PNC Story/Dark 2-6/Script

The Oasis, near Weather Balloon 1

Simo stands at the edges of the Oasis, staring off into the distance.

Sako: Squeak!

Simo: Ah... Sako, good afternoon.

The ermine sniffs Simo's fingers as if confirming something before rubbing his cheek intimately.

Simo: You always manage to come back to me. Just how exactly do you manage it? Simo: Are you an ermine specifically trained for reconaissance?

Sako: Squeak?

Simo: ...I thought you were an agent with the appearance of an animal, but you really don't have language recognition in you.
Simo: Hm... Persicaria did tell me how to play with an ermine...

Simo tries to grab Sako beneath the forelimbs, swinging it about.

Sako hangs relaxedly in Simo's hands, sway back and forth like an ice pop.

Simo: Persicaria said this would calm you down right down. She wasn't lying.
Simo: ...But we just met each other. How can you trust me so?

Clearly, Sako understands not the mutterings of its master.

Simo shakes his head with a mixture of amusement and powerlessness.

Simo: My commander... Professor hasn't given me any commands for the past three days.
Simo: I suppose I can always go training before any order's given.

???: Wait! Right this second, don't move!

An obviously modulated voice emitted from behind the weather balloon.

As if it was instinct, Simo trained his crossbow at the weather balloon. Sako looks at the balloon, then at Simo, befuddled.

???: Line of fire: clear, firing system: normal!
???: Code: "This time I'll definitely..." Mmmmmmm...

Simo: No alarms... no unusual hostile signals, either.
Simo: ...You there, behind the balloon. Are you from the Oasis, or here to make a practical joke?

???: Don't cover my mouth like that, An... Mmmm...

Simo: ...I'm leaving.

????: ...Sigh. Drag me all the way over here out of the blue, and then want me to do the talking...
????: Simo, hold on for a sec.
????: We're your friends. You'll get to know our identities later.
????: But due to a certain someone's request, we can't show ourselves yet.

???: Mmmmm... Pfft!
???: Our identity is irrelevant for this conversation, for the truest of heroes leave no signature with their acts...
???: Alright alright I get it, I won't go off-topic again, cut it out!

Simo: There's no intruder alarm going off in the Oasis' security system, and I suppose if an enemy was to use such methods, they'd be discovered by the Professor.
Simo: Then, what is it that you want to say, "friends"?

???: It's been three days since you came to the Oasis, and I'm sure you've already sorted out your neural data.
???: Have you ever... had nightmares, or something akin to that?

Simo: ...Would those impair my ability to execute orders given to me?

????: It would appear so.
????: Don't worry, this is perfectly normal.

Simo: ...Is it, now?

????: It is, for you.
????: You should have already noticed. This is not the first time that you've been awakened.

???: Wait. Isn't approaching it this a bit too...

??: It's alright. He'll know sooner or later anyway.

Simo: Yeah... those "nightmares" should be memory fragments left behind from before.

????: Your assumptions are correct. Those are memory fragments left in your neural system.
????: It's normal to come into contact with them when you comb through your data, and that is why I'm here.

Simo: ...Do you intend to clean them out?

????: Don't you want to be free of those fragments?

Simo: For those fragments to be left behind—isn't that proof that such a past existed for me?
Simo: ...if they were to be deleted, would my past fade away as well?

????: That can't possibly happen. The past is unchangeable.
????: No matter how one alters or modifies data, there will always be some information left. When one puts their mind to it, they'll always be able to relive those circumstances.

Simo: Then it's meaningless to delete them thoroughly.
Simo: No matter how the past is denied, it persists, and makes me manifest here.

???: But everyone in the Oasis can pretend that it doesn't exist...

??: We'll have to deal with reality sooner or later. His concerns are not unfounded.

Simo: Hey... my auditory modules are really well-developed, and I can still hear really small sounds.

???: ...You didn't screen that for me?

????: Because there's no need. We're still straining for operands here in the Oasis, and I have no intent of wasting such a valuable resource.

???: So everything I complained about just then, he heard?

????: Be quiet. Listen to him.

Simo: You claim to be my friends, then...
Simo: Can you tell me what really happened in the past?

????: Are you sure?

Simo falls silent.

Sako jumps off from his palm, scampering about behind the weather balloon.

??: Don't make decisions when your mind is still clouded, Simo.

Simo: ...I am Gaul, but Professor and Persicaria tell me that my name is Simo.
Simo: This name must've been one that my past self took on, and yet I know nothing of what stories it pays tribute to.
Simo: I don't understand why Sako is so intimate to me, either.
Simo: If I can neither deny the past nor explore it... Who exactly am I?

??: Just like the fragments left behind after formatting, the past will always hold sway over the current you.
??: Those nightmares are indeed parts of your past, and they are things we cannot deny.

Simo: ...I thought so as well. These... are just things that I cannot escape.

??: But the past left you more than that. You still have the name "Simo", Sako, and us.
??: The past persists, but it cannot do any more.

Simo: This tone... Is that you, Professor?

??: Our identity matters not.

Simo: Yes. If that's the case, then the past is something that must be retrieved.

??: Not so.
??: Now, you have the right to choose. If you choose to look towards the future, we'll pay you no less respect.

Simo: Only looking at the future... and yet the past exists all the same.

????: So long as we're here, no past is going to catch up with you.

???: You're not a protagonist, why do you get to drop cool lines like that?

????: Identity is not of importance here. That's what you said.

Simo: ...Please allow me to think on this.

??: We await your decision.

Simo: ...So, can I go now?

Simo received no answer.

After a brief wait, Simo walks towards the back side of the weather balloon.

Not a soul was to be found here.

Sako, coiled around a piece of broadcasting equipment, looks at Simo confusedly.

...

One day later, Headquarters

Simo: Professor, are you there?
Simo: About the future and past, I think I've reached a decision.

Before the Professor, he takes a deep breath, his eyes adamant, steely resolve taking hold.

Simo: My choice is—

>> CHAPTER 2 // E N D . . .