Story Reader / Main Story / 30 Stars Ensnared / Story
December 15th, 10 minutes after Gestalt's data wall was opened.
The chaos in Babylonia hasn't affected the surface yet. Lamia appears before Luna with a small bag of milk cookies after being away for more than half a year.
Miss Luna?
She timidly peeks out of the corner at Alpha, who is standing beside Luna. She can't decide if she should offer the cookies in her hand.
...
I've learned a little more about the re-filtering process, but I'll need your help.
Have you figured something out? That's great, I'll help!
After the Red Tide appeared, I've been feeling an irregular pull whenever I use the power of Punishing.
...That feeling comes from those who died in the Red Tide. I used to dismiss the pulls as noise, but while the static in my mind faded with my diminishing permissions, the voices of the Red Tide remained clear.
If that's the case, I'll put them to use. I will embrace all of the hatred these consciousnesses harbor against agents.
That's too dangerous, Miss Luna! If you can't maintain your sense of self, they'll tear your consciousness apart!
When I first saw the egg in the ocean depths, I saw a future... where I was controlled by the egg and turned into her puppet...!
Staying here will only lead us to the same fate.
Is there really no other way?
There is.
What is it?
The fading voices have been showing me another future... They want me to find my lost hatred.
Hatred?
Intense emotions can indeed achieve similar results, but to create lasting hatred...
The girl closes her eyes. She does not want to speak of the crimson nightmare.
I've found a way to channel these people's consciousnesses into myself after careful experiments.
I must head to where the Red Tide converges, but first, I need to break free from this place.
But you've failed so many times before.
That's because I was still trapped by the static noises. Every time I tried to break free, "she" would pin me down again.
It's been growing more distant in the past few months... I can feel she's lost her patience. She is no longer willing to honor my constraints. She'll eventually abandon me when she leaves, and I'll become a Corrupted.
This is our only chance. When she leaves, I'll break free and head to where the Red Tide converges.
Luna raises her head. She looks at the exit that has been out of reach for so long.
As for what's next... After breaking free...
Luna's voice grows fainter.
Miss Luna?
Now seems to be the right time.
She closes her eyes and sinks once more into that crimson nightmare—but this time, she's not just resisting. This time, she will break free.
Luna jolts awake, gasping for air like someone drowning breaking the surface.
She presses her curled fingers and palm against her forehead with such force that she might squeeze something out of her mind.
But it's no use—the nightmares remain deeply entangled with her memories.
The sparks from the clashing chakram and swords, the feeling of curved edges splitting flesh and severing bones, the thud of falling corpses, and the glaring color of vital fluid...
...
She takes several deep breaths with her eyes closed, and opens them after regaining her usual composure.
She surveys her surroundings.
A murky sky veiled in thick fog hangs above floating, shattered streets. Punishing aggregates twist into the ground like tangled roots, while faint static whispers echo...
This is... the data space of the Ascension-Network...
Luna is familiar with the data space of the Ascension-Network. She can recognize it even though the scenery changes between each visit.
I shall end it all here.
That was the final straw. The Ascension-Network should have abandoned her when she refused and sever their connection—making it impossible for her consciousness to stay in the data space...
Luna carefully probes her connection and discovers that the Ascension-Network hasn't revoked all of her access. It has left a tiny fraction. The remaining access, along with the network's commands, acts like a pin, firmly anchoring her consciousness within the data space.
The Ascension-Network certainly has its reasons for doing this, and Luna is all too aware of them.
I might just have one last bit of value for the Ascension-Network.
This is an agent's consciousness, after all—it is better to let it become nutrients for the Ascension-Network than to rot away outside.
I need to find a way out of here quickly.
Otherwise...
Luna turns her gaze to the "Corrupted" lingering in the distance.
SCREEEEE—
GRRR—GRRR—
These aren't Corrupted. They're "monsters" stitched together from countless fragments of consciousness data.
The aggregate of the living's consciousnesses now exist in the form of their own murderers...
They may seem harmless now, but eventually they will find Luna—an "anomaly" with intact consciousness. Once they find the target, they will hunt her until she is torn apart.
These things are not a problem, but the crucial thing is...
Luna looks toward the area with the highest concentration of Punishing in the space.
A gray and white figure should have been standing there.
But now it is empty.
Selene...
Luna whispers the name that belongs to the static noises. Roland started calling her "Selene" when she began to drift away.
She knows from her senses that the puppet who has inherited her authority and remained loyal to the Ascension-Network has already left.
...Time is running out. This is our only chance.
The Ascension-Network is trapping my consciousness here. It must be using the Punishing crystals that bind me in the physical world.
If I can find the nail holding my consciousness in this data space and destroy them, the Punishing crystals binding me in reality will shatter as well.
Luna closes her eyes to focus her senses and to locate the general direction of the "nail" binding her consciousness.
...?
Luna discovers something else during her exploration while searching for her target.
Something's off with the Ascension-Network. The data flow is too fast, and the whole system seems... tense?
With her permission, she cannot sense anything more.
...I must stay on high alert.
Luna sets off toward her newly discovered target.
