Story Reader / Main Story / 25 Everglowing Justice / Story
Opening the dated report, you find entries of people from Conservation Area 109 who went missing in the past few quarters due to "Hetero-Creature attacks."
The data... is indeed highly unusual.
The people lost in Hetero-Creature attacks should have been healthy adults laboring outside, but most of them mentioned in the report fall into the age brackets of 10 to 15 and 50 to 60.
I've compiled the data from Conservation Area 108's reports. The results are similar to the one you're holding.
Either the staff from both of these conservation areas have collectively lost their minds and forged the data, or—
Lee's expression turns solemn.
We have to open the investigation again...
The terminal rings right as he says that. The mail from the Science Council has timely arrived.
You deftly extract the information from the mail, rearranging the words as they leap from page to page to form the hidden message.
[Code 019]
[Internal assessment of Fort Winter experiment records in progress.]
[City 023, Conservation Area 112, Outpost D56.]
These...
...
These brief words contain countless tears and blood.
Lee turns quiet. He knows as well as you do what it means that the names of those small outposts appear in a report on Fort Winter.
Understood. I'll go prepare our ride.
Lee turns to leave the room without a moment of hesitation.
The words continue to flicker on the terminal under the dim lights.
Clearly, Asimov wants you to investigate Conservation Area 112 and find something to connect the dots by sending you the message. Still, can there be any clues left after such a long time?
You hear the door knob turning.
...
Instead of Lee, the Construct with the purple hair you saw earlier today walks in.
You covertly press the alarm button on your terminal to notify Lee of the unexpected situation here.
...Hello, Gray Raven Commandant. You may call me Echo. I'm a Construct from Utopia.
The purple-haired girl looks a little tense. Gently closing the door, she makes sure that no one can spot her inside the room before saluting you with a complicated greeting salute like she did during the day.
...I'm here to propose an alliance. It can't hurt to be meticulous with my manners.
I... want you to lend me your strength to take down Utopia, Aurora Squadron's secret laboratory base!
She looks up at you, her eyes ablaze with resolution, yet somehow, you still sense a hint of uncertainty in her expression.
Aurora Squadron? It sounds like a military unit, but you do not recall such a team in Babylonia...
...
Echo hesitates upon hearing your question.
This isn't disinformation. I'm just... thinking about how I can reasonably explain everything.
She pauses for a second before slowly speaking again.
Utopia is one of Aurora Squadron's bases. It is a... large laboratory base.
They routinely report to a place in Babylonia called "Kurono".
You must have heard of "Kurono", given that you're also from Babylonia, Gray Raven Commandant.
If you lend me your help, I will let you keep all the contents and data from Utopia after we destroy it.
Kurono? Could the Aurora Squadron... be Kurono's private force?
You did hear about private military units being deployed by some Kurono leadership when you were on Babylonia.
She could have easily bargained with Babylonia directly with information like this.
Hearing that, Echo frowns, her fingers jittering uncomfortably by her side.
I'm looking for your help because I've heard your name mentioned by a lot of people. They all... spoke highly of you.
They said... you have "a heart of integrity."
I'm out of options. I have to bet that you'd believe me.
As for Babylonia... I can't seek Babylonia's help because I'm being pursued by them at the moment.
Pursued by Babylonia? Could it be...
You must have also received the notification on the Kurono test subject that the Purifying Force is after, Commandant.
The Kurono test subject is armed with special weapons and is highly dangerous. Do not engage if you encounter her. Report to the Purifying Force immediately...
Please be careful if you run into her, Commandant.
Liv has warned you about this before your mission.
Lena, an Iris Warbler member, was captured by a mysterious armor-like test subject in Constellia before disappearing. The incident caused quite a stir within the Task Force.
...
She puts her hands up, indicating that she has no intention to attack.
I'm not Lena... even though I was indeed one of Utopia's test subjects. But I'm not your enemy.
I can't easily explain the relationship between Lena and me, but everything will be clear once we find Utopia.
I'm just here to ask for your help. I'm running out of time... I have to find Utopia, and I must find her.
Babylonia's people are close. I've found more trails of the Aurora Squadron after I left the conservation area this morning.
I can't let them find me. I have to do this before they catch me...
That is why I'm hoping to offer the experiment data from Utopia in exchange for your help...
She bites her lips and stops speaking.
Kurono, the armor-like test subject, and the large laboratory base...
...Whether it's the military or Kurono, they always withhold some information when sharing data with the Science Council.
The only way to completely crush their hope is to prove it is wrong from the roots.
If this Construct is telling the truth, this may be a desperate but crucial move in Asimov's and your plan. Still, it is unwise to act so hastily.
The incident in Constellia was mystifying, and intel regarding "the escaped test subject Lena" has been clearly obfuscated. Still, those are not good enough reasons to start working with this unknown Construct. So...
I have information regarding the "missing persons," and I know they're related to Utopia!
Almost everyone in this conservation area knows that the Gray Raven Commandant is coming here to investigate the missing persons.
I can offer you leads. I'm certain that Utopia has something to do with the missing persons.
There were often Constructs or humans joining us when I was living in Utopia. Some of them came willingly as they sought a live there...
While some... were taken there.
I can take you to where one of the branches of Utopia is based to find those missing residents.
But... I can't possibly tell you everything at once. This information is my only leverage.
The girl before you seems to be taking extra care with her words.
Work with me, and I'll slowly tell you everything... everything about Utopia and the Aurora Squadron.
Otherwise...
She looks up resolutely.
You should know that I'm the only person who knows Utopia intimately enough to lead you to their secret base.
The Construct looks at you, unfaltering.
Is she... trustworthy? If she is one of Kurono's, what is her objective? Laying a trap to capture you?
Still, being an "escaped Kurono test subject" is a precarious position to be in this situation.
Back in Constellia, the mission assigned to you was to retrieve the test subject, and the Purifying Force was clearly tasked by some to destroy the "test subject" before you and Vanessa made your move.
[player name]...
The young commandant looks concerned as she organizes the reports on Constellia.
I can't help but feel weird about the final report of this mission.
...Yes.
Something about it still feels wrong.
Lena only encountered the "Kurono test subject" because she was protecting us. However...
Why could she connect directly with a Kurono test subject when she was a Caribou member? Why did the military show no doubt whatsoever in her identity and issue the arrest warrant immediately?
Is it possible that...
I don't want to cast any doubt on it, but...
Hmm...
Sica seems to have been trapped in this uncertainty ever since she came back from Constellia.
The timing of Kurono's appearance, the Purifying Force's entry, Lena, the Kurono test subject, a report locked behind clearance...
She presses her brows worriedly.
...
Sica ponders on your words.
You're right... I shouldn't agonize over it so much. Lena is part of my team at the end of the day. I need to find out her whereabouts.
But my hands are tied right now, and I can't investigate any further... Can I ask you for a favor, [player name]?
Looking up, Sica becomes her usual self once more.
If you find out anything about Lena when you're on the surface, please don't report it to the Purifying Force immediately.
...Contact General Wells or President Hassen directly. We can't let Lena fall into Kurono's hands.
It's just my speculation... but for Kurono, Lena may be the most important key in this situation.
...
That's good enough for me. I'll prove myself to you.
Receiving your confirmation, Echo looks visibly more relaxed, even though she is still trying her best to look steady and collected.
Receiving your confirmation, Echo looks visibly more relaxed, even though she is still trying her best to look steady and collected.
You give her a temporary terminal as a way to contact each other. Having confirmed when to meet you in the future and how to contact you, she quickly steps out the door and leaves.
...Commandant?
Lee leaps into the room through the window on the side dexterously.
He has been guarding outside the door since he received your alarm earlier, but you signaled him to wait instead of charging in.
Should we trust her? The timing of her appearance is quite convenient.
You just arrived for the investigation of the missing persons, and Asimov's message came merely a moment before Echo showed up, claiming herself to be one of Kurono's test subjects...
If the Purifying Force finds her and sends her back to Kurono, Babylonia will lose an important bargaining chip.
That didn't seem like a trap from Kurono... She felt too inexperienced to be a Kurono-trained soldier. Her perception was so bad that she couldn't even detect my presence.
And why would she call herself Echo if she was Lena?
There are too many questions surrounding her. I don't think we should work with her, Commandant.
If the missing persons from the conservation areas are related to some plan from Kurono, though risky, this move may prove extremely valuable later on.
Even if this "Echo" was lying, she must still know something about the people who went missing in these conservation areas.
How else could she come up with a companion and happen to travel through all the areas related to the missing incidents?
...I still think it's too risky.
Lucia isn't back yet, and Liv is still helping with the reconstruction of Constellia...
And this Construct has never shown up on Babylonia's radar apart from that time in Constellia. To work with such an enigmatic figure...
That's not a reason for you to take the risk on your own, Commandant.
If this gamble pays off, you will have taken out one of Kurono's laboratories.
If not, you will still be able to bring the Kurono test subject back to Babylonia.
...I'll request extra support. In the meantime, be extra careful.
Believing that she has returned to where she secured the armor unnoticed, Echo sits beside the armor while fiddling with the temporary terminal from the Gray Raven Commandant with her eyes lowered in deep thoughts.
She can feel that the commandant did not fully trust her.
That is fair. If such a legendary commandant from Babylonia trusted a random Construct straight away, Echo would have felt even more uneasy.
...It is fine. She does not need trust.
She only ever has one goal.
She will destroy Utopia.
