Story Reader / Main Story / 25 Everglowing Justice / Story
Ah... ▇▇▇... My ▇... Brilliant...
!!!
The unsettling whispers keep haunting her until the first glow of daylight stings her eyes.
Echo's M.I.N.D. is still hurting slightly. The armor puts a hand on her shoulder, seemingly hoping for her to rest for a little longer. However...
There's no time, Cecily.
Her gaze briefly stays on the terminal imprinted with the black antlers. Standing up nimbly, Echo cleans up her face and shakes off her exhaustion.
This is the closest conservation area to "that place." If Lena escaped, this is the most likely place she'd be.
I have to find her, no matter what.
Echo bites her lips, trying her best not to consider the worst-case scenario. Having secured Cecily, she enters the conservation area alone.
It has been a long time since the incident at the Hetero Tower. As the boundary of the Clean Zone gets clearer and clearer, conservation areas inside the Clean Zone are gradually developed.
Despite how the Punishing Virus still ravages other areas, how the Hetero-Creatures are still evolving in secret, and how the path ahead is still uncertain...
...A glimmer of hope is enough for humanity to spring back with surprising vigor. They take root in this tattered earth and grow anew.
This conservation area is situated at the edge of the Clean Zone. Many Constructs are traveling to and fro, likely exploring the border of the Clean Zone.
Have you heard? The Gray Raven Commandant is coming to this conservation area!
Isn't Gray Raven missing a captain? I heard from a friend that their captain is locked up after contacting an Ascendant without authorization!
I don't know anything about that. I was only told by a friend from the management, who said the commandant was coming here to investigate the missing humans.
That happened so long ago. Why are they investigating it now?
Sigh. I suppose those big shots were too busy for us...
Maybe they're starting the investigation again after the rumors of Hetero-Creatures eating humans in the nearby conservation areas?
The Gray Raven Commandant?
Echo pretends to organize the boxes nearby while quietly remembering this information.
She has heard of the Gray Raven Commandant.
Gray Raven...
I heard their commandant is a very special human.
The commandant has been active on the front line, fighting against the Punishing Virus non-stop to reclaim Earth. The commandant would protect Gray Raven, and Gray Raven would risk their lives to save the commandant...
Tch. Does a squad like that really exist?
Even if it does... what are the chances that everyone could run into a team and a commandant like that?
...Don't look at me like that. I never thought of what it would be like working with that commandant...
I just don't want another fool losing their life over sentiments that might not even exist.
And that hazy, unclear memory. Although the details are missing, the speaker seemed to believe every word said.
Hm... Why do I... look up to the Chief?
Perhaps it's because... I've heard a lot of battle reports about the Chief.
In the beginning... it was just scores and data from the school announcement. But later...
Kowloong, Pulia Forest Park, Copperfield Aquarium, the Hetero Tower...
As a regular human, the Chief has accomplished many impossible feats on the battlefield... More importantly, no matter how horrible this world becomes, the Chief never stops holding...
..."A heart of integrity."
Echo snaps out of her daze. Fortunately, the two Constructs opposite her have not noticed anything strange.
...It's gotta be too late. If the Hetero-Creatures really were eating humans, there wouldn't be anything left to be found. What's the point of coming now? Tch...
Anything else interesting?
I don't think so. I heard the Purifying Force is hunting some... experimental Construct, maybe?
Nothing concrete, though. The information hasn't really been passed here, and I haven't seen what the test subject looks like.
I just heard the Construct has purple hair, but Constructs with purple hair are everywhere...
Look. There's one right there...
He nods toward Echo casually.
An escaped experimental Construct wouldn't have stayed inside the Clean Zone, anyway. Probably went outside a long time ago...
Stop worrying about that. Let's get back to patrolling. I'd hate to see more Hetero-Creatures on the outskirts of our defenses...
The Constructs begin to walk away as they talk.
Echo takes a small breath of relief. Small droplets of sweat seep from her palms, moisturizing the cracked artificial skin that she has not taken care of for a while.
Luckily... Babylonia's arrest warrant has not reached this conservation area at the edge of the Clean Zone yet.
Taking out a handkerchief to wipe away the sweat, Echo looks down and avoids the two Constructs' route.
Perhaps "surrendering" to Babylonia is also a valid choice of "atonement."
She does not fear death, but... now is not the time.
She cannot die like that yet.
She... must find Lena.
The mechanoid girl with white hair stands before the simulation machine, comparing the data in her hands with intense focus. As she is about to perform the next simulation, her comms terminal starts ringing in this vacant room.
Dulcinea...
He stops talking as he sees the blinking simulation machine behind Dulcinea from the corner of his eye.
You're still doing simulations?
Yes. I'm trying to place different data samples in varying situations to simulate diverging stories.
In different scenarios with disparate initiating incidents, the same two sets of data will produce drastically dissimilar stories.
Right... You're still obsessed with that "ending," aren't you?
I'm not sure, but having noticed my desire to continue this endeavor, I decided to do so.
I'm using two sets of data samples I previously used during Palette Clash. Repeated simulations show very different results as I switch up the scenarios.
Which two data samples have you been using?
The Gray Raven Commandant and the individual named "Echo".
Those two, huh...
Cervantes thinks in silence briefly before gently smiling.
I think the story that happens in the real world will always be more fascinating than the ones simulated.
The real world...
Having lived in Constellia ever since she was born, Dulcinea does not seem to have a concrete concept of the "real world."
What would a story in the real world look like...?
Do you want to go out and find out yourself?
...Go out?
But you charged me to stay in Constellia to keep other awakened machines safe.
Don't worry about it. I'll transfer a part of the management clearance to other associates.
Just follow your heart.
...
The blinking lights of the simulation machine begin to dim one by one, and the giant machine eventually stops humming.
The mechanoid girl with white hair is nowhere to be found in this vacant room.
