Story Reader / Festival Event Story / To the One and Only You / Story
You sign the final mission report and add it to the mountainous pile on your desk. Leaning back in your chair, you release a sigh that feels like it's been held for a year.
Your gaze drifts to the sterile glow of the ceiling lights. Had your birthday really slipped by, so utterly uneventful...?
"BOOM!" Just as you're sinking into the gloom, the world around you suddenly transforms.
A colossal fireball smashes into the ground, the wave of scorching heat blistering your skin.
Chosen One, get up! We have to move! It's not safe here!
From the newly formed ruins, a petite figure scrambles into view.
What does it look like? It's the end of the world! The real, "everything-is-on-fire" kind!
But you should be in the Gray Raven's lounge right now.
Now come on, let's go! Let's go!
She seizes your hand, her grip frantic, and tries to pull you into a run.
As she turns, your eyes dart to the one thing betraying her: her usually restless tail, now drilled obediently into the cracked soil... It seems connected to some hidden interface.
Ahh!!!
What are you doing?!
You should hold my hand, not my tail!
...You're no fun at all.
The apocalyptic scene vanishes, and the world snaps back into focus, revealing the mundane safety of the Gray Raven's lounge. As you suspected, the illusion was just Jetavie manipulating the smart lighting system.
It's Babylonia... Right! It's... it's going to fall!
That's the whole point! We have to escape before it starts falling! Once it does, it'll be a total catastrophe!
Did you not see the giant ball crashing into the ground? That's what it looks like when Babylonia gets up close and personal with Earth.
I simulated it... calculated it just for you!
Well, that's because...
That's because my database is missing the high-detail art assets, okay?! I can't render a whole floating ship like Babylonia! So just use your imagination!
Seeing you remain unmoved, she releases a soft, resigned sigh.
Then, she vaults onto your desk with a light "hah," legs swinging in a restless tempo.
Hey... Chosen One...
Propping her chin on her hand, she stares past you, her words soft and aimed at some distant, unseen point.
...Aren't you ever scared, staying here all the time?
Day in, day out, living in this floating cage... It's all the same. So monotonous it's suffocating. And it just... goes on forever.
She shifts her gaze from the distance and turns to look at you.
Don't you think a life like this... is its own kind of "end"?
I just wanted to see you react for once. To feel something. Before you completely fossilize in this place.
So... what if we played hooky? Just for today. Let's run away, you and me. Somewhere really far away...
...
At the "edge of the world."
And so, Jetavie "sneaks" you out of Babylonia. To flee the end of the world, the two of you embark on a journey to the very edge of the world.
With a final, metallic screech from its landing gear, the transport craft shudders to a halt in the heart of a frozen polar wasteland.
Before the biting cold can even register, Jetavie bundles you into a thick winter coat. With a decisive whoosh, she zips it up to your chin, swaddling you in an instant cocoon of warmth.
Hahaha! All bundled up like a big snowman. So much cuter than when you're buried in reports.
Oh, hush. When you're off being a hero, I never get a chance to see you like this. Let me have this.
Of course it makes me happy! Anything is better than watching you frown at a mountain of paperwork.
There, all set. Come on, my big snowman. We're almost there.
With a beaming smile, she takes your hand and draws you deeper into the snow-blanketed expanse.
Step by step, your boots carve a trail of uneven footprints in the pristine white.
Jetavie releases your hand, her curiosity pulling her away. She darts here and there, vanishing one moment, only to reappear abruptly the next, as if the landscape itself is her playground in this spontaneous game of hide-and-seek.
Then, through the parting mist, you see her again. She stands beside a signpost, calm and still, as though she had been waiting there for centuries.
Hmm... looks like the snow is letting up.
You follow her gaze upward, and notice the swirling snow begins to still.
A glimmer of silver light bleeds through a fissure in the distant snow wall, wavering like liquid mercury.
The shimmer grows, intensifying into rivers of radiance that pulse with otherworldly color. They twist and swell, gathering brilliance until they come cascading gracefully from the edge of the heavens.
The aurora appears.
The celestial light pours into her eyes, igniting them into mesmerizing gemstones.
Snowfields, aurora, and a girl... In this boundless solitude, there are only Jetavie and you.
So? Not a bad final stop for our great escape, is it?
Speechless? I knew you'd love it.
Do I need a reason? I wanted to bring you here, so I did. It's that simple.
She turns her gaze away, distractedly scuffing the snow with the toe of her boot.
After all... it's your birthday. And aren't birthdays always a little bit like the end of the world?
That's why we have to run away from them, with everything we've got.
It is for me. My birthdays have always been... unlucky.
For Jetavie, both her birth and her birthday were marked by unimaginable hardship within the Matrix, each one a private "end of the world"...
But every time, you were there. You always took my hand and led me somewhere far away...
So I thought... for your birthday, I should be the one to take you away. Just like you did for me.
You know, I was actually terrified today. I kept thinking, what if Babylonia really did fall? What if some monster attacked, or an engine failed...?
Just like in the Matrix, where something always goes wrong on a birthday.
So I checked everything like an idiot. I even turned that nagging
I was so relieved when I found nothing wrong. And then I found you in the lounge, drowning in documents.
And I thought... maybe the end of the world isn't always loud. That must be it.
Yes. Even if it's just for one day... my Chosen One should only see wonderful, happy things.
She moves toward you across the snow, which glimmers with starlight, her approach as graceful as a fairy's.
A place with no battles, no missions. Just you and me. Daydreaming, laughing... having snowball fights.
Even after 364 dim nights, we'd find our own aurora here, at the edge of the world. And then...
With each deliberate step, she draws nearer, until she gently takes your hand.
Let this radiance shine upon all the stars, shine upon me, and shine upon you.
She presses herself eagerly against your chest, her cheek nestling into the plush warmth of your winter coat.
Well then, happy birthday, [player name].
