*Sigh*... We've been stuck here for days thanks to this shitty weather... Who knows how bad this'll throw off our schedule... Hmm, this flavor...
Logistics Operator
I mean, a Catastrophe caused this thick fog... It's not going to be good if we end up coming head to head with an aftershock.
Logistics Operator
Should I turn in the environmental Originium monitoring report for last night right now?
Closure
Where's Kal'tsit? Is she still in the operating theater?
Logistics Operator
Yes, she's been there since last night.
Closure
Don't worry about it right now, then.
Logistics Operator
Thank you.
Logistics Operator
Can I help you with anything else?
Closure
Hm... Let's see. Wanna finish this health food for me? I mean it. This stuff's got a real funny taste.
Logistics Operator
Eh?! You want me to eat all that?
Closure
Haha, calm down. Just kidding.
Closure
Huh?
Logistics Operator
What's the matter?
Closure
New mail? Out in the wasteland?
Closure
Is there a town or a Messenger Outpost close by?
Logistics Operator
No... If there was, we would've been in contact with them a couple days ago...
Closure
That's weird. Let's see...
Closure
The sender's Dijkstra... What, Dijkstra?! I thought he was in Columbia!
TO Closure
Dear Closure, it's been a while.
How's things? Going well? The last time we worked together was back in summer, right?
I was really shocked when Grace got in touch with me and told me about your plan. Screwing around with Kazimierz corporate networks isn't exactly small potatoes.
I gotta hand it to you, though. That's exactly your style. Either way, it was a good time, second only to that hit we did in Columbia once! It was perfect!
But you know. It doesn't matter how many banks we hack, how many millionaires we screw with. Even if we manage to take control of half the city's drones, put a stop to all the machines, and scare the cowards shitless—
It's all just fleeting, and anything fleeting might as well be pointless.
Before I forget, Closure. There's something I need to tell you.
There was this one time I mentioned a friend of mine who's got Oripathy. Do you remember?
He had a decent education and a decent job. He was married, though no kids.
He didn't even know how he caught Oripathy. He just showed up to work one morning to find a posting on the company notice board about his infection. Everyone started looking at him different.
To tell the truth, I was too lazy to look into it all that much. Someone was either jealous, or they were trying set him up, some kind of infighting.
Anyway, after that, his life was ruined. He lost his job, and his wife left him. How can you blame them, though? We all know Oripathy's infectious.
I just met him by chance, and I decided to help him on a whim too. Making a few quick changes to a database here or there isn't much for people like us, you know. A few keystrokes and we change a man's fate. Almost magical, huh?
So, that's what I figured. I thought it was unfair, so I did that for him.
I thought I was helping him.
But things didn't unfold quite like I expected.
He didn't go back to the life he once had.
I met the guy again in the barrenlands outside Columbia. He had joined an Infected organization. He told me his comrades in Ursus needed his help, and that's why he went there.
You've gotta be kidding me! He's definitely somewhere close by. He paralyzed Rhodes Island's systems!
Closure
The surveillance... and observation systems... Hah, not bad...
Logistics Operator
I got a transmission from Logistics! Some of the operators have been ambushed by... R-Reunion!
Closure
No way! Reunion?!
Closure
No, no, no—Hurry! Tell Amiya right now. They might be here for Talulah! I'll get these systems back up. We need to act fast!
Logistics Operator
Y-Yes, ma'am!
Closure
Why am I getting a message now, of all times?!
Closure
Argh! My control screen's locked?!
Dijkstra
Good morning. Good morning?
Dijkstra
Hard at work fixing your system, Closure? You're kinda mad right now, aren't you?
Dijkstra
Oh, I should probably mention this video's prerecorded. You don't have to waste time tracing me.
Dijkstra
Oh, also, I went through the trouble of keeping your Medical Department's system modules separate when I did all the prep work overnight. Spares the innocent, you know? I'm a stand-up guy, aren't I?
Closure
Dijkstra—!
Dijkstra
Sorry about this, Closure. I know it's pretty unchill to nail you with this hookup you so graciously gave me. But still...
Dijkstra
I'd do it again. You know me. No regrets.
Dijkstra
When you gave me the prototype back then, you said it was, at the time, the best option for taking down Columbian network programs. You called it your trump card.
Dijkstra
And doing my wetwork the past couple days, I realized you weren't lying. Rhodes Island's security system works very similar to the logic you handed me.
Dijkstra
So yeah, I abused your trust, no doubt about that. But you've got your position, I got my judgment. That's how it goes.
Dijkstra
I still remember how I met you, just a Sarkaz back then, and how we became friends.
Dijkstra
I hope we're still friends... Or, like before, war buddies.
Dijkstra
—That said, Closure.
Dijkstra
First and foremost, I'm a rebel. We've always been rebels. Always will be.
Closure
Where do you get off... c'mon, so damned full of yourself!
Closure
No... Now's not the time to worry about this. Is the comm system still working?
Grr, if Ascalon and Logos were here, you wouldn't be running around like you own the place—
Blaze
—Hey! Get out here!
Blaze
I know you're hiding on both sides of the hallway, but this is Rhodes Island, and you aren't fooling me!
Guard
Right, Blaze, this is Rhodes Island.
Guard
It was this very same corridor where I first saw you and the other elite operators come home after a triumphant victory.
Blaze
—
Blaze
Guard...?
Guard
I hesitated. When I first learned about the plan to attack Rhodes Island. Of course I hesitated.
Guard
I'm not going to justify it, but I think this is exactly why I have to come back. Both to take responsibility and to bear witness to this plan's execution.
Blaze
'Responsibility...' huh?
Guard
Right. If I'm here, I can't make excuses.
Guard
If there's even a single operator who thinks it, then I am indeed a 'traitor.'
Blaze
So you're with Reunion now... what are you doing back here?
Guard
The few survivors who managed to make it out of Ursus drifted out in the borderless barrenlands.
Guard
First we got to Columbia, then Leithanien, and then Siracusa, Victoria... All these countries... there were Infected trying to get in touch with us.
Guard
Reunion managed to set a fire, and from the tundra all across the world.
Guard
But... what are we supposed to tell the Infected who chose to stand up for our cause because of Talulah, and to the Infected who chose to stand up against fate because of the Ursus Reunion Movement—
Guard
How do we break it to them that we failed in Chernobog, and that Reunion was yet another pawn, tossed away by the great powers once it exhausted its usefulness?
Blaze
......
Guard
There are way too many Infected left in the dark, Infected who lost friends and loved ones.
Guard
That's why Reunion needs that truth. They need the 'leader' to answer to them.
Guard
And then...
Guerrilla Sarkaz
Then, we will start all over.
Blaze
—Sarkaz?
Blaze
No, you're no ordinary mercenaries—
Guerrilla Sarkaz
Damned straight.
Guerrilla Sarkaz
I heard that nutjob W started chumming with you guys after that? Well, whatever.
Guerrilla Sarkaz
After the Captain died, not all of the guerrilla fighters decided to part ways with Reunion...
Guerrilla Sarkaz
Hand Talulah over. If Reunion still exists, then she belongs to us.
Blaze
...Hah.
Blaze
You think we're gonna talk this over and come to a nice agreement?
Guerrilla Sarkaz
Yeah, that's not gonna happen.
Guerrilla Sarkaz
Talulah's got Lungmenite and Rhodes Islander blood on her hands, but let's not forget there's blood on your hands too. The Captain's, and Yelena's.
Guerrilla Sarkaz
Don't you think for a second we'll go easy on you.
They track your position in real time. And if you try to use your Arts again, you aren't going to enjoy it.
Talulah
......
Nine
Talulah, you are our prisoner.
Talulah
When did you join Reunion, Lungmenite?
Nine
......
Talulah
Every soul who walks this world is fated to die, let alone the Infected, and let alone me.
Talulah
That said, the humiliation the Infected have faced and the fury of the enslaved have not been answered for.
Talulah
That's why I can't die for nothing.
Nine
When this comes to an end, you will die.
Talulah
Then let our brethren tear down the banners of the old era and set all injustice and tyranny ablaze. Then, and only then, scatter their ashes on my grave.
Talulah
But I know, of course, what you and your followers seek first is the truth.
Nine
It's like you and Ch'en were cut from the same cloth.
Talulah
You know her.
Nine
I do. And not just Superintendent Ch'en. I know Ch'en Hui-chieh. So I can tell you two are alike.
Reunion has been tracking our ship under cover of fog and Catastrophe for at least a dozen days, and they had infiltrated our systems long before that... They didn't make their move right away, and instead waited until we were least prepared.
Kal'tsit
We will get Talulah back, but it's not necessarily a bad thing that Lungmen and Ursus no longer have a reason to keep track of the Rhodes Island landship.
Kal'tsit
We're getting closer and closer to Victoria, Amiya.
Amiya
We are...
Closure
If he managed to take my systems down... then I can trace him too.
Closure
He couldn't wipe all the records in time. There's gotta be some clues he left behind, like an origin terminal, geolocation info, and how he forged everything—
Closure
Just watch! I will find them!
Sorry, Amiya.......I wasn't able to do anything for you.
Amiya
It's okay...
Amiya
It's strange... Dr. Kal'tsit, Closure, Doctor. I'm getting a weird feeling about this turn of events.
What?......What a coincidence. I've been getting a weird feeling too.
Amiya
Maybe... certain things are fated to happen, and we, sooner or later, have to face them.
This cold wind and snow used to be a familiar sight, yet it all feels so foreign now.
The snow breeze carries with it many tiny grains of rock, pricking away at the Draco's face.
Ursus's tundras are so much harsher and livelier than what she faintly remembers in her fading memories.
It's cold.
How long has it been since I last felt such cold?
A few months? Half a year? A year?
......
Has it really...
Has it really been so long?
Reunion Warrior
Like I said, why are we still keeping her alive like she did nothing wrong?!
Phantom Crossbowman
Nobody wants to see Talulah hanged more than us.
Reunion Warrior
......
Phantom Crossbowman
We've been through it all, over the years, from our beginnings in the tundras all the way to the end in Chernobog... how do you think we stomach her betrayal?
Phantom Crossbowman
She used to... She... *sigh*.
Phantom Crossbowman
We don't know the whole story of Chernobog... but it's fishy, and we need a more concrete answer.
Reunion Warrior
Why should we even trust her?!
Phantom Crossbowman
Leave it to Nine.
Phantom Crossbowman
The captain wouldn't want to see Infected morale fall to rock bottom either... but Nine is a bit more calm when it comes to this mess.
Reunion Warrior
Of course she is! She's a Lungmenite who joined us halfway through! She doesn't know what it means to be part of Reunion—
Phantom Crossbowman
—Watch your mouth!
Phantom Crossbowman
Where did you think our comrades who left for the other countries started their journey?!
Phantom Crossbowman
They started from the snowfields beneath your feet and made their way across the world under the watchful eyes of that disgusting traitor!
Phantom Crossbowman
Do you think hanging her will solve the whole thing?!
Of course, I only heard about it from the survivors. I have no idea what it was like back then.
Nine
What about you? Do you remember?
Talulah
......
The silent warrior stops in her tracks.
Amid the vast white blanket brought forth by the Ursus winter, the abandoned stronghold is almost entirely covered in snow, leaving not a trace of its former appearance.
Even Talulah finds this strange. It is as though she can see those scenes unfolding before her. She can immediately tell where the campfire used to be.
The walk was difficult, but the team was as hardened as they could have been. The soldiers once gathered here to sing together and warm their ever-starving stomachs with a soup that had only a hint of salt for taste.
And now, where the campfire once burned, there stands solemnly a misshapen stone slab.
Talulah
That's...
Nine
A cenotaph. It's like a monument.
Nine
It was built by the warriors who survived.
Nine
No matter how the living judge you, no matter what the future holds, you must return here first.
Nine
You need to question yourself.
Talulah
......
Reunion Caster
Nine, we've scouted the road ahead.
Reunion Caster
We'll go around the village to the west. We'll rendezvous with some fighters there.
Nine
We don't have time. Have everyone go on the double. We need to make it back to the stronghold sooner than planned.
Reunion Caster
Okay...
Talulah
—Is something the matter?
Reunion Caster
I will never forget what you said to us in Chernobog, Talulah.
Reunion Caster
And I definitely won't forget what you did in the core city. Everything you did, every decision you made, I will have you answer for them.
Reunion Caster
Don't even think about running away.
Talulah
......
Nine
You heard him. You're not safe here.
Nine
We'll meet up with you up ahead, but you don't have much time.
Nine
Go.
Nine
See for yourself the sacrifices you trampled and hold them in your heart. Etch them into your brain forever.
Nine
Remember them.
Talulah
......
The Draco begins to walk in silence. Her footsteps alone remain on the white snowfields. With each step on the thick snow, the mud below is imprinted with her weight.
Talulah walks tall with her back perfectly straight.
Aside from that one winter, when the slowly fading warmth behind her drained her of breath, she has never once slouched her back.
The names etched on the crude cenotaph appear to have been scrubbed often; they are starting to fade.
