S1031B
And you're the one waiting for me round the clock this time!
... Might you be talking to us?
<... She's Kromer's older sister. Her name's Kromer, too - just like her sister's.>
...!
The way she carries herself... Yeah, the resemblance is uncanny.
Seeing that happy-go-lucky grin on her face... something else fell into place.
Of course, she...
... She knew about the loop. She knew just how disappointed and hollow it'd left me feeling.
I strode up to Kromer, the sheer frustration dulling any reservation I may have had in the previous loops. Outis cried out in alarm as Sinclair drew a shocked gasp, but nothing was going to stop me now.
Whoa... Easy there - you're getting a bit too close for comfort. Don't want to push me into that same prosthesis-smashing frenzy zone my little sister fell into, do you?
Huh? Is that... Meursault over there?
I followed Hong Lu's finger... and found Meursault, no longer tied up in the Casualwear Hall. He'd probably rushed all the way to get here.
<... Meursault.>
Manager.
<I see you left the Casualwear Hall.>
Yes. I refused to remain in storage this time.
<... Meursault, I need you to ask Kromer something.>
< If she has a way to stop this, we need to know.>
What are you talking about? A way to stop what?
<She knows things about this place, Sinclair. And... I don't think she'll refuse to help us.>
I couldn't quite put a finger on why, but something told me that seeing us make progress was what she was here for, whatever that meant. She did help us on B2, after all.
... We request any information you might have...
... on how to change the outcome.
... Now that's a huge letdown. Do I really have to spell it out for you?
I say this all the time, but if my sister lost to a company with this little going for it... then you did me a favor by getting rid of her. She'd only have become a dead weight on my future prospects later.
.......
Still not getting it?
Paradigm shift!
That's what you need right now.
"Boohoo, I've obediently followed the path laid before me by the Grand Magasin, and nothing's changed!" That's how you sound. Can't have your cake and eat it too, you know.
<The path laid by the Grand Magasin...>
The first step in ushering in change is to break the established rules - and that's especially true for the Grand Magasin.
So... Bash, smash, send the whole place crashing down. Just the way you dealt with my sister.
Like the ones hiding in the shadows here, biding their time.
<.......>
<... So it was you. You are the Giant of Le Néant.>
<You're one of the four Giants holding this department store up.>
Haha! Try speaking human next time, huh? Didn't get a single word of that ticking.
Well, I suppose I'll just take it as your undying gratitude that I'd stoop to helping a tin can like you.
Why don't we meet again after you've broken the Grand Magasin's rules, hmm?
And I expect nothing short of spectacular.
Of course, if you still can't make heads or tails of it...
Then just give up and stay here. Rot until you smell sweet and fertilize the Canned Experiences; at least you'll be of some use. If N Corp. can't change, it'd be better off dead. Euthanized.
Manager... You... How long have you known that woman?!
<I met her only after we entered here, just as you all did.>
<But... there are things we all went through that only Meursault and I remember.>
... Are you saying that our memories have been wiped... or were subjected to some equivalent procedure?
<... That's right.>
I gave the Sinners an outline of how the whole system of Grand Magasin Sisyphe worked and brought them up to speed on how our past attempts ended.
At first, a few of them gave me that specific look that seemed to ask whether I'd lost my mind...
But by the time I'd finished, the Sinners were all looking at me with complete trust.
... We had no idea how much you'd gone through, Dante.
To have been of no assistance to you in such a grave predicament... I have no words, Executive Manager.
If the lady in the restroom - I mean, the Fount - was telling the truth, you were supposed to keep this a secret even from us, weren't you?
I assume you've come up with another way this time around?
<No, not exactly...>
<But we still have to find something else to try.>
We'd died countless deaths in this department store...
But we'd also taken countless lives from those who lived here.
And sometimes... a being had appeared, a being who prevented us from killing certain entities, as though there were deaths he couldn't afford to let happen.
<Whenever we tried to leave the path laid out for us...>
<Someone appeared to put things back the way they were.>
Are you referring to... the Warden?
Every time the Warden killed Meursault and sent us back to the Fount, none of the other Sinners remembered anything about the encounter.
Which could only mean that being killed by him... was effectively the same thing as the two conclusions I'd gone through.
<Yeah, every time the Warden appeared, he'd send things back into place. The extent of it was probably different each time, but it was - >
... Similar to the Liquidation process you described.
Based on the Executive Manager's account, this "Liquidation" process appears to be a form of hard reset, initiated when the Grand Magasin's Canned Experience output falls below the required threshold...
... yet if a similar phenomenon can be triggered by the death of certain individuals in this place... I don't like what it might imply.
<Yeah, sounds like the Grand Magasin is nudging us to stick to its path...>
<... If that's got anything to do with the Warden, maybe we could try defeating him...>
<... and see if that stops those smaller Liquidations from happening. Maybe that'd allow us to make a different choice.>
It will not be an easy battle, Manager.
<…….>
<But what if... what if this choice isn't the solution either?>
…….
For a moment, Meursault seemed unsure of how to reply.
Manager.
Are you afraid?
<... Yeah. 'Course I am afraid.>
<Always have been...>
<... and always will be, probably.>
I see.
<Aren't you, Meursault?>
Fear arises from evaluating one's present circumstances. Therefore, if you cease to consider whether the present course is right or wrong and, by doing so, refrain from certainty...
... then you will be able to endure in spite of the fear.
You can then completely focus on what lies immediately before you.
<But by going down that path, wouldn't you eventually become...>
I didn't know how to answer what Meursault was telling me.
<... too desensitized to even notice that you're hurting?>
The chains tightly binding my fists dull the pain from injuries.
That is another reason I coil the chains around me as an armor, Manager.
Meursault never seemed afraid or conflicted about anything.
I couldn't really understand it, but it was something I'd envy from time to time.
Fearlessness is an asset for people like us, after all - at times, Meursault even looked to be totally at ease no matter how daunting the mission was.
That said...
... I can say with certainty that there's been more to our journey than just fear.
When a mission finally went our way, or when we'd overcome impossible odds to reach what was expected of us... we'd celebrate together. We'd share the victory, and that gave us the strength to ready ourselves for the next ordeal sure to come.
And I realize that Meursault had never been a part of it.
He'd always maintained his distance, unable to share even those brief moments of joy and respite together.
<When the going gets tough... I just allow myself to feel weary.>
<And when I'm scared, well... I just I say that I'm scared.>
<And... I'm going to keep doing that.>
Has doing so... brought about any meaningful change?
<... No.>
My answer was pathetic.
…….
<For now... Let's head to 2F.>
But even if it turns out nothing's going to change, we still have to keep climbing.