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Dorothy's Promise
'Hello, Mary. When was the last time I wrote to you? I'm afraid I was never able to muster the courage to speak to you after the incident.
I could not sleep at all last night. Memories from childhood kept intruding into my mind.
Remember when you were fifteen, and we climbed up the judge statue in the center of town?
You joked that it was illegal, and that you would arrest me when you became a cop.
And I... what did I say?
'Everyone has the right to enjoy fairness and justice.'
I could not have imagined what would become of me in just a few years.
Civilization is a fragile thing. Not much separates us from the burdenbeasts outside the nomadic cities.
Fairness and justice have become alien concepts. All I think of, day in, day out, is how to survive.
Yes, I have become the kind of man you most despise. The kind that I used to most despise.
(Signs of erasure)
What if I have the chance to return to the embrace of civilization? To go back to the man I used to be?
Your birthday is just a week away. You have no idea how much I would love to surprise you.
(Long blank, then hastily scribbled words)
They're performing dangerous experiments on us. All I can do is try to keep living.'
- Pioneer Team Member
S-Sir. Our bolts...
- Sonny
They... stopped in mid-air?
- Dorothy
—
The bolts headed towards her and the lab equipment are frozen in mid-air.
It is as though they are being held by countless invisible hands.
Dorothy raises a hand.
She touches one of the bolts with her finger.
It gives off a light hum.
- Sonny
Hit the deck!
- Pioneer Team Member
What the...?
There is a loud bang, like a heavy metal object being dropped to the floor.
The bolts have fallen to the ground—but only part of them. The heads of the bolts have disappeared, leaving behind only an eerily smooth cross-section.
No, they did not disappear.
- Silence
Did you hear that, Elena?
- Elena
It sounded like...
- Silence
Like metal vibrating at an extremely high frequency.
- Silence
The heads of the bolts shook themselves apart.
- Silence
How powerful could Director Franks's Originium Arts be?
- Elena
It's not all Arts.
- Elena
It's her technique. She's THE authority on applied Originium Arts.
- Silence
The Pioneers won't be able to lay a finger on her.
- Strange Entity
—
- Elena
You're right. There's someone else we should be worried about...
- Ptilopsis
Oww...
- Silence
Take care of Joyce. She's still in bad shape.
- Elena
Not to mention Sonny and his men...
- Sonny
Firebomb!
- Pioneer Team Member
On it!
- Sonny
Don't aim, just throw!
- Strange Entity
—
- Pioneer Team Member
Good god...
- Dorothy
Why... why won't you listen?
- Dorothy
I don't want to see you hurt.
- Sonny
Why don't you tell that to the men you tricked onto your lab table?
- Dorothy
I didn't trick them.
- Dorothy
They're safe. Very safe.
- Dorothy
If the experiment succeeds, they'll never have to face the dangers of the wastes again.
- Dorothy
Isn't that what you wanted, Sonny?
- Sonny
......
- Strange Entity
—
- Pioneer Team Member
Watch out!
- Sonny
Sam...?
- Pioneer Team Member
Sir... Sonny, run...
- Pioneer Team Member
Take the others and get out...
- Pioneer Team Member
Out to the barrenlands... where the corporations can't find you.
- Sonny
The barrenlands...
- Pioneer Team Member
Yes... we're Pioneers...
- Pioneer Team Member
Ha... haha! They're afraid of the wastes... we're not!
- Sonny
......
Run?
Turn, and run from your friends, run from your answers.
Run away and live. Isn't that what I've always wanted?
- Pioneer Team Member
What's that, Sonny... a letter? Someone back in town waiting for you to write? Man, you lucky bastard.
- Sonny
Maybe it'll become evidence.
- Pioneer Team Member
Evidence?
- Sonny
To let the people out there know what happened to us.
- Pioneer Team Member
I thought we were just gonna save Dirk and the others.
- Sonny
What if we fail?
- Sonny
I wanna leave behind something, Sam. If we don't make it, I want people to know that we tried.
He wants to live.
But more than that, he wants someone to hear his voice.
- Sonny
Why do we have to wait for you to give us a chance?
- Sonny
That's not fair.
He finds one of the bolts on the ground.
It's missing the head, but he still has his hands.
He's lost much to Oripathy. But he also gained a little bit—a sliver of power.
In the grand scheme of things, that power can't make a difference. Here and now, though, it is enough to snap the bolt in half.
The sharp cross-section could be a weapon against the enemy before him, to break the shackles imposed upon him.
- Dorothy
Don't come any closer.
- Sonny
Grr...
He loses control of the bolt he's holding, then his hands themselves.
A powerful but invisible force grabs his wrists, forcing him to stop.
- Dorothy
My research was never intended to be used against you.
- Dorothy
It was designed to help you deal with the beasts of the wastes, overcome harsh terrain, and survive Catastrophes. To give you a chance.
- Dorothy
It's supposed to protect you!
- Sonny
Hah... protect us?
- Sonny
Did you ever ask what we wanted?
He will move forward. The more it is denied him, the more he will struggle.
The broken bolt tears through his skin, causing blood to drip from it.
- Dorothy
Won't you just let this go?
- Sonny
Ha... haha!
- Sonny
No.
- Sonny
No, I don't wanna.
- Ferdinand
What's the situation at the site?
- Rhine Lab Tech
Defense says no one has left it.
- Ferdinand
If all goes according to plan, Dorothy's 'Hub' should be complete by now.
- Ferdinand
Any news from Elena?
- Rhine Lab Tech
Negative.
- Rhine Lab Tech
As of the last communication, she had not arrived at the observation station. Defense staff have not seen her.
- Ferdinand
......
- Ferdinand
Go and prepare the latest batch of Transmitter.
- Rhine Lab Tech
How much do you need?
- Ferdinand
One-third.
- Colonel's Voice
Time is running out for Rhine Lab.
- Ferdinand
The experiments are going well, Colonel. We're in the final phase.
- Colonel's Voice
We can't wait much longer.
- Colonel's Voice
The aftershocks of the Victorian Incident continue to reverberate. Both our friends and our enemies are making preparations.
- Colonel's Voice
We believe a weapon like that remains in the hands of someone, somewhere.
- Colonel's Voice
A century of hard work could vanish in the blink of an eye if they target one of our cities.
- Colonel's Voice
We'll be dragged back under the dark clouds, at the mercy of other nations.
- Ferdinand
That's why we need more advanced technology... the technology to deliver our weapons to any location with precision, regardless of distance.
- Colonel's Voice
Yes. Columbia needs a 'guide'.
- Colonel's Voice
You're smart, Clooney, and you're more practical than most smart people.
- Colonel's Voice
When this deal is done, I look forward to a fruitful partnership with the new Control of Rhine Lab.
- Ferdinand
The feeling is mutual.
- Ferdinand
Send more hands to the labs to package the reagents.
- Ferdinand
Yes, I need all of it.
- Elena
Whew... these guys are a headache.
- Strange Entity
—
- Elena
You've seen my Arts. They're nowhere near as practical as Greyy's.
- Silence
Yes, we've proven that their liquid structure is extremely resilient.
- Elena
And there is worse news.
- Elena
Did I mention that there's more of this material stored above us, all over the lab complex? Like, ten thousand times more, give or take.
- Silence
Maybe you should have mentioned that sooner.
- Silence
You said they were byproducts of the experiments. What was the main objective?
- Elena
A new technology that would replace traditional Arts Units.
- Elena
Energy was responsible for developing this special material. It's extremely sensitive to microvibrations, making it the ideal medium for receiving and encoding neural signals.
- Elena
We call it 'Transmitter'.
- Elena
Under ideal circumstances, it can turn someone with ordinary Originium Arts assimilation into an outstanding caster.
- Elena
That's why... even the byproduct... can be very... dangerous!
- Elena
Olivia, I can't fight and give a lecture at the same time.
- Elena
Sometimes I wish I had one of those devices like in Joyce's brain. That way, I could tell you stuff with just a thought.
- Silence
Well then, let me ask another question.
- Silence
How do we stop this experiment?
- Elena
......
- Silence
I know you put a lot into it, and I understand your loyalty to Dorothy. But...
- Elena
Enough, Olivia, you're reminding me of my sister again.
- Elena
The project is important to me, but something's clearly not right with Dorothy... did you think I was the kind of person who can't get my priorities straight?
- Elena
I... just... need... to... think.
- Elena
I haven't spent enough time here. I wish I pestered Dorothy more...
- Silence
...The caster.
- Elena
What?
- Silence
Elena, if the things before us are products of Originium Arts, where is the caster?
- Silence
It's not Dorothy controlling them. They're just there by her side.
- Elena
The missing Pioneers...
- Silence
The one place in the lab that Dorothy is most hesitant to show us.
- Silence
Use your Originium Arts, Elena! Aim behind her!
- Elena
Max power, right?
Starlight rains from the sky, catching everybody's attention for an instant.
Even the strange silver entities.
- Strange Entity
—
- Dorothy
No, not there!
- Dorothy
You shouldn't have done that, Elena.
- Elena
I... I can't stop... what's going on?
- Elena
It's like my limbs aren't my own... how much is that equipment worth? Never mind... got to hold on...
- Silence
It's not just us. Even the Pioneers...
- Pioneer Team Member
An earthquake?
- Sonny
Hang in there!
- Ptilopsis
Star... stars...
- Elena
Joyce... Olivia... I can't keep my hold on her...
- Elena
I'm losing sensation in my hands!
- Elena
A-Arts...!
- Elena
Never thought the day would come when I would be giving myself electric shocks...
- Silence
Electric?
- Silence
Electricity can interfere with Originium Arts effects...
- Silence
Did you say that this research is focused on vibration?
- Elena
Yeah... and?
- Silence
Sand.
- Silence
Sand's everywhere in the lab. On us, too... so small we never even noticed.
- Silence
Keep looking for the test subjects, Elena!
- Silence
I'll stop Dorothy.
- Rhine Lab Tech
Sir, the reagents have been loaded.
- Ferdinand
Good. We're going to Site 359.
- Rhine Lab Tech
You're going there personally?
- Ferdinand
Did I not make myself clear?
- Rhine Lab Tech
Er, I just thought there were enough staff there already...
- Ferdinand
Tell me, why is it that the more important an experiment is, the more times it has to be repeated?
- Rhine Lab Tech
Er... to avoid errors?
- Ferdinand
Because an important result must be absolutely reliable.
- Rhine Lab Tech
Is Director Franks not reliable?
- Ferdinand
Dorothy? She is driven by her emotions, and achieved great things because of them.
- Ferdinand
But her emotions may also become a weakness, at key moments.
- Rhine Lab Tech
What about Elena?
- Ferdinand
I hope you grow faster than her.
- Ferdinand
She is motivated, but too inexperienced. She may not be able to make the best possible decision without my advice.
- Ferdinand
There's only one person at Rhine Lab whom I trust implicitly—me.
- Dorothy
......
- Dorothy
Dr. Silence...
- Silence
*Cough*... hello, Director Franks.
- Dorothy
How did you come this far? I thought the vibration membrane would cut off nerve signals to your limbs.
- Silence
I'm a physician. I know the human body a little better than you do.
- Dorothy
I'm sorry. I know it must be uncomfortable.
- Dorothy
The experiment will be complete in just a little bit. I'll set you free when we're done.
- Silence
And then...?
- Silence
Is it really worth the damage that's being done?
- Silence
Look at the people who are struggling right now.
- Sonny
Don't... give... up!
- Sonny
Grab... my... hand!
- Silence
Those focused on the future tend to ignore what's happening in front of them.
- Silence
I've seen many people like that at Rhine Lab.
- Silence
But Director Franks... Dorothy... you're not like them.
- Silence
There are tears in your eyes when you look at Sonny and the other Pioneers.
- Dorothy
......
- Dorothy
I can feel their pain.
- Dorothy
But which is worse? A moment of pain, or an eternity of pain?
- Dorothy
The life they lead is a quagmire, Dr. Silence.
- Dorothy
I want to pull them up, give them the same chances that you and I once had.
- Dorothy
A drowning man may struggle even more when he feels someone pulling him.
- Dorothy
But is that really him refusing help?
- Dorothy
The bog has choked them, but I hear their cries for help. I've extended my hand, and I'm not about to pull it back now.
- Silence
But you need to stop.
- Dorothy
Your drone... when did you...?
- Silence
While you were talking.
- Silence
I've seen many places since I left Rhine Lab, some of them even worse than this sand-filled lab of yours.
- Silence
A physician knows how to keep her equipment clean at all times.
- Dorothy
Still...
- Elena
Dorothy... she won't even think about giving up...
- Elena
(My hands are getting number.)
- Elena
(Another shock? I'll probably fry my nerves.)
- Ptilopsis
...Light.
- Elena
Light? My Arts? You didn't use to love my Arts show this much, Joyce.
- Ptilopsis
Stars... bright...
- Ptilopsis
Far away.
- Elena
Where are you looking... what are you looking at?
- Elena
No, what really matters isn't what you're looking at...
- Elena
It's what you know... what did you learn that Olivia and I didn't?
- Ptilopsis
Home...
- Ptilopsis
In the light.
- Elena
Huh?
- Elena
You... you're moving?
- Elena
Wait, you were unconscious... that's why the vibration membrane didn't affect you as much.
- Elena
The direction you're pointing...
- Elena
That's the direction the silver constructs are gathering in.
- Elena
I know where the missing people went.
- Pioneer Team Member
Look, a door opened—
- Sonny
That's...
- Dorothy
Door... opened?
- Dorothy
No, look out—
All the vibrations stop.
The silver constructs dissolve into harmless pools of liquid.
Dorothy too stops dead in her tracks, giving up resistance even with Silence's drone at her neck.
All she sees is the door, and everything behind it.
What she vowed to protect, and the countless dreams that she carries.
