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Chapter 70: Ryoko Shinonome 5
Music: Just Because (Composer: Azusa Chiba, Arranger: Rikako Watanabe)
Consider Ampoule
(Morimura… She’s been modifiying personalities with nanomachines. She wants to change both me and Iori Fuyusaka… into different people. I can’t believe what Morimura says.)
1985. I know what you’re going to say. I’m fine, all right?
I see…
I just forgot to take my pills, that’s all.
……
……
You should get some rest.
You don’t need to worry about me.
Stop following me.
That’s not happening.
Music: The Plot Thickens (Rikako Watanabe)
Let’s skip through this next segment a bit, because it’s nothing we haven’t seen eight times before.
Use Run Away on Tomi Kisaragi
Shh!
Go on, ditch him!
My head… feels like it’s splitting…
Ryoko’s head is pounding.
Consider Pills
(That was the last of them… I need to get more pills. Before it gets worse… The nurse’s office should have some.)
We’re not going back there after last time, though.
I can try to help, if you’d like.
No thanks.
…… I suppose it’s to be expected, looking like this…
*looks behind her worriedly*
Why are you still chasing after Sekigahara?
Oh, right, you might not know, but—
Music: Cognitive Dissonance (Rikako Watanabe)
But you have to capture him to fix the Sentinels.
*gasp*
And he’s 426. That right?
You knew?
Yeah, ‘cause you flippin’ told me!
…I don’t remember that.
Is Morimura doing something to you?
A ruined city…
Irritating lock.
Ryoko-san…
Music: Bleak Pressure (Kikuchi Yukinori)
Just like I thought. I knew you’d show up here.
I’m 426? Who did you hear that from?
I saw the access logs. It was you, Ei Sekigahara. The program that infected the Sentinels. It was created with 426’s ID.
*chuckle* Looks like someone left some foolish evidence behind.
I won’t let you mess things up again.
Ryoko-san, you need to stay out of this.
And to the wrong place, too. Now there’s others involved…
Ryoko’s head is pounding.
Not good. My location’s going to be tracked.
Ryoko’s head is pounding.
Ryoko’s head is pounding.
This just wasn’t your day.
Ryoko’s head is pounding.
Music: Lonely Struggle (Rikako Watanabe)
Ryoko’s head is pounding. Anyway, the following scene has a number of small differences between the original version from Ryoko 1! Can you spot them all, kids?
I’ve got you cornered now, 426. It’s time to pay for what you’ve done.
You… You’re still going on about Ida?
Ryoko’s head is pounding.
*chuckle* Then do it. Shoot me.
You know, when I was adding the sound effects here I remembered one of the eternal lessons of graphic design: in certain fonts, a capital L followed by a capital I looks like a capital U. And then I looked back at what I had written. But… eh, it’s fine. I made it bigger, you can tell it’s not that word now. Though now that I’ve pointed it out, it’s probably all you’re going to see. Sorry.
Also, Ryoko’s head is pounding.
Argh…
Ryoko drops the phaser. And her head is pounding, btw.
Really? With those injuries?
What are you doing?
Empty. Like I thought.
Ryoko’s head is really pounding now, I tell you what. The audio distortion’s pretty heavy now.
Your condition’s gotten worse. How long has it been since you’ve taken them? Guess I don’t have much choice…
Go on. Take them.
Ryoko’s head is seriously pounding.
You’re not gonna trick me, 426…
I don’t know what you’ve been told. But I’m not the one who infected the Sentinels. I’m *not* 426, Ryoko-san.
Ryoko’s head is seriously pounding.
…We never lived too far apart. Ever since we were kids…
Ryoko’s head is seriously pounding.
Ryoko’s head is seriously pounding.
Understand? I need to get out of here.
I really like how as Ei runs out of frame here, he blurs into nothingness before even making it offscreen.
Ryoko’s head is seriously pounding.
I don’t… understand…
Ryoko’s head is seriously pounding.
Ryoko’s head is pounding.
Ryoko’s head is pounding.
Huh… so if Ei didn’t infect the Sentinels… who did? Who is the real 426? Might it be the person we’ve already met called 426?
We’ve finally resolved the mystery of Tomi, Nenji, and Miwako’s foray into 2025: Ei was futzing with the gate, but the settings weren’t calibrated properly and they all got shifted. Remove it from the board!
We probably should have done this a long time ago, but we’re also going to add a mystery for the Sentinel Infection Incident.
And while we’re at it, did Ei really kill Morimura? That last Ei segment cast some doubts there, but it’s still too early to say for sure…