Part 50: Mother of Sins

They're pursuing him now.
Chief Kasal, Mrs. Mercer is going to be transported out. Can you set up her treatment orders?
Certainly. Just as a precaution, I'll make sure she remains quarantined during transport. But... who would've thought Mercer was hatching such a scheme? Anyway, I'm glad it's over.
Don't speak too soon; he may still have something up his sleeve. Mercer must be stopped, under any circumstances. We're counting on you, Derek...



...You mean Dr. Stiles? He and his team just went down the passage we discovered.
You have to tell me where that passage is! I have something for him that may be the only way to stop Neo-GUILT!
This way, sir. But please be careful. We haven't confirmed what's on the other side... And according to Dr. Stiles, Mercer is mentally unstable.



Look, all those devices are filled with liquid... Are they culture tanks of some sort...?
Maybe they were being used for medicine production... ...But... They're all active...

Female voice: "...So then, what's going to happen?"

Mercer: "We just need to alter our plans slightly... That's all."

It's him...
He's talking with someone...
...Over there!



Oh, there you are. I was afraid the game's going to just forget about you.

......
Ms. Mayuzumi... What's become of you...?
I volunteered for this. The Neo-GUILT inside me maintains my youth... my beauty. I am the host of Aletheia, the embodiment of "Truth."

Mercer might not be cartoonishly evil, but Reina sure is!

You gave yourself to GUILT so you could stay young!? That's beyond ridiculous!
...She's lost touch with reality. She's completely obsessed with GUILT.
...I have a proposition for you, Dr. Stiles. I want immunity for everything I've done. In return, I'll furnish all of our GUILT data and results. Believe me... Aletheia is perfect. It has the power to change the world... Everyone's life would benefit from this.
...We have no right to make any deals with you, Ms. Mayuzumi. And even if we did--I know I speak for everyone here--there is no chance we'd accept. We all know the true nature of GUILT.
Give it up. You can't talk your way out of this...
I wouldn't resort to force, if I were you. I'm connected directly to the plant itself... If I'm removed against my will or killed... the facility would retaliate. You would all perish inside a mist of GUILT.
...! Then all of these culture tanks are filled with--
Yes. You might say... these GUILT are my children. Haha... If they are released, anyone with incompatible DNA would suffer most unbearably... Isn't that right, Mr. Mercer?
...The only thing that concerns me right now is whether or not Aletheia has the power to cure Tracy. *injects Reina*
What are you-- What did you just inject!?
Don't worry. If this works, you should rise to even greater power... If it doesn't--
Ah... Agh... Aaaaaahh!!
What in the world...!?
Look what it's doing to her!



My... My face!

Pictured: how anime sees 30-year-olds

No... Not this strain too... I'm sorry... I have failed you, my love... I... have nothing left...
Ugh... Help me... Please... It... It hurts! AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
Whatever he injected into her has activated the GUILT!
But if she dies, the GUILT inside the tanks will be released!
We can't let that happen! We've only got one choice...! Operate on her, and save her!

Operation Video


It's as if the GUILT inside her has gone out of control! How is the chiral reaction, Heather?
I-It's no use! There are too many readings coming from all over her body! I can't even pinpoint the affected areas, or even what kind of GUILT it is!
You're kidding me...! What can we possibly do, then!? ...... ...No, I shouldn't be thinking like that.
Doctor...?
There's no such thing as an untreatable wound, or an incurable disease... Isn't that right, Angie?
...Yes, Doctor!

Assuming you have the Healing Touch, that is.

We've come this far in the fight against GUILT; there must be a way to cure her, too! We just need to find it!



Tyler...!?
It's a Neo-GUILT antibiotic! R&D rushed this out! It's apparently effective against the mutated types too!
...Got it! Tyler, I need you to try and dispose of the GUILT inside these culture tanks! There's still chance it could be released! Try to minimize the damage if that happens!
Are you freakin' kidding me!? Alright, I'll do it. But, man, you owe me one...
Heather, can you help Tyler out?
Will do!
...! Doctor, the chiral reaction is centering... around her heart!
What...!? Wait, I think I understand... The GUILT went on a rampage when they were activated. But, now... They're gathering at her heart to fulfill their purpose... To fully control her entire body!

Here's your reminder that this game is anime as fuck.

Doctor!
Yes... Now's our only chance! We'll make our incision at her heart, and defeat any GUILT we find there! I'm going to cure her! It's time to put an end to this once and for all!
Let's do it, Doctor!





This is the final GUILT... Let's begin the extraction procedure of Aletheia. This will end everything, Doctor. Let's do our best!



After we went inside Reina, we're greeted with an awful thing: an emulator glitch a dumb joke a blackened heart!

...What has it done to her heart!? Chiral reactions are coming from the entire organ... It's as if the heart itself is the GUILT!

*The usual convulsions*

Doctor! Even more chiral reactions are moving throughout the body and converging on the heart!



GUILT strain 7: Aletheia (Truth)

The hardest final boss in the series and also the one with the best music (so you really should watch the video). It's somehow still easier than Bythos.

By the way, I'm sure you can notice the similarities between these Neo-GUILTs.

If the chiral reaction is concentrated on her heart, then this must be Aletheia's main body. It will be difficult to extract it in this condition... But, we do have the Neo-GUILT antibiotic that Dr. Chase prepared for us. Let's inject this directly into Aletheia's core and destroy it, here and now.



Of course things can't be that easy.

Wh-What the!?
...! Kyriaki appeared at Aletheia's core! It must have summoned them to defend itself.
They're acting slightly different than usual... But I'm sure the same treatment will work! Remember how we've treated all the different GUILT up to this point! If we treat the Kyriaki that appeared, Aletheia will have to expose its core to summon more! When the core is exposed, inject as much of the antibiotic from the black vial as possible! While we wait for our chane, treat the Kyriaki bodies!

I don't know why that last sentence is there, considering we have to treat the Kyriaki before we can even do anything to Aletheia.



Kyriaki will move in a square pattern, sometimes creating lacerations on the path. Unlike normal Kyriaki which only require taps, we need to focus the laser on these ones.

Every time a smaller GUILT is defeated, Aletheia will open its eye for a brief time. That's our time to inject the antibiotic. Make sure to inject it quickly as hesitating will result in a Miss.



Treatment of the GUILT swarm is complete. The core is exposed! But I'm detecting chiral reactions from the patient's entire body again. Inject as much of the antibiotic as you can before it can summon more GUILT!

Once all GUILT in a wave is defeated, Aletheia will open its eyes for quite a while. It's our main opportunity to inject Aletheia, which we REALLY should use.

There are three waves of GUILT in each phase and they come in a fixed order. The third wave in each phase is something we REALLY don't want to see and in Hard they're basically a death sentence.

There won't be enough time to inject Aletheia if you do it only during this downtime, so make sure to inject it after defeating each GUILT as well.



Nous have been summoned! Please treat them before they create tumors!

This is the second time (out of three) Nous is referred to by name. Since all four Nous appears at the same time, we can remove them in any order.

We only have time to remove two of them before they dive back in. They won't cause a Miss this time, but...



...now they will create a tumor. Only one tumor will appear at a time, so there's no need for memorization.

However, we barely have any time to remove the tumor and a Nous before the other dives back in. And if we're too slow, both Nous will just dive back in, creating more tumors and prolonging the fight.



It's way easier to just let the tumor explode and tank the vital drop

We do need high vitals before getting rid of that last Nous, though, so we'll have to use another exploit.



Nous will only create one tumor, and an drained/excised (but not removed) tumor counts toward that. So we can just leave it excised while Nous dives and remove it while Nous is surfacing. In the video I thought that it won't work if the tumor is excised already, but it all works out in the end

Using that exploit, we remove the last tumors and inject Aletheia more antibiotic with plenty of vitals...



Wh-What the...? The chiral reaction that had decreased is rising again. It's absorbing energy from the patient through those red blood vessels! If this continues, Aletheia will be able to restore itself! We need to sever all those blood vessels before that happens! Try holding the scalpel on them! But make sure you don't touch the red blood vessel that is absorbing the patient's energy. If you do, it'll cause severe damage to the patient. Please be careful!

Remember that door "operation"? Turns out the game was preparing us for this operation!

Taking too long will cause Aletheia to undo all our injection and continue with more GUILT. This guarantees the appearance of the third wave, which, as I said earlier, is a death sentence on Hard.

Touching a red vessel will do that plus dropping vitals by 30 and counting as a Miss. At least it's not an instant loss (on Normal and Easy) this time?

The blood vessels have been severed successfully, and chiral reaction has decreased. If we can continue this...



Now it's Sige... And its numbers are far greater than before!
Aletheia must really be cornered now...
...Our treatment against it must be effective! Treat Sige just like before, while you inject the antibiotic into Aletheia!

Sige won't move much this time, but we still need the gel. In fact, unlike in its operation, Sige MUST be gelled. Cutting without gelling will create pus and reset our combo.



Sige will alternate between moving several times (creating pus in the process) and moving to the opposite side (not creating pus). Make sure to defeat these Sige one by one since we need all the injection time we can get.



Next up is Tetarti...! Please inject the corresponding colored serums into them!

Tetarti creates diverticula, which is a pain to capture. However, it can only create up to 6 of them at a time, so a similar tactic as with Nous' tumors can be applied here.

Make sure to max out the vitals before taking out those Tetarti. We want as much vitals as possible going into phase 3.



Our vitals will drop by about 20 when cutting these vessels due to the drain from both Aletheia and our scalpel.

Severing of the blood vessels is successful!



These may be small, but they're still Bythos... And there are so many of them! But the chiral reaction is almost gone! Aletheia is definitely getting weaker! ...Just a little more! Hang in there, Doctor!

Bythos, being the most dangerous GUILT, is accordingly...not doing anything?

Bythos isn't doing anything...? Something's not right about this...

They're just the hardest GUILT in the game. How bad can they be?





...Well then. I think the game reduces the damage from them bursting, so this part is still actually DOABLE. Even then, this is still the part that gives me the most trouble. Bythos can create more hematoceles right after we treat them. I lost countless attempts just because of Bythos not cooperating

I usually laser off 3 (because usually the laser'll run out before we can break the 4th shell) and remove them immediately. Then I do the same with three more before finally injecting Aletheia. Each Bythos will create a maximum of (probably) 1 hematocele, so those first 6 shouldn't have any chance to make any.

We can then break the remaining two shells and do things normally. The shells won't return and Bythos can't move without it, so we don't have to use the ultrasound to test for hematoceles. Not that we need it, since 2 hematoceles is pretty easily dealt.



Compared to Bythos, Sige is an absolute pushover. This is our chance to raise the vitals after the hell that is Bytos.

Just make sure to defeat them one by one and inject Aletheia after every single one. As I've said repeatedly, we REALLY don't want Aletheia to survive for the third wave.



And make sure to have at least 50 vitals before defeating that last Sige. It would suck if Aletheia regenerates because we take too long raising vitals. Or worse, the patient died while we're cutting the vessels.

The blood vessels have been severed! That should do it...!

*The usual convulsion occurs*

Aletheia has become completely inactive! Chiral reaction is decreasing-- Huh!? Th-This can't be! The chiral reaction is rising!



As if things aren't bad enough, vitals drop to 30 at this point.

A-Aletheia has become active again! Chiral reactions are increasing at incredible speed! The blood vessel it's using to absorb energy is changing rapidly as well...! What can we do!?
Stay calm, Angie! I just have to concentrate!
...D-Doctor!?
We will not lose to GUILT. We can't!
You're right, there's no way we're giving in! I... believe in you, Doctor!
(Concentrate on the changes in the blood vessels! Concentrate, Derek!)

Notice how I never mentioned the Healing Touch during this whole operation up until now?



I hope it's obvious why. Sucks to be someone who already used their Healing Touch!



I'm a doctor! I won't let this patient die!

We have unlimited duration for both the Healing Touch and the vessel severing, so we can take this final round of cutting extremely slowly. Which is good because touching a red vessel now drops vitals by 100.

After cutting every vessel, Aletheia will blink while Derek or Angie will say their final words.

For all the precious lives that GUILT took...
For the hearts that were plunged into despair because of it...
For those who became prisoners to its promise of power, and fell into darkness...
For our friends who confronted that darkness, without yielding to its overwhelming threat...
In order to stop this endless spiral of despair...
For all the hopes and dreams of mankind...
...And to prevent the same mistake from ever happening again! This is for everyone!
There should never be diseases that cannot be treated! We will eradicate GUILT with this!







All of these happen while the patient is convulsing. Because Neo-GUILT.

Aletheia has completely disappeared! All treatments complete... This time... it should be the end!

Until Stigma, that is

*Our last final suturing ensues*

Doctor... It's really over...
Angie, it's still too early to get relieved. We can't let our guard down until the patient is completely safe... Right?
Y-Yes, you're right. Then please bandage the sutured incision, Doctor.

After all, it would suck if you fail here!





The first bonus I missed is the usual "No Miss". A tumor or hematocele bursting doesn't count as a Miss, so I guess this one is doable with enough patience.

The second bonus, though, is gotten by finishing within 4:30. We finished in more than 6 minutes. Yeah...



Yes, I'll be right back.
But... we can't move her unless we disengage whatever she's connected to...
I already called for a bomb squad. They can take it from here. By the way, I neutralized the GUILT with stabilizers, so now you definitely owe me--
...Mercer!?



Mr. Mercer... The threat of Neo-GUILT is over. But... You owe it to the world to atone for the crime you've committed.
Ha... Haha... My hopes have been shattered... I've got no reason to live.
...He's got something in his hand!
It's the same thing that was on President Mayuzumi!
I've been a fool... I was blinded by GUILT, and I've lost everything... Everything...! Why? ...Why!?
Aaaaaagh! ...I... must... destroy!!! I'll destroy everything!
He's gonna try to blow this place up!
Stop!!

Soldier: "Fire!" *shoots*

...! *collapses*
Mercer! Angie! We need to stop the bleeding, or he'll--
...It's no use, Derek. He's been shot right through the heart...
...! Father...

By the way, were you wondering where Pempti is? Well, wonder no more!

Some remarks regarding that bonus video:

• That whole video is done on Normal. There's no way I can survive a Pempti wave on Hard.
  
• On Normal or Easy Aletheia requires less injection, so it's entirely possible to skip the third waves even if we only inject it between waves.
  
• Once the maximum number of wounds is reached, the GUILTs will still try to make more. No more wounds will actually appear, but vitals will still drop (not drain) nonetheless.
  
• First phase Kyriaki will create a maximum of 4 lacerations, Nous 1 tumor, and Pempti 4x3 small tumors.
  
• Second phase Tetarti and Kyriaki will create a maximum of 6 diverticula and lacerations respectively.
  
• Tetarti will VERY briefly flash their colors before they start moving and creating diverticula. Pausing the game at the right time will let us see their colors more easily.
  
• I haven't shown what happens when a diverticulum releases poison, so there you go. It's really nothing special.
  
• Injecting Aletheia will instantly burst all diverticula and hematoceles along with burning off all small tumors, complete with the vital drop those entail. Obviously, it's not a good idea on Hard.
  
• There's a maximum of 16 small tumors that can be created by third wave Pempti. But if you reach that point on Hard, you're pretty much dead.
  
• I really wasn't kidding when I said touching a red blood vessel during the final round will drop vitals by 100. No pressure!