Part 50: Chapter 29: Goddess of Song

Chapter 29: Goddess of Song

Welcome, Administrator.

Resume recording.

We decided to travel around to find an answer to Tastiella's question. The site where the Hexagonal Plate fell was run by Kyle's associate in crime, so we headed there first.



I felt sorry for Tenba, but I deplore the research they conducted here.
Many atrocities that Bourd committed remain undiscovered.
You're right... We better check it out.

Tenba's guards turned us away, though. It seemed we would need permission from the president to enter.



...I guess we can't go in.
I'm sure she'll let us in, but I hear she's gonna be gone for a while...
We can ask the president for permission later. Let's check out some other places first.

Radolf suggested we look through the records at the Elemia Church. He didn't find much, but he did come up with another place to look.



While I was inside, I thought we should check Falcon's Claw or the Temple of Elemia, too?
You're right. Those are also ancient ruins, so we might be able to find something there.
Great! Let's go!

I wasn't sure which Temple of Elemia we were headed to until I saw the area. I was surprised to see the place, I thought it had been lost with the other Wing of Horus.



I see... the Temple of Elemia...
I recognize this building. There may be something in here.
This might be the place. Let's go in!

Seeing the Neo Temple of Elemia brought back a lot of memories, and not all of them good. If we were looking for a place connected to Mir's history, this was certainly a good fit.



I didn't know that there were that many Temples of Elemia.
Yes. There were many in the past.
The Legends of the Trio of Elemia have been poplular for a long time.
And to think that they were trying to use this sacred church to revive Mir.
Falss... I'll never forgive him!
Not to mention, there was a time when Mir was worshiped at this temple.
People thought that she was the reincarnation of the Trio of Elemia...
Long ago, Mir was very helpful to Humans.
What!? Mir wasn't always bad!?
No. Moreover, without Mir, the previous civilizations wouldn't have prospered.
The people knew it, so they enshrined Mir at the Temple of Elemia.
...If people used to worship Mir, why did she turn her back at them?
She was worshiped as a Goddess, but in reality, she was treated poorly.
You're too kind... so you might not be able to understand it.



Yes... of course.
There was a time when Humans and Reyvateils lived together in harmony.
But, as the Reyvateil population grew, the Humans began to worry.
They feared that the Reyvateils may become too powerful, and try to rule the world.
So, the Humans decided it was best to dominate them. Forcing them into servitude.
And, that was the world that Mir was born into.
As one who only follows orders, she had no conscience.
But, Mir began to develop her own will.
She felt angry towards the Humans for their treatment of her kind.
Mir revolted against them, and led other Reyvateils to war.
And that was the War of the Reyvateils, where half the world was destroyed, and 70% of the population was lost.
Since then, her hatred toward the Humans kept growing. Now, she wants to exterminate all Humans...



We spent the night in Nemo before heading to find the president of Tenba. We'd been to the park there earlier, and seen a giant song stone there.



It's kind of like a huge waste of hugeness...
Maybe you think that way because you always lived in Platina.
A long time ago, during the First Era, there were places that wasted even more space. The Great Song Stone is nothing compared to then.
At the base of the tower, where we can no longer go, there was a random statue in a huge stairwell, even though it was inside the tower.
The monument itself had a diameter of about 3 stons. It was really big. I used to play there...
Wow, people back then lived fancy-like.
Yes. But... if the clouds below were all land... would you still think it was luxurious?
...Huh?
When the land disappeared from this world, what used to be normal became luxurious.
.....
...Shurelia.

We headed to Firefly Alley, and I got separated from everyone else. I'd have been in trouble if not for a spot of good luck.





What is it!?
Lady Shurelia is gone!
Huh!? Oh, no! She really is gone!
She was right behind me just a minute ago. Did we lose her?
What should we do? There are so many people here, it's gonna be hard to find her!
I was talking to her just a minute ago. She couldn't have gone far...
Well, I'm gonna look for her!
I'll go with you. You guys should wait here.
We're familiar with the area, so we know where to look.
Alright. I'm counting on you two.
I hope Lady Shurelia is okay...



Shoot...
She's not familiar with the Lower World, so I should've kept a better eye on her...
But you aren't any better. You came down here all alone.



Lady Shurelia!?
Lyner, I didn't know where you went.
Lady Shurelia!? I'm glad we found you. I was so worried!
I was busy looking around at all these interesting things. Then, I lost you.
She looked lost and alone, so I helped her out.
Then she told me that she lost you guys, so I brought her to you myself.
I'm so glad that you helped her out, Spica. Thank you!
Hahaha! Lady Shurelia, you are bad with directions!
Well, that was blunt...
It's unusual for me to get lost. I just... don't know this area.
Anyway... sorry to bother you, Spica.
Don't worry. You should take better care of her.
Goodbye, Miss Shurelia...
...I hope you'll remember me.
Huh?
I'll see you again, when the time is right.
Hey Spica!? What are you talking about...?
Bye bye, Misha.



...It looked like you and Spica made a promise or something.
I promised to help her out a little. She told me to keep it a secret...
...I think something bad is going to happen.
Me too... I should be relieved that we found you, but...
We should get going. I'll watch you, Lady Shurelia.
Thank you, Aurica.
Hey Lyner, we should go!
...She doesn't mean any harm, right?
That's why she makes my heart skip a beat...

I hate to admit it, but I do seem to have some problems with directions down here. Then again getting lost led me to Spica, so I can't say it was all bad. We headed to Tenba's headquarters and met with Ayano, the president.



New place...?
It's actually really close to Nemo.
Anyway, I'm so sorry about Bourd. I'd like to apologize again.
There's no need for that. I've heard good things about Tenba lately.
Thank you. But, we still haven't discovered all of Bourd's schemes.
Especially at the facility where the Hexagonal Plate collapsed. I'm sure most of his research data was lost.
...Hexagonal Plate! Sounds like we can find some valuable data there...
Madam President, can you give us clearance to search the Hexagonal Plate?
Since that area is filled with top secret information, I'm not supposed to give outsiders permission to be there...
But, for you, I'll allow it.
Thank you very much!

We headed back to the Hexagonal Plate. The guards let us through, and in the back was a room filled with research data. What we found there was chilling.



It's a lunch order...
That's a lot of food...



[She remains in good health conditions, however I haven't observed any changes in her thoughts.]
[In regards to the Mir Project, it has proven too difficult to cause separation all the way to the KC Field...]
...Was he experimenting on me, too?
Sure looks like it.
Even if I killed him 100 times, it still wouldn't be enough...



[I successfully removed the Song, but creating new ones has proved difficult...]
He was trying to make his own Hymn Crystals...



[I'll have my Revyateils attack him. That'll make for an excellent field test.]
They sure didn't trust each other...
Of course. They're villains.

One file in particular was shocking, because I'd seen exactly this sort of research long ago, when Mir was born. Had they been trying to create their own Mir?



Mir!?
Sounds suspicious.
[Project Summary: This experiment is designed to drastically increase the abilities of Reyvateils, and...]
[To condition the Reyvateils into slavery...]
...!
[By overwriting the KC section of the Cosmosphere...]
...I don't get it...
...Excuse me. May I read it? I'd like to know all the details...
Do you know what they're up to?
Yes. I have discovered something awful...
This research is very similar to what had been done to Mir in the past.
During Mir's creation, a special process was tested on her.
She was stripped of her own free will.



...She was purposely created without free will.
By doing so, conflict and doubt were eliminated, and the purity of her Song Magic increased dramatically.
...On top of that, she could never rebel against the Humans.
So then, Mir wouldn't have been able to disobey Humans... What happened?
The method they used was incomplete.
Her soulspace... the Cosmosphere, grows bigger as a Reyvateil gets stronger.
Mir's will was removed, but only at the beginning. However, they never followed up on their experiments.
As she grew, her feelings also grew.
And she began to hate the Humans.
Which led to her current state of mind.
So, it was the Human's own greed that led Mir to hate them.
...Unfortunately, yes.
...Unbelievable.
Fortunately, Bourd's horrible project died with him...
Yeah... we should destroy everything!
Damn...



Then we should let her know. Let's go back to the headquarters at Firefly Alley.

We headed back to Tenba's headquarters. I... I hadn't wanted to think about Mir, to be honest. She was so filled with anger, and it seemed like nothing I could do helped. Was there a better way then? And even if I had the opportunity, could I really kill Mir? I just don't know. I just have to keep moving forward I suppose. We did get some good news when we met with the President, though.



We're trying out a new machine, so it's going pretty well.
And, thanks to our friendly relationship with the Teru Tribe, we don't have to worry about being attacked by them.
That's good.
Say, have you been to the Hexagonal Plate?
Yeah. Actually, we discovered some pretty awful experiments...
I see... He was doing those horrible things to Reyvateils...
The reason why we're strict with Reyvateils is that our missions could be fatal if they aren't alert enough.
They have to be on their guard to protect everyone.
Some people may see that as overworking the Reyvateils...
But, Bourd's experiments are unacceptable. They're absurd.
At least, our company policy doesn't discriminate against Reyvateils.
......



I just received word that it's finally ready for take off.
Really!? Then, can it fly...?
I don't know. Why don't you go and see it for yourself?
Alright!

We're headed back up the Tower to Platina. I think I need to rest, all this talk of the past is... tiring.

Computer, pause recording.

Confirmed.