NINE YEARS WORTH OF CONVERSATION: 09/16/2030, 16:23 ♪ BGM: LABO Security Lv. 3 ♫  Mashiro was groaning in pain.  U-ugh....! Mashiron looks like she's in pain, huh... ...Yeah.Natsuhiko was frustrated at being powerless to help her. There were so many things he wanted to talk about when she woke up. He wanted to tell her that Yuuri was alive.  (This is what it must have felt like to watch me stupefied, unable to wake up.)That incident had shattered their daily lives. Natsuhiko became stupefied once he was told of Yuuri's death, and when he woke up, he started to see a phantom-- The three kids who had once been together had become distanced in many ways. (But after such a long time, we're finally all together again. And yet...)Mashiro had watched over Natsuhiko until his time of awakening came. And now, Mashiro was the one lying down, wakeless. What if, before Mashiro woke up-- Watase handed Yuuri over to Q and she was taken away somewhere? Those two best friends might never meet again. ...Yuuri, are you sure you're okay with it? Yeah. At this rate, that might mean you'll have to part with Mashiro too, you know? Just how sad would it make her to hear about everything after the fact...?Yuuri suddenly sighed in reply. You know, Hikorin... I'm sure it might make Mashiron sad, but sadness is only temporary, you know? Huh? Well, I'm sure she'll have mixed feelings about knowing that I'm alive. Wh-why's that!? ... She loves you so much, she risked her life to come with you all the way to LABO. But if I were to suddenly appear and steal you away after all of that, then even Mashiron would get mad. H-hey, hold on, Yuuri... Of course, the deal with Captain Kasasagi was to ensure everyone got saved. But it's also a good opportunity for me to back off, too. With me out of the way, you and Mashiron can be together. Yeah. So it really is the best course of-- What are you saying, idiot?Natsuhiko couldn't bear to listen anymore, so he interrupted her. I-... idiot!?Yuuri's eyes widened. It was understandable. That was the very first time Natsuhiko had ever badmouthed her. But nonetheless, Natsuhiko hardened his heart and continued. ...Yuuri, don't you know? Don't you know just how much Mashiro loved you? Do you know how much it pained her heart to learn that you had died? But... that was ages ago. Who cares about a dead friend who's been gone for nine whole years? Besides, Mashiron's a way, way, more amazing girl than me... There's no way a girl like her would care about someone like me forever... After all, Mashiron's so cute, and cheerful, and popular with all the boys-- None of that matters to her, and you know it, don't you? ...Yuuri pouted her lips. It was a conversation nine years in the making. Natsuhiko and Yuuri were speaking not through BC, but with their own voices. Not through lies and falsehoods, but from the heart.  You're not just some '9-year-dead friend' to her at all. She still cares about you. There's no way in hell that Mashiro would be upset to learn you're alive. So please stop this nonsense about backing off for Mashiro's sake... I'm sure that's actually the one thing she'd hate the most. ... But...Yuuri looked more and more confused. Natsuhiko sighed. ...Say, Yuuri. Can you please drop the mindset that 'it's okay if I suffer as long as nobody else has to'? Huh? I'm not just talking about the thing with Mashiro. You're like that with Watase's deal too. You were confined here for nine years, and at the end of all of that, you fall into Q's hands... You're not okay with that, are you? I don't want you to go through that again. I want to set you free.Once Natsuhiko had said all that-- Yuuri smiled ever so slightly. ...If only. If only I could go outside, bask in the light of the sun, and walk freely in the park... I'm sure it'd be fun. If only I could go on a trip somewhere with you, and Mashiron, and Salyu, and the professor too. Then--Yuuri interrupted Natsuhiko when he tried to speak. But I can't. Even if we disregard Mashiron's feelings, I really still can't be with you guys. Wh... why not? Because I'm a test subject. LABO has their eye on me. ...! You don't know just how frightening LABO can be. They're an institution that's confined people for years on end, you know? They could even be above the police for all we know. Even if you stood against LABO as an individual, you'd have no chance to succeed, Hikorin. Only organizations can oppose organizations... So you see, that's why... if I want to leave here, then I have no choice but to let Q take custody of me.Natsuhiko was speechless in light of Yuuri's sad words. Now he understood why she had been so obstinate. She didn't want to get Natsuhiko or Mashiro involved. (But still... in the end... that still means Yuuri has to endure suffering all by herself, doesn't it!?)Once that thought crossed Natsuhiko's mind-- he suddenly heard a sound coming from outside the shelter door. !? Who's there!? It's me. Please open up.It was Watase. Relieved, Natsuhiko input the password on the keypad beside the door. And soon enough, the iron door opened and Watase appeared.  ♪ BGM: LABO Security Lv. 2 ♫ Watase was carrying a limp Ukita under his arm. Mr. Ukita! Relax, he's just unconscious.Watase gently laid Ukita down on the floor. And sure enough, Ukita had not a single visible wound. Natsuhiko was unsure how exactly Watase had apprehended him, but-- (It couldn't have been easy to apprehend someone who had a gun without hurting them, could it...?) Well, now you see exactly what my stance is, don't you? ...Watase.Watase had kept his promise with Yuuri. ''Evacuate everyone safely.'' It seemed Watase was striving to make sure nobody got hurt during the process, either. (drat... I'm not sure if this guy's got integrity or what...)While Natsuhiko found himself at a loss for words, Yuuri spoke for him. Um, Captain Kasasagi... thank you for keeping your promise. ...Hmph.Watase looked uncomfortable and just turned up his nose. ...Anyway, if you're gonna do it, then just do it already. That, uh, malice erasure thing. There's no doubt that the monster's screwing around inside the old man's head. He'll probably go berserk again the moment he wakes up. And that's definitely gonna be a pain. Y-yeah.Natsuhiko had seen a deranged Ukita up close too. He was no doubt infected with malice. (But I won't do something as crude as a full memory erasure anymore...!)That was the decision Natsuhiko had made. So he would erase ''only'' the malice within Ukita, in the same way he had done with Watase. ...Okay. Yuuri. This time, let's start off by accessing and repairing just the 'floral-scented memories' from the get-go. And then we'll erase Subject N's spirit. Huh? Are you sure? That sounds a little different from the process we used for Captain Kasasagi, though... I want to minimize reading other people's memories to only what's absolutely necessary. I'm sure even Mr. Ukita wouldn't like it if we just peeked into his mind without permission, you know?That was something Natsuhiko had been prohibiting himself from doing. But in response to that answer, Watase said-- ...I see. So you're prohibiting yourself from abusing your abilities, huh. I admire that intention of yours, kid... but I think it's dangerous. Dangerous? Why? Just erasing his malice doesn't necessarily make him safe, does it? What? Mr. Ukita's one of your comrades, isn't he? You don't believe in him? That's not what I'm talking about. It's just, there's honestly a lot about the old man as a person that I don't understand. I know I'm not one to talk, but there's just way too much about the old man's behavior that's suspicious. Like how he tied up Yuuri. So don't you think it's worth checking out what's been driving him, just to make sure? Mmm...It was a little unexpected for Watase to say such a thing despite not being a Communicator. But Yuuri spoke in support of that opinion as well. ...Hikorin, I can understand why you'd have qualms about doing it, but don't you think it'd be best if we did a proper check of Mr. Ukita's past? Huh? I get the feeling that repairing the falsified memories will require as deep an understanding of Mr. Ukita as possible. Or else we'll have no way of knowing for sure if the memories have been properly repaired or not... ...That's true.Watase and Yuuri made sound arguments. Though it was important to know the dangers of his ability, it might have been more dangerous to fixate on such moral issues. Perhaps he should follow Watase's and Yuuri's suggestion.   VOTING Well, that didn't take long. Once again, we have a pretty crucial decision to be making. Natsuhiko doesn't want to be diving too deeply into Ukita's memories, but Watase and Yuuri disagree. Their arguments seem pretty sound, but something they didn't quite mention is that spending more time spent paging through memories is more time spent exposed to Subject N's mindfucking. Last time was a pretty close call, and we still don't really know whether continued exposure to Subject N will make Natsuhiko more vulnerable. This time, our decision will be made based on whether we favor Natsuhiko or favor Ukita. Which option means what is once again left as an exercise for the viewer. Choose wisely.
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| ← # ? Apr 11, 2017 18:31 |
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