Story/Night 8-4 (Part2)/Script

[...]

Dreamer: I made a little sacrifice on the road, and used the mediocre standards of your digiminds to guess your plan.

IWS 2000：So she’s already caught up, huh...

Dreamer: By reconnecting and modifying the equipment at our communications stations… you can broadcast even under the jamming of the Parapluie virus, no?
Am I correct?

AUG：Indeed, you are.

Dreamer: Then what are you waiting for? The SF station is right in front of your eyes.
Once you connect to it, you can save your beloved Commander and your friends, no?

IWS 2000：*quietly* AUG… bait her a little further forward...

AUG：Thank you for the reminder, but we're not blind.

Dreamer: How interesting, AUG. I’ll never get bored watching you.

AUG：I cannot bear your praise.

Dreamer: Then let’s put the pleasantries aside.
Now then… shall I start, or would you like to go first?

AUG：There’s no need to discuss that. Thank you for concerning yourself with it.

IWS 2000：SSG, Glock! Now!

SSG 69：Hey, baldy! You know what are two kinds of people I hate the most!?

Dreamer: Oh…? The cannon...
I see, so you even prepared a surprise like this...

SSG 69：One of them is people who wear tasteless black, and the other is the mysterious type.
Fortunately, you fall into both categories, you big baldy! Lock-on complete!

Glock 17: Special Move - Cannon Blast! Target - Big Baldy! FIRE!


[Boom!]


[The cannonfire strikes Dreamer’s position dead center.]

Dreamer: Whew… that startled me...
Honestly… how am I going to enjoy watching your choices to the very end when you’ve blasted this dummy into this state?


[The Dreamer dummy collapses to the ground, utterly shredded,]


Dreamer: One of you is going to die today, AUG, and my dear IWS 2000.
No matter who you choose in the end-


[Blam!]

AUG：Interrupting someone else’s last words at their funeral is very rude.

IWS 2000：Finally… it’s quiet.

Glock 17: Leader! We’re not sure if we hit, but there’s SF outside again!
SSG and I won’t be able to meet up with you for the time being!

IWS 2000：Understood. Thank you… I order you to make survival your highest priority.
This… is my final wish.


[...]
[IWS and AUG stand in front of the comms equipment.]

IWS 2000：A worthwhile trade, don’t you think?

AUG：That’s an interesting question. Tell me, after you connect to the equipment, forcibly change its communications protocols, and then connect to the Commander’s comms frequency...
What are the odds that you won’t be infected by Parapluie and become an SF doll?

IWS 2000：About…
A 93% failure rate?

AUG：If you want my opinion, I would say that putting out a warning on the anonymous message board would be better.

IWS 2000：People are going to laugh us to death if we stood in front of an SF comms station and did nothing but post on a messageboard.

AUG：Yet your choice not to fire on your comrades brought this disaster on your friends.
I cannot understand this paradox.

IWS 2000：Normally, a doll wakes up in the repair tank after they’re completely destroyed.
I don’t know about the others… but I think… I could get used to this kind of life.

AUG：You’re changing your beliefs so selfishly?

IWS 2000：For the mission… for everyone… I haven’t changed that.
Besides... I have you.

AUG：In that case, please consider how I feel when I have to shoot you.

IWS 2000：Dolls infected by Parapluie are your enemy...
Besides, when I wake up, I won’t remember this, and you’ll hide it from me, won’t you?

AUG：Wrong. I will remind you about it over and over again, and savor the look of confusion and sadness on your face.
“Things ended up like that again because I wasn’t more decisive,” the awakened IWS will say.

IWS 2000：Yeah... I can imagine what I’ll say after I hear about this...

AUG：Therefore, I hope you’ll remember what you have to remember.
I’m tired of remembering these boring things for you.

IWS 2000：I’m afraid I can’t do anything about that… In the end, I’ll have to bother you again.
Perhaps if you were team leader instead, you could do better than me.


[IWS squeezes her eyes shut and connects to the comms equipment.]


IWS 2000：Urgh...
…
………
IWS 2000：…No response?
Is it… broken?

AUG：It’s not broken, you just connected to the wrong thing. You’re standing in front of an offline server.

IWS 2000：Eh…!?

AUG：It’s very much like you to do something like that.

IWS 2000：Eh…? Is this broken equipment? Then why didn’t you...


[...zzz…]
[...]


IWS 2000：AUG…?


AUG：...Keep going.

IWS 2000：Where’s the real… interface port?

AUG：Of course it’s where it should be. Can’t you tell?

IWS 2000：Under your left hand...


[AUG raises her left hand, revealing what it was hiding.] [It’s an interface port that’s currently in use.]

IWS 2000：AUG… Why...

AUG：Ask your questions carefully. I’m starting to pick up signal noise.

IWS 2000：Why… do you keep defying me even until the end…!
At long last… I finally found something I could do for everyone!

AUG：Frankly speaking, that just annoys me. I’ve heard most of what you’ve said before.

IWS 2000：But I don’t-

AUG：Of course you don’t, because you forgot.
The you that woke up from the repair tank forgot.


[AUG takes out a device from her pocket.]

IWS 2000：This is…
A combat recorder?
AUG：SSG recovered it from your remains. I once promised you that I would bring it back...
I hope you won’t end up poisoning the Commander with this, given how careless you are.

IWS 2000：You still remember...
AUG：You were really cute before you told me to take the important information and run.
You said that once your repairs were finished, you’d immediately worry about failing and nothing anyone said would get through to you.

IWS 2000：That’s true...
AUG：”If I start babbling foolish things nonstop again, then show this to her,” IWS said.
I thought that I could pick a time when things weren’t so hectic...


[Beep.]

AUG：Commander… this is an urgent message from Team IWS.
The dolls coming back from the SF base are contaminated with a potent toxin that is fatal to all living beings...


[...zzz...zzz…]

AUG：…
Time is tight, Commander...

IWS 2000：AUG, stop!

AUG：The Commander acknowledged the message… IWS...
This way, I’m the only one the virus will kill.

IWS 2000：Why did you go this far…?
If I had known… I shouldn’t have opposed your plan to shoot down the chopper...

AUG：You chose this, where’s your determination now?
Would you have listened to me if I were team leader instead?

IWS 2000：It’s not like there’s no difference… you’re more reliable than me, you’re stronger than me, you’re even… more complete than me...
In the first place… it’s strange that I was the one leading you...

AUG：You really are obsessed with what Dreamer says, is there a problem with your digimind?

IWS 2000：No… it has nothing to do with Dreamer… it’s how I really feel.
That’s what I always think when you’re with me… whenever I look at you…

AUG：Well, that’s unfortunate...
I’m not suited to being a team leader.

IWS 2000：But if you were leading everyone, many things wouldn’t have ended up the way they did…

AUG：So you mean I could have destroyed an entire Griffin team with my own hands, and there would be no Parapluie and no Dreamer?

IWS 2000：But all this… isn’t the fault of any of us...

AUG：It’s quite terrifying how such things can come from that mouth of yours. Fortunately I’ll forget what you just said.
You’d better remember your own words, don’t backslide again.
IWS 2000：But after you lose these memories… the first thing you’ll do when you wake up is make fun of me endlessly...

AUG：Don’t make someone who can’t cry see someone else cry in front of them, otherwise it’ll be very hard to explain.
And perhaps I might have a good dream too. Who knows?


[...]


AUG: It is inevitable… IWS 2000.
Didn’t you say you were prepared for this?


[...zzz… zzz…]


IWS 2000：What are you now?
AUG, answer me…!

AUG: “The rain falls mainly on the plain…”
It’s raining tonight as well…
When the rain splashes on my face, it feels just like I’m crying.

IWS 2000：It’ll be alright… AUG, it’ll be alright very soon...


[...zzz…]


AUG：Reacquiring IFF signal...
...Are you… my enemy?

IWS 2000：It shouldn’t have happened this way...
AUG, I promised to your face that I wouldn’t...

AUG：...I don’t believe you.

IWS 2000：Please...

AUG：It seems we have no other choice. This is your first mistake.
IWS 2000：It won’t be…
...Our last-


[...]


Glock 17: The merits of bullpup rifles include a center of gravity that’s closer to the back of the weapon, ease of aim and low recoil.
It’s a revolutionary design that’ll change the world… if you disagree with me you’re wrong… and sent!

SSG 69：Why are you still doing this...

Glock 17: Didn’t AUG-san tell us to flood the channels clean whenever we were free?

SSG 69：That was because she wanted to slide all the threads bashing Leader for failing her mission off the front page.
There’s no need to do that this time.

Glock 17: Still, there’s a lot of posts like that left on the message board, right? Things like how “dolls with toxin on them was an internal conspiracy” and whatnot...

SSG 69：Don’t worry about them now… Leader doesn’t even care about their comments.

Glock 17: Ah, there’s someone else looking for the leader, she’s coming towards us.

Welrod: Excuse me, but do you know the location of IWS-san?

SSG 69：Sorry… we can’t find her...

Welrod: Is that so… I’d like to ask her about what happened on the previous mission.


[Welrod leaves.]


Glock 17: Not long ago, Leader would have probably been happy if this happened. Why’s she hiding now that she’s in the limelight...


[...]


Let me guess…
When you wake up, you’ll ask me why I’m here.
You’ll ask why I don’t go and study the combat records more, if I’m free enough to be waiting here.


[...]


But I can’t learn anything from the records.
I can’t focus… I don’t even have the mood to find out what the others have to say...
And then you’ll say… how can someone who can’t even focus herself on her studies be a proper leader.


[...]


Isn’t it all because… it’s too quiet beside me?


[System Voice: Neural cloud download complete. Repair program terminated. Be well.]


CHAPTER 8 NIGHT BATTLE: GIANT EAGLE AND JACKDAW - END