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PNC Story/Standard 2-1/Script
> Even if a fruitless mission divides us.
> Even if an abyss of depravity consumes me.
> I shall march on
> Till the arrow's passage is at its end, and the thundering of war silenced.
>> CHAPTER 2 // FISSURE…
Croque: …Ahhhh.
Persicaria: Ah, good morning, Croque.
Croque: Morning…
Persicaria: You look like you didn't sleep well. Shouldn't you get some rest? You were responsible for holding down the Oasis already, and now we're burdening you with all this repair work…
Croque: Don't worry, structural maintenance is what I was made for…
Croque: Oh, I should add that watching two episodes of "ARMOUR SUIT" should get me back in shape. It's ONLY defending the Oasis, after all…
Croque: …Besides, even if I wanted to head back to bed for round two…
Riko: Hmph~ That's all? You ought to visit the Nightless City in Burbank, they've got skyscrapers everywhere!
Sol: And what's so good about skyscrapers, huh? Only a sheltered Agent like you, who's never seen the world before, would think that they were anything impressive.
Riko: Huh! Who are you calling sheltered? Say that again! I dare you!
Croque: –That's not happening with these nuisances around.
Persicaria: Haha… That's Miss Riko, we met her in Rossum. She'll be helping us gather resources here in the Oasis from now on.
Persicaria: She's a little noisy, but I guess you could say she's breathed some life into the Oasis.
Croque: Uhhh… I really suck at dealing with people like her…
Persicaria: Hm? Oh yes, when it comes to dealing with Strangers, Croque…
Croque: Yes yes I know I'm a shut-in who's no good at socializing this sort of thing is a pain in the ass why do people even like it besides I don't even like all this in-the-moment stuff is it really my fault all this normie crap should go and discombobulate I just want to NEET it up in my own room in a world of my own with a bottle of–
Persicaria: Ahem. We were talking about the reconstruction of the Oasis, weren't we?
Croque: Oh, yes. As a whole, we're still very low on resources. Even with the supply of operands from Rossum, the best we can do is keep the sandbox running.
Croque: More to the point, the Professor keeps piling on requests! Do you know how much effort it took to get the weather simulator working with this pitiful amount of operands? It doesn't even do anything for the Sector!
Croque: In short, if we want to restore the Oasis to its former self, we'll need far more operands.
Persicaria: Yes, we definitely do. However… I do quite like the Professor's suggestion of repairing the weather simulator.
Persicaria: "It is precisely because we live in a hollow world that we ought to live as well as we can." … Perhaps it is the spiritual that truly drives us, rather than the material.
Croque: Okay, okay, I got it, at this rate you're going to start recording the Professor's funny words into a funny little book, and found a funny little church.
Croque: In any case, the Oasis is busted up real bad, and the restoration's a bit trickier than I expected. I'm afraid we'll probably have to go to other Sectors and "borrow" some of their operands.
Persicaria: Well, I've been considering that already… Oh! Not the church part!
Persicaria: Still, while Magrasea does have many Sectors, there are way too many affiliations and associations amongst them.
Persicaria: To an outsider, every single Sector might appear different, from their makeup to their operating modes and even the Agents within them.
Persicaria: We may have had success in our negotiations with Rossum, but to head to another Sector without careful consideration is perhaps a little…
- I believe we can handle any difficulty so long as ample preparations are made.
- Risk is never a nonfactor. Even if they arise, we'll simply deal with them as they come.
Persicaria: Huh? P-Professor? When did you…
- Ahem… Around the part with the recordings.
Persicaria: Professor!
Professor: Pffft… Sorry.
- I just got there.
Professor: Anyway, we've got a lot to do, so we can't be too apprehensive. Besides, we've upgraded our gear with part of the operands we've obtained, so we're much better off than before.
Persicaria: I… I suppose you're right.
Professor: Croque, you said previously that there are three Sectors near the Oasis, right? Is there a chance we could obtain from one of those Sectors?
Croque: Hm… Other than Rossum, the Sector with the greatest reserves is probably Cyclopes.
Croque: It belongs to Svarog HI, the company that made me. Simply put, it's a Military Sector.
Croque: To be precise, it's an online military material testing center–all the latest combat AI and weapons research is conducted there.
Croque: Just keep in mind I've only heard about, I've never actually seen it myself.
Persicaria: I remember you mentioned Simo was in charge of scouting that place, right?
Croque: Yes. It's a military Sector, after all, and the Agents there are all equipped with combat modules. Who knows what kind of danger there would be if we blindly sent anyone else in? Better to let a professional handle it.
Croque: Simo was a former military Doll, so he's much more experienced and better equipped than me. He's the one for the job.
Croque: Also, even that ermine of his called Sako has a certain amount of processing power. Apparently it helps him in battle too!
Croque: Of course, we have scheduled check-ins just in case anything unexpected happens.
Persicaria: It's true that Simo's file contains records of many missions he's gone on before Project Neural Cloud. He's served in battle as a Tactical Doll, so he's very familiar with scouting operations. We can rely on him.
Persicaria: Still, I feel a little uneasy about always making him take on dangerous tasks like that…
Croque: Hm? Why?
Persicaria: Um… Maybe I'm imagining things, but there are times when I feel like Simo's hiding something from us.
Croque: You think so? This is Simo we're talking about. He's very professional when it comes to cracking heads, but he's no good at anything else.
Croque: There's no way someone who can't even calculate how many operands it takes to buy some drinks could fool someone else like that. You must be mistaken, Persicaria.
Croque: It's most likely because he's a bit too strained with the mission at hand. We just need to take care of him properly once he's back, and he'll be okay.
Croque: And as it happens, today is the day for our scheduled check-in. hm, we're within the planned communication window. I'll send him a comms request and you can tell him yourself.
Persicaria: Of course.
…
……
………
System voice: > Error 10061: Remote connection failed.
Croque: Huh? Timed out? That's strange, this hasn't happened before…
Persicaria: Could he be busy with something?
Croque: I think it's just the usual signal disruption. Simo's always been very meticulous when it comes to sticking to plans. He wouldn't forget the time for a scheduled check-in.
Professor: Try it again?
Croque: One step ahead of you…
………
System voice: > Error 10061: Remote connection failed.
Croque: No good, nobody's picking up.
Professor: Croque, do you remember what Simo said the last time you made contact?
Croque: On our last call? Oh, it was standard report stuff, I guess he mentioned his position, what he was doing, whether he was safe…
Croque: That said, Simo definitely mentioned something wasn't right about Cyclopes. He was hanging around to investigate instead of returning.
Persicaria: What exactly was it? Did he mention it to you?
Croque: A passing mention, yeah. Cyclopes isn't like Rossum, and the Agents there are divided into two different types depending on their functions. Each of them carry out their own missions, and they even have two administrators.
Croque: And it seems there's some kind of conflict between these two factions of Agents… That's about all I know.
Persicaria: Conflict between Agents equipped with combat modules–That sounds pretty bad, doesn't it?
Croque: B-but, that's their own business, so I thought someone of Simo's judgement wouldn't have decided to get caught up in all that…
Croque: Simo also mentioned the place wasn't too dicey and that he could handle it by himself, and that we didn't need to worry about him, so on and so forth, and I…
- Calm down, Persicaria. Simo isn't necessarily in trouble.
Professor: You said it yourself, didn't you? Simo's very reliable, and he can handle himself. We ought to believe in him.
Persicaria: You… You're right, Professor. I'm sorry, Croque, I'm a bit on edge.
- Don't be so tense, Croque. It's not your fault.
Professor: It's just one instance of not immediately picking up. There's no immediate bad news so far, no?
Croque: I… Yeah.
Professor: Let's start by thinking about what we can do now.
Croque: Since we can't contact him, all we can do is head over there in person to find him.
Croque: Although military Sectors sound really dangerous, I'm sure there's nothing we can't handle if we go there together! Just like what you guys did in Rossum.
Persicaria: But Sol was injured by that Sanctifier named Faith in Rossum, so she'll need some time to fully recover…
Croque: Let me go, then! I've got a secret weapon in store… No, ah, I mean, i've been training for a while and I'm way stronger than before!
Persicaria: training, you say? But you spend all your spare time in your own room…
Croque: You can train in your own room too!
Professor: Looking past the question of training methods, Croque is right.
Professor: We're a lot stronger than we were in Rossum, and we can't just abandon Simo.
Persicaria: Yeah… You're right, Professor.
Professor: Tell everyone to prepare to move out. We're going to Cyclopes Sector to find Simo. If we're fortunate, we can try to make a deal with the administrators for operands, and kill two birds with one stone.
Professor: Persicaria, make the preparation for the trip. Remember to prime your weapons, and go contact Antonina. Croque, keep trying to contact Simo.
Persicaria & Croque: Roger that!