Gathering of Heroes

Narcissa, my child, you're always the strong one.

Leave the flowers on the table. I'll teach you writing once I'm done with my work.

Why did you come over here?

Sit down over there. We're having your favorite potato soup.

Do you want to help out? No need to be scared, I'll hold your hand.

Well done. You'll do even better in the future.

No, you'll be greater than I am. Much greater.

Does the wound on the back of your head still hurt?

Good girl.

You can have them once you've had dinner. Then there's a place I want to take you to.

Yes.

Those who pass through its doors are blessed by fate.

Welcome.

You're waiting for me?

Always have been.

Where are the Doctor? Where are the others?

Where they were. This court does not need an audience.

Court?

Is this a court? Who's on trial?

I, Loken Williams.

I am both accused and accuser.

In these last moments, before fate devours me—

I implore you to witness my life.

Here and now, I confess to all my crimes.

Greed.

Yes. My teacher reproached me.

He chided me for my recklessness, and admonished my extraction of infected organs from the dying as being both illegal and immoral.

He said my actions did not help patients, only accelerated their deaths.

They were already dying; their consciousness had already passed over to the other side. I did not intend to cause any more pain, nor did I change their fate.

But my teacher did not agree. He and his teacher pronounced my death sentence in academia, in a private trial with no justice to speak of.

They refused to admit that greed is a virtue for a scientist.

A small-town boy's biology education is limited to delivering burdenbeast calves, unless he musters the courage to dissect the newborn calf in the middle of the night.

The thirst for knowledge was enough to overcome his empathy. He needed to seize every opportunity to climb, to continue on the path of exploration.

Cowardice.

I have not often been found wanting of courage, but there was one thing that I yielded to.

Maylander banned me after my teacher reported me, a mark of shame that shut me out of all universities and government-sponsored research institutions.

It was the cruelest punishment you could inflict on a scientist in his prime. They stripped me of my right to research. It was akin to murder of the soul.

I began drowning myself in drink. For a year and ten months, I forced myself to face my trembling hands, so that I could forget the pain of not being able to hold a scalpel.

That was when they found me.

They. The shameless rascals.

The Department of Defense. They funded Loken Watertank. In return, I was to develop the most powerful weapon for them in five years.

Science is neutral, pure, and free. Practical value, especially in terms of weaponization, can only be a burden for science.

I did not want to contribute my research for them, but they knew what my weakness was.

Knowledge is expensive. Instruments, equipment, materials, down to the bricks that make up the laboratory—it all takes money.

Building the lab of my dreams costs more than building a skyscraper in the middle of Trimounts.

I had to admit my weakness and prostrate myself before their power.

How pathetic.

Is this nation any less so? They have allowed barbaric power to control the lifeline of science!

There is no one more short-sighted than the soldier. They are at the helm of science, yet they know not how to use such precious knowledge except to kill their own kind.

Folly.

Yes, folly. The most unforgiveable crime that a scientist can commit.

The foolish soldiers are easy to deceive. Getting subcutaneous Arts units, the result of billions in investment, was enough to satisfy them.

But I was too busy, too obsessed with my research, to realize the weakness and ambition of those around me.

A foolish student of mine handed part of my experiment data to the Department of Defense.

They learned what Loken Watertank was really researching, and were eager to see results, even threatening to take direct control.

How could I allow them to steal my dream, when I was so close to finishing my masterpiece?!

You took a risk. You failed.

You lost everything.

Narcissa destroyed your lab. That wasn't so bad, but then Maylander came again. They took Narcissa, robbed you of your dream again.

You were like a walking corpse. The Department of Defense confiscated the scraps, then wanted you to repay the billions of investment. You could not repay it, and you refused to work with them anymore.

So you were thrown into prison, like a piece of rotting meat that no one paid any further attention too.

That was my greatest crime—failure!

Now, my final and greatest failure stands before me.

—

Narcissa!

The only flower in my garden that has not been trampled into the mud. Broken, but still beautiful.

Look at me. Look at the Loken Williams who raised you, educated you, oppressed you, tormented you.

You witnessed me, inches away from the summit, and witnessed my fall from grace into the abyss.

Now I invite you, child, to be the stick that measures my pain, my regrets, my crimes.

You are the only one fit to do so.

Push forward!

Area suppressed!

Gamma and Delta?

No more reinforcing power armors!

Excellent. Continue the attack and prepare to breach the building.

Argh—!

Not so fast.

Colonel!

Should I start with you?

Will killing you buy more time?

You... traitor!

Traitor? We have always been enemies. Who have I betrayed?

Argh—*cough*—

How fragile.

Should I have done this a long time ago? You almost killed our beloved Vice President. Maybe I can exchange your head for a pardon.

All units...

Attack...!

You want to be a martyr.

Perhaps I should oblige.

Oh, there you are, hero.

The military and Maylander have this building surrounded. You can't win.

Win?

It's not victory that I'm looking for. It's a chance.

Same for Kristen.

No chance is worth so many lives, including your own.

You think so?

Compared to my knowledge, my own life has always been insignificant.

I've seen so much history, but to time, I'm hardly even a passing breeze.

That's my life. My poor, boring life.

A tiny little bit of time, for the chance to touch eternal knowledge, even for an instant—how can it not be worth it?

You're even fascinated by death.

Don't get me wrong. I'm just... curious.

I know thousands of ways to die, over hundreds, thousands of years of history. But I only get to die once.

Period. Full-stop, standing between accumulated memories, and the possibilities of the future. How does it feel?

You'll find out.

Oh dear, looks like I've lost.

I guess that's it, Saria. Kill me here, and make it quick. Or maybe not so quick. I should savor the moment. I only get one chance, after all.

......

You... madwoman.

What about you? Did you think yourself a creature of reason in all that you do?

You wanted to prevent disaster in the most efficient manner. You're standing at the door. Why don't you work with the military?

They tend to make things worse.

What about Maylander?

They have been your firm allies for the past five years. They made the decision to work with the military.

Oh, and the adorable little Liberi.

The little brown bird, so full of morality and empathy. I saw her in one of the military aircraft.

......

I didn't know you had that expression in you.

Your hands are growing weaker. Everything is going out of control, even your own heart. Is that not a strange feeling to a woman like you?

Your taunts are meaningless.

Poor Saria. That's not what your eyes, your hands, every inch of your body is saying.

Are you sure you don't want to run over to the lab there right this instant?

It may already be too late.

You—

......

The door to the lab is broken... how could it be?

Loken...!

Well, time is almost up anyway.

Might as well call it a day.

You're Loken.

You came to the orphanage every Friday evening.

You brought different flowers each time.

Your clothes always had a strong smell to them. The smell of swimming pools and freshly painted fences.

I didn't really mind that smell. I wanted to tell you that you didn't need to hide it with flowers.

But I didn't say anything because I liked your flowers. I liked the stories of plants that you told. It reminded me of Dad.

Good, good! Your memories are coming back!

Yes, I'm remembering.

You used to be very nice to me. Then you became very mean.

I'm sorry, child, I'm sorry.

I promised you... I wanted to give you a happy future.

You and your brothers should have been the perfect lifeforms.

You would have redefined Originium Arts, freed yourselves from the shackles of talent, the plague of Oripathy.

Yes, you... no, we should have conquered fate itself together.

Why? Why couldn't I do it? I ruined us both!

Why are you crying?

Tears falling on the hand. Salty. Painful.

I have seen you cry before.

That day... no, I don't want to remember.

I don't want you in my memories. It's painful to forget, but even more painful to remember you.

Don't forget.

Remember me. Please, remember me. Remember the criminal.

No... no...

My brothers...

Why... why? Why! My memories are coming back... my head hurts... it's cold!

Grab me.

Grab my neck. Clutch it in your hands. Do you feel the pulsating veins? The blood is warm. You won't be cold anymore.

Blood... how could it be warm?

It's colder than ice, more suffocating than water.

It's you.

It's all you.

You took my life and my brothers away.

You turned me into... into...

Then kill me. Destroy my broken body. Crush my guilty soul. For all that you've lost.

Kill you...

Will all the crimes disappear if I kill you?

The lives that people should have lived won't be taken away again? They can be with the ones they love?

...I can't lie to you anymore.

But at least I deserve it.

Time is short. We'll have company soon.

......

I'll go to them.

I won't let anyone... stand in the way of what's right.

Doctor, the army men are coming!

We need to go deeper! Hurry!

Old Loken's locked the door! This building is like a maze. It's got Nasti's handprints all over it.

We've been at it for a while now, but we still have no clue where they are.

I'm concerned about the kitten... but I doubt an old, sickly scientist like Loken could do anything to her.

Huh?

Did he finally go off the deep end? They say being in prison too long makes you go crazy.

But... well, I'm not sure I should say it, but the kitten has a reason to be angry after Loken did all that to her, doesn't she?

I was angry when I saw Iffy's experiment logs, angry enough that I wanted to flood those ruins six feet deep.

Loken would be getting what he deserved. Assuming, just assuming, that Rosmontis really had vengeance on her mind... I'm not sure I'm really in a position to stop her...

Th-That was close...

We almost got roasted together!

Army power armors! Get inside!

Doctor, we have to—

Over here!

Am I starting to hear things? Why do I feel like I just heard Iffy's voice?

Come with me!

......

What's wrong with you? Step on it! You FNG or something?

Y-YOU'RE the FNG!

It's sounding more and more like...

—!

Target, 3 o'clock!

Nngh?!

So that's how it works? It's so complicated... I'd rather use my fire...

Doctor? MuMu? You're both here!

It's a piece of cake for a genius like me!

Alright, well, Saria modified it, so she's the genius. Ask her the details. She's close.

......

Saria's here too?

If only she would let me do stuff myself. But why don't you look happy, MuMu?

It's not that...

Wait, that's the way Rosmontis went... the power armor went there?

Go, go, go!

Hostile conta—er, it's a young girl. Sensors indicate the presence of an elderly male further in.

Should we proc—wait!

......

Giant floating weapons!

High-threat target identified! Attack!

You're... a soldier.

Cold outer shell... no warmth, no emotion.

Are you fighting bad people? Do you stand with the people who have been hurt?

Possible unidentified high-threat test subject!

No, you don't have your own will.

You don't think about right and wrong before you act, do you?

Then, you're just a puppet on strings.

Go away, or I'll destroy you too.