Pursuit 2 (before battle)
Hardly a challenge. What a W.O.T...
Whew... Well, at least they're not much of a fighter one-on-one...
Service des Clous is not a combat-specialized department. While they have all undergone basic combat training for exigent circumstances, they are not prepared for head-on conflicts such as this.
Yeah, I noticed. They kept taking pictures of us with their briefcases - I'm guessing that's their primary job description...?
*huff* *huff* What are they snappin' away for, then? Whisperin' behind our backs like a load of creeps...
Collecting photos to include in the report for their higher-ups, I'd wager.
Hm, I can kinda see how they could think we're involved in this somehow. Every time they followed a lead, they ended up encountering us. It's hardly a surprising rationale.
.......
Meursault stood a footstep away from the rest of the Sinners and watched in silence as they tried to come up with an explanation.
What is he thinking? What is it that he wishes to say? Or... is he simply contemplating, observing without any preconceived notions in his mind?
His silence shouldn't have been any different from his usual reticence, but as though by some chance or whim...
<Hey, Meursault?>
... I was struck by this sense of brief yet distinct strangeness, and was compelled to speak with him.
Yes, Manager.
<Don't hesitate to let me know if there's something you wanna say... but aren't sure if you're supposed to say it.>
Yes, Manager. I will do as you ordered should one such circumstance occur.
... As always, his reply was as deflatingly concise and direct,
as though he had some rule of his own that told him this was the specific response for situations like these.
<Um... Okay, but I'm talking about right now, actually. Do you have anything to say, right now?>
No, I do not.
It did not appear to me that he was trying to hide anything or choosing his words in response to my question. His reply was simply that: an answer, nothing more.
Yes, a prepared answer written down in a list of responses - that's what it felt like to me. As though this particular answer had always been the only one he had available for situations like this.
Clearly, prodding him for answers wasn't going to get me anywhere, so...
... with a curt "sure, if you say so," I turned away from him and took off to join the other Sinners.
As I did so, a few words lingered at the tip of my proverbial tongue, asking to be let out... So I did.
<Would've been nice to know what you were looking at...>
... Of that,
He spoke.
I cannot form a judgment.
<What?>
That is because the precise definition and nature of the subject of my gaze are just as unknown to me as to you.
Should you point to an object or an enemy, I can provide a verbal explanation based on my current knowledge. If you require such information, please rephrase your question accordingly.
Had I asked him again then, had I tried to get to the bottom of that line of questioning, could I have found myself the smallest peek into Meursault's psyche, which had remained entirely shrouded in mystery even after an entire year of traveling together?
... I suppose that's not up for me to judge as well.
Manager.
<Uh... Yeah?>
Another battle is imminent. As you have previously instructed, I have informed you of an imminent battle.
Yo! Boss Clock! Are ya just gonna sit there all day while we do all the fighting? They're pouring out of that building over there!
So they must've been on their way to that building... Our path ahead seems clear, Executive Manager! Let us neutralize those foes and head up there.
<Agh, g-gotcha! Be right there!>
The brief lull of battle came to a close...
... and battling enemies who arrived precisely at the time Meursault had predicted, we made our way into the building.
Bloody hell, them blokes we fought downstairs must've been the weaker ones of the bunch...!
How does N Corp. have so many guys on their payroll...?! There's no end to them!
Haha... It is a Wing, after all.
Are these the Taboo violators...? I thought the culprit worked alone?
No, I'm quite certain they're the ones from the subsequent reports...
The N Corp. Fixers appeared just as confused as we were.
It was clear to me that they were expecting to find the Taboo violator here, not a big group of a dozen or so people...
What were they thinking, sending fodder like us to deal with an organized Taboo violation? They should've sent Taboo Hunters here instead...
Why do you think they told us to consume Canned Experience containing mass-melee combat? They must've thought our current manpower would suffice to deal with this.
I don't know about that...
Wait, wasn't there an extra report? That one of them's a -
All of a sudden...
With a click, the room began to buzz with the metallic whir of some kind of machinery.
And immediately, I could tell what it was.
<... Distortion.>
Standing in the middle of the shabby room was a device I wasn't sure if I had seen before.
Its exterior was plastered with strange shapes that looked similar to what we saw on the Ch'unokkun's faces in our earlier battles, making it difficult to grasp its full shape.
The round object affixed to it began to rotate slowly, with the dull, worn-out groan of a thing past its prime...
Men!
Shield your eyes!!!
The moment it began to emit a faint ray of light, Outis thundered in a commanding voice.
Gah...!
I quickly turned away as well, making sure not to catch even a glimpse of it.
... The device could be playing a recorded video, Executive Manager.
Even a brief look at it could constitute a Taboo violation.
S-shit...!
I-I saw that. I'm so finished...
Just as panic began creeping into the voices of several unlucky individuals...
Oh man, oh man... Folks, this is starting to get a little embarrassing.
... a sleepy voice breaks through the darkness past my (metaphorically speaking) shut eyes.
Mentor?!
Eyes open, Aeng-du. What's wrong with everyone? Got dust in your eyes?
The hell's wrong with you?! Don't you know that anyone who watches even a split second of a recorded video in N Corp. gets -
... Of course I know. But I watched it anyway.
Open your eyes, esteemed fellows. This motion picture isn't "recorded."
... Hang on, he's right. That video's not a recording.
Possibly emboldened by Kim's comment, or perhaps believing that seeing the video could be excused as incidental exposure incurred while subduing violators, the N Corp. employees also opened their eyes and began to mutter amongst themselves.
Is that thing... talking to us?
I finally allowed myself a good look at the machine, which was firing a conical beam of light against a side of the wall.
And this was its message, delivered via white words on a black background:
"So you've tracked me down this far."
"After what I went through to take refuge in here... They still ended up finding this place..."
"All of you blindly consuming fake experience after fake experience, without even a care about the real thing..."
Case number TC3224. You are under suspicion of a Category 3 violation.
Reveal yourself now and forfeit your illegal recordings. Should you comply, we will -
... What is foolery but witless buffoonery in the absence of fools?
The hollowed vessel, bereft of all but lingering delusions, grants not even a brool of echo to the dogged excoriation of tools.
What's this fella on about?
If you mean to obstruct our official duties, we won't hesitate to use force - !
Clang!
Without even so much as turning around, Bamboo-hatted Kim raised his sword and parried away the N Corp. employee's nail-shaped weapon.
I'm only speaking as my whim guides me, my dear fellows. No need to get so huffy.
I only aim to say that this abomination... has no consciousness.
"After what I went through to take refuge in here... They still ended up finding this place..."
"All of you blindly consuming fake experience after fake experience, without even a care about the real thing..."
It's repeating the same sentences over and over...
Now that does make me wonder. Was I just as far gone when I Distorted? Past all words and reason?
I mean, if anyone has an answer to that question... it'd be you folks, right?
Kim said nothing more. He turned a piercing look on us, all the while effortlessly swatting away the N Corp. employees' attacks...
... as though he was goading us into telling him the truth.
Well... Don't suppose there's any point in asking.
... I am no different from this abomination. Just as it wields that contraption, I must have wielded the only thing I have really known - the blade, transforming into a mindless fiend consumed by a mere tool, cleaving through both friend and foe, unrestrained.
.......
... Hey, Junior. Are you still on about that?
I tried to avert my eyes, I truly did. But such disregard is easier said than done.
How can I, when that Distorted being has no qualms showing me the - *sigh*
Doesn't he know how rude the unsolicited reflecting of the fathoms of one's heart is? That's got to be illegal or something. Illegal, I say!
Turning a customer into a thug on a protection racket run, a mere ant before a car in motion into a swerving driver...
... conjuring dead followers before the eyes of their mentor - simply unconscionable. Rude as hell, as some might say. My poor heart almost burst out of my chest, courtesy of you.
"All of you blindly consuming fake experience after fake experience, without even a care about the real thing..."
.......
In that split second, I think I saw Meursault's eyebrows twitch.
A battle is imminent, Manager.
... Just a natural response to sensing an imminent battle, perhaps?
*POP!*
A blinding flash, followed by an explosive bang. My vision immediately went white and decided to take its damn time coming back.
And when it did...
The first thing that came into view was a particularly unsettling landscape of S Corp., followed by Bamboo-hatted Kim surrounded by a small army of Ch'unokkun.
MENTOR!
Keep that up and you'll shout me deaf, Aeng-du.
Isn't it about time we both grew accustomed to such sights?
Mentor, still do I wake from these dreams drenched in cold sweat...
That they might bind and drag you away...
Eh, this isn't so bad, is it? It's just these folks so far. Unlike earlier, when -
Another flash.
What... what was that? Everything went dark...
I don't understand what's happening, but first things first: We have to neutralize everyone here and get our mission back on track -
[Adjusting Projection…]
... *sigh* I've been straying far and wandering all day for this exact reason, and...
... So that was its mechanism.
<Faust?>
The words began to shift rapidly before I had the chance to ask Faust what she had meant.
"To the one who finds comfort settling in lies: I give you what most deserved your gaze."
*POP!*
…….
Bollocks, I'll be blind before today's over at this rate.
<... It changed.>
... It did?
Unlike the earlier instance, one of the Distortions is different from the others.
As Meursault identified, there was something different about the group of Ch'unokkun this time - they were accompanied by someone else.
A warrior in impressive armor, wielding a sword that was just as tall.
That armor... and a great hwando of the Sal Circle...
... To be reunited in such a manner...
…!
.......
The warrior drew a bow that hung from the waistguard, and nocked an arrow...
... Arrow.
I suppose this is how it would've gone down, had you been the one to grab me.
... Military Commissioner Im Gyeong-eop. How do you fare, friend?
At the signal arrow's loosing! Seize the accused!
The warrior loosened the nocked arrow, which soared into the sky with a piercing whistle...
... and with that air-splitting sound as their cue, the Ch'unokkun began to swarm us.