Part 50: Takeshi/Sora Route - Part 7
Technically Day 6, Part 4 but roughly half of Sora’s Good End is shared with the beginning portions of Tsugumi’s (I’m counting the Ends as “everything after the final choice” for reference), so we’ll be able to skip right to theRemember how after the researcher died, Takeshi and Tsugumi left the room to have a little chat? Well, we get to chat with You instead, although her dialogue is almost word-for-word (sans the flirting) the same as Tsugumi’s. The new bit starts after Takeshi asks “Circumstances?”
I tried to get him to stop, because he seemed like he was suffering, but.... He said talking made him feel better, so..."
"I see.... Well, what did he talk about?"
"Um......"
"He got TB, and wandered around IBF half-dead... But he was worried about LeMU the whole time... Before coming to IBF, he said that he'd been involved with the project to develop LeMU's system. He was one of the staff that engineered LeMU's management software."
"Meaning...that..."
"HIMMEL, LeMMIH, and...Sora. Everything he left behind is here in LeMU. For a programmer—The system here at LeMU was like his own child."
"Meaning...he was worried about his 'children?'"
"Yeah...that must have been it. Worrying about his children is what helped him live a while longer."
"Oh yeah. There was one other thing I heard from him that I was able to check up on. I wasn't sure about it when I found it on the terminal in the Security Office..."
"What's that?"
"Well, I had partially bypassed LeMMIH's security...and that's when I found it."
"So what is it already!?"
"Sora's location..."
"Sora is...the Sora that we know, isn't in Insel null."
"Eh?"
"We know that LeMMIH's central processing unit - the main super computer - is on the floating island... It seems that everything that happens here on LeMU, is saved in LeMU's memory storage."
"What?? I mean...can you tell me that in simpler language? So that someone, even dumb like me, can understand?"
"Okay... Leiblich Pharmaceutical keeps an original system program for 'Sora Akanegasaki.' So even if they lose the copy here at LeMU, it won't hurt them at all."
"So basically...it is possible to make many
different versions of the 'Sora' system. Even the Sora here might just be a copy."
"......."
More than one Sora. Multiple copies...clones...present everywhere...that's what she meant.
"But, think about it? Sora is Sora, right? There is only one 'Sora' that we know, right? So what's the only thing that separates the Sora we know, from other Soras?"
"Separates..."
Separates...
Differences...
Truth...
Sora and the impostor...
"Ah..."
"Do you get it Takeshi? Memory. The only thing that we and the Sora here share is... Memory. That's it."
"Really..."
Even if Sora was everywhere... There was only one Sora Akanegasaki that I knew.
"Meaning... Sora's memory is here at LeMU... Sora...HIMMEL!? So, then! That means—Sora's mind, and spirit are here in HIMMEL!?"
I couldn't hold back. You gave me a nod when I asked this question.
"But if Dritte stock starts flooding..."
"Yeah... The Sora that we know is gone forever."
"........."
I kicked a dirty old bottle that was at my feet. It landed in the pool and slowly sunk.
"Takeshi..."
"........."
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to confuse you earlier... Saying that Sora might be in Insel null..."
"Don't worry about it. We know where she is now."
"Yeah......"
Even if we were able to get out of LeMU safely... The Sora up at Insel null wouldn't be the Sora that we knew. She would have the same thought processes, and look the same, but would be a different Sora. That Sora wouldn't be the one who loved flowerbeds, and who had made it rain. It wouldn't be the Sora who looked at me from the other side of the glass window. The Sora who... Who told a hopeless guy like me that she loved me... The only place she existed...was here.
'Why was I created? What is the purpose of my being alive?’
We cut back to Takeshi experiencing one of the first symptoms of Tief Blau and Tsugumi rushes out to inform us that the Kid is having the same kind of issues.
Sora’s route doesn’t lead to Tsugumi agreeing to help with the antibodies, so that entire section is cut from the above update and it cuts straight to just before IBF is contacted by the rescue squad at the beginning of Day 7, Part 1 save for this small exchange between Takeshi and You:
I don't know how much time passed. I was not sure whether things were real or a dream. Was I alive? Was I dead? I didn't know. I slept like I was dead. Was I dead? Was I sleeping? Which was it? And where was the me that was thinking about everything?
"I could have gotten at the data... The terminal in the Security Office... We even figured out that final password... Hey, if it's from HIMMEL... We could copy it to a terabyte disk..."
Just a little more... Just have to stay alive for a little bit more...
The rest of Sora’s ending starts after “I have to GO!!” in Day 7, Part 1.
Track—IBF Notfall
I took all of the strength I could muster and headed to the poolroom.
Just as I headed through the watertight door, I met with Tsugumi.
"Takeshi...you're awake...?"
She looked at me strangely.
"Yeah. Tsugumi, there's a rescue team on the way. They said it would take about an hour...I want you to wait for them in the examination room!"
"Rescue?"
"They said they were from the Maritime Defense Force. You was able to open up a communication line up to Insel null."
"To Insel null...?"
"Tsugumi, are you okay?"
"Yeah...that serum seems to be working. I'm fine."
"Okay, then I want you to get back to the examination room right away. Everyone else is in bad shape. I want you to look after them."
And saying that I headed for the lift.
"W-wait, Takeshi! Where are you going!?"
"Up. To LeMU. We've still got an hour. I'm going to go get Sora!"
"W-wait! That's crazy!"
Tsugumi chased after me and grabbed onto my arm.
"How? Sora can't come down here from LeMU!"
"I know...I've got to think of a way... No, wait... I already know what I've got to do!"
"Ah!!"
I tore myself away from her grip and tossed her aside.
"Don't go! Don't...don't leave me! Don't leave me alone!!"
Tsugumi called out at me in a tearful voice, as she lay sprawled on the floor. But I didn't turn back.
The elevator headed up.
[Announcement]
"Depth 270 feet... Depth 240 feet... Depth 210 feet..."
Upwards...
Forcing open the door, I slipped into the pressurization chamber.
I pressed on the intercom button repeatedly.
"Sora! Soraaa!"
"Ta-Takeshi!? What are you...?"
"Hey! It's been a while!"
I realized how much I had missed that voice. I waved to Sora as she appeared outside the window.
"Wh-what are you doing here!"
"Well, it's obvious isn't it? I came back."
"......"
"What's the damage?"
"There's flooding in Zweite stock."
Sora explained the situation diligently.
"The warehouse area has been breached, and cracks are beginning to form in the elevator shaft. The situation is serious. There is over six inches of flooding in almost all of the corridors."
"That's pretty bad... What about Dritte stock?"
"Water is coming in from the upper floors via ducts."
"Are you able to drain it okay?"
"Yes, I'm doing the best I can... But flooding is only a matter of time."
"Well, don't worry about it, I'll be right back."
"No!"
Sora's eyes flashed from the other side of the glass.
"Let's decompress the chamber, and follow the proper entrance protocol."
"Decompression? Are you telling me to just wait here?"
"Yes. It is a rule. If you won't...I'm going to have to ask you to go back to IBF."
"How long will it take?"
"I will complete it as soon as possible."
"I need to know how much time!"
"If I hurry...12 hours."
"Tw-twelve hours!? We don't have that long!"
"If we don't dissolve the nitrogen in your blood, you will get decompression sickness."
"I don't care! Open that door now!"
"I can't do that...!"
"Just open it now, please!"
"Why!? If we open that door now, due to the rapid decompression, the nitrogen in your bloodstream will form bubbles, causing blood clots, and in the worst case..."
"I don't care, you get that door OPEN NOW!!!"
I found an emergency escape lever inside the chamber and I pulled on it. I kicked the door.
Track—Kopfsprung
There was a horrible noise, as though all the air inside had exploded. My body was thrown from the room, along with the high-pressure gas that had been built up inside.
My body crashed heavily against the wall.
"Gaagh! ...eeeaaAAAAGGHH WAAAAaaaah......"
Pain wracked my body. And it wasn't because I had smacked into a wall. Although I kept spewing out my breath, it felt like air kept bubbling up in my lungs. Then came a terrible exhaustion. My body felt like it was expanding. My eyes felt swollen and painful. The muscles in my limbs began to jerk and spasm. Numbness. Pain. Headache. I felt like I had no room to move.
"*Urgh*....*uurrgh*..."
According to astronomers, humans can live for a short period of time even if they are thrown out of a spaceship into space. But fish brought quickly up from the sea depths to sea level die instantly, because the pressure difference causes their organs to burst. So was I an astronaut, or...
"Takeshi, your voice converter!!"
I felt a splitting pain deep in both ears. Repelled by my eardrums, the voice converter flew out of my ears. I hurriedly, held both ears with the palms of my hands and knocked them, as though trying to drain water from them.
"......! .........!"
I couldn't hear what Sora was screaming. All I could do was lie on the floor, trying to suck in air. Like a fish that had been pulled out of the water... A few minutes passed...
The earphones that I had been wearing had broken in half. I got up weakly.
I crammed them forcefully into my ears.
"Takeshi...!!"
Sora ran over to me with a painful expression on her face. She tried to wrap her arms around me. Even though she couldn't touch me, she was trying to help me up.
"Okay, okay. I'm still alive."
I stuck out my hand to the console, stood up and smiled for her.
"Takeshi...!!"
I could hear Sora's voice. It seemed that my eardrums hadn't burst...
"Why...! Why did you come here!"
She wiped away tears and her expression darkened.
"Go back to IBF this instant! It's too dangerous here!"
And although she was crying, her face reddened with anger.
"I'm not going back. I came here knowing how dangerous it would be."
"No, go back! Please!"
"I can't believe...that you would do this."
"Run away...please, just go back."
"Flooding, I, go back, Takeshi, please, If I don't save, danger..."
"Calm down. Calm down Sora... You're totally incoherent."
I held up my hand as I spoke, hoping to calm her down.
"........."
But I couldn't stop her anger. Her lips pursed, she glared at me slightly.
"Do you know why I'm here?"
"Yes... I, no, I don't know... Even if I know, I can't accept it."
She seemed sad and angry at the same time.
"Am...I contradicting myself?"
"No, I think it's pretty much common sense. But, in other words, I... I came up from IBF BECAUSE LeMU is dangerous."
"You know that it is 'dangerous,' so why..."
"Why won't you listen to me!? Will you please go back to IBF?"
"I know I should listen to you, but I can't. I knew that LeMU was dangerous so I couldn't just stay there at IBF, where it is safe. I wonder if that's strange? You think so?"
"It is strange, and it is self-contradictory."
"Because, because, if you stay here...Takeshi, you'll... You may die... Agh..."
Her shoulders started shaking and she started to cry.
"I keep telling you not to rush to conclusions, Sora. I came here to get you. I know a way to help you. Well, I'm not sure about it yet, but... If I've got a little time, I can get you to IBF with me..."
Grrrrooooaaan...
As I if it were responding to my words, the floor started to shake.
Beep, beep...
And soon an alarm rang from the HIMMEL console.
"What was that sound?"
"Ah..."
"Sora...tell me what it was?"
"Ah, ah, um...”
Sora's gaze wandered and she spoke to me with a pained expression.
"The elevator leading to IBF was destroyed with that tremor."
The elevator...was destroyed...?
"It is no longer working..."
Holding back tears, she gazed down at her feet.
"Eh!? Ah, uh, you...don't say..."
Trying to keep my calm, I responded to her. The ruin of LeMU was happening faster than I had expected.
(It shouldn't have been this way. We should have had more time than this...)
I was pretending to be cool... But I was actually in trouble.
(This is bad...)
I couldn't put on an act. If we couldn't go down to IBF... Our escape route was really gone.
"Uh...well... Well, that throws a bit of a wrench in our plans...but, hey, that's okay, right?"
I laughed sheepishly and scratched the tip of my nose. There really wasn't anything to do but to laugh.
"It's certainly not all right! Not all right at all...!"
I sprang to the HIMMEL console, checking once more the damage shown there. The IBF elevator wasn't moving due to a break in the shaft. Thankfully, no one was in the elevator when the accident happened. It seemed that in the IBF case, we had escaped damage again...
[Music—Stop]
"Haaaa....."
She let out a deep, deep sigh. Sora stopped crying. Suddenly tightening her expression, she stood at attention.
Track—Heilmittel
"It's come to this..."
"In any case, I'll think of a way to help Takeshi get out. That is my duty..."
She had an unassailably earnest expression. She stared directly into my eyes.
"Duty..."
I tried repeating it in my own mouth.
"Hey, is that really your only reason?"
"Yes."
She nodded calmly.
"I will definitely get you to the ground level. It's the function that was given to me, it is my task. Because I'm..."
"I'm...Sora Akanegasaki, Artificial Intelligence of LeMMIH's System."
She threw off all emotion as she said it.
Track—Hologramm
"There is a huge cylinder that cuts through LeMU. The elevator shaft that rises in the middle of that... If you can get through this, you can emerge on the surface of the sea."
"What are you talking about...? Didn't the central elevator get sunk in the first flood?"
"Yes. But the tube itself is thankfully still fine. The ocean water only came through the cracks in another area..."
"Really? Still...even so... That tube is 103 feet high. That huge pipe is completely full of pressurized sea water! You're not telling me to swim through that?"
"No, not that. We'll first drain the water filling the pipe."
"Drain it? ...How?"
"First, we close off all the flood hatches around the tube, so that no water can get in. After we take care of that, we open the doors on the lowest part of the tube and let all the water that has built up inside flow over to Dritte stock."
"How could I climb up that ridiculously high tube? There's no ladders or anything in that tube, is there?"
"It is as you say. That is why I said we would drain it 'first'."
"?"
"After the drainage has completely finished, we open door A. At that point, you will go to Zweite stock's elevator tube. If you do that, as the water level rises, you will just float right up to Insel null."
"Hey, Sora? Can we go back to our first conversation?"
"Yes, certainly."
"You said before that we would move the water to Dritte stock. So you mean, in other words, that we would entirely flood Dritte stock?"
"Yes."
"What do you mean, yes? If we flood Dritte stock, the HIMMEL computer room will be flooded too."
"Yes. But you don't need to worry about me. My brain is in Insel null. So even if all the computers inside LeMU go down, it won't extinguish me."
"Do you need me to explain this plan again to you?"
"No, I've got it. It's okay. The water rises up the elevator tube. I just zoom up and out with it, and I escape. Is that right?"
"That is right."
I understood the proposal.
[Music—Stop]
I understood it, but...
Track—Karma
"No! If HIMMEL floods, what happens to you? Your memory, your recollections...aren't they all here? They'll all be drowned!"
I pointed at the computers lined up next to the console.
".........."
She looked down and didn't answer.
"No, no... No way am I going to let you take this kind of 'suicidal' act, Sora!"
Sizzle!
Suddenly a searing, burning pain hit my eyes. I covered my eyes frantically.
Fearfully, I pulled away my hands and opened my eyes.
"Takeshi... We don't have any more time. Please, do as I say."
She said this without emotion. Furrowing her eyebrows, Sora glared at me.
"I fiddled around a bit with the RSD laser levels... And so I seared your eye..."
"Wha, what!?!"
"Actually, it's not something I should be able to do... But right now I just did it somehow. It's like the limiter has been turned off..."
She stared at me. It was a gaze that sent chills down my spine.
"Hey...hey, come on, now. Are you threatening me, Sora?"
"Hurry...hurry and do as I say! Takeshi… If I make even a tiny mistake with the laser levels, next time I really might hurt your eyes."
Takes blinding someone with science to a new level.
"......"
"Do you think that I am lying? I am serious."
"Takeshi, you will go to the predetermined place in Zweite stock and wait there. I'll let you know the timing of when to get into the tube. Until then...I'll stay at HIMMEL and keep watch on LeMU. I'll control the drainage duct and try to stop the fall...I'll try to keep the whole place going for as long as I can, even a minute, no, even a second longer. So - Please, Takeshi. You have to get out alive - please promise me.”
"I promise."
I checked my PDA display.
Just a little bit ago, I had installed a data-linking program from HIMMEL's console that linked my PDA to LeMU's center. Sora had prepared it for me.
I had to just do it. It was a gamble.
The hallway was flooded just like the third floor.
"Sora, I've come to the second floor. What should I do?"
"Got it, Takeshi. I've checked your current location and your direction."
I couldn't see her, but I could hear her voice in my ear.
"Please wait there for a minute. I'm going to re-close the flood hatches to the central area."
"Ok."
Bang, bang, bang...
A hollow sound echoed through the building. Presumably she had blocked off the flood hatches in the flooded area.
"I've finished closing the hatches. The Zweite elevator tube is sealed... Now then, please go into the Dolphin Carousel room and wait for your next instructions. Do you know where it is?"
"Yeah, I know the Dolphin Carousel reeeeaaally well. That's where you and I rode dolphins together. That's where you showed me the art of my other self..."
"...Please hurry, Takeshi. Go straight down that hall and turn left at the end. If you can't figure it out, check your PDA map."
"No, I'll be all right."
"What are you doing!? It's not that way!!"
"Sorry Sora, I remembered that I had forgotten something."
"There's no time! Please stick to the plan!"
Sora's voice grew shrill.
"It will only take a minute. It won't make a difference."
"No! We only have...not even ten minutes left!"
"I can do this in ten minutes."
Phew...
It hadn't flooded yet in there and the machines were still going. I looked at the terminal monitor. The window that was open showed a message confirming the last entered password.I hit enter.
"Willkommener LeMMIH Login : T.Y"
The manager-exclusive maintenance mode was in operation. In other words, we had cleared all of LeMMIH's security.
'The terminal in the Security Office... I finally figured out the password...'
You's voice, which I had heard through my stupor, had been right. You...had made it in the nick of time...
"Next time I see her, I'm buying her a fantastic dinner."
Alone, I began quickly searching for a way to back up the data. I wondered what should I do… I opened a menu on the monitor. I didn't know how to work it. And I would need a disk to copy the data...
"Takeshi!!"
"Whoah!"
All of a sudden Sora's voice thundered right in my ear.
"What are you doing!? Hurry, hurry!"
"I know!"
"Seven minutes left!"
"...Damn."
It was no good. I couldn't figure it out. Giving up, I left the room.
"Please, don't make any detours..."
She spoke in a troubled, exhausted voice.
"...Alright..."
"This way?"
"Yes. Six minutes left. Take the corridor and get to the right position."
"......"
All the side routes were closed off. I'd have to head toward the Dolphin Carousel.
I spoke with bitterness in my voice.
"Understood and confirmed. Now then - I'm going to drain the water from the central area into Dritte."
No. I didn't make it in time...
"Five minutes until the tube is operational. Please be ready to move at any time."
Sora spoke coldly, still invisible. I was in front of the dolphins. The dolphins had been so pleasant and smiling before...now, they were hateful.
"Sora... Sora, won't you come over here? You like dolphins, right?"
"I can't. If I don't...concentrate...I might make a mistake."
"Don't say that, come on... Don't you want to ride the dolphins again together, one last time?"
"Please don't speak to me, you'll distract me."
"........."
"Even after Dritte stock is flooded, HIMMEL should be all right for a little while. I'll make sure that we definitely - no, absolutely - hang on until you make it to the top."
"............"
"It's nearly time...to part..."
So this was it. Was there no way I could save Sora? The five minutes passed quickly, mercilessly.
................................
[Music—Stop]
Plugged my ears. I didn't want to see anything else. I didn't want to hear anything else. If I couldn't save her... It would have been better for us to throw our bodies from a cliff.
.............................................
"Takeshi ? I'm sorry, Takeshi..."
What...? Even with my eyes closed, she was definitely there. I was hearing her voice from inside my ears.
Track—Karussell Delphine
"Well, you see, actually..."
Through the voice converter I could hear Sora's troubled voice.
"The door won't open."
"What?"
"The central area's flood hatches aren't receiving the 'open' signal. Something's been disconnected."
"Disconnected!?"
"Yes. But I've found the damaged section. I'm so sorry...but Takeshi, will you go fix it?"
"Of...of course. No problem!"
Heaven, fate.........they were on my side. They had not abandoned me.
Sora opened the doors blocking my way.
"Dritte stock, near the Control Room."
"Alright. I'll go right there!"
Run, run, run. In reality, my body was probably wracked with decompression sickness, and riddled with TB... But it wasn't something I was aware of. More importantly I had to move, faster, faster... Hurry there! Falling again and again, covered in bruises, slipping down the stairs, I headed for the third floor.
"Thank you..."
Her voice resonated gently in my ear.
"Now then, where's the place? Hey wait, what about tools? Can I fix it with just my hands?"
"There are some simple tools in the Control Room. The main repair room is under the floor of the hallway you are in."
"Under the floor?"
"In any case, let's hurry. I'm going to apply pressure and blast out the floor panel. For now, hide in the Control Room."
"What??"
"5, 4, 3..."
"Hey! Wa, wait!!"
"2, 1..."
As I flew through the air, a blue-white light beamed through the entire corridor behind me. One second later and I would have been fried...
"Soraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!! What the hell!! You trying to kill me!?"
"Ooooohhh! I—I'm sorry!!"
From the sound of her voice, I could picture just how flustered she was.
"Sorrysorrysorrysorrysorry.... Forgive me, forgive me... I'm so sorry, I just lost my wits..."
Her voice gradually grew smaller.
"Okay...you don't have to feel so bad. I'm fine. You just scared the crap out of me, that's all. I'm all right. I'm fine. Look, see, I'm alive and everything."
"Al-alright..."
"You can't kill me off that easy. I've still got things to do!"
"Yes."
"So you calm down, okay, Sora?"
"Yes...I will."
I had to hurry. That much was clear. But calmly, rationally, carefully. I looked slowly around the room. Next to the console there was a small toolbox. It held radio pincers, nippers, and a screwdriver. I wondered if it would be enough. I looked around a little more... I caught sight of a polycarbonate disc in a square case. I put it in my empty pocket. Clutching the toolbox, I left the room.
"It does seem that way."
"It seems.... What are you...? Hey! Damn, I'm back in the hall, but you aren't going to blast me again, are you?"
Suddenly remembering, I hopped around the corridor.
"It's alright. I blocked the underground circuits to that section. That's probably why the ceiling lights are acting strange."
"Got it..."
I was relieved to hear that.
"So, where do I need to fix?"
"Nearby, there should be a place where the floorboards have come up. The blast succeeded at that."
"Which way? Which way from my perspective?"
"I-I'm sorry. That's the thing..."
"Sora? What's wrong?"
"The bio sensor is down. I am unable to tell where you are. The camera isn't functioning, either."
"Because you do crazy stuff like short out high-voltage..."
"I'm sorry."
I heard her sigh. I sighed along with her.
"The place is 51 feet away from the door of the Control Room, to the left."
"Alright. I'll find it myself. Don't worry."
Surely I could find one stupid, lousy floorboard. I took the toolbox to the hole in the floor and crouched down. Pushing aside the nearby water, I searched with my hand under the floor for wiring. A cable about the size of a water pipe hose was attached to the connector. The cable was twisted in places, and I could tell the connector was bent. I cut it with my nippers, dug out the copper wire with my pliers, replaced the connector, and reattached the cable.
"I think I fixed it. What do you think, Sora, will it go through?"
"Yes, probably."
"That's good."
"Well, Takeshi? I'll begin operations for your escape. Please go back to Zweite stock."
"Okay. Right away."
"Yes...I'll be praying for your safety and a successful escape."
[Music—Stop]
"......??? Takeshi? Where are you, Takeshi!?"
"I can't monitor you with the bio scan. Where did you go from the corridor in Dritte stock? I can't see any trace of you on the emergency stairs. Please tell me your location, Takeshi..."
"What...what are you doing here!?"
She looked thunderstruck.
Track—Heilmittel
"Sora, you really need to learn more about hide-and-seek..."
I tried to say it lightly.
"When we played kick the can, you hid in a place where you'd get found right away!"
"What are you talking about?"
"Even if you can't monitor me with the bio scan, you could just listen to the sounds. That is, if you wanted to find out where I was, right?"
"..............."
"Well, you made it easy for me come back here without being discovered. I didn't know what I'd do if you wouldn't let me in the room."
"S-stop fooling around!"
She yelled.
"We've only got one shot at this escape plan! And LeMU is reaching its limit..."
"We're way past its limits."
".........Yes, that's right. Which is why -"
"Do you really think I could leave you here?"
"........."
"Do you know why I came back here from IBF?"
"...But."
Hesitating, she turned her gaze away from me.
"Please, go back to Zweite."
"No. Open all the flood gates in Dritte stock's passageways."
"I can't. Please go back to Zweite, quickly, Takeshi."
"Just hurry up and open them!"
"I can't. If I open the doors, Dritte stock will be completely flooded. Everything outside of HIMMEL will be covered in seawater. If I do that, you'll never again be able to..."
"If you won't open them, I'll open them by hand."
I grabbed HIMMEL's console.
"Forget it. You can't control things from there.”
"That's a lie... You're lying."
"............"
"Right now LeMMIH is in system-administrator only maintenance mode. From the big terminal you can control all of LeMU. Sora Akanegasaki can't override the sys-admin's authority."
I wasn't sure, but I said it anyway. This was a huge risk... I touched the panel and hit the keys. I didn't know how to operate it, but something came up that looked about right.
"Takeshi! Stop this, please!"
She glared at me.
"If you don't hurry, The central area will collapse! You have to get out of here!"
I selected the command to open all the flood hatches in the corridors, and hit enter.
"Stop it! Don't move!! Takeshi, if you do any more...this time, I swear, I'll use this laser and burn your retinas off!"
I... I covered both of my eyes with the palm of one hand... I couldn't see Sora.
Clack!
Hisss...!!
The smell of burned hair from the hand I had used to shield my eye filled the air.
"Fuuu....Fuuuu..Fuuuu..."
I blew on my hand, trying futilely to cool it down.
"You scared the heck outta me... Don't do this, Sora!"
"No, Takeshi, YOU don't do this..."