Part 24: Natsuno Minami 4

Chapter 24: Natsuno Minami 4

Well, uh… you actually went and did it. You picked Natsuno again. I was just trying to fill space, but I guess you guys were more pliable than I anticipated. I promise to use my godlike control of your puny minds with the utmost care and responsibility.

Music: The Chills (Yoshimi Kudo)







Up on top of the Sentinel, BJ emerges.



Ouch, my back… It felt like I was inside a washing machine. That freakin’ inspection hatch… Definitely don’t recommend. I hit my butt so many times…






Oh, right. The thing I used to get up here in the first place.



Just the thought of slipping and falling all the way down…





It is 1985.




Alien technology sure doesn’t disappoint.






You mean he’s somewhere out in the city right now? That’s not good. What if those men in black get ahold of him? They probably wanna take him to Area 51…
Our situation is more critical than his.





A bunch of police cars are starting to gather down there. I guess we did kinda destroy the building… Oh man, we’re gonna get arrested, aren’t we?



Yeah. Okay.



Natsuno.
Right, first things first. Let’s get you in the bag.

Consider Sentinel No. 17

(Sentinel No. 17. Created to fight against the Tripods. It’s also the robot that BJ used to pilot. It’s even capable of time travel!)

Only the last sentence there is new.

Use P. E. Bag on BJ




Music: Good Times (Azusa Chiba)




BJ’s quite the little mischief-maker. At least he didn’t trash the room this time.



I’m sorry I have to lock you up, BJ. But those men in black are still wandering around.

Consider Keitaro Miura

(I’ve searched for quite a while. But I couldn’t find Miura-kun anywhere. I bet he got captured by the men in black… And it’s all because of me.)



Okay. We need to get out of here before someone sees us.




*looks around* My notebook’s not in here.



Consider Research Notebook

(My research notebook on aliens. Where did I put it again? I was writing in it during class today… Oh, yeah! I took it to the audio-visual room. Crap, I totally left it there, didn’t I?)

Consider Research Notebook

(It has all sorts of records on alien BJ too. It’d be a disaster if someone saw it.)




Use P. E. Bag on BJ





Music: Bad Omen (Mitsuhiro Kaneda)






Just like last time, we wait for him to leave, then run past.



It’d be bad if someone saw my notes… I gotta get my notebook back. No matter what.




All right, Minami. Listen up! All top-secret documents need to be kept extra-secure from now on. We can’t afford leaks! Put them somewhere safe and keep a sharp eye on them!




I know, I know. To the gate, right?
No.

Music: Cognitive Dissonance (Rikako Watanabe)



It’s coming this way.
What is it?
Unable to identify.



Leave this area. Now.



D’okay.





I can’t use those stairs. Better take a detour. I can go from the opposite side.




Wait… Oh fuck, it’s happening, I’m not ready



No…

Music: Metal Demon (Mitsuhiro Kaneda)





Natsuno…

Run.






What? So she’s an impostor?
No. It’s an android created in her likeness.
…Oh, I get it. Those evil aliens are after you. So they made a robot to track you down.
Where are we now?
I ran into the bathroom…
This is a dead end. There’s nowhere to run.
Not helping…
…It’s too late.






What do we do?








Please don’t make me use force. Just do as I say, and come out quietly.



_{…Someone else is here.}
What a surprise.



…Aiba? No, wait… Tamao!?



…but its signal led me here.
……



…I can’t just walk away.



Whatever you have planned… I won’t let you go through with it.
You know Ida was full of crap, don’t you? And you *still* have something against me?
Many people fell victim to you. That much is still true. That’s why I have to destroy you here and now.
You’re awfully dramatic for a machine.

Music: 466f756e64205521 (Mitsuhiro Kaneda) (Yes, that’s the real name of this track. Converted from hexadecimal to ASCII, it reads: “Found U!” Heh.)

…And I’m awfully strong, too.



Well… This body really is falling apart. I can barely hold my gun straight.

Sounds of violence continue from outside of the stall.

Didn’t think I’d ever see you resort to violence. I never would have expected it, knowing who you were.



I guess… even your heart… is just a machine now…



You’re a monster yourself… No different from me…

The sounds grow more and more intense. Natsuno continues to tremble within the stall.

(weakly) …Whatever. Makes it all easier…

There’s a soft metallic sound, followed by a short, low-pitched whirring, and then finally silence.

Ah!
…… What the heck just happened? It seems quiet now…






Oh, jesus!




……







It really is a robot. It looks just like Usami…



And… this… Did you do all this?



BJ jumps out of the P. E. bag.



Hey, don’t jump out like that.

Music: Double Bind (Mitsuhiro Kaneda)



Created in Tamao Kurabe’s image.
She’s a robot, too?
I’m the one who called her here. However, as of a few moments ago…





……




I’m sorry, what?

I see… You switched bodies.

Huh!?







Say something!




Why did you come for him?




Now that we’ve gotten a good look at it… is that the Magical Gun?

What…?
Those monsters, the ones that destroyed the city… They have a new commander.



So, starting now… I’ll be the one giving you orders.







What the… What am I doing here? And what the heck happened?
I’m not sure.
That’s right…



And then… I feel like I saw Usami… Uhh… Man, I can’t really remember what happened here.
……



Yeah, you’re right. Come on. We can’t let anyone see you.

Use P. E. Bag on BJ





My cheek kinda stings…





So… that was a lot. Back to the board!



We’ve actually got the answers to “Two Tomi Kisaragis?”, “How did Miura get to 1985?”, and “Destroyed Bathroom” now, so let’s remove those from the board.




We’re also going to add a few new questions. I’m curious about the “Magical Gun.” Maybe it’s not magical at all! But it’s definitely got some connection to both Fluffy and this 426 character who was inhabiting the Tomi android and is now in the Tamao android. We’ve added “426?” and “Androids?” to the board as well. There’s some new stuff here that I’m not even sure how to frame as a question. What is the connection between BJ and Miura 426 was hinting about? And Natsuno is the commander of the kaiju? What?

We've also added "Okino's Code?" because we didn't quite get to the bottom of that one last time.



Finally, we add a “426” character to the main section, because I sense they’ll become very important very quickly.



So, we’re free again. We’ve also unlocked Ei’s next scene now that we’ve seen “Exterminator.” What next?

Juro Kurabe
Iori Fuyusaka
Megumi Yakushiji
Natsuno Minami
Yuki Takamiya
Shu Amiguchi
Keitaro Miura
Tomi Kisaragi
Ei Sekigahara
Destruction

There's also:

Takatoshi Hijiyama (Locked behind Ogata)

The poll is here. Also, if you want to watch a video of that last scene because it was really excellent, here you go.