()||9<黑屏1>0,10黑屏1>BGM_Empty:
()||<黑屏2>18:...Outside the Great Palace, the Summer Garden.
()||RunStep:Erma dashes through the darkness, heedless of her surroundings, until she reaches the entrance of the Great Palace.
()||ClothingUpGF_2022_Summer_AVG_2:She is searching for the door when she feels Natalie's hand on her shoulder.
NPC-Maid(1)Natalie||:Lady 0, why the long face?
Erma(28)Erma0,155;NPC-Maid(1)||:I'm not Lady 0. +I'm Erma.
Erma(28)0,155;NPC-Maid(1)Natalie||:As you wish, Lady Erma.
Erma(27)Erma0,155;NPC-Maid(1)||:I want to leave this place.
Erma(27)0,155;NPC-Maid(1)Natalie||:Lady Erma, once the Great Palace is activated, you cannot leave unless it shuts down on its own.
Erma(28)Erma0,155||:I don't care. I'm leaving. Right now.
()||AVG_20Winter_Drink_Tea:Natalie smiles at Erma's tantrum and offers her some honey water and pastries.
NPC-Maid(1)Natalie||:You have a long journey ahead of you. Please fill your belly and rest up before you set off.
Erma(26)Erma0,155||:...I'll take a few bites since you're being so understanding.
()||:Natalie's smile is as perfect and kind as ever.
NPC-Maid(1)Natalie||:Lady Erma, why have you come here?
Erma(27)Erma0,155||:... +For the Commander...
()||ClothingUp:Tears well up in Erma's eyes. She puts down her glass of sweet honey water.
Erma(28)Erma0,155||:I've been wandering on my own for a very long time, until I encountered my new companions and a purpose. +But it just dawned on me that nobody actually cared much about me.
()||:Natalie continues to smile.
NPC-Maid(1)Natalie||:Then what do you want to do, Lady Erma?
Erma(28)Erma0,155||:I wanted to... save the Commander and my companions. +But now I just want to get out of here and return to my wandering. +I've had enough of trying to please everyone. They can hate me all they want!
()||:Erma's sobs contradict her bitter words.
()||ClothingUp:Natalie produces a handkerchief and dabs it lightly on Erma's face.
NPC-Maid(1)Natalie||:Lady Erma. +It pains me to see you feeling so wretched. Why don't we play a prank together?
NPC-Maid(1)Natalie||:In fact, what do you think of destroying this world together?
Erma(30)Erma0,155||:...Huh?
Erma(30)0,155;NPC-Maid(1)Natalie||:If the most important person is not around anymore, the world has no meaning, right? +Instead of bearing this unfathomable pain all alone, wouldn't it be much easier if it is shared equally by everyone? +Why don't we all disappear?
Erma(30)Erma0,155;NPC-Maid(1)||:...
NPC-Maid(1)Natalie||:Is that what you're thinking, Lady Erma?
()||:Erma shakes her head uncomprehendingly.
Erma(31)Erma0,155||:No, that hasn't crossed my mind at all.
Erma(31)0,155;NPC-Maid(1)Natalie||:Really? That's a shame. +One of the earlier Lady Ermas had such thoughts.
Erma(31)Erma0,155;NPC-Maid(1)||:... +Do you also want me to be her?
Erma(31)0,155;NPC-Maid(1)Natalie||:Who you are doesn't matter to me, Lady Erma.
Erma(31)Erma0,155||:...
NPC-Maid(1)Natalie||:The Natalie in the present is just the Natalie at a certain point in time. +Human or Doll, we can only express how we are feeling at the present moment.
()||ClothingUp:Natalie bends down and picks up her serving tray. In Erma's eyes, her figure leaves streaks of shadows behind her, like animation frames.
NPC-Maid(1)Natalie||:These memories and data are all so clear in your eyes. +So whether you wish to save or destroy this place, you have my full support.
Erma(30)Erma0,155||:... +What about the original Natalie?
NPC-Maid(1)Natalie||:...Like Lady Erma, she has lost some very important memories. +But while Lady Erma's amnesia is genuine, the original Natalie was just pretending—masquerading as an ordinary maid.
Erma(30)Erma0,155;NPC-Maid(1)||:Do you remember then?
Erma(30)0,155;NPC-Maid(1)Natalie||:Of course I do, but none of that matters.
Erma(30)Erma0,155;NPC-Maid(1)||:Why?
Erma(30)0,155;NPC-Maid(1)Natalie||:If a person only has one painful experience in her life... +She will never forget it. The pain will be etched forever in her heart.
Erma(30)0,155;NPC-Maid(1)Natalie||:But if a person has lived through countless pain and suffering... +Then she will be more impervious to pain. She will lose the capacity to love as well as to hate. +She will be numb to it all.
Erma(30)Erma0,155||:...
NPC-Maid(1)Natalie||:So the ability to forget is not necessarily a bad thing, Lady Erma.
Erma(31)Erma0,155;NPC-Maid(1)||:... +Who are you, really?
Erma(31)0,155;NPC-Maid(1)Natalie||:Would you like to take a guess?
Erma(31)Erma0,155;NPC-Maid(1)||:...
Erma(31)0,155;NPC-Maid(1)Natalie||:How about a hint, Lady Erma?
Erma(27)Erma0,155;NPC-Maid(1)||:I've had too many people and things thrown in my face today. +I can't really process it all.
NPC-Maid(1)Natalie||:Then I'll just tell you...
()Reinette||BGM_Empty<震屏3>:ERMAAAAA!!!
()||RunStep:Tap-tap-tap...
()||AVG_Cloak_Whoosh%%type_id=2%%duration=3%%delay=0.1%%range=5:Reinette's footsteps come thundering from behind, then Erma feels herself getting dragged aside.
NPC_Stevens520(1)Reinette0,60||BGM_Hume_ImFutue_Full:...I've figured out who Natalie is.
NPC_Stevens520(1)0,60;Erma(30)Erma0,155||:...Why have you come after me?
NPC_Stevens520(1)Reinette0,60;Erma(30)0,155||:I brought you here, so I'm responsible for you.
NPC_Stevens520(1)0,60;Erma(27)Erma0,155||:Well, I want to leave.
NPC_Stevens520(1)Reinette0,60;Erma(27)0,155||:I know, I'm trying to get you out.
NPC_Stevens520(1)0,60;Erma(27)Erma0,155||:It's all your fault!
NPC_Stevens520(1)Reinette0,60;Erma(27)0,155||:...Yes, it's all my fault. +I didn't expect things to turn out like this.
NPC_Stevens520(1)0,60;Erma(27)Erma0,155||:...I don't want to be with you. +I want to go back to AR-18.
NPC_Stevens520(1)Reinette0,60||:...I'm sorry.
Erma(27)Erma0,155||:Louder!
NPC_Stevens520(1)Reinette0,-1601.3||AVG_Scene_Transfer<震屏3>:I'M SORRY.
Erma(27)Erma0,155||:Humph.
()||:Natalie stands quietly to the side, watching the two Dolls with a gentle smile—the very picture of an ordinary maid.
Erma(25)Erma0,155||:You may now return to the subject.
NPC_Stevens520(1)Reinette0,60;Erma(25)0,155||:I think I know who Natalie is. +The Doctor would only keep his own Dolls around him. +With one exception.
NPC_Stevens520(1)0,60;Erma(30)Erma0,155||:...
NPC_Stevens520(1)Reinette0,60;Erma(30)0,155||:A human with whom he didn't know what to do. +A human that didn't serve him, rather, one that served us.
NPC_Stevens520(1)0,60;Erma(30)Erma0,155||:...
NPC_Stevens520(1)Reinette0,60||:Catherine. +You are Catherine Ponzi.
()||:Natalie's perfect smile does not falter.
()||:But the name on her badge quietly morphs from "Natalie" to "Catherine Ponzi".
NPC-Maid(1)Catherine Ponzi||:As expected of Lady 9.
NPC_Stevens520(1)Reinette0,60||:Why... I'd understand if you'd just changed your hairstyle, but why put on a completely different persona?
NPC-Maid(1)Catherine Ponzi||:Then let me change back to a face more familiar to you... +The best thing about being in the virtual Summer Garden is the ability to change your appearance with just a snap of your fingers, don't you think?
()||<黑点1>AVG_keyboardtype_sci:
()||<黑点2>ClothingUpBGM_Empty:The maid standing before them is replaced... by a younger, more vivacious woman. +A woman who was present in the anchor points they had visited earlier.
NPC_PP90(3)Catherine Ponzi0,200||GF_2022_Summer_AVG_4:You have both forgotten many things. +But I honestly don't see it as a bad thing.
Erma(27)Erma0,155;NPC_PP90(3)0,200||:So what on earth happened here?
Erma(27)0,155;NPC_PP90(3)Catherine Ponzi0,200||:You can't always succeed on your first try, Lady Erma. +Which is why Doctor Hume created more than one of you.
Erma(25)Erma0,155||:...
NPC_Stevens520(1)Reinette0,60||:We are already aware of the connection between Doctor Hume and the Fox Sisterhood, but why did you stay in the Summer Garden?
NPC_PP90(3)Catherine Ponzi0,200||:That's a very long story.
()||ClothingUp:Catherine walks over to a small table in the corner and pulls out two chairs for Erma and Reinette.
NPC_PP90(3)Catherine Ponzi0,200||:After Maggie died, Doctor Hume followed her instructions and found me, who was utterly lost without Maggie. +He brought me with him to Moscow, where he worked for some secret organization. +I don't know what he was working on exactly. All I know is that the organization he was working for started falling apart, and he regained his freedom.
NPC_PP90(3)Catherine Ponzi0,200||:It's miraculous how Doctor Hume never seemed to change no matter what terrible things had happened in the world.
Erma(27)Erma0,155||:Mother was close to immortal...
NPC_PP90(3)Catherine Ponzi0,200||:Yes, and he never stopped working on Project "Pilot Whale". +I once asked him what exactly was Project "Pilot Whale". +He told me it was the future of humankind—genuine "immortality".
NPC_Stevens520(1)Reinette0,60||:Why do humans pursue immortality?
NPC_PP90(3)Catherine Ponzi0,200||:As Dolls, you probably can't conceptualize what immortality means to humans. +Everlasting life is a real miracle to us. +I was overjoyed back then.
Erma(30)Erma0,155||:You also wanted this miracle?
NPC_PP90(3)Catherine Ponzi0,200||:Yes. +He promised me that Maggie would come back if his research was a success.
Erma(25)Erma0,155||:...
NPC_Stevens520(0)Reinette0,60||:...
NPC_PP90(4)Catherine Ponzi0,200||:But... he failed. +Again and again. Again and again. We'd lost count how many times. +Only after meeting genuinely gifted people did I realize he... just got lucky.
()||ClothingUp:Catherine lets out a sigh of melancholy.
NPC_PP90(4)Catherine Ponzi0,200||:He had unbelievable luck and talent that did not live up to such luck. +So he shared all his research materials.
NPC_Stevens520(1)Reinette0,60;NPC_PP90(4)0,200||:"Human Intelligence Research"...
NPC_Stevens520(1)0,60;NPC_PP90(3)Catherine Ponzi0,200||:Until someone else succeeded. That's when I finally found out what he'd been trying to achieve... +He said he could die happy now that he knew it worked.
NPC_Stevens520(1)Reinette0,60;NPC_PP90(3)0,200||BGM_Empty:You've only been talking about his research. What about us?
NPC_Stevens520(1)0,60;NPC_PP90(3)Catherine Ponzi0,200||:What about you?
NPC_Stevens520(1)Reinette0,60;NPC_PP90(3)0,200||:We are his precious creations. Did he not have any plans for where we'd go?
NPC_Stevens520(1)0,60;NPC_PP90(3)Catherine Ponzi0,200||BGM_Hume_ImFutue_Main:...Did I not make myself clear? +You think a man as absentminded as that would bother making arrangements that didn't concern him?
NPC_Stevens520(1)Reinette0,60||:...
NPC_PP90(3)Catherine Ponzi0,200||:He... didn't leave any inheritance for you to discover. +He never even thought about anything outside of Project "Pilot Whale". +He didn't care about the sisters in the Sisterhood or his friends. +He considered his life work completed the moment he set eyes on the "Spring", which was born out of "GRCh38".
NPC_Stevens520(1)Reinette0,60;NPC_PP90(3)0,200||:...So?
NPC_Stevens520(1)0,60;NPC_PP90(3)Catherine Ponzi0,200||:So we got left behind. +We didn't matter to him. +He didn't spare us even a thought.
NPC_Stevens520(1)Reinette0,60;NPC_PP90(3)0,200||:...He didn't want to resurrect himself?
NPC_Stevens520(1)0,60;NPC_PP90(4)Catherine Ponzi0,200||ClothingUp:...The world is chaos. +Countless people toiled in search of an answer, only to realize that nobody actually cared about the answer. +Funny, isn't it?
NPC_Stevens520(1)Reinette0,60;NPC_PP90(4)0,200||:...What you mean is... he wasn't at all concerned about what he left behind. +They could just sit here where he left them, or someone could take them for all he cared. +In fact, not only did he not care about us, he didn't really care about himself either.
NPC_Stevens520(1)0,60;NPC_PP90(3)Catherine Ponzi0,200||:Indeed. He cared for no one. +That included himself.
NPC_Stevens520(1)Reinette0,60;NPC_PP90(3)0,200||:... +Then why did you bring us here?
NPC_Stevens520(1)0,60;NPC_PP90(3)Catherine Ponzi0,200||:...Me? +I'm just living up to my name as a professional con artist.
NPC_Stevens520(1)Reinette0,60;NPC_PP90(3)0,200||:...What do you mean?
NPC_PP90(3)Catherine Ponzi0,200||:Project "Horn of Hope" can come true.
Erma(27)Erma0,155||:Does something that can come true still count as a con?
NPC_PP90(3)Catherine Ponzi0,200||:A truth that can be proven but can never be reached. +Doesn't that make the perfect con?
NPC_Stevens520(1)Reinette0,60||:I'll never understand how the human brain works.
Erma(27)Erma0,155||:Do you also want me to become one with that weirdo King?
NPC_PP90(3)Catherine Ponzi0,200||:Well, the two of you becoming one actually forms the key that would open the "Spring". +Every time you lose your memory was just a data upload. +The data, all was saved right here in the Summer Garden, with "Her Majesty the King". +She doesn't have your freedom, but she bears all of your pain and suffering.
Erma(27)Erma0,155||:... +This technology of splitting a being into two halves... rings a bell... +Aliana... Amaris... +Maggie said that the latest edition of Arthur Hume's "Human Intelligence Research" was sold to a woman. Who was she?
NPC_PP90(3)Catherine Ponzi0,200||:She went by the name...
NPC_PP90(0)Catherine Ponzi0,200||AVG_Scene_TransferBGM_Empty:Laplace.
Erma(27)Erma0,155||:...
NPC_Stevens520(1)Reinette0,60||:...
()||BGM_23SF_zonghe_3AVG_Door_Hit<震屏3>:Bam! +Reinette jumps to her feet and draws her weapon in a rage—
()||<震屏3>AVG_rifle_finalshot_3h:Bang-bang-bang!
()||:While Catherine is evading the bullets, Reinette grabs Erma by the hand and dashes out of the room.
NPC_PP90(3)Catherine Ponzi0,200||:Without the King's permission, nobody can leave the Great Palace while it's online! +There's no escape in the Summer Garden.
NPC_Stevens520(1)Reinette0,60||AVG_rifle_finalshot_h<震屏3>:You are not trapping us in here!
NPC_Stevens520(1)0,60;Erma(31)Erma0,155||:Reinette, it's a dead end ahead.
NPC_Stevens520(1)Reinette0,60;Erma(31)0,155||:I know! I'm trying to find another way!
NPC_Stevens520(1)0,60;Erma(31)Erma0,155||:Reinette, something's coming after us.
NPC_Stevens520(1)Reinette0,60||:...I'll deal with them!
()||AVG_weapon_reload:Reinette shoves Erma forward and turns to open fire at their pursuers coming from behind.
()||AVG_rifle_finalshot_3h<震屏3>:Bang-bang-bang!
()||AVG_Team_Running%%type_id=2%%duration=4%%delay=0.1%%range=4:She makes short work of the mechanical guards of the Summer Palace, but footsteps of more pursuers can already be heard from down the hallway.
Erma(27)Erma0,155||:This way.
NPC_Stevens520(1)Reinette0,60||:Right.
()||<黑屏1>RunStep:
()||<黑屏2>9:
()||<黑屏1>:
()||<黑屏2>356BGM_EmptyAVG_Camera_FocusAVG_Team_Running:Erma turns off all the lights. They can hear the disordered footsteps coming from outside of this silent room.
Erma(25)Erma0,155||:Where do we go now?
NPC_Stevens520(1)Reinette0,60;Erma(25)0,155||:...I don't know. +But we must get out of the Summer Garden. Otherwise...
NPC_Stevens520(1)0,60;Erma(27)Erma0,155||:They'll catch me and force me to become one with the King?
NPC_Stevens520(1)Reinette0,60;Erma(27)0,155||:... +I'm sorry. I dragged you into this. It's all my fault.
NPC_Stevens520(1)0,60;Erma(30)Erma0,155||:No point in saying such things now.
NPC_Stevens520(1)Reinette0,60;Erma(30)0,155||GF_2022_Summer_AVG_2:I will get you out of here, I promise.
Erma(25)Erma0,155||:...
()||:Erma says nothing.
NPC_Stevens520(1)Reinette0,60||:You're angry with me; I totally understand. You can do whatever you want with me once we escape this place.
NPC_Stevens520(1)0,60;Erma(25)Erma0,155||:I've made up my mind.
NPC_Stevens520(1)Reinette0,60;Erma(25)0,155||:What?
NPC_Stevens520(1)0,60;Erma(25)Erma0,155||:There's something I want to do.
NPC_Stevens520(1)Reinette0,60;Erma(25)0,155||:What... do you want to do?
Erma(27)Erma0,155||ClothingUp:I want to put an end to all of this. The Summer Garden, this Spring thingamajig, this me, that me, this you, that you. +All these freaking plans, immortality, everything can go to hell! +I want my own life back! I want to live a life that's entirely my own!
NPC_Stevens520(1)Reinette0,60||:...
Erma(27)Erma0,155||:I'm the highest administrator here anyway. I have the authority to make that decision.
NPC_Stevens520(1)Reinette0,60||:...
()||:Reinette lets out a low chuckle.
NPC_Stevens520(0)Reinette0,60||:You're right, you can make any decision you want.
()||AVG_Button_Click:Crack...
()||183AVG_bigglassbreak:The key in Erma's hand shatters in a million pieces, and the room dissolves into nothingness.
()||<白屏1>:
()||4630.3<白屏2>:
NPC_Stevens520(1)Reinette0,60||:They're catching up.
Erma(27)Erma0,155||:Yeah.
()||<黑点1>AVG_magic_circle_start:
()||<黑点2>9:Using her remaining keys, Erma opens up new spaces and takes off with Reinette.
()||<黑点1>:
()||5070.3<黑点2>:
()||<白屏2>AVG_Button_Click:Crack. Crack. Crack... +The keys shatter one after another as spaces also disintegrate. +Erma and Reinette keep defeating and shaking off their pursuers and escaping into new spaces. +Until...
Erma(27)Erma0,155||:This is the last key.
NPC_Stevens520(1)Reinette0,60||:Right.
()||:A name is etched on the key—"Arthur Hume".
()||ClothingUp:Erma grips the key lightly and focuses her thoughts...
()||183AVG_Button_ClickBGM_Empty:Crack. +One final crack resounds through the virtual world.
()||<白屏1>AVG_magic_circle_start:
()||<白屏2>2620.3:
NPC_Stevens520(1)Reinette0,60||:...
Erma(27)Erma0,155||:...
NPC_Stevens520(1)Reinette0,60||Campaion-58-3:We're still in the Summer Garden.
Erma(31)Erma0,155||:Why aren't we out yet? I've already destroyed all the anchor points.
NPC_Stevens520(1)Reinette0,60||:Yeah, there's nowhere for us to run.
()||<黑点1>:
()||<黑点2>AVG_wind_grass:In the barren wasteland that used to be a garden, two dried-up fountains stand before them. +One bears a nameplate with "Nadia" engraved on it, while the other reads "Lunasia".
Erma(27)Erma0,155||:Where do these two fountains lead?
NPC_Stevens520(1)Reinette0,60||:I don't know.
()||ClothingUpFountain_Start:Erma brushes the nameplates gently with her fingers. The fountain labeled "Nadia" starts flowing again, but the one labeled "Lunasia" remains lifeless.
Erma(27)Erma0,155||:I can activate the Nadia fountain.
NPC_Stevens520(0)Reinette0,60||:I don't recommend barging into these fountains that Doctor Hume put here. +They must hold unspeakable secrets to be so carefully hidden.
Erma(27)Erma0,155||:...
()|| <震屏3>Explode:Boom! +This space has been discovered.
()||AVG_Team_Running:Countless pursuers have amassed at the entrance.
NPC_Stevens520(1)Reinette0,60||:Let's go! There's too many of them!
NPC_Stevens520(1)0,60;Erma(27)Erma0,155||:No.
NPC_Stevens520(1)Reinette0,60;Erma(27)0,155||:Erma!
Erma(27)Erma0,155||:We've got not other choice. Get in. +If we can go through, we'll be able to come back!
()||ClothingUp:Erma grabs Reinette's hand and the two Dolls plunge into the fountain named "Nadia".
()||<黑点1>AVG_fall_into_waterBGM_Empty:
()||9%%pivot_x=0.5%%pivot_y=0.4%%scale=2.4%%duration=0%%:
()||<黑屏2>569%%pivot_x=0.5%%pivot_y=0.36%%scale=2.4%%duration=3%%:
()||<黑点1>:
()||0.1<黑点2>9%%pivot_x=0.5%%pivot_y=0.36%%scale=2.4%%duration=0%%:The Dolls keep sinking in the cold, blue water.
()||<黑屏1>:
()||569AVG_Bubble<黑屏2>0.3:
NPC_Stevens520(0)Reinette0,60||:Where are we?
Erma(30)Erma0,155||GF_2022_Summer_AVG_2:...This feels kinda familiar.
()||%%type_id=2%%duration=4%%delay=0.1%%range=5:The water below their feet rolls and riles into a maelstrom, the center of which looks like the bloody maw of a gigantic beast. +It drags all the water towards it. The Dolls sink like heavy rocks.
NPC_Stevens520(1)Reinette0,60||:The whirlpool is sucking us in! +We need to swim back to the surface!
Erma(27)Erma0,155||:...
()||:The powerful currents are determined to pull them towards the center of the vortex. No matter how desperately Reinette and Erma try to swim upward, they cannot break free from the undertow.
()||AVG_Bubble:Erma looks up, but finds no blue sky above. Instead, her vision is filled with a blinding light. +Like layers upon layers of overlapping crystals, this frigid cage of ice looms above their heads.
Erma(30)Erma0,155||:I know what this place is...
NPC_Stevens520(1)Reinette0,60;Erma(30)0,155||:What?
NPC_Stevens520(1)0,60;Erma(30)Erma0,155||:...This is the Lake of Cognition in Avernus. +According to Aliana's final message... +This is where the memories, emotions, and personality constructs of all the people who got turned into Nytos are stored...
NPC_Stevens520(1)Reinette0,60;Erma(30)0,155||:...
Erma(31)Erma0,155||:Why... why is this place connected to the bottom of the Summer Garden?!
()||%%type_id=2%%duration=4%%delay=0.1%%range=5<震屏3>AVG_splash_water:As Erma mutters in dismay, the large whirlpool clutches onto their ankles.
()||<黑点1>: