It is the greatest graduation ceremony in the history of St. Theodore's Comprehensive School... no, the greatest ever held in the entire history of Lateran education!
Seventeen giant fireworks burst up into the air as the seventeen-year old red-haired Sankta strums her strings wildly, opening her solo concert. The sound echoes through the campus, rattling the windows of nearby school buildings.
The pews near the stage, statues, and pool... apple pies of all kinds lie everywhere as gifts for her audience.
But the entire square is empty as the red-haired Sankta plays her guitar and sings, with no teachers or students to cheer her on.
It is no rare sight to see a student planning her own graduation ceremony in Laterano, but she is not even at the age to do so. She fails to get her permission to graduate early, even if she has already completed her preparatory courses for university.
But what a sin, to complete them without a ceremonial flair!
Students open their classroom windows and watch from afar as the red-haired Sankta strums and sings without a care, until her final number. Then, they witness an unforgettable sight—
The red-haired Sankta plays her last notes, bows, and thanks the air. The school gates then burst open, as more than a hundred automated confessionals flood into the campus.
Where the audience should have been are now confessionals with their doors open, all their 'mobile electronic confessors' joining the red-haired Sankta's performance with their volume set to maximum.
Neither Laterano's largest choir nor its noisiest heavy metal band could rouse such a racket!
Finally, the Pontifica Cohors rush to restore order on campus. As they persuade the confessionals to return to their routes, however, the instigator has long vanished from the scene...
Leaving only a single banner, unfolding as the last firework goes off—
'Let's send Lemuel off on her next adventure with a bang!'
Didn't think they'd actually let you interrogate me, sis.
Lemuen
...Only because the previous seven cardinals got nothing out of you.
Lemuen
Come, El. Help me open this.
Exusiai
Why's this thing wrapped so tight—
Exusiai
Wow, a mille-feuille fruit tart?
Exusiai
The Seventh Tribunal is sure nice to suspects!
Lemuen
Come on, I made it myself. There's also this.
Lemuen
...Take it.
Exusiai
What's that now?
Lemuen
Your diploma.
Exusiai
—
Lemuen
After I awakened, the head of St. Theodore's—who was also mentoring me at the time—came to see me, and asked me to keep it for you.
Lemuen
Your application to graduate was rejected, but that ceremony you put together did indeed prove your skills.
Lemuen
After all, how could you get that many confessionals to perform with you, if you weren't really familiar with their programming and the intercity net's defense patterns?
Lemuen
So the school consulted the Curia, and granted you a diploma in the end.
Lemuen
Congratulations, El... even if it's a few years late.
Exusiai
Hehe. Thanks, sis.
Lemuen
I'm sure my letters found their way to you?
Exusiai
Uh... yeah.
Lemuen
You know, I made a bet with Mamma and Tata. They said you'd major in intercity net security and become an expert in the Notarial Hall.
Lemuen
But I thought you'd never waste your creative mind like that. I was sure you'd major in faith assistive engineering and design a new mobile confessional that'd shock the city.
Lemuen
In the end, you left Laterano, just like that.
Exusiai
Let me be clear, sis. I don't regret it one bit.
Exusiai
You know I'm not the type, and I'm even less the type to let anyone hold any regrets for me.
Lemuen
Which is why you rushed all your preparatory courses and threw that wild graduation ceremony, right?
Exusiai
Heheh.
Lemuen
I peppered Mostima with questions about you. Your work in Lungmen, your boss, your coworkers...
Lemuen
I know you went to Siracusa, to Sargon, and many more places besides.
Lemuen
You deal with all sorts of people every day. Gangs, cops, famiglie, lords ameer... you're always on the move...
Exusiai
Why does my life sound so different after going through a Mostima filter?
Exusiai
Well, I did live a nice life after leaving Laterano. Wasn't sad or anything.
Exusiai
I mean, you were still bedridden then. Didn't know how you got hurt, if you'd ever wake up, and Mostima refused to say a word.
Exusiai
I had to know what the heck happened!
Exusiai
You're my sister, you know?!
Exusiai
But that woman, bless her heart, kept avoiding me. I got a whole load of nothing from her.
Lemuen
Don't blame Mostima.
Exusiai
You know, sis. I've been through a lot these past few years.
Exusiai
There's some stuff I would have never thought about, if I stayed here.
Exusiai
In Lungmen, Mostima was the only Sankta around, but she lost her empathy.
Exusiai
Texas, Sora, Croissant, Bison, and the boss... At first, I made friends with them the same way I did here.
Exusiai
We're all besties now, but without empathy I sometimes still can't help but worry about silly little things...
Exusiai
I've been trying hard to overcome that, and every time I do, our ties become a little stronger.
Exusiai
But here, things are different. Like right now, I don't even have to think anything to know you wanna go somewhere else to give me a big proper hug.
Lemuen
...
Exusiai
What kind of collective has empathy turned us into?
Exusiai
Does it make us more, or less sensitive to others?
Exusiai
Does it make us so insensitive that it's easier to accept totally outrageous change?
Lemuen
Does this have something to do with everything you've done since you came back?
Exusiai
Laterano's sick, sis, just like you were back then—
Exusiai
We gotta wake it UP!
Lemuen
...
Lemuen
El, you need to give me more than that.
Exusiai
There's Pontifica Cohors guardsmen right behind these doors, right? I heard them when I came into the room.
Exusiai
Let me guess, are you going to say 'this is your last chance...' or something like that?
Lemuen
If you insist on refusing to explain why you disrupted the Summit of Nations and reveal the forces backing you, the Seventh Tribunal will have to hand you over to someone else.
Lemuen
I don't know what kind of punishment you'll face, El.
Lemuen
Laterano's leniency has never applied to those who violate the Law, especially these days—
Wh-What's going on? Was that an explosion downstairs?
Pontifica Cohors Member A
A terror attack?
Pontifica Cohors Member B
Aren't they interrogating the terrorism suspect upstairs right now? Who else would dare to attack the Seventh Tribunal?
???
Automated Confessional, 'ELCARO-001', in position!
Pontifica Cohors Member A
...
Pontifica Cohors Member B
A-A mobile confessional?
Automated Confessional
Fire.
Pontifica Cohors Member C
Gah, what's going on? Who let that in here? Did they not realize this one's malfunctioning?
Pontifica Cohors Member D
But that's just a mobile confessional, buddy.
Pontifica Cohors Member C
Gah, who thought it'd be a good idea to put so many guns on a confessional?
Pontifica Cohors Member C
Alert! A mobile confessional is attacking us and attempting to rescue the suspect Lemuel.
Pontifica Cohors Member C
Calling all combat units, we need backup!
Pontifica Cohors Member C
I repeat!
Vannini
A-Again!
Vannini
Now the left staircase... blow it up and I can slow them down for a little longer...
Vannini
Do you read me, El?! I'm here to save you!
Exusiai
Vani?
Exusiai
Haha! Sick idea! I never expected you to find out the secret of this confessional and use it to help me out!
Vannini
I-It's nothing. It took me so long to finally realize there is something unusual with its plate number. I noticed it when you stopped it before, but I didn't think too much.
Vannini
All confessionals start with 'LC', for 'Laterano automated mobile Confessional', but this one starts with 'ELC'...
Automated Confessional
She practically scanned the entire city, stopping confessionals one by one... until I noticed her.
Automated Confessional
Alright, Exusiai. Pontifica Cohors reinforcements will be here soon, and the Nurtury guards are also on the move. We need to get out now.
The guards respond quickly, constructing an emergency passage upstairs, assembling to face the chaos.
Exusiai breaks the door open as the confessional speeds up toward her, blocking bullets from the Pontifica Cohors. She hops onto the vehicle, and steadies herself as the confessional wobbles wildly from her landing.
The Sankta's red hair flutters between the bullets and gunsmoke.
Exusiai
Confessor... uh, wait, you've been exposed, so we can go back to normal, right?
Exusiai
Leader, savior, Doctor! You're! So! Awesome!
There's six guns on the front outer rack.There's three guns in here.
Feel free to use them as you please.Do what you do best.
Vannini switched out the bullets for non-lethal ones.As for whether they'll hurt your countrymen, I'll trust your aim.
Exusiai
Gotcha! Talk about perfect timing, the Seventh Tribunal confiscated my guns.
The passages on both sides are hard to break through.We need a new escape route.
Exusiai
Then through the windows we go. The noisier, the better. We draw attention, and make it easier for Vani to slip away.
Exusiai
You won't fall apart, will you?
Hold on tight. I can't promise I won't fling you out.I'll take the wheel, you handle our tail.
Exusiai
Got it. The party's about to begin, so let's show them what a perfect pair can do!
You don't know how Exusiai manages to wield so many guns at once to suppress all the Pontifica Cohors guardsmen with a hail of bullets.
You're also unsure if falling from a window this high will pose a problem back in reality.
All you do, is take her and zoom to the sky!
Exusiai
Divine judgment!
Exusiai
Rock n' roll!
Exusiai
Barrage!
Exusiai
Apple... uh, never mind! Not the best place for that.
Finally shook off the stragglers. That was tight. Since when did they react so fast...?
Lemuen
Sure enough, you took to the roofs, El.
Lemuen
Always the contrarian, ever since you were little.
Exusiai
S-Sis?
Lemuen
What's with the confessional, and that girl?
Exusiai
Oh, just good friends of mine.
Lemuen
...
Lemuen
You said all this law-breaking is about waking Laterano up?
Lemuen
You were never the type to talk theory or explain something away with fancy rhetoric.
Lemuen
By 'wake Laterano up', you mean to rouse everyone in the city awake?
Exusiai
...It's complicated.
Lemuen
Look at me, El.
Exusiai
Yeah?
Separated by roof ridges, Lemuen looks at her sister. The sun is unbearably bright, but she said 'look at me' so gently that Exusiai does not even blink before complying.
For a long time, Lemuen and Exusiai stand unspeaking. Silence links the two.
Lemuen
Go.
Exusiai
You're letting me walk away?
Exusiai
You were only just created a cardinal of the Seventh Tribunal. If they find out you let a prime suspect go, you're as good as defrocked, aren't you?
Lemuen
Remember when the gunsmith had me pick a serial number for my guardian gun?
Exusiai
Of course I remember. You didn't even mull it over—you just went straight for the date Mamma and Tata brought you home.
Lemuen
I told myself then, to protect you and them forever.
Exusiai
Hey, sis, aren't you afraid they'll say you're covering for me?
Lemuen
You don't get it, El.
Lemuen
When choosing whom or what to protect, trust comes first.
Lemuen
The time we spent together, the empathy and understanding between us... That's why I trust my sister, why I trust that she's making the right call.
Lemuen
So the way I see it, I'm not covering for you just because you're my sister. In fact, there's plenty other reasons for me to do this.
Exusiai
Um... why don't you come with me, sis?!
Lemuen
No.
Lemuen
Your doubts... I've been having them too.
Lemuen
Maybe there are some things I can still do, in my position.
Yeah, we followed them all the way here—weird. They just vanished.
Pontifica Cohors Member B
They're so fast... Do confessional engines have that power?
Pontifica Cohors Member A
There're too many forks here. Plus, Lemuel split ways from the confessional...
Pontifica Cohors Member A
Contact the Notarial Hall and request executor support.
Pontifica Cohors Member A
Also, have them scan all mobile confessionals on the intercity net to see if they can find one designated 'ELC-001'.
Pontifica Cohors Member B
Roger.
Pontifica Cohors Member B
Look, up ahead—
Mon3tr
(Grinds teeth)
Mon3tr
(Pedaling fiercely)
Mon3tr
Phew, finally managed to catch up to you after clearing out your escape route.
Mon3tr
I won't let the Laterans tear you apart.
Thanks for the hard work.
Mon3tr
You know, I have to commend your sharp senses. You figured out Laterano was facing a calamity based on just a few Sankta Operators' peculiar reports.
Mon3tr
It might have been too late, had we waited any longer to make our move.
It's only been a few months since everything happened at Rhodes Island...We have to be on guard for anything strange cropping up.
Amiya is contacting our branch office operators...Closure is busy restructuring the new plates...Our Elite Operators are making sure the landship is secure...
While you didn't take more than a second to decide to come with me.
Mon3tr
You're welcome. Though, it used to always be...
...
Mon3tr
Alright, Dr. {@nickname}. What's next?
Mon3tr
We were hiding for so long, but now our efforts have gone to waste!
We need to make sure Exusiai can move unhindered.There's no longer any point in hiding our tracks.
Mon3tr
True. The strange ritual's over, and people have already woken from the 'dream'.
Mon3tr
I'm sure the machine is already reacting, and the Curia and Nutury are speeding things up on their respective ends.
Mon3tr
Does it still want everyone to finish their dreams, to complete its... uh, 'experiment'?
Mon3tr
I can't use any of my skills here, and their comms control's turned you into this!
Mon3tr
They've cut down your engine power too. You move pretty slow now—
I'm glad you're here, Mon3tr.
Mon3tr
Well, I couldn't find anything else to drag you around either, so!
Mon3tr
(Grits teeth)
Mon3tr
...Doctor!
—?
Mon3tr
Open your door!
Mon3tr
There's a couple of donuts in there—*chomp*—I have to refill my energy!
Mon3tr
(Grinds teeth)
Mon3tr
(Running wildly, brandishing claws)
Mon3tr
Are you holding on?
I'm kind of used to it...I'm fine. It's just like how you used to carry me around.
Mon3tr
Now's not the time for jokes, Doctor!
Mon3tr
The Shrine of Nurtury incubated these monsters with halos in the 'dream', but how did they get them to invade reality?
Look at the projections on the buildings.Notice the strange colors around us?
Mon3tr
Wow, sharp eyes to notice all these little details while I'm dragging you at high speed!
Mon3tr
Glad you have excellent dynamic visual acuity—
Mon3tr
Uh oh, they're catching up! Alright, hold on tight—
Ggggaaahhhh—
Mon3tr
So, what strange stuff were you talking about anyway?
It's not the 'dream' collapsing that's affecting reality.The 'dream' is just a facade. It's already using reality itself.
Mon3tr
So the chaos in Laterano wasn't caused by that machine going haywire—
Mon3tr
It's the opposite! It dragged everyone into this collective dream just so it could maximize its synchronization efficiency, and output a pre-programmed result!
Mon3tr
—Which it could do, if it was running at full power.
Mon3tr
Doctor, we have to know...
What it ultimately wants Laterano to become.What exactly prompted it to make this decision.
Mon3tr, have you found the 'connection point' yet?
Mon3tr
I've tried various methods ever since we came to Laterano with our lead in hand and entered the 'dream', but...
Mon3tr
(Shakes head aggressively) The machine's operating logic is too unique. I need more time.
...
Mon3tr
We're already exposed in both dreamland and reality, Doctor.
Mon3tr
The city is rejecting us like a virus.
Mon3tr
So, our current priority is to... huff... stay alive!
Calamity is already here, you're certain.
But there's no time to express any regret as you and Mon3tr rush through illusion and reality, fleeing...
No, looking for a lead on the trail of your fate.
This trip to Laterano has been perilous, yet the bumpy ride somehow helps you shelve some of your concerns.
Unconsciously, you have already entrusted your life to her...
It is the first time I have seen that woman who took the Doctor away, but her appearance and combat style are familiar to me. With her, the Doctor is not in imminent danger.
Federico
Also, the Doctor has drawn away many of the monsters, and created an opportunity for us to escape. We should leave at once, and locate the Pope.
Arturia
Fede, I'll help you add what you just said into your mission report for Rhodes Island.
