Story Reader / Main Story / 23 Wintry Shackles / Story
The storm carries the sand into the air. The red obelisk connects the earth and the sky, forming a suffocating cage and obscuring any sense of direction.
Coarse stones smash on her artificial skin, making loud clanging noises. Compared to the cuts, however, the shakes beneath her feet are more concerning.
Everywhere she looks is chaos. Hearing nothing but the howl of the wind, she finds everything surrounding her crumbling down amid the quake.
Where is she? What is happening? Is this... real?
She tries her best to remember. Grabbing ahold of a fleeting memory, she pieces the fragments back together.
I remember... We were searching for something.
Alpha trudges through the storm within her mind as images flash by like a revolving lantern. Going against the current, she starts searching for where it all started.
Is that really you, Lucia?
This memory again...? Standing on an ice field, Alpha stares at her dead friend.
Lucia, do you want to return to Babylonia with us?
Although she knows they are not real, she cannot help but reach out for them.
Bzzzz—
An electromagnetic barrier suddenly rises and blocks her view. This is the memory she hates the most.
Shattering the barrier, she no longer finds her old friends there as they are replaced by...
Gray Raven...
Let's go back, Lucia.
Commandant is still waiting for us.
I am back!
Lucia...
She looks at the tags in her hand, and the wings and shield in the symbol are still plain to see despite how worn the tags are.
The three figures head further away, and Alpha turns around, ready to go.
Clutching the tags in her hand, she notices something strange. She unfolds her fist and finds the tags embedded into her palm like an imprint.
!
Lucia?
Alpha has no idea when the ice field disappeared. A warm ocean breeze blows past her, gently rocking the tags on her neck.
I'm okay... Just unpleasant memories.
Did you find what you were looking for?
Luna shakes her head, standing before the aquarium.
What I'm finding is not here.
After their brief reunion in their old home, Luna began searching for something as if having received some kind of guidance.
They have since traveled through city ruins, savage jungles, and freezing snowfields... yet their search has not been fruitful.
I know I asked you before... but are you still unsure about what it looks like?
I've no idea... but I'll know it's what I'm looking for when I see it.
That will be something that can affect the Ascension-Network greatly.
Hearing Luna mention the Ascension-Network, Alpha begins to wonder if the increasingly frequent channel noises are connected to what Luna is seeking.
Let's move on if it's not here.
You seem agitated... Is it the channel noise?
...It's fine. I'm used to ignoring it.
The channel noise has been getting louder since then...
We'd been looking... until that tower suddenly appeared.
Alpha pierces the red cube with her katana, and reddish-black liquid leaks from the pillar.
Red... That tower was red.
As the liquid drips down, her forgotten memories return like a flood.
The collapsed buildings become intersecting slopes of rubbles and rebars, blocking the path ahead.
The shelters that were once invincible crumble before the natural disaster, fracturing into broken glass and fragments that hinder the survivors.
A dark red spot suddenly appears on the walls of the wreckage. Expanding, it becomes a beam of light, melting the stone and steel before clearing a path.
The air feels singed. The girl in white puts down her hand, red bolts of lightning still crackling between her fingers.
The obstacles have been removed. Let's continue, Lucia.
Alpha looks at the red spire they are heading toward. Although she clearly senses the highly concentrated Punishing Virus within in, all she can feel is dread... and a fleeting sense of loathing.
Is the tower the reason for the frequent earthquakes in the last few days?
The quakes were just the aftershocks of its emergence.
Alpha crouches and closes her eyes, carefully discerning the situation underground.
There is strange Punishing Virus activity underground as well, but it's not just the Red Tide, and they're all heading toward the tower.
What does that tower do?
Its appearance signifies that either the Punishing Virus or the humans are ready to be tested.
The side that passes will get the chance to change the rules of the game.
Sounds like a fairytale cliche.
Luna smiles and nods in agreement.
That was probably what the person who made the tower thought.
But her smile quickly disappears, replaced by a solemn expression and a faint anticipation in her eyes.
But that tower genuinely has the power to turn fantasies into reality. If we can make use of it, our wish could...
Suddenly, Luna's gaze snaps back toward the red tower, and she looks shocked.
Someone has begun their ascent. Humans have a head start.
Let's keep going. Isn't that what you've been looking for?
If you want to reach the top, I will drag that person down no matter how far ahead they are.
Luna closes her eyes. For a brief second, Alpha finds Luna incredibly far away.
Instinctively, she takes a step toward Luna.
Were you using the Ascension-Network, Luna?
...
We might not need to enter the tower, Lucia, but there's still something I want to witness myself.
The tower can't make our wish come true, but it's still an important part of the process.
Our wish...
An unshakable idea lingers in Alpha's head.
What is our wish?
What happened afterward?
It seems that the humans have won this trial.
The endless tower breaches the clouds, its peaking merging with the blue sky.
Red particles converge into countless streams, being absorbed by the whirlpool at the top. The light from the tower flickers as if it is breathing, decimating the red particles in an instant.
Human technology couldn't have achieved this. Is the conversion done by the tower?
Luna nods, quietly watching the streams being sucked into the sky and getting visibly thinner every second.
The bright redness that was conspicuous is now barely perceptible.
We should go for now. There will soon be no Punishing Virus in this area.
Although Ascendants won't die like the Hetero-Creatures, our ability will still be affected in the vicinity of that tower.
Will that tower convert the entire existence of Punishing Virus on this planet eventually?
And how will Ascendants like them fare...?
It is a path of trial and a symbol of evolution, but it isn't an all-powerful antidote.
Neither humankind, Punishing Virus, nor the Ascension-Network has reached a decisive end point.
But a new beginning has begun. The Ascension-Network will also...
Her vision begins to blur. Luna is speaking, but Alpha does not hear any sound except for the raging wind by her ears.
What will the Ascension-Network do?
The storm in the space gets progressively fiercer. Cubic red pillars spring up like mushrooms, supporting the wavering M.I.N.D. space and fighting over the limited crevices.
With each step, Alpha feels the toll it extracts from her. She moves her gaze downward, only to find the mire engulfing her waist. The more she fights, the more it pulls her deeper into its grasp.
Alpha is now neck-deep in the dark red pond. Lost in the turmoil within her mind, she does not realize she is being pulled into another maelstrom.
I remember...
The harder she tries to remember, the faster she gets sucked in.
It has something to do with the filtering...
There are only ripples on the surface of the pond. Alpha is lost in the depths of her M.I.N.D., nowhere to be found.
