()||<BIN>9</BIN><黑屏1>0,10</黑屏1><BGM>BGM_Empty</BGM>:
()<Speaker></Speaker>||<BIN>80</BIN><BGM>m_avg_casual</BGM>:XM8 approaches the chair Belenko has pulled up for her. The scene before her eyes is exactly the same as it was several years ago, as though nothing had changed since she last came.+It's still the same old club—the virtual world isn't touched by the passage of time.
XM8(0)<Speaker>XM8</Speaker>||:Boss? Where have you gone all these years?!
NPC-Powell(0)<Speaker>Belenko</Speaker>;XM8(0)||:Hello, Miss Black Madder. Welcome back to Belenko's Chess Club.
NPC-Powell(0);XM8(0)<Speaker>XM8</Speaker>||:Welcome back? I almost forgot you!+Good thing I still remembered this place!
NPC-Powell(0)<Speaker>Belenko</Speaker>||:And I am very grateful for that, Miss Black Madder. Why don't we play a game?+Let me see how you've improved.
()<Speaker></Speaker>||:Belenko still speaks in his usual calm and casual tone, but there's a hint of provocation in his words.
()<Speaker></Speaker>||:Furious, XM8 sits opposite him and picks up a handful of pieces before throwing them onto the board.
XM8(0)<Speaker>XM8</Speaker>||<SE1>AVG_21Winter_OperatingDisc_Drop</SE1><震屏>:Answer me!
()<Speaker></Speaker>||:Despite her aggression, Belenko simply arranges the pieces in silence.+Too impatient to wait for an answer, XM8 sweeps the board clear, but the man simply sets the pieces back up without any sign of annoyance.+This happens about a dozen times before Belenko speaks up and interrupts the loop.
NPC-Powell(0)<Speaker>Belenko</Speaker>||<SE1>ClothingUp</SE1>:Catching up on the past seems to be your top priority.+But I'll only bring up history on one condition.+If you can beat me in a game, I will give you a full explanation. Is that acceptable?
NPC-Powell(0);XM8(0)<Speaker>XM8</Speaker>||:Are you telling the truth?
NPC-Powell(0)<Speaker>Belenko</Speaker>;XM8(0)||:Yes, I am.
XM8(0)<Speaker>XM8</Speaker>||:Sure. This time, I'll show you the price of making light of your opponents...+Give me several minutes to prepare!
()<Speaker></Speaker>||:After throwing down those words, she secretly puts a call through to TS12.+She may have a hard time beating Belenko by herself, but now she has a helper.
()<Speaker></Speaker>||<SE1>AVG_tele_connect</SE1>:A few rings later, TS12 picks up the transmission. She seems to be at a noisy place.
TavorTS12(0)<Speaker>TS12</Speaker><通讯框>||<SE1>AVG_AMB_Street</SE1>:<color=#00CCFF>Hello? XM8? Are you done?</color>
TavorTS12(0);XM8(0)<Speaker>XM8</Speaker>||:It's so loud out there, TS12! Why do I hear the sound of cars?
TavorTS12(0)<Speaker>TS12</Speaker><通讯框>;XM8(0)||<SE1>Stop_AVG_loop</SE1>:<color=#00CCFF>I was bored, so I carried you to the train station. We'd have to come here sooner or later anyway.</color>
TavorTS12(0);XM8(0)<Speaker>XM8</Speaker>||:Whatever... I don't have time to worry about that now.+Help me look up someone, Valeriy A. Belenko. I want to know all the chess strategies he's used before.
TavorTS12(0)<Speaker>TS12</Speaker><通讯框>;XM8(0)||:<color=#00CCFF>Are you kidding me?! You want me to sit down and do research? I'll get so slow that I'll turn into a toaster!</color>
TavorTS12(0);XM8(0)<Speaker>XM8</Speaker>||:Idiots with lots of energy are nothing more than particularly active toasters.+Anyway, I don't have time for this nonsense! The first game is starting soon, so hurry up and find them!
TavorTS12(0)<Speaker>TS12</Speaker><通讯框>||:<color=#00CCFF>Why, you... Ah, forget it. In for a penny, in for a pound.</color>
()<Speaker></Speaker>||<SE1>AVG_tele_disconnect</SE1>:After some coercion, TS12 resigns herself to helping out.+Meanwhile, XM8's mind is entirely focused on the game. Despite all the years that have passed, she still didn't install chess algorithms in herself.+That was because she needed human-like decision making, the ability to sift through inferences, and most importantly, a heart brave enough to rise to challenges.+Belenko was right—no data simulation could give her that.
NPC-Powell(0)<Speaker>Belenko</Speaker>||:I'm surprised, Miss Black Madder. Your chess skills and mindset have improved tremendously. You've put a lot of pressure on me in just 10 minutes.
NPC-Powell(0);XM8(0)<Speaker>XM8</Speaker>||:I haven't been standing still these past few years, Boss.
NPC-Powell(0)<Speaker>Belenko</Speaker>||:Yes, your performance in this game is most spectacular.+But I have to remind you that the next few moves will make or break the game. Now, how will you proceed?
()<Speaker></Speaker>||:Belenko's words put XM8 on her guard. She can faintly tell that something is amiss. Just as it seems like she has the measure of her opponent, it turns out she's might be mistaken. +However, TS12, who's supposed to be searching for information, hasn't replied yet!+Unable to bear it, she angrily calls up TS12 and urges her to hurry up.
XM8(0)<Speaker>XM8</Speaker>||<SE1>AVG_tele_connect</SE1>:TS12! Chess moves! Are you done yet?!
TavorTS12(0)<Speaker>TS12</Speaker><通讯框>;XM8(0)||:<color=#00CCFF>I am, but...</color>
TavorTS12(0);XM8(0)<Speaker>XM8</Speaker>||:Cat got your tongue? Just spit it out.
TavorTS12(0)<Speaker>TS12</Speaker><通讯框>;XM8(0)||:<color=#00CCFF>Have you noticed anything weird about this guy in front of you?</color>
TavorTS12(0);XM8(0)<Speaker>XM8</Speaker>||:Do you think my neural cloud's broken? He looks exactly like how I remember him!
TavorTS12(0)<Speaker>TS12</Speaker><通讯框>;XM8(0)||:<color=#00CCFF>I'm not talking about looks, I mean, um... Like how he acts and his personality and so on.</color>
TavorTS12(0);XM8(0)<Speaker>XM8</Speaker>||:It's normal for personalities to change over the course of a few years, right...? Still, he does seem a bit strange to me.
TavorTS12(0)<Speaker>TS12</Speaker><通讯框>;XM8(0)||:<color=#00CCFF>Be more precise! As an old friend, you should know him really well, right?</color>
TavorTS12(0);XM8(0)<Speaker>XM8</Speaker>||:Why are you asking these questions all of a sudden? You're even weirder than Belenko, TS12!
TavorTS12(0)<Speaker>TS12</Speaker><通讯框>||<黑点1>:<color=#00CCFF>What? Fine, I'll get straight to the point then!</color>
()<Speaker></Speaker>||<黑点2><BIN>84</BIN><Night><SE1>AVG_tele_disconnect</SE1>:TS12 says sternly as she forcibly disconnects XM8 from the chess club on her Level II Layer.
XM8(0)<Speaker>XM8</Speaker>||<震屏>:What the heck are you doing, TS12?!
TavorTS12(0)<Speaker>TS12</Speaker>;XM8(0)||:Calm down!+You were the only user online in the club! Didn't you realize that?+In other words, that so-called "Mr. Belenko" was running locally! Do you see what I mean?
TavorTS12(0);XM8(0)<Speaker>XM8</Speaker>||:So you're saying the person in front of me was just... a pre-programmed AI routine?+Impossible! Then where's the real Belenko?
TavorTS12(0)<Speaker>TS12</Speaker>||<BGM>BGM_Empty</BGM>:While I was doing your research, I looked him up and happened to find his address.+However, the tourism page for his town has become...
TavorTS12(0)<Speaker>TS12</Speaker>||<白屏1>:A memorial site for fallen servicemen...
()<Speaker></Speaker>||<白屏2><BIN>137</BIN><BGM>BGM_Wake</BGM>:TS12 links XM8 to a site decorated with candles, doves, and olive branches.
()<Speaker></Speaker>||:Countless faded black and white mugshots are displayed on a backdrop of ruins, including a familiar face.+However, unlike how he usually appeared to XM8, he was in a military uniform in the photo.
()<Speaker></Speaker>||:【Valeriy A. Belenko】+ 【Once a chessmaster, now a steadfast warrior.】+【Heroically repulsed bandits and warlords while protecting his hometown.】+【Gave his life while fearlessly holding the line for three days.】+【None may know of his courage, but his deeds shall endure forever.】
()<Speaker>TS12</Speaker>||<SE1>AVG_tele_connect</SE1>:<color=#00CCFF>XM8, I know this might make you sad, but that's the real Mr. Belenko.</color>+<color=#00CCFF>The man before you is just an autonomous program made in imitation of himself in real life.</color>+<color=#00CCFF>It'll be formatted after the game ends, just like those old chess-playing AIs.</color>+<color=#00CCFF>And without its final active AI, the server will shut down.</color>
()||<黑屏1>:
()<Speaker></Speaker>||<BIN>9</BIN><黑屏1>:XM8 is utterly stunned.
()<Speaker></Speaker>||<黑屏2><BIN>80</BIN>:She immediately reconnects to the club.+Belenko once again looks up politely at his visitor while arranging the chess pieces on the board.+However, XM8 can now see the stiffness in his movements.
NPC-Powell(0)<Speaker>Belenko</Speaker>||:Hello, Miss Black Madder. Welcome back to Belenko's Chess Club.+Your performance in this game is most spectacular.+But I have to remind you that the next few moves will make or break this game. Now, how will you proceed?
()<Speaker></Speaker>||:The words are exactly the same as before, and they grate on her ears.+Unable to believe what she's hearing, XM8 repeatedly logs out and back in again, stubbornly trying to prove something.
NPC-Powell(0)<Speaker>Belenko</Speaker>||:Hello, Miss Black Madder. Welcome back to Belenko's Chess Club...
()<Speaker></Speaker>||:Hello, Miss Black Madder. Welcome back to... +Hello, Miss Black Madder...
XM8(0)<Speaker>XM8</Speaker>||:It can't be. Your greetings were never this one-note, Boss!
NPC-Powell(0)<Speaker>Belenko</Speaker>;XM8(0)||:Hello, Miss Black Madder. Welcome back to Belenko's Chess Club.
XM8(0)<Speaker>XM8</Speaker>||:Boss...
()<Speaker></Speaker>||:XM8 does not ask any further. She knows she will never get the answer she wants.+The "Belenko" in front of her is a ghost, a shade that has not yet departed.+He didn't want to reminisce with an old friend, but to deliver a farewell that would wipe away all lingering regrets...
TavorTS12(0)<Speaker>TS12</Speaker><通讯框>||<SE1>AVG_tele_connect</SE1>:I've compiled all his chess moves. Do you want the file?
XM8(0)<Speaker>XM8</Speaker>||:No... Since this chess game is our final promise to each other...+I should honor his last wish myself.
()<Speaker></Speaker>||<黑屏1>:XM8 takes a deep breath, but suddenly finds herself recalling the things Belenko once said.
NPC-Powell(0)<Speaker>Belenko</Speaker>||<黑屏2><回忆>:I used them all up long ago. Right now, what you see is nothing more than the unlimited possibilities of permutations and combinations...+When victory becomes a proven formula, it loses its meaning. People find joy in pushing their limits.
NPC-Powell(0)<Speaker>Belenko</Speaker>||<黑屏1><回忆>:Playing with you is full of uncertainty and challenges, the very essence of competition.
()<Speaker></Speaker>||<关闭蒙版><黑屏2>:Indeed, XM8's current opponent is nothing more than a program designed by Belenko, who has long since taught her everything he could.+She should not have forgotten that, and she certainly should not have asked for outside help, because all programs can do is rearrange combinations.+Belenko wanted her to challenge her "limits"—he wanted her to demonstrate deep contemplation and defeat her opponent with grace.+That implies the endgame before her is ultimately a variation of the original game they played.+Upon coming to this realization, she immediately starts reverse-engineering his strategy and re-analyzes this familiar conundrum.
XM8(0)<Speaker>XM8</Speaker>||:If I force you to castle, it'll be checkmate for you in five. If I give up this piece, I'll lose in four moves...
NPC-Powell(0)<Speaker>Belenko</Speaker>;XM8(0)||:Marvelous, Miss Black Madder. It took you only 57 seconds to work it out.+But what will you choose?
NPC-Powell(0);XM8(0)<Speaker>XM8</Speaker>||:The real Belenko would've wanted me to win...
NPC-Powell(0)<Speaker>Belenko</Speaker>||:Then go ahead, Miss Black Madder. It was truly a spectacular victory.
()<Speaker></Speaker>||<SE1>ClothingUp</SE1>:Belenko stands up and applauds, as though he is delighted to have finally fulfilled his final wish.+Perhaps he is rejoicing because XM8 has struggled free of her shackles.
XM8(0)<Speaker>XM8</Speaker>||:Boss, let's play another game next weekend...
NPC-Powell(0)<Speaker>Belenko</Speaker>||:Nothing would delight me more, Miss Black Madder.
()<Speaker></Speaker>||<黑屏1>:XM8 sets up a non-existent appointment for "next time" with her opponent, just as she had with all those soldiers heading to the frontline.+The chess piece falls as a final farewell, as well as a resolution to all the regrets left behind in this tiny little realm in which she has sent off countless visitors.
()<Speaker></Speaker>||<黑屏2><BIN>72</BIN><controll_shake>%%type_id=2%%duration=1%%delay=0.1%%range=8</controll_shake>:The formatting process soon begins as Belenko continues to applaud, and the server eventually goes dark and vanishes.
()||<黑屏1>:
XM8(0)<Speaker>XM8</Speaker>||<黑屏2><BIN>9</BIN>:This is...?
()<Speaker></Speaker>||:After the club completely collapses, there is one final point of light in the dark virtual domain.+XM8 approaches it and finds that it is a small cached audio log, which she accepts and plays without any hesitation.
()<Speaker></Speaker>||:A familiar voice begins to speak.
NPC-Powell(0)<Speaker>Belenko</Speaker><通讯框>||<SE1>AVG_tele_connect</SE1><SE1>Battlefield</SE1>:<color=#00CCFF>I am Valeriy Alexandrovich Belenko...</color>+<color=#00CCFF>This may very well be my final audio log, and I would like to leave it to... Miss Black Madder.</color>
()<Speaker></Speaker>||<SE1>Stop_AVG_loop</SE1>:Belenko chuckles without humor as the sound of shellfire in the distance grows louder.
NPC-Powell(0)<Speaker>Belenko</Speaker><通讯框>||:<color=#00CCFF>I once ran away without stopping, but war catches up with everyone in the end.</color>+<color=#00CCFF>If they are not willing to be slaughtered, then innocent people have no choice but to pick up crude weapons to resist the vile murderers and bandits who would claim their lives.</color>+<color=#00CCFF>I will not praise these actions as glorious or great, because we are all nothing more than a flock of abandoned sheep.</color>+<color=#00CCFF>I stepped up, not because I did not fear death, but because this was the only thing left for us other than ignominious weeping and begging for mercy.</color>+<color=#00CCFF>We are alone and without aid in the face of this disaster that is destined to end in tragedy.</color>+<color=#00CCFF>There are many times when I have wished this was nothing more than a ridiculous hero's drama in which I happened to possess the power needed to change the circumstances.</color>+<color=#00CCFF>Just like how a pawn can fearlessly rush the enemy's lines in a game of chess and be promoted to a queen.</color>+<color=#00CCFF>Or like how a rook can stand tall and defend the king when castling.</color>+<color=#00CCFF>However, reality affords us few luxuries.</color>+<color=#00CCFF>Except for you, Miss Black Madder. You were originally unconnected to our war, but to the soldiers about to march to their deaths, your promise was a faint ray of light.</color>+<color=#00CCFF>So please forgive me for delaying the invitation to our last game of chess for several years.</color>+<color=#00CCFF>I did not wish to disrupt your life, and I wanted this club, which was a source of hope for many, to come to an end in peace.</color>+<color=#00CCFF>I hope that when that day comes, the spring breeze will blow away the tears of the fallen, and that there will be no more death thereafter.</color>
()<Speaker></Speaker>||<SE1>AVG_whitenoise</SE1>:There is an ear-piercing burst of noise, and the audio recording ends. The space before her is completely silent at last.
()<Speaker></Speaker>||<SE1>Stop_AVG_loop</SE1><白屏1>:XM8 quietly saves the audio recording and leaves Level II.
()<Speaker></Speaker>||<BIN>84</BIN><白屏2>:When she opens her eyes, she is greeted by TS12's face, filled with worry and impatience.
TavorTS12(0)<Speaker>TS12</Speaker>||:XM8! I thought you'd killed yourself or something!
XM8(0)<Speaker>XM8</Speaker>||:Well, sorry to disappoint you, but I have no intention of doing that anytime soon!
()<Speaker></Speaker>||:TS12's presence shatters the heaviness in XM8's heart. XM8 is a bit surprised to find that she is feeling okay.
XM8(0)<Speaker>XM8</Speaker>||:By the way... Thank you for taking care of me today, TS12.
TavorTS12(0)<Speaker>TS12</Speaker><Shake>0.5</Shake>;XM8(0)||:Urgh... That's super cringy, you sound weird when you aren't scolding people, XM8!
TavorTS12(0);XM8(0)<Speaker>XM8</Speaker>||:Why, you... +Well, we'd best head back to Griffin. We still have work tomorrow.
TavorTS12(0)<Speaker>TS12</Speaker>;XM8(0)||:Yup, which is why I'd already carried you to the train station while you abandoned your body.
TavorTS12(0);XM8(0)<Speaker>XM8</Speaker>||:Oh, right. TS12, I'd like to apply for a neural upgrade.
TavorTS12(0)<Speaker>TS12</Speaker>;XM8(0)||:Seriously? Well, I don't know what's brought this on...+But you DO know that there'll be a stringent review in store if you apply for one without any notice, right?
XM8(0)<Speaker>XM8</Speaker>||:Maybe even I would want to push my limits every now and then...
XM8(0)<Speaker>XM8</Speaker>||<黑屏1><BGM>BGM_Empty</BGM>:In any case, it doesn't matter who I'm doing it for. I'll pass it for sure—I have to!
()<Speaker></Speaker>||<BIN>9</BIN><黑屏2><BGM>GF_Memorial</BGM>:...Three months later.
()||<黑屏1>:
XM8MOD(0)<Speaker>XM8</Speaker>||<黑屏2><BIN>73</BIN><SE2>Gunfight</SE2>:And this is checkmate...
MP5Mod(0)<Speaker>Gr MP5</Speaker>;XM8MOD(0)||:Stop, XM8! You busted the practice target again!
MP5Mod(0);XM8MOD(0)<Speaker>XM8</Speaker>||:Sorry, maybe your firepower is just too weak, shorty?
MP5Mod(0)<Speaker>Gr MP5</Speaker>||:Dammit! In that case, I'm going to bring out my Dummies too! +Today, I'm going to pay back all the crap you gave me ever since my neural upgrade!
MP5Mod(0);XM8MOD(0)<Speaker>XM8</Speaker>||:Zero multiplied by anything is still zero, you know...
XM8MOD(0)<Speaker>XM8</Speaker>||:But that's fine...+Because I'll be protecting you this time, shorty.
()||<黑屏1>: