Story/Normal 11-5 (Part1)/Script
[2050 hours.]
[In the end, RO635 and SOP2 follow the clues they gained from the maid’s digimind and reach the target location.]
[It is a little house in the pauper’s district.]
M4 SOPMOD II: Why are there so many small houses here and not big buildings?
RO635: This area is probably waiting to be remodelled. There’s a lot of places in the city being rebuilt, and work hasn’t started for a long time because of one reason or another.
M4 SOPMOD II: This is going to make searching difficult. We need to take care not to alarm the surrounding residents.
RO635: Let’s check the surroundings first. We’ll move in once we’re sure there are no traps or hazards.
M4 SOPMOD II: ...I’m not picking up any doll signals from the target house, and I’m not detecting any human life signs either. No sign of explosives or remote connection reactions either.
RO635: ...The door’s half-open.
RO635: Oh no! Move in, quick!
[Bang!]
[SOP2 arrives at the target house and kicks open the door. The interior is a mess and the door to a small room lies slightly open.
[This small room has been refitted as a message database, but the equipment inside has been thoroughly wrecked.]
M4 SOPMOD II: …!
RO, there’s a corpse!
[There is a man’s corpse collapsed face-down in the corner of the room near the window. Blood drips from the windowsill to the ground.]
[After RO635 and SOP2 verify that it’s safe, they begin to examine the room and the body.]
RO635: ...He’s not breathing.
M4 SOPMOD II: Dammit! So we were still too late!
RO635: That bad feeling I had just now was accurate. This safehouse should have been destroyed at the same time the maid’s digimind melted down.
M4 SOPMOD II: Well, that was a waste of time. What do we do now?
RO635: ...What do we do? We keep looking, of course.
Check the equipment. There might be some information there.
M4 SOPMOD II: *sighs* ...Unfortunately, it’s all been destroyed. It looks like the internal circuitry was destroyed by high temperatures.
RO635: He initiated the self-destruct routine himself… the maid must have been commanded to melt down by the same order.
M4 SOPMOD II: On the plus side, I guess it means the enemy didn’t gain any intel either?
RO635: Perhaps, but we should keep investigating...
[RO635 carefully and thoroughly examines the man’s body.]
M4 SOPMOD II: This is our source, right? How did he die? Was it a gunshot?
RO635: Yeah, small calibre, probably with subsonic rounds and a suppressor.
No casings on the scene, they must have been taken away. What a careful bunch they are...
RO635: So nobody around would have noticed what happened inside the house.
RO635: Three entry wounds. One on the calf, one on the arm, and the last one on the chest. Looks like they were trying to take him alive.
M4 SOPMOD II: Tch… dammit...
They were one step ahead of us again. Now we have no way of knowing where Ange is...
RO635: But is it really the case...
M4 SOPMOD II: What? You’ve got another solution? Can you make the dead speak?
RO635: No… I’m asking if the person before us really is our source.
M4 SOPMOD II: What? But there’s only one corpse here, right?
RO635: Someone that careful, who would wipe away his own traces so well, who would put in all manner of self-destructs, and who was and information vendor to boot… would someone like that be killed so easily?
M4 SOPMOD II: So you mean this isn’t him?
[RO runs her finger through the blood and licks it.]
M4 SOPMOD II: Ewww… RO, you’re gross...
RO635: This isn’t blood. It looks very similar to it… but it’s man-made.
M4 SOPMOD II: So you’re saying… he’s human but uses artificial blood?
Is technology that advanced now?
[RO touches the corpses, and then turns him over.]
RO635: *shaking head* Who says he’s human?
[RO reaches behind the corpse’s ear, and the corpse’s face suddenly changes.]
M4 SOPMOD II: Huh? What happened?
RO635: This is a doll corpse, a model made to imitate humans with a high degree of accuracy. The texture of the flesh was so realistic that I was fooled by it just now.
He has a button behind his ear. After pushing it, you can mold his face. Dolls like these are designed to be able to freely change their facial features. That way, they can disguise themselves as other people.
[SOP2 crawls over right away and begins playing with the doll’s face.]
RO635: Naturally, this model is highly restricted. I’m thinking our source used it to serve as a double for himself.
M4 SOPMOD II: It’s true… man, that’s scary, I didn’t know doll models like that existed.
But you knew about things like this…?
RO635: I’ve seen files on this model of doll before, but this is the first time I’ve seen one with my own eyes.
This model of doll is extremely expensive… it was originally designed for use in high-class entertainment, but production was banned after it was used in a political crime.
I really have to hand it to our source for being able to dig up a model like this…
Still, if what’s lying here is a doll, that would mean...
M4 SOPMOD II: Oh… so the real source is still safe?
RO635: Our source disguised the doll to look like himself, and then made off like a snake shedding its skin. However, the fact that this body wasn’t taken away suggests that the attackers also discovered that it was a decoy.
M4 SOPMOD II: But now what? How should we find the source now that he’s run off?
RO635: There’s no footprints outside, and no camera heads nearby… let me think...
M4 SOPMOD II: So we really don’t have any leads?
Isn’t there… anything left behind on that dead doll?
RO635: You saw it too, SOP2. He wrecked all the equipment and this doll has already ceased to function. Needless to say, its digimind must also be thoroughly melted down.
M4 SOPMOD II: Are there any clues on this body? You know, like a cell phone, a PDA or something?
RO635: Let me see… hm… doesn’t look like there’s anything left behind, but is he squeezing something in his hand?
M4 SOPMOD II: It’s true, he’s squeezing it really tight… watch me open it up!
Hang on… it’s starting to flash… RO, get down!
RO635: !!!
[SOP2 savagely tackles RO to the ground and drags her out of the room with a burst of speed.]
RO635: Ow ow ow ow… would you mind going a bit easier on me next time...
M4 SOPMOD II: Then I wouldn’t have been able to save you!
RO635: For a moment I could feel my head being squashed into the floorboards...
Speaking of which, was that a booby trap or something...
I can’t believe he actually set a trap. We can’t be careless, as I thought.
M4 SOPMOD II: It must have been, you were nearly blown… what, no explosion?
[SOP2 peeks into the room with a face full of doubt.]
M4 SOPMOD II: It really hasn’t exploded yet… but it’s still flashing…
RO635: It’s as though it’s reminding us that something’s still there… I’ll go take a look.
M4 SOPMOD II: Wait! What if there’s a time-delayed detonator?
RO635: But we won’t find any new clues if we just sit here.
Also, if you look closely at it, that thing’s only about half the size of a palm. Even if it did explode, it wouldn’t have enough explosive in it to kill us both, right?
M4 SOPMOD II: Uuu… I guess...
[RO and SOP2 approach the doll corpse once more, and they take the flashing object from his hand.]
RO635: This is a… miniature storage device… looks like it contains protected data secured by very heavy defensive programs. Let’s see if I can crack it.
M4 SOPMOD II: Ah, wait, waitwait!
RO635: What now?
M4 SOPMOD II: Maybe there was no explosion, but what if this is the real trap? Maybe once you go in, it’ll burn out your digimind with an offensive barrier or something. That would be way more efficient than an explosion!
RO635: Ah… that’s definitely possible… but this is our only clue. We can’t just back off at this stage, can we?
And besides, even if my digimind does get burned up, all we have to do is load a backup into a new body, right...
M4 SOPMOD II: No! You can’t!
RO635: Eh?
M4 SOPMOD II: If you die now… I won’t be able to complete the mission by myself…
And… I don’t want you to… die in front of me again...
RO635: SOP2…
I… I’ll be fine, besides, I won’t get taken out so easily with my skills. I’ll be right back!
M4 SOPMOD II: Uwah! Why won’t you listen!?
[……]
[Before SOP2 can react, RO closes her eyes and connects to the storage device.]
RO635: This space… it’s a simple passive defensive program. Doesn’t look like the electronic trap SOP2 was talking about...
If this wasn’t left by the enemy, then why didn’t they notice this storage device?
Urgh… forget it, I need to hurry and see if there are any vital clues here.
???: Urghaaarghー!
RO635: Right, I can see why they were so kind as to let me in.
It’s a self-replicating virus. But aren’t they taking me too lightly if they think they can use a virus like this to lock down my signal permissions?
???: Urghaaarghー!
RO635: But first, I have to be careful not to go too overboard and burn the storage device.
And so… ladies and gentlemen, make way please, Griffin’s garbage disposal expert has arrived!
