()||<BIN>9</BIN><黑屏1>0,10</黑屏1><BGM>BGM_Empty</BGM>:
()||<BIN>418</BIN>:...In a street near the residential area in Sector 2Z64.+No. 322 looks up and stares at the clock tower, which has always been out of order, in bemusement.
()||<SE1>AVG_Bell</SE1>:It has started ticking again.
QSB91(0)<Speaker>No. 322</Speaker><Position>-70,150</Position>||<BGM>BGM_SAC2045_Utopia</BGM>:Something just doesn't feel right today...
NPC-BoysAntiTank(0)<Speaker>Boys AT Rifle</Speaker>||:...Hey, Multi. Long time no see.
QSB91(0)<Speaker>No. 322</Speaker><Position>-70,150</Position>||:Oh, hello, comrade. Welcome! The canteen is running full steam ahead right now~+On today's menu, we've got boiled potatoes, shredded potato stir-fry—
NPC-BoysAntiTank(0)<Speaker>Boys AT Rifle</Speaker>||:Wakey-wakey.
()||<SE1>AVG_21Winter_Phone_Crash</SE1>:Clatter—+No. 322 drops the menu she was holding up.
QSB91(0)<Speaker>No. 322</Speaker><Position>-70,150</Position>||<震屏3>:What just flashed past my eyes...?
()||<黑点1>:Cabbages blooming like water lilies in bone broth, a fabulous dish made of 18 ingredients...+Astounding culinary ideas explode in her neural cloud, and a new universe is born.
()||<黑点2><BIN>222</BIN>:...In a supply warehouse in the Ministry of Plenty, Sector 2Z64.+A petite figure is burrowing in the warehouse, searching frantically for something.
TPS(0)<Speaker>No. 387</Speaker><Position>0,100</Position>||:Where is it... Where has it gone?!+The familiar interface... the familiar feel in my hands... I must've seen it somewhere!
NPC-QBU191(1)<Speaker>QBU-191</Speaker><Position>-80,0</Position>||:TPS.
TPS(0)<Speaker>No. 387</Speaker><Position>0,100</Position>||:...Huh? No. 388?
NPC-QBU191(1)<Speaker>QBU-191</Speaker><Position>-80,0</Position>||:It still hasn't come back to you?
()||:Ibis hands a brand new game cartridge to TPS.
NPC-QBU191(1)<Speaker>QBU-191</Speaker><Position>-80,0</Position>||:A gift from the Commander.
TPS(0)<Speaker>TPS</Speaker><Position>0,100</Position>||:...
()||<黑点1>:TPS takes it in a daze...
()||<黑点2><BIN>313</BIN>:...At the café in the residential area, Sector 2Z64.+The café is empty in the late afternoon. Springfield serves up a glass of earl grey gin cocktail that she has just mixed on the bar.
M1903(10)<Speaker>Springfield</Speaker><Position>0,79</Position>||:...+I've mixed the drink that they like.+But I don't know if they'll be coming today.
()||<黑屏1>:Leaning against the bar and propping her chin in her hand, Springfield watches the sun set slowly outside the window.
()||<黑屏2><BIN>418</BIN>:...In an unknown region in Sector 2Z64.+433 and Purin are sitting on the roadside. The sun exudes its final rays in defiance as it sinks into oblivion.
()||:Just like this virtual world, which is floating in mid-air.
NPC-Purin(0)<Speaker>Purin Esaki</Speaker><Position>-50,50</Position>||:Why don't you go with them and wake everyone up?
NPC-HK433(0)<Speaker>433</Speaker><Position>0,130</Position>||:They can handle it themselves.
NPC-Purin(0)<Speaker>Purin Esaki</Speaker><Position>-50,50</Position>||:Alright.
()||:Purin looks toward Sector 2Z64 in its state of collapse. Entire buildings are falling apart as if they were melting in the sun.
NPC-Purin(2)<Speaker>Purin Esaki</Speaker><Position>-50,50</Position>||:Look, over there!
NPC-HK433(0)<Speaker>433</Speaker><Position>0,130</Position>||:What is it?
NPC-Purin(2)<Speaker>Purin Esaki</Speaker><Position>-50,50</Position>||:That's the Ministry of Truth, where I met you!+It's now all crumbled, like cookies in a school bag!
NPC-HK433(0)<Speaker>433</Speaker><Position>0,130</Position>||:...
NPC-Purin(2)<Speaker>Purin Esaki</Speaker><Position>-50,50</Position>||:The Ministry of Love, where Miss Ibis works, is still standing. Oh, it's also starting to fall apart...
NPC-HK433(0)<Speaker>433</Speaker><Position>0,130</Position>;NPC-Purin(2)<Position>-50,50</Position>||:Purin.
NPC-HK433(0)<Position>0,130</Position>;NPC-Purin(0)<Speaker>Purin Esaki</Speaker><Position>-50,50</Position>||:Hm?
NPC-HK433(0)<Speaker>433</Speaker><Position>0,130</Position>;NPC-Purin(0)<Position>-50,50</Position>||:The Major and her team have already logged out of Sector 2Z64 and returned to reality. Why are you still here?
NPC-Purin(0)<Speaker>Purin Esaki</Speaker><Position>-50,50</Position>||:Um...
NPC-HK433(0)<Speaker>433</Speaker><Position>0,130</Position>||:You seem to be keeping a lot of secrets from me.
NPC-Purin(0)<Speaker>Purin Esaki</Speaker><Position>-50,50</Position>||<黑屏1><BGM>BGM_Empty</BGM>:I'm still here because I can't go back, 433.
()||<黑屏2><BIN>8</BIN>:...Back in the real world, in the command room at Griffin's base.
()||<BGM>GF_EV9_Story</BGM>:The Tachikomas are rummaging excitedly through the files shared by the Commander while muttering something about "parallelization" and "natural engine oil". The Commander scratches their head and looks over to the Major, who has finished her preparations.
NPC-Motoko(0)<Speaker>Motoko Kusanagi</Speaker><Position>-40,130</Position>||:...That's all for now, Commander. We should head back.
NPC-Batou(0)<Speaker>Batou</Speaker>||:We still have a lot of questions for Takashi Shimamura, things that we haven't quite figured out.
()||:Batou taps the hard drive in which Shimamura's consciousness is stored.
()<Speaker>Commander</Speaker>||:What about Suzuka Mizukane...? Are we just keeping her here at our base like this?
NPC-Batou(2)<Speaker>Batou</Speaker>||:She should have a taste of amnesia.+You look like you could use some help around here anyway.
NPC-Motoko(0)<Speaker>Motoko Kusanagi</Speaker><Position>-40,130</Position>||:It's too dangerous to have her and Shimamura together in one place. Separating them is the way to go.
NPC-Motoko(0)<Speaker>Commander</Speaker><Position>-40,130</Position><同时置暗>||:Alright.+I've already said this once, but I would like to extend the invitation again...+Your prosthetics will be preserved for as long as the Griffin base stands. You're very welcome to visit again if you get the chance.
NPC-Batou(2)<Speaker>Batou</Speaker>||:Sure, let's go out for a drink next time.
NPC-Motoko(0)<Speaker>Motoko Kusanagi</Speaker><Position>-40,130</Position>||:Don't get your hopes up.+We may meet again, or we may not.
()<Speaker>Commander</Speaker>||:Right.
()||:The Commander glances uneasily at the no longer functional AR equipment.
()<Speaker>Commander</Speaker>||:Also...
NPC-Motoko(0)<Speaker>Motoko Kusanagi</Speaker><Position>-40,130</Position>||:About Purin?
NPC-Motoko(0)<Speaker>Commander</Speaker><Position>-40,130</Position><同时置暗>||:Yeah... Can she really not return from Sector 2Z64?
()||:Batou sighs.
NPC-Batou(0)<Speaker>Batou</Speaker>||:She's too reckless.+After taking serious damage the first time we entered Big Brother's room, instead of undergoing repairs, she just had to return to the battlefield first thing.+Then she went and came up with the crazy idea of combining the AI of 2Z64 with her own data just to achieve our aim. Now she's completely tied up with Sector 2Z64...
NPC-Motoko(0)<Speaker>Motoko Kusanagi</Speaker><Position>-40,130</Position>||:You're both reckless.+One is trapped in Sector 2Z64, and the other can never return to Sector 2Z64 even if he shoots himself.
NPC-Motoko(0)<Speaker>Commander</Speaker><Position>-40,130</Position><同时置暗>||:...
NPC-Motoko(0)<Speaker>Motoko Kusanagi</Speaker><Position>-40,130</Position>||:Don't worry, at least we can guide Purin back to our original world.+She'll just end up losing her memories of this place.
NPC-Batou(0)<Speaker>Batou</Speaker>||:I'll do my best to restore her.
NPC-Batou(0)<Speaker>Commander</Speaker><同时置暗>||:Please give her my thanks. I haven't had the time to thank her properly.
NPC-Batou(2)<Speaker>Batou</Speaker>||:No problem.
NPC-Motoko(0)<Speaker>Motoko Kusanagi</Speaker><Position>-40,130</Position>||:Then it's time for us to go.
()<Speaker>Commander</Speaker>||:Please take care.
()<Speaker>Batou</Speaker>||:...
()<Speaker>Motoko Kusanagi</Speaker>||:...
()||:The Major's and Batou's prosthetics become inactive.
()||<SE1>AVG_door_elecport</SE1><BGM>BGM_Empty</BGM>:After giving them a solemn salute, the Commander leaves the command room.
NPC-Batou(0)<Speaker>Batou</Speaker>||:...+Major, have you forgotten something?
NPC-Motoko(0)<Speaker>Motoko Kusanagi</Speaker><Position>-40,130</Position>||:No.+I just have a sudden feeling that we may end up visiting this place quite frequently.
NPC-Batou(2)<Speaker>Batou</Speaker>||:Well, you know Purin. She'll nag us about coming here once she finds out about everything.
NPC-Motoko(0)<Speaker>Motoko Kusanagi</Speaker><Position>-40,130</Position>||<黑屏1>:You're right.
()||<黑屏2><BIN>418</BIN><BGM>BGM_SAC2045_LastSunset</BGM>:...In an unknown region in Sector 2Z64.+Standing next to Purin, 433 gazes morosely at the faraway sunset.+The setting sun, which was still so glorious just a moment ago, is now about the size of a cocoa bean.
NPC-Purin(0)<Speaker>Purin Esaki</Speaker><Position>-50,50</Position>||:Boys and Miss Ibis have finished helping all the other Dolls log out.
NPC-HK433(0)<Speaker>433</Speaker><Position>0,130</Position>||:Yeah.
NPC-Purin(0)<Speaker>Purin Esaki</Speaker><Position>-50,50</Position>||:Aren't you going?+The Commander must be waiting for you, no?
NPC-HK433(0)<Speaker>433</Speaker><Position>0,130</Position>;NPC-Purin(0)<Position>-50,50</Position>||:...
NPC-HK433(0)<Position>0,130</Position>;NPC-Purin(0)<Speaker>Purin Esaki</Speaker><Position>-50,50</Position>||:Don't worry about me. The Major and Mr. Batou will bring me back safely.+Just not all of me...
NPC-HK433(2)<Speaker>433</Speaker><Position>0,130</Position>;NPC-Purin(0)<Position>-50,50</Position>||:...
NPC-HK433(2)<Position>0,130</Position>;NPC-Purin(2)<Speaker>Purin Esaki</Speaker><Position>-50,50</Position>||:Oh, I shouldn't have said that. You're looking even more upset...
NPC-HK433(0)<Speaker>433</Speaker><Position>0,130</Position>;NPC-Purin(2)<Position>-50,50</Position>||:Purin, thank you for fighting with us till the very end.
NPC-HK433(0)<Speaker>433</Speaker><Position>0,130</Position>||:Without you, we couldn't have made it home.
NPC-Purin(0)<Speaker>Purin Esaki</Speaker><Position>-50,50</Position>||:Why are you so serious all of a sudden? I don't know what to say...+...
NPC-Purin(2)<Speaker>Purin Esaki</Speaker><Position>-50,50</Position>||:Look, the sun is almost gone!
()||<黑屏1>:Purin points toward the sunset in the distance.
()<Speaker>Purin Esaki</Speaker>||<黑屏2><BIN>667</BIN>:It's quite wondrous if you think about it. There are countless stars in the universe, but not a single one can illuminate this world once the sun goes down.
()<Speaker>433</Speaker>||:That's because the universe we're in isn't entirely static, homogenous, or infinite. Besides, we need to consider the effects of the expansion of space—
()<Speaker>Purin Esaki</Speaker>||:...I'm being sentimental here!
()<Speaker>433</Speaker>||:Oh, sorry.
()<Speaker>Purin Esaki</Speaker>||:Haven't you ever wondered?+Where does the sun go after it sets? Why does it give the world light then take it away so cruelly?
()<Speaker>433</Speaker>||:Once the sun sets here, it rises and lights up somewhere else. The Earth is round, after all.
()<Speaker>Purin Esaki</Speaker>||:...+Forget it. I shouldn't be waxing poetic to you.
()<Speaker>433</Speaker>||:Also, I don't think the sun takes away the light it gives the world.+At least not all of it.
()<Speaker>Purin Esaki</Speaker>||:Oh?
()<Speaker>433</Speaker>||:Thanks to sunlight, grass grows from the soil, young leaves burgeon on branches, and cats can laze around licking their new-grown fur...+Sunlight brings the world new life.+These don't get taken away when the sun sets.
()<Speaker>Purin Esaki</Speaker>||:Proof that the sun has shone here, huh...
()||<白屏1>:The last ray of sunshine fades away, leaving darkness behind.
()<Speaker>Purin Esaki</Speaker>||<白屏2><BIN>463</BIN>:Thank you, 433. Thank you for humoring me with this whimsical discussion before my time is up.
NPC-HK433(0)<Speaker>433</Speaker><Position>0,130</Position>||:...
NPC-HK433(0)<Speaker>Purin Esaki</Speaker><Position>0,130</Position><同时置暗>||:I should get going. Say goodbye to the Commander for me.
NPC-HK433(0)<Speaker>433</Speaker><Position>0,130</Position>||:Okay...
()||:433 mutters to the airy darkness.
()<Speaker>433</Speaker>||<黑屏1><BGM>BGM_Empty</BGM>:When the sun has set, I will remember the traces that it leaves behind and wait for it to rise again.
()||<黑屏2><BIN>8</BIN><BGM>BGM_SAC2045_Utopia</BGM>:...Back in the real world, in the command room at Griffin's base.
()<Speaker>Commander</Speaker>||:You're back at last.
NPC-HK433(0)<Speaker>433</Speaker><Position>0,130</Position>||:Sorry to have kept you waiting, Commander.
NPC-HK433(0)<Speaker>Commander</Speaker><Position>0,130</Position><同时置暗>||:...+Is Purin gone?
NPC-HK433(0)<Speaker>433</Speaker><Position>0,130</Position>||:Yes, she said goodbye.
NPC-HK433(0)<Speaker>Commander</Speaker><Position>0,130</Position><同时置暗>||:We really owe her a great deal...
NPC-HK433(0)<Speaker>433</Speaker><Position>0,130</Position>||:I hope we'll get to make it up to her.
NPC-HK433(0)<Speaker>Commander</Speaker><Position>0,130</Position><同时置暗>||:So do I.
()||<SE1>AVG_20Winter_Book</SE1>:433 picks up her adjutant's logs with a smile.
()<Speaker>Commander</Speaker>||:Now let's get on with our work.
NPC-HK433(0)<Speaker>433</Speaker><Position>0,130</Position>||:Right, let's start with Miss Persica's lab. I have received hundreds of complaint messages from her.
NPC-HK433(0)<Speaker>Commander</Speaker><Position>0,130</Position><同时置暗>||:I've just sent someone to fetch her...
NPC-HK433(0)<Speaker>433</Speaker><Position>0,130</Position>||:On an unrelated note, for some reason, the cafeteria has made a heap of procurement requests for food ingredients. The total price tag is pretty horrific...
NPC-HK433(0)<Speaker>Commander</Speaker><Position>0,130</Position><同时置暗>||:...
NPC-HK433(0)<Speaker>433</Speaker><Position>0,130</Position>||:The depot has also made procurement requests for new supplies. TPS demands a special logistics system dedicated to entertainment purposes...
NPC-HK433(0)<Speaker>Commander</Speaker><Position>0,130</Position><同时置暗>||:...
NPC-HK433(0)<Speaker>433</Speaker><Position>0,130</Position>||:Next up—
NPC-HK433(4)<Speaker>433</Speaker><Position>0,130</Position>||:Commander, are you listening?+Commander?
()||<黑屏1>:The Commander is slumped on the chair, already missing those listless days with nothing to do.
()||<黑屏2><BIN>9</BIN><黑屏1><CGDelay>3</CGDelay><BGM>BGM_Empty</BGM>:Through the Looking-Glass – END.
()||<黑屏2><BIN>607</BIN>:...In Persica's lab.
NPC-Persica(1)<Speaker>Persica</Speaker>||<震屏3>:What the hell?! I got kidnapped out of the blue for a few days, and now that I'm back, everything is wrong!+My material quantities are wrong, all my equipment is in the wrong place, even my coffee machine is off!+<size=50>When is the goddamned Commander finally gonna come?!</size>
()||<SE1>AVG_Card_Reader</SE1>:Whirrrr...+The sound of some device turning on interrupts Persica's griping.
NPC-Persica(3)<Speaker>Persica</Speaker>||:My God, another thing has gone kaput!
()||:Persica clambers through the mess and approaches the device that has randomly activated.
NPC-Persica(0)<Speaker>Persica</Speaker>||:...Why is it running a frame-sculpting program?+Terminate.+...
NPC-Persica(1)<Speaker>Persica</Speaker><Shake>||:I can't terminate it?! Who's using my equipment?!
()||<SE1>AVG_Card_Reader</SE1>:Ding!+Process completed.
()||<SE1>AVG_BaseDoor_Open</SE1>:A familiar-looking girl slowly sits up in the machine.
NPC-Purin(0)<Speaker>Purin Esaki</Speaker><Position>-50,50</Position>||:Hello, nice to meet you! My name is Purin Esaki!
NPC-Persica(1)<Speaker>Persica</Speaker><Shake>||:...
NPC-Persica(1);NPC-Purin(0)<Speaker>Purin Esaki</Speaker><Position>-50,50</Position>||:Oh, here's my profile—
NPC-Persica(1)<Speaker>Persica</Speaker>;NPC-Purin(0)<Position>-50,50</Position>||<SE1>AVG_Punch_Hit</SE1>:...
NPC-Purin(2)<Speaker>Purin Esaki</Speaker><Position>-50,50</Position>||:Ma'am?! Are you alright?
()||<黑屏1>:Persica has passed out on the floor.