Iana: Searching for Tomorrow

Operator Record Searching for Tomorrow
She has already guessed the answer, but she still has to find the box and open it. Unlock conditions Raise Iana to Elite 2 Level 1. Have at least 50% Trust with Iana.

Characters
Blitz Fuze Doc Tachanka Iana Elderly Durin Young Durin Excited Durin
Backgrounds
1 2 3 4 5 6

Summary: Iana and a teacher-student pair of Durin inventors journey together to an underground city in search of answers.
<Background 1>
A clack, then the final ball on the table rolls into its hole.
Blitz	Nice shot. How did I only manage to sink my first shot? You somehow got every other ball.
Fuze	Sorry about that.
Doc	I warned you not to play billiards with him, Blitz. Fuze has been hanging out in Siracusa for months. If his Matryoshka didn't accidentally blow up that Famiglia Operation, who knows how long he would have been undercover at that billiards hall?
Blitz	What've they got there?
Fuze	Intel.
Blitz	That's all?
Fuze	...And a party full of animal ears.
Blitz	The one you blew up?
Fuze	That was an accident. Believe me, I did not intend to get involved in famiglia feuding.
Tachanka's laughter echoes from the inner room. Blitz shrugs, tossing the pocketed balls onto the table. Fuze picks up the triangle frame, gathering the scattered balls. Following their own 'clacking,' they've found themselves scattered across this unfamiliar land called Terra, each pursuing answers to their own questions. They've agreed to meet up regularly at this rest stop, to trade stories, compile information, and seek a way home to Earth.
Blitz	By the way... where is Iana? She's missing yet another one of our meetings?
Doc	No one knows where she's gone, just like last time. The point is, we shouldn't expect her today.
Blitz, without an ounce of surprise, shouts into the inner room—
Blitz	You hear that, Tachanka? What did I just tell you?
Tachanka	So she missed a meeting? What's the big deal? If she misses the 'spaceship' back to Earth, then we'll have a problem on our hands.
Blitz	I wonder...? No, out of all of us, she has to be the one who'd most like to stay in this land of mystery.
<Background black>
Iana	I see light. We're not far now.
???	What's out there?
Iana	I don't know. It's too tight, I can't move much. Can you stretch a bit further? Right, through the gap, then slightly to the right.
???	Wait, we may have a small problem...
<Background 2>
Iana	That's enough.
???	But...
Iana	I see now, we've reached a good place. It's the mouth of a cave. Beyond it is a forest, with deciduous trees typical of temperate climates. Clouds, fowlbeasts, a lazy river... Good weather, bright sun, no sign of danger. Is this where we need to be?
???	No, probably not...
[Beeping sound]
Oh no...	{{{2}}}
Iana	What is it?
???	Ms. Meijer, can your Gemini reposition the mechanical arm for me? If we can straighten it back out... The joint seems to be malfunctioning, and I can't retract it.
Iana	Sorry, it's just a projection. I'm afraid it can't help you.
???	So... We're in trouble! I think we're stuck here!
[Beeping sound]
Iana	——! What are you doing?
???	I have to pull the arm through the crack in the rock. We need it for the Triple Aquapit Handstand Twists... Press this, then this, then pull this all the way down...
[Steam overflowing and beeping sound]
Iana	The engine is overheating, wait, stop, don't—
???	Oh no, Ms. Meijer... It can't be stopped!
Iana	Wh—
[Steam overflow and explosion]
<Background fades out and in>
<Background fades out and in>
<Background black>
The explosion and its shockwave echoes through the forest, startling several fowlbeasts.
<Background 2>
Iana	Inventor, status report?
Elderly Durin	*cough* *cough*... Keeping it together. Where I come from, an explosion of that scale is no big deal. But there are some issues with the mobility and power modules. I need to figure out how to get it moving again...
Iana	I've looked it over. Aside from the broken arm, there's basically no damage.
Elderly Durin	Thanks. It's not every day I see a surface-dweller like you eager to help me.
Iana	Don't worry about it. By the way, your student there... She seems a little upset. She brought back a basket of fruit just now and then left without a word.
Elderly Durin	Hah, she's probably mad I messed things up. When I designed this drilling vehicle, I never imagined it would take such a long way to get to another city to win an inventor's award!
Iana	I'd think it'd have some kind of navigation system...
Elderly Durin	Navigation? We have no need of such things. See where that river goes underground? We just follow that and we'll reach the Durin city we're looking for! The maps are in our heads, we just don't know what Durin from which city made this passage so twisty-turny...
Iana	Couldn't we just walk right there?
Elderly Durin	Impossible! How am I supposed to attend the award ceremony without my invention?
Iana	Huh? Are you telling me this stranded drilling vehicle is your entry for the invention award?
Elderly Durin	Precisely.
Iana	I thought it was that 'instant brewing machine.'
Elderly Durin	That's nothing special. The Durin cities are full of those things.
Iana	But with the vehicle as it is, I can't imagine it'll make it past the first round.
Elderly Durin	You think it's so ruined? Don't worry, flaws can highlight the uniqueness of a new invention. Hah hah! You must know, it's uniqueness that pulls in the votes.
Iana	No, the real issue here is that it might not even make it to the event.
Elderly Durin	Miss, I think you're much more impatient than I. The Durin city is right over there, we'll make it sooner or later.
Iana	There might be another way. I can make it there, as long as I follow this river...
Elderly Durin	Yes, just follow the river, pass through four caves, then, when you see the eighth giant mushroom, you climb along the rock wall until... Well, long story short, you'll need a Durin guide or you'll definitely end up going a roundabout way! More importantly, if you don't bring an exciting new invention to the Durins, they probably won't let you in!
Iana	So...
Elderly Durin	Have patience, let me fix it, and it will surely take you where you want to be!
Iana	Where I want to be...? I hope so.
Elderly Durin	Alright, leave it to me. Can you check on the girl? If you brought back some food, that would be even better.
<Background 3>
[Footsteps]
Young Durin	Are we ready to go?
Iana	Not yet... Your master says he wants to fix the drilling vehicle.
Young Durin	Hmph, what a pain! He's so unreliable! I already told him that scrap heap won't win him any awards. And he actually thinks he can do the Triple Aquapit Handstand Twists with it! Ridiculous! Just thinking about it makes me cringe. What are these, Ms. Meijer?
Iana	Surveying instruments, survival gear, a few solar panels. I use them to help me while exploring.
Young Durin	Oh, it's the stuff you use to go playing outside. It's important to have fun stuff. There's lots of fun stuff at the City's Best Invention competition. I've been looking forward to it for ages! But... if I knew it would turn out like this, I wouldn't have gone with him.
Iana	Either way, we're here now, so all we can do is wait. Let's go take a look around that forest.
<Background 3>
The river flows gently. Iana lies on the rocks by the shore, staring intently at the water. Suddenly, ripples appear on the surface. She immediately presses a button on her control panel— A spring-loaded net on the riverbed shoots up, pouncing the finbeast into the bucket at Iana's feet, all in one smooth motion.
Young Durin	Wow! You caught it! Inconceivable! How did you do that?!
Iana	It's just a remote control, a set of signal transceivers, and a mesh net. It's all spare parts from the drilling vehicle... I linked them together to do this.
Young Durin	I see, so this is your new invention! It's much more interesting than the drilling vehicle!
Iana	An invention? I wouldn't call it that...
She holds her breath and turns back to the river. The swaying of the trees, the dissipation of the clouds, and the refracted sunlight create a mosaic on the water's surface. Suddenly, Iana's pupils show with golden spots. From another perspective, the shimmering waves no longer disturb her. Just as a tiny disturbance affects the water's surface, the net springs up again. A larger, more vivacious finbeast emerges from the river.
Young Durin	Woah! You got another one!
Iana	Alright, we're good. We've got enough drinking water, some finbeasts, fruit, and with the leftover food from before, we should be alright for the next few days... Even if it's a few more after that, we should have plenty.
Young Durin	Can I try?
Iana	Of course. Take the control panel, hold onto this, and press this button...
Young Durin	No, that's not what I mean. You keep it. We're going to play a game.
Iana	Play? What do you mean?
Young Durin	I'll swim from there. When you see me, hit the button. The net will bounce me out of the water with a splash, just like the finbeasts.
Iana	... I... don't think the fishing... err, finning device can be used like that.
Young Durin	But it's the most fun water toy I've ever seen! Let's stay here and play some more!
Iana	Here? Wait, you mean skip visiting the Durin city?
Young Durin	Yeah!
Iana	But... don't you want to attend the ceremony?
Young Durin	Huh? Yes, because I want to visit their water park and try out all kinds of new water toys and games from the competition! But why bother with that when I'm having so much fun right here! I've got the funnest 'Spring-loaded Aquanet'! Can we try your new invention again? I've come up with a few more games! How about 'Forest River Net Hide-And-Seek'? Come on, close your eyes and count to a hundred!
[Rushing steps]
Iana	...
<Background 4>
Young Durin	Here, fruity fin skewers!
Iana	Thanks.
Young Durin	Oh... is that 'Durin Engineering' you're reading?
Iana	It's a fascinating journal. It has a dozen pages of Durin research papers and hundreds of pages of Durin invention stories besides. Say, kid, what does this say here?
Young Durin	Hm, it says 'Knock eight times at the bottom, then turn the input knob to...'
Iana	That's good. I can make sense of most of the rest, it's just this one part. Are you sure it means 'knock eight times'?
Young Durin	Yeah! Totally sure! Why do you need to know?
Iana	I'm just trying to learn the composition and function of these modules... might come in handy.
Young Durin	I see, you want to improve the Spring-loaded Aquanet or make some new water toy.
Iana	No, I just want to fix the drilling vehicle as soon as possible, so we can move on to that underground city.
Young Durin	But why do you want to go to the city?
Iana	Why? ...I haven't yet determined the outcome. I can only be certain once I have seen all the possibilities.
Young Durin	Will you play in the water with us then?
Iana	Me...? Probably not.
Young Durin	But... if you're not going to enjoy the water, what's the point of going to the city?
Iana	...
The point? Over the course of a journey, speculation is disproven time and again. She gradually comes to realize a feeling like searching for an important item in an old room. Scouring the bookshelf, going through drawers, until only a round steel box under the bed remains unopened... She might have guessed the answer, but she still needs to find the box and open it.
Iana	No, there is a meaning to all this.
<Background 2>
The next day...
Iana	What? You're telling me the drilling vehicle still isn't fixed?
Elderly Durin	No... that's not the way I'd put it. It's more like... the drilling vehicle is unfixable... hic!
Young Durin	You reek of booze! ...All the fruit I picked yesterday is in the instant brewing machine!
Elderly Durin	Sure is. Made some nice fruity wine... this forest is great, I'd like to stay here. I worked on the vehicle late into the night, but I couldn't fix the power modules. Lucky I've got this wine... hic. I oughta name it, something like 'Drilling Vehicle No. 2' Vintage, how's that sound? Personally, I love it. A loving tribute to our fallen 'Drilling Vehicle No. 1'
Young Durin	Master! Master!
Elderly Durin	Wine...
[Something drops]
Iana sighs as black smoke rises from the drilling vehicle.
Iana	What do we do? We'll never make it to the Durin city at this rate.
Young Durin	Sounds good to me! We can keep playing 'Forest River Net Hide-And-Seek'!
Iana	No... we're done playing. We're going to that city.
Young Durin	Ms. Meijer? But, Master...
Iana	How many days until the competition?
Young Durin	Three!
Iana	That's a bit tight... we might not make it.
Young Durin	If we can't make it, there's always next week! And the week after that! The City's Best Invention is a weekly competition!
Iana	... Okay, then we'll shoot for the week after next. Say, kid, you want to try an even more fun water toy? I just got a great idea.
<Background black>
Elderly Durin	Hm? Where am I? I've been asleep for a while, huh...? I remember drinking some delicious fruit wine... Ah, yes, my drilling vehicle, I still have to fix my drilling vehicle! ... No, I think I'm actually inside it... and it's roomier now. And... it's moving? Is this really happening...? Ms. Meijer—
<Background 5>
[Something being uncovered]
Elderly Durin	Miss—
The Durin inventor opens the cabin door, only to be left speechless by the scene before him. The 'City's Best Invention' nominee, the drilling vehicle he is so proud of, is currently navigating a subterranean river.
Young Durin	Master! You're awake! Welcome to 'Drilling Vehicle No. 3'!
Iana	We should probably call it the Drilling Boat now.
Elderly Durin	It seems my hangover hasn't worn off yet. How long was I out...? No, I don't feel drunk, but I am a bit dizzy... So... what exactly is going on here?
Iana	Your student and I made a few small modifications. It's all thanks to her that I could bring my idea to life.
Young Durin	The drill is now a rudder! We also installed an upgraded version of the Spring-loaded Aquanet!
Iana	We had to discard some damaged parts, sorry about that. But it helped significantly reduce the weight of the Drilling Boat.
Elderly Durin	Discarded? You mean the Originium power modules...? But how is it moving without power?
Iana	We're traveling with the flow of the water. The river provides some propulsion. And just in case that's not enough, we also have this.
Elderly Durin	The mechanical arm...? No, it's more like an oar now. Hah! Who would've thought we'd row our way to the award ceremony! This really is... unique! What do you think? Should we plow right up to the podium through the dome's waterway? That has the makings of a great story... I need to jot that down and submit it to 'Durin Engineering' later! ... Do you feel like it's going faster and faster?
Young Durin	Yes, it's definitely speeding up!
Iana	Oh, looks like we're about to head into a dark, underground river.
Elderly Durin	Dark? So...
Iana	Open the sealed hatch, kid, we're going to dive!
Elderly Durin	Dive!
Young Durin	Dive!
Iana	Get ready, hold on tight—
Excited Durin	Ooooh!
[Splashing sound]
<Background black>
Iana	What other secrets do they have? I'll see with my own eyes. Give me something to look forward to, surprise me again—
<Background 1>
Blitz	Alright, any guesses on where Iana is exploring this time?
Tachanka	Siestan hot springs.
Fuze	Mt. Kjerag.
Doc	Maybe Rim Billiton, or Minos...? In any case... Iana is as curious about this land as any of us. Her curiosity is just a bit more vigorous than ours.
Blitz	I only wish she would use some of that energy to find a way back to Earth!
[Door opening]
Iana	Listen, Blitz. If there's a way back to Earth, I guarantee I'll be the first to find it.
Blitz	Iana? You actually came! Why did you bring so much stuff...?
Fuze	What's this... an Instant Brewing Machine?
Tachanka	Hah! Looks like fun! Let me try!
Doc	These files... geological and environmental survey samples from all across Terra. Columbia, Sargon, Victoria... it's all very detailed. Some locations are highlighted, they look similar to the cave at Magnethill No.2. Do you think these places might lead back home?
Iana	No.
Iana pulls out a sheet of paper from the bottom and places it atop the thick stack of data files. It is her report on the Durin city.
Doc	The conclusion here... eliminated? You mean you've ruled out this location as a possible passageway back?
Iana	All my hypothesised locations have failed to yield any results. I investigated each one, personally, and the Durin city was my last stop. I've concluded that none of them are linked to the cave at Magnethill No. 2. If we're going to find a way back to Earth, it'll be something else.
Doc	...
Blitz	...
Tachanka	...
Fuze	... Kind of expected.
Tachanka	Hmph, then let's start searching another route. I'm even more motivated now!
Doc	We could start exploring Originium. The land is plagued by Oripathy, but maybe it is hiding the information we need.
Iana	Yes, it is possible. Let's get exploring.
Blitz	...
Iana	What is it?
Blitz	Nothing, just... I thought you would be the last person here looking for a way back to Earth.
Iana	Why would you think that? I am not just going to sit down and accept this. If I've been brought here without any idea as to why... then I need to find a way back to Earth. Of course, I'll enjoy the sights along the way, those aren't mutually exclusive.
[Paper flips]
Iana shakes the documents in her hands.
Blitz	What's that...? City's Best Invention award... and you got a certificate?
Iana	Oh, those excitable Durins gave it to me.
Blitz	So you went to see an underground city and happened to win an inventor's award? Oh my goodness, this prize photo— You all have to see this!
<Background 6>
Beneath the azure dome, a peculiar-looking vehicle surges out from a subterranean waterfall. Rainbows rise from the splash of the water curtain, Durin onlookers cheering with arms held high.
<Background fades out and in>