level_act33side_st02

I prepared a gift for you, {@nickname}.

What do you hear?

This is...

Do you remember? This is the polarization formed when AMa-10 was born. You said you found a rhythm within its waveform. Of course, I added a little personal touch.

I adjusted the direction of the planetary track's array to capture different echoes. The harmony is derived from the lingering neutrinos of extinguishing stars. As for the orchestrator, I used the gravitational folds left behind when the ship sailed through the stargate.

Oh... I knew you'd like it, {@nickname}.

The universe's singing... Even at this moment, it's still as touching as ever.

But this violates the norms we set ourselves, Priestess. These facilities should've kept operating on the preset path.

The stars are losing their color. This world no longer has norms, doesn't it?

This place will fall silent soon, almost like we've never been here.

Come walk with me, before the silence comes.

I hope... we'll get to see this world's future with our own eyes together, {@nickname}.

'We will... I will wait for you in that world.'

Four Years Ago...

Summer, 1090

Rhodes Island of Babel, Kazdel

Phew! Finally done retrofitting the electrical wiring. Now we're gonna be able to withstand any impact... I think.

How dare Kal'tsit make me work forty-eight hours nonstop... Once all this is over, I'm gonna tell Her Highness on her!

Confirmed within the landship's communications range. Signal's clear. The mini bases you hid around are great, Closure.

Of course! Not even Her Highness has seen anything this handy!

Is their so-called research finished?

The energy surge caused by the last couple rounds almost got Rhodes Island to stall. I'm still reinforcing the landship for the next impact.

You know how much I racked my brains to cover up the landship's movement? Like, what if the Military Commission's spies caught wind—

Relax. I've already eliminated all our targets nearby. Just focus on your preparations.

Scout, report.

The infiltration mission is complete. I'm sending the intel back to Babel.

What's the situation inside the city?

Not much has changed over the past few years. Not many Catastrophes. Very little movement.

Our situation's not very optimistic, actually. If the Military Commission continues to shrink our strategic space—

Let's trust Her Highness and Dr. Kal'tsit.

You're right... They've spent so much time preparing for today's experiment just to turn the tide.

Right, Scout, have you gotten your hands on the equipment I was keeping at my place?

I've already entrusted it to a Messenger to take to Babel.

Awesome. With the secret weapon Kal'tsit and I knocked out together, we'll definitely crack that weird control system on the ship.

I'll rendezvous with the Messenger and confirm the package's risk level before bringing it to the landship.

We have been investigating the agent behind our missing engineer too. The threat against the landship hasn't been fully eliminated yet.

Closure, I brought you even more materials, just as you asked. They're so heavy!

Thanks, Odda! Hm... Looks like now I can make more safety equipment for Her Highness and Kal'tsit.

And I should install an extra line for backup. Hope there won't be any unexpected surprises this time...

Do you need any help, Closure?

Oh. You should hurry and evacuate to a safe zone with everybody else. The next wave of impacts... is probably gonna be in thirty minutes.

Now everything's all ready.

Hm... I'm kinda curious... Just what kind of secret experiments are Kal'tsit and Her Highness running? They even need to mod the energy and defense modules, not to mention those weird tests...

There is no one with a better understanding of Originium.

If you want to solve the suffering caused by Originium...

There is no better candidate for the job.

The news you bring is always so... surprising. Even for the King of Sarkaz...

Are those devices really still working...? Are you confident about the resurrection?

The vast majority of lifeforms on Terra can't resist corrosion that spans such a long stretch of time.

The Terra we see today is no doubt a miracle, and so are you, Theresa.

But in the past, the whole solar system revolving around the sun was insignificant in their eyes.

You seem a little tense... and also a little anxious and nervous.

Is there anything else that worries you?

...Yes.

But... I can't tell you.

It's okay! Sorry, I shouldn't have distracted you. Focus. I can feel it.

'Kal'tsit...' You love this name, don't you?

I... I've forgotten almost everything else about those days.

But I still remember how, in that distant, distant past, somebody gave me this name—

'Kal'tsit.'

That was the last time we ever met.

'Kal'tsit. I do not have much time left.

'Search for traces of life. Search for hope and a future.

'Kal'tsit... Go find your own answer.

'Find yourself.'

Then why hesitate?

I know what you mean. It's just...

...I've had a premonition... worry... or perhaps, a conjecture.

At the starting point of this land, at a certain point in time when life had only started budding, something that can never be reversed happened here.

And I don't know what it is.

If it's someone that even Dr. Kal'tsit can put her full faith in, then I'm not one bit worried.

Besides, considering how cautious you are, the safety measures that you prepared well ahead of time have never allowed me to worry.

I'm sorry to say this, Theresa.

This alone, no matter how many contingency measures I prepare, I still can't confidently say anything is conclusive.

Theresa, I can't guarantee that I will always make the most rational decision.

And this time... I want to believe.

Then do what you want to. I'll be here, with you.

Kal'tsit's hand touches the door that has stood silently still for a cryptically long stretch of time.

A new wave of tremors reaches Rhodes Island.

The door loosens.

'Originium will become the beacon, condensed by our civilization...

'If one day, other lifeforms in the universe lose their homeland and seek a way to resolve their plight,

'they will witness...

'...that we once shined,

'we once resisted,

'and this is where we rest.

'We once delivered a gift to those who came after us, before our annihilation—

'—Hope.'

(Unknown language) This place...

(Unknown language) Is... it... time already?

Warning: Unknown power activated.

Warning: PRTS access detected...

Warning: PRTS access detect—

PRTS access reset complete. Administrator permissions confirmed.

All communication module channels open. Communications receiver module overclocking procedure completed.

Search: Preserver... No signal.

Search: Caerula Arbor... No signal.

Search: Celestial Fulcrum... No signal.

Search: (Unknown static noise)... No signal.

Search complete. No signal detected on any channel.

Would you like to retry—

(Unknown language) No... answer...

(Unknown language) Just... me...

(Unknown language) How long... has it been?

Searching progress logs...

Latest update: Four million, seven hundred fifty-five thousand, nine hundred and fifty-four days ago.

Abnormal vital signs detected. Loading restoration module.

Restoring—

(Unknown language) Did I... wake up too early... or... too late?

(Unknown language) What stage... has Originium reached?

Searching Originium inspection history data... No response.

Originium inspection module is disconnected.

(Unknown language) 'Terra...'

(Unknown language) Why save... all these... redundant information...

(Unknown language) This... isn't recorded in the database... A new language?

(Unknown language) A new civilization... is born...?

(Unknown language) It's... just... me... What about her...? Priestess? My...

(Unknown language) I can answer your question. I saved those data in PRTS in advance.

(Unknown language) You...?

A hint of unfamiliarity, perplexity, and... vigilance flashed in the eyes of the person stuck in the past.

Kal'tsit senses it from the glare of the person in the sarcophagus.

Likewise, Theresa senses Kal'tsit's nervousness.

(Unknown language) Wait...

(Unknown language) You've changed a fair bit...

The person inside the sarcophagus feels like they have just woken up from a short dream.

The lifeform that bid them farewell prior to sleep is still here by their side.

(Unknown language) ...but you've never left.

(Unknown language) No... From the moment I left this place until now, when I am standing here before you again—

(Unknown language) I have wandered for thousands of years.

(Unknown language) However, I have never forgotten the question you left me—

Kal'tsit waits uneasily. She needs to make sure...

She needs to make sure that her hope has not gone through some kind of horrible change.

(Unknown language) That... was not... a question. That was... what I looked forward to...

(Unknown language) Then... Have you found the meaning of your life yet?

'Kal'tsit...'

(Unknown language) Discovering the meaning in the continuation of life... It's a path that I will have to keep walking.

(Unknown language) You still remember...

(Unknown language) I still remember... To me, it was like yesterday when we said goodbye to each other, but it also seemed like an eternity...

(Unknown language) But to you...

(Unknown language) There was never a moment when I forgot all you have done for me.

(Unknown language) Aside from my life, you granted me one other thing that I found most precious—Freedom, Dr. {@nickname}.

(Unknown language) Please... just Doctor will do, Kal'tsit.

(Unknown language) Let me... get out first...

(Unknown language) You are still very weak. I can help—

(Unknown language) No need...

(Unknown language) Kal'tsit, I still... have many questions.

(Unknown language) What has become of Originium...? I couldn't find any records.

(Unknown language) It still grows on the continent outside.

(Unknown language) So I woke up too early.

(Unknown language) You've suffered, Kal'tsit.

(Unknown language) I can tell from your eyes. You woke me up because you need my help?

(Unknown language) Yes, <i>we</i> need your help.

(Unknown language) I see. That 'devil'?

(Unknown language) I can see from your friend behind you that not only has Originium found an unexpected way to exist...

(Unknown language) She also possesses... yes, <i>Civilight Eterna.</i>

(Unknown language) The course of this civilization is... very complicated.

(Unknown language) What's her name...? Does their civilization have anything like that used to refer to individuals?

Theresa.

The... re... sa...

The awakened one walks up to Theresa and holds out two arms, showing the palms of those hands.

Theresa extends her hands to lightly hold the hands of the one from the past.

The Doctor feels warmth.

Yes, Theresa.

This is the moment two civilizations make contact with one another, yet Theresa can see sadness in the eyes of this Doctor from eras long gone.

And she feels no warmth from the hands she is holding.

Originium... and you... together.

You speak our language?

I... learned... from... records. Not... hard.

Unbelievable! I was thinking about learning your language. Kal'tsit said—

My world... is lost. Languages of the past... should stay in the past.

I... am curious about your kind. You found... and even entered... <i>Civilight Eterna.</i>

I... want to... ask—

Ask you everything about your... civilization.

That's the only way... I can find traces of my world... the world of the past.

...I understand.

Hm, <i>Doctor</i>, Is that how you say it? Please forgive me. Keep holding my hands.

I will show you—

The Doctor cannot help but be attracted to the eyes of this creature that looks like a devil.

Through her eyes, the one who lost a world sees—

Life.

Civilization is born from the instinct of living beings. It's survival of the fittest.

Natural selection. This is how the cycle of life is formed.

(Feeble wailing)

A burdenbeast accidentally fell beneath the ice pushes a small cub up from the water with its head.

The small burdenbeast staggers on the ice and walks toward the hunters who are waiting afar with their bait.

It's coming this way. Get ready.

The hunter grabs the starving burdenbeast cub before the ice cracks underneath them.

Good. At least we managed to save one.

Rebellion. Going against our survival instinct is the catalyst of our civilization's evolution.

And curiosity... curiosity is what we burn our lives away for, the staircase that allow our civilization to proceed forward.

A pioneer chasing the stars is pushing forward with his fallen ally on his back.

*pant*... *pant*... You dipshit... Why can't you keep at it for just one more day?!

The newspapers already said that it was the crashed aircraft of the Wrights, not a shooting star! But you just had to get to the bottom of it!

They were failures who crashed from the sky! What was there to risk your life for?

Those rocks that fell onto the land? What did you want to prove to me?

I, too, once saw within the Black Crown the sun getting engulfed, with darkness shrouding the whole continent.

But even in its darkest hour, there were still those who tried to light up the night.

It's still black! The sun really is dead!

*sigh*... The sun's been dead for too long... We gotta save it! If the sun doesn't live, how are we going to hold our tail thickness contests?

But how?

We climb the tallest mountain, and raise a torch up high to light it back up.

What if our arms get tired?

Hm... then we'll build a statue of me, and my statue will hold the torch up instead.

Good idea! We can build my statue next to yours to hold up another torch, too! Then, if your torch goes out, my torch can light yours!

With fire comes light, and it is light that guides us toward hope.

And my kin see death as a different interpretation of hope.

After your body's destruction, to become one with the city within the Soul Furnace's flames is an honor bestowed only on those who are most respected.

They will grow as Originium crystals and become one with Kazdel.

The newborn will grow among the fluttering dust, and continue their march forward with hardships in tow amid the chorus of the myriad souls.

Progress mixed with ignorance... The cycle continues and repeats over and over.

So... beautiful.

So... nostalgic.

Your kind... Terra seems to have gotten back on the right track... and achieving enlightenment.

How is 'ignorance' defined, and how do we prove the progress of 'enlightenment?'

The way I see it, all of this is part of our civilization.

But the things you showed me... Most of them are... extremely different compared to your race.

Conquerors and the conquered, both have been branded with inerasable marks by this land throughout the evolution of civilization...

For the sake of survival, I believe that all discrepancies will be unified, and all clans will become one.

In the future that I envision, all the many lands will become one.

That's a stirring belief... It's admirable.

I can feel that... you truly love this great land.

Be it discrimination, war, or disaster... The object of your love has long surpassed an individual or a clan.

But if you... surpass the extremes of the civilization you belong to... no one will be able to comprehend your love.

On the contrary... they will loathe you.

Do you understand what you will have to go through... to reach the future you strive for?

If there is no choice but to walk that path, I will gladly do so.

Theresa. A Terran.

No wonder Kal'tsit trusts you. She willingly took the risk to wake me in order to help you.

Right. When every era comes to an end, there are always those who try their hardest to change the tide in the final moments.

But most of the time, their stories don't end well.

Nevertheless, there is no doubt that you have my admiration.

After all, on a certain level, you are very similar to some people that I knew.

I will never get to see them again...

...Perhaps I'll need some more time to get my thoughts in order.

But no matter. I think I should... listen to what you two have to say first.

What do you need me to do?

Doctor, you need rest.

I'm fine.

Kal'tsit. She's given me lots of surprises, but on top of that, she's given me even more challenges.

Sorry... I mean 'confusion'.

I still don't have a very good grasp of the Sarkaz language.

I saw a lot of unexpected things in her. Surely you did too.

I made enemies with her, came to know her, began to understand her wish, and finally admired her responsibility...

That Black Crown shared with Theresa the long history and experience it bears, and she too slowly gained foresight that no other can attain.

I felt... perhaps this would be our best chance. With her, with Babel, and with Terra.

'With Terra.'

You, too, are part of 'this great land' now, Kal'tsit.

I hope you will take this journey with us, too.

Right...

I envy you, and I trust you, Kal'tsit.

But I am just a researcher. Perhaps the help I can offer won't be as significant as you hoped.

Oripathy, Catastrophe... Disasters that we have no methods to resist have been bringing many hardships to these lands... yet Terra's technology is almost entirely built atop the foundation that is Originium.

Fighting over energy, the discrimination against the Infected, and the estrangement between war and races are all further tearing these lands apart...

We tried, but our efforts yielded very little... That's because we know practically nothing about Originium. We know nothing about this great land.

What happened to the sky and the ocean? Where did the ancient ruins come from? How exactly... were we born?

We hope you'll be able to find answers for us.

Surely, Kal'tsit must already have shared some of those with you.

As for Originium, I'm sorry to say that the person I am now can't give you a good answer. At the very least, not an answer to everything.

When I woke up, I tried to access the logs tracking Originium's progress, but strangely, there was nothing.

And this glimpse of Terra that you showed me has made me even more confused.

The development of Originium... has taken a completely different turn from what I expected. I need some time.

I need to explore and see this great land for myself, to understand how exactly Originium has influenced culture, life, and environment.

This could take years, perhaps longer... And maybe, after an enormous amount of energy is expended, you will receive only a most disappointing answer.

I once made a promise to somebody. Thinking about it now, perhaps all I ever left myself or her... was regret.

That's why I won't make a promise lightly, Kal'tsit. Forgive me...

In that case, we will wait.

No matter what your answer will be, Babel will last until the day of your return, Doctor.

...Thank you.

Well... sorry... but I'm a little hungry.

PRTS showed me that the landship has a temporary cafeteria...

That it does, but it might be a little messy there. How about I take you—

Thank you, Theresa, but no.

This place has a special meaning to me, too. Let me walk there, slowly, by myself...

Okay... Be careful, Doctor.

The awakening has given the Doctor a lot of pressure, but it would seem this one is quick to adapt, and much quicker than I expected.

The Doctor wants to learn all there is to learn about Terra.

A quick learner too, it seems.

If the children were like the Doctor, perhaps they would have the chance to master even more languages and travel to so many places across Terra.

Theresa, you should go back and look for the others. There should be plenty of Babel affairs that need the Chairman herself to...

Theresa?

Kal'tsit... there's something bothering me. Maybe I'm overthinking it, but I want to tell you.

The Doctor seems to be very surprised by the look of Terra as it is today.

You once told me that nobody has a better understanding of Originium than the Doctor. The same Doctor who said that the development of Originium... took a completely different turn from the expected.

Then what should Originium have been like? What should these lands have been like?

...What should the Sarkaz have been like?

Is the Doctor ready to depart?

Right. The Doctor applied for a transport, some defensive weapons, and nothing else.

The Doctor stated an intent to avoid combat zones.

Alright. We'll just abide the Doctor's wishes.

Your Highness, I would like to follow this Doctor of ours. Considering the background involved... I am worried.

Ascalon... have you ever left Kazdel?

Left? If we count how I once chased a quarry and left the area when I was small, then I most certainly have.

That doesn't count.

Go, follow and protect the Doctor, but do not interfere.

I will keep a close eye—

No, Ascalon, calm down. I don't want you to keep an eye on anyone.

I want you to go out there and see how the people in other lands live. This is a great opportunity.

How they live?

Outside our homeland, neither war nor suffering is part of people's daily lives. Food, fashion, arts, culture... We could have so much.

Many of us know this fact, but even more of us choose to ignore this fact, because most of the time we don't have the freedom to choose.

Don't give me that look, Ascalon. Listen to me.

At first, you followed me because you opposed Theresis's measures, but what about after this division is over?

What will you do then? What will be the next stop for the countless Sarkaz who share the same idea as you?

That's why you need to take a break from the war, and see the sights beyond our homeland.

See the life that we should have lived.

If that is your wish.

It is!

Have a safe trip.