Story Reader / Affection / Liv: Empyrea / Story
Having accepted peace as reality, you feel like the four seasons pass by in the blink of an eye.
Now, you are one of the cogs that help propel the steam engine of civilization, going from city to city to help workers and machines. More and more places are thus rebuilt.
And as time goes by, you slowly forget how to fight. Instead, you are preoccupied with more trivial matters.
Things like the price of food and vegetables, how much you should water the plants, or which fertilizers to use.
The conversations you have with your friends are now about the rainfall in spring.
And the girl too has shifted her attention to her daily life, feeling sad when the flowers that wither and happy when she sees sunlight dance on a new petal.
She doesn't give up on her passion for life now that peace prevails. If anything, it has strengthened that bond.
After we repair and rebuild the previously devastated streets and alleyways, we continue to keep watch for the town.
Before we know it, it's already another season of harvest. Time flies when people live in peace.
Walking with the machines in the wheat fields, we find the trees swinging as the wind blows, their fruits ripe for picking.
To her and the others, everything is going as expected. Nature is coming back to life as the seasons change.
What is mesmerizing if not a courtyard full of blossoming flowers, or the fruits that fall on the lawn, or the happily cheering crowd, or the antelopes that travel in a large flock?
When the fruits of autumn have been collected, the chilly wind carries snow with it as a gift to the watchers.
As a thick blanket of snow clears, you are ready to embrace another spring.
Here, the peaceful daily life will carry on forever until the end of time.
That's right. That is how it is supposed to be.
On an ordinary night, the nightmare finally reveals its teeth and claws again and attacks the person soundly sleeping.
It'll be too late if we don't stop it now.
We have to take extreme measures.
If this goes on, [player name] will suffer permanent brain damage.
I will take things into my own hands. So long as we can temporarily shield some of the data for these two, there is a chance for [player name] to realize something is wrong.
What data are you going to shield?
We'll start with our easiest targets.
You mean Lucia and Lee?
That's right.
But that way, we still won't be able to get [player name] back to reality.
So long as [player name] can realize something is wrong, there is still hope.
This is going to be risky and ineffective.
Do you have a better plan?
...
Do it.
You wake up from the nightmare and realize it is already noon. The room is dead silent.
Next to the door, you try to call your companions, but no one answers.
You raise your voice, but still nothing.
You recall the realistic nightmare you just had. Fear starts to take control. You keep calling your companions while looking for them in the house.
But your can't find them.
Not only that, the daily necessities previously belonging to Lee and Lucia are all gone. It is almost like they have left without saying goodbye.
You open the terminal and realize you can no longer track and locate their comms IDs.
Though you don't need the terminal to remember their IDs, the terminal shows that the IDs are no longer valid.
In peacetime, when there is a situation like this, people always call the police.
You take up the terminal again and report the situation to your colleagues in town. To your surprise, they scoff at you.
Silly. Those two people you mentioned don't even exist.
They are not in the database, and I don't remember anyone named Lee or Lucia.
If you do have friends like that on your team, I should have seen them the last time I visited your house. Don't you think?
What? No, they weren't. It was just you and that girl.
Alright, enough with this. I still have work to do. I'll talk to you soon.
The guard hangs up.
The room is spacious and bright, but it feels so empty now.
Choo.
The bird saved by Liv flies back through the window and looks at you, its head tilted.
At least Liv's room remains the same. You should be able to reach her.
You enter her comms ID using your terminal. Shortly afterward, her gentle voice appears from the other side.
Good morning, [player name]. I put your breakfast in the fridge. Did you find it?
...Are you saying... they disappeared?
How is it possible that you can't find their information in the database? I clearly remember we were hanging out last night. Perhaps the guard got it wrong?
Suddenly, your head is in extreme pain. The world goes dark.
Commandant! Wake up!
This won't do. We gotta find another way.
...We must not give up here. Come on. We are so close.
...We are indeed in a tricky situation. But we did manage to protect the two of them.
...Hadn't it been for Liv, I'm afraid we would've lost [player name] by now.
The Mind Beacon of [player name] is being corrupted. This must not go on any further.
...Even [player name] is losing it? I can't believe it.
...Make it stop. Now!
...Your memory once again sinks into a sea of endless darkness.
[player name]... [player name]...!
Bright light dispels the darkness as the face of a crying girl comes into view.
You try to figure out who she is. In response, she nods at you.
It's me... [player name]
...I... I couldn't detect anything wrong with my Eclipse frame, so I thought I'd try something else.
Though the Empyrea frame doesn't find out much either, after the examination, you wake up.
Liv is delighted, but she is silent shortly afterwards.
I couldn't find Lucia or Lee. What happened?
Data blocking...? And you heard their voices in your dream?
...Are you saying that...
...We are the ones trapped in a dream?
...
Neither of you says this out loud.
The peacetime has continued for a decade. Every day is as precious as the shining stars in the night sky.
How can we deny those lovely days we spent together just because of some strange nightmares?
Yeah.
They must be waiting for us.
The girl doesn't hesitate. She immediately agrees to your proposal.
We won't be searching fast enough if we stick to the ground. This time, let's take it to the sky.
Yes. Let's go.
Liv quickly walks to the windowsill and extends her hand to you.
The next thing you know, she has taken you into her arms. The girl jumps out of the window and spreads her wings to start flying.
Guide me, [player name].
Though she is calling you by your real name now, the bond you share remains the same.
You access the map using your terminal to plan a route. Together, the two of you begin this flight on this warm summer night.
You look up at Liv's face. Her eyes stay closed as she searches every street and the people in the building while you handle the navigation and route planning.
You remember Liv as an amiable, easy-going girl. It is rare to see her so serious.
But that doesn't mean she is docile and obedient. To make sure her dream comes true, Liv is willing to take it as far as...
...Sacrificing herself.
Memories lying dormant in the depth of your mind start to awaken.
After returning to Babylonia, Asimov and Professor Hippocrates...
Her M.I.N.D. shards are mixed together with the highly-corrupted data turbulence. Only you can pull this off.
...
Fragmented memories start to pour into your mind.
You remember what happened before this peaceful decade when you had to search through unspeakably corrupted data that you couldn't fathom.
...Commandant...
The views, twisted and dislocated, are falling apart.
I don't think I can... stay with Gray Raven anymore...
Everything falls apart. Only chaotic sounds echo in the darkness.
The connection is too powerful. We must... sever [player name] from the senses.
But what if [BUZZ—] gets corrupted?
We don't have a choice. If [player name] can retrieve the memories, there will still be hope...
When the echo fades away, you feel a force pulling as you are plunged into the abyss once again.
