＄03-00-05-01-1-0 [soundStopAll] [charaSet A 1098186900 1 No-Face] [scene 10001] [fadein black 1.0] [se ad207] [seVolume ad207 0 0] [seVolume ad207 1.0 0.5] [wait fade] [wt 1.5] [seVolume ad207 1.0 1.0] [scene 53800 1.0] [wt 2.0] [seStop ad207 1.5] [wt 2.0] [se ad123] [seVolume ad123 0 0] [seVolume ad123 1.0 1.0] [wt 2.0] [seStop ad123 1.5] [wt 2.0] [bgm BGM_EVENT_79 0.1] ＠ My journey is drawing to an end. It won't be long now before I arrive at my destination in southern Nevada. [k] ＠ Not that it'll change anything once I get there.[sr]I certainly won't be getting a reward for my trouble. [k] ＠ Nor do I have a home to return to,[sr]or enough fuel to get me there even if I did. [k] ＠ The only point this journey ever had[sr]was to get where I was going. [k] ＠ ...Well, no, that may be technically accurate, but it's still not quite right. Let me be clear, so I don't invite any misunderstandings. [k] ＠ When I say I don't have a home to return to, I don't mean that in the heartless, cold-blooded bastard sense. [k] ＠ My home may be gone now, but I still remember it clearly. And as long as I have those memories, I'll never feel the pain of its loss. [k] ＠ See, since I was born, I've had the ability, for better or worse, to recall anything I've ever seen in perfect detail. [k] ＠ It's called, “hyperthymesia,” though it's more[sr]commonly known as a superior autobiographical memory. [k] ＠ My friends considered it a disability, and sympathized with the drawbacks, but scientists considered it a gift. [k] ＠ It drove me insane when I was a kid. At some points, it caused me to hate cities and people in general. [k] ＠ When I grew up, I left the city behind and started living a much quieter life out in a village near the mountains. [k] ＠ As a result, I've only spent about a third of my life in busy, urban areas, so I'm not really overburdened with memories of those places. [k] ＠ Still, my memories are just as clear now as they ever were. I can see the friends I used to hang out with smiling and laughing as if they were right here with me. [k] ＠ Of course, that includes the beautiful scenery and the stars that used to twinkle bright all across the nighttime sky. [k] ＠ ...Maybe that's why I couldn't shake my doubts about why this happened the way it did. [k] ＠ Something just seemed...off. [k] ＠ I don't mean the Earth's surface being bleached white. I mean it feels like something even bigger has changed, but in a way I can't put my finger on it. [k] ＠ Whatever it is, I've noticed it at different points during this journey. [k] ＠ There was something different about the skies above Russia, Scandinavia, China, India... Whatever it was, they weren't the same skies I'd seen before. [k] ＠ There must be some other change occurring in places I'm not privy to. Or maybe some other humans besides me are struggling to fight back. [k] ＠ Maybe they're doing their best to retake this world, this planet, this universe for humanity even as I speak. [k] ＠ ...Unfortunately, as intriguing as that possibility is, those places are much too far away for me to make a detour, and I have precious little time left as it is. [k] ＠ I ran out of food yesterday,[sr]and my bike's not going to last much longer, either. [k] ＠ Again, once I reach my destination,[sr]my journey is over. [k] ＠ It would be nice if whoever's causing these changes taking place around the world were to stop by the States... [k] ＠ ...but I doubt anyone who's lost as hard as me and the rest of humanity have anything close to that kind of good luck left. [k] [messageOff] [wt 1.0] [bgm BGM_EVENT_79 1.0 0.3] [fadeout black 1.0] [wait fade] [wt 1.0] [scene 53900] [fadein black 1.0] [bgm BGM_EVENT_79 1.0 1.0] [wait fade] ＠ ...What a strange feeling. [k] ＠ Even if this is the end for me, in multiple senses, it still feels good to achieve the goal I set for myself. [k] ＠ “Why did humanity die out?”[sr]“Why did these alien invaders show up?” [k] ＠ “Why did they conquer us by bleaching the Earth white?” [k] ＠ My heart is racing at the prospect of possibly uncovering the answers to these and all the other mysteries. [k] ＠ I've arrived at the U.S. Air Force base once known as Area 51. It's the one place[line 2]the only part of the texture[line 2]on the entire planet that managed to evade the bleaching. [k] ＠ The sheer secrecy surrounding this place led to all sorts of rumors about high-tech experiments and training being conducted here, but you'd never know that looking at it now. [k] ＠ Not only are there no survivors here, there's not so much as a single piece of cutting-edge equipment. [k] ＠ Any seaplanes and armored tanks that may have been here before are long gone. [k] ＠ And since there's no power, I doubt I'll be able to stock up on food or water, either. [k] ＠ On the plus side, the buildings are mostly untouched, so at least I shouldn't have to go sifting through rubble. [k] [messageOff] [scene 53901 2.0] [se ad131] [wt 2.0] [seVolume ad131 1.0 0.3] [wt 1.0] ＠ ...I can't believe it. Rain clouds cropped up here out of nowhere. I guess that means it still rains in the last area on Earth that hasn't been bleached away. [k] ＠ I pushed my excitement down to keep it from getting the better of me, and began carefully making my way through the base. [k] [messageOff] [bgmStop BGM_EVENT_79 1.0] [fadeout black 1.0] [wait fade] [scene 10000] [fadein black 1.0] [wait fade] ＠ The rain clouds that cropped up in the skies overhead[sr]stuck around the whole time I was there. [k] [seStop ad131 2.5] ＠ I learned several things from my expedition into the inside of the base; the part completely cut off from the outside world. [k] ＠ I wish I could offer my own personal insights on what I found, but since I'm running low on both time and energy, I'll have to stick to just the facts. [k] [messageOff] [seStop ad131 1.0] [wt 1.0] [bgm BGM_EVENT_72 0.1] ＠ This base did in fact contain an alien life-form. [k] [seStop ad131 1.0] [messageOff] [effect bit_talk_marblebg] [wt 2.0] ＠ “2018 - Subject E Relocation”[sr]“2018 - Initiate Subject E Examination” [k] ＠ According to the documents I found, this “subject” had flown to New Mexico in the year 2018. [k] ＠ The craft it had been piloting either burned up when it entered Earth's atmosphere (or was possibly destroyed by the subject itself, according to a handwritten note)... [k] ＠ ...leaving the subject completely exposed upon its discovery. [k] ＠ The injuries sustained during its emergency landing had left it critically wounded and near death... [k] ＠ ...but by flash-freezing it, the Air Force managed to preserve its life functions. They then brought it to this base. [k] ＠ All the other records pertaining to the subject can be summed up in a single word: “gruesome.” [k] ＠ The scientists performed all kinds of tests, experiments, and surgeries in order to keep this alien visitor alive. [k] ＠ They conducted clinical trials with different kinds of medicine. They tested every known substance on Earth to see how it would react. [k] ＠ They observed reactions that corresponded to pain.[sr]They observed reactions that corresponded to joy. [k] ＠ To measure its endurance, they stopped supplying it with nutrients. Then they tried burning it. Freezing it. Melting it. Attaching things to it. [k] ＠ They stirred its intestines around. Cut off parts of its body. Measured signals from the organ they thought was its brain. [k] ＠ They performed all of this research, what could also be called the very crystallization of human history, on the subject while it was still living. [k] [messageOff] [fadeout dc143c 2.0] [wt 2.0] [effectStop bit_talk_marblebg] [scene 10000] ＠ ...It didn't take long for the surgical procedures meant to resuscitate the subject to morph into brutally exploitative experiments. [k] ＠ And since the cells taken from the subject's samples were made up of elements that didn't exist anywhere on the planet... [k] ＠ ...it wasn't hard to imagine that further research could eventually lead to military and civilian applications. [k] ＠ Truth be told, that was where the top brass's true interests lied. [k] ＠ After all, ever since the turn of the twentieth century, the energy race between nations had only continued to pick up speed... [k] ＠ ...and there was now an insurmountable gap between industrialized nations and developing ones. [k] ＠ I could tell from poring over the documents that they began with the best of intentions. [k] ＠ They wanted their research to result in a better life for every person on Earth. To help humanity move past its endless squabbling for wealth and forge ahead with new, loftier goals. [k] ＠ However...Area 51's researchers[sr]didn't see things the same way. [k] ＠ With every experiment they ran, they became more and more certain that the subject was emitting a constant, unknown signal. It was calling for help. [k] ＠ So they thought, if they kept running experiments on it, if they kept inflicting greater levels of pain on it... [k] ＠ ...even more potential test subjects were bound to show up. [k] [messageOff] [bgmStop BGM_EVENT_72 1.5] [fadein dc143c 1.5] [wait fade] [wt 1.0] ＠ That's why this all happened.[sr]This wasn't a natural disaster. It was a man-made one. [k] ＠ [51d4ff][sr]　　　　　　　　　　　(But is that truly the reason?)[-] [k] ＠ I finally know why those trees came here.[sr]Now...I just have to confirm one last thing. [k] ＠ Was this the true cause? Was there really a “Subject E” here, at this base? I have to see it for myself. [k] ＠ And I have to do it before I die of malnutrition. [k] [messageOff] [bgmStop BGM_EVENT_72 1.0] [wt 1.0] [scene 10000] [se ad311] [wait fade] [wt 2.0] [seStop ad311 0.5] ＠ It took me several days to discover that door. [k] ＠ “E Reference Room.” A secret area that had been built even further underneath the base's underground structure. [k] ＠ I manage to open the door and make my way inside the sealed-off passageway. [k] ＠ ...I can already tell there's something here. This is it. This is where I'll find the answers I've been seeking. [k] ＠ There's just something...different about the air in this passageway that makes that all too clear. [k] ＠ My instruments aren't picking up anything unusual, even though the passageway itself is like something from another world[line 2]entirely removed from what we think of as reality. [k] ＠ I know this passageway is made out of iron and steel, but it feels like I'm walking on pulsating jelly. [k] ＠ I make my way across the simultaneously hard, soft, warm, cold floor, one careful step at a time. [k] ＠ My body temperature is dropping like a stone. I can barely breathe. My consciousness is hanging by a thread. [k] ＠ ...I can't even remember how many days it's been since I last had something to eat or drink. [k] ＠ Soon, I won't even have enough energy left to talk into this recorder. [k] ＠ But I can't stop now. I have to find the answers before I die. Answers that I'm sure lie just beyond this passage... [k] [messageOff] [se ad832] [effect bit_talk_door_open] [scene 10001] [wt 1.0] [se ad578] [wt 2.5] [seStop ad578 1.0] [wt 6.5] [scene 55500 2.0] [wt 3.0] ＠David ...? [k] ＠ The only sound that escaped my lips was a quiet gasp of shock. [k] ＠ It was the most retro room I could have imagined. If I hadn't known better, I would never have thought it was located in the middle of one of the most high-tech bases on Earth. [k] ＠ And yet, there it was atop the exam table. A bizarre...thing that resembled nothing so much as a dead tree. [k] [messageOff] [charaTalk A] [charaFace A 0] [charaFadein A 0.1 1] ＠A：??? ...Hey there. It's about time you showed up, Bluebook. [k] [messageOff] [charaFadeout A 0.1] [wt 0.1] [se ad610] [effect bit_talk_35] [wt 1.5] [se ad144] [wt 4.5] [messageOff] [fadeout black 2.0] [wait fade] [wt 0.5] [soundStopAll] [end]