Part 115: Coco's Route - True End - Part 20

Back in the world of 2034.

When I returned to consciousness I was crying. Feelings overcame me in torrents, rushing through me hotly.

'Dad...is dead...'

The weight of my sadness pressed down on me, and a sense of futility tore a hole in my heart. But...it was no time to be overcome by sadness.

Wiping the wetness from my cheeks, I looked at my surroundings. A new day was breaking, just as it had been in 2017. Through my tears, the blue sky and ocean came into my vision.

Track—Drittes Auge Nehmen



I could analyze the situation calmly, but the tears wouldn't stop. I wiped them away with the palm of my hand and licked the large drops as they rolled past my mouth. Squeezing my eyes shut tightly, I took in deep breaths to calm down. I trembled slightly as I let out a sigh and looked around at my surroundings again.

It was definitely above the floating island...The wind was blowing lightly and the green trees were swaying gently. The morning sun was letting out golden rays onto the surface of the ocean. It had been a while since I had been outdoors.... The wide blue sky.... The smell of the warm humid breeze...

But as beautiful as it seemed, it didn't help me one bit. Rather, the richness of it all made me feel even more alienated.

(I'm all alone...and so terribly sad...)

I wiped away the tears, which continued to flow, and tried hard to suppress my urge to cry out. I had to think...It was no time to be crying...I shook my head repeatedly and tried with all of my strength to collect my atrophied thoughts.


"Think, think, THINK..."

First I needed to grasp the situation I was in. I followed the threads of my memory...I remembered having gotten safely out of LeMU, but had no memories after that. I had no idea of what had happened after that. I couldn't imagine that I had been standing outside all night...


"H-huh?"

I suddenly realized that nobody else was there. As I began to walk on grass, I looked wildly in all directions.

Soon...I became aware of one solitary figure. It was Kaburaki. He had his back to a tree trunk and was staring out at the vast ocean. I ran over to him and screamed at him.


"Why would you do something like this!"


"........"


"Answer me! I know everything now!"

Kaburaki was silent. He wouldn't even look at me. It was obvious that he was the closest person to being responsible for everything happening here.

'Takeshi Kuranari'—My father's name. He had used this name to deceive us the whole time.

I drew even closer.


"Say something! Don't just stand there!"


"........."


"I said say something!"

I grabbed onto his shirt.


"I'm sorry, but I can't tell you anything..."

Kaburaki's eyes were wet. He seemed to be thinking deeply about something as he gazed at me.


"But...I will tell you this...This isn't over, okay? It all starts from here...Yeah...all of it starts from right now."

I relaxed my grip. Kaburaki didn't say anything more, and walked away gazing in the direction of the distant horizon. I stood there, vacantly staring at his back, while it became smaller and smaller.

[Music—Stop]

Somebody tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around and...Sora was standing right in front of me.


"We've been waiting for you.."

'What are you doing here...?'

Only this thought didn't reach my lips. There clearly was no RSD on this floating island. But she had just...tapped me on the shoulder. I couldn't process the information, and stood there gaping in confusion.

I reached out to touch Sora's arm, absentmindedly. Her skin was smooth....it's texture slightly elastic...and warm to the touch...


"Come this way..."

Sora grinned. There was Sora, smiling as always. I felt saved by her smile.



A small stone covered path was overgrown in a deep thicket...The tips of the trees stretched up high, almost entangling one another. Hardly any light squeezed through. There was no breeze here either. The air was wet, and everything felt heavy and stagnant. The small stone path snaked around randomly, and I soon lost all sense of direction as I continued walking. I moved forward along that passage with no exit.

For some reason I did not say a word to Sora, whose back was in front of me.



I didn't know why I did that. Was I just curious, or had I wanted a sense of security? Sora looked over at me and smiled. Maybe the reason I grabbed onto her was just because I wanted to see her smile at me.

Not long afterward...We finally emerged from the forest. My field of view widened and beyond spread out an area of lush green grass, and the rich blue ocean. My line of sight was drawn to the back of someone very familiar to me.

Track—Gedaechtnisschwund



And someone else...a woman who looked just like her. They were facing each other and standing still. I braced against the rising tide of emotion within me, and went to stand over by them. I flashed a look back. Sora was standing at the entrance to the forest, and didn't appear to be coming closer. In the center of that area were You, the lady and I..

The other lady—. Of course I knew her name. Tanaka...Yubiseiharukana...She had been infected with the Cure virus, and although she seemed young she didn't look quite 17. It was probably since her cells had divided for five years, which had caused her to age slightly. In other words, her body was that of a 23 year old, but she was actually 35.

I looked over at You (Yubiseiakikana) standing next to me. She had her hand curled into a fist and was glaring at her mother. She was so mad she was shaking.

I realized...That the person who had been manipulating everything behind the scenes had been the person standing in front of me - Yubisei'haru'kana, You's mother. She'd been up here safe and sound on the island, relaxing, looking down at our plight and had probably been laughing the whole time.

I glared over at her along with You'aki'. You'haru' appeared indifferent to our stares, and said nonchalantly...


"Do you have any questions?"

I laughed without thinking. What the hell kind of thing was that to say?


"Why...Why would you do something like this!?"


"In order to call forth Blick Winkel."


"What the heck is Blick Winkel!?"


"You already know that, don't you? Blick Winkel—Is...you."


"Me? I'm...Blick Winkel?"


"Yes. I'm not talking to Hokuto. I'm talking to the 'perspective' on the other side of Hokuto."


"......Perspective?"


"Yes. The third eye—Blick Winkel—The 'You' on the other side of Hokuto—That's right, the part of you that is looking at me right now...It is you who I am talking about."


"........."


"From the beginning, you've been the Kid. When you overlapped with Hokuto, he lost his memory and became you. So it makes sense that he had amnesia. You had never lived in this world before. You have no history here, no memories of this place. On May 1, 2034 at 3:17 p.m.—You uttered your first words in this world, Kid."


"........."


"You aren't from this world. You are looking down at this world from one dimension higher than this. That's why you can see the future and the past. Well...that's not all. You can probably also see other time continua. The reason the Kid could see the future is, you know all there is to know about this world. It only makes sense that you didn't respond to the name Hokuto. I mean, your real name isn't Hokuto, right?"


"...I'm...I'm..."


"You don't have to be afraid. You don't have to lie to yourself. So, show your true self - Answer me - truthfully...You aren't really a kid named Hokuto, are you?"


"................."

[Music—Stop]








Track—Drittes Auge Nehmen




“I am.... I remember now...I am...not from your world...am I...? I am...not...Hokuto..."


"Ha, ha, it sure has been a long time..."


"...A long time?"


"No, don't worry about it...Thank you, for showing yourself..."


"Why...? Please? Tell me, why? Why did you have to do this?"


"I already told you. In order to...well, I suppose you could call it a summoning."


"In order to reach me, did you really have to do something so reckless and dangerous?"


"Yes...Just as I explained earlier...You have been looking down on our world from your dimension...right?"


"........."


"Let's say that there was a conscious being from the second dimension. What do you think that the 2nd dimensional being would have to do, in order to make contact with the 3rd dimension? For instance, on an XY plane, there are some two-dimensional beings, points A B and C...And on in XYZ space, you have a three-dimensional being, point D. Points A, B, and C can only move on an XY axis."

"So how can they draw point D to them? You have point C move on the same line as points A & B. When that happens, points A, B and C, form a line, and create a common plane with point D. Meaning, point D becomes part of the same plane as points A, B and C. When that happens, for the first time point D has the illusion that it is in the same world as A, B and C."

"That's what we did...In creating a world where you couldn't tell if it was 2034 or 2017...Point D...in other words we were able to create the illusion that the 4th dimensional being 'The perspective: Blick Winkel,' was in our same reality. And you showed yourself to us, descending into the space in front of us....We were waiting for you...all of us...We have been waiting for you for so long..."


"Why? Why were you waiting for me? What reason could you have...to call for me?"


"We just were following your directions."


"Huh?"


"You called yourself."


"What do you mean?"


"You needed us, and we needed you."


"Why?"


"In order to save Coco and Takeshi we needed to borrow your powers."


"To save Coco, and Takeshi...?"


"We are powerless to fight the flow of time. There is nothing we can do about the past."


"But you can. The reason being that someone like you from the 4th dimension…can travel freely through time..."



My consciousness had detached from Hokuto, and gone back to the world of 2017. Hokuto's feelings and thoughts, hadn't reached me. But, our perspectives had overlapped.

An observer with no feelings...All I could do was witness events as they passed...

[Music—Stop]

Video: Coco – BEWARE OF DOG

I love some of the chapter/section titles in this game so much.



It was a small white vessel, rocking in the waves...Shut inside the small submarine, Tsugumi's shoulders drooped as she sat in the cockpit in shock. Having lost everything, she sat there spiritlessly, looking empty, like a glass ornament.

Just then...

Whiiiirrr...

The light came back on in Pipi's eyes, who moments before had been motionless at Tsugumi's feet. He got up quickly.


"........."

She seemed to be unable to comprehend what was happening. Pipi shook off his body, flashed a look up to Tsugumi's face walked over to stand in front of the glass hatch.

Scratch, scratch....

Pipi began pawing at the hatch.


"W-what's wrong...?"

Tsugumi mumbled weakly.

[Pipi]
"Bow! Wow, wow! Wooo!"

Pipi stood facing the hatch and barked.


"...You want...to go outside?"

[Pipi]
"Woof!"

Tsugumi's gaze wandered about as if she were thinking something over. Pipi continued barking the whole time. The submarine rocked gently in the waves...Tsugumi put both her hands on the wall and looked outside of the window.


"...Um...okay."

Saying that, Tsugumi opened the hatch - not the glass one, but the heavy one on the top of the submarine.



Tsugumi squinted against the brightness...She held up one hand to fend off the light and with the other pushed on the hatch with all her might.

She picked up Pipi and brought him outside of the boat. Pipi kicked hard against the hull to fly into the air, and drawing a beautiful arch, he splashed into the ocean.

Track—Traum In Der Dunkelheit



Down, down, down he went...



...204 feet...255 feet...306 feet...



The hard rock surface deep in the blue darkness.

A man's body lay on the ocean bed...Pipi bit onto his clothing and pulled. Was he trying to bring him somewhere? Of course the man didn't move at all. Pipi bit on some exposed flesh. The man didn't respond. His life had expired. All that remained there was a cold corpse...nothing more.

Something had fallen to his side.



A terabyte disk...

Pipi picked it up in his mouth, and left the body behind.



Going sideways, he cut across the water...At the bottom of the dark sea...there was only the cold surface of the rock and dark black sea water. Occasionally delicate streams of light would pass by...

Perhaps Pipi had found something? Without hesitation, Pipi swam straight toward the white building.



The face of a single dog broke the surface of the pool. He stuck out his front legs onto the edge and climbed onto the floor. He shook himself off. Small droplets of water flew off in all directions, forming a mist. The terabyte disk was still in his mouth.

Pipi ran. He lost his footing on the wet floor, slipped and fell. Standing up again, he readied himself and dashed off at a full gallop.



Pipi ran down the passages, breaking to the right, and turning to the left. He was aiming for something.

[??]
"Pipi...Pi...pi..."

Only her voice could be heard.

[Pipi]
"Woof!"

Pipi barked loudly. The disk fell out of his mouth to spin across the floor with a rattle. Pipi quickly braked with all four legs, turned around to get the disk and dashed across the floor again.

[??]
"Pipi...Take...pyon..."



She was lying down in the middle of the passage.

Pipi ran over to her side. He set down the disk on the floor, and biting at her clothes started pulling on her. He tried desperately to pull her along, but just as he could not budge the man before, it was too much for his small frame to budge her.

[Pipi]
"Woof! Woof woof!"

[??]
"Pi-Pipi..."

She opened her eyes weakly.

[??]
"Oh...where did you go...? I was...so worried...about you..."

Pipi licked her face.

[??]
"...Where is...everyone...?"

[Pipi]
"*whine* *whine*"

[??]
"I don't understand when you whine..."

Pipi pulled on her clothes, and scratched her shoulder, grunting with his effort.

[Pipi]
"Woof! Woof woof! Woof!"

Perhaps he realized there was nothing he could do, but Pipi barked frantically.

[??]
"Hey, Pipi...? …Let's...go...home...? Daddy and...mommy...are waiting...for us...So...let's...go...go...home...Okay...? Pipi..."



[Pipi]
"Bow! Wow! Wow!"

No matter how much he barked at her, she wouldn't open her eyes. Pipi started walking around the area. He finally stopped, and picked up the disk that he had left on the floor and started running again.



Without hesitating, he threw himself into the pool.



Rising up, and up...He didn't stop...306 feet...255 feet...204 feet...153 feet...102 feet...51 feet...

—0 feet.



Pipi's face broke the surface. The blue expanse of the sky loomed above him...The sun had changed the water to a silvery color.






Note: It should be obvious, but there isn't actually an in-game avatar for Blick Winkel.