Story Reader / Main Story / 14 Imprisoned Sight / Story
14-1 Game in a Cage
>Overcoming countless adversities and witnessing just as many lay down their lives, the intrepid heroes continue to search for hope on this most harrowing journey.
Most people did not know that this journey would be unworthy of adulation. From the moment they set forth, they were doomed to a life entangled in shadows.
Reading this file enshrouded with deceit, the names of these heroes remain unknown.
Perhaps... we only survived because we knew nothing.
...
Lucia swipes her battle log lost in thought, stopping at a location on Earth surrounded by ruins.
On a wall of the ruins, she sees a mysterious piece of synthetic paper containing this excerpt from an unknown novel.
This most harrowing journey...
After completing their underground mission at City 075 and installing the bit domain nodes, Gray Raven had already returned to Babylonia for several days now.
However, Lucia remains in the preparation room reviewing training material from the battle log database only because their new mission had ordered them to remain here on standby.
Although such respite is a luxury, the fact that everyone else is working double duty while only Gray Raven sits idly in the preparation room requires no further explanation.
Seems like the decision to postpone the investigation on the commandant's insubordination has to do with more pressing military concerns...
You have tried to apply for other missions and even spoke with previous contacts. Regardless, the response across the board was just "take a few days off."
But even when the team tried to go out and enjoy this much needed R&R together, they were met with a sneaking suspicion.
Whether it was the dubious behavior of people in the plaza or cameras following them as they passed by, they all silently stated the same fact.
—They were prisoners in a cage.
Confirming this, you order everyone to return to the preparation room.
The team had planned on discussing the current state of events in a more familiar setting, but upon returning to the preparation room after their brief outing, they found that the weapon reserves had miraculously disappeared. Only some basic equipment and daily necessities remained.
Just as you go to ask the staff about the situation in the preparation room, you are escorted away and have yet to return.
It's been almost two whole days now...
Lucia looks at the clock on the bottom of the terminal, frowning slightly.
..."We need to monitor memory replays caused by the corrupted Mind Beacon."
This is what one of the unfamiliar personnel had said to her as they escorted you away.
Lucia wants to accompany you or at least keep an eye from a distance, but the personnel comes prepared. As soon as she opens her mouth, one of them suddenly drops a large stack of inspection reports and work certificates in front of her, the contents of which contain a series of stringent terms and warnings.
Right as the unfamiliar personnel leave, Lee firmly clenches his fists.
Did you see what was on the reports just now?
Yeah...
Not like I disagree with any of it. They're not trying to pull the wool over our eyes.
They're just putting extra emphasis on some... possibly dangerous symptoms...
There's no need for more medical treatment without any signs of symptoms, but they are within reason to monitor the commandant's condition.
I'm not talking about the contents of the report. I meant the doctor's signature—Kugawa.
Even though it's just a first name, I've seen his handwriting in the database.
Kugawa had already joined Kurono as a doctor during the Great Evacuation.
Now that Kurono is a part of Babylonia, he rarely makes his presence known.
Even still, their bond is unbreakable. They carry out covert operations to this very day.
Do you think him being assigned as the commandant's doctor is a coincidence?
If that's the case, there should still be a familiar face or two among the people that took the commandant away.
Not to mention... Even if that wasn't the case, neither the President nor Celica gave us cause for alarm.
That would mean something is prohibiting them from making a move for the time being.
The plot thickens...
Lucia glances around the now slightly more spacious room, suppressing her worries deep within her heart. She returns her gaze to the yellow synthetic paper on the holo-screen.
...We only survived because we knew nothing.
As she reads the passage silently, images from her battle with Alpha fill her M.I.N.D.
That was when you chose to trust her...
That was when she saw fragments of Alpha's memory as their M.I.N.D.s merged.
That was when she finally saw her suppressed memories—and the truth.
...The truth?
She may have unlocked the deepest recesses of her memory, but that does not mean that she has been looking at the whole picture.
Who has not experienced something like this?
Even if you remember the entire conversation you had with someone, you have no way to peer into their heart to understand the true meaning behind their words.
Even if you fully restore the many paintings of your memories, you have no way of knowing what lies beneath the thick layers of paint.
As for the whole truth, she still remains uncertain. However, based on what Alpha said...
Whether it's Luna or me, being chosen by the Ascension-Network was just the starting point.
The beginning...
Quietly muttering to herself, she meticulously recalls the memory fragments that Alpha had left in her M.I.N.D. and attempts to place the puzzle pieces into her memory.
...Ever since I became a Construct, I thought Luna was dead.
She opens the notepad on the screen and organizes her thoughts while jotting down a few keywords.
I only recently found out that Luna is still alive. Seeing that Alpha stands at her side as an Ascendant...
Lucia writes in her notes, "Alpha was likely discovered by Luna when she was suffering from severe Punishing corruption. That's when she became an Ascendant."
But based on my understanding of "me"... The choice to become an Ascendant is not made out of seeking vengeance or power.
Was it because she couldn't return to Babylonia? Or was it because she saw Luna again?
There are other possibilities, of course. But nothing substantial enough to steer "me" down that path.
I'm sure the "me" back then must have believed that becoming an Ascendant would lead to a better tomorrow.
After all, if she was suffering from such severe Punishing corruption, her only options were to become an Ascendant or join the horde of Corrupted.
That must be it. Her choice must have been made on the basis of numerous factors pushing her down the opposite path.
If she is calling this the starting point... What's next?
She searches the information from the memory fragments in her mind and recalls Alpha's voice as she calls out to her comrades.
Murol, Xun... and Hiro...
She tried looking for them before she regained her memories due to an uneasy feeling. She has attempted to trace the whereabouts of her three comrades...
...Only to discover that their names had been registered among a list of martyrs with the chilling description of "Perished in the fight against the Corrupted".
And that was it. The trail went cold before it even began.
While Lucia is deep in thought, a stern expression covers Liv's face as she suddenly strokes a lock of hair on the right side of Lucia's head with her fingertips.
After seeing this peculiar gesture, Lucia quietly moves the screen to cover her notes with the battle records. Lee has his head down as if concentrating on the thing in his hand, but his gaze is firmly fixed on the doorway.
The guards have changed seventeen times since this morning. Whether or not this is due to precautions made by the trio, the guards have yet to enter.
Shortly after you left yesterday, they received an anonymous encrypted message on Lee's terminal.
Speak carefully, act cautiously. Refrain from doing anything for now. Wait until daylight to inspect the room.
The trio is suspicious at first, but given previous events, they are not entirely in disbelief.
In the morning, the group had "cleaned" the room. Doing so, they uncovered several bugs that were planted by an intruder. Only then was their remaining disbelief abated.
Lee has quietly moved some storage crates to specific positions in the corners while Liv has draped your coat in a peculiar spot.
Once the corners with those little "gifts" had been blocked, guards began showing up at the door out of nowhere.
After the trio discusses quietly amongst themselves, they decide to remain in the preparation room and "rest." That way, they will not draw any suspicion while they wait for you to return.
We only survived because we knew nothing.
Why is this happening?
Because the commandant violated military orders during the last mission? But they said they weren't going to look into that for the time being. Is this just an excuse to buy time?
Do people really think we just let Luna go and that we're keeping her whereabouts a secret?
Even if Hassen and Nikola thought it was necessary to deal with it now while the war still rages on, they would have chosen a more appropriate method to go about all this.
At the very least, an arrest warrant would have been served rather than letting the commandant be taken away by those people on the grounds of "monitoring."
But there has been nothing of the sort ever since this all started.
Perhaps it is as Lee has mentioned. They are also trapped in an invisible web and need to be even more cautious than the Gray Ravens "resting" in the preparation room.
If that's the case, what does this web known as "Kurono" want from the commandant?
Whether it's Luna or me, being chosen by the Ascension-Network was just the starting point.
Are we now forced to stand here at this new beginning, too?
Alpha...
Suddenly, a familiar voice in the corridor greets the unknown "inspector" standing outside the door. However, the door between them makes it hard to discern who the voice belongs to.
...Murray?
Lucia turns her head to look at Lee, his eyebrows tightly knit. Looks like she is right.
Murray is speaking with the inspector... Maybe they know each other?
Lucia asks as she turns up her audio module sensitivity slightly.
Hey, fancy seeing you here. Are you guys here to... Cough—um... What are you up to today?
Even though the trio cannot see what is going on outside, they can hear the contemplation in his voice as if someone is stopping him from saying too much.
Sounds like the person standing outside is just someone following orders.
Her judgment is not based on her personal understanding of Murray, but on her common understanding of the position.
Lucia listens to the conversation outside closely in an attempt to pick up any clues from the casual remarks.
Sorry, am I interrupting your conversation with someone? After all, you look...
Oh, you only report if anything happens. Gotcha. I just didn't want to interfere with your work.
Looks like he's just a scout.
The other party lowers his voice and says something to Murray that even her sensitive audio module cannot pick up. Perhaps, he only mouthed a response or made a gesture.
Of course! Glad I'm not bothering you. You guys have been working late the last two days. When are you off?
The man outside the door responds quietly to which Murray gives a genial and polite laugh.
So you're not off until you get results? Well, keep up the hard work.
...Results? Are they not on a surveillance mission? Are they looking for something?
Alright, I'll stop prodding you about your mission. Wanna get some afternoon tea? Your favorite cafe is back open.
...Favorite cafe? That must mean he's speaking to a human.
Oh, right. Is Kugawa off today? Wanna invite him?
A stern look washes over the faces of the trio standing in the preparation room.
A Kurono henchman following orders is pacing outside the Gray Raven preparation room, searching for some sort of results.
The trio speculated that the current situation may have been due to violating military orders during the last mission, suspicion over a private link with Luna, or even because of serious symptoms from Mind Beacon corruption.
But based on the current information, this appears to be the worst-case scenario.
Seems like a plot that had been in the works for quite some time is finally coming to fruition.
Just like that, Murray was able to convey this fragmented information to the trio inconspicuously through just the right volume and chit-chat. And with that, Murray laughs with the guard as they both walk away.
Once no more movement can be detected from outside the door, Liv takes her hand off the desktop. Receiving the signal, the other two begin to relax a little.
Up until this point, Lucia never thought she would need to use such a tactic in the Gray Raven's preparation room. She shakes her head gently and looks back at the screen.
...
She presses her hand on the side of the screen, opening up a hidden data file on the terminal.
These were the records and data she quickly searched when she began to feel a disturbance in her memory. However, at the time, she could only access the external data due to the file encryption.
After recovering her memory and returning to Babylonia, Lucia asked Lee in confidence to copy the data onto her terminal and decrypt it.
Under heavy surveillance, Lee had hastily decrypted a portion of the file.
Once decrypted, Lucia had obtained a casualty report. However, aside from the list of casualties for that week being several times longer than normal, including Murol and Xun, nothing appeared out the ordinary.
Lucia searches the newly recovered memories in her M.I.N.D.
She cross-checks the names of soldiers and comrades in her memory with the names on the list.
All of the names that she can recall appear on the list, each marked with their chilling cause of death.
However, aside from those familiar names, she sees several names she does not recognize at the same time of death.
Those are...
The names include five commandants, their squads, and dozens of researchers.
Not only Ravenge, but five other commandants and their squads as well? Wait, why are all the researchers marked with... a lab accident for the "Project Winter"... as their cause of death?
Lucia looks at the undisclosed "Project Winter", then meticulously reads through data on each of the researchers.
Most of the researchers were transferred from Kurono, but a select few are listed as confidential.
As Lucia continues to read through the file, she discovers that two of the researchers had died more recently than the others.
This casualty report is still being updated? Why would they be recorded along with those that died a long time ago?
Lucia begins to connect the dots in her heart. She looks back at the "Project Winter".
What even is this project? She cannot figure out anything purely based on the name alone. Perhaps that is the point.
Thinking for some time to no avail, she looks back at the two researchers on the roster. She notices that they worked in the Science Council up until their death.
Their names were... Ann and Rand.
If they were members of the Science Council, maybe Asimov knows a thing or two...?
She wants to ask him about it, but then remembers the message they received, "Speak carefully, act cautiously."
Lucia looks up to see Lee reading the terminal as he assembles a tiny robot.
After decrypting the data, he resisted the urge to speak several times as if he had a sneaking suspicion about the identity of who sent the anonymous tip.
Who sent the message?
Whoever it is, we need to tread lightly.
Lucia stifles her concern once more, then turns to look back at the screen.
11:55 a.m.
What's the situation?
Same as last time. The specialists are gathered around [player name] performing tests.
I went to have a look a few times, but their act and their documents are both pretty foolproof. I couldn't find any way to get [player name] out of there.
Can we do what we did last time and have people from the Star of Life provide treatment?
Their people infiltrated their ranks ages ago. Without fixing the fundamental issue, they'll just take [player name] somewhere else to be "monitored."
We'd better just leave it to Asimov.
Turning his mind to some other important matter, Hassen lets out a nearly imperceptible sigh.
Ever since this mess has started, the "other" project has been put on hold.
It was supposed to be top priority, but all these disasters keep distracting our wunderkind.
If we involve the Science Council in non-technical matters at a time like this, I'm afraid it will only make matters worse.
I hope he can solve these complicated technical issues to the point of being able to pass it off to his subordinates.
How about the others?
...Same old same old.
They can't keep going like this, Mr. President.
Before he can respond, a young staff member walks in and salutes.
How is [player name] holding up?
Seems like everything is normal.
What do you mean, "seems"?
According to the report given by experts, [player name] periodically falls into a state of comatose with increased subconscious activity.
During breakfast, [player name] just stares at the cup. Last night, the commandant was pacing around in the room... Sure didn't look normal at least.
Even normal people would do this sort of thing if they have no way to keep themselves entertained or sleep.
Anything else?
They submitted an application claiming that [player name] violated military orders due to the issues they are currently looking into. If it continues on like this, Constructs linked with the commandant may also begin to exhibit abnormalities, so...
He takes out a small chip and hands it to the exhausted Hassen.
So they need to monitor the commandant for a few more days?
Correct.
Hassen takes the chip and nods. He watches as the staff turns and leaves.
Mr. President...
I was worried this was going to happen...
You mean the effects of Mind Beacon corruption on [player name]?
No, the commandant's symptoms are minor. They didn't worsen during ground operations either, which is a far cry from when commandants were corrupted in the past.
We can now determine that [player name] has built up a resistance to mind corruption. That's precisely why people are more worried.
We haven't found out who leaked the commandant's mission report, but now they know that Huaxu detected the commandant's potential ability to link with Ascendants.
I wasn't expecting Huaxu to find a backdoor the first time I let Gray Raven use the Spear of F.O.S... This is worse than I thought.
Hassen holds the chip in his hand, lost in thought as he looks out into the vast cosmos.
All this monitoring is just false pretense. The commandant's resistance to mind corruption is just their window of opportunity.
How long can those "sharks" wait in the depths when they smell blood in the water?
How many more people must be sacrificed this time?
Silence hangs over the bridge.
Celica opens her mouth in preparation to speak, but she finds herself unable to muster a response. Even after processing the reports for everything that had happened, she only had a rough idea of what was unfolding.
Nikola once told me that squads with a close-knit bond would end up like Suzaku.
He didn't outright say it, but I could tell by the look in his eyes that he was worried this squad would go rogue.
Whether it's because we cherish their talent or to prevent them from going rogue, we cannot hand over [player name].
At least not until we ensure that [player name] is safe from whatever it is they're planning.
In that case...
It's not that I'm unwilling to get involved.
Regardless of personal reasons, they're still loyal to whoever is pulling the strings just as they are to their respective posts.
Eliminating all of them would only make it more difficult moving forward.
We need to come up with a more clever plan to get us out of this stalemate. We need people willing to fight for this cause without drawing their attention.
We need to think of a way to give [player name] some time to rest.
If this continues any longer, anyone would succumb to exhaustion and drop their guard—regardless of Mind Beacon corruption. This is a common tactic in interrogations.
As soon as [player name] falls into their trap, the situation will no longer be under our control.
Looks like we'll need someone else for the upcoming mission.
Indeed. These past few days have been quite the ordeal. Let [player name] return to the squad and rest up for a while.
Who are you going to give the recon mission to?
Let the nearby Task Force scout the surrounding area. As for the core region... leave that to Strike Hawk.
The scout team is ideal for conducting reconnaissance. Wanshi proved himself on the mission to deploy bit domain nodes, plus he's more familiar with that area.
And... After seeing [player name] take full responsibility for "acting alone," he's been keeping a close eye on the commandant.
Compassion is weakness. I understand this and so do they.
Leaving Wanshi here only gives them another target. There's no point in getting Strike Hawk involved just yet.
[player name] obtained valuable intel from the bit domain node, and Wanshi's actions complied with regulations. They shouldn't have shouldered the blame.
Some people believe that Wanshi was following the commandant's orders. After all, they were together.
Even if they can make amends, the law must still not be broken. If one person gets away from breaking the law, anyone blindly trusting their own ability will surely follow suit.
At least that's the official statement, correct?
...Originally, there was a way for [player name] to avoid punishment.
But now, some people want to impose additional charges to force [player name] under their control.
I've done a lot behind the scenes but ensuring that [player name] only has to endure "confined treatment" has put me at my limits.
Hassan turns around and walks out along a path that has been worn into a luster over time by the crew.
We have a meeting coming up. Where are you going, sir?
Postpone it for half an hour. There are some things I need to confirm.
11:25 a.m.
Half an hour before receiving the new mission, Chrome steps into the spacious confines of the closed laboratory five minutes early.
He pushes open the door to the dark room and greets Asimov, who is sitting among an array of holo-screens.
Right on time.
Head down, Asimov gives Chrome a simple acknowledgement. The capsule beside him contains a new frame currently in stasis.
What are we testing this time?
I debugged your new frame according to the data obtained from the last combat simulation. I've re-established the virtual link for you to give it another try.
Understood.
As if already familiar with the procedure, Chrome plugs the cable into the back of his neck.
Let's begin.
