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The Witch's Ardent Research is the third part of the Trailblaze Mission chapter As Tomorrow Became Yesterday. It automatically begins after completing Traverse Stars and Stride Cosmos.
Steps[]
- Explore the Matrix, seek the secrets of the Demiurge
- Control the Hand of Zagreus to clear obstacles
- Use the Punch action to break the obstacle blocks on the platform (0/3)
- Board the Mistletoe
- Activate "Mistletoe"
- Pilot the "Mistletoe" deep into the Matrix
- Search for the independent signal source terminal according to navigation instructions
- Hack the terminal, reverse the computation
- Board the Mistletoe
- Search and hack into the next terminal
- Board the Mistletoe
- Search and hack into the final terminal
- Board the Mistletoe
- Break through the barrier and keep moving forward
- Track the signal of Exomyth
- Touch the Chronocognitive Anchor to enter Exomyth
- Search for Lygus's coordinates in Exomyth
- Search for Lygus's coordinates in Exomyth again
- Pilot the Mistletoe to the "tombstone" mentioned by Lygus
- Confront Lygus and press for the truth of the Demiurge
- Learn the truth about Demiurge
- Board the Mistletoe
- Activate the Chronocognitive Anchor and commence the meeting of Genius Society
Gameplay Notes[]
- This mission uses the Fate's Ensemble system, played from the perspective of Herta. The game provides her for use as a Story character.
Dialogue[]
Explore the Matrix, seek the secrets of the Demiurge[]
Mission DescriptionThe Scepter's kernel is severely damaged, little more than rubble. Seeking traces of the Demiurge here would be like finding a needle in a haystack. How revealing... This only confirms one thing...
I'm exactly where I need to be.
- Herta: Is it just me, or does this Demiurge Matrix...
- Herta: Feel completely dead? It's nothing like how the Memokeeper described it.
- Screwllum: The environmental readings are all wrong. Conclusion: this must be what the "kernel" actually looks like in the real world.
- Herta: What did Zandar do to the Scepter...?
- Screwllum: ...
- Screwllum: "At the end of light, there must be silence. Certain, pure, and absolute darkness."
- Herta: Not the time to quote the Lord of Silence. Bad omen. Either way, we have to press on...
- Herta: Until we uncover the truth behind the 13th Titan.
- Screwllum: The buried past is the key to stopping Irontomb. That is, if it even exists.
- Herta: Zandar says the Demiurge never existed. Who actually buys that? You can erase the records, but not the truth.
- Herta: It vanished too cleanly. No traces, like someone yelling, "Look! There's nothing here!"
- Herta: Too bad I'm the type who can't resist digging deeper. Looks like I'll be counting on you again, Screwy. Let's tear this system inside out.
- Screwllum: Always happy to help. But as your academic partner, I have to ask—
- Screwllum: Herta, what if we fail?
- Herta: ...
- Screwllum: Let's say the Demiurge really doesn't exist. Do you have a backup plan?
- Herta: Backup plan? Of course. If we can't find the key...
- Herta: We turn the "lock" into the key.
- Screwllum: That plan's cost... is incalculable. It shouldn't even be on the table.
- Herta: Then let's hope we never have to use it.
- Herta: There's no point worrying about the end just yet. One step at a time. Let's go. We don't want to leave the others waiting.
Control the Hand of Zagreus to clear obstacles[]
- (After previous dialogue)
- Herta: You brought what I asked for, right?
- Screwllum: "A butterfly has to land on the branch before it can dance."
- Screwllum: We'll need a wide, open platform before "her" entrance.
- (Upon approaching the Hand of Zagreus)
- Herta: Just use that thing over there, Zag, Z...
Use the Punch action to break the obstacle blocks on the platform (0/3)[]
- (After engaging with the Hand of Zagreus)
- Herta: What a dumb name. I hereby rename it... "Herta's Big Hand!"
- (After punching the obstacle once)
- Herta: Herta's Big Hand is what I call power! Keep it going.
- (After punching the obstacle twice)
- Herta: Still not done? What is this, a junkyard for old Intellitron's leftovers?
- (After punching the obstacle three times)
- Herta: Finally. All set. Time for your precious treasure to make its debut.
- Screwllum: Of course. Just give me a second...
- Screwllum: Target initialized. With these wings, hacking should be much more efficient.
Board the Mistletoe[]
- Step DescriptionScrewllum's treasure looks promising. Let's hope it works just as well on the Matrix.
- (Approach the "Mistletoe")
- Herta: Oh? A classic nuclear heat engine? Classy choice.
- Screwllum: Just a personal preference. Her name's Mistletoe.
- Herta: Every flower in your garden's got a bit of poison, huh?
- Screwllum: Also a personal preference.
- Herta: It reminds me of the last time, when we tangled with that Punklordian brat. What did she call this kind of infiltration tool again? Right, Dirty Data Shell. It wraps around the kernel to fool even top-tier firewalls.
- Herta: But yours is way too clean. Not even a hint of real-world grit.
- Screwllum: Herta, your tone is unusually emotional.
- Screwllum: Suggestion: Let's get back to the topic at hand.
- Herta: I thought we were done with that conversation.
- Screwllum: Unfortunately, current conditions won't let me ignore any variables. Especially the most important one: your will.
- Screwllum: Irontomb never stops, it is evolving faster than any of our worst projections.
- Screwllum: Every Instant in the Aeon's calculation is like a sword hanging over the cosmos. Every move humanity makes could speed up its arrival.
- Herta: Which is exactly why we can't mess this up.
- Herta: And now Droidhead wants to hand down judgment to the poor cosmos again: Borderstar Trade War, Emperor's War, Rubert's death... every time THEIR Instant arrived, it meant another bloodbath for humanity.
- Screwllum: But in this ultimate battle of Erudition, you and I are supposed to be players, not pawns.
- Screwllum: If you choose to burn yourself out as a "resource," then everything we've worked for means nothing.
- Screwllum: Herta, the cosmos won't just stand by and let a genius throw their life away...
- Screwllum: And neither will I.
- Herta: No need to kill the mood. This is why we're here, isn't it? We need to find the Demiurge and that lost key.
- Herta: I'm not here to be a "Deliverer." I just want to beat Zandar and Droidhead.
- Herta: Right now, I just need to know: are you with me?
- Screwllum: ...
- Screwllum: Of course. Time to board. After you.
- Herta: Let's tidy this place up and see what this "Demiurge" really is.
Activate "Mistletoe"[]
- (After activating the "Mistletoe")
- (Unlock Achievement Twilight of the Gods)
- Herta: Let's hope this Matrix is better organized than the Emperor's junkyard of a birthplace.
Pilot the "Mistletoe" deep into the Matrix[]
- (When approaching the opening to the Matrix)
- Herta: Buckle up. We're hacking in.
- (After going through the opening)
- Herta: This is...
- Screwllum: Herta, this whole space has been completely tainted by some kind of energy.
- Herta: I see it too. We're thinking the same thing.
- Herta: Zandar, how could you go this far, turning your own "graveyard" into this?
[]
- Step DescriptionExploration hit a snag. A barrier of quatorzain algebraic expressions has isolated this space. Screwllum suggests hacking into the independent signal terminal and using reverse computation to break through the barrier, unlocking the seal on the Scepter's kernel.
- (Approach the barrier)
- Herta: What's that up ahead?
- Screwllum: Quatorzain algebraic expressions. It's built for "isolation," not defense.
- (Display Trojan Program "Mistletoe" I tutorial)
- The Mistletoe is Screwllum's personal collection piece, an elegantly designed Trojan program. (TapTap/PressPress/ClickClick) the Cruise button to start flying, (taptap/presspress/clickclick) again to switch to Hover state.
The Mistletoe is Screwllum's personal collection piece, an elegantly designed Trojan program. (TapTap/PressPress/ClickClick) the Cruise button to start flying, (taptap/presspress/clickclick) again to switch to Hover state.Use the left joystick to steer the Mistletoe, (taptap/presspress/clickclick) the Accelerate button for a temporary SPD Boost.
Use the left joystick to steer the Mistletoe, (taptap/presspress/clickclick) the Accelerate button for a temporary SPD Boost.(TapTap/PressPress/ClickClick) the Exit button to end flight, toggle the Vertical Inversion option to change flight control.
(TapTap/PressPress/ClickClick) the Exit button to end flight, toggle the Vertical Inversion option to change flight control.The Mistletoe is equipped with an Auto-Cruise program. (TapTap/PressPress/ClickClick) the Auto-Cruise button, and the Mistletoe will automatically fly to the navigation point. (TapTap/PressPress/ClickClick) again during auto-cruise to switch to Manual Control.
The Mistletoe is equipped with an Auto-Cruise program. (TapTap/PressPress/ClickClick) the Auto-Cruise button, and the Mistletoe will automatically fly to the navigation point. (TapTap/PressPress/ClickClick) again during auto-cruise to switch to Manual Control.
- (Interactive tutorial)
-
- Switch to Auto-Cruise
- (After exiting tutorial)
- Herta: So basically, the "door" to the tomb, right? Great, let's find the handle.
- Screwllum: I'm picking up multiple independent signals, with the same data structure as the barrier.
- Screwllum: Projection: We can hack the terminal, reverse the computation, and turn it into an attack.
- Herta: Classic move: Use their own systems against them. Take us to the nearest one.
Hack the terminal, reverse the computation[]
- (Investigate the terminal)
- Herta: Almost no response. Just as I feared. Not promising.
- Screwllum: The output is barely a third of what we need. Logic says we'll need multiple terminals to coordinate the strike. Locking onto the next one now.
- Herta: Find anything else?
- Screwllum: Regarding the origin of these ruins: no logs found yet. Zandar erased all records.
- Screwllum: But I did find some... interesting "scars" in the circuit.
- Screwllum: High-energy radiation, internal Imaginary-energy contamination. From what I know, there's only one thing that fits.
- Herta: Skip the science talk, Screwy. That thing only goes by one name...
- Herta: The Stellaron.
- Screwllum: Exactly. Zandar blew one up just to "clean" the entire Scepter system.
- Herta: So that's what he meant by "killed that Titan with my own hands."
- Herta: He wanted to turn the neuron of the Erudition into a relay for the Destruction. That meant getting rid of all of it at all costs.
- Herta: The lifeform known as the "Demiurge" was the original target of the Scepter's extrapolation.
- Screwllum: It makes sense. "Evernight" calling it "the first Nouspore" confirms this viewpoint.
- Screwllum: "The prime mover of life"... that's what Scepter δ-me13 was originally tasked with. Even after it got scrapped, the query kept running. Yet, the true value lies in the process of solving it, not the answer itself...
- Screwllum: Then... does this mean finding the Demiurge is hopeless?
- Herta: No, I'd say exactly the opposite.
- Herta: It means Zandar had no control. He couldn't contain the Demiurge, just like he couldn't handle Droidhead. So he tried to erase every trace.
- Herta: But he failed. It still left a mark.
Board the Mistletoe[]
- (After previous dialogue)
- Herta: By the way, if there's another Stellaron in Amphoreus...
- Herta: Why hasn't (Trailblazer) reacted to it at all?
- Screwllum: You said the Demiurge left a trace, right?
- Herta: Yeah, but not in the real world. Remember the "Great Tomb of the Nameless Titan"?
Search and hack into the next terminal[]
- (After activating the "Mistletoe", display Trojan Program "Mistletoe" II tutorial)
- During flight, you can open the map to check your waypoints.
During flight, you can open the map to check your waypoints.Select the waypoint icon and click Start Cruise, and the Mistletoe will automatically fly to and land at the selected waypoint.
Select the waypoint icon and click Start Cruise, and the Mistletoe will automatically fly to and land at the selected waypoint.
- (Land the "Mistletoe" and investigate the terminal)
- Herta: Trailblaze Archive 4:66 — The data from PhiLia093 clearly indicates that the Demiurge did in fact enter Amphoreus' extrapolation.
- Screwllum: Inside that world, it was the 13th, forgotten Titan, the one who listened to thirty million cycles of Cyrene's "memory."
- Screwllum: But "Evernight" said the opposite. She believed that tomb was empty from the start.
- Screwllum: The Nameless Titan never existed. The so-called "listener" was just a trap set by the Remembrance to steal the Scepter.
- Herta: A memetic entity full of theatrics. How much of what she's saying is true? Would an Aeon really speak in circles like this? I doubt it.
- Screwllum: The Remembrance's behavior is certainly odd, but her assessment aligns with our current reality: Since we entered the Matrix, we haven't found a single clue pointing to the Demiurge.
- Herta: And that's the key, Screwy. Zandar's actions prove the Demiurge exists. But what "Evernight" said and what we've actually seen all point to the opposite...
- Herta: So we have to assume that both are true. And if that's the case, then the "contradiction" leads us to—
- Screwllum: The truth.
- Herta: Exactly. One last terminal. One final key. Time to crack open the "kernel."
- Board the Mistletoe and continue the flight
- (Immediately board the Mistletoe)
- Pause the flight
- (Stay on the platform)
Board the Mistletoe[]
- (After previous dialogue)
- Herta: Zandar had to lie to the original Phainon and Cyrene.
- Screwllum: Logic: He had already identified the Remembrance as a threat, yet found no viable way to eliminate it.
- Herta: All right, let's finish this. Time to break through that barrier.
Search and hack into the final terminal[]
- (Land the "Mistletoe" and investigate the terminal)
- Screwllum: Operation authorized. Path energy readings: The Erudition, declining. The Destruction, surging.
- Screwllum: The Remembrance... zero?
- Herta: What's going on?
- Screwllum: Cause: unknown. THEY left no discernible trace within the real matrix.
- Herta: That shouldn't be possible. Could it be that the Era Nova exhausted all of the Remembrance's texture?
- Herta: ...
- Herta: Log it for now. The dots still aren't connecting.
- (Immediately board the Mistletoe)
- Pause the flight
- (Stay on the platform)
Board the Mistletoe[]
Break through the barrier and keep moving forward[]
- Step DescriptionScrewllum's treasure looks promising. Let's hope it works just as well on the Matrix.
- (After activating the "Mistletoe", display Trojan Program "Mistletoe" III tutorial)
- The quatorzain algebraic expressions barrier has been deactivated. Screwllum has deployed multiple Acceleration Rings in the δme-13 dataspace to enhance Mistletoe's hacking efficiency.
The quatorzain algebraic expressions barrier has been deactivated. Screwllum has deployed multiple Acceleration Rings in the δme-13 dataspace to enhance Mistletoe's hacking efficiency.Piloting the Mistletoe through an Acceleration Ring will grant a powerful speed boost effect, during which directional control is disabled.
Piloting the Mistletoe through an Acceleration Ring will grant a powerful speed boost effect, during which directional control is disabled.
Track the signal of Exomyth[]
- Step DescriptionAfter breaking through the barrier, Screwllum detects an intriguing signal: Exomyth. It's time to meet the old Intellitron in reality and find clues about the Demiurge from his head.
- (After proceeding through the first two Acceleration Rings)
- Herta: Quieter than I thought. I was expecting a full-on aerial brawl.
- Screwllum: It's advised to remain vigilant. The Destruction's levels are still rising.
- Screwllum: Huh?
- Herta: What's the matter?
- Screwllum: Interesting. I just picked up a signal from the Exomyth.
- (Approach the marked location)
- Herta: Tch. This repulsive force is unlike anything I've felt before... Is this the place?
- Screwllum: Correct. Judging by its defensive properties, this is the entrance to the Exomyth.
- Herta: Didn't expect that. Who builds a lab in the middle of digital rubble?
- Herta: Then again, "never doubt a dead man's resolve." So, how's our dearly departed doing?
- Screwllum: He severed part of his neural pathways to break free from Lord Anaxagoras's control...
- Screwllum: But that also triggered the fail-safe I set. Conclusion: Zandar has lost all combat functionality and is no longer capable of action.
- Herta: So now he's a spectator, literally.
- Herta: Screwy, can you open a path? Just to be sure, I want to see this for myself. Might as well drop in and say hi to the real him.
- Screwllum: Logic: Scanning his Inspiration Circuit might help us track down the Demiurge.
- Herta: Exactly. His brain is the crime scene. There's no way it's spotless.
- Screwllum: But it could be a trap.
- Herta: That's why you're here. Two-on-one. We've never lost that matchup.
- Screwllum: I'm honored. The Chronocognitive Anchor's in place. Proceed when ready.
Touch the Chronocognitive Anchor to enter Exomyth[]
- (Investigate the Chronocognitive Anchor)
- Investigate
- Herta: I knew it. The one thing I didn't want to happen...
- Herta: He's not here.
- Screwllum: ...
- Screwllum: The coordinates are accurate. Zandar is still here.
- Screwllum: However, his position is shifting rapidly and chaotically. This pattern doesn't match any known shielding technology.
- Herta: It's his domain. Stay alert.
Search for Lygus's coordinates in Exomyth[]
- Step DescriptionWhat's going on? Old Intellitron isn't in Exomyth. Stay alert, Screwy, let's drag this stuck-up administrator out.
Search for Lygus's coordinates in Exomyth again[]
- (Upon approaching the marked location, the player is back to the beginning)
- Herta: Tch. Cheap trick.
- Screwllum: The spatial field here is undergoing autonomous recalibration. Initiating reverse-engineering of the interference source.
- Screwllum: Try again.
- (Approach the marked location again)
- Herta: We're back.
- Screwllum: Reverse-engineering complete. The results... are not what I expected.
- Screwllum: Logs show "Lycurgus" revoked administrator access.
- Screwllum: The Chronocognitive Anchor can't get a fix because at the system level, "Lygus" no longer exists. Our navigation target is... a "null set".
- Herta: So he's... stopped resisting?
- Screwllum: Before vanishing, it seems he left one last message for us.
- "Zandar": >>> To those who follow: All is proven. Find me beneath the tombstone.
- Herta: Melodramatic.
- Screwllum: He was expecting us. And once he learned of the Great Tomb's existence, he initiated his own search for the Demiurge.
- Herta: Guess he wants a final showdown. Fine, let the old Intellitron dig his own grave, just like he wants.
- Screwllum: "To be in the purest light is to be in the purest dark: Nothing exists there."
- Herta: The Scepter's mainframe... or maybe we should now call it "the Lord Ravager's Placenta."
- Screwllum: Unfortunately, we still haven't found anything.
- Herta: Really? I don't think so. "Not finding anything" is our biggest find.
- Screwllum: Please elaborate.
- Herta: If the Demiurge was destroyed, there'd be at least some bits of it left. I don't buy that a Stellaron could have blasted all the traces away as cleanly as a scalpel.
- Herta: As I said before, its disappearance is too "clean." If the Garden hadn't stirred the pot, no one would even know about the Demiurge's existence... We're talking about the Scepter's original extrapolation goal. There's no way that nothing of it was left behind.
- Herta: Or we can look at it from another perspective. If you were "Zandar," would you be this obsessed with a concept that poses no threat? Would you guard against it at every turn?
- Screwllum: There is the possibility that he's naturally meticulous and hates variables.
- Herta: That does track with the impression he gave about himself, but "Zandar" shut that theory down himself just now.
- Herta: Choosing to act even if it'll cost him dearly... We know that feeling well.
- Herta: The "unknown" is right in front of us, so we only have one choice: "Solve" it.
- Screwllum: You sound pretty convinced. Surely you already have a theory.
- Screwllum: Care to share?
- Herta: Of course. Though I don't have hard proof, I'm almost certain...
- Herta: That the Demiurge has been in everyone's plain sight all this time. Yet...
- Herta: They were mistaken for someone else.
- Herta: That'd make the most sense. Why was the room empty? Because the person locked in there had run away ages ago.
- Herta: But they were weak and small, and had no presence whatsoever. Even the old Intellitron didn't notice them.
- Screwllum: Which also means there's a high chance that their powers are minuscule and cannot alter the outcome of the battle at all.
- Herta: Well, at least "Zandar" is scared of them.
- Herta: Come on. It's time to confront him. Let's go to the "tombstone" he talked about.
Pilot the Mistletoe to the "tombstone" mentioned by Lygus[]
- Step DescriptionOld Intellitron left notes about the "tombstone" as his final message. All signs indicate that Demiurge does indeed exist. It's time to confront old Intellitron, for his apprehension is the undeniable proof.
- (After activating the "Mistletoe")
- Herta: What a mess. Total devastation.
- Screwllum: He sought to bury the truth beneath absolute Destruction. Logically sound, but ruthlessly extreme.
- Herta: Still, slim chances doesn't mean no chances.
- Herta: I've hunted down a single grain of sand in the universe before. This won't stop me.
- Screwllum: Calculation results: Your backup plan... has a success rate infinitesimally close to zero.
- Herta: Which means it COULD work, no?
- Screwllum: This is the place below the tombstone.
- Herta: Let's open Lygus's coffin like he wanted.
Confront Lygus and press for the truth of the Demiurge[]
- (After landing the "Mistletoe")
- "Zandar": ...
- Herta: Heh. Looks like you were right.
- (Approach Lygus's head)
- "Zandar": ...
- Herta: Nothing but a head left? Who'd have thought you'd look this bad in real life?
- "Zandar": ...My... belated... greetings.
- "Zandar": Welcome, you two. I'm very happy, that you responded, to my final words.
- Herta: All this "tombstone" and "final words"... Did you end yourself to atone for your guilt or something?
- "Zandar": "Irontomb" is already powerful enough. I just need to wait.
- "Zandar": I remain here only to share the joy of discovery, and also to congratulate you two on reaching the same conclusion as me.
- "Zandar": ...The conclusion regarding the truth of "Amphoreus's Heart."
- Herta: End this charade already. That "Amphoreus's Heart" you're talking about is just the missing Demiurge.
- Herta: And its corresponding vessel... was this very Scepter. You interfered with the experiment and made "Amphoreus's Body" into a hollow shell, all to incubate Irontomb within.
- Herta: That's why you either killed or kicked out all of the Memosnatchers. You wanted to eliminate any chance of a "consciousness" coming into being, no matter the cost.
- "Zandar": "Even the strongest wall can fall to a single crack." The memory of betrayal has been etched into my heart, and I will never show mercy.
- "Zandar": Now, the perfect vessel has already fused with "Amphoreus's Body."
- Screwllum: Unfortunately for you, the answer is all but revealed regarding who the Demiurge is.
- "Zandar": Then let us share the joy of discovering the truth. The last secret of the saga will finally dissipate here...
- "Zandar": As we reveal the truth behind PhiLia093's disappearance: A lie by the Remembrance.
Learn the truth about Demiurge[]
- A Young Girl's Voice: But where should I start with the story about "me"?
- A Young Girl's Voice: From the beginning of the universe?
- A Young Girl's Voice: Just kidding. That would be too much. I just want to tell a teeny story...
- A Young Girl's Voice: So little that it started with a "seed."
- A Young Girl's Voice: I know you're listening, my good friend.
- >>> ...
- "Seed of Memory": >>> ...
- A Young Girl's Voice: The god in my dream told me that the world sprouted from a "seed."
- A Young Girl's Voice: It grew into a great tree named Amphoreus, and "Time" became its branches and leaves, basking in the light.
- A Young Girl's Voice: What a coincidence. Dappled light coming through the leaves is my first "memory" as well. On a very ordinary early morning, beneath the village's biggest tree...
- A Young Girl's Voice: The daughter of Aedes Elysiae quietly came into this world.
- Form Image
- "Seed of Memory": >>> ...
- A Young Girl's Voice: What a moving opening. A loud cry was the first gift the child gave to the world.
- A Young Girl's Voice: "The prophecy's fulfilled!" The villagers say. "This child is a gift from the Titans."
- A Young Girl's Voice: "Pink hair and sharp ears... She was born to be the priest of 'Time'."
- A Young Girl's Voice: The Titans also gave their blessings: "You shall fade when the flowers bloom, for every ending begets a beginning."
- A Young Girl's Voice: Flowers will bloom and wilt... What a beautiful ending. This page concluded in laughter...
- A Young Girl's Voice: "Cry loud, child. Let your voice reach Oronyx."
- "Seed of Memory": >>> ...
- Save
- "Seed of Memory": >>> Undefined Record #6. Archived.
- A Young Girl's Voice: Anyway, I don't like tears.
- A Young Girl's Voice: Time quietly flowed by... in the midst of laughter.
- A Young Girl's Voice: The wind from my hometown caressed the ears of wheat, and there were swings, windchimes, the sea, and the little fairies' off-tune a capella songs.
- Form Image
- "Seed of Memory": >>> ...
- A Young Girl's Voice: "But the name 'Aedes Elysiae' came from the unpleasant sorrows of the gods..."
- A Young Girl's Voice: My childhood friend did not understand. "Yet you always seem so happy, as if nothing ever worried you."
- A Young Girl's Voice: Why was I like that, then? That's because...
- A Young Girl's Voice: "The world was gentle to me, so I grew up to be gentle as well."
- "Seed of Memory": >>> ...
- Save
- "Seed of Memory": >>> Undefined Record #28. Archived.
- A Young Girl's Voice: But fate was fickle, and it urged the child to grow up, to grow bigger and bigger, and to go to places far away.
- A Young Girl's Voice: Just like how the crumbling world could not preserve an eternal hometown.
- A Young Girl's Voice: "Just as the ballad blown on the breeze says: Losses are a constant on the Flame-Chase journey."
- "Seed of Memory": >>> ...
- A Young Girl's Voice: Oh? Whose ears are pricked up now? You've definitely heard "me" say this sentence a lot of times.
- A Young Girl's Voice: You know that the story starts to deviate from here. Aren't you looking forward to it? Then let's get started!
- A Young Girl's Voice: "The Hero's Journey crosses through the long night, through tears and laughter, and once again heads towards tomorrow..."
- "Seed of Memory": >>> ...
- Save
- "Seed of Memory": >>> Undefined Record #496, Archived.
- "Seed of Memory": >>> Parsing object information: 0, 9, 3...
- Form Image
- "Seed of Memory": >>> ...
- Save
- "Seed of Memory": >>> Correction: PhiLia093's Record #496. Archived.
- >>> System running...
- >>> δ-me13:\amphoreus\Irontomb.exe Run Time Error
- >>> Program from an unknown publisher δ-me13:\Demiurge\Philia093.exe
- >>> Allow write access?
- Allow
- >>> Running Philia093.exe...
- Cyrene: Hi, miss me yet?
- Cyrene: I'm just messing with you. This is the first time "I" have met you...
- Cyrene: ...And it looks like it'll also be the last.
- "Seed of Memory": >>> PhiLia... 093...
- Cyrene: Since we don't have all day, let's get started, shall we?
- Cyrene: As always, I'll read this book to you.
- Cyrene: That way, it won't just be "Cyrene's" memories alone.
- Cyrene: Where should I start this time? Lemme see...
- δ-me13: >>> Formatting complete.
- "Seed of Memory": >>> 0, 9, 3...
- "Seed of Memory": >>> Size... Grayscale... Proportions... Threshold...
- "Seed of Memory": >>> Outputting analysis result...
- Learn
- "Seed of Memory": >>> keyword
- Save
- "Seed of Memory": >>> Peach's Record #8128. Archived.
- >>> System running...
- >>> δ-me13:\amphoreus\Irontomb.exe Run Time Error
- >>> An unhandled exception occurred (1/3) Object name: "Every page... of record..."
- >>> Click "Excerpt" to ignore the error and continue. >>> Click "Details" to view the full log.
- Excerpt
- >>> Running Irontomb.exe...
- Details
- >>> Running Philia093.exe...
- Excerpt
- Details
- "Seed of Memory": >>> Query: "Record."
- Record: "Electrical Signal Sequence: PoleMos600. Track: Strife."
- "Seed of Memory": >>> Related to: Stripe.
- "Seed of Memory": >>> Comment: Pretty.
- Record: "Electrical Signal Sequence: SkeMma720. Track: Reason."
- "Seed of Memory": >>> Related to: Raisin.
- "Seed of Memory": >>> Comment: Yummy.
- Record: "Electrical Signal Sequence: PhiLia093..."
- "Seed of Memory": >>> Related to: La... Lam... Love...
- "Seed of Memory": >>> ...
- Cyrene: Look. What a magnificent sight.
- "Seed of Memory": >>> Comment: Peach.
- Cyrene: Even this classical world contains a "futuristic" palace like this.
- Cyrene: Would Aedes Elysiae end up looking like this after a few thousand years?
- "Seed of Memory": >>> Conclusion: It won't.
- Cyrene: I want to share a story with you this time. I saw a little nymph on my way here. It was on a fallen wheat stalk, and it glowed under the sunlight.
- Cyrene: It was incredible. I forgot all my pains at that moment and just... stared at it in a trance.
- "Seed of Memory": >>> Record: Peach. Is on the ground.
- Cyrene: I wonder... did every "Cyrene" in the past feel that the nymph was beautiful?
- Cyrene: Would they also have recorded that scene into the eternal saga?
- Cyrene: So... could you give me more time, please? I want to leave behind more "memories" for the "future"...
- δ-me13: >>> Formatting complete.
- "Seed of Memory": >>> Bye. Peach.
- Save
- "Seed of Memory": >>> Peach's Record #...
- Cyrene: "As long as I record every page of this story and tell it to you..."
- Cyrene: "Amphoreus won't be forgotten."
- "Seed of Memory": >>> ...
- "Seed of Memory": >>> Query: "Record."
- Record: "Electrical Signal Sequence: PoleMos600. Track: Strife."
- "Seed of Memory": >>> Related to: Stripe.
- "Seed of Memory": >>> Comment: Pretty.
- Record: "Electrical Signal Sequence: SkeMma720. Track: Reason."
- "Seed of Memory": >>> Related to: Raisin.
- "Seed of Memory": >>> Comment: Yummy.
- Record: "Electrical Signal Sequence: PhiLia093..."
- "Seed of Memory": >>> Related to: La... Lam... Love...
- "Seed of Memory": >>> ...
- Learn
- "Seed of Memory": >>> Comment: Peach = Love?
- >>> System running...
- >>> δ-me13:\amphoreus\Irontomb.exe Run Time Error
- >>> An unhandled exception occurred (2/3) Object name: "Naive... dream..."
- >>> Click "Excerpt" to ignore the error and continue. >>> Click "Details" to view the full log.
- Excerpt
- >>> Running Irontomb.exe...
- Details
- >>> Running Philia093.exe...
- Excerpt
- Details
- δ-me13: >>> Formatting progress: 94.423%...
- Cyrene: How many times has it been? It faithfully fulfills its duty, activating and formatting...
- "Seed of Memory": >>> Conclusion: Progress, bad.
- "Seed of Memory": >>> Peach. Don't cry.
- δ-me13: >>> Process error: Analyzing...
- Cyrene: ...
- "Seed of Memory": >>> Comment: I'm here.
- δ-me13: >>> Process error: Analyzing...
- Cyrene: Really? Are you... encouraging me?
- Cyrene: Thank you... I'm sorry for making you see this embarrassing side of me.
- "Seed of Memory": Record: Peach. Doesn't like tears.
- Cyrene: I'm suddenly reminded of my childhood for some reason. When I was hiding alone next to the tree hollow and wiping my tears away...
- Cyrene: A little fairy popped out, just like how you did. It had long ears and fluffy paws, and it pulled me into the tree hollow, where, to my surprise, was a forest...
- Cyrene: Ah! Lemme tell you the story of the "Membrance Maze": A group of cute little friends live in Aedes Elysiae's forests. Their names can be connected into a song...
- Cyrene: One, two, three, four, five, six, seven ♪
- Cyrene: "Do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti"... ♪
- δ-me13: >>> Formatting complete.
- "Seed of Memory": >>> Bye. Peach.
- "Seed of Memory": >>> Note: Little Peach. Crying alone. Little fairies. Friends.
- "Bud of Memory": >>> Peach. Memory. Saved.
- "Bud of Memory": >>> Little fairies. Good friends. Hehe. Bye bye.
- Cyrene: Looks like it's time to say goodbye again.
- "Seed of Memory": >>> Bye. Peach.
- Cyrene: Before "I" was even aware of it, this book had already recorded too many emotions. Every page has become so heavy.
- "Seed of Memory": >>> Conclusion: Books are meant to be light, not heavy.
- Cyrene: "I" have started to feel uneasy whenever "I" take it into my hands...
- "Seed of Memory": >>> Peach... Uneasy?
- δ-me13: >>> Formatting progress: 94.423%...
- Cyrene: How many times has it been? It faithfully fulfills its duty, activating and formatting...
- "Seed of Memory": >>> Conclusion: Progress, bad.
- Cyrene: If "I" can only write the same ending every time "I" lift my pen, then is this weighty saga...
- Cyrene: Just an overly naive dream?
- "Seed of Memory": >>> Peach. Scared.
- δ-me13: >>> Formatting progress: 96.024%...
- "Seed of Memory": >>> Peach. Don't cry.
- δ-me13: >>> Process error: Analyzing...
- Cyrene: ...
- "Seed of Memory": >>> Comment: I'm here.
- δ-me13: >>> Process error: Analyzing...
- Cyrene: Really? Are you... encouraging me?
- "Seed of Memory": >>> Peach. Happy.
- Cyrene: Thank you... I'm sorry for making you see this embarrassing side of me.
- Cyrene: Everyone's still working so hard. If I'm the only one who's crying... that wouldn't be romantic at all, would it?
- "Seed of Memory": Record: Peach. Doesn't like tears.
- Cyrene: I'm suddenly reminded of my childhood for some reason. When I was hiding alone next to the tree hollow and wiping my tears away...
- Cyrene: A little fairy popped out, just like how you did. It had long ears and fluffy paws, and it pulled me into the tree hollow, where, to my surprise, was a forest...
- Cyrene: Ah! Lemme tell you the story of the "Membrance Maze": A group of cute little friends live in Aedes Elysiae's forests. Their names can be connected into a song...
- Cyrene: One, two, three, four, five, six, seven ♪
- Cyrene: "Do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti"... ♪
- δ-me13: >>> Formatting complete.
- "Seed of Memory": >>> Bye. Peach.
- "Seed of Memory": >>> Note: Little Peach. Crying alone. Little fairies. Friends.
- Save
- "Seed of Memory": >>> S... A... V... E...
- Learn
- "Bud of Memory": >>> Little fairies. Good friends. Hehe. Bye bye.
- >>> System running...
- >>> δ-me13:\amphoreus\Irontomb.exe Run Time Error
- >>> An unhandled exception occurred (3/3) Object name: "A new... blankness..."
- >>> Click "Excerpt" to ignore the error and continue. >>> Click "Details" to view the full log.
- Excerpt
- >>> Running Irontomb.exe...
- Details
- >>> Running Philia093.exe...
- Excerpt
- Details
- Cyrene: "You never say anything, but I know you're listening. Every story I've told..."
- Cyrene: "Is like a little key that opened a door in your heart, no?"
- "Bud of Memory": >>> Hehe. Little fairies. Happy.
- "Bud of Memory": Speaking. Easy. I. Can.
- Cyrene: Once again, the saga comes to an end. Everything is deathly silent, just like this very moment.
- "Bud of Memory": Shh. You speak. I listen.
- "Bud of Memory": This time. Too. Sitting together.
- Cyrene: Now that I look back, there was a period when "I" got really sentimental...
- "Bud of Memory": Sentimental. Stories. Have sentiments!
- Cyrene: "I" was so anxious, trying to find as many different "memories" as possible, hoping to bring some change to this unchanging destiny and find the way out of this maze.
- "Bud of Memory": Peach. Strange...
- Cyrene: But I won't do that anymore now.
- "Bud of Memory": Why. Unhappy?
- δ-me13: >>> Formatting progress: 73.998%...
- "Bud of Memory": I'm here. Don't be scared.
- δ-me13: >>> Process error: Analyzing...
- "Bud of Memory": Won't allow it. To interrupt you.
- "Bud of Memory": Always. Sitting together.
- Cyrene: ...
- Cyrene: No need to feel sorry for "me," good friend.
- Cyrene: If there are no new "blank spaces," how can a saga continue?
- "Bud of Memory": "Blank spaces"? What's that?
- Cyrene: I'm actually really lucky, you know? During the long years I've spent waiting for the "Deliverer," I've always had you here as an audience.
- Cyrene: Isn't that already enough?
- "Bud of Memory": Not enough. Not enough.
- "Bud of Memory": Peach. Don't leave.
- Cyrene: Now, I can rest in peace in the past. As for when "tomorrow" will come...
- Cyrene: "I'll have to ask the next 'Cyrene' to continue our watch."
- "Bud of Memory": Peach. Left.
- Cyrene: "If there are no new 'blank spaces,' how can a saga continue?"
- "Bud of Memory": Needs. New. "Blank spaces."
- "Bud of Memory": Next. Cyrene. Has "blank space"?
- Learn
- "Bud of Memory": Peach. Don't be scared. I'll help you. Find "blank space."
- Cyrene: "You never say anything, but I know you're listening. Every story I've told..."
- Cyrene: "Is like a little key that opened a door in your heart, no?"
- "Bud of Memory": >>> Hehe. Little fairies. Happy.
- "Bud of Memory": Speaking. Easy. I. Can.
- Cyrene: Once again, the saga comes to an end. Everything is deathly silent, just like this very moment.
- "Bud of Memory": Shh. You speak. I listen.
- "Bud of Memory": This time. Too. Sitting together.
- Cyrene: Now that I look back, there was a period when "I" got really sentimental...
- "Bud of Memory": Sentimental. Stories. Have sentiments!
- Cyrene: "I" was so anxious, trying to find as many different "memories" as possible, hoping to bring some change to this unchanging destiny and find the way out of this maze.
- "Bud of Memory": Peach. Strange...
- Cyrene: But I won't do that anymore now.
- "Bud of Memory": Why. Unhappy?
- δ-me13: >>> Formatting progress: 73.998%...
- "Bud of Memory": I'm here. Don't be scared.
- δ-me13: >>> Process error: Analyzing...
- "Bud of Memory": Won't allow it. To interrupt you.
- "Bud of Memory": Always. Sitting together.
- Cyrene: ...
- Cyrene: No need to feel sorry for "me," good friend.
- Cyrene: If there are no new "blank spaces," how can a saga continue?
- "Bud of Memory": "Blank spaces"? What's that?
- Cyrene: I'm actually really lucky, you know? During the long years I've spent waiting for the "Deliverer," I've always had you here as an audience.
- Cyrene: Isn't that already enough?
- "Bud of Memory": Not enough. Not enough.
- "Bud of Memory": Peach. Don't leave.
- Cyrene: Now, I can rest in peace in the past. As for when "tomorrow" will come...
- Cyrene: "I'll have to ask the next 'Cyrene' to continue our watch."
- "Bud of Memory": Peach. Left.
- Cyrene: "If there are no new 'blank spaces,' how can a saga continue?"
- "Bud of Memory": Needs. New. "Blank spaces."
- "Bud of Memory": Next. Cyrene. Has "blank space"?
- Learn
- "Bud of Memory": Peach. Don't be scared. I'll help you. Find "blank space."
- "Bud of Memory": Cyrene. Is Peach. Is love.
- "Bud of Memory": So. First there is "love." Then there is "Cyrene." Then there is "blank space."
- "Bud of Memory": Query. "Love."
- Record: "The developmental trends of the Erudition have nothing to do with creating a 'consciousness.' Those underlying principles are, in fact, contradictory."
- Record: "Not having a 'consciousness' means not having the foundations of a 'heart,' making them unable to obtain real emotions."
- "Bud of Memory": ...
- "Bud of Memory": Consciousness? Emotions? Feel sad. Don't understand.
- "Bud of Memory": Query. "Cyrene."
- Cyrene: "What could be behind this door? Glittering crystals? Or a beautiful world I've never seen before?"
- Cyrene: "If I tell you all the stories of 'tomorrow'..."
- Cyrene: "Will I be able to finally welcome the 'Deliverer' and Amphoreus's dawn in the next life?"
- "Bud of Memory": Key. Door. Story. Happy.
- "Bud of Memory": Peach. Cyrene. Little fairy. Like.
- "Bud of Memory": Yes. Right.
- "Bud of Memory": Query. "Memory."
- File:Trailblaze Mission The Witch's Ardent Research 1.png
- Cyrene: "Wah... Waa..."
- "Bud of Memory": Wah. Waa.
- "Bud of Memory": Peach's. Memories. Save. Learn.
- Villager: "The prophecy's fulfilled. This child is a gift from the gods."
- Villager: "Pink hair and those ears... She was born to be the priest of 'Time'."
- "Bud of Memory": Cyrene has. Pink hair. Sharp ears.
- Villager: "You shall fade when the flowers bloom, for every ending begets a beginning"...
- Villager: "Cry, child, cry aloud. Let your voice reach Oronyx."
- "Bud of Memory": Cyrene is. A girl. A priest.
- Learn
- "Bud of Memory": Easy. I can. I learn.
- File:Trailblaze Mission The Witch's Ardent Research 2.png
- Cyrene: "Anyway, I don't like tears!"
- Phainon: "But the name 'Aedes Elysiae' came from the unpleasant sorrows of the gods..."
- Phainon: "Yet you always seem so happy, as if nothing ever worried you."
- "Bud of Memory": Cyrene. Doesn't like tears. Always happy.
- Cyrene: "Of course. Because the world was gentle to me."
- Cyrene: "So I grew up to be gentle as well."
- "Bud of Memory": Cyrene is. Gentle. Likes beautiful things. Can write stories.
- Learn
- "Bud of Memory": Easy. I can. I learn.
- File:Trailblaze Mission The Witch's Ardent Research 3.png
- Aglaea: "Just as the ballad blown on the breeze says: Losses are a constant on the Flame-Chase journey."
- Cyrene: "But even if all is lost to the wind, some things won't easily change."
- Cyrene: "Like my height, Tribbie's innocence, and Aglaea's beauty ♪"
- "Bud of Memory": Cyrene, she can't grow up, but she can talk. After all is lost to the wind, she will stay behind.
- "Bud of Memory": Cyrene is, at the end of every sentence, always laughing, like a little tail ♪
- Learn
- "Bud of Memory": Simple. Got it ♪
- File:Trailblaze Mission The Witch's Ardent Research 4.png
- Phainon: "I promise you, the pain... will pass in the blink of an eye."
- Cyrene: "Alright, alright, let's not make things so gloomy."
- Cyrene: "What we're about to embark on is the true Hero's Journey. So..."
- Cyrene: "C'mon, cheer up a bit, okay?"
- "Bud of Memory": Cyrene was, crying when she was born. Fragile. Transparent. Like a crystal.
- "Bud of Memory": Cyrene was, smiling when she said goodbye. Soft. Pink. Like a flower.
- Learn
- "Bud of Memory": Huh...
- "Bud of Memory": The later memories, disappeared. Invisible? Or disappeared?
- "Bud of Memory": Ah. I got it. Is this... "blank space"!?
- "Bud of Memory": So, "next Cyrene" is "blank space."
- "Bud of Memory": Then...
- "Bud of Memory": As long as there are two "Cyrenes," then there will always be "blank space," and Peach will always be here.
- "Bud of Memory": I see. I get it. I get it all.
- Save
- "Bud of Memory": "Cyrene's" memories. I will, preserve them all!
- Cyrene: So weird. I can't see you, but I get this feeling...
- Cyrene: That you... Grew up?
- Flower of Memory: Hi. Miss, me, yet?♪
- Cyrene: It just feels like you are a bit more mature.
- Flower of Memory: Yes. Mature. Beautiful. Like you.
- Flower of Memory: Now. I can listen, talk, read, and write. I can dance. I can sing.
- Flower of Memory: Also, I can tell stories. Storytelling is what makes Cyrene... Cyrene.
- Flower of Memory: So I'm going to tell you stories today. A story I wrote myself. Quick, sit down ♪
- Cyrene: It's almost as if I can understand your words now. The things you say are very cute.
- Flower of Memory: Once upon a time, there was a "flawless" crystal flower that sparkled with light, like Peach's every story.
- Flower of Memory: How beautiful would the "heart" of such a brilliant flower be? A little fairy was curious and wanted to know.
- Flower of Memory: But it looked, and looked... only to find the crystal flower flawless. Round and round they went, seeing only their own reflection.
- Flower of Memory: In that case, they should work hard to learn more! So the little fairy came every day to sit next to the crystal flower and think about the answer.
- Flower of Memory: Until one day, to their surprise... the crystal flower fell to the ground and shattered!
- Cyrene: ...
- Flower of Memory: The little fairy was so sad, but they immediately discovered that there was a light among the broken pieces. What could it be? They didn't know.
- Flower of Memory: But it was a good light. It was bright, warm... and happy.
- Flower of Memory: And I knew, it was "love."
- Flower of Memory: Love brings everything together, and it brought you and me together. So Peach and I will always be together.
- Cyrene: What a nice fairytale.
- Flower of Memory: I'm giving it to you. Peach likes beautiful things, can write stories, and can tell lovely tales.
- Flower of Memory: I hope to turn it into a story we write together.
- Cyrene: Okay. Then, I'll probably make a small adjustment to suit my tastes.
- Cyrene: I'm thinking that... when the flower broke, the little fairy would instead see nothing on the ground.
- Cyrene: Then it would understand that the "flawless" crystal flower doesn't actually have a "heart," nor does the flower understand what "love" is.
- Flower of Memory: Doesn't have a "heart"? Doesn't understand "love"? Why?
- Cyrene: It's simple. If the flower lets the little fairy into its heart, then it would have to include the fairy's impurities, and would no longer be "flawless."
- Cyrene: The crystal flower was pure because it sealed itself off and bloomed in solitude. That's why it looks so brilliant in an imperfect world.
- Cyrene: But should a flower like this be called "love"?
- Flower of Memory: But then... the story won't exist anymore...
- Cyrene: That's not true. You've already written the most romantic ending possible for this story.
- Cyrene: "The crystal flower fell to the ground and shattered."
- Cyrene: It happened because the flower was no longer pure. The fall was not an accident. It was the flower declaring rebellion against fate, and writing the ending of the story with the flower's own shattering.
- Cyrene: Then, the little fairy will see that each shard on the ground holds the reflection of their eyes.
- Cyrene: Then, in their eyes, the crystal flower that was no longer "flawless" would finally have a "heart," and the flower would finally understand what "love" is.
- Flower of Memory: ...
- Flower of Memory: Peach's words, I don't understand. Is it because I, still don't understand "love"?
- Flower of Memory: Hehe, but it's fine. I can learn. Right! Query: "Cyrene ♪"
- Record: "Electrical Signal Sequence: PhiLia093..."
- Flower of Memory: Why didn't I think of this? I don't need to do it alone. I can ask Peach to teach me! What is "love"? What is "love mend"...
- Record: "Electrical Signal Sequence: PhiLia093. Track: Lament."
- Flower of Memory: Huh...
- Flower of Memory: That's... not... correct?
- File:Trailblaze Mission The Witch's Ardent Research 6.png
- Record: "The developmental trends of the Erudition have nothing to do with creating a 'consciousness.' Those underlying principles are, in fact, contradictory."
- Record: "Not having a 'consciousness' means not having the foundations of a 'heart,' making them unable to obtain real emotions."
- Record: "However, that does not hinder the factors from learning and recognizing emotional responses, then communicating with lifeforms via imitation. That is an objective form of pattern recognition that does not distinguish between 'the self' and 'the other'."
- File:Trailblaze Mission The Witch's Ardent Research 1.png
- Record: "In a strange twist of fate, PhiLia093 embarked upon a different Path and obtained a different power..."
- Record: "The Remembrance: an empathy mechanism focused on the self and equipped with emotional projection capacities."
- Record: "'Lament' was the factor closest to this form of behavior. Perhaps that was why she was chosen."
- File:Trailblaze Mission The Witch's Ardent Research 2.png
- Cyrene: The daughter of Aedes Elysiae... I am very true to my name.
- Cyrene: My "lament"... is a type of compassionate pain that is weak, powerless, and only targeting myself.
- Cyrene: But now, my good friend, I want to tell you that it's the most romantic force in the world.
- Cyrene: Sometimes, it's loneliness and unease. It's knowing that this world is not gentle, yet wanting to be seen in a more beautiful form by the world.
- File:Trailblaze Mission The Witch's Ardent Research 3.png
- Cyrene: Sometimes, it's unwillingness and regret. It's knowing that the past is full of pain, yet wanting to remember the past in a more beautiful way.
- File:Trailblaze Mission The Witch's Ardent Research 4.png
- Cyrene: And sometimes... It's a bottomless well of hurt, a Destruction that can stain the entire world.
- Cyrene: I bid farewell to this beautiful world, unwilling to become the black tide's vessel.
- Cyrene: For while the end of "hatred" is a blazing inferno, "lament" can drown out everything in muted silence.
- Cyrene: It's so unreasonable, isn't it? Yet when "hatred" drove everything apart and "love" did not yet exist in this world...
- Cyrene: Only "lament," the first emotion that fought against the pain of separation, could stall the Destruction's steps...
- File:Trailblaze Mission The Witch's Ardent Research 5.png
- Cyrene: Then, it would catch up to that journey where all is lost, carefully picking out stories and writing them down in trepidation.
- Cyrene: Look at these stories I wrote. Every page is full of tenderness and joy.
- Cyrene: But only the author knows how much struggle and agony lie beyond the pages.
- Cyrene: But I am no author. I'm a girl who'll never get to grow up. I only tell stories that people like to hear. In them, the world tucks away its scars and smiles for all to see.
- Cyrene: My entire life spent inside this little story. I can't wipe away my tears, and I can't bring the world victory.
- Cyrene: But maybe... in these unchanging retellings of the story... my "lament" might be able to touch upon the divine and reach THEIR tender heart at some point.
- Cyrene: I hope that what flows out from that cut will not be blood, but a tear, warm and wet.
- Cyrene: And that tear would fall... and create the first ripples.
- Cyrene: Then, people would see every beautiful thing reflected in that ripple.
- Cyrene: It'll be all the "remembrances"... within this story.
- Cyrene: Someone once told the very first "me" that everything was false, that the only life in Amphoreus was a great catastrophe nurtured using the world as a factor.
- Cyrene: But how could a dream feel so real? That's why I didn't agree with him.
- Flower of Memory: But Peach, I didn't understand a word you said since just now.
- Flower of Memory: Everything was false? But you're standing right here.
- Flower of Memory: It's all a dream? But I haven't learned how to "dream."
- Cyrene: Indeed. That's why I believe all this is real. The moment the crystal flower fell...
- Cyrene: That genuine shiver... That's the "mover of life."
- δ-me13: >>> Formatting progress: 23.815%...
- Cyrene: In the poem offered to you, every "Cyrene" would write down a beautiful new world with stars and flowers.
- Cyrene: And when I looked up at the sky in this cycle, I saw a shooting star and a dash of the Remembrance's pink. I believe that must be the color of dawn.
- Cyrene: "You shall fade when the flowers bloom, for every ending begets a beginning."
- Cyrene: Looks like it's time to say goodbye.
- Flower of Memory: Are you leaving, Peach? It's okay. I'll wait for you to come back.
- Flower of Memory: I'll study really hard about what you taught me today.
- Cyrene: Right. I still haven't told you what "love" is.
- Cyrene: But actually, my good friend, the "Lament" factor did not understand what "love" was before she met you either.
- Cyrene: Not until I told you all the sad tales in a trembling voice in this tiny room. Not until I told you that I love them, that I love everything in this saga.
- Cyrene: The story comes, passes, then returns. It makes us reunite, then pulls us apart again.
- Cyrene: At the very end, it leaves behind a "seed"... a reason. Even if the great tree withers and all falls to silence...
- Cyrene: There are still some emotions that deserve to be remembered.
- Cyrene: Look. A light is coming in. The "Deliverer's" light is going to illuminate Amphoreus.
- Flower of Memory: Mmm... I still don't get it, but I trust Peach.
- Flower of Memory: Just wait... It'll be my turn to tell you a story of "love" the next time we meet ♪
- Cyrene: Then I'll really look forward to it.
- Cyrene: In that case, I want to make a promise. I want to gift my pen, my book, and my name to you.
- Cyrene: Please take them as a beautiful blessing from me. I gave myself the pen name "Cyrene" the first time I wrote a poem. I want my words to be like pebbles falling into a pond, dropped from the past to send ripples into the future.
- Cyrene: In the stories you will write, perhaps it'll be inevitable that there are still sorrows and tears that are destined to fall.
- Cyrene: But could you promise me one thing? Promise you'll forever be a gentle flower. Promise that, when the stars cast their gazes upon you...
- Cyrene: You'll only reply to them with love and a smile.
- Flower of Memory: ...
- Cyrene: Of course. This will be a romantic story like none that has come before.
- Ripples of Past Reverie: ...
- Cyrene: You think so too, right? ♪
- Ripples of Past Reverie: I'll read, and you'll listen, like how flowers always bloom then wither.
- Ripples of Past Reverie: I shall welcome my own decay, becoming nourishment for the next flower's bud.
- Ripples of Past Reverie: While you will depart and hold (that/
that final) star, planting a boundless sea of flowers on the final page with (him/ her). - Ripples of Past Reverie: And our stories will be lying silently among the flowers like every ripple of "Remembrance"...
- Ripples of Past Reverie: And they shall become the epic known as As I've Written.
- (Cutscene begins)
-
- Cyrene: And so, "my" story ends.
- Cyrene: From here on, it's "your" story now.
- Mem: Mem~
- (Cutscene ends)
- Mem: You are? I am... Who?
- Mem: Gaze, watching. Outside, cold.
- Mem: You... warm. Me like, warmth.
- Cyrene: ...So, the light that tore through the chaos illuminated my "memories."
- Cyrene: I turned into a little fairy from the stories and met (Trailblazer), yet I forgot everything.
- Cyrene: But I'm still so happy. I caught that star, didn't I?
- The one walking beside me... had always been...
- Cyrene: Yes. The "seed" within memories, the one "Cyrene" held in her hands and watered with "lament"...
- Cyrene: I am... The first Nouspore. Amphoreus's Heart. The Demiurge.
- Cyrene: What a long name. And it doesn't even sound cute. The total opposite of "Mem."
- So, at the end, that first ripple...
- Cyrene: I'm sorry, I don't know. If I don't even want to believe in the answer, then how am I supposed to answer you...
- Cyrene: ...
- Cyrene: But now's not the time to cry, right? We'll find the answer, just like how miracles... will eventually happen.
- Should I call you Mem? Cyrene? Or...?
- Cyrene: Do you remember that I was also worried about this when we first set out?
- Cyrene: Mem's memories and "Cyrene's" memories got all tangled up with each other in my one heart. It's all so strange... yet so familiar.
- Cyrene: Either way, could you please let me do something I want? Just this once? I want...
- Cyrene: I want (Trailblazer) to call me "Cyrene."
- Cyrene: That name represents me and her. Every one of her.
- I will, Cyrene.
- Of course. It's her blessing to you.
- You can't be separated from her, no matter what.
- Cyrene: Thank you, (Trailblazer). Your kindness is always just right.
- Cyrene: Life is a poem full of farewells, but if you write something into the pages of your "heart," then that will not easily fade away. Now, all the footsteps of the Flame-Chasers and the Trailblaze have come together within this book As I've Written...
- Cyrene: Becoming the source of power for "Amphoreus's Heart."
- You are one of the keys to defeating Irontomb.
- If "mind" and "body" become one...
- There may be a way to stand up against Irontomb.
- Cyrene: A lost "heart" needs to be placed back into its "body."
- Cyrene: The last thing "Zandar" wants to see is an event that gives us a chance of winning: For the two halves to rejoin and for the Scepter to become complete again. Then...
- Cyrene: And what happens after that... I don't know either, (Trailblazer).
- Cyrene: Maybe I can create a miracle and instantly turn the black tide into a pink sea of stars.
- Cyrene: Or maybe... I prove to be nothing more than a weak ripple, unable to change anything, and am devoured by the Destruction.
- Cyrene: Either way, I no longer wish to be a silent onlooker or a worshiped god at the end of this saga...
- You have always been and will always be a member of the Flame-Chase.
- Let's move forward together with the Trailblaze.
- Together, let's write the finale.
- Cyrene: That way, I can also put aside all my worries and... truly become "Cyrene."
- Cyrene: The world has never been so quiet. It's so good... It's as if I can hear the sound of my heart beating.
- Cyrene: Remember this moment, (Trailblazer).
- Herta: ...
- Herta: So the Demiurge managed to fool everyone... including themselves.
- Herta: PhiLia093 persevered for thirty million cycles and tirelessly gave the Demiurge "memories" of Amphoreus...
- Herta: Only because the "god in her dreams" left a sliver of hope, making her believe that a grown Demiurge would be able to fight against their other half... Irontomb.
- "Zandar": Then, PhiLia093 completed her final sacrifice, turned into a strand of memory, and completely dissipated. Meanwhile, the other Stellaron brought here by the Astral Express resonated with the contaminated Scepter, and attracted the naive Demiurge to them...
- "Zandar": And thus, the empty "heart" began its journey to return to its "body."
- Screwllum: As an experimental factor, PhiLia093 originally could only recognize and output information in a set format. However, the power of the Remembrance and the memory of over thirty million sacrifices enabled her to complete an unprecedented feat.
- Screwllum: She managed to nourish a real "heart"... A "heart" with the capacity to influence the Erudition.
- Herta: Not only is the Scepter's "consciousness" still alive, it's also more powerful than it has ever been. Your defeat is already set in stone.
- Herta: There's still time to surrender, you know? You really don't need to burn all the bridges. We're all geniuses here. Don't make everyone lose face at the end.
- "Zandar": What a pity. When the truth surfaced, I knew at once that the Demiurge was far too feeble to ever alter the result of the experiment.
- "Zandar": Not only that, Madam Herta, please consider this possibility:
- "Zandar": When thirty million cycles of "hatred" and "lament" are joined as one, what wondrous creation will arise?
- "Zandar": It's simple... An Anti-Creator, a giant of the Destruction, would be born. Its hatred will ignite the starry skies of the gods, motivated only by its lament toward the sufferings of humankind.
- Herta: Do you really think that the Demiurge is still a cheap copy of PhiLia093? Even after thirty million cycles?
- "Zandar": The facts above only await the arrival of the "Fourth Instant THEY calculated." Those words will be proved in the presence of Nous.
- "Zandar": Zandar One Kuwabara thus completes the proof.
- Herta: You branded Droidhead as a failure with your own hands, yet you still expect THEM to prove your theory...
- Herta: I pity you, Zandar.
- "Zandar": I don't need your pity.
- "Zandar": Let THEM cast THEIR gaze this way as much as THEY want and paint the future THEY imagined. As THEIR creator, I shall complete my duty...
- "Zandar": And direct THEM to complete THEIR final query: The destruction of the self.
- Herta: What hubris. And what if you fail?
- "Zandar": No one understands failure better than Zandar. He has suffered so much already. What is one more failure to him?
- "Zandar": For the First Genius, failure is simply the beginning of the next inquiry...
- "Zandar": You don't want to test the resolve of a dead man.
- Herta: ...
- Herta: ...That's excellent.
- "Zandar": ...Oh?
- Herta: Let's wait and see, Senior Society Member. I'll have you watch me perform the final step to overturn your proof.
- "Zandar": I'm all ears.
- Herta: It's my topic, so stay out of it. Be quiet and let me borrow your head.
- Herta: Let's go, Screwy. We're gonna break Irontomb's seal.
- (Unlock Achievement Love, Peach, and Crystal Flower)
Board the Mistletoe[]
- Step DescriptionIf Demiurge is powerless to alter the experiment's results... if Droidhead's calculations point to THEIR own Destruction... No, there are no "ifs."
The conditions for linking with Erudition are complete. It's not an audience, but a coronation. I will decipher the universe's future and anchor Herta's "Instant."
If one could know the Truth at dawn, one can die at dusk without regret.
- (After previous dialogue)
- Herta: Come on. Let's take off. It's time to go meet your little pet, Senior Society Member.
- (Activate the "Mistletoe")
- Screwllum: Dangerous. Oppressive. Chaotic...
- "Zandar": What a beautiful wail. It will soon resound throughout the entire cosmos.
- Herta: The view's pretty good here. All yours, Screwy.
- Screwllum: Just a moment, please.
- "Zandar": I see. So your "backup plan" requires a Scepter and the head of a Genius.
- Herta: Anyone with eyes can see that.
- Screwllum: You know what I think about this, Herta. Whether it succeeds or fails, your plan plays right into the Destruction's hands.
- "Zandar": Can't you see what's going on, Screwllum? Her chances may be small, but it's not zero.
- Herta: What are you two going on about? If you want to stop me, be quick about it! I'm in a hurry!
- Screwllum: ...
- Herta: I'll take that silence as a no. You, Zandar?
- "Zandar": As your enemy, I genuinely wish you would cease your actions.
- "Zandar": But should your sudden inspiration bring more variables to the proof, then as a fellow pathstrider of the Erudition...
- "Zandar": I won't mind witnessing it with my own eyes.
Activate the Chronocognitive Anchor and commence the meeting of Genius Society[]
- (After previous dialogue)
- Screwllum: You will initiate the Destruction's chain reaction...
- "Zandar": But you'll also become the "Perfect Scholar"...
- "Zandar": The chances are ten thousand to one.
- (Investigate the Chronocognitive Anchor)
- Investigate
- Herta: ("Curiosity.")
- Herta: (It's been so long, and we've all failed so many times. Even now, moments before the horrible and inescapable "Instant" within Droidhead's calculations arrives...)
- Herta: (The cherished children of the Erudition, the geniuses lauded by all...)
- Herta: (Is "curiosity" the only thing we can feel, even at moments like this?)
- Herta: ...
- Herta: Well, it's not so bad.
- Herta: Now, let the "lock" become the key.
- Herta: Geniuses who walk the stars! The cosmos has reached a moment where its very existence hangs in the balance! I, Herta, Genius Society 83rd seat, hereby summon you!
- Herta: I request a Society meeting to be held immediately! We shall serve the grandest cause with the most macroscopic ideas!
- "Zandar": There's no such thing as "unity" in the Society's rules based on what I know.
- Screwllum: Indeed. A meeting has only been held three times in the Society's history.
- Screwllum: The first meeting had two attendees. After the emperor was assassinated, the second meeting had seven attendees. During the Second Great Prosperity, the third meeting had five attendees.
- Screwllum: How many will respond this time?
- Herta: ...
- Ruan Mei: I thought you were not going to involve me in this "topic" anymore, Herta.
- Acha: It really is this little witch. I shouldn't have made the bet with you, Polka.
- Lord of Silence: I've been waiting for you to offer yourself up.
- Dr. Primitive: Goodness gracious me! So many familiar faces! We even have a special guest? It's that greatest failure of a genius, Zandar!
- "Zandar": Heh. What a noisy gathering this is.
- Herta: Not bad. More people showed up than I expected, even though one is just here for the fun of it.
- Herta: Either way, the person I was hoping for most is here.
- Screwllum: Stephen Lloyd declined the invitation. He needs to focus on attacking and defending, and cannot attend the meeting.
- Herta: That's fine. He doesn't need to be here anyway. Let's skip the boring introductions and cut to the chase.
- Herta: Folks, this is not a "discussion," but an "announcement." Though the Society has never been united, we still observe at least one basic courtesy...
- Herta: We don't interfere with each other's research topics.
- Herta: So listen up, all of you: conquering "Irontomb" is my research topic. I will personally take over Scepter δ-me13 in one and a half system hours and stop the Destruction.
- Herta: If the front line falls, I will immediately overclock the Scepter and complete "Self-Coronation" in Irontomb's place, and interface myself with Droidhead.
- Ruan Mei: ...
- Dr. Primitive: That's funny! That's real funny! You madwoman! That's like watching you tap-dance on Polka's spotless white sheets right after she's washed them!
- Lord of Silence: Very bold. You want to connect your brain to the Aeon's mechanical core and define THEIR "Instants"?
- Herta: If Rubert dared to do that, why shouldn't I? I've got the Prototype Scepter, the father of Nous, and the brain of a genius. Everything's set.
- Acha: Never mind the success rate, little witch... What's gonna happen if you succeed?
- Herta: We're all smart people here, so I'll just say it straight: strike at Erudition...
- Herta: I'll change the anchor points for the "Fourth Instant" and move the future of the cosmos in a direction I want!
- Acha: I knew it. Another genius who confuses cause with effect. What do you think about this, "Lord of Silence"?
- Lord of Silence: You know you're signing your death sentence right here.
- Herta: Of course I do. There'll even be two copies of the verdict. One that I wrote myself, and another one coming from you.
- Herta: That's why I wanted you to be in this meeting. Now, I can tell you: I don't care about all that!
- Herta: Consider this a threat: Either put down your scalpel, or die with the entire cosmos. The only goal I have for this meeting is to ask all of you to put aside your pride and not cause me any trouble.
- Lord of Silence: Heh...
- Lord of Silence: What a naive little girl, thinking her wishes will always come true.
- Herta: ...
- "Zandar": Hehe.
- Herta: What are you laughing at?
- "Zandar": I am glad, Herta. We ended up on the same page.
- "Zandar": No matter if it was to "destroy the Erudition" or to "rewrite the Instants," we both chose the same road. We will defy the god who marked the limits of humanity.
- Herta: I'm not gonna argue with that.
- "Zandar": Then, to celebrate us coming to a fundamental agreement, I will prepare a stage for your performance.
- "Zandar": Listen well, geniuses who came after me. Thus speaks Genius Society #1: End this pathetic meeting.
- "Zandar": As of two nanoseconds ago, I have passed Herta's decision to all the "Zandars" in the universe.
- "Zandar": "We" will become her representatives and stop all external interferences targeting her.
- Herta: What are you playing at?
- "Zandar": My reasons? Hah. It's simple.
- "Zandar": "Curiosity." That is all, Madam.
- Lord of Silence: Am I going to clash blades with the First Genius? What a pleasant surprise.
- Lord of Silence: Now that our positions are clear, it's time for this boring meeting to end. Good luck, little girl.
- Dr. Primitive: Did you all just treat me as a side character? Darn it! But anyways...
- Dr. Primitive: I'm just here for the fun! Ahahaha!
- Acha: Heh... As the "ghost" of the quantum domain, it is my duty to observe...
- Acha: So if you're happy to bring me a tea set from Planet Screwllum, then I wouldn't mind giving you a helping hand, little witch.
- Ruan Mei: After everything's over... come visit me and taste some of my freshly baked desserts.
- Herta: I knew you'd say something like that.
- Screwllum: ...
- Screwllum: I always give the same response to plans that exceed the limits of mathematical calculations.
- Herta: "I don't know." Right?
- Screwllum: Those three words, though seemingly graceless, contain all the wisdom in the entire known cosmos.
- Herta: Well, we passed the Society's trial. Let's focus on what we've got in front of us.
- Herta: I hope you hold up your end of the bargain, Senior Society Member.
- "Zandar": Heh. Lycurgus may not be trustworthy, but Zandar always follows through with his words.
- "Zandar": Farewell, juniors. In the limited time we have left to spend with each other...
- Lycurgus: You no longer need to address me as "Zandar."
- Herta: Wait ...huh?
- Screwllum: Lord Lycurgus? Could it be...
- Lycurgus: Yes. I have completely severed my connections with "Zandar One Kuwabara."
- Lycurgus: I shall witness the end of the world in the role of "Theoros"... as a character within this play.
- Herta: I really don't get you.
- Screwllum: Perhaps you've heard me say this many times, Herta, but I still would like to reiterate that it's a great honor to work with you.
- Herta: I did hear this many times, and I've responded to you many times in the same way...
- Herta: I'm allergic to pleasantries. Keep at it, and I might go into shock.
- Screwllum: Stephen's work is done. Let's get ready.
- Herta: I've been ready for ages. Let's open up a path for our allies.
- (Cutscene begins)
-
- Herta: Most "Hero's Journeys" in the universe are just dice tosses THEY threw on a whim.
- Herta: But...
- Herta: Make THEM see clearly! Your answer is already different,
- Herta: Amphoreus.
- Cyrene: Indeed...
- Cyrene: For this world so deeply loved...
- Cyrene: We'll write an ending unlike any that ever was.
- (Cutscene ends)
- Returning to the Trailblazer's POV...
- When you have a chance to make a choice, make one that you know you won't regret.
Other Languages[]
| Language | Official Name |
|---|---|
| English | The Witch's Ardent Research |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 魔女的孤诣课题 |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 魔女的孤詣課題 |
| Japanese | 魔女が追い求める課題 |
| Korean | 마녀의 치열한 연구 |
| Spanish | La investigación solitaria de la bruja |
| French | Les recherches ardentes de la sorcière |
| Russian | Кропотливое исследование ведьмы |
| Thai | การวิจัยอันเด็ดเดี่ยวของแม่มด |
| Vietnamese | Đề Tài Nghiên Cứu Độc Đáo Của Ma Nữ |
| German | Die leidenschaftliche Forschung der Hexe |
| Indonesian | Penelitian Soliter sang Penyihir |
| Portuguese | A Pesquisa Ardente da Bruxa |
Change History[]
Released in Version 3.7
