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Prologue
We start our game like any good game should, with the standard "we didn't base our characters off of you, even if you think so" disclaimer, with an added bonus "don't try this at home" disclaimer.
The title screen is a relatively standard affair - the "Extra" menu just has the standard stuff you'd expect from a VN, that being the sound test, CG viewer and similar stuff. So let's jump right in.
Now, to start off, we get to pick the route we wish to play. We have Route "After" (get it? Root? Route?), which follows a "Watase Kasasagi" during events that take place from the 16th September 2030 at 9:16 AM on, and which seems to be about nine people trapped in some sort of facility. Hey, I told you this game gives off some Zero Escape vibes.
We also have Route "Before", which follows a "Natsuhiko Tenkawa" during events that take place from the 10th September 2030 at 6:19 AM on. Apparently this Natsuhiko is part of the group of people that get trapped in this facility, and this route will have to do with flashbacks to the days before that event or something like that.
Well, I've played both routes, obviously, and I'm going to make the call that we're starting with Route After. I simply think that going from After to Before flows better than doing it the other way around, and the game probably intends for you to go that way, what with A coming before B and all. So on to Route After we go!
And we start our game with a bible quote! I guess you should maybe remember that quote and see where it becomes relevant. Though to be honest, we might be here quite some time (I needed about 30 hours to get through this game, and I read fairly quickly), so maybe just remember that you'll go back and check down the line at some point.
After that, we're immediately dropped into the action with a flash of white and the sound of explosions!
-- The roar echoed through the laboratory at daybreak -- As if it were a bell heralding the end.
♪ BGM: Psychological Warfare ♫
Researcher 2: I don't know! It came from Area 1--
Researcher 1: Find out what happened! Now!
Researcher 2: Wait, we can't! The gate can't be opened during the amplification--!
Another flash of white and more explosions.
Researcher 1: -------!?
--The roars didn't stop there.
Another flash of white and explosions.
The loud noises and violent shaking continued to echo through the facility.
Again. There's a lot blowing up here, is what the game is getting at.
Followed immediately by shockwaves and the sound of screaming--
More screen shaking and explosion sounds.
Automatic PA: Security has shifted to 'Evacuation Mode'. All gates, barring those leading to Area N, have been opened.
--There wasn't a soul in that place who yet understood... what had happened here. A clear voice echoed amongst all the confusion and cacophony.
Announcer: Th-this is an emergency broadcast! Explosions of unknown origin have just occurred within the facility!
That voice that announced the destruction-- was but a fragment of the truth.
Another flash of white and more explosions.
♪ BGM: Approaching Death ♫
The automatic PA screamed out warnings as if it had broken. It was an accident that should have been impossible.
Security Guard 1: The sprinkler system's not working!?
Security Guard 2: Why...? Damnit! Hurry up with the personnel evacuation!
Researcher 1: The emergency staircases have collapsed!?
Researcher 2: All the elevators are offline too! There's no way out!
Researcher 3: Impossible... How did this happen?
Researcher 2: A-anyway, we need to get out of here... Hurry!
But then a calm voice rose as if to quell the pandemonium.
Researcher 1: Professor!?
Have you forgotten that we have a system that immediately notifies the fire department in emergencies like this? Help should be here in just a few minutes.
Researcher 2: Only a few minutes!? How's that possible!?
These guys aren't your run-of-the-mill firefighters. They're the special elite rescue squad 'Sirius'--
We hear the sounds of a helicopter.
We then get a shot of the facility we're in right now. Or, well, those scientists are in right now. We have no idea where exactly "we" are right now.
--6:26 AM. The rescue squad arrived at the scene--
F. Rescue Worker 1: Captain! All member of Team A present and accounted for!
The "F" stands for "female", in case you were wondering. I'll be keeping track of how this rescue squad is set up, as this might be fairly relevant to what's going on here.
♪ BGM: Looming Crisis ♫
A row of rescue workers wearing protection suits stood before a man garbed in the same outfit.
So the rescue squad seems to number five.
Captain: Excellent. Listen up, people! Countless people are trapped in this lab as we speak! And due to the nature of this facility, this will be no ordinary dispatch.
Oh? Hang on there, Captain, we have something to check out, first.
We take a quick trip into the menu (brought up at any time simply by pressing "M"), and there we find the menu "Tips".
I've seen this system used a bit before - basically, "tips" allow the game to give you a bit more information about certain terms that the reader may or may not know without having to crowbar it into the narrative.
So in this case, if we didn't know what a dispatch was, the game would explain it to us. I'll be inserting these tips whenever they pop up, as there's quite a lot of them, and as you might be able to notice by the "nonfiction" classification, some tips will be on in-universe things that you would have no way of knowing beforehand, which are quite important to know. Anyway, back to the action!
A young woman who appeared to be fairly new to the team gulped behind her faceplate. The captain looked at her and continued.
Captain: Our mission is to save lives-- that's how it's always been, and today is no exception. But you are all humans before you are rescue workers. As long as you survive, that means one more life saved. Keep that in mind as you commence the rescue operation. With that said, good luck to you all!
Team: YEAH!
--With that shout, they rushed into the facility. All while having no idea of what awaited them there. And thus, the dispatch that would later come to be known as "Sirius' Longest Day had begun.
Captain: Make sure to keep in constant contact with Team B! Don't forget this!
So the rescue squad is splitting up in two. One team consists of "Tachibana" and "Moribe", and the other consists of "Dojima" and "Hiyama". The Captain is unaccounted for so far.
--They all had the same conviction. To accomplish the mission they'd been handed by whatever means necessary. However-- what they found lurking there far exceeded their imagination. Countless unexpected complications kept arising one after another.
F. Rescue Worker 2: Khh... l-let's go, Lieutenant!
So the two female rescue workers are on the same team, and they're apparently "Tachibana" and "Moribe".
Rescue Worker 2: Hurry! There's no time!
Captain: Roger that, just wait right there!
Then, the other two rescue workers, who then have to be "Dojima" and "Hiyama", call the Captain, who is "Kasasagi" (the one we're supposed to be playing as, probably?), down to the basement, so he apparently stayed up at the lobby level before, probably to keep track of both teams. Kasasagi heads down into the basement of the facility.
F. Rescue Worker 2: Huh!?
F. Rescue Worker 1: That's odd... did something happen to the Captain...!?
Team Tachibana/Moribe loses contact with Captain Kasanagi at this point. Whether this is due to him heading down to the basement or some sort of other interference is unknown.
Rescue Worker 2: Those two are trapped just up ahead, right?
Captain: Right... so let's go. Back then, we couldn't save anyone... the time to atone for that has finally come.
We hear the sound of a door opening and a fade to white.
--But even that determination can be crushed--
Rescue Worker 1: Were we tricked!?
Rescue Worker 2: Why... by whom!?
Captain: Don't grieve. Now's not the time for regrets. Our mission... isn't over yet.
Automatic PA: A 'Case N' has just been detected. In accordance with this emergency, security has shifted to Normal ode. Locking down all bulkheads leading to the surface.
This episode brought to you by the letter "N". Seems to be an important letter here. I suppose that has to do with this being a nuclear research facility.
Rescue Worker 1: Are you serious!? All by yourself!?
Captain: There's no other choice! I'll leave the rest to you guys! If I'm not back in 20 minutes, go on without me!
--He swallowed his regret and ran. All in order to stick to his convictions--
We hear knocking on a door, and a door opening.
Captain: Finally found you... You're a person of interest to this lab, right?
Captain: I'm a rescue worker. I'm here to save you guys.
--Thus, he found a lone girl, and then--
Captain: They should still be here...
The Captain runs towards the door.
Captain: I'm sure they're just up ahead...!
--He endured the pain and kept on walking--
A white flash.
Captain: Ghh!?
Fade to white.
--he came face to face with a "monster"--
♪ BGM: The Truth is Revealed ♫
The monster took hold of his wrist.
???: ...Ha.
The monster looked at him and laughed. The man spotted a broken wristwatch out of the corner of his eye. At that moment, just as an indescribable fear sent shivers down his spine--
Captain: !!
A red flash.
He was assaulted by an intense pain akin to his brain being crushed.
Captain: Agh, GAAAAAAH!!
The man screamed, faced with an agony unlike anything he had ever felt before. He struggled to understand the source of the pain amidst the confusion engulfing him.
Captain: Th-that was...!? My head, it can't be... not you too!
His well-toned body proved helpless in the face of that power.
Captain: (You... you damned monster!)
In spite of that, he struggled against it, attempting to complete his mission. Nevertheless--
Another red flash.
Captain: !!!
His will broke as the overwhelming pain surged through his head once more.
Captain: Aah... aah...
He staggered backwards, clutching his head. The monster's face warped sinisterly, its gaze piercing right through him.
Captain: AAAAAAAAAAAAH!
If he'd stood his ground, he'd be killed. Annihilated. And so he held his throbbing head as he ran for his life.
A very nice effect of the background basically shattering into pieces here, leaving only red.
Everything in front of him flashed as he felt an agony like that of his head exploding.
Captain: Ga... agh...!
And then, as if someone had flipped a switch, his consciousness faded into darkness.
------
----
--
--Eventually, far past that frozen time-- "Awake", a voice called to him. Or perhaps it was merely a memory of such a voice. He heard that voice as he lay beneath the whitewashed tomb... and then time began to move.
We hear the sound of a clock ticking as the screen fades to black.
...and that's it for the first chapter, "Prologue"! Confused? Well, that feeling isn't going away soon, I'm afraid. For the sake of convenience, I'll be hard cutting my updates the same way the game does its chapters.