Story Reader / Main Story / 13 Fake Ascension / Story
Not long after pressing onward, a familiar figure appears among the projections in the ruins.
Is that... the boy we just saw?
A boy stands on the lofty ruins, looking out at the destroyed block.
He resembles a Corrupted with the amount of broken parts on his body.
Looks like he failed to become an Ascendant like Roland...
The boy stumbles forward in the ruins. His eyes, once full of anger, are now devoid of any semblance of emotion.
Even though it is just a projection, he is still entwined with red current.
But didn't Roland give him an invitation? Why would he let him become a Corrupted?
Because he was still required to "make it there alive."
Looks like he failed.
The young Construct continues to wander the deserted ruins, occasionally looking at the sky and making some mechanical and meaningless gestures.
Suddenly, a female scavenger stops by the ruins.
Jett?!
Whether the young Corrupted hears a name or simply a loud noise, he turns around and staggers toward the female scavenger.
...How could you turn into a...
She begins to weep and takes out a smooshed piece of bread from her backpack, apparently handing it to the boy.
Do you... hate... Mommy?
The boy is unable to respond now that he is a Corrupted.
But if Mommy didn't hand you to that Daedalus corporation... we would've all starved to death...
As she weeps, she becomes more heartbroken, but the boy still does not respond. Instead, he continues to walk slowly toward her.
I heard some soldiers say that... you were here on a mission... So I wanted to see you again...
Saying that, she wept quietly.
But... h-how... did... y-you ... turn into t-this...
While his mother cries, the boy hobbles toward her like a toddler learning to walk. He steps on a loose brick, then slides down the ruins.
Jett! Jett...!
The female scavenger hurries to help the boy up, and hands him the piece of bread.
I'm sorry... It's all I have left... You can have it...
Ah—
He opens his mouth like a toddler to eat the bread his mother gives him, but then—
—bites off her hand in the process.
AHHHHHHHHHH!!!
The woman unleashes a blood-curdling scream from the pain. It seems that she has not noticed... or rather, cannot accept that her child has turned into a Corrupted.
No...
Liv's outstretched hand falls helplessly by her side. The four of you know that there is nothing you can do that could change what happened.
The female scavenger clutches her severed wrist, then hurriedly gets up to run away.
Why do you... hate me so much! Mommy just... just wanted us... to survive!
I simply chose... our best chance of survival! I never meant... to abandon you!
The woman falls to the ground from the pain in her severed arm. Too weak to stand, she helplessly watches as her son approaches with each step.
...Mommy just... just...
He thrusts his hand right through his mother's chest, causing blood to spew out of her mouth. She still fights through the agony to say her last words.
Mommy... failed you...
I wanted... to make us... a happy family...
Unfazed by his mother's last words, the Corrupted boy drags his mother down the street as she breathes her dying breaths.
...
Liv remains silent for a moment, then raises her head and looks firmly at the three of you.
...Let's go. The sooner we put an end to the Ascendants and the Red Tide, the sooner we can prevent something like this from ever happening again!
Alright, let's keep going.
