The Plan (before battle)

My, it has been a long while, everyone. How time flies - we haven't stood face-to-face since the manor, have we?

... Nelly?

She is garbed in the vestments of style reminiscent of Gubo's... It appears that she has entered N Corp.'s employment.

... When I told you to write your own tale... I didn't say you could sign on with Hermann's pack of tossers and come screwin' us over every chance you got.

What're you here to fuck up this time, anyway...?

Heathcliff...

You were - You were family! That's why I let you go, dammit! Because I wasn't blind to what living in that manor did to you. But you...! Nickin' the Golden Bough weren't enough, was it? You had to join these - !

Heathcliff's bat was already in motion before the last word had left his mouth. He surged toward Nelly without the slightest hesitation...

... and steel flashed from Nelly's sleeve. Her knife struck the bat aside with a clean crack, and she gave ground, her composure disturbed less by fear than by tiresome consternation.

Wait. I'm here to help you, Heathcliff. Don't be rash.

Help me?

Faust offered a small, silent nod. Heathcliff caught it and wheeled on her with murder still smoldering in his eyes.

Explain. Now.

... Miss Nelly is indeed a collaborator in the present operation - by way of an agreement concluded with Director Hermann's New League of Nine Littérateurs.

... Huh. No wonder you've been keeping it all hush-hush from the rest of us.

Correct. The secrecy was only intended to alleviate the much-expected reluctance from the Sinners.

Nelly... She's betrayed me twice already. Twice!

Even after I'd freed her - she turned round and twisted the knife! And I'm supposed to, what, trust her again? And go along with -

Let us both forget all that has transpired there, dear Heathcliff. I've buried it all already.

Memories of that stormy, lightless old manor do nothing but knot themselves tighter around the mind.

"Forget"...? What do you know about forgetting, Nelly?

... No, I won't forget them. Even if she's become forgotten to the world, I won't - I can't. Even if that were Cathy's wish.

So no, I won't let anyone force me to leave the past buried, Nelly. Not you, not anyone.

Cathy...? You've lost me again, Heathcliff. Just as you did the last time we met.

It's... it's as though I'd been serving a ghost all those years at that abandoned manor, Heathcliff. You wouldn't know this, but... after Mister Earnshaw's death, rest his soul, the manor was left... completely unoccupied.

You weren't servin' a ghost. That manor had a rightful mistress, dammit!

... I think it's high time we moved on from this subject.

It should be painfully apparent which party has more to lose if we let this distasteful conversation go on and on. Would you not agree, Miss Faust?

Heathcliff, I'm sorry, but -

.......

... Go on, let's hear it. Just how do you intend on helping us?

Faust had scarcely begun to move between them when Heathcliff finally yielded a step. His bat lowered one reluctant inch at a time...

... though his glare remained fixed upon Nelly, as though he were recalling the old wound of betrayal.

My word... I made a note of this back at the manor too, but you've certainly grown soft, haven't you? The old Heathcliff would've -

Say another word. Another infuriatin' word, and your eyes just might see the "old Heathcliff" you like blatherin' on about, 'fore I knock your head clean off your shoulders.

*puff* Got more to say? Then blather away. It'll give me time to decide between S.Y.N.C. and having your L.B.

... I've rented a conference room nearby, so why don't we continue our discussion there? I'm sure we don't want to keep the other collaborators waiting.

Besides, this isn't exactly the best place to discuss these rather... sensitive subjects, is it?

The other collaborators being...?

Only a handful of dear old acquaintances who, much like me, require no laborious introduction.

*puff* Agreed, Bats. Can't pick and choose what to remember and what to forget.

.......

We followed Nelly into some kind of conference room in a building.

And there, we found ourselves in the company of the "handful of dear old acquaintances" - handful of rude surprise, really - whose faces were all turned toward us.

...!

While I do recall urging them to expand the hiring pool to those from my past... He is indeed a most unexpected face.

How odd... I don't recall keeping any of this information classified from you, or anyone in our team.

... That fellow wasn't left out. He simply decided to be absent during the dissemination session, on account of focusing more on his research.

The understanding of which I do appreciate; I wear many hats, after all.

Director Hermann's plan to rescue Mister Meursault - I trust the preparations are complete?

Ah, yes - the circuitous infiltration route by way of the Suicide Vending Machine. All systems in place and ready to commence, of course - it's a simple enough preparation to make.

Good. We all heard that, yes? All chuffed? Then please be seated.

After we were seated as per Nelly's directions...

I leaned toward Outis in the adjoining chair. I ticked out the question that had been needling me ever since we ran into Nelly again.

<There's something I've got to know... What do you think they have to gain from this?>

This collaboration is most likely an outcome of a transaction rather than that of a mutually beneficial calculation, Executive Manager.

A transaction that must've had something to do with the Mirror, if I am to speak based on guesswork.

If they brought my past fellows into their fold by means of selling the name "League of Nine"... Miss Outis's conjecture may indeed be true.

Well. It seems we need not engage in overlong elucidation - our guests are entirely self-informed as to their circumstances.

*scoff* This is hardly our first encounter. If you're still incapable of noticing something so painfully obvious... well, you wouldn't like what that says about your competence.

... Bloody hell, spit it out already. What do you lot have to gain from this?

That portion of the contract remains confidential, Heathcliff.

I can offer one reassurance, though. Unlike in our previous arrangement, we have no intention of claiming the Golden Bough. It just so happens that our goal becomes more achievable by providing you with assistance.

Do you seek to make us into unwitting agents of chaos, as you had in Hongyuan? Presumably after aught that can only be purloined only under the cover of tumult...

You and your new fellows are quite often the agents of chaos whitherever you venture, unwitting or not. Or could your presence among your fellows have sown the seeds, Yi Sang?

... Your accusation is but a gross generalization.

Embroider the record with gentler thread if it comforts you. The reality of the matter is a truth immutable that cares not for my sympathies.

<.......>

Well, moving on to the plan itself... Frankly, it's all rather simple. The place your fellow has been sent to is called Grand Magasin Sisyphe. And under normal circumstances, the only way by which entrance to that department store is permitted is the Sisyphe Penalty.

Pray, are we to be hanged, too, then?

Would you mind clarifying whether that query was posed in a literal sense, or if it were merely circumlocutory insinuation?

Depending on the nature of your query, one could say that you hit the nail on the head.

Uh...

You would be correct if the latter were your insinuation - as you all must have gathered from observing the execution of the penalty, one must experience death to gain access to the Grand Magasin Sisyphe.

As luck would have it, however, word is that the Grand Magasin has recently faced some... difficulties. Word proven true, considering its current production rate of the Experience Batter.

And this has opened a crack, or a normally inaccessible avenue through which we may, in a proverbial sense, "squeeze you through."

What luck that we are in the presence of the City's top experts at getting themselves killed.

You're not... wrong, but...

But... Manager Bud's never died before, have they?

Nah, but only technically. Every pain we feel when we die, Dante feels 'em too.

Still, I can't help but worry for Dante... Pain isn't the only feeling death brings, after all...

Hah, really? You're worried about death? I thought you said humans were... what was it again? "Born to die"?

.......

Brother, what I said then, it was... I'm -

Jia Baoyu.

I'd have expected you to know better now. We both know the apology waiting behind your teeth is not kindness, nor is it remorse. It is a revolting little lie.

It appeared to me that Hong Lu could only swallow his words as he stared back at Jia Huan with a look that was as much guilt as it was desperation...

Further infuriated by this response, however, Jia Huan opened and closed his mouth a few times as though he were trying to say something. But when he registered the circle of watching faces, he snapped his head aside emphatically without another word.

My my, it's like we're all tiptoeing on thin ice. It seems that neither of us found the most pleasant company following the dissolution, did we?

... I would much rather you continue this presentation than engage in pointless banter.

Very well. At least you still retain the virtue of saying precisely what I like to hear.

Going back to the matter at hand... No, you don't actually need to die to enter. Pay closer attention to my words - you need to "experience" death to enter Sisyphe.

Should you fulfill that condition on your end, we have the means to circumvent the Grand Magasin Sisyphe's security measures and grant you entry.

Naturally... that condition will be fulfilled using the Suicide Vending Machine - the main product line that helped Director Hermann strengthen her footing in N Corp.

Hah... So that explains how a G Corp. remnant like her became a director at N Corp.

<Suicide Vending Machine...>

I once read in an information booklet that introduced it as N Corp.'s, uh... newest product. While it's not as widely recognized or popular as Canned Experience, it's been spreading via word of mouth, because the service it offers is extremely thrilling...

It is human nature to pathologically pursue extreme thrills, after all.

And I suppose that is another technology purloined from the Glass Window or the Mirror.

... Now I realize anew that I am beset on all sides by revelations most disagreeable.

Hah! Even now, you let these personal grievances affect you?

... You would reduce it to "personal grievance"? Then I suppose the sentiment with which Brother Young-ji brought the Glass Window into being shall remain forever beyond your ken.

It was a technology made so that those things doomed to fade away in this world might take wing freely once more. Yet vain, vulgar ones such as yourselves would peer into it only to seek out death.

We merely found a purpose better suited to it. Is that not simply the way the wheel of progress turns?

... Don't you dare -

Now, now. How about we leave these old grudges behind us and cooperate? Withdraw that askance glare and let us work together. Surely you do not plan to spend the rest of tonight locked in a bout of words, do you?

... So... we sneak in, yoink Meursault right outta that Grand Magasin or whatever, and presto. Right?

Not quite presto. Your company's affairs have never demonstrated such affection for simple jobs. At the topmost floor of the Grand Magasin is a Golden Bough you all seem to be quite fond of collecting.

And you're showin' us that care because...?

Unlike our first encounter, I knew they were not actively maneuvering to seize the Golden Bough for themselves...

... because their race for the Golden Bough was seldom consistent. Sometimes they would try to take it from us, but at other times, they seemed entirely uninterested.

But being aware of that didn't make it any less unnerving not to know their endgame.

Then, to summarize... We are to infiltrate the Grand Magasin Sisyphe, undetected, via the route secured by the Suicide Vending Machine - courtesy of the New League of Nine - rescue Meursault, obtain the Golden Bough, then exfiltrate with minimal risk. Did I miss anything?

You didn't miss anything, but... there is one detail I must correct.

While it is true that the method of your entry will be unorthodox... it involves more than "minimal risk."

... What?!

Allow me to elaborate: your entry will escape notice. But it won't be long before they become wise to your intrusion, which is where the risks come in.

What... shall transpire, should our presence be detected?

Feathers of N Corp. will be mobilized, of course. They will assault the Suicide Vending Machine we have chosen as your inroad to the Grand Magasin Sisyphe.

That is when we will lend you aid.

What's gonna happen... if we get attacked while using the Suicide Vending Machine?

Is elaboration really necessary? It's obviously going to be something utterly catastrophic.

<Whatever it is, sounds like a risk I don't want us to take...>

Our collaboration with the New League of the Nine... extends to cover such contingencies as well.

Lass, are you sayin' we'll have to trust these bastards to -

- protect the twelve of you? Why yes, that is exactly what we'll be doing. Personally.

... And we're, what, supposed to just put our lives in these fellas' hands?

Oh, please. Do you really think the Director would allow half-measures when her precious son is in your company?

*scoff* Isn't that a comforting thought.

Gregor answered with a dry, incredulous snort.

Even if we were to look past the matter of trust... I must voice my doubts about your ability to defend us to begin with. Your performance back in Hongyuan was hardly promising.

Hah, that's because -

... You needn't worry about that. We have newly produced E.G.O gear, fresh out of lab testing, and plenty of new hires to wear them.

When it really comes down to it, we'll finally put that stubborn Captain to use, too. She doesn't like how the solid earth feels? Too bad, time to get to work.

... Wh-wait. This "Captain"... Her name wouldn't happen to be Ahab, would it?

Deary me, you didn't know? She was here before I joined, I believe.

... Just what exactly did you offer her? Help her hunt down the Whale?

While I cannot divulge the details of her terms... that wouldn't be the case, would it?

... And I guess you people couldn't care less how many people her insane rabble-rousing and pigheadedness are going to get killed.

Well, Captain Ahab has her own ways of doing things.

... Maybe. But if I have to watch what she's done happen all over again, right before my eyes... I don't know what I might do.

Hmm. Now I'm convinced that it was a wise decision to exempt the captain from this meeting.

Now that all cards are on the table... how is it? The preparations for the infiltration are now complete. Simply say the word, and we will send you all straight to the Grand Magasin Sisyphe.

<Let's hear it. What's everyone's take?>

I must admit to a certain reluctance in my heart; such an alliance has been tested before, at the Tiekan Temple, to near-immediate breakdown followed by a clash.

Are you certain they are our sole option? Frankly, I would much more readily work with the Ring and their Corridors than work with the New League of the Nine.

Grand Magasin Sisyphe is a dimension that's fundamentally different, so it cannot be entered through a Backdoor, a Corridor, or any manner of portal. At present, we have only two viable avenues of infiltration: submit to N Corp.'s judicial process and receive the Sisyphe Penalty, or employ the New League of Nine's collaboration.

Seems easy enough. Let's get ourselves sentenced to the Sisyphe Penalty, then. We could go to one of them Nest checkpoints and start smashin' walls and windows -

Alas, I would loath to commit such a heedless crime...

Don Quixote... Who do you think Heathcliff was referring to when he said "smashing walls and windows"?

Ah - *cough*

Objection chased objection around the table until the discussion began circling its own tail. Through it all, Ryōshū smoked in silence until she finally flicked a bright fleck of ash off her cigarette and severed the debate short.

*puff* Now that I've had my turn, it's about time M.'s had his T. anyway, isn't it? Think it over when we're inside. No more idling out here.

I agree with Miss Ryōshū. I can't say I have complete faith in our company... but I do want to put my trust in Miss Faust.

Not a huge fan of this idea either, but... I also think you two are right. I mean, it's not like we're not gonna save Meur 'cuz it's too risky, right?

<... Right. We'll have to work with them.>

Have you all come to a decision?

... Lead us to the Suicide Vending Machine. Let's go.

Sometime later…

<So this is it... the Suicide Vending Machine.>

Nelly and Aseah led us into a small enclosure.

It was one thing to be in a dark room like this, but... what was more unsettling was simply how quiet and disconnected this place was from the outside.

We passed between the machines that were lined up in a row and took our respective seats.

Then... we switched on the monitors.