()||<BIN>9</BIN><黑屏1>0,10</黑屏1><BGM>BGM_Empty</BGM>:
()<Speaker></Speaker>||<BIN>272</BIN><黑屏2><BGM>BGM_Room</BGM>:Bremen, Germany.
()||:Flora Botanical Research Institute.
NPC-Morridow(0)<Speaker>Morridow</Speaker>||:Guten Morgen, Frau Ange! +You look very well-rested.
NPC-Ange(2)<Speaker>Angelia</Speaker>||:Sorry for the wait.
NPC-Morridow(0)<Speaker>Morridow</Speaker>||:Not at all, don't worry about me. It is my job to serve you. +Besides, I am very honored to be given the opportunity to learn from a woman as accomplished as you. +Oh, and from you too, Herr Hopps! Thank you for your work.
NPC-Hopps(0)<Speaker>Hopps</Speaker>||:...Just doing my job.
NPC-Ange(2)<Speaker>Angelia</Speaker>||:He came to our place first thing in the morning.
NPC-Morridow(0)<Speaker>Morridow</Speaker>||:That's Chairwoman Ulrich's trusted bodyguard for you! +Your personal safety is our top priority, Frau Ange. +Are you satisfied with your journey to this place?
NPC-Ange(2)<Speaker>Angelia</Speaker>||:It was alright, though it took Mr. Bodyguard a bit too long to shake off the car that was tailing us. +So, this is it?
NPC-Morridow(0)<Speaker>Morridow</Speaker>||:That's right, this is the Flora Botanical Research Institute. +It is home to the largest botanical garden in Bremen, with seasonal flowers in bloom all year round. +If you're interested, I can give you a tour.
NPC-Ange(2)<Speaker>Angelia</Speaker>||:...Is that so? +I appreciate the gesture, but maybe next time.
NPC-Morridow(0)<Speaker>Morridow</Speaker>||:Chairwoman Ulrich did say that your wish is my command. +But I never thought you'd be interested in botanical research! +Your sudden request for a visit really took me by surprise. Still, I do love flowers myself.
NPC-Ange(2)<Speaker>Angelia</Speaker>||:This is quite massive for a research institute.
NPC-Morridow(0)<Speaker>Morridow</Speaker>||:Ja! The institute's research building is a famous landmark in Bremen. +They also have a large field on the other side of the city where they cultivate species for the purpose of research.
NPC-Ange(2)<Speaker>Angelia</Speaker>||:I see.
NPC-Morridow(0)<Speaker>Morridow</Speaker>||:Come to think of it... +How come I don't see the Dolls that accompanied you to Bremen? +Is it a good idea for you to travel alone?
NPC-Ange(2)<Speaker>Angelia</Speaker>||:I'm just here for a visit; they'd just get in the way. +Besides, you've given me a personal bodyguard, isn't that right?
NPC-Hopps(0)<Speaker>Hopps</Speaker>||:...
NPC-Morridow(0)<Speaker>Morridow</Speaker>||:Absolutely! +Herr Hopps is such a reassuring presence! +It must be the beard!
NPC-Ange(2)<Speaker>Angelia</Speaker>||<黑点1>:<color=#A9A9A9>...The beard?</color>
NPC-Morridow(0)<Speaker>Morridow</Speaker>||<黑点2>:To tell you the truth, this is also the first time I've ever been here. +What a beautiful greenhouse they have!
NPC-Ange(2)<Speaker>Angelia</Speaker>||:Who will we be meeting?
NPC-Morridow(0)<Speaker>Morridow</Speaker>||:Uh, one second please. I believe we have an appointment with... +Oh, there she is!
NPC-Leone(0)<Speaker>???</Speaker>||:...
NPC-Morridow(0)<Speaker>Morridow</Speaker>||:Allow me to introduce... +Frau Leone, Senior Researcher at the Flora Botanical Research Institute. +She specializes in research on herbaceous plants.
NPC-Leone(0)<Speaker>Leone</Speaker>||:...Hello.
NPC-Ange(2)<Speaker>Angelia</Speaker>||:Hello, I'm Angelia.
NPC-Leone(0)<Speaker>Leone</Speaker>||:I know. +You're investigators sent by the Pan-European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Reconstruction, though I'm not sure what you're doing here.
NPC-Ange(2)<Speaker>Angelia</Speaker>||:As the one in charge, you're a lot younger than I imagined. +Such wonderful accomplishments for your age.
NPC-Leone(0)<Speaker>Leone</Speaker>||:...You flatter me. +I'm just a humble researcher caring for my flowers.
NPC-Morridow(0)<Speaker>Morridow</Speaker>||:We're sorry to bother you on a working day. +I hope we're not interrupting anything important?
NPC-Leone(0)<Speaker>Leone</Speaker>||:Don't worry about it. +Help yourselves.
NPC-Morridow(0)<Speaker>Morridow</Speaker>||:Huh? You're not going to show us around?
NPC-Leone(0)<Speaker>Leone</Speaker>||:...I work in this greenhouse. If you have any questions, just ask. +I'm sorry, but I'm a researcher, not a tour guide. +Everyone have things they're good at and things they're...not so good at.
NPC-Morridow(0)<Speaker>Morridow</Speaker>||:...I understand. +In...In that case, sorry to disturb you.
NPC-Ange(2)<Speaker>Angelia</Speaker>||:We don't seem very welcome here.
NPC-Leone(0)<Speaker>Leone</Speaker>||:You're mistaken. You are Frau Ulrich's guests. +The Bremen government has been very supportive of our research. +It is my duty to fulfil her requests.
NPC-Ange(2)<Speaker>Angelia</Speaker>||:Then tell me more about yourself. +What kind of research do you do here?
NPC-Leone(0)<Speaker>Leone</Speaker>||:...We mostly study the propagation and mutation of plants here at the Flora Institute. +In a world ravaged by mankind... +Plants are one of the few life forms that can resist radiation and survive. +We hope to find our "future" by studying them.
NPC-Morridow(0)<Speaker>Morridow</Speaker>||:Find our "future"? +That doesn't sound like something a scientist would say. You didn't strike me as a hopeless romantic, Frau Leone.
NPC-Leone(0)<Speaker>Leone</Speaker>||:Romantic? +I meant what I said literally; it was not a figure of speech. +Right now, mankind has no way of moving forward. +Yet plants have learned to live in harmony with despair long ago. +If we don't start learning from them, we may very well be sealing our fate.
NPC-Ange(2)<Speaker>Angelia</Speaker>||:Our future lies in plants? +What a peculiar idea.
NPC-Leone(0)<Speaker>Leone</Speaker>||:Compared to humans, who never learn, plants that keep growing inconspicuously are much more reliable.
NPC-Ange(2)<Speaker>Angelia</Speaker>||:So what have you learned from these flowers?
NPC-Leone(0)<Speaker>Leone</Speaker>||:...A great deal. +I've spoken more than I should. +Please take your time and have a look around.
()||:Leone glances at her watch before heading to the other side of the greenhouse to check the thermometer.
NPC-Morridow(0)<Speaker>Morridow</Speaker>||:Seriously? She came out to receive us, but she won't give us a tour? +Maybe Herr Hopps looks too intimidating?
NPC-Hopps(0)<Speaker>Hopps</Speaker>||:I disagree.
NPC-Morridow(0)<Speaker>Morridow</Speaker>||:S-Stop glaring at me. +I was just kidding.
NPC-Ange(2)<Speaker>Angelia</Speaker>||:Now that we're inside, the magnitude of their facility is even more apparent. +They're investing so much money and resources just to study flowers. +Is it worth it?
NPC-Morridow(0)<Speaker>Morridow</Speaker>||:I don't think that's very fair, Frau Ange. +Under these times, everything we do must contribute to our survival. +But it's not the same for flowers. +Their fragrance and colors are only for embellishment; they aren't essential for the flowers' survival. +Of course, one must be pragmatic to survive, but virtues are equally—if not more—important. +What we can glean from flowers is hope.
NPC-Ange(2)<Speaker>Angelia</Speaker>||:That's a beautiful speech, but you did not answer my question.
NPC-Morridow(0)<Speaker>Morridow</Speaker>||:J-Just sharing my thoughts! +This institute operates on such a large scale because it led the country's research in developing the vaccine and medication for ELID. +Their work has saved countless lives! +Right, Frau Leone?
NPC-Leone(0)<Speaker>Leone</Speaker>||:...
NPC-Morridow(0)<Speaker>Morridow</Speaker>||:...She's ignoring us altogether.
NPC-Ange(2)<Speaker>Angelia</Speaker>||:It feels as if she's keeping her distance deliberately, don't you think?
NPC-Morridow(0)<Speaker>Morridow</Speaker>||:Now that you mention it, I'm getting the same feeling. +You're right, she does seem to be giving us a wide berth. +I knew it—she's unhappy that we're visiting out of the blue!
NPC-Ange(2)<Speaker>Angelia</Speaker>||:I wish it were that simple.
NPC-Morridow(0)<Speaker>Morridow</Speaker>||:Um, I-I don't think Frau Leone is petty enough to be mad because of your little disagreement.
NPC-Ange(2)<Speaker>Angelia</Speaker>||:That's not what I meant. +It wasn't even a disagreement. I simply asked a couple of questions, but she didn't give any straight answers.
()||:Ange takes in her surroundings.
NPC-Ange(2)<Speaker>Angelia</Speaker>||:I mean... +Other than us, this huge greenhouse is completely empty. +Don't you think that's odd?
NPC-Morridow(0)<Speaker>Morridow</Speaker>||:Huh?
NPC-Hopps(0)<Speaker>Hopps</Speaker>||:...It's too quiet.
NPC-Ange(2)<Speaker>Angelia</Speaker>||:Ms. Leone, eh?
NPC-Leone(0)<Speaker>Leone</Speaker>||:...!
()||:A few steps away, Leone grows tense at Ange's question.
NPC-Ange(2)<Speaker>Angelia</Speaker>||:Where are the other researchers? +Surely you can't be the only one working in such a large institute.
NPC-Leone(0)<Speaker>Leone</Speaker>||:Since we're having uninvited guests... I've sent everyone else home.
NPC-Ange(2)<Speaker>Angelia</Speaker>||:Uninvited guests, huh. +What a barbed way of putting it. +I didn't expect you to put the operation of your facility on hold for an entire day just because I'm here to visit. You're doing me too big a courtesy.
NPC-Leone(0)<Speaker>Leone</Speaker>||:As I said, you are Chairwoman Ulrich's guests.
NPC-Ange(2)<Speaker>Angelia</Speaker>||:Not too subtle, are you?
()||:Whoosh. +Ange draws her pistol and aims it straight at Leone. +The latter flinches visibly. Off to the side, Hopps also reaches for his weapon out of reflex.
NPC-Morridow(0)<Speaker>Morridow</Speaker>||:Huh? What? H-Hold on a second? What are you doing? +Frau Ange?!
NPC-Ange(2)<Speaker>Angelia</Speaker>||:Tell me—where is everyone else?
NPC-Leone(0)<Speaker>Leone</Speaker>||:...
()||:Leone's lips twitch, but she does not utter a word.
()||<SE1>AVG_tele_connect</SE1>:Beep— +The tension in the air is broken by the sudden ring of Ange's communicator.
NPC-Ange(2)<Speaker>Angelia</Speaker>||:...What is it? What have you found?
AN94(11)<Speaker>AN-94</Speaker><通讯框>||:<color=#00CCFF>Miss Ange, a large number of armed personnel is lying in ambush under the research facility.</color> +<color=#00CCFF>Please get out immediately. This is a trap.</color>
NPC-Ange(2)<Speaker>Angelia</Speaker>||:Got it. +Wow, serving the main course straight away? Not even bothering with some warm-up?
NPC-Morridow(0)<Speaker>Morridow</Speaker>||:Wait... Huh? Ambush? A trap? +What even? J-Just what is going on?!
()||:Hopps has his firearm trained on Leone in the blink of an eye.
NPC-Hopps(0)<Speaker>Hopps</Speaker>||:Arms in the air! +Get down on the floor!
NPC-Leone(0)<Speaker>Leone</Speaker>||:Humph...
()||:With two guns pointed at her, the agitated Leone suddenly lets out a sneer.
NPC-Leone(0)<Speaker>Leone</Speaker>||:The ending...has been decided since the moment you came in.
()||:Just then, Ange hears a series of soft and rapid clicks coming from above her head. +Then the entire space is filled with pale yellow pollen.
NPC-Morridow(0)<Speaker>Morridow</Speaker>||:What— P-Pollen?
NPC-Ange(2)<Speaker>Angelia</Speaker>||:!
()||:A pungent scent assaults Ange's nose, giving her no time to react. +The world spins around her and her surroundings distort into something else.
NPC-Ange(2)<Speaker>Angelia</Speaker>||<黑屏1>:...What?
()||<BIN>55</BIN><睁眼>:What is this place...
NPC-Ange(2)<Speaker>Angelia</Speaker>||:How revolting... +Giving me the whole spiel about plants being the hope for humanity then leading me straight into a trap.
()||:In the ruins, a few stumbling ELIDs emerge from around the corner and shuffle towards Ange.
NPC-Ange(2)<Speaker>Angelia</Speaker>||:I'm hallucinating... I've heard that certain pollens are hallucinogenic. +But I didn't expect the effect to be so potent... Maybe it's been processed?
()||:None of this is real. Ange knows that very well.
NPC-Ange(2)<Speaker>Angelia</Speaker>||:Hallucinations... I know I'm just seeing things, but still.
()||:Still... +She looks at the shambling ELIDs and takes a deep breath.
NPC-Ange(2)<Speaker>Angelia</Speaker>||:Don't blame me no matter what I hit.
()||:She places her finger on the trigger and takes aim at the "ELIDs".
()||:—!
()||<黑屏1>:Just as she is about to pull the trigger... +A strong force dislodges the pistol from her hand. +Soon after that... +Her consciousness dissolves in chaos.