Story Reader / Floating Record / ER04 The Floating Reverie / Story
Oh, dream as light as dawn, the great hall of our homeland is reserved for you.
Our homeland is one with hell.
Our homeland is the answer to the suffering we endure upon our bodies.
...
I... have lost.
No, you cannot admit defeat.
Get up, you cannot lose.
Inside the ancient temple, ragged figures appear one after another.
Most of them are wearing similarly styled hats that conceal part of their faces. They each carry a shimmering terminal as proof of their existence.
This is not a dream. This is reality.
Those standing in front of the temple and behind Fu Shen are living humans of flesh and blood.
You are... "The Cradle".
Get up! You can't lose! You cannot be defeated!
The noble and undying! You are invincible!
...I... I...
I am... wish... I am...
The warrior, having collapsed on the ground from fatigue, begins to explode in orange sparks like an overloaded machine. Then, as if pulled by an invisible puppet string, it begins to stand up.
They are forcing it to reboot!
And when they're done, there is one way this can end...
Stand up! Remember your calling!
You need to win—and there is no stopping!
The warrior flickering in red flashes through the garden once more.
The whispers of "The Cradle" and their key clatters muddle together to form what sounds like a grand prayer but, at the same time, a meaningless hymn.
The dazzling array of different colors from their terminals shines upon their ragged clothes to form a bizarre scene on the stage.
Ughhhhh!
!!!
Attack, attack, attack.
The fighter attacks without so much as a coherent move.
It strikes with a force from pure insanity, just like the glorious red lights sparkling around it.
A figure in damaged armor grazes an agile figure in midair, leaving frightening gashes on the garden bricks.
Hanying blocks the warrior's attacks as she moves back for a brief moment of respite.
Before she can take another breath, another attack comes striking down.
Hanying!
Spooner suddenly emerges and blocks a heavy blow from Fu Shen.
Skilled at combat as he is, Spooner still finds it difficult to withstand this unnatural power.
Ugh...
Slaughter and crush!
Your power is unlimited!
...We... kill...
In the split second that Spooner is holding their enemy down, Hanying joins in to subdue it.
I... ask you to...
We follow, we retribute!
Please fulfill our wish, and realize all of our aspirations!
Please... fulfill...
I won't be able to... hold it down for much longer!
Spooner, get ready to let go! Now!
Fu Shen lands a heavy blow on the ground while Spooner and Hanying roll in the other direction.
There's only one chance.
Hanying flashes in front of Fu Shen. She already closed her fan that has turned into a sharp dagger and is now aiming for the "heart" that might be inside Fu Shen.
It's probably going to stop if I can hit that.
She doesn't even have time to let her memory shell calculate the best course of action, nor does she know how to stall this giant machine. She can only act on her instincts.
...Complete...
Hanying!
Your eyes already behold my question.
But do you have the answer in your heart?
So, what is your <QUESTION>?
I want to know what a <HEART> is.
So have you found the <ANSWER>?
No, I don't know... what a <HEART> is, what counts as having a <HEART>, and how to prove its existence.
In fact, that is the <ANSWER>.
No, how can a <QUESTION> be the <ANSWER>?
Maybe your existence alone is what makes a <HEART> what it is.
Perhaps you have these <QUESTIONS> precisely because it exists.
...
So, who are <YOU>?
I am your <QUESTION>.
Your every choice, your cowardice, hesitation, sympathy, sins, and insanity, are part of me.
I thought you only existed in my dreams.
I have always been here, and so has she.
This is truly... nostalgic.
So, what is your <QUESTION>?
I will commit sins.
So, what is your <ANSWER>?
I already have an answer.
...
Hello, there.
...Who is this?
I am... probably the witness to your <ANSWER>.
Witness? You can't be—
Fu Shen? A fragment of Fu Shen, or, should we say, what Fu Shen should have been.
The humanoid-hybrid mechanoid flashes a warm smile.
So this... is your dream?
No, not exactly.
You do know that mechanoids don't dream, don't you?
This is merely one of my insignificant dreams. Before I was modified by "The Cradle", I kept this wish safe in the deepest corner of my heart.
Then what is the wish in your "heart"?
That is your <ANSWER>.
Eyes on the target, she thrusts her dagger in, like an experienced but clumsy assassin.
A weak vibration travels up the fan and into her palm.
In the next instant, the vibration grows into a violent disintegration.
Well done. Thank you...
For taking this life... with your very hands.
...
Ah, I remember now.
You... are the mechanoid on that rainy night.
A mechanoid on a rainy night...
Are you Ulysses?!
Ah... that was my... original name.
...
Thank you. Thank you for saving me.
You're welcome. S-Spooner.
But... I've hopped out of the prison at the fighting ring right into yet another prison.
A place without an exit... There were no signs of stars on that night, just like this.
Only trees and a sky full of fallen leaves.
The trembling finally subdues into silence.
I hope... that you will find the "answer" you want in your dream.
