposal to hire a top lawyer and use your relationship with the government to have me locked away in a state prison for two centuries?

How smart that would be.

Ferdinand—!

He... He killed himself?

*cough*... The floor structure here's broken through...

I think he might have escaped, ma'am.

It's a pain in the neck to catch these smartasses who make preparations in advance... but not like we had much of a choice.

After him. He won't get far without help.

It all turned out just as you wanted, Saria.

The situation has changed... thanks to the message you and Rhodes Island brought here.

Ferdinand failed, and you 'saved' Rhine Lab once again.

I should go.

Saria—

I don't remember everything that happened all those years ago.

I noticed that you've tweaked your Arts casting methods. The reconstitution effect your calcification has on matter particles is more complicated and intricate now.

You abandoned the formula that the two of us developed together in the early days.

Defense techniques that have been cracked have no value.

And I was the only one ever to crack calcification.

...Yes.

Goodbye, Kristen.

He hated these preparations.

After all, only losers have to resort to backup plans.

Ferdinand's laboratory has never needed so many plans. After all, he has always had a masterful control of the tides.

Many say that he is a capable businessman, but they don't understand.

He simply stays on the right path and marches on endlessly.

As long as you walk faster than anyone, money and attention will come pouring in.

And with these resources, he can walk faster and farther.

But...

Today, he has no choice but to walk this dark, narrow path. An escape route that he never seriously considered he would have to take.

There is someone waiting for him at the end of this path.

Why would anyone be waiting for him?

His coworkers, his family, Elena... None of them knew about his plan.

Aside from him, there should be no one who knows this place.

You're here at last, Ferdinand.

I've been waiting entire minutes.

Ho'olheyak.

I never expected... *cough*... that the last person to help me would be a mercenary.

Oh?

You aren't here to help me.

Then—Why not pull the trigger already?

Relax, Ferdinand. I'm not here to kill you either.

I'm not sure I believe that.

The colonel... The army wants me silenced. I'm sure of it.

And Kristen wants me locked up... I'd turn crazy like Loken Williams if I ended up in prison. Either that, or I would have to roll over and rot away as a corpse.

Mad scientists are hardly a strange sight here in Columbia, but it's not like the military or the government could shoulder the infamy that comes with sacrificing civilians in evil experiments.

I have no idea... how Kristen caught wind of what's going on in the site so easily or how she managed to convince the bureaucrats in the government in such a short amount of time...

Oh...

It's you.

You are no normal mercenary. You are a spy... Did the government send you? Who do you work for?

Shh, let's not waste our breath on all that.

In Columbia, men like you can't hide anything, not even escape routes that look so discreet on the surface.

He watches as the woman in front of him walks closer. A chill runs down his spine.

Not even the conversation he had with Kristen a few minutes ago made him despair.

Yet, right now, with the Liberi reaching her hand out toward him, an extreme pain rushes up from his stomach and claws at his throat—

He almost vomits on the spot.

Look how messy your hair is, Ferdinand.

It would ruin your image if you went out like this.

I...

Right, you might want to know that I've already torn your getaway car to pieces.

You...

But you just made a very smart choice.

You could've dragged Kristen and Rhine Lab down with you, but you didn't.

You do actually care as much about Rhine Lab as you said... You made sure that there is still hope for everyone in the future, even if that future doesn't necessarily include you.

So... Right, I'll say it how you like to say it.

I forgive you.

Walk forward about another ten yards. There's a suit of power armor in the firefighting cabinet.

—The newest kind.

You can wear it. You can control it remotely. You can even ignore it. It's your call.

Even though you can never come back to Trimounts... and it'd be in your best interest to stay away from other nomadic cities, there are still vaster lands waiting for you.

Now hop to it—

—'Pioneer.'