EG-1: Burnt Fragment 1

EG-1 Burnt Fragment 1	Episode 08 Previous R8-8 (Story)
SPOILER This interlude is only accessible by clearing R8-8 with Talulah, the Fighter having more than 50% HP (i.e. not becoming enraged) by the time she entered the Incursion Point.

Characters
Talulah Infected Fighter
Backgrounds
1

“

A matter of honesty.

”

<Background 1>
Infected Fighter	Talulah.
Talulah	...Hm? You rarely make that face, friend. What's wrong?
Infected Fighter	We've decided. We're going to stay here. Ah, uh... putting it another way, there are some of us willing to stay here. And some are thinking about getting out of Ursus territory. But either way, none of us'll be carrying on heading south with you. We're sorry.
Talulah	Alright. I see.
Infected Fighter	You're not even going to ask for a reason? You're the one who taught us, took us all this way up 'til today—
Talulah	And does that mean you have to obey me, keep your life tied to your blade, fight Ursus to your last breath? Because it's never been like that. Never been, friend. You've got the cart and the beast mixed up.
Infected Fighter	Ha ha... I guess. That's like you, Talulah, it really is.
Talulah	I'm not your ruler. And you deserve to have this land, in the first place. Even if filled with corpses, turbulent with bad memories, the tundra is, as it was, your homeland. You're all strong. I'm sure you'll find a way to prevail through it all. If you want, I can send you off.
Infected Fighter	No, no, don't, really. You should know it wasn't exactly the firmest thing, making this decision, anyhow... Ha, thinking about it, I used to be one of your people. I'll be telling my future companions plenty of stories about you.
Talulah	Here's begging for your mercy, then.
Distant Shout	Talulah, the campfire's up!
Talulah	Alright, I'll be there in a moment! Friend, will tonight be our last meal together?
Infected Fighter	Just wait a bit longer... some others'll want to talk with you too, probably. All of them would.
Talulah	Mm.
Infected Fighter	...Talulah. How do you guarantee that everyone who stands by your side works with you as one? How do you know betrayal or some other crap isn't headed your way? Uh... no, I guess you obviously have your ways. You're so smart, so strong to boot, and you know so much. A wound here or some bleeding there wouldn't slow your pace down, would it?
Talulah	...The praise is one thing, but could you not make me out to be so terrifying?
Infected Fighter	Ha ha, don't get us wrong, one or two frustrations wouldn't make us lose our gall. We're no cowards... I just suddenly realized. Actually, maybe not everyone thinks... thinks the same as you, anyway. Yeah. I mean, take me. I was gonna die anyway. I just chose to tag along with you all so I'd be able to eat something, live a few more days of my life. Moment I ate my own fill, I realized there were actually plenty like me. And I figured it'd be nice if they could eat their fill too...
Talulah	Strength, particularly in goodwill. They're qualities hard to come by.
Infected Fighter	Yep. Hard, for sure. So it's definitely not everyone who thinks that way. Who can guarantee we'll keep moving on, that we won't meet a crueler end? The old noblemen eliminating us all, implicating the innocent poor and all their children along the way? I... it doesn't really matter to me, but when I realize all the other ways it could go, it stresses me out. And not to mention that to some people, nothing else matters except their own fill... if the question is just feeding yourself, even I could come up with plenty of ideas, like... ngh. Like selling out. Selling out what matters to us. Plenty of people are itching to destroy us, and they'd happily let some nobody Infected off to dispatch the remaining rebels. Couldn't be more cost-effective if you tried.
Talulah	......
Infected Fighter	So I think... seeing that's how things are, we can't leave here now more than ever. Talulah, we can't take every single person with us, can we?
Talulah	I have to... concede that.
Infected Fighter	That being the case, before we head all the way south and win all that goodness you talked about... uh, what about the tundra? What about the Infected left behind on it? Not just the tundra, really... the world’s so vast, and to say it straight, some people are just thinking of taking the chance to leave this place. Finding like-minded folk elsewhere in hardship and distress, seeing if other places... might have a niche in them for the Infected. Some people might look at it that way.
Talulah	You... Your seeing things this way honestly makes me really... happy.
Infected Fighter	Uh... feels like the why would fly over my head, so I'm just gonna not ask... C—circling back, uh... does the fact we're leaving at such a critical point mean we'll be considered deserters? I don't really get all that too well, which is why I came to talk to you.
Talulah	*chuckle* Well, of course not. Be it Talulah, the Guerrillas, so on, they're all "names" and nothing more. You carry what lies beneath your names... your mindsets, spirits. You carry that sublime fire of resistance, scattering it across this world's every part. For all this, where's the need to fault yourself?
Infected Fighter	Alright! Frankly, I only sort of get it still, but with those words coming from you, Talulah, that puts me at ease.
Talulah	Be at ease, really. Alright... I can't let the hunters' efforts go to waste. The knack you all have for laying out traps really opens my eyes.
Infected Fighter	I'll miss the days I was able to eat like this. Talulah, we'll travel to every corner of this land. Hey, everyone over here! Food's ready!