Operation story: 14-18

Operation

Story

Previous 14-17	Next 14-19
Characters
Doctor Amiya W Kal'tsit Mon3tr Ines Logos Hoederer Theresa
Backgrounds
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Before operation

Summary W aids Amiya in confronting the revenant, and successfully dismantles its core. The airship begins to go out of control as it loses power, and the wrathful revenant has no further misgivings about attacking everyone in the team.
<Background 1>
<Background shakes>
Ines	The airship keeps increasing its power output. The skeleton's nerve bundles are getting torn apart. Originium's already weakened the strands pretty badly. Even if the Doctor's team shuts the airship down, if it separates from the skeleton, they won't have a way to get back here!
Logos	We'll do what we can. Worry not. I promised them half an hour. I will not break my vow.
[Logos begins casting his Arts.]
<Background shakes>
The Banshee treads atop the spine, one stroke for every step, the curses he composes gathering behind him before finally sinking into the nerves. As he sweeps his writing hand across the crimson sky, the incantations surge through the nerves, causing them to tense and lift. The Banshee uses his bone pen as a fulcrum, commanding the countless nerve bundles via his magics. As they tighten and constrict, the steel wrapped in their grasp screeches unceasingly.
<Background shakes>
The airship howls, causing huge fragments to rain down from the skeleton's bones.
[Several Sarkaz continue to fire at the skeleton.]
Ines	Theresis's Witchling army is still bombarding us. You're going to be their easiest target if you keep standing out there like that!
Logos	No matter. It is better that way. The shroud of fog will be enough to extinguish the raging flames. If I do not wish it, not even the scorching sun could penetrate the white mists of the valley. It will protect me.
[Logos casts his Arts.]
The thick fog at Logos's side condenses and gathers, gradually engulfing his silhouette so as to make it indistinct and untargetable. The bombardment penetrates into his cloak of clouds, but there is not a single sound. The tracks it leaves behind are quickly filled by the fog.
Ines	... We can't fight on for too much longer, W...
<Background 2>
[An explosion rocks the airship's central chamber.]
[Amiya catches W as she falls backwards.]
Amiya	I've got you, W!
W	*cough*... *cough*... Are you serious?! Don't tell me this old bastard's house can still move! Didn't manage to find anything over there.
Kal'tsit	Do not treat the airship as an unliving piece of metal. The mere existence of the revenant is enough to make it a "weapon" out of the ordinary. Within its walls, it will use all its might to disrupt our cognition.
The interior of the cabin is filled with a surging black tide as far as the eye could see, while the revenant's cage fades out of your view. Net-shaped shadows persistently, unceasingly attempt to creep up your bodies.
[Mon3tr growls.]
Mon3tr	(Hatefully shaking off shadows)
Kal'tsit	Mon3tr will protect us, Doctor. Do not injure the Doctor, Mon3tr.
You give Mon3tr a pat, who is still lifting you atop its shoulders.
Doctor	Don't worry, Kal'tsit, I think we're firm friends by now.
Mon3tr	(Lively cry)
Amiya	Emotions... are flooding the entire room. The shadows are everywhere. We can't pinpoint where the core is while we're under the influence of the revenant's Arts.
Kal'tsit	He's clearly changing his strategy. He knows full well that with Amiya present, he cannot threaten us in the short term.
Doctor	I fear that it is not the revenant that's changing strategy. Rather... / He is buying time for someone else.
Amiya	Theresa.
W	...
Amiya	We cannot hesitate any longer. This is our only chance.
She raises her hands, the patterns on her ten rings beginning to flow. Black chains manifest from them, twisting, entwining. The chains fly forth, plunging deep into the surging tide. The black chains bind the inky sea of shadow, gathering it into an ebony sphere.
<Background shakes>
The airship howls as waves of shadow crash unceasingly against the Arts barrier. Every time the chains are struck, Amiya is forced to resonate with the wild, chaotic frenzy of emotion.
Doctor	Amiya!
Amiya	I... I can endure it. But I don't know how long I can hold it—
Kal'tsit	Amiya, clear a path forward. Mon3tr, prepare to enter—
W	I'll do it. I don't know what you could even do without your little pet. Hey, hag, Her Highness can see us, right?
Kal'tsit	... Her will is ever-present.
W	Open the door, little bunny. I don't think Her Highness remembers me, so I need to shift the schedule up a bit.
Amiya	... Okay. After you enter, I'll help you!
<Background shakes>
The chains turn, shadows spewing out from the gaps between them.
W	Make way, you old coot! Can't you see I'm trying to get in? Gragh. Such a warm welcome. You must have really liked that gift I gave you earlier. Well no need to worry, because there's plenty more!
[W leaps forward.]
She yanks apart an opening between the chains, her mouth clenching onto a grenade, and after giving some shadows a few good kicks, she steps inside.
Doctor	We need to finish this before Theresa really gets involved.
Kal'tsit	You are right, Doctor.
The gaps between the chains are already beginning to close. But while no-one was looking, an imperceptible trickle of shadow manages to flow out through the tiniest of cracks... Slowly creeping its way towards Amiya.
Doctor	Once we've successfully stopped the airship—
Kal'tsit	The one we next need to face is her—
King of Sarkaz...
The revenant's voice suddenly reverberates in Amiya's mind. Before she could even react, the shadow at her feet explodes like a raging flame.
Amiya	—!
Amiya's ears ring with urgent cries calling for her.
Amiya	Doctor... Dr. Kal'tsit...
King of Sarkaz!
The revenant's bellow shakes the walls of the cabin.
<Background flashes red>
A lance breaks free from within the shadows, forming itself into a monstrous symbol before piercing through Amiya. She is pinned midair in front of the black sphere.
Chimera! I will use your death to inscribe this brand! The mark of the ones without roots.
<Background shakes>
The chains chafe against one another, shear apart and slacken. Blood drips upon the ground.
<Background Black>
W	—?! What was that?
She could still feel Amiya's presence accompanying her, somewhere, somehow.
W	Little bunny... Damn it. I better find that old coot fast. "Where emotion flows clearest"... Where the hell is that? It's too dark in here.
[W reaches into her jacket.]
W	Let me light this place up for you, you old bast— —?
[Her hand rummages around.]
W	—! Where are my *Sarkaz expletive* bombs?! No way I'd forget—
<Background fades out>
The flowing shadows engulf her. She suddenly feels no support under her feet, like she is drowning in the abyss.
W	Argh—
It's cold. Ice cold. Why is there not a single sign of life here?
<Background 3>
W	This... isn't the airship, is it?
She sees a great suit of armor, stained with rust, hacking away at a boulder in the wilderness.
W	A metal man... without a head?
(Ancient Sarkaz language) I have followed you along this campaign of yours, but now that even death has left us, what meaning does slaughter have still... (Ancient Sarkaz language) If not for slaughter, where would I even go, you say?
W	I don't understand a damn word they're saying— Wait... is that rock... talking?
She carefully inspects everything she has on her, realizing that she truly doesn't have any pre-prepared bombs at the moment. Revenant. Consciousness. Emotion. The words suddenly jump into her mind.
W	A revenant... is inside that rock? Was that you talking, little bunny? This was the help you said you were going to give me, right?
There is no answer.
W	... Just hang in there, Amiya. I'll be back real quick.
She looks toward the headless suit of armor as it drags a boulder into a Catastrophe. A moment of silence, then she chases after it, rushing into the Catastrophe as well—
[Thunder claps loudly.]
She sees the storm within the Catastrophe sweep towards her, revenant tearing apart revenant. She cannot sense any emotion from within. Just broken consciousness thrown into disarray by the Originium storm. The core is not here.
Among the ruins of a battlefield, a crazed revenant within a blood-drunk sword is restrained by the headless armor, forced into an ancient rock. W is disappointed. The core is not here either.
Within a forest, the headless armor breaks apart an altar that a witch coven had once worshipped, collects a runestone covered in inscriptions, and bears it upon its back. A cowardly revenant had escaped into it, hiding among the carvings. The core is not here either.
A desolate waste, far from humanity.
A plundered settlement.
<Background Black>
She follows the emotions, searching unceasingly, wending her way through the emotions. Fear. Joy. Greed. Hate. The great revenant within the armor seals away his fellows within massive chunks of rock, dragging them behind him as he wanders the lands. But he spares a revenant below the volcano, who is concealed within a metal body. She experiences the bursts of weak emotion that the revenant felt as he wandered, with nothing to show for it in the end. She feels even more bewildered. What was this revenant trying to do by collecting his own kind...?
How many other revenants cut from the same cloth as him exist? Why were they scattered to every corner of this land? Who were they, the ones that he spared, the ones who continuously reset their own memories, the revenants who were far from Kazdel? And then there is the revenant in the airship, the one that set himself ablaze—
The feeble flame within the forge sputters and flickers.
<Background 4>
W	Is this... the Soul Furnace in Kazdel? No, no way. I remember the fire inside it, bright enough to light up the night sky above the city. Why is it... so weak? Wait, this isn't the Soul Furnace I know...
(Ancient Sarkaz language) Why have you bound us back here?!
... My friends. Since death spurned us, we have fought together for near a thousand years. We have witnessed Kazdel fall and rise and fall, over and over, to the point that we have grown weary of this unchanging, endless cycle. You left me. Left Kazdel. You have hidden away in despair, gotten lost within chaos, forgot yourselves in the slaughter. But I never left our homeland. I have walked every inch of every Kazdel! I still remember every howl of grief for each and every Kazdel! Kazdel... I must do something. And so I carve away a part of my self, to serve as kindling for this forge.
W	—!
But this flame is too weak, barely able to keep the Sarkaz alive through the winter. I must do more. I must grow this flame so that it may shelter them from Catastrophe. I must grow this flame so that it may admonish any intruder! No! It is not enough! I want this fire to burn away those who would bring war to our doorstep! I want this fire to rewrite our fate!
W	...
I tear more of myself away, turning myself into ever more wood for the pyre! But it is still not enough! It is far from enough! Even if I burn my all, it is still not enough! But there is still you! Death rejects us, and the myriad souls will not admit us! For you, I left our homeland for the first time, this home that has ignobly died a thousand times upon a thousand times! Why... Why do you resist me?! We once swore to protect Kazdel! Why do you yet resist?! Do you not wish to burn it all?! All our enemies! All our fates! Ourselves! We too shall burn away into ash!
The revenant roars in fury. He throws his rust-stained armor into the forge, and then the boulders that had sealed his kin after it. The revenant who was the first to set himself ablaze now binds his fellows, igniting them.
[Fire crackles.]
The flame of the Soul Furnace erupts. He feels exhilaration, then anguish, and finally, numbness.
It needs more. More... ...
Is there nothing left? Am I the only one left, yet again? No... You are here too, Sarkaz.
W	...
But your soul is weak and frail. You are not worthy of the flame.
W	Hah, I kinda like you now, you old bastard.
But you are worthy of witnessing this new Kazdel. For you too are Sarkaz.
The revenant leaps into the raging flame. His final scrap of kindling is himself. W stands by the edge of the forge, the fire nipping at the ends of her hair. She lets out a sigh, pinching the sparks dead.
W	... You still haven't told me where to find the damn thing I'm looking for, you old coot! If only I had some explosives on hand... Bam, bang, boom! I'd just blast a way right through the fire. Hmph.
She jumps down into the forge.
She is burning within the flames. Agony. She screams curse after curse after curse. The revenant's wail. Sorrow. Everlasting sorrow.
I will burn everything away. My kin. The past. Hatred itself.
She continues to drop down, falling free, until she approaches the embers of the very first kindling. The first revenant who set himself alight. Within the fires of the forge, she sees the ever-shifting core. Her tears are wiped away by the heat. Heh. She smirks, holding the core of the soul that could burn anything and everything.
W	I've got you now, you old bastard.
The fires cannot be quenched. From one forge to the next... My shattered soul will burn in yet another cage. Until I can finally rest in true death's embrace.
W	Get! Down! Here!
[W lands.]
The moment that W touches the forge of the burning soul onboard the airship, a burst of fire separates from it, engulfing her in flames. The unrelenting heat surges towards her. The revenant intends to burn away the Sarkaz who betrayed her clan. The heat of the engine is already enough to sear the flesh of her hands.
Let go or die!
W	Shut the fuck up, you stupid ghost!
Casting aside all concern, she holds tight to the airship's true engine.
W	Aaaaaagh—
The revenant withdraws himself at an unprecedented speed. He must return to his forge, immolate himself in the sin-bearing flames— "W!"
<Background flashes>
Black Arts pierce the fires, encircling W. The shadows rushing at her halt for a moment, then find themselves unable to penetrate the black barrier.
You dare obstruct me yet again!
The revenant circles around W's back, becoming her shadow. He opens himself up, as if he were two great jet-black wings, enveloping all—
[Metal creaks and tears...]
W	Get down here already!
*Ancient Sarkaz profanity*!
[...until the core is finally ripped out.]
<Background fades out>
The screeching of the engine cuts off. At last, the beating heart of the flying fortress that had roared across the skies above Londinium and threatened the lives of each and every Victorian stops.
<Background Black>
[Footsteps are running.]
W	*pant*... *pant*...
"W! W! Wake up, W!"
W	Old hag—?
<Background 5>
Mon3tr	(Excited growl)
[W snaps awake.]
W	—?! Who said you could carry me?! Let go, or I'll stick a bomb onto your claws!
Mon3tr	(Disapproving poke)
Kal'tsit	I can only give you some basic wound treatment, W. We have another issue to solve at the moment.
W	I'm fine. I'm not so easy to kill. Hey, little bunny, we did some pretty good work together just n— Amiya, you... How'd you get that badly wounded?
You stretch out an arm to support Amiya, the girl's petite frame trembling slightly.
Doctor	The revenant suddenly attacked Amiya. / It was thanks to you that we defeated him.
Amiya	*cough*... Don't worry about me... It isn't that bad.
Kal'tsit	We should prepare to return to the skeleton now. The airship has gone completely out of control ever since it lost power.
[The Doctor activates his transceiver.]
Doctor	We're all finished on our end, Logos.
Logos	I am glad to hear that you are all safe. Please wait a moment. I will provide immediate support.
[Transmission ends.]
Kal'tsit	I hope that we can make it in time...
W	Wait, how come I don't see him? That old bastard that I ripped apart—
She sees the damaged engine on the floor, bereft of flame, bereft of grief. The soul-binding core finally shows its true form.
W	This thing was his core? Kinda looks like a cannon. Seems like it would be pretty handy.
[W picks it up and slings it over her back.]
W	Hmph, the miserable thing ruined my weapons back there, so I guess I can call this my compensation. He... Hey, little bunny, you saw it too, right? That old ghost's whole life and all, could be considered rather... what's the right term for it again? Magnificent in all its glory?
Amiya	W...
W	I don't give a musbeast's ass about his sob story. ...I'm just thinking about Her Highness. This ship, those ghosts of Babel, and the revenant...
Amiya	We haven't seen Theresa at all. Where is she?
Doctor	We've all got lots of questions. / We can face the truth together.
W	Hey, don't look at me like that. I really don't want to hear that kind of talk from you right now. And what're you staring at me for, old hag? I already told you, I won't kill Hood here in front of you, for your sake.
Kal'tsit	You don't feel different, in any sort of way?
W	Different?
Kal'tsit	The revenant has been completely cut off from death. But he does not reside within this shattered core.
W	Are you saying that he's hiding in my body? I'm in no mood for your crone lies right now. Let me give myself a once-over...
[W looks around her body.]
W	Not here... Not over here either... Definitely not down here...
Doctor	W, your back...
W	Nah, isn't that just the airship core? You all saw me rip it apart, right? Wait, I thought this thing was broken? Why's it look brand-new—
The shadows are flowing within the pipes in the core. Its damaged body is repairing itself with what is clearly metal gleaned from fragments of the airship.
W	Self-repair?
Kal'tsit	No, this is not self-repair. Mon3tr, Structural Fortification!
Mon3tr	(Furious roaring)
[A slash repels Mon3tr.]
Mon3tr	(Pained howl)
The shadows flow down from the core's body, showing no signs of exhaustion. In the blink of an eye, all you can see is black.
You— You have destroyed my hopes of breaking free from the wheel. Everything I have done, all for naught! After suffering in the flames for hundreds of years, I was to finally welcome death's late embrace! But no! Once more you deny me this right! No more will I be bound! No more will I be merciful! You have freed me— And so may you all die in my stead!
<Background fades out>
You see shadows darker than black. It is the color of the soul. His lance, forged from his lifetime of suffering, is aimed right at you.

After operation

Summary Theresa finally shows as the revenant dissipates, rescuing it and entering an unknown space.
A flash of cognition... in the gloom... A consciousness... nearly eaten away by disordered emotion... Unable to perceive... Unable to be perceived...
The outermost layer of the fortress in the skies above the Shard begins to break apart, its many fragments falling like a rain of iron spilling across the ground. The enormous skeleton halts in place, its nerve bundles still wrapped around the airship. The revenant's final consciousness is dissipating.
You promised me that future beyond question, Theresa. But your followers have become hindrances upon your path. My fellow souls are in disarray from centuries worth of scorching flame. This forge was meant to be my cage, my execution chamber wherein I could slit my own throat. I have not yet paid back the price for betraying my clan! This is the last thing I can do, Theresa...
[Flames spark in the chamber.]
A violent ignition. The shadows dissipate from within the inferno, and the flames envelop the airship, tearing apart the nerve bundles. They charge towards you too.
And as for you all— You use false words to place yourselves atop a pedestal of virtue. Use lies of deliverance to cover the scars Sarkaz inflict on themselves only to survive. You dare not even confront her death—
<Background White>
???	There was no need for you to come here.
Doctor	... / Theresa?
<Background 6>
Theresa	Are you here to look for Amiya? Or perhaps...
Doctor	Are you injured? / Is that child by your side... Amiya?
Theresa	So that is your answer, Doctor...
You try to step forward, but your body fails to move. You are separated from the scene by an untouchable barrier. You finally realize that this is not reality. This is what the revenant has compelled you to see. A scene of truth.
Doctor	Wait... They're...
You see many figures by your side advance. You recognize their weapons and armor. You have seen their shadows before, rather recently in fact...
Doctor	Weren't they the apparitions aboard the airship?!
Have they come to protect Theresa? No, that's not right... You see them draw their swords against the wounded King of Sarkaz.
[The assassins stab her.]
You see a scene that you could never have imagined. Theresa fallen in a pool of blood, protecting the sleeping Amiya in her embrace. Her murderers surround you. You and them, conspirators all. ...
<Background 1>
Doctor	What was that...
The fleeting scenes melt away, returning your consciousness to reality. You look at W, Kal'tsit and Amiya. You see the expressions on their faces. You realize that you were not the only one watching those visions unfurl.
[A shadow of the revenant lingers nearby.]
W	...
Kal'tsit	...
Amiya	...
<Dialogue branch starts here>
Doctor	W...
The calmness of this dangerous mercenary's expression feels rather strange. You feel as though she should be flying into a rage. But she does not. She doesn't even glance at you. Gripping the cannon in her hands tightly instead, she is staring at the revenant's remnant shadows.
<Dialogue branch>
Doctor	Kal'tsit...
Kal'tsit looks back at you. Her emerald-green eyes remain calm and collected as ever, but you notice a tinge of sorrow that was not there before.
<Dialogue branch>
Doctor	Amiya...
Amiya stares ahead blankly in a daze, her arm outstretched, as though trying to grasp something. But all her fingers find purchase on is nothingness.
<Dialogue branch ends here>
Kal'tsit	Remain calm, Dr. {nickname}. I ask that you stand behind me and Mon3tr. As I have told you before, I knew what happened in the past, but I had my reasons to keep it from you. I approved of Theresa's choice back then, and telling you as you are now, the truth would not have been of any use. But...
But Theresa... Was it also your choice to allow the revenant to show visions of the past to us, here and now?
Kal'tsit	Doctor... It is true that during our time in Chernobog, and even after, I had my doubts about you. But the choices that you have made since are proof enough that you truly do walk the same road as us. Calm down. Do not waver.
Hypocrite. Coward—
[W throws a bomb at the revenant's shadow.]
W	...Shut up. How dare you use Theresa to try and sow discord between us. Just disappear already.
[The shadow vanishes in the explosion.]
W	...Enough. Kal'tsit, tell your monster to hang back a bit. Wasn't really prepared to do this right now. I know that old thing's not going to make up some fake movie when he's right about to die. I'm not an idiot. There couldn't have been anyone else who murdered Theresa. There must have been an explanation for what happened back then, but killing someone who doesn't remember anything... That doesn't interest me at all.
Surprise. Doubt. Sorrow. The incomprehensible truth is like a sledgehammer striking at your heart. You feel difficult to even begin to recover from the shock. The calm tone of the two before you didn't help you forgive yourself.
Doctor	Amiya...
You look at the silent girl, her face streaked with tears. You want to say something, but she is the one who speaks first.
Amiya	Doctor... I knew. Or rather... I suspected it a long time ago.
Kal'tsit	Amiya?
Amiya	I still remember... why Dr. Kal'tsit had to send the Doctor to Chernobog to heal after the accident. And the reasons the elite operators gave when they opposed the decision to rescue the Doctor. Even if everybody was quiet about it, I could still guess. There was only one possibility.
Doctor	......
Amiya	I have guessed, but I still don't understand... The Doctor I knew, the one who saved me, brought me so many different places, told me so many stories... The one who brought me back to Babel, the one who tried anything and everything to cure my Oripathy, the one who promised me that I had a future... That incredibly kind person, why did that Doctor... why did that one kill the equally kind Theresa, the person who loved everyone...
Doctor	I don't remember. / I don't know.
Amiya	I still have so many questions I want to ask you, Doctor. The you who rescued me, the you who murdered Theresa, the you who stands before me right now... In the end, which one is the true you, Dr. {nickname}? I just didn't know how to ask you... Since you awoke from the sarcophagus, despite the loss of your memories, you always stood with us no matter the danger... How could I believe someone like this could be a murderer?
Doctor	I promise you. I will find an answer.
You reach a hand out to Amiya.
<Background shakes>
Amiya	Doctor!
The deck of the airship suddenly begins to shake violently. Amiya immediately grabs your hand. The dark shadows that once gathered within the cabin have begun to bloom in the sky. Below the glow of the crimson horizon, a black blossom, dark enough to swallow all light, furled itself around the airship.
Kal'tsit	The airship is collapsing. We must withdraw immediately.
[The group runs as the airship starts breaking apart.]
<Background fades out and in>
[Several shadows appear.]
Doctor	—! / Those shadows are trying to block our escape route!
Amiya	Stand behind me, Doctor—
???	"Collapse not in disorder". As I speak these words, thus do nature's laws restructure.
<Background flashes>
The shadows enshrouding your thoughts are dispersed. Golden incantations break apart the inky blackness, raining down upon the damaged areas of the airship. The words fall apart as they touch the surface before reforming, suturing together the ship's broken body, healing its wounds.
Doctor	Logos!
Logos	Everyone, allow me to handle the shattered fragments. Pass through the shadow. The skeletal nerves that will ferry us back are ready.
[Logos readies his Arts.]
The banshee's bone pen hangs down from his hand, lightly touching upon the surface of the shadow. With shadow as parchment, the banshee scribes his incantations with restless flicks of his wrist. Golden veins wend their way through the shadows, as the fires are slowly extinguished.
[The airship begins to explode.]
W	I can see the nerve bundle!
Kal'tsit	We're ready to withdraw, Logos.
Logos	Very well.
Amiya	Hold my hand tight, Doctor—
[As they were about to cross, the nerves suddenly tore apart.]
<Background fades to white>
Doctor	The nerves... snapped?
You all fall back down onto the deck of the airship. The hull beneath your feet continues to shake, but the revenant keeps his silence. The shadows circle underneath everyone's feet, as though mocking you. White crystals extrude from the hull, radiating a cleansing light. A gentle light. A graceful light. A light that pacifies all confusion, mayhem and disorder. The rays wash over the shadow, becoming ever more dazzling. The purest white erases all color around you.
<Background fades to black>
Immediately after, a black hole appears in the distance, devouring the radiance whole.
Darkness. Tranquility. Amidst the pitch-black dark, a singularity emits its first ray of light. The light of thought. The light of emotion. The light of rebirth. The ray of weak, reddish light begins to grow and expand. Illuminating the hand that wrought it. Illuminating—
Doctor	Theresa...
She walks forth from the darkness... No, she has been there all along. It is just that for a moment, she chose to let her gaze fall upon you. For only a moment. Within her embrace, the revenant's scattered consciousness coalesces once more. All his sorrow. All his misery. All his rage. They dissipate as she consoles him, and at last, the revenant returns to serenity. She carries her compatriot, abandoned by death as he is. She brings rebirth. She rewrites fate.
Doctor	Theresa!
There is no response, but you manage to glean some curious information from her expression. You dare not say for sure. Everyone holds their breath because of her presence. Everyone awaits the first words out of her mouth. Silence. She says nothing, retreating back into the gloom.
<Background 5>
She leaves no tracks. It is like she were never here. But everyone understands that she has finally taken action.
W	Did I miss Her Highness say something—
<Background shakes>
W	Hey, wait, the airship's moving again?! It's even at full speed! I thought the old fossil was—
Kal'tsit	It is Originium. We have gotten too close to Amnannam. The airship is an Originium-rich environment, and its stocks onboard fuel it with energy.
Amiya	Theresa...?
<Background 7>
<Background shakes>
Ines	The nerve connections snapped?
Through the openings in the skeleton, she sees that the great witchcraft-powered construct has already broken free of the nerve bindings, now hurtling at unchasable speeds towards Amnannam hanging in the sky.
Ines	W...!
[Hoederer stands up.]
Ines	Hoederer! You're awake?
Hoederer	Emergency landing...
Ines	What did you say?
Hoederer	The Feranmut... It left a final bit of energy inside the Lifebone. Perform an emergency landing... in Londinium, somewhere safe...
Ines	W and the others are still on the airship!
Hoederer	I already... promised Dr. Kal'tsit... and the Doctor. To do everything we can... to save more lives. All we can do... is try our best...
Ines	But—
<Background Black>
Many have called you by these titles. "The evil spirit of Babel". "The Doctor of Rhodes Island". Many have believed in you. Believed that you always make the right decision. That no matter how despairing the circumstances, you would always be able to find a way out. But— You are far from omnipotent.
<Background shakes>
It all happens in a flash of lightning. Theresa does not reappear, having gathered up the shadows and taken them with her. As you approach the Cunabula of Suffering, the crystallization advances ever more rapidly. Now that the tides of shadow have retreated, you finally notice that the crystals have covered the entirety of the airship.
Your companions still stand by your side. They are great fighters all, but in the face of this fated disaster, you are all powerless. The airship, unable to stop, rams into Amnannam— And is brought to a standstill.
<Background 5>
Amiya	—!
<Background fades to black>
The instant that the ship is about to touch Amnannam, the colossal vessel, once hurtling at full speed, is slowed to a crawl. Time itself stagnates. The great Originium tree rapidly grows new limbs, firmly grasping the airship. The lush branches quickly extend and envelop the ship. You see everyone trapped in that moment. You see the Originium grow wildly. You see Amiya anxiously stretch her hand out towards you.
This was the moment that time stopped for her. You can even see her shouting your name. But pure Originium covers her body at a terrifying speed, and the words never manage to leave her mouth. It spreads. You rush towards her, but you are nowhere near fast enough. It engulfs. You see the Originium about to swallow up the final dregs of her body. Amiya! You muster all your strength to extend your hand, trying to grab hold of hers... but you are too late. You are no longer able to take hold of her hand. A torrent of jumbled information rushes into your mind. It is like you are seeing a tranquil world, one completely turned into Originium. Amiya... Kal'tsit... Logos... W... All of Rhodes Island. All of Londinium. All of the battlefield. All of Terra.
Doctor	Amiya!
No, this is not what you wanted to see. How could you allow all this to happen? Stop. Stop!
Doctor	STOP!
<Background fades to white>
You did it, Dr. {nickname}.