Part 99: Takatoshi Hijiyama 6

Chapter 99: Takatoshi Hijiyama 6





If I’d been there, before my homeland lost everything… If I’d fought in the Sentinel, maybe we’d still have some hope left… According to Okino… that chance is long gone. But he might still know something… I feel so powerless. In the end… All I can do is rely on him. I…



Consider Tsukasa Okino

(…… He’s telling me about all these things… But even I know this is all over my head. How do I make a difference? Is it even possible…?)



Music: LONER (Azusa Chiba)



Where is Okino?



Another day of wandering around campus aimlessly! Our first stop is going to be the schoolyard.







It’s all I have to wear.
Do we really have students like you at our school?



Can’t mind his own business…



ABSCOND



That obvious?
What happened?
I looked at the wrong textbook… I was studying for the wrong subject the whole night.
That happens.
And, of course… The teacher just HAD to call on me.
Yikes…
So a total trash fire.




We can head over to the cafeteria, but we don’t have enough money to buy a yakisoba pan to progress. Let’s head to the break area, then.



Oh hey, it’s that cat. Maybe he found some change.



Consider Change







This isn’t what it looks like…!
……





Really, it’s all a misunderstanding…



I guess it wasn’t a misunderstanding at all…

Don’t really understand why that was quite so mortifying, but maybe it’s a cultural thing. Let’s just head back to the schoolyard. We need 50 yen more to afford some delicious yakisoba pan.



Oh hey, it’s Shintaro again!

Consider Change





What, exactly, are you doing?
*annoyed grunt*

Just pretend you’re petting the cat!



What’s got you all nervous?
I just don’t wanna miss this show tonight…
Oh, so that’s it. I was wondering why you’d been missing practice. What’s the show?
…It’s, uh… Midnight Meow Meow.
Uh…
I’m just a big fan, you know? Back 2 Front?
Oh, right… That show with the pop stars.
What? Something wrong with that?
…I mean… it’s FINE, but…

Well, we can’t pick up that money with Gouto loitering around as the fucking changecop, so we’ll have to think of something else.



Oh…

Seems like Miwako noticed somethi—Oh, I think I see where this is going…








*sigh* He’s gone…

Aww, poor Miwako. You’re a dick, Gouto.





That’s a lucky find.

Let’s head back to the cafeteria.




Your finest yakisoba pan, please!



Consider Yakisoba Pan



But it’s okay now. Time to dig in…






Enough of that, time to look for Okino. Spoiler alert: he’s back over at the break area.



Yeah. I get it.





Nobody, okay? It’s fine.
……
Oh right, I should probably tell you…

Music: Something’s Fishy (Kikuchi Yukinori)

I’ll be late getting home again tonight.



Where have you been going?
……
Tokisaka Shrine?




Okino presses some money into Hijiyama’s hand.



……




After sundown… I’ll wait for him at Tokisaka Shrine…



Consider Tokisaka Shrine

(No point just sitting around waiting for him… I’ll have to kill time for a while.)



Is that what this money was for? Just a bribe to appease me? *shakes head* …No, I’m getting too worked up about this. Damn his “allowance.” I can spend this all right now!



Music: LONER (Azusa Chiba)



Hijiyama’s already snacking down on a yakisoba pan when we return to him. Looks like he bought another.



…Or several.

Eat Yakisoba Pan





Eat Yakisoba Pan





Eat Yakisoba Pan




Hijiyama, you’re a fucking machine.



We need a drink to wash that down. Well, three drinks. Hijiyama is very thirsty.




Drink Hey-C



……



Drink Canned Soda




Drink Hi-King



He’s hiding something.



Hijiyama then immediately begins snarfing down another yakisoba pan. How many of those fucking things did you buy!?



I need to hurry over to Tokisaka Shrine…




So Hijiyama ate at least five yakisoba pan in a row, probably threw up, then immediately fell asleep in public. Productive day.

The two of them must be long gone by now… probably. Well, no choice… I’ll wait here and confront them when they return.

Music: Bleak Pressure (Kikuchi Yukinori)




You remember all that shit you’ve put me through? ‘Cause I sure as hell do.



I don’t know how you escaped, but… I see how it is. You came looking for another black eye.



Ogata-kun… Aren’t we here to look for Kisaragi-san?
Meh…



Don’t have time for this.



And that’s your decision to make, huh? Selfish bastard.
The hell are you doing here, anyways?
Tch… I’m looking for Okino.
What happened to him?
This is just what I heard from Sawatari-san… but according to her… Kisaragi-san’s been going out to meet some guy lately.
She WHAT!? Just the two of ‘em!?
Must be that girl from this afternoon…



Got a feelin’ I know where they went, too.
What? How?
Eh… She mentioned somethin’ about it.



Do you know how to work this time travel business?
Uh… Oh. You don’t know either?
……
……



And so, these two idiots find themselves stuck.



……



It’s too hot over here now. Move over there.
Shut it. If it’s so damn stuffy, then you take a hike.



Maybe they didn’t even go today…
Well, Kurabe already went home. But I ain’t leavin’ until I know what’s goin’ on here.
Same here… The way things are… I feel like I don’t know anything anymore.



What kind of relationship do you two have?

Ha, cutting right to the heart of things, eh?




A friend, huh…



(Did he drop it for the sake of getting close to her…? …Maybe you weren’t the person I thought you were, Tsukasa Okino.)

What, is he actually… straight? *shudder*



How could you possibly know that? Nothing’s happened yet.




I know. The access logs confirm you got in. The question is… why didn’t we get a response…?




Ogata? What the heck are you doing here?

Music: BUDDIES (Azusa Chiba)

Ah, shut up.





That’s totally it, right?



Who’d get jealous over you?



You got jealous?







You went to that underground place, right?
W-Well, the androids were all broken anyway…
I mean, heck, if… somethin’ had happened to you…





If there’s a way, then tell me… please.
I understand. I’m doing my best to find the right answer here. I don’t know if it’ll be enough to save everyone, but… It could make a difference, at least. I’ll tell you all I know.



You should all go home.



Oh, come on… I’ll explain everything on the way back.




You got off easy this time, Okino.



Aww…



To where…?
The tower of knowledge. That’s where it all starts.

Music: The Tower of Knowledge (Hitoshi Sakimoto)






There’s a really odd combination of a pan, tilt, and zoom going on here that in conjunction with the entirely 2D assets creates a kind of disorienting effect here. It’s the only time in the game this happens to my recollection.



Or extraterrestrials, potentially.

Use Saucer on Tsukasa Okino



Let’s see…




That’s Ashitaba City in the middle… And 300 meters below the surface, we have… This.



Around 30 km in diameter.
That’s gigantic…



Exactly. The UFO’s also in Sector 5. Which means… It’s also buried there in 1945. The people there disappeared when Deimos came into contact with it… Same as in my time. But there’s only one left still fully functional. And that’s the one in 1985.




1985… Even assuming it’s a parallel world, something isn’t right…

Use 1985 on Tsukasa Okino



40-year gaps, going chronologically backwards. Then why has nothing happened in 1985? Why skip that year, and go straight to my time?
That’s actually pretty sharp, especially for you.
Hey now…
It’s because 1985 is kind of an outlier. Someone in that time has the D-Code control key… In other words, that’d be the one sending commands to the Deimos.



They just went straight to Sector 5. Sector 4 will be the final target on their list. Which means 1985 will be our last line of defense.



Those compatible with the innerlocitor were being gathered in Sector 4.

Well, that certainly explains why there’s so many goddamn teenagers with attitude in 1985 right now.

Use The Kaiju’s Beacon on Tsukasa Okino



Well, you already know the situation. We have no idea who’s actually summoning them. Even then, killing the source would be meaningless. Someone else would just start broadcasting the signal. Anyone implanted with the innerlocitor is a candidate. Any one of them can be the Deimos’ wayfinder.
…So even I might be…?
Yeah. Even you could be the one luring them to us.



Murder everyone who had an innerlocitor. No more signal. He thought that might save the world.
If it meant I could save my homeland… I would gladly give my life.
……

Use Inner-lossiter on Tsukasa Okino



Who modified us with that inner-lossiter? Is… Is that what they wanted? To destroy the world?
Like I said, there’s still a lot we don’t know. Besides which… it’s this UFO that’s abducting people.
……
We don’t know much about the innerlocitor, but… It’s general-use information technology from 2188. It’s got that D-Code sending out commands, but… That’s comparatively a very minor part of its function.
Wait, minor?
That’s the part I don’t get.



Some totally unrelated function. Nothing to do with the D-Code. I tried to find out what function the system’s prioritizing, but… I just… I don’t know. None of this makes sense.



It basically just needs to maintain a link to the person “commanding” the Deimos… and access three locations at regular intervals. One of the access points is the mainframe of the UFO: "Universal Control." Might have to do with the reason people disappear… I'd need more data to know for sure. The second point of access is Sector 1… The automated factories in the year 2105. The factories weren't destroyed when they attacked. They're using them to manufacture more Deimos. That's where the Sentinels were created, too. And the final access point, by my guess… …would be the thing Tomi Kisaragi saw. Some kind of satellite in orbit. And from its databanks… They're pulling blueprint data for the Deimos themselves.



Are we any closer to saving the world?
It's a longshot, but… If I can figure out this UFO, and the orbital contact point… It's possible we can bring back the people who disappeared.
……
But yeah... it feels like… I'm still overlooking something. Something a bit more fundamental…





Hijiyama’s final event is locked, but…



Sweet, Gouto’s finally available after a full 45 updates of being locked. Wait, Gouto’s an asshole, scratch that.