()||<BIN>9</BIN><黑屏1>0,10</黑屏1><BGM>BGM_Empty</BGM>:
()||<黑屏2>:Who are we? Where do we come from? Where are we going? +We are not natural creations of the world. It is humans who give us the chance to walk this earth. +But they never tell us where our path leads. +How does the world perceive us? How do humans perceive us? +Are we a part of this world, or is it our ultimate fate to perish and be buried beneath the heavy dust of history?
()<Speaker>???</Speaker>||<黑屏1><BGM>GF_21winter_avg_mahaline</BGM>:Makarov, wake up!
()||<睁眼><BIN>187</BIN>:...After completing a mission, on the way back to the Griffin base.
92type(0)<Speaker>Type 92</Speaker>||:You were sleeping like the dead. We're here. This is the final rest area before we reach the Griffin base.
PM(0)<Speaker>Makarov</Speaker>||:Got it. Get off the truck and stretch your legs.
AAT52(0)<Speaker>AAT-52</Speaker>||:Here we are again...
StenMK2Mod(0)<Speaker>STEN MkII</Speaker><Position>0,70</Position>||:This place always gives me the heebie-jeebies...
()||:AAT-52 grumbles as she reluctantly climbs off the truck. STEN also looks slightly uneasy. +I know precisely why.
92type(0)<Speaker>Type 92</Speaker>||:Oh c'mon, not again! +I just don't understand why they're always using our rest areas as garbage dumps…
()||:Type 92 scoops up an armful of mechanical parts and tosses them away. I tap her on the shoulder and shake my head, telling her to stop wasting her effort.
PM(0)<Speaker>Makarov</Speaker>||:Just leave it, 92. You'll never clear this up.
()||:This is a mechanical mass grave, a place where discarded machines are dumped. +Such mass graves used to be built in cities to make it more convenient for humans to dispose of decommissioned mechanical devices, robots and parts, but gradually, the cities could no longer recycle wastes on such scale. +Most of the remains lying here in their peaceful slumber are low-tier domestic appliances. Machines of higher tiers or even Dolls have all been carved up before they even reach this place.
StenMK2Mod(0)<Speaker>STEN MkII</Speaker><Position>0,70</Position>||:They look kinda sad...
StenMK2Mod(0)<Position>0,70</Position>;PM(0)<Speaker>Makarov</Speaker>||:Everyone here has fulfilled their purpose. Don't feel sorry for them.
StenMK2Mod(0)<Position>0,70</Position>;AAT52(0)<Speaker>AAT-52</Speaker>||:Will we also end up here one day?
StenMK2Mod(0)<Position>0,70</Position>;PM(0)<Speaker>Makarov</Speaker>||:...
StenMK2Mod(0)<Speaker>STEN MkII</Speaker><Position>0,70</Position>;PM(0)||:Huh?! No way!
92type(0)<Speaker>Type 92</Speaker>;PM(0)||:Don't worry yourself over nothing. Tomatoes aren't recyclable wastes. They just get buried underground. +Then they must start pushing up new tomatoes, or they'll get beaten up.
AAT52(0)<Speaker>AAT-52</Speaker>;PM(0)||:Then I'd rather end up here!
AAT52(0)<Speaker>AAT-52</Speaker>||:Hold on, I'm not a tomato...
PM(0)<Speaker>Makarov</Speaker>||:92, give the truck a quick check-up. +STEN, AAT, go and gather some supplies. We've still got quite some distance to cover before we get home.
92type(0)<Speaker>Type 92</Speaker>||:Right.
StenMK2Mod(0)<Speaker>STEN MkII</Speaker><Position>0,70</Position>||:No problem!
AAT52(0)<Speaker>AAT-52</Speaker>||<SE1>RunStep</SE1>:C'mon, let's go.
()||:Now I'm the only one here. +I hike up the mound of gloomy mechanical remains and spot a few humans scouring the place for valuable parts. +From time to time, they would dig out a machine that looks relatively intact and start pulling it apart with great efficiency...
PM(0)<Speaker>Makarov</Speaker>||:... +It's the same every time we come. Utterly lifeless.
()||:I avert my gaze and look down at my feet. +That's when I notice I am being watched by something hiding behind a pile of scraps.
PM(0)<Speaker>Makarov</Speaker>||:Who...are you?
NPC_Golyat(4)<Position>0,150</Position><Speaker>???</Speaker>||:...
NPC_Golyat(4)<Position>0,150</Position><Speaker></Speaker>||:I'm surprised that a fully functional and autonomous machine is still roaming the mechanical mass grave. It should have been taken apart by the humans by now. +I step forward unconsciously to get a closer look, but my movements end up spooking it.
NPC_Golyat(5)<Position>0,150</Position><Speaker>???</Speaker><Shake>||:S...Stay back!
PM(0)<Speaker>Makarov</Speaker>||:I mean you no harm.
()||:It grabs a flat piece of metal off the ground and wields it like a shield, keeping it between us and backing away.
PM(0)<Speaker>Makarov</Speaker>||:...
()||:I should have stopped then, but an inexplicable bout of curiosity urges me to press on. +It looks like a dual-purpose bot that provides both directions and cleaning services – the kind that are quite common in shopping centers...
PM(0)<Speaker>Makarov</Speaker>||:Are you from a shopping center?
NPC_Golyat(5)<Position>0,150</Position><Speaker>???</Speaker>||:...
()||:It does not answer. It simply keeps backing away distrustfully. Its small figure eventually disappears behind a mound.
()||<SE1>AVG_lifttable</SE1>:I follow suit and climb up the mound that it just vanished behind, but the thin wooden plank I'm stepping on snaps and my leg falls right through. +By the time I free my leg, the bot is already nowhere to be seen.
PM(0)<Speaker>Makarov</Speaker>||:... +I got bamboozled by a roomba...
PM(0);92type(0)<Speaker>Type 92</Speaker><通讯框>||<SE1>AVG_tele_connect</SE1>:<color=#00CCFF>Hey, Makarov! Where are you?</color> +<color=#00CCFF>We're ready to go.</color>
PM(0);AAT52(0)<Speaker>AAT-52</Speaker><通讯框>||:<color=#00CCFF>Come back already! I wanna go home!</color>
PM(0)<Speaker>Makarov</Speaker>||:I'll be right there.
()||<SE1>AVG_tele_disconnect</SE1><黑点1>:Disgruntled, I sweep my gaze over the place once more, but still the bot eludes me. In the end, I have to give up and return to the rest area.
()||<黑点2>:...The next day, at the mechanical mass grave. +Compelled by god-knows-what, I find myself back at this place.
PM(0)<Speaker>Makarov</Speaker>||:I wonder if that little guy is still in one piece...
()||:I walk over to the spot where I saw it yesterday, but the area looks like it has been turned upside down. There are what appears to be multiple sets of footsteps. +I follow them and sure enough, I come across several humans who are busy searching for something.
NPC-PasserbyM(0)<Speaker>Scavenger 1</Speaker>||:Hey, whatcha lookin' at?! +Wanna be stripped for parts, huh?
NPC-PasserbyF(0)<Speaker>Scavenger 2</Speaker>||:That's a Tactical Doll. She's not something we can peddle...
NPC-PasserbyM(0)<Speaker>Scavenger 1</Speaker>||:What rotten luck! Get outta my face!
PM(0)<Speaker>Makarov</Speaker>||:... +Apologies.
()||:While pretending to concentrate on conversing with the humans, I spot the bot in my peripheral vision. It is lying at the bottom of the slope just next to the humans, right in their blind spot. It looks unconscious. +That said, these two humans are experienced scavengers. If they keep going, they will soon find the bot and dismantle it… +Even an antelope cannot outrun old age; one day a ferocious lioness will snap its neck with her deadly jaws. +It's the laws of nature. +I should not interfere.
PM(0)<Speaker>Makarov</Speaker>||:Please do excuse me.
()||<黑屏1>:I bow slightly and leave the mechanical mass grave.
()||<BIN>356</BIN><Night><黑屏2><BGM>BGM_Empty</BGM>:...In an abandoned cabin near the Griffin base.
K11(0)<Speaker>K11</Speaker>||<震屏>:<size=40>Hold on a sec!</size>
()||<BGM>m_avg_casual</BGM>:K11 lets out a loud bellow as she shines her flashlight at me.
K11(0)<Speaker>K11</Speaker>||:Repeat what you just said!
K11(0);PM(0)<Speaker>Makarov</Speaker>||:Which sentence?
K11(0)<Speaker>K11</Speaker>;PM(0)||:Something about nature.
K11(0);PM(0)<Speaker>Makarov</Speaker>||:It's the laws of nature.
PM(0)<Speaker>Makarov</Speaker>||:I should not interfere...?
K11(0)<Speaker>K11</Speaker>||:Yes! That's it!
()||<SE1>AVG_Door_Hit</SE1>:K11 slams her hand down onto the table and points at the small bot lying on the surface.
K11(0)<Speaker>K11</Speaker>||:So how did it get here?!
K11(0);PM(0)<Speaker>Makarov</Speaker>||:K11, you've been engrossed in your experiments for so long you forget that things don't always go according to plan out in the field.
K11(0)<Speaker>K11</Speaker>;PM(0)||:Don't try to fudge your way out of this, Makarov. +I'm asking you – what are you planning to do with this thing? +Are you going to keep it as an electronic pet? So you want to get a taste of being a master?
K11(0);PM(0)<Speaker>Makarov</Speaker>||:Just fix it first. Didn't you say you aren't even certain if it can be repaired?
K11(0)<Speaker>K11</Speaker>;PM(0)||:No, no, no, that's not that point here. It's you. +This goes far beyond scavenging for parts to patch yourself up.
K11(0)<Speaker>K11</Speaker>||:You have interfered with the laws of nature, Makarov. You must pay the price.
()||:K11 leans in close and stares straight into my eyes.
K11(0)<Speaker>K11</Speaker>||<黑点1>:You've altered its fate, so now you must take responsibility.
()||<黑点2>:...Some time later.
PM(0)<Speaker>Makarov</Speaker>||:Can you actually do it?
K11(0)<Speaker>K11</Speaker>;PM(0)||:Are you questioning my ability? I'm an expert, you know!
K11(0);PM(0)<Speaker>Makarov</Speaker>||:So what are you doing, waving those explosives around?
K11(0)<Speaker>K11</Speaker>;PM(0)||:Don't second-guess an expert's actions with your non-existent knowledge! +This little guy is almost at its limit. All its parts suffered from heavy wear-and-tear and had to be switched out. +But worst of all, its motherboard overheated so badly it almost melted. If that happens, all its data will be lost and it will never boot up again. +However, it isn't possible to copy data on this model due to the safeguards that are in place to protect its clients' privacy.
K11(0);PM(0)<Speaker>Makarov</Speaker>||:That doesn't sound good.
K11(0)<Speaker>K11</Speaker>;PM(0)||:I'll try to contact the manufacturer. Who knows, they may still be selling this kind of motherboard. +Still, you should prepare for the possibility that it will just crash and be gone for good, Makarov.
K11(0);PM(0)<Speaker>Makarov</Speaker>||:I understand. Thank you, K11.
K11(0)<Speaker>K11</Speaker>;PM(0)||:Eh, don't be so corny. I'm not really doing this out of the goodness of my heart.
K11(0);PM(0)<Speaker>Makarov</Speaker>||:...
K11(0)<Speaker>K11</Speaker>;PM(0)||:I'm curious though. What ARE you planning to do with it?
K11(0);PM(0)<Speaker>Makarov</Speaker>||:Nothing. I'll just watch it.
PM(0)<Speaker>Makarov</Speaker>||:I want to observe what choices a little bot that has been set free will make, and what kind of future it will forge for itself.
K11(0)<Speaker>K11</Speaker>||:Will you really be able to remain an impassive bystander and refrain from meddling?
PM(0)<Speaker>Makarov</Speaker>||:Of course.
K11(0)<Speaker>K11</Speaker>||:Humph, we'll see.
()||<SE1>AVG_Door_Open_Close</SE1>:K11 leaves the cabin. +Makarov turns to study the little bot lying silently on the table.
PM(0)<Speaker>Makarov</Speaker>||<BGM>BGM_Empty</BGM><黑屏1>:You have been given a new life, freedom, and the chance to leave your past behind. +What choices will you make? +Will you stick faithfully to your programming, or will you explore your new possibilities...?