Story Reader / Extra Story / EX01 Grand Blue / Story
(Inhales)
(Exhales)
Capt., look! It's the beach! A beach that's just like the holos!
Yo... Wazzat in the distance? Is that a beach chair?
A place like this actually exists in the world...
The giant building behind encircles the beach and the sea. A silence takes over.
The slightly salty sea breeze blows the whimsical waves at you, causing droplets to fizzle on your face. It reminds you that this is not a holo-movie in Babylonia, but a place that physically exists.
And the fine sand beneath your feet too, seeps slowly into your tactical boots from your weight, scratching your instep.
So this must be what Celica meant by a "vacation"... I think I'm starting to look forward to it.
The beach and the sea breeze... It does make one want to wind down...
Yawn...
Hnnh, why... do I feel kinda sleepy?
Hm... Probably an automatic response of our human-simulation modules... Commandant, can you help me turn it off?
It's a vacation, though, Lucia. Don't you plan on relaxing a little?
Being seen through, Lucia suddenly begins to feel at loss.
...I'm just worried that there might be combat, from what happened earlier.
You have a point... THERE!
While Lucia was talking, Liv has snuck around to the shallow waters behind Lucia and launched a handful of water at her.
Ah! Liv, what are you—
I'm doing what they call a "water fight" back in the Golden Age. Lucia, join me!
The two girls step into the shallows and start splashing water at each other...
Don't say I didn't warn you two when salt crystallizes in your joints... You'll have to pop them open for maintenance...
?
...Sigh, suit yourselves.
With Lucia and Liv in the lead, Sophia and Ayla join the water fight, too.
Karenina was the last to join, but she laid waste to the most targets.
...Nobody had the slightest clue that her bazooka could fire water.
...
...
How much time has passed before today...?
You feel like you have been battling for a long, long time.
At that thought, you cannot help but look to the side...
...And see Kamui trying to use his Big Kamui as a... surfboard?!
Chrome is trying to stop Kamui from doing so, but to little success.
...And look at Kamui now all drenched. No way Big Kamui can float.
Speaking of, where is Liv and Lucia...?
Commandant.
You've been lying on the beach for a while. You might catch a cold.
...The surrounding temperature is indeed quite pleasant. I guess you'll be fine.
...Okay, then.
You hear sand shuffling—likely Lucia and Liv sitting down beside you.
Commandant.
If there comes a day, when the battle against the virus is finally over...
What will become of you, and us?
New battles, huh...
That honestly makes me a bit mixed up.
But no matter where we are, or who we serve...
I am forever your blade, and this will never change.
And we fight... so that there will come a day where no one has to anymore.
So Commandant, if the day comes when you don't have to battle anymore... How would you like to live? I think Ayla mentioned that you have potential as an artist.
Will there finally be peace...? I surely hope so.
When the virus is gone, along with the threat of the Corrupted...
The things mentioned in the database about the Golden Age... Shopping malls, summer breaks, social networks—they will all come back, right?
...How would you like to live, then, Commandant?
Would you like to study? Or work? If Ayla is right, you might have the potential to be an artist too!
If Ayla's saying , she must have her reasons.
I'm also looking forward to what you will paint with a brush.
I've read that people had to paint in order to capture special moments before holograms and sensory simulations were invented.
If these paintings were done by Commandant... I'd be looking forward to seeing what they depict.
Speaking of, we never really had the opportunity to think about our "future," didn't we?
No, we didn't. I wonder... what will our future look like?
The... future?
You have no idea.
At least, your teachers from F.O.S. could not give you any answers about the future.
It has taken so long and so many sacrifices for Babylonia to have a chance to fight back the insurmountable odds.
To obtain the ultimate victory, Babylonia itself and everyone—this generation and beyond—from Babylonia offer themselves as kindling to humanity.
Your sacrifices will only end on the day the Punishing Virus no longer threatens humankind.
No one speaks of what happens afterward. Not your teachers, not the President.
Not to mention that the things Lucia talked about sound more like the past instead of the future—
The unattainable "Golden Age". Whenever you think about it...
Commandant? You realize you haven't said a word, right?
But, not everyone has Lucia's delicacy...
What is it?
You do not explain, and Lucia does not ask.
But not everyone can read the room...
Commandant—whatcha talking about?
I'm sorry, I already told him not to bother you...
See? Commandant's not going to fault me!
So...? That said, I must admit I'm curious about what you're talking about as well.
Seemingly drawn to the commotion, others begin to gather near you.
What happens after we win...? Truly, I have not thought about that.
Neither have I.
Will Asslam be able to stop if the Punishing Virus is no longer a threat?
The people of Akdilek can then find a piece of fertile land like Jamilah said...
...They'll build a home again, brick by brick, like their ancestors. There will be enough food to feed everyone.
But can the future really be that nice?
...No. I'll believe what you said, Commandant.
Why is everyone gathering here?
I think we're discussing the future.
The future? What about it?
Aren't you the slow one, bro? We're talking about what happens after the Punishing Virus is defeated!
No one's your "bro"...! After the Punishing Virus is defeated?
That's indeed our goal... but it's true that we haven't thought about what will happen to us afterward.
Right. A natural "lifespan" means nothing to us Constructs anymore.
Theoretically, all of us here will live to see that day. Except for...
...You feel like everyone turns to look at you at the same time.
...You should probably say something...
...If only just to make everyone feels better.
Hell yeah! You've been through so much with us, Commandant!
I have absolute faith in you!
True. The fight on the surface is going well. It's not a dream that we will establish some kind of safe zone.
...Back to the topic. Let's think about what happens after.
Now, as the resident expert on the Golden Age, I'm the most qualified to speak on the "future"!
Oh?
That's true.
Spit it out already! Do I get endless video games to play when the Punishing Virus is dealt with?
I suppose... that's actually true.
Considering the output of the game industry during the Golden Age... there will be an infinite number of games available to you, Kamui...
And an infinite number of buildings the Engineering Force has to rebuild, I bet. The future doesn't sound as good all of a sudden.
Kamui, stop fooling around...
What about you, Lee? What would you be doing?
Me? I... never really thought about that.
If I have to pick something, I'd be working toward getting Murray away from Babylonia duties and that hazardous line of work...
No, I don't think I'll actually do that. It's Murray's personal wish to work for Babylonia, after all.
That's why I said I never thought about it... I'm content to live to see the day the Punishing Virus is gone.
How about we put our heads together and think of something?
Let's do it, Commandant.
H-hold on...
Everyone begins to chime in with what weird jobs from the Golden Age Lee should do...
What about a doctor? It fits Lee's characters.
I haven't received enough medical training to be any kind of doctor.
I'm sure they'll rebuild "med schools" after the Punishing Virus is gone.
Perhaps they'll enroll Constructs as students...
Why won't he just "download" the information like how we download battle data...?
He can do that, sure, but it sounds nice to learn in a classroom, like how we listen to briefings, doesn't it?
It sounds inefficient.
Does that mean you want to find something similar to what you do now, Lee?
Be a dual gunner like Cassidy Ross in "The Dancing Fishmonger Under the Moon"?
That's not a "legal" career.
Once the threat is gone, I'm sure people will start restoring "law" alongside "order."
So, count me out of those risky businesses.
...
...I've never thought of that, but it sounds like a perfect match, surprisingly...
Indeed. I've read that swimmers in the past would study fluid mechanics for their performances...
It sounds like something Lee would consider.
...
Suddenly...
Show yourself!
Stop right there!
Almost immediately, Chrome extends his scythe and flings it while Karenina takes out her rocket launcher and bombards the direction where the movement came from.
Everyone immediately forms a line, standing ten meters apart and moving forward, searching.
Here, Commandant.
You find a large number of disorderly footprints where Lee is pointing. The recesses are also hiding capsules covered in sand.
Liv approaches and scans the capsules.
...It's vital fluid, but something's wrong. This kind of vital fluid can only be found in early Constructs built in the Post-Pandemic Age.
But it's been injected with many other substances so that it's now half as effective as our current one.
It seems so.
We should pursue, Commandant.
Friend or foe, you cannot just ignore it.
