Ka...
Thud.
A muffled thud erupts; the distance between them is too close
...mui?
"Catrayv's" word hangs in the air. For a split second, his body freezes, then it is hurled backward dozens of meters. Shattered wall fragments rain down with a thunderous roar as dust and smoke swallow everything.
...
The cliff and blazing sun dissolve as Kamui's vision sharpens, his awareness locking back onto his own body and the world around him.
The nightmare never happened. He has remained at the Ezette ruins
Golden Sun Training Grounds <Corrupted>
Ruins of Ezette
...Ka... Kamui. I'm... Catrayv...
"Catrayv" rises from the rubble with a marionette's jerk, his limbs moving as if fighting against invisible hinges. It is the gait of a pilot inside a malfunctioning machine.
He cocks his head at an unnatural angle, staring ahead, his fingers compulsively tracing the lines of his cheeks and chin, as if searching for a familiar landmark in the flesh.
That's right. I'm "Catrayv"... This is "Catrayv's" face... Kamui, why'd you hit me?
Don't you know who I am? What, you getting face-blind too?
...Cut it out, Azael. This joke isn't funny at all.
Rather than entertain the delusional questioning, Kamui turns to help the human commandant. Still groggy, the commandant is only now beginning to regain consciousness, having been pulled into the same illusion through the M.I.N.D. connection.
Cut it out? Ha... haha...
"Catrayv", or more accurately, Azael, who now inhabits Catrayv's shell, staggers forward. His already twisted mouth begins to convulse, gradually contorting into something monstrous.
Found yourself some new friends... and now you're tired of your old family?
You used to love this game. Remember? When we brought Catrayv home to Ezette? He couldn't tell the two of us apart, looking like a big fool.
Pretty sure you're the one who suggested we mess with him like that. Help him remember.
Where is Catrayv's consciousness? Where did you put it?
Unmoved by his opponent's words, Kamui raises his head again. His eyes reflect nothing but calm determination.
This isn't your body. His consciousness isn't in that mess you're puppeting. So tell me, what'd you do with him?!
Azael freezes mid-motion, as if someone has pressed a pause button. After a beat of silence, he finally speaks again.
...When did you figure it out?
When you tried to pass off the Punishing Virus as solar essence. Tricked me into absorbing it, hoping to suppress my M.I.N.D. and devour it.
That's when I knew for sure.
Kamui speaks softly, his tone eerily calm, as if the events he describes bear no connection to him nor to the figure standing right there, the one who occupies so much of his past.
...Even when I couldn't see anything, when it was just darkness, that malice in your action... It told me everything I needed to know.
Malice...? Ha?! Malice...
The air around Azael thickens as Kamui speaks, irritation flickering visibly across his face. What is the source? Is it Kamui's suspicion? Or is it the human beside him, the one who doesn't belong to Ezette?
Look at you. Babylonia really did a number on you, huh? Taught you to doubt. To look at your own family sideways.
Since when do you get wary of me, Kamui?! You...
I didn't want to be wary of you, Azael!
...I just wanted the truth. I wanted justice for everyone.
In a rare display of force, Kamui cuts him off with a low shout.
Back in Babylonia, during the tests, they kept telling me my M.I.N.D. issues were leftovers from the past experiments.
Then Asimov noticed something weird: the "damage" was all over the place, with no logic pattern. But the basic functions were completely fine.
So I started thinking... what if it's not damaged? What if something's just... missing?
A hollow crater. You can plant all the seeds you want, water it every day, but nothing's ever gonna grow.
Kamui's head lifts, a flash of anger blazing in his eyes.
And you wanna know what I'm wary of? The shadows. The ones still hanging around Ezette. The ones that once hurt us!
When we picked up that signal from Ezette, I thought maybe one of you was still out there. And if that's true, I have to find you! I have to help you!
But you... What have you done...?
Kamui exhales slowly, his eyes fluttering shut for a moment before they open once more.
You took Catrayv's body. You used it. And then you used that letter Mom and Dad left behind, like it was nothing!!
They would never say something like that. Neither Mom nor Dad would ever push their will onto us. That was never them.
Still so childish. So stupidly naive. You think you knew them so well? You think you understand anything about people?
Azael's body sways. Even though he knows arguing is pointless in their current situation, he can't resist the urge to contradict Kamui.
It's just like the past, just like all siblings. Beneath the laughter and joy, there have always been contradictions and arguments between them.
Just because you don't want to believe they'd do something doesn't mean they wouldn't... If they actually cared, why would they leave us behind?!
They were always this cold!
They were NOT!
I remember. Mom and Dad... their bodies were cryo-preserved. They didn't even make it to the later stages of Project Barleycorn.
Until the very end, they were still human. Flesh and blood. Not Constructs.
The Punishing Virus won't turn humans into Corrupted! So somebody must've done something to their bodies!
No...
Azael's breath comes in heavy, visible gasps. He shakes his head over and over, a frantic refusal of it all, as if his denial alone might bend reality.
No... that's... that's not... that can't be right.
Azael lunges forward, his image sharpening in Kamui's suddenly constricting pupils.
CLANG!
Kamui blocks Azael's attack, their weapons locking. Azael doesn't relent or shift strategy; he simply leans in, driving his full weight against Kamui's guard.
In this stalemate, they are drawn chest-to-chest, their mutual fury and rage spiraling between them like a tempest.
How do you even remember that?! Your M.I.N.D. isn't even complete! Quit lying through your teeth, Kamui!!
Just because you lied to us, you figure I'd do the same thing?!
With a low growl, Kamui lifts one knee and thrusts it forward, the force of the blow sending Azael staggering back.
Catrayv and me? We knew it all along... After what happened with Solar Exodus, you had been secretly contacting Marlis.
But we chose to trust you. We believed you were doing it for Ezette. So we waited. Kept waiting for you to tell us the truth.
Even now...
Kamui grits his teeth and hoists his blade high. The real battle isn't in powering his strike, but in containing emotions too painful to bear.
Even after I met Marlis in the comms room, I still wanted to believe you!
The blade arcs down as Azael scrambles up, desperately trying to shield himself. The effort is futile; he is hurled backward dozens of meters once more.
Kamui, gasping, props himself against his sword. He can't tell which took more out of him—the force of the strike, or the soul-baring roar that fueled it.
I know Marlis has always had her eyes on the Golden Suns. On Ezette. Plenty of reasons for her to pull strings.
...But I know you, too, Azael. And I can't just... I can't ignore what's right in front of me. I can't betray the ones who already gave everything for this family.
In that "test" of hers, I caught traces that led back to you! And as much as I wish it wasn't true, you're the only one it could be!
Haha... Hahaha... Cough... cough, cough...
Azael lies in the cloud of dust, but this time he makes no effort to move. Instead, a quiet laugh escapes him.
The sound builds, rising in volume until it is suddenly choked off by a violent fit of coughing.
...Yeah. You do know me, Kamui. Of course you do. We're family. Inseparable, loving family.
And that's why I knew. That you'd follow every breadcrumb I left, every path I paved, right back home. Right back to us.
I knew you'd still absorb the essence even if you noticed the Punishing Virus mixed in. Because what if? What if there was a chance they were still alive in there?
I knew you'd still come running even if you didn't trust Marlis. Even if you knew it might be a trap.
Because that's the kind of idiot you are! Emotional, stubborn, you won't stop till you've run face-first into a wall and come out the other side bleeding.
Azael hauls himself upright as a frenzied excitement pounds in his broken head, growing more frantic by the moment.
So why'd you stop?! Keep going... to Ezette! To us!
When our M.I.N.D.s finally come together, when everyone's inside everyone, nobody leaves. We will be together, forever.
Kamui watches Azael's hysteria unfold, a slight tremor in his lips as his hands ball into unconscious fists.
Carol's death, Catrayv's, and even yours... You used everyone to provoke my M.I.N.D... just for this?
He remembers those agonized, twisted faces. The excessive Punishing Virus, paired with the trauma of witnessing his family's deaths, did trigger a dangerous instability in Kamui's M.I.N.D.
If he gave in to despair, the Punishing Virus released by Azael would consume him during the invasion, seizing control and leaving him a mindless puppet.
Kamui's instincts are what helped him break free. Even when trapped in a hopeless, illusory world, he made choices that stayed true to himself. But more importantly...
It was those shattered things that awakened him, guiding him to the missing parts of his M.I.N.D.—fragments that, though no longer whole, remained close to Kamui.
We're going to establish anchor points at the vulnerable junctures within your M.I.N.D. If something goes wrong, touching these anchors will grant you a brief return to clarity. A window of just enough time to save yourself.
They can take the form of objects that can trigger your memories about us, or specific markers we make together.
For good measure, we'll also place anchors in the damaged empty spaces. If you manage to restore what's missing there, those anchors will remain uncompromised. And if they do... their effect may be unexpectedly potent.
As for what those anchors are...
[Ezette] has received a distress signal!! Signal source from Area S, coordinates [4N 323311 19210]!
Then pinky swear with us!
I'm the [captain], so do what I say and go first! I'll stay and help Kamui.
He's too banged up! What he needs is a [doctor]! We gotta take him back to treat his wounds!
You're the ones who should stay put! It's all [dark] over there, you won't be able to see anything! I'll go!
I ▇▄▆▃ we ▇▃▇▄▁
Oh, speaking of which. Thanks for the reminder, Azael.
Those who pulled me out of that spiral, helped me take back the missing pieces of my M.I.N.D... You're still holding onto them. It's about time you let them go.
...What?
Azael's head snaps up. His voice sinks to a menacing growl as his limbs contort and twist.
You took them back? No... That's... that's not possible. You shouldn't be able to!
No way you could take those pieces back... You'll never break free from me! Never be whole again! That's how it should be!
People of Ezette belong here! This is the only ending waiting for us all!
Your voice cuts through the argument at just the right moment, as you finally break free from the illusion's aftermath.
I'm counting on you, [player name].
Without another word, Kamui opens the M.I.N.D. connection port to you.
You...
There is a natural, almost serene coordination between you and Kamui that gets under Azael's skin. Together, you construct an unspoken barrier, a seamless front that renders him invisible and severs any tie he tries to maintain.
But he was the one who should be standing with Kamui and Catrayv, as he always had, on the battlefield and off. That's how it should be.
Kamui... how dare you... HOW DARE YOU!!
How dare you let other people
How dare you forget everyone from Ezette, leaving us to shoulder all the suffering, abandoning us in the past—
While you find new happiness in your new "home" and leave us behind without a care?!
He roars, charging forward in a hunched posture, unleashing a devastating attack toward you.
Kamui rushes to intercept, meeting Azael mid-charge to ensure their battle zone doesn't advance any closer to you.
BOOM!!! The massive impact reverberates through the center of the training ground, causing the already broken space to shudder once more.
Betrayal... Execution...
He picks up the unresolved debate from that illusory M.I.N.D. tug-of-war, rehashing the argument they never settled.
You want execution so bad? Fine. Let's settle this, Azael!
Did you really think I wouldn't notice? That wreck of a M.I.N.D. you're running, stuffed inside that thing you call a body...
It is an utterly bizarre body, radiating a fundamental wrongness. Imbalanced and torn apart, it seems both whole and incomplete.
And yet, Kamui recognizes the people to whom each part once belonged.
And the charred bodies
He remembers every single one of them with perfect clarity, their memories etched into his heart.
It's you who killed everyone at Ezette!! Azael!
And then you trapped them here. Tore pieces off some of them, stitched them together, shoved them into yourself like some kinda monster!
Why?! How could you do that to them?! To any of them?!
...Still asking dumb questions, Kamui. Guess some things never change.
You seriously asking why I did it?
It's obvious. Ezette's core principle: we are one as a family. I gave our family exactly what we always wanted—fusion and unity!!
Gritting his teeth, Kamui unleashes a powerful blow on Azael with a roar. He is now a raging lion, fully transformed.
...You turned your blade on your own family, and you call that unity?!
Do you even hear yourself?! Does that word not make you sick coming out of your mouth?!
You don't get to judge me, Kamui!! You're just a failure, a coward!!
They were all gonna die anyway! Running out of essence, burning themselves out for a sun that's never gonna rise! Meaningless sacrifices for nothing!
So why not end it sooner?! Why not make it mean something?! At least this way, we're together forever!!
You know how it feels, don't you?! This ruined world stole everything from us! Every hope! Every path! There's nowhere to go!
So why the hell should I love it?! Like some idiot, like you?!
Should I not hate it?!!
This is the answer! The only answer this cruel world left us!
