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Well, let’s see what Gouto has in store for us.
Chapter 100: Renya Gouto 2
…It would appear… I can no longer rely on Shikishima.
Consider Shikishima Industries
(Ms. Morimura's death has left the Shikishima execs in disarray. Now they won't let me spearhead the Sentinel Project. As if I'm just a child. I doubt my opinion will weigh much in their discussions going forward.)
Consider Police Records
(Ms. Morimura… Why did you have to die…?)
Well, now that we’re done sulking, time to hail a cab.
It was yours, Ms. Morimura. There’s no doubt about it.
Is that so…
You don’t seem too shocked about your death.
Well, it didn’t exactly stop me. Here I am, safe and sound.
Gotta say, that was a wild couple of sentences there.
What did the police say?
Use Police Records on Chihiro
No bullet was found in the body. …Though it’s easy to imagine why. The murder weapon was likely from beyond this time. Beyond material bullets. Estimated time of death is approximately 1900 hours. You were witnessed running off somewhere with a short-haired student. According to a pedestrian’s eyewitness account, anyway.
They found a witness? This era’s police really did their due diligence.
Consider Witness Statement
(An acquaintance of Ms. Morimura… Described as a short-haired male in a student uniform… Most likely Ei Sekigahara.)
So… anything helpful in its footage?
The timing couldn’t have been worse. It looks like it was monitoring the government’s movement at the time. So she wasn’t even under surveillance…
I see…
…Any thoughts as to our primary suspect?
Well…
Use Ei Sekigahara on Chihiro
It did seem like something was wrong with Ei Sekigahara’s memories. …I wouldn’t be surprised if he was our murderer.
Though it raises the question of why he’d bother to lure her out. Surely a murderer’s optimal scenario is to avoid being spotted at all.
Well, maybe it wasn’t premeditated. He could’ve killed her by accident.
While he certainly is the type to brood over things… I can say he’s not enough of an idiot to shoot someone on impulse.
That man with that… callsign? Some numerical name?
…Logically speaking… He would naturally be another potential suspect.
Consider 426
(He would naturally be ,another potential suspect. He did attempt to eradicate all the compatibles. He's a dangerous individual. And he's still at large. All that's left of 426 is his consciousness. I don't think I could reliably predict his behavior. He's desperate enough to do anything.)
Use 426 on Chihiro
If Ida-san were here… I’m sure he’d declare 426 our primary suspect.
We know he killed at least four people. That’s why I shot him dead, in the end.
That would give him a chance at revenge. As a motive, it sounds pretty clear-cut.
Barring Ei Sekigahara. Who else could it be?
Consider The Four Victims
(Aside from Ms. Morimura
and Ida-san… Four others came here for refuge 16 years ago. By the time I'd started assisting Ms. Morimura's efforts… They'd already lost their physical bodies. Fortunately, we were able to use the data stored in Sector 0. This allowed us to meld their replicated consciousness with AI. …As for how they lost their bodies in the first place… Reportedly 426's doing. He destroyed them all in one fell swoop. According to Ida-san's account, anyway. But if No. 16 is to be believed… That's not what really happened. And Ms. Morimura should be aware of that…)
Consider No. 16’s Statement
(I spoke with the pilot of Sentinel No. 16. Back then, she gave Ms. Morimura something nobody else would… The truth.)
Music: STAGNATION (Yoshimi Kudo)
So we decided to stick to the plan… We all headed to the gate to escape. But… there was an explosion while we were shifting.
*gasp*
The Type-98 we were shifting in got attacked. But that's the last thing I remember. After that, nothing.
It wasn’t some plot by 426 after all? Just an explosion…? We never did manage to completely reconstruct your data… I thought it was just that you didn’t get converted in time, but… You were… You were all dead before the shift even happened…
I know you did. You said he sabotaged them, killed them…
That’s not the same thing, dude!
He already tried to kill us all in the past. You know he’d have tried again if we left him alive. Killing him was the right call.
Use The Four Victims on Chihiro
About 426 killing at least four individuals. Do you… really not remember?
Remember what?
You’ve read my files, I presume? I gathered quite a lot of material in the past. Most of it is rather outdated. Including Ida-san’s statement concerning those victims. In other words, your answer is objectively incorrect.
Really… Well, can you blame me? Look at this body I’m stuck with. I’m bound to have some memories confused.
That excuse again?
…No. That’s not what I meant…
Use 426 on Chihiro
What is it?
Regarding 426… Would you say you had any particular feelings toward him?
Feelings? Well, he was certainly a good friend. I felt like he really understood me. Well… used to, anyway. Where’s this coming from?
…That… doesn’t make sense. According to No. 18… or should I say, Tamao-san…
Consider Tamao’s Statement
(I had a hunch about Ms. Morimura’s feelings… And my discussion with Tamao-san only confirmed my suspicions.)
Music: Cognitive Dissonance (Rikako Watanabe)
I need to talk to you…
Did something happen?
…It’s about Morimura-san. She’s been transplanting 426’s memories onto Juro-kun… I only just found out.
426? As in the escaped android?
No, not that one. She’s using the memory data of the man himself. It was saved during the shift.
…In other words… She’s trying to use Juro to create another 426?
I did my best to talk her down. She’s letting me handle Juro-kun’s treatment now. Still… I don’t think she’s given up on this.
…Well… I’ve been giving her some advice about it. And I understand where she’s coming from, but… ……
Maybe she always has been. That’s why she wants him back as a human.
True, but… that’s not exactly what she’s remembering. Besides… She’s the one who killed him. That guilt is still eating at her.
……
And try to keep her away from Juro-kun if you can…
I'll… keep that in mind.
…Thank you. I can barely take the idea of one 426, let alone two…
……
Is… Is that what you took away from that conversation?
Use Tamao’s Statement on Chihiro
You aimed to use him to revive 426. Make one a vessel for the other.
……
One reason seems most likely. You harbored romantic feelings for him.
Me? *chuckle* With him? You’re joking. That Chihiro Morimura was mind-hacked, remember? You said so yourself.
Haha… No. God no. Not my cup of tea.
Use Memory Manipulation on Chihiro
That idea was based on a certain piece of evidence I found. One particular log.
If you really are Ms. Morimura, then you should already know. Two years before you were born… Ida-san extracted some information from 426. That in turn led to the discovery of the datalog in question.
You’re about to find out.
Use Future Log on Chihiro
It contains footage from the year 2188. It was found buried in the mainframe data during the analysis of 426.
……
You seemed very disturbed by me seeing that file. So much so, in fact… That you ended up deleting all of your logs. Would you mind telling me why you did that?
I don’t know… I don’t remember.
Well, at the very least, its contents suggested a connection to 426. Or even that he had been manipulating Ms. Morimura. The log contained a very interesting report… Apparently, Juro Izumi downloaded memories onto Chihiro Morimura's clone.
So what does that mean? What are you trying to say? Your Morimura and I are both 426?
Consider Report Log
Music: Double Bind (Mitsuhiro Kaneda)
Still, might as well. Not like I have anywhere else to share this.
“Gotta leave some audiologs for the player character to stumble across, because my life is a AAA survival horror game.”
…I was in the middle of a routine bug regression test… And I noticed part of the final phase had been altered. The change was made in Chihiro Morimura’s host. The setting change looks like it’ll trigger a memory overwrite. I don’t know anything about the memories’ contents, but… It says the modifying user was Juro Izumi. Because someone thought it'd be a great idea to give that guy senior admin ID. And at this point... well, what the hell can we do about it? At least now I have proof. You're all hypocrites anyway. Yes, including you, jackass.
I absolutely love the line “You’re all hypocrites anyway. Yes, including you, jackass.” I legitimately have no idea who he’s referring to here (it might just be a generic “whoever finds this is also a jackass”) and I hope there’s no canon answer, it rules. Ida: still a prick in 2188.
So who even cares anymore? None of this matters. We’re all dead anyway. ……
The log ends.
So you deleted it. That’s my theory, anyway.
Use Compatibility on Chihiro
It was the compatibility experiment. The one that produced you. Based off Ms. Morimura’s footage and your own admissions… I’ve completely misjudged the situation. All this time, I believed you were her. But even from the very beginning… you’ve been your own person.
…So what are you saying? I’m not Chihiro Morimura?
…Then who, exactly, do you think I am?
Use Chihiro Morimura on Chihiro
Yeah! …Wait, what?
Uh-oh, Gouto’s broken.
Well, there you have it.
Music: Heated Debate (Mitsuhiro Kaneda)
…Oh. Shit. That one.
Time for the board!
We get rid of “Where is Natsuno Minami?” because we know that. Also I get rid of “What’s the deal with Shikishima?”, despite that having been there for some time now, because in hindsight I don’t think there’s much there to learn, especially that we haven’t already.
We do add a mystery relating to the mysterious process eating up 80 percent of the nanomachines’ output that Okino mentioned, though.
We also add a note to the 2188 section noting that that Professor Chihiro Morimura from 2188 has been uploaded into the body of our Chihiro.
We also add a pink romantic link between Chihiro Morimura and 426. I don’t blame you if you didn’t immediately notice it. The board is a fucking mess, y’all.
Here’s the whole thing.