Inaccessible (after battle)
Lady Faust, however similar in appearance they may have been to the passengers...
... Verily, 'tis as though they were in complete want of sense...
Like people pallidified by the Whale...
Don Quixote, who hesitated until the last second to raise her weapon against them, hung her head mournfully.
Normally...
Faust would have told her more information about those monsters before the fight began.
And she would not have been burdened by the sheer thought of bringing harm to the innocent.
…….
Faust began searching the area, closely observing various bodies and the general area for information.
You appear particularly inquisitive today, Miss Faust.
Huh, yeah. Aren't you usually the one who has all the answers while we're wracking our brains trying to come up with something?
The Sinners were starting to realize that there was something off about Faust's behavior...
They might even soon realize that there's something wrong with Faust.
... Don Quixote.
They are not dead.
... Huhh?
Observe closer. The parts are all tethered to one another by something, are they not?
Hm...
Ooho!
It appears that the flow of time has ceased in this space. Therefore, it follows that the... connections, that tether bodies to life and away from death, remain intact.
To my relief...
... Faust managed to correctly figure out what's going on like her usual self, even if it took her slightly longer than it usually does.
<Hey, what'd I say? We got this...!>
Huh? What was that about?
<O-oh, nothing...>
But... I'd forgotten that not all Sinners were content with nodding along to whatever information Faust told us.
Hm...
The flow of time is ceased aboard a WARP train, is it...?
…….
Yi Sang grew pensive. Seeing that, Faust's lips parted for a moment before closing shut.
I was starting to get a good read of her expressions. That was an unmistakable look of regret, however short-lived.
Howbeit, would it not be more accurate to muse that the flow of time has decelerated to the point where, to an extradimensional observer, it has slowed to a stop? What is your perspective regarding this suggestion?
Yes. That is a most rational suggestion, Yi Sang.
Uh... Did Miss Faust just get something wrong?
<W-wow, Yi Sang sure is the expert when it comes to time-related phenomena. Can you summarize it in easier language now that we're broaching the subject?>
Ah. Gladly, if you would allow me.
Yi Sang began to elaborate with gentle enthusiasm.
... That was close.
To speak in brevity, it can be said that death is not an element aboard this train.
And...? Can ya maybe speak in a little less brevity?
Ah, to elaborate...
... Ah, verily! This one's heart beats still!
Don Quixote lowered her head and listened closely to what appeared to be a dismembered torso... and shouts with relief.
Their state is akin to an unassembled jigsaw puzzle; merely immobilized and separated.
Though their corpus has been sundered, the concept of death is at a state of, for all intents and purposes, eternal delay aboard this train, existence in continuance of moratorium...
Forced, they are, to be tethered upon the thinnest yet tenacious thread of life.
Mm... I ill understand what hath been said here, yet they are not dead all the same, hm?
If their severed parts are all connected... then it can be said that no matter how entangled their bodies become, it is not impossible to eventually gather their parts together to form a single passenger.
Thus, naturally, we can determine how and why the profession "W Corp. Cleanup Agent" has come to be.
I see. Because someone will have to categorize and reconstruct these puzzles once the journey is over.
<It's really baffling to me that a job like that even exists...>
Ever seen a Wing that wasn't baffling in every sense of the word?
<Still... I guess that means that, as long as the train arrives at the station, the passengers will all be put back together like nothing happened.>
From what I learned through the W Corp. Identities, their main job was to gather chunks of flesh together to bring them back to their original shapes before they boarded the trains.
It's a lot more visceral when I have to look at it in person...
Phew... that is quite the auspicious news among ill tidings indeed.
It soon clicked in me what Faust was, though with some awkward effort, trying to do as I watched Don Quixote sigh with relief.
Maybe Faust was trying to cheer Don Quixote up in her own way.
Who she was a while ago would not find it even necessary to do something like that...
Dante.
<Huh? What's up?>
…….
<Oh. Time to whisper, right?>
... Indeed. I intend to collect further intelligence.
<Well, if there's anything I can tell you...>
Faust cast a dark gaze toward the chunks of flesh. Her gaze remained fixed upon them as she whispered.
Are they Distortions, or... Abnormalities?
<Oh... yeah. I actually wanted to ask you about that.>
They weren't humans, that was for sure. From them, I felt the same sensation I felt from monsters.
Something inexplicable. An unclear sensation or an aura.
I've felt this somewhere before, I'm sure of it. But... I couldn't quite pinpoint the source of this sensation.
One thing I do know for sure is that this sensation was not the same feeling I got from Abnormalities, Distortions, or even the Peccatula.
<If I had to lean one way or the other, I'd say they're... closer to Distortions.>
<I'm sorry, I don't think they're either of those.>
Is it difficult to be certain at the moment?
<Again, I'm not sure how I can explain this, but they're very, very similar to Distortions. But also... different.>
<If you had to ask, then... I'm gonna guess Faust doesn't know?>
Faust may know... but I, at this moment, have no way of knowing.
<... I feel like I should apologize for that.>
There is no need, Dante.
Though the information you have provided me is rather ambiguous, it has helped me deduce something of worth.
And...
Collecting intelligence myself and creating deductions based on sparse information is quite...
She paused, holding a bloody, slimy chunk of flesh in her hands.
... Did she just smile to herself with gore in her hands?
Hooh. Finally, the awakening has begun.