＄03-00-06-08-1-0 [soundStopAll] [charaSet A 1098192010 1 "Child with Hood Over Head"] [charaSet B 1098127920 1 Kadoc] [charaSet C 1098123710 1 Kirschtaria] [charaSet J 5009000 1 "Effect Dummy"] [charaSet K 5009000 1 "Effect Dummy"] [charaPut K 1200,1200] [charaEffect K bit_sepia01] [scene 10000] [pictureFrame cut063_cinema] [fadein black 1.0] [wait fade] ＠ If anyone were to ask when my life changed, I know exactly what I would tell them: springtime, when I was fifteen. [k] ＠ That said, this isn't the kind of thing you go around telling people about. By all rights, I should take it to my grave. [k] [messageOff] [fadeout black 1.0] [wait fade] [scene 92800] [charaPut K 1] [wt 1.0] [fadein black 1.0] [wait fade] [bgm BGM_EVENT_11 0.1] ＠ Back then, I was enrolled in the Astromancy Department at the Clock Tower, aka the Mage's Association's headquarters. [k] ＠ I was the thirteenth heir to the Wodime legacy[line 2][sr]the child who had been granted the protection of the stars. [k] ＠ I was said to possess the greatest magical[sr]circuits of any Wodime to date... [k] ＠ ...and that I was a genius who had already been promised the keys to the Wodime family in a few years' time by the eleventh head of the estate, who led the family even now. [k] ＠ Those were the sort of things everyone[sr]else would say about me. [k] [messageOff] [se ad311] [wt 2.0] [seStop ad311 1.0] ＠Kirschtaria ...Me, a genius? Even though I usually spend each[sr]day sifting through other departments' files? [k] ＠ [lr]That was always the sort of response I gave,[sr]but I did so more from conceit than modesty. [k] ＠ I knew I was talented. I was confident I would one day be exactly what everyone expected me to be and more. [k] ＠ I wanted for nothing; not lineage, nor talent, nor affection. With so many things working in my favor, it was easy to push myself to greater heights without leaning on my environment. [k] ＠ Back then, I took pride in my excellence,[sr]and would constantly work to further improve myself. [k] ＠ I believed those blessed with natural talent should still continue to apply themselves, should set their sights on even greater stages. [k] ＠ I was completely convinced that there was nothing I[sr]could not do, and nothing that was beyond my reach. [k] [messageOff] [wt 0.5] ＠Child Crouching On Bridge ... [k] ＠Kirschtaria ... [k] [messageOff] [wt 0.5] ＠ [lr]For the past six months, crossing the great bridge to[sr]reach the Evocation Department college had become something of a routine of mine. [k] ＠ I noticed what appeared to be beggars by the path at the opposite side, but I never gave them any thought. [k] ＠ At the time, I didn't even see them. It wasn't that[sr]I disliked them, or that I was trying to avoid them. [k] ＠ It was that, for me,[sr]they may as well not have existed at all. [k] ＠ I was a prodigy, born to carve out a new age of magecraft. I didn't have time to get involved with people like them. [k] ＠ I was born into an environment far better than most could hope for, with talents far greater than most could dream of. [k] ＠ That was why I had a duty to fulfill. [k] ＠ I was going to create something beautiful.[sr]I was going to create something wonderful. [k] ＠ It was that ideal, that passion, that made me apply myself to my studies day in and day out. [k] ＠ It was the reason I so frequently visited that college,[sr]even when it arguably belonged to an enemy. [k] [messageOff] [bgmStop BGM_EVENT_11 1.0] [fadeout black 1.0] [wait fade] [wt 1.0] ＠ I didn't realize how arrogant[sr]I was being, how childish. [k] [messageOff] [scene 92801] [wt 1.0] [fadein black 1.0] [wait fade] ＠ On that day, I was headed home later than usual. It was the middle of the night, with no one on the bridge, and the stars hidden behind the clouds. [k] ＠Man in Hat Kirschtaria Wodime. [k] [messageOff] [effect bit_shot_01] [se ade64] [wt 0.1] [se ade64] [wt 1.5] [effectDestroy bit_shot_01] ＠ [lr]Everything happened so fast that I failed to react in time. That turned out to be a fatal mistake. [k] ＠ I wasn't surprised that an assassin had been[sr]sent to try to kill someone as young as me. [k] ＠ I was surprised because my would-be assassin was a manservant I had frequently seen in my own house. [k] [messageOff] [se ad863] [effect bit_talk_35] [wt 0.4] [se bac6] [se bac5] [se bac4] [effect bit_talk_aerial_wave] [se ad974] [seVolume ad974 0 0.7] [wt 2.0] [seStop ad974 0.8] [bgm BGM_EVENT_81 0.1] ＠ I counterattacked automatically, before I even thought about what to do, thanks to the spells that had been engraved onto my body. [k] ＠ The assassin never got another chance. Vacuum blades[sr]sliced him to bits before he could pull the trigger again. [k] ＠ But, it was enough. He had already critically[sr]wounded me, and there was no hope of escape. [k] ＠ He wasn't the only assassin who had been[sr]sent to take my life. I knew because... [k] ＠Man in Coat It's done. Send out more men.[sr]Find Kirschtaria's body. [k] ＠ [lr]...it was my father, trying to kill his own son. [k] ＠Kirschtaria Ghh...! [k] [messageOff] [se ad60] [wt 0.3] [seStop ad60 0.1] [se ad775] [wt 1.0] [se ad417] [wt 1.0] ＠Man in Coat He fell into the river! Find him! [k] [messageOff] [se ade426] [wt 0.1] [se ad59] [wt 1.0] [seStop ad59 1.0] [seStop ade426 1.0] [wt 1.0] ＠ [lr]Of course, I wasn't the one who had fallen in.[sr]It was my ring, after I had cast a weight alteration spell on it. [k] ＠ I knew it wouldn't do more than buy me some time,[sr]but at that moment, it was the best move I could make. [k] ＠ After I drew the assassins' attention towards the river, I activated a footstep cancellation spell in my shoes and got as far away from them as I could. [k] ＠Kirschtaria Okay... Now what do I... [k] [messageOff] [bgmStop BGM_EVENT_81 1.5] [fadeout black 1.5] [wait fade] [charaPut K 1200,1200] [scene 10000] [wt 1.0] [fadein black 1.5] [wait fade] ＠ [lr]My consciousness began to fade away. [k] ＠ I went back to the bridge instead of heading to the city exit, and my strength gave out just as I was making my way to a narrow back alley. [k] ＠ At the time, I didn't yet know that my assailant's[sr]weapon wasn't ordinary magecraft... [k] ＠ ...Rather, it was a kind of poison just like the sort used by a famous mage killer that was designed to attack magical circuits directly. [k] [messageOff] [fadeout black 1.0] [wait fade] [charaPut K 1] [scene 10000] [wt 0.1] [fadein black 0.1] [wait fade] [se ad142] [seVolume ad142 0 0.6] [wipeout openEye 0.1 1.0] [wait wipe] [scene 92900] [wt 1.0] [wipein openEye 1.5 1.0] [wt 0.5] [se ad142] [seVolume ad142 0 0.8] [wait wipe] [wt 1.0] ＠Kirschtaria ...Ghh... [k] [se ad142] ＠ [lr]I was in a dimly lit room. Within it was nothing more than the sound of dripping water and the scent of mildew. [k] ＠ I was on a makeshift bed made from an old wooden crate.[sr]A bare minimum of bandaging had been applied to my back. [k] ＠ There was no pillow. No blankets.[sr]And no restraints on my arms or legs. [k] ＠ I was technically free, but unfortunately, I wasn't able to move so much as a finger. The wound in my chest had yet to close, and I lacked the strength even to stand. [k] [se ad142] ＠ I had been laid down to rest with[sr]no more ceremony than a corpse. [k] ＠Kirschtaria Where...am I... [k] ＠ [lr]At first, I thought my assassins had captured me...but[sr]then I realized they would have no reason to keep me alive. [k] ＠ After all, since it was my own family was trying to kill me, there was little sense in torturing me for information. [k] ＠ I couldn't understand what was going on.[sr]My thoughts refused to put themselves in order. [k] ＠ Still just barely conscious, I managed to crane my neck enough to observe the dimly lit room... [k] [messageOff] [charaTalk A] [charaFace A 0] [charaFadein A 0.7 -300,-50] [wt 1.0] ＠Something Creepy Heehee... Heeheehee...[sr]...Heehee... Heehee... [k] ＠Kirschtaria ... [k] ＠ [lr]Something was in the corner of the room, as if it were[sr]trying to hide from what little light there was. [k] ＠ It was then that I noticed something...strange staring directly at me. [k] [messageOff] [se ad142] [fadeout black 1.5] [wait fade] [pictureFrame] [charaFadeout A 0.1] [charaPut K 1200,1200] [charaEffectStop K bit_sepia01] [scene 92000] [wt 2.5] [fadein black 1.5] [wait fade] [charaTalk B] [charaFace B 4] [charaFadein B 0.1 1] ＠Kadoc (...Seriously?) [k] [charaFace B 0] ＠Kadoc (Just when I decide to stop by so it doesn't look[sr]like I've been gone for two days straight...) [k] [charaFadeout B 0.1] [wt 0.1] [bgm BGM_EVENT_116 0.1] ＠Kirschtaria (...Zzzzzz.) [k] [charaTalk B] [charaFace B 7] [charaFadein B 0.1 1] ＠Kadoc I can't believe this guy. He's just basking in the sun, snoozing away on a bench without so much as a single guard. [k] [charaFace B 4] ＠Kadoc ...Hey. Hey, Wodime, don't you[sr]think it's time you got up? [k] ＠Kadoc You ARE the Crypters' leader, right? [k] ＠Kadoc Aren't you the one guy representing humanity in the power struggle between the Olympian gods and humans? [k] [charaFace B 2] ＠Kadoc How can you just leave yourself completely defenseless[sr]like this!? Come on, wake up already! [k] [charaFadeout B 0.1] [wt 0.1] ＠Kirschtaria ...Is that you, Kadoc?[sr]Wait... Kadoc...? [k] [charaTalk C] [charaFace C 11] [charaFadein C 0.1 1] ＠Kirschtaria What are you doing here?[sr]This is my roo[line 2] [k] [charaFace C 3] ＠Kirschtaria ...Never mind. No it isn't. This is the Hanging Gardens of the Great Orbital Shrine Olympia. [k] [charaFace C 1] ＠Kirschtaria Well, that was careless of me. The sunlight was so pleasant that I didn't even realize I had fallen asleep. I was dreaming about something I hadn't thought about in a long time. [k] ＠Kirschtaria I feel very silly. I guess I just get too relaxed without Caenis around to keep me in line. [k] [charaFace C 10] ＠Kirschtaria Anyway, thank you for waking me up[sr]before I could waste any more time. [k] [charaFadeout C 0.1] [wt 0.1] [charaTalk B] [charaFace B 0] [charaFace C 10] [charaFadein B 0.1 2] [charaFadein C 0.1 0] ＠Kadoc ...You don't have to thank me. I only spoke[sr]up 'cause it was weird seeing you like that. [k] [charaFace C 11] ＠Kirschtaria Weird? How so? [k] [charaFace B 4] ＠Kadoc Well, you're not exactly the sort of[sr]guy to just doze off out in public. [k] ＠Kadoc You're, like, perfectionism incarnate.[sr]You don't get to take naps like a typical college slacker. [k] [charaFace C 8] ＠Kirschtaria ...I see. While I do take some issue with the impression you seem to have of me... [k] [charaFace C 0] ＠Kirschtaria ...I also understand now why it is you were so surprised. I'll be more careful in future. [k] [bgmStop BGM_EVENT_116 1.0] [charaFadeout B 0.1] [charaFadeout C 0.1] [wt 0.1] [charaTalk C] [charaFace C 0] [charaFadein C 0.1 1] ＠Kirschtaria Now then, what is it you wished to see me about, Kadoc?[sr]Do you have something to report to me? [k] [charaFadeout C 0.1] [wt 0.1] [charaTalk B] [charaFace B 4] [charaFadein B 0.1 1] ＠Kadoc (Aw crap. I was so shocked seeing him sleeping like that I forgot I didn't actually have anything to tell him...) [k] [charaFace B 10] ＠Kadoc (And I can't just fib, or he'll know I've been up to something... Wait, I've got it.) [k] [bgm BGM_EVENT_70 0.1] [charaFace B 1] ＠Kadoc They got Demeter. [k] ＠Kadoc One of the great gods of Olympus, gone just like that.[sr]Some perfect being she turned out to be. [k] ＠Kadoc Oh, and one more thing.[sr]A tan Lancer with white hair was helping them out. [k] ＠Kadoc Luckily, it looks like Europa didn't catch that part. [k] [charaFace B 6] ＠Kadoc So, how's it feel, Wodime? [k] ＠Kadoc How's it feel knowing the loser you thought you'd disposed of is not only alive, but actively working against you now? [k] [messageOff] [charaFadeout B 0.1] [wt 0.1] [charaTalk C] [charaFace C 11] [charaFadein C 0.1 1] [wt 1.0] [charaFace C 1] ＠Kirschtaria That is a surprise. I never would have expected Caenis to go over to Chaldea's side. [k] ＠Kirschtaria And they managed to destroy Demeter's true form?[sr]They must have been far better prepared than I thought. [k] ＠Kirschtaria So, a tiny rebel force managed to bring down a powerful authority figure. How very...rock 'n' roll. [k] ＠Kirschtaria No, wait. Heavy metal feels more appropriate,[sr]given the composition of the gods' bodies. [k] [messageOff] [charaFadeout C 0.1] [wt 0.1] [charaTalk B] [charaFace B 7] [charaFadein B 0.1 1] [wt 1.0] [charaFace B 4] ＠Kadoc Uh... Am I going deaf or did you[sr]just make a lame pun about music? [k] [messageOff] [charaFadeout B 0.1] [wt 0.1] [charaTalk C] [charaFace C 8] [charaFadein C 0.1 1] [wt 1.0] [charaFace C 10] ＠Kirschtaria ...Apologies.[sr]Perhaps I have not quite awakened yet. [k] [charaFace C 1] ＠Kirschtaria At any rate, I'm surprised you knew[sr]something even Queen Europa did not. [k] ＠Kirschtaria It almost sounds as though you were there watching things unfold in person, Kadoc. You must have found yourself a very good familiar indeed. [k] [charaFadeout C 0.1] [wt 0.1] [charaTalk B] [charaFace B 10] [charaFadein B 0.1 1] ＠Kadoc ...Well, you know, I can't just sit[sr]around here mooching free grub forever. [k] ＠Kadoc I'm still a Crypter, after all, so I need to be[sr]ready to fight again at least one more time. [k] [charaFadeout B 0.1] [wt 0.1] [charaTalk C] [charaFace C 1] [charaFadein C 0.1 1] ＠Kirschtaria I see. Then make sure you take good care of that familiar. An ace up your sleeve can mean the difference between life and death, after all. [k] ＠Kirschtaria Rest assured, you don't need to tell me, the other Crypters, or anyone else in Olympus, what yours is. [k] ＠Kirschtaria That said, if it should come to light that you[sr]were using something you shouldn't be... [k] [bgmStop BGM_EVENT_70 1.0] ＠Kirschtaria ...then I will unfortunately be forced to respond in whatever way is appropriate. I have my own role to fulfill, after all. [k] [charaFadeout C 0.1] [wt 0.1] [charaTalk B] [charaFace B 7] [charaFadein B 0.1 1] ＠Kadoc ... (Shit. How much does he know...?[sr]I'd better change the subject, fast.) [k] [messageOff] [charaFace B 12] [wt 1.0] [charaFace B 0] [bgm BGM_EVENT_79 0.1] ＠Kadoc So, uh, by the way, about Demeter... [k] ＠Kadoc Chaldea might've been able to beat her, but it still[sr]wasn't because they straight up overpowered her. [k] [charaFace B 10] ＠Kadoc It looked to me like Demeter was looking for something... No, that's not right. Maybe trying to recover something. [k] ＠Kadoc She kept apologizing, over and over. [k] ＠Kadoc And not to the Olympians she was killing,[sr]but to one person in particular. [k] ＠Kadoc That's the only reason they were able to destroy her.[sr]Any idea what she was looking for? [k] [charaFadeout B 0.1] [wt 0.1] [charaTalk C] [charaFace C 9] [charaFadein C 0.1 1] ＠Kirschtaria ...I see. So that did hold her back,[sr]as I suspected it might. [k] [charaFace C 0] ＠Kirschtaria ...Just like in Proper Human History, this Lostbelt's Demeter once had a daughter she loved dearly. [k] ＠Kirschtaria Her name was Persephone. It's said that Demeter wept long and hard after Hades stole her away to the underworld... [k] ＠Kirschtaria ...yet despite that,[sr]she never stopped loving her daughter. [k] ＠Kirschtaria But, a few thousand years ago,[sr]her daughter died during the fourth machia. [k] [charaFadeout C 0.1] [wt 0.1] [charaTalk B] [charaFace B 0] [charaFadein B 0.1 1] ＠Kadoc ...Hang on, Wodime. That doesn't add up. [k] ＠Kadoc I don't know if she was a full god or a demigod or what, but I thought people didn't die in this city. [k] [charaFadeout B 0.1] [wt 0.1] [charaTalk C] [charaFace C 0] [charaFadein C 0.1 1] ＠Kirschtaria Not necessarily.[sr]Humans are simply incapable of killing other humans. [k] ＠Kirschtaria The immortality humans enjoy in this Lostbelt is not true immortality, but pseudo-immortality. [k] ＠Kirschtaria The gods can easily end their subjects'[sr]pseudo-immortal lives if they wish. [k] ＠Kirschtaria So the one who killed Persephone was[line 2] [k] [charaFadeout C 0.1] [wt 0.1] [charaTalk B] [charaFace B 0] [charaFadein B 0.1 1] ＠Kadoc One of the gods? You mean, one of the[sr]gods from the coexistence faction? [k] [charaFadeout B 0.1] [wt 0.1] [charaTalk C] [charaFace C 0] [charaFadein C 0.1 1] ＠Kirschtaria No, it was not one of them. [k] [charaFadeout C 0.1] [wt 0.1] [charaTalk B] [charaFace B 10] [charaFadein B 0.1 1] ＠Kadoc Then... [k] [charaFadeout B 0.1] [wt 0.1] [charaTalk C] [charaFace C 0] [charaFadein C 0.1 1] ＠Kirschtaria Persephone sided with the coexistence faction,[sr]so Zeus ordered Demeter to kill her own daughter. [k] [charaFadeout C 0.1] [wt 0.1] [charaTalk B] [charaFace B 10] [charaFadein B 0.1 1] ＠Kadoc ! [k] ＠Kadoc ...So, she was calling out to the daughter[sr]she killed...as if she was still alive, huh. [k] [charaFace B 0] ＠Kadoc ...Sounds almost human of her. [k] ＠Kadoc These gods are machines, right? How can they function[sr]properly when they're contradicting themselves like that? [k] [charaFadeout B 0.1] [wt 0.1] [charaTalk C] [charaFace C 10] [charaFadein C 0.1 1] ＠Kirschtaria I understand your confusion, but it is precisely their machine nature that means this was no contradiction at all. [k] ＠Kirschtaria Their minds don't work like ours, after all. That's the tragedy of the Twelve Olympian Machine Gods right there. [k] ＠Kirschtaria Whether gods create humans, or humans create gods, both sides usually share a common understanding of the world in which they live. [k] ＠Kirschtaria But the Olympians are different. They weren't gods to begin with. They only came to be defined that way over time. [k] ＠Kirschtaria It was because their functions enabled them to control[sr]the weather... Provide endless amounts of food... [k] ＠Kirschtaria Destroy various life-forms' memories...[sr]And mass-produce weapons... [k] ＠Kirschtaria That led to the residents of this[sr]Lostbelt seeing them as gods. [k] ＠Kirschtaria They then incorporated this definition into their[sr]functions in order to operate more smoothly on this planet. [k] ＠Kirschtaria After all, the people of the ancient world wanted superior beings they could pray to, not cold, unfeeling spaceships. [k] ＠Kirschtaria And so, they accepted the new roles they had been given, and became mechanical gods instead of mere machines. [k] ＠Kirschtaria As a result, they ended up making this god play-acting into a new directive, all without ever understanding how the intelligent beings treating them as gods actually felt. [k] [charaFadeout C 0.1] [wt 0.1] [charaTalk B] [charaFace B 10] [charaFadein B 0.1 1] ＠Kadoc ...Cold and unfeeling, huh? [k] ＠Kadoc So, is that why Demeter went nuts? Because she ended up with feelings tacked onto herself when she didn't need them? [k] [charaFadeout B 0.1] [wt 0.1] [charaTalk C] [charaFace C 9] [charaFadein C 0.1 1] ＠Kirschtaria This was less a matter of contradiction[sr]than it was of conflict. [k] ＠Kirschtaria Humans can rationalize acts like that by telling[sr]themselves there was nothing else they could have done... [k] ＠Kirschtaria ...but she had no choice but to treat the order to[sr]kill her own daughter like any other assigned task. [k] ＠Kirschtaria She wasn't crazy. She was just in pain. [k] ＠Kirschtaria That's what it means to be a god in this Lostbelt. [k] ＠Kirschtaria It's also why they were able to realize a real-life utopia, where nobody has to die or grow old. [k] [charaFadeout C 0.1] [wt 0.1] [charaTalk B] [charaFace B 0] [charaFadein B 0.1 1] ＠Kadoc ...And here I thought machines[sr]always operated on pure logic. [k] ＠Kadoc All right, if that's what the gods are like here,[sr]then what's your game, Wodime? [k] ＠Kadoc Your goal is to bring about the Age of Gods again, right? Is that really the kind of god you wanna be? [k] [charaFadeout B 0.1] [wt 0.1] [charaTalk C] [charaFace C 1] [charaFadein C 0.1 1] ＠Kirschtaria Of course gods should run the world.[sr]That being said... [k] ＠Kirschtaria The future[line 2]the answer I seek[line 2]is a little different from Zeus's. [k] ＠Kirschtaria What I seek, Kadoc, is an even more perfect age[line 2]an age where there will be neither conflict nor contradiction. [k] ＠Kirschtaria It is my responsibility to see that age come about...[sr]and, it is what the Foreign God wishes. [k] [charaFadeout C 0.1] [wt 0.1] [charaTalk B] [charaFace B 10] [charaFadein B 0.1 1] ＠Kadoc ... [k] [messageOff] [wt 1.0] [fadeout black 2.0] [bgmStop BGM_EVENT_79 2.0] [wait fade] [soundStopAll] [end]