Story Reader / Floating Record / ER02 Cinder Burns / Story
When the sprouts begin to cover the wilderness as spring arrives, Bella finally finds the news she has been searching for before they are about to reach City 074.
I've seen that person before.
Really?!
It must be four years ago. It was raining, and she was holding an injured child, trying to convince the staff in the conservation area to take her kid. It's hard to forget something like that.
A child...?
Yeah, a three-year-old boy she said she saved on her way. Unfortunately, the kid had a fever and passed away that night.
Do you know what her name is and where she is now?
Her name... I can try the old records. I seem to recall her putting her name down as the kid's sole guardian.
Ah, here we go. Elena Bella. It was the September four years ago. She was a member of Bumblebee.
Elena Bella? That name... It has to be her.
A Bumblebee from four years ago... Where's she now?
Who knows? Bumblebees are rare nowadays. The effect of that incident is quite long-lasting, isn't it?
It's fine, to be honest. There are still a lot of folks on the train, and Jamilah made sure to give everyone rations ever since she took over. People are still pretty hungry, but no one's dead.
A Cargo Crew member sitting on the side suddenly interrupts them.
How many died back then?
Thousands, maybe? Tens of thousands, according to some. No one gives the same answer since most who witnessed the incident didn't live to tell the tale.
It wasn't easy to rebuild the Cargo Crew. Boss loves to say we should focus on the future.
Boss...?
...Who's in charge of the Cargo Crew now?
Niino.
...Niino? He's still alive? But—
—Wasn't Ashlar hunting down the core members of the Cargo Crew after the incident? How did Niino get to be in charge?
Bella asks what Noan cannot ask.
Because Jamilah is calling the shots now, and Niino didn't really have anything to do with the mole. He was protecting the people in the back carriages at the end, so Ashlar hasn't managed to get anything on him.
Jamilah is calling the shots now? What happened?
Sigh. Babylonia's bases on the surface slowly became reluctant to work with Ashlar since the incident, and many aristocrats who were supporting him started to distance themselves over the last few years.
Why?
Rumor is that he has sent assassins to remove the aristocrats that refused to follow his orders, and he even blamed their deaths on the Cargo Crew.
For real? I heard the Cargo Crew was responsible.
Sigh. Either way, his barbaric deeds were gradually exposed, and anyone with half a brain knew to stay away from him. The only ones still under his control are the ones he has leverage on.
The bastard doesn't care who he hurts anymore. He went after the Maintenance Crew not too long ago! The ******* Maintenance Crew! Only a girl named Sophia survived and became a Construct.
That bastard is going to get thrown off a speeding Asslam one day.
...
...Anyway. Things are better than they were.
Perhaps if the old Cargo Crew waited, they could live to see Ashlar's downfall, and no one needed to die.
It wasn't worth getting so many killed.
Are you done with your bull****? Do you think Ashlar could've fallen this far without their sacrifices?
What are you talking about? Didn't they fail?
Sure, but does that make what they did meaningless?
What could be the point of their failures?
Ashlar had the people and the guns back then. He even had those orb-shaped military mechanoids that could defeat a Construct! Who would dare to challenge him?
If it weren't for the Cargo Crew and Bumblebee dismantling Ashlar's shining armor with their lives, he wouldn't have fallen as far as he has now.
Would you have done anything if someone had a gun to your head, even if you knew they were some villainous bastard?
...
I never wanted to discuss this sort of thing with you guys, but you were seriously pissing me off. Where do you think your freedom comes from if not on top of their dead bodies?
I was just a kid from the lower level when everything went down back then. I didn't join the Cargo Crew or the fight, but I did see the corpses and blood that paved the carriages.
I still dream about that day, even now! There's no forgetting it!
You lot love to complain about Ashlar and his antiroyalists nowadays, but guess what? They were so much worse back then! Their guards would murder people in broad daylight!
Do you know why Babylonia refused to work with Ashlar? Do you know how his dirty deeds got exposed?
It was the evidence a core member presented that tore down his empire bit by bit! That terminal might have been broken back then, delaying the trial for a few years...
But the bill comes due. It didn't get better over time naturally—people had to pave that road with their corpses!
You should have called them ******* heroes! Not wondering if their sacrifices were worth it!
...
How many of the old Cargo Crew remain? Those people are either dead, hiding from Ashlar, or blamed for crimes they didn't commit!
And do you think surviving that ordeal is any better?
Sigh. I remember seeing Captain Niino the last time I looked for him. He was sitting in the dark behind his desk with a half-knitted sweater in his hands—god knows what he was thinking.
...
As long as Ashlar remains on the train and the Punishing Virus threatens our home, the duty that the old Cargo Crew and Bumblebee pass to us is not complete.
We're a long way away from victory! No sacrifices are in vain!
I'm sorry, Capt. I wasn't thinking.
Alright, did you get it out of your system? These kids have no idea about what happened in the past. It's good enough that they're listening to you.
By the way, I heard that Ashlar was recruiting people with his Blessing Boxes again a few days ago. He was searching for something called Ascendants? Something about being immune?
How do you know about that?
You guys were talking pretty loudly.
Ascendants?
Ashlar has been preaching about them. We have no idea where he learned it from.
Hmph, he wouldn't shut up about the Ascendants when the Heterozygote fell on the train a couple of days ago. Who knows what his agenda is?
Heterozygote?
Yeah, it was a giant monster that fell from the sky. Super dangerous.
What happened to it?
It was destroyed. Babylonia sent some folks down to smash it.
Ashlar certainly made a clown of himself that day.
How so?
He was scheming, hoping to make a fuss about the Heterozygote and the rumored Ascendants.
Then Sophia, the Construct little girl, stepped up and said she'd make a world that wouldn't need the train or Babylonia anymore, even when she had no idea how to do it yet.
What happened next?
People were genuinely moved by her words! Anything she said made more sense than Ashlar's crap!
Hearing that, all the staff from the conservation area laugh.
Stop speaking of things you don't know. Who can say how much those people have planned ahead of time?
Ha! I was just enjoying the fact that Ashlar finally fell flat on his face.
...
Have you heard of the tale "Calling a Deer a Horse"?
...
After acquiring the precise details, the two of them make their way to City 074 overnight, arriving before the train reaches the station in the city.
I can't believe she's on the train, but then... that makes sense, doesn't it?
Where else would someone without a home go? Not to mention that she had to hide from that old bastard Bethe. Asslam would be her only choice.
Bella holds the creased portrait in her hand, staring at the empty station in silence.
You and Rachel asked me to join the Cargo Crew back then. Would I have found her sooner if I agreed?
There's no way to go back in time, so stop wasting time regretting. Let's figure out how to find her as quickly as we can when we board the train later.
Tch.
Anxiously, Bella clenches her fists. They stand there silently, waiting until the signal for the train's approach starts blinking.
I hope you find what you're looking for.
Do you want me to ask around for you?
The train isn't going to stay for long, so prioritize your search first. Unless you're planning to leave with it.
Noan waves and starts heading out.
Where are you going?
I'm taking a walk. If you come back, we'll meet at Base South-3 in City 074.
...
Leaving the station, Noan hurriedly traverses the ruined landscape, entering the forest coated in mist and the morning light.
He can feel a hint of warmth in the wind. Noan looks up to find his surrounding brimming with greenery.
He has returned to City 074, seven years after Field disappeared.
Noan was looking for Field before the Cargo Crew's rebellion started, but his missions kept getting in the way. Even when he had the chance to come to City 074, he could not find anything.
Noan is more or less aware of a certain possibility, having read Rachel's terminal during his time in the cell. Still, he follows the route Rachel marked and retreads the Cargo Crew's trail from several years ago.
This is not the first time Noan walks this road.
He was in City 074 during his first year on the Cargo Crew.
He wanted to sneak away in the dark to look for Field that night, but Rachel found out.
I know what you're trying to do, but we still have a mission tomorrow morning. I won't let you delay our schedule.
You can head out first without me.
And let the Corrupted here tear you apart? Do you really think you're capable of operating on your own already?
Maybe I can't, but I won't compromise on this.
Staying together doesn't make it any safer. Just look at Bancroft.
He wouldn't have kept losing his cargo and disappeared if people weren't ignoring him.
...I'm sorry?
Was I wrong?
Have you always felt that way?
Yes... ever since Field disappeared.
...
A lot of people helped you look for him that night.
A lot? That wasn't true. Most people chose to ignore it.
I'm grateful for everyone who chose to help that day, but I will never forgive—
—Slap!
The slap in the face was followed by a punch, sending Noan backward onto a tree.
I can let you look for him.
I can even let you leave the Cargo Crew so you can stay away from us... the people you won't forgive and trust.
But don't you forget the real reason Field and Bancroft disappeared.
Don't you forget why Julie died!
Do you want to go on such a futile hunt while ignoring the root of the problem?
If he's alive, he'll have a life of his own by now, and he won't need your sympathy. If he's dead, what's the point of finding him?
I just want to know his whereabouts.
Now's not the time!
What are you going to do when you find him? Apologize to him and then sneak back?
...
Noan.
Stop arguing with Rachel. Come with me.
Before he knows it, Noan is already deep in the forest.
Captain Shauna...
If he had not listened to Shauna back then, he would have certainly kept going with resentment and a wall around him.
You don't have to forgive them if you don't want to.
Sorry?
People are complicated. You can't expect everyone to be equally virtuous, can you?
Disagreement between us is nothing new. We all have a line we don't cross, and we've all done things that cross others'.
But I want you to understand that most people on the lower level stick together for one goal.
If you give up on that goal and other people because you can't forgive them, you'll just become that lonesome, orphaned child once more...
What's the difference between that and abandoning what Field left you?
...
Do you remember Hill?
Noan nodded.
Would you hate her just because she didn't help you when you got into a fight?
Noan shook his head.
We're just people. We're all flawed in our own ways. Growing up means you have to learn to accept that people aren't perfect.
Unity in diversity... is that so?
Smart kid.
Captain Shauna.
Do you trust Captain Rachel?
...
You little punk. Giving me a taste of my own medicine?
I've... heard some stories. I don't know if they're true or not.
I trust that part of her that can be trusted. Do you understand what I mean?
To trust... Captain Rachel's... dedication to her dream? The dream we all share?
Attaboy. Her dedication to overthrowing the upper level is genuine. I can count on that, despite her imperfections.
...I see.
Shauna was always the opposite of Rachel in Noan's eyes.
Rachel always focused on the parts of a person that she could question, while Shauna always found the parts she could trust.
Noan learned a lot in the years he grew up around them.
Eventually, his favorite shape of himself took form.
You have both left me such gifts...
And such regrets.
However you put it, isn't the expiration date of this regret of yours a bit too far away?
Don't you want to move on sooner?
Not the worst thing to have something to remember. Sometimes you need people or things you care about to anchor you, or you'll break.
Sounds like you're speaking from personal experience.
Ha. What do you expect?
For real?
I won't understand why you'd want your past to haunt you. Isn't it easier to let it go?
How can you determine the road ahead without the experience of your past?
Just keep the experience, then.
Stop talking nonsense. How do you get experience without experiencing things? How much can you learn by listening to people's stories without getting your hands dirty? Even a vaccine requires a needle through your skin!
Look at how history repeats itself.
Once the painful memories left the people's lives, they'd make the same mistake again.
So... don't forget your scars.
That was what you meant when you said rotten grass brings about fireflies, wasn't it?
Yeah. Dead weeds bear new lives, and while the sky might be dark right now, the burning field will light it up all the same.
Life and death are a tangled spiral.
You can only follow the light from the fireflies after you accept the sorrow death brings.
All these things that all of you left behind... Your regrets, your hatred, your innovations, your dreams...
I want to bring them all with me.
These memories... have shown me a way forward.
The mid-day sun slowly retreats behind dark clouds, bringing forth the smell of rain.
Noan stares at the other end of the field. Countless weeds and wildflowers have grown from here to there, wavering in the wind.
Are you... here?
Noan enters the field, searching for any trace of the past... and the time frozen in his memories begins to flow again.
Right now, it is—
01:01 AM / 01:37 PM
01:02 AM
A truck drove through this place in the dark seven years ago, long before it was covered with wild grass.
This isn't the way to the base, is it?
That road was blocked by some collapsed ruins. We have to go around it.
Alright. I'll move up first, then.
At the same time, Field was hiding inside a crate, holding onto his crane nervously.
...
01:56 PM
Noan is not surprised to find shattered bones underneath the surface. Death is not a rare sight on this ravaged land.
The dead are buried in the soil, turning into nutrients for the vegetation. The vegetation, in turn, feeds the birds, the beasts, or maybe the starving passerby.
Summer...
Noan calls helplessly, searching between the withered trees and the crumbled rocks.
01:21 AM
Wandering Corrupted rushed toward the end of the convoy, knocking over one of the trucks.
We have to stop! Protect the attacked truck!
We can't! There are too many Corrupted. We have to get out first!
I can't lose more cargo!
Bancroft hit the brake, stopping the truck on the damp earth before leading his team of Cargo Crew toward the enemies destroying their cargo in a hurry.
What do we do?
...Let's go help them.
Tch...
02:31 PM
Noan stops in front of a disturbed field.
The signs of battle remain despite all these years. He can see broken blades, empty shells, and the remains of Countless Corrupted.
He knows that he will need to say goodbye if he keeps going.
—Is that really a good idea?
He asks himself.
He has been fooling himself on his journey. He could only keep going if he believed his friend was still alive.
If Field really is dead, where should Noan go next, having lost everything?
01:44 AM
The battle lasted 20 minutes, but it felt like a lifetime.
Rachel was right. Stopping here only caused more trucks to be attacked.
Gunshots and howls filled the air as another truck was knocked over by a bionic mechanoid.
The little cry inside the cargo, in comparison, was almost inaudible.
To draw the Corrupted away, Rachel ordered the convoy to retreat.
—After the battle was over, several squads were about to turn around and retrieve their cargo.
That was when Rachel noticed the barely-breathing figure buried underneath the heavy crates, lit by the pale moonlight.
It was ten minutes before Bancroft arrived. To hide her mistake, Rachel made a cruel choice.
03:16 AM / 03:16 PM
Day and night slowly align across time.
When Field woke up in the abandoned orchard, all he could find were darkness and roaming Corrupted.
He wanted to cry for help, but his echo was all he could hear. He wanted to run, but he found his body slowly failing.
When he failed to feel the temperature of his blood with his hands, Field lay next to a small sapling, smiling gently at the cloud-covered sky.
Goodbye, Noan...
After that brief farewell, time forever stopped for him.
Noan follows the old tracks and goes over a small hill, finding a desecrated orchard before him.
Most trees here have wilted, while the rest have been chopped down.
Only one tree remains on the border, its snowy flowers blossoming.
Noan takes off his goggles as one of the flowers floats toward him in the air.
Seven years is enough for a person to be completely gone.
Only a few pieces of fabric linger on its branches, rattling in the wind inside the quiet orchard. The patterns on them look similar to Field's scarf.
...
How he wishes that the scarf was the only thing left behind in this place and Field was still laughing somewhere else.
But this is the end of his dream. He can no longer fool himself.
...Pear blossoms...
The dead has rotted and is reborn into a new life. Regretful it may be, life eventually finds a way back to the world.
Is this tree alive... because of you?
Asslam has been freed from its oppressors...
Will that make you smile?
He asks the silent earth. The earth does not answer.
Have I... found you?
A light breeze blows past the waving branches, sending a few petals into Noan's palm.
Noan knows it is just his wishful thinking, but he still carefully holds the petals in his palm, accepting the pear blossoms as an answer.
It's been too long... Summer.
I finally... have the courage to face the truth. I'm finally brave enough to say goodbye.
The corners of his mouth have not been raised for a very long time. Staring at the white petals in his palm, Noan forces himself to smile.
Thank you... Thank you...
He keeps repeating it as if trying to atone for the sorrow he feels.
He would still be a lonely child by Rachel's side if it were not for Field.
Unaccepted by the people around him, he would still be haunted by a pain he did not understand when his mother died and angry at the world for its indifference.
Field caused many gentle changes in Noan. Those changes eventually separated them forever.
Now that they are reunited, Field's body has already been taken by the earth and is reborn into a new life.
His soul, meanwhile, continues to live in the memories of his old friend.
The memories and the firefly you left me guide me to this day... showing me the path in the dark...
I finally understand that death doesn't take away the meaning of what once was.
You are just transformed, living on in another way. You are the light that casts away the darkness, the fire that melts the snow, the train that moves forward... and the reason I still live.
Thank you... Summer...
He thanks the earth and the pear blossoms once again.
And... goodbye.
