Board 8 > So, I finally got Virtue's Last Reward! [playthrough] [rabbits]

(+) Yeah! (+)

There is no tenth person. The only people alive are me, you and Quark.

I jump back into Luna's timeline, which probably doesn't qualify as the darkest on offer (Dio's apocalypse is hard to beat), but is certainly the most rampantly chaotic. A full prelude can be found in posts #67-93, but to summarize:

- basically everyone is fucking dead
- Alice dies, likely by Radical-6-induced suicide
- Luna dies next to her, in a possible "revenge" attack by Clover. Dio and K are also plausible suspects. considering this is her timeline, this is spooky as all hell.
- Clover and Tenmyouji are found dead by wrist injection, handcuffed to a pipe in the infirmary. Quark's 9 BP bracelet lies next to them.
- Dio and K are found impaled by goddamn spears in the Rec Room.
- in among this chaos, we also discover the AB rooms have been moved, possibly to cover up Akane's death. but Dio did that (we assume?) and he was never a suspect on the basis of her point of discovery - we have no idea how, when or why he moved her body. all of this makes Dio's presumed guilt far from clear.
- oh, and Sigma is showing intermittent Radical-6 symptoms.

...jesus.

we re-enter as Phi is searching Dio and K's bodies. Dio carries a bloodstained Myrmidons-branded knife, which we can infer he ditched after stabbing Akane, and was subsequently used by Alice to kill herself. finding her dead after Clover's attack, he reclaimed it, possibly using it to wound Tenmyouji. K, meanwhile, has the luminol, which shows up on Dio's wrist - probably meaning that he discovered Dio murdered Akane and killed him in return.

which begs the question, who the hell killed K? ...Quark?

*bing!* "An Ambidex Gate has been opened."

we rush back to the warehouse to find no-one, and ponder the improbability of Quark opening a Gate. as far as we know, he didn't even enter a tertiary Chromatic Door. we begin to look for him, starting in the Director's Office, where Dio and K searched earlier in this timeline.

we immediately gravitate to the locked computer, and this time, Sigma remembers. he remembers death.
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Looks like a person, acts like a person, and talks like a person, then it's probably a person.

The computer clicks into gear, and Sigma calls Phi over. faced with Sigma's impossible knowledge, she gets absolutely apoplectic, but eventually calms down, and we start to search.

the first thing we find are specifications for a GAULEM with the ID code we used to log in - specifications for Luna. who is not only listed as "currently operational," but "executing special mission." Phi speculates that this might be, in fact, Luna's Voight-Kampff test, but before we get too into the philosophy of artificial intelligence, two things become very clear.

Luna can't be as dead as we thought, and the AB rooms close in ten minutes.

we rush back to the first warehouse via the Crew Quarters, where we find her body has conspicuously disappeared. we move on to the AB Rooms, where, just as the doors close, we catch a terrifying glimpse of a very alive-looking Luna. Phi postulates that she is about to participate in the game, and there is no reason for her to do so other than purely to stop us (both with 7 BP) from escaping.

we have no choice, no choice at all, but to vote betray.
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Thank you, Doctor...

we have no choice, no choice at all, but to vote betray. but somehow, someway, Sigma still trusts Luna. how could she betray us? he votes with his heart, and he votes ALLY.

Phi is a picture of terror as we leave the AB room. but Luna is nowhere to be found, and we discover Luna's bracelet outside our chamber, just where we left it - without it, she couldn't possibly have voted. the results appear with horrible finality:

CLOVER/QUARK - PENALTY
TENMYOUJI - PENALTY
K/DIO - PENALTY
ALICE - PENALTY
SIGMA - 9
PHI - 9
LUNA - 9

9... 9... 9.

Phi asks Sigma what he plans to do, and we decide that we can't leave without Quark. we search everywhere in silence, turning up nothing. Phi finally speaks up at the triad of cyan doors, where we discover ominously that they have all been opened. we immediately head to the Treatment Center, where we open a pod and find Quark.

we rush back to the 9 door, Quark's unconscious body in tow, where Sigma suddenly has pause. can we really leave Luna behind? Phi, apoplectic, explains all the evidence against Luna. she might literally have killed everyone. plus she's a robot! why would we ever wait for her? a terrible weight lingers in Sigma's heart, but he can't deny the situation.

Sigma acquiesces, and Phi opens the 9 door. Sigma steps onto the lift platform, and hands Quark's limp body to Phi, before rushing back through the door. Phi is absolutely stunned, but can do nothing to stop him. Sigma traverses over the threshold, the door closes, and the game ends.

Sigma can't help but feel pride. Phi and Quark safely escaped, and he made a brave decision with conviction and strength. he walks to the Garden, where he finds Luna. in the oasis of calm, she asks if he wants to know why she killed everyone, but instead he carefully explains why she didn't.

Dio killed the old woman. Alice killed herself. Dio killed Clover and Tenmyouji, then he and K killed each other.

but then, as Luna points out, these are just theories. how can he believe them, how can he trust in her so deeply?

Luna, moved to near tears by Sigma's faith, proceeds to embark on a serious plot dump. she discusses Dio's planned entry into the game, her orders to move the old woman's body, our infection with Radical-6, and her role as overseer of the game in motion. she reveals that the old woman is not Zero. or at least not alone, and that she "died" when injected with the turbocarine simply to maintain the illusion that she was a human. she explains the timeline of her accidental "murder," Dio's sociopathic killing of Tenmyouji and Clover, and everything else she saw through her security system eyes during the game.

Sigma also learns that Luna placed Quark in the pod and Quark's bracelet by simply using aluminium foil to interfere with the electrical impulses of his heart. but it's only when he asks her about the very nature of the project that she breaks down. she blames herself for all the deaths, claiming she could have stopped them if only she had disobeyed her orders, but Sigma emphatically blames the old woman and Zero, absolving her of responsibility. she hugs Sigma, and reveals one final thing - that she was not in fact revived by Zero but hacked into the system herself, meaning her time is limited. her hair starts falling out, her skin starts to peel, and she thanks Sigma tearfully as she breathes her final robot breaths in his arms. The doctor's arms.

LUNA END
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Luna's ending is possibly my favorite
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At that point I was like, I don't think she's Betrayed the entire silly game, why would she start now? <__<
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFJ1r6_4mW4

Probably my favorite track in the whole series. Definitely the most emotional, and it suuuure got to me in that scene.

(I don't think there are any spoilers in the related videos, but as always for games like this, try not to look over there, just in case)
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I'm guessing somebody's hoping for an explanation about what the diddly-o just happened!

we have no choice, no choice at all, but to vote betray. what can Sigma do? he votes with his head, and he votes BETRAY.

just as with last time, Luna is nowhere to be found, and we discover Luna's bracelet outside our chamber, just where we left it. Phi's face turns to stunned horror - without it, she couldn't possibly have voted. the results appear with a knife-like twist:

CLOVER/QUARK - PENALTY
TENMYOUJI - PENALTY
K/DIO - PENALTY
ALICE - PENALTY
SIGMA - 10
PHI - 10
LUNA - 5

we can only speculate as to Luna's motives, but there's no question what we need to do next. we search for Quark all throughout the facility, but none of the available doors yield anything. just as we start to question our next move, deep on the lower floor, the tannoy sounds.

"The number nine door has been opened. It will remain open for nine seconds."

we look at one another, but there's nothing we can do. the tannoy sounds again, and the door is closed. we return to the initial warehouse, and stare at the door. how can we possibly tell if it opened?

Phi looks at the wall.

-STATUS-
game: finished

-RESULT-
escape complete
participants successful: luna, quark

just as we're contemplating how this is even remotely possible, an old friend appears. Zero! I missed you, buddy. shame about the circumstances. he lectures us on being stupid selfish humans, drops some dope bars, then moves on with his life.

Sigma turns to Phi, asking what on earth they should do now? she responds with a purpose rarely seen in the other game over endings: she will give the dead the meager funerals they can, and start searching. even if they never leave, they will figure out why they are here in the first place. eyes full of fire, she walks slowly into the middle of the warehouse.

there's plenty food in the pantry. the game has only just begun.

GAME OVER
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Zero III appearing in Luna game over 2 was such an awesome surprise

two of my favourite endings, there! that said, we actually learned surprisingly little new in those two endings, though a shit-ton of my suspicions were confirmed. seems like all the real underlying questions - namely, what the fuck kind of nonsense plan involves setting up a Nonary Game in which you inject all the participants with a deadly virus and personally get murdered, Akane, and how the hell can you plausibly do all this and still be the "good guy" in the story? - will be saved for the true ending. as to be expected, I suppose.

the message of the game over ending was actually a good prelude to what will be my final charge through this narrative, too. all will be revealed.

tomorrow? no promises, but let's aim for that.
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Luna best VLR girl

LordoftheMorons posted...

I did yellow --> magenta --> cyan

Likewise.

Man, reading through this is so much fun. I remember this game being hella confusing, and it's interesting to see all of these guesses knowing which are right and which are wrong.

LordoftheMorons posted...

Yeah I think it's one of only one or two without any locks?

Correct, his and Clover's. I got Clover's first, followed by K's since his is only locked by Clover's.
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Dio's and Clover's ends are locked by the fact that you have to betray Luna or Tenmy to get there and who the fuck wants to do that

Betraying Luna makes you a monster
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Betraying anyone makes you a monster. It makes absolutely no sense to Betray in any situation, unless you're Dio and at least he has a motive for it. I don't think there was a single path where I picked Betray first, and it just left me with this feeling of "wow, how is everyone in this game a terrible human being?"

Except Luna, who is a wonderful not-human being.
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MrSmartGuy posted...

Betraying anyone makes you a monster. It makes absolutely no sense to Betray in any situation, unless you're Dio and at least he has a motive for it. I don't think there was a single path where I picked Betray first, and it just left me with this feeling of "wow, how is everyone in this game a terrible human being?"

Except Luna, who is a wonderful not-human being.

Hello Mr "I would die first"

nice to meet you

this was the first path I was on, and the first lock I encountered for that
but this is in my opinion the best ending out of all of them, that music helps a lot
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won't be able to finish things off tonight; realistically, will probably be Friday before I have enough time to dedicate to this.

in the meantime, a few stray ruminations:

- it's interesting that Luna didn't seem at all surprised to see Sigma again after the 9 door was opened. sure, she's tapped into the facility system so I'm sure she saw him coming, but she doesn't even question why he came back - sacrificing his freedom forever for a a few answers and a moment of connection with a robot.
- the question of Sigma's humanity still hasn't been entirely answered; the ADAM may have claimed that everything but his arms are flesh and blood, but that raises more questions than answers considering Sigma has no memory of his arms being replaced in the first place.
- with that in mind, why did Luna raise the issue of Sigma's humanity (or lack thereof) in the first place? her entire character arc is defined by rigorously following the rules so that the game proceeds as planned. unless it was specifically part of the plan, surely that constitutes gross interference? and if placing doubt in Sigma's mind was part of the plan, then the Sigma Turing Test theory comes back into focus.

p.s. if Sigma and Phi don't turn out to be robots, they better address the blatant misdirection that their names are both greek letters. this doesn't happen in real life!
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Neither does Alice's outfit (what is even holding that on?) but here we are
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For the record I (and several other non-b8ers I know that played the game) went straight left-to-right on the flowchart, which results in Dio's ending first.

It's interesting to note that since not every lock is opened by an ending, you can get endings other than Dio's or Clover's first - but you sort of have to go out of your way. (I think you can get like, the Tenmyouji ending first if you do it right)

You can also get the Luna ending first on replays or if you cheat by looking up the username and password. Otherwise I think that's it unless you jump like 2 minutes before an ending and the game realizes that you're far enough (might work for dodging the Dio ending since the bomb code is a separate node).
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I love this topic
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Wheeee
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tonight's the night! almost certainly.

any final questions/theories you would like me to answer before I face THE TRUTH?
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Paratroopa1 posted...

It's interesting to note that since not every lock is opened by an ending, you can get endings other than Dio's or Clover's first - but you sort of have to go out of your way. (I think you can get like, the Tenmyouji ending first if you do it right)

Tenmyouji was my first ending! The first path I actually went down on was Luna, though. And it was incredibly awesome.

Funnily enough, I didn't even start the Phi ending until I did like 3 endings. So the whole bomb subplot probably didn't have as much impact on me as other people.
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What do you think Zero's general goal is?
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The obvious question (questions?):

Who Is Zero and who is conspiring with them?

Gog I cannot WAIT for the reveal
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OrangeCrush980 posted...

What do you think Zero's general goal is?

oh shit. here's how I see it:

none of the 999 endings actually lied to us, so I kind of have to assume that Dio's ending is indeed consistent with the world of the game. with that in mind, it's hard to see any way that Zero's motives are not rooted in stopping this Myrmidon pandemic apocalypse. it would be patently absurd to have an apocalyptic event hanging around in the background of the game's plot without being a driving force in anyone's actions.

on the other hand, how a Nonary Game can possibly solve this issue is an entirely separate thing. 999 did use a game to change the past, but it would be weird to use that trick again verbatim. that said, Tenmyouji's Mars mission where Radical-6 was purported to have originated from stands out as a particularly weird and poorly explained hanging thread - could Zero be trying to send information back to the people there, so that Radical-6 is never created? that would certainly explain why Tenmyouji was essentially blackmailed into joining the game.

I actually like being put on the spot like that! I only thought of that idea just now. if it's halfway right I will feel so smug.
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Altimadark posted...

The obvious question (questions?):

Who Is Zero and who is conspiring with them?

Gog I cannot WAIT for the reveal

Zero is Akane is the dead old woman. Unless there's a total bait-and-switch and the game just wants me to think that, I think that's set in stone. As for the other Zero, I can only assume it's Aoi. I don't think we've been given any clues to implicate anyone else.

inside the game, Luna and K and probably unknowingly Tenmyouji are conspiring with them. Quark too, maybe?

(decided against looking at that spoiler, just in case)

...game starting imminently!

EDIT: now that I think about it, it's worrying that I feel I understand so much. would I have felt confident stating who Zero was prior to the true ending of 999? maybe there is something big coming. the chronology of the game being completely unknown at this point is a massive massive hole.
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Didn't Luna say that the old woman was not Zero? Do you believe Luna made a misleading statement?
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Luna said that the old woman was giving her orders, and that the old woman and a man planned this all together. that doesn't sound entirely different from 999 to me, where I think you could reasonably consider Akane and Aoi to be both (or collectively) Zero.

that said, you're right that she did indeed say that. strange indeed.
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...So let's open the lid.

We jump, for possibly the final time, into the Phi timeline, where Sigma, having been betrayed by Phi in the second AB round, convinces her to stay and investigate Zero and his motives. after some interesting talk about multiverses, Schrodinger's cat, and her parents (who would be easier to speculate over if we had any idea when this game was taking place), Clover reports that all the bombs have been located, and we rush back to the Infirmary to confront Dio. or it seems like we do, but for a small, intriguing piece of dialogue that I missed first time through:

Sigma: "She's right, you know. We need to get going."
Phi: "Hold on. I need to check something really quick."
Sigma: "Uh... what?"
...
...

we arrive back at the Infirmary without further comment, where Dio admits to placing the bombs, and Tenmyouji inadvertently activates them. after anaesthetizing Dio, Phi takes charge, and runs off with Sigma on a bomb deactivation mission.

we deactivate bomb #3 in the Crew Quarters.
we deactivate bomb #2 in the Control Room.
we deactivate bomb #1 in the Garden.

Sigma celebrates, thrilled with his own mind, fantasizing of his great life to come, with Phi in a swimsuit and everything. he almost wishes there was another bomb, just so he could show off.

be careful what you wish for, Sigma.
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I imagine you have a great many questions.

near simultaneously, Sigma and Phi recall Dio boasting about the #0 bomb. we have the code, but we've never found this bomb at all. four minutes remain. Sigma has relied upon his memory so far, but this time Phi pleads with Sigma to think, and he does.

where would Dio hide a bomb? I can think of a few great places (if he hid it in his favourite AB room, or beyond the 9 door before he came in, we'd all be totally fucked), but luckily he chooses a fairly mediocre one. we find the bomb between two AB rooms, where he previously hid the knife, and Sigma deactivates it successfully.

Sigma and Phi crumple into a heap, energy completely spent. but before they can even think of what to do next, the Nonary Game does it for them: the tertiary Chromatic Doors have opened, and we need to get there stat. when we arrive, we quickly split into our teams, and arguably the pivotal trio of all, Tenmyouji, Sigma and Phi, run into the middle of the three doors.

we turn left down a hallway, and find a door marked simply Q. beyond the door lies an expanse of white void, with seemingly no walls or ceiling. the only things within eyesight are the door we came in, and the locked door we must leave.

what on earth do we do now?

just as we contemplate that very thought, the room around us solidifies into a grid pattern, and a similarly-patterned cube rises from the floor to float in front of our eyes. it soon becomes clear that, just as 999 culminated in a comically simple sudoku puzzle, VLR is going to climax with a game of minesweeper. I methodically open up the room in this way, and after a few puzzles and one particularly torturous dice one, we reach the final puzzle: a Nonary Game inside the Nonary Game. I like it.

ignoring the ominous holograph projector sitting silently in the corner, we open the safe to find two bottles of Axelavir - enough for both Quark and Alice. wow, maybe no one at all will die in this ending!

as we're about to leave, the projector clicks into gear, and a previously blank monitor turns on, revealing the 9th Lion passcode entry screen. I enter Akane's username and password, and the projector shows Akane's figure, and she proceeds to explain herself in great detail.
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Phi in a swimsuit FTW
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Come and find me. I'll be waiting.

the purpose of the Nonary Game - the entire AB Project - was to transport the minds of Sigma and Phi into the past. we alone will decide whether Schrodinger's cat, locked in its box, is alive or dead. Akane promises that she will see us all again soon, Tenmyouji included, an odd statement for a person who seemed to plan her own murder. the hologram fades, and Tenmyouji crumples to the floor, balling his fists through his emotional maelstrom.

without further comment, we leave this strange quantum land and return to the Infirmary to cure Alice and Quark. we handcuff Dio's unconscious body to the sink, and proceed to the AB rooms. the atmosphere of trust is palpable, and Luna points out that only three more rounds will allow us all to escape! we activate the doors, and return to the infirmary.

Phi stops Sigma, and asks him about the conundrum of Akane - in this timeline, we haven't found her body yet. she herself may be Schrodinger's cat, dead and alive, unobserved, awaiting our decision.

where could she be? in which space; in which time; in which dimension?

...TO BE CONTINUED.
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so, uh... would it be crazy to leave it there for the night?

it's 1:30am already and I feel there is at least another hour of this (including writing time) to go.
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You definitely have like 2 hours left or so.

So yeah go ahead

final thought of the evening:

this game probably takes place well in the future. three people from the "present" time of 999 were frozen. two of these, logically, must be Alice and Clover. by process of elimination (Tenmyoldy and Quark are out, Luna is a robot, K is an amnesiac/conspirator and Dio is a future clone terrorist), the other one must be Sigma or Phi, and I think Sigma remembers 2028. being in cold sleep for 50 years would also explain when he got cybernetic arms, though why is an entirely different matter.

all of this suggests that Phi is a "future" person. if she isn't a robot, could she be related to Sigma / Jumpei / some other 999-era character we know? her history has been intentionally elliptical so far, I hope it will be a big part of the final chapter of the story.
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Definitely don't read the gold files from that last puzzle just yet
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Yeah, I'd recommend taking a break as well.
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Phi does have a heavy resemblance to a 999 character.
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If Akane is still alive, where do you think she is?
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I will say that if nothing else, VLR's reveal was far-and-away more satisfying than ZTD's.
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OrangeCrush980 posted...

If Akane is still alive, where do you think she is?

this is a hell of a question. in the timelines where we find Akane, she has participated in the game personally, and been murdered and had her bracelet stolen by Dio upon escaping the AB Room. if she's still alive, I don't really know how to explain Dio having her bracelet, never mind what actions she must have taken instead. from Luna's perspective it looked like she intended to die, so I frankly have no idea what's going on in this timeline.

I vaguely recall that some timelines have one of the treatment pods locked and inaccessible, so I guess she could be in there? that's the only place within the main facility that anyone has been "hidden" thus far. there are certainly other places she could be, but nothing that's borne out by any evidence whatsoever.

gonna start this up soon. hype!
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I've died. So has Phi. So have you.

After, ironically, choosing to do a quick rerun of the initial AB Room escape to complete my gold folder collection, I jump back to a different AB Room - one in another time completely.

Sigma's memory flares back into action, and Phi informs him that we are back in the AB Room from the beginning, but awakened one hour earlier than before. this time, we can save Akane! I re-solve the room immediately using the safe code in Sigma's memory, and we escape to find Dio in the moments before he kills the defenseless Akane.

Phi launches herself through the air, and dropkicks him cold before he can do a thing. Akane proceeds to thank them in the most enigmatic way possible, and explains that she had to place herself in danger because danger activates an esper's mind, and she didn't want anyone else to die. she also confirms that we're involved in the Nonary Game and infected with Radical-6 all to essentially train Sigma and Phi as espers - but, of course, she can't tell us why yet, because that would screw up the timelines.

Akane takes off her bracelet, gives it to Dio, and instructs Sigma and Phi to return to the AB rooms. finally, she gives Sigma a key inscribed with the same Latin phrase as the grave from the Garden. everything is now in place.

...TO BE CONTINUED
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Then again, this isn't a lunar eclipse. It's a solar eclipse.

we awaken in the future in the Infirmary, having reportedly passed out in front of the AB rooms. we recieve several shocks - not only have Alice and Quark awoken in our absence, but everyone has played three AB rounds, allying every time, and we all have at least 9 BP. whoa.

with this stunning development, we head for the 9 door as a team, leaving the unconscious, chained and untrustworthy Dio behind to collect later. Sigma opens the door, and everyone runs through. the door closes behind them, and the lift ascends. we reach the PEC, and Sigma explains its purpose. Alice and Clover are shocked at the apparent success of the Myrmidon plan, but we can do nothing else but don the suits and venture outside.

we find ourselves in the desert under the light of a total lunar eclipse. Alice and Clover begin to theorize about what this means for the time, but Tenmyouji decides to speak up: what we see above us is not a lunar eclipse. it's a solar eclipse. we're on the moon. this explains Phi's superhuman feats of strength, but not a lot else so far.

it's also 2074.
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The man on the moon rules the infinite time.

Tenmyouji paints the scene. after the accident in his Mars mission in 2029, Radical-6 escaped and took over the globe. a near-apocalyptic hellscape results, and the few survivors (or, indeed, a few particularly deranged infected individuals) decide on a literal scorched earth strategy. nuclear reactors were activated, resulting in such devastation that the sun was blotted out for seven whole years. even now, the Earth appears red because it's the only colour which can escape the clouds of debris surrounding the planet.

Phi theorizes to Sigma what I had suspected - that we were trained in order to avert this catastrophe from occurring. she also says that we need to find Akane, and she knows where to find her. Tu fui, ego eris. Sigma and Phi run back into the facility, and are gradually joined by everyone. K reveals that he knows Akane, Tenmyouji and Quark are naturally interested, and Clover and Alice, shellshocked by the mention of their old associate, join in pursuit too.

re-entering through the unlabelled door on Floor B, we return to the facility. we reach the Garden in all its tranquility, and unlock Akane's treatment pod from its subterranean locale. while we wait for her to thaw, K tells his story.

Sigma and Phi are here to save humanity. Clover and Tenmyouji are here because espers amplify each others powers. Alice was needed for her mathematical genius. K and Luna are heavily aligned with Akane and Zero Sr. Quark is here because of root beer or something. (he's probably going to save us all somehow, I know.)

after this exposition, the pod is ready to open. we open it, and Sigma once again stares into his own eyes, his own face, his own soul.
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Zero, the mastermind of the AB Project, is you.

Sigma stares at the man with his face, and remembers seeing him inside K's suit of armor. which begs the question: unless there are several identical clones running around, who the hell is K now?

Akane steps out from K's suit. she explains that, after being saved by Sigma and Phi and setting up the future we now live in, she stepped into K's armour. if she is not saved, the man in front of our eyes is the K we know.

so who is the man in front of us? Akane asks if anyone recognises him, and receives blank looks and no recognition from anyone. Sigma begins to go mad, and frantically looks around at his companions, searching for a punchline that will never come. Akane reminds him that he has jumped around time for forty-five years. he runs to look at his reflection in the pond, and looking back at him is an old man with a cybernetic eye.

looking back at him is the face of Zero.
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And suddenly all of the women being skeeved out by Sigma's flirting (besides Luna) takes a different meaning
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Tu fui, ego eris.

Akane explains that Sigma became a pioneer of genetic engineering, and created K as his clone to take his place in the event of something untoward. she further explains that the elaborated goal of the AB Project is to bring Sigma's past consciousness into his future body, and propel his future consciousness into his past. this makes about as little sense to Sigma as it does to me, so she explains further by way of an exceptionally complicated diagram that only serves to muddy my brain further.

in essence, Sigma's future mind must return to the past in the four month period between his abduction and the outbreak of Radical-6, and to do so he must be placed in a crisis. just as Sigma is about to inquire what that might involve, Akane grabs Dio's knife and plunges it toward Phi's chest.

Sigma screams and launches himself towards Phi in protection, but he blacks out. he awakens with Akane's body pinning him down, and doesn't recognise his surroundings. he looks to his left to see a gravestone bearing a Latin inscription.

how fitting.

PHI END
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