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SHATTERED: 09/16/2030, 07:38 For the record, you should have known this wasn't the end of Route Before, as the game pulled the same trick of ''having something unexpected happen in the credits'' in Route After, and if you want to work things out in this game, pattern recognition is a very important skill.  ♪ BGM: Pose the Question to this World ♫ There was blood on her right shoulder--!  Huh!? What... is this...!?A red stain grew on Mashiro's clothes before their eyes.  (Mashiro... was shot!? By who!? From where!?) Agh, no... it burns, it hurts... Natsuhiko...! Are you okay, Mashiro!? I'll treat it right--But right as Natsuhiko started to yell-- ???: ...Guess it's harder to hit a moving target than you'd think. --he heard a low voice from behind him. !? He turned around, and there by the open gate was a man with a gun. Y... you!?The man was wearing a rescue squad outfit. A man whose mission was supposedly to save lives was now giving Natsuhiko a look that could kill.  We meet again, Communicator. ...!? (He's that terrorist!? Did he chase after us!?)As soon as Natsuhiko made the connection, the man fired another shot. !!A sharp sound whizzed through the air right beside Natsuhiko's ear. (He's trying to kill us! --If we stay here, Mashiro's gonna...!)Natsuhiko fled from the man, Mashiro in his arms.  Mashiro cried out in pain due to her wound. Hang in there, Mashiro!As he tried to voice his encouragement, Natsuhiko thought to himself. (Salyu said she was shot too...! Was he the one that shot her!?)Salyu said she knocked out the two terrorists. But they saw three terrorists in the ruined factory. (Then this man was the last one--!) ...!!Just then, another gunshot rang out from behind them. --If they didn't escape, they'd be killed. Natsuhiko frantically turned the corner.  With Mashiro still in his arms, he swiped the card through the slot. As the gate slowly opened, he heard footsteps coming from behind. (Hurry up! Hurry up! Open, dammit!)But as Natsuhiko pleaded,  he was suddenly interrupted by an intense pain. He could feel warm blood oozing out from his side. A bullet had apparently gouged out just a tiny bit of his flesh. N-Natsuhiko, a... a bullet just...! --It's just a scratch!  But it probably wouldn't buy them much more than a few seconds. (He probably has a security card too...!)Natsuhiko rushed for the emergency staircase with Mashiro in his arms.  Dammit!!Natsuhiko called the map to mind and searched for escape routes. (We're currently at Floor B2 of Area 6's inner ring. Nine years ago, we escaped through the cargo lift. That was probably in the outer ring--!) !!It was the sound of the man opening the closed gate. (Crap, he's gonna corner us...!)If they left the stairwell, the enemy would surely shoot them. But it was impossible for them to climb up to the surface with the staircase collapsed. ...Mashiro grabbed Natsuhiko's arm. Her hand was trembling. The footsteps approached. There was no time. (If we only had a moment of an opening to get to the outer ring--! Is there anything we can do!? Anything to divert his attention!?)Natsuhiko thought for a second before an idea struck him. He focused hard and searched for the approaching man's characteristic brain waveform. The man was Type 5, a lone wolf detached from reality. (Take this...!)Natsuhiko focused with all his might, sending forth intense telepathy.  Ghh!?They heard the man scream from outside the stairwell. Natsuhiko held Mashiro and ran out of the stairwell. The man was standing still with his hands against his ears just outside in the connecting passageway. (That was my most intense telepathy yet! Can your brain withstand such a loud sound!?)Natsuhiko concentrated further and fired off even more telepathy. The power necessary for a range of over 2 km, all at point-blank range! {Don't move!!! I'll wreck your brain!!!! Wreck it wreck it wreck it wreck it!!!!!} ...!The man fell to his knees in pain. It worked! Or at least he thought-- Ugh... aaaggghhh!!The man shot his gun without getting up. !!Natsuhiko shielded Mashiro in his arms. Luckily, the bullet did not hit them. But the man kept shooting recklessly. (poo poo!)Natsuhiko ran without rest. (Dammit, telepathy isn't going to cut it! Even if it causes him to falter, it won't take him down!)With that thought in mind, Natsuhiko rushed into the connecting passageway to the outer ring. A gunshot rang out from behind them. Mashiro breathed painfully. Haah, haah...Her eyes looked vacant, as if she were running a fever. Mashiro, are you okay!? Mm... mm...Her answer was weak and ambiguous. Perhaps the sudden loss of blood was putting her into shock. (If we don't escape quickly, Mashiro's gonna...!)--But escape alone was not enough. The terrorists' goal was to destroy the city. They were probably going to cause a meltdown right after this. Even if they got Mashiro out of there. Even if Salyu had already escaped. If the atomic dust scattered everywhere, then everyone would die before they could escape to a sufficient distance. (... In that case... What I need to do for the girls is--!)Intense determination filled Natsuhiko's heart. And then he slipped through the connecting passageway and approached Area 6's outer ring.
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| ← # ? Feb 17, 2017 21:35 |
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