()||<BIN>9</BIN><黑屏1>0,10</黑屏1><BGM>BGM_Empty</BGM>:
()||<睁眼><BIN>325</BIN><BGM>GF_EV9_Story</BGM>:...
()||<narrator>:In a lab at the Gray Institute of Biotechnology, Berlin.
()||:Maggie comes to her senses on an operating table. She is the only one left in the vast room.
ColtWalker(3)<Speaker>Maggie</Speaker>||:... +Is... the modification complete?
()||:The room is so big that even her words seem to echo a little.
()||<SE1>ClothingUp</SE1>:Maggie touches the place where her neural cloud is stored.
ColtWalker(3)<Speaker>Maggie</Speaker>||:Well, she really is a famous "doctor". +The best kind of feeling is when you feel nothing.
ColtWalker(4)<Speaker>Maggie</Speaker>||:Wait a minute... What about the contents of the job?
ColtWalker(3)<Speaker>Maggie</Speaker>||:... +Hello? Is anyone there?
()||:Nobody answers her, and Maggie's gaze wanders through the room until it finally settles on the computer at the desk. +The computer screen is in sleep mode, and after ensuring nobody is around, she walks towards it and taps the touchscreen lightly...
()||<SE1>AVG_Card_Reader</SE1>:Whoosh—The computer instantly lights up again. +A girl in white appears on the monitor.
NytoWhite(0)<Speaker>White Nyto</Speaker><通讯框>||:<color=#00CCFF>The assignment details have been sent to you through the "Bee Sting" system.</color> +<color=#00CCFF>The serial number is AS54876323025412.</color>
ColtWalker(3)<Speaker>Maggie</Speaker>||:What about Mrs. Gray?
NytoWhite(0)<Speaker>White Nyto</Speaker><通讯框>||:<color=#00CCFF>Big Sister Gray has other important matters to attend to.</color>
()||<SE1>AVG_keyboardtype_sci</SE1>:Maggie tries to open the file in her neural cloud. +Decrypting ■FILE■ AS54876323025412...
ColtWalker(3)<Speaker>Maggie</Speaker>||:...So this Tareus will be my contact?
()||:When Maggie looks up again, the white-haired girl is already gone.
()||<黑屏1>:
()||<黑屏2><SE1>AVG_va_addingredient</SE1>:After Maggie leaves, Gray pours herself another cup of coffee.
NPC-Nemhran(0)<Speaker>Nemhran</Speaker><通讯框>||:<color=#00CCFF>We only managed to scan less than 90% of this Doll's neural cloud data.</color>
NPC-MrsGray(0)<Speaker>Gray</Speaker>||:Minor deviations are fine as long as they don't affect the big picture. +In other words, if she can evade your system, it means she's capable of handling the job.
NPC-Nemhran(0)<Speaker>Nemhran</Speaker><通讯框>||:<color=#00CCFF>As you wish.</color> +<color=#00CCFF>However, I do not like the presence of potential risks.</color>
()||<SE1>AVG_Camera_Focus</SE1>:Gray walks over to the record player and gently places the needle on a spinning record.
()||<:Slow music fills the air.
NPC-MrsGray(0)<Speaker>Gray</Speaker>||:Don't worry, big sister Nemhran. +I guarantee your "Bee Sting" will take control of that Lifeline.
()||<黑屏1><BGM>BGM_Empty</BGM>:
()||<黑屏2><BIN>467</BIN><narrator>:In the last carriage of the Colt Express.
()||<BGM>BGM_Sneak</BGM>:A pair of poker cards lie quietly on the table— +A queen of hearts and a king of hearts. +They sit before Maggie and Catherine respectively.
NPC-Scalper(3)<Speaker>Catherine</Speaker>||:It's finally over.
NPC-Scalper(3);ColtWalker(3)<Speaker>Maggie</Speaker>||:No, it's only just begun.
NPC-Scalper(3)<Speaker>Catherine</Speaker>;ColtWalker(3)||:What did she do to you?
NPC-Scalper(3);ColtWalker(3)<Speaker>Maggie</Speaker>||:A major performance upgrade.
NPC-Scalper(3)<Speaker>Catherine</Speaker>;ColtWalker(3)||:So you won't have to worry about your body not being able to handle your neural cloud operations anymore?
NPC-Scalper(3);ColtWalker(3)<Speaker>Maggie</Speaker>||:The problem isn't completely solved; they just expanded the capacity of certain parts. +What a sweatshop it is. +Every cent they give you has to be paid back twofold.
NPC-Scalper(3)<Speaker>Catherine</Speaker>||:Care to demonstrate?
()||<SE1>ClothingUp</SE1>:Maggie waves her hand and brings up a blue system interface in front of Catherine. +The interface is extremely minimalistic. There is only a single entry field for her name.
()||<SE1>AVG_21Winter_Click_Keyboard</SE1>:Maggie inputs her name.
NPC-Scalper(3)<Speaker>Catherine</Speaker>||:...So this is the latest tech of the 21st century...
ColtWalker(3)<Speaker>Maggie</Speaker>||:With enough money, we could install the newest toys into ourselves whenever they come out.
()||<SE1>AVG_Card_Reader</SE1>:The pop-up pages list all kinds of information about Maggie in exacting detail. +No distinction is made for how important or trivial the information is—even every word that Catherine said while she was griping about Maggie in the pantry earlier has been logged.
ColtWalker(3)<Speaker>Maggie</Speaker>||:That's the "Bee Sting", and it gets in everywhere...
()||:Maggie now realizes what she meant by that.
NPC-Scalper(3)<Speaker>Catherine</Speaker>||:This is scary... +I can feel countless eyes staring at me...
NPC-Scalper(3);ColtWalker(3)<Speaker>Maggie</Speaker>||:Well, at least we're not their enemies... for now.
NPC-Scalper(3)<Speaker>Catherine</Speaker>;ColtWalker(3)||:The noise that I heard when I was sitting out here scared me to death. +But after you showed up, it seemed to have stopped too.
NPC-Scalper(3);ColtWalker(3)<Speaker>Maggie</Speaker>||:Yup. I made some changes to keep them in the dark.
NPC-Scalper(3)<Speaker>Catherine</Speaker>;ColtWalker(3)||:And here I thought...
NPC-Scalper(3);ColtWalker(3)<Speaker>Maggie</Speaker>||:You thought I'd give this up for the sake of the deal?
NPC-Scalper(3)<Speaker>Catherine</Speaker>;ColtWalker(3)||:Yeah...
NPC-Scalper(3);ColtWalker(3)<Speaker>Maggie</Speaker>||:No way. +I wouldn't be me if I gave up on something like this.
NPC-Scalper(3)<Speaker>Catherine</Speaker>;ColtWalker(3)||:It almost feels like... you've hit up a loan shark to pay off a ruthless creditor...
NPC-Scalper(3);ColtWalker(3)<Speaker>Maggie</Speaker>||:It's just how things are for Dolls that don't belong anywhere. We need to be careful every step of the way, because we have no room for error. +One false move and we'll plunge into a bottomless abyss.
NPC-Scalper(3)<Speaker>Catherine</Speaker>;ColtWalker(3)||:...I hope we backed the right person this time.
NPC-Scalper(3);ColtWalker(3)<Speaker>Maggie</Speaker>||:Person? I couldn't sense anything like that from here. +All I can tell is that she wasn't human, but I've never seen a Doll like her before. +I get the feeling that something big is going to happen—big enough to change the entire world.
NPC-Scalper(3)<Speaker>Catherine</Speaker>;ColtWalker(3)||:Another Great Flood?
NPC-Scalper(3);ColtWalker(3)<Speaker>Maggie</Speaker>||:Well, we're insignificant specks compared to the Flood and the world. +But don't forget that only the tiniest ants can crawl through the gaps and onto Noah's Ark.
NPC-Scalper(0)<Speaker>Catherine</Speaker>;ColtWalker(3)||:Yup! The only creatures which survived all the way from the past until now are rats and cockroaches!
ColtWalker(3)<Speaker>Maggie</Speaker>||:...Use a different metaphor. +I hate cockroaches.
()||<黑屏1><BGM>BGM_Empty</BGM>:
()||<黑屏2><BIN>528</BIN><narrator>:Two years later, in the workroom of the Intercontinental Railway train "Future".
()||<BGM>GF_2022_Summer_AVG_4</BGM><SE1>ClothingUp</SE1>:Maggie slips Susanna a card discreetly.
ColtWalker(1)<Speaker>Maggie</Speaker>||:Thanks for your help, Miss Susanna.
NPC-TD_Porter(0)<Speaker>Susanna</Speaker>||:Humph. Get off once you reach Poznań. Don't let them find you.
NPC-Scalper(0)<Speaker>Catherine</Speaker>||:Got it.
()||:Susanna takes the card casually. +Maggie checks her own neural cloud data just as casually.
()||<SE1>AVG_footsteps_cave</SE1>:After copying the information on all the passengers, she heads over to the bar within the dining carriage and takes a seat. She raises her glass.
ColtWalker(1)<Speaker>Maggie</Speaker>||<SE1>Stop_AVG_loop</SE1>:Tonight the tequila is on me.
()||:The Colt Express is open for business.
()||<黑屏1>:
()||<黑屏2><BIN>527</BIN><narrator><SE1>Stop_AVG_loop</SE1>:Inside the Colt Express, on board the Intercontinental Railway train "Future".
()||:Maggie walks through the various carriages making deals while also sifting through the security camera feed for the various parts of the train "Future". +The dining carriage... +The first-class carriage... +The second-class carriage... +The restroom...
()||<BGM>BGM_Empty</BGM><震屏3>:And then the Colt Express starts shaking violently.
ColtWalker(4)<Speaker>Maggie</Speaker>||:Crap, that old hag! When she said she was only giving 10 minutes, she really meant it! +Dammit, everyone out!
()||<SE1>AVG_Power_Down</SE1>:All the Dolls making trades on the Colt Express are forcibly logged out.
()||<黑点1>:
()||<黑点2><BIN>528</BIN><SE1>AVG_21Winter_Terrorist_Attack</SE1><BGM>10082</BGM>:Maggie lifts her head from the table, and Catherine watches with a fearful look on her face as Baba Lyuba rushes in from outside the carriage.
NPC-Scalper(3)<Speaker>Catherine</Speaker>||<BGM>10227</BGM><SE1>Stop_AVG_loop</SE1>:Baba Lyuba's making a move!
ColtWalker(3)<Speaker>Maggie</Speaker>||:I know that! Keep guarding my body! +...I'm about to find the objective! +If we withdraw now, we'll have a hard time finding another lead!
NPC-Scalper(3)<Speaker>Catherine</Speaker>||:... +Got it! I'll think of a way to buy you time...
()||<黑点1>:
()||<黑点2><BIN>538</BIN><SE1>AVG_Supershorty</SE1>:Bang!
()||<SE1>AVG_bigglassbreak</SE1>:A thunderous gunshot rings out, shattering the neat rows of crystal and glassware on the counter.
()<Speaker>Susanna</Speaker>||:Ahhhhh—!
()||:Even Susanna, who's seen it all, can't help but scream.
()||<SE1>AVG_20Winter_People_Panic</SE1>:Meanwhile, the passengers, who can't keep their terror in check, let out another scream. +However, this perfectly harmless reaction is enough to draw the ire of the burly thug named Danil, who immediately trains his gun on them. +As the vacuous black muzzle sweeps over them, the weeping men and women swallow their whimpers and wails.
()<Speaker>Danil</Speaker>||:Dolls to Carriage 10; humans to Carriage 8. +Leave all your jewelry on the tables and open your luggage.
()||<SE1>ClothingUp</SE1>:Once Susanna overcomes her initial shock, she suddenly comes to a horrifying realization. She looks up at the old woman before her and stutters incoherently.
()<Speaker>Susanna</Speaker>||:Ba-ba-ba... Baba Lyuba?! +The last of the Neo-Soviet Union's V—
()<Speaker>Baba Lyuba</Speaker>||:...The botrytized wine that you prepared was to my taste. +You should know what to do next, right?
()||:Susanna gulps and swallows the words she's about to say. +She only speaks again after a long moment of hesitation.
()<Speaker>Susanna</Speaker>||:... +The passenger manifest is in the workroom.
()<Speaker>Baba Lyuba</Speaker>||:Very good. You're a clever girl.
()||<SE1>AVG_Wheelchair</SE1>:The fragile-looking granny seems to have undergone a complete change. Standing on the armrests of her own wheelchair, she pulls out a frightening gun in each hand and cackles. Her ghastly laughter, so utterly discordant with the elegant background music, sounds almost like a dirge.
()||<SE1>AVG_footsteps_woodfloor</SE1>:Behind her, armed gangsters enter the room in an orderly fashion.
()||<黑点1><SE1>Stop_AVG_loop</SE1>:
()||<黑点2><BIN>528</BIN>:Catherine, who has remained motionless ever since the Vory barged in, is cowering in front of the bar with her head lowered.
NPC-Scalper(2)<Speaker>Catherine</Speaker>||:Maggie... What should I do...?
()<Speaker>Maggie</Speaker>||:...
()||:Maggie remains slumped over the table, completely still.
()||<BGM>BGM_Empty</BGM><SE1>Rope</SE1>:The Vory begin the work of tying up the passengers and rifling through their belongings.
()||<SE1>AVG_Creep</SE1>:Catherine tries to drag Maggie's body behind the bar to hide it while rejoicing at the savior she's found.
()||<BGM>GF_2022_Summer_AVG_3</BGM>:—Nikolai.
()||<SE1>AVG_tele_connect</SE1>:Beep-beep—It's the sound of a transmission.
NPC-NervousMan(0)<Speaker>Nikolai</Speaker>||:...
()||:He knows who it is even without picking it up. +When Catherine saw him, he also caught sight of her. +That means Maggie must be pretty close by.
NPC-NervousMan(0)<Speaker>Nikolai</Speaker>||:<color=#A9A9A9>You dumb bitch! I helped you delay them for 15 minutes already!</color>
NPC-Bodyguard1(0)<Speaker>Danil</Speaker>||:Is something wrong?
()||:Danil, who's standing beside Nikolai, notices his unnatural stiffness.
NPC-NervousMan(0)<Speaker>Nikolai</Speaker>||:...Most of them are regular Dolls. What could possibly be wrong? +You don't have to be such a try-hard around me. Save it for the old lady.
NPC-Bodyguard1(0)<Speaker>Danil</Speaker>||:...There are still several more carriages. We had best set up the jammers ASAP.
NPC-NervousMan(0)<Speaker>Nikolai</Speaker>||:You aren't the only one working here. Take care of the restroom side. I'll handle the bar side.
()||<SE1>AVG_tele_connect</SE1>:Beep-beep... His communicator keeps vibrating. +Nikolai silently cuts it off.
()||<SE1>Rope</SE1>:Then he slowly ties up the Dolls who have ducked off to one side.
()||<黑点1>:
()||<黑点2>:Three minutes later.
NPC-Bodyguard1(0)<Speaker>Danil</Speaker>||:...I've taken care of it.
NPC-NervousMan(0)<Speaker>Nikolai</Speaker>||:...
()||:Nikolai has only tied up four of the Dolls.
NPC-OldLady(1)<Speaker>Baba Lyuba</Speaker>||:...Danil, you help him.
NPC-NervousMan(0)<Speaker>Nikolai</Speaker>||:...I...
()||<SE1>AVG_footsteps_woodfloor</SE1>:Danil ignores Nikolai and heads over to the bar.
NPC-Scalper(3)<Speaker>Catherine</Speaker>||<SE1>Stop_AVG_loop</SE1>:...
NPC-Bodyguard1(0)<Speaker>Danil</Speaker>||:...
()||:Behind the counter, he finds a trembling Catherine and an unconscious Maggie on the ground. +Danil reports it with a strange look on his face.
NPC-Bodyguard1(0)<Speaker>Danil</Speaker>||:...Baba, Maggie Ponzi is here too.
NPC-OldLady(1)<Speaker>Baba Lyuba</Speaker>||:...
()||:She glances at Nikolai.
NPC-OldLady(1)<Speaker>Baba Lyuba</Speaker>||:It's been more than ten minutes.
NPC-OldLady(1);NPC-NervousMan(0)<Speaker>Nikolai</Speaker>||:...
NPC-OldLady(1)<Speaker>Baba Lyuba</Speaker>;NPC-NervousMan(0)||:We've made enough concessions for Tareus.
NPC-OldLady(1);NPC-NervousMan(0)<Speaker>Nikolai</Speaker>||:...Yes.
NPC-OldLady(1)<Speaker>Baba Lyuba</Speaker>||:You know the drill.
NPC-Bodyguard1(0)<Speaker>Danil</Speaker>||:Yes, Baba!
()||<SE1>Select</SE1>:Click—Catherine hears a clear, crisp sound. +The sound of a safety latch disengaging.
NPC-Scalper(3)<Speaker>Catherine</Speaker>||:...
()||<SE1>ClothingUp</SE1>:She slowly looks up.
NPC-Bodyguard1(0)<Speaker>Danil</Speaker>||:...I hope we don't meet again. +Bad luck always happens when you show up.
NPC-Scalper(2)<Speaker>Catherine</Speaker>||:Baba Lyuba...
()||:Baba Lyuba pays Catherine no heed. +Danil presses his gun against Catherine's chest in a brusque manner and takes aim at her neural cloud core.
NPC-Scalper(2)<Speaker>Catherine</Speaker>||:Wait!!! We're actually on a mission... Strictly speaking, we're allies...
NPC-OldLady(1)<Speaker>Baba Lyuba</Speaker>;NPC-Scalper(2)||:...
NPC-Scalper(2)<Speaker>Catherine</Speaker>||:Mr. Nikolai! Help, Mr. Nikolai!
()||:Nikolai glances at her and turns his head away.
NPC-Scalper(2)<Speaker>Catherine</Speaker>||:...
()||:Once again, she feels despair wash over her.
()||<SE1>AVG_pistol_finalshot_n</SE1>:Bang! Danil's gunshot is the answer to her desperate plea.
()||<SE1>AVG_Bullet_Hit_Body</SE1>:Just as the bullets hit her, Catherine is suddenly shoved aside by a great force!
NPC-Scalper(2)<Speaker>Catherine</Speaker>||:Maggie!!
()||:Maggie awakens at a crucial moment, and with a push from her, the round misses its intended target and hits Catherine in the leg instead. +Maggie looks up.
ColtWalker(3)<Speaker>Maggie</Speaker>||:...Baba Lyuba. +There is a Tactical Doll hiding in the restroom.
NPC-Bodyguard1(0)<Speaker>Danil</Speaker>||:! +Stay alert!
()||<SE1>AVG_Scene_Transfer</SE1>:All the Vory take up their guns and point them at the restroom. +The difference between a Tactical Doll and an ordinary Doll is like heaven and earth.
NPC-OldLady(1)<Speaker>Baba Lyuba</Speaker>||:...Calm down. +We have ample firepower.
NPC-Bodyguard1(0)<Speaker>Danil</Speaker>||:...Yes, Baba.
()||:While all the Vory are slowly moving toward the restroom... +Below the bar counter—
ColtWalker(3)<Speaker>Maggie</Speaker>||:Can you still move?
NPC-Scalper(3)<Speaker>Catherine</Speaker>;ColtWalker(3)||:...I don't think so. +Forget about me. Don't endanger yourself or the mission.
NPC-Scalper(3);ColtWalker(3)<Speaker>Maggie</Speaker>||:...Right.
NPC-Scalper(3)<Speaker>Catherine</Speaker>;ColtWalker(3)||:Is that Tactical Doll very strong?
NPC-Scalper(3);ColtWalker(3)<Speaker>Maggie</Speaker>||:Using your favorite video game as an example... +If your attack points is 5, then hers would be 530,000.
NPC-Scalper(3)<Speaker>Catherine</Speaker>||:...Looks like she'll be enough of a distraction for you to escape.
()||<黑点1>: