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Chapter 62: Keitaro Miura 5

Music: LONER (Azusa Chiba)

Consider Beejay

(That scout unit is an alien from the future. At least, that’s what Natsuno-san says… The footage he showed us is allegedly from the future. If it’s real, then how am I still alive 200 years from now? …… All I know for certain is that it’s no ordinary scout unit.)

Nothing’s changed today, either…

Then I can find a way to return to 1945… Though I can’t seem to reactivate it. I’ve tried countless times, too. I hope I didn’t break it. If there’s a mechanical issue, I’d love to take a look at it. But security around the building’s been tight lately. Now I can’t get too close.

Consider Natsuno Minami

(She’s from 1985. She seems to know about the existence of other Sentinels. Is that how she’s able to travel through time? Maybe there’s another way… In any case, she appears to be a central figure in all this. Could she still be at school?)

Music: Taking It Easy (Kazuki Higashihara)

Fluffy takes the opportunity to jump off the gate and leave the area. Or wait, not Fluffy. That must be the other cat, Shintaro.

You know where the track room is?

Yes.

Oh, right… Have you seen Juro around anywhere?

No.

I see… Maybe he went home already.

What should I make?

Use Hemborger on Megumi Yakushiji

Again?

Man, you 1945-types really love your one food item.

No, no, that’s all right… I’m fine with anything.

Well, let’s see… We’ve had nothing but meat these last few days. I think I want to make some fish for Juro. Okay, I’d better run to the store. I’ll see you later.

Must’ve been really important. She even ditched practice.

But she does that a lot, to my understanding?

Is that so…

How far have you two gone?

(blushing) What? No… You’ve got it all wrong…

All she said was that she was in a hurry. But I don’t know where she went.

I know where.

What’s she doing there?

Not sure. I didn’t ask.

Consider Tokisaka Shrine

(That’s where I first met her. But it was back in my own era.)

The surrounding thicket, on the other hand… That has changed considerably.

I wonder if she’s hiding behind the trees again. What I’d give to see that.

Music: Who D-Unit (Yoshimi Kudo)

I wonder where it could be…

Natsuno is startled!

And why are you here of all places?

Natsuno-san… What was that just now?

Use Time Travel on Natsuno Minami

Just like when I came to this era in my Sentinel. Same flash of light and everything.

I, uh…

Come to think of it… This happened at the shrine back when we first met, too. There was a similar flash, almost like lightning. …I get it now. You have to come here to travel through time.

Please, tell me what’s going on. I just want to go home…

Oh yeah, that’s how you got here. What’re you going to do with it?

……

You definitely want to go home?

Use Chihiro on Natsuno Minami

It’s Chihiro… my little sister. If there’s any chance she made it out of that hell alive… then I have to find out.

…… Okay, that makes sense. BJ, think you can make it happen?

Fine.

So it was with Natsuno Minami all this time.

Uh-oh, looks like Ryoko’s hot on Natsuno’s trail! I didn’t point this out, but you can actually see Ryoko playing peekaboo behind a pillar listening in on Miura’s conversation with the track team in the previous scene!

…Are we back?

Hehehe… Pretty cool, huh?

…can’t I just send the Sentinel back to before the war starts?

One thing I’ll say about this game that I’m not super into is that it never really grapples with Japan’s imperial history. Not to say it has to do that, but there’s a little too much nationalistic “we gotta change the future and win the war, rah rah rah!” for me, even if it makes contextual sense for Miura and Hijiyama to espouse it. It just feels a little… whitewash-y, you know? It should probably get a little more pushback than “none,” is all I’m saying. Some of the Mystery Files kind of show what I’m looking for, talking about the education system at the time being extremely militaristic and not-great, but that’s very marginal and indirect. But then again, I live in America, so where the fuck do I get off chiding them, right?

Anyway, uh… Miura was talking about sending the Sentinel back to before the war, I believe?

Nope, that’s impossible. We can’t just jump around as far as we want. We can only travel 40 years at a time. Besides… This is as far back in the past as we can go.

I see… That’s unfortunate.

If not, then I might find her at the Kurabes’ house…

The destroyed Kurabe house? You remember what it looked like when you left, right?

Music: The Chills (Yoshimi Kudo)

The place is deserted. The factory and station are both empty. Radios are down. No one’s answering. Where is everyone?

It’s that creature…

Okay, so… That thing is an alien weapon, and it’s here to invade Earth. The Sentinels were created to fight them off. This is just like what happened in the city from the future. After the aliens invaded… everyone was gone.