Story Reader / Main Story / 34 Dream till the Timeless End / Story
The noise from the depths of space buzzes in your ears. For some reason, every time you silently recite this name, countless strange silhouettes appear in your mind.
But whenever you try to figure out what they represent, your mind goes blank again.
<size=38>>></size>
<size=38>>>Search Core: <color=#ff4e4eff>Backup Frame Capriccio</color></size>
<size=38>>>Details: <color=#ff4e4eff>no registration info</color></size>
<size=38>>>Current Location: <color=#ff4e4eff>Conservation Area 221 Warehouse</color></size>
<size=38>>>Frame Processing Status: <color=#ff4e4eff>Pending Destruction (180:03:31)</color></size>
<size=38>>>Process Registered By: <color=#ff4e4eff>Control Court - Ishmael</color></size>
...I think we've found the issue.
—Temporary communication channel established. I've created a combat mission under the Science Council's dispatch authority. I'll assist you in accessing Conservation Area 221's surveillance systems.
I'll use the Science Council's authority to block her surface access request and stop Ishmael from reaching Conservation Area 221 before you do—I'm on my way to her now.
This name... This... Construct, what does she know? What role did she play in this crazy "journey"? And does she know...
How can I return to that timeline?
Iris's smile seems to appear before you.
Nights are short during summer. Let's meet before night if we can't make it at dawn.
...We need to make it in time. We must hurry...
The transport ship quickly takes off toward Babylonia—distant, yet not so distant.
Babylonia
Control Court
Ishmael sits at a table. An iris flower is hovering above her hand. It's data that's so exquisitely crafted, it almost looks real.
So this bit of power has been given to you...
It almost affects even me... This is truly incredible.
The iris flower slowly rotates. The dots of light gradually outline the scene where "Iris" and the commandant stand in confrontation.
When Teddy asked why she wanted to destroy the Capriccio frame, Ishmael had almost forgotten the reason—until she touches the device that doesn't belong here.
That device the Science Council named "White Noise".
Memories sealed away by twisted timelines awaken in her Deep M.I.N.D. Ishmael narrows her eyes, her pupils radiating with strange colors.
Ah... it's you.
The Control Court receives a rare visitor.
I know it's you... Merciful One, I can sense it.
The girl looks at the pink-haired woman in front of her with eager yet sorrowful eyes.
So direct... Just call me Ishmael.
The door gently closes as an invisible, strange force distorts the space, preventing cameras from peering into the scene here.
Ishmael... my lady.
I... I would like to ask for your assistance.
From what I know, you've acquired a new frame... called "Pianissimo", right? It's a fine name.
If you're trying to revert back to a Construct... I'm sorry, but the Punishing has already invaded your M.I.N.D. This is irreversible, and even I am powerless to reverse it.
Two cups of coffee silently materialize on the table, their rich aroma filling the air.
Thank goodness, you still remember me...
She exhales deeply, then settles uneasily into her chair.
...?
Ishmael displays a perfect look of confusion.
I'll never forget everything you've done for me, and I'm not here to ask for that. What I want to ask is...
Please tell me how to stop that red-haired invader who calls herself Enora Lueya.
You must have heard it, too... that "voice."
Ishmael quietly picks up her coffee, dropping four sugar cubes into it. The calm surface breaks, rippling outward.
Conservation Area 221
Some time earlier.
Conductor... This way!
Sharp gunshots tear through the quiet forest, sending birds scattering. The red-haired pursuer is hit, but she seems unconcerned. She continues to track the pair after discarding the damaged parts of herself.
How could this be...
You carefully check your protective suits for any damage while hiding in the bushes. You hold your breath as you move with Selena in a different direction.
A few days ago, while on a surface mission with Selena escorting the Archaeological Team, a Construct who called herself Enora Lueya appeared out of nowhere, and pointed her weapon at you without a word.
With Selena's help, you managed to drive off this "Construct", but Babylonia couldn't find any information about her at all.
While Babylonia had made the incident a top priority and was investigating her identity, this "Enora Lueya" showed up again.
How did she "resurrect" herself, and how did she evade Babylonia's investigation and track you into the conservation area?
You have no time to think. Your enemy's footsteps are just inches away...
...
The cold Construct points her weapon at you, but before she can strike, Selena attacks her from behind...
Just like before, she is easily defeated. Her armor scatters across the ground.
Conductor... Are you alright?
Selena rushes over, examining the wounds on your body.
You've lost so much blood...
You quickly dress your wounds as Selena watches blood seep through the white gauze with sorrow in her eyes.
It must hurt so much... to lose this much blood...
She takes out the bandages and gently blows on your wound, before applying medicine with the utmost care.
Yeah... just like last time, she is shattered into pieces.
What is she trying to do...
This is obvious, but you have no idea why.
After reporting the incident, nobody could find any information whatsoever about this Construct. What's strange is that she always manages to track you down.
What's even weirder is...
You check your terminal and find out you have been dispatched to the surface for a ground mission. This is a mission to investigate an "unidentified Ascendant" that showed up near the conservation area.
Me too...
She takes out her terminal, which shows the exact same mission: "Investigate the unidentified Ascendant".
The faint mist rising from the coffee becomes transparent in the sunlight, as dust dance like musical notes in the window frame's shadow.
Ishmael stares at the girl as she anxiously recounts her recent experiences.
After that... the same events seem to keep repeating.
I heard the jumbled sounds of time distortion. It sounded like Lueya was... somehow using the "past" to do something.
"The past"?
Yes. That day, when Conductor was injured, I led her in a different direction, trying to divert Lueya's attention, but she...
I used the Punishing to capture notes from the past, just like how I used to read the Red Tide.
The next second, she appeared in the "past."
So this bit of power has been given to you...
That's why you looked blurry even to me, and I could barely remember who you were.
Ishmael chuckles quietly, taking a small sip of coffee that has just the right sweetness.
Having interfered with the workings of this world, she had to pay a price to stop "Them" from noticing this place.
But she wasn't expecting part of the power that she scattered as the "price" to be absorbed by Selena, whose core she reshaped.
How interesting...
She is enjoying watching this dramatic story unfold.
What happened next? What did you see?
I found out that Lueya was also in the "past." She seemed to be trying to modify the "past."
Lueya used her identity to disguise herself as an "unidentified Ascendant" to attack the conservation area. She eventually figured out Babylonia's action patterns through her many attacks.
When an "unidentified Ascendant" appears, Babylonia would send the nearest commandant and Constructs over. By deducing where they would appear, she could find the conductor...
Lost, Selena clenches her fingers.
However tough her enemies might be, she had always believed in her ability to overpower them. But what if the enemy never stops coming across countless timelines?
I came to ask you how I could... defeat Lueya?
Who is she?
Enora Lueya...
Setting down her coffee cup, Ishmael ponders for a moment.
I heard you like flowers, but do you understand giant trees?
Giant... trees...
When branches grow abundant and the crown becomes massive, if the foliage is not and heavy snow gathers, the whole tree may collapse.
Only by trimming away some branches can the main trunk continue to grow upward.
The trimmed "branches" are destined to wither, but...
The "branches" don't know that.
To the branches, they are their own "main trunk."
Is Conductor... the one who trims the "branches"?
Rumors that the Gray Raven Commandant has been dealing with post-war trauma are nothing new.
Ishmael answers with a smile.
...My ability to stabilize my M.I.N.D. and recover my memories was also because of Conductor...
Too many voices are mixed in the "tide," making it impossible to find the correct information.
That was indeed the reason for your quick recovery.
But... a killer from the "future"...
Ishmael isn't surprised that the red-haired Construct has the power of regression, but doesn't know the extent of it.
When branches fall, they cannot see their sad fate and can only try to "correct" what they consider to be the "wrong" timeline.
Before Gray Raven absorbed the information from the Hetero Tower, branches inside the tower were already stacked high, as precarious as a pile of eggs. These "branches" incubated countless "futures."
Although the fate of all branches is annihilation, it's not surprising that some could incubate "futures" with technology surpassing the current Babylonia.
Is this the first challenge you'll have to face in the final world?
She murmurs to herself.
Enora Lueya, her "true form"... is most likely hidden in a more distant "past."
Only the "past" can influence the "present," so defeating her at this point in time is meaningless.
...In any case, if you know a way to deal with her, please tell me.
I'm willing to pay any price I can for the answer.
Ishmael smiles as she gives her an "answer."
Locate the coordinates where she appears, travel back to before she arrives, and stop everything she intends to do.
But doing so will remove you from the normal timeline, and you already know the price you'll have to pay.
You will be forgotten.
But once I go back to the past, won't I also affect the "past"?
If you affect the "past," the "present" may change as well. Once a butterfly's wings flutter, there's no predicting what kind of storm they might unleash.
She doesn't mind being forgotten, but she does care... whether it would affect the world where Conductor is.
Though it might sound easy, but...
Conductor must have paid an incredible price for this.
That depends on how you do it.
If you can get there before her every time, stop her, and make everything disappear...
Then the "past" won't affect the "present."
But... I don't know what would happen if I failed.
...I see.
If you have actually obtained part of that power, maybe you could try time slicing...
She thinks for a moment, then gently shakes her head.
That wouldn't be the ideal, either. We'll need to find Lueya's original body for the time loop to seal her within it.
But... how can I find her original body? That becomes another problem.
...Thank you. I know what to do now.
Selena stands up and bows deeply to Ishmael.
So, please help me... tie up the loose ends of this "finale."
...What do you want to do?
I'll pursue Enora Lueya until I catch her original form.
Back when the Pianissimo frame was being created, a backup Capriccio frame was stored away.
The girl looks up, her face tinged with both sorrow and determination.
If being forgotten is my fate, please help me by destroying the "Capriccio" frame.
...As you wish.
Selena lets out a relieved sigh and hurriedly thanks her again.
I must thank you for your selflessness. If I manage to return... I'll do everything in my power to help you.
Time is running out. I must go now.
Her fingers pause on the doorknob as she casts a reluctant glance out the window.
A moment later, she firmly opens the door and walks out of the Control Court and into the setting sun.
Good luck.
The trailing sounds of her words stretch like threads, turning into the shape of harp strings in the shadows of sunlight.
So here we are...
The iris made of data slowly spins as its dots of light gradually dissipate.
Using the damage Lueya has inflicted on the world as coordinates to pinpoint the timeline where Lueya's true form exists, and creating fragmentary loops...
It looks like you've made up your mind...
Footsteps suddenly appear in the hallway, and seconds later, an urgent knock rattles the door.
Come in.
Standing at the doorway is none other than the commandant who confronted "Iris" in the data projection moments ago.
Gray Raven... [player name], I knew you would come.
Seated at the table, Ishmael, is wearing an odd smile.
For some reason, that smile feels strangely familiar, yet like the bizarre silhouettes, whenever you try to place it, your mind goes completely blank.
But now isn't the time to dwell on that. Casting aside your doubts, you take out the "Capriccio" frame destruction records Teddy found and put them in front of Ishmael.
If you had come any earlier, I wouldn't have been able to give you an answer.
As it happens, I've just recovered some interesting memories.
Besides, this isn't your only question, right?
You fall silent, then pull out a chair and sit down, before meeting Ishmael's gaze.
Some secrets need to be kept. I can only tell you the basics.
Her silvery-white pupils shimmer with strange iridescence. For some reason, the longer you look at her, the dizzier you become.
Because I'm not the one who authored the rest of the story.
On her desk, an iris flower made of data slowly takes shape.
You've already met Enora Lueya.
Yes and no. That is indeed her goal, but now all of Enora Lueya's actions have become indirect.
Because her true target is now under protection.
That's right. You are, in fact, Enora Lueya's target.
We were the first to discover Enora Lueya's existence, and we've been fighting for a long time to stop her from disrupting history.
...To be frank, if we had been a bit faster, this would likely have been resolved already, and you wouldn't have been dragged into it.
Of course, you've successfully returned to the present, so you trust Iris's statements more.
She smiles gently as she picks up the iris flower.
Let me guess, Iris told you...
You just need to defeat Enora Lueya...
...Relax. This war is almost over. I'm executing the final... and most critical mission—escorting the target to the designated location.
If all goes according to plan, Enora Lueya will be waiting for me there. Once I defeat her, everything will be fine.
As for returning... you don't need to worry about that...
Iris hesitates, then quickly begins to explain, as if she's just made up her mind about something.
Once I complete the final mission, I'll destroy her main body, and get the new device.
By then, I'll be able to send you back to where you came from by using duplicates to traverse through time.
So, on this journey with Iris, have you seen... or rather, do you remember what Enora Lueya looks like?
I mean, besides that massive metal form.
A smile ripples across her face as Ishmael's fingers crush the iris flower in her hand. It shatters and scatters away.
Very good. I think you're beginning to understand this story now.
