Story Reader / Main Story / 25 Everglowing Justice / Story
...Aargh!
Echo sits up abruptly, clutching her forehead in pain.
Lee has shot down the M.I.N.D. disruptor from afar, but the aftereffects are not likely to subside anytime soon when it comes to M.I.N.D. interferences.
...It's no big deal.
I just remembered some things... and those weren't pleasant memories.
Recalling the memories she saw in her M.I.N.D., she finds it ironic that the songs about justice and order were placed with the journals of the M.I.N.D. research project.
That place... used to be different.
It should have been...
What should it have looked like?
The good she remembers mixes with the ugly she never recognized, forming a series of chains that have confined her tightly.
Ugh...
Echo looks to be in great pain, and the armor aside begins to produce a strange hum.
You cannot help but feel that Echo has a really close tie with the "Kurono test subject."
...Right, I'm okay. I just need a minute.
Taking a deep breath, Echo looks slightly less pale.
Having made sure that her M.I.N.D. has not greatly deviated, you begin to sort out the bits and pieces of information you glimpsed in her M.I.N.D. after getting Echo's permission.
Utopia has been performing illegal research on the M.I.N.D. this whole time. No wonder they can produce so many devices that can directly interfere with a M.I.N.D.
But... what is the connection between Echo and Pickman? Was she one of the "samples"?
Echo quiets down upon hearing your question.
No... He adopted me and raised me, letting me call him "Father."
Echo is Pickman's adopted daughter? Such an intimate bond...
With this new "clue," you cannot help but reevaluate this "temporary alliance" you have with Echo.
I knew you'd react this way.
However suspicious or doubtful you are... this information should verify part of what I've told you.
I hope that's enough to convince you to uphold our alliance.
You have glimpsed the standard-looking laboratory, the seemingly well-behaved but chaotic children, and the mysterious journals from Echo's M.I.N.D...
Although everything suggests that the laboratory is more than meets the eyes, you are still understandably suspicious of the information she provided...
After all, this is a Construct whose identity you cannot confirm...
The seemingly well-behaved but chaotic children, the mysterious journals, and everything else seem to suggest that the laboratory is more than meets the eyes.
...It wasn't like this at first. He... Pickman, I mean. He used to be loving and patient, and he'd take us to play on the deck...
I don't know how he became the way he is now.
...
Echo quiets down suddenly, probably recalling the research journals she saw in her memories.
Was that really the case? Or... was his kindness always a facade?
...Yes.
He used to bring me with him all the time when I was younger. I probably saw those journals back then. He didn't avoid me when he was working.
I don't know why I have no recollections on any of them, but that should be it.
If Echo's memories were accurate... why did the penmanship look kind of familiar to you?
You seem to have seen a similar signature on a report before...
You suddenly remember another scrawny man with golden eyes...
Mr. Kurono, please hurry up. You're going to be late for the meeting.
When I was still a member of Kurono, I met him in person and also accidentally came across his data file. I thought he was on the board of directors, but turned out his name was just a coincidence.
Could it be him?
The doctor whose name "coincidentally" appeared on your inspection report during your "confined treatment"?
Never.
He left for scientific exchanges occasionally, but he never mentioned the outside world.
Is... something wrong?
Echo turns silent again.
She seems to have encountered layer after layer of mysteries.
Each time she lifts a layer, she would find the answer behind it written in blood. Every discovery would burden her with another shackle filled with "sins."
Devote everything to kindness and love. Never disregard what is righteous...
As if the things I insist on... are a joke.
Her voice sounds desperate as if she is suffocating.
Right or wrong, the truth will be revealed one way or the other.
...
Echo quiets down again, leaning on the armor as she closes her eyes.
The vehicle outside the conservation area seems to have waited there for a while. Trojan approaches it from nearby, travel-stained.
The deal was no work during my break... I'll have to charge him triple my hourly rate.
I'll let Mr. Norman know.
And here is the vehicle and equipment you requested.
Although it's naive to think that this thing can help catch the "Kurono test subject", I suppose it's better than not having it.
What happened with the information I told you to spread?
It's out there. The Purifying Force doesn't seem to buy it, but seeing that they did lose their target, they had to send some of theirs to investigate the conservation areas that "sighted a Construct with purple hair."
Expand the spread of information toward the center of the Clean Zone.
It'll be easier to deal with the rest if we manage to draw those people away.
The unknown Construct leaves after Trojan communicates the plans forward.
She opens the door to the vehicle and turns to look in the direction of Conservation Area 109.
That's enough money to retire if I manage to capture the Kurono test subject.
...
Tsk... Whatever.
Trojan grumbles before sighing and stepping into the vehicle, leaving Conservation Area 109 behind.
