PNC Story/Standard 2-3/Script

Persicaria: Whew, these Sanctifiers… speak of being the hunter one moment, and hunted the next. When did they start tailing us, anyway?

Simo: This region is patrolled by Sanctifiers. They probably noticed you when you started following another agent.
Simo: After all, there are tall buildings everywhere, and visibility is poor.

Persicaria: Indeed, we were careless… Wait a minute, how did you know we were following…

Simo: Haha, you think there's any chance that agent brought you here on purpose? This is their HQ.

Antonina: Why are you so familiar with the affairs of these agents? And why are you at their HQ?

Simo: This isn't something I can explain on the spot. Although I don't know why you're all here…
Simo: I'd suggest you all take this opportunity to leave Cyclopes while it's still safe.

Croque: What the hell, Simo? We came all this way to look for you because you didn't respond to your scheduled check-ins for so long!  Simo: …I'm very sorry, but I couldn't contact you immediately because something came up.
Simo: Raven, the Greater Sanctifier responsible for the Cyclopes Sector, is making the rounds nearby.
Simo: I was worried that taking a call without the proper precautions would reveal myself and the existence of the Oasis.

Persicaria: So it's a Greater Sanctifier… Wouldn't she be a notch above Faith from the Rossum Sector?

Simo: Yes, looks like you understand the severity of the matter. That's why I suggest you all leave for safety's sake.
Simo: I still have some things to take care of here, so I'll contact you later… 

Croque: Hold up! We came all this way to find you, you've got to explain what's going on!

Antonina: Besides, if a Greater Sanctifier is patrolling the area, you won't be able to take her on by yourself, right?

Persicaria: We came to Cyclopes to find you because we were worried about you, Simo.
Persicaria: Although we don't know what happened between you and the agents here, you'll always be our friend, no matter what.

Simo: Persicaria…

Persicaria: We can't let you face danger alone. If it's reasonable, we'd like you to tell us about the situation here.
Persicaria: We'll do our best if there's anything we can help with, so please, don't hold anything back.

• There's no need to shoulder everything by your lonesome.

• Now that we're here, let's collate what we know before we make any decisions.

Simo: Professor…
Simo: …I understand. Come, we'll talk inside.

Croque: Ugh… Leftovers of a gunfight here too…
Croque: Do Cyclopes' agents all work in places like this? This is not exactly what I imagined…
Croque: Eh? That's–

Agent: …!!

Simo: Don't worry, these are my compatriots.

Agent: …?

Simo: I've already reported this to Olivia. Don't worry, I'll take responsibility for this.  Agent: …Alright.

Croque: Ooh, dependable as always, Simo. Who's Olivia, though?

Simo: She's the administrator of Cyclopes-to be precise, she's "half" an administrator.

Persicaria: I remember you mentioning something about there being two types of agents here, as well as two administrators?

Simo: Yes. Ever since Cyclopes was founded, Svarog released two kinds of agents with different functions-Monitors and Combatants.
Simo: Everyone here is a Monitor Agent, while the ones killing each other beyond the wall are Battle Agents.

Agent: …  Persicaria: So you're saying… They allow part of their agents to go and kill each other, and then they use the other group to supervise this mutual slaughter?

Simo: No, the contrary. The job of the Monitors is to "prevent over-training".
Simo: If everything had gone down as intended, these agents would never have ended up killing each other.
Simo: The Battle Agents beyond the wall simply received an order to "continue fighting". They don't necessarily have to fight to the degree of two entering, and only one leaving.
Simo: Meanwhile, the Monitors are supposed to step in and stop them before they do anything too aggressive.

Antonina: Huh, so you're saying that the humans ordered the agents to train against each other, but they were afraid they'd go too far. What a joke.

Simo: …

Persicaria: Still, they're just watching from beyond the wall. How are they supposed to stop the Battle Agents? Direct command?

Antonina: No, I had a look just then. Not only does that wall block traversal, it also blocks transmissions.

Persicaria: But why? In that case, why put that wall up...

Antonina: Judging from its code, it looks like the wall isn't native to Cyclopes.

Simo: Correct. The Greater Sanctifier Raven put up that wall.

Croque: Raven? The one that's hanging around here you were talking about?

Simo: Yes, that's right. Ever since that wall went up, the Monitors and the Battle Agents were forcibly separated into two sides.

Simo: The Battle Agents slowly degenerated into attacking each other, and in the end it devolved into nothing but massacre…
Simo: They began killing each other, which meant they ended up being constantly reset, and in the end they became what you saw - a pack of machines that know only how to take life.

Persicaria: Was it all caused by that wall Raven put up? But isn't the mission of the Sanctifiers to protect order within the sectors?

Croque: Um... Technically speaking, Raven didn't break the rules or anything. After all, the Battle Agents killing each other was caused by them obeying their "base commands.

Simo: On top of that, according to Olivia, Raven… is something else.
Simo: She's the youngest of the Greater Sanctifiers, a through and through battle maniac who lives for the thrill of the fight.
Simo: This endless strife is perhaps an "order" that she is only too happy to enforce.

Antonina: "Order", you say? I can understand that since the Battle Agents are still fighting but doesn't that mean the Monitors are out of a job?

Agent: We are NOT out of a job! We... We've been working hard day and night to meet our quotas as Monitors, and we have never deviated from that goal…

Croque: And what exactly is that?

Agent: To date, we have come up with 1231 plans for bringing the wall down and carried out 947 of them, with the highest amount of damage done being 0.34Tb…

Antonina: Simply put, you can't regain control over the Battle Agents if you can't break through the wall, right?

Agent: The barrier's operand supply comes from the Greater Sanctifier, with whom we cannot contend.
Agent: But we will not abandon our "duty" to protect Cyclopes, no matter how long it takes or even if our operands run dry.

Simo: …So the Monitor Agents are doing their part too. All this is in keeping with the "order" which the Sanctifiers have in mind.

Antonina: So this is the "order" that the Sanctifiers maintain? Huh, that's a pretty damn self-absorbed definition of it.

Croque: Thank you for explaining this. I'm already fuming.

Simo: Olivia told me about this after I made contact with her while I was scouting.
Simo: As you know… I was on the battlefield before I was uploaded to the cloud… You wouldn't understand what that was like.
Simo: People who just wanted to live in peace were forced to take up guns for that sake, and point them at their comrades.
Simo: Choosing to help them was my decision, and I will not bring you hardship for the sake of those decisions. Naturally, this will not affect the assignment you've given me.
Simo: Olivia already promised me that once the wall goes down and she takes control of Cyclopes once again, she will compensate me with a large sum of operands for the services provided.

Persicaria: Simo… You…

Simo: I've also taken part in a few missions to bring the wall down, to little avail.
Simo: In the most recent operation, I tried attacking a transmitter on the wall, but I didn't expect the Sanctifiers to consider that an abnormal method of approach.
Simo: It alarmed Raven herself, and apparently she planned to personally come down for an inspection.

Croque: Doesn't that mean you're in great danger now?

Simo: I'll be fine. Olivia has already left ahead of time to delay her, and plans to tell her that the strange attack was caused by newly invented weapons from the Monitors.
Simo: You, on the other hand, should leave this place as quickly as possible. With so many Exiles here, Raven will be able to take us all out at once if she finds us.
Simo: No need to worry about me. I can always hide myself with my optical camo if anything comes up.

• Given my experience in command, I cannot agree with what you've put forward.
  Persicaria: Professor, are you saying…

• The best defense is a good offense.

Croque: Yeah, yeah! I've made massive upgrades to my firepower while you were gone, and I've brought along my secret weapon too…

Antonina: A secret weapon?

Croque: Aw, crap… I was going to pull a sick last minute intro…

Professor: That's how it is, Simo. Don't keep trying to handle everything on your own. We're a team.
Professor: The reason we came here was to verify your safety and to obtain the operands needed by the Oasis. Since we can kill two birds with one stone, why not go for it?
Persicaria: …The Professor does have a point. The operands in Cyclopes are incredibly valuable in our current situation.
Persicaria: We can't just sit back and watch now that we've heard all this. Simo's friends are our friends, right?

Croque: Yeah, I was feeling the itch to say something about how... outgoing you were just now.

Simo: Guys...
Simo: Still, it's not going to be easy to take down that wall. Frankly speaking, I'm not sure breaking the wall will be the end of all our troubles.
Simo: Especially since Raven's around. There's no way she'll just let that happen.
Simo: She's a very powerful Greater Sanctifier. Apparently, the twin throwing lances she uses are comparable to heavy artillery...

Professor: Relax. Just like Croque said, we're much stronger than we were before, and we also have the trump card of a Svarog sniper like you here.
Professor: Besides, I've already examined the terrain of the Cyclopes Sector.

Simo: …I see. Truly… Thank you very much, everyone.

Croque: Aw, what are you doing, being so formal with us!

Simo: In that case… Please wait here for a while. I'll go explain the situation to the other agents.

Croque: Woo~ Looks like we're going to have a big fight! Really gets my blood boiling!

Persicaria: What's the matter, Antonina? You look like you're wandering a bit.

Antonina: Hm… It's nothing, I was just a little bothered by the way he's acting…

Persicaria: Bothered? By Simo?

Antonina: Yeah. Haven't you noticed? We've not seen him for a while, and now he's way stiffer than before, like he's anxious about something.

Persicaria: Now that you say it…

Antonina: And just then, when we mentioned warfare, he looked a lot more worked up.
Antonina: In his own words, he's seen it all through his own eyes.
Antonina: If he's made to witness scenes like that yet again in the cloud, there's no telling what traumas could surface.

Persicaria: But he said so himself, right? It's because he's experienced that sort of thing which makes him so eager to help the administrator put an end to the fighting.
Persicaria: If it all goes down smoothly, we might be able to help ease some of his burdens.

Antonina: Yeah, perhaps.
Antonina: I just hope this isn't going to bring back any bad memories…

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